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 Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 12:35 am
...Eh?
The sudden change in tone surprised her, and her hands stopped moving as she slowly tilted her head back to look up at him. Issues with eating? The baku took a moment to ponder over his words, and then she slowly glanced away, the corners of her lips turning downwards in a small frown. She couldn't be certain that she knew what Kettil was talking about, but this didn't seem like something that she should pry about.
She set her finished cupcake off to the side, wiping off her fingers with a clean towel. Turning so that she was facing Kettil fully, the ghoul suddenly smiled brightly. "Well then! If you can't impress her with the taste, you'll just have to focus on making it look as beautiful and delectable as possible, right?"
And then, without warning, she rushed off to get a chair, dragging it over until it was beside the reaper. Hopping up on it, she reached out and gave him a hug. She didn't know what exactly was going on, but she had seen that little hint of sadness, and seeing her little brother sad would not do.
...Even if said "little brother" was a good foot taller than she was.
Then, just as quickly as she grabbed and hopped onto the chair, she jumped off and picked it up, holding it over her head as she rushed to get it back to it's original place.
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Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2012 12:56 am
Prying or no prying, Kettil was an open book. He gazed over at her as she spoke smiling a little and nodding, and he was even about to respond when suddenly she brought a chair over and then ... hugged him. He was honestly touched that she seemed to care so much about his troubles and woes that she would go about hugging him without even a moment of hesitation. Just to make him happy again.
He really liked Xiu a lot.
He'd stopped decorating just long enough to return the affection and give a small chaste kiss on her cheek before he let her go. It was easy being brotherly to Xiu. He let her put the chair back after she jumped off and he stared at the cupcake that he was making for Freya with a bit of a smile, "I always tell her that how she looks doesn't matter to me. She keeps thinkin' she's fat and for a while she ate nothing at all and kept exercising. Just so..." His fingertips poked at the cupcake idly.
"Just so she could run from herself and her feelings, I guess," he looked over at Xiu and smiled a bit. "She's gotten a lot better, though. I got her to eat again." There was a bit of pride in his voice, as far as he was concerned there was a bright light at the end of that particular tunnel.
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Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2012 12:08 am
Although it hadn't been much, Xiu hoped that the hug had helped a little. The hug back and chaste kiss had earned a little smile from the baku, and the soft smile was still present on her face as she returned after putting the chair away.
Her expression became a little more confused as the reaper proceeded to give her a little more insight on what had been happening. In Xiu's eyes, it was hard to imagine that the slender, pretty valkyrie could be anything but beautiful, but...
"You've helped her a lot then, Kettil," The baku chirped up quietly, her tail waving behind her, "I...I know the mentality that Freya--and plenty of others--has isn't easy to overcome, so to be able to make a difference...I think you're pretty amazing! It sounds like she's gotten a lot better, so with a little time and support, I'm sure she'll be eating normally again."
She beamed up at him...and then reached over to steal another cupcake to decorate. "Okay, Kettil! Since Freya gets a pretty cupcake, you should get one too. What kind of things do you like? Colors? Patterns? Animals?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:15 pm
Kettil gave a bigger smile and nodded, "I hope I've helped a little," he said thoughtfully as he put a couple of finishing touches on the cupcake and then claimed a new one. "Yeah! She's already improved so much, I care about her a lot," he said cheerfully. It felt like a weight was getting taken off of his shoulders just talking to Xiu about things. He could only hope she wouldn't gossip about it somewhere. Then again she didn't seem the type to do so.
The series of questions caused him to pause, "I like purple or blue annnd...I guess stripes or zigzags are pretty fun, ya?"
Favorite animal?
Kettil looked at his owl and then looked at Xiu and then back at his familiar again.
"I like giraffes." He announced completely deadpan.
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:38 pm
"You did," Xiu assured him, her voice confident, "I know that you guys can overcome this!" Somehow, Xiu had suddenly gone from not knowing Kettil or Freya that well to adoring both of them within a day. Their struggles, their support--it was hard for the baku not to root for them after all that she had heard. And of course, it was adorable how happy they seemed together.
She took in his color and pattern preferences with a nod, pausing only when she realized that he was looking between her and his familiar. Oh, oops, she should have guesse--
..."Giraffe?" She stared at him blankly, and then laughed. Okay, he was kidding with her, wasn't he? After all, the answer to her question had been rather obvious in hindsight. Reaching out, she grabbed a clean icing bag, filling half of it with purple icing and the other half with blue. With one smooth, practice move, she decorated the top of a cupcake with a dual-colored swirl of icing. After a moment of consideration, she stole yet another plain cupcake to do the same.
She worked quickly with a bit of colored fondant, creating a small owl to sit atop the icing. Satisfied, she pushed it over to Kettil. "There! Though, ah..."
Eying the second purple-blue iced cupcake, the baku turned back to roll out some more fondant, using a circular cookie cutter and then a knife to cut out some shapes. This second cupcake was then presented to Kettil with a sheepish smile.
"Just in case you weren't kidding."
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 6:19 pm
Kettil smiled brilliantly over at the Baku and then watched her for a few moments as he asked, "So what are your favorite colors, patterns, animals?" He was trying to mimic her a bit out of playfulness and partially being serious as well. He wanted to make Big Sister a cupcake in return for all of her kindness and hard work.
He smirked a little as he saw what she was doing, taking note of some of the techniques as fiddled a little with some of the tools that were laid out as he awaited her response.
"I love it," he announced at the Owl cupcake but then started to laugh loudly as she presented him with the giraffe as well. "I love them both! They look so tasty."
Kettil was pretty sure the Baku used some sort of bakery witchcraft.
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 8:19 pm
Xiu perked up when her question was turned back toher, blinking blankly at Kettil for a moment before laughing. "Me? Umm...shades of red, flower-print things, and...birds, I guess! like the little songbirds." Those were always cute! There had always been a few of the dream variety fluttering around in the gardens back home.
She beamed with pride when Kettil declared that he liked her creations. She was glad! It was good to see the reaper laughing, and when he told her that they looked tasty, she gave a mischievous wave of her tail. "Why not try one?"
Was she planning something?
...Of course she was.
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 8:28 pm
Kettil began finishing the cupcake he was making for Xiu. A few lopsided flowers cut from fondant set on top of some deep red icing. He even molded a very lumpy bird out of fondant and put that on top and he offered it over to her ... Very proudly.
For being as mischievous as he was he didn't know Xiu well enough to read signs of when she was about to be a naughty Baku. After he set down her cupcake he made for Xiu he then moved to pick up the giraffe one and started to eat it.
Cause it sounded like a really awesome idea just then. Also? He was hungry.
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 10:21 pm
Xiu blinked in surprise as she found Kettil holding something out to her. Reaching out obediently, she took the offered cupcake...and then smiled, her face lighting up. Lumpy bird or not, it was clear that she adored the cupcake. "Thank you, Kettil! I love it!"
And for that reason, she almost felt bad for what she about to do. When the reaper began to eat the giraffe cupcake, Xiu carefully set down the one he had made for her, making sure that it was in a safe place. Turning back to Kettil, she watched him carefully, waiting for the exact moment before--
--splat!
She lifted a hand, pushing the hand that Kettil was using to hold the cupcake. As a result, the icing went smooshing right into his nose and mouth. At the very least, the baku had taken care not to crush the whole cupcake against his face--just the icing. "Just for all the food fight shenanigans from before," She chirped innocently, a wide grin spread over her face. After a moment, she walked off to grab him a clean, damp cloth to clean off with.
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 10:47 pm
"I'm glad you do!" Kettil was very pleased with the fact that she was so fond of it.
He'd removed the giraffe fondant piece for the time being intending to eat it with bits of cake after he got finished the frosted top, or at least that had been the intention. Kettil lifted up the cupcake and suddenly the cupcake moving all on its own thanks to a little tap from a certain baku.
Kettil's nose and face became smeared in icing.
There was this look of disbelief on his face. That someone so sweet could perform such treachery. Then his head tilted back and laughed. He laughed until she came back. He was waiting for her patiently to return with the damp towel. "Fair enough, fair enough, Big Sis."
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:28 pm
The baku was giggling as she returned, and she made sure to give the reaper a hug. "No hard feelings, Little Brother?" She grinned up at him, and then held out the dampened cloth for him. Another clean cloth was set onto the counter beside him to use for drying his face after.
Xiu turned back to eye all the cupcakes then, beaming with pride as she took them all in. There were so many of them, and they were all different! They had varying colors, decorations, designs...but they all looked pretty tasty. Turning back to Kettil, she gave him a thumbs up. "Good job! Lemme just take a picture, and..."
She grabbed her eyephone to snap a photo, and then went to grab a container for Kettil to carry all the cupcakes in. As she began to help him pack them him, she paused when her fingers reached for Freya's cupcake. Looking up at him inquisitively, she smiled.
"Will you be giving this one to her now? I can leave it out of the box for you to carry, so it doesn't get squished."
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Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 11:42 pm
Kettil grinned back down at her as she hugged him and he hugged her back, "None what so ever," he said sweetly as his head tilted, still covered in frosting, and nuzzled her cheek and planted another chaste brotherly kiss upon her cheek, with Xiu's cheek now firmly frosting covered and his face was frosting smeared he released her from the hug.
He then moved to clean up his face dutifully while humming a small song. He watched her as she took photos of the cupcakes with a small laugh and nodded a bit, "Lookin' good." He agreed and then helped her clean up in general.
Kettil let out a thoughtful hum, "I think I'll have it put in the box, I'll try to be real careful."
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:12 am
What was he--
"Kettil!" She squeaked in protest when she finally realized what he was doing, but by that point, it was too late. Staring up at him, the baku puffed her cheeks out and pouted...but that expression didn't last long, as she was soon laughing. "Hey, ew! No fair!"
She went to retrieve another damp cloth for herself, wiping the colored icing from her face with an amused smile. Note to self: never let your guard down around Kettil.
With her face clean, she nodded at his request, moving to carefully set Freya's cupcake among all the others in the pastry box. Satisfied that it should be okay so long as Kettil was careful, the baku closed the box up and held it out to him.
"There you go! Thank you for baking with me today!"
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:22 am
Even as she pouted at him he just gave her a small grin as he also cleaned up his face. When she laughed, he laughed with her shaking his head, "Ah. I couldn't resist, Dúulsi'. You would have done the same if y'had the mind to," he laughed again.
Kettil accepted the box carefully and smiled widely to her, "An' thank you for takin' the time out for me," he said to her in a happy voice. He paused a little and seemed to think. "Maybe one day we could go out and do other things, eh? I can teach you how to do somethin' in exchange!" he said happily.
He was always open to more time with friends.
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Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2012 12:32 am
Dúulsi'? Xiu cocked her head to the side, clearly puzzled over the strange word, but then she simply smiled and shook her head. "I would have," She started to agree solemnly, only to stick out her tongue, "If I was tall enough to reach you!" Alas, even if she had wanted to smear icing on Kettil's face with a cheekrub, that would have involved grabbing a chair again. Sometimes being so much shorter than some of her peers had a distinct disadvantage.
She was quick to wave away his thanks. "Not at all! It was fun, and I liked having you as a Little Brother!" She grinned up at him, giving him an affectionate pat on the arm (because that was all that she could reach) before nodding eagerly. "Yes, let's hang out again sometime! You too, Endzela!" Xiu turned to wave at the familiar.
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