[PRP] And From Her Heart a Briar

[The Semblance of Unity]

If Zar had been half as adamant that she not return, Hollandaise might have respected his wishes. But Barth had said she was welcome to come, and she had not seen even half of the statues in the garden. Still, she was nervous, and instead of the front door, Hollandaise had nimbly climbed over a fence. Her grey dress had caught of course, one of the long layers ripping raggedly. Hollandaise did not care, scooting into the garden with ease. As she walked, the warder sang softly, creakily, to herself.

"Poor William died for me today;
I'll die for him tomorrow."

She ran her thin fingers along the head of some enormous beast, teeth glisteningly cast in bronze, and wondered if she should try to find Calder or Barth to say hello. Somehow, she felt guilty even being here, despite being assured she was welcome. Her hand snaked into the statue's mouth briefly before she sighed and withdrew it. A brier had grown up over the shoulder of the statue and she touched it, too,m although it pricked her fingers. She continued her soft song.

"They buried him in the old churchyard,
They buried her beside him,
from his heart grew a red, red rose-"

baneful

idk does this work"]

 

[Baneful]

Thor was so excited that he had managed to leave the dinner table and Ardenter to go for a walk around the estate. Vadra and Aura had gone home but he had lingered for reasons of his own. At present he seemed most giddy about the many many expensive looking rings that adorned his hands. He'd even taken off his gauntlets to accommodate them.

The garden had seemed like a good place for a snack and he'd been strongly considering undoing the bindings around his most significant mouth when he noticed that one of the plants was singing.

He wandered over.

"HEY THERE." he bellowed in an outdoor voice. "WHO ARE YOU? IM THOR."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Startled, Hollandaise froze, quelling the urge to duck behind the statue. Warders did not, after all, run away from things like cowards. Whatever it was sounded horribly loud and her hand tightened on the brier, the thorns scoring the sensitive skin of her palm. Slowly, she spun one one bare foot to face him and looked up.

And up.

Her mouth popped open in a small 'o' of surprise. "You are very, very large," she blurted out, awe and a bit of jealousy slipping into her words. "How did you reach such heights?" The social niceties of giving her name or even greeting him seemed to have slipped her mind. This boil seemed as tall and steady as any tree, and, if it were not unacceptable, Hollandaise would have climbed him or a statue simply to be on eye level with him.  

[Baneful]

Thor beamed eagerly, revealing very large sharp teeth between his boar-like tusks. "Hi!" he bellowed, patting her back. "I AM pretty large hahah!" She got sized up with interest. "As for how I reached this height? Well I just ATE WELL." He laughed again as if this was an absolutely brilliant joke. "Eat well and eat a lot and there's nothing you can't reach! Always indulge." He seemed to be having a very nice day.

"Who might you be?" he asked, reaching to pick her up by the shoulders, sniffing her. "PLANTY!" he barked. "LOVE PLANTS. PLANTS ARE GOOD PEOPLE, STRAPPING CHAPS." He seemed to approve of what she looked like.

"Will you grow tall?!" he asked, squinting at her. "Like a tree!"

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Oh, oh, oh. Her yellow eyes widened. Those were tusks! How lovely! The pat to her back almost sent her stumbling, but Hollandaise ignored it in favor of leaning forward. She did not really like how loud he was, but each laugh revealed more of his teeth. They seemed singularly sharp and long and they glittered in the most fascinating way in his mouth. She'd never met a boil with tusks! Zar had been so docile in his acquiesence to her toothy requests, maybe this Thor would... Hollandaise's pupils dilated slightly; she wasn't even listening to his words.

Which meant she was paying no attention to his movements until she was abruptly lifted. Hollandaise let out a creaking cry, similiar to the sound a tree's limb makes as it breaks, and wrapped her hands around one of his wrists. "I am Hollandaise and you should unhand me. You are crushing my leaves." Her voice was filled with a quiet urgency and she hung lumply in his hands, unresisting lest she tear one of her own leaves. Teeth were all very well and good, but she was being touched. If he'd grabbed her anywhere else, she would have suffered it in pursuit of a closer view, but instead, her breathing sped up and she tensed all over.

baneful

 

[Baneful]

Thor hurriedly set Holly back down again. "SORRY." he said in shock. "Sorry sorry, didn't mean to hurt you. I forget how fragile things are sometimes." He backed up a little, used to offending people by mistake quite often. "I'm not a hurty kind of guy." he explained, looking avidly concerned. "Are you ok? I hope I didn't offend you! I'm a guest here I don't want to offend other guests."

He didn't seem to have noticed her attention to his tusks, instead wholly wrapped up in apologising.

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

It was shocking to have someone (someone who was obviously some sort of demon) apologize to her. Hollandaise's hands skittered up to pat at her leaves. "I am alright." And she smiled up at him, her own teeth small and white and not nearly as impressive as his. "I am not exactly a guest, though there seem to be less guests than when I was here previously." Turning from him, she stepped lightly over to the statue and, hooking her hand in its mouth, climbed until she could perch on the cold statue's shoulder.

She beckoned him closer. In this manner, they could be of similar heights. The threat to her leaves gone, she now refocused on his mouth. Hollandaise seemed to faintly vibrate, leaning quite far forward on the statue, one hand still hooking around an impressive canine. "Thor, will you open your mouth for me?"

baneful

she's so awkward *disgusted noise*

 

[Baneful]

Thor seemed surprised by this comment, blinking once slowly and looking at the looming house with puzzlement. "There are aren't there?" he said, distantly before seeming to brighten again. "Guess they all went home! My sister did, and grumpy old Vadra." he pouted his lower lip in an imitation of said grumpy old in-law. "I stayed though because I'm ALLOWED to." he splayed his hands grandly. "Zar stayed too so not everyone has gone."

He looked slightly unsure at the ghoul's request, seeming to veer from giddy excitement into something a little more suspicious. "...why?" he asked, sure that she could not mean his stomach mouth - it was a closely guarded secret. He brought his hand to his mouth and touched his tusk. "Is there something in my teeth?" It was certainly a possibility.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She titled her head, a small braid sliding across one leafy shoulder. "You know Zar? Does he count as a guest, after all?" This boil's expressions seemed to change by the second, but somehow, Hollandaise did not find it irritating. "Zar said that he would not meet me this time. I am not sure what I did to incense him." Huffing lightly, she swung her foot a bit before curling her toes against the statue's skin. The huff turned into a pleased hum as Thor touched his tusk.

"There is nothing in your teeth but teeth." She watched his hand intently, her own wanting to reach out and touch as well. Hollandaise had leaned back and, absently, her fingers had begun to trace the teeth of the statue she perched upon. "Because I wish to see them. From your speech, I can see you have acceptable incisors and canines, but your bicuspids are out of sight."

baneful

 

[Baneful]

"I know Zar!" he beamed. "I'm his uncle. His FAVOURITE uncle. He's a good boil. Tries very hard." he seemed to ponder her comment on the Incubus. "He's sensitive though! Used to Vadra being a big meanie. "

He did give her a bright twinkle of amusement though at her comments on his teeth. "Ain't very polite showing off teeth to every ghoul who wants to have a look!" he laughed. "And I can tell you it isn't safe having too close a look either! I'm hamless but ohhh there are creeple out there, they'd let you have a look and SNAP SNAP. Dinner."

He tapped a claw against the statue. "You are in the house of a gluttony demon." he said. "A pleasant one but, still. Caution! Caution is always best!"

xThe Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"I do not know much about Zar's family - you are the first I have met. Warders do not have families." Her curious gaze raked him from head to foot, trying to see similarities (beyond excellent teeth). "Zar is not sensitive; he is quite mean and exceedingly arrogant. He calls me 'stick'." she said witheringly, as though this were the absolute worst insult in the world.

At Thor's next words, Hollandaise seemed to wilt a bit. After all, teeth were so close and so far. She could not explain her fascination with teeth and why only the predatory kind elicited shivers down her spine. And, if she were honest, it was even more shiver-inducing when the person the teeth were attached to was predatory as well. Probably not a good thing, after all, she mused, although she did not think she could willingly give up her urges in that direction. Also, Hollandaise reasoned, she had to 'stock up' and see as much as possible before she was deemed good enough and returned to her forest. There were no interesting teeth among warders and, for the first time, she thought she might miss life outside the forest.

"Zar showed me his teeth - he has multiple times," she pointed out, and the leaves on her shoulders seemed to shift as though a breeze ghosted over them. "He let me touch them... I do not think many creeple would try to eat me. I am a plant, after all - no one likes to eat leafy things." This was all said with a wistful sigh.

She hummed thoughtfully, and her fingers beat a soft taptaptap against the statue's canines. "I assure you, I will find it quite polite if you decide to show me." And she sent him a look that was as close to puppy-dog eyes as Hollandaise ever got. Maybe if he would just her touch his tusks? They were out in the open... But then she'd only want to see more.

baneful

 

[Baneful]

"Well!" Thor said, as if anticipating a chance to tell a story. "The family is small! But scary. Lots of mean and grumpy people. Alva's so grumpy, but I just ignore it. Poor Zar was stuck living with him!" He spread his arms emphatically as he spoke, using his hands often as he went on. "He probably doesn't know any other way to be. And stick? Like glue?"

"As for teeth!" he plowed on. "Creeple are less picky than you think! I know many creeple who would very much enjoy a good salad to offset their main meal. Looking into many mouths is maybe a bad idea." but he did seem to be more entertained than scolding, as if he knew that most people did not listen to what he said at the best of times.

However, instead of volunteering his mouth he spoke instead, curious and without the usual entertained bark of his previous tone. "Why do you like teeth?"

xThe Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Well!" she echoed, amused. "I think Zar might have become more genial had he lived with you. You are loud but it is not a bad thing." Her foot swing out again. "Stick as in a piece of a tree - a twig. Because I am too small and plant-like and because he enjoys upsetting me. But I will grow one day!" "Who are Alva and Vadra? A mean person and a grumpy one..."

Hollandaise was more than a little disgruntled. Every time Thor spoke, she could catch sight of such interesting teeth. And maybe if she could just get a thorough look - once - it wouldn't be so bad. She shivered, finding the garden suddenly chilly. She stopping tapping against the teeth of the statue. "I do not desire to look into many mouths - only the beautiful ones." Beautiful. Yes, a good word, she decided, for a discerning ghoul. Gleaming teeth, enamel, rows of danger that she felt like falling into. Merry's teeth, False's teeth, neither had carried much interest for her. "Normal teeth are all very well, but I do not care for them. Unique ones, sharp ones, large, pointed... I... I do not know why I like them," she said in a small voice. "They make me feel shivery." Her free hand wrapped around her waist.

baneful

 

[Baneful]

"Oh he did and does!" Thor brightly replied. "He lived in the house with Vadra, Aura and I!" Vadra had the larger wing to himself, Thor like Zar had been primarily left to wander where he would without really being allocated any sort of living space. "Alva and Vadra are the same! Alvadra is his full name." And this too was amusing and it showed in the demon's expression. Vadra had no True Name, Alvadra was as full as it got. He was not a demon. "Everyone grows if they eat enough and look after themselves enough." he agreed. "Indulgence is the key!"

He still seemed to withhold a view of his teeth, marking the young ghoul as one ignorant of danger and inclined to ask Ardenter if anyone had any idea that she was here.

He beamed. "A lady of FINE tastes I see." he said with a booming laugh. "You came to the right place to be sure, Ardenter's home is a PRIME place for someone who is drawn to teeth! I like it here because of the atmosphere, the good food, the gifts!" And at the mention of gifts he once again held up his beringed hands for inspection. "There is no one quite as capital a demon as Ardenter is! No one so accomplished in the gluttonous arts!"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Ah, I understand. Some creeple have many, many names. I have but two or perhaps three. Is Aura quite frightening as well?" Her foot swung out again before coming back, her toes curling against the statue's skin. "I think I do not grow because I have away from my forest too long - or I am simply defective." Sge seemed to grow thoughtful at that and a shiver passed through her, shaking the leaves on her shoulders. Thor's teeth had been forgotten for the moment.

Hollandaise nearly startled at his laugh - she was not used to loud creeple. "I have yet to meet a gluttony demon, actually. Last time I was here, I stayed and rode about in the garden with Zar. I came to give gifts to the boils." She hummed appreciatively at his fingers. Hollandaise only wore one ring, an old thing she had found in an underground tunnel to the hot springs. "What exactly do you define as 'gluttonous arts'?"

baneful