[PRP] The Full House (Zar & Hollandaise)

[The Semblance of Unity]

Even with the address in hand, it had taken Zar making her angry over Critter (yet again) in order for her to pluck up the proper stubbornness to go. This time it had been over how he didn't view her as any type of threat at all. But Hollandaise wanted to be threatening, wanted to have rows of sharply glistening teeth and a tail that could wrap around others or had a pointed tipping for stabbing. She wanted to be scary and threatening and something. Instead, Hollandaise remained fully aware that she was small, insignificant, and as long as she remained that way, she could never go home. It didn't matter. She was going because these gifts had been collecting dust. Packages in hand, she grabbed a scarf and hurried out.

Hollandaise had been informed, warned, that there was a party in effect. But when she arrived, she almost bolted. For some reason, she had not expected such a large house and for it to blaze with so many lights and so many creeple. It only made her feel smaller and smaller. Perhaps, she could merely slip the boils their things and hie off into the night. Or into the greenhouse that Barth had mentioned. Or simply slide open a window and crawl through, find their rooms (somehow), and then leave. Hollandaise shook her head at her own foolishness. A faint creaking noise drifted to her ears and she realized it was coming from her... her nervousness in the form of involuntary noise. Well, standing outside would get her nowhere. And if she had discovered that the ground floor window closest to her was locked, well, she had resisted any urge to open it anyway,. And that had to count for something.

Shifting from foot to foot, she knocked on the front door, a timid, rapid sound, like a small rabbit's thumping. She paused, waited, then forced herself to knock louder. When it opened, she would announce quite clearly and loudly exactly why she was here and for whom. Yes. She would do the thing.  

[Toshihiko Two]

A small yellow goblin opened the door, face splitting with a smile full of several rows of teeth.

The roar of the party inside spilled onto the stoop. The general events celebration had turned into a Christmas party, which had continued on into a New Years bash. Skull-strings of lights and glistening crystal cobwebs bounced a radiant, star-like glisten all around the house.

"Name, please?" The goblin asked.  

[The Semblance of Unity]

She blinked as the door opened. Somehow, she had expected it... not to, or something. The warder could've crawled through a window or simply left gifts in the green house and hoped that they would be found. But the small goblin's smile was full of teeth, which would have been utterly fascinating if Hollandaise's nerves weren't about to vibrate right out of her. She glanced into the house behind him. The party was loud and clearly full of creeple. What if someone talked to her, what if she could not locate the boils, what if someone touched her? She gulped.

"H-hollandaise. I know the, uh, guests of honor." Her free hand twisted in her skirt, rubbing the fabric with trepidation. She would, of course, follow the goblin wherever he led, regardless of nerves. Hollandaise was nothing if not utterly determined.  

[Toshihiko Two]

"One moment." The goblin unfurled a scroll, which seemed to magically spin itself. He followed along the inked letters with a gnobbled claw.

"Hollandaise. Yes. You'll have use of the Green Room in the East Wing. I was directed to inform you that Master Barth and his guests: Calder and Zaram, are in the Somnus Suite. There is entertainment throughout the grounds, but you'll find the bulk of refreshments in the Dining Hall. Mucien. Fetch the keys for the Green Room and inform Master Barth that his guest has arrived. ...Did you have luggage?"
 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Luggage? "Why for...? Luggage... Oh, oh no. I do not have luggage." She had herself and her gifts and that was... it. Somehow, she thought this might not be the easy drop and run she had envisioned. "I had not planned to stay," she finished weakly. She shifted, toes curling against stone, and shivered. It was more than a little cold and her dress was very thin.

Abruptly, she shook back her hair and smiled serenely at the goblin. "A room will hardly be necessary, thank you. If someone could just show me to the Somnus Suite, I would be most appreciative." With sheer force of will, she stopped her nervous fidgets and instead of parties, thought of cool, green forests. "Unless, of course, Barth requires a moment. I am at his disposal." That sounded suitably... suitable, she thought. Zaram meant Zar, she guessed, and swallowed a snort of laughter.  

[Baneful]

Zar was indeed at the Somnus suite at that moment, and as Holly arrived and the servant knocked the door it was him who opened the door, noticed her and quickly stepped out of the room entirely and shut the door behind him. It was just him in there. Yes. Absolutely. Barth wasn't home and he had not had anything to do with him. He had been retrieving belongings that was all.

"Well hello." he said. "Fancy erm. Fancy meeting you here." And very briskly laying a hand on her shoulder he sought to guide her away from the door entirely. "We should walk and talk." he said.

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I did tell you I was coming." She tried to peer around him, but Zar had firmly closed the door. "I always follow through on what I say I shall do." Her eyes caught sight of his tail and she creaked. Surely, if Calder and Barth were inside - why would he shut the door? Her brows furrowed in thought until Zar's hand came down on her shoulder. She flinched, instinctively drawing back, but this was Zar, she reminded herself. He would not harm her leaves, maybe. But her momentary startle was more than enough time for him to begin leading her away.

"The servant said that the three of you were in that suite so why are we walking away? And, you seem... " Her eyes raked him judgingly. Hmmm. "-under-dressed for the occasion, Zaram."  

[Baneful]

"Yes I did not expect you so soon." Zar countered briskly. "You are most stubborn." He was more than a little nervous and flustered and even as he touched her it came through in the link, clearly this bustling home was doing nothing for his nerves. He hurriedly shut it off.

"The others weren't there, they were out, I was just picking up a few things from the room." he waved his free hand vaguely. It was true at least that Calder had not been present, the three of them did not often co-exist well in one place. "I thought you might want to see the gardens or somewhere away from the bedrooms."

He straightened his collar at the mention of his attire. "Erm. I have spent a lot of time at formal dinners of late, I wanted to dress a little more reasonably is all." At the mention of his full name he flicked his ears back. "Please do not call me that."

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She felt something nervous shiver out from him, and her eyes narrowed. Her imagination? "I prefer the word tenacious," she stated. "Why do you dislike Zaram? it seems dignified. My name is quite a lot longer." Hollandaise's gaze flickered to his hands - if he was picking things up, where were they? Gardens sounded lovely, but Hollandaise would not be swayed. Bedrooms. Bed.... rooms. She swallowed a creak but her ears flushed.

"Zar, were you doing incubus things? At a party?"  

[Baneful]

"I just don't like it." he explained. "Demons tend to have a lot of different names for a lot of different purposes. That one is just a little too formal for me, Zar is simple and suits me fine." He didn't go into the intricacies of the power of names or how uncomfortable hearing more of his name than he wanted was. "It is preference."

He led the way past the bustling hall which smelled of rich food and rang with conversation out to one of the many gardens.

"I was not doing Incubus things. I would certainly not risk sleeping with any of the demons and other creeple present here. They are all far too strong and far too dangerous. I am not completely mad." He was glad that his parents had left at the very least.

As he stepped outside it became apparent that the gardens themselves were very different from the ordered lawns and meticulous organization of many mansions, instead there appeared to be no regard for order at all, a rich tableau of exotic and rare looking flowers and forbidden fruits vying for light. Different flowerbeds (if the hellish cacophony of plantlife could be called flowerbeds at all) appeared to be sustained by various magical charms which tended to their specific climate needs.

And most remarkable of all, at least for Zar, were the statues, scattered throughout the garden, featuring in exquisite and fine detail a whole variety of different screaming individuals being devoured in any number of grisly ways.

"Everything here is dangerous." he reiterated.

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask what his longest name was, but for once she fell silent and left her curiosity un-satiated. Hollandaise thought of all the creeple who only knew her by Holly or Hollandaise and found she could not ask. Maybe one day she'd ask him a part of it. The Warder highly doubted he'd tell - but she was very, very patient.

"There are a few demons here you likely have already slept with - or one, at least. Though an entire party like this... " Hollandaise was absolutely convinced there was a torrid romance between Barth and Zar which, by extension, included Calder. Thinking about the logistics of that made her blush a bit. One day she might ask. She delicately patted his arm and delicately debated poking his tail. "-some things are beyond even you."

And then they were in the garden and her mouth popped open. The bags were placed carefully, precisely on the step (because warders do not drop things and run, no matter how much they might wish to) and Hollandaise gravitated towards the plants, toes digging in the dirt of the path. Zar was left behind without thought. She breathed more easily out here - though it was cold. Her dress was short, made for parties and not garden wandering. The filmy mint-colored fabric floated around her hips as she turned. Her thin fingers stroked leaves, petals, always slowly, as though she were memorizing the feel of them. She stood near one of the statues and ran a hand across it, thinking the one being eaten was very much the same size as she. It was a reassurance to be inedible, Hollandaise reminded herself.

"Dangerous? I doubt very much a statue will eat me. Hmph." Standing on tiptoe, she put her hand into the statue's mouth, feeling the sharp points of its canines. Thin, green vines wrapped around its jaw and her eyes glowed brightly for a moment as she leaned closer. "Oh, the bags are presents, by the way," she added, voice distracted.  

[Baneful]

"No one said I had slept with Barth." Zar retorted. "I am certain it would be a very tedious affair, he is hardly an active individual, it is not my tastes." he shook his head. "No, I have not slept with anyone at this party."

In the garden, he watched her dash out to investigate things and this was fine. It was when she started investigating one of the statues in a way that was very intimate to Zar that things were suddenly not fine. He stared in a distant and uncomfortable way, trying not to think too much about it but much too distracted to even realize what she had said about the bags.

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"No one said it, per se, but it did seem to be rather heavily implied, Zar. You are having a torrid romance and with-holding all details, it is hardly fair. I want to know things. All the things." Hollandaise rather liked romance - or at least the abstract of it. It was kind of amorpheous in her mind, tied up somehow with sex and pleasant warmth and really, she know nothing of it. That did not mean she didn't want to learn. Hollandaise was intensely curious and she made a note to ask Merry a few things. She glanced back at Zar, brow furrowing at his glazed expression.

She moved to another statue, closer to Zar. "You can open it, if you so wish. Are you going to?" She frowned. "The garden is so toothy and wild. I enjoy it, I think." This statue held no plants, but still showed an impressive amount of teeth. Her hand went up and in again - she would resist feeling each one, just as she resisted touching every plants, but there was no harm in touching a few. She tried to angle her head to peer inside the jaws. Her questing hand had met so solid metal in the back of its throat. Something sharp, a jagged tooth pricked her thumb and she pulled her hand back with a cry. Frowning, she watched amber-red blood bead on the pad of her thumb.  

[Baneful]

"It is not some torrid romance, I can certainly assure you of that. Barth is in a relationship with Calder, as has been the case for a long time, I live and work closely with them for business reasons. I do so hate to disappoint, but it is hardly as exciting as you might imagine." Romance was a terrible accusation to level at an Incubus he thought. It was his one job to not get entangled with others and he had only failed one time so far, he wasn't entirely incompetent yet.

It was still taking all of his effort to keep himself in his present form as he watched the ghoul touch the teeth of the statues. It was almost painful and eventually he was forced to look away when she cut herself, finding himself flicking his tongue to taste the air for the scent, losing his focus.

"Open it? Open... OH. Yes. Erm. Open it." he looked at the bags and picked them up gingerly, holding them in front of strategic places. "Which is mine?" he asked.

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"The one that says 'Zar' on the tag. The red one." She looked at him strangely. "Are you quite alright?" Sighing, she stroked a particularly long fang one last time. The stone felt different than normal teeth, or at least from her teeth. She had wanted (maybe even dreamt about it) to touch someone's teeth. Zar had excellent teeth - his one redeeming quality- and Nahm's were so many, so shining. Hollandaise shivered. The Warder wondered how Zar's teeth compared. She remembered, of course, Warders never forgot, but the memory was blurred: the lotus drug's drawback.

She moved away from the statue, giving it one last lingering look. Moving next to Zar, she tilted her head up at him. He looked a little strange, really. "Zar, if you won't open your gift, open your mouth." It was the least he could do.