[PRP] What's This? - Aisha x Hollandaise

[iloveyouDIE]

The golden electric light was shocking so she dropped it to her side and instead of blinding them, it illuminated the floor. Unfortunately the dead end would force them to backtrack to the fork and try the other side.

"Jeff's okay." She grunted difficultly. "Just it was me and papa for a long time and.." then Jeff came and then she came to school. She felt slightly displaced, like it'd been some master plan. She hadn't even considered that her own poor behavior regarding her father's lover had something to do with her being sent away.

"What's it like where you live?" The lamp bobbed by her knees, tossing flashes of light up along the hall until the fork came again and they could turn around the other side. It seemed to get deeper, damper and the stones grew moss.

the semblance of unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Hollandaise had slipped her phone in her pocket, the way more than illuminated by the electric light. Aisha got a lantern, she a ring. It wasn't the stuff of poetry, but it was kind of fun. "Mmm, well, the forest is very, very old and very tall and very green. Here there are not enough plants - it's very sterile. But I'm not allowed to return until I complete my schooling and they determine I have improved." Her voice dipped on the last word, a vague undertainty clouding her face. But she smoothed it over with a smile.

"I'm glad your papa is happy. You should find your special someone! Ah, but there's no rush. Having friends is important, too." Hollandaise, while she didn't understand the feeling of being replaced, she empathisized the ghoul. Aisha didn't sound particularly happy about Jeff. Or rather, she didn't sound the happiest and Jeff and her dad. Relationships must be more complicated than fanciful poetry indicated, she mused. Her hand reached out and brushed against moss. Delighted, she pressed her palm against the green coolness.

"Is it just me, or is it getting... wetter?"

iloveyouDIE

 

[iloveyouDIE]

"Yeah..heh.." Aisha tugged one of her dreads, a nervous motion when stuck in an awkward conversation. Her loa and her common sense told her she should embrace Jeff if he made Papa happy but somehow blamed him for being sent here. It wasn't like she didn't like school, she'd been excited at first, but it was hard to settle in. "I'll work on the friends thing. But this is a good start right?" Hanging out... exploring.

"I think it is getting wetter.." She could hear water dripping now but couldn't see it. The path came to a T shaped path, the stones larger and rougher hewn. One way went left, the other right. Aisha swung the lantern each way, one went down and another went up.

"Deeper? or higher?" Something skittered across the upward path.

the semblance of unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Hollandaise wisely didn't press the ghoul - she had very few friends and didn't want to alienate one of them. The way Aisha clammed up spoke more than her words earlier. So instead, she stared at the intersection for a moment, head swivling to and fro. A pink flower bobbed lazily in her hair. "Deeper, I think. Higher would probably lead out and I am not ready for our adventure to end." With that, she skidded down the incline a bit before motioning Aisha to go first. The ghoul had the light, after all.

"You know," Hollandaise said lightly, "it is a good start. I think you're my friend, right?" She hoped. An odd dripping noise echoed aroudn them.

iloveyouDIE

 

[iloveyouDIE]

Aisha grinned and nodded, the many baubles in her hair clacking and echoing off the tunnel walls. "Yeah! I'd like to think so! Des is.. kinda intimidating in all honesty but.." She wasn't here at the moment. Maybe it was worth mentioning that the dragon could be imposing. Perhaps it would be a problem for Holly making more friends in the future?

The tunnel turned and they began to smell what seemed like sulfur. "What's that you think?"

the semblance of unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Her eyes lit up with excitement. "Perhaps we are nearing a horrid egg bath! Or a greta smelly beast, or I suppose it could be odd lava pools? ...I hope it's not lava. I'm not fond of excessive heat." Her feet quickened, eager to have their adventure lead to something - perhaps treasure. Or any other number of things most fanciful in nature, Hollandaise was not terribly picky. She had a shameful fondness for excitement. It was a trait not well-looked-on in warders. Deliberately, she slowed to a more sedate walk.

"Yes, Deszeld is intimidating. I think it is because she is very large and has no sense of personal space." The ghoul frowned. Deszeld was not perfect, but she was... Hollandaise didn't know exactly what she felt about the dragon, but it was mostly complimentary. She kicked a rock. "I think it's getting lighter, Aisha."

iloveyouDIE

 

[iloveyouDIE]

"It is.." Aisha was actually able to flick off the lantern, following a golden glow that seemed to grow as they wound through the tunnel. it wasn't long before they emerged in a large cavern. There was a collection of clear, steaming pools surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites of all sizes, some joining and meeting in naturally formed architecture.

If it weren't for the torches high up on the walls and fluffy black towels on a bench by the wall, she'd have thought this to be an amazing discovery.

"Whoooooaaaahhhh.." It was still sort of amazing.

There was a more formal door opposite them, with a sign that read 'AMITY HOT SPRINGS - MELTABLE STUDENTS PROHIBITED'.

the semblance of unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Hollandaise's eyes widened, her golden irises flicking back and forth between the various pools. Steam dampened the air around them, and torches flickered on the walls. Aisha's 'whoa' was echoed by Hollandaise. For roughly two seconds, she considered the towels. "I never knew this was here..."

There was a pause, then something whooshed past Aisha, moving much more quickly than anyone would expect of a tree (but that was how warders worked - lie in wait patiently, then strike quickly). There was a giant splash and Hollandaise's head popped out of the nearest pool. Bits of her clothing had trapped air, causing the fabric to billow up around her. Hollandaise resembled a strange floatation device. Smiling, she squeezed it out, beckoning to the other ghoul. "Aisha, this one is nicely temperate, come join me."

iloveyouDIE

 

[iloveyouDIE]

Aisha laughed at Holly's enthusiasm and came along, not so quickly, after. She stood by the edge to toe out of her sneaks and legwarmers. She pulled off her hoody and left the clothes on a bench. The ghoul's dark skin was marked with skeletal paint over it's entriety, though she was rarely so bare as she was now in a tank top and shorts.

There was no delicacy when she hopped into the water and sighed. "Oooohh.. it's really nice!" The pools weren't deep but had natural seats worn out from the edges. "You'd think they'd put this in the tour or something. Instead of like.. infinite suffering.." The zombie grinned and her loa seemed calm and settled like a fire burning in the back of her throat.

the semblance of unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Aisha was all decked out in paint like a spooky scary skeleton. Hollandaise snorted at the thought and ducked her head briefly to blow bubbles before swimming around the other ghoul. "Yes, yes, much better than suffering. I could soak forever." She creaked out a sigh and leaned against a nearby rock.

iloveyouDIE