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 Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 11:49 am
"Yess ~ <3. Although I'm not all that fond of danger personally. Like err, like Zar put it. Risk vs reward." ...Vs. more years of mucking about in theory and people starting to think he was actually working on something.
"Ah. A chip. Hmm. That is interesting. Do you mind if I...err. Well perhaps later. That's really more Christof's field. Most of us have had run-ins. I suspect...Red's back now too, you know. But it was her idea to put us in the Haunted House. Coincidentally, during a large-scale human raid. And some go willingly," Barth admitted. "Of course, all creatures that enter contracts do that willingly too. Will's a sort of," he wavered his claw, "flexible issue. But this isn't an issue of will. We've...had err, close calls. Not by choice. If it was a sort of...military career option call up, I'd be less concerned."
Calder had been in that machine. They hadn't been guests, released at their will. They'd been cramped in cages, drained of power, weakened until the doctor came, and lit up the machine...
Not everyone in the cages had survived.
"I think...I think there's...some administrative cooperation. With the humans. And you know, they've been keeping everything very...under the lid when it comes to acknowledgement of what's been going on outside the school. If it happened to me, I would like it reversed. That's um. That's enough for me to invest in this particular project, I think."
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:06 pm
Calder watched as some pretty big thoughts were tossed around, looking to the two demons talk as he licked his spoon clean and set his empty bowl on the table.
"Well, I guess that means we're all going to this....uh, wherever we are going, right?" He looked to them both, just hoping to confirm what he managed to follow.
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:19 pm
Zar quirked a brow at Barth's comment on the chip. "I do not know where it is, once they implanted it it. It was as painful as dissapating and then it was gone. Otherwise I may well have asked you or your patchwork friend to have a look at it." It had haunted him since then, and he'd spent many days chewing over what it's intended function could have been. At the mention of Red he all but bared his fangs. "Red." he hissed. "Was the ssstart of all my troubles. That name has hounded me since I arrived here, emblematic of all that is wrong with this school. And now she is back and still causing trouble. Wonderful." He sipped the last of his stew and placed his spoon down. "Will in this school is the most trivial thing to manipulate evidently, no wonder the humans hunt here when the prey will rally so willingly to a cause. Even Nuru was gullible." he couldn't keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Sometimes it is better to weed out the weak and stupid for a stronger populace. Maybe they are doing us a favour."
He practically pouted in disdain, looking far more human than he had for most of the conversation, lazily donning his entirely human shapeshift. "But I have been dreadfully bored." he said with a shrug. "And I do hope to actually retrieve Nuru wherever he may have gone. Stupid or not."
He laid blunt, untaloned but perfect hands on the table, smirking rakishly at Calder. "If you want my help, yes. I will help you."
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:23 pm
"Gym teachers," Barth said weightily.
"Alright. Err. If you'd like. Jusssst need to...get a few things together, haha," He laughed nervously, a sort of claustrophhobia setting in at the idea of being in prolonged close contact with Zar, "hm, I'm sure my boots were somewhere..."
This was going to take the rest of the week.
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:31 pm
Calder rose up and went to scoop up Barth in his arms. "Alright then. We'll get ready. If there is anything you need to get ready, Zar, how about you go prepare. This seems like it will be a trek." He said, all but giddy at the idea of it.
Nuzzling his boilfriend, Calder went to dress him and also to find Barth's jacket without needing to be asked. No point in exhausting the demon this early with trivial things like getting dressed.
After dressing up Barth, tying his shoes, and fixing his hair (just to have an excuse to touch his horns), he put Barth in his jacket and gave the demon his skateboard. "If we get to any hills, I'll carry you, okay?" He told his beloved, before checking to see if Zar had left or was back.
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 3:49 pm
Zar gave Calder a thoughtful look, for the sake of making Barth more nervous the temptation was there to stay, but there was always that most unpleasant edge of having to reconcile the fact that both of them were involved. He needed some air for his own sake, even the simple nuzzle would have been enough to make his tail curl in disgust. He dropped his illusion effortlessly, pushing himself up to his hooves with a single shove of said tail from the ground, far stronger than it looked.
"I will return promptly." he said, and without waiting for a response, headed out into the hallway. He lingered for just a moment, several shallow breaths. He wasn't sure if he had the strength to do this, but he was never sure any more what he was capable of.
Zar headed down the hall to his room, slipping inside and changing out of his tattered best suit into a loose ruffled silk shirt and a pair of plain black trousers. It wasn't exactly running gear, but it was as close as he ever came to being suited for mobility. He threw a grey woolen trenchcoat over all of it in case it was cold where they were going, but left it open.
He paused by the mirror as he left. It was bizzare to be tidy again, tidy apart from his wild mane of hair that framed his horns. Touching them with a claw, he frowned, he hadn't even noticed how absurdly huge they had gotten recently. Unnerved by how much he felt like he was looking at a stranger, he briskly headed back to Barth's room, hovering by the open door.
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 4:08 pm
Sometime between Zar's leaving and arrival, a small cardboard box had appeared at the stoop.
"Oh. Umm. Quite," Barth said, helping Calder straighten the last twist of his cravat. Barth had been used to servants doing his dressing, and losing them had been a blow. Preparing for anything on his own took him hours.
Calder's help was a comfort.
He was, as usual, dressed to the nines. He didn't even own a sports jacket. A riding jacket was the closest match. On the whole, he didn't intend on exerting himself too much.
"I'd nearly forgotten. That box is for you, Calder. I think."
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:22 pm
Calder only needed to be dressed for special occasions and was usually dressed to go running. With his kilt, shirt, and jacket, his clothes often faced the wear and tear of running through the Weeping Woods and swimming through the many rivers and swamps around campus, including the one behind the monster dorms.
Only pausing to fix his hair and to put away the dishes, Calder headed with Barth to the open door when he was told about a box for him. "For me?" He looked down at it, not sure what it was. Barth usually had Calder or Christof go through the work of ordering things online that most anything wasn't a surprise. Confused and a little bit touched, Calder picked up the box, looked around for the nearest chair (which never was far behind in Barth's room), and sat on the armrest a moment to open it.
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:30 pm
Zar just waited. Waiting was difficult when every second he wasn't doing something was a second wasted. He twitched his tail anxiously, watching Calder investigate the box while wishing he'd brought his notepad. His mind tended to function on two levels, the normal day to day level, the other multi tasked off in various directions. Right now he was thinking about hunters. And Nuru. It wasn't helping his twitchiness.
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:34 pm
"It's...for Christmasival." Barth hesitated awkwardly, "um, a bit belatedly," another hesitation, "...from last year."
Although Barth managing to order anything at all was an enormous feat in itself.
In the box was a very soggy, hairy blue ball.
That was pretty much it.
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:40 pm
Inside was a soggy mass of fur, set in it's box which was lined in plastic to avoid seeping. Picking up the bundle, he set it on his lap a moment to pet it, and felt it move under his hand. Not much, but there was life. It had the smell of deep, still water and made his tail flick to have such a lovely scent in the room.
It was beyond adorable and he was all but swept up in the gesture, but he was aware there was things to do, and bite his lip hard as he tried not to just burst into 'awws' and kissing Barth till he passed out (which sometimes happened).
Setting the little ball on the couch and kneeling down, he called over Handsome. "Handsome, come here. Good boy. See this little guy? You be a good boy and watch over him for me till I get back, okay?" He patted the couch for Handsome to get on and protect the soggy fluff till they got back.
With Barth looking elsewhere, Calder swept in to kiss the sloth demon on the cheek and whispered in his ear. "I love it." He said, and pinching the demon's behind, he headed out the door. "Sorry to keep you waiting. Just had to wrap up a few things."
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:42 pm
Zar just eyed the hallway outside, curled his tail about his hooves and said nothing at all.
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Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2013 5:55 pm
Handsome trotted over at the sound of his Name, sniffing at the tiny ball of fur Calder had set on the sofa.
Most of his master's creatures did not last long, he thought gravely.
But he didn't sense any immediate danger of death in this one. Misfortune was what his nose was best tuned to, and it rolled off in heavy, perfumish waves. This thing only smelled like a well. There was a promise of tragedy, despair, watery death- but past. Old. Even if the Thing was new.
His master, however, was ripe with promise of pain. As was the other creature. He licked Calder's hand.
The most interesting smells were, however, coming from the one lingering in the hall.
The woehound left the new Thing completely alone, and went to lay dutifully at Zar's feet instead.
"Err, now go on, you've already been out today," Barth told Handsome, pushing him weakly with a pointed toe. He was feeling slightly better that at no time during this entire conversation, paperwork had been mentioned.
Handsome gave Zar a very long, serious look, and then slowly stood, skulking back into the room. The woehound had been growing, lately, fur black and heavy.
"Right. Let's see. We only need to go as far as the forest, and from there it's finding the right...path, after a fashion," Barth said, straightening momentarily from his slouch as he climbed onto his skateboard.
"And we'll take it from there."
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