[PRP] Mattress Sail (Calder x Barth)

[Toshihiko Two]

That was Riley's little pet, wasn't it? Barth's horns were covered in slobber. "It is going to be ssso niccce to rip ssssomething apart-" He felt a sudden pain, and the anger leaked from him, like air escaping a tire.

Then he was only tired, and a little sick. He no longer wanted to rip anything apart. He leaned back shakily against the wall.

They were all kicked out shortly thereafter.

It was going to be a long walk back to the dorms. He shivered at the October breeze, wet from sweat and regretting all the shirt-ripping. Whatever hopes he'd had at the beginning of the night, and worries he'd had about Lilith in the middle of the night, now he just wanted to go home to his own bed. But he couldn't. He looked at the abused mattress with despair.

"...Sorry," he said to Calder, "about back there."  

[MoonKitsune]

The ending for the party wasn't exactly how he liked it to have gone down, but at least no one got hurt, and that meant Lilith couldn't show up again to start an argument. Once the gnomes went about shooting everyone, something Calder generally disliked due to a history of hunters stabbing arrows into his a**, he didn't feel as warm as he had before. After being ushered into the cold night, Calder had to then shoo everyone off Barth's mattress and then drag it out - something that was nearly impossible after it had soaked up the water from the boil's bathroom.

Walking back meant he had to shift, and mattress on his back along with the pumpkin, he trotted slowly alongside Barth. Usually he'd offer the demon some help, or not shift at all in order to hold hands, but this was a mover's necessity.

At the apology, his turned his head, wondering exactly what part he was apologizing about. His kissing Lilith, or being angry near the end of it. Maybe he turned cranky when he didn't get enough rest. "That's okay. Sorry...uh, about your expensive clothes." He felt terrible about ripping them. "I'll....try and pay you back." Somehow.  

[Toshihiko Two]

Barth shook his head. "They're...replaceable. It's just the err, the cold."

He leaned against Calder a little.

I don't suppose you'd mind...?"

He held his wrists out, slightly.
 

[MoonKitsune]

"I still feel bad for ripping them. They were very nice, and you looked so handsome in them." His large, round eyes looked at the boil beside him. "Not that I mind this."

As Barth leaned against him, he delighted in the feeling of his skin brushing against him, and he bumped his body closer, making sure to be mindful with walking and not stepping on anything or bumping him with the corner of the mattress. "Oh! Sure." He leaned over, and pulled on the knot with his teeth until it loosened.

"It was all rather crazy tonight, wasn't it? Did you at least enjoy it?"  

[Toshihiko Two]

Barth put the freed silk around his neck, not bothering to tie it. It wasn't a scarf, or really marginally warmer, but it was what he had.

"Some parts," he admitted. "It's err, nice to be able to have problems that aren't life-threatening. ...Mostly." So far, at least. Unless this was somehow Horsemen test number two, but Barth surmised it was mostly gnomes.

"...How about you?"  

[MoonKitsune]

"Yeah. It's nice to have the school together. It helps you forget, and remember to have fun. Good memories. Not bad ones." He wanted to go to school to do what all the other kids in school did, and not have to deal with a problem, a fight, an entire war that was bigger than himself. There was still a lot he wanted to learn and experience that didn't involve him going out and trying to fight someone. Fighting wasn't part of the reason he went to school. He just wanted to live and have fun. To grow. Not worry about dying.

"I liked taking a picture with you, and spending time with you. I like it when we are together, but it's nicer when we can go out sometimes and I can show you off. I'm proud to be your boilfriend." He nuzzled the boil's neck a moment before resuming his slow trot.  

[Toshihiko Two]

"Most people do not have a very high opinion of my...of me," Barth said. "It's.... I'm glad someone does. I'm glad it's you. Thank you."

There was a split in the path up ahead.

"Which, err, which dorm are we headed to?"  

[MoonKitsune]

"Those people have rotten brains." He stuck out his tongue in distaste at anyone who thought poorly of Barth. Not only was he his friend, but he was also his boilfriend.

At the split, Calder turned his head one way that lead to the Monster dorms, the distant clatter and howls of roudier couples who, paw in claw, were making a noise further down the path as the Scarentine's day moon tickled their monster fancies.

On the other, the path turned and rose up to the twinkling lights of the Demon dorms, were couples adorn in the latest fashion for evening get-togethers clacked in heels and polished shoes to their respective dorms - or each others.

It was better if Calder got Barth home safe....though....he wondered what the question meant. Was he willing to go home with him, or did he want them to split up here? Not without a kiss at least. He felt it needed that much, even though they did plenty of that tonight.

"We should deliver your mattress before someone else's takes it." He turned his hooves onto the path to the demon dorms. "I hope you're not too tired. Maybe you could think of a way to make a portable chair that you can carry and just bring out whenever you need to. That way if the Student Council plans an event, you won't be left without a place to sit. I don't like to see you getting worn too early over something as simple as a place to sit."  

[Toshihiko Two]

"I've thought about it," Barth sighed, "the classroom policy on recliners is not...ideal. That was one of my campaign promises, you know. More sofas throughout campus. It's not just the seating situation, though. With the dances. It's always this way, all the...walking about, and fetching things. Altercations. Not as bad as field trips, though. Less recovery time."

He smiled, slightly, still leaning against Calder.

"Better company."  

[MoonKitsune]

Calder nibbled Barth's neck affectionately. "I hope that the company makes up for the poor seating." Though Calder did like when Barth left his dorm to join the rest of them. It was often hard to convince him to go anywhere sometimes, especially places that meant standing around or even dancing. "Pity they didn't have any dancing." He really wanted to have a slow dance with Barth.

The demon dorms were slowly (and he meant slowly-slowly) approaching, and he was glad that despite the walking, it wasn't too far away. The mattress was very heavy. It also meant the time to stand before Barth's door was fast approaching, and he felt his heart beat with each clip-clop of his hooves, skipping paces.  

[Toshihiko Two]

Barth dragged his feet, winded at the end of the long, hilly climb. By the time they made it to the steps of the dormitory, Barth was practically horizontal.

In his natural form and dragging a dirty mattress, Calder was out of place in the plush lounge, and without his clothes Barth was less than genteel. Still, they were in the final stretch. Past the twin grand pianos, the elaborate woodwork, down the hallway of the first floor...there.

Barth slumped gratefully against the wall before withdrawing a small remote, like a garage door opener. The locking mechanism whirred, and the door swung inside. Moonlight pooled through the window but the room was otherwise dark.

"Don't bother about putting it back on the frame, just sit it up somewhere to dry," Barth said, tugging at the cravat. The empty bed gave his stomach an uneasy twist, like there was a hole in him instead of his bedroom.  

[MoonKitsune]

Calder was a very awkward sight to behold, trotting into the demon dorms, past posh furniture, priceless antiques, and disrupting the haunted piano's melody with a clip-clop off her hooves on imported rugs and fine wood floors. The stairs were just as intriguing and required some maneuvering. Barth's door, however, did not work in her favor, and she managed to get to her shoulders before her frame, wide with the mattress, stopped her. Despite pressing her hooves in and pushing, Calder had to finally shift and just drag the mattress in, flopping it on the wall by the door. Anything else was too much, and while Barth leaned with exhaustion, Calder rested against the wet, soggy mattress and took a breath.

"This place...." He breathed. "....has WAY too many stairs." Face half pressed in the mattress, Calder leaned back to touch it. "It should be as good as new after it dries." ...and after Bath re-established his scent to mask those of the other interlopers who crashed upon it. Mal he didn't mind, but Riley. No. He could not sleep on a mattress that smelled like Riley.

 

[Toshihiko Two]

"I don't know," Barth said wearily, heading to his closet. "it's fortified with spellwork. For comfort, and so on. If the sigil's been damaged, I'll have to get a new one. I'll...look over it later."

He wanted to just lie down on the couch, but if he did, that would be it.

"Just err, just getting my jacket. Then l'll..." he paused for a very long time, struggling with the words. With the intentions behind the words. With excuses, alternatives, exhaustion, and his own comfy sofa that was right there. In the end he managed, deliberately, "I'll walk you back to your dorm."  

[MoonKitsune]

Calder paused, touching the mattress as if it was a favorite epony he would have to put to pasture, before something strange hit his ears. Maybe he was dizzy from the long mattress-haul up, or maybe lost in a daydream. Did he collapse on the floor of Barth's dorm and was dreaming.

Shaking his head, he turned around, popping a finger in his ear to check for mites. "Um....did you ......?" Maybe he needed a glass of water. Wow. Mind tricks. Next Barth would be telling him he was going to skip over to make him dinner, and then get some homework done early.
 

[Toshihiko Two]

"Well, err, you know, not walk. Err. Skateboard, mostly. If that's...alright? I thought since, err," Barth hid his face in the closet, gently picking through for something warm.

"...that you might like me to. Walk you. Err - you know, because...the dance, and everything."