1315/Tough Test? Come Rest!

Tough Test? Come Rest!
Date of Scene:	11 March 2024
Location:	Club Building
Synopsis:	A meeting between Ren, Takashi, Cho and Yaling goes well while the latter gives out her remedies.
Cast of Characters:	Yaling Yao, Ren Morimoto, Takashi Agera, Cho Konishi

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Yaling Yao has posed:
Yaling had transferred at Radiant Heart Academy at a time the most stressful part of a student's life was looming over everyone's head: the end of year's exams, or as they are more colloquially known, the finals.

Faced with this hurdle, Yaling has decided to help her fellow students get through this period with the minimum quantity of stress and the most profitable study sessions.

This is why she had attached a leaflet to the board of the club building, stating she would be there on March 11 to offer herbal remedies that would help with concentration or lower the stress.

The green-haired girl is sitting at a long table not too far from the entrance of the building, several neat little packets of those herbs with nametags in front of her and her white snake coiled around her neck.

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    Ren had been putting up his own flyer, a hand-made, hand-drawn advertisement for a very niche type of cooking discourse class that he hoped would secretly attract the other Culinary Guardians into making contact. Of course someone chose that moment to walk by so he had to pretend to study the nearest flyer hard, and as it turns out, it was the leaflet Yaling had posted! Interest piqued, he'd made a note on his phone calendar to check it out.

    So here he is, already in his baseball uniform with the intent of meeting up with that club later, but studying (and being stress-free in general, which Ren thought was, shock and awe, more important than baseball) came first. He has his gym bag slung over one shoulder because he didn't think to stop off at the sports pavilion first. Oh well!

    When he sees the girl at the table, Ren approaches, at first eyeing the packets in front of her until he looks up and--"Oh wow, cool, is that a snake?"

Takashi Agera has posed:
    The concerns about exams are not what has Takashi Agera heading here, not in the least. Even without cheating he could probably ace these tests doing a handstand and writing with his pencil in his lips (or, so he'd say if someone asked him). But his concerns were almost all of a more supernatural nature. His girlfriend's an incubating Witch, his adopted sisters are both in different kinds of trouble, and he himself is in his own brand of trouble with Beryl since he hasn't procured a Rainbow Crystal yet - or not one that she knows of.

    Takashi's stress is through the roof as of late thanks to these, and since the stress was giving him headaches and making it hard to think (which, in turn, was its own source of stress!) he's decided to arrive today - worst case it doesn't work, but maybe just trying to do something about it would help as a placebo? And hey, given all of the other wild things he was exposed to on a daily basis - there was a nonzero chance these could work as well as anything else.

    So here he is, long white hair, glasses, uniform, hands in his pockets.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi was a member of the student council and, as such, had a duty to make sure none of these kinds of meetups had, well...

She had to make sure that people weren't giving out anything dangerous or trying to cause problems. In the end, they WERE all kids. But when she saw who had done it, she quickly assumed the chances of that were... low.

She trusted Yaling, after all.

Still, duty to do. She'd never really put much thought into 'herbal' remedies. She put stock into Yaling, though. And Wuwu was riding on her shoulders when she walked into the building. "Hey Yaling-chan!" Cho called out, giving a wave. Wuwu gave a little ook, but, for the moment.... seemed to be on good behavior.

For the moment.

She walked over, picking up one of the packets and reading over the label. "So.... are they for like tea, or are you supposed to mix them in your food?" she asked with a smile.

Yaling Yao has posed:
"Hey there!" Yaling shouts when Ren first approaches, offering a bright smile to the boy. "Nice to meet you! If you want any help with choosing which does what, feel free to ask. You can also tell me what you want help with, and I can point you to the right one for your situation."

Excitement picking up in her tone, she nods at Ren's question. "Yes, she is!", Yaling confirms giving her a caress, as the snake hisses slightly. "Her name is BaiBai and she is very calm and placid towards strangers if you want to try and pet her", she offers.

When she notices Takashi standing there, she motions for him to come closer. "Don't be shy, I am Yaling Yao, a new student here", she introduces herself, wanting to appear more approachable towards the 'shy' boy. "How can I help you?"

At Cho's approach, Yaling actually gets up from her chair like lightning and approaches the pinkette, putting her arms around the member of the student council in a sudden hug. "Cho-chan, it's so nice to see you again!"

She then takes a few step backs to give the other girl space and look at her herbs. "Yes, these are all homegrown herbs meant to prepare tea." She grabs one of those, containing red dates, and gives it to Cho. "This is Dazao, and it is a mild sedative that helps with anxiety and insomnia."

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    "Hello," Ren greets after-the-fact, giving a cheeky smile as apology for his surprise which maybe translated a little bit into inadvertent rudeness. "Nice to meet you, I'm Ren Morimoto." His eyes go wide when petting the snake is potentially offered, and he rubs the back of his neck, the look in his eyes obviously considering.

    The keychain on the strap of his gym bag jingles slightly, and he glances down at it, before he shakes his head. "Maybe some other time," he decides with a grin. Because apparently his spirit guide Umeboshi, currently disguised as a cat plushie hanging from said keychain, is afraid of snakes!

    Ume's gonna get prodded about that later. How can you be an immortal, incorporeal spirit and be afraid of something like that?

    He looks over the offerings and rubs his chin, browsing for a little bit while Yaling greets the other newcomers. This time around Ren remembers his manners enough to say "Hey there!" to them, too, before he returns to his contemplation of the herbal remedies on offer. Maybe for now he'll just see what other people get, and decide that way....

Takashi Agera has posed:
    Takashi looks up. "I'm just here because I heard this could help with stress. I'm having a lot of stress, lately, but it's not so much from exams. I just wouldn't want it to effect my exams." he notes. "And I figured I should have a look around, if nothing else."

    And, hey, if it's tea, maybe that could be relevant to Mami. "I don't really have the time to get enough sleep, so a mild sedative is probably out..." he notes, as he overhears her talk to Cho.

    He puts a hand behind his head and scratches it. "Just... a little curious. Worst case maybe doing something outside of work and school is good, right?"

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi went pretty red in the face when she was hugged, though she grinned quite a bit as well. And she happily took the packet. "Helps with anxiety and insomnia, huh? Is it that obvious?" she asked with a light, playful chuckle. "Finals are always a bit nerve wracking, huh? Mind if I stay out here a bit and keep an eye on things?" she asked.

She then glanced to the others and politely bowed her head. "Hello, I am Cho Konishi, from the student council. A pleasure to meet you two." Albeit, one of them did look... sorta familiar? She thought she might have seen the silver haired one at a sleep over event a while back. But she'd only been there a short bit, so maybe not.

She then glanced to Takashi and cocked an eye. "Oh... if you're work is causing that many problems, maybe you could take time off? I know the school is lax on the work policies compared to many schools, but it won't do if it hurts your grades."

Yaling Yao has posed:
"Nice to meet you, Morimoto-san!" Yaling says, now that she is standing bowing towards him, and then also offering him a hand to shake.

BaiBai raises her when the keychain jingles as if trying to ascertain its source. The snake's honey-coloured eyes dart around everywhere in the room before she calms down and rests her head again after the vain search.

And the source of the noise wouldn't have liked being found that way, with Ren even turning down the chance to pet her.n"That's a-ok", Yaling replies to him. "She is pretty much relaxed all the time, so another time works just as well."

By the time Yaling has finished talking with Ren, Takashi has gone over his situation, and so Yaling grabs another packet for his use, this one containing thin leaves and purple flowers. "A tough work environment?" she inquires at the same time. "You must be very ambitious. I hope it bear the fruits you are looking for." Not that she actually would wish him that, would she know what the projects are.

"Since we are looking at something prolonged, I suggest Huangqi", Yaling says, giving him the packet. "Its advantage is that rather than dealing with singular cases of stress, this little friend here willl strengthen your body's resistance to stress, improve energy levels, and reduces symptoms of chronic stress."

Yaling chuckles on her own when Cho mentions if it was that obvious. "A little bit, you definitely look like someone that, that could use the help. And sure you can stay!", Yaling exclaims also nodding approvingly at Cho's suggestion to Takashi. "Leave some time for yourself, not just work and school."

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    Since Yaling had used his surname, Ren just adds on a quick, "Please call me Ren!" to both her and the others in lieu of introducing himself again. He smiles, just a little bit, before he resumes his perusal of the herbal remedies. None of it is familiar to him, but he seems to be studious in his inspection anyway.

    After some more consideration, and after pausing to make sure the other people had their requests filled first, he asks, "Do you have anything for poor sleep?" His stomach growls, as if even the thought of anything edible or drinkable is enough to set it off, and Ren himself lets out an embarrassed laugh. "Sorry, haven't had my post-school snack yet!"

    He shoves his hands into the pockets of his sports jacket and tugs it around his midsection as if that might quiet the noises of his hungry tummy.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    He does a good job of only smiling politely when she wishes him well, rather than anything else. "Huangqi." Takashi says, going over the word. "Hmm." he says and takes the packet from her offered hand. "If it can do just one of these things I'll be happy. So, still a tea mixture?" He says, looking at it curiously. It would be rather amusing if something like this could actually help him.

    But then she mentions leaving time for himself, and Takashi makes a face before sighing. "THAT, would require more time in the day. Which is sadly not a thing that either the tea or myself can do." He doesn't add a yet. "I wish it was that simple, though." Then he pauses. "Oh, my manners are horrid." He says, and then bows towards her. "Thank you very much for the advice and sample here... ah, right, Yao-san. And my name is Takashi Agera."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi rubbed the back of her head. "Y-yeah. I guess I have been overdoing it a bit myself lately. I'll try some of this when I get home. Just... you know. all the stuff with school and finals and extracurricular activities. Oh, I learned some new magic! My stage magic class has been practicing with pulling ribbons out of a hat! I can actually do that one.... usually. It's a lot easier than the card tricks, at least."

She suddenly lunged forward and--

Snagged Wuwu in mid leap, barely catching him before he could leap onto the table and cause a mess! "HA! Gotcha! Not this time, you brat," she said in a teasing tone.

If nothing else, she was getting better at predicting him.

"Nice to meet you, Red, Agera-san."

She then glanced back to Yaling. "So, does your family grow herbs and stuff like this?"

Yaling Yao has posed:
"Will do, Ren-san!", Yaling says before tackling his requests. "So your problem is thst you do, but it's not as restful as it should be", Yaling confirms his request, turning to look at the table of her herbs, a low hum, getting out of her mouth.

"Rather than Cho-chan's Dazao, I believe Gouqi would be more helpful to you", she decides, handing him a packet full of little wrinkly red berries. "It is full of antioxidants, and helps calm down while at the same time improving sleep quality.

"Yes, all things here are various tea mixtures. A few things, like the Dazao or Gouqi, could also be eaten, but everything here can also be drunk as tea", she specifies.

But she is met with opposition when she suggests setting some time aside for yourself. "Can't really fault you there. Not having much free time is a bane. But I hope you get some positive changes and best of luck, Agera-san", Yaling says, quickly moving over to give him a second packet. Just in case.

"Ohh, magic, that's neat, Cho-chan!", Yaling reacts to her classmate. "Didn't know you dabbled with that. Do you hold shows here? Where can I see them", the green-haired girl asks, her eyes clearly communicating the is quite intrigued by this previously unknown skill of Cho.

Cho catching Wuwu mid-leap is met by BaiBai hissing at the monkey before her golden eyes fall on Cho and she almost imperceptibly nods in approval.

"Hey, Wuwu, don't you dare!", Yaling frows at the monkey just before she can do anything. She turns to Cho and takes hold of her hand in a smile. "Thank you, Cho-chan. You were very quick too. Is it something you learnt with your magic tricks?"

A thumbs up is given to Cho asking more about her origin. "Yes, that is pretty much it. I also have my own garden, though."

Ren Morimoto has posed:
    When Yaling answers his requests with a confirming statement, Ren immediately nods his head several times. "Yeah. I keep waking up," to have midnight snacks, but he leaves that part out. So when Yaling recommends Gouqi, he -- like Takashi did before -- repeats the word aloud before he bows as he accepts the packet of berries.

    "Thank you very much," he tells her. Ren clutches the pouch protectively to his chest, and looks at it a moment before nodding again, eager. "I owe you! Are you a vegetarian or is there a type of meat you don't like?"

    That compound question maybe sounds like it comes from out of nowhere, so Ren explains by saying, "I make my own snacks in a dehydrator. I can bring you some samples sometime as a way to say thank you."

    He steps back from the table Yaling had commandered for her thoughtful help for her fellow students, and shifts the gym bag on his shoulder. "I have to get to baseball club, but thank you again," he says, then raises a hand to wave at the assembled group before he spins on his heels and heads off towards the sports pavilion.

Takashi Agera has posed:
    "Ah, now Morimoto-san is making me wish I had something I could provide in return..." Takashi says, as he takes the second packet. "Alright, but if I come looking for any more after this one I'm going to insist on paying you. If this works, even a little bit, it'll be a very positive change on its own, Yao-san." he says with a smile.

    When Cho reaches out to catch the monkey, Takashi's eyebrow raises. He's pretty sure it's a magical monkey mascot - that there's not just a kid here with a monkey for a random pet... but who knows, in this school. He assumed the same of the snake, after all - he's just used to trying not to react to weird animals.

    "I think... I will head out and see to this tea. Thank you again, Yao-san." he says before he starts to head out.

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi gave a light, gentle chuckle as she held Wuwu close to her chest and shook her head. "As much as I would love to say it's the magic tricks, not really. I'm admittedly not that good at them. Our club puts on little shows now and again, I sometimes do some very basic ones, but nothing too impressive yet. We'll probably have one near the start of next year, a display to try and draw in new members."

She then gave a little huff and booped Wuwu on the nose. "No, that speed comes from learning to predict this little miscreants tendencies to cause trouble. Bad enough he sometimes ruins my stuff, I don't want him ruining anyone else's."

"My student is getting faster," Wuwu said, smuggly.

Cho glared at him, then. She didn't mind when he talked, usually... but she didn't want him causing problems for Yaling's stand. She did give a small wave to Ren when he left.

"You must have a green thumb, huh? Have you been to the royal garden? The big greenhouse where the council has their meetings? I could show you around there sometime, if you're interested. There's a lot of different plants there and students bring all kinds of plants by."

"Good luck with your tea, Agera-san!" Cho called after him. "Nice to meet you!"

Then back to focusing on Yaling. "So, were your parents like... well... I guess herbalists? If that'd be the right term?"

Yaling Yao has posed:
Ren's question does seem a little out of nowhere to Yaling, who looks at him with curiousity, but nonetheless she answers anyway. "Not vegetarian, and I don't like pork sausage very much", is her reply to Ren's query.

When he explains himself, Yaling shakes her head. "You owe me nothing, but thanks for your kindness, some snacks would be very nice", she comments before adding a "see you another time" to Ren.

Offering snacks though is a very different matter from offering money. "You don't have to pay me, just keep going at it, and knowing my products helped is already enough. But see you soon!"

"That sounds very nice", Yaling notes what Cho has to say, marking twice the word show in her mind. "And I would love to meet you at this royal garden, Cho-chan!"

"Oh so, we are dropping faking not being sapient", BaiBai says after Takashi is gone. "In that case... Wuwu, it is unpleasant that your pupil should be holding onto you. Would you stop messing around with my pupil?"

"My father is actually a herbalist, so yes, I owe him the basics about several plants, but the rest I owe it to BaiBai."

Cho Konishi has posed:
Cho Konishi nodded, grinning wide when she said she'd come. And while it was just the two of them, she couldn't help but get that big grin on her face. "That sounds great. I can't wait! We can schedule a time later, after finals, okay?"

Wuwu snickered and gave Baibai a little wink. "Oh, I'm just working to keep Cho in tip top shape. Can't have my protege slacking off, now can I?" he asked with a little wink.

Cho, meanwhile, just sighed. "Please. I wouldn't mind a bit of slacking off now and again," she said flatly. "I should probably head home too, but uhhhh... oh. Just... ummm. Figure you should know. We're working on a whole... prince and princess ball, next year. A dance. It might be fun, you should uhhhh... think about it. Making plans, I mean. Thanks for the tea! I should go and study. Bye!" she said, giving a little wave before turning and quickly heading away.

Wuwu, meanwhile... had a thoughtful look on his face... and a mischievous grin on his lips.

Yaling Yao has posed:
"With your pupil needing Dazao, I doubt her slacking off is actually a problem", she hisses at Wuwu.

"Cool, I can't wait to see it!", Yaling smiles radiantly. With such a luxurious name, she is imagining something akin to botanical gardens: she is going to check out every single centimeter of that place. "See you after the finals then!"

In the blink of an eye she now has two things to look forward to: a magic show and a visit to the school's royal garden by Cho. School is so much more fun than studying at home!

Except, then... a third offer!? She came just in time for the school's prom!? Yaling actually squeals with joy when she hears that. How lucky can she be? "Oh, there are certainly lots of things to consider then, thank you, Cho-chan, and see you soon!"

She will just wait a bit more in case other people need help, and then she too will go.