It didn't take long before Anna was broken from her thoughts and she saw the giant snake woman. At first, her eyes widened a bit and her ears tilted down as she drank in the sight of the giant creature. However her tail didn't curl up behind her but instead slightly swayed back and forth as her eyes sparkled lightly in curiosity. It took a few moments before she smiled and slowly got up from the chair, her ears moving to a position that was half-way up as her tail continued to sway. "Hello miss... can I help you?" Anna had seen the Naga go into the cafe more than a few times and had been curious about her, but she never actually expected her to visit her shop - but here she was, towering over her.

Red slitted eyes inspected the cat morph critically. This type of creature was rare in these parts of the world and the snake woman had not seen one face to face. She had, of course, read about them in her clan's library whilst studying the various types of monster and spirit. The cat-woman seemed to hold no fear at her appearance, so the Naga allowed herself to approach with confidence. She stood tall, but no taller than six feet. She had let the rest of her tail slither along the ground so as not to intimidate the young looking cat morph.

''Interesting place you have here, kitten.'' The snake woman spoke, her usual teasing demeanour present in her voice. Her pupils remained contracted and thus appeared as thin slits sitting in the middle of red pools. Sharp, deadly fangs lengthened slowly as she gave the cat a friendly smile. However, the fangs gave the Naga a threatening visage and could very well intimidate the girl involuntarily.

'Kitten?' she thought to herself and smiled slightly at the sound of that. She didn't allow herself to think too deeply on the nickname though and turned the smaller smile into a more friendly one. "Thank you, miss. Was there anything in particular you were looking for or just browsing? I'll admit, most people don't come over here this early." She chuckled in a friendly manner as her ears tilted up some more, looking more interested than before. The show of fangs didn't seem to bother her much for one reason or another - maybe she just assumed snake woman was friendly despite appearances.

The Naga looked around the store, noting the various pieces of technology that sat on shelves and in the windows. She had little to no knowledge of how any of these devices worked. The snake woman was an outside type of person, and had no need of domestic devices to keep her occupied. She was usually working to catch criminals, chasing prey out in the mountains or forest areas that stood on the outside of Diehlstadt or she was lounging around in Simon's cafe and frightening his staff.

''I'm afraid I have no clue what any of these little gadgets are, kitten. I prefer the outdoors. Though, I am quite curious as to what these contraptions are. If you would be so kind as to show me?'' Her eyes had a fiery gleam in them, crimson lips smiling sweetly but with a sly air to them, as was Oerba's trademark smirk. The snake woman liked to believe that she was a healthy combination of juxtapositions that helped to create her personality. Sly but sweet. Mischievous yet just. Sultry yet frightening. However, she was suprised at how well this cat creature seemed to be taking her appearance. It wasn't often that someone who barely knew her stood with such courage.

Anna blinked and tilted her head for a second before grinning. "Uh, sure!" Anna was likely somewhat the opposite. Though she liked to take walks every so often, she was a nerd that loved electronics and having all the latest - probably why she had a three-thousand dollar desktop. "Well," she started easily walking by the customer with a certain cat-like grace, "I guess the easiest to understand are these." She pointed to a flat panel that was like a blank picture within a black frame. "You can think of these like.. uh, moving pictures, like on walls. However it's a bit more complicated. They use electrical signals to transmit these pictures from a distance location. So, they take these pictures frame by frame so fast it's like watching life - they call these type of moving pictures, video." She then spun around easily and flicked on the power button as it spun to life and suddenly there was a show on about some old detective movie - though it was still in color.

"They've gotten a lot more clearer in modern days, so this is actually an older movie ... which is kind of like a play on stage, but it doesn't have acts or break or anything. You just watch the whole thing from beginning to end." Though she could've explained commercials, she simply decided to leave that out for now and turned to look at Oerba. Besides watching the snake woman process the information, she was naturally curious about her in general. She had never seen something so big before - even minotaurs were only like half of her total height, even if the woman had slithered down some and made her tail longer. There were other thoughts fizzing just slightly below the surface, but keeping her busy explaining everything kept those at bay for now.

With a look of confusion on her face, the Naga attempted to follow what the cat was saying but became lost. Distant location? The snake woman gave the cat morph a look, signalling at her confusion. Back in the old days, the Naga entertainment was gladiator fights in a large arena. These gladiators fought for their lives in favour of the Naga Empress' charms and affections. The loser was brutally murdered in the arena and their head was ceremoniously presented to the Naga Empress. Another form of entertainent would be to torture the slaves by playing dangerous games with them. They usually died as a result, but the few who survived these vicious games were rewarded with what little scraps of food were left from the nightly banquet that the Empress would hold in her halls. Oerba found herself reminiscing of these times, missing how she was the most feared Naga to be known throughout her clan. Disregarding the Empress herself, of course.

As such, she did not understand these ''moving pictures'' and why they provided entertainment. She looked the small cat-girl up and down, inspecting her with her critical, slitted eyes. The snake woman could not understand how this feline stayed inside all day and played with false images rather than spend her time running through the fresh air of the mountain range. Surely cats were energetic and athletic creatures? Why did this one choose to sit inside all day?

''You've lost me, kitten. This form of entertainment seems futile and false.''

Anna's smile faltered slightly and began to purse her lips. Besides the fact that she effectively implied anyone that watched T.V. was wasting their time, she was apparently being a very poor saleswoman. She had to remind herself that not all the mythical creatures would even give these devices the light of day. "Well ..." she started for a few moments and moved over to the computer. She felt a bit disheartened by the harsh reply, but tried her best to seem upbeat and motioned to a laptop. "There's always these. They're called laptops or computers ... you can write messages to other people half way across the globe if you want, even play games with them, like chess or checkers... or if you get into the more modern games, you can play games that pretend your a great commander and sending her armies over to crush her opponents... or play racing games. Behind that, you can surf the internet - not an actual net, just a name - where there are thousands of pictures and videos and people to connect to. You can also make your own pictures or videos and share them with the rest of the world."

Anna did her best to pitch the idea, though in the back of her mind, she was sure the woman wouldn't be tempted by such odd ideas. She was probably one of those types to take hikes, or go into caves, or really anything that included outside and / or socializing. So why she had even come in here was actually kind of lost to the cat girl. Maybe she was just curious, but if that was the case, then the curiosity would be soon satisfied and the naga would likely wave it off as pointless and exit her store soon. Oh well, at least it got her away from the lonely thoughts, even if just for a bit - she was glad for that.

''Crushing armies, you say?'' The Naga woman had appeared to take an interest in this 'game' the cat-woman has described. There was a time where Oerba had commanded real armies of Naga women to brutally cut down her enemies. It was a time where peace did not exist in the Naga vocabulary and murder was the norm. It was odd to her how such a brutal and vicious warrior such as herself had managed to become a respectable woman in a lawful position. Instead of murdering, she's preventing murders. Of course, as a snake monster, she had the instinctful need to murder prey just because it is weaker than her. She is surprised at how well she is at controlling herself, especially when there is a struggle between her and a criminal. The urge to brutally tear them apart has nearly forced her hand before. These criminals insult her by going against something she follows and, as such, makes them a potential victim for her wrath. Even gathering food must be a bloodbath as Oerba liked to brutally murder whatever elk or deer she could find in the grasslands and whatever bears she can find in the mountain range.

But this 'game' could potentially be an outlet for Oerba's wrath.

''Show me this game, kitten.''

'Wha?' she thought to herself as her eyes widened a bit. She couldn't believe her gamble at violence actually worked. She had some odd feeling about the giant snake that her race might be accustomed to lots of violence in one way or another - which she didn't particularly like, however the aura she gave off, of authority and dominance ... that, Anna kind of liked in some way. She shook off the thought and nodded eagerly, more than happy to share one of her games off as she skirted around the giant snake easily. "Sure!" She went over to her own computer and quickly unpaused it. "Though," she admitted, "this is one of the slower paced games... you might be more intrigued by those that are played in real time, but.." She paused to point at various aspects. "This is a space colonizing and conquering game. You have the options to win peacefully, but you can also spread across the stars to crush your foes and all that. So you get planets you take over and build things on and you can build your fleet ... and fight the other space fleets and even seige planets to make them yours. Also one of my favorite aspects is researching better technologies, like better terraforming planets or having more powerful weapons. It's great too because you have all the time in the world to think of your next move. If you want, I can show you the more real time one?"

She looked up to the woman and smiled, a bit more cheery now that she had gained some interest in the tall woman, and more than happy to share her interests. She was still a tiny bit surprised that it had caught her attention, but she couldn't get over how much she was happy at the idea. It wasn't very often that people shared her particular interest in games. It was usually in T.V. or emails or social media sites or other silly things and in fact gaming was seen as the waste of time. It was interesting she might think the opposite.

Oerba followed the cat-woman's words carefully, picking up on words such as crush, conquer and seige. Her long, pointed tongue flicked out to lap at her lips in excitement. The idea of taking over planets themselves sending a power rush through the strong Naga. The idea of gaining power that was beyond their own world sent a rush of warmth though the monster woman's body. Perhaps these little games were not so futile after all? They would certainly help with the problems she had with her ire and her natural instinct to murder. Arresting criminals would be so easier now without the call of the hunt blinding her from her duties. That position of Chief was as good as hers as long as her more primal needs were distracted.

''Show me the other game, if you don't mind, feline. Oerba responded, giving the cat a sly, sultry smirk. Perhaps this secluded cat morph was not so boring after all.

"Uh.. sure.." she said softly, her ears perking up a bit at the sly smirk. This woman certainly seemed a bit hard to read, which was a little new to Anna since she was fairly decent at reading people. The naga though, easily went back and forth from almost bored to interested, and even interested in herself in some strange way. It made her both a little confused and curious. "Well, give me a moment," she then complied easily and turned to the computer, bending over at the waist a bit as her tail flicked back and forth happily. She went about saving the game, closing it, and loading up a real time strategy game called 'Age of Mythology.' 'Ironic how humans made these games before myth creatures started popping out of the wood works ... there's a few inconsistencies, but whatevs.' Finally as the game loaded, she started a new game and moved some of the villagers over to start gathering materials.

"So in this one, it's all real time ... this one in particular is based on our kind - though it's a bit misinformed, it's still fun. You start by gathering resources like wood and food and you can build barracks and the like to make soldiers. The idea is to basically destroy everything the enemy has while keeping your empire alive and well." She moved a village to start building one of the military buildings. "It's pretty easy, but there are upgrades and things called 'ages' where you can get access to better weapons and soldiers and stuff. This one allows you to cast spells from the gods too - like Zeus' lightning bolt." As she played a little, she looked up at the Naga, curious to see her reaction now to this one.

Intrigued, the snake woman listened further. This particular game reminded her of home. She was unsure who this 'Zeus' was, however. She watched as the tiny people in the screen began to, apparently, mine for materials. There wasn't any fighting, but it was probably due to them building their ultimate empire first. Reminiscent of mother, it seems. The snake creature thought to herself.

''Now what, kitten? When do I destroy?'' Oerba asked, her red, slitted eyes flicking to inspect the cat-morph. Her body was slightly bent over and offered the Naga a generous view of her rump. The sunlight from outside shone in and gleamed onto Oerba's scales. The light glinted in her eyes and gave her a rather mischievous and sly visage. Her deft eyes caught the movement of a furry tail flicking back and forth. At this, her pupils contracted once again. She drank in the cat-morph's appearance in detail this time. She had two, cute little cat ears which stuck out of her head accompanied by a long, cream coloured tail that sprouted from her tailbone. The Naga's fangs elongated in response to the kitten's appearance, involuntarily producing her serpentine venom. The feline just looked so... delicious.

At this, the serpent abruptly stepped back from the cat-morph, feeling the call of the hunt wash over her. The cat looked like prey. She was prey. A growl erupted from the Naga's throat as her eyes roamed across the cat morph's body. She took in how the elongated muscles ran underneath her skin and she admired the soft looking flesh inbetween them. Her mouth salivated against her will as she continuously took steps away from the cat.

The cat girl didn't really have any moments to actually respond to the naga as she saw the giant snake start to slither away, her mouth gleaming in the sun like she was some predator in front of a juicy meal. Anna had a hard time comprehending the act as she stood up straight and looked intensely at Oerba, her tail moving more nervously now. Had she somehow tempted the snake woman into thinking she was some sort of meal? Anna had to deal with it once before, so it wasn't so surprised as before, but she wasn't as worried about herself as she was her equipment. So, biting her lips, she slowly circled around the snake until she was away from her three-thousand dollar computer and let out a slight sigh at not being attacked yet. "So.. uh.." she started, not sure what to say exactly. Last time the predator had a companion to shoo them out the door, but now she was alone. "Are you feeling all right?" she asked, pursing her lips a little again. It was a strange feeling to be looked at like that by an attractive female - it was both scary and somehow flattering, but then again, she wasn't really a meal.

Overwhelmed by the urge to feed, the Naga did not speak. She merely stared. Glowing red eyes took in each area of that cat-creature's body with scrutiny. She found the smaller, weaker body to be appealing to her appetite and her stomachs began to growl with starvation. It was a mistake not to feed before last night's patrol as she was now ready to eat anything. Or anyone. Oerba forced herself to drag her gaze away from the cat-woman and stare out of the window instead. This was also a mistake as she glimpsed Simon in the window of the cafe serving some drinks to passersby who had entered the cafe. She stared at the lower half of his body. How would llama taste like? A deep growl tore its way through the Naga's throat, sounding low and threatening. A clawed hand went up to the snake woman's face to grasp it for a minute. After a few deep breaths, the glow of her blood-coloured eyes began to dissipate and she turned to the cat-morph.

''Apologies, kitten. I must leave now.'' She calmly spoke before turning and exiting the small computer store.

"S-sure..." she replied softly and watched the naga quickly slither out of the store. She was left standing there, alone and feeling really odd about it. For one reason or another, she felt a tinge of pain at the thought that she'd probably never see the woman ever again. She supposed coupled with her loneliness, someone actually taking an interest in games was enough to pique her interest. Figured something would happen to stop any possiblity of that, though she kind of doubted anything would've come from it. Anna rubbed her face with a sigh - she was always doing this to herself anyways. Anytime there was any sort of attractive female that was even remotely interested in her, she jumped at the chance to daydream romantic scenarios. Maybe it was a way to torture herself, to keep reminding her that she'd be alone for the rest of her life, if she even faded at all. 'Gods, that was a nice nickname though. I wonder why I like kitten so much?' She flicked her tail somewhat angrily and huffed to herself before wandering back to her computer and slowly slumping into it again. She was almost tempted to just close shop today and take a walk ... she had made more than enough for this month's rent and utilities after all.

'Still have to wait for Kirei and my ice cream though...' she suddenly remembered and resigned herself to simply waiting it out. "Might as well kick some ass with some lightning bolts, I guess." She leaned forward and started to play the game she left off showing Oerba.

"Help me?" Kirei asked as she turned her full attention towards the one she had been observing. She hadn't really expected the girl to ask her anything, really. Kirei had just assumed that she would observe this chocolate furred person and eventually she and her cup of assumed hot drink would turn and walk down another road. She needed to respond though, "Hmm, not specifically. Truthfully, I was just observing another creature I've yet to have seen prior. Same as everything else, yet different. It's practically the motto of this town."

Thinking about it the statement did make quite a bit of sense. Other than the humans there did not seem to be much overlap of species. "Yes that does seem to describe the town well." Sophie said as she nodded slightly. That seemed like very little to say so she paused a moment to think. "I suppose I was not sure what to expect of this place. I did not have much support on my decision to come here." Without explainig the statement further it might not actually tell a whole lot. Human society seemed to have a much freer approach.

"Is that so?" Kirei questioned. At least this one she was with seemed intellectual. Something that wasn't necessarily true for all the inhabitants of this town. "I came here to escape people. A funny thought isn't it? Escape people by returning to people. It's the thought process really." She got a better look at the girl's face now. It was a somewhat bestial face. Nothing feral, just like an animal. This girl's head made Kirei think of Anna, since they both had similar ears. "That aside, my name is Kirei Yamakumo. A pleasure." She said with a slight bow, while walking.

Bowing was not a gesture she had observed anyone else in town do. Not that it was unknown to her. Returning the bow she managed a slight smile. At least there was someone else with some higher manor. "It is good to meet you Kirei Yamakumo. My name is Sophie Leclair." The way she said it had a distinct French flare which probably sounded out of place given her appearance. Returning to people was it? "I actually am here because of the people. Suppose you could say I am returning as well. It has been... a very long time."

It almost looked like Kirei might have smiled at Sophie's bow. But it was as stoic as usual. "I'll take you were away from civilization, as it's called at least." Kirei stated as she kept her eyes out for the convenience store and occasionally looking over at the animal-girl. She still wasn't sure exactly what Sophie was though. She had a look of something like that. . . What was it? Egyptian? Yes, that was what she believed it to be. She had seen it on the television once. It was at a store or something. Perhaps it was something one of her prior "roommates" had been watching. "So where are you 'returning' to right now in particular?"

Looking around she noted to herself that, though the location was different, she was already where she had wanted to go. "I am already here. This world is where I am originally from." She did want to address the former statement though. "I wouldn't say where I traveled from was not civilized. On the contrary, I would argue it was more civilized. Everything had an order. Here it is more on a whim. It is not something I am used to any longer." The library was coming up but she would continue walking if need be. There was still half an hour before it would need to be tended.

More civilized there with it's order? From what Kirei has seen over the years, aren't order and chaos two sides of the same coin? She didn't feel like too much of a debate though. "The whimsicalness of life can make it more interesting really. I've typically just gone with whatever my whim at the moment was. Or should I say, 'I live in the moment' for the most part." Intellectual talks were interesting, to say the least, though she wasn't sure if this counted as one or not, bit it was fun enough. Still, Kirei was still curious at what exactly this girl was, but kept silent and let her eyes do the talk for her.

Again the spider made a good point. There was much she could relearn about herself. "I'm sure I understood that better in the past. Thinking back it is what has made me who and what I am today." Realizing that posed more questions that answers she continued. "I used to be human you see. An explorer of sorts. This was the early 1800s so a lot of what is here today was much simpler." Why exactly she was explaining this to a reletive stranger she wasn't sure. Though she would have to do so at some point. Perhaps she was hoping for someone she could actually talk to. The expression of her companion did relay curiosity.

"So you use to be a human?" Kirei questioned. "Interesting. It's not too often I've heard stories of humans turning into monsters. I've been a Jorogumo since birth. Birth, if you can call it that at least." Kirei looked at her hand and then to her conversational partner. "Though I think I look more human than you do, at least in this form." And observed Sophie again, "Nor do you look especially tasty, though that's probably the fur." The store still wasn't quite in sight. It just meant more conversation with Sophie. "Don't take that the wrong way, please." For some reason, she thought calling someone unappetizing would be an insult.

The reference to taste confused Sophie for a minute. How exactly that related to anything was a mystery to her. Deciding it wasn't worth fretting over she dismissed the notion. "No offense taken. How I am I cannot change so there is little reason to worry over it." Looking at Kirei she did look much more human than she. Though referrence to 'forms' was somewhat lost upon her. "Forgive my ignorance. What is a Jorogumo? My people believe in a isolated society so many of the species here are forigne to me."

"I see. Well, I suppose seeing is believing." Kirei mentioned, "Give me a little space, if you would." Making sure she wouldn't hit anything, she began to morph her lower half. Her legs seem to split into a multitude of legs as her waist seemed to grow into a large, practically bloated lower body that stretched out. Her lower body has an glossy black arachnid appearance that's about as charming as it is creepy. The pants she was wearing seem to have disappeared though. "And this is just a fraction of what a Jorogumo is my friend, Sophie. I can take the full appearance of a spider as well. I just can't talk so well like that."



Kirei had probably seen many different reactions to revealing some of her monsterous features. Arachnephobia was quite common, and the appearence of a giant sized half spider anything probably sent many scrambling over themselves to get away. Sophie on the other hand simply watched the transformation with interest. It was not every day one had the chance to see something like this up close, at least not without potentially being the creature's next meal. The Spideress had shown to be an intellectual rather than some mindless feeding machine. "Impressive. I had no idea a creature such as yourself existed. Myth maybe, I believe the Greeks called one Arachne." Already her incessant reading appeared to be paying off. Hearing a sound off to the side was just one that probably was not expecting to see a spider creature in the road. They took off before anything could really be said.

"One would think there were stranger things in town." Kirei mentioned in response to whatever made the sound. "As I believe, Arachne is different from our kind. She lacks subtlety." She replied to Sophie. She seemed like she might say more, but just went quiet, continuing to walk along on all her eight legs.

Thinking that she may have struck a touchy subject she did not persue it further. "It has been a wonderful experience talking with you. Admitedly I have not done much conversing with many of the inhabitants. But the day is just beginning and I must get to my post at the library before guests begin to arrive. Should you ever wish to talk again, Kirei Yamakumo, you can often find me there. And thank you for revealing another form, I quite like it. It is unique." Taking a slight bow she broke away and back tracked. Apparently she had passed her destination during the exchange.

Kirei watched Sophie as she went to where she meant to go. A library? "Interesting." Kirei muttered as she turned to find that her own destination was not so far away. Shift her legs back, her pants reappeared and she entered the store, grabbing what she needed, whatever looked good for her and ice cream for the catgirl roommate. "This is very cold." She paid and left for home Ice Cream and microwave dinner in hand.

Kirei entered through the front door of Nerd's Paradise. "I have returned Anna." She nodded at Anna. "I have your Ice Cream. It's still cold, so I hope you enjoy." She walked over and handed over the catgirl's carton of Ice Cream or she was going to, but the girl was busy with one of her games. "This game seems to be different from the one you were playing earlier. A little older as well." She didn't know much, but things that looked like diamonds in the place of circles of real anatomy was probably much older. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

Anna perked up and quickly paused the game, looking up at Kirei. She felt a bit odd looking at her roommate all of a sudden, but it was probably stress. She smirked and quickly swiped the ice cream and wheeled her chair away from the computer just a few inches and started to unwrap it. "You are a life saver ... day just started and I'm already having all sorts of stress." Though she didn't really explain much further, she didn't exactly seem in the mood to deny questions. "Yeah, it's pretty fun.. this one is all in real time.. so you kind of have to think on your feet and all that." Anna didn't bother explaining too much further, since Kirei seemed completely puzzled by her games and instead just went about eating her vanilla ice cream. It was one of those generic things on a popcicle covered in a chocolate outter shell - not her favorite, but she wasn't complaining. "Thank you," she murmured between bites, smiling at the spider woman, even in spite of her roommate's stoic stare.

"It is no problem. I have procured for myself a microwave dinner. They are cooked quickly and taste fairly well." Kirei said with as trumphant a look as she could have on her stoic face. "But did you say you have stress? I hope I have not been the one to give it to you." She just looked into her roommates eyes with, perhaps, a slight bit of worry. "Did something happen?" Really, it wasn't her place to ask, nor had she known this girl for very long at all. Perhaps she was just trying to seem like a good roommate. "Or is it just something I shouldn't ask?" She was going to continue on the subject but she just remembered, "Do you have a microwave here?"

'No way!' she thought to herself. Was that an actual expression she almost saw? That thought was quickly distracted by the slight worry Kirei seemed to have about the situation, which was actually kind of sweet and made the cat smile slightly. She then chuckled softly by the sudden change of pace into the subject of microwaves. "Hahah... yeah, I do. It's upstairs in that small kitchen, remember? I don't use it much, but I forgot to tell you that you can use the fridge as you see fit." She paused then and gracefully tucked one of her feet under the other leg as her tail swayed happily. "But, uh.. you know, go get your food and I can tell you about it... and no, I'm kind of glad you asked. I'm not forward in a lot of ways, so .. haha, it's a good thing you decide to prod." She gave up a very quick, but shy smile before biting back into her ice cream.

"I shall return then." Kirei told her roommate before heading upstairs to use the "microwave". It was still as exquisite a device as she had ever known it. She was happy to talk with her roommate and discusing whatever she was having issues with. She was not a. . . What was it? Psychiatrist? Whatever it was, she was not one, but she did typically notice things. Beep Beep Beep The microwave resounded. Had it really been three minutes? "Quick indeed." Grabbing herself the meal, and this fork contraption, she returned downstairs. It was some kind of weird food she had never had the. . . Pleasure, of eating. It looked good enough at the least. "Now tell me, Anna, what is it that is the problem? I'm here to listen to what you need to speak of." Her face definitely showed concern, or maybe interest, in what was going on in Anna's life that would give her stress.

She had just finished her treat by the time Kirei made it back down and bit her lip a little at the question, though her tail still seemed to be swaying cheerfully. "Well ... there's this naga I keep seeing go into the cafe for some time now and I was always curious, but she finally showed up in my shop. It was.. uh.. kind of interesting. I mean she kept calling me kitten - which was oddly nice.. and she seemed really into my games and stuff, but of course she was just a customer. Anyways, I guess.. she's one of those predator creatures?" she offered, shrugging a bit.

"Guess something triggered her instincts and she started getting all.. ready to pounce and stuff - which is whatever. I just didn't want my computer to be broken, right?" She looked at Kirei expectingly just to make sure she was still listening, but she as she was, Anna continued. "She got a hold of it and excused herself, but ... eh... I dunno. It was just.. strange." She paused, pursing her lips for a quick moment as her ears tilted down slightly and she even blushed ever so slightly. "I guess I liked someone being interested in what I do and she had this .. like .. dominance about her.. but then she left so suddenly on such a bad note. I guess with what we talked about earlier, it's just been stressful." She looked right at Kirei and gave her a more cheerful, but defeated smile as she shrugged again, her ears tilting back into place.

Kirei listened to Anna carefully, paying attention to every word she said, thinking all the while. The only Naga she really knew was the cop, Oerba, something she decided she might want to share. "If it's Naga. . . Then maybe it is the cop, Oerba. Sometimes her attitude makes me think she doesn't have the public interest in mind, but she hasn't all too fatally injured anyone." She wasn't too fond of the smile her Neko roommate was wearing. "But you liked being called 'kitten?' I suppose you are part cat so it makes sense."

Mentally, Kirei had to analyze everything the girl had said while finishing her food. "Well, perhaps it's related to what you talked to me about earlier. Someone showed interest and maybe you started to develope feelings? I can't tell you what you feel though." After putting her food down, she turned to Anna again. "Still, that sad expression doesn't seem to fit you. Well, no offense, but it is mostly what I've seen on you today but I mean that you needn't have that look on your face. Did you need a 'hug?'" She asked. If she had come to understand things about western culture, it was that physical contact wasn't as taboo as it was in the east. Not that it mattered to her much as she had done much worse in the past with strangers. "I think I have understood that they are a means to make one feel better."

Anna let out a sigh and folded her hands on her lap. "Sorry... I really try not to be sad.. just a lot of painful memories of.. pretty much being alone, all the time." She paused with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Feelings? Eh, probably not - interest maybe. I just have this curse. I've been rejected so much that pretty much any pretty woman that pops in and displays any sort of interest in me.. I can easily daydream all these romantic things.. but, it's been like - seven years? Something like that since anyone actually wanted to be my girlfriend, so.."

She bit her lip softly and seemed to examine Kirei for a few moments, sort of wondering where the seemingly sudden interested came from. "But! Um ... I mean, only give me a hug if you want to, haha, but I don't need one.. I've had to tough it out so far by myself, so I can keep doing that, right?" She shifted her foot from under he leg so her knees were together again. "Yeah, weird though, huh? Kitten ... guess it's one of those cutesy, romantic nicknames you might give a girlfriend, huh? I mean, I doubt the naga meant it that way - haha." She smiled a bit more happily than before, but it was easy to tell the hurt was still there for now, since Kirei had just seen it.

Kirei stood up and walked over to Anna extending her arms and giving one of the stiffest most awkward hugs one could give. She thought there was a difference between one you'd give friends and one you'd give family or a lover, so she attempted to tone it down to a "friend" level. To experience human expressions and actions were quite a different ordeal, at least pertaining to western civilization. People back home were much more reserved. Perhaps it wasn't helped by the backwater village and people still wearing traditional clothes all the time. Still, she wasn't sure what else to add to it to make Anna feel better. "Well, I'll be here if you need to talk to me, Anna. . . 'Kitten.'" She attempted to use the name, but it didn't feel right coming out. She looked upward not feeling right about saying it like that. "I don't think that's quite right. Sorry."

The catgirl smirked at the stiff hug and just took it upon herself to show Kirei how to really hug, wrapping her arms around the spider's waist (since she was still sitting) and squeezing her tightly against her chest. It was kind of embarrassing in a way for her though, but at the same time, maybe it was because she felt shy and she wasn't used to being forward. However when she heard 'kitten,' no matter how awkward it sounded, she felt her ears tilted back again and her cheeks flush. Huffing a little, in a more playful manner, she pulled away from the spideress and looked up, staring her straight in the eyes. "It sounded fine, but you better not be throwing that around unless you plan on flirting with me or something," she teased. Though as Anna sat there looking up, she felt her cheeks blush even brighter as the spider-woman was standing over her and lightly swallowed, her ears tilting all the way back. Gods did she feel shy as ever now, but didn't want to shun the attempt at comfort. It seemed a bit hard for Kirei to actually give and not only would it be rude, but might make her roommate feel bad. This position though ... kind of set her head spinning a little.

"Oh, so that is how you hug a friend." Kirei whispered in awe. She thought there was a difference, but it appeared that there was not so much one. "Well, I was testing out calling you by a 'nickname' but that one didn't feel right. I'd have a better chance calling you "Neko-chan" or something." Then she noticed the cat's blushing cheeks. "Are you okay? Your face is all red. You're not suddenly sick are you?" She put her hand against the cat's forehead, "Well, you feel fine at least. Do you need anything?" It would be weird for her roommate to fall suddenly ill, maybe it was something else, but she couldn't figure it out either way.

And that's where it went a bit downhill, first with wanting to refer to her by a polite term and then asking if she was ill - of all things. Even though she liked the feeling of the hand in her forehead, she couldn't help but give Kirei a defeated, but dumbfounded look at the reaction. How could she notice the blushing and then assume it was being sick - all of a sudden. Anna let out a slow sigh and attempted to give Kirei a friendly smile before letting go and rolling away a few inches. "Well, you're obviously not the romantic type ..." she muttered, but it was definitely loud enough. "No, Kirei, heh.. I don't really need anything, but thanks.. just, um.. thanks for the hug." She didn't like acting so rude to her roommate, but she was just blown away by how oblivious she was and now felt embarrassed for even blushing in the first place. 'Goodness, I can be so stupid sometimes,' she thought to herself.

"I'm not the romantic type?" Kirei replied. She wasn't sure what was meant by that. It's not like she was all too good of a person to fall for. Her past was not exactly pure, like this roommate of hers, so there was no likely way that she would hold any feelings like romance. Not towards Kirei at least. "It's not exactly like I would think in the terms of romance for the most part. I'm not a desireable person, so no need to worry about that, right? Unless you do?" Now she was just trying to figure out why Anna even attempted whispering it. Her head just tilted to the side slightly while she tried to think on the subject, looking straight at Anna.

"I- .. I dunno.. maybe? I mean, why's it matter?" she asked, apparently getting slightly defensive for being put on the spot, but it was kind of hard to deny what she was saying too. "You're nice and everything and.. taking time to cheer me up even if you feel awkward about it.. and you're pretty .... so is it so strange that you made me blush?" Apparently Anna could be quite stubborn at times as she huffed after and crossed her arms over her chest, looking towards the front door instead of at Kirei, her tail twitching nervously. She wasn't blushing quite a much as before and her ears had tilted up some, but it still seemed to linger.

If she was sure of anything at this point, it was that Anna's tail told a lot about her. That being in her mind, she wasn't always sure what the tail swishing type meant. She also kind of knew at this point but had to mention it, "So my looks and being nice to you made you blush?" Then she followed Anna's vision to the entrance with nothing there. 'Avoiding me with her eyes, is she?' Now she wasn't sure. "What should I feel about that?" She muttered to herself, practically asking Anna. She tried her best to look in Anna's eyes to see if she could read anything, but with her averted gaze, it didn't help much. Jokingly, she mentioned, "Perhaps I should just eat you up." She found it funny, though she didn't think far ahead about whether or not Anna would.

"Well.. there.. were a couple.. others thing, but whatever," she replied to the first question, still holding onto her stubborness, though when she was asked the second question, all she could do stare out at the window thoughtfully. Anna wasn't even sure what she felt herself right now, as if feeling anything was forbidden and yet Kirei was someone she could potentially see herself with, making it very confusing. The last comment is what shocked Anna from her stubborness though as she looked over to Kirei with wide eyes, her pupils even growing huge like any cat, but instead of fear it seemed her cheeks grew red again. ".. eat .. me ..?" she repeated softly. "Uh.." It was pretty obvious that she wasn't exactly thinking of being literally eaten like Kirei may have implied, assuming she got things like that.

It took a few moments before Anna could recollect her thoughts at such a suggestive remark, whether it was meant in such a way or not. "Yeah, uh.. you might.. um, have to... y'know, flirt with me some more or something before you can eat me ... and I'm assuming you didn't mean literally.." Somehow that seemed to make her open up a little more as she gave Kirei a slight smirk. Now she was shifting her body so her knees were drawn to her chest and she was peeking her eyes out from them - almost like a kitten that was looking to play. Her ears had mostly gone back to their upward stance and her tail was flicking nervously still as she watched Kirei like a hawk.

"Literally or not. Good question." Kirei said slyly. "I will say though, I've never been especially good at 'flirting.' I never needed to be really." She was sure this isn't where she needed to be going in this conversation. It was something like that that seemed to get Anna down in the first place. "Well, perhaps I should try." She whispered lightly to herself. What exactly would she do though? Perhaps she, like felines Kirei had encountered before, enjoyed having behind her ear scratched. Still, there was this small desire inside her that wanted to feel the fur of her roommate. "Now I'm curious." She mentioned as she reached to scratch the back of Anna's ear like one would do a cat. "Is this acceptable?"

Her ears tilted back for a moment as she looked at Kirei seriously. "You better not mean literally.." but soon they bounced back and she smirked playfully, "not like it'd matter. Kind of hard to eat a spirit." Anna seemed to just watch Kirei, even as she talked about not being able to flirt, because it soon seemed she was whispering to herself about something and it made the cat curious. The next thing the spideress did was rather unexpected though as she reached forward and started to scratch the back of her ear, instantly making Anna blush again. Her ears stayed tilted forward this time though as her tail swayed back and forth in a shy-like manner. "I-.. um.. yeah," she replied shyly. However Anna was soon cursing her own body. As much as she loved being a cat, sometimes it was a bit too obvious how she felt. Kirei could likely hear a slight rumbling coming from Anna'a chest - she was apparently purring, which only made her more shy as she practically buried her face into her knees.

"So you do like your ears being scratched. I still don't understand why you're not going out with anyone. Most people would consider this behavior 'cute.'" Kirei said, almost with a small smile on her face. It was adorable, just the combination of stuffing her face into her knees and purring. Not to mention how soft her ears felt. "Embarrased, I take it?" She mentioned as she lightened up on scratching. "You are much more like a cat than I had originally thought." With a slight pat on the cat's head, she retracted her hand, "I think that's good enough." She didn't want to feel too happy scratching the cat's ears. "Would that be considered flirting?" She had to ask, somewhat unsure.

It took a few long moments before Anna finally came up from burying her face, still purring very slightly. "Yes.. cheater.." she said in a cute stubborness. "Though.. there are different types, but that's definitely physical flirting.." She huffed at Kirei playfully and slowly uncurled her legs so her feet were on the ground, but her tail was swinging happily and quite excitingly from side to side. "... as for not going out with anyone ... you'd have to ask everyone else that. I mean.. not being forward.. you'd still think someone would have the interest and courage to ask anyways.. so I really don't know," she replied honestly, looking up at the spider. She didn't sound so sad this time and was speaking more matter-of-factly, but she still wore a cheerful smile.