Nikita had spread out all of her work on the dining room table next to the kitchen. It wasn’t her first choice of places to work from, but she was quickly running out of places to go in her own home where she wasn’t reminded of something to do with Missy. Her office had been in infrequent use since her birthday to the point that if she could avoid it altogether, she would. Her bedroom was off the table, primarily due to the fact that she was adamant that she would no longer have conversations with Missy near a bed; better to take the room out of the equation completely should the other woman come looking for her for whatever reason. One would have thought that given her recent dreams, the dining room would be the last place that Nikita wanted to be, but she found it oddly comforting, as much as it still bothered her that someone other than herself knew what it was that she thought of when she walked past it. The scent of Silvia hit her before the girl entered the room. Nikita put down her work and instantly perked up at the sight of her, even more so when the were took a seat next to her.
The vampire studied her adopted daughter for a few seconds, debating whether the question was a precursor to something unpleasant or if Silvia genuinely wanted to know. She was certain that if there wasn’t already a cliché about twelve year-old were-cats and curiosity, then there needed to be. “Are you just checking in or have I been acting differently again?” Nikita offered Silvia a warm smile. She genuinely wanted to know. It bothered her how easily she could become focused on Missy and all of the conflict she brought with her. When she had adopted Silvia, she had imagined the two of them spending all of their free time together; since Missy had been turned, it was hard for her to focus on anything else. No one suffered more from her one-track mind than Silvia. Nikita could only hope that she was doing better and that the were was only asking because she was simply interested. She took in a large, unnecessary breath – the one that always came where Missy was concerned; it was boarding on an unconscious tick. “Do you want the long version, or the short version?”