boo

[bu773rfly]

Who: All troublemakers and part-time ghouls [that means open]

Where: The movie room, then the Quad

When: The very night of Halloween!

What: Get SPOOKY, get SLEEPY, get STUPID, it's a sleepover costume party.

Content Warning: none for the post; byocw (bring your own content warnings)

[It starts a few nights before, with a network post.]

10.27.xx 19:28:16 un:hudie

20:00....Halloween night...the movie room...

You'd better be there. You'd better be in costume.

10.27.xx 19:29:43 un:akapassionista

I can't wait to see everyone's Halloween costumes!! ♪♪(o*゜∇゜)o～♪♪

[You'd better. Because it's a party!

Kaede and Erika have dressed the room up for the spookiest night of the year. It's nothing professional - lights dimmed, music playing, store-bought balloons with jack-o-lantern faces on them, paper cutouts in pumpkin and ghost shapes stuck to the wall. A "bat" is fluttering around, but if you squint, it's actually just Erika's familiar with black paper stuck to her wings. There's some kind of plastic tub in the corner full of water and...apples? Is it supposed to be bobbing for apples? All in all, it has some kind of DIY charm to it all.

Of course, everyone's actually here for the refreshments, and there's plenty of those. Some Bender specials, mostly the non-enchanted fare, but you might find a couple of the milder curses and blessings on the table. Bowls of popcorn and chips and every other genre of snack food you can scrounge up at Fantasy Costco. Candy galore. A modest assortment of Faerunian treats familiar from missions. Paper cups and plates and napkins. Soda bottles and a water pitcher and a few big bowls of punch. (One is labeled "alcoholic". Be ye ware.)

And by the way, costumes really are mandatory. There's a sign out front saying so. If you came unprepared, there's a bin of costume components outside to choose from, capes and headbands and masks and whatnot, but they might not coordinate well. If you think you're getting in without making an effort, Kaede and Erika (themselves dressed in bargain bin warlock and bard kit, respectively) are ready and waiting to chase you down and apply whatever degree of force or Sleep they need to correct the issue, with costume accessories and water-resistant face paint in hand.


About two hours into things, the two get everyone's attention and move the party outside to the Quad. Out there they've got a campfire going, picnic blankets spread out for sitting on, ingredients for s'mores laid out, and...pumpkins! And tools for carving or painting them. A sign out by the campfire announces a contest for the best decorated pumpkins, but nobody ever comes along to apply judging standards, so everyone's just free to show off their creation.

Things wind down a little after midnight. You can head on home...or just sleep out here, between blankets under the stars. It's that cozy kind of night.]

Comments

[slieght]

[That would be why. Or part of why. Probably.

He looks at his pumpkin, tilting his head left and then right.]

A dog? Or is it a horse? Oh, oh, do you like horses!

[One horrible artist can recognize another easily enough.]

Wanna see my pumpkin? I drew godzilla!

[While you're confused he's just going to keep rolling through topics, okay? Okay.]

[rockymountaindie]

A...dog, s'pposed to be- 'scuse me, can we back up for a second, what- [ He's gesturing with his hands, twirling them around counter-clockwise. ] What was all that? Why'd you- is that just a thing?

[ He's trying to hard. ]

1/3

[slieght]

Hm? [He sits back, tilting his head at Alex now instead of his pumpkin.]

What was what? Oh wait, you mean this?

[slieght]

[He blinks a few times, eyes watering once more accompanied by quivering lips and a few hiccups, and then within moments he's wailing once more. No ridiculous claims this time, just a few moments of loud, obnoxious sobbing.]

[slieght]

[And then he stops with a grin and a little laugh, just a few stray tears left over where tons had been before.]

I have no idea what you're talking about, I was really upset, y'know? Gosh.

[rockymountaindie]

[ The abruptness of it all has him take a step back. How is that possible? ]

But- none of that stuff even happened, why'd you say it?

[slieght]

Because I'm a liar.

[Said with no shame, matter-of-factly. That's all there is to it.]

[rockymountaindie]

[ A big pause, and- ]

...You're a fuckin' theater nerd?

[ There's no accusation there, just. He's trying to figure it out. ]

[slieght]

Mmm, not really. Oh, or maybe that's a lie, nishishi!

[He shrugs a little.]

Ah, it's not though. Being able to do things like that is just part of being a Supreme Leader. Though I'd probably make a pretty good theater nerd too, you're not wrong.

[rockymountaindie]

I just don't- I don't get the point of it all. If it's to...people who know it's not true, what d'you get from it all, the...the lies and the crying?

[ Unless he's just, you know. Trolling. ]

[slieght]

Does there have to be a point?

[It's asked with a curious tilt of his head.]

I'm just a liar. Can't that be all there is to it?

[rockymountaindie]

...I guess not. But, usually, there is more to it.

[ He's lightly tapping on his pumpkin, more thoughtful than accusatory. ]

[slieght]

Hmm, I see, I see! So you're saying there's a mystery afoot, and it's your job to solve it, huh?

[Snickering, he sits back with an almost challenging and malicious grin on his face.]

I'll have you know, it's a pretty tough mystery to solve though, and all the detectives that tried and failed before you were forced to try and pluck the rarest flower in the world, only found seated inside the lava filled mouths of active volcanoes to win back my favor. Of course, none of them survived, since detectives aren't lava proof.

[rockymountaindie]

[ Alex takes a small step back, a surprised grimace passing across his face. ]

If...you want me to lay off, you can just say so, man. I'm not gonna dig into anything you don't want me to.

[slieght]

No way! I'm cheering you on! Telling you to do your best, so that you don't have to die all melty and charred and on fire! Alex-chan can do it, I believe in him!

[He snickers a little, lacing his hands behind his head.]

Ooooor is that a lie? Maybe I don't believe in you at all, and I just like challenging people! Whether I am or not, it's definitely not because you should back off or something.

[This is...just seriously his idea of fun...]

cw: immolation descriptions

[rockymountaindie]

[ There's a moment in there, around the time when he talks about dying, about being melty and charred and on fire that Alex appears...genuinely uncomfortable. Not as in a bad social situation, not awkward, uncomfortable. He feels the flames lick his face and engulf him, Tod's head in his lap catch fire, burn and burn and burn and burn in that moment forever, since it would never come to be--
shakes his head and harshly shoves his hands into the pockets Maya had made sure the skirt she shoved him in had.

He quickly coughs and dips his head, avoiding eye contact. ]

It's...whatever, alright. I'll just- just...show me your Godzilla, or whatever you said.

[slieght]

[Kokichi does take notice of that moment of discomfort, and hesitates for just a moment before replying. He moves to get his pumpkin sporting that great Godzilla scene.]

Nishishi, I like Alex-chan, so I'll be nice and tell him that was a lie! I'd definitely never do something like that to him, or anyone!

[Note to self: careful about fire talk around him.]

Buuuuut what do you think? I'm a master artist, you know. The SHSL Pumpkin Painter, even! I've had pumpkins put in museums all over the world. Even in famous ones like the Louvre in Paris.

[rockymountaindie]

[ Oh, Kokichi, buddy, there's gonna be a lot more things to add to that note. ]

Really. [ His voice cracks for a moment and he mentally forces himself to relax. This is all supposed to be fun. Unwinding. Chill. ] Is- can you get more than one, uh, title like that? I think it looks fine, but...this might be another lie.

[ He's finding it easier to slot back into normal conversation when it's so off-the-wall like this. Strange. ]