Tell Me Your Favourite Things (Part 1)

With Raian and Mochi returning back to their normal schedules, things seem to get a little bit less colourful. Forms had been submitted, Raian stopped by for breakfast and made sure Mochi had taken that cocktail of pills, but the man had to be dragged away not too long after for a mandatory seminar.

At least Raian seemed to be looking forward to it. Miss Evans put together an extensive profile on the anatomy of a majority of the Aberrants present, but that wasn’t the exciting part. The exciting part was that Grimsby was leading said presentation.

He was either going to be pleasantly surprised or witness a mental breakdown. In any case, he considered it a win-win situation.

As much as Mochi wanted to be anywhere other than where he is at the moment, he knew that Miss Evans would single him out in mere moments. Out of desperation, the squid caved and cracked open one of the many books he had stocked up on his shelves.

It was a blind pick between a fantasy about elephants sitting on the backs of cosmic turtles, and an outdated thesis on physiological disparities between humans and orcs, and Mochi had the unfortunate luck of picking the latter.

Now, while he wasn’t exactly the best reader, clocking in at a whopping two hundred words per whenever, he did his very best to comprehend some of the words that even the likes of Raian and Unali would have trouble with.

He figured he gets points for trying at least.

However, something in the back of his mind interrupted that impressive reading speed. In fact, the more he thought about it, it kind of put him off eating this morning as well. Something was bothering him, and he knew at least it was related to all the questions he asked him last night.

It wasn’t so much guilt, he knew that much. He liked prying sometimes; he was, self-admittedly, an adorable little crowbar. He’d found out Raian has a sister, but something was telling him it wasn’t enough. As famously as the two got along over the last six months, there wasn’t much Mochi could say he knew about the man.

That thought ached away at him, especially because he knew Raian never willingly talks about himself, or his past. He wanted to know more, he wanted to know his favourite things.

His favourite colour? Don’t know.

His favourite food? Who can say.

His favourite animal? Not a clue, he seems like a dog person though.

What was his childhood like? He only knows he almost drowned once, but surely his entire childhood wasn’t all drowning.

He sees him drinking coffee a lot, so what’s his favourite coffee?

The same warmth that he felt all day yesterday came rushing back at the thought of knowing the answers to all these questions and more. Maybe if he learned more about Raian, he might find some more favourites of his own while he’s at it. He tried coffee once and despised it, but maybe there’s a kind out there that he likes.

After shuffling his legs for a few more moments, the boy just now realised he had been staring absentmindedly at an excruciatingly detailed anatomical drawing of a male orc that left absolutely nothing to the imagination for the last several minutes.

The clacking of latches on the door signalled the departure of silence, and Mochi hurled the dusty book as hard as he could across the room. It settled somewhere under a table just as a familiar, black-eyed Senrali poked their head past the door.

Like clockwork about this time of the week, Unali took up the duty of restocking Mochi’s medication cupboard to get out of attending seminars. As much as they wanted to see Grimsby fail, if they had to sit still for three hours, they’d probably rip their own horns out of their head.

“Mornin’ inky.” The demon hollered, albeit very nasally.

As much as their healing factor outshone every other mortal race, and even most Senrali, Grimsby still insisted on following proper procedure. Gaping wounds and severe gashes turned to mere scrapes overnight; an ability many were envious of.

Even so, with their head and nose laced with bandages and braces, Mochi found a twinge of difficulty recognising them for a moment. It wasn’t until they talked that he identified them.

“Oh, hey Unali.” The boy responded, relaxing his pillow-hurling muscles.

The demon wheeled in a hefty cabinet and promptly unlocked it with a key given by their superior, hauling out rows of capsules that both of them were very familiar with. Mochi shifted upon the bed, straightening his back against the wall as he crossed his legs.

“Um…” Mochi piped up, and Unali cocked their head, “what kind of food does Raian like? Like, his favourite, I mean.” he asked, figuring his second-best source is right in front of him.

The demon gave a curious tilt, choosing to remain silent for the moment. They fulfilled their duty of aligning the capsules to their proper calendar date, and the cupboard doors slammed shut. With a twirl, the demon put their back flat against the cabinet.

“Why do you wanna know?” Unali raised an eyebrow.

“I just want to.” He replied, earning a sassy hum from the demon, “Maybe I can cook for him, or something.”

The squid twiddled his fingers, and the demon’s lips wrought into a cruel grin.

“Oh? Cooking, huh? With what kitchen?”

“Th-the one… the one in the cafeteria.” He stammered.

“Ah, right, of course. The kitchen in the cafeteria that Aberrants are explicitly – unfortunately – not allowed into.” Unali’s tail swished from left to right as they made slow paces toward the squid.

It was only moments later that Mochi noticed Unali towering over him. They took a moment to tear off a bandage wrapped about their head, and the fluffy mess of their hair sprung free once more.

“Tell me,” Unali’s tone deepened, and their smile faded, “why do you want to know?”

The violet circles that made up the Senrali’s eyes pierced through Mochi, and suddenly the room got a little bit darker. The squid inched away, confused as to why such a simple question was so difficult for them to answer.

“I just— he doesn’t talk to me about these things! He doesn’t tell me anything! I just want him to tell me what he likes!” Mochi snapped as he grew increasingly flustered.

With a flourish of his tendrils, the squid turned away and began to silently sulk. At this rate, he wasn’t going to get anywhere. Raian’s responses were dubious at best, and Unali seemed almost protective of the subject. Those might have to be questions for later, though.

“His favourite food is ahmri fahat,” Unali spoke, the tension having faded, “it’s a sweet rice porridge from Qoranthi, he likes it with dried raspberries.”

Mochi felt something light hit against his foot, and he swung his head to see. It was a black notebook with a pen clipped to the cover, and a small, elastic strip keeping it closed. Pink fingers extended outward to have a feel, and Mochi looked up at the Senrali expectantly.

They undid the clips bracing their nose in place and peeled it from them. There were still a few bruises, but nothing that wouldn’t clear up in a few hours. A warming, yet knowing grin formed across their demonic visage.

“Take the notepad, and whenever you think of something to ask him, write it down.” They pointed, stuffing the used bandage in their pocket, “I’ll cover Raian’s shift one night, and you can ask him everything all at once. I’ll make sure he’s honest.” Unali winked.

The boy undid the bindings and had a look inside. It was mostly blank, save for the first few pages.

“Ignore the first couple pages, I was just trying out some rap verses.” They shrugged, twirling around to make for the door.

“Thank you.” The squid said quietly, unsure if they heard.

A look of surprise overcame Mochi for a moment as he rapidly patted at his robes and his general surroundings. Then he turned his golden gaze to his pillows, making a quick dive for them.

“Oh, right! Unali, look!” the squid yelled, sticking an arm under his pillow.

After a quick rummage, the boy returned with a familiar, metallic sphere. His eyes lit up as he rubbed the sphere between his hands, and the demon grew curious. Finally, he extended his arm and let the ball drop to the floor.

It hit the ground with an impressive thud, and that was it. It didn’t bounce back up. If Raian had witnessed such a flop, he’d have half a mind to return back to Th’alak and see what else he’s willing to depart with for free.

“Aww…”