[PRP] Pre-Grad (Barth+Calder+Christof+Grimhold+Zar)

[MoonKitsune]

Calder noticed Zar was just sitting on his bed and not with everyone else, or at least downstairs where everyone else was. Still frowning, he watched as Zar stood and seemed to just be resigned to going to dinner.

"That's not the attitude I was hoping for when I said dinner was ready." He pouted, stepping closer to the demon and craning to look Zar in the face. "Are you okay?' He went to touch Zar's shoulder, hoping it would help make him feel better.

"Did the carriage make your tummy sick too?"
 

[Baneful]

Zar flinched at the contact, but it was too late to lock down on the emotional link, his emotions crackled between them, laid bare before the kelpie. It was like a kick in the chest, a twisted tight ball of anxiety, cultivated and carried for the entire day, fear, deep fear of rejection and change. Longing, genuine longing to be able to show how he felt, say what he meant, be better, be stronger, be more charming. And curled around even that a defensive twist of aggression and an instinct to close himself off. It was a chaotic backlash and he shut it off as soon as he was aware, frowning apologetically and backing away from Calder.

"Its not my stomach, I'm afraid." he said and crossed his arms, looking away.

It was not demon-like. But he was a ball of nerves, not only did he have to contend with Calder, who in his eyes had full rights on everything because he had been present long before him, but who was also kind, generous, attractive and any number of positive things, but with Christof who was the other side of some awful coin, judgemental and closed off. He didn't think he would ever get Christof to like him in any way shape or form and as such he was scared to even try.

He could be confident when it was just him and Barth, when it was demon versus demon. But outside it, in the world outside which threatened to change without warning, and leave him once again segregated even amongst people who seemed like his friends, it was difficult to cope.

"I just am not perhaps feeling as well as I might. I am sure dinner will be delicious." And it was stark, how distant and formal the Incubus seemed in contrast to that terrified, nightmarish link of moments before.

 

[MoonKitsune]

Calder tensed and exhaled quickly at the flooding emotions that filled his system like a shot of adrenaline. It set his own nerves on a strained thread and his ears shot flat against his head as he swallowed the hard lump in his throat, trying to digest what he just felt that, thanks to Zar closing it off and stepping back, allowed it to start fizzling away like a cold splash of ice water in his system.

Taking a breath, Calder simply stared as Zar fiddled with himself, clearly upset over many things. "Hey….it's okay. We're all here, okay? I'm here too, ya know, if you need anyone. We're here."

He moved in slowly. 'how about you not lock yourself up here when you feel bad, okay? You make me worry. Maybe a good, hot meal will help and if you're sleep or need a break, I can keep you company tonight. Okay?" Zar's own worries and fears had only made Calder feel more desperate to lock in a sleep companion for the night.

Stepping in, he gave Zar a big, tight, monster hug before he released. "Now let's go eat." He said, and turned to head downstairs, stopping only to turn around and grab the hem of Zar's shirt sleeve and help lead him down in case the demon decided he'd rather skip dinner instead.

Calder had cooked and there was no way in hell anyone was missing out on dinner.  

[Toshihiko Two]

Grimhold smiled wryly when Calder offered him a bed.

"I am sorry, sir. I probably wont be sleeping." Unless he'd been injured he did not, strictly speaking, need the rest. He certainly didn't sleep as often as certain demons would prefer. He had brought several academic articles and a few paperbacks to entertain himself during off-hours. but for the most part was a nocturnal creature.

He could work the dayshift, when called upon. He felt like it might be one of those sorts of weekends.

Once he disappeared upstairs. didn't take him long to sort his things. Grimhold was neat, because mess overtaxed his senses. The whole house seemed thick with the smell of dinner, and he heard Calder start up the stairs long before he heard the tap on his door.

He thanked Calder, before descending to the kitchen. He was indentured to transportive work, not culinary, and in spite of being able to detect all the minor inflections of taste, his usual diet was repetitive. Bachelor's food. Frozen bloodbag dinners. He, too, had eyed the goats with a certain sharp-fanged hunger, even if none of the predatory inclinations were apparent to the casual observer.

He found a seat at the table and waited.

Barth dragged himself in next, looking lost in thought, and dropped himself in the chair that was nearest.

"All set up," Barth said. He looked anxiously back at the stairwell. "...I need to talk to you too, you know."

Grimhold raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.  

[MoonKitsune]

Helping Zar downstairs, Calder left him in the dining room, glad to see that Grimhold and Barth were already seated. "Good. I'll just go and bring everything else."

He patted Zar's shoulder before leaving him to find a seat, and went into the kitchen to start filling some bowls. After a few trips and everyone finding their place, Calder set a bowl of a lightly red broth with green specks and moving wildly in the thick, viscous liquid were thin, black eels. Calder set a bigger bowl in the middle with a ladle for anyone wanting more and then set silverware down. He also brought a pitcher of Swamp Sweet Tea and Water.

Taking off his head-kerchief and touching his hair to fix it, he finally sat down at the table.

"I hope you all like it." He looked to Zar. "Tell me if you don't like it. I have a goat on standby if you can't stomach it. I…just thought this might be okay too?"

Then then looked to Christof. "OH, and I can blend that up, but they are very easy to slurp up in a straw." He fidgeted a moment, not used to feeding a whole dinner table and then took a spoon to eat, though kept glancing up to see how everyone would like it.
 

[Baneful]

Zar had felt a little better after the hug and facing the prospect of dinner, but as he sat he was still quiet and anxious. Food was brought out and he eyed it with polite interest while inside he was deeply concerned. He very rarely if ever ate seafood of any kind, finding fish for the most part alien and slightly intimidating. The goat sounded so much safer, but there was always the deep and looming fear of being a hassle.

So rather than say anything he carefully picked up one of the eels in his claws, held it up, twisted his startlingly long, very prehensile tongue around it and swallowed it whole in a single fluid gulp.

He looked deep in thought, as if tasting a very fine wine, it wriggled as it went down.

He nodded and seemed to smile in relief. "Yes. I like it."
 

[Toshihiko Two]

Barth mostly seemed to be waiting for someone to put food on his plate.

Grimhold retrieved an eel, and in a fluid and surprisingly fast motion, punched through the back of the eel's neck with his fangs. It shrieked and squirmed, before going limp.

He drained it like a juicebox.

Barth loosened his cravat.

"Well, alright, good, now that we're all err, here. I bought and installed some security measures, err, spells- to insure some privacy, and also um, I am sorry, but on us as well. You'll find yourselves err...unable to discuss any topics you bring up inside the cabin for two weeks. Also if...anyone has any, err, concerns. Rivals you have a death pact with, obligations to other demons, that sort of thing. You should bring them up here. Not that we can't deal with surprises, it's just that we're in...I'm in, sort of a fragile transitional period...."  

[MoonKitsune]

Calder rose up when he noticed Barth staring at his own bowl and couldn't believe he forgot to not fill his when he had done so for everyone else. Rising up, he picked the bowl up and then dipped the spoon into the pot, filling it halfway before setting it down for the demon. "Sorry." He quickly added.

Making sure he didn't sit on his tail, he began eating, finally, when he was sure that no one else seemed to hate it. At least no one was gagging and that was a good sign. He had been anxious wondering if he would do well with his first, personal test at being a good caretaker of his herd.

He smiled at Zar, glad he was eating, and even more at Grimhold didn't seem to mind. He glanced to Christof, hoping he would be okay, before looking at Barth as he started to speak.

It didn't take long for the monster to get confused. Tilting his head, he just looked at the sloth demon. "Why can't we talk about what we say here after for 2 weeks?" Why was it all so secretive?

Were they sharing secrets?

WAS THIS GOING TO BE A SLUMBER PARTY AFTER ALL?!!

Calder got briefly excited and looked at Barth, waiting for more details. "You know my clan isn't coming after me anymore. I don't think they would. Not after what I did. So we're safe there." At least he was pretty sure no one would bother them.

He began eating, tail flicking behind him from the back of the chair.
 

[Baneful]

Zar found himself very preoccupied with the eels, listening to Barth though not actually looking at him as he slowly slurped back the squirming creatures. At the very least he was not as tense as he had been, having something to do with his hands and a ready distraction. Further relief was the fact that there were wards for the sake of privacy, that even his father and mother couldn't spy on him here, that whatever happened they'd have no idea.

Still, he didn't know how he felt about laying his issues out on the table however, given that he did not trust Christof even one tiny bit and that Calder didn't need to be burdened with the nonsense that was his life at present.

He carefully said nothing.

 

[Toshihiko Two]

Barth picked at a bit of eel, finding it very energetic, and settled for some of the soup beside it.

"Oh, well, you know, I have a lot of...err, plans, and there are a few prying eyes- ears, it's sort of...a mixture of things," he looked briefly at Christof, then stared very heavily back at his bowl.

"Probably err, probably the most important thing to address-" He loosened his collar slightly, "is that I'm going broke."  

[MoonKitsune]

Calder looked over at the demon, stunned. He hadn't ever considered Barth's money, aside from that he was a demon and somehow was given a large sum. Barth was the sort of demon who had always been surrounded by luxuries Calder never personally had, and he just grew comfortable in seeing Barth around it, and the demon never seemed to throw any sort of fuss about anything, even when Barth offered his credit card to allow Calder to buy nicer clothes.

While he loved Barth, it was never for what he owned. For Calder, he always lived with what his family could make and grow, but he had never considered that this was not a life Barth could live. Well, unless Calder found a nice cabin in the woods and let Barth sleep all day while he worked. That didn't seem too bad. He just didn't think barth would be too happy about it though. That and without the luxuries the demon had, he wondered how happy he could even be.

"I'm sorry Barth. I didn't know." He said, lowering his spoon and then jumping in his seat in surprise. He looked down at the food. "Why did you let me buy groceries?! You should have told me! I could have – I should have – " He looked suddenly very panicked that he had bought a bit more than he should and in turn only made things worse for the demon.

"What happened? Is there anything I can do? I mean, I love you without it just – I don't think you would be happy in a swamp? I can't grow much right now. My garden kinda died what with all the carrots not growing fast enough and the sugar cubes never did sprout but I could try planting other things and see if we can haggle with that and I'm – I'm sure we could make due with that. Just…pillows get a bit soggy in swamps……" He didn't know what to do to help.
 

[Baneful]

Zar twisted his tongue around another struggling eel and slowly and cruelly swallowed it whole.

Money for him had always been present in some ways, even in the depths of poverty at school he had still been maintained on fairly expensive room and board pre-paid by his parents. The idea of having no money at all was almost impossible to comprehend.

He was fairly certain he could survive regardless, even if it meant being unpinned form all of the time and hunting with his claws and teeth.

Calder got a slightly bitchy narrowing of the eyes as he said he loved Barth even without his money, before Zar picked up another eel and repeated the slow drawn out torture the way he had with the first.

He didn't comment.  

[Toshihiko Two]

Grimhold looked the most startled, but to his credit did not spit out an eel blood spray across the table.

He swallowed hastily, forgetting formalities.

"Ardenter is...bankrupt? And your mother...?" Grimhold simply couldn't believe it. If he was capable, he would be sweating. Was his position in Ardenter's household no longer required? Would Ardenter start collecting on his debts, post haste, and in a much less pleasant fashion?

"No. No, nothing of the sort. Err, let me qualify. I am taking a voluntary- err, well not a vow of poverty, it's nothing moral." He seemed under the impression that this would alleviate many of the room's concerns. "It's....for personal safety. But I think err, this should do it. Or, buy me time. Perhaps not. But I don't...want to be connected to my father's fortune, in any way, err. I'm not cut off yet, so don't feel guilty about any...last minute expenditures, I certainly don't, but any money from graduation on is going to have to come from err, internally. I've....got a few patents. I'm planning to sell. Nothing significant, I have a sort of...non-exertion slicer dicer I've been working on. A few other odds and ends. I think it'll be enough for an err-"

And he looked at Christof again, here going slightly hoarse.

"Starter lab. ...H-home. But I know each of you have...have your own, err, lives, and- and concerns about the future. And I thought it was best you know before...any of us, ah, commit to anything, that I am going to be somewhat destitute."  

[MoonKitsune]

He frowned, not at all feeling better about all of this. "Safety? What are you having to be safe from that involves money?" He wasn't sure why Barth, who generally seemed to enjoy the luxury he had and wouldn't cause extra work for himself by willingly taking on a paycut, would do something like this unless it was necessary. "What's going on?"

As for the rest, Calder scooted his plate aside and then leaned over the table to the point his stomach as against the tabletop, and reaching over, managed to curl the first joints of his fingers around Barth's fingers and cling, looking up at the demon.

"You don't have to work alone. I want to get a job too. I can help with our home. I always wanted to." He wasn't sure if Barth had known this or not, but Calder wanted to be a working adult – even if he wanted to be a working adult with kids. He had made plans for what he wanted to be when he grew up after all, and being a productive member of Halloween Society was one of those things.

"Just…tell me who to challenge to get a territory here. I can do that. I'm pretty strong now." He just wasn't sure how property ownership exactly worked outside of his clan. It was pretty much the same, he was sure. Right?
 

[Baneful]

Zar had been considering mentioning his own predicament and that having him around any home would be bringing unwanted attentions onto it. His parents were very old, very wealthy and very bored and his father could not stand loose ends or untidy associations. He would not rest until he knew that Zar was disposed of or his pride was restored.

Barth being rich or poor did not ultimately matter in the grand scheme, what mattered was everyone being fine with his situation and what it could mean. But informing them also meant that he would have to feel as if he was welcome in the first place. It was not something he felt as far as all concerned.

He rolled his eyes as Calder leaned forward in earnest concern and offered to step up to claim some kind of clan. The desire to leave the table was high, he found himself uncomfortable dealing with the levels of honesty and commitment involved.

Instead he turned his attention firmly on his bowl, now void of eels.