23 December

By the seventh day of her stay, Mai has completely taken over the task of making tea, never failing to serve it at the perfect time. Noll would admit that her eerie timing unsettles him.

This time is no exception.

The sound of tinkling ceramic and the scent of tea causes Noll to look up. Mai is handing him a steaming cup of tea. He has not even noticed that she left to make it. "Your timing is perfect," he says, putting down his book to take it from her. "It scares me."

Mai returns to her seat across from him. "Well, it shouldn't. It's not rocket science."

Her words pique Noll's interest. He waits for her to continue.

"I noticed that you purse your lips before you ask for tea or go make it yourself, so I decided to take it as a cue to make some. It's that simple." She grins at him. Then she leans forward, her grin morphing into a smirk. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were subconsciously thinking of calling me to make you tea."

Noll fights the urge to freeze at her perceptiveness. He slowly sets his teacup down on the living room table, taking that time to regain his composure. Once he does, he mirrors Mai, matching her position and expression. "And if I did not know any better myself, I would think you were paying attention to me more than you should."

Her smug expression slips momentarily, but she recovers and leans back. "I wouldn't say that," she answers lightly, opening the book she has been reading before she left to prepare tea and flipping to the bookmarked page. "I'm not sure if you're aware, but we're always somehow seated across from each other, and I have eyes. Of course I'd pay attention to everything in my field of vision." And with that, she resumes her reading.

"I see." Noll, too, returns to his own reading, and the room lapses into silence. Though he thinks that he won in this banter, he cannot help feeling the opposite.

Mai's breath catches when Naru levels a smirk at her. She's been so sure she'd thrown him off with her comment. But when he looks at her like that, there's just no chance of winning.

"And if I did not know any better myself, I would think you were paying attention to me more than you should."

She feels her face heat up, but she catches herself. She leans back in an attempt to look nonchalant even as she scrambles for a comeback. Because she has to have the last word here. "I wouldn't say that," she says, voice bordering on breathless. Her hand falls on her book; she opens it to put some semblance of defense against him. "I'm not sure if you're aware, but we're always somehow seated across from each other, and I have eyes. Of course I'd pay attention to everything in my field of vision."

There. Nice save, me!

"I see."

Too distracted by her pounding heart, Mai doesn't turn the page for fifteen minutes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters.