Nova huddled against the wall outside of Toffee's room, blushing at his words, is he really serious or was he just playing with her emotions? Does he enjoy teasing her for her squeamish nature? It's not like she can control it; after all, she's never seen a half naked man before, let alone a half-naked monster, one that not only has a great build but also saved her life. Maybe he knows she's suffering from 'Hero's Worship' and is just having fun with it. Yeah! That's got to be it! Once the months pass by we'll be nothing more than acquaintances when spring arrives.
Soon Nova heard knocking from the other side of the door, jumping out of her thoughts and up from her huddled position. Standing at the door she reached for the handle, but stopped once she realized she doesn't have the right to enter his room. Sure, the previous time was because she was curious as to where he was, but now, now she really REALLY needs his permission to enter his room. "Permission to enter?" she asked, worried she might walk in on him.
"You have permission," his voice rang from the other side.
Nova pushed the door opened to see the lizard man sitting near his desk, dressed in nothing more than pants, drying off his hair with a towel. However, the thing that caught her attention wasn't the beast's bare body, but the equipment on his desk. Gears, springs and screws lay a top the surface of the wooden desk covered with blue prints to what, she doesn't know.
"Well Doc," teased the lizard man, bring the Mewman back to reality, "How bad is it?"
"Oh. Umm," Nova looked back at Toffee's injuries and couldn't believe what she was seeing, "On a Mewman this recovery would've taken at least a week, but you're recovering a lot faster than I thought."
"That's a Septarian for you," he boasted, causing Nova to chuckle.
"If you don't mind me asking; what's a Septarian doing here in Mewni? Surely your dimension doesn't suffer with winter storms as harsh as these," questioned Nova as she proceeded to clean and cover up his wounds.
"You left the comforts of your castle to seek knowledge didn't you?" he asked her, receiving a very confused nod from the Mewman, "Well there's your answer."
"Cryptic," she grumbled, only to get a smirk from the lizard man, "Very cryptic." Once she was done with the bandages she backed off from him and sat a top his bed, watching him pick the shirt of the day. She couldn't help but look at all those things on his desk, would it be rude to ask what they're for? Curiosity getting the best of her she started, "Toffee," grabbing the Septarian's attention, "What's with all the gears and stuff?"
"When I'm not researching, chances are I might be tinkering," he responded, while buttoning up his shirt.
"Is tinkering one your other jobs in Septarsis?" wondered Nova.
"It's more of a hobby," he admitted, "Gives me something to do."
"Is there anything you like to make in particular?"
The Septarian remained silent for a short amount of time, until he finally broke the silence with the words, "Music boxes."
"Why?" was all the Mewman could respond with. Sure, there was nothing wrong with music boxes, but someone as masculine as Toffee building music boxes seems a little... odd.
"Something about them is relaxing; from the way they're constructed, to the melody they play."
Nova never thought of it that way; true the way music boxes work has always boggled her mind, and the melodies are always either relaxing, heartwarming, or even heartbreaking. Could it be that there's more to the Septarian than he's letting on? Could there be damage that's beyond healing, and the only remedy to sooth his suffering was building music boxes? Either way, she better end this conversation before things get too deep for his liking. "I bet your music boxes look beautiful," she complimented, bringing a small smile on the Septarian's face, "I'd like to see one of your music boxes one day."
"Perhaps," he responded while combing his hair back. Once he put the comb down, he got out of his seat and walked towards the door, "Well, we mustn't waste another day shall we?"
Nova nodded, getting up out of the bed and followed after him soon after.
After watching Toffee get dressed, him and Nova went to the kitchen to cook up something to eat. Nova, as usual, had her notepad and pencil at work as she observed more of Toffee's cooking patterns. "Are you certain you don't want me to help?" asked Nova.
"I'm certain," he responded, scrambling the eggs in a cooking pan.
Nova pouted, she really wanted to help the Lizard Man, but knew he was too stubborn to accept help from her. She secretly wonders if it was because he really is being considerate or if it was because she was a Mewman. Then again, she couldn't blame him; Monsters and Mewmans have had bad blood for centuries and counting, that and she was a bit of a dunce when it comes to cooking. One time she was trying to bake a cake for her father and ended up giving him food poisoning because she put too many unnecessary ingredients. Maybe it was for the best she didn't help the Septarian after all.
The Septarian knew the Mewman was a little disappointed, but if she insisted, who was he to refuse his guest. "You want to help right?" he asked, receiving an excitable nod from her, "Could you please get the plates for me, it seems to have slipped my mind while I was getting the ingredients for breakfast."
Nova nodded, putting her pencil and notepad down and walking over to the cabinet, grabbing two plates for breakfast. Toffee may be an interesting subject to observe, but it was more fun to interact with him than sitting down.