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 Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:15 pm
Barth appreciated the warnings, but the fact of the matter was that if he couldn't wriggle out of the occasional murder attempt from fellow demons, he wasn't long for the future.
He needed to meet and talk with Fell some time. And determine what Fell ultimately wanted with Christof, then modify his own plans accordingly. He was, however, beginning to regret not carrying in his skateboard.
"We'll be careful," Barth said, following along as Christof hobbled off towards the tall doorway.
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 10:27 pm
"Yeah. We'll be careful, though you didn't say what. If I can walk through the woods for days by myself without getting chomped on, I think I can handle myself." He said very matter-o-factly before looking at his friend wobble ahead. "You should ask if you can take a sit down or just do some sit down work. I know you like being busy, but you never look good when you get all sewn up and he said you guys were at it for days. It's not right to be up and about like you are." He didn't need to be a doctor to know that Christof looked miserable. Looking at the red stitches, he wondered if he could slip out into the woods a bit and find some herbs to sooth the wounds. His mother at least taught him that much. Sure, it wasn't the type of science they knew, but at least he dabbled in a bit of herbalism.
He followed the Igor, looking up ahead. Was this how they came in through before? He didn't think so. Then again, it had been a big place and he'd been easily distracted.
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 11:25 pm
"So sorry to have kept you waiting! It's more of a Brunch now, isn't it?" Came Dr. Fell's voice from the dining room and Christof lurched forward stiffly towards the long table. The tapestries on the walls looked ancient, as though they had come with the castle, but they were pristinely cared for. Not a spiderweb nor speck of dust could be seen. The settings at the table were silver, and arranged perfectly straight and aligned. Despite the countless chairs, Christof lead them to the ones on either side of the Doctor at the head, pulling out a chair for Barth and then Calder before backing away to await further orders. "Come, have a seat."
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 11:06 am
Barth didn't see any locking mechanisms on the chairs. Even if he had, he wasn't sure if he could ever utter the phrase 'I'll stay standing, thanks'.
"I am admittedly not very-well suited for breakfast," Barth said, taking a seat, "so I appreciate the portmanteau. ...Thank you for the accommodations."
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 11:15 am
Calder thought they were being brought out but was very surprised to see they were in a dining room. It was just as impressive as the rest of the house, complete with the longest table he had seen. Well, he had seen one just as long, but it was more like a picnic bench that was standing outside. He wondered if Dr. Fell had big parties and many friends, which would explain such a big house and long table.
Moving over, he felt a little strange to have Christof pull his chair for him and was about to just do it himself but knew that this probably was one of those Igor things. Frowning, he tucked his tail to the side and sat before it was scooted in for him, and tried to get comfortable. He sat his hands on the table, examining the fine wood before looking up. "I thought we were being sent away. It's nice that you'd give us brunch at least. Is it really dangerous here?" He was wondering why they were being sent away still, if not now but later. Then he thought about being polite. "Oh, you have a really nice home. Really big. Do you get a lot of friends over?" If so, then he should be used to entertaining and visitors. Why was Christof being so weird??
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 11:25 am
Dr. Fell wove a clawed hand, eyeing Christof without turning to look at him as the hunchback limped back and off to retrieve their plates before folding his fingers in front of his chin and glancing to both visitors, "So you are his School-mates, hmm? I hope you are learning a lot. Christof's ability to retain Fear has increased exponentially I have discovered," He ginned at that. "Pass your exams, did you?"
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 11:30 am
"I didn't," Barth said, with a certain satisfaction. "Pass/Fail, you know. This round, in any case.
He would have been very disappointed to pass an exam unnecessarily. It looked bad, for a Sloth demon. Not very slackerly, passing exams you didn't have to.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 11:34 am
Calder frowned at not being answered and wondered if Dr. Fell was old that he was loosing his hearing. You'd think he's had a hearing funnel to help out if that was the case. Is that why he needed Igors? He was going deaf?
Calder decided to speak up a big more to help out. "No. I didn't pass. I was up against the principle and she nearly killed us. I think I'll do better next time." He also decided to make his words a little more slow in case the man was a bit hard of hearing. He knew that's what he did when speaking to some of the elderly. "I"ve learned a lot in school, but more from just meeting people. I never met an Igor before since coming to school. Did you have to go to a special school to learn how or did you just up and decide to make Christof?" To say Calder had been very curious was an understatement, and he had a million questions on his mind.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 11:56 am
The vulture-esque demon glanced over to Calder with an unreadable expression, punctuated by a soft smile, "Did you know they say if you carve a goblet out of a Kelpie's hoof, it will stop whoever drinks form it from drowning? I believe it's purely superstition, personally." That casually let out into the air, he turned his attentions back to the Sloth demon, "Ah, Well. I should be proud of my Igor for passing his, I suppose, in that case, but I expect nothing less from him. Even so... ah, here we are," His smile picked up a bit as Christof returned, shuffling clumsily with a tray as he set a plate down in front of each guest with a trembling hand. Brunch, it seemed, consisted of sweetbread and toast with some sort of unidentifiable gray paste that smelled subtly of fish and chemicals.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 4:51 pm
Calder's ears dropped as he sank a bit in his seat. Under the table, he curled his hooves in and crossed them, feeling a shiver at the very idea of someone hacking off his hooves for a cup. "I think that's just gossip." he mumbled, though he actually knew that his body had many magical properties. His hide alone would make any drool as it was soft, beautiful, water resistant, and made someone more agile in water wearing it in any fashion. It was why they lived in herds as anyone could make a small fortune on their body. Funny considering they were usually very poor yet could become wealthy on each other. He swallowed hard and was glad to see the meal coming...at first. It smelled like fish but it was hard to tell with the chemical tones which type. "You'd drown taking a kelpie hoof, that's for sure. Someone from their band would find you and make you pay if you did"' Anyone like that deserved to drown to cripple their kind.
The meal wasn't identifiably meaty. It wasn't identifiably anything. But it wasn't trying to get away from him, and low effort was a mark in its favor. Barth tried the gloppy-looking paste.
"Not a lot of passing exams," Barth said. "...Very prestigious sort of thing, getting a professor's pin. But Christof err, works hard at it, I suppose." He looked at Calder. "I'd heard that, about Kelpies. Clannish lot. Can't always say the same about demons, except that they have, err, longish memories. ...This grey pastey stuff isn't bad."
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:21 pm
"Hrmm, so you'd have to catch one away from it's herd," Fell took a sip from his glass cup, watching them both carefully, "But you must have learned a thing or two. Amityville is a very prestigeous school. Christof, show them what you've learned," The Doctor's hand was a blur as the hunchback barely finished setting his plate down for him, and it was unclear where he had been carrying the meat cleaver to begin with. Christof gave a squeak and a jump as his best Right-hand was suddenly severed, and Fell casually tossed it across the room.
His face went green behind his mats of hair.
"Well, go on."
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 7:41 pm
"I've picked up a few things here and there, yes," Barth said, right before Fell asked for a demonstration.
Barth hissed a bit at the flash of metal, and very especially the anatomy it was directed at.
He was beginning to get the impression that Christof was perhaps in a bit of trouble over his mark. Or the other demon was just trying to show who, exactly, was under whose thumb, which would surprise Barth very little. Barth relaxed, picking at another dollop of goop and watching his hand...the hand with polite, distanced interest.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 8:39 pm
Calder sank a little more in his seat. He was starting to get the impression he was in a very dangerous situation. Considering he was in the company of two demons and two Igors (that he knew of and one was currently not in the room with them), and both demons had some control over said Igor, and one demon was his friend but not very active in doing anything even if it meant saving a person, Calder felt he was not very safe. What made it worse was that despite being in a band and Murchadh being a very intimidating force, Calder mmmmaaaayyyyy have lied to the kelpie about where he was going. Telling his guardian that he was taking a trip to meet two demons was not something the strict stallion would have allowed, which meant Calder only said he was visiting his school friend and going to visit his parents.
If anything happened, no one would know. Calder could only hope that Barth also had people looking for him if anything happened. No offense to Christof, who Calder dearly considered a close friend, but even the kelpie knew that you did not go between an Igor and a command from a master. Friendship just didn't play into that situation at all. At least, that was what Calder started to feel about it.
Seeing as Barth seemed to enjoy the gooey paste, Calder tore off a bit of bread and dipped it in, slowly eating. "Catching a keplie is hard. We're fast and don't stray away from our herds." He pointed out, though he wasn't doing a good job at showing that keplies stuck to their herds seeing as he was currently alone. He just didn't want Dr. Fell looking for some poor creature from some band and making them into a cup. Maybe he could throw him off. "We also know magic." Yeah, that should dissuade him. Yup.
The paste was rather strong and pungent, and he STILL didn't know what it was. He was starting to feel that no matter what Dr. Fell gave, be it a vial of drink or some weird food, you were just left guessing.
As the hand was severed, Calder choked and stood up in shock, coughing hard before swallowing. "You took off his arm?! What's wrong with you?!!"
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 9:08 pm
"Simply illustrating the use a good knowledge of what you have at your disposal is good for." Dr. Fell smiled, eyes now locked on Christof.
The hunchback shifted, still looking uncomfortable and embarrassed. He drew in a sharp breath, ignoring his friends' outrage or looks and trying to pretend he wasn't horrified by them being there, seeing this... A year ago, he would have been proud. A year ago, he would have loved to show off just what a good Igor he was, and let them see first hand the wonders of what he did and did for his Master... but a lot could happen in a year. A lot did happen.
And he had learned about more than just Fear.
It took some doing, but, brows furrowed, face contorted in concentration, the hand suddenly scurried up the table leg with finger-limbs before outright sliding down the table and back to his wrist. Without the aid of stitches, he lifted the hand up, eyes not meeting his friends' as he gave the fingers a proper wriggle.
"See? His retention for Fear has increased leaps and bounds in just a year. He really is a clever thing." He patted Christof's head, the tiny wing curling from his hunch giving a spasmodic flap. "Too clever, really," He sighed, eyes calculating for a moment, "But I have made some improvements. I had considered adding a dorsal spout, He looked thoughtful a moment, tapping the top of Christof's hunched back between his cluttered shoulders, "I heard about the ah... Boat trip. Yes, very good character building, that. You are all lucky boys. He should learn to swim properly at some point, though."
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 9:38 pm
Barth would be lying to himself if he didn't admit he found some satisfaction at Christof's determined reattachment of the hand.
Too clever. Those were the words Barth had been hedging on. And Christof was too clever to remain a silent, subservient, placid helping hand without motivation beyond fetch the thing, flip the switch. Christof saw too easily how things fit together, how they might be changed or improved by switching this or that.
...Barth wondered how much Christof had told Fell about the island.
"It's been an...interesting year, certainly. A lot of work to avoid. But I don't mind the learning as much as I thought I might. ...Your lab has a lot of equipment, is the majority of your work biological?"
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