Old Book, New Chapter. - ReddNook

Chapter fifteen.

Tom sighed as he opened door to his house. He twitched his ears when he stepped in. "Anyone home?" he called out.

Soon he heard door open upstairs, and two pair of feets coming down the stairs. "Uncle Tom!" the twins called as they ran up to him.
"My boys, how are you?" he asked giving tight hug to them.

"We are fine! We had so much fun. And fever is down too." Timmy told. "And thank you for message, we love you too." he added, Tommy nodding along.

Redd came down the stairs too, and looked up to the tanuki. "Nookie, what a suprise. And it's not even ten yet." he said with soft snort.

"Yes, it is quite of suprise." Tom said, as he let the hug go. "But how things went with them?" he asked with soft hum.

"Oh, great! Boys were like angels!" the kitsune told, his tail slightly wagging. "Ain't that right?"

"Yeah." the twins said with nod. "And uncle Redd made chicken soup! ...soup." they told.
"Well that's great to hear. Do you two think you can go to work tomorrow?"
"I guess we can? Right Tommy?"
"M-mh."

"That's nice to hear. Now, go back to upstairs. Redd and I need to talk for a moment." Tom told to the little ones.

Redd watched after the boys. "Talk?" he asked looking back to Tom, who gave nod. "'Bout, what?"

"You are going to be homeowner soon." he told. The kitsune flicked his ears. "You, are serious?" he asked.

"Yes, yes, I am. I got everything finalized today, tomorrow construction should get a start. So, your house should be up by end of the week." the tanuki told.

"But, thank you for watching after the boys." he added as he handed Redd's cigarettes back to him, with 5 000 bells.
"Wha- I can't take this."
"I told you I'm going to pay you."

Redd was hesitant, before he took bells from Tom. "See, it wasn't that hard." he hummed.

"Mm... I guess, but hey, there is still some chicken soup. So you can eat that." he told as he took his lighter out from his pocket.

"Oh, thank you. But, have you eaten?" Tom asked crossing his arms against his chest. "Yeh, sure, I have." the kitsune muttered pushing him aside, as he stepped outside.

"Redd, have you eaten anything?" he asked as he followed the kitsune. He flicked his tail, lighting up his cigarette. "What if I say I can't remember?" he asked.
"It's no then, isn't it?"
"Fine, yeh, I haven't, happy?"

"No, I'm not. What did you say two days ago, hm? Oh right, selfcare is important." Tom said, in strict tone.

Redd let out tiny huff. "Right..." he mumbled. "But, I can eat with you?" he told, taking drag from his cigarette.

Tom sighed, pinching his nose. "Fine." he said. "But I'll go back inside, I'm waiting you." he told as he went inside. He went to the kitchen, and took two bowls from cabinet.

It didn't take long to Redd come back in. He went to the kitchen. He looked over to Tom. "You are just in time, your soup is ready." he told to him. "Uh, thank you." he said as he sat down, opposite side of the table.

"You know, you really are good chef." Tom said as he ate. "I know that~" the kitsune purred with smirk.

He rolled his eyes with soft chuckle. "Yes, of course." he hummed. "Can, I ask something?" he asked, as he lowered his spoon against his bowl.
"Yeh, sure, what's that?"
"How things really went with boys?"

Redd lowered his ears little bit. "Oh, uh, well... Things with 'em went well, but I was super stressed. I wasn't sure can I do it, and... I was scared, what if I really did somethin' wrong." he told.

"But, at the end, things went really well. And I think I did great." he added, giving little flick to his tail.
"Well, that's great. But, you could have called me."

"I guess I could have." Redd chuckled. "But, can you eat rest of mine?" he asked pushing his bowl of soup towards the tanuki.
"I doubt your age, I really do." he told with soft sigh.
"That's, no?"

"Yes, it's no. If you really can't eat all of it, you can put it in fridge. I'll take it tomorrow as a lunch." the tanuki told. The kitsune nodded to this.

Redd let out soft yawn. "I feel like I am gonna sleep next three months." he said as he rested his head to his hands.

Tom rolled his eyes, as he ate his soup. Soon he stood up, and took his empty bowl with him.

"Can you have day off tomorrow?" Redd asked. Tom took glance of him, before he answered, "No. But I guess I could have weekend off. Boys birthday is on Sunday."

The kitsune flicked his tail. "Really? Great!" he hummed as he got up. "We can have whole Saturday for us, we can, uh, do somethin'. I dunno what, but I'll plan everythin'."
"Are you saying, it's a date?"
"No, I don't think so. But if you want, it can be~"

"Fine, it's a date then. But now I'm going to shower and then I'll go to sleep." Tom hummed as he stepped from the kitchen.

Redd watched after the tanuki. He felt his face getting redder, his tail slightly wagging side to side.
It's, a date...