Spooktober 2020: How is babby feared

[Rebonack]

"Umm... okay..." Lambslaural says.

She glances over at Dandelion. She's got her arms crossed, too, but they're higher up on her chest and her back is straighter. There's a sort of casual coolness that Dande communicates with how she stands. Then her attention turns to Snap. Snapdragon has got her fists on her hips... or... her front shoulder blades? Down on her deer-part. She positively exudes audacity.

Lambslaural takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and lets her arms hang in front of her, lacing her fingers together. She straightens her back and lifts her chin, no longer trying to hide her chest. Then she lets out the breath and opens her eyes, offering a small smile. She doesn't feel cool like Dande or audacious like Snap but she DOES feel...

Pleasant. Placid. Confident. A sort of peaceful, quiet femininity. If Dandelion is a glacier and Snapdragon is a rushing river then Lambslaural is a still pond in an alpine meadow. Beautiful not for its indomitably or wildness, but for how serene it is.

Just getting a little advice, a little encouragement, is really helping.

"I, um, think you're right, Jade," Lambslaural says. "My attitude has been terrible. I am pretty. I j-just need to believe it, too. Having other people who believe in me helps."

She glances around the party, at all the people here having fun.

"I'm not ugly. Or weird. N-no matter what I look like, I'm still me."

MEANWHILE!

"That's gotta be weird," Dandelion muses. "Eating fear? Like, eating tree things is pretty weird, but that's still stuff."

Technically it isn't just 'tree things'. Everything that feeds in the park feeds the sisters. So long as the park is healthy they are, too.

"What did it even feel like?"

Dandelion is kind of curious. Being a boogie and eating fear sounds cool as heck in concept even if it is probably pretty bad in practice.

"Hmm..." she hums at the mention of growing things. Then she stoops down, puts her palm flat on the ground, and lifts it up! A little granite rock the size of a grapefruit rises out of the earth. She wraps her fingers around it and picks it up. "Hmm. Thinking that wasn't down there before. I wonder if it's a real rock or, like, one of those magical fake rocks."

She glances around, trying to find something that could test this question.

"Hey go grab a fork and poke my rock. See if it pops."

[bc56]

Jade grins at Lambslaural. "See, you've got it!" Jade wrestled with the same questions after she was changed herself. "Whether you're a park or a lady or a dude, you're still yourself. Don't worry about being pretty, just focus on being you, and the prettiness will follow " And Lambslaural is pretty, now that she's relaxing, in that way often associated with angels, a woman of true grace and radiant beauty. Jade's almost jealous of how naturally it seems to come to her.

[Deathkeeper]

Hector fidgets.
"Honestly? It was kind of like being handed a big bowl of stew but only ever being allowed to eat the potatoes. Every day. The sensation itself, I dunno, kinda imagine getting souls in Twilit Spirits being like, actually nourishing you deep in your gut. But like...yeah. I didn't want to be the kind of barghest that hurt people, but the 'just eat them' thing was part of the pair. You scare the tar out of something and then you hunt and eat it. And I know some barghests don't do that! I don't know if it was something with me or the one that created me or what. But that's why I got pokemon'd. Screw that." It really does beg the question to him: could he have been something different? Did he just run away from the problem instead of solving it, like Heather seems to be leaning towards with her new nature.
For once, Hector isn't going to overthink things. He made his choice. Now he can eat steaks and one day have hands again. Or for the first time. Whatever. The correct choice was made.
Hector stares at the rock, "reaching down" and taking out a tiny iron coin that was tucked behind his collar. He picks it up in his illusory hand and raps it against the rock a few times.

[Rebonack]

A light, autumn mist begins rolling across the yard...

MEANWHILE!

It comes naturally to Lambslaural because she's a nymph. A mask that was imposed on her. A role to play. She's been fighting against the aspects of that role that made her feel uncomfortable. But now, by accepting them instead of fighting them, she can more easily grow. She can make the role her own. Slipping into that role comes naturally and so her tranquil beauty likewise comes naturally.

She takes another deep breath.

And lets it out slowly.

"Your right. I've spent too much of my life being down on myself for... for things I don't have any control over. For things about myself I didn't like. Maybe breaking that habit will be hard, but... I can try. Especially since I have help from people who care about me. Thanks, Jade."

She takes a step forward and-

Stops.

Right.

Jade doesn't really like hugs.

She steps back again, fidgeting a little awkwardly.

"Umm... did you want to try some Spooktober games?" Lambslaural asks, looking out at what's available. There are all those pumpkins over there for a pumpkin carving contest. Little bean bags full of corn kernels and a wooden board in it for cornhole. And a great big water filled bucket full of apples for bobbing. Several apples hang from a tree branch nearby on the end of strings. Apples at a little bench along with little bronze fruit knives for apple-peeling contests. Apples on sticks next to caramel for dipping. Apples lined up near several smaller buckets of water for an apple toss.

Lambsy blinks.

"Were... all of these apples things here before?" she asks, puzzled. Could she have just overlooked them all? She wasn't THAT distracted, was she?

MEANWHILE!

"Totally made the right call there, dude," Dandelion agrees with a nod. "If I had gotten turned into something that had to eat people? Nah, drop that noise. I would have pokemoned up, too. I think me and my sisters got lucky. Heather, too. WAY worse things can happen to people. And if it takes a bit to get cured who cares? Dunno if that's what we're gunna go for. I'm getting the vibe from my gals that we're gunna stick with the hooves. But it's not like we have to worry about hurting anyone."

Also a rock gets poked.

It just sorta pops into a thin dusting of sand.

"So I guess the magic, like, pulls rocky stuff out of the dirt and magics it together?" Dandelion reasons.

Then?

There comes a rather glittery sound as a swarm of pixies all glowing like neon lights descend! There are probably a good dozen of them or so carrying a box held aloft on strings. They set it down near Hector and one of them calls out, "Order from Brownies with Brownies for a Hector?" one of them calls out, reading off a little not he's carrying. "That's you, right?"

Dande's face lights up. "Oh sweet! Snacks are here."

[Deathkeeper]

Hector brightens, putting his iron token back in his collar.
”Awesome! Take the box, Dandy. My arms aren’t real and I ain’t dropping those suckers.”
Huh. More pixies. These seem more like those nice bee-dragon pixies Hector and Hector spoke to.
”You folks are great.” He assures the tiny faeries, digging around for his card. He will use his own and not Heather’s because he is a good brother.
Their cards are linked it doesn’t matter.
Man it’s annoying not being able to indicate gratitude directly. Is this what Hector had to go through? He’s fairly sure he’s not bothered with it around Heather because it’s not like she’s going to do anything with a favor of his.

[bc56]

"You're welcome." Jade says. She sees what Lambslaural wants. Fine. She hugs Lambslaural. It's a bit awkward. But it's fine. "Oh sure!" Games are fun. "Which do you want to do?"

[Rebonack]

The autumn mist is pretty thick, though only knee high on an adult. Like stage fog. It's thick enough that a child could easily lay down flat and just completely hide themselves.

Perfect for leaping up all of a sudden and spooking someone!

MEANWHILE!

Dandelion takes the box!

"These things smell so good..." she mutters, already salivating.

Then the pixies are paid!

"Enjoy your treats!" they call out as they go zipping away.

"C'mon let's go give one to your sis," Dandelion says as she trots off toward the trees. She figures that the other gaiad might be feeling a little left out since she's busy being a patch of forest at the moment. Dandelion pauses as she opens up the box. "Hey Heather! You like pumpkin spice, white chocolate, or mint?"

She's not one hundred percent sure what the plan here is. Will Heather just pop her heat out of the ground zombie style? That's a thing they can do as Dande had discovered when scaring the pants off some kids that were TPing one of the threes on the edge of the park. Or is she going to just come back out all the way? Or they could just leave it at the base of a tree as a food offering. That also works. Super weird, though. You 'eat it' on account of other random animals in your zone thing eating it for you.

Nowhere NEAR as fun as eating something yourself.

MEANWHILE!

The hug is nice.

Lambslaural is a sucker for hugs.

Being this close to her... She smells almost exactly like Aries did. Plums and earthy smells. But while Aries' earthy scent was a heavier one, Lambslaural is lighter. Like the scent of a forest after a spring rain versus the scent of a forest at the height of summer. Clean and bright.

She smiles, that smile lighting up her face as she pushes a lock of hair behind her ear. The fact that Jade is still willing to give her a hug even while she's like this is HUGE. A nice reminder that Jade cares even when she's like this.

"If, um, if you like you can still call me Aries when I'm like this. I don't mind. O-or you can call me Lambslaural if you prefer. Or, hehe, my sisters call me Lambsy," she says.

But then games!

She still isn't sure where they all came from, but they look fun!

"Have you played Snap-Apple before?" she asks as she trots over to one of the trees, apples on strings hanging from the branches. "It's really easy. The first person to get a bite out of their apple wins! You just, hehe, you just can't use your hands."

The apples hang there, looking ripe and delicious.

[bc56]

"Sure!" To the game, not to calling Lambslaural Aries. Honestly, Jade has a hard time thinking of them as the same person, they seem so different. Jade takes up a position by the apple and gets ready to bite into it. It is a bit weird that there are so many apple activities this spooktober, but it is one of the traditional spooktober foods. Just, this seems more like a pumpkin sort of party. In fact, the snacks were primarily pumpkin flavored, weren't they? That's weird. Oh well. You can't really bob for pumpkins.

[Rebonack]

Autumn mist curls through the yard...

Come on, caramel apples and candy apples were THE traditional Spooktober foods before the candy companies realized they could make bank off this holiday. That and popcorn balls. Are there any popcorn balls around? Oh yeah, there they are over on the snack table. Right next to the caramel apple station. There are definitely more snacks out than there were a few minutes ago. More the traditional sorts rather than the store-bought kind. Popcorn balls, apples, candied chestnuts, things of that nature. Foods that could be considered, at least tangentially, healthy.

"Ready? Three, two, one, go!" Lambslaural calls out as she lunges for her apple!

...it bounces off her nose on account of mis-judging the height.

Whoops!

She takes another pass, but she can't quite get her teeth into the now swinging apple and it keeps scooting away.

Curses!

Maybe Jade is having better luck?

[Deathkeeper]

Fox n' Lion

At being called, Heather immediately pops out halfway from the tree. Just enough for a little bit of her deer-fur on her waist.
"Oh gosh! White chocolate for sure!" She immediately will take some brownies and start scarfing them down. Hector looks around awkwardly. No one is looking so she's fine. But she should really put on a shirt if she's gonna do that.
"You guys are the best. Being a tree is so BORING when everyone is over there! I should have brought a book." Hector snickers. "I imagine. A lot like being someone's shadow."

[bc56]

Jade lunges for her apple. Unfortunately that's a pretty bad strategy, so she ends up knocking it far away from herself. As it swings back and forth, she repositions and lets it hit her in the head. Uncomfortable, sure, but it slows the swinging down so she can try to get her teeth on it. She's started laughing. This is just silly fun.

[Rebonack]

The autumn mist curls around the trunks of the trees, billowing out of the forest.

Enough mist that Dandelion quirks an eyebrow at it.

This feels kind of fae-y to her. But she isn't sure what's up with it. Though mostly she's just glad that Heather is getting to enjoy some real food. She's probably had nothing to eat the past three days aside from dry salad and fresh fruit. A treat can mean a lot.

She reaches into the box, takes out one of the mint-and-chocolate wicked witch brownies, and begins eating it in small bites. She doesn't scarf. She savors. That's why she was only popping a single piece of candy corn in her mouth at a time. Teeth close down. Flavor explodes in her mouth.

"Mmmrrrff...." Dandelion mumbles, closing her eyes in ecstasy.

So good...

Dandelion swallows her bite and points the brownie at Heather. "You know you can scoot your patch around while you're rooted, yeah?" Then she waves off toward the party. "I guess it just has to be part of the same garden or forest or whatever. If you wanted to you could get closer to the party."

She seems to be one hundred percent unbothered by Heather's state of dress.

MEANWHILE!

By now Lambslaural has mostly managed to line up her bites, but her mouth is just a little bit too small to really get a good grip on the apple. It keeps scooting away! By now she's laughing pretty hard, too. Laughing hard enough that it's pretty difficult to actually line up a bite. This, of course, only makes the situation more hilarious which makes her laugh even harder.

She's probably going to lose.

But she really doesn't care. She's having too much fun with the most beautiful woman in the world to care.

[bc56]

Jade sinks her teeth into the apple. She's going to... Nope, it just slipped away, but now there are actual teeth marks on it. So close. She laughs and tries again, to more success. Just a little mooooore... There! Jade got a bite out of the apple. She looks over at Lambslaural to see if she won or not.

[Deathkeeper]

Fox 'n Lion 'n Heather

"Well, maybe. I do feel a little bit better already. I just wish I wasn't so tired and could actually be at the party like a normal person! You all look like you're having a lot of fun and I'm stuck doing tree stuff." She groans. "At least being bats is kind of cool. Bats are cute."
"It's okay, Heather. The night is still young. Give it an hour and maybe you'll feel better enough to come out for a while. Then you can not-sleep all night." Hector is trying to remember if he actually slept while he was a barghest. He doesn't think he did? He just kind of...zoned out into Hector's shadow and let him drive.

[Rebonack]

Lambslaural is currently trying to hold the apple with her lips like a horse and take a bite out of it.

It is absolutely not working and looks pretty hilarious.

She hasn't noticed that Jade has won yet.

MEANWHILE!

"The trick is zoning out," Dandelion informs Heather. "Just sorta like... focus on the wind in your leaves. Or, heh, find a rock and be a great rock. Rocks don't get bored."

It's true.

Rocks are notoriously resistant to boredom.

"'s what I do. Do that. Or don't. Find your own thing that works," Dandelion says as she starts walking off again. "Talk to ya later! I've got some treats to toss as my sisters."

...is she actually planning on throwing them? Probably not.

[bc56]

Jade grabs the dangling apple, breaking the string holding it, and takes another bite, then gently taps Lambslaural on the shoulder. "Mmf. Good game."

[Deathkeeper]

Heather gives Dandelion a thumbs-up. She’s busy savoring brownies. But she can try that. Maybe. Somehow she feels like rocks aren’t her forte.
”Wait! Dande!” Hector steps forward. No, he has to let his new friend do her family things. But!
”Dandelion you’re pretty rad we should hang out and play video games some time. Riverside is probably kinda far for someone with a forest to get back to but we can find an arcade or something, okay? Oh and don’t forget to mention that fairy power thing to your sisters!” He was going to go talk to Lambslaurel about it himself but man she is clearly too busy enjoying herself right now and he’s not ruining that.
Oh shoot is that an entire bucket of apple-dipping caramel? When did the Frescots set that up? Well if Heather is enjoying herself he might as well get something too.

[Rebonack]

Lambslaural glances over at Jade just in time to see her grab the apple that already has a bite out of it.

She smiles and shrugs before pulling hers down too!

"Good job!" she says and then takes a bite from the luscious red and yellow fruit.

Wow.

It's really good.

Way better than the last apple she had. That one tasted bland and kind of mealy.

She glances about at the other options available.

"Maybe pumpkin carving next?" she asks as she trots over, examining the big orange fruits. They sure look like nice pumpkins! But what really catches her eye are the carving knives. She picks one up and touches the flat of the blade with a gloved finger. "Brass knives?"

Weird.

Were the hosts of the party expecting fae?

MEANWHILE!

"Hanging out sounds cool, little dude. Here," Dandelion calls out before tossing... a plum? to Hector. It isn't a very large plum. Not much bigger than an unusual large cherry. It's also bright, sunny yellow. "Plant that somewhere near your dorms. Touch it and start talking to Lambslaural, she'll hear you and pass it on."

Dandelion MIGHT be able to notice something like that, but she's one hundred percent sure her sister would catch it.

"Or just swing by Plum Mountain Park or whatever. See you around, little dude."

Time to go distribute some treats.

[bc56]

"Huh. They really went out of their way to include everyone." Jade picks up one of the knives. "What do you think? The traditional face? Or something else?" She plunges the knife into the top of the pumpkin and begins cutting it open to scoop out all the guts. Clearly she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty.

[Zefir]

Beter late then never another guest arrives. The young woman is obviously wearing a witch costum. She got that big wide pointy hat that has a crinkle at the top. Otherwise she got that typical long black dress. It is a bit boring if you think about it, but Mia isn't the Type to wear such clothes. For her it is still a bit to revealing. So she rather sneaks around the people while she takes a look who else is here yet.

[Felandria]

[Doctors and Wrestlers]
The goblin grins toothily.

"Thank you! Those mechanical arms took some effort and I need to be really careful not to get them caught on something. Makes me question getting real ones one day. I like your costume too, but I don't recognize it."

Thanks!

I’m dressed as Becky Lynch, she’s the first woman to win the main event of Wrestlemania

She’s cool as hell.

Can’t really do the Irish accent though.

Anyway, I’m Felandria, what’s your name?

[Shadowcaller]

[Sisters United]

Anika have arrived to the Frescot house in quite a getup.
While she obviously didn't take the weapon in the link with her, also replacing the pauldrons with a grey fur scarf and not bothering dying her hair (or skin for that matter, ew) she is otherwise dressed like in the picture.

What might be more surprising is that she arrives alongside her sister who hasn't gotten nearly as inventive with her costume as she's just wearing a black robe and a witch-hat.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Anika asks the third person in their group, Natharia, as she gestures at the Frescots house.

Shanti raises an eyebrow as it now seemed pretty clear that her sister was actually trying to get friendly with her daughter. The offer to help out with Natharia's costume had seemed like a gesture more aimed at herself but the way Anika was acting her intentions were obvious. It wasn't like her sister had ever mastered the art of subtlety.

[Spooks]

Through the autumn mist a woman dressed in a black chiton approaches the house she would have referred to as a manor.
She would have likely been mistaken for a human in the dark but a closer glance reveals the horns half-hidden in her curly black hair aren't fake and those white goat-eyes of hers probably aren't just contact lenses.
Though the most major clue of her inhuman nature becomes clear as she walks as her gait resemble someone walking on their tippy toes.
Her long dress drags along the ground as she walks, causing the thick layer of leaves to rustle loudly with her every movement.
Jaahlyn stops for a moment to stop the diadem in her hair from falling off and leaves herself vulnerable for spooks.

[Rebonack]

[Lambslaural and Jade]

"I've seen people make pictures on pumpkins before by, um, cutting just a little way into the pumpkin. They look neat but I'm not sure where we would even start," Lambslaural says. They probably don't have time for a huge art project, anyway.

She helps scoop the pumpkin guts out and plops them in a bucket supplied nearby.

"Maybe just a simple face, then?"

Simple faces are pretty classic. People USED to use turnips to make lanterns, but carving big turnips is WAY harder than carving a pumpkin. Pumpkins are obviously the superior choice.

One way or the other, Lambslaural folds her legs under herself to sit in the grass as she pulls another pumpkin over to herself and begins working on that one. They can compare faces when they're done! Off comes the top, out come the seeds and stringy bits. It isn't the same sort of frantic fun as trying to bite at the apples, but it's still nice.

"Let's see who can make the spookiest one."


[Spooks]

Speaking of spooky!

As Jaahlyn adjusts her little crown she is approached by a child wearing a white sheet over their body and a carved pumpkin over there head. They stand in front of the faun just long enough to catch her attention before whipping off the pumpkin to reveal a floating hound's skull made of roiling orange eldritch flames!

"BOO!" comes a childish voice along with a healthy dose of supernatural terror. Given that Jaahlyn is also fae there's a good chance that the charm won't do much to her. She still might be startled, though! The faerie is obviously trying to scare her, here. Which shouldn't come as though much of a shock. Boogies feed on fear, after all. That means Spooktober is pretty much their favorite time of the year.


[Witch and Deer]

As Mia arrives someone she hasn't seen before is walking past her. She looks sort of like a centaur, if a centaur were more slight and had a deer rather than a horse for a lower body. She's wearing a red and black suit that while pretty suave looking doesn't suggest much about who or what she's supposed to be. Maybe some sort of devil considering the little spade tail she's wearing? She's carrying a little pastry box and heading toward another deer person talking to Adir who looks absolutely identical to her.

Well.

Not identical.

The way they hold themselves is quite different. The one with the box has a sort of cool confidence while the one chatting with the party host has a sort of infectious, vivacious audacity.

Dandelion (as evidenced by the yellow flowers in her hair) pauses briefly as Mia steps into the yard.

"Hey. Cool costume, dude. Witches are classic," she says.

[bc56]

Jade begins carving. She's not some miraculous artist or anything. So she just makes a jagged grin and a pair of angular, leering eyes. Spooky! At least that's what she hopes. Lambslaural has a very good chance of beating her here.

[Rebonack]

Lambslaural isn't a miraculous artist, either. Though artistic expression IS something that comes naturally to her. She had really enjoyed her job at the Fire and Light glass-blowing studio until she got fired on account of the whole being a gaiad thing. She had been informed that employing 'Buttercups' would be bad for business. Most of the tools were iron anyway and she still isn't sure if she and her sisters are still fireproof. If they aren't then conforming that would be really painful.

But...

She does have something else now. Something she didn't have before.

Nymph magic.

Pumpkins aren't exactly her thing but a little bit of magic here to touch up the details really ups the spook-factor considerably!

Lambsy spins her pumpkin around for Jade to see; a leering skull that positively exudes spookiness.

She has definitely won this round.

"I don't know if using a little magic is cheating or not, but I think it really helped!" she giggles.

Jade will get an odd thought, at this point. The core of the apple she had eaten is sitting next to her. It almost looks like a little candle with the stem sticking out the top. She should put it inside her jack-o-lantern and close the lid.

[bc56]

"That looks great! Magic might be cheating, but good job." They hadn't established any rules beforehand.
And then Jade is told to put the apple core in the jack-o'-lantern. A long time ago, she would have ignored any weird voices in her head telling her to do weird things. But since bonding to her curse, she's been a bit more whimsical. She does it. It really does look like a little candle in there. Should she light it? She doesn't have a lighter.

[Shadowcaller]

[Spooks]

Jaahlyn is shocked into sudden alert and her goat-like eyes go wide. But while her more sapient senses tells her this wasn't a big deal...

The satyr suddenly seems to seize up and moment later the falls over as her legs had suddenly stopped working.
"...oh. Oh dear. You scared me good, little one." She chuckles awkwardly even as she struggles to push herself off the ground. The rest of her body seems to work just fine but that laugh was more forced than anything. Your limbs suddenly stopping to function was fairly terrifying.

[Rebonack]

[Spooks]

Haha she's a fainting goat that's great.

This makes the whole thing even better!

The yeth hound is nearly doubled over with childish laughter. He would be quite literally rolling around on the ground with hysterics of not for the fact that he just sort of floats everywhere.

"Hahahaa that was great!" the creepy dog-skull laughs. "I love Spooktober it's the best. Nobody's allowed to get mad at you for scaring them."

Then he reaches out from under his sheet with a pair of dog's paws to hold pull Jaahlyn upright.

He can't actually grip anything since he hasn't got fingers but the headless hound figures the faun can grab on herself.

"There are a TON of faeries here tonight! I think the Autumn Queen is even lurking around somewhere," the yeth hound reports. "Oh, and I'm Jan."

He doesn't ask for Jaahlyn's name since he doesn't want it. Being a black dog is cool.


[Jade and Lambslaural]

Jade doesn't need to light the apple core since it just lit itself. A bright orange flame flickers at the top of the stem, cheerful and warm. It brings to memory holidays past. Trick or treating as a child. Gathering with family for a thankful feast. That ever approaching anticipation of the day the gifts under the tree can be opened. The warmest, brightest part of the year when friends and family come together as the world outside grows dark and bleak and cold. Fun, cheer, thankfulness, joy, and the occasional good old fashioned trick.

Hey! You seem nice. You don't mind if I cozy up a bit and enjoy the party too, right?

Lambslaural is saying something, but as focused on the candle light as Jade is she might not hear it.

That jovial, playful trickster spirit snuggles up to Jade's soul. It feels like drinking a nice warm mug of hot coco. Pleasant warmth travels from the bottoms of her feet to the tippy tops of her antlers!

Lambslaural is looking really concerned now. She's definitely saying something, but the candle is just so pretty.

Little apple blossoms bloom in Jade's hair as fuzzy chestnut flowers open on her new rack of antlers. The magic of autumn swells in her. The fun at the end of harvest time. Fun that's well deserved after a year of hard work and effort. The changing of the leaves. A world that's bright and crisp and colorful and chilly! A desire to spread joy. A desire to remind people of what they really have to be thankful for. And a desire to play a few harmless pranks on the unwitting.

Jade is now the temporary mantle bearer for the Queen of all who Dance in the Autumn Mist.

Fog swirls around her feet.

"JADE!" Lambslaural's voice finally gets through as she snatches the magical jack-o-lantern from her friend.

[bc56]

"Huh? What?" Jade suddenly realizes Lambslaural is talking to her. "Sorry, did I space out?" She feels good. Now that Chestnut is with her, she can make this the best Spooktober party ever! She just needs a change of attire first. She grabs some of the spilled pumpkin guts and draws on newfound power to spin some gossamer around her. The dye is flushed out of her hair, leaving it its natural brown color, and her dress shifts and wrinkles as it becomes a regal garment made from new-fallen leaves. There, now she really looks like the Mantle Bearer of Autumn. Of course, this probably isn't at all reassuring to the gaiad next to her, but Jade is pretty happy with herself. Now what should she do next?

[Rebonack]

Oooh fall leaf gown, that's a classic! Good choice. Hey, your friend is worried about you because of what my sister did to her. You should let her know you're okay.

Chestnut's voice is close. Intimate. Like that of a friend and a neighbor and a sister and a mother all rolled into one. The voice of someone familiar, someone that you've shared holiday cheer with. It's immediately clear to Jade that this isn't HER voice. She isn't Chestnut. Chestnut is just joining her for the Spooktober Spectacular! After all, how would it be fair if the Spirit of Spooktober can't enjoy the party, too?

True enough, Lambslaural looks worried.

Even more worried at Jade's sudden change in attire.

"Jade are you feeling okay?" she asks hesitantly.

After all the crazy fae stuff that has been going on lately it is only natural that Lambslaural would be concerned about her girlfriend stepping in it.

Was this...

Was this somehow her fault? Had her magical disaster of a life rubbed off on Jade?