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howdy-cowpoke · 6 months

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TIMING: During the Winter Wickedland festival LOCATION: The Commons PARTIES: Monty (@howdy-cowpoke) & Kaden (@chasseurdeloup) & Mack (@realmackross) SUMMARY: Monty wants to take Mack out for a fun afternoon to take her mind off things, and convinces Kaden to come along. It’s a holly jolly good time… and there’s singing. CONTENT WARNINGS: none!

—

To say it had been quite the year in Wicked’s Rest was an understatement. She had been pushed off a balcony, went ham on the town, attacked by a werewolf, turned into irl Goo Girl, and stabbed repeatedly, and now, all the zombie wanted to do was to have some fun. So when she was somehow invited to hangout with Monty and Kaden, her other two dads – Mackenzie has a lot of dads in this town okay? – she was reluctant at first, but decided to join in on the holiday fun. Plus, there had been the strong possibility of getting to see Sellama Gomez at some point, and that was always a draw.

Where am I meeting you guys again? She had pushed send on the group text message, not sure of where she was supposed to meet them or what was happening. Just that it was supposed to be a fun day.

—

While Monty wasn’t privy to all the things in Mack’s life that’d been difficult as of late, she sprung to mind when he heard about the winter festival that was being put on. She could use something nice, he figured, and seeing as how Kaden had a bit more experience with people her age, he was inclined to ask his partner along as well. The more the merrier, and all that.

The pair were walking down a busy street when they both received the text, and Monty glanced around, looking for some landmarks. Starring Role Pâtisserie jumped out at him and tightened his grip on Kaden’s arm, pulling them off to the side and out of the way of other people while he tapped out a reply.

We’re in front of Starring Role. We can wait here for you, there’s a bench nearby!

Smiling up at Kaden, Monty threaded their fingers before tugging him over to the bench he’d spotted, sitting close before quickly becoming distracted by a passing dog. His soft coo still drew the attention of the owner and they smiled, letting the dog approach for pets. It wasn’t until the corgi and her owner had gone that Monty sat back and sighed. “I should have brought the dogs!” he complained with a chuckle, knowing full well that Azul, Cinder, and Pomelo would be one hell of a handful together and with this many people around. “But ah, I thought we could take Mack back to the farm after, I know she’s been wanting to visit her llama. Sound okay? We could make dinner.” He still had plenty of organs set aside that they could make into something nice for him and Mack, and there was also a good selection of normal food at the house now that Kaden was spending so much time there.

—

Kaden had seen the big winter festival pop up in town earlier in the month. It was hard to miss it, even if his time was mostly spent corralling reindeer as of late. Truth be told, he didn’t have much intent on visiting it. That was until Monty invited him to join him and Mack to the festivities. He should have seen that coming in some respect. If it wasn’t Monty dragging him there it would have been Alex eventually. He wasn’t sure why he thought he would end up missing the town event in any case. Not that he was complaining about spending time with either of his undead company for the day.

As they sat and waited, a smile crept onto his face. Kaden wasn’t sure if the smile on his face was attributed more to the dog or the man next to him reaching down to give it scritches. Probably Monty, if he was being honest. “If we brought Shadow, too, we’d have one dog per hand,” he added with a laugh. “Probably good we left them at home.” The four of them would have plenty of fun and love the attention but it definitely wouldn’t have been easy on the humans there. Not to mention, wouldn’t give them a lot of spare attention for Mack. “I’m sure we can find some kind of treat to bring back for them and for Mack’s llama. Anyway, dinner later sounds perfect,” he said with a smile as he went to stand up.

He was pretty sure he saw someone that looked like the kid in question and figured she’d have an easier time spotting them if he was standing. He was tall enough to spot through a crowd most times and even if that wasn’t the case, he’d be able to see her easier this way.

Once he caught a glimpse of the blonde hair, he waved and tried to catch her eye. He liked Mack. She was good with animals and actually watched nature documentaries sometimes. Also didn’t poke fun at him nearly as much as some of Alex’s other friends. Still, he was a little nervous to see her, didn’t want to intrude being the only one of the three of them with a beating heart. He knew Monty was great at mentoring other people like him and he got the feeling it was important to Mack, too. He didn’t want to be a bother.

“Good to see you,” he told her when she walked over. “So, what do you two want to do first?”

—

As she made her way through the crowds looking for the location in the returned text, Mackenzie spotted just who she was looking for. Kaden towered over some of the shorter residents of Wicked’s Rest and as she laid eyes on him, a smile came to her face. It was nice having the opportunity to be around people who didn’t have any fault with her. Alex had been MIA, Winter…well that was an entirely different story, and it seemed as though everyone else, aside from Parker, had some excuse of why they hadn’t wanted to come around. Plus, there was the tension between her and Cass, but today was for Monty and Kaden, and as she forced the previous people out of her mind, she walked over to the two men.

“Yeah, good to see you, too. I’m not gonna lie. When Monty said you’d be coming along to this thing, I was kind of surprised. I didn’t expect this to be your scene, but I’m glad you’re here.” She leaned over when she got close enough and gave him a hug, before walking over to give Monty one, “I’m good with whatever you guys prefer. I’m just here for the ride. And to get out of the house for a while.” Mackenzie sent them both a warm smile.

—

The older zombie brightened when Mackenzie appeared, getting quickly to his feet beside Kaden to welcome her. A warm laugh bubbled up from his chest when she announced her surprise that Kaden had agreed to come, because he understood where she was coming from. He could be a rather serious person, at least to those who didn’t know him quite so well as Monty did, and an afternoon of winter solstice frivolity didn’t quite line up with most people’s impression of the man. But Monty knew that if he asked, Kaden would oblige, and he’d have plenty of fun to boot. He was sweet and funny in his way, and the cowboy hoped that that would shine through today for Mack to get a kick out of as well.

“Getting out of the house is good,” he said softly as he gave the girl a tight squeeze, noting that like himself, she was probably underdressed for the weather. A perk of being dead, he supposed, if you could call it such a thing. He wouldn’t speak for all the zombies he knew, but as far as he was concerned, the cold was much more tolerable than the heat. When dead things get too hot, you start to have… problems.

“I did not have anything specific in mind, though…” He glanced over toward the Common, where the recent snowfall had been collected into a huge mountain that people were sledding on. “... I am curious to see just how uncoordinated any one of us might be on that thing.” There was a mischievous glint in his eyes, one that was begging for trouble.

—

Kaden didn’t expect the hug, but he was far from upset, returning it without further question. “You caught me,” he said with a smile. “You two are the only reason I’m here.” He took a look around at all the activities and people around them. “Doesn’t look so bad, either way.” It was a nice change of pace from the goo-covered panic he had grown used to witnessing in town.

The ranger raised a brow as he saw what his partner was pointing them towards. It was clear from the get-go that the cowboy had some sort of tricks up his sleeve with this one. Kaden didn’t know what, but he had a feeling someone was going to be on the other end of a prank. He had a feeling it was going to be himself, no doubt that Mack and Monty would be in on it together. No use avoiding it, it would only delay the inevitable. He huffed out a laugh and smiled. “Alright then, let’s go.”

Before he could take a single step in the direction of the hill, he paused and furrowed his brow. The words he’d just said didn't sound quite right. Almost… melodic. That was fucking weird. It was probably nothing. He shook it off and kept walking, ushering the two undead right along with him. There were various sorts of sleds and snow tubes at the bottom of the hill to pick up and take with them and slide down. The trash can lid looked like a recipe for disaster. Not that the plastic dish beside it looked any safer but at least it was intended to use in the snow.

Kaden watched as a group of people zoomed past them down the hill, laughing and yelling on the way. It looked like they had each gotten their own sled and had linked themselves together by holding onto the other’s sleds, hands, feet, you name it. “That looks like the way to go,” he told the others, his voice strangely sing-songy again. Kaden coughed to clear his throat. Putain, what was going on? In lieu of talking and having that happen again, he nodded toward the sleds, picked one for himself, and started the climb to the top of the hill.

—

Mackenzie was excited by the prospects of the day with her two friends, especially knowing that they had wanted her there. She had already seen a softer side of Kaden when they had been trapped in the cabin together after the Volmugger incident, which had put any rumors of just how tough he was to shame and why a friendship with him had seemed to come easier than expected. And just having another zombie friend in her life, one with much more experience with the undead life than she could even imagine had meant more than Monty would ever know, especially considering all he had done for her when she was tripping on Serpent Flat energy.

The festival had offered a lot of different options to choose from, and seeing that sledding down a pretty large hill is where Monty had suggested and Kaden was leading them definitely didn’t disappoint. In fact, she had missed having adrenaline rushes that weren’t life or death, so this choice of activity had been highly welcomed. It was the unexpected song that Kaden was gracing them with that had caught the younger zombie off guard, “I expected fun, but I never expected to be serana-ded…” She threw a quick hand over her mouth when she, too, began singing instead of speaking, “I wanted a music career…but not like this…”

Seeing the hunter grab a sled as a quick solution to not having to speak - err - sing felt like the way to go, and finding the most worn out and intimidating looking make-shift sled, Mack was ready to feel the thrill of zooming down a hill at a stupid, scary speed to see if she didn’t get thrown half-way across town. Her footsteps following in his, she started to climb the hill as well, “Come on, Monty! Danger awaits!” The words still held a certain melody, but one of excitement and grit.

—

Why… were they both singing? Monty couldn’t help the confused but amused expression that flitted across his face as his gaze jumped between them, that grin remaining as they each picked out a sled and he, an innertube meant for use in water. Was this the prelude to some kind of weird prank? They were not going to get him to sing in public, that was for damn sure. Following the pair as they all hiked up the mound of snow, Monty waited for them to get situated on their respective sleds before dropping his tube between them and clambering into it a little clumsily. Remembering Kaden’s earlier (melodic) comment, he extended a hand to each of them with a grin, then dug his boot into the densely packed snow and dragged his tube forward, pulling them after him as he moved beyond the flattened top and onto the slope. Gravity did the rest, and the three of them went screaming down the hill.

A few small ramps had been packed into the snow, and Monty realized with a yelp that he was headed right for one. His string of Spanish expletives sounded remarkably song-like as he got launched, losing his grip on the both of them in favor of clinging to his tube like his life depended on it, praying (and screaming) that he’d land upright.

He wasn’t quite so lucky, the wind ripping the lightweight sled out from under him and leaving him to hit the snow again with his back, where he slid down the rest of the hill, spinning until he was coming down headfirst and slowing to a stop at its base.

If nothing else, the cowboy didn’t seem hurt (obviously) and was instead laughing breathlessly as his inner tube bounced up to him and plopped right on his chest.

—

Kaden wasn’t sure if was relieved or only more concerned when he wasn’t the only one speaking in melodies. Was Mack just following his lead? He tried to see if she was picking on him just by looking at her, brows furrowed. No luck, couldn’t tell one way or another. Not that he knew what he was expecting to learn just by looking at her.

Once they were at the top of the hill and sat on their snow tubes, Kaden took Mack and Monty’s hands and readied himself for the ride. When his partner started spouting swears, he couldn’t help but laugh as he watched him head for the ramp ahead. It took him a moment to realize that Monty had let go of his hand but when he did, he tried to reach out to grab the man’s tube to try and keep them together. It was no use. All it did was throw himself off balance and had him sliding down the hill backwards.

Now Kaden was the one shouting curses in a foreign language, holding onto Mack as best he could. There was no missing the stupid smile plastered on his face on the way down, though, or the laughter in between the expletives.

“Everyone alright?” he asked once they were all at the bottom, trying to catch his breath as he laughed. His voice was still stupidly sing-song-y. Putain de merde.

—

Mack had positioned herself and latched onto Monty’s hand ready for the thrill of going down the hill at a ridiculous speed. But before she realized it and could really say, err, sing anything else, she felt herself being pulled forward by the momentum of Monty and Kaden moving too. And without holding back, she opened up her mouth and let a loud scream of happiness come out.

It was when she felt the release of Monty’s hand from hers that she realized they had been separated and as quickly as she could, managed to catch Kaden’s in the nick of time as they continued down the hill behind Monty who was now rolling like a whiskey barrel on the loose. And her screaming turned into laughter as she glanced over towards Kaden who was sing cursing in French.

Finally, when the ride was over, Mack leaned her head back and took a deep breath as she released Kaden’s hand, “What a ride! Can we do it again? I want to hit the ramp and fly down to the end!” The words were almost like lyrics as they left her mouth, “What the fuck is happening?” The music seemed to match everything she was singing as she looked to Kaden and Monty, still smiling, but shaking her head.

—

“Ai, the ramp is all yours next time, hermana,” Monty groaned, pushing the innertube off of himself so he could sit up, realizing a little too late that the three of them were still… sing-speaking, as if building up to a full-blown song and dance number in a musical. He wasn’t a huge fan of it, but after more than five years in this town, he knew better than to question the weird goings-on, as long as they didn’t seem to be harming anyone. And this, while annoying and embarrassing, appeared harmless. For now. At least it wasn’t just him.

He sat back for a moment to catch his breath, leaning on his hands and watching other people come soaring down the hill as they had. Everyone’s voices seemed to have a musical quality to them, and he shook his head thoughtfully. Oh well. Might as well ride the wave, as they say. Or in this case, the huge snowbank.

“Let’s do it again! Come on, Kaden, on your feet. Don’t mind the singing, I guess it’s kind of…. neat.” … That rhyme was involuntary. He laughed at himself, holding out a hand to help the man up, then reaching to do the same for Mack. “This feels a little like, you know. Dr. Suess! Like the Grinch, but we’re all Whoville Whos.” Holy shit.

—

The singing didn’t seem to be stopping. In fact, Kaden was worried the whole thing might turn into a musical number with coordinated caroling coming from the people sliding down the hill behind them if they stayed there. Considering they were starting to rhyme. “I think this is a little out of my league.” The words came out like a melody no matter how hard he tried to temper them. “Let’s go before we get rhyming fatigue.” Really? That was the best rhyme he could come up with. “Putian de merde,” he grumbled in a sing-song aside, “this whole thing is absurd.” The last word came out in a cartoonish version of his own accent, forcing it to rhyme with merde. Even his grumble was melodic. Kaden wanted to ask how to make it stop but he was afraid to open his mouth.

As much as he didn’t want to speak, it was like there was no way to avoid it. Once they were all standing, Kaden found himself wrapping an arm around each of their shoulders respectively, their steps all keeping in time to the music in the distance. Wait, the music in the distance? Why was there– And it sounded like a backing track to this strange song they were unwittingly writing on the fly.

Kaden hated this. But biting his lip to keep from singing was getting harder to do. It was either clamp down until he bled or give up and go with whatever musical number they’d walked themselves into. “But it’s great being able to spend so much time with both of you. When you’re down or you're blue there’s nothing I wouldn’t do. Just say the word and I’m there, that’s how much I care.” Putain, there were dance steps now. This was dancing. Kaden couldn’t dance, never really tried, but somehow he was performing some kind of choreography all the same, spinning both Mack and Monty around and meeting up with them again, all in time to the swelling music. “Now let’s go explore the rest of this fair.”

In hindsight, maybe he should have tried a little harder to resist whatever was going on.

—

Mack jumped to her feet with a sudden pep-in-her-step, when Monty gave her hand as she listened to him followed by Kaden singing their respective parts. This entire thing was starting to become really amusing. And it had almost reminded her of the musical she was in as a kid. It was fun and something she wouldn’t soon forget, but what sealed the deal on this memory was Kaden, who could be a bit of a grump, started really getting into the number as he danced in time and spun both her and Monty around.

The young zombie’s eyes lit up with joy as she laughed and broke free from Kaden and Monty, “Kaden, Monty, can this really be? It’s like we’re living in an episode of that show Glee! Singing and dancing to a holiday tune! Snow falling around us, it’s like a Hallmark movie airing at noon!”

She ran forward, joining up with a group of dancers who had come out of nowhere for a dance break where she flipped and twirled with a genuine smile on her face. When she finished dancing with the group and they all scattered back out to their respective places, Mack met back up with Kaden and Monty, “Come on, Kaden! Don’t be grumpy! Keep singing this tune with me and Monty!” She looked to the cowboy curious for his reaction.

—

Monty had never been poetic. Even with something… strange going on, something inspiring them all to rhyme and sing and dance (and was that music natural?), he failed to connect to any kind of creative side of himself. For Mack, the connection was obvious. Even for Kaden, bless his heart, there was creativity and light in the passion he had for cooking. But Monty? God, he’d never done anything creative in his life, unless you counted a few bad sketches from a century ago. No, he didn’t have much to offer to this strange happenstance, and so he just found himself… laughing. Dancing, sure, being twirled on the spot by Kaden and loving every second of it, but he was too far down the giggling rabbit hole to provide anything of substance.

When Mack looked at him, it was all he could do to regain his composure long enough to speak between snickers, “Don’t make me choose, don’t make me think! Let’s go for one more slide, then I need a drink.” There was plenty more to explore at this fair, and who knew if this bizarre compulsion would follow them when they left the snow mound, but… he didn’t mind it, really. Singing or not, it was a joy to get to spend the day with the pair.

As long as it went away eventually.

#. thread ;#. with ; kaden langley #. with ; mackenzie ross #. jazz hands ;

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