[HH PRP] Colours Come and Go (Lawr & Hollandaise)

[The Semblance of Unity]

Quote:

Rolling a 3: ALL DAMAGE HAS NO MODIFIER (ie: you don't need to subtract -6 ). You feel something brush against you, unsettling as it literally envelops you in a blanket of cold. You feel stronger but more distant, as if the battle around you is happening to someone else...

When the fog had risen to lick at her calves, Hollandaise had gone, knowing that she would end up here, in this damp, colorless place. She had gone, remembering the fog-slick voices that wrapped around her branches and teased the shell of her ear. They were here now, distant, as if they were speaking to someone else - as if she were someone else. The house held creaky floorboards and washed out furniture and was not a home, but a vase of dying flowers caught her eye. Hollandaise wondered at the strange attempt at home-making.

Her twig-thin fingers traced the petals and she watched dispassionately as one broke off and fell. Dead flowers, but still her eyes flared: an instinctive attempt to communicate with them. There was, of course, no answer except from the soft whispering fog that told her she was weak. Hollandaise began to sing softly.

"this is the garden: colours come and go,
frail azures fluttering from night's outer wing
strong silent g-greens..."

Her voice hiccuped on the word 'green' and her fingers clenched reflexively, powdering the head of a long dead rose. After a pause, she slowly, carefully dusted her hand against her brown dress and resumed singing. She would stay here until the fog spit her back out. It was, she thought languidly, a form of escapism.

Banefull

 

[Baneful]

Lawrence avoided duty wherever he could on simple principle. Less duties meant less chance of dying horribly in some unforeseen fashion. Ultimately though, you couldn't avoid it for ever and when his name had come up on the duty roster for the haunted house for what seemed like the fourth time that week, the death hunter was resigned to simply going along. Most of the time the house was silent and tedious, the odds were generally in his favor.

Dressed as Jan in loose clothes and jaunty looking good luck charms and a hundred (probably false) "enchanted" gems, he made his way into the grey gloom. It did not upset him in the least or unsettle him, though he estimated that the opressive atmosphere, thick dust that muted sound and hazy fog that hung on the air like a horror movie would no doubt cause issues to normal, more mortal individuals.

Butch liked it a great deal, the grudge phantom reminded of some kind of distant home, making contented dribbling rasps of the sort he usually only made late at night when he was contented and relaxed.

The short, slender man froze in his tracks as singing reached him, carried strangely in the musty air. He sniffed instinctively, finding that now more than ever he relied on his sense of smell to tell illusion from reality. There were no human scents, which was odd and his guard was raised further. Outwardly however, he seemed to look more relaxed, his shoulders inclining back, his pace a little slower.

"Howdy pardner" he called out casually. "Ah don't want to surprise you."
 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She nearly stilled, nearly startled -halfway caught between flight and the urge to stay- as Jan's voice reached her ears, the lilting accent something wholely unfamiliar. Nearly stilled, for most warders did not still completely unless utterly offended or dead. Their movements were always there, slight and swaying. Her head tilted, ears twitching, trying to place that accent and failing. But, Hollandaise reasoned, she had apparently been quite sheltered and knew very little after all. And that was never a comforting thought. A hand snaked up to stroke briefly at one of her own leaves - it seemed even their vibrant green was muted here. She turned, the ragged edges of her dress fluttering out, flirting with the ends of her long hair. The thin vines of her fear she felt twining under her skin, ready, tense with an anticipation she could not follow.

"Hello, I am Hollandaise. Your courtesy is nice." Her yellow-black eyes dimmed to a more normal sheen as she looked at him. Disappointing. Jan was not green, nor plant-like, nor particularly large. The boil was also clearly not undead (ah, not clearly, because hadn't she thought Aisha a monster for so long?), and he looked like no monster. A reaper, she decided, with an odd sense of fashion. He was neither her nor there to her - Hollandaise had not yet formed an impression - so she was merely polite.

"Last time I was here, a student attacked me. You look considerably more calm than that ghoul. A reaper? A... colorful reaper." For he was colorful, even in this house of pale, dust-ridden colors. A polite smile hung tightly on her face; her strangely dissociated nerves belied only by the curling of her toes against the floorboards.

Banefuul

 

[Baneful]

Jan smiled at Holly, her appearance did not seem to phase him in the slightest, as a matter of fact he seemed relieved. "I'm Jan." he offered. "I'm really glad there's someone else here, I thought I'd be lost for ages, not that ahm complainin too much, its like a big old display house in here. Makes you wonder who owned it and why they left."

It was clear now why he had not smelled anything human on the air, the girl despite her humanoid shape was distinctly different in myriad ways than your average humanoid.

"Colourful?" he said, and seemed to find this funny, "Ahm not the most colourful individual around. But compared to this place, I think anyone is." He extended his hand politely. "Pleased to meet ya, and yeah I'm a reaper, works like camouflage in here in case I run into anything nasty."

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Maybe colorful isn't the right word? Ah.. unmatching? It suits you." It didn't - she didn't think it suited anyone, but who was she to judge? (This was, of course, a lie she told herself - Hollandaise judged often and harshly, but Warders were supposed to be nicer.) She hummed a little. Jan didn't have an animal or a weapon or anthing of the sort, which was a little strange, but maybe his weapon was small. A needle. Her smile widened at the silliness of that idea.

"There are nasty things here? Well, nastier than some unnecessarily aggressive students..." Hollandaise tucked her hands against the sides of her chest for a moment. The gargoyle had not talked beyond abarely articulate rage; she shivered at the memory. Jan already had friendly points in his favour. "I've only been in here once before and I haven't really talked to anyone about it. But the fog that takes us is kind of disconcerting, isn't it?" She took his hand in both of hers and squeezed it gently before letting go.

"You know, I've never tried to find my wasy out of here normally - do you want to try with me?" Hollandaise loved exploring, but was often too afraid to go alone. The last time she'd gone had been with Aisha to the hot springs. She pulled out her phone and frowned at the screen - it didn't seem to get any sort of signal here. But Jan seemed nice and sensible, too. She moved around him to peer into the hallway.

Baneful

 

[Baneful]

Jan smiled in what could have been gratitude at the compliment, one couldn't really account for the tastes of others. "Thanks missy." he said, running a hand through his white-blonde hair.

"Ah dunno if there are nasty things here to be honest." he said. "Ah just get the feeling there's more to it than a house yeah? I feel like there are things in here that aren't always students. Best to be safe." It was interesting to find out that the students seemed to lack a certain degree of control over their entry into the house itself. "And yeah its upsetting."

Helpfully he smiled, he knew the way out of here, it involved using his pendant, but he was interested to see if there actually was a way out that did not involve runic magic. "Sure missy, lets see if we can get out of here."

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Yes!" Her voice peaked excitedly as she turned her head back to look at him. "It's haunted, I guess. There are things in the mist and no one ever really wants to end up here. Well, perhaps some unintelligent creeple do. Or violent ones." Hollandaise could think of a few such individuals. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, sending the leaves on her shoulders rustling. Carefully, she moved out into the hallway, sliding effortlessly towards a shadow. Warders tended to favor shadows, to wait and sit and be patient until they could scare. Even though she was, by the Elder's terms, an absymal warder, Hollandaise gravitated towards the shadows.

"Once I was outside the house, on the grounds, though I could not find my way back by foot. Have you been here before? I find it's alright, if quite chilly." Hollandaise shivered and folded her arms in close to herself once more. As they moved through the hallway, she chattered inanely, stopping whenever they passed a vase, ducking her head tio find even the hint of flowers. If there was one thing wrong with the house (aside from that manic student from before), it was that everything here was dead or dying. Hollandaise's fingers itched to touch fresh flowers, to hear their faint voices fading as they bled out their lives into the stale water at the bottom of a vase. Everything dies, they'd flash to her, the feeling calm and soft as decomposing leaves. It was comforting.

Something skittered nearby, tiny feet on creaking boards. It followed them.

Banefull

yeah yeah holly, just spill whatever lawr wants to know. new friend

 

[Baneful]

Lawrence found it so curious how human the creatures could behave, he could really mistake Holly for a girl in particularly convincing special effects makeup. This fact lingered persistently in his thoughts and the longer he looked at it the more he felt like it was ridiculous. He had been denied the innate capacity to behave like a human being from birth, it was something he had to learn and maintain meticulously, mimicking the mannerisms and responses of others, and yet here was a creature, not even made of true mortal flesh and blood who appeared able to do all of those things and perhaps even truly experience them without a problem.

Something bottomless and dark stirred in the void of his thoughts and he found himself saddled with the strange restless sensation that so often came over him around America.

In his thoughts Butch perked cropped and torn ears in the spaces between and a low rasping snarl rolled through his mind.

Outwardly however, nothing changed, Jan's bright friendly smile stayed light and airy, stretched across fear and uncertainty at this new place. "Yes, I've heard the mist here can mess with you." he said. "Can mess with your mind and make you something hollow and empty." The dead and dusty surroundings seemed to upset him and make him jumpy, always looking around himself cautiously as if he expected something to leap out and murder him at any moment.

"I have been here once or twice, sometimes I get lost. But I've never met anyone before, this is a first." He seemed to try and veer comments away from the terrible house. "Are you new at school?" he asked tentatively.
 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Ah," she said hurriedly. "I feel no urge to attack you. I am not a particularly violent ghoul, in any event. I cannot promise I would be able to protect you - I am not very strong. Although I am trying. I have only been here a few months or so. You?" The warder did not mention the hows and whys of her being sent here; he did not need to know. Instead, she sent Jan a serene smile, although her own nerves skittered lightly while in the house. Jan's personality had been decided - he was a good enough boil, nothing spectacular, nothing that made her feel terribly strongly one way or the other. Nice. She liked it.

She opened one door, the old wood creaking with an unearthly sound. Hollandaise blinked. As if the house had read her thoughts, the room was filled with plants. With a noise of pleasure, she started forward, only to nearly trip as a cat-like minipet darted between her legs. "Jan! Look, flora and fauna!" with a creak, she deftly scooped up the quivering mini, cradling it in her arms. Abruptly, she held it out to Jan. She wanted her hands free to stroke along leaves, brush against stalks, talk in more than words. "It is scared. Do you have many pets?" A pleased hum issued out of her mouth as she moved around the room.

Baneful

 

[Baneful]

"Yeah I'm a pacifist too." Jan said, clasping his hands anxiously. "I really hope we don't get attacked." Inside his head Butch stated the opposite.



Jan kept close to Holly as they went, eyeing her with curiosity. He almost tripped and fell as the cat emerged, looking uncertain even as he was handed it. Still, he took it, petting it in the way he remembered, in the moment feeling a nostalgia for the many pets he had kept before the island. Certainly they were a burden, cleaning poop and feeding them, but they had not possessed emotions either and somehow that had been satisfying.

"I did once." he said. "I mean, before I came to school. I had a coral of eighteen pets. Not so different from this one even. My favorite was a big one called Houdini who was mean as sin. And yes, I'm new. Still adjusting."

He raised a brow at the plants. "I am assuming you share a kinship with them pardner?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Mmm, I am working to become stronger, though, There is someone I wish to defeat," she said distractedly, Her fingers stroked the curly leaves of an albuca, letting it wrap itself around her fingertip as her eyes glowed. The plants here only gave off faint thoughts, emotions just as washed out as the house. But they did not seem unhappy, and that was good enough for Hollandaise. She moved on, delicately stroking a petal, trusting that Jan would keep hold of the cat. Hollandaise was unaware of it, but sometimes as she spoke with plants, pushing thoughts of sunlight and growth, she hummed - a sort of creaking, tuneless thing.

"Plants are the absolute most wonderful, Jan." She turned to him, eyes still glowing yellow-gold. "The ones here say they are happy, more or less. They are not like the plants outside though. They feel... fuzzy." Idly, she flitted here and there, touching leaves seemingly at random until finally, she sighed and moved towards the door.

"As much as I revere plants, I should like to find a way out. What kind of pet was Houdini? Oh... do you want me to take that one back?" The glow was fading from her eyes and she pointed at the minipet she'd thrust on Jan earlier.

Baneful

 

[Baneful]

"Really?" he asked. "Who might that be pardner? And why would you like to defeat them?" He was slightly curious what sort of interpersonal problems strange creatures experienced in the first place.

The cat curled up and started purring, he petted it distantly.

"I have never had much opportunity to get to know plants, I had a gardener where I lived. I do not dislike them though." He did not really dislike anything.

"Oh Houdini was sort of like this, cat-ish. And yes. I would like to get out too." He wanted mostly to know how students left this place in the first place if they could stumble so readily into it.
 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"There's a demon boil - Zar. He was very mean to one of my friends, although... she... is not my friend anymore." For a second, Hollandaise looked as though she might cry before swallowing noisily. There never was a point in tears and Warders were not supposed to feel things so deeply that they were moved to such displays. "We got into a fight and he beat me, so one day I want to become strong enough to beat him. And I guess, maybe... I enjoy poking at him and irritating him. I do not know exactly why. He pokes at me too, and always calls me a 'stick'. Hmph." With a sigh, she leaned over and gave the mini an encouraging head scratch. It trilled sleepily before tucking its head closer to Jan.

She opened a door, only to be greeted by darkness. She stuck her hand in and watched as it disappeared into that darkness, as though she were immersing it into a pool. Grimacing, she pulled her hand back and shut the door. That was not an out - it made her fingers tingle unpleasantly. "Creeple are difficult, plants are easier, sweeter. Do you ever have difficulties with others? You seem very nice." Trying another door, Hollandaise blinked as it opened onto another hallway, with another set of doors.

Baneful