#GoGoxDale

[orleans-jester]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“If anyone asks, zombies did it?”

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

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

It was all laughter from there.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[orleans-jester]

GoGo x Dale

GoGo: Not even a see you later prom date?

GoGo: Really?

[orleans-jester]

cryptid-killjoy​:

Dale: Cool. If I try to do anything to it someone’s bound to catch me and see it at home or in my shop. Whenever it gets revealed I need to be pure surprise

Dale: I’ll swing through this weekend. Maybe we can catch lunch or something too

GoGo: Makes sense, I’ll move my shit and we can do it in my spot in the parking garage. GoGo: Sounds like a plan.

Dale x GoGo

Dale: What you up to?

[orleans-jester]

GoGo barely clocked the looks anymore. They were just starting to look normal, because of all of the ones that she got at work from her gag patrons. Going from a lanky, almost sexless car-girl to a full blown cat-maid fantasy had been a major adjustment but she was making it just fine. She considered her profession to be a fuck you to her parents. She’ll use her culture to make some decent money and get her fuckin’ dream car, and fuck anyone who got in the way of that.

But she did catch Scout’s grin and chuckled back, shaking her head. This night was finally going to get interesting. As if the entrance of a bunch of fuckin’ ghosts wasn’t enough to be considered that. No. Vehicles were getting involved and Go-Go was rearin’ to go.

And it looked like she was going to be the only one with a car all on her own, which was how she preferred it anyhow. Backseat drivers were a fuckin’ nuisance. She got the engine running, and started up the windshield wipers to clear all the dust outta there. Visibility wouldn’t last long, not if they were going to be running over zombies, with the risk of blood and other sorts of gore getting all over the windshield. But better to start on a clean surface.

She looked out the window again to see what Dale had picked and started to laugh. “Damn, now if I only had someone to punch! I owe you one, Scout, remember that!”

The thrill of the upcoming drive was making her comfortable. NO. More than that. Making her confident. She revved up the engine, hearing that beautiful sound of American craftsmanship. They might put out shitty presidential candidates, but they could make a real nice car.

That’s when Go-Go caught Scout’s eye again, and tilted their head slightly at the concern. She didn’t put two and two together, that werewolf Chip wasn’t exactly the best person to be the driver. In her mind, Thomas did it all the time. Then again, she didn’t see Chip enough to know the differences between the two. That Chip was more … zombified.

But then she just shrugged. Whatever it is - better here on the near-abandoned streets of Feral than on the Auckland roads with a whole bunch of innocent people. She popped a piece of gum into her mouth and blew a bubble, one arm hanging out the window, the other adjusting the rearview mirror, then hanging onto the steering wheel, feeling the fine leather.

Go-Go plugged her phone into the more modern stereo that had been put into this beautiful baby, and started to blast her own music along, pushing the pedal down to the metal, cruising barely behind Jetsam, literally burning some rubber as the tires started to smoke. She blew another bubble and changed gear, going faster.

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

The fact GoGo was feeling more the abandoned cars than faceless people is probably why she got along with this family.

Dale looked with his hands up, "A'ight. A'ight. Fair 'nuff." Then he took a few steps back. Scout didn't miss the look exchanged between brothers when GoGo shortened her skirt either.

She really wanted to scold them, but they weren't wrong. Scout's expression was just as approving. Maybe all the siblings were incorrigible.

Koda who had lagged behind from making a couple pit stops saying hey to people on the way out finally caught up. "Slick." He liked GoGo's style when he saw which car she picked.

He kept looking back up at the castle though. He knew this was one night only with Jetsam so he wanted to take his opportunity now, but he could also see he was trying to have a family moment with his kids. His heart was back up with his date too. It was the intention of the evening. Koda didn't want to pick a car or drive around for old times sake. He wanted to sit down and spend time with his lost buddy one on one. There was just only so much Jetsam to go around. There was the part of him that had gotten to know Flotsam and was smiling inside himself knowing Jetsam spending this time was going to do a world of wonders. For Koda, he was starting to think maybe that was enough for him to witness tonight.

So, in a last ditch effort to get closer to his buddy he asked if he could ride shotgun, but Scout ran up, "That's my seat, bub. You can get in the back."

Koda thought about that and it worked for him. The backseat it was.

Then there was Chip. He was still being Chip.

He seemed to be on zombie surveillance in the parking lot, on high alert, and loving it.

"Dale, pick us a car. I'll keep watch."

The twins were teaming up too. Dale was always the comedian at the demolition derbies. While others were supping up big old trucks and old muscle cars, he was the clown. He always picked something funny that should never supped up with giant tires and big ol' rims or flame stacks just to be a spectacle. So, when he looked around the parking lot his mind didn't think street car racing, or even cruising to be cool. He scanned as quickly as he could for what the opposite of what would seem like his kind of car.

Bam. He found jumped in a neon green VW Bug with daisy rims complete with lashes. Okay so maybe over it's abandonment one had fallen crooked due to the weather and looked pretty janky giving the car an expression like it a painted up drunk who just came in from her walk of shame after a pretty rough night.

Chip was so busy watching his back for zombies he didn't really pay attention to his choice until he heard the vroom of the engine when Dale got it sparked.

Chip often gave Dale the silent 'God damnit' look. He got one now as Dale looked all too proud of himself for remembering how to wire a car. It'd been quite a long time. That was the old Chip and Dale dynamic. Team Rescue Rangers. The serious face and the goof.

Then Dale would act oblivious like he had no clue what Chip was annoyed by only to moments later egg him on, "What? You don't think you can handle this baby? You need me to drive?"

It would always be something to knock him down a few pegs because Chip always had the upper hand as kids. This is just how they were. Then out flared those Chip nostrils and with silence he'd pull down his goggles and shove Dale aside to take over the driver's position.

Dale would hoot, literally hoot and call out a woo. "Now we're talking. Atta boy. You can do it." He'd change it up and act like Chip just needed encouragement.

Dale would roll his window down and pump his fist outside of it. "Ready! Let's do this!"

Chip would pass his big gun off to Dale since he was driving. Scout had no idea Chip was going to be the one driving. She looked from her car over to GoGo with some amount of worry in her eyes. There was a reason his wives didn't let him fly solo since the bites. It was a special night. She didn't express her concerns.

Jetsam would call back, "Let's tear up some road boys!"

The engine revved and Jet was the first to spin tires and take off. Scout's high pitched yell of joy could be heard after it. No plan. Just winging it. Thus would begin the free range joy ride through Feral that caused more loud noise than this city was used to with so many engines going at once. The zombies did start to wake from dormant states and it drew them towards the sound. Cars were faster though.

As Jetsam jacked up his music Koda watched out the window from the back at the other drivers and noticed the sheer amount of undead all this noise was waking. His bear sensitive ears were catching motion and smelling death whiffs of death in motion. He could always tell the difference between decay in the ground and up and about. It tickled the nose different. He was starting to realize what he'd just gotten himself into.

He didn't get to come out here for a quick hello to his old pal. He just stepped into an amplified version of the past. They were at a Laveau zombie shoot party without the weapons. Rewind or maybe fast forward because the weapons were about to be cars and the amount of death he was smelling in Delta and Frank's world far more than doubled whatever he could scent in those past parties. Tripled.

All Koda could think was 'Well, I'm in it now.' So he said, "Let the good times roll."

[orleans-jester]

And, of course, Frank would be by her side, looking down at the chaos that was occurring. He had his elbows against the top of the ramparts. He had enjoyed rebuilding Feral to be their own, with Delta’s touches, her style, his own twisted darkness coming into play. It was chilling, but it was far from the commercialism of Halloweentown. There’d be plenty of surprises out there for the demolition derby crew to discover.

Go-Go just ripped off the heels and switched them for her rollerblades, which she always had on hand, stashed in her backpack. Of course she had invented a way to make them foldable, to make them compact so that she could bring them with her. She was on a trip to Feral for christsake, she wasn’t going to be staying in heels all night.

She was wheeling along, following closely behind the Laveaus, as if she was one of them. Hell, with her jet black hair, and her thin and lanky frame, minus the eyes, she could have been thought to be Chip or Flotsam at a very quick glance.

They came to a sudden stop, turning their ankle, when Chip did a fuckin dive roll in front of her and shot at a zombie. This was Go-Go’s real first experience with a zombie. River didn’t count, though lately, he had been looking pretty damn close. She raised their arms to try to avoid the splatter, but of course, some got through because her arm was the size of fucking spaghetti noodles. “Damn,” She said, bringing them down, looking at the corpse of a corpse laid out on the ground.

What this brought to mind were those 3D-coaster rides. With the bolted down seats that you were strapped into, that moved and shook with the screen ahead. With the 3D glasses and the fake guns that you used to shoot the zombies off of the ride as you bucked back and forth. But real. No glasses here.

“Yup - I can completely believe that you all grew up here,” Go-Go said, focusing a bit more on the blood on her arm than what might be on her face, it not really occurring to her yet that there was any there. And of course, she had meant this in a good way. Even though it had changed from when they lived in, this looked like a Laveau playground. Their own sort of Disney.

But what was more surprising than a zombie, than a castle with a Halloween ball in it with a bunch of ghosts coming back to life, filled with fey soldiers, being hosted by a couple that had both died and come back to life?

The Laveau twins, the junior ones, working on ripping their shirts to get a bit of undead blood off her damn face.

She reached up for her mouth, making sure that if she felt something, she moved it away from the opening, squeezing her lips together. She wasn’t stupid. She had seen 28 Days Later, seen the blood drop into the guy’s eye and watched him turn. Zombie lore in movies might not always be right but - some things just seemed like common sense. And then there was Chip, trying to find a part of his shirt to rip off and then there was Dale, volunteering despite his brother already being on it, tearing apart his already small shirt.

Weirdly enough, it was very flattering for a second to be the center of attention from two boys in the coolest family ever. And not even having to wear a stupid cat-maid costume to do it.

“I do have hands, you know,” She said, rolling her eyes to the two brothers, bending over to look in the mirror and wipe it off herself. She sent Scout a wink as a thank you though. Last thing she needed was to see more of Dale’s torso, and get flustered.

Once she had that wiped, she started to rip at the bottom of her dress to make it shorter, making it about mid length so that she could rollerskate better, without worrying about having to trip up on her own clothing. At least until Jetsam had given her the choice of car. She stood there, hands on her hip, before rolling around and looking at them all, examining them with a very careful eye.

This looked more like a graveyard to Go-Go than any other part of Feral. All of these lost cars, rusting away, waiting for their owners who would never come back. She felt more for them than for the people.

Oh, she found it. It was the kind of car that made a male driver look like he had a little dick, just because of how extended the front was. Men who drove cars like this were compensating for something. But when GoGo threw her skates down into the passenger side, and slid into the driver’s seat, hot wiring it effortlessly, and heard that original purr - she felt like hers must he as big as Frank fuckin’ Skellington’s. Is this what being American felt like?

She was in a 1984 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, painted a sleek and shiny black, only slight affected from the almost two years of sitting there. She rolled down the window with the handcrank, and climbed half out of it, sitting on the door. “I’m drinkin my poison, neat,” She said, thinking it sounded rad.

If GoGo was looking for a demolition derby squad she gathered the right crew. That was basically the name of their game back in their Nola days and they were ready to make Feral their playground. When Delta got wind of so many of her guests running off she made her way to one of her tallest towers to have an over look view of the city. It was her favorite view. It wasn't just a great place for an aeriel view of her dominion, but right now it felt like a good place to take that breather now that she saw her party seemed safely under controlled enough chaos for her mind to handle. The uninvited guests so far weren't as unwanted as they could have been.

So, she'd stand atop her tower with her magically mixed and melded staff of her mother's and the trident, her own signature object of power, and would watch the misfit demolition crew below begin their games.

The city despite all their "redecorating" was still full of abandoned objects and places. That was part of Bastien's hoarding fun. Tonight this would be a joy riders dream come true with all the parking lots just full of vehicles at their disposal. Chip and Dale were running alongside Scout trying to keep up with Jetsam's gazelle legs. Scout was a shorty but she had the stamina to keep up with those lanky legs as all the hooping and hollering stirred up the zombies. Quiet had a way of keeping them at bay and Feral was vastly unpopulated most of the time so all the noise at the center of town started to stir the undead before they ever hot wired a car to zoom around town in.

It was Chip who took first notice.

The boy was never not ready. He took a dive roll right in front of GoGo, blocked her path where he saw one pop out from a hibernated state behind a parked car, shot it in the head, and then turned and skewered a second with the bayonet side of his rifle right in front of her face. Gooky blood would glunk out as he jerked his blade free and nodded his head with an old smirk that hadn't been on Chip's face in a long time.

Yeah. He liked Feral.

Scout grinned at GoGo and Chip both, "Yeah, this is still home."

Dale agreed. "Just like home."

It dawned on them all right then what was missing in the safety of New Zealand. Zombies. Laveau Estate always had a few strays in the woods. One could never be sure. Now Feral was more populated by the undead than the living.

Then he looked at the splatter on GoGo's skin and face. "Don't get that in your mouth. It's a little close to your uh lip right there." Then he reached up trying to find a clean spot on his shirt to help her wipe it off with trying to point to where it was.

Dale rolled his eyes. "Here let me help." Because he had so much shirt to help with wearing that Ken crop top right now, but he'd try to save GoGo from zombie grossness in her mouth if he could. This only made Dale look ridiculous not that looks would matter in trying to not become a zombie, but lifting it up when it barely covered.

Scout rolled her eyes as her brothers were practically smothering her friend. So she marched up to save GoGo from being drowned in overbearing masculinity and tore the bottom of her own shirt off. Then handed it to GoGo. "Here ya go. Look in the car mirror. I'm sure you can wipe it off yourself."

Then she shook her head at her brothers. "Points for giving a shit. Points taken away for execution."

Jetsam was cracking up as he was knelt down hotwiring a rusty old firebird with a layer of dust on the hood. "Who are you now? Headmaster DumbleScout? And leave some zombie action for me my Children of the Corn." The engine revved with his face down in the floor just as he said corn and turned back around. "Oh good. Still has half a tank of gas. That's enough to cause some havoc." He waved his hand at the whole free range parking lot like he was Vanna White. "Pick your poison dollface." Jetsam would say to GoGo.

[orleans-jester]

This dress was well worth the wait. Thomas would be thinking the same thing, even if he had to wait until his death day to see his Valerie in it. He couldn’t wait to spend the night with his arms around that beautiful waist of hers, feeling the fabric, feeling her. Appreciating everything that the dress did to emphasize her - much like she thought of him, she could wear anything. Something like this - it could make someone faceless. Someone would just remember the gown and not the person wearing it, but not Valerie. Not his wife. He’d never forget the way that the fabrics made her skin appear even softer, the colors complimenting her, the shape that it gave her, oh boy, like she was sewn into it. Her face - the most stunning of all, of course. He was going to be looking into her eyes all night as he swung her around the ballroom. Of course he was going to be dancing with her. There was no chance that he wasn’t. Socials always took second place after romance.

Nothing felt more appropriate than Poe tonight. It was a Halloween ball, gothic style, in a dark and mysterious castle. Did it get more spine-chilling than that?

“I know, I always feel the same,” Thomas chuckled, holding tight to Treebeard as they were brought up the mountain in their own special way. Some people had to take the stairs, some people took the bus - these two were special enough to get their own special escort. “I’d say we’re going to end up somewhere far more spectacular than Isengard.”

He checked his pocket again. He wasn’t coming empty handed, no. He was still determined - maybe foolishly since it hadn’t worked yet - to get Frank talking about something. After all, their ladies were friends. It only seemed right. He was bringing along a tin of fine Irish tobacco, since Frank was known for smoking. Might be just the thing to get him through thte door.

--

Iorek was just living his best life right now. He still mainly lived in the zoo, where it was nice and cold but he could leave his enclosure. He knew how to work the doors and it was never locked. He was getting a sugar high from the coke, so he kept wriggling his back in the seat, almost in a dance, just because his body was feeling the urge to move. Being a creature that had been in a zoo all of it’s life, it was used to stares so the gaggle of women who kept looking over at him was hardly a bother. He’d sniff them as they came on but wasn’t threatening.

GoGo wasn’t expecting much attention tonight with her attire, especially with everyone else being so dressed up. All the other ladies, Chip’s wives, it was like a fashion show. But she also couldn’t say that she wasn’t a bit pleased that the effort she put in was noticed, even if she wasn’t really the dress up type. At least not until she met Scout, who had rubbed off on her a bit.

“It was either this or my work uniform, and I made a vow to myself not to ever wear that after working hours,” Go-Go chuckled. Despite being in school almost full time, she still kept up her job at the stupid cafe. Dale had been right. She made some pretty good money there, as humiliating as it was. Besides, not like she had very much shame. If she brought some to the family name … good. “Hot is better than kawaii, I’ll take it.”

She let out a little snort of a laugh. “Independence, it helped.” After bunking with him at Elsa’s, she had moved into her own apartment and had been there since August, while he had gone off to Peru to do whatever Dale does. She never really asked questions. “Quite the crop top, Dale.”

Offended by being called Spindly? Hardly. “All the better to move faster.”

“Fun fact,” Figaro called from the front of the bus. “They put Wybie in the movie to make it LESS creepy. The book doesn’t have him, and it’s balls to the wall isolation.”

Because leave it to them to know.

But as for Ellie, all that time alone with just Babyface for company has really gotten rid of her filter, so joking and teasing, it had become a real big thing. It’s how she showed love, now more than ever. Not that she had a say in her aunt’s relationship, but that little quip was her way of letting Koda know that she approved. Anyone who could influence her aunt into wearing THAT and not something frumpy was well worth accepting.

Ellie’s grin only grew bigger when she heard Babyface stand up for her. She put an arm around his shoulder and looked at Koda. “Yeah, take that, Koda!”

Laughter was all over the bus, even Elsa smiling as she leaned into Koda to hear his compliment. “Thank you,” She said, taking the compliment without ever attempting to fish for more. “Though I do feel different tonight.”

Dapper? Oh yes, Thomas was that and more. Valerie did so love Thomas in a suit, almost as much as she liked him in jeans with his toolbelt... almost. There was just something about those jeans and his boots. But woo-wee when that man went for dashing he actually pulled it off. Not all men could. Suits often wore men and guys all had a tendency to look like these poor things attempting to look grown up, mature, or that they have more grace than they actually do. It never works. The suit wears them. Not Thomas though. He can wear damn near anything and pull it off as a true gentleman even though Val knows quite well he can be quite the naughty fucker in bed. Yeah, he handles his suits and wears them well along with everything else including his beard at every length he'd let it grow.

No matter how cliche it might be there was hardly a more beautifying feeling than seeing such a composed man as this jaw drop and then realize it was because he set his eyes on you. Valerie looked down at herself. She'd been saving that dress for awhile wishing for a proper occassion for it besides one of their own backyard dates as fun as those might be to make up reasons to dress up. Watching his face made her own jaw slack, her chin tilt down. She pushed her hair behind her ear as a way to stabalize the high this man sending through her with just his face. His expression was priceless. Then he opened his mouth. Oh lordy, her private poet was at it again...and quoting Poe during a Halloween Ball of all times. She didn't always know if he was quoting, usually was, or if they were his own words, but Poe was one of the few he sometimes recoginized since Val tended to read darker tales when reading on her own. So, she couldn't hold back her grin at all.

"I feel far more precious than Annabelle Lee when you look at me."

It was true. She had a way of knowing she could slay, but her under-the-bed days despite being shed and long past, still lived somewhere under her skin like something in her wasn't always sure it was okay just to simply exist. Thomas's eyes always fixed that. He was her onion picker like in Holes and her personal poet. She hoped she contributed something here.

As they rode up in Treebeard's branches to the castle Valerie couldn't help but whisper, "I still feel like Merry and Pip on our great adventure whenever we get to do this. It must mean tonight's going to be special." She decided traveling in Tree had to have been a good omen.

On the bus Speed was going on overhead. Who didn't adore Keaneu or Sandra B? Win-Win. Dale was actually paying attention to it about the time Ellie and Babyface showed up and it all the emotional hugging and cussing commenced.

Chip's wives really could not stop staring at Iorek. They were very used to Chip and him continuously bringing more animals than one family would normally take care of, but a polar bear? Yeah, okay... Fig had him beat with that one. This was a first for them. One even slapped him and asked why they didn't have a polar bear. Koda would give her the evil eye like she was being offensive just to fuck with her. Pippin was going to be watching her bear language use for the rest of the evening. At least Elsa wasn't the only one distracted by the polar bear in some kind of way.

Scout would look GoGo up and down and quirk her right brow when she saw her Morticia outfit. "Classic. My Dad loves dressing up as her." She meant Flotsam though she didn't specify, but that quirk did not come down out of her hairline. She was unabashedly checking her digs out. "Damn girl. You look... like...excuse the Paris Hilton speak, but seriously... just really hot tonight." Scout couldn't not say it. She always called 'em like she saw 'em, just like the rest of her family.

That's why Dale chimed in after. "Let me see." If Scout thought so he wanted a better look. So he absolutely let himself take Laveau's worth of eyeballing her. "Damn GoGo. She's right. What'd you go and do? Grow up while I was away in Peru?" He said acting like he hadn't seen her since. "You are looking fly."

Then Chip would say, "You could also be good at being the other mother on Coraline. She was so spindly like a spider. You just need buttons for eyes."

Yup the Laveaus were in the house always calling 'em out alright.

Jenna said, "How about we sew buttons on your eyes Chippy?"

Chip would give one of those blank looks like he had no idea he inadvertantly put someone down and they weren't really sure GoGo's threshold for it. "What? It'd be a good group costume. I was thinking I'd be Wybie."

Dale shook his head. "Oh you mean the character who gets his voice sewn shut because he doesn't know when to shut up?"

Chip's wives were giggling. Koda laughed too until he heard what Ellie called out as she was saying her hellos to her Aunt Elsa in the middle of all this. Should she call him uncle yet? Oh geeze. Oh geeze. So maybe they were starting to be a thing, but that was probably a little too soon.

Koda almost balked though. He got thrown and had that wiggle wobble neck people get when they're anxious about whatever is about to come out of their mouth. "Oh, I don't know....depends..." Then he managed a comeback. "I would say definitely yes if you're looking for a wrassling match. You'll be calling uncle with me faster than anybody you know."

Babyface wanted to Kelso burn her so bad but held off because he was trying to do the stick by his lady thing. So, instead he said, "You clearly haven't ever seen my Hell's Ells in action. You're gonna be calling her uncle."

Everyone paused for a moment because he didn't say it quite right, but that was Babyface. He knew what he meant. So, did everyone else. Dale was cracking up. It was so good to have everyone back in the same room again. Dale's spirits went from emo-depresso to wanna get his drank-on real quick. He was having and they weren't even at the castle yet. They were only on Figaro's bus.... with the polar bear... and his Coke... watching Speed... and taking jabs at one another. Oh yeah, this was the life.

Koda would turn after all the rukkus and say, "You always look pretty, Nizhoni." He felt the need even though it was just a teenage niece bagging on her fashion sense.

Frank was right about this being important to Delta. She always said she'd be happiest if she could just go home with Frank, but as that wasn't an option of permanence she gave long thought to making the best of being in this earthly realm. She access to a few a portals that could wisk her away to other places like Christmas Town, Halloween Town, even a fairy realm. She had friends who had friends on the other side. She had her mother's grimoire in reach. She knew demons. Death. This didn't have to be like before. She referred to Flotsam often in her mind, but that was because she was angrier than him about the past.

This disturbed her. Watching Valerie/Flotsam make so much headway with Thomas in what that family calls progress boils her blood. She doesn't get it. When she let's things go she does so for completely different reasons and she's just not over her father and mother. She can't quite let it go. All of it. To see one of their most affected victims move on is mindblowing for little Delta. It dawned on her it's probably because it's not family that did it to them. Any grudges she holds against her father or mother are more easily comparable to what Flo holds against Jetsam. There's a love/anger relationship there just like she has with her parents. But, she's damned determined to not let King Triton or Maleficent's past ruin anything about her second life with Frank this go around. The same goes for Boogey, Sally, or Jack, anyone relative to the circle of their story. So, fuck yes this ball is important to Delta. She's invited the people back into her world when a little part of her hates them all for existing and not fixing everything for them while they were just kids, and all she really wants is Frank. This ball is her admitting it's time to move on.

She'll still only move on her way. Some people job. Some people drink. Delta dances.

As the bus came in and more guests filled the ball room she noticed more of her dancers had arrived. A couple of Chip's wives were in her crew now. Ray and Jenna were dancing sort. The other's not so much.

Dale was enjoying being introduced to Black Arts and Nebby. "More Beagles. I don't think the world feels right without thinking there's Beagles out there to call."

Black Arts smirked, "If Grandpappy had anything to do with it, there's more out there than we know yet."

Babyface sneered his nose as he put together what that meant. "Ew dude. Just ew." It was true though. Grandpappy got around. He knew the guy wasn't wrong.

"Where's Nebs?" When Black Arts turned around to look around the ball room to where she'd gotten off to she'd already found someone to be silly with. She'd made a quick friend in Scout. Like attracts like and the willingness to put themselves out there started to heavily ensue. Throwing Beagles and Laveaus together had a tendency to do that. So they quickly added to the dance floor. "Come on GoGo." Scout would try to lure her in so she'd have her usual big friends circle Scout tended to have. At least in her own circles.

Delta had found Piper first and told her that she wanted to get the whole dance number over with so they wouldn't have to worry about outfit changes for the rest of the night and just have fun with everyone. So it was Piper's job to rally the rest of the troops. They were all to meet in the dance room upstairs shortly so they could make their entrance, do their thing, and then they could back there to get fixed back however they wanted for the rest of the evening. Delta wante to make sure the most of the guests were there before they did it. It seemed like a good bulk of them was here. Hopefully Figaro didn't have too many more bus loads left on call.

So that's when Piper went up to Maddy in her eyeball outfit and Bastien got a good look at all those eyes. "WOAH!" He started looking all over the place, not just at Piper like her costume extended beyond her actual outfit.

"They're watching." At first he sounded haunted or spooked by it. Then the grins came to life.

"They all wanted to come to Delta's Ball. Holy shit."

He'd yet to acknowledge Piper was even there. He was totally just tripping on the eyes. Her face wasn't viewable in the costume but her voice was crystal clear, not muffled at all.

"It's me Bastien."

"I know." He answered but still didn't seem to be talking to her directly.

Piper couldn't tell what was happening with him. She leaned into Maddy and whispered, "Um we're wanted up in the studio to get ready for the dance. Should I change into a normal dress after I can't tell.. He looks so happy."

[orleans-jester]

cryptid-killjoy​:

Dale: cool

Dale: eh not much, just stuff, you in the mood to pimp a wheelchair and make it off road worthy? It’s a job that pays; It’s also a hush job. 

GoGo: I am always in the mood for a project. GoGo: Especially if there’s cash involved, lately. GoGo: You asked the right girl.

Dale x GoGo

Dale: What you up to?

[orleans-jester]

cryptid-killjoy​:

Dale x GoGo

Dale: What you up to?

GoGo: Working on the bike, got some beaut new cylinders GoGo: You?

Dale x GoGo

Dale: What you up to?