can they touch you and come away still clean?

[ he's been spending more afternoons here, sprawled in armchairs, reading books of strategy and story, searching for occupation when he cannot find it at the tip of his paintbrush or the distraction of others. iskra is always a sudden and expected partner in these public spaces; it's not the first time she's weaved through book shelves or tea rooms to hop up on his knee or rub along his ankles.

klaus looks up from his book (the hunchback of notre-dame, original french) as iskra jumps into his lap and drops the charcoal pencil. with an impressed and touched raise of his brow and a smile, he reaches to scratch her head. ] Is this your way of pulling me out of my head and into something productive?

[ yes klaus talks to iskra like she can respond shh ]