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 Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 5:46 pm
Surprisingly enough, despite having been here for a while now, Xiu had never paid the wishing well a visit before. There was never any reason for her to do so--she didn't have anything to wish for. However, when she heard that there had been strange plants planted there by the mayor, she suddenly found a reason for her to go. As a ghoul who loved learning about plants and flowers, she literally jumped at the idea of getting to research one that she had never seen before.
It was fortunate that Roch agreed to accompany her, especially since...well, to put it in a more pleasant way, the little Baku tended to be a little "directionally challenged" at times. Furthermore, the idea of wandering off campus alone was more than a little frightening for Xiu. It was one thing to go to the maul where there would be other townspeople, but the wishing well? From what she heard, not many paid a trip to the well these days.
With her handy camera hanging from around her neck, Xiu quickly checked that she had everything--her room key, and her phone--before she left the demon dorms and headed towards the front gate at the appointed meeting time.
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 5:55 pm
The punk boil was sitting on the ground, leaning against the fence as he waited for her to show up. He was early, mostly because he was eager to get off of campus, now that it had been mentioned.
Idly he picked at the guitar he was holding, a silly little song played note by note that he was trying to cheer himself up with. He glanced up as he saw her coming, then stood, letting the guitar disappear. "You ready?" he asked.
She wasn't like the people he was used to, Roch thought as he looked at her. His hands shoved into his pockets, his shoulders hunching slightly as he felt a little self conscious. She was really... gentle looking, wasn't she? And what the hell was he doing hanging out with another ghoul when the first two he hanged out with were such trouble?
Oh, right, she'd seemed fun at the prom. He could use some fun. "Hey! You brought the camera! That'll be fun," he said, bouncing back quickly.
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 8:38 pm
She was surprised to see that Roch was already at the gates, her brows suddenly knitting together in concern. "Roch! I'm sorry! You weren't waiting long, were you?" Xiu rushed forward, though upon seeing that he didn't seem upset, she assumed that he hadn't been there for long. Expression relaxing, she smiled up at the reaper shyly. "T-thank you for accompanying me! I'm kind of bad with directions, so...oh! B-but that's not the only reason I asked you to come!" The last part was added on hastily, and she put her hands up in defense. She didn't want him thinking that she only invited him to be a guide!
She visibly brightened when the attention was turned to her camera. Tail waving, the Baku gave an enthusiastic nod of her head. "Yup! I thought it'd be nice to take some pictures along the way." Not to mention a few photos of those plants at the wishing well.
"How have you been?" Xiu asked suddenly, peering up at Roch with curious--and vaguely worried--eyes. She left the question casual and open-ended, allowing him to interpret it and answer as he wanted. Yes, she had heard a few rumours these past days about things that had occurred at prom, mostly from Groanspring. There was Claire's "fact of the day", and Demi's answer, and...
Well, honestly, she wasn't sure what happened after she left prom that night. She did want to know if the reaper was alright though, that much was for sure. He had been nice to her! The least she could do was repay the favour.
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 8:53 pm
He blinked, a strange look on his face at her question. You know, he thought, I was fine with Danny asking, since it came off as her forcing me to tell her, but--
He wasn't quite sure how to handle this innocent worry. His eyes widened and he looked almost... vulnerable for a second before his face went blank and a smile replaced it. "Oh, I'm fine," he said. "I'm tough as hell! Nothin' gets under my skin!" Which was the most blatant lie he'd ever told, and he'd told some doozies in his time.
"C'mon, let's go find some stuff to take pictures of!" he said, heading out the gate.
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 9:56 pm
She looked a bit uncertain at his response, but decided not to pry. For all she knew, maybe he really was okay, and perhaps she had been concerned over nothing. However, she couldn't help but reach up and give him a soft pat on the shoulder, followed by a smile. "Okay." Xiu said simply, "I'm glad to hear you're doing well."
Her smile grew slightly as she hurried to follow him, clutching the camera in her hands so that it wouldn't swing too wildly while she ran to catch up. "You seem just as enthusiastic as I am." Xiu teased, her tail wagging behind her, "I'm not even really sure what we'll find at the Wishing Well! There are plants, I know, but..." Would there be anything else of interest? Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure if Roch would even like looking at the plants as much as she would.
The Baku drooped a little at the thought. If he was bored, she would make it up to him somehow! Either way, she wanted to thank him for coming along with her.
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 9:59 pm
"Hey, who knows what you'd find at a wishing well? I wonder how deep it is," he said, still walking. He'd checked out the map before leaving, and went the right way without thinking about it. "Hey... what would you wish for?" he asked her. "If you could have anything at all, what would it be?"
It was a playful question, but there seemed to be some meaning beneath it, just like his group groanspring questions did.
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Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2011 10:37 pm
"How deep it is? You're not going to check, are you?" She teased, giggling. At the question, Xiu immediately fell silent, her expression becoming thoughtful. It was...a good question, really. She heard that most students had gone to the wishing well before exams--clearly to wish for good grades--but with no exams to worry about at present, the Baku had to consider other ideas.
She was having a little bit of trouble coming up with something though. "I'm...not sure," She admitted, frowning, "So far I'm pretty happy with life at Amity. I'm not quite as unsociable as I thought I would be." Xiu smiled at this, looking up at the reaper. Despite her initial anxiety about enrolling the school, she was definitely grateful that she did so now.
"If I had to choose something...I guess I'd wish for everyone's smiles." The Baku answered finally, grinning. It was half serious--there had been a lot of stressful drama the night of the prom, not only for Roch, but for some of Xiu's other friends--and it was half joking in the fact that...well. Xiu knew a lot of grumpy people. The very thought of them smiling and laughing was almost frightening in a comical way.
"What about you?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 8:07 am
Damn. So sweet. So--so freakin cute, Roch thought, looking away and running a hand over his face. Why was she so. freakin. cute?? He hadn't expected this! What do you do with cute, anyway?? Okay, he thought, think fast buddy boil, she just asked a question.
"I would wish..." he let it hang for a moment as he thought as fast as he could, only to stop and give her a brilliant grin. "For a massive, over the top, big as a mountain feast! Meat, sweets, all sorts of things, except vegetables, that is. Tables full, all for me. Hamburgers, tacos, meatballs, pizza, chili dogs--" he listed out. "Man, so much stuff that I can't even think of all of it off the top of my head!"
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 1:39 pm
If his intention had been to make Xiu laugh at his answer, he got the desired reaction. After a bit of blank staring, the Baku began to laugh, her small frame shaking as she tried--and failed--to suppress her laughter. "T-that sounds...pretty good, actually," She said between giggles, "No vegetables, though? You'll have lots of protein, but where are you going to get your vitamins minerals?" That was a hint of Xiu's motherly persona showing though, only right now, she was just teasing.
Wiping away the tears that had gathered at the corner of her eyes, she tilted her head back to look up at Roch and smile wryly. "Though I guess that's why you're so tall and I'm not." She raised a hand and tried to compare their heights, standing on her tip-toes (and nearly tripping) in her attempt.
Xiu was, however, slightly relieved to see that Roch seemed to be quite cheerful. Had the rumours she heard really not affected him? Or perhaps he had already gotten over it? Something still bothered her though.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 1:58 pm
"Snapper pies, screach cobblers, booberry tarts," he listed off, a tiny bit of drool trickling down his chin, which he promptly wiped off with the back of his forearm. "See, I knew we shoulda brought a picnic," he said, even though he hadn't thought of that until this very moment. "I wonder if they've got some sort of fast food joint along the way..."
They didn't, all the fast food joints were in the maul, but a boil could dream, couldn't he? "Hey, what's your favorite food?" he asked her.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:11 pm
Xiu laughed again--now she was getting hungry. "Maybe next time," She said, referring to the picnic idea, "We could have a group picnic some day. I'd help prepare the food!" Ooh, cooking was always so much fun, especially when making stuff for a big group of people.
"If you're hungry, we can take a detour and get some food?" She offered, gesturing to the path. They weren't too far from the wishing well now, but the Baku certainly didn't mind coming back to it later if the reaper was hungry. "As for my favourite food...I love sweet things. Maybe eye scream?" Who didn't love eye scream though? The frozen treat seemed especially tasty during Halloween Town's hotter days.
"You sure love food, don't you Roch?" Xiu grinned, shaking her head, "Actually...we met at prom because you almost hit me with a meatball, right?" Cue an eyebrow raise and a giggle.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:18 pm
"That--" he said, raising a finger, "has a perfectly reasonable explanation. Which I'll tell you once I come up with it," he added, making a face. He grinned, shoving his hands in his pockets. So maybe prom hadn't been so bad, after all, at least, up until that end part.
A slight frown pulled at his lips as he kept heading for the wishing well. "We'll get food after this, since it's closer," he added idly, not really paying attention to what he was saying. "You know," he said, glancing at her, "I don't think people... think like I do here," he admitted. "You ever have that problem?"
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:41 pm
"Think like you do?" Xiu echoed, the concerned look immediately flickering back onto her face. Her instinct had been right then: something was bothering him. Closing her eyes, she hummed quietly, deciding to choose her words carefully. "I...I feel like that sometimes. Sometimes the way I think or act is different from the others, but being different isn't always bad...right? It's what makes you special." She was a little puzzled where this question had come from, but she would answer it to the best of her ability...even if her answer was a little vague and optimistic.
As they reached the wishing well area, the Baku perked up slightly, scanning the area for the plants. Ah, there they were. "Actually," She smiled, seeming a little sheepish, "I wanted to come out here to check out the plants I heard about. Those ones, actually." She gestured towards the plants in the distance, squinting at them eagerly. She couldn't really tell from this far, but they definitely did look...unique. Nothing like she had ever seen before, at least.
However, before they approached the well, Xiu pat the reaper's shoulder and looked up at him with a smile. "Let's go get lots of food after this."
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:48 pm
"Y'know, um, you're not thinkin' like I am, either, cuz those SERIOUSLY look like gigantic mouths to me," he said as they headed for the plants. "And I've seen a lot of mouths in my life, but those could be the biggest I've seen," he added.
But strangely enough, he was still moving forward. But he DID bring a fist up, his FEAR gathering together to form his guitar.
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Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 6:31 pm
Xiu was already snapping pictures, but Roch's comment made her pause to frown. "...Mouths?" She repeated, lowering the camera so that she could step closer to take a better look. Now that he mentioned it, it did look like these plants had mouths, didn't they? And they were very large plants as well. Certainly big enough that Xiu, being rather tiny, could probably fit inside if one were to open up and--
--Oh look, they were moving.
...Wait, what?
Xiu's eyes widened when one of the plants lunged towards her, splitting open to reveal a large, pointy-teeth filled mouth. She panicking too much to say anything, but somehow, she managed to dodge out of the way before the blasted thing could get a bite out of her.
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