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 Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:16 am
At the appointed time, Xiu gathered all the things she would need--a tea kettle for boiling the water, a tea pot for the brewing, a tea cup and, of course, the herbs--and head out towards the reaper dorms. Had she known about Mot's insomnia sooner, the Baku would have tried to help him cure it ages ago. As it was, she had only just recently learned of his problem earlier that day through Groanspring.
Just how long has he had this problem? She wondered, brows knitting together in concern. Surely he hadn't been spending all of nights practically sleepless, right? That couldn't be healthy!
Scanning the doors down the hallway of the reaper dorms, she came to a stop in front of Mot's room (or what she believed was his room, anyways--hopefully she wasn't wrong). Raising a hand, she rapped the door lightly. "Um...Mot? I...it's Xiu." The ghoul spoke softly, casting a nervous glance over her shoulder to gaze down both ends of the hallway. It was late in the evening, and she was certain that some of the other students must have been sleeping at that point. The last thing she wanted to do was wake any of them up!
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 11:58 am
Mot had never really thought to 'cure' his insomnia before. It had served as a fantastic way to get things done back when he was home with his mother. Always relentlessly piling on the homework. Or maybe that was why he had it? Regardless, sleep was always an issue, but not something Mot thought too much about.
The light tap to his door got the reaper's attention. He had been playing with his foxfire, FooFoo, dangling rope above its head simply for the fun of it. He released the rope with the foxfire still attached, letting the puff of fur fall to the ground. FooFoo simply believed he had won, and rolled around with the prize in his maw.
Mot strolled to the door, opening it for Xiu to come on in. "Howdy. Thanks for coming." He said happily, stepping aside for the baku.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 12:39 pm
"Good evening!" She chirped in reply, presenting the boil with a little bow of her head before she entered. The first thing she automatically did, unsurprisingly, was take in her new surroundings. "Your room is pretty neat!" Xiu exclaimed, sounding a little surprised. She had been expecting...well, that was probably the boil stereotype she was thinking of. You know, messy rooms with clothes strewn everywhere?
She was pleased to find that this was not the case--at least, not with this room--and turned to face Mot again. "How long have you been having trouble sleeping anyways?" She ducked her head a little in an attempt to catch a glimpse of his eyes--did he have shadows beneath his eyes? That was usually a telltale sign, but she hadn't noticed any before.
...Then again, she had been too distracted being relieved that he had any eyes at all.
"May I use your hot plate?" Xiu held up her bag of equipment, and then glanced around the room for somewhere to fill the kettle up.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 1:53 pm
Mot chuckled lightly and nodded. "If I don't keep it neat, then FooFoo tends to take what is lying about." He stared pointedly at the foxfire, who paused the vicious attack of the bit of rope enough to stare up at the two of them innocently. Damn mini.
He couldn't help but notice Xiu's attempt to catch a glimpse of his face. He made no attempt to help her in that respect. In most cases he avoided having to reveal his whole face. "Years, I suppose. I haven't slept longer than a few hours since I was a kid. Oh, and after Prom, I suppose. I slept quite a while after that." He had been completely drained of his energy that night.
"Of course. It's over here." He motioned toward a small section of his room with a kitchen like setting. A counter, mini fridge and dusty, hardly used hotplate.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 2:43 pm
Foofoo? Who was-- "--Oh!" Momentarily distracted, Xiu stooped down and fluttered her fingers at the foxfire in a greeting, her tail giving a little wave. "How adorable! I never knew you had such an adorable pet, Mot." Then again, she hadn't known that he had a pet at all. Or...much about Mot in general, actually, aside from the fact he was a reaper, he wore a hat, and he could dance.
A look of complete shock plastered itself onto the Baku's face upon learning that the boil had had this problem for years now. "W-what? But how...why didn't you...how did you..." It seemed she was unable to form a coherent sentence, and the constant opening and closing of her mouth made her look not unlike a fish out of water.
Finally, clamping her mouth shut, she moved to the counter area and pulled everything out from her bag, setting them all in a row. She added some water into the kettle, approached the hot plate, and...uh. "...Mot, you...have you ever used this before?" Xiu bent down to blow some of the dust off, only to sneeze violently when it flew into her face.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 3:37 pm
Mot chuckled. "He's adorable every so often. Most of the time he only causes me trouble." FooFoo dragged his rope toward Xiu, wagging it's puffy tail excitedly as she waved to him. It then seemingly lost interest and fled to Mot's bed, growling at his rope and proceeding to into combat with it.
Mot's unseen eyebrows raised, perplexed, watching Xiu make an adorable impression of a fish. He tilted his head, shrugging at her partial sentences. How? He just dealt with it.
Mot scratched his chin, giving Xiu a slight look of concern at her sneezing fit. "Well.. no, not really." He said after a moment. "I don't cook. Or eat, really." He grabbed a tissue from the counter and offered it to Xiu for her recently sneezed through nose. "Tissue?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 4:55 pm
"You don't eat?" Xiu stared up at him, but she unfroze long enough to take the offered tissue with an absent-minded "thank you". Honestly, she wasn't sure why this surprised her either. No one really had to eat in Halloween Town, and no one really had to sleep either. Both of those had just become habit for her and the others who went through the same daily rituals. Wake up, three meals in a day, and then go to sleep.
Hearing that Mot didn't eat explained a lot though. Disposing of the tissue, she washed her hands and turned to blink at the reaper. Unable to help herself, and without any warning, she reached out to gently poke him in the stomach. Yup, he really was quite skinny, wasn't he? "Do you not like to eat, or...? If not knowing how to cook is a problem, I could easily help you with that."
Plugging in the hot plate, she played with the dial for a bit, frowning when it didn't seem to respond to her. "Are you sure this works, Mot?"
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:15 pm
"Not really. Rarely, anyway." He answered back once the tissue was taken.
"I just don't like to eat." He answered sheepishly. "I eat a little bit if I need to replenish Fear but, other than that, I don't like to." It did make it awkward if friends met for lunch. Them with large dishes and big burgers, and Mot with small fries and perhaps a beverage.
The fires did not always get finished.
Mot hummed in concern as the device did not seem to respond. "I...think so?" He tilted his head. "I hope it does... otherwise we're out of luck..." What could be wrong with it? "It came with the room..."
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:36 pm
Well, now that she knew, Xiu made a mental note to steer away from any food-related gifts for the cowboil in the future. Though really, it wouldn't hurt for Mot to be fattened up a little. Looking at him now, he looked light enough for a petite ghoul to pick him up! Not Xiu mind you--unfortunately, she was a very weak ghoul, and the mental image of trying to lift up Mot made her grimace--but someone with a little more strength.
Eying the hot plate, the Baku carefully held a hand over it, frowning when she didn't feel any heat. When she tentatively touched it, she found it was completely cold--the power light wasn't even on. Why wasn't it heating up? "Maybe I should go prepare the tea in my room and bring it over?" Sighing, she tried to play with the dials and, after that proved to be useless, knocked on side of the object with the palm of her hand.
To her alarm, it suddenly started making strange noises, shaking and sputtering. One moment, Xiu was right in front of the hot plate, and the next, she was suddenly hiding behind Mot. The little Baku's body was tensed and her tail was bristled, the fluffy part puffed out like a foxfire. Slowly, she poked her head out warily from behind the reaper.
And just as suddenly as it started, the noise stopped. The hot plate sat there innocently, as if it hadn't just been flipping out a second ago, and the little power light was now on. "I-is it safe now?" She squeaked, though from the way her tail was still stiff and puffed up, it was clear that she was paranoid that it would happen again.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 5:47 pm
"Maybe.. but then it would get cold..." Shoot. Mot would feel awful if Xiu came all that way for nothing. He kind of felt badly.
Then his hot plate decided to have a seizure.
Mot jumped a bit, a little startled by the sudden noise. Not as much as Xiu was. Not nearly. The tall reaper turned his head behind him as the baku hid, an amused smirk on his lips. "Maybe. It might bite."
He looked back to the device, flicking it's side. "Seems safe."
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:10 pm
Slinking out tentatively from behind Mot, Xiu poked at the hot plate nervously. When it didn't explode, she took this as a good sign and allowed herself to let out a breath of relief, her tail relaxing and the puffball returning to it's normal size. After tweaking the dials again, she determined that yes, it was working now, though not before it made one final sputtering noise at her. "Really need to get you a new one." She murmured, glaring at the object in front of her. If it acted up again...
She set the kettle of water onto the hot plate and then stepped back, satisfied. "To be honest, I'm not sure how well this tea will help," She admitted, moving to spot on the counter where she left the bag of dried herbs, "It typically works well, but since you've had insomnia for a long time now..." She frowned. Considering how many years she had spent learning about herbs and their properties, Xiu liked to think that she had created a good combo of dried flowers and herbs that would help with her friend's problem.
"I hope you don't mind the taste though," Smiling, she opened the bag and held it out for Mot to smell while the water was still boiling, "It's a light flowery taste, but I can add honey if you want it to taste better."
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:22 pm
"What for? It will only collect dust." Unless the tea worked, then he could just use it for tea.
Mot stood back a bit, watching Xiu work while he slipped his hands into his pockets. He hummed thoughtfully, wondering too if this tea would do any good. "Don't feel badly if it doesn't work. I appreciate the effort, nonetheless." He would feel badly, actually, for having wasted her time if that were the case.
Mot leaned over and lightly sniffed the contents of the bag, pulling back a bit and scrunching hose nose. "Ah, maybe honey. Unless tea tastes anything like coffee. I always have that black."
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2011 6:38 pm
"What if you need it in some kind of emergency?" She wasn't really sure what kind of emergency required a hot plate, but hey, it could happen! "You don't want this thing imploding on you!"
Despite his words, she would definitely be disappointed if her tea turned out to be useless for the reaper, though she expected it might not work. Even an additional hour of sleep would do wonders for someone who typically didn't sleep much at all. She hoped that it would have some kind of effect, but at the moment, she was distracted by the look on Mot's face when he sniffed the bag of herbs. "Not your thing, huh?" She giggled, hiding her mouth behind her free hand.
Perking up when the kettle began to whistle, Xiu immediately turned off the hot plate, unplugged it, and went to steep the dried herbs in the tea pot. "I'll add some honey then," She nodded, pulling a small bottle out from the bag, "And...you have your coffee black, Mot? Really?" Now it was her turn to wrinkle her nose in distaste. "Isn't that...really, really bitter?" Considering her sweet tooth, it was not surprise that the Baku drowned hers in milk and honey.
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:51 am
Mot laughed a bit and shook his head. A hotplate for an emergency? What kind of an emergency required a hot plate?
Silly Xiu~
"It can't implode on me if I never use it." He said almost smugly, until the unplugged hotplate sputtered... somehow. "...I'll toss it tomorrow."
Mot chuckled and shook his head. Somehow those leaves and herbs just smelled a bit too herby. "Yeah, it's bitter. But it keeps me alert when I need it." Mot replied with a shrug. "So I guess that's the point."
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Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:15 am
She nearly jumped a foot in the air when the malfunctioning object decided to sputter again. Just as she was going to point at it accusingly and tell Mot that he had to get a new one, the reaper beat her to the punch. "G-good." The last thing she wanted to hear was that there was an explosion in the reaper dorms.
...Okay, maybe she was overexaggerating, but a fire would most certainly have been possible.
While the tea leaves were steeping, Xiu took care to mind the time, counting the minutes that ticked by. Tea-making was an art, and if she wanted to make a perfect brew (and raise the chances of insomnia-curing success) she would have to be especially careful. "Just don't drink too much coffee," Xiu warned, briefly peeling her gaze away from the teapot to smile wryly at him, "Otherwise, I think the reason you can't sleep at night is pretty clear."
Finally, determining that the tea was ready, she added a spoonful of honey and watched it melt and spread throughout the hot liquid. Looking up at Mot, she grinned almost nervously. "W-well, hopefully this does something to help you."
Holding a strainer on top of the tea cup she brought, Xiu carefully poured in the tea. She then moved to pick the cup up but, not expecting the heat, jerked her hand backwards at the jolt of pain. "Oops, um...careful, it's hot." Fanning it with her hand, she grasped it very gently this time and lifted it up for Mot to take.
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