[PRP] Sorry. :( (Chaya & Ahm)

[prolixity]

Chaya hadn't done much in the days following the awakening from Wonderland. Eating, getting dressed, going to class, all had been an effort, unsettling and strange, and everything felt weird and wrong. Even after they'd all woken up from the secondary hallucinations, after Alice had been brought down and wakefulness returned, Chaya felt unreal in reality. Her body felt wrong, and she'd never really understood. She'd known. But she hadn't known. And every time she curled up on her bed and closed her eyes, she hoped futilely that when she woke up, he'd be Fang again.

It had finally occurred to him to try looking for Mouth. He'd wanted to apologize for hitting Mouth, in Wonderland, when he'd tried to hit the mirror and its lying vision and instead broken through and hit his friend. Mouth wouldn't be able to find her, not knowing her as she looked here, but she had an advantage; she knew she was looking for twin grues, and if Mouth attended Amityville someone would probably know.

It had taken some asking around, and she'd had to focus and stay on task, but he'd been rewarded by the news that a pair of twin grues did attend the school and that they could be found in a certain room in the monster dorms. He'd waited another day before seeking them out, uncertain as to how they'd react to her appearance. But she had to apologize, she decided finally. She dressed herself in leggings and a large, loose shirt that hid the way she'd wrapped her chest, then went to find the grues. One of them would be Mouth, she thought, he hoped.

Syrie

 

[Syrie]

Ah...Wonderland...Ahm didn't miss it. But then, Wonderland had taken something from him that only days twined with his twin had pushed back. He'd done his classes only enough to get the work done, but mostly he'd tried to stay low, to normalize without "outside" pressure(s) making it that much harder.

Of course, they - the twins - had agreed that none of what had happened should get back to their Clan, none of it. Not even that it had happened, if they could swing it, but definitely that neither twin had fallen prey to it.

When Chaya knocked, Ahm and Nahm had been twined on Nahm's bed, watching a movie on a laptop; Ahm reached out to pause the movie and move the electronics before extricating himself from the bed. "Company, watch your eyes, yeah?" He grabbed a scarf for himself and one for Nahm, tossing it to his twin while winding the other around his face and head for the moments when the door was opened. The low lights they used within their dorm room wouldn't harm their skin, but the brighter lights of the hall were another thing entirely.

Ahm flicked the light on and then opened the door. An unfamiliar face greeted him: bright eyes, white fluff over dark hair...a slim body in a loose shirt with leggings. He didn't know this person, but as his eyes roamed and caught the fluffy white ears and Chaya's expression, something niggled.

"Why hello there, can I help you?" Since he'd only been wearing low-slung pajama pants before the knock came, he didn't stand in the doorway, but peered at Chaya from behind the door, hating the light and thinking that whomever this was...they found the Grue's room on purpose and that meant they'd probably end up coming in so Ahm made a quick decision.

"Rather, if you're looking for Ahm or Nahm, come in so I can shut the Jack-awful light back out, yeah?"  

[prolixity]

Nahm had done what he could to keep Ahm in the room during the hallucinations, during the sleepwalking, had attended carefully on his twin the whole time. He hadn't known what to make of it nor what was going on, but it was something that the clan could never know. The elders would not approve, and their grandfather might do something; what, exactly, Nahm wasn't quite clear about, but he wanted to avoid finding out.

Afterward, he'd attended on his twin just as closely, comforted him after the visions, stayed close in the wake of the horrifying future-dreams that had been too vivid and shaken Ahm so badly. The return to relative normality had been slow. Why Wonderland had called to only one of them he would never know, but Nahm resented it.

When the knock came, he grumbled and wrapped his scarf around his head, staying obstinately where he was.

---

Chaya couldn't quite make out the face of the boil who'd answered the door, not fully, since he stood behind the door and peered at her from the depths of some kind of wrapping. Her uncertainty came roaring back, and she hesitated. Should he come in? "I, I don't know," he said. "Is Mouth here? Fang is looking for him," she added, feeling misplaced again.

Syrie

 

[Syrie]

It was okay for them to have secrets from the Clan - they had many, held collectively by their two hearts, two minds and four talented hands. But that only one had felt the call to Wonderland was something that bothered them both - though Ahm had been very clear that if only one had been called, he was glad it had been him.

He would have broken his body to pieces to spare Nahm what he'd gone through. Even recounting it after, seeing how it pained his twin, had been bad enough.

Ahm cocked his head a little, eyes narrowing at their visitor as he kept trying to place the furry-eared person and failing. The balking at entering set his tail to an annoyed flicking against his leg, but then Chaya said the magic words and his attitude changed - from annoyed to pleased-but-confused.

"Fang? Is it really you?" But wait, yes...he remembered seeing the fluffy Hounds, the Pack - yes this made sense - though this version of Fang looked much different whereas he (if he wasn't covering his head) looked a lot the same. "C'mon in man - it's me...uh, I'm Mouth." He smiled, teeth glinting in the light. "I'd greet you proper, but the light burns the hell outta me, an' I'm not wearin' a shirt."

"But seriously, come in! I was hopin' you'd show up."

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

"Oh - oh, sorry," Chaya said, and slipped into the room. He remembered hearing that grues lived in total darkness, and standing and letting the light in was just rude. "It's me," he added, blinking in the dimness, pupils expanding as his eyes adjusted. "I just, yeah, I didn't wanna say. When I was there." He tugged on the hem of his shirt, straightening it; a nervous, faintly uncomfortable gesture. "I remembered you had a twin so I asked around."

He looked over to where a dark shape lurked against the wall on one of the beds and got a glowing stare in return; he looked away swiftly, not wanting to challenge, or even look like he was challenging.

Nahm took his time inspecting the ghoul, curious. So this was the boil Ahm had talked about, the friend he'd made in the dream, come to search him out for real. It seemed that Fang hadn't been entirely who he looked like.

Syrie

 

[Syrie]

Once Fang had come in and the door healed securely, Ahm removed the wrap he'd put on and hung it back up. He and Nahm would be fine with the low light so he didn't need it. He glanced at Nahm briefly - he would take his wrap too, unless he wanted to hold onto it.

Chaya, now in the twin's space, scented female but Fang was decidedly male - interesting only in that Ahm could read hesitation and discomfort.

"Y'look good, Fang. Bit fluffier an' shorter, but good." He almost reached out to ruffle Chaya's fluff, but restrained himself and instead put a hand on the boil's shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. "I'm Ahm - Mouth from Wonderland, yeah? And that's my partner in crime, Nahm." Looking back over at his twin, Ahm's smile grew; Fang was a friend and possibly a close one, but only Nahm was Nahm.

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

Nahm tossed his wrap at Ahm, settling back down in front of the laptop. He returned his twin's smile, then looked deliberately to Fang. "Yo," he said, then turned his attention to the computer again, pulling up a game. He'd seen the hesitation too. He'd be watching out of the corner of his eye, but this doggish person might be less skittish if he wasn't staring, and Ahm wanted Fang here, so that was good enough.

"You look like you," Chaya answered, and nodded to Nahm as he was introduced. "My name's Chaya. DarkFang, you knew that." He took a curious breath, smelling two overlapping scents that were very, very similar, but distinct in their own ways. The scents he'd smelled in Wonderland had been thin, a little diffused, not quite real, but he would now know the grues' scents anywhere.

Syrie

 

[Syrie]

Ahm put Nahm's wrap up in the same place he'd put his own, naked tail twitching in a happy manner; here were two people that he liked! Well, one he figured he liked and one that he loved beyond all reason, but hey - that was just how things went for the Grue twins, right?

"You want a drink or somethin?" It would give Chaya something to do with his hands, which might help since he kept using them to tug at his hemline. "Chaya's a good name too, y'know? I'm happy you came to find me."

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

"That'd be nice," Chaya answered, and let go of her shirt with a small mental effort. She wasn't quite sure which name to be using; it felt sort of strange to hear her given name from a voice that had previously only called him by the name he'd picked out himself. He'd see how it felt.

Now that both the twins were present, he could see that the little incomplete mannerisms that he'd noticed in Wonderland were indeed half of a whole; when Mouth -- Ahm -- turned a little to look to the side and check in with someone else, that someone else flicked a quick glance back, the pair's postures and gestures reflecting one another in an organic and seamless way. It was relaxing to watch, and the fur on the top of his tail smoothed itself.

"I, uh. Wanted to say sorry." His hands went back to the shirt's hem again, but he stopped the gesture. "For the mirror thing. I wanted to hit the mirror, I didn't mean to hit you." His ears flattened back apologetically, and his gaze flickered briefly over to Nahm, apprehensive of the other grue's reaction.

Nahm looked back, but didn't produce the fangy threat smile that would have been pulled out in any other situation that such a statement might have been made. He'd heard Ahm's side of it, and his brother wasn't mad. He wasn't going to get aggressive about it.

Syrie

 

[Syrie]

Going over to the small fridge, Ahm pulled out three cans of flavored tastiness - one for each of them. He handed Chaya his can but tossed Nahm his in a manner that bespoke of long years doing the very same thing before cracking open his drink and taking a swallow.

"Have a seat, just mind the bean-bag, it belongs to Mr. Snappy." And Mawz, but mostly Mr. Snappy, so he gestured to the orange couch they had for guests and the like, while typically he would have stayed on the bed with his twin this time he chose to sit next to his friend. It seemed to be the thing that needed to happen; a glance at his brother cemented the choice and he settled comfortably with his drink.

"Ohh. Yeah. That. Y'know, I smacked three people myself, trying to kick the mirror's asses, so I know it wasn't personal Fang - er, Chaya. But if you really wanna apologize, I accept. No hard feeling man, Wonderland was rough." He tilted his head and peered at the Hound curiously, "Feels weird calling you 'Chaya'...It's a good name, but I'm probably gonna keep thinking of you as 'Fang'...is it okay if I do that?"

So many little things, communicated without words, between Ahm and Nahm...very clear to see that the bond went deep and was strong; Ahm appreciated Nahm not giving Chaya a fangy-threat - his in-game friend seemed nervous enough, though his fur had smoothed out some.

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

Nahm snagged his can out of the air with an ease that spoke of long practice; he tapped the can hard several times before opening it, and pulled a textbook over to serve as a stable surface for the drink while he played his game. One ear angled towards the conversation, not making any effort to hide the fact that he was listening, but he didn't make any move to join them on the couch, either; most of the time, if a pretty ghoul came into the room, he'd be sidling on up, but this was different.

Chaya made a wide detour around the beanbag. He didn't know who or what Mr. Snappy was, but he would take the warning seriously; generally that sort of thing was a warning for a reason. He tucked himself up on the couch, pulling his legs under him and cracking his can open. Ahm's guess had been correct; having something to do with his hands seemed to steady him further. "Felt like fun at first," he agreed. "Then it got ... harder." His tail tucked closer to his leg.

"You can call me Fang," and there was a definite note of relief in his voice. "I'm okay with that. Maybe I'll start using it more. It's ... like myself." He licked the opening of his soda can and looked to Ahm. "D'you want to be called Mouth or Ahm?" His friend had asked, so he would return the courtesy of asking in return. His friend - yes, Mouth was his friend, and he was settling further into the idea that Ahm would be, too.

Syrie

 

[Syrie]

Ahm knew his twin was listening - paying attention and feeling the situation out - it was reassuring and familiar and so much part of their dynamic he didn't even think about it anymore...kind of like how neither of them thought much of making moves on whatever pretty ghoul, boil or other that was unwary enough to accompany either of them back to their room (as their much-abused white-board could attest).

"Yeah." The Grue fiddled with his own can, tail twitching against one leg as he remembered Wonderland's strangeness, it's often painful digging into memories or whatever the hell that had all been. "Got pretty ugly right at the end. Even before we were all smacking each other through mirrors like idiots." He gave Fang a wry smile at that - definitely not some of their more 'graceful' moments, that was for sure.

The relief in Chaya's voice and manner was instantly apparent and Ahm made careful mental notes on this - so his friend was female-bodied...but male. Interesting - though he found Fang interesting anyway. "It's a good name for ya. Very suitable. Look more like a Fang to me, anyhow." He contemplated the question and realized he had little to no preference: Ahm was Mouth was Mouth was Ahm. "Either's good for me, honestly." He cocked his head and took a sip from the condensation-heavy can in his dark hands, then grinned broadly.

"Y'know what, you just keep calling me Mouth, okay? It's a good nick-name and I'm used to you saying it."

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

"Don't know what it was all for," Fang answered, a little subdued, and licked the can again before drinking. His tail's tense press against his leg relaxed slightly. "It was, it'd be nice to play games with you. Real games?" His voice pitched up, closer to hers. "Even if it's not, if it's on the interwebs and not like. Real like that."

He'd slept, sleepwalked, but mostly, luckily, stayed within the limits of his room and dorm. Mouth's brother had looked after him, Fang guessed, and shot another involuntary glance at the other grue; Mouth's twin was listening, but not watching, and Chaya blew out a deep sigh of relief involuntarily. He was a predator, and so were the grues, and there was, it seemed, some kind of shared politeness that they could understand.

"Okay," he agreed to Mouth's answer. "Like um. Raiding crew." He breathed and thought and drank again, and burst out suddenly, "It's not weird? Me. I mean." The words froze in his mouth then, an he stopped and rested the metal of the can against his lips.

Syrie

 

[Syrie]

"Us either." Because of course he'd discussed it with Nahm - even so, the twins had been unable to figure out the point of it all. Eventually they'd chalked it up to some crazy MMORPG gone amuck and let it lie at that (more important things to contemplate, really). Ahm perked a bit at the mention of playing games. Both grue had a deep and abiding love of games, real or otherwise.

"That'd be fun, we could absolutely do that." He grinned at Fang, making no mind to his changing pitch save to mentally note that the more unsure (or stressed, perhaps) his friend was, the higher it got. "We love games and I'd be more than happy to go raiding with ya." Ahm was, as ever, inclusive of his twin while making it clear that he was not extending an invite for him to join until and unless Fang felt like doing so himself.

Chaya's outburst had the grue flicking his tail and widening his eyes a bit, but otherwise he just sipped his drink and considered what he'd said. "Nope."

"I mean, you're certainly weird - it's practically a prerequisite for being my friend - but that's more about you being you than anything to do with your physicality." Honestly, Ahm had no hang-ups on gender - he honestly didn't care. The twins might have been very sure of their own states from the start, but they were pretty fluid with it in general. "Not the first person I've known with the wrong blueprint." He didn't elaborate but glanced at Nahm with a knowing wink; they certainly didn't discriminate when it came to potential bedmates. Fang wasn't - maybe never would be on their tally list - but the only thing that mattered was that he was Fang.

Prolixity

 

[prolixity]

Chaya listened quietly to what Mouth had to say, taking it in and thinking about it and paying equal attention to Mouth's posture and scent as he spoke, and all of it smoothed together into a sense of not-lying, not even fibbing, and something small and cold and frozen in his gut thawed slowly and began to uncurl and relax. It was okay and not even strange and the grue didn't feel like he'd been lied to, and it would be okay. "Sorry, I just," Chaya said, "sorry," and sputtered off into, "thanks."

"What games do you play?" he asked, because there wasn't really anything else to say about his own awkward personal subject, and because he'd been invited to game and he really hoped they had some games in common already. He could pick new things up but there was a learning curve.

Syrie