Spooktober 2020: How is babby feared

[Rebonack]

"Yeah I get that," Dandelion says as she grabs.

Guh.

A bottle of water.

She wants soda. Or punch. Or literally anything that isn't water but she's betting that it would all taste like bear snot or worse.

The universe is so unfair.

"Me and my siblings were always together. Getting Buttercuped split us in three. Which is kind of cool since we can do our own things, I guess?" Dandelion reasons. "So long as we're standing on dirt or whatever we can talk to each other. Snapdragon said something about... Hylean networks? Dunno what the Legend of Zelda has to do with this stuff but Snap is really smart."

Super smart.

If Snapdragon says a thing works because of some other thing then she's probably right.

"So. Fight with your sis, huh? About what?" she presses. She's getting the impression that this little dude needs to build some confidence. She might be able to help there.

And then illusion popped.

"Huh. You're really cute, dude. Did you know that?" the gaiad comments before continuing the conversation as if nothing weird had happened.

Crisis averted?

"Yeah Plum Mountain Park is us. Or not us? It grew up BECAUSE of us. It isn't like a whole park can come to party," Dandelion explains. "I dunno, it's weird. I think Lambslaural gets it the best. Snap is super smart but the weald thing is, like, too much for her to try to think about all at once, you know?"

Meanwhile!

Now if there is anything Aries is good at, it's making connections. Getting an intuitive feel for the weald was easy for him. Reading people's body language and words for subtexts is easy. And right now it couldn't be any more obvious to him if there were flashing neon lights that Jade really, really finds him attractive now. And, if he's honest with himself, he thinks she looks really pretty, too.

This doesn't look anything like his old human body. He thought it was... ugly. And weird. Leona's confidence buoyed him up and Drakania's wit kept him taking but it had been Aries alone? Crash and burn every time he would try to act on the way other people were feeling. He was always dragging the rest of himself down. The group's anchor. But if there's one good thing that came out of the Buttercup experience it's that a little bit of Buttercup rubbed off on all of them. Snapdragon isn't as catty as she used to be. Leona isn't as blunt. And Aries?

He inherited a little bit of Buttercup's impetus.

Still holding Jade's hand, he takes a step toward the dance floor.

"Um... did you want to dance, maybe? The songs are kind of silly; its okay if you don't want to," he asks.

The Monster Mash is playing.

That's probably one of the least romantic songs possible.

But how often does a chance like this come up, really? If nothing else he would like to strike up a friendship with Jade (Buttercup loves making friends!). They have a whole lot in common with their experiences and he would DEFINITELY not object to doing the whole be a guy thing every now and again. If Jade enjoyed his company too that wold make it even better.

[bc56]

Jade giggles nervously at the suggestion. "Sure. Um sure." Her face gets a little redder as Aries leads her by the hand onto the dance floor. She's not a bad dancer, but hampered by the fact that most of her dancing experience was A: as a guy and B: not in high heels. She stumbles over her shoes in particular several times. But she's enjoying herself at least partly and sneaking lots of looks at Aries in the meantime. She's finally getting over the initial shock of finding him so attractive, but it doesn't make him any less hot.

[Deathkeeper]

”Yeah Heather and I have our own phones even if I can’t use mine very well without making an illusion to push the buttons. I am aware of the cute, yes.” It’s in the tiny backpack he has.
”But it’s not the same. Hector was my boss, my master, my-ok I know that sounds weird but I was a dog at the time that’s how we think. And we did everything together. And now we...don’t? So I wanted her to come. And she wanted to do her own thing. And I want her to think about getting her fae-essence reversed like me. Just consider it! It’s her choice. And she’s upset that I’m trying to tell her what to do. Or because I compared her to the ending of a book that made us cry when we were a kid.” That sure was a weird sentence.

”But uh yeah. Maybe I’m just a little clingy and acted like her doing something else was abandoning me instead of just making me actually do something on my own. And uh. Well. Listen, it’s absolutely zero of my business and you girls seem to have things worked out but just make sure you talk okay? When I walked past your sister she looked sad and I heard her say something about getting ditched. Don’t get into a fight like me and Heather. It sucks.” Oh gosh did he say it wrong? Did he sound like a creepy stalker who eavesdrops on people? He thinks he said it normal enough. And Leona doesn’t seem easily angered. Just maybe annoyed.
”But anyway I was gonna talk to one of you about magic stuff like the de-fae-machine but if magic is your sister’s thing I’ll just ask them later. It’s not like your forest is going anywhere. Hahaha.” Foxes laugh weird. Why does he laugh so weird?

[Rebonack]

It was a Graveyard Smash.

"I just realized something," Aries says as he dances with Jade. It is, of course, the silly monster mash. Not any sort of romantic slow dancer. Or even high-energy swing. Really, this is probably for the best. Aries is pretty sure he would make an idiot of himself if the dancing was more complicated than grade school silliness. "So this song? It's a song about a song. Does... um... does that make sense? The Monster Mash isn't this song. This is a song singing about the Monster Mash. And I guess the Transylvania Twist, too?"

But only briefly.

The (probably?) vampire singing the goofy Spooktober song briefly makes mention of how no one dances to the Transylvania Twist anymore.

Aries can't help but feel a little bad for the hypothetical vampire.

Everyone has forgotten about his cool song and only wants to do the Monster Mash now, that unknowable tune that can only be referenced by fake vampires with bad and equally fake Romanian accents.

"Isn't that funny, though? That it's a song about a song that no one will ever hear?"

Aries thinks it is kind of funny.

Almost as funny as when he tries putting some extra weight on his back hooves and WHOOPS he doesn't have back hooves anymore!

Right onto his butt he goes.

He blinks a few times, gets a pretty nice view of Jade's legs (she's in really good shape!), and then starts laughing.

Meanwhile!

"I think Lambslaural tossed our phone into a bonfire without thinking about it," Dandelion comments thoughtfully. "Part of the Seed Dance was getting naked, so into the fire the clothes went."

Poor phone.

"Eh. Not that big a deal I guess. The weald hasn't got cell reception anyways."

What brave soul would be willing to build and maintain a cell tower in a magical faerie forest?

Then?

Hector gets an eyebrow raised at him.

"So the fight was, what? You wanted to come to the party here and she wanted to do something else?" Dandelion asks. "That just sounds like siblings fighting. Me and mine do it all the time. We always make up, though. Listen-"

She folds her deer legs under her body and kneels down in the grass to get a bit closer to Hector.

"Buncha stuff changed all at once. That sucks. Lives change. People change. You deal with it," she says, reaching down to poke Hector in the chest. "Moping about it won't help. And crying about books makes you both dweebs."

It's a harsh truth, Hector. You and your sister are absolutely dweebs.

Dandelion gives a tiny snort of a laugh. A slight upturn of the corner of her mouth. That was absolutely a joke and not laughing along with it might be a bit difficult.

Then she reaches out to scoot Hector closer with a hand, leaning down further to look him in the eye.

"You and your sister. Both of you. You're going to get through this. Maybe all the changes are scary. Who the hell cares? Kick butts. Become better people. Do something awesome. Make some cool plans together for stuff both of you like. Easy."

At the mention of Lambslaural, Dandelion looks in the direction of her....

...brother?

She glances over just in time to see him fall on his ass.

"Pffffhahaha! DUDE! I didn't know we can change shape! Have you been holding out on all the good tricks, Lambsy?" Dandelion shouts. Then just because she points toward her brother for Hector's benefit. "There, see? You said she was moping and now he's having fun. Still a dork, but having fun. Nexus does impossible crap all the time. Now your turn, tiny fox dude. How are we gunna have fun at tonight's party instead of moping like dweebs?"

Oh hey. Dandelion is admitting she was moping about the candy.

[Felandria]

Felandria makes her entrance to the Spooktober party, literally, in fact, she has entrance music and everything, because this year Fel is dressed as none other than “The Man” herself, Becky Lynch!

Spoiler

Show

She obtains a snack and a bev and mingles with the others.

[Deathkeeper]

Hector does seem to be a little reassured. But it’s mostly what Leona says reacting to Lambslaurel (wow he looks great) that makes him brighten. And show his teeth. And laugh his weird tiny fox laugh. What she said about siblings. And what LL said about her siblings. And what Hector feels about Heather. And how Heather has (almost) always treated Hector.
”I get it, Leona! I get it I gedditIgeddit!
You were heads before you were gaiads. Distinct but not separate. And me and Heather were shadows. We were separate but not distinct. Me and Heather are fighting because we’re used to having to tell each other everything, but we aren’t used to the answers being so different! And you three know how to be different, but you’re not used to having to talk to each other about everything yet, and that’s why two of you are both moping at the same party about different things and you didn’t even know! Snapdragon could be annoyed at something too and we wouldn’t even know! But that’s it, Leona!
No one totally knows what they’re supposed to be doing!” It’s the most uncomfortably comforting thought he’s ever had. His bouncing could compete with Heather’s.

”I’m gonna talk to Heather. And we’re gonna hug it out like we’ve been doing. And then I’ll introduce you and the five of us can maybe help each other fill in all the stupid holes that Buttercup opened up in our crazy stupid lives. But fiiiirst.” Now that is a mischievous, foxy grin. ”Your sister was feeling alone and ditched and now uh, he? Is dancing with a hot date. And you admit you were moping about the food WHICH MEANS!” -he twirls around- ”We gotta fix your problem, too. We gotta find you something hardcore you can eat!” he declares adventurously.

[Reinholdt]

[Magical Girls]

"What? Really? That's very rude." Reinholdt Ore frowns, immediately shooting Wenomir a dirty glare from way over here where it probably won't be seen, before thinking for a moment. "Were you... different each time?" Rein asks Harley quietly so as to not have anyone overhear that Harley has shapeshifting secrets. But if she was the same each time, then the glare still stands!

"I... personally don't recall ever fighting him directly." Rein would probably have remembered it as the time he ran away as fast as a cat can from the barbaric swordsman. "Then again, I don't directly fight very many people." He's going to be out of practice when it comes monster hunting time!

"We have shared drinks though and I'm currently in negotiation with his organization."

[Catras]

Leah's about to head off herself when someone calls her a stuck-up prude and questions her ability to have fun! Instead she whirls on Rebekah, all thoughts about the mission to help Rebekah get a date forgotten. "EXCUSE ME?! A closet case tramp like you has no ground to stand on. The only thing stopping you from ripping your clothes off in front of the first floozy you find is how quickly you scare them away."

Rachel all but shrinks in place. Oh boy. Once they start, it's pretty much impossible to get them to stop. Not to mention it's up to eleven already. "I'm just going to look over there meow." She says, sliding away from her sisters quickly.

[Demon Children]

Reinholdt Helltaker thanks Tovia for helping him, and then gently pats her back reassuringly. "Don't worry. Nothing bad can happen at Spooktober and Thanksmas parties. It's a rule that everyone follows." No one's ever tried to kill anyone on one of these holidays before! It'll be fine.

Hopefully, because Atropos Ivy Terenti Solomon the Third is chasing after her sister. She's pretty sure she's not It, but if she is It, she'd better tag Klaire just to be on the safe side.

[Rebonack]

"Huh," is Dandelion's reply to Hector's summary. She scratches be back of one of her great big deears absently as she looks over at Snapdragon playing with all the kids. As the night wears on the chances that she'll be giving someone a deer-ride rapidly approaches one hundred percent. Snap LOOKS like she's having fun, but what if something is bugging her, too? Hector is right. They never had any secrets from each other until now. All their thoughts over the past year and half were in the same brain. Before THAT they had separate heads but the same body. They couldn't get away from each other if they wanted to.

Maybe she should talk to Snap later?

Oh wait, no, better idea.

Get Lambsy to talk with Snap. If Snap tries deflecting (and she probably will if she's feeling bad about something) Lambsy will pounce on it like a cat on a mouse.

Good plan, Dandelion.

And then Hector proposes a plan, too.

Dandelion nods. "Yeah, that sounds cool. I guess I mostly just miss the old stuff I liked doing, right? Eating good food. Competitive sports stuff. Playing video games where I have to yell at my team for being idiots. Y'know that kinda thing."

She pulls a sour face. "And there's none of that out in the weald. Just, like, rocks and birds and nature things. No electricity, no Internet, no mocha frappachinos. Nothing. But yeah, I like your plan. Good ideas, dude. Not sure how we're gunna do it, thought? No faerie food here. Makes sense, eating too much of that does weird stuff to normal people."

Dandelion stands back up, looking out over the party. "Hehe... Buttercup just crashed a ton of people's lives, didn't she? Friggin' TKO outta nowhere. But this is the Nexus right? We pick up the pieces, get use to the weird, and keep on fighting. Where did your sis go, anyway?"

[bc56]

Jade also thinks that's kinda funny. She giggles a little, and more when Aries falls on his rear. When he starts laughing, she joins in, but she does reach out a hand to help him to his feet. Wow. Even when he's making a fool of himself, he's hot. And she didn't miss him checking out her legs. She's secretly hoping a better song for dancing will come on. Maybe one where she can get nice and close... What is she thinking? She just met this guy!

[Rebonack]

He should feel bad.

He should be feeling bad right now. Feeling like an idiot. Turning inward and meditating on all the reasons why Jade must think him a fool.

But that isn't what Aries is doing.

Instead he grasps Jade's hand and stands up again, offering a sheepish smile.

"Umm... I guess I got use to the back legs pretty fast?" he says.

The problem, typically, is that he thinks too much. He spends too much time scrutinizing everything and it leaves him paralyzed. But apparently that little bit of drive to take action he gained from the mingling of Buttercup's Name with his own? If he were just Aries still without his sisters to cover his weaknesses this would all be a disaster. But now that he's Lambslaural those little Buttercupisms have filled in the gaps.

He still needs his sisters. He still loves them. But...

Maybe being separated isn't as bad as he thought it was?

Not bad. Just different. Something new to understand.

As he stands back up and brushes the grass off his pants he finds himself wishing a slower song would play next. He thinks a slower, more romantic dance would be fun. They could get nice and close and- Wait... would Jade be comfortable with that, though? Sure they hit it off well and they have nice chemistry but she had been kind of uncomfortable when they hugged. He'll just... he should let her take the lead on that. Let her do what makes her happy.

The next song isn't very slow.

Or romantic.

It's a silly, jittery, peppy skeleton dance song.

Aries smiles, laughs, and begins bouncing along to the rattling tune.

"Um... so... What do you do, Jade? Aside from discovering magical mishaps?" he asks as he wiggles to the song.

[bc56]

Jade joins in on the dancing pretty quickly. She's not sure why she even thought a slow dance would happen. This party really favors the peppy quick songs. She gyrates her shapely hips to the beat as she answers the question. "By education, I'm an electrical engineer. But I do hero things, mainly. Foiling villainous plots, saving people from disasters, that sort of thing." She glances over at the Aries' formerly identical sisters. "And you? What's it like being a park?"

[Deathkeeper]

Hector giggles.
”Okay so this is kind of embarrassing but when I first got born as Hector’s shadow he kind of knew I was him but not entirely? He mostly thought I was the big scary dog in his shadow. And so like, when he made Mom’s special steak and he gave me a piece and I got SUPER sick I was all like- He flops onto the ground, his shadow reaching over to give him more of a barghest look.
”Mmm mmm. Hector. That was mom’s special steak and I can’t eat it. I only get to eat raw meat and the fear of screaming mortals. This is the worst day of my life. Mmm mmmmroo.” he stands back up as himself. ”And that’s kind of how he realized that I was him and he was me and we should be cool shadow siblings instead of being scared of each other.

And that was a really long way of saying that yes, I really really get how being a fae totally throws a giant wrench in your life. I had to sit around and observe all the stuff I liked instead of doing any of it. While trying to remind myself that scaring people to death isn’t cool.”
He ponders the question of Heather.

”Well if I was my sister who is very similar but not the same as me, and I talked to anyone as nice and helpful as my cool brother Hector did, I would be...oh. I’d probably be within two blocks of the party so when my brother leaves we can make up. That’s where I would be.
That or shopping for places or my tree but she promised to wait on that until we’re sure. And probably in Riverside anyway.”

[Rebonack]

Why on earth would there be a slow dance song?

This is a Spooktober party!

There are sugar infused children careening around everywhere.

What a dumb thought. Probably just wishful thinking on Aries' part. Jade probably wouldn't have felt comfortable with it, anyway.

Anywho!

Aries' eyes widen. "Wowie zowie you're a super hero?"

The Buttercupisms still slip through every now and again. It's part of who they are now. But, thankfully, it isn't totally smothering them anymore.

"I... umm... I think I get that. Helping people? That's why we volunteered with the fire department. But... I'm not sure if we're fireproof anymore."

Testing that and discovering that the answer is no wouldn't be fun. That and there is a WHOLE LOT of exposed iron in burning buildings often times.

When Jade asks about the weald Aries falls quiet for a while. Long enough that she might start getting the impression that he doesn't want to talk about it. But then-

"It's a good question. I just need to think about it," he says.

He'll dance in silence with Jade for a few more minutes, trying to frame his answer in a way that makes sense. Are there even words for it? Dande would probably be able to come up with something succinct. She's good at words. Snap would probably give an excited, rambling explanation that eventually meanders to the point. As he thinks Aries admires Jade. She's so pretty. And smart. And she's a hero! No one like her has ever shown interest in him before. This is, possibly, the best party ever.

"I feel connected to everything there. Like it's all part of me, but it isn't ME. It's kind of like the human body? You have all your cells doing things. But there are all the bacteria and viruses that live in you, too. They're all part of you. But they aren't you. You move the community around. You decide what it's going to wear and what it's going to do. But mostly your body does its own thing to make what you want happen. That's how being Plum Mountain Park is."

He falls silent again. Was that a good explanation?

He feels like it was.

Meanwhile!

"Geeze, dude, that must have sucked. I mean, I love candy corn but if I had barfed trying to eat my mom's enchiladas I probably would have flipped," Dandelion confides in Hector. "Your deal was pretty raw compared to ours. Gaiads aren't that bad, as far as fae go I guess? Like, you get to be a garden or a field or a grove or whatever and maybe you'll grow into a weald eventually. Sure stuff's different but you don't get forced to eat people like a kelpie or whatever."

A beat.

"Y'know I got to clock a kelpie the other day? Lambsy pointed out that it was stalking these humans who got stranded in the forest so I was like 'hell no not in MY weald' and just decked him in his stupid horse-face."

He probably deserved it. Most kelpies are absolute jerks.

"So lets duck outta the party real quick and sweep the block for your sis," Dandelion says, starting off for the road before Hector even has a chance to reply. "If she's not out there then cool, we can swing back in. But if she IS then we can drag her back here to chat with Lambsy. You said she talked to us at Plum Mountain, right? That definitely woulda been Lambsy."

[Deathkeeper]

Hector nods.”Yeah, it did. That’s what Beatrice’s machine is for! It turns fae into pokemon.”
He pauses. What do you say after that?
”Okay it’s not ideal for folks like you and Heather who can mostly live normal woodsy lives. Heck if you planted a garden you could probably still live in a house. You know, like, the ones that aren’t already a huge forest like you. Sorry.
But yeah for people like me or kelpies or pixies or whatever being a magic talking animal is WAY better than being a magic talking animal with tons of rules and the constant need to hurt people. That’s what I wanna ask your sis about. It needs fae magic to power it. Gotta be fae magic lying around in a Weald. Could help people. And maybe there’s some other way to reverse fae stuff too.”
He has to flinch at the confirmation that the voice from the forest was LL. He thought the name sounded similar but he wasn’t used to the voice coming from an actual throat. Oh man, first he spoiled a book for her and then he eavesdropped on her like a creep? He needs to apologize to this person badly.

The night is dark and full of spooks. Could there be a gaiad lurking about? A bouncing hoof on pavement? A tail disappearing behind a tree? The smell of heather flowers? Or is it only imagination?

[bc56]

"Yeah, I am." She sure lets that slip to everyone she meets, doesn't she. So much for secret identities. To be fair, this time she's spending more effort admiring Aries than she is thinking straight. He's so handsome, and funny, and seems like a genuinely nice and thoughtful person. He has the heroic spirit, even. He might be exactly what she was always looking for. "Wow, that's interesting. Sort of like our bodies are are sometimes described as microbiomes, your park is like that, except it's a full size biome?" Jade would agree. That was a good explanation.

[Murkus]

Adir finally arrives at the party properly, sporting a costume that he's clearly put some sincere effort into. He's got pallid makeup, metal stitches, little bolts coming out the sides of his forehead. Some of those present might already know him as the spouse of the witchy dryad tending the cauldron.

He's carrying extra goodies tucked under each arm that he quickly deposits near Sakura with the other party supplies. The Frescot kids probably half swarm him, for at least as long as they can be distracted from their friends. He's got more candy, of course!

"Daddy we can't both be Frankenstein," protests Cernunnos as his siblings start to munch on the new candy. Adir just had to dye his hair black, but Cernunnos is wearing a silly hair-helmet to cover up his flowers. Otherwise their outfits are pretty close.

"Sure we can! See, Frankendad," he points at himself, then at Cern. "Son of Frankendad. That's a Pixar movie and a sequel right there."

[Morty]

"Wouldn't that be really bad for your sword, though?" Mostly if you missed.
Then again Wenomir's regular sword is indestructible under normal circumstances so maybe he's able to take that risk.

"Normally, yes, but the swords I've used for some time now don't break that easily. Even before I got the Answer, I had a very durable set of weapons. I just lost them." Or rather, he threw away his longsword and the other two were looted from the ruins of Vigil. "I don't know if my old master would approve, but then, my old master was used to altogether different weapons."

[Rebonack]

Children heading for Adir in search of candy?

Well that means Snapdragon is prancing over there, too. Probably with at least one child riding on her cervine lower body. The nymph is currently dressed up as Cerberus from Helltaker. And... so are her two sisters. That's kind of how the theme costume has to go, you know? She'll come up along side Adir so any potential passengers are within candy-snatching range.

"Heeeeya~! This is your place, right? I'm loving the party and the babs are the cutest!" the gaiad gushes. She absolutely loves parties and she absolutely loves children. It would honestly be hard to make tonight any greater than it already is in the opinion of this Plum Sister. "I don't know how you two manage this you've got a whole herd!"

Just...

Babs everywhere!

It's incredible.

"OH! Right, I'm Snapdragon! Y'know, cuz," she waves one hand at the bright candy red snapdragon flowers growing in her hair. There is a non-zero chance that she has plucked a few and given them to any curious children. They grow right back! "My sisters and I are the local gaiads for the braaaand new Plum Mountain Park that just popped up Inside! It's a WILD gig if you're into being a park."

Then?

She offers a hand in introduction and smiles.

Adir may notice that she is pointedly not asking him what his name is. There are stories about that, after all. If a faerie asks you for your name and you give it to them then bad stuff happens. The best way to avoid that if you aren't a dirty name thief is to just never ask for names!

Super simple stuff.

MEANWHILE!

Dandelion considers the idea of a machine that turns faeries into pokemon. She rubs her chin thoughtfully.

"I like incineroar the best but I gotta say I wouldn't want to BE one," Dandelion concludes eventually. "I was wondering what was up with the whole zorua thing. But I guess that makes sense."

As Hector talks Dandelion listens. And keeps an eye out for anyone who looks like they might be his sis. Gaiad heather flowers in her hair. The naming convention for gaiads is pretty easy to remember. Like wearing a name badge if you know flowers.

"The park thing isn't so bad. We've still got our old house. Dunno if it's a good idea to hang out there all the time, though. Maybe if we stick a plum tree in the yard we can do the... you know... tree thing?" Dandelion says, waving one hand to indicate the tree thing. She isn't sure what's it's called. She ALSO knows that you can't carry anything with you while doing the tree thing. "Dude if you can help me figure out how to get my Switch to work in the weald then I will legit give you as much faerie mojo as you want."

That sounds like a deal!

And then?

Looking for Heather.

This will require a very careful, delicate touch to avoid upsetting the emotional balance of-

"HEY HEATHER!" Dandelion shouts into the gloom. "Your idiot brother wants to apologize for being a dork!"

Perfection.

MEANWHILE!

That's okay, Jade.

So long as you don't tell people WHICH super hero you are then your secret identity is... mostly safe?

Maybe.

"Yes! Like that," Aries confirms. "I guess there are... umm... meditative techniques that let a human control autonomic functions that are usually unconscious? It's hard, but doable. Controlling the weald on a smaller scale is a lot like that. Big things are pretty easy. Small things are trickier."

He smiles brightly.

"But I'm getting good at it! Talking to people is fun, though. And not THAT hard. Except instead of vocal cords you have the wind in the trees and the water on the stones and lots of things. I'm actually hoping someone might be able to record what it sounds like when I talk. Your voice always sounds different on recordings."

Wowie tonight is so great. Aries feels light and giddy. He hasn't felt this good since the whole Buttercup thing! Except this time he is WAY more of himself. Maybe more of himself than he's ever been before.

Being around Jade makes him feel special. He isn't sure how relationships between fae and mortals go but he really doesn't care. They can figure things out. At the VERY least he's sure that they're going to be good friends.

"So what about super heroing? You said you're an engineer. What kind of things do you make?" Aries asks. He really doesn't know much about technical things but Jade is a fascinating person and he would really like to learn more about her.

[bc56]

Jade nods to the thought about autonomic functions. She's met some people who can do that, but not many. Aries is a really nice guy. If he asked her out, she wouldn't say no. She'd probably say yes before he even finished the sentence, considering how hopelessly attracted to him she seems to be. But the whole thing where he's normally a woman might be a bit awkward. Although... She can just change him whenever they go out together. Considering he seems to enjoy it, that shouldn't be a problem. He asks about her engineering. "I work with light projection. Holograms, hardlight. I'm experimenting with active camouflage, but it's not going great." It works fine on stationary objects, but moving it around causes a bunch of flashes of light which give the whole stealth thing away too easily. "It's not as big a deal as some other high tech, but it's useful for me and it pays the bills. Hardlight projection is great for industrial centers, and holographic entertainment is a big industry where I'm from. My civilian patents give me enough money to live comfortably and be a hero full time."

[Deathkeeper]

Koshal considers it.
"Okay. Well, still probably something that I wouldn't do, then. My sword is just durable. And magic. Not as cool as yours."
But Koshal can't expect to be as cool as Wenomir in much of anything at this point. He's still a trainee.
"Did you come here by yourself, Master? You don't seem like the type."
Wenomir is more fun than his reputation lets on. But Koshal still thinks that if he came to a party he'd have been brought by someone.

---

Hector groans.
"It doesn't make sense though! Houndour is more like a barghest 'cause it's a dog! Why am I a fox? Is it because it's still a black-furred canid? Or was Hector a foxy person? If I used it on you would it make you an incineroar for the punching and the lion theme name or a deerling 'cause of the gaiad deerbutt? How does it work?!" He shakes his head. Fae and things associated with them make no sense. He would know.
"Well I think I've seen experimental magic-to-120V power generators. Just need to keep all the metal parts covered up. Not sure I can do much about wi-fi unless you stick a little router just on the edge of the weald where all the fae stuff you and your tenants are giving off won't fry it instantly. Or guests? Whatever you call the other fae and faeries that live in there. Man it must be super weird having people like...live in a place and you're also that place. And I used to live in somebody's shadow like, literally."
Gaiads are weird. He wishes they made more sense. But still better long-run than if Buttercups were boogies or kelpies.

And oh look there's a gaiad behind that tree.
Not melded into the tree. Not even hiding parallel with the tree so it could theoretically hide most of her. Just...standing there, pretending to be totally hidden.
"Heather! Heather I knew you'd come! You-" Heather doesn't move at all. Instead she just whistles five notes.
"Heather? What- oh no."
Hey, Hector. Remember that time right when you were first born and you and Hector didn't trust each other yet, and he made a comment you didn't like so you hid for an entire day and only came out when Hector answered your spooky dog howl in public?
Yeah she's doing that. Being a gaiad did nothing to her memory. She whistles the five notes again.
With a groan, Hector dons another illusory self, this time of his usual black-haired college student in a black hoodie and gray jeans. And he plants his hands on his hips. And he sings. Horribly. While dancing. Horribly.
"Slow down, sweet talkin' woman, you got me runnin', you got me searchin'
Woah no, sweet talkin' Other, so sad if that's the way it's over,
Don't know what I'm gonna doooo, I gotta get back to yooooou~"

Heather grins, reaching out and snatching up Hector, dissipating his illusion instantly.
"I knew it, I knew you'd call me your Other out loud eventually! I knew you've been thinking it!"
"You knew because you were thinking it! Saying 'lover' would be weird, we're siblings." protests the squirming Zorua.
"Sorry, you put it in the universe by saying it out loud. Now it's canon. And that makes YOU, my adorable little former doppelganger-" "noooooooo-"
She whispers into Hector's ear. He howls in melodramatic misery. Eventually Heather turns and smiles to Dandelion with her struggling baby brother.

"Hi, you must be Dandelion!" she says, because of the dandelions. "Thanks for taking care of my idiot edgelord brother." "I'm not an edgelord!" "Oh, I'm sorry dearest wholesome Hector, what color did you default do with that costume just now?"
Hector squeaks and falls silent.

[Rebonack]

Aries is left wondering here.

Should he ask Jade out?

Would this be too sudden? Maybe it would spook her and she might decide he was a creep?

This isn't really a first date, right? Since it's a public party and they met by chance since he was moping around like (as Dandelion would say) a total dweeb? Dates have to be intentional. Not chance meetings. Where would they go? He had noticed what happened when his sister tried eating that candy corn. Lunch together would mean finding somewhere that serves faerie food AND mortal food. But in a big city like Inside that shouldn't be too hard, right?

He resolves to ask Jade on a date before the night is out.

But!

Only if everything seems to be going okay.

He smiles at Jade. Everything is going VERY okay so far.

"Wow you must be as brilliant at you are beautiful to make things like that," he says, his expression lights up as Jade describes her work. "Oh! So like the holodeck in Star Trek? Maybe? That sounds a lot like fae magic! Just... made with machines?"

How can he explain this? Maybe...

Oh.

Duh.

Of course, he's dumb.

He reaches up into his hair and plucks a white plum blossom, which immediately regrows. "It's like gossamer," he says, holding up the flower. The petals drop off like little snowflakes, drifting down to the lawn. Then the bud begins gradually swelling, getting bigger and bigger and turning from green to a cheery pinkish purple color. Aries offers the plum to Jade. It feels real. Smells real.

"Gossamer is the stuff dreams are made of. It's... um... well, what faeries are mostly made of, too. Even me. It seems real, like a hologram, but it isn't. It feels solid, but it's just a dream."

So.

What Aries is saying.

Is that he's a dreamy hunk.

On the off chance that Jades decides to take a bite out of the large-cherry sized fruit it'll have a pleasant, mellow, mild taste to its yellowish flesh.

MEANWHILE!

"Shadow magic," Dandelion states definitively. "Barghests do shadow magic, right?"

She isn't sure why she knows that, but she does. Where did she learn it from? It seems like there is lots of stuff about faeries that she just kinda vaguely knows. Was there one in her weald? If there is she might have to punch him and tell him he's a bad dog. Barghests seem like jerks. She isn't sure if shadow magic is the right word here. Something that's solid but not at the same time. Illusions with just a little more OOMPH to them.

"So do zoruas. Illusions and stuff. You were using one before. Black dog thing with illusions? Definitely zorua."

Dandelion thinks about that a few seconds longer, then nods with absolute certitude.

"Yeah, definitely."

Mystery solved.

"Magic to electricity thingy sounds good. Do you know where you buy stuff like that?" she asks. "And if they would take... like... magic beans. Or shiny river rocks. We tried getting into our bank account but no one believed it was us."

Geeze.

That's likely a problem for quite a few of the gaiads that have popped up of late. After that last apocalypse most people aren't going to trust them.

Quite abruptly Dandelion gives a snort of a laugh. "Pff. Not just guests or tenants or whatever. So we're the park and everything in it, right? That's everyONE in it, too. Snap says she doesn't really notice. I kind of do. I think Lambsy notices a WHOLE LOT. I tried focusing on this ranger dude who came in yesterday with a leopard, right? And I could feel everything the dude and the cat were feeling. It was wild."

Kind of creepy, though.

Anyway!

A really sweet reunion happens. Hector hasn't technically apologized yet but that can come later or whatever. Dandelion just sits back and watches the whole thing unfold silently, her arms cross under her chest. For a moment she slightly uncrosses her arms when Heather says her name since how did she know but oh yeah she was thinking about this literally five minutes ago.

The flowers are like a name badge if you know flowers.

And every idiot knows what a dandelion looks like.

Duh.

"Didn't take care of him, just told him to stop moping like a dweeb," Dandelion clarifies. It is important to understand how these things work. "So you're the sis, huh? Cool. I like your flowers. Pink and white is a rockin' combo. Lambslaural's got that one, too, but her pink is darker. For what it's worth I bet you would make a sweet garden if you rooted. But I guess you guys aren't sure what's next?"

She gives half a smile.

"Guessing you don't want to be a pokemon?"

[bc56]

Jade blushes at the complement. As brilliant as she is beautiful? Aries is laying it on thick. "Oh, it's nothing so sophisticated. The holograms aren't solid, and it's hard to get fiddly details out of them." She then watched in fascination as Aries grows a plum out of his hair. She takes it. "Is it okay, socially, for me to eat a fruit you just grew from yourself?" It seems like that could be construed as either a faux pas or an innuendo. Jade doesn't want the first, and despite how she feels, would still be hesitant about the second. Presuming the answer is yes, it's okay, Jade takes a bite. "Seems real enough to me." She comments. "Guess that means you're real enough for me too." She moves to touch Aries' shoulder gently, as if confirming that he's real, but really to get a little closer to him.

[Deathkeeper]

Heather looks both embarrassed and nervous.
”Yeah, it’s like. I’ve seen some gaiads settling in, and the big Park-“”Oh right, that’s her. We talked to her sis Lambslaurel. They were three people who got split like we did when Buttercup happened!” ”Oh! Okay.”
Even Heather has to admit they’ve gotten used to accepting quite a lot.
”Well we’re Riverside people. But Riverside doesn’t have the whole...togetherness through the weird vibe that Inside always has. I don’t know if it’ll be better there because there won’t be the mistrust from having seen Buttercup, or worse because there’s just not the amount of people used to stuff like this. And there’s so fewer parks. Your sister said there were plenty of places for a dogwood. Heh, wouldn’t that be weird? You’d be a Weald and I’d be like, one absolutely tiny corner of it.” She giggles but she still looks a tiny bit sad.

”But I made that promise for good reason. We don’t know what we should do. I think...we’re gonna look for a cure. And if someone needs it more than me they can have it. But I’ll think about it.”
Hector nods.
”For the record, if one of you memorized your bank number, get yourselves a rental phone and use an app. Heather still had her phone after changing so we didn’t have that problem. Bank doesn’t even know she’s different.”

[Rebonack]

Haha, yeah.

Aries was kind of kicking himself for that one. That sounded so lame but it looks like Jade liked it? He really isn't great with words on the spot. Maybe he should sit down and write something for her? That way he has time to carefully consider each word and make something beautiful like she is. Like she deserves.

"You seem smart enough to figure it out," Aries concludes. "Active camouflage is... like making a picture of what's around you to be invisible? Right?"

He's sure that he has heard that term before somewhere. Maybe from one of Dandelion's video games? He always kind of tuned out when she was playing since they didn't really interest him.

"That would mean getting lots of little details right. I'm not sure how well magic and technology mix but... maybe I can help?" Aries offers. He really doubts that he could contribute anything useful. But maybe he could cause a few sparks of inspiration? And it would mean getting to spend some more time with Jade. Maybe that would be better. Meet again but it isn't a date yet. Take things a little more slowly.

Then?

He laughs at the question. Not like it's a stupid question, more like he thinks it's cute.

"No no, it's fine. I'm a plum tree, right? That's what plums are for. Eating a little bit of faerie food is safe. But too much can be bad for mortals since, umm, you are what you eat," Aries explains. "It's pure magic. It'll probably bolster your magic for a little while."

A beat.

"Though if a faerie ever offers you food or drink and asks if you want some you should say no. Then they've offered you hospitality and they can demand hospitality in return. That's why I just... umm... held it out without saying anything. I don't want to trick you."

Aries is trying to be a very above the board faerie. That's typical for sprites, really. They aren't usually tricksters like pookas or goblins. Or predators like wildlings and boogies.

The fruit has a pleasant, mild taste. Not too sweet, not too tart. Very refreshing. It won't happen right away, but over the next few hours as it digests Jade will find that her magic has gotten better. Though how it gets better? That remains to be seen. The small bump in power should last until the third sunrise.

Then a touch. He certainly feels solid enough. Nothing that would suggest he's anything other than a flesh and blood human being. Aries looks down at Jade's hand, then smiles back at her. Oh no now he's blushing, too.

It's a good thing Dandelion is outside otherwise she would be yelling 'DWEEEEEEEBS!' at them right about now.

MEANWHILE!

"Hey don't sweat it. If you want to try to figure out how to be human again that's cool," Dandelion says with a wave of her hand. "Y'know you can always take root somewhere then ditch it if you don't like it, yeah?"

Very true!

Nymphs are like hermit crabs if hermit crabs could choose to grow their own shell if they felt like it. There's always the option of shedding a shell and scuttling off in search of a new one. Or just running around breezy and free! That's what coconut crabs do.

Dandelion scrutinizes Heather for a few moments, furrowing her brow. She's definitely not as intuitively aware as Lambsy, but she isn't as oblivious as Snap either. Which means she eventually realizes-

"Wait. Have you just been sleeping on your old bed or something?" she asks Heather.

Hector's comment gets a shrug. "Would if I could, dude. Lambsy tossed our phone into the Seed Dance fire like an idiot."

[Deathkeeper]

Heather blushes.
”Um. Maybe? It hasn’t been that bad. My friend in the dorm across from me just got blessed by some sleepy goddess of night and pleasant dreams and stuff.”
Good old Teddy.
She was worried he’d freak out but turns out he’s a bear at night now so they all got a really good laugh about it.
After he finished jumping out of his skin when Hector showed up with their old face forgetting he’d never been introduced.

But Heather did not know she can just disconnect from her garden after she picked it. She just knew she could plant it and then leave it physically. She probably would have figured it out when she got to that step!
She probably shouldn’t have met Lambslaurel right after becoming a gaiad. Being a Weald seemed so much more...final than someone on her level apparently is. Maybe it gave her unrealistic expectations?
”Yeah you said that Dandelion. But a banking app just needs a name and password. You can use any phone. You could use Heather’s phone. I wonder if I could turn into you to get a new card printed for you?” He would need an old picture of Tristan. But he could probably do it. It would be what, a ten minute hustle?

[bc56]

Jade smiles as Aries asks if he understands what she's doing and offers to help. "Yeah, that's exactly it. As long as your magic doesn't mess up technology, you can help." She has other friends whose magic interferes with nearby tech. She smiles at the blushing fae and puts her other hand on his other shoulder. Now they're really dancing together instead of dancing at the same time while talking. Wow. In a way, this feels really weird, to be the lady of the pair. Even just dancing with someone taller than her is weird, and that's ignoring the fact that she's wearing a dress and heels and has long hair and makeup and boobs. But it doesn't feel bad. Aries is really hot, after all.

[Morty]

[Koshal & Wenomir]

"There's someone I was hoping to meet, aside from you," Wenomir says. "In fact, I was hoping to introduce you. Cassandra, an elven sorceress. We're... involved. It's something of a complex relationship."

[Assorted Preteens]

Brinika seems equally baffled and her ears point downwards accordingly.

"Spooktober isn't a time for healthy food," she declares with conviction. "It's a time to eat all the candy we can manage."

[Recaiden]

Meanwhile, a now adult Eao is looking down at Shan. "I get to live all by myself! But my sister is here somewhere. She lives in that floating island place. But I live on the ground where you don't fall." She really is the only supervision on her life. Zee is a pretty hands-off mother. Of course that means the little seraph gets into trouble frequently. "Watch this! There are drinks here for grownups only. You want some?" Eao begins heading to a table where bottles of festive beer are resting. She sure looks older than 21, even if she's actually younger than a year old.

"Oh yeah, my quarter-brother is here. He's scared of everything, so Spooktober is like, yeah. We live on a submarine so-" Their shared mother has x-ray vision so in theory they're very supervised.
"Drinks? Uh, of course!" Shan busies themself looking at jack-o-lanterns, while watching Eao's heist out of a tiny fish-eye.

[bc56]

Eao grabs two bottles of beer and, assuming no real adults try to stop her, returns to Shan triumphantly. She pops one open with her hooves and passes it over, then opens the other. "Here you go. This stuff is great. I don't know why they don't let kids drink it."

[Rebonack]

"Okay geeze no wonder you look terrible," Dandelion says. She wasn't going to point out how droopy Heather's leaves and flowers are but she just did since this is serious maybe. "I guess you don't really know this since you haven't rooted or whatever but that's how nymphs rest. You've been trying to sleep like a human. You aren't, though. You gotta sleep like a nymph."

Dandelion is already moving.

She's coming up along side Heather to begin pushing her toward the edge of the road and the (currently spooky) forest around the Frescot house.

"Seriously. Crash here for the night. You'll feel WAY better in the morning. You should totally scoot over to the edge of the yard and make scary forest noises at the kids. Maybe get some creepy wind and waving branches going. It would be awesome I bet they would love it."

Scaring children on Spooktober is the best.

"I would do it myself but I can't just uproot like you can. Y'know, cuz of the weald."

Huh.

It sounds like Heather can freely root herself in one patch of forest and then uproot herself again when she feels like moving on. Or at least that appears to be what Dandelion is explaining. She probably would have known this if she had listened to her gaiad instincts instead of her edgy, furry brother.

"Just uproot in the morning," Dandelion says. "Set up in a garden or something near your dorm or whatever."

Dandelion seems to have completely forgotten about the whole banking thing. She's busy trying to make sure her new idiot friend gets some proper rest so she stops wilting.

MEANWHILE!

"I don't think-" Aries begins to answer, only for the other hand to touch his shoulder. "Um... I don't think it does?"

Then the Transylvania Twist starts playing.

Vampire song!

Definitely not a slow song! An energetic boogie-woogie like nearly all Spooktober music.

Hmm...

It DOES have a little bit of a swing beat to it. Music that you can really get your groove on with.

Maybe if Jade starts to really dance with Aries he'll be able to follow her lead and figure it out? Teaching him how to swing might even be fun!