[PRP] A conclusion (Siddie, Barth)

[MoonKitsune]

The other father stepped into the hallway, passing Grimhold and looking confused at the other man's ill appearance. Calder had seen the carriage and had wondered who else had come over, hoping that it wasn't another relative to join the party. The house already filled overly crowded with the servants, construction workers, and the rest of Gilda's and Ras' workers.

Looking at Ras and Gilda, he noticed the woman's array of colors like a lollipop light and wondered what that even meant. Her changing lights had him wondering what she was reacting to, like deciding what a mood ring meant without having a guide.

Further down the hallway, he noticed Zar and Barth walking away and followed after, dusting off some wood chips from a recent crate revealing yet another appliance he had no idea how to use.

When Tula saw his brother, he rose his front legs up from where he was clinging to Calder's back, making a habit of being anyone's backpack while there was so much work being done that came with the jeopardy of someone stepping on him or disturbing one of his webs."Mine!" He called out to his brother. "My brother." He hissed back, but didn't jump off to go after him.

Instead, he continued to cling and Calder followed them into the parlor, finally able to see Siddie and stopped.

"Siddie? What are you doing here?"

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

Siddie nodded quickly at family, you know, because she did know, really she did, and she was quite, quite grateful to escape the company of the two older demons, for now at least, even though she wasn't about to say so anywhere where there was even a faint possibility they could hear. She followed quietly, catching her breath. Perhaps it had been a very good thing after all that she was not marrying into this family; the thought helped rekindle her simmering resentment at her mother's manipulations, which helped her shake off some of the deep, awful sorrow and guilt.

Once actually in the parlor, she collapsed into the nearest chair, sinking her face into her free hand and breathing deeply, not sobbing, not quite. "Your relatives are, ah, imposing people," she said, and scrubbed her palm over her face, and lifted her head. "I -- oh, Calder!" she interrupted herself as the kelpie made himself known. "Oh, you're all here, that's good."

She took a deep breath. "Barth, I've come to request that our arrangement of convenience be formally ended. I've imposed on you and your family long enough."

Toshihiko Two

Baneful

MoonKitsune

 

[Toshihiko Two]

Ras looked up after his other grandson, calling gently after him, "Tula, did you want to join us for a walk?"

Barth flinched slightly at this. He was not the walking variety of Sloth demon.

With some privacy, he listened very seriously to Siddie, and at hearing the news, beamed. "Oh, good! Everything's...sorted on your side, is it. I'm very pleased to hear that. ...It is, isn't it. I hope err, we didn't cause you any fuss."

With the...scarelings and moving into a house and so on. When asked, Barth said that his other fiance was finishing school, and he expected she'd join them when had.

He dug something familiar from the recesses of his jacket.  

[Baneful]

Zar flicked his ears back slightly as Calder arrived, it wasn't that he disliked Calder but things always tended to get more complicated when the other man was involved. It was more complicated to be frank or rude without causing major offence.

Superbia had made a strange immature crowing sound in response to Tula's call but did not move from where he was nestled against Ras.

Zar exhaled irritably at Siddie for her comment, he was glad that whatever imposition had been placed was now removed, but it did not change that someone else had gotten to certain things long before he had, even if it was in the form of a convenience.

He turned his attention sharply to Barth as he fished around in his coat and his pupils narrowed, tail twisting sharply behind him.

 

[MoonKitsune]

Reaching to his side, he tapped on Tula's legs before the scarling came to his front. Picking it up, he set the spider down. "Go for a walk." To which the scarling looked over at Siddie with its many eyes before turning off to skitter out of the room. It arrived in front of Ras and raised 4 of its limbs up. Usually he would climb, but so often legs moved and he didn't want to be swung about.

"Up!"

Calder slowly sat down and crossed his arms, not at all happy to be reminded that this had yet to be ended. Not even that, but as usual, Barth had made no effort to end it at any point. "Its so nice that someone remembered to formally end this, Siddie. Seems Barth hasn't pressed this at all." He narrowed his eyes at the demon's direction. Was Barth hoping for more? Was he still searching to increase his family?

His ears up when Barth started to fiddle with something.  

[prolixity]

"Close enough to sorted," Siddie nodded. "I've my backup plans, and I believe that I will be able to manage. My mother seems to have run out of patience, and so I've sent her a letter letting her know that I don't intend to comply with her plans."

The letter had actually just said jack you, but Siddie assumed that the intent would come through clearly enough.

She unfolded the hand that held the dark ring that she'd worn on a necklace up until now, and was relieved to see that while her claws had dug in and drawn blood from her palm, none of it had gotten on the ring itself. The small cuts would heal quickly enough. "Please allow me to return the token of intent to join houses, so that the agreement may be cancelled."

Her face turned a little to regard Calder, the tilt of her head apologetic. "Its purpose has been accomplished, so the formalities should certainly be concluded. It is, as it always has been, an imposition on my part, and I shall owe Barth a favor for allowing it."

Toshihiko Two

Baneful

MoonKitsune

 

[Toshihiko Two]

"Well, no, it was always, err, as much time as Siddie needed. She was going to have to work retail," Barth said, looking pale and harrowed at the thought.

He held up Siddie's family ring, holding out his other set of claws to receive the ring he had crafted for Siddie out of his own Fear.

"WIth this exchange, as per our Original Agreement, our intent to marry is dissolved."

His own pupils narrowed slightly.

"Er, what was that about Favorsssss?"

Ras, in the meanwhile, scooped up Tula, and held the brothers close to him, whispering encouragements and praise, although the despair feeling clung to his clothes like a heavy cologne.

Baneful

MoonKitsune

Prolixity

 

[Baneful]

Zar withdrew his tail from around Barth's waist as the other demon fished around in his coat, it was easy to pull back under the guise of giving him space to look, but the real reasons ran deeper and more vulnerable than that. It felt good to have the link severed in a way, pushed back into the bounds of his own mind where he could pace and fret and sulk without spilling it over to Barth. And then there was Calder, who seemed to agree with the whole situation being a bit unpleasant and unacceptable.

But he had a right to think so though right didn't he? He had been there since the beginning and had had to deal with Barth since then doing all sorts of unpredictable things including dragging a random Incubus into what was apparently a perfectly happy relationship. He had tolerated all of that and it wasn't enormously surprising to Zar that he had tolerated whatever this was at its inception also. Being grumpy about it at the end wasn't stopping it at the beginning.

Zar wasn't angry, he wished he could be angry, being angry would make it so much easier, he could hiss at Barth, tell him he was awful and break things and it would be simple and manageable. As it was he wasn't angry, he was something else entirely, something which ran deep into his gut and made him want to shrink away. He refused to name it.

It was like a damn charity case, just a way to stop a poor ghoul from having to work.

He had been on the brink of being forced to work himself until Barth came along and it was with a sinking and awful feeling that he found himself thinking that maybe the root of all this was just a natural and slothlike aversion to creeple having to work. He had been a charity case rather than anything else and that made sense. He hadn't been first and despite recent discussions, with such a long lifespan and so much opportunity to disappoint creeple, he would not be the last either.

Prowling away from the others he shapeshifted out of his natural form in irritation, simply wanting out of a shape which felt like it even pretended to be ferocious when he felt nothing of the sort. In his emotional state he did not even care to remember the fact that as he had been lounging around the castle he was wearing nothing at all. He wore the nudity in his humanoid form with the same nonchalance he had worn it in his natural one and sat down in a chair, hunched and with his ears back, claws digging into the fabric.

"He is no good at favours." he hissed, hair still clinging to his face and body with the slime he had been dripping with earlier and looking anything but the usual well dressed and polite version of himself he projected socially and at school. "He is apparently only good at dishing out marriage contracts to anyone so inclined to be fool enough to accept them."

His tail twisted around the chair he sat in tightly enough that the legs creaked. "I would have worked retail rather than sell myself as a ssservant. Does Sammy enjoy being second?"

 

[MoonKitsune]

Calder stared at the rings, and felt something heavy hit the bottom inside, watching the exchange. Rings.

Barth had gone through his culture's procedures as a demon to give a ring to Siddie and take her ring, and yet – what did that mean now? If he was following formalities, if it was for show with his family, did that not mean he should be doing the same formalities for them? For the people he actually was with?

His hand suddenly felt barren when before they had felt fine, and he rubbed a thumb over then before looking over at Zar who looked ready to tear the chair in half. It was nice to know someone else was upset, but Barth seemed fine to just go through the motions. They had their business which was no part of his world.

It was between those in that demolish society.

Everything was between other people.

This whole house was between demons and that world.

Creatures in a society that was being created in this house. Their standards. Standards that he wasn't good enough for.

Zar's words stung and he sank in his chair. It was one thing to take on other people in your house if you loved and cared for them. It was another thing to just accept anything that came your way. It made what he was just business. It made the scarlings just business. It made it all just business.

He eyed the rings.

There was never a mention of marriage in this house. Did that mean that he wasn't official in the eyes of Barth's peers? If he was going to accept that demons demanded a certain type of lifestyle, then didn’t that mean the formalities of being together with one as well?

".....Siddie, why owe him a favor? You were doing him one too. He couldn't be seen with a lower-class monster just as much as you couldn't be seen with a undead. Wouldn't want to be an embarrassment to the family." He said, rising up from his seat.

But Siddie was still a monster. A monster with a ring before him.

"What does it matter what Sammy thinks, Zar. It's not like she has any say in what they do. It's their business. Their contracts. Their favors. It's not like we can do anything for them." It was like Zar said. He was just a dumb pony. He had no money. He had no influence. He had nothing Barth wanted or could gain.

He then looked over at Zar. "You...don't have a ring either?" Zar was a demon after all and one that was of high rank - or so Calder got the impression.

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

Siddie placed the black ring in Barth's hand and retrieved her family crest ring, which she tucked into a pocket instead of wearing it or stringing it onto the necklace. "I agree to this dissolution," she said, and added carefully, "and as compensation for the service done me, I will owe Bartholomew one favor to be collected as a service or payment at some future point, to be paid directly to him." It was a potentially dangerous thing to owe a demon a favor, but she did owe him, and out of all the demons she knew, she felt that Barth was the least likely to abuse such a privilege.

Her face turned to Zar, and then politely away as she noted that the incubus had shifted back into humanoid form without clothing. "Sammy has never been second," she said, sounding mostly calm; but her small, even teeth showed between her lips, a little more than necessary.

Her gaze shifted to Calder. She'd caused some jealousy at the start of this whole business -- she refused to think of it as an affair, as it had never held any of the other connotations of that word -- and it seemed that she was causing some jealousy again. She began to open her mouth to explain that the rings had been nothing more than a visible token of contractual agreement, a gesture to satisfy the families. Then she closed it again. The business agreement was concluded, and it seemed that Barth's mates had their own discussions to conduct with him, which she would not get involved in. It was not, after all, her business.

She rose from the chair, brushing her skirts down, her composure mostly recaptured now that the artificially imposed sense of despair had lifted. "You have my gratitude," she said. "I will deal with notifying my family, and any resulting, ah, inconveniences, as that is my responsibility. I hope to be able to see you all again under less stressful circumstances, as I do enjoy your company."

Toshihiko Two

Baneful

MoonKitsune

 

[Toshihiko Two]

Barth looked surprised. "Calder. You know that isn't true. I've never had any difficulty with that sort of...thing. I've introduced you to my family. My mother is quite taken with you. Where would you get the idea that I would be ashamed...? Siddie's quite right, that it was to her benefit."

Calder was right to say it was their business, however. And Barth was usually entirely professional and private when it came to business.

"Sorry about all this," he said to Siddie, sincerely.

Barth kept his grip on Siddie's hand, with his ring between their palms.

"It doesn't exactly work that way. An Exchange of Services is specific. ...If it's not too much trouble, we could use some help around the house." He ignored Zar's servant comment. "And if you'd like to make it up to Zar and Calder, I've heard that you are an excellent seamstress, and I'm sure they'd each enjoy an outfit. Cut to their specifications, of course. We could even say you help us get sorted until the garments were to their satisfaction. If you're in a hurry to leave, you can expedite the process, but if you're in no hurry you can finish them at your own pace."

This was, of course, a negotiation, and if Siddie had other ideas, now was the time.  

[Baneful]

Zar agreed with Calder's comments regarding how it was all their business, between Barth and Siddie to the point they might both not even have known she was here had they not been lingering around. The idea of Siddie showing up while he was at the lane and Calder was elsewhere made him nauseous.

At the mention of a ring though Zar's eyes darted to his claws which immediately relaxed. "This is just an old thing I wear." he stated coolly regarding his own ring. "Does not mean anything. It is more trouble than its worth to take off."

Siddie got a raised brow for her comment though. "Not the first to be engaged though, and never will be, will she? That's a second place."

Barth was for the most part ignored and at the prospect of a favour did nothing but stop his tail from moving and watch Siddie.



 

[MoonKitsune]

Prolixity

Stay Siddie. Plenty of room. It will be OH so much fun!

Toshihiko Two

Baneful

"Maybe she just thought I was something else…..forth meantime" He told Barth as he left his seat. With Siddie and Barth unofficially engaged, maybe in the end, everyone hoped it would stick or maybe they didn't see Calder as anything serious enough. Someone nice for Barth, but maybe not enough to share any title next to him and something of a note where Siddie would take the true spot in their society. Before he was just a monster with demons, but not he wasn't a good enough monster. Just an add on, a novelty between demons, and he could feel a rolling judgement placed over him whenever he stood around Zar and Barth. The two matched well and considering they were related, they must have had backgrounds and upbringing in some fashion to each other. Old blood and Old money. Siddie would have been an appropriate monster alongside them. At least one that would have been far better received and she at least talked like demons, knew the formalities of rings to get how things worked. He doubted Gilda would have suspected her for a servant if she had come by during her visit on the first day and seen her there.

Moving to the door before he stopped and turned around. "YOU need the help, and I don't want anything from her. It's YOUR favor. Let you enjoy it." He grumbled, eyes looking at the held hands between them.

She might as well throw him over her shoulder.
 

[prolixity]

"I can certainly perform that service for you, and I would love to help clothe your mates," Siddie agreed, giving the word mates just the faintest of extra emphasis. "As long as I am not disrupting your household. I must consider Sammy as well, and my schoolwork, but I have no objection to returning as much as I am needed."

At Zar's comment, she clenched her teeth, but gave him a pleasant smile. "She is always first in my heart," she said, her voice carefully gentle, not edged.

"I have never considered you impermanent, or myself a rival," she said to Calder. "Do remember, I've no interest in males."

Toshihiko Two

Baneful

MoonKitsune

 

[Toshihiko Two]

"Excellent!" Barth said, pleased with the whole arrangement, and with that there was an ominous crack between them. Smoke billowed up between their hands, and when Siddie withdrew a few ashes (the remains of Barth's ring) crumbled to the floor.

In their place was a mark seared into the palm of her hand. It was easily concealed with a pair of fingerless lace gloves.

Barth finally withdrew his own hand, giving it a limp shake. His portion of the deal was completed, which left the remainder of the burden on Siddie.

He just hoped Sammy was understanding about it.

"Err....make it clear to Sammy it was...voluntary, won't you?" He asked, now looking brightly over to his...well, his- somewhat moody sinificant others.

"And don't be ridiculous. You were both introduced to my family as my intended." Although Zar had contended the point vigorously up to this point. "Right! Well, all that's sorted. Engagement dissolved. Um. Anything to drink? I know it's a long ride up."

Prolixity

Baneful

MoonKitsune