[FIN] Thats not a Fire flower! - Jericho and Tsetsiliya

[Blade Kuroda]

The demon dorm wasn't generally a place Jericho thought he'd be visiting, but he was thinking of possibly dropping by Riley's room to check it out. She had offered him to come by some time and all. As he was walking along, he was moving fairly close to the wall on his way to the dorm's entrance. Lately, he's found himself being a little sniffley. Perhaps it was some sort of side effect to being exposed to freezing weather and JOY for weeks at a time, even though he thought he recovered from that after literally sleeping for days after returning home.

Pausing, the dragon felt a sneeze coming to him. And though he tried to fight it, it was futile.

Letting out a sneeze, a jet of flame ended up shooting out from his mouth, charring a part of the wall he stood next to. Sniffing, he glanced to the side to see that he had done more than just scorch the dorm wall. It seemed he had also reduced some plants that had been on the window nearby to ashes.

".. Ah Jack."  

[alpha lyrae]

Tsetsiliya hummed as she sunk her fingers into the dirt of the planter in front of her. The window was open, letting in the ever-blowing autumn breeze, and Pawel, her poor drooping witch's hazel, was nearly blowing away with it. She had nudged the planter a little more into the sunlight, hoping the fresh air would do him some good, but she was getting ready to transfer more friends into the same box. He had needed some companions in the same box, but she had to make sure her latest acquisitions didn't oust him for root room first.

Then the wind shifted, and from the open window she heard a loud sneeze and felt.. a blaze of heat.. ? The poludnica looked up in time to see the flame peter out and the charred skeleton of her poor Pawel resting in the planter. She cried out in surprise and rushed to the window, dirt flying from her hands as she reached up to check.

At her touch, the rest of the plant crumbled, and her mouth fell open in shock. How? Why did this happen? She looked around for something, anything, that could explain it. She had heard somebody sneeze before.. then her searching eyes found him. With the large wings and the horns, not to mention the smell of smoke that hung around.. surely enough, this was her culprit.

But all she could do was stare in disbelief. When the words did come, they came in a low cry.

"H-h-how could you.. ?!"  

[Blade Kuroda]

Staring at the burnt plant, Jericho wondered if he should high tail away before its owner could see what had happened here. However, the demon that owned the plant soon came rushing over. It was just his luck that he happened to incinerate the thing while the girl was home.

Staring at her, he gritted his teeth as she cried out at him in disbelief.

"I didn't mean to!" he quickly said, "I had to sneeze... Didn't see the plant there until after it was burnt."

Scratching his head, he looked at the remains of the potted plant, wondering what he should do about this exactly. He supposed he should compensate for the damage he's done here... but that wasn't something he particularly enjoyed doing. This would especially be the case if it meant giving up some of his shinies for the sake of a sneeze.  

[alpha lyrae]

Tsetsiliya's mouth slowly closed, and she looked at the remains of Pawel in the box. Her fingers continued to sift through the dirt, mixing it with each go. Even if it was an accident, he did burn the plant completely, but then again Pawel had not done well in transit anyway.

"I.. I guess t-there is nothing to be doing, then." She took a steadying breath and smoothed the dirt sadly. Strange as it sounded, she would miss the plant, as it had traveled with her all the way from home and was as displaced as she felt when she first arrived.

At least now it couldn't spend more days dying in her windowsill.

She glanced over at the dragon boy with a wary eye, studying him momentarily. "Please wait." She hopped down from the window and wiped her hands on a nearby towel. As she moved across the room and made for the door, she grabbed an extra square of tissue from the box on her desk. It was a quick stroll down the hall and out the front door before she rounded the corner. Getting a good look at the window as she passed, she saw the streak of ash on the plaster, and the outward facing side of her planter was burnt to match.

"H-here." She held out the tissue to him. "I-It would be very much sad if another lost their plant in this way, yes?" Despite this gesture, Tsetsiliya was still rather displeased with the turn of events, but the moment had come and gone. She wasn't, however, about to leave until she got an apology out of this boy. Sticking around might give him the indication, as she didn't really like the odds of trying to coerce an apology out of one who was considerably taller than her and could easily drop her in a locked-lid garbage bin. No, she would stick with persistent presence, thank you very much.  

[Blade Kuroda]

Looking over the demon in the window, Jericho took notice of the dirt covering her hands. Between that and her reaction towards the now-dead plant, he could only assume that she worked with flora relatively often. It wasn't particularly interested in, but to each their own really.

Blinking as she told him to wait, he stood by until she had come outside and approached him. It took him a moment, but he accepted the tissue with a slight nod. Quite frankly, unless the tissue was fire-proof, it probably wasn't going to do a whole lot to stop the flaming part of his sneezes. The thought was somewhat appreciated though.

"Ah yeah, that'd be bad," he mumbled. For several moments, he waited there in silence, hoping she would leave. It then hit him that she might be waiting for an apology for burning down her plant.

"Oh.. ah right... sorry for killing your...plant... flower.. thing," he added, getting that out of the way. Perhaps he could go on his way now.  

[alpha lyrae]

Tsetsiliya studied the boy and noticed how eager he seemed to get out of there. Truth be told, the situation was rather awkward. He'd apologized, she'd gotten what she wanted.. right?

Not really.

She wanted another plant. He had destroyed hers, so wasn't it right that he replace what he had ruined? But he was so much taller than her.. who was she to demand anything?

No, no! She was in the right! She deserved a new plant! And if he bullied her, so be it! She could deal with it.. maybe.. possibly. Tsetsiliya had intended this school to be a fresh start, free from bullying - but if she was going to shy away every time someone tried to run from responsibility, then she might as well pack up and go back to Madam Morrigan's.

Well, it was time for Tsetsiliya Pavlova to stand up and be counted!

"I-If you could.. I would.. very much like if you.." She swallowed and clenched her nervous hands together flat over her stomach, to keep from fiddling with her belt. "If you could.. r-replace my.. p-plant.." Her voice was a small squeak by the time she finished, but at least she had said it.

Was this what feeling empowered was like? If she had to judge, it felt more like being seasick.  

[Blade Kuroda]

Dwelling there still, Jericho stood in what seemed to be an awkward silence. He probably would have started to move on away but even after the apology, the demon girl still looked like she was expecting something. But maybe, just maybe he could get away with just that.

As she started to speak again, he tilted his head. It didn't help that as she spoke, she was getting quieter and quieter so he had to strain a bit to make out her words by the time she was done. Frowning, it seemed she wanted a replacement after all. Though, to be fair, it was his fault that it was nothing but ash now. If someone had destroyed a piece of his treasure, he'd be royally pissed and want replacement as well.

The way she asked for it was kind of pitiful though, but it worked to make him feel more guilty about what had happened.

"I guess," he sighed, "Would any plant do?"

If so that'd be convienent. He really didn't know a whole lot about flora in general aside from what certain creatures ate and things along those lines.  

[alpha lyrae]

Tsetsiliya was glad that he didn't rebuke her right off. Good, this was a positive sign. She shouldn't put him on the spot for too long, she really didn't want to be a bother.. she just wanted a replacement plant and both of them could move on their way with a little less tension than before. But it wouldn't do if it was a plant she had already.

"Uhm.. I would very much like a plant I do not already have.." She paused in thought, wondering how to go about figuring that out. "Perhaps I could come with you?" She glanced up at him, fiddling with her belt as she did so. As far as new plants went, she had cased the immediate area around the demon dorms pretty well. Some new areas that he might be familiar with could yield something interesting!

"D-Do you know where there are some interesting plants.. ?"  

[Blade Kuroda]

A plant she didn't already have. Well there went his idea of snagging something from the school flowerbeds. Though, it could potentially work still. Jericho didn't know what she had or didn't have. Even if he knew the names of the things, he probably wouldn't really be able to know what they really were.

It was likely better to go with a place not so close by he supposed. Taking a moment to think about it, he let out a sigh. Plants weren't something he paid a great deal of attention to, so he had some trouble recalling if he saw anything of interest. The dragon didn't think he was going to be able to get out of this one with minimal effort at this point.

"I think I might have seen something in the Weeping Woods nearby," he said flatly. Even he wasn't completely certain there, though. It was dark the last time he was there and he was focused on the Hallow-deer and eating more than anything else. But, a forest seemed like a good choice to go searching for weird flora.  

[alpha lyrae]

Tsetsiliya's interest perked. She hadn't been in the Weeping Woods yet. Following along his train of thought without realizing it, she figured there had to be all kinds of interesting plants in there. Besides, she felt that both of them benefited in some way - the boy wouldn't have to pay for anything but only act as guide, and Tsetsiliya would have a new acquisition for her garden. Pawel's memory would also live on as good fertilizer for the new tenant (at least it wasn't a completely wasted death).

"That would be perfect," she replied with a small smile before glancing over at the charred exterior of her dorm. "Err, please wait one moment, I must get something for the plant." She turned and dashed quickly back inside, trying to make quick work of gathering her basket so her (likely) unwilling guide wouldn't decide to take off while she was gone. Persistence was the key, yes indeed!

Soon enough she was back outside, basket in arm and her headscarf readjusted. "Please lead the way, yes?" Adventure, ho!  

[Blade Kuroda]

Before he could get going, Jericho waited for the demon girl to fetch whatever it was she needed. At first he wasn't sure what she was grabbing but once he saw the basket he saw the sense in grabbing that. It would be easier to transport something that way and all.

"Alright," he said before starting to go on towards the woods, "By the way. The name's Jericho."

Seeing how he was going to be around her for a little while, guiding her to and through the forest, he may as well get the introductions out of the way now. If he had to go through with this, he could at least know who he was dealing with and such. Despite this bit of friendly gesture, he still didn't sound very enthused over all.

"I'm guessing you deal with plants often?"  

[alpha lyrae]

"My name is Tsetsiliya," the poludnica replied with her customary dip of the head that happened with most introductions. Despite burning her plant to nothing but cinders, this Jericho character didn't seem entirely that bad. She had a lingering suspicion (if anything his flat tone confirmed things) that he'd rather be anyplace else but there, but she had to give him credit where it was due. None of the girls at Madam Morrigan's would have stuck around to replace what they'd ruined in this situation.

"Yes," she said, fondly patting the basket as they walked. "They are, how you say, very much my passion." She had almost said "friends", but she didn't want to give him any material that he could tease her with too readily. That slip up would probably come later, undetected, as it normally did. With the duo heading past the dorms and down the path towards the main school buildings, the path would wind down to the woods. Tsetsiliya trembled nervously at the thought, but had to remember that her unwilling companion had gotten out of it relatively unscathed.

Then again he was a lot more formidable than she was. Well, she would have to cross that bridge when she got there.

"And you? What are your interests?" She thought it best to keep the stream of conversation flowing, if anything to keep up mostly amiable relations between them. It also did well to keep her mind from wandering towards any paranoid thoughts about what awaited at their destination.  

[Blade Kuroda]

Keeping her name in mind, Jericho continued along the path as she explained a little of her passion. His assumption earlier had been correct then, and there really wasn't anything wrong with enjoying plantlife. Personally though, he couldn't see himself being much of a gardener. Aside from the fact that he would most likely kill any plant that came in his possession before long, plants were just too stationary for him. Then again, those trees in Christmastown were far from being inanimate, but he would really not want to deal with those much either.

"Collecting treasure and playing various games I guess," he replied with his tone a little more normal now. He enjoyed a good fight too, but he left that bit out for now.

He couldn't see any signs of the woods just yet, but it likely wouldn't be too long before they reached the outskirts of the place.

"Have you been to these woods before at all?"  

[alpha lyrae]

"I-I have not," Tsetsiliya replied. "Have you been often?" Her eyes wandered down the path but she had to keep her mind on the conversation at hand. But she'd rather not have to dwell on what could be in the woods (not after Christmas Town anyway, oh Jack no), so instead she steered things back to an earlier topic.

"You say you like games?" she asked, her interest piqued. "What kind of games?" She enjoyed games as well. Moreso riddles, but those were a type of game, weren't they? "I am fond of riddles and parlor games, but I am not very much familiar with other games.."

They were making good time past the cluster of classrooms. In the distance she could see the treetops of the forest but tried not to let it intimidate her too much. Keep your eye (or in this case, mind) on the prize!  

[Blade Kuroda]

"Only once or twice," he said before considering what sorts of games he enjoyed. Jericho enjoyed a variety of them really. Riddles and parlor games were alright and he'd play them though they weren't quite his favorite type out there.

"All sorts. Some physical games, some chance based games, and especially D&H. That one is possibly my favorite, as well as any other games similar to it."

Seeing the treeline up ahead, the dragon picked up the pace a little. The sooner they got to the forest, the quicker they could get this whole miniature adventure over with. Hopefully Tset could find something of interested relatively fast. Of course, his guess that there would be something she would like in the woods could be completely wrong which meant he'd have to try and find some other alternative.

That didn't sit well with him at all.