[Drabble RP] Something Not Quite Right (Alex & Yin)

[ramenli]

Yin frowned and looked back down at the question, reading it extra carefully. He knew he was not the best reader, but he was sure that he was past the mistake of reading boil as ghoul (or vice versa).

"No," he declared, voice slightly triumphant, "it definitely says ghoul. Question 1: when scaring a teenage girl, what techniques are most effective for the least amount of risk? You cannot fool me, just because you did not study for that question does not mean you can change it."

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[Seussi]

Studying

Alexander's frown deepened, and he couldn't decide what exactly was going on here. Was Yin pulling a prank on him? Trying to make him believe that this question hadn't already been asked? That seemed far too unlike the other boil to possibly be the case.

So what else could it be? There was the possibility that Yin just did not quite study the same way Alex did. Maybe he thought that repetition was the key to learning!

Giving his head a small shake, he gave the other boil a gentle smile. "But you already asked me that question, and my answer is still the same. Unless I missed something, I don't see much point in asking me it twice in succession?"

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

A frown creased the mantodae's forehead and he had to look away from the zomboil, lowering his eyes back to the paper. Alexander seemed to think..."but I have not...you have not..." his frown seemed to only grow deeper as he tried to piece together things that did not fit. This was the first question he had asked, yet Alexander claimed it was not. And if Alexander was trying to play a joke on him...this was unusual. If Alexander was lying or hiding something...Yin did not want to think about that.

But at the same time it just felt like he was missing something. Like something was off. And he had had that feeling a couple of times in the past week. It was a feeling he was rapidly growing to dislike. He stood up abruptly, dropping the questions onto the floor beside him. "I am going to the gymnasium." He announced, and then darted for the door, knowing that speed was something that Alexander simply could not keep up with.

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[Seussi]

A look of confusion crossed Alexander's face as Yin stammered out a reply, one which made very little sense. He had just asked the question, and yet he was behaving as though that were definitely not the case. Alex could not see this being a prank, he just couldn't, so what was really going on?

Before he could open his mouth and say anything, however, Yin was on his feet, and instead Alexander found himself blinking up at the other boil in surprise. "What....wh----?" He began, eyes drifting to the dropped paper before flicking back up to Yin's rapidly retreating form.

"Yin, wait!" He called out, pushing himself to his feet but nowhere near as quickly, and much to late to do anything to stop the weremantis as he darted out of the room. A cold feeling of unease had settled into the pit of his stomach, his hand reaching out to somebody who was long gone.

The weremantis had made it pretty clear that he wanted to be left alone, and Alexander felt that he aught to respect that. Gathering up his own things, along with the questions, a frown still creasing his forehead, he left the room to seek the comfort of the library instead.  

[Seussi]

Missed Call

He didn't need to bother knocking when he went to Yin's room, but he did anyways, more out of courtesy than anything else. The two raps against the door with skeletal knuckles was quickly followed by the door opening, and the zomboil entering shortly afterwards, a phone pressed against his ear.

"Ya, I'll tell him you said hi, mom. Ya, of course. Right. Okay I gotta go." The phone was brought down, his body half turning to pull the door shut behind him.

"Hey, Yin?" He asked, glancing up and over to where the other boil was. "Did you get a call on my phone from my mom the other day? When I forgot my phone in your room?"

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

~*A couple of days ago*~

The phone ringing startled Yin, and he jerked out of the latest article Nurse Cricket had asked him to read for his Fear healing training. Alexander was gone, but apparently his phone was not. Yin reached for it, figuring he should at least see if it was important. The word Mom on the screen told him it was, and after a moment of fumbling he managed to answer the call. For a moment he stared at the screen as it changed then, when he heard a bit of noise from the device, he remembered to lift it to his ear.

"Hello? Lady Van Rotte? This is not Alexander it is Yin." He bowed slightly as he spoke, unable to stop himself.

"Of course Yin Cang. Is Alexander there?"

"I am afraid not. Alexander left for class a while ago."

"I see. I'm surprised he left his phone, it's normally the one thing he doesn't forget. Oh well! Can I trust you to do me a favor Yin Cang? Can you let Alexander know that called when he gets back from class? It isn't urgent but I do need to speak with him."

"Of course mi'lady. I would be happy to. He should be back before too long."

"Thank you. While I have you on the phone, is everything going okay? Did you get a chance to look at the fabric samples I sent for the bridesmaid dresses?"

~*Now*~

Yin frowned, thinking about it. It did not take long, as things like talking on the phone were rare enough that the memory tended to stand out. "No, I did not. Why, was I supposed to?"

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[Seussi]

Alexander frowned, the answer not what he was expecting. But he knew that Yin wouldn't lie to him about something like that.....but on the other hand, neither would his own mother.

"I....nevermind. I mean." He let out a sigh, reaching up to rub at his eyes. He might as well continue now, or Yin would know he was hiding something, and they had agreed not to do that, and to communicate more. "She says you did, but she was probably just confused. Maybe the stress from the wedding....." That wasn't even her own wedding. "....Is getting to her."

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

Yin frowned. That did seem rather odd. "I did not mean to cause your mother that much stress. Do you think we could do anything for her?" It seemed unlikely, she tended to take on even more responsibility than they cared to give her, but he had to at least ask.

"It is odd," he murmured, half to himself. But as hard as he tried he simply could not remember speaking to her on the phone. "Perhaps it was a dream?"

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[Seussi]

Alex looked thoughtful for maybe half a second, and then shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe we could send her a meat-n-brains basket as thanks?" Really, he didn't know what else they could do. She was the one insisting on taking everything over.

"Hrm, yes, my mother dreaming about talking to you on the phone. That's not weird or anything." Despite his words, Alexander grinned, and was about to pocket his phone when instead, he hesitated, a curious glimmer to his eye when he held it up instead as he began pressing on various areas of the screen.

Slide to open -> Phone icon -> Call history

He glanced over the numbers and the dates beside them, at the color coding on the numbers that indicated a missed call, an outgoing, or an incoming that had been answered.

He frowned again, his smile fading. On the date and time that his mother had claimed to have called, down to the absolute minute, was indicated as having been picked up.

"You're absolutely sure you didn't speak with her?" He asked, an eerie sensation taking ahold of him.

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

It seemed odd that Alexander was asking him yet again, and after he had been so clear. Plus, Alexander had already admitted that his mother was stressed, so why was he asking again? "I did not speak to her on the phone," Yin said confidently, looking Alexander in the eye.

Something just seemed odd about this though, and Yin tried to ignore that niggling feeling that something was wrong.

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[ramenli]

((Replying to this))

Yin was putting the finishing touches on a one page essay he had spent days on when he heard a buzzing from his closet. He ignored it as he finished the conclusion before finally dotting the last period and all but throwing down the pen. A good stretch helped his neck and arms, and popping his knuckles helped even more. He stood, and after a short series of stretching made his way over to his closet to rummage about, finally holding up his phone.

He was slowly getting used to the device, but it was still mainly for emergencies (though what Yin considered an emergency and what Alexander did sometimes differed) and messages from his bonded. So he was fairly unsurprised to see it was Alexander sending him a message, and after quickly shifting away his claws he swiped along the screen to look at it.

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Text to Alexander: I am in my room. What dance are you at? Where I can join you."

Thank the Great Mantis for autocorrect.