#;; ON HALLOWEEN PEOPLE ARE ENCOURAGED TO COME DRESSED UP IN COSTUMES! THERE'S A LIL' FESTIVAL 🥹

[kaerinio]

also!! halloween vibes!

[shadowofadalekmightdeactivate]

Still Human Chapter 6/Halloween Special

(Happy Halloween to those who celebrate it! Tag List: @tinkslittlebelle Word Count: 1025

Virgil hated this. Hated that he’d promised Lily he’d go to the next party and meet strange people. He now stood in front of a house all decorated for Halloween, wearing a werewolf hoodie and feeling utterly ridiculous and out of place standing with Lily and her friends.

He hugged himself, shivering from the cold as Lily talked. She’d been ignoring him since her friends got in the car, something she clearly didn’t intend to do but was doing it anyway. It was remarkably cold for a fall night; how can she stand there dressed as Hermine and not be at least a little cold? He determined all women must have central heaters. As she continued to talk to her friends, an idea came to mind. Maybe he could sneak off? Maybe he could fade into the background, be forgotten, tell her later that he felt sick and went to go home- Lily grabbed his arm as soon as she noticed him backing away. “Oh no you don’t! You promised!” Virgil bit his lip, letting himself be pulled back beside her. Lily and her friends swept him inside the large dorm. The dorm was even more festive, the walls lined with orange jack-o-lanterns and black bat stencils. Several intricately carved jack-o-lanterns were used as lights, giving several rooms an orange glow, and candles gave the dining room and other rooms a more romantic-but-spooky feel. Seeing these made Virgil feel a little more at ease. Or they would, if the crowd of people didn’t make him automatically drift to the back of the room. Lily had none of this, dragging him out to the middle of the crowd. “Valerie! Hey! Hang on!” A girl with brown hair turned around at the sound of her name, giving Lily a slight smile when she ran over. “Hey, Lil. Who’s your friend?” “Virgil! Virgil, this is Valerie.” Virgil quite frankly couldn’t care less. He forced a weak smile for Valerie, anyway. The girl smiled in return. “Hello, Virgil.” “U-Um…Hi…” Virgil pulled the hood of his hoodie up, hating eye contact. Valerie let out an ‘aww’. “Shy, are we?” “He hates being social.” Lily ignored the venomous glare Virgil shot her. Way to put his secrets on the streets, bitch. He decided being alone would be better than listening to Lily throw other personal info on the streets, so he headed to the kitchen. He needed a drink. A familiar shape kept him from making himself noticed, stealing a bottle from the fridge and retreating to the back porch with it. The cool night air was a welcome relief from the stuffy inside, and he decided maybe the party wouldn’t be so bad after all. He drank a bit of beer, cringing at the disgusting taste. He wasn’t a drinker. He was taking another drink when the sliding door opened, startling him into inhaling some. “Oh shoot! Are you okay?!” Someone’s hand started rubbing his back until he stopped coughing. “I-I’m fine…Thank you…” “Anytime.” The person came into view when they sat down beside him, wearing a black hoodie partially wrapped in yellow reflective tape. The hood had hand-made antennae-like things with yellow bands sewn on as well as red cat-eyes. He smiled slightly when he made eye contact with the person. “Umbreon, hm.” The person blushed slightly. “Yeah…I’m a bit of a Dark-Type person. How about you?” “I’m not a Pokémon player, really.” “…Oh.” The other person looked away. “Well, I just made things awkward.” “What’s your name?” The Umbreon person looked up again. “Mine? It’s Talyn. You?” Virgil smiled slightly, finding no harm in telling this relative stranger his name anymore. “Virgil. Virgil Goth.” “Fitting.” “Har har.” He hid a real laugh, earning a smile from Talyn. They pulled their hood back to reveal long-ish hair dyed black and glasses. “I heard that!” “You heard nothing.”

The two eventually made a break from the party, Virgil texting Lily that he’d forgotten something and was heading home to get it. He wasn’t sure if it was the drinks or what but he found himself feeling more outgoing around Talyn. Talyn was somehow laid-back and hyper at the same time, going on about subjects that made them happy and encouraging Virgil to talk about himself. It turns out they also had art with the crazy female professor and thought about as highly of her as Virgil did, knew Roman from a drama class, hoped to major in science and was intrigued by professor Ester. They had him as a science professor and said he always went off on tangents until someone (usually their friend Joan) reminded him that they were getting off track. The two agreed that it was too cold for Lily’s Hermoine costume (which Talyn had seen when they’d come in) and that it’d be more fun to hide in Virgil’s dorm until curfew forced Talyn to head to their own dorm. Virgil was a little shy about having yet another stranger in his dorm, especially since he’d since decorated it both for Halloween and to closer suit his interests. Nevertheless, it would be warmer (and safer) than walking the streets, and more fun than hanging out in a cramped house. He still had vivid visions of Talyn poking fun of him due to his room’s décor as he led them up the stairs to where his room was. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. “Well…Here we are.” Talyn’s eyes lit up as they entered. Virgil braced himself for the onslaught of insults. “This is amazing!!” Talyn cheered, startling Virgil. “Did you draw the posters?!” “Ah…Some of them. The rest are actual posters.” “Oh my gosh this is awesome!” Talyn turned to their friend, eyes lit up. “Can you draw some for me?” Virgil pulled his hoodie into paws. “I…Sure?” When the curfew bell rang hours later, Talyn and Virgil had made 3 Tim Burton-inspired posters for their room. After the two discovered their mutual like of gothic things Virgil’s shell was truly smashed-for the first time willingly in years. He found himself smiling after they left. Collage truly was different than high school.