working in her garden, hoeing and pulling weeds.

decides that checking her house would be the first logical choice. Smiles when he sees her in the garden and waves. "Hello~"

hears the hello and looks up. "Ivan, hello." steps out of her garden and walks over to the fence. "How are you doing this evening?"

comes closer, tail wagging, glad that she seems to be in good health. "I am well, all things considered. How is Natalia~?"

pulls off her gardening gloves and pets his ears. "I've been fine. No attacks, no one even being mean to me."

leans down so she can pet him better, nuzzling her hand. "That's good! You really smell like vampire though... Is that one still around?"

"Yong Soo ... no, he left. He comes to where I work, so I'm around him a lot. I see Alfred every night too." blushes thinking about him.

sighs, seeing her blush. "You like this Alfred, don't you?"

nods, looks up at him. "Yes, we kissed last night. He's so sweet."

's ears and tail droop. "Natalia, please be very careful. I... Yong Soo may not be a bad child yet, and maybe your Alfred isn't, but one_

day he'll turn. They all do."

looks down at her garden gloves in her hands. "You're very certain of this. Today Yong Soo offered to be my brother, since I have _

no family of my own."

smiles at this. "Yong Soo is a good, sweet child now. But one day his hunger will take over and he'll become a bad child. I've seen it,_

over and over. I have many reasons to be as certain as I am."

about that, "That makes me very sad, to think one day Yong Soo will be evil ... or Alfred ... " shakes her head. "I don't want to think_

about that at all!"

nods sadly. "I don't think about it. Maybe if Natalia is lucky, they won't turn until long after she is gone. I hope that happens."

"I just hope I live long enough to die of natural causes. Although, since Alfred has been spending time with me, I don't have problems_

with vampires attacking me."

|"well, at least something good comes from him being around... Have you talked to a hunter yet?"

"Yes, but he said he is leaving this city, he gave me a gun." looks at him. "So now I don't know any hunters again."

on this. "I did meet one hunter, but I don't fully trust her... she'd probably kill Alfred and Yong Soo on the spot. But Yong Soo told me_

about another he said was nice! If I meet him too, I'll send him your way." Nodnod.

"

"That's very nice of Ivan, thank you." walks toward her porch "Come sit with me."

follows, climbing into the chair he sat in on his last visit.

"Have you been well, no one attacking you? I think about those I know now, and how they're surviving."

shrugs, not really wanting to worry her. "I've met bad children, da. But I'm fine~"

"Met bad children? Are you sure you're alright?"

nods. "Demons are like vampires. We heal quickly. So even if I was hurt, it wouldn't matter that much."

"That's good. If I get hurt I will take a long time to heal. You're fortunate in that way. it irks me that I'm so weak."

patpats her head. "Natalia should worry about that. She's a human child, so she can't help it."

"I do, which is why I put up a Red Corner in my house, I wear my cross ..." takes out her eastern orthodox cross and shows him. "

pleased to see this. "That;s good! Natalia should carry the gun the hunter gave her as well, and have holy water bullets. There are some_

old vampires here that may still go after you even if you smell like Alfred."

" There's only three bullets in the gun, Ludwig said his father made these guns. He said the bullets would be very painful for the _

vampire."

nods. "Holy water for vampires is like getting hot lava poured on you! They're evil children, so good things like that hurts them a lot._

You can probably buy more if you need them, although I hope you don't."

"Then I should find some." thinks there has to be a shop in the city that sells things like that.

there's probably a shop like that, but he hasn't seen it. "That's another thing you can ask the hunter when you meet him."

"I will, and if it's close to work I can pick it up during lunch."

|"work? What do you do?" Tilts his head, interested.

"Hmm? I'm a librarian, I work at the main branch in the city. I gave Yong Soo a library card today."

vaguely familiar with the concept of a library. "Library... is the place where humans go and rent books, da?"

nods "But the books are free, you don't have to pay for them, unless you don't return them on time, then you have to pay a fine."

nods in understanding. "I've never been in such a place. I don't read human writing very well. Just shop signs, mostly, and that's still_

hard sometimes."

"We have more than books. We have music, DVD's, games ... a children's collection with picture books."

blinks. "That sounds like a very nice place for humans. Does Natalia like working there?"

"Very much. I think libraries are the most wonderful places in the world."

looks down, blushing a little. "Could... Natalia take me there one time? I want to see this wonderful place!"

"Of course. I eat lunch in the park every day. Meet me there tomorrow and we can walk back together."

nods happily. "I'll do that then!" Is super excited for this! X3

smiles at his excitement. "I wish more would come to the library. It's really a wonderful place."

smiles back. "The way Natalia talks about it, it really does sound great! I can't wait to see it~"

"Yong Soo shows up there usually. He likes to sleep there. I had a girl show up there today asking about an antidote for vampire venom_

but she didn't seem like a very nice person. Yong Soo smelled her on me and hissed."

narrows his eyes. "Did she have long brown hair? That child who visited you."

nods. "She said she wanted to kill all vampires, and was looking for information about vampire venom. I didn't know vampires have venom."

frowns deeply. "That's the hunter I was telling you about! Don't tell her about your vampire friends if you want them to live. I'm sure_

she'll use you to hurt them!"

very afraid. "Do you think she will come back to the library? Yong Soo comes there and sleeps."

shrugs. "She might, especially if she thinks vampires are there. She does a good thing, punishing the bad children, but she is also a bad_

child herself."

"I'll keep that in mind if I see her again. The library didn't have the information she wanted she may not come back."

|"If she can't get something out of it, she probably won't come back, but be careful, just in case!" Makes a mental note to warn Yong Soo.

"She didn't seem bad, she helped me move books." holds her head in her hands. "So confusing, knowing who you and who you can't trust."

nods. "She isn't as bad as some bad children, but she is very ruthless when she wants to see, it seems. As for trust, you just have to be_

careful. Use your instinct and keep the good children close."

"Even though the good ones will eventually turn bad?"

|"Not all of them will. Just know what good ones will, and be prepared for it."

frowns, "... but you said..." goes silent.

tilts his head, confused for a second. "Ah! I see. The vampires will turn to bad children. Other people might not."

"Oh, the vampires will turn for sure. " very sad now. "I can't imagine Alfred being bad."

moves over to her to pet her hair comfortingly. "Alfred is still young, da? Maybe he will not turn bad for a long time?"

"Maybe. I can hope he doesn't"

snuggles against her. "Don't worry. As long as we both live here, I will always be a good child, and we will be friends."

wraps her arms around him and hugs him. "Thank you Ivan, that means so much to me."

smiles at her warmly, tail wagging. "You're welcome~ "

pets his ears. "I moved her because of the job at the library. So much more than just coming here to work has happened to me."

*here

makes a happy noise and nuzzles her town. "I just wondered here, but a lot has happened to me too. This is one of those places where things_

happen quite often, I think. In some places, things never happen, but here they do!"

"I looked forward to my work, thought I would make friends ... didn't plan on the rest of it." petting his ears soothes her.

smiles. "Some of the most important things in our life happened unplanned. I didn't plan to ever leave my home, but I did and I met lots of_

good children!"

"You're very fortunate then." enjoys hugging him, he's soft.

plays with her hair a bit. It's so long and pretty! "Da, I really am lucky to have met so many good children. I hope Natalia meets lots too*

"I hope I do too, I keep meeting people who seem nice, but then I get told they're not."

sorta bad for this. "There are plenty of people who are truly good though."

looks at him, small smile. "If you say so, I believe you."

smiles broadly in return. "I promise."

"You're so soft and warm, I could fall asleep right here." snuggles closer to him.

holds her close. "You can if you want. If you do, you don't mind if I take you inside and put you to bed, da?"

shakes her head, yawns " ... no, I don't mind."

picks her up and puts her on his lap. "Then sleep, Natalia~"

"Okay ... " closes her eyes.

hums an old wolf song about a she-wolf who fell in love with the moon. It's very pretty, in his opinion.

doesn't take long before she's asleep.

smiles down at her, picking her up easily and carrying her into the house. Navigates about a bit before finding her bedroom and carefully_

setting her down on the bed and tucking her in.

sleeps peacefully.

watches for a few minutes to make sure she's okay before slipping out of the house, locking the front door behind him.

sweet dreams about making friends.