[PRP] Going Under (BarthxCalder)

[Toshihiko Two]

The conversations with Grimhold, thankfully, had not taken more than a couple hours. He should have set aside a whole extra day for Grimhold, he knew, but the three days would be taxing enough on his energy reserves. He would take Grimhold out another time. A museum, or some geological or topographical oddity. Grimhold liked that sort of thing. They'd known each other for a long time.

Grimhold seemed slyly pleased enough at the prospect of his own business.

Whatever went on through the rest of the night, Barth was oblivious. He slept like the dead, undisturbed by lights or noise. He had not set an alarm, but he would be up early. Ish. He could. He would be.

He dreamed, as usual, lucidly, thinking over various resource pools, tomorrow, and the tomorrows after. And Dr. Fell.  

[MoonKitsune]

Calder had been miserable. Being alone in his room, he simply stared at his things, not wanting to unpack, and decided he'd just pull out some nice clothes for tomorrow and set them out. Then he laid on his bed, looking out at the window, and then decided to get up and look out the window to see the grounds. The water was beautiful under the pumpkin moon, but he didn't dare go outside. He would be alone and no one would be with him if he swam in the lake. He didn't know what was in there.

Worried, he decided to undress and slip under the covers of his bed, but the smell was new, the fabric cold, and the bed too large with only just him to fill it.

When that didn't work, he tried finding a bath and filling it with water, but even going under it and waiting half and hour, he couldn't fall asleep. Wet and naked, he went back to his room and laid back down. It was useless. He was exhausted from traveling and emotionally drained, and worse yet, he couldn't stop thinking about what Barth wanted to talk about and what Zar had said.

Frowning, he made the unused pillows into a makeshift demon and laid his head on it's makeshift chest, but it wasn't the same.

Finally at long last, he put on a large overshirt and then stood by teh door, ears pressed against it, and he listened. When all was quiet and Calder was sure Barth was no longer meeting Grimhold, Calder slipped out.

He walked slowly downstairs to where the couch was and looked through the dark to find Barth. When he found the demon, he slowly slipped onto the couch and laid down beside him. Technically it was past midnight, so it was early in the day. His day, which meant he could sleep here.

He curled up near Barth, took in the scent of something familiar in a unfamiliar place, and went into a light sleep.

When he woke, he was groggy and still tired, but it was now early enough to see the first glow of morning. He went upstairs and got dressed, and then went back downstairs into the kitchen to make spider pancakes. He made sure to make two into pancake pockets for Grimhold with jam filling, and left them with a little note that said "For Grimhold ❤"

He did the same for everyone else, wrapped them, and then went to take Barth's plate over to the living room. There, he knelt down and looked at the slumbering demon's face. It made him feel warm and tired, but Calder could hear the creeks and rustling of the cabin and felt alert and needing comfort. He wanted someone either close beside him or awake to distract him.

Eyes wide and a bit red, he held the pancakes up and whispered. "Pssst. Barth. Rosebud. I made pancakes."He reached over and gently touched the boil's shoulders.  

[Toshihiko Two]

Barth peeled open one orange eye in the dim of the cabin, a very small and groggy slit. He seemed confused. It was dark out, he knew that much. He could smell the food. Panic lanced through him, and that was enough to have him semi-awake.

"C...Calder. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," the grogginess also made him emotionally compromised. "I overslept," he confessed miserably. Dark. It must already be night. The whole day. He hadn't meant to. He was going to wake up.  

[MoonKitsune]

Calder shook his head, but beamed when he saw Barth was actually getting up. "No. It's still early." He said, and rose up to hold up the pancakes some more. "See. Breakfast." Calder stood up to then sit on the couch next to the demon.

"Spider ones. I was up anyways so I made some for everyone. I hope this isn't too early. I can wait for a few hours more if you need more time." He leaned in and kissed Barth's cheek, nuzzling a few seconds after before sitting there, watching his groggy fiance. He was just happy to have a Barth day and knew enough that Barth was nothing without his precious hours of rest. Calder didn't mind watching the demon sleep a little longer if need be.  

[Toshihiko Two]

Early? Dark meant night, didn't it?

Barth's mind was having great difficulty processing the very fact of the time of day. Still, the buttery roasted spider smell was sinful, and Barth felt something like affection peel over the confusion.

"Oh, good. Good, I...okay. No. It's...it's your day."

This, he felt, was a liberal application of the word day. But demonically speaking, true. He relaxed again, and when Calder bent over him, his lips moved in slight, searching questions until he found Calder's, kissing him.

"I'll eat." He stayed turned towards Calder, not awake enought to lift anything yet. He spoke quietly. He hadn't had anything substantial since the small amount of soup, "Are you hungry?"  

[MoonKitsune]

He beamed, glad Barth would be up a little longer. He never felt guaranteed that Barth would not pass out at any given time, but right now it was quiet and the two of them were awake and here. This was more than enough for the monster and when Barth turned, Calder started to cut a little triangle with the fork into the soft, fluffy pancakes. He stabbed a piece with the fork and held it up, moving it Barth's mouth.

"No. I'm fine. I ..haven't been all that hungry." He said. He should have probably eaten more than what little he managed during dinner last night, but his stomach was still in knots and hadn't let up since. If anything, he'd scarf down a pancake if he felt better in a while. For now, he was happy to fed Barth and everyone else.

"If you are okay with it, maybe you won't have to sleep on the couch tonight. My bed is really big. I can't possibly sleep in it alone." He said, and sailed another piece of pancake over to Barth.

"I have a cup of milk for you too on the table." He mentioned, not wanting to keep feeding the demon without him knowing there was a beverage.  

[Toshihiko Two]

"...and night," Barth addended. "We could head there now, even, or- sorry, no, mmf," That was wishful thinking on his part.

A bed sounded like just the thing, but left to it he probably would spend the whole day there. But maybe he should....but he shouldn't. He could sleep elsewhere. He eased the bite of pancake off the fork, chewing slowly.

He tried to propose his original intention. But it was very dark.

The bed was really tempting.
 

[MoonKitsune]

"I thought there was something important you wanted to talk about? Maybe after, then we can go to bed. How about that? I'll just have to get up to make dinner for everyone."

He gave Barth another fork-full of pancake before he set the plate down and took his claw, placing the cup of milk in it. Now that he considered it, something as heavy as pancakes probably wasn't a good idea for a sleepy sloth demon.

Welp, too late now.

Calder placed his fingertips gently under the glass and helped lift it up for the demon.

"The cabin's...nice. I like it better when I can share it with you." And not be alone in his room.  

[Toshihiko Two]

"Going to need to be- a little more awake. For talking. I know you're worried. You should...worry less."

Barth ate the second bite, and the drink, but it took a lot of focus and he nearly missed.

"I know. I'm sorry. I don't mean...for you to be alone, it's just," Barth swirled a claw, and finished lamely. "I have to talk to everyone. And I think- I mean, I was tempted- to...it's better. To do it this way. But I know it's hard on you."

MoonKitsune

 

[MoonKitsune]

Toshihiko Two

Time skip?

Calder continued to fed Barth slowly as possible, hoping that the food would not work against him in waking up the demon. "This must be really important for you to plan all this out and take us here. Even the little magic seals you put up mean you've must have been thinking about this for a while."

"Maybe next time we go to a cabin, we can go when it's not as important and everyone can just relax together." He said hopefully.

He continued feeding Barth. "For now, let's try and keep you awake." The sun was already rising, filling the room with the soft glow of morning light.