"But I didn't do nothing bad... I didn't mean to..." Nikki insisted. Even now, after the trial was over and he'd been regressed to an eight year old, his moral compass was still skewed if he was insisting that he hadn't done bad things. What further cemented this, though, was the childlike apology that followed after again, "I'm sorry..." Nikki was a kid now with a kid's cognitive abilities. He didn't understand that if he really hadn't done anything bad, he wouldn't need to apologize to begin with. It was all proof that there was much work to be done, that the boy, without proper guidance, might just turn out the same way as before, as a thief - and not a petty one either. "I'm sorry..." He repeated the words, hoping that it'd be enough to somehow reverse all of this.
The implements went away, though, and Nikki relaxed somewhat. That, at least, was reversed and Nikki looked a lot less scared now that there wasn't the threat of a spanking hanging over his head, looming down upon him so ever-presently. Nikki sighed in relief and let go of his tail, the fur a little mussed up from how strong he'd been gripping it. His ears perked up just a bit, flicking as he watched Katherine, studying her every movement. Those eyes of his drank in each detail, from the way she walked towards him, the choice of clothes that she wore, to the language of her body. Nikki was trying to read her now that the situation was much safer for his backside and calmer in general, but before he could come to any conclusion, hands found his cheeks.
Nikki's tail went up in the air and his ears laid flat against his head again, but it was different from before. His tail didn't flick in annoyance, but rather curled in half of a heart shape. Nikki silently listened again, his face slowly growing warm with a blush from those soft hands being up against his cheeks. He wasn't a normal penny? His mind seemingly whirred at the meaning of this, his brow furrowing as the pieces of the puzzle from earlier clicked into place now: she wanted to raise him so that he could run a business again under her tutelage, just like his new siblings did. When Katherine pulled away and held out the hand towards him, Nikki recognized this as an opportunity. He could reclaim what was his. There was a slight bit of hesitation, though. Taking the hand meant tacitly accepting that he was now a penitata. His brain kept thinking. He could resist still and fight against his sentence, but taking the hand meant that this really was his new life.
After a moment or two of consideration, Nikki relented and took the hand. "Okay. I'll go with you." The boy said, but then, his face burning an even brighter red at having given in, he added, "But I'm not doing it 'cause I want to or anything; only 'cause I have to..." It was a bit of a lie. He didn't want to go, true, but the opportunity before him couldn't be denied. Then, he smiled at the compliment she gave him and for just that second, he forgot all of this as he returned that with one of his own, "You look very pretty, too, M-" Nikki caught the word in his throat before it came out and then shut his mouth for a second before opening it up again to repeat what he said, "You look very pretty, too."
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