[PRP] Moving Back in with the Folks (Barth + Calder + Zar)

[Toshihiko Two]

The guardian thrice-dismantled and diplomas in pocket, Barth was...very, very tired. He was still in his pajamas, and not in a good way, as far as dissipation went. Maybe, he considered, dissipating would be easier. He'd feel a lot better after. But coming apart just never appealed to him much.

Fortunately, he didn't need a skellphone to call in a Favor.

"Grimhold, I need to go..." they weren't enrolled anymore, and he hadn't finalized any housing plans. "to Ardenter's."

The carriage, which was specifically not hitched up to be pulled along by any other creature besides the Carriage itself, waited outside for the three of them. Barth had, in an incredibly foresighted move (for him), already packed. In fact he, sent the same movers along to both Zar and Calder's rooms- although he might have neglected to warn them, he assumed they would have...figured it out.

Even if they would have been living out of boxes and the one unpacked bed, which Barth counted as the only really essential item.

Calder would be familiar with the road Grimhold took, but the moment he slumped into the carriage, Barth was out like a light. He was out during the trip, and while being carried to the front door, and wherever he was put (alongside Zar and Calder) in his old room in the mansion.

Ardenter's place was less a home and more like a hotel. The doors in and out revolved, and there wasn't a wall that was bare of some kind of pricey artwork or trophy. There were statues, and murals, and intimidating stone doors, and long hallways. Eating people seemed to be a common theme, with plush and excessive indulgence a close second. Everything was over the top and completely unneccessary, including the gardens.

It was not, specifically, Barth's scene. But it was where he had grown up.

Barth slept. He slept for several days. And while he slept, the news of the graduation, and engagements...got around. And once it got to Barth's father, not just around the mansion. If there was anything Ardenter loved, it was a party. Especially if that party was a banquet. Letters and carriages were sent out, and Zar and Calder's parents were each given invitation plus ones (because Ardenter was no stranger to more).

Barth was not the only graduate, or the only relative of Ardenter's with something to celebrate (birthdays, anniversaries, the list went on) and the party sort of...snowballed.  

[Baneful]

Zar had been completely out of it after graduation himself and had needed rest too, as soon as he had any idea where they were going he had climbed gratefully into the carriage and joined Barth in napping, normally he wouldn't stoop to such a thing, but it was choosing between finally resting or worrying about how much danger he would soon be in now that he was done with school and Amity would not defend him from anything any longer.

Ardenter's house was glorious, and when he was roused from the transport and ushered in Zar found himself admiring the openness of the location, the long hallways and sheer scale. The art and decor though made him uncomfortable and more than once he found himself looking away and covering his eyes as his stomach, not his vocal chords snarled.

The carriage unfortunately had not been sufficient rest for him, and meant that the Incubus had returned to rest and still asleep when the invitations were issued to people he really strongly would have objected to meeting again at all.

---

When the invitation landed on Vadra's desk - literally landed held aloft in the mandibles of a flying insect - the tentacle monster plucked it up and held it up for inspection. He did not, as a rule, attend many - if any - social events, he did not like to be out of range of his hive, they simply did not function well without him present. But this was special, someone had rolled out the red carpet that would allow him to get a good and proper look at the boy. It would allow him to get some solid data on his condition and location after so much useless pursuit.

He did not need to speak, simply alter the sickly sweet pheromones he exuded only slightly to call forth hundreds of the same flying insects which blotted out the bioluminecent light of the room as they carried in his clothing and everything else he might require.

Reaching out a tentacle, of which he had many, he picked up the skellyphone to call Aura, he did not doubt for a moment she would be interested.

His voice trilled and clicked, emanating from a point far lower in his chest than conventional vocal chords, littering every sentence with strange rolling sounds that were only marginally humanoid.

We are going on a trip.
--

Vadra was the one who arrived in the carriage that had been sent to retrieve them and he did so alone. It was suitably his style, muted yet sufficiently dignified enough that it did not rankle his pride. He was dressed in a strange hood which concealed his head and eyes leaving only his mouth visible, said mouth was pale and never ever smiled, it did not seem to express any emotions at all in fact. His robes reached the floor and flowed effortlessly when he moved. He hardly spoke. Arriving early (because punctuality mattered) he waited on Aura and her insufferable moron of a sibling.

--

The twins arrived astride two large black horses. In the human world this might have been of no consequence, but the fact was that these particular horses - nightmares, to be exact - served the Sin'sol family and were subject to the capricious whims of the two demons who called themselves their masters.

Aura was much shorter than her twin, curvaceous and attractive to an almost unnatural degree. Even astride her steed not a single strand of her long black hair was out of place, not even her dress - finely tailored and the height of fashion - seemed to wrinkle. Her expression seemed to hover between pleasant grace and smiling at a joke only she seemed to comprehend. She fluttered her neat perfect wings as Somnum came to a halt, his black livery jangling and disembarked, landing next to Alva and giving him a smug sort of smile. He clicked disapprovingly.

Thor in comparison to Aura was enormous, all muscle and height, he was dressed in solid, heavy and extremely ornate black, red and gold armour which seemed to only spare his midriff from its heavy plating. His long hair even seemed to be heavy, looped back on itself and pleated many times and tied back in an ornate ponytail. His expression was also a contrast to his sister, a huge goofy smile and a distant glazed sort of look which seemed to hint at a very, very low sort of intelligence. His nightmare was larger, of draft horse proportions and even then steamed and staggered a little as the demon disembarked with a thunk of heavy armour on the ground.

"Allo vadra!" he said brightly, slapping the other man on the back, making him stagger and hiss furiously "Party time! Celebrating little Zar all grown up! Never took you for the festive sort." He looked genuinely pleased at the thought. Vadra made no comment, simply with a low hiss and a faint shift in scent turned and headed into the residence, leaving Aura to follow at his heels, scolding Thor all the while for upsetting her husband. The two nightmares left on their own exhaled and shifted back to their normal shapes, looking ragged and exhausted. They were dressed in matching tunics emblazoned with the family crest, a black sun being consumed by a red serpentine creature. They turned to go find somewhere to rest before they headed for home, out of the way of trouble.

The three hovered in the entryway waiting to be directed, Alva standing as far away from the other two as he could feasibly get away with, somewhat hopeful that the assumption might be made that he was not actually with them.

 

[MoonKitsune]

The carriage had not been well received and the poor driver was worn and tired from trying to navigate between any dry land in the marshes he could find and having to dodge low hanging and strangling vines.

"I waynt 'ave it. Ah carriage. Insultin." The woman said, flicking her long, white hair over her bare shoulder and spitting at the dirt at the driver's feet.

"Ailsa, please. It is just simply how demons are, and Calder is probably waiting for his family to come and represent him during this meeting. We wouldn't want to leave him alone." Finley said, glancing to give an apologetic look to the driver before moving to his wife. They had been going at it for nearly an hour and he was trying his best to get his wife inside the vehicle despite her very stubborn and strong beliefs.

"And I won't leave em alone. We'll swim." She said promptly, moving to the side of the house and setting the basket of greens she had been picking before rubbing off the dirt off her hands on her apron.

"The wildpools? You know how those change. We can wind up taking a detour." Finley said, not at all found of the quick, ancient travel of the older kelpie ways.

"Nah if I lead us." She said, and went to the driver to shoo him away as if he was some woodland creature who was getting too close to her garden.

"Go ahn. Go home. We'll be there." She said, and turned her back to the driver, decision already made. Finley knew and sighed and went to the driver to offer him a seed for his troubles, not having much to give a driver of a demon. He doubted he'd want a carrot or a cooked f ish.

The driver was still reluctant but turned the carriage, having to take his defeat and whatever came with it.
"I suppose we should dress up then and head out now to make it in time." He said with a sigh, following after his wife inside the sagging, dilapidated

-
It was luck that the last whirlpool near Ardenter's estate was one that gave enough length for Calder's parent's clothes to not be soaking, but they were still damp by the time they walked up to the gates. Finley was dressed in black slacks and a white, silken shirt. It was finely tailored but durable, and his black jacket was embossed in hand emboried thread of blue to show water lilies and small fish about the lapel. His hair, richly black and glossy to seem almost permanently wet, had only a small bit tied back into a blue ribbon.

Ailsa wore her shimmering white hair down, the waves tumbling down like silver rivers down her back. Her dress was a rich green with a white laced fringe. It was laced up the front with a tightened waist, but among her curves, it showed Calder's mother was not on lacking muscle. The bottom fringe of her dress was stained with river mud, and she knocked her hooves on the ground to get a few clumps off. She pulled a twig from her hair and then placed it behind her ear, feeling it was decoration enough and not one she even planned.

They arrived up the steps, the pair giving a glance to the mansion but not very much impressed. It was overly lavish to the state of being obscene, and Calder's mother turned her head just so to squeeze a puddle of water out of her hair onto the foeay of the mansion entrance where a small frog fell out.

 

[Toshihiko Two]

A doorman opened doors, took invitations, asked them for their names. There were rooms set up for each of them, and if they had bags, one of Ardenter's creeple helped carry them.

Dinner was at 6. They'd be able to see everybody then.

The rooms were about as ridiculous as the rest of the place.

Barth, in the meanwhile, was finally coming around- and his strength with it. Thorns had begun to curl absently under his bed, and when he finally sat up, it was with days behind him. He was thirsty. He needed the bathroom. He had a vague idea of where they were, and when he poked his head out into the hallway, he was greeted by a familiar, "A-ah! Master Barth!"

"Mucien," Barth answered groggily, "what day...?"

It all spilled out, the invitations, the congratulations, the party- Barth shut the door.

"Alright," he breathed. "Alright, nobody panic."
 

[Baneful]

Aura and Alva requested that they be roomed separate from Thor and that a special eye be kept on their "unique" family member. Aura apologized in advance for any disruption he might cause. In contrast Thor seemed quite happy to get a whole room to himself and headed off in the direction of it at a half-skip, singing some kind of inane song about dinner.

--

Zar did not normally sleep for days, he hardly slept at all, but the exhaustion from the graduation paired neatly with the sedating effect of Barth's emotions and fear to keep him under far longer than usual. He stirred only when the other demon did, feeling rested but also sick and groggy. It perhaps had been too long.

He looked up at the voice at the door and froze into a rictus posture as it was closed again.

"Did they say all of the parents?" he asked, everything else pushed aside at the thought his parents might be in the same building as them.

 

[MoonKitsune]

Calder was a monster used to exhausting himself, but the last battle had beaten him down to near disappainting and he had felt sore and bruise for days after. He needed time to recover, and they weren't given much time between getting their diploma to leaving the school. It was strange to him to be finally away from Amityville and it hurt his heart that he wasn't given more time.

But he felt relief that when the carriage did leave the grounds, his weird dream during his exam was not true and he was with both Zar and Calder. The ride was quiet and once they went to Barth's father's house, they didn't say much. Calder gave Grimhold a worn goodbye for now before he went with them inside.

He slept for most of the time, only waking up a few times to go to the bathroom and take a short shower when his skin itched, and then crawled right back into bed. He didn't like wandering in this strange house and liked that Zar and Barth were in the same bed. It was a rare occasion and one he savored.

Awake, he sat on the bed, combing his hair as he watched Barth come back into the room. Unlike the rest, the kelpie perked up. "Ohh! My folks are here!" He turned to Zar. "They need to meet you. I told em about you."

He was all smiles. It had been a long time since he saw his parents and they were GREAT with parties. They had parties in the herd all the time.  

[Toshihiko Two]

"No, no- it's fine, we'll just, um- dinner, and then- yes, it'll be err, nice to see them again, Calder. Zar, does he know I told you to blow off his accounts, because- no, not going to panic. We all need to get dressed, first- that's the first thing...."  

[Baneful]

Zar gave Barth a long wide-eyed stare. "I may have..I might have.. told him I had better friends and I didn't need him any longer. When I told him to erm.. where to." he trailed off. His father would be angry still, there was no doubt, his family held grudges for a long long time. If he was here he would be looking for something, anything to hold against him and use to track him down.

He was panicking. Even the idea of meeting Calder's parents was unnerving to say the least, he did not know how to deal with monsters, what was socially expected of him in speaking to them or even how his parents would feel that he had anything to do with them in the first place.

"I don't even know what to wear." Zar whined nasally. "Maybe I will just stay right here. I'm still tired. Yes. Still exhausted. "

 

[MoonKitsune]

"Oh come on now. All our parents are here. They can't murder us and I'll have something to say if they do. We're adults now." He said, setting a fist into his open palm. "Full stallions on our own." He then smiled and dropped his hands to his side as he scooted off the bed to stand.

"Anyways, I want to meet your folks. Without them, I would haven't you guys."

He moved to where Barth's things were. "I can help dress both of you. OH! I can do your hair too!" Calder was a bit giddy to get everyone all dolled up.

"Oh Jack. I need to take a shower before my parents show up. My mother will kill me."  

[Toshihiko Two]

Barth wilted at the suggestion they all just go back to bed and ignore the whole thing.

It was, admittedly, extremely tempting...

"No, oh, come on- that's not fair, I-" He gave Calder a pretty pathetic look, but then at last said, "They'll- come after us, get the servants to dress us, it's better we're down there on our own terms- Listen, if there was a way to avoid it, I would, but my father takes parties...he takes them extremely seriously, and- jack. Right. L-like I said, nothing to panic about. I'm sure, I'm sure your father's had time to think it over, um, and it'll be a large party, so if we- just stay in public and sort of avoid everyone as much as possible... a cravat, and my boots- should we shower?"

His tone was a smidge shrill.

Eventually, however, they did dress- and with the time for the meal fast-approaching (and much faster than Barth would have liked), found themselves downstairs.

If every previous part of the house had been lavish, there was no comparison with the dining hall. The foods were not particularly upper-crust, but at least the napkins were folded in a fancy way. The foods were rich in taste and heavy in fat, sauce, and butter. They were not small amounts of delicate flavors, but lines of whole-roasted giant minipets on spits, thick and magically engineered fruits and vegetables, baskets of fresh-baked bread and buckets of honey from every type of field, sloshed indiscriminately together. The wine came in barrels, the cakes in towers, the cheeses in wheels, and the smell of food and alcohol settled heavy over the whole hall.

Barth recognized immediately some of his half-siblings, and stayed very stiffly pinned to Calder and Zar's elbows.

"Now," he gave in final whispered advice, "just- stick together. Don't make any Deals. It'll...it'll all be over in- in about...a week."
 

[Baneful]

Zar complained the entire time while they got dressed, swinging between trying to wheedle out of having to go out at all and being over-sensitive about everything that was said and done. When it came to dressing he chose the most understated, boring looking black fabric and unflattering shapes he could find, seeming to gravitate towards finding ways to make himself look as unattractive as possible. He took a lot of his fear and anxiety out on the unfortunate Calder.

In the hall itself, he found himself eying the fare on display with a critical eye, the kind he reserved for most feasts. There were certainly whole creatures but not so many still moving around.

He wasn't hungry anyway, nausea had settled heavily in his gut as he scanned the milling crowds for the creeple he hoped he wouldn't have to see.

There was no such luck however, a sensation of being watched settled over him like a heavy weight and he looked up, only to spot a too-familiar hood. Alva was seated at the table already, a tentacle from under his robe wrapped around a glass of wine. He had spotted Zar before even Aura and was staring fixedly in his direction. Another tentacle emerged and waved, small and slow in his direction. The expressionless mouth hazarded a smile with no humour at all.

"Jack he IS here." he said anxiously, noting Aura chatting to some ghoul he didn't recognize. "Both of them are."

Only then did it dawn on him what Barth had just said.

"A week?!" he said in a low, panicked hiss.

 

[MoonKitsune]

For sleeping for days, the feast laid out made his stomach groan. He needed a pick-me-up, even more-so after getting Barth dressed and then having Zar being cranky at him the entire time for no reason other than his parents being around. He wanted to help calm the demon down, but it was hopeless between the two of them being on such strained nerves.

He dressed not in the lavish clothes Barth gave him in the past, but wore the traditional formal wear he had, with his kilt, dress shirt, and jacket, and made sure to tie his hair up. On the way down, he plucked a few flowers from a vase in the hallway and stuck it in his hair.

The place was packed and while large gatherings were normal for kelpies, even big meals, it felt weird with it being indoors and not outside. There were no raging bombfires either and it was hardly loud enough.

It did smell good though.

Calder looked around, trying to spot his parents, and when he caught a glimpse of them at the table, he jumped up and waved his arm up wildly before they spotted him. His parents were both sitting side by side, his mother glancing a glass while his father tried to engage his neighbor in conversation. They looked up and smiled to see their son at long last.

"Come on. We should sit down before there are no seats." He said, still thinking this was similar to clan feasts where seating was limited and sometimes you just ate standing up on put a blanket on the floor.

When Barth mentioned week, Calder's ears went back and he looked over at him. "A week? But it's not a holiday. Why would they stay a week? Ohh. I don't think my parents know about that."  

[Toshihiko Two]

Ardenter was difficult to miss. Barrel-chested and with a big, solid gut, he made for a large and loud presence among his guests. His chest, like Barth's, had hair (although he had significantly more), and his horns were of similar caprid origin, but Ardenter's skin and hair were robust and bronzed, and he smiled out of both sets of teeth. He wore an elaborate (already stained) jacket, and no shirt. He was hugging someone's shoulders, and knocking back a beer.

Barth was thinner, paler, bluer, and all-around more delicate.

"Well, alright, a week is probably- a conservative estimate, not- probably not more than three weeks."

"Barty!"

Barth was suddenly swept up in a very green, very transparent and oozy hug, and pressed right down into a pair of impossibly large breasts.

"H-hi, mum," he squawked, squashed.

"Congratulations! I knew you'd finish. And we all heard about the good news. Are these them~?" Babs asked, releasing him (slightly oozier) with a bounce. "Oh, Calder, I was so happy to know it was still you, and a demon, too. You took my advice!" Babs held both Zar and Calder's hands, then pulled them both together into a slimey group hug courtesy of a pair of very stretchy arms. They faced the same...chest, difficulties, that Barth had been pushed into. "Take good care of him, won't you?"

Barth snuck a very quick (for him) very severe, Don't Say Anything expression at Zar.  

[Baneful]

Zar spotted Ardenter as he scanned the crowd but did not immediately put two and two together as to the fact the other demon was Barth's father. He simply found himself eyeing the extra mouth with uncertain and mingled feelings he didn't want to examine too closely. It wasn't fear, he didn't want to know what it was.

He was about to protest that no party should ever run to three weeks when Barth's mother interrupted them. His eyebrows shot up and that very distinctive blank look one wears only when trying not to laugh settled onto his features. Barty indeed.

There were a lot of things to take in. For one thing, well. Barth's mother was composed of what appeared to be slime. For the other, she looked slightly familiar in some respects. He was just about to give Barth a questioning look when he too found himself hauled into a hug. The link flashed his smug then hurriedly startled emotions at all of them like an electric circuit before he shut it down.

Zar hated slime. It was a shameful thing and something he combated all day every day, trying to politely keep it under control. Suddenly smooshed into it, he froze, his tail contorting into all manner of geometric and uncomfortable angles behind him.

"Don't worry about it ma'am ." he said, trying very hard not to cringe. "Barty needs a lot of caring for, but we are more than up to the challenge."

 

[MoonKitsune]

Calder did not notice Barth's father among the other demons as his father at first. What he did notice were the similarities to his horns enough to know he was somehow related. Seeing as he was at the head of the table, he also started to guess that he might be the head of the household or the eldest, so either Barth's father or grandfather or something greater than that. He heard demons lived a very long time.

As the man ate, Calder let his eyes roam from one demon to the next and just looked at all the new and strange faces gaping just a bit. "There are so many demons here." He said with awe, looking over to Barth. "It's like an entire herd. Like ya have a clan here and so many looks!" Demons he had seen, from Barth and Zar, had similarities but like Zar, some looked more like monsters than demons. Oh, but what lovely horns.

He was pulled into a hug and at first he stiffened when he was surprised, but instantly relaxed when he heard Barth's mother's voice. He nuzzled into the large, suffocating breasts and giggled as best he could. When he was freed, he wiped the slime off the back of his jacket arm and beamed up at her.

"Hello Mrs Barth's Mom! You look great! Yup. Still me...I guess. I don't think I'd let Barth get away from me even if he tried."

"And I'll do my best. At least I'll keep him fed and dressed." He said with a smile. "I hope you are having fun at the party. You have a big family. I'm happy to see them all."

There was a clacking of hooves and in a moment, a white-haired woman stood behind Calder.

"We were wander'n when yud wake up. Sleepin in?" She asked, and Calder turned to look at his mother.

"Oh! Um...yeah....I was...tired. But I was up too. We had a big...like.. a very big tests."

"I know. I took it too. It was harder then." Her accent was thick and sharp in some of the vowels, as if threatening to break into a whinny.

She leaned down and nuzzled the cheek of her son. "Goin to a demon's home. You sure must be comfortable with him." She glanced to Barth before rising back up and looking at the pair.

He eyes eventually settled on Zar.

"This is Zar?" She asked.

"Yup! Zar, this is mah mum. Ailsa. Oh, and this is Barth's mom!" He said.

Ailsa regarded the woman. "Mudds seem ta like monsters." She asked, wondering if the woman was either monster or demon.

Another set of hoof-falls came but far more quickly before Calder was swept into another hug. "My baby! How are you?!! Congratulations! OMJ! You make me so proud!" The male kepies said, smushing his face against Calder's as he swung him back and forth int a tight hug.