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 Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 8:08 pm
Clink .... CKRKSHHSHHH .... clink clink clink ... KKRSHHSHH.
The squeal of the lantern's small, ashen door could be heard for days as Danny tried to stuff her tail into the small cage, to no avail. Why didn't her tail just GO IN. She tried again. CRKKSKKSH. Another black mark on the inside of the lantern. With a frown, she threw the stupid thing back onto the bed.
With a hefty flop, Danny threw herself back onto her pillows, so that she was staring at the ceiling. It had been, as stated, days since she'd seen Rikki; at least properly. Sure they had classes together, but Danny had spent all of her time avoiding him, or at least talking with other people in her friend group.
What had happened to him though? After leaving the lantern store, she had felt sort of bad for abandoning him. Still, she couldn't risk that weird warm feeling coming up again. It turned out she wasn't sick at all. So what was it?
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 8:15 pm
Days. Not just a couple, or a handful. Practically an entire week. That was how long it had been. Rikki knew, because he'd been counting. Just like he'd been counting all the times she'd looked away from him, all the times she'd swiftly avoided the chair he'd become accustomed to saving for her, and all the times she chose to talk to Roch or Demi instead of him. It was a list of offenses that was getting too long for him to handle, and it was making him really jacking grumpy.
Kicking balled up pieces of parchment out of his way as he stalked across his room, he made a decision. He'd just go to her dorm and force her to hang out with him. Simple enough. He tugged off his clothes and replaced his jeans with the fireproof pants he'd purchased before their trip. He didn't bother with a shirt, knowing less clothes was a blessing in the scalding temperatures of her room.
Within minutes he was trudging into the demon dorms, ignoring the looks he was given, and up to her door. His knock was heavy and agitated, punctuated by his fidgeting.
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 8:27 pm
Danny jumped at the noise at her door. She had just been getting relaxed, all cozy and comfy when the noisy, loud banging proceeded on her door. There was only one person who knocked like that.
"You know its open, just get in here Roooch," she whined. Who else would it be after all? The knock was forceful and angry, definitely two things Roch was quite good at. What had she done this time to make him upset? She only kinda singed that piece of paper. Just a little! Seriously!
But wait a second, Roch didn't knock. Roch never knocked. It was just like she said: Roch knew her door was unlocked. He would just barge in, she knew that.
So then ... who was at the door? This couldn't be good.
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 8:38 pm
Roch. That was who Danny expected to come to her room. He shouldn't have expected any different, the two were practically inseparable, as best friends should be. So why did it make his fists tighten every so slightly, until he could feel his knuckles go white?
He didn't bother to correct her, just thrust the door open and stomped in until he was standing at the foot of her bed, hands on his hips and a brow raised. He didn't ask her the questions he wanted to though. Instead, he glanced at the lantern he'd picked for her, sooty from her attempts to put it on, and turned it in his hands.
Hm. "I need something that will get really hot, but won't melt." He sounded pushy and demanding, but he was working on not blowing up at her. She hadn't done anything to deserve that. Well, besides avoiding him. And his anger at that felt irrational.
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 8:48 pm
Stomps. Black shoes. They weren't as big as Roch's. So who else wore shoes like tha-
Danny sat straight up in bed only to find Rikki rolling the lantern back and forth in his hands. He was clearly angry. Danny's own eyebrows furrowed. Why was he angry? She hadn't done anything to him! Hadn't even burned a single article of clothing.
Speaking of clothing, where was Rikki's? Wasn't he the advocate for wearing more clothing? Nevermind, that didn't matter. He was asking her for something. "Uhhh," was all she could blather. What was he doing here? And ... wat wat wat.
It was an order though. Danny got up and ran to her makeshift fireplace, and pulled out the "poker." That's what Danny called it anyways. It was really just the pole that non-fire demons used to move logs once in the fire. Danny didn't need it, but it was more for decoration than necessity anyways.
She returned to the bed where Rikki was occupying. "Will this work?" She bit her lip. Really, why was he so angry looking?
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:07 pm
"Mhmm..." he hummed with a controlled effort, taking deep breaths as he took the poker from her. He ran it under the lava fountain, careful to angle it downwards so that he wouldn't drip any molten rock of death on his far more delicate skin.
It didn't take long for the metal to heat to a glowing red and once it did, he pressed the sharp point of it to the bottom of the lantern. He felt the alloy begin to give way as soon as the heat touched it, but it took a bit of muscle to force the pole through, creating an almost perfect hole. He turned it to her slightly, but kept a firm grip on it, telling her he wasn't done. "Is that big enough for your tail?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:11 pm
Danny looked at Rikki blankly. What was he doing? Why was he poking a hole like that? Didn't that just defeat the purpose of the lantern? After all, her fire would just escape out the hole ... Rikki looked rather sure of himself though. Danny decided not to test him. He didn't really look like messing around.
He handed the lantern to her and asked her a question. With furrowed brows, she tried to understand. "I ... don't know. Let me ask," she said, clearly confused.
With that, she whipped her tail around to her front side (which was, ironically, quite close to Rikki). She didn't touch her tail, she just let it sit in front of her. "Is the hole big enough for you?" she said. Danny gave Rikki a skeptical look.
"I ... don't think it cares how big it is? I mean it didn't say anything sooo ..."
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:22 pm
His lips twitched in amusement. Jack dammit, he was supposed to be angry. But, by whipping her tail around (and by proxy, nearly burning his arm), she'd inadvertently shown him the answer to his question. The hole was big enough to fit over her tail, though it would take some shimmying to get it around the hook he could barely see through the flames.
He took the lantern back, warmed the poker up again, and swirled it around the edges of the hole. The effect was a smooth entrance that would slide over her tail with ease, but hopefully wouldn't come off as easily. When he was pleased with the result, he turned without warning to grab her tail, trying to fit the lantern over her flame without burning himself.
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:25 pm
YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO TOUCH.
Danny immediately jumped and back away, all the way to her headboard. Her tail was already extended FAR behind her, in a very defensive position. In one fluid movement, she had backed away a good three feet, and was holding a pillow defensively. How ... Why ...
"Rikki ... I mean you can't just ... I mean you just ... you," she said, her head swimming. Rikki hadn't meant to do that right? It was just an accident right?
But he had clearly yanked. It was on purpose. She gave him a hard look and said, "Wh-why would you do that?" Her face was already warming up again. Why did this always happen?
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:33 pm
Just like that his amusement was gone as she practically flew to the other side of the room. Had he not doubted the usefulness of her little wings, he might have considered flying a possibility.
He held his hands out to the side in question, his voice impatient as he answer her. "What are you talking about? You know exactly what I'm doing, Danny!" He could feel the dull warmth of a burn blossoming in his hand, but he ignored it. It would be another few moments until the warmth spiked into pain. When she'd dodged away, her flame had slipped right through his fist.
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:37 pm
Danny's eyes only flew open wider (if that was even possible) as he spoke and attempted to move closer to her. She was supposed to ... know what he was doing? So then he really was ...
"Ohhhh Rikki," she wailed. Why was he attempting to ... that with her? "I mean I really like you and all, but I mean ..." How to say it without hurting his pride as a man! "I just don't think we can I mean, we're like ... high schoolers and it just wouldn't be right and I mean don't you have that ghoulfriend Lilura and-"
Her face was definitely bright red now.
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:48 pm
Wait. Wut.
She was practically crying, and it took him a minute to sort through what she was saying. "What. Danny... what... I was trying to put the lantern on your tail. This is nothing to do with Lil." Though saying Lilura's name did effectively shove a softball-sized lump in his throat. All those letters he'd discarded...
He tried approaching her, gentled by the fact that he'd appeared to make her really upset. His hand was beginning to burn more persistently, but he was stubborn. He'd worry about himself when he'd figured out what the jack was going on. "Here," he coaxed, holding out the lantern, "Just slip your tail through the hole I made. It might take a little bit of wiggling."
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:55 pm
Wait. Wut.
"The lantern ... on the ..." Danny could've smacked herself if she wasn't so shaken. He was just trying to help her with the lantern. He wasn't insinuating ... that.
Even as Rikki moved closer, she oddly didn't find herself still defensive. In fact, if anything, her defenses were lowered even more. Why was that?
Reassured, she let out a sigh and maneuvered her tail towards the lantern. Part of her was still afraid that he was going to reach out and grab it again, but ... she trusted Rikki more than that. Carefully, her tail finally went into the lantern. Well how about that?
Setting the pillow down, she decided to admit it to Rikki. "Um. For demons... um I guess only flame ones ... the tail ... you um. You don't grab it. 'Cause it's. Umm." She was trying to think of a delicate word, but couldn't. Such was Danny. "It means that you really, really like them and want to make a pumpkin with them." She attempted to rebury her face in her pillow. Was that face bright red? Yes, yes it was.
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 10:03 pm
WAIT. WUT.
Rikki let go of the lantern as quickly as he could, suddenly conscious of how close he was to a body part that mean that. Why didn't she keep that covered or something? He had to wear pants for that reason!
"I-I'm sorry, Danny," he sputtered, far from the smooth talking, easy going guy he usually was. "I didn't... reapers don't.... does it really...?" He sighed, rubbing at his dark eyes with his uninjured palm. "No pumpkins," he finally said. "I'm just going to go to the nurse and get this burned wrapped up, okay?"
Why had he even come here? It was just ending in disaster.
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Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 10:08 pm
Danny let out a sigh of relief. He really wasn't thinking that. That was at least good to know. Awkwardly, she set the pillow down by her side.
Back to her usual self, Danny noticed the burn that Rikki was talking about. She'd done that? Part of her was rather proud that she inflicted a burn without even trying at all. That was a small part though, of course. Very small. The bigger chunk of her was genuinely concerned for her friend. She scooted over to where he was, and grabbed his hand casually, examining it. Her body was close enough to rub Rikki's side, not that she noticed. She was already over the awkwardness in a heartbeat. That's just who she was. The burn looked ... well it was pretty gnarly. Ten points for Danny.
Really, it was a small part of her.
The flame demmoness stood up and skidded into the kitchen. She looked around for something to wrap it with. Did you wrap burns? How the Jack did you treat a burn? Danny had never treated a burn before. Awkwardly, she looked around the kitchen for something, anything. "Umm ... Rikki I don't really know what to do." Honesty was at least one of her good traits. Oblivion, was not.
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