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 Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:05 pm
Thalassa was still feeling a bit jittery and the emotions shown plainly by the strange movements her iridescent wings made. They’d jerk a bit or flit frantically yet she wasn’t going anywhere in particular. Sometimes having huge wings wasn’t that great of a gift.
Her eyes widened and dried out even more as she watched him go down on all fours and shake himself out. Water hit her and made her blink in surprise before the reaction to the stress and the water kicked in. Thal laughed, a rolling laugh that was quiet but building in volume as her sadness melted away. Akuji, her friend, surely he was her friend after the fun they had already had together? Certainly knew how to calm her down even from something as bad as possibly ruining her coat. What truly made her laugh more was him wiping his paws off as politely as one could so as to not hurt the rest of the cottage.
Picking up a towel and flying high enough to drop it on his head she nodded and flit to the door, “Yes.. I’ll get them out and a couple of plates and..” Wait.. What did they drink? She usually had grape soda but he didn’t like that… “We could have water to drink? There’s ice around here somewhere.” It wasn’t even sugar-water ice!
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Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 9:49 pm
Akuji found a large, uninhibited grin flash across his face as soon as he heard Thalassa laugh. It made him feel so nice when she was happy. He had never made anyone happy before, he didn't think, but especially when she smiled...
However, these emotions confused him, and as such he did his best to ignore them and pass them off as conventional. He had little social experience, but for all he knew they could indeed be just that.
As soon as she offered water, Akuji let out a small sigh of relief. If she had offered another drink he would have been too shy to decline and would be forced to swallow a glass of sugar cane unwillingly.
"Water sounds great." He said politely, taking a second glance around the cottage. The matter of his fur had already left his thoughts, for Akuji had other things on his mind. "Is there anything I can do to help around the house?" He asked, timidly. "I know I don't look like it, but I'm kinda strong..." He murmured. It was true, although for a Coffee Numa he didn't have any extraordinary strength, in comparison to a Candy Numa (a female one at that) he was considerably stronger. "Anything that involves lifting or... something?"
This was Akuji's way of thanking her for her hospitality, although he was worried it would sound like he wanted to fix her house.
"Eer, not as if you don't have a beautiful living space. 'Cause you do. You don't need to fix anything of course, I was just wondering if there was something... I could.. help with." He went off, continuing to get more and more disappointed in himself.
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Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:48 am
Thalassa was busy moving about in the kitchen getting out a couple of glasses and putting ice into each one. Of course, with her large paws and glasses made for humans it wasn’t very easy. Took more time than she wanted it to.
By the time each glass was halfway full of ice, the ice tray had been refilled, and water had been poured into each glass she felt like her face was neon red. Jeez, couldn’t she even get water for herself and a guest without screwing it up somehow?
Thal set the glasses up on the table and flit back over to grab the cinnamon bears. Three of them were on a big plate in the middle of the table and the other two were divided up on a plate for each of them. Sure was a lot of candy.
Her ears pricked forward slowly, she was still calming down, but if he was fine then she should be too. “Something to help lift with…” Her mind thought carefully of what was around the cottage and then an idea struck her. No.. not that was too mean to do to her friends. “Well.. There’s one thing we could do after supper.” Bleck, Blah, Ucky! Pulling vegetable. “My human put in a garden for herself.. Something about not rotting her teeth out.. And she wants me to help pull carrots.” For some reason Thal had trouble gripping just the leaves and pulling them out without destroying things along the way.
She smiled at him for wanting to help out around the cottage, since Thal wasn’t too good at not being klutzy or getting distracted sometimes it got a bit dusty around here til Swirl came in and “nit-picked” it to death.
The worry in his voice or perhaps something else made her touch his paw for just a moment, “I know what you mean Akuji.. Thank you.” Then of course, she blushed a nice neon red. If it made him feel better though she’d do it again.
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:15 pm
As Akuji waited patiently and their paws brushed, he felt his face light up in flames. His head was on fire, and not the headache kind of on-fire, either. It was just like he drank lava and his head was trying to explode. His stomach was doing flips in his belly, and his tail froze up.
'It's okay, it was an accident, it's okay, it was an accident...' he repeated to himself, trying to subdue his elation. Yet, it was difficult. Once again he attempted to focus on what she was saying. "P-p-please... It was something-- I mean nothing!" He said, forgetting what she had said thank you for.
"B-but I'd love to pull some carrots for you," He said shyly, his feet squirming under the table. His eyes were glued to the table, his ears high up and alert. "I'm good at that kinda thing... and I've never had carrots," he said. Certainly, carrots and other veggies were something of a rarity in Numa Numa land, as only humans seemed to plant them in private patches.
Akuji glanced at Thalassa, attentively setting everything up for the meal. He blushed again and glanced down. She really was quite pretty, even with the slightly bleached hands. "I-I'm glad I fell into the grape river." Akuji confessed. "I'm glad... that we've met."
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:46 pm
Thalassa took her time setting up the table just because she couldn’t seem to make the redness in her cheeks fade away. The upset at messing up his fur was fading because the Coffee himself wasn’t fussing about it. If he were she’d probably have dissolved to a ball of crying jell-o by now.
“Yes.. Yes it was.. But Oh.. Oh I don’t know.” His tongue was obviously tied and Thal had a hard enough time keeping her own words straight let alone her friends. Instead her ears pricked forward with curiosity before flicking back and forth and simply smiling. Yes, a smile would work perfectly.
Did Coffee Numas like carrots? She knew she sure didn’t! Okay, so when her human made them and put a warm brown-sugar syrup ontop they were pretty yummy and she could chow down on them. But it was the principal of the matter! Her human said that all the candy she ate was bad… Anyways.. “You.. You can try them. They’ll have to be washed off though.. Well.. Uhm unless you like dirt?” She blushed a bit before giggling at the idea. -Nobody- she knew really and truly ate dirt. But digging was fun.
Both of her ears leapt forward and it felt like her heart had just slammed against her coat too, “I… Well I’m not glad you fell in.. but I’m very glad we met..” Thal couldn’t help but blush again. Why would someone find him scary? To her he looked adorable…
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:17 pm
Akuji was dead. Err, well that wasn't the right expression. He had never actually heard of a Numa that had died, but there was an interesting concept that he had head humans refer to often. 'Heaven'. Well, if a good Numa had died he was pretty sure they would end up in a situation similar to his.
She was glad they met! Fancy that. Akuji had scarecly considered that possible. In all seriousness, though, he couldn't have put it better himself. He, too, was glad to have met Thalassa. She was unlike anything he had every experienced before. This realization swept a cool, calm understanding over him. Akuji's flushed face faded back to the (splotchy) black and white. His bright blue eyes remained focused upon his paws.
Thalassa, in such a short time, had become... precious, to him. Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself-- perhaps this is how all friendships feel and he is just blowing out of preportion, yet his instincts told him otherwise.
"I'd love to try some carrots, Thalassa," He looked up at her with a smile. He said her name not to test it out, but because he enjoyed saying it. "I'll make sure I get all the dirt off, too."
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:28 pm
Thalassa’s heart froze quite quickly when Akuji just seemed to go a bit blank. She waved a paw in front of his face and wanted to nudge him but worried that that would make him blush more. So she waited and sure enough after a few moment his face flushed that was pretty much a good sign, right?
Akuji had spent… maybe five hours with her? But in that short time Thalassa was beginning to feel like it’d hurt for him to take off like most of her friends did when the sun started to set. The cottage had more than enough room, why couldn’t he just stay here? She wanted to pout for a moment, then decided that instead of doing that she would simply find out -where- he’d be going after this. Yes, and then she’d lock him in here. Haha.
She lifted her eyes up to his, hoping she didn’t look too pathetic, “Where.. Where will you go when you have to? I mean.. I don’t want you to but.. If you -have- to.. I mean.. I uhm.” Wow.. Way to go Thal, why don’t you just throw him -AND- the chair he’s on out the door.
She thought about blundering on a bit more but awkward silence sat better on her tongue for a minute or two, “Good.. I tried one that wasn’t washed right.. Uck!”
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:37 pm
The fact that Thalassa was somewhat tounge-tied as well made Akuji just feel that more comfortable. Unfortunately, the invitation to stay made somewhat of a wrong impression on the self concious Akuji. She said she didn't want him to go but what if she was just being polite? It made him a little anxious and confused.
"I- uhh.. Well, I could go whenever you need me to go," he said insistingly, although his heart felt heavy as he said so. "I don't have any place I really can stay-- I mean, no place I need to be. I could find a place to be if you'd like some privacy or...." He glanced down at the table again, embarassed for himself.
Maybe she dosen't actually want you here, he thought dishearenedly. His ears pressed back against his head. Perhaps, perhaps...
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:42 pm
After eating most of her gummy bear through the conversation it felt like the candy was sitting in her stomach like some sort of rock. Akuji wanted to leave? Well, that wasn’t what she had wanted at all. Taking a deep breathe the little female knew that she’d have to un-tie her tongue and be as bold as she dared or else what she was trying say would simply never come out the way she wanted.
“No. No. No.” Well now.. That was a pretty good start. The words rushed out of her mouth quietly and she pricked her ears up at him trying to explain now in a more gentle manner, “I.. I don’t want you to go Akuji.. We have lots of bedrooms here.. If you wanted to stay I mean..” Her paws were clenched together and her thumbs twiddled around each other to try to relieve her anxiety.
“What I mean.. I uhm.. I.. I don’t want you to leave.” There. She had said it.. With that Thal felt the urge to flee to blush or cry or laugh.. Or something.. What if she had just said something very bad?
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:06 pm
At Thal's offer to let him stay, Akuji surveyed the house as if it were an entirely new place. Live? Here? In this beautiful home? It was... impossible to think of. Akuji's eyes met Thal's very seriously, with a stern look upon his face. It was unusual for Akuji to have a look of such conviction.
"I... I could stay here?" He asked tentatively, almost as if he was worried it was a misunderstanding and that she would decline. "What about your human? And this place.. It's your private place." Akuji stated in awe.
"Why... why are you so trusting of me?" Akuji asked honestly, genuinely curious as to why. He could easily be an evil accomplice of the coffee witch trying to steal young Candy Numa and... and take their horns, or something. The very thought made him shudder. Thal seemed innocent and good-natured enough to let something like that happen to her.
Akuji, after all this time, had found something he wanted to protect.
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:17 pm
The worry in Thal’s face was obvious since he had taken such a stern look with her. It wasn’t like they’d never have alone time. Several bedrooms made the cottage company and her human was always mumbling about wanting to add on because space was needed not wanted.. Whatever that meant.
Her tongue had tied itself up again and she was blushing a very visible red, “Well.. If you wanted to.. But you don’t have to I mean.. not at all.” Was she making a fool of herself, “My human works and learns.. We have a few empty bedrooms if you wanted alone time from me and stuff.”
Thalassa blinked for several moments as she tried to figure out the answer to the question. Well, she was the same with him as she was with everyone else.. He just made her feel better? If that made any sense, “Well.. I mean.. I don’t know?” That was the true answer.. Thalassa had always been shy of people and still was, but he made her laugh. Wasn’t that worth something?
She had no idea about his ideas of protection.. Thal didn’t even know yet if he was going to stay.
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:36 pm
"If you would allow me, I..." He began slowly, his glance lowering toward the table once again. "I would love to stay with you, Thalassa." He said, almost choking on the words due to his nervousness. Although he had grown far more comfortable with Thal than any other, he still felt horribly self aware and worried that he was going to offend her.
"It's not like that I would want any time away from you," Akuji added, immediately regretting it. "I mean! Not that way, you see. I'm sure you'd like your alone time, right, being a she-numa and all... I mean it's just not good for you to be hanging around a boy all the time. Not that I don't want to be with you-- not with you, but..." He stopped. This rambling thing was happening far too often.
Akuji settled himself by chewing quietly on his gummy bear. Mm, this was so good. It almost made him forget about his oral fumbling. "Maybe it would be good if I met your human first, you know? So... so she would feel like you're safe. I know I'd want to know that." He nodded, avoiding her glance.
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Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:44 pm
The human in question seemed to have bad timing today. Usually Swirl would wander in around six or seven at night, have a light supper, and curl up with Thalassa until Thal would wander off to her own bed. (Being covered in fur makes one more liable to be warm) Her stained and spotted paw reached out hesitantly to touch his, “I promise she’ll be happy.”
.. Her human would probably dance on the table then fall off and break something. She gave him a grin and understood completely the feeling of just being bumbling and confused about what to say, when, and how to say it without seeming dumb. Her mind raced a bit before figuring something that would make what he said seem right, “Well.. Maybe I’ll have a gift or something to wrap that should be a surprise!” That seemed like a pretty good answer to her.
Sometimes Thalassa wondered if being how she was made her very smart or very dumb. If someone told her their name and that they liked her she’d believe them and go about happily. Not that she was like this with others, Akuji had a sadness that had matched hers. And pretty eye! She stared at him as covertly as she could.. Such pretty eyes.. “You’d want to feel safe here?” The words slipped out without a thought and she giggled…
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Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 9:52 pm
Akuji felt like averting his eyes as hers looked deeply through him. Still, he made sure he didn't. Despite how insecure it made him, it also made them feel as if they had a connection. Well, maybe they did. "It's... It's not so much I want to feel safe here," he began. Truly, there were not many threats to Coffee Numa. They were stronger than most, except elders (of which there was only one) and Numa Numa Land was just a threat less place to begin with. The Coffee Witch had kept mostly to herself these days.
"I just want to, uh.. feel like you're safe here," He said. It was then that he lost the strength to look at her eyes. He shyly ringed his tail in his paws. It was true that if he stayed here, he could always keep a watchful-- Errr, DISTANT, yet watchful eye on her. Akuji didn't want to impose.
"Would your human like if her carrots were all picked and washed for her when she came home?" He asked happily, with a smile. He was feeling more and more comfortable around Thalassa. He liked it.
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Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:24 pm
Thalassa finally looked away from her new friend because it almost got to where it felt like maybe she was looking at hime too much and that he wouldn’t like her to stare or something. Her ears pricked forward to make sure she listened to what he said to her about safety and all of that. Living with a human and pretty much always feeling like you’re sfae just came natureal to Thal. The idea of someone worrying about their life or whatever bad things, like the dentist, seemed kind of silly. Like carrying an umbrella in the middle of a drought.
Oh! He was worried that she wouldn’t feel safe? “Oh! Well, I always feel safe no matter where I go and it’s even better when a friend is with me.” Her smile brightened a bit hopefully. Would that set him at ease? “Okay.. well the dark can be worrisome, you know?”
He was just a good friend or something like that to have around, “Oh yes, my human loves it when I do things like that and has them all prettied up.” Usually the carrots went into a wicker basket with a blue checkered cloth underneath them. Something about presentation. Weird human.
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