#GoGoxJetsam

[orleans-jester]

GoGo had stayed hugging him for a while, until she was able to calm her mind somewhat. Until the memories and the smell of smoke had escaped her. Yes, her and Scout had been doing their risky streetraces, and going out and doing crazy things like joyrides and pushing what speeds were possible in different vehicles but this was the first time that there had been someone that she knew hurt from these things. It was like Dale flying through the air had nearly stopped her heart, brought her back to that place.

She was too emotionally drained to get all grossed out by Flotsam at this point. He might as well have just been picking his favorite color out of a pack of starbursts with the way that she was reacting. Eyeballs were just the new pink starbusts - the best kind.

“Interesting choice,” Go-Go said. “The only cells that survive from the time you’re born until you die are in the eyes. So he’s collecting whole lives.”

Back to the nerd. She couldn’t help it. It actually was interesting that the eyes were a focus. Don’t even get her started on what she would think of the psychology of Bastien if she knew about those eyes.

She took a half step back onto the grass, excluding herself from the scene of Jetsam leaving, and took the time to take another breath. She felt bad for Scout, Dale and Chip, having a family member that was actually good to them - so it seemed - and that they loved that would disappear in front of them like that. And also a small bit of gratefulness that she wasn’t in their place. Having a shitty family sucked but at least she didn’t have to waste any brain power missing them.

Family had never been cohesive in her mind so … actually, seeing some of the cracks in the Laveaus made her feel a bit more like she could relate to them. Was she a bit concerned too when the twins started to fight? Yeah. But also, knowing them, they’d calm down and make up. But seeing that there were still arguments, fights. It felt more real. Less like the fantasy that them being witches and werewolves and zombies and shapeshifters painted it all to be.

She only stepped towards Scout, because she hated seeing her friend upset. Especially by someone whose ass they couldn’t just kick, or who they couldn’t just X out, like that girl that she had been seeing. A father - that was different. And she understood, God, did she understand, she used to be in the same boat, until she realized that she was wasting time that she could spend on better pursuits rather than a fathers love.

When Dale gave her the choice, she looked towards Scout again, and then pulled her in for a hug too. “You go on ahead,” She told her friend, giving her a reassuring smile. “I think I’m going to tour the town a bit. Who knows when I’ll get another chance to look for scrap in a place like this.”

It seemed like a good excuse - it was a real reason, she would absolutely have a ball of a time going through the cars around here and look for parts that might be harder to get back in New Zealand. But she also wanted to give them a bit of space to do their family thing. Scout really seemed to need her parents right now. She wasn’t ready to sleep, still jittery from adrenaline, and didn’t feel like sitting in a room, trying to calm her heartrate.

“I don’t mind the company though,” She said towards Dale, smiling a little sheepishly and rubbing the back of her neck. If this were a normal abandoned town, she’d feel absolutely fine going through it alone. But given the zombies, and the apparent random people that are just walking around waiting to get killed, being alone seemed not to be the best idea.

Who knew the "selfish" family that showed up could fill such a void? They'd been called worse. But, in this case maybe not being selfless in every single instance ever put in front of them just for the sake of being selfless wasn't always as selfish as they seemed? It seemed they might be a family in hot debate once upon a time. They'd fled to New Zealand in hopes of getting out of the spotlight in some attempt to lead an ordinary life as far as ordinary goes for extraordinary people.

Scout noticed her friend seemed "off" her usual demeanor for such an adrenaline moment. Scout and GoGo had been doing the high-speed races illegally in NZ along with other risky behavior, but this was the first time she saw her completely wig out in this manner. She'd actually never seen her lose her cool until now that she was thinking about it. Sure, they were sassy and sarcastic atypical behavior for any friends of this family, but this was different. This was a full blowout. It was hard not to pay attention and notice even if they didn't know what was going on in their head.

Dale however was hardly looking for an apology. He was just reacting himself. GoGo was holding him tight back. He wasn't sure how she'd respond. He was ready to wrestle her to the ground and go full on forced hug WrestleMania style. No consent. Don't care. Until she screamed Uncle/Mercy or laughed. One or the other. But she hugged back. That was good. He squeezed and he hugged, and he wouldn't loosen until she did after he felt her return it. No way he was letting that one go.

He still had this pumped-up energy when she loosened though. He wasn't angry just still on edge and in aching pain. He was lucky his whole body wasn't broken. Parts of him were. He just didn't have the official x-ray type diagnosis yet. They weren't the types of fractures he wasn't able to grind his teeth, grin and bear it though. He was always like an animal that didn't like to show his pain even when it was hard not to.

He had an intensity and exhaustion in his face even after they let go.

To even look over at his father digging out the eyeballs on some rando after all his absence for so long and to see GoGo so nonchalant about it was oddly comforting and surreal all at once. It felt like long gone days and a dream all at once being relived.

Yes, GoGo had been through a lot with the family by now, seen and heard much out of the norm by way of the supernatural and magical world, but this was different... a bit. They were used to it, but they weren't so desensitized that they weren't aware murder, death, mutating a corpse, or using it in ways unbecoming or undignified to who used to inhabit it yada yada normal society stuff, it just did not fly under their radar no matter what they were used to. So, seeing this girl from New Zealand be so casual after such a short time of knowing them without drawing any lines that were too far to cross was something they all took notice of, but especially Dale.

Right then.

Scout was more worried about her friend's reaction and what it meant. Dale knew all too well people they hoped would be life-time friends didn't always make the cut, so he kept his walls up, much like Piper. Hell, Scout did it too in her own way. No one ever wanted to be hurt again. This however was a moment. An invaluable moment.

That's why knowing werewolves exist or a world of zombies exists was still different than this moment. Maybe they were in Feral where they wouldn't get in trouble for a murder of some random no one had any connection to, but they weren't stupid. This family had been through enough to realize GoGo could have easily freaked out that they'd killed an innocent someone and not for a natural reason like werewolfing out through no fault of their own, or vampire feed, a natural need. This was just oops. We killed you having fun and they weren't another thrill seeker on the road with them who they could pass it off as well they knew the risks like all of them knew the risks when they got in those cars at such speeds. Dale and Scout knew the risk when they decided to not stop Chip from driving. They wanted so badly, both, to give him his moment with his father too, or just a moment to be who he used to be. They didn't know the history or life of that someone and none of them seemed to care as long as it didn't affect them. Even GoGo. This mattered.

Then the treatment of corpse mattered. She tore it up and used it and before noticing what Jetsam was doing with it. She could have picked up anything, but she picked up that arm. Every bit of this mattered to Dale and Scout when it came to their walls. Chip was a little too in his own head to think much through, but it would all come together for him eventually. Even Koda noticed, but he also assumed if it was a friend of the family they were on the cool already.

Dale and Scout had seen the law of impermanence play through their lives and run its wickedly natural course, an accidental lesson taught by Flotsam that keeps their walls higher than Isengard's. So, maybe they weren't consciously thinking it through, but it was a moment the walls restructured as Dale stared at GoGo who was looking at his dead father holding gouged eyeballs so proudly.

"Uh, yeah it's kinda his thing." He said out of breath as reality started to swarm back in around them all.

Dale watched the eye be put into Chip's barely self-controlled hand. He watched his sister; Scout be slightly ignored of her pleas to take care of the eye for him. Maybe it was because Jet didn't hear her? Maybe it was because of the time? In the middle of all this they'd lost track of it. He noticed Jetsam was looking less tangible and more transparent. Dale wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer after he saw his sis shout.

"Oh Dad!"

She ran over to him trying to hug him goodbye. She couldn't quite get a grip on him. It could be easily seen that she was clawing at his back to try and grip him back to the earth, but it was to no avail.

"I love you, Dad."

But he was gone. Chip was left with the eyeball in his hand and still unable to move quite freely as a truly lucid Chip should. Koda continued to hold him up from under his shoulder.

That's when Scout just stood there.

Stood there.

Tears started to well up in her multi-colored eyes.

Dale instantly tried to make things better like a brother always does. "He would have said it if he had more time."

Chip's very shaky lips, not from nerves, but from attempts to push through the zombie veil that shadowed over him said, "Y-you c-c-can hav-vvve it." He held the eye up trying to offer his sister any comfort, once again, as brothers do.

Scout shook her head at the eyeball. "Nah. He gave it to you."

This welled up so much anger in Dale he had no idea where to place it. He wasn't sure whether to be mad at Jetsam, at the clock, at life in general, at his father's vices that led him to this, whatever makes a man tick, at all of it, but it came out at Chip.

"This is your fucking fault, you know?" He charged at his barely there twin. "If you wouldn't have fucking killed him, she wouldn't be crying right now."

"Woah! Woah! Hey!" Koda actually had to hold Chip up Dale had pushed so hard. It must have snapped some coherency back into Chip because he pushed back full in the chest.

Now GoGo was in the middle of what really was at the heart of the family. Right when she was managing her own triggered insides the rest of the family pushed to their own edges.

All Koda could think was how could Jet fuck this one up? It was so easy. He was here. All that kid ever wanted from him was to show up.

Scout saw her brothers getting into their same old same old fight and she didn't want it to happen. It got her motor running and she jumped in between them.

"No! No. Stop. Just stop it. I'm fine. Don't drudge it up. Everything's fine."

Dale pushed himself back up from being knocked down by Chip's shove. Dale was a person who was fed up with feelings and frankly not very good with them.

She looked down more than once at Thomas's texts. "Actually... yeah. Everything is fine. I mean it."

She rolled up Chip's hand to make sure he wasn't going to lose that eyeball. "Just keep it safe in case he ever comes back. He'll come back for you."

Then she turned and gave a Dale a Scouty-hug as Scout often did being the petite little clinger of the family. She whispered in Dale's ear, "He came back. That's enough."

Dale hugged her tight, but seeing tears in sister's eyes wasn't on his Bingo card for any day ever, so he wasn't so sure it was enough until he heard her next words.

"I just want to go back with Mom and Dad."

Damn. It was the whole reason Dale came to NZ from the US. It was to help his sister adjust when he found out maybe she wasn't adjusting as well as she might have. So, from a brother perspective to see Scout want to run back home to her mom and dad, current and real, no hesitation, he had to smile finally. It came out of her mouth so naturally and for Dale felt like it was for the best.

"Yeah okay. I think they're staying at The Inn tonight." Dale would say as if every person in their shared sight didn't already know.

Then there was Koda an actual resident of Feral and was just catching up to what the other family was so intense on because his brain was more on keeping Chip balanced through most of this or worried about the Laveau kids as they mattered to his favorite people. "Oh, yeah, don't worry about this body. It'll blend in with the rest. No one will notice here. Let's put it this way, there's going to be no manhunt or FBI search here. He doesn't look familiar so I doubt they're anyone important to Delta. Honestly, if it's not Bastien or Dr. Frankenstein I doubt she'd pull much of a fuss over anyone else either."

Then he looked at each of them as if the whole scuffle didn't just happen because that's how things went sometimes. High emotions and then just move right along, that was hardly abnormal here. He was accostumed. "I can drive you guys up to The Inn. Drop off anyone who's staying and then I'm heading back up to the ball. I should get back to Elsa. But great run guys. Kick ass. Totally kick ass."

He wanted to offer to drive after the Chip fiasco though. He also liked to leave shit on the positive. Koda's giggling got Dale chuckling. "You should have seen how far you flew."

"I fucking bet, bruh. I hit hard. Road rash for days. I gotta walk this one off for a fucking ass month, fucker." He laughed. Dale took up the offer too.

"Sounds good to me." He trusted Koda to get his sister where she wanted to be. He figured if Koda was going back to the party to see Elsa he could also drive Chip back to his family at the party too.

That left Dale and GoGo.

He looked at GoGo and sighed. "Looks like we have a few choices. We hitch a ride with them and go to The Inn tonight. We could be like roomies again-" he gave her a little nudge as a playful reminder of the time they once had to bunk together, "-go back to the ball to get that bus out, or we go rogue and tour Feral? All I know is any choice that includes me in it tonight also includes a big bottle of I don't care what. But I'm finding it. Be forewarned."

A part of Scout looked tempted to be a part of that but she also had this pull that just wanted to see her parents first that was even stronger. She went for the car ready to be driven to Thomas and Valerie.

She texted Thomas.

Scout: I'm coming to you

It wasn't like her parents couldn't see, but it was best to warn of intentions in case they weren't focused on their magic sight. As much as they could all tune in, it went just as much to say they all had their own style of tuning each other out.

[orleans-jester]

Most of them were worried about the dead body and what they were going to do with it. Jetsam wasn’t worried at all, which was very him, and he just seemed to want to get back to the chaos before his time was up. But GoGo was lost in her own worries about nearly losing Dale, seeing him go swinging out of the car. It brought back some of the worst memories that she had.

She’d been there that night. They were driving around, GoGo in the driver’s seat, rebel with a cigarette and no drivers licence, just having stolen the family car. They were celebrating in a way. They just got their test results back in chemistry and had both gotten full marks. Tadashi was a genius in his own right, being an inventor, but in a different way than GoGo. While she just created things for herself and had no mind of marketing or releasing things out to society, Tadashi was a boy-scout. He wanted to help people. It was noble - but also annoying. But they accepted each other, had since they were in the gifted program back in elementary school together. They just fell into this completely platonic friendship.

Driving through the streets, taking the backroads to avoid the cops. The fuck the police mentality wasn’t as strong here as it was over in America, but they still had it, even Tadashi. Getting caught was something that they did not want to do, since it could mean juvie, and juvie would mean less time working on their shit. But they still took the risk. The chance.

They went through the winding roads of the university because they would typically be empty this time of night. All of the steep turns through the many different buildings of Auckland University, going around the historic Bell Tower which was lit up at the top and gave a gothic grandeur to it all. GoGo turned the car towards the science buildings, where she and Tadashi hoped they would be able to learn in one day, to rule the school with their knowledge, and were greeted by an awful sight.

Light flared up behind the windows. Smoke poured out of the doors as they opened and closed, students running out. Without thinking about how the firetrucks woud access the building, GoGo stopped the car in the middle of the small road and stared with wide eyes at the fire. For what person would be able to just pass that by? Not curious teenagers, that’s for sure.

“What the fuck happened?” Go-Go asked, rolling down her window and looked out at the flames. It took the sound of the other door closing to get her to realize that Tadashi had gotten out of the car. His figure running, full on running, towards the building. Mumbling curses, she got out herself, the sound of crackling and screams just barely covering the far-off sirens. “Tadashi, you idiot, get back here!”

She just managed to get ahold of his sleeve, trying to pull him away. He faltered for a second, looking at her, his expression hard to read. But she knew him. The conflict in his eyes, with the lowering of his brow. The sound of sprinklers inside of the building now, but nothing seemed to be working. Windows were breaking. One broke just above the door, a large one, sending glass in GoGo and Tadashi’s direction but she didn’t let go of her friend’s sleeve. Tadashi looked back to the building once, and then back to Go-Go. “Please-” She pleaded.

“Someone might be in there,” Tadashi said. “Someone has to help.”

And he pushed Go-Go back, and went running up the stairs past the last few stragglers who had come out. His hat went flying off as he went running, landing right at Go-Go’s feet.

“That’s literally the firemens’ jobs!” She called out, and these were probably the last words that Tadashi Hamada would hear. She picked up his hat and took a couple of steps back from the building, not really the noble kind. She wasn’t going to go in to save someone who may or may not have been in there. That was a job for the firefighters. The sirens came closer and she swore, realizing that her family’ car was right in front of the building and would hinder them. But as she took another step back, the building seemed to erupt, the last of the glass flying out from the windows, scratching her face and hands. Fire shot out, along with a blast radius which knocked her on her ass, hat still in hand, some light burns on her face, just a little worse than a sunburn.

Facing reality was something she could not do right then. Almost in a daze she stood up and went walking calmly back to the car, putting her foot on the gas and driving out of there, off of the campus, and to a nearby McDonalds parking lot when it finally sunk in. Tadashi was dead. There’s no way he could have survived that. There’s no way anyone could have survived that. And all that she had was this stupid hat, the only proof that he had really been there with her. She was not the very emotional sort. She didn’t scream and cry, but she stared at that hat, feeling the burns, feeling the cuts, and felt this wave of anger. No, it was almost hatred.

She hated the fact that he had been so selfless. That he had to go and be a fucking hero. It was his own damn fault. DAMN HIM. Damn him for being so fucking stupid and irresponsible and stupid and dying for nothing! He didn’t save anything! Not a person, not a plant, not an animal, not a goddamn thing.

The fire turned her cold. She dropped off the hat anonymously at his house, let his brother have it. She didn’t want to look at it. She would just keep feeling anger if she did. She went back to school and had to deal with the pitying looks from other students and from the teachers. The muttered ‘I’m sorrys’ from them because they had been friends, everyone knew that. She kept excelling in her studies, and getting into the clubs like the robotics club, chemistry club. She made the soccer team, one of the few times she could let her mind focus on other things. She never really grieved properly, not really.

And then came the Laveaus. They warmed that up. They were able to create peepholes in the walls that she put up, popping them brick by brick until she was exposed and found that it wasn’t a bad feeling. She felt alright enough to go to the same university, to the rebuilt science building which had a small plaque with Tadashi’s name. Yeah. He was the only one that died, other than some lab animals, but they didn’t even have stupid names to go on the plaque. She avoided walking by it. She didn’t want to see it, still on anger part of the grief process. But she was angry at a lot of things. Her parents, the fact that she wasn’t as far in her work as she wanted to be, her job.

But there hadn’t been any worry, any true worry, until she saw Dale being thrown out of that damn car, crash landing on the ground.

Overreaction? Sure. She ripped off a dead man’s arm. It wasn’t the most civilized thing to do. But it was like all of that past anger had come back to her in those seconds, making her feel like she had hulked out then.

She wouldn’t try to defend herself when he got up. She wast thinking in terms of actually fighting. She just needed to take out what she felt for those few minutes there. His shouting seemed to snap her out of the last of it, looking at the blood, at the bruises. The damage that she had done on top of what he had already suffered.

Was she going to apologize? No. Even though she had been out of her mind and knew that she definitely had done the wrong thing and might have scared away her real friends, she wouldn’t. Because fuck Dale for putting himself through what he had done. It was his own fault.

She hadn’t been anticipating the hug though. Not at all. But it only took a second for her to wrap her arms around him in return, squeezing him, making sure that he was real. His curls smelt of blood and grass, neither of which were fire and chemicals so that calmed her down even further.

“You fucking better, or I’m going to beat your corpse until it’s ugly,” She said, tightening her grip.

Thomas’s text back didn’t seem like it was important right then to GoGo. There was a dead guy but it wasn’t anyone that they knew so it was a lot easier to deal with. And she had already touched it. Her DNA was on the body but - it was actually hard to take that seriously in a dead-zone like Feral.

With a breath, she finally loosened her grip on Dale and nodded towards Scout, and then noticed Jetsam.

“Your dad is into eyeballs?” She asked Dale. “Interesting.”

Everything was going wild. Everything seemed fun and pretty typical until they couldn't decide if they should try and cover up the body or not. The Laveaus weren't the types to let a little crash and burn disrupt their fun. It was all part of it. Anywhere else they understood the usual rules though. They knew the aftermath murder code. Autopilot had a way of taking over. Still, if they could get away with not doing things the methodical way they'd take the out.

Scout was focused on her phone waiting her dad's answer out. Grinding someone down and eating them up was a messy and time consuming task. If they could get out of it they'd like to know for sure. Logic was telling them maybe in Feral where rules were lax it might just be okay to not go through the usual precautions. They also didn't want to do anything wrong and upset their hosts either. They just weren't used to the Feral rules, if there were any.

While all these converstions were going on between Koda, Chip, and Dale, and Jetsam not giving two shits all hovered over the stranger digging one of their eyes right out of it's sockets. Old habits died hard. He might have been dead but he noticed they were a cool color and couldn't help but want to harvest them as if he might add them to the collection he didn't have anymore. Maybe he'd start a new one?

"Weenie-balls." He was laughing. "That's the name of my new collection. I'll get a new set every Halloween. Keep 'em at your place, Chipper."

Scout broke in, "I can do it. I can keep them for you, Dad." She was trying so hard to be a part of it still wanting to be a part of his life as she watched Jet shove the wet thing into Chip's hand.

Then there was Koda who was trying to hold up under Chip's arm since he'd just been through a wreck. Chip was also still in slow-mode. Zombie-ish mode. His reflexes weren't back. He was looking at Scout like he wanted to respond but nothing was coming out. Jetsam took his silence as a yes because his hand held onto the eyeball unable to do much more quite yet.

Then there was GoGo. She came in and Dale was gazing at the sky when she came in out of nowhere and Smack!

Incoming.

Thack!

"Hey?!"

GoGo went off. She was practically barking at him. She kept going.

Dale's sore arms went up trying to protect himself but it was too late. She'd already hit him before he managed to sheild himself at all. A bloody third WOMP.

"Damn it!" Dale's body rolled and cringed away ready to jump up and ... and do... do something... he wasn't sure what... stop her he supposed but she stopped herself as he managed to roll over onto his side.

Scout stared at her as Dale managed to push himself off the ground holding his ribs, covered in the dismembered arm's splattered blood, and got his feet. It happened so fast. It had every hair on the back of her neck standing straight up. Then GoGo even yelled it out. Something about loss. It was bone chilling.

Once Dale was on his feet he limped over, red faced, wide eyed.

Dale's initial reaction was anger. Pain and anger.

Then he saw her face.

Okay, maybe he was still angry, but fuck. Then he just pushed through the pain, stormed through it actually. He hadn't wanted to move at all. The adrenaline had made him jump up and next when he saw her face, he rushed forward and forced a hug on her.

"Fuck you. Are you trying to finish me off, GoGo?"

Damn, the hug hurt. Yelling hurt. Breathing hurt. He didn't care. He squeezed her in.

"Fuck you so hard."

He groaned over her shoulder, "You push me away. I'll squeeze harder. So fuck right off. I'm staying here."

All Scout could see was the fragility of human life, something she wasn't anymore. It was scarier than it used to be. It was the sort of subject she never thought about until her family fell apart. They used to feel so indestructible. Thomas built it back up so strong. She wasn't sure what this feeling was watching her brother and GoGo. Next to them was her zombie bit brother touched by death who caused the crash. Next to them was her actually dead parental who she'd been dying to see for years now, missing him, and conflicted feelings were still stirring. She watched him not pay attention fully focused on gouging out that second retina from the socket.

Before she could get much deeper in those thoughts her phone went off and Thomas's text came in. It shook her back to the present.

"Okay guys. Dad says it's not a big deal to just dump it here. GoGo's probably right. We can just blame it on a zombie. Looks like we don't have to take the time out for disposal here. We're good guys." She said taking the lead on the situation which under normal circumstances would have been a much bigger situation had they been anywhere else.

Jetsam stood up with his second eyeball in his hand grinning, "Told ya guys. Fuck it all." Then he kicked the corpse's eyeball-less head.

[orleans-jester]

Go-Go didn’t know who hip coins was but hey, it sounded like a fun demolition derby type of thing. That was the American dream right there. That was something she wanted to try while she was in this country, and it looked like there might be the possibility of that tonight. Feral was the land of opportunity, it seemed.

“Fuck calendars,” She agreed with a nod of her head, the long hair extensions creating a more dramatic effect with this. She’d almost forgotten for a minute that she was dressed up, and not in comfortable speed gear. That made it all the more thrilling.

Goddamn that was a roar. She could have never met Jetsam, never seen him, and would know that he was a Laveau just from that call alone. She exchanged an excited look with Scout. Oh hell yeah, this was going to be a night to remember.

More and more people were joining them, which was completely fine, the more the merrier. And was she a little excited that the twins were coming? Yeah. She hadn’t seen much of the chaos that she heard that Chip and Dale could cause, not with Chip running his family and creating his own little village. Dale - she knew from first meeting him that he could cause a ruckus, ever since she had seen Anton move.

She was out of the castle with Scout, Halloween party be damned.

--

Bingo! Score! Win 100 tickets!

Ellie suddenly found herself trapped in a box, and without really thinking, she breathed her fire onto it, setting it in flame and stepped out the burning cardboard wreckage, looking around at the culprit, though Babyface had already pinpointed exactly who it was. Goddamn Dale.

“Yeah, let’s go,” She agreed, putting her hand on Babyface’s back to give him a little extra push as they gave chase to find out what excitement they were up to beyond the castle, red hair blending with the blue sparkles of her costume, creating a brightly-colored blur outta there.

They were out and she was ready to go and chase down the Laveaus some more, already pouting, feeling again like a little sister that was left out of something cool with the older kids. But Babyface’s sudden stop and looking out at the water had her slowing her roll, her feet coming to a slow stop, and then she trailed back up to him curiously.

They couldn’t see the island from where they were right then. But then again - with the island not getting in fresh shipments of boys, would it even still be running? Would it still have it’s magic? She tilted her head and looked out at how the moon reflected off of the water, hiding so much both above and below it’s depths.

And then she looked at Babyface, the way that he was looking out and she nodded, determination setting in her face. “Should we see if we can steal a boat, or should we skate it?”

--

Seems like Thomas and Valerie were the only ones. Everyone else was greeting the dead, or dealing with an intruder, or running off to do something crazy. Jetsam had barely looked at them, they were were homefree, they could do as they liked, and what Thomas wanted to do, more than anything in the world right now, was to hold his wife and have a good ol’ dance with her while Ches was still playing the music.

A full on waltz, one hand in hers, the other around that thin waist that made it hard to believe that she had birthed triplets. She looked damn good. Her body had bounced back incredibly, and oh, he missed that stomach of her sometimes but then there were times like this when they could be close because it wasn’t in the way anymore…

No matter what happened with this body, he adored it, plain and simple.

--

Honestly - Pierre had thought that Piper would hate him too. Shit, seemed like everyone did up top, and they had their reasons. It was valid. It took him over a year in Hell to realize that. Even Zero had hesitated on coming up to him and that was his goddamn pup, so Piper - yeah, he had figured she was pissed.

So Pierre was feeling VERY pleased at his reception right now, a little smug, even.

“And I for yours,” Pierre said, his eyes flickering over her face, and how it had not changed much since he had been gone. Those violet eyes, ever so striking, her rich dark hair, so black it was almost blue, the natural dusky tone of her skin. He had a habit of telling those that he was in love with that they were Gods and Goddesses but - Piper stood above the rest.

And even more cocky as she touched him like that, right here, right out in the open. He wasn’t shy about it, didn’t try pushing her hand away, instead greeted her with a half-chub that started to grow harder. Yes, even the dead can grow, apparently. He closed his eyes into the kiss, his first in what felt like eternity, and the sweetest one he could have imagined. “Missed you too, girl.”

Then things started to get intense. He wasn’t opposed to being choked though he wasn’t super into violence in the bedroom, but this was getting real. He could feel it, even though he knew that he could not die again. His eyes opened with confusion and hurt, not with anger, not with fear, just - almost looking like a kicked puppy himself.

The information was hard to take in, not with the distraction of being choked and how achingly hard he was getting under his touch. Oh, aching indeed, it was causing a sweat droplet on Pierre’s brow and all. The Belleroses though - at the mention of him, he flickered his eyes over to his sister, who had her back turned to him, talking to the ghosts of the Merry Men. Wulf, he recognized, from Hog Fest.

And then, his eyes would look around the room again and not find the second person he was looking for, because Frank was out of the room with their flesh and blood intruder and Delta. Then back into Piper’s eyes. “- one question,” He said, his voice hoarse, choking. “Can you only bring back me or-?”

He motioned his head towards Seven. Because that was his boy right there. They went through Hell together - and a lot of Hell’s influences. Pierre was not the same boy that he had been when he went under. But he still stuck to that loyalty to Seven, despite what else might be going on in his mind. He had to at least ask. If there was any chance…

--

Maddy also did a quick look around for Frank and Delta, and found them gone too. But those that were in the castle, she noticed, were friends. Save for maybe Pierre, but regardless, they were people who were not here to hurt them. Still, they shouldn’t give anyone the chance.

She nodded to Bastien as he wanted to go and get Frankie. That made her feel a lot better too. “Go, I’ll be right here, I’ll keep an eye out,” She promised Bastien, lightly brushing her hand against his lower waist, and then turned her attention to her friends, her face brightening up once more.

“Just Agnes missed me?” She asked Wulf with both eyebrows raised, but she would pet the little ghost pig that had served as flower girl at her wedding, her eyes full of delight. “I missed you too, girl.”

-

Lance caught Figaro’s attention though. “LANCY PANTSY!!!” They yelled loudly and ran over to them. After all, they had been quite friendly when they went to the high school together, as all of their friends seemed to have the main character stuff going on. They snapped their fingers loudly, almost imitating Kuzco, expecting people to come out of nowhere and get shit done. “Someone get this man a Geee-Tar!”

--

Elsa wouldn’t have minded if this was the rest of the night. Not a touchy-feely sort usually, but this was River. This was the son that she had for such a brief time. That she had missed so many years with and tried to get those back, tried to be there for him, tried to be the mother he didn’t need once he was an adult.

She also watched as they all went off together, and she didn’t mind at all if Koda went off with them. He deserved to have some fun out there. She was perfectly content to stay here, with the stragglers and the ghosts. But she did look towards Valerie and Thomas too, and found herself pleased that they weren’t being bothered by what was going on. Those two, always in their own little world. Dancing like they were in a music box.

“Absolutely,” She said with a nod, not acknowledging the way that he had corrected himself. Mother - it suited her much more than Ma, anyway.

So she would take his hand and they would have a dance and even Elsa would have a genuine smile on her face, seeing past all the rot, the dessication, to the boy that was underneath. She’d always see the boy. Even when he was a man.

And when he would break off to ask Valerie to dance, of course Thomas would allow this to happen with a bow of his head and a grin on his face, and would stand back and watch, even try to take some pictures with his phone so that this would seem less dreamlike.

--

Frank bit back a laugh. The nerve of this guy. The fuckin’ BALLS, coming in and just demanding that Delta release his father, as if Chernabog was just a house-guest rather than her prisoner around her pretty neck. Despite wanting to laugh, his face remained in that neutral, almost ghastly expression of his.

He listened, staying silent, staying cool for now, as Delta laughed for the both of them. But he couldn’t help the corner of his mouth going up ever so slightly.

“Oh, he’s being quite serious,” Frank said, holding Delta steady, allowing the leather fabric of his shirt to wear her tears, his mind connected to Silas’s. “He has no idea he’s sniffing around the wrong lamppost.”

He let Delta take the lead on the conversation, as per usual. She was a better talker than he was anyway. He kept himself holding onto Silas, one hand clenched on his, standing just behind. Trapping Silas between himself and Delta as he pled his case.

But when he brought up Uncle issues, he raised up his hand and gave Silas a smack on the back of his head - hard.

‘I’m not judging you. I’m judging him,’ Frank thought back towards Delta. And he was judging this guy hard. Was this foolishness, or was it bravery? Or was it just a desperate act of cowardice, because he couldn’t handle life without his daddy doing things for him. He got cut off from Oogie when he got stuck inside of Feral, so he was trying to find the next big thing, the next big Sugar Mama.

“We’ve got a special place for a thing for you,” Frank said, pulling Silas in closer to him, so that the clown’s back was up against his chest. Might even have seemed romantic, in a ‘Frollo’ type of way. “Where I’m going to cut you up, but I’m going to keep you alive. Yes, I’m going to cut you up, and I’ll see what makes you tick, makes you sick. We’ll find out exactly who you are.”

GoGo didn't pull any sensitive offenses. Jetsam checked that off in his mind. CHECK. He was right about her. CHECK. Then she offered a possible dress swap at some point. DOUBLE CHECK. Then her suggestion was to go on a joyride? TRIPLE DOG CHECK YA. Hello. Jetsam just earthly approved of Scout's friend that fast.

"I haven't been behind the wheel of a car since I smashed up old coin hips' car. Do you know how many years ago that was? Me either. I don't keep track. Fuck calendars."

Then he reared back and roared a gutteral metal scream while beating his chest. It seemed like it shouldn't be able to be done without a mic and some petals but there he was like he had a natural reverb box in his belly.

"Let's go bitches!" He sounded off like he was commanding a chaotic army of anarchy even though he was basically only addressing Scout and GoGo.

That loudness got two more people's attention though. Chip and Dale. Jetsam's actual biological sons. Fire lit behind both their eyes. It was the thrill seekers' flame ingited in the both of them. Dale was loudest when he hollered back. He didn't get to see glimpses of his father like Chip did. Chip had a secret world with him in the middle-worlds with Savvy, but not Dale.

"Regulators!" Dale called out, an ol' thing his dad used to do when they were young to gather everyone up.

So Scout called out, "Mount up!"

It was a Young Guns thing when they got on their horses, but they always said it when they'd scramble for their atv's and go out in the wilds of Laveau Estate back in the day. Today they were being joyriders and finding something out there to ride in the wilds of Feral. Chip heard about all the zombies. It made him start to feel like a little piece of home was in him. He turned and gave his wives a signal he was outtie and went running after his brother and sister... and god damn dad. The dad he killed, yeah, this was going to be a good fucking night.

Dale jumped on a table and threw his Barbie Doll box over his head and tried to ring it around Ellie's whole body like a last party game as the group went running out to cause havoc in the Feral streets.

Babyface would turn in his cop outfit ready to smack a bitch down for fucking with Ellie when he realized it was Dale.

"That fucker." His eyes tried to keep up with the crew weaving around dancers jamming out to the exit.

"We should go see what the Hell they're doing." He suggested before taking off looking more like a cop after someone with his billyclub out than a criminal for once in his life. Halloween wonders.

The young Laveau crowd with GoGo had gotten the drop on him though. He was lagging behind when he got outside. His excitement was banking on a thrill himself with all the hussle he was seeing, but what he didn't expect was for his feet to stop when he saw the beach at the bottom of the castle. He stopped running.

"Ells?" Something about fresh water had a way of taking him back to the island. It became that moment where Babyface Beagle didn't follow the crowd and instead stood in his unhealed feelings. He hadn't meant to be a party downer, but it caught him right in the chest.

"We're in Feral." The reality of where they were started to truly dawn on him for the first time. They'd come for a costume ball, but how often were they really allowed in this place? It had access to Pleasure Island.

"I have to go there. We have to go. I'm going before Delta tries to put us back on that bus out. I have to see it."

It. He didn't say the words, but it ached inside him. Maybe she wasn't the same, but it's all he could think of now. To him she had to know.

---

Valerie said it like Thomas was special and the reason why because he absolutely was. He confirmed. She was fucking with him tonight. "I'm a house. It's my god damn house." She grinned. Not a box. Never in the box again. "I'm with you." She needed all those words tonight. Moreso she needed the expression on her husband's face, the way he paid attention. That's why she was with him. Never ignored. Never brushed off. This was where she felt like she mattered. She mattered.

She felt the rush of her family racing off for different fun. They all became a blur behind the order of her eyes. That was okay. Thomas was still front and center.

"I would love to dance."

She held her hand out to be swept off to the dance floor. It looked like someone was going to have a traditional night at this ball after all.

--

Then there was Pierre. Zero and Seven did step aside. If Zero was a long time coming, Piper was a whole other level. Pierre altered her forever. Paramour yes, but it was more. They were supposed to be family. No one cut this thread.

There was a literal inferno beneath her skin that only existed in her eyes because of him. It burned through doors to open magics inside her she could dream of controlling. But, that was the thing about fire wasn't it? Fire was dangerous and hard to contain. It ignited other worlds within her. Sleeping worlds were now awake in her veins.

"Nope. I should have known better." There was a smile. "I'm glad. I always had a soft spot for your face." She took the hug in and used it to her advantage. She was anything but appropriate. Piper didn't skirt anything after that. She slipped a hand down his front, soothed right over his cock with one hand and kissed him clean on the lips in front of everyone. "I really, really missed you." She'd say ever so sensually. But, she didn't let go of his cock when it was over.

"Shhh. Don't move. Don't try a time loop. You're already in one. You don't want to cross magics like that. They think we're still kissing."

She held not a knife, but her curled hand to his throat, like Vader began to squeeze his throat without even touching him. "That's all they see. But, you listen to me. I don't care if you think you're here for all Hallow's thin veil. I've been pouring the purple sands for a long time waiting for your grain to drop. Wishing. Manifesting. Summoning you. I think I know a way for you to come back here, but you have to vow to leave the Bellerose's in peace. Can you do that? For me? For fucking once, do right by me?"

Contradictory much? A little confusing. Probably. But Piper wasn't fucking around. She never did anymore. She wanted him to know he was wanted here, but it didn't matter, she'd fuck him the fuck up in this world or the next if he fucked with her sister's head again if she gave him this chance and it actually worked. Hell, maybe he didn't want to come back? Maybe he'd disappoint her all over again.

----

When Maddy explained to him Pierre was definitely still dead and reminded him of Frollo Bastien's heart sank. He didn't care about Pierre anymore. It showed deep down to Bastien Pierre wasn't a real threat, more a pest.

"If Pierre and the Merry Men got in the castle then... Frollo." Bastien's hands actually started to tremble along with the side of his jaw when his mouth wasn't closed. This was a true Halloween fright to him and it was only a mere thought. "Let's stay close to Frankie tonight. It's a shields up night, Maddy." Bastien didn't even know if Frollo was really there, but he wasn't taking any chances, not with his little girl.

It was about then the Merry Men started to gather around one of their favorite castle couples.

It was Wulf who brought Agnes the piggie up to Maddy. "Someone misses you." To Bastien he'd say, "After all the times I've hooked you up I know you got something for me now."

Bastien would give him the, "Just let me get Frankie first and then I got you covered."

The whole crowd would start to distract them. Lance would ask people thought he could play music too. He wanted to hold a real guitar again in his real hands. All sorts of hub bub was going on.

-

River had needed that hug from Elsa. It went on so long it was like a Disney World character hug where the mascot refuses to let go until the patron did. River nearly didn't let go.

As much as River enjoyed Koda he was happy enough to sit with Elsa. It didn't even dawn on him to go running off with the others of his family yet because he'd been so attached to the house in New Zealand. He followed Flotsam/Valerie nearly everywhere they went watching out for entities that might try and slip into her necro-magnetic field.

He'd meant to spend a little more time with his siblings, but it seemed his other dad got to them first and had them on exit. "I uh... I already climbed that moutain once today. I'm not doing it again. I think I'll stay here." He said as he watched them all fleeing on some kind of excited high.

No. River would stay and dance with his parents. Elsa first. Then he might try to cut in on Thomas if they hadn't finished by then. He looked over at his mother-form Valerie and Thomas dancing. River hadn't gotten to see her in a big gown like that in real life dancing so happily before. Thomas always made her happy, but this was different. He could see she was living her fantasies in real life with him. Now if only Elsa would say yes to a dance with him.

"Ma. Er. I mean... Mother. We should dance. Will you dance with me?"

--

Back in the throne room. "School. Ew." Silas looked annoyed by the thought and blew it off. That was the thing though wasn't it? Silas had so much going on. Halloweentown High. He never wanted to do that. He did it to make his father happy. Oogie happy? He was following a lead that didn't exist for him. His real parent was gone. He was cut off from Oogie when he got trapped in Feral. He'd found out too much along the way. He knew who his biological mother was now. There were a lot of ways to feel, but he wasnt sure he felt any. What Silas did thrive in was his routines. When his way was thrown out of wack meltdowns would happen. He'd been in Feral a long time now and his new routines were in place. He still couldn't help but feel life was easier when he had a Jenner Chernabog to do things for him.

"You should give me my father back, and let us move in the castle, give us a room, each of us of course."

Delta's face couldn't have been further from contorted. Her hunch's whole body might have twisted into every line her face had. "Why would I do that?"

"I can't get out of Feral. I've tried. You have the best castle and it'll make my life a whole lot easier if I just have him back. He does things for me I don't like to do."

Delta looked over at Frank and she couldn't take it. She sort of wanted to do the expressionless thing, but she couldn't. She upchucked some real laughter deep from within. It jostled her so much her curls bounced upward on her sproingy head.

Then the face Silas started making due to her mocking him only made her laugh more. She couldn't breathe.

She had to hold onto the side of Frank's arm to catch her breath before she finally said, "So let me get this straight. You want us to give a shit what makes your life easier?" She even wiped her face on Frank's sleeve. They were actually watering it made her laugh so hard.

"Is this really happening right now?" Delta thought he might be mentally challenged.

Then Silas responded, "So you're saying I need to earn my keep to help you here?" He still tried to explain it to Delta. "That's what my dad is for. He's the one that does things for other people. Me too. He can't do them from in there. Just let him out and we can both get things."

"I've had him this whole time. If I wanted him out don't you think I would have?" Delta wasn't even sure why she was arguing with him. There was something about him that made her want to engage.

"No. He must have made you mad to put him in there. He loves me. If he has me here he'll do what you say because he'll be happy. It's a win-win, Delta, Frank. I can control him. I always do. I'm the joy of his life, his reason for going on without madness. He said so. Besides you, Delta. He always said that. There's Delta and there's me. His boy. We're the only thing that keeps his head above board after Hades. You know it's true."

Ok, now Delta's face was changing. She knew anything could go wrong with a plan like that. She thought of about a dozen ways it could go south in a matter of a minute. Still, she'd been trying to figure out how to safely handle him if she dared eject him from the vessel. Uncle Jenner. Delta was more sentimental about it than Silas was. Silas had attachments, but Delta actually cared in her depths. They weren't the same kind of emotions Delta had which was why this was walking a fence and Frank could probably feel it by all the sudden involuntary imagery in her head of her past.

"You think you can walk in here and get me all stirred up for Uncle Jenner because you have Daddy issues?"

"Uncle issues much? Pot. Black."

Her eyes narrowed in on him. Then without moving her head she told Frank on their private frequency "I want him alive. But he's yours until further notice. Tower. Dungeon. I don't care. I don't care what you do as long as he survives it with enough surgeon's fingers left to surg. I have to think. Don't judge me right now, Lurch. I can't think. I need to think."

She shivered as she dared let her head test the waters of what Jenner once insinuated. That she had a brother. A cousin? Like family? Delta hated this shit. Right when she thought she was out a thread with a grapple hook would pull her back in. This was why she liked Hell. It was silent. Just her and Frank. All that longing for family always disappeared there. She suddenly felt like blaming her father for this.

Then she remembered Oogie. "Get this Oogie lover out of my face."

"Heyyyy, guys. There's no Oogie in Feral." He tried to reason.

Then she held up a hand for Frank to wait.

"You are seriously trying to tell me you don't care about Oogie and expect us to just forgive and forget you were with her before? Yeah, right."

"No. I expect you to understand I'm not what you think I am."

Delta was too fuming to understand it because he was getting under her skin. It was hard to do but he was close enough to know her triggers. But what he meant was he wasn't like others. He didn't feel inside like others. Nothing counted to him because in his mind nothing was real. In his mind all he did was walk up and offer his control services of his father in exchange for accomidations. But, that's because he couldn't feel what Delta did. His attachments always came with a use for him not an actual sentiment. He didn't like staying out where he had to keep figuring out his own food, doing his own cleaning. Life was annoying without a father to delegate tasks.

[orleans-jester]

She saw Koda looking behind him and she gave him a little peace sign with her fingers, bursting the bubble with her tongue. She watched her own rearview mirror and playfully moved to swerve next to the VW, her open window meaning that she could reach across and ruffle Dale’s curls.

After that, GoGo sped on ahead, feeling her groove the same way that Kuzco did when he had a guitar in hand, the same way that Valerie did with a microphone, the same way that Delta did when she had her wings out, the same way Frank did as he kicked at a suspended reporter, making his body sway on the hooks while he read.

GoGo had been a girl who fell in love with cars, a real engine geek, and didn’t have much love left over for people. Not even her family. Once it was clear that they weren’t going to understand her, that they were going to try to dictate her life as if she was anyone else, she had given up on them. They became roommates. They didn’t do family dinners, or going out together, or even celebrations of birthdays.

It had taken a while for the Laveaus to permeate through that. It wasn’t even as if Go-Go had big walls up, the way that Elsa did, trying to protect herself or thinking that she was protecting others. She just hadn’t even realized that there was a door that they could even knock on. But it had opened and - now, she couldn’t imagine a world without them, the same way she couldn’t imagine a world without cars.

Loud music coming out of stereos, the noises blending together during the split seconds that they were near one another. Her eyes would dart over to see who it was, and would make faces over at Scout if it was her, and then would chuckle to herself. Her heart was beating with the engine, almost feeling like they were one. As she went up in speed, plowing through a zombie or two, only flipping on the windshield wipers as her reaction, she thought to herself, ‘This is better than masturbating.’

Unlimited speed. No cops. No sirens. No one telling her to slow down. If someone got in the way, hit them. This is just what the Autobahn must be like.

The sounds of gunshots weren’t even unwelcome. They echoed through the empty streets, with no one looking out windows, or running for cover. They would be heard up from the tower, where Frank and Delta were busy, but weren’t bothering them much either. As long as it wasn’t pointed towards them, or their people, Frank didn’t give a fuck. He was too deep in … well, a fuck.

She would have kept going when Dale was out of the window, but realized a moment or two later when there weren’t any more headlights in her rearview mirrors. Curiously, she turned her own car around and encroached on the scene. She had her own window down and climbed out through her window, exactly like Dale had been sitting when he had been ejected.

It was rough seeing Dale laying on the ground, like a piece of roadkill. It was rough seeing Chip behind the crumpled hood of the car, the windshield broken, pieces of glass. It triggered something in her. She couldn’t move for a moment. It felt like she was underwater. She could just about hear the garbled voice of Dale talking to Scout, and Chip’s eyes being open as Koda got him out of the car.

Tadashi. The outline of him, the silhouette, against the fire as he had run in like he thought that he was fireproof. Like he was immortal. Like he was a goddamn hero. The situations were different but the feelings were the same in that moment, a clenching around her heart and her stomach, a sense of loss. Everyone was, thankfully, preoccupied with the twins and the body and texting while she had her moment or two of panic before she felt like she was able to breathe again.

She wasn’t thinking the clearest though. She climbed off of the car door, walking around the glass-littered ground, the blood-soaked asphalt in her bare feet, and approached Dale, still on the ground. The panic was still in her eyes, the tenseness of her bones, all of it. And what she did was lean down and gave Dale’s head a smack.

“You don’t get to come close to dying, do you hear me?” She said, and then realized that her own little hand was barely going to do anything to Dale’s head, not through those curls anyway. She took a short march towards the dead body, picked up an arm that had been driven over, detatched at the shoulder, and then used that arm to hit Dale again. “You stupid, egg-headed shitpuddle!”

After hitting him a third time with the arm, she threw it down and then ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it out of her face to try to calm herself, taking deep breaths. “I’m not losing another friend,” She said in a quieter tone this time. It was only then that she seemed to realize what she had done. That there was a detatched arm beside her that had been attached to a body only seconds ago. She leaned down and then wiped her hand on Dale’s shirt because she wasn’t going to do it to her own dress.

While this was happening, Scout’s phone would get a text. Thomas was paying attention to his drunk wife, but also to his phone because he had meant what he had said when he offered to pick Ches up, all she had to do was text. Same with Scout, but that went without saying.

‘If Chip doesn’t want to eat it, I’m sure just tossing it into a sewer or something is fine? Just don’t leave a big mess.’

Go-Go was coming down from that short-lived panic attack. It hadn’t gone full blown, just enough for her to go full-throttle rather than her more subdued self. She was a bit embarrassed so decided to gloss over what she had just done rather than address it, and move onto the next topic.

“If anyone asks, zombies did it?”

"Yeah-yeah!" Scout knew the punch buggy game. Who didn't know the punch buggies? She loved that was GoGo's first thought.

Somehow even though GoGo called it out the boys in the car didn't think to do anything for themselves and Scout started to punch them. A slug to the side of Jetsam's arm and then she could be seen hanging over the back of her seat trying to reach Koda while he was dodging and blocking. He'd call out for Jetsam to do something with his daughter. Jetsam of course did nothing but laugh. Nor did he do anything remotely parental like tell her to turn around in her seat or put her seat belt on, but that was to be expected. All fun and games to Jetsam. He even jabbed her butt with his elbow to push her more into the back to help her reach Koda. It made her fall through the middle.

It was all laughter from there.

What started as a joyride, music blaring, each car in their own world, GoGo had their vibe, the twins had theirs. Chip and Dale were blaring Nascar 2000 sountrack because their brains thought in video games and outlaws. Car guys were sometimes just big boys playing out their outlaw fantasies on the track. Then there were Chip, Dale, Scout, and the like of GoGo who took their speed games to the illegal side and were actually outlaws of their own kind. It was how Dale knew GoGo would go against her parents eventually. It was too in her nature. She wasn't just an adrenaline junkie. Even an adrenaline junkie could be a conformist in Chip's book if they never let go of the safety line. She wasn't. Dale always just had him a feeling.

Then there was Jetsam's car, driver controls the music. However he did not exactly bring his playlist from the land of the dead. He had to get Scout to hook up when the radio failed to appease him. She hooked up and was put on what she considered dad music. It was stuff she remembered him listening to when he was alive. She had the lists and would listen to them over and over missing him. She put one on now and it made her face light up when he started to jam to it. It made her feel like she did something right and good which was all important to the good missing her dad dynamic.

This parade of cars started out as a loud joyride of ecclectic music and wired minds. Then the weaving would start. Jetsam dodged the first zombie out of habit used to having to weave if he was causing a rukkus in public in Nola. Then when he realized it was of the dead variety and even moreso a little part of him said even if they were alive he'd be gone by day light and what was anyone gonna do? Kill him? Send him to Hell? BWahahahaHa! No. He decided right then he didn't care either way and suddenly he got a bloodlust in his eyes as he peered through that windshield.

That's when Jetsam's car became a bowling ball and anything walking became targeted bowling pins. It started to be more like Simpson's Road Rage than a regular joyride. He'd hit the first one and the body would swirl up into the air over his car and smack down onto the hood of GoGo's.

"WoahEwww!" The twins yelled out. A second would come flying as they were trying to dodge the tailspin of that one sliding off her car and in their car's path. "Shit. Watch out."

Then the next thing the twins knew they were cracking up at their own tailspin after regaining control. "Sure you don't want me to drive?"

Chip gave him a, "Not in this lifetime" expression. Then Dale started to get his shoulder hoisted out the window ready for some target practice. Every now and again he'd swing and knock over a mailbox just to feel like he was playing baseball again like the old days and started keeping score out loud with the butt of his gun. Chip indeed gave Dale a side eye for that too if only because it was his gun he might damage in doing so, but then said nothing because fuck it. He had so many more. They were having fun.

This kind of driving could go on through the streets of Feral as long as they wanted, a rip revving, zombie bashing good night. The challenge would come more whenever any of them decided it might be time to end it. Whether it was because someone crashed or because the driver of a certain vehicle was about to disappear the moment would come the group would have to slow down after they'd riled up the town's undead population.

It would be getting closer to that time too when Dale had propped up his hip on the window ledge as he was shooting. Chip would start to slip into more of slow motion daze and was having hard time releasing the gas pedal much less lifting it to push the break. When he went into that sort of middle minded haze it was harder for him to communicate what was happening too. He'd appear like he was driving forward full throttle on purpose in adrenaline mode, so Dale didn't realize at first. That was, not until he saw the flag pole coming way too fast. They were swerving off road wrong. It didn't feel on purpose. "CHIP!" But before he knew his body went flying thrown from the VW and landed in someone's lawn.

He laid there in pain looking up at the night sky smiling.

Scout would start screaming for Jetsam to turn and go back. When they got there Koda jumped out fastest and had run up to check on Chip. Scout ran to Dale. "Was it worth letting him drive?"

"So worth it. How far did I fly? That was impressive, right?"

Another corpse was nearby that Jetsam hit earlier. It was pooling bright red blood. "Oh shit. I don't think that one was dead." Koda would say as he walked with Chip's arm over his shoulder over to where the others were.

"I guess that's Zombie Formula One Racing. If you weren't a zombie before racing you'll become one." Jetsam gave no fucks. "That's the formula."

Chip stared at it from over Koda's shoulder still looking dazed with a bruise on his head attempting to speak. It came out slow but he managed it. "I should eat it."

He was used to having to get rid of the evidence when they had accidental murders in the family anymore so to speak.

Scout looked around unsure. "I don't know. Maybe you don't have to? I don't think we can get in trouble here can we?"

All the kids looked at each other like they were confused for the first time in their lives. They knew family rules and how to go about things, handle business to keep the family safe, but they also understood Feral was a little more lax and secure from the rest of the world. They also didn't live here so they weren't used to thinking so freely as if they didn't have to cover their own trails.

If GoGo had turned around and came up at all she'd hear the group conspiring to cover up a rando murder and speak of cannibalism as if it was nothing. Maybe she kept going with her car on her own, who knew? Or maybe she'd be right there after everything finally listening as if nothing could shock her anymore, just a part of the whole wild bunch?

Scout looked down at Dale still on the ground. "I don't know. Ask Dad." Dale answered never being the cannibalism expert and was slightly jealous still that Savvy picked Chip when he left Flotsam. Their dad Jetsam was standing right there and yet Savvy didn't seem to be taking over here in leadership, so when Scout heard 'ask dad' her mind went to Thomas. It also felt right to go to him when something felt wrong and to ask for help.

Scout texted Thomas. This would come in around the time they were going to the inn.

Scout: Dad! SOS. Dead body. Dale and I don't have our bone grinders. We can make some. Should Chip still have to eat it in Feral? Can we just leave it? Or no? ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

Jetsam was groaning. "You guys worry too much."

[orleans-jester]

“Later,” Go-Go said to Nebby, much more distracted by this dead dad. He didn’t look dead, not like River over by the piano did. That made this a lot more interesting. Jetsam had a big grin on his face so Go-Go grinned too at seeing her best friend happy, and this crazy looking guy happy too.

“Yeah, that sounds accurate,” Go-Go nodded at the description of her. Beanpole, check. Computer chip? Check. Ready to go ludicrous speed? Double check. Call her a black 1970 Dodge Charger R/T because she was fast and furious, baby. She looked down at her dress, smoothing it over her small frame. “Yeah? Maybe we could do a swap sometime.”

She started to laugh at Scout’s joke too - she followed Koda on instagram after meeting him, even though they’ve never really spoken. So she knew who the horse was. And knew that there was one man in this room who would very much disagree that a horse would look good, ever. Which made her chuckle a little harder.

Think fast? Yeah, she was.

“I was thinking we could go o a joy ride with some of the cars that I saw down in town, have some fun with no speed limits and no annoying pedestrians?”

She was thinking she wanted to try car surfing too, even if it was extremely dangerous but the wind whipping through her hair? The adrenaline? Fuck, it seemed like it would be a real trip.

--

Thomas found it hard to concentrate on his own vision at times but he did practice a lot, especially while he was working on his projects at home. The little details in carvings from the bed frames to the statuettes he made, he had to have a precise eye. But he was’t looking at Valerie the same way that he looked at a project. He was looking at her like she was the finished product, and he was admiring it. She was more gorgeous and awe-worthy than the Statue of David, had more strength than the terracotta army, and more elegant than the Bust of Nefertiti.

More than her song - Thomas wanted her here for everything.

And he was pretty sure everyone else did too. Delta didn’t invite her here just to perform. She wasn’t here to provide the entertainment, Valerie wanted to do that. And now she could take a step back, relax, and enjoy the party, even with Jetsam here. He seemed preoccupied for now, anyhow. And when he would, invariably, make his way over, Thomas was going to be right there.

A smile widened on his face when she said those fucking powerful words.

“You’re goddamn right,” He said with a stiff nod. She had more right to be here than a lot of these people. Than these ghosts. But man his heart was touched and his cock was growing hard. She said that like he was special too. Like she was special because she was HIS fucking wife, when she had always had the capacity to glow on her own.

“And I’ll remind you every single time. You’re not a box. You’re a whole goddamn house,” He told her. Because there were bits of Valerie all over their home, from her loaded closet in the bedroom to the Nutella always kept in the cupboard in their kitchen. No one puts baby in a corner. No one puts Valerie in a box.

He squeezed her hand once hers had reached his. Her strength was incomparable. “Yeah - you’re here with me tonight, love, and I’m going to make sure that we have the best time.”

Though the main show was over, Valerie’s singing, Black Arts’ playing, the dancers gone to their dates or frieds, Cheshire was still playing music over the speakers. He brought Valerie’s hand up to his mouth with a small smile making the corners turn upwards. “Care to dance with me?”

--

“Thank you,” Elsa said with a small bow of her head. The dress was quite dramatic, but it seemed to fit the theme. Normally she wouldn’t go through such rigamole for a single event but - this felt different. She was REALLY here with Koda, and everyone was seeing it this time around. Everyone, all together. So she allowed her credit card to get a little wear and tear.

And then River told them that he had been working on this, and he had been around and Koda’s amazement. It made her take a step out of herself for a moment and think about what River must have been up to. She had put herself in isolation for a large portion of her life, and it had been uncomfortable. River was a social being, and he had been forced into it, into being this invisible ghost that can only be seen during rare occurrences. Of course he had been practicing for this. It made her tighten that hug up once more.

The two boys - the two most important in her life, finished each other’s sentence in a different way and it even had her laughing a little. Seeing them together was just - good. Just like how she was going to be feeling good to watch this River interact with the rest of his family tonight.

“Yes, of course,” She said, nodding towards Koda. And then a small little smile at his double-meaning. She was always cool, wasn’t she? Though not as cold. “I’ll be alright.”

There was no ‘Tell him I say hello’ because Elsa just didn’t. She had nothing to say to Jetsam.

"You're still a charmer, River."

--

Stiffness - but not resistance. A part of him had expected a tantrum - but that was going off of the young man’s face rather than his mind. He just - very much looked the type. Spoiled soft. Rotten. But he didn’t resist, he walked without causing a scene. Another interesting thing to notice.

“I didn’t ask for a history lesson,” Frank said, lowly. “I’m out of school now, don’t need lectures.”

He wasn’t the only one with imagination. Delta had it in hoardes too. Turning the horse from a metaphorical thing into something real that their uninvited guest could be shoved into, he liked that. His mind went through the old gypsy-torturing technique of cutting open a horse’s stomach, shoving the owner inside, and then putting it over a burning flame to suffocate and heat to death at the same time? He’d like to do something like that. He didn’t have a great love for animals.

Oogie had been too pre-occupied to think about Delta. The Horned King’s spell had taken some of her best and brightest from her school, and she had to reassure many grieving parents that if their kids had any sense in their goddamn heads, they would have just stayed at her school instead of venturing out into NOLA. It was their own faults for leaving Halloweentown in the first place. There was a lot of victim blaming there. And then trying to groom the ones that were leftover. She had given Silas space in her new torture rooms to do as he wished, order what he wished, play with whoever he wished. But didn’t have the proper time to actually spend with him and share her own wicked imagination.

And then his acid girl spit through the shit, getting right to the point and he focused his eyes on Silas, waiting for a lie. He didn’t find one.

Well, it wasnt exactly the most exciting reason. But it wasn’t the stupidest either.

--

Pierre had been looking at Piper over Zero’s shoulder for a full minute now. Did a part of him love her, the way that it loved few other of his paramours? Yes. She lingered. She lingered hard, like lipstick on his skin, like perfume after she left the room.

And Seven and Zero stepped back like this was some kind of a movie and this was the presentation of the hot female actress. Perfectly centered between the two men and heading straight for him, like something out of a dream.

“You think anything could completely get rid of this beautiful face?” Pierre said, closing his eyes as he hugged Piper, taking in the rich smell of her hair, her perfume. Did this girl even sweat? Seemed unlikely.

She smelled of their burning tree.

And in true Pierre fashion, his hands didn’t just go around her shoulders or back in that hug. They trailed down past her waist, to where back turned into ass, just skirting being inappropriate.

Maddy wasn’t paying attention to Pierre anymore. She had been walking towards their group of friends, Wulf, Arthur, Little John, Lance, having already called the first two’s names but they were looking around the room rather than focusing on individual people, apparently. Then Bastien returned to her and laid out that question.

She put her hand on his arm. “Oh, he’s still dead, Bastien,” She said, slowly. “Some ghosts can gather their strength and come back during the year, the way that Frollo did. But most others have to wait until Halloween to take on any sort of form. He’ll leave. He has to leave. And I’m not wasting another thought on him until I have to.”

It did show her one thing though. It was possible to hug the dead. And there were people here she definitely wanted to hug.

"I'm sure. Um, excuse me for a minute." Nebby said having heard a few things of the Laveaus herself, but never have had experience with them herself. She went gunning off looking for Black Arts. She was the one wishing she'd packed extra panties and not for the same reason GoGo had been teasing Scout about earlier.

Scout sounding so proud he was dead and just announcing it like that with no shame stoked Jetsam up. Then he got the intro of GoGo on top of it.

"I know who you are. You're that friend of Scout's that's basiclly a human beanpole shaped computer chip that seems constantly pumped up on liquid schwartz ready to go ludicrous speed at any moment. I like your dress. I think we're the same size. I'm beanpole size too." Then because he's Jet he'd off-handedly say, "I bet that'd look hot on Floppy." And no he didn't mean Koda's horse. He meant Flotsam. They were all skinny lanky people and all Jetsam saw was how they could share outfits the moment he saw her, not that Jetsam was much of a dress wearer, but two seconds on this plain and there he was trying to dress his twin again.

Scout just laughed. "I think Floppy's good in the stable tonight, Dad. But that horse would look sexy in anything." She knew how to turn it into a joke.

Then Jet said, "Well girls, I have one night on earth in my own body. That's not long. Think fast." He lifted his brow at GoGo like it was a challenge. "What should we do with it?"

--

Valerie looked into Thomas's eyes, trying so hard to focus directly on them and nowhere else. The visual lines of focus could be dizzying of one didn't have their coordination down, completely practiced with the windows. It took a long time to become natural. The triplets added a new vision field to tune into and blink through. There was a lot to shut down and hold closed. She gained it though. She held Thomas's eyes, his face, his safety. It was strange because it was only in a moment like this they realized there was very little they ever feared and one of things they feared the most was one of things they loved the most. Jetsam. It was their lack of control over Jet.

She saw what she felt there. She saw the same joy she felt when she first saw Jet making Scout happy. It was such a relief. Such a finally. It was even nice just to see him again for herself. They had such happy memories all their own. They were brothers. Then that feeling of Valerie's skin started crawl and reason's Chip grew up way too fast all rushed back. That's where Thomas's barricade was needed.

She was wanted for more than her song. Damn. Weirdly, it made her think back to Ariel's voice still stuck in that seashell Delta likes to keep. Valerie definitely didn't want to be reduced to her voice. It made it sound like her song was something that could be put away like the necklace. This made her remember Valerie being hidden under the bed. She liked being able to change when she wanted from Flotsam to Valerie now with the new magic, but the way Thomas worded it, it made her feel reminded she wasn't something that had to hide under the bed anymore. She could wasn't a parlor trick for entertainment. She was his wife and no matter what was going on around them she was wanted here. He said she could change if she wanted, but she was wanted for more than her song.

That was all she needed, that moment of Thomas having her back. His voice being her reminder helped straighten hers. She was wanted. She was Valerie fucking Laveau. "I'm your fucking wife and I deserve to be here."

"Every now and then the box under the bed likes to creep up on me. Thanks for the reminder, my love."

She kept pushing her forehead against his to keep that connection. "Plus, fuck that. I don't want to give anyone the satisfaction of me running. I'm here to stay and I'm yours. I don't want to send the wrong signals if I change." Then she slid her hand down his hand and took his hand in hers. She gave him a kiss, a nod that she'd be alright, then started to back her head up, but she did not let go of his hand.

--

As for River when he and Elsa's embrace finally started to loosen the familiar way she messed with his curl brought a smile to his face.

"And you look amazing." River replied loving her costume. It was up his alley.

But rough?

"Oh. Right." He looked down at himself. "Yeah. That happens. It always starts out so good. By the end of the night I'm rotten again. I should have waited to manifest till right when I got here. I messed it up. I've been practicing. My tangible time's been getting longer and longer. I think I wore myself out doing it too much this week wanting to surprise everyone this week too. Ah well."

Koda was amazed though, "So, you're telling us you've been around more than tonight? AND YOU'VE TOLD NO ONE. Dude. Bruh."

"I know. I know. Surprise. I'm the new-"

Koda yelled out Patrick Swayze right as River finished his sentence with Sparky. He was the new Sparky. Then the two guys laughed thinking they were going to finish each others' sentence, but finishing it so different made them laugh so hard.

Koda was all grins just behind him until he noticed Jetsam. That was his buddy. With all due respect to Elsa and River's relation's his emotions went on overdrive when he caught sight of Jet. He slapped his hand on River's back.

"I'm gonna leave you two to it for a minute. I see your ol' man over there. I'm going to go catch him before he disappears. You cool, Elsa?"

--

Silas felt the pull and didn't didn't resist. He walked like he was being escorted like a gentleman making no fuss to the partygoers. That's what's Delta wanted. Frank would be able to feel a slight stiffness in his body since he wasn't the one in complete control. This was unnerving even to a narcissistic psychopath. A loss of any amount of control is always a red flag in their mind even if regular person can't detect them feeling bothered.

The comment however amused Silas. "How very Ed Gein of you. Quite inspiring. I never did think he went far enough. So much potential there. His creativity was cut short. Your mind is far more innovative."

What he didn't say out loud were thoughts of how he'd like to work with a mind like that. Why didn't his partners ever have ideas like that? Wastes of skin, all of them. Then the random flashes of actual human skinnings would cycle through his head. He made better uses of their skin than their wastes of lives did. There was a superiority and matter of factness to his thoughts that only someone with a certain lack of understanding of true empathy has.

When Silas called Frank innovative Delta said, "Innovative? Oh honey. You have no idea. Whatever high horse you think you rode in on, I won't just knock you off the horse. I'll cut the horse off at the knees, shove those knees down your throat, and shove you up that horse's ass. That's just what I'll do. You don't even want to get in Frank's head. So, why don't we just cut the bullshit right now and you tell us what you want here? Now. Before you find out the hard way."

What a feisty, little, spunky, girl. He was finding her personality so far very acidic and inviting. No wonder his father adored this child. Memories of how many times his father left his own side telling him he had to go "take care of Delta" or he was on "Uncle Jenner duty" and that took priority over him. Memory flashes of Chernabog's face telling him he was a big boy and he had to handle himself while he carried out Maleficent's order's. Coven always came first. Time was strange because this became a simple matter of fact these facets of Silas's hidden childhood despite never having met Delta in person the whole time. Delta always to priority. Jenner was late for dinner. Oh, he was doing something with Delta and Maleficent again. Sure, he'd seen her before now. But, now they were here truly face to face.

Then of course there was the Oogie Boogie layer to his life. This came later. She never truly pushed any agenda in his head to feel one way or another about these two. Jenner tried to give the boy some stability a little too late. Silas has always had his own personal agendas and was thrown in the middle of whatever he was born into. It was difficult to navigate what he felt especially for a person who didn't feel a lot other than the urge to satisfy his own curiosities.

Silas pointed at Delta's necklace.

"I want to see my father. I know he's alive. I can feel him."

---

Then there was Bastien who picked up his hammer as he said he said he was going to. When he got it he didn't go over to Pierre. He got stuck again. He still felt like he was supposed to go rushing up to the situation and to go lay down the law on the guy or even smash smash smash. He still hadn't gotten any orders from Delta. Maybe she really did want all these ghosts here. Maybe she even invited them. So many thoughts raced through his head. He was loyal to Frank and Delta. He didn't want to fuck up, but his emotions were getting the better of him.

But by this point he was starting to reevaluate the whole situation. "Maddy?" His voice was soft. Seeing Zero and Seven with him was one thing, but what he was seeing now caused him to rethink everything.

It was Piper, the Reaper's daughter. She wasn't in her eyeball costume anymore because she'd just done the dance with Maddy and the rest of the girls. She'd caught sight of Pierre.

"Pierre?" She called his name. "The hourglass flipped over for you." She sighed like it was the most relieving news she could ever recieve. "The hourglass flipped." Then she reached out to give him a hug like all their past disagreements were wiped away with that hourglass turn. As far as she was concerned, at least for Halloween if that's what was happening, they were good until the sands ran out again. She wasn't wasting what time she had with him.

Bastien would look back at his wife. "We have to rethink this. I'm confused. Is he dead or alive?"

[orleans-jester]

“You kinda get used to it overtime,” Go-Go said to Nebby, keeping her cool. The Laveaus had been shocking her since Dale had made Anton come to life. She could be shocked - but hardly ever surprised.

It really did look like a young Flotsam, though maybe a bit more wild in the eyes. The resemblance was uncanny. “Hi Dead Dad, I’m Go-Go,” She introduced.

--

Thomas was fine tuned to the word Daddy now coming from Scout’s lips. So of course, for a moment there, he thought that she was calling for him and his head turned as well, only to see the jet black hair of Jet, it couldn’t have been anyone else. He saw Scout’s smile, and he couldn’t help but smile back - he did love to see her happy like that, her cheeks looking like they could become sore at any moment from the smiling. And then he felt his wife hold onto his arm a little heavier, and he looked up at her. The storm behind her eyes. Not a raging storm, no, but a conflicted one. A storm holding castaways on the shoreline rather than being the reason they were being castaways in the first place.

Thomas turned around, turning his back to everything that was going on. Scout hugging Jet. River hugging Elsa. He put all of his attention on his wife just then, standing a touch taller on his toes so that he could rest his forehead against hers, looking one another eye to eye. He wanted to protect her from Jet. He remembered how Jet had wated to fuck Valerie, to take her, but Valerie had always said no. He was going to stand as that barrier, protect her right then.

“You can change if you want to, but you don’t have to,” He said, gently. “I like having you here with me, Valerie. You’re wanted for more than just your song.”

Even while everyone was looking over the newcomers, he was looking at her. His lips brushed against hers in a gentle kiss, giving her every inch of his attention, not even watching through the eyes, just her.

--

Elsa’s heart had leaped into her throat. It was stuck there. Frozen there though her feet kept on moving. The moniker of mom, she had missed it. She hadn’t realized that she had missed it exactly this much. And then touching him, the flesh, even if it was’t the best looking, even if he looked like the corpse that he was while everyone looked like the day that they died, it was a relief, it was a beautiful thing, it meant everything.

Elsa hugged him back, head in his messy dark hair, the curls towards the end, always with the handsome curls. She kissed his cheek affectionately, and then backed up to look at him, her lips pursed, looking over his face. And then the smallest of grins as she said honestly, “You look rough.”

--

Frank wasn’t going to give Silas any satisfaction in saying his name. It wasn’t going to come out of his mouth, no, he came as a clown, and so as a clown, he would be referred. Weak ass creepy clown shit. What did he think this was, a Stephen King novel?

He held Silas in place, his grip strong, his gaze still on Delta as she laid down the law, which made him smirk again. Really, it seemed like everything they did turned each other on. The way they dealt with this situation was no different. That defiant little ‘how dare you’ expression on her cute face, he loved. He even loved it when she turned it towards him.

He wasn’t gentle about pulling the clown towards the special room in which they would find out exactly why he was here. It could have been as simple as looking for his father, or spying for Oogie or some shit like that, but one never knows with people like them. Could be nefarious, could be innocent.

“He’s got nice skin,” Frank said aloud, wanting the clown to hear him. “If we tan his hide, we could make new seat covers for the car.”

He wanted Silas to know exactly who was in charge here, and it wasn’t going to be him.

Zero couldn't take it after that. Pierre was right. He wanted to. He zipped right up to him. He filled in those open arms with a full embrace for the ages, head tucked in. He rocked back and forth. Seven might have gotten the first, but Pierre got the longest. Maybe because it was the longest time coming. The tighter and longer he held the other the more memories came to mind. They all seemed to be good ones too. Zero always was a reflexive fella, followed his instincts. All buried in that neck he knew too well, breathing the other in, he whispered, "My after care guy." Then he just clung... just clung.

"Awww. Look at you two."

Even Seven felt like he was playing middle man for too long. He was looking for his clever comment then he couldn't take it either. No. Screw that. Not just look at them all patched back up. This was better than that.

"Look at us three!" Then Seven slapped his arms over the other two's hug and was hugging around it. "The gang's all back." He jumped up and down a few times outside of them which only got Zero laughing. It did feel like old times instantly. They were practically inseparable.

Bastien really had been paying attention to Maddy's dance. He just got side tracked on giving her the compliments afterwards. His protective instinct took over his need for praise. He might get there yet, but his whole peaceful world view was being taken over.

Maddy had the reaper eye on Pierre. Bastien put his hand in front of her and even though it was his protective instinct on first sight of him to keep them apart he started to wonder why the fuck he'd stop her. He slowly put his arm down. He was breathing heavy as the thought of him near Frankie was introduced. It seems like they both wanted to stop each other right at first. He was trying so hard not to act on impulse himself.

"He's not going anywhere near her."

He was also trying to figure them out. They looked so alive. "Where's Frankenstein? I don't care if he delivered Frankie. I'm hammering him for this." Bastien's next instinct was to blame the doctor. "I never trusted that-" But when he caught sight of Victor he saw the absolute devastation on his face and dropped that idea as quick as it came to him. "Maddy, he didn't do it."

Bastien's eyes panned over from Victor to Pierre again. Seven and Zero were hugging the guy. Everything looked so celebratory. It was confusing when his instinct was to hammer the guy. The confused feeling is the only reason he took his eyes off them to look around. Something had to give him answers. That's when he saw River. He missed the feeling of Jetsam completely being extra saturated with party favors tonight. It was that or the fact Jetsam was truly and completely out of him, but he saw Jetsam.

Frank was right. Jetsam wasn't there to cause a problem, at least not on purpose. It wasn't planned anyhow. He was there because he could be. He was there because he knew he let someone down several Day's of the Dead's before. For all the times he'd come to earth whether through possession or Halloween thin veil loopholes he always had a way of missing Scout. That wasn't going to happen this year. He made her cry too many times.

When he finally spotted her laughing with the girls he made his way over like a ninja in the dark until he jumped down. That's when Bastien saw him. That's when the new girl screamed and Scout turned around from giggling it up with GoGo. The chick she was getting a crush on nearly jumped out of her skin being startled by the jump scare right as Scout was laughing it up telling GoGo if she ever breaks her jaw to just tell people she was in a fight when she turned and saw her, "DADDY!" It came out of her mouth in the girliest squeal GoGo could have possibly ever heard come out of her mouth.

Then she jumped. Scout was a jump-hugger and Jetsam was getting the treatment. Nebby however was confused. She was trying to regain her composure. She whispered, "I think I peed a little." She looked mortified.

Scout didn't pay attention to any of that. It was Scout's voice calling Daddy that had Valerie's head turn. It didn't matter what form they were in. They knew their kid's voice in a crowd. She'd just walked over to Thomas and was getting her praise for the singing when nothing could have stopped her from turning to that sound. The sight she saw should have been more expected than it was, but after all the disappointments it certainly was not. Then she could do nothing but melt against Thomas's arm. "Finally." It made her want to cry. She wouldn't be drying Scout's tears again this year. She gave a nod, one of those hard nods that emotional debt weighs hard to give credit for after all the pain. She didn't want to approach. She wanted to stay back with Thomas and let Scout and Jet have their time. But, it felt okay. Everything was going to be okay. She glanced at Thomas with all those mixed emotions hugging his arm, her safe space. She really did not want to be anywhere near Jet in Valerie form. A really big part of her wanted to put her Flotsam-form voodoo necklace on. She kept inching closer in to Thomas. "He finally did something right."

Then as soon as Scout loosened her grip, but didn't let go, stayed attached to Jet's side, she said, "GoGo! This is him. My other Dad. The dead one."

It was so casual like it wasn't an abnormal thing to say at all. The dead one.

Then there was another kid calling for a parent. This time it was. "Mom. Mom!" River caught sight of Koda making a bee line towards him with Elsa. The state of himself hadn't entered his mind like everyone else looking on him. He'd practiced a few times and this keeps happening to him.

He slung a hug right around Elsa as he called out for his mom and had run right passed Koda. Just the same Valerie knew her child's voice anywhere, in a crowd, even from beyond the grave after years. She looked beyond Jet and Scout to see River and Elsa hugging after hearing what she assumed was her name called.

Okay, that one took her aback a little. Her grip on Thomas's arm tightened trying to stay strong in herself. The moniker had never been an issue in the past, Valerie had just never actually been a woman with a real tangible River like this before. River had been practicing trying to make this a surprise for the big day.

"Everything's fine." She said to Thomas even though he didn't ask. "M-maybe I'm supposed to be Flotsam tonight? My song's over." She was starting to feel seriously uncomfortable in her own skin and it was unnerving.

Bastien taking in this bigger view of everyone reacting to dead people finally got something to click. "This is some fucked up Halloween bullshit. It has to be. Look."

Then he pointed Maddy in another direction. It was less unpleasant dead person by Bastien's standards. Fucking Wulf. There was even a god damn piggie at his feet. He was already mingling and having the time of his after life. Being dead wasn't going to ruin the party for Wulf. Hell, the more Bastien looked around the more Merry Men he started to see. Little John and a few others lost in time.

Then Bastien pointed in another direction. "THERE!"

Bastien stared at Arthur the longest. It was so weird. It was like he had cancer again. He was looking around with a more concerned face on. Bastien might not realize it, but of course he was worried. He was taking a big chance here coming back to see Delta. He didn't know how Frank was going to react to that. Apparently time nor death changed a thing. Old habits die hard. Frank was intimidating okay!

Bastien turned to Maddy and shrugged just baffled. "Did Delta send invitations to Heaven or Hell?"

Then it started to dawn on him the moment he said Delta that this might not be a wanted thing. His eyes kept scanning. "The fae are on the move." He meant the gaurds. These were his people as were the Merry Men so he wasn't sure what to think. As one of Delta's loyals he decided he better stay on alert in case he's called in. "Consider me on call, baby." As if he's never not on call, but it was a party, a technical day off. Still, he felt the need to warn Maddy, just in case. He had no idea what was going on. Merry Men in Delta Castle, okay, but Pierre?

Bastien's brain wouldn't settle. "Excuse me while I get my hammer." He'd set it down to dance around either with his wife. If he was going to talk to Pierre, dead or not, whatever he was, he was going to be holding it as a reminder.

Delta kept getting updates from the fae about other entities. Merry Men. Yeah, like Frank she wasn't phased. She wasn't even phased by Pierre for as much as she knew it would ruffle the feathers of her Hunch and his wife. He'd still been a good tool. She didn't really care if a used tool was laying around the house. She could always put it away later if became a mess or a bother.

Silas on the other hand she had more of an issue with. Unpredictable outcomes here. She didn't like that. Frank got a hold of him. Dear nether regions just that move was hot. She'd keep that thought to herself but none of her thoughts ever were. Frank was always dreamiest when he handled business.

Silas did not move when first touched. He didn't cringe nor startle the way an average person might. His eyes moved first to the large human that snared his appendage. His head moved second. Silas could not read minds, but if ever it was possible darkness could recognize darkness, that's what met Frank's gaze. Silas could tell something was different here.

"Hello Frank."

Because of course he knew his name. Silas continued.

"If you wanted to dance all you had to do was ask."

Delta caught up not taking her dragon's stare off the both of them watching for the slightest movement not trusting the guy for anything. "You didn't get a ticket to this dance." Delta interrupted.

"If you want one you'll have to buy one like everyone else."

"Since when does anyone use money in Feral? That's the best part of living here. That and all the dead people. I don't think I ever want to leave." He seemed too pleased with himself.

Answer confirmed. This annoyed Delta to no end he'd been here for who knows how long undetected.

"Who said you pay with money? Come on, transaction is paid in the other room." She gave Frank a nod. It was time to escort him back there and get him out of the party before she made a scene. Delta was usually not one to care what people think, but Silas was a subject of a need to know basis. She wanted him out of here before who knows what happened if they were really going to confront him.