[PRP] Tangled Loyalties (Christof & Barth)

[Bilious]

With Student Council Elections taking up much of his time, Christof had been exceptionally busy lately. When the announcements had come, he was ecstatic by the outcome... but it wasn't until later when he hadn't seen much of Barth he had begun to worry about his poor neglected friend. Hopefully Barth hadn't... EXPECTED to actually win against Mistress Riley, right? Of course not, that would have been foolish. Even so, he supposed a visit was in order, if only to check up on him. He let his feet carry him to the Demon Dorms, guilt slowly bubbling up in him every step. He hadn't been particularly supportive to his poor Other Master... but... well, it was *important* to get on Riley's good side. Surely he'd understand...

As usual, the door was unlocked.  

[Toshihiko Two]

What proved unusual was that the door, once open, did not lead to a room. It lead to a solid, thick wall of bristling black thorns. They stirred like a bed of disturbed snakes, writhing over and other each other and knotting more tightly, before settling again.  

[Bilious]

Christof blinked, face paling at the sight.

What in the....

An experiment gone wrong??

Mistress? MISTRESS! Christof mentally called out for the mindflayer, staggering next door. Hopefully she would have a... a... SOMETHING sharp? Or could call out for him into the throng to see if Barth was... was trapped or... oh HELL'S BELLS No reply meant she was out, and too far away to "hear" him. He was on his own. Scrambling and boots squeaking on the polished floor, he ran, returning clumsily with his shovel some short time later. It was the quickest tool he could find, but hopefully he could uncover something more useful once he fought his way inside...

He was COMING, Master! The shovel swung, slashing into the twisted black vines with a dull thunk.  

[Toshihiko Two]

The thorns pressed even thicker at the assault, but where Christof chopped they cracked apart, a thick black ooze bleeding from the stems. It was sticky, like tar.

The shovel began to carve an opening. The thorns were woven over the ceiling and floor, and beyond, instead of the familiar furniture and equipment, there was nothing but dark bramble.  

[Bilious]

"HRRRRRRMMM!" He called out as best he could through the thicket, panic growing in him the deeper he dug. The thorns tore at his jacket, but he ignored them as he pressed forward. What was... what was going on? It couldn't have been an experiment gone wrong, Barth was often slow about things but he wasn't that careless... something left far too long to rot under his bed was a more likely possibility but he hadn't left him for THAT long had he??  

[Toshihiko Two]

A chair appeared, like a familiar landmarked island, eerie and wrapped in thorns. There were other objects that should be nearby, but Christof couldn't see them. He had not progressed far in the room. The thorns still lurked around him, and he could hear the ones behind him move and coil.

Inside the rustling, there was a bubbling purr.

Cheezbooger squeezed out from under the chair, small body flexing around the thorns without any trouble.  

[Bilious]

Christof jumped, almost ready to strike the oozing feline before he registered what he was looking at. This would take forever! But maybe the little pet could lead him towards the bed? He recognized this chair at least, helping him gain some composure as he glanced around and raised his shovel once more for a fresh series of strikes, calling out through the vines as best he could.  

[Toshihiko Two]

Cheezbooger wound between his ankles, then disappeared back into the thicket. It reappeared at various intervals, but whether it wanted to help Christof or just wanted Christof to let it out was unclear.

There were more landmarks, the sofa, a familiar junk pile. Each object was choked by thorns.

The path behind Christof was also slowly, steadily closing.  

[Bilious]

The hunchback gave a worried whine, one more attempting a muffled call out into the mess. A few strong strokes, and it was clear Bart was not on the couch. Panting, he glanced behind him at the closing vines once more, swallowing deeply. Well.. if... if worse came to worse... he... he would figure a way out again. Maybe the bed? Another likely place. He glanced about for any sight of the slimy cat before resuming wielding his shovel like an ax.  

[Toshihiko Two]

There was another flash of a green tail. It was hard to navigate and tell if Christof had wandered too far to the left or the right. Cheezbooger ducked back under something. The thorns came apart with wet crunches, like lettuce, and even wielding the shovel, Christof had accumulated his fair share of cuts and scrapes. The ooze looked like it was going to stain.

Finally, the wall came to an end, and beyond was an opening, clear of thorns.

There was Barth's bed.

The space around it was roomy, with vines on the banisters, floor, and ceiling. The matress itself was completely thorn-free. And on top of the mattress, Barth was sleeping soundly, with Handsome curled on the opposite pillow.

 

[Bilious]

Panting and trembling, Christof stumbled towards the bed, stitches coming undone left and right but he managed to keep himself together for the most part as he dropped to kneel beside it. Was... was he dead? Had something attacked him with these vial thorns? Panic gripped him, and he wasn't sure what to- he could see Barth's chest rise and fall gently.

Oh.

He scowled. Just... sleeping?

He could dimly recall a story that went something like this, but fiction was not something he was very familiar with, and so unfortunately kissing never crossed his mind.

Instead, he gave Barth a rather rough, but urgent shove and a grunt.  

[Toshihiko Two]

"What?" Barth mumbled, blurrily opening one eye, half expecting Calder. It took him a second to make out Christof. Just Christof. That was alright then. Wasn't it? It wasn't, he felt vaguely. He hadn't actually had a chance to meet back up with Christof since elections had- turned out the way they had, or since...

The rest of the room, that is to say, the thorns came into focus behind the hunchback.

The thorns, he remembered with sudden and sharp embarrassment.

"How did you...? Are- are you alright?"  

[Bilious]

Christof gave a rather stressed grunt, expression somewhere between worry and being livid, despite the scratches and tears and blood and torn stitches.

For good measure, he tossed the slime-covered shovel onto the bed onto Barth's legs if only to make sure he was good and up.  

[Toshihiko Two]

The shovel landed with a soft thump, and Barth slowly sat up.

"I err," he started sheepishly, "Meant to err- tell you."

He hadn't. He had been avoiding discussing the thorns with anybody besides Professor Malcolm and Calder.
 

[Bilious]

Hands now free, he was fully capable of wrenching out a quick 'What-IS-this??' with a broad gesture to the closing vines surrounding them. The torn stitches on the back of one of his hands finally gave out, a couple fingers falling to the ground like punctuation.