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The entire way to her room he was mentally cursing himself. Why did I accept her offer? There was no call for it. I spent so much time and effort into leaving my life behind me...and for what? To put myself in every ghoul's debt that I meet? But he had already consented, and now she strangely enough seemed happy. I thought she was trying to get rid of me?

That was when his cheeks started to burn. No, the ghoul was just being nice. She had probably noticed his discomfort and was trying to be polite. And he had over thought things and assumed she was trying to get rid of him. Well now he just had to live with the consequences. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he failed to notice when they arrived at the room and she had to wrestle the door open herself.

Following her in he looked around for the minipets he had faintly heard her mention, but despite his attempt at distracting himself one thought kept repeating in his head. Oh Great Mantis I am in her room. I am in a ghoul's room. Over. And over. And over. And over.

He set his bags down as well, and shut the door behind him, wanting to make sure that it did not accidentally lock him in there. Other than that he made no move toward her rooms, preferring to simply stand there shifting from foot to foot uneasily. "Perhaps I can help you unpack the bags?" he suggested, already moving forward to begin doing just that. "Minipets are fine Miss, I now have my own." A fond smile flitted across his face at the thought. "Her name is Princess Eva."

Yin watched her as she cooked, still standing by the door. Princess Eva was a wonderfully safe topic, and he latched onto it with gusto. "She does indeed. She is somewhat demanding, but she can and has taken care of me when I most needed it. She refuses to answer to simply Eva, and she sleeps wherever she wants to, despite the fact that I got her a bed. She was actually a gift from Miss Danny, and is a species called a rabo. She is carnivorous as well, but I do my best to find healthy food for her."

When he paused to take a breath he realized he had been rambling and flushed slightly. There was a moment of agonizing (to him) silence, and then the demoness asked him about his food. "Mantodae often eat their meat fairly rare. But however you cook it will be welcomed." Well cooked meat was not something that he enjoyed, but he could hardly turn up his nose at a free meal.

"Miss Danny is one of my closest friends," he confirmed. She was actually one of his only friends, but that was not a factor. A sudden delightful scent, one other than the cooking meat, met his nose and his stomach gurgled excitedly. He looked over to where the three minipets had appeared. He made no attempt to go toward them, but he did crouch down so that he could see them better as Miss Xiu-Ying finished cooking ((I wanted to read the billion long posts)). When she set the plates on the counter he straightened up, looking at them with obvious desire.

"Tea?" he questioned, sounding both hopeful and gleeful at the same time. While mantodae did not eat plants, drinking them was an entirely different manner. He had not been able to have tea since he had arrived at the school, as it was not included in his lunch and knowing which plants were safe to steep into his water was not one of his strong points. "I would very much appreciate tea if you have it available." He picked up both plates, carrying them over to the table and setting them down. "Do you prefer a particular seat?" Either way he would probably wait for her to sit before he actually sat himself.

Yin nodded. The fire demoness was very energetic indeed. "She is like a child," he pointed out, then wished he had not. It was not a rude thing to say, but it was certainly not the nicest, even it it was true.

He stood around awkwardly as she made the tea, mouth watering as the scents wafted toward him. "I do not have a preference, where I grew up we drank what tea was served." Which was typically the basic tea, or whatever there was an overabundance of. Ghouls got the cream of the crop, but tea was tea and he missed it. And whatever kind she was brewing smelled interesting. And not like water. He missed having a drink that was not water.

He seated himself after she took one seat and obviously laid the tea out for him at another. Normally he would have waited for her to take a bit before daring to eat, but she seemed to be waiting on him...

He reached down only to find that to his horror there was the shiny silver eating utensils that he had seen in the creepeteria. He had never used those before. He typically ate with his hands, going over to some dark corner when in public to feed, or just eating in his dorm room. Of course he had been taught how to eat politely in front of ghouls, but that had always been with chopsticks. And with thinly sliced strips of meat, not full slabs of it.

He touched the handles hesitantly, trying to remember what he had seen others do. And was at a lost. After far too long of a pause he reached up to pick up the tea cup, bringing it up to take a slightly burning drink. "It is very nice," he said after he swallowed, and hoped that she would eat now so he could see how he was supposed to do it.

Yin was watching her carefully, trying to determine how to use the eating utensils. Okay, knife in that hand, fork in the other. He was staring so intently that when she spoke it jarred him just a little, and he scrambled to pick up the silverware. "It smells delightful, I am sure it tastes wonderful," he quickly assured her.

And then stared back at his food. He could do this. He held the forks as he had seen her do, or tried to at least. His overly large hands and claws were in the way and the metal was awkward in his hands. He fumbled a bit but eventually got managed to grip them both, though not properly. Like Miss Xiu-Ying he stabbed at the meat with the pronged device, then brought up the knife to gently saw at it.

The meat slipped away. Determinedly he gripped at the fork, doing his best to keep it in place and worked at cutting the meat. And worked. And worked.

Eventually he was rewarded with a badly cut morsel of meat, feeling both ashamed and triumphant with his effort. Then he tried to work his fork out of the slab. A bit of wiggling and it was free. Okay then, just stab the little piece and bring it up to your mouth.

It was halfway to his mouth before it fell off of the fork, landing on the tiniest edge of the table that had been between his plate and his lap. Looking positively horrified he stared at it. Did he eat it? Did he leave it there? Did he throw it away?

He took the napkin from her carefully, picking up the bite and wiping off the table. He had wasted food. Not just any food but homemade food cooked just for him and he had just wasted it. That alone made him want to just leave the table right then and there. She then offered him a sharper knife, but he knew that was not the issue.

"If we use eating utensils we have chopsticks," he informed her with a bit of unease. He did not want to tell the rather nice ghoul that he used something she could not provide him with. And chopsticks still would not solve the problem of actually cutting the meat.

Next, he wanted to crawl under the table in shame. He had made her uneasy because he could not use normal (it seemed) eating utensils. "Please do not trouble yourself Miss Xiu-Ying." As if to show her that nothing was wrong he attacked the meat with renewed vigor, though that soon dissipated as he worked at the meat. Why was it so hard to use a fork and knife? Finally rewarded with a new bit of meat he speared it and brought it up to his mouth, leaning forward and hunching a bit to ensure it did not meet the same fate. He chewed slowly, savoring the morsel and when he had finally swallowed he gave her a smile. "It is more delicious than I had expected." Even if it was incredibly hard to eat.

Miss Xiu-Ying suggesting that she should fix something special just for him was such a ridiculous notion that he ignored it entirely. She was probably just being polite or something. Her instructions had been too late for his first bite, but as he was letting the flavors explore his mouth and chewing he thought about what she had said. So he began to cut it as she suggested, and was rewarded with more success than previously.

"I did not realize that food could taste like this," he admitted. "It has a very nice amount of seasoning, and the meat is quite tender. Earlier you had agreed that cooking was a hobby? I believe that you could make a fine living as a cook if you desired to." As he spoke he focused rather intently on cutting his food, amassing a couple of pieces by the time he was finished. Not wanting to talk more than he should he brought another bite to his mouth, accidentally scraping the fork against one of his sharp teeth as he pulled the meat off and inwardly cringing at the noise. That was probably rude of him. His worries seemed to melt away as he chewed though, the delightful flavor doing wonders at distracting him.

Yin thought back to the meal he had consumed at the maul, sitting cross-legged under the table with Alexander. "I believe that your food is of a high enough quality for that. And you seem much nicer than waiters that I have encountered, so I am sure that people would enjoy visiting. If you can convince your parents." That was an odd concept, a ghoul needing to convince someone to let her do as she pleased.

The mantodae fell into silence, content to consume his food. Cutting his food became easier, though the eating utensils remained awkward in his overly large hands. Each bite was a challenge, but well worth the reward. He was more than willing to clear his plate, marveling in the wonderful sensation of being full. "Where do you clean your dishes Miss Xiu-Ying?" Cleaning the dishes was the least that he could do for the delightful meal. He had not even realized how relaxed he was in the presence of a ghoul until this moment. He had so casually talked to her, how surprising.