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 Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:06 pm
"Night," Barth said, preoccupied even as he drifted off.
This time, he slept until afternoon. The thorns over them were not a canopy, as Calder had described, just thin black veins running over the ceiling. More of the bed was covered, but the thorns had stayed clear of where the two of them slept. Handsome had crept between them again.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:24 pm
While Barth's vines had grown in abundance, so had Calder's output of slime. Resting deeply, the boil had only stirred several times in the night. There was also the pitcher of water now located on the nightstand, having been retrieved at some point in the nigh, and now empty. There had been no wake up call from Calder about the vines, which he had noticed grew several times during the night but had still slept close by, tempting them and wondering if they would be hostile against him for any reason. Calder did wonder if he would roll on them, but he hadn't showed too much concern. Even Handsome hadn't been moved this time around.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:45 pm
Barth was still foggy, but nerves kicked in again. Calder. Was he- alright, it looked like. Still sleeping. Absolutely smothered in slime. Barth would have to loan him another shirt, although he...personality didn't mind the condition of the current one. The thorns were thicker and had reached further, but not by much. It was afternoon, and quiet.
Everything was alright.
After just waking up, it was always harder for Barth to think, but this close to sleep there was a certain comfort in the fog of his conscious. Feelings were simpler. He could go back to sleep. The room wouldn't change.
Barth shifted closer to Calder because he liked how warm the slime was, and thought more about the thorns overhead. It wouldn't hurt for them to be a little thicker, like a nest, or the canopy Calder had described. Calder hadn't moved much yesterday, and Barth had no reason to believe he'd want to be up and about today. Barth didn't want to be up and about either. Was it the weekend? It didn't matter. No pressing engagements. The day was slow, and he was comfortable.
As he dozed, the thorns continued to grow.
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Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:37 pm
While Barth resumed sleeping, Calder woke up some time later. His head was in a fog, and despite this, he wanted to at least adjust himself. Muscles in his body aches from lack of use, and he wiped the back of his arm against his face to make him feel better. When it left long trails from his arm to his cheek, he gave up, dropping his hand down and looking over when he felt something warm beside him that was not Handsome. Well, not the dog at least.
Calder looked over at Barth and smiled, really glad that he didn't repel the boil, and as his eyes took notice, he looked about to see the vines all about them. They were not thick and encasing, but they provided a sense of cover, privacy, and wilderness that the room lacked.
Groaning, Calder tested himself to sit up, and looked around at how far the vines and thorns went, and smiled. He really did let go a bit. At least nothing was broken and checking, even Handsome seemed fine.
Smiling wearily, he flopped back down on the bed, and then reached over to grab the picture and drink the last gulp of water left. Done, he just left it resting beside him and curled towards the demon. He felt baked, but even then, he didn't mind being close to someone. Despite the water, his throat felt dry. He wished he could rest in the shade with half of his body in the river, being constantly brushed by cool waters.
That daydream alone made his eyes heavy again.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:35 am
Barth woke up with Handsome pressing his wet nose against his face.
...Right. Needed to let the woehound out. He pried himself from his bed, and then froze. The thorns had crept part-way across the room, over the floor and ceiling in a thin layer. Furniture too. He looked suspiciously hallway-ward, and at Calder, but the mattress was still thorn-free. As he got out of bed, the thorns all shrank back again, drying up like tiny rivers.
"Calder? Going to let Handsome out. You want anything?"
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 5:31 pm
Calder didn't move, but at the offer, one of his ears turned and he managed a raspy, "Water." His only request.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:13 pm
Barth looked reluctantly at the pitcher. It looked...heavy.
Handsome hopped out of the bed onto the now-clear floor. Barth knew, from experience, that he could sleep all day. ...Or week. Or month, as he had in his apartment. And too much activity made it a necessity. Calder, however, was not a sloth demon, and though Barth felt somewhat secretly pleased by the sluggishness, on a rational level, he could perhaps admit that it meant his normally talkative and energetic friend was in bad straits.
It took Barth a long time to get to his own bathroom, which was closer than the bedroom. This would be an ideal task for some pulleys and funnels, but that would take some setting up, and he had to let the dog out. Magic would be easier, if it wasn't quite so...unpredictable. And if they hadn't been forbidden from using it outside of Class. He thought briefly of the slowbot, who was still on the injured side. That left... Barth sighed, and very slowly, filled and brought Calder a paper cup.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:27 pm
Calder was still resting and turned only when Barth came by. He in no way took into account the request for water and how much effort the demon had done on his behalf. The fact that Barth even offered would have been surprising if Calder had been paying attention. Instead, he pulled the hair from his face, his brow glistening as he reached out and took the cup.
Just a cup.
One small paper cup of water.
Calder looked up at Barth, and then drank the cup. Then he looked at the empty cup.
If Calder had read Oliver Twist, he might have quoted a famous line. Instead, he looked back up at Barth, eyes barely open. "Thanks." And then wondered where to put the cup. Since it was empty - SO empty - he set it down on the mattress and laid back down.
"Where are you going?" Apparently he hadn't heart Barth the first time.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:40 pm
"Letting the dog out," Barth said. Handsome was hanging unhappily around his heels.
Barth noted Calder's expression at the empty cup. He was well-familiar with that expression. He reviewed the bringing-water-to-a-kelpie options, and amended his train of thought.
"You should use the bath today. For as long as you need."
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:45 pm
Calder didn't seem to have heard what Barth said at first, just looking at him as if any moment, his eyes would close the small amount and he'd fall asleep again. The mushrooms on his ears had moved up, with much larger ones at the end, making them droop, and smaller ones graveling up. A few were on his neck. The moss was traveling.
Then, slowly, Calder nodded. "okay." And that was all. He turned into the pillow, and that was the end of the discussion.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:01 pm
Looking at Calder, Barth wanted nothing more than to join him. And he could, he reminded himself. Just a very small trip to the yard outside.
He retrieved the skateboard from beside the door, prodded Handsome onto it, and navigated out into the Hallway. It took longer than it should have, but after letting Handsome out in the grass and checking his texts to see if Christof had anything in mind for the Doom Buggy today, Barth finally returned. Sleeping all day meant more...practice, and while Barth wasn't comfortable with the vines, they hadn't killed anything yet. He was making progress.
Barth wondered vaguely if killing something with them would be a certain kind of progress. He just very badly did not want it to be anyone he knew.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:06 pm
Calder hadn't moved much, and remained in bed. When Barth came back, he didn't move, and simply remained where he was without so much as a turn of his ears or a flick of his tail. It wasn't until several hours later that the boil got up, and looking ready to teeter over, got up on his hooves, navigated to the bathroom, and shut the door. Moments later, the water was running.
After that point, Calder wasn't seen for a while.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:59 pm
The vines were on the floor again, but spread thinly enough that Calder could walk through them. Barth, who had gone back to bed, continued to sleep.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 11:20 pm
While Barth slept, Calder too was sleeping. he had set the bath to warm again, but had fallen asleep in the tub. A hour or so later, when the water got cold, he woke up shivering. It was cold. Too cold.
Getting out of the bath and draining the green-tinted water, Calder tried off as best he could and looked around to see a new shirt was given. It seemed Barth just decided to save on a trip and left several in the bathroom to avoid walking in over and over each time Calder took a bath. Selecting one that looked the thickest, the color a rusty red, Calder moved back to see thorns scattered about the room. He half wondered if stepping on them would hurt Barth, and so tried to be careful as he crawled back into bed. Instead of laying on top of the covers, he pulled the covers up and over him, before curling in.
He felt warm in the face, but cold all over, and pressed his face into the pillow. At least he wasn't thirsty anymore.
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Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2011 11:30 pm
"Feeling any better?" Barth muttered. He couldn't feel the thorns, in the sense of them being extra limbs. It was more like playing with the lever for a dam. A lever he still couldn't entirely bring himself to pull, especially while Calder had been soaking in the tub.
Malcolm had been absolutely right about the importance of having someone nearby. He could rest easier and let the thorns grow more freely with Calder in close proximity again.
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