the footsteps are gentle, light tip-tapping of tiny feet against floor as not to cause too much of a scene. eri hides behind her a simple piece of paper, something she had learnt to draw today along with lemillion-san, after many brushes of colour piled on: a picture of the two of them together - & her first one yet ! " me & lemillion-san tried something new today ! " she supplies more than happily, gently placing the paper into her mothers hands. " & i wanted to one for you ... " >: )
she can hear the small pitter patter of eri’s feet from down the hall, and when she’s in the doorway, rumi turns away from the boring ----- but necessary evil ----- of paperwork and official records to give her daughter her full attention. her work can wait if it’s for eri. a smile already plays on her lips, softer than her usual wide grins that she gives the public, as she looks at the girl, spying the way she holds her arms behind her back, not so subtly hiding a gift.
“ oh ? did you ? well, don’t leave me hangin’, show me ! “ she holds her palms outstretched, and when the paper is placed into her hands she wastes no time in looking at the drawing on the front. it’s very obviously a child’s drawing, between the splashes of color and the shaky lines. she absolutely loves it.
“ looks like you’re gonna grow into quite the little artist, huh ? y’know where we put masterpieces like this ? “ she rises from her seat only to dip down and gather eri up in her arms, settling her off to one side so she can carry her with one arm while she carries the drawing in her free hand. she’s careful not to wrinkle the paper at all while she makes her way down the hall. “ we put it on the fridge so everyone can see it ! “
















