[PRP] A Subtle Confession (Meixiang x Leo)

[Yayoi]

Meixiang had finished her graduation and moved her belongings to the new apartment she had acquired in Halloween town. Even though she was officially no longer a student she was still able to come and go from the school grounds when she wanted. Which was nice because she still had a few friends that lived here.

Before she was to begin moving down the path she had started for herself she had a loose end to tie up. Something she had been putting off for a very long time. It wasn't an easy thing to deal with. And it would be even harder to go through with it. But she was an adult now. There was nothing to be scared or shy about.

Well, not entirely.

She made her way to the Monster doorms. Finding herself standing in front of a familiar door. The ghoul sucked in a deep breath before knocking on the door. A nervous smile on her lips. "Leo are you in?"

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Yeah, one moment!" The ghoul in question shouted, hastily putting aside her book and moving the two fruttens that'd been sleeping on her belly before getting up and moving to open the door.

"Hey Mei," she grinned, throwing open the door before pulling her friend into a quick hug. "Come on in!" Stepping back and gesturing for her to enter, she quickly surveyed her room and lamented the fact that she really hadn't had any warning about this visit. She'd at least have tidied up a little if she knew the other ghoul was coming over; as it was the place was a mess of open school books, half-finished assignments and minipets napping everywhere.

"D'you want a cup of tea or something? I've also got some, wait, a second -" she moved to a drawer, rummaging around for a little bit before triumphantly holding up her find; "spookies! Good ones too, not the mass-produced ones, promise. You want any?"

Yayoi

 

[Yayoi]

Good she was here. If she hadn't been the situation would have been had to be pushed back to a further date. When she wasn't busy getting her studio stuff all sorted out.

The hug was welcome and she flashed the other ghoul a smile as she stepped into the room. Not minding the mess. Her own place was kind of disheveled at the moment too. Plus it was kind of charming. The books and papers laying about. Minis here and there. Part of her missed the dorms.

"Tea and spookies sounds nice." Moving towards the bed she flopped down onto the edge. "I haven't had a lot of time for some nice tea lately. Since the last time we got together I finally did my graduation and left the Undead dorms. I have a nice little apartment now." The news would probably not shock Leo since they had talked about it last time. "How are you fairing with your studies? You seem to be really busy." She toed at a book on the floor idly.

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

Humming in reply, she started setting up for tea; she'd already had a pot on, but it'd gone so dark it was nearly undrinkable and she wasn't putting Mei through that. "Congrats!" She paused to throw a grin at her friend, "I'd love to see it sometime. We could have a house-warming party!"

Then it was back to putting the tea on, and Leo's reply to the question was a drawn-out groan and the words, "ugh, don't remind me. I like the practical stuff well enough, but all this sitting around and reading about the past really isn't me."

Still, she was making progress. "I'm close to the exam for entering third year, now - just a little bit to go and I'll be ready for it."

Yayoi

 

[Yayoi]

"That sounds like a great idea. I've nearly got everything put away just a few things here and there then it'll be perfect. When you have time I'd love for you to come visit. Get out of the dorms and take a break from studying a bit." She looked around for a piece of paper and a pen, finding one of each she scribbled down her address. "Here. Feel free to just pop by anytime."

Mei clapped her hands happily. "That's good! Then soon enough you'll become an alumni. The time goes by really fast." Leaning forward she grinned. "Half the time I don't understand why they make us learn about all the boring old stuff. It doesn't really come up all that often out side of school anyway. Like...when am I ever going to need to know when the battle of Bleeding Knee ended? Or who was the six hundreth and sixty sixth mayor of Halloween town? Not like I'm going on Jepboodery or something."

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

"Sure! You know I'll always make time for you," a thumbs up and a smile at her friend, then she deemed the water boiled enough to add a teabag to it. Moving the pot to her little coffee table, she went to grab another mug for her.

"Really fast?" Leo laughed, shaking her head a bit, "Mei, I've been here for five years - really fast passed by a while ago, I think."

Setting the extra cup down on the table, she took a seat while nodding emphatically. "Tell me about it! And what job is ever going to require that of you, seriously? You'd have to be a historian or something."

Yayoi

 

[Yayoi]

She was glad to hear. Meixiang didn't want to disturb Leo's studies.

The ghoul waved a dismissive hand with a laugh. "Well....you've had a lot going on at home. So its ok. I suppose if it makes you feel any better there are some alumni that still live in the dorms?" She wasn't entirely sure how that could make anyone feel better but well. It was something to try at least. Meixiang had decided a long time ago that she would not be one of those creeple.

"Exactly." Nodding in agreement. Talking with Leo was certainly helping her nerves calm a bit. Of course, looking around at all the books and how hard her friend was studying was starting to nag at her. She had come here to get something off her chest but if that something disrupted Leo's efforts in working towards her education...

No, Leo would understand. She hoped. To be honest Meixiang had been holding off on it for quite sometime. And she had kept it from being way too obvious. Fiddling with her sleeves she smiled weakly. "So, there is a specific reason I came by today other than to hang out with my best friend."

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

Weirdly that did make her feel slightly better; it wasn't like she spent long hours thinking about how slow she'd been or anything though. Well... not hours, at least. Some minutes, maybe, mostly when someone younger than her graduated and she was still here, doing the same things she'd done for five years.

Still, that didn't make her school experience a bad one. Sometimes she just got a bit envious of all the creeple who'd moved on with their life.

Caught up in her thoughts, she almost missed Mei's words - almost but not quite. "Really?" She threw her friend an encouraging smile, finally noticing that she seemed a bit.. off. Nervous, maybe? "You know I'll help with anything I can," and she would, in a heartbeat.

Yayoi

 

[Yayoi]

Ahhh, if she actually had a blood flow her ears would be pounding right about now. Meixiang usually wasn't this way but it was a touchy subject and the way Leo might react to it well...it was an unseen.

And everyone was afraid of the unknown.

Just spit it out already. "I came by because I have something I need to tell you. Its...something I've been holding back telling you for a very long time but I need to tell you now or else I never will." She let out a long slow breath. "And I hope it makes you feel weird or anything but its something I need to do."

Reaching out, she took Leo's hands in her own. "I know we've had quite a bit of time apart from each other from time to time for one reason or another. But...Leo I...I really like you more than just a friend. And I don't know if you feel the same but I just needed to get it off my chest."

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

Leo nodded as Mei spoke, watching her friend with a kind smile and concerned eyes - whatever this thing was, it was obviously serious. She'd never seen her best friend like this, not in all the time she remembered knowing the jiang shi.

She easily let the other ghoul take her hands, curling her fingers around her and stroking gently with a thumb. And took in the words that were being spoken, a small wrinkle on her forehead. "Me too Mei; you're my best friend in the whole world, you know? I don't have any other friends like you."

Was that it? That seemed rather simple; if all her friend had needed was a little reassurance, she was happy to give it.

Yayoi

annnd enter oblivious!Leo

 

[Yayoi]

Brown eyes blinked rapidly. It seemed Leo wasn't quite getting the gist of what Mei was trying to say. Not in the least. Was she not being obvious enough? She had been holding back so long maybe it was just still too subtle.

Wrinkling her nose, Meixiang shook her head. "No, that's not what I mean. I really like like you, Leo." Ahhh, her ears felt like they were burning. But she leaned in close to the other ghoul and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. If that was still too subtle she wasn't sure what else she could do to get the message across.

Ephebe

Lmao

 

[Ephebe]

She felt slightly puzzled as Mei leaned in and then just before soft lips touched her own, had a moment of pure realization. Then the kiss - because that was definitely a kiss, right? - was over and she blinked rapidly, trying to come to terms with what'd just happened.

Opening her mouth to say something, anything, it occurred to her that she'd just been kissed by her best friend and her mouth shut quickly as all the blood in her body rushed to her face. That was what it felt like, anyway - but that would probably have killed her if that was true, right?

She was stalling.

Consciously she cleared her throat, cheeks still blazing and tried forming some words; "that was... nice?"

Yayoi

 

[Yayoi]

To be honest she was unsure of just what kind of reaction she had been looking for. That and she hadn't really prepared herself for what kind of reaction she had gotten. It was probably a shock to Leo so in her mind that what probably the reaction she was going to get all along.

Ahh that was bad. That was really really bad. She shouldn't have gone so far. It was too far. She knew that. Meixiang's mind was going a million miles an hour before she stood straight up, knocking the table with her knee as she fumbled towards the door. "Ah well I'm sorry to have bugged you, Leo. I-I should really get going you see...if I'm gone too long my Venusfly cats like to chew on the rugs and..and Goop gets moody if he doesn't get some of his favorite biscuits..." She turned her wrist up to look at a watch that wasn't there. "Like right now."

Jack what had she done. She laughed nervously while fumbling for the door knob.

Ephebe

 

[Ephebe]

Leo jumped up after Mei stood up, startled by the sound of her knee hitting the table and also things were moving really fast and to be quite frank she was still a bit confused -

but then Mei was making excuses to leave and it was quite, quite clear that she had messed up in some way.

Springing into action, she clumsily tumbled after the other ghoul (why did everything in her room suddenly seem to be in her way?) and hastily clasped her arms around her to stop her from getting out the door.

"No!" She said, quite decisively, and then floundered for a moment because she was very close to someone who'd just kissed her and Mei was soft in all the right places but -

- but that was a thought for later. "We need to talk about this. Right now." Arms still clasped around her best friend, she started maneuvering them back towards a seat.

Yayoi

 

[Yayoi]

She hadn't been fast enough. Or perhaps it was just how flustered she was. Before Mei knew it Leo had her arms around her, preventing the ghoul from bolting out the door. Struggling for just a couple of seconds against the restraint of the other ghoul's arms she let out a small sigh. Hanging her head in defeat.

Leo was right. She couldn't just run away from it now, putting it off after she'd gone this far would only make things worse. Letting herself be guided back to her seat. "Ok..." Instinctively slipping her hands into the inside of her long sleeves to grasp at the silk lining.

Ephebe