Dinner Gathering (2)

Current Points: 5125

Quests: Passion:

Kiss Liliath's forehead. 40P

Princess-carry Liliath a distance of 10 meters. 40P

...

Quests: Commitment:

*Allow Liliath to snuggle close to you. 20P

Protect Liliath from ill-intent. 30P

...

Quests: Intimacy:

Exchange conversions regarding tea. 15P

Text each other (situational). 10P

...

Quests will be refreshed daily. Quests that have been completed will be prioritized, else the user can select up to 1 quest per category to remove. (removed quests will be refreshed the next day)

Max quest for each category: 2 (Upgradable) (78/100)

\\

\\

\\

"I read up once before you could add dried powdered orange peels to tea to give it a hint of tangerine or crumble a few mint leaves to add a cooling effect to the aftertaste... Elyja also told me that I could buy some buckwheat tea directly from school so I don't personally have to search for the store location. Though it's unfortunate she herself doesn't know where the school got the tea from. It seems to be a rare kind of tea, don't you think? Noel, what tea in your opinion do you think is the rarest?"

I honestly don't know much about the rarest tea in the world. If I were to make a pun here, it would be nau-tea? But we're having a serious conversation about tea so I better give a justifiable answer.

"What tea.. pine leaf tea? I don't know where I've seen or heard this before but you could apparently use the spiky pine tree leaves to make tea-- rather, you could make tea with quite a number of herbs. Just that the ones we see here in the city are the more common ones."

"So such holds true for something like butterflypea? It's an ingredient used to dye tea in purple."

"Butterfly pea?"

"It's a dark purple flower in a shape much like a small orchid," Liliath nodded to my lack of knowledge.

What is that? A butterfly shaped flower plant? That thing can turn purple? Ughh.. doesn't matter.

Liliath unwrapped her hands around my arm, brought her knees onto the bed and buried her head into it.

It's a mystery how Liliath can repeat this process of acting bold for the sake of self destruction. Though, I'm sure it's just Liliath trying her best.

Oh right, speaking of which, I still haven't completed my special quest for this week. I should just tell her about it since she's also in this embarrassed state.

"Liliath, I'll be frank here, I don't think I can complete my special quest this week."

"Reason being?" She lifted her head to look at me, her cute face with lips tightly pressed together.

"Well.. the special quest has me doing something to you when you're taking your bath.."

No reaction. So this degree is fine?

"Washing a certain part of your body.."

Liliath shrunk back, or should I say she wobbled away to the other side of the bed. Ah darn it. I didn't mean THAT part!

"It's your hair."

Hm? No reaction?

'Noel's special quest failed.'

Oh. There's a delay.

"I-I see," Liliath nodded with her face still buried.

From this vantage point-- with the way she was curling up her legs not to mention how she's currently wearing the black dress-- I averted my eyes.

I may have or may not have seen something I shouldn't.

Just as I was trying to delete that memory, I felt an impact that sent me flying off the bed. I didn't smaaash into a wall, nothing like that, but the force was indeed enough to have me fall from her bed. And ow.. what hit me was a pillow?! How much force was put into that?!

"Pervert," you could hear her pout in her voice.

Haa.. What cliche shit is this? Why the hell do I feel so happy I got called a pervert? Is this why males are doomed to death to begin with?

"Sorry," I could only hang my head. Looks like someone has been reading a lot lately...hm? "Um Liliath, do you mind if I tried to carry you?"

I didn't turn around so I couldn't really tell what the rustling sound meant. Did she nod or shake her head? Hopefully it's not her taking off her clothing..

"For the quest's sake.. correct?"

"Yeah.. something like that.."

"I decline."

"Got it."

And with that, our quest completion binge session ended-- that was what i thought when i held the door knob thinking of leaving Liliath's room when..

"One condition. Carry me to the living room."

"Is that alright with you?" I turned around to face her-- probably showing a stunned expression myself.

Liliath nodded meekly. She got up from the bed and turned her side to me.

Really now? Okay, let's just hope Liliath didn't gain any weight-- that's a taboo topic so I should be careful not to expose my thoughts.

I placed one hand behind her back, another close to her knee and scooped her up into my arms. Bending back, her body slid towards my chest, I could feel her body heat close to mine. She obstinately tried to avoid eye contact. A princess carry.

Seeing how cute she's becoming, blood rushed to my head and I avoided looking at her too much too. But the feeling of her skin through her clothes and her weight..

Her weight? Something doesn't feel right. Why does Liliath feel like she weighs less than 10 kilograms? That's inhuman..

"Liliath, you don't feel anything wrong with your body do you? You're incredibly light.."

She brought her hands together and covered her face without replying. That question wasn't for flirting sake but whatever. Her reaction speaks that she's totally fine so no qualms there.

I brought Liliath out of her room and towards the living room-- of course I waltz around her room a few meters since the distance from her room to the living door doesn't reach 10 meters.

I wanted to put her down after seeing a star beside the 'princess carry LIliath' quest but she insisted that I placed her on the sofa.. so I did. She crawled up into a ball, I sat limpily beside her.

There wasn't anyone present here since we were all busy getting ourselves ready for tonight's dinner. Prune and Nine were probably still in their rooms… not.

"Oh, you two are done flirting now," Nine who had been peeking at us finally exposed himself. I had to blink my eyes twice-- or trice.

A short male with a suave look, hair shining in a nice gloss-- he definitely put some gel on that-- wearing a grey polo shirt and dark blue pants. Nine as a male. She's no longer 'just' a bitch.

"Are those clothes all XS sizes?" I asked.

Nine's frolickign smile turned into a frown, one that took me by surprise. It was the first time I've seen her-- I mean him angry in this form.

"S size. Whatever. Putting that asides, Noel, only my elder sister would be coming to the gathering today. I've already told your parents so make sure you don't make her fall for you alright?"

To his words that sounded all-so serious with his frown and deep voice, I clamed up and decided not to say too much. I wanted to retort but my gut was warning me otherwise. I didn't really pay attention to this last time but male Nine is a really moody guy, isn't he?

My guess is that he was from a family with some 'situations'. He never talked about it though.

"Got it."

Letting loose a sigh, Nine sat on the opposite couch.

"And this is why I prefer the female form. Scary right?" Nine tried smiling at me but his eyes were not, unlike when he's a female where both were coordinated.

"Nine, is this your true self?" Liliath who recovered, questioned.

"I was originally a male so maybe it is possible to say this is my true self. I just don't like how I feel when I'm like this. It's ingrained in this body."

"Could you elaborate?"

"Put it this way, my male body and female body are different. From hormones to neurological wiring to even habits. And because of certain 'issues' I've had to face in the past, my male self remembers certain actions and causes me to react and act to certain situations in a certain way. My female self was a blank slate when it first appeared. Free from the negative emotional build-up of the past, so the feeling I felt as a female was different. To say it otherwise-- split personality, but being aware of it," Nine frowned.

"Why couldn't you use your female form today? I remember hearing you covet the legal document to prevent Noel from acting on you?" Liliath asked.

Hey..

"Noel's parents don't know about my TALENT. I don't intend to show it to them either. One of the criteria for the fourth tenant was a male. I could be kicked out if they found out."

"I don't think so though?" I said.

"You never know. There's still that possibility so I have to be careful-- ah sheesh! I'm always so negative when I'm a male," Nine grumbled.

This is really-- how should i say. Interestingly weird? I didn't know Nine's TALENT would be that intricate.

"I'm done, how do I look?" Prune came last, showing off her white camisole, light blue jeans and light-yellow cardigan.

"Not bad," Nine replied with a stiff smile that for some reason suited his temperament.

"I think it's a good match," matches quite well with her fluffy tail and ears.

As for me, I wore a simple polo shirt with light brown pants, a yellow jacket over my shoulders.