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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 11:37 pm
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"Oh."
Her response was a short one, though the creased brows and little frown on her face had yet to fade. Was that it? She found herself still feeling a little puzzled. Gaze absently focused on his plate, she spoke up in a quiet, thoughtful tone. "Well, some of us have had...bad experiences with flames in the past," the baku faltered and cringed slightly the memory of being burnt alive, "And I know that the undead and ice students at Amity are skittish around fire, but..."
Xiu eyes flickered back to him, "I hardly think that everyone should be afraid of you. You aren't the first, nor the last, fire demon Amity has had...and, with all due respect," she smiled wryly, folding her hands in her lap, "You hardly look like a dangerous person to me." Grumpy, yes, and with the potential of being dangerous, but not so much as he was normally.
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Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2015 11:56 pm
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 12:24 am
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Xiu startled a little when he suddenly got up, her eyes growing round at his yelling. Clearly she had agitated him, something that she felt terrible for, but she did manage to get her answer: "she". Was that what this was about? With the realization that someone he cared about may have been involved, suddenly all of this--the refusal to go to prom, the frustration that people feared him--made all the more sense.
Pushing herself out of her own seat, she walked to where the boil was reached out to seize his wrists, her grip firm but gentle. All she wanted was to try and stop his pacing, feeling that the action would only perpetuate his frustration rather than help diminish it.
"Calm down," she ordered with a frown, though both her expression and her voice softened as she continued, "I'm sorry that this is how people have been treating you--I really, really am. I don't think you're someone who should be feared, and you're by no means a bad person who deserves to be treated as such." She genuinely felt that Andrew wasn't being treated as he should have been, but at the same time, she could potentially sympathize with the other students as well. Xiu wouldn't deny some things, like his apparent temper, may have unknowingly led some students to fear him--there were always two sides, after all.
There was a hesitant pause, and then Xiu spoke very carefully. "Can I ask who 'she' is, or is that something you'd rather not talk about at all? I don't mean a name or anything, just..."
phantompanther13 JUST LEGS who needs those B)
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 8:20 am
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Her heart hurt. Xiu's chest tightened as she watched the fury suddenly drain out of him, his posture taking on one of defeat. Fingers slowly loosening around his wrists, she freed them and gingerly brought one arm up to coil around him in a loose, one-armed hug. Not knowing how he'd react, she made certain that he's easily be able to break free from the contact should he want or need to.
"She" was undead. Of course--all the pieces of the puzzle really had come together now to reveal a rather difficult situation. Xiu felt a pain of sympathy for both of them, realizing that this whole situation couldn't be easy for either party. She gave him a gentle squeeze, and then shook her head. "You shouldn't dismiss yourself like that," she scolded gently, "When something is hurting you like this, then it is a big deal, Andrew. It's not weakness to be able to admit that, and you don't deserve to be hurt any more than anyone else does." She wondered just how long he had been dealing with this.
Xiu mulled over his words, pressing her lips into a thin line as she carefully considered her reply. "Truthfully, I've never thought for a moment that a student with an affinity for fire could not be friends, or more, with an undead student. I know, I know--I am neither, so I technically shouldn't have a say in this," she added the second part quickly, a faint, lopsided smile on her face, "But...I never said that it'd be easy. It would be difficult, very much so, since you'd both have your own hurdles to overcome."
A pause, and then, "...Did she tell you, then? That she was afraid of you? Or..." she trailed off, leaving the question open. Considering the delicate topic, she wouldn't fault him for cutting it off there and then, even if they had come this far.
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 4:49 pm
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Xiu only offered a patient smile when he drew away, tactfully making no move to mention the hug right now. It didn't take a genius to see that the action had embarrassed him, and she certainly knew better than to call attention to this and potentially make him feel even more awkward than he already did.
However, the frown was back on her face as she listened to him speak, growing from a tiny one to one that was quite deeply troubled. Stepping back a little so that she could look up at him properly, the baku's tail absently swayed behind her. "You might want to interrupt me in the middle of this, but please hear me out," she started slowly. She took a deep breath, and then lift her gaze to meet his, "Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong after, but...aren't you the one who is distancing himself from people?"
She lightly rest a hand on her arm, the worry evident in her eyes, "I'm just curious if you've actually sat down and talked to her, or if this--choosing to stay away from her--is something you decided on your own. If this is something that you chose on her behalf, do you think that's necessarily fair? Not letting her have a say in your relationship?"
Xiu feared that she may have started to sound a little preachy, but she might as well go all the way with her thoughts. "You don't want to be attached because you're afraid of being hurt," she pointed out without a hint hesitation, "And I understand that it's only natural to want to protect yourself, but I feel like you've been talking about yourself as if all you are is just a burning inferno." Taking another step back, she swept an arm out and gestured towards him with a wry smile, "There's so much more to you than just being a fire demon. It's a big part of your identity to be sure, but it's not the only part. This ghoul may be scared of your power, but perhaps she was willing to push that aside and be your friend because she liked you as a person, fire and all."
There was a beat, and then she held her hands up in front of her with a little grin, "Or you can dismiss these as the ramblings of a baku ghoul. This is just what I think, and while I can't say that I really like fire because of past events, I can say that I like you."
phantompanther13 I am sorRY I KEEP WRITING MORE Xiu's muse can be pretty long-winded @ times like this /head in hands
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 7:43 pm
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 8:56 pm
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The corners of her lips quirked upwards at his confession and she propped a hand up on her hip. "Managed to think up a couple of people, did you?" she teased lightly before letting out a thoughtful hum, "Have you at least tried talking to her about it? Maybe she wouldn't be able to handle the natural level of your flames off the bat, but it can be something gradual to work towards. Bravery's not something that's stiff and unchanging after all--you should give her a more little credit."
"Besides," she added, curling her hands into a loose fist and gently bopping him on the head, "If we're talking about better alternatives, I think at least attempting to protect the friendship that means so much to you is much better than having the both of you be unhappy." As they were now. She didn't know the ghoul Andrew was referring to, but she doubted that she was happy with the unexpected avoidance.
Picking up the chair that she had moved earlier, she went to replace it in its proper place before trotting back with a laugh--an action that felt quite nice after the serious cloud that had been hanging over the two of them before. "I used to be a stuttering mess who was scared of everyone. Trust me, I seem more confident now, but it took a lot of time and support from my friends."
And life-threatening situations. Pleeeenty of those.
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 9:16 pm
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Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 10:55 pm
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Okay, even she had her limits. Since he had explicitly asked to steer the topic away from the present one, Xiu nodded and playfully mussed the hair that he had just tried to fix. "Okay, let's drop it. I think I've pried enough for a day, don't you?" Her voice took on a light tone as she said this, and she reached over to tie up his bag of spookies for him, wrapping the ribbon around once more in a neat bow. There, now he could bring them back with him.
"You're always welcome here," she said suddenly after a short silence, "And I don't mean that I want to harass you! Just that this place is always around if you want to relax alone or chat with some people."
"I'll make sure I'll have coffee things for you," Xiu added with a bright grin.
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Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2015 2:25 am
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