[PRP] Candy Striper [Zar/Merry feat. Barth]

[Toshihiko Two]

"You'd better get that," came a muffled groan from underneath Zar's oversized pillow heap.

If we'd stayed in my apartment we could have used the remote-operated door..."  

[Baneful]

The door was unlocked, and a call from within from Zar said so. "Come in." he called, before he hissed irritably. "I don't need a remote, people have hands." at Barth

Inside, the room itself was strange, with sleek, clean and polished walls that were all a very uniform marble jet black, sloping down to the center of the room where there was a low circular pool which appeared to be full - not with water - but with a strange silvery and very viscous fluid which could only be described as slime. One side of the room was taken up with a variety of pillows, ranging from the size of an average dog-bed in the human world down to throw pillow. The other side had the day to day necessities, a wardrobe housing Zar's clothing and a dresser to tidy himself up at. There was a table with nothing on it, with some strange taloned gouges in its surface.

Zar himself was lounging in his natural form sprawled across one part of the pillow covered area, his tail stretched out behind him, immobile and indolent for the most part, only the very end flicking. He was still sporting some fairly brutal looking stab wounds here and there, scabbed over for the most part but still present.

He hadn't been sure how to tell the ghoul that Barth was in his room when they had been texting earlier - so caught in a trap of social faux pas - he hadn't. He meant to apologize to her when she arrived, but found himself staring instead.

 

[Toshihiko Two]

"Oh, err, I'm not that bad, am I?" Barth asked at the smell comment. "My laundry does get done. I admit it's been a while since I cleared my jacket pockets, things sort of tend to - oof. Accumulate..."

Even surrounded completely by soft things, Barth was still on the tender side. He had a lot of lacerations and bruises and bumps and very near bone-crushing.

"Are the election results out yet? I'd like to try bribing the president into banning stairs. It's what I would have done. If I had gotten elected."

He hadn't, for obvious reasons.  

[Baneful]

Zar went from relaxed to suddenly very tense as Merry went on the hunt for Barth, tensing his paws and the rest of his body, temporarily distracted from ogling the ghoul's very enticing little outfit. "It's Barth." he said gruffly, as if apologizing for some kind of gremlin which had decided to hide under his bed.

"And there is nothing wrong with ssstairs, only creeping up them in the dark around a nervousss Incubusss" He shot a glare in the direction of the complaining demon.

"I probably should have informed you about him." he said, finally apologizing.

 

[Toshihiko Two]

"I was going down them, thank you," Barth said, as if the idea that he would go up stairs was offensive.

"Bartholomew Mudd," Barth introduced himself. He was completely limp. "A pleasure. I'm not at my best, I'm afraid. Usually I avoid getting in harm's way, but I was jumped."

He shut his eyes after the introduction. He had been trying to sleep the whole thing off. Barth smelled mainly of expensive, but mellow, bath soaps. There was no lavender (because he was susceptible to it), but there was a wicked, earthy smell, whipped up with cloves, black tea, and licorice.

The spice belied his underlying fear, which was almost druggy in its very absolute relaxation. While he did not smell like death, he was a very close cousin.

He was not overly dressed under the shelter of the pillows, his shredded top and scuffed boots discarded near the door.

Barth didn't have the benefit of Merry's full outfit, just a glimpse of ruffles and first aid symbology.

"I never did mind waiting. I'm not in any personal hurry. Did you hire someone...?" he asked Zar. Then, to Merry, "We could use something to drink. If you wouldn't mind terribly. Just hydration. Nothing alcoholic for me, I don't- err, it doesn't agree with my system."  

[Baneful]

Zar tensed up more and more the longer Merry addressed Barth, his tail withdrawing from where it had been stretched out to sharply hook itself around him and tighten hard around his paws and chest. He decided then and there he regretted absolutely everything. His mood taking a nosedive also meant that his ability to take minor slights also vanished completely. The comment about being jumped went from being interpreted as light-hearted to being a dire condemnation and a means to one-up him in some unspoken social battle.

"I did not." Zar hissed and it was with the clip of teeth in his words. "She is a friend."

He constricted his own wrist in agitation as he tried to focus on something, anything else. "I have no idea who will win." he said regarding the election, but there was something decidedly closed off and cold in his voice.

 

[Toshihiko Two]

"Ah. A not-fetching things variety of friend. Understood."

Barth was distinctly disappointed by the lack of drink. He was not very impressed by non-fetching friends.

The disappointment was not enough to stop him from dozing.  

[Baneful]

Zar didn't stop the ghoul from touching him, but doing so was jarring to say the least, the second she touched him she would have gotten a very dark and terrible swirl of fury and jealousy, tangled up with self consciousness and a myriad of other instabilities. Hurriedly though, he clamped down on them, severing the emotional backlash and relaxing into the kiss on his nose.

"Yes. The kind of friend who issssn't expected to run menial errands on a whim." he said before deliberately snubbing Barth. He had absolutely no right to make him feel like his friends were somehow inadequate because they wouldn't go off and do stupid maid things.

This particular nurse was a more impractical but immeasurably superior kind of nurse.

His tail relaxed just a bit, enough to not be cutting off circulation to his extremities and putting strain on his injuries. His voice softened slightly as he went on "I got ssseveral thorns straight through me." he explained. "It is why I'm even in this shape, the pin means clothing and clothing agitatesss the injuriesss."


 

[Toshihiko Two]

"That sounds an awful lot like fetching," Barth complained.  

[Baneful]

Zar seemed to relax under her attentions, exhaling just a bit of the tension he'd been hoarding. He was always very, very sensitive physically and this form was so much worse. Every touch of his fur was like electricity and it stood up under the contact, becoming extra fluffy. It was as soft as angora and his body temperature was higher. Up close he smelled like blood from the injuries, lingering musk that ran under everything for him, and his thick fur was heavy with the dry papery smell of old books.

"I appreciate it." he said. "As for the candy, I would love it, but unfortunately, anything that isssn't still alive and wriggling..doesssn't ssseem to aggree with me any longer." It was a rare admission, not something he told to anyone, even Calder had to be politely declined more and more frequently with his carefully prepared meals. Normal food seemed to just sit in his stomach uncomfortably and upset it.

"Maybe you should give it to the ussseless creature over there." he said irritably. "And I know he wasss very rude about it, but I would also appreciate a glass of water if you could see fit to get us one." he gave her a soft, pleading sort of smile, he hadn't realized how thirsty he was until Barth had brought it up. "There isss a sink on the table ssside of the room, there are glasssess there too. You do not have to though."

He rubbed his cheek affectionately against her in a decidedly feline sort of fashion. "I jussst appreciate you being here." he said.