Akira tried to think quickly about the best course of action. Given what he knew about Skuld, having her alone on a spree in his home was definitely not a safe thought… but Akira was smart enough to see that trying to pursue and stop her would have been a definite error.<br/><br/>First of all, despite the fact that Akira was a fit individual blessed with good reflexes… he knew that there was no way for him to match a catgirl in terms of sheer agility. So if he was to try and capture the fleeing Skuld he would very probably obtain the results of A) failing miserably and making himself look like a fool and B) offending Maleena by leaving her alone after she requested his attention. That would have been a major blunder and Akira did not need a major blunder in the first day of his life with Maleena and Skuld.<br/><br/>Akira was aware of the fact that this kind of situations needed to be out-smarted rather than out-wrestled. And he also secretly admitted to himself that having the beautifully smiling  Maleena to stay with could be worthy some minor damage to furniture. So he took his resolution and – despite a pang of worry that still bugged him – he smiled back to Maleena. “It is<em>our</em>house now… mine, yours and Skuld’s.”  He said “and… ok let’s hope we are lucky and Skuld leaves at least the walls standing.” He actually chuckled, saying that.<br/><br/>Then, he nodded at her words and beckoned her in with a smile, still holding her baggage. He went straight for the stairs, and waited for Maleena to start climbing them first (always give way to ladies, especially cat-ladies). He didn’t fail to notice Skuld’s shoes lying at the base of the stairs… he smiles and simply took them up before climbing the stairs himself, his ears almost perking up to try and perceive catgirlish noises. When both Akira and Maleena reached the top of the stairs, they found themselves in a second hallway, very similar to the other one downstairs. The young man’s smile enlarged as he pointed to a door. “This is the bathroom… Which reminds me I will need to have you choose your favored soap smell…”. Then he pointed to another door and went on with a cheerful “This is…”<br/><br/>Akira opened the door, to show the room’s  inside to Maleena… and was greeted by an open window, a rather messy bed and something Skuld-ish and slightly covered in ash crouching nearby. The calico catgirl almost did not notice the other two figures standing on the door frame, but seemed to devote her attention, instead, to the large bookcase that was the biggest implement in the boy’s bedroom. Akira gave a quick glance at Skuld’s excited face and then his reflexes took hold of his mouth and wired it back to his brain.<br/><br/>“…my room. Oh, hi Skuld” Akira said those words while, with an almost elegant and fluid movement, he turned on his heels and opened a third door.<br/><br/>The room inside was… impressive actually. It was flawlessly clean (Akira had spent the whole morning cleaning it) and the beautiful brand-new sheets on the bed were creating a delicious effect. The greens and yellows made a beautiful contrast with the darker greens, the blues and the oranges. The pillows were put so that to have the drawings of wings upon them were disposed in a perfectly symmetric way. And the heavy, furred and feathered blanket upon it was a joy for the eyes, especially since Akira had taken extreme care to avoid any kind of creases,<br/><br/>And lying upon the bed, in all its multicolored, feathery splendor there was…<br/><br/>“This is your room. I hope you like it Maleena… and I hope you like the feather, Skuld. It is the biggest peacock feather I have found..”<br/><br/>The last words were said in a slightly louder tone. Akira was trying to make a bet here.<br/><br/>If that bet would pay of or not… it remained to be seen.<br/>