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 Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 5:53 pm
It had been days since Florestival and Calder was still moping. He had laid in his room, staring at the other wall and chewing his entire reserve of carrots. Cade was gone. No sign of sighting had been left of the boil and the kelpie was back to being forever alone. Worse than that. He had been rejected. Either by Fate who felt he didn't deserve a boilfriend or a moment of happiness, or by Cade, who didn't feel strong enough to come back. It was one thing to be offered a bad hand by Fate, but to be rejected by his own kind?
He was taking it hard.
Still, even a kelpie had to stretch it's legs. He dragged himself out of his room, dried his eyes, and set out as a gloomy figure on campus. It was while walking that, in his own churning mind, that he wished for a bit of company. Company that couldn't escape and leave him, and also the fortunate friends he had who always seemed popular. Even Christof was busy but surrounded by others. Then again, he had marks. Marks at least meant you had to be around someone no matter what.....
Marks were a strong chain to hold you to a person.
No one could leave him if there was the magic of a mark involve. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't a demon. However, there were ways around that, weren't there?
Calder stopped in the middle of the sidewalk he had been traveling on and paused. Then, slowly, he looked about. Just some company.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 10:53 pm
The wrath demon stomping back to his dorm was likely as fervently against company at the moment as the kelpie was for it. West had just received a phone call from his mother, who told him in no uncertain terms that he was coming home to visit. Soon. He couldn't disagree, but he had only promised to stay for a week. It wasn't that he didn't like his parents, he adored them. Perhaps that was the root of his problem.
He kept his head down as he walked, taking long strides and trying not to make eye contact with anyone who might have been passing by. It seemed there were more and more new students around every day, students who were unaware that the demon wasn't the biggest supporter of friendship and kindness. Hopefully none of them were also unable to read body language. Out of the corner of his eye, West saw a familiar figure up ahead. Well, kind of. The last time he had seen Calder, the boil had been slightly paler.
West had conveniently missed the drama at the Floresctival by mere seconds or he might have had the vaguest of hints as to what was in store for him, at least on the clinging and conversation front, if not the marking one. As it was, he simply ducked his head further into his collar, shoved his hands into his pockets and kept on walking.
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Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 11:08 pm
On West's path to avoid everything and anything that could upset him and bother him, he would find Calder and find that luck was not on his side today. For Calder, he landed his eyes on the first recognizable demon he could see, and vaguely remembered West from music class and other passing moments in the hallway where they didn't really talk, but where he at least noticed him about.
West was a demon. Calder needed a demon. It was just a bonus that he was one with horns. What? It was a bonus!
Turning, Calder started to follow the boil, his clip-clopping hoof falls in no way disusing his movements as he came closer and closer and closer to the point of causing the back of your neck hairs to stand on end at noticing someone was following behind you with such purpose and disregard for personal space.
Before West could think of picking up the pace or sprinting for the nearest Boogeyman, Calder rushed alongside him like a passing car, and cut him off, turning on his hooves to face the demon and directly cut off his patch. "West!" He cried out, heart thudding quick in his chest. "Mark me!"
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:20 pm
The sound of prancing hooves cut through any negative thoughts West might have quickly fallen back into regarding his visit home. He walked a tiny bit faster for the briefest moment, slowing again almost immediately when the clip-clopping got louder. Someone was nearby. The hooves were nearby. What the...
He nearly jumped when Calder leaped into view, and if he hadn't managed to curtail that particular reaction, he might have lashed out. No, not might. He would have. As it was, he ripped his hands from his pockets as they clenched into fists, and took a deep breath in preparation to yell something very loudly and very angrily.
Instead, all the air left him in a rush at Calder's outburst.
His hands relaxed, then tensed again. His brows raised in the middle, then lowered. He turned around slightly, listening for snickering in the trees. West looked back at the boil in front of him.
"What?!"
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:39 pm
Calder didn't like the look of those fists, but he wasn't backing down either. At least the kelplie boil hadn't approached him from behind and made an attempt to meet him in front, which meant Calder didn't understand why the boil was jumpy.
When all West could do was look confused, Calder continued. "What do you mean What? I want you to mark me!" He had his attention. He had to keep going. "Come onnn. You're a demon, and I promise I'm not asking for much of anything or something big and complex or messy. Please. Can ya just do this for me? I need someone. Someone like you. Pleaseeeeeeee!!!"
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:17 pm
This was a joke, West was sure of it. No one just asked to be marked. Well, he supposed Christof did, but Calder wasn't Christof. Had everyone at this school gone insane? First Riley and her pumpkin thing and now this? Marks sucked and it didn't matter which side of them you were on. Their very presence signified that you were beholden to another being. The feeling was not one West enjoyed in the slightest. He didn't even want to tolerate it. Not ever again.
West began to shake his head even before Calder stopped speaking. "No. I don't..." Wait. He didn't want to say that. Demons were kind of meant to mark people. To say he didn't do it would be... unseemly, even he could see that. He shoved his hands back into his pockets and his eyes narrowed. "I dun care what y'want. You don't have anythin' I want."
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2011 7:54 pm
Calder's jaw dropped in surprise and Calder stepped back, before snapping his mouth shut and narrowing his eyes just in turn. How insulting! He was getting sass from a demon over a mark! "You don't know that! I could have LOTS of offer. I'm a very qualified and fit monster. I could do lots of things other students could only dream of. And...And...what is with the attitude. I'm giving me you on a silver platter here and you're being snippy? I thought EVERY demon could use someone. It is what you all do. What demon goes around being picky? It's not like I'm even asking for much. In fact, you didn't even ask what the mark would be about!" This guy was getting the grand prize here and he was just shooting him down based on ...based on ...what?!!
To feel the sort of rejection he got from Cade, one of his own kind, and now from a demon, really was making him feel absolutely worthless. Was it...really just him? Did he look that TERRIBLE?!!!
Calder's enraged features were starting to melt into a look of hurt. ".....I'm not good enough? Is...Is that it?"
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 11:33 am
For once West hadn't been aiming to induce anger, but that particular emotion was always welcome, planned or not. Some of the tension went out of the demon's face in response, and he slowly relaxed his antagonistic crouch into something calmer and less primed for attack. When the kelpie's irritation began to veer toward self pity, West unconsciously rolled his eyes. Oh, for Jack's sake. It seemed the possibility of entertainment was gone just as quickly as it had come.
"Look," West said. "I'm sure there's plenny'a demons who'd needya for somethin'. How 'bout y'go find one a'them?" He might have tried to mark Jingleberry, had he ever been given the opportunity, just to try and turn the ninja against Levi and knock the ghoul down a few pegs, but he wasn't going to do that to Calder. Watching people get beaten up without the appropriate emotion behind it was so far from satisfying that it bordered on off-putting, plus West was fairly certain Calder wouldn't win against the tatzel and her damn tail without freakishly good luck.
He turned away a half step, trying desperately to bring this encounter to an end before it became even stranger. "An' I don't care what it's about. I dunno why you'd wanna be marked at all, no matter what y'needed. Jus'... do it yerself," he muttered. "Whatever it is."
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 5:31 pm
What the heck?! Why wasn't he good enough for THIS demon? Why did he even have to go looking for another?! "Of course plenty of demons would want to mark me. That's cause no demon would pass a free mark up. What sorta demon are you to not want to mark someone?!" He was getting upset, and felt personally wounded that his offer wasn't accepted. Was his company, his sheer presence, THAT bad?! Why wouldn't West tell him WHY at least!
"Why am I not good enough for you when every other demon in the world would just do it's thing and mark me already!" He took the half-step that West made in an attempt to continue his walk and blocked it, glaring up at the boil. "The only reason anyone gets marked is because they can't do it themselves. If they could do it themselves, then you demons wouldn't have any reason to mark and then what sorta demon would you be?" He was standing his ground. "So why won't ya mark me?!" Geez! Did he have to beg?
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 11:00 pm
He almost winced. Almost. Instead his neutral expression melted into a noiseless snarl. So much for getting away. So much for peace.
West had tried to be nice in his own way, but if this stupid kid was going to start getting all mouthy and making shady comments about the sort of demon he was, as if he was somehow less than the others just because he didn't get off on slavery, well... he was... um... going to have to... get off on slavery? Just this once. Very reluctantly. In the name of his dignity. Crap.
Why had he left his dorm this morning?
His snarl was no longer silent. "Fine. Fine!" he bellowed. "Whaddya need that only a demon can do, huh? What's so Jackin' importan'? Spittit out before I make y'get the hell outta my way."
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 7:21 pm
Calder stepped back at the sudden shouting into his ear, causing him to feel as if he was going to be blown away. It was a good thing he was sturdy, but West sure had a set of lungs. Nearly popped an ear drum with that one, and that growl! You'd think he was part tiger, though he DID have a tail. Not a kitty tail, which would have been rather fetching on the boil, but Calder did think the one he had was rather nice nonetheless. Very classic demonic.
But enough about that. Shaking the ringing from his ears, Calder looked back up at the boil, smiling. West had agreed, or at least hearing him out. That was something, and Calder had happy that persistence had once again proven victorious! He had thought hard on how he could insure company, and had come up with a master plan.
Stepping closer, he looked up at the demon. "Protect me." He was serious as he said this. "Protect me, and I'll do whatever you ask of me."
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 8:13 am
West felt a twinge of satisfaction at Calder's backward step, but it was short-lived. He swallowed, his face smoothing into a rather passive expression, directly at odds with how he was feeling. This sucked so hard, but he didn't think he could back out now. Calder was offering him pretty much anything he could imagine. Who would turn that down? West was sure he could come up with something for the kelpie to do that wasn't too nauseating. At least what Calder wanted in return was a service he was quite familiar with. Protection. He had protected Lilith. Of course, that had been... before and it had been free, but surely engaging in something similar now wouldn't be so bad.
He nodded faintly, trying to look like he did this every day. "Protection from who? 'R what?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 9:31 am
Oh, that was a bit of detail wasn't it, but Calder didn't have long to think about it. If he needed someone desperately, which he did, then he should have had all his ducks in a row before proposing the idea. Well, it was a good thing he was thinking quick on his hooves, and decided just to go with vague. "Well, anything! There are plenty of stuff out there that can harm me at any given time. You should know that." Yeah, way to cover your bases. In fact, it wasn't even that strange to think about. Considering their field trip, going into specifics wasn't that hard to ignore. You just never knew what would come waltzing up through the woods or attack them in some strange fog.
It was time to move on from that and try and close the deal while he could. "Now what would you want from me? Then we can close this deal. You can name anything." You'd think with being around demons Calder would know that "anything" was the worst thing to offer, but all Calder knew was "anything" was hard to resist to a demon.
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 7:13 am
All right. This was almost over. All he had to do was think of something for Pony Boil to do in exchange for his protection. West had already ruled out fighting, although he couldn't exactly recall why now that he was on the spot. Oh, yeah. Not fun to watch his fighter get his a** kicked. Right.
What did he need, what did he... The demon's eyes widened a hair. Revenge. There was no way Levi would suspect him to get her back through a third party.
"You're gonna make a d'livery fer me. T'Levi. Th' tatzel. Whenever I say. Just th' one time though. An' no askin' what's inside." The words burst forth in a rush, and for the first time in this entire conversation, West seemed as though he actually wanted to make this deal. "Take it er leave it," he added. It was no skin off his nose if Calder refused, but if he didn't, this was sure to turn out pretty epic.
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Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 8:24 am
Calder looked up, thinking over this offer. Delivering a package or something to some student he didn't know. Well, considering he would just be a messanger, and West surely wouldn't send something explosive - or he hoped not - he didn't see TOO much of a risk in it. Nope. Seemed legit enough, and really, was Calder up to debating at this point?
"Deal!" The kelpie held out his hand. "...and you have to protect me for at least 2 weeks in exchange." Calder knew that contracts needed a time limit, and for something as simple as being a delivery boil, he guessed 2 weeks was fair. If it had been anything bigger, he would be asking for a month!
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