#but mostly just bastien and maddy for now

[cryptid-killjoy]

 Souvenance was always observed by this family. Being in Lothlorien wouldn’t change that. The Easter festivities went off without a hitch. It was always the pastel monstrosity. 

One of Valerie’s favorite scenes in the Addam’s Family is when Fester’s lover had tried to kill him for who knows how many times and separated him from the family and when Morticia confronts Debbie she says, “You have gone too far. You have married Fester, you have destroyed his spirit, you have taken him from us. All that I could forgive. But, Debbie..”

Debbie, “What?”

Morticia, “...pastels?”

It was the unforgiveable. The time Flotsam was Morticia for Halloween was still a favorite. Valerie wonders all the time how lovely she’d be now that she had the actual body for it. 

So of course the pastel holiday is made of mockery of in the Laveau home for fun. Oh, how many Malibu Barbies had been decapitated on Easter Sunday in honor of Debbie under Piper’s guillotines while wearing tutus and ballet slippers since she really wanted Ballerina Barbie. The Laveau kids and their traditions. When Piper started that one Flotsam knew he’d forever love that kid. The pastel paint ball course was a timeless one. It was about time to break in the Lothlorien woods with some color. The place might not have been as boundless as the swamps, but it was pretty sizable, and you best bet now that Chip was here Valerie found a corner out there somewhere to order in some hay stacks to give the feel of a mini course without destroying the lay of her land. He could do whatever he wanted on his new camp grounds, but she was keeping this place somewhat sacred and organized. Everyone was here so there was no way she wasn’t going to let Easter happen as always right at home. 

Especially, oh especially because Dale seemed antsy. Piper promised not to miss Easter with the family. So, she showed early face for PR in Peru in a cathedral over there. But, mostly she had a picnic breakfast with her papas next to Kuzco’s mom. That was the thing about being back in Peru The Groovemaster went back to all his old tendencies, habits, and routines. It wasn’t like all the years between had never happened exactly, but he stepped in right where he left off. Yell for New Groove Chef for breakfast. Stare out the big picture window at the water wondering about his dad. Visit his mom. Make elaborate plans with a marker on the window for escape for his day. See? Almost the same. New Groove Maid would come along to erase them to keep them secret still. Somehow it just didn’t feel like a proper plan without that step. He kept the blanket fort in his bedroom built in the original manner he had oh so long ago when he first brought Clopin there. Once he had staff hired he was asking people to do things for him and now it was actually getting done unlike his years at the Laveaus. He wasn’t actually complaining as much. That was a big difference. If Clopin instilled anything maybe appreciating what he did have actually worked. His new staff wouldn’t even know how much they should appreciate Clopin for that, but he sure didn’t mind getting out of doing things if he could. 

So the Troullifous were coming for Easter. Kuz simply made Piper agree to get him back to Peru before fireworks. In Peru Easter was a fireworks sort of holiday. It wasn’t like that in America and Kuz was a fireworks sort of guy. So, onto NZ they’d go after Piper stopped in through Feral to drop off Claudius and give that side of the family a hello. She had a little gift she wanted to give Maddy and Bastien besides the baby slippers Kuzco had sent out. She brought her bag full of tricks to the Laveaus too to share. But what all this really meant was Dale got to have some Piper alone time. Their real family all back together for the holiday the way a holiday should be spent. Everything got to feel extra normal, their normal. There was a time Valerie really needed that, but right now a mama knew her son really needed that. 

Scout would go running up to Piper the moment she got there. They called each other cousins, but they were like sisters having shared a room for so long. She’d show up in the middle of Chess’s balloon throwing painting. Also pastel nightmare colors inside the water balloons.

Chess hid a handful of black paint balloons in the pile to keep Valerie motivated. Every time someone else got one she’d get aggressive and start throwing her balloons faster and harder. Val never did end up with a goth balloon as she kept calling them. She got frustrated and ended up getting a garden hose just to make a mud puddle just to create brown. She rubbed brown all over hers. Chess would tell her it looked liked her painting fell in a pig pen and was pulled out of the shitter. Valerie stood back and called it “Pastel al la Pig Pen. It’s a masterpiece.” A masterpiece that would end up in that night’s bon fire come evening. Most of the days’ mess would for easy clean up, but not before posing with it proudly for pictures with Chess sitting near the bottom pulling her own nose up with one finger pretending to be the piggie. She was wearing a pink shirt to get messy in at the time. Valerie thought it suited. It was all laughs with those two. 

Valerie had just finished her own canvas of balloon art and washed up when she sat on the porch with an ice tea. That southern piece of her was born in. It wasn’t going anywhere. The porch sitting with her cold drink reflecting was a muscle memory way to thrive. Plus, the “voodoo Easter” was a place called Souvenance which was a day of remembrance. Reflection was built into this day in Val’s life. Her adoptive mother’s teachings would continue to thrive in her head no matter how far she’d strayed. 

She’d sat down noticing she was still feeling tired extra easy lately thinking that would go away after she had the kids, but it hadn’t. She didn’t realize just because they were feeding from the outside of her it was any less tiring than having them inside feeding from you. It was still a lot of giving away of oneself especially with three. She sat down next to her husband and reached her hand out from her rocker to his hand and curled it against her neck. 

She motioned out at everyone having fun with all their backyard games while all dressed up.  There was a little goat running around the yard Piper brought. She had easy access to livestock and she was helping out for a ceremony later. Still, goats were so cute they way they bounced around and pranced and kept kicking up it’s feet. Babies were in swings and playpens all around. Even the Marrassa was running around vividly seen as a pair with all the Sunday sweets and games. All the joy and fun activity brought them out. It was then Valerie took note of all the twins. 

“Look at them all, Thomas. Love, Chip and Dale, Jetson and Ranger, our pups. Wow. There’s always a third. Its in Her legends. And there it is. Our trips. I didn’t get it at first. Why me without Jetsam? But just look at them all. This is something special even if I don’t know what it is. I think she was waiting for this to all come together. I was just happy everything feels good today and I have such a great family. That’s special enough for me. But I can feel it right now. I just have this feeling something is happening. Something is coming together and aligning in the universe out there. This is something special.” 

Chip looked happy. It was a way the world didn’t always get to view him, spine completely at ease out there socializing. He’d only zoned out a couple short moments and when he was spacey it felt right with Raya right there. So, it was a good Chip day. Scout was practicing with her super skills always calling things out she could taste, hear, and smell that she normally couldn’t. It was often inappropriate and got the ews and laughs as well as the amazement. She kept turning those things into a competition with Chip seeing who could guess what things were first. New transition, new games Valerie supposed. Then there was Dale who looked... like Dale. Dale and Piper. Dale and Piper were heavily arming themselves with Chip’s paintballs already shit talking from one practice shot. 

Valerie knew her kids were adults now, but there was just something about those days they got together and still acted like they weren’t. Maybe they all had a little Peter Pan Syndrome inside them. Valerie was just grinning behind her glass of tea. She would like to keep it that way. 

 “Most special thing about today? My boys are happy again. Scout too. You did it. Everyone came to us.” Her grin just kept growing. “Okay maybe I’ll give Piper her credit. You and Piper. She ran towards her problems instead of away from them and burnt everything else to the ground pushing them all here and then you helped everyone find their fit here. Convinced them it was okay to stay. You and Piper my unsung heroes. She’s such a radical.” 

Valerie teased a smile his way knowing Piper didn’t exactly plan it all out, but things were coming together just right. It sure did feel like it sometimes and Valerie did like an extremist. 

@orleans-jester​

[cryptid-killjoy]

And Flotsam's golden eye was sparkling brimming with ideas for that party now that they got to host a lovely baby bash. He didn't think twice about going to the mother of the child about the party. It felt like the most natural choice in the world actually.

"I had a feeling it might." Bastien said.

However, he wouldn't necessarily call it a flaw in her. Bastien saw her tendency as self preservation. A coping mechanism. One that might keep a person stagnant, so maybe he could see it being considered a flaw, but it's still a safety precaution. He knows those are easy to build plenty of. He couldn't see armor as a flaw even if he wished she put it down more. He knew he had some armor of his own.

He didn't think of her as an angry person no. His experience with controversy when she is involved has ended up with intense life altering consequences whether through her or the dangerous people she's being headstrong with. Not an angry person, but he shall say simple situations end up high velocity. Headstrong is definitely a word. Debates. They've had disagreements. He'd call them arguments, but that didn't mean they had to involve yelling. Honestly, it was mostly crying. Yes, crying or life altering catastrophe in the wake. He may have a tiny fear he'll set something off like that in motion again. Consider the last time they argued and the result ended up going their separate ways, she eventually got kidnapped because of this, tortured, he got shot by pirates, brainwashed into thinking he wouldn't even come rescue her when her own friends in to set her free which made him feel heartbreak like he'd never ever known until right then, and he got thrown into a mental hospital by her mother, so on and so forth. All of this was triggered by their initial inability to stick together and stay on the same page when they were clearly destined. That's really how he saw it. It was a serious fear of not being the best one to take care of Maddy which was a super serious job in his head. It became his existence. It's really all he wants to be and the more she lets go he doesn't get to be that. It's so complicated and he doesn't always consciously think it through, but it is.

So, he's not been sure this is nothing new. It's really no wonder the fear of Pierre being right started to set in when he started to get scared to speak his own mind again. He's not a big fan of controversial subject matter with her and the ramifications thereof when all that is what played out the first time they couldn't get it right. He's also not a big fan of thinking the only reason he has a wife is because Declan tortured her into it and it was all one more brainwashing game. That weighs on him so hard. It will probably never stop living in the back of his head, trying to thrive in any rockiness. Time meant endurance. His mind struggled. He tries so hard not to let it because that would mean Declan wins. But when they can't get on the same page how can his mind not slip there? It feels like a second curse put on him.

He felt like the most cursed individual ever sometimes.

"Well yeah, I mean I don't have to tell you every little thing to do every day. We're not on the street and you're not just a rookie there now. I get that. But thanks, baby." He smiled a little there. He appreciated what she was saying. He really did.

Putting it that way to Flotsam kept him chuckling for that second longer. "He'd call it out anyway."

Then when it came to all the big serious Bastien was fretting to the point of physical exhaustion about, it seemed like maybe he was going to get a drama free response after all.

He sat there digging his fingers into his forearm, clutching with his arms wrapped in front of his stomach, his jaw clamped holding his breath.

Then one by one she went through each of his topics and simply apologized. Not only that she spoke on how she'd make it better. He felt a little out of place so used to the debate. What a disarming feeling. He was ready to be aimed at like a target. Ready for shots fired. His walls were going up the moment he braved actually speaking and then... nothing.

He looked down when he felt that hand on his thigh. Everything that was hurting hurt just a little bit more in that moment, like touching an inflamed raw wound not expecting it, but then it was like salve. It turned soothing. He let out that breath he was holding.

She said she'd throw the bandana and necklace out. Just that thought alone helped him breathe better.

"I'd appreciate that."

It wasn't really about other gifts given in friendship since their reunion in Laveau world. Bastien wasn't bothered by random gifts. It would be somewhat rude to show up to Christmas all the time with nothing at all. But, it was about symbolism and what it meant to those involved with these special meaning gifts she was holding on to. Those are the only ones.

He almost opened his mouth to interrupt and explain what he meant better about Declan and Chip, but as she went on, she explained enough to describe she got it. It wasn't just about being the hero or anything like that. He loved her damn it. He wanted to fight for her, but he also wanted to stand up for himself. This didn't start with Maddy even if she got the worst part of it. Bastien got to be the one who had to blame himself forever and carry what he set in motion whether he did it on purpose or not. Of course he wanted to be the one to end it.

"The amount of restraint it took to stay with you every day hurt as much as it felt good because all I wanted to do was go figure out how to deal with him after what he did to us."

Us. Not just her, but him too.

But she got it. Every way she explained it to him using Pierre as her example let him know she understood when he was never sure she did before, even if there was nothing to do about it now. It felt extreme because even though he never thought of Pierre as quite the same sort of killing, more a mercy killing, like putting a beloved dog down for it's own sake in comparison to assassination. But, like any good dog owner, like in Old Yeller, the boy wanted to shoot that dog himself. Same thing. Assassinations are colder hearted.

"Yeah, actually. That's it. He should have been mine, but I let him go. I know that was my choice." He'd still own that. He could have just did whatever he wanted despite Maddy's wishes. "He wasn't Old Yeller though, like Pierre. But, he still should have been mine."

It was the only way he could explain himself. The gargoyles were so solemn watching. Hearing her say those things now after all this time felt awful vindicating. She gave credence to all that felt disregarded or overlooked for so long while he'd been so focused on helping her heal from it.

There frankly wasn't a whole lot on healing Bastien. It was all about Maddy for obvious reasons. The only thing worked on to heal him from was himself, his mutation, his curse, his mother fucking ugly so he could walk in the day. In his mind, that wasn't what he needed healing from, but he'd do whatever made his people happy.

Having Chip walk into his house with the box like a hero after what he and Seven did didn't help Bastien at all. Of course it was Chip. He loved his bro, man, but just anything to keep his lady admiring Mr Fear Factor Knight in Dusty Camo who was worth trying to outcon a God for. Clopin was Chip's Godsend making him The Messenger. Bastien would never betray Chip, but if he were any other regular dude, Chip would be so hammered for a few moves he'd made in the past. Luckily, Bastien idolized him too. Still, him being the one didn't do Bastien's self esteem any good whether he wanted Declan gone or not. It festered over time as she held on to these items. Maybe that's why he liked Fester? He related to the name.

But, she was putting everything on deck for acknowledging now. It was like everything that was inside him was slowly releasing from his pores as he sat there listening to her. It was rather surreal actually considering how pent up he'd been.

To recap-

He turned off his social media. She never showed any care about it. She didn't even ask. No hey honey, everything okay? No what made you decide to do that? Delta even tipped Maddy off soon after mentioning Bastien's social media randomly just to see if Maddy would say something to him or even her, anything. Nothing. He also knew she'd been on it since via Delta even though he didn't look himself. Sent her a pic of Bastien since his IG was gone. That was all Delta would do. She wasn't going to play couples therapist and spell it out for her anymore like she did in the beginning forcing things to happen. Might not be end of the world stuff, but really any partner would at least ask what's up. Take about another round of jab Bastien in the chest. Delta realizes she's hurt her Hunch enough trying to make them happy. She's gotten on board of the let them fuck it up themselves train.

Stagnation no more.

"I'd really like it if you changed it." He nodded his head up and down. He wiped at his eyes, but didn't say a whole lot. Everything hurt and felt better at the same time. "Thank you, for saying that stuff."

He was honestly having a hard time believing this was so easy and to find words.

"I might even turn mine back on if you do." He smiled softly and sighed as he put his hand over hers that was on his thigh. "Maybe."

He gave a good long thought to all that negative heavy weight he'd been carrying inside for so long that was crushing his insides. This all inside his mixed up head that can't always keep everything in order or every detail right, his memory a melting pot. It's a disturbing existence sometimes. Plus, the longer something stays unaddressed the bigger it builds, even mutates. It can become something it never was. So, this release right now was the most medicating feeling. So much negativity, hurt, and jealousy in him. It was just insane how much build up. Now he wondered if it was because he finally got brave and did what Delta told him to do all along or if his own patience finally paid off long term and it ran its course. Did he simply wait long enough for the right time for her to be ready to talk about these things at this level of shared understanding? He shook his head at such philosophical questioning. That one would stay with the gargoyles.

"That was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Thanks. Thank you, Maddy."

Then he realized he was just sitting there doing nothing, not even fidgeting. The nothing was too much. He reached out to hug her. "Had to. If I sat there doing nothing any longer my insides were going to misfire and I don't know, ooze out all over. I just need to hold them in with you. Doc Vic has enough bodies to keep together. You'll do for me just fine. I'm feeling much better already."

Just with all of the messes that Agnes caused - it never felt right to Maddy to bring anything negative into their lives on purpose. Even after all of this, it still felt like she was under probation. Only there because of Bastien. At least, it did until Flotsam sent HER that birthday party message, which would actually be one of the most meaningful things to her. Because he could have just asked Bastien, and Bastien could have asked her, and she’d make the arrangements and such but Flotsam came right to her. When that happened, she was in a golden mood the rest of the day.

“Yeah, weirdly it’s that which makes me understand it more than being homeless ever did,” She admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. Not that she had been homeless for very long, mind, but both times that she had, she had gone willingly, knowing that she would be. That was also a change from just about every homeless person. They didn’t choose that life. She had. “I’ll work on it, though. I promise,” She said, smiling softly at him. He was right. What she saw as a flaw actually would just strengthen her friendships. It was a flaw that she was hiding it at all.

“I do,” She told him, earnestly. She really never felt lost with him. Not even for a moment in this strange country. They could throw the GPS out the window, and she’d still follow him, wherever.

Well, she also didn’t really think of herself as an angry person. Arguing, at least in her house growing up, usually required yelling. She argued with her brother a lot, like damn. But she couldn’t ever actually picture herself yelling at Bastien unless he did something just - really bad, which she also couldn’t picture. He was a great husband. He was a great father. There was nothing to yell about.

But apparently he didn’t always think the same.

“I’m sorry,” She said, taking a deep breath. “I trust you, I do. I still depend on you for what to do next, if we do anything at all. It .. hasn’t been the day to day stuff anymore, I know.” There wasn’t as much danger in Feral, save for the occasional surprise zombie but she knew how to take care of that now. The zombies are actually a huge upgrade from the people that used to live in that town, or walk around it. “And I do trust in your judgement, baby, and I’ll work on showing that to you.”

She thought that she was now, anyway. Trusting in his judgment. Trusting in him to know what he was doing when he made up this plan that anyone sane would have said no to immediately. Guess she never really had been sane. Because she was in this, booking the tickets just as soon as he said what he wanted to do.

She did smile again though. She really meant fuck, not making love, though that was always perfection as well. Sometimes a gal just wanted to be put into her reaper harness and pushed over their dinner table and taken. Well and truly fucked.

“Okay, maybe I might put it that way to Flotsam, since I know if they ever asked us to babysit, he’d come right out and say it like that too,” She giggled. The Laveaus, maybe she’d be more blunt with. But with people like Koda, or Zero, or Willem or Figaro, she’d be a bit more tactful.

She nodded at him with wide eyes though. Yes, there really was nothing sh favored more than these two.

She stayed quiet - something she had gotten a lot better at in the last two years - while he spoke, but was listening, giving her entire attention to him. She put a hand lightly on his thigh after he took that gasp, that big breath, touched his heart like all of this physically hurt him. And she imagined that it did. Things that she didn’t even think about. The necklace and the bandana? Sure, they were in her jewelry box but she didn’t see them, they were under other things that she collected and kept in there because they didn’t have other places, like the concert tickets to see Ray and the ladies perform at the House of Mouse, or their printed out boarding passes from Paris, the things she actually enjoyed looking at sat on top of them. But she wasn’t going to point out that she didn’t think of them, because that was just an excuse at this point. She recognized that. But this still didn’t feel like a fight in any way.

“Okay -” She nodded, when he was done. “Okay. You’re right. You’re totally right about the stuff in the jewelry box and as soon as I get home, I’ll toss it, like I should have done years ago. You’re entirely right,” She said, giving his thigh a little squeeze. Also nothing about the Christmas gifts because the only thing that she sent Chip was the vintage Pilot’s Helmet, and the tactical changing mat for the kids, nothing else. “I don’t need them. I never needed them.”

And then onto the next thing when it came to the Messenger. “I never wanted him to deal with that situation either. Bastien, I couldn’t say his name to anyone until he was dead.” Even when she ‘told’ Willem, it was in response to the name being said by him, never actually saying it. “But - I understand, I held you back because I was being selfish and I just wanted you with me. And I didn’t understand how that could weigh on you until..” Her nose curled a little, remembering this next situation. “Until I had to take care of the situation with Pierre, or Leo, or - whatever he was when he died, doesn’t matter what he went by. How freeing it can feel after making that choice and I am truly, truly sorry that I took that from you. It was selfish of me and .. I would take it back if I could. I should have trusted in you, and I should have trusted in Papa Clopin when he left it up to you.”

And then the last thing to address which was also something that she never once thought of. It never occurred to her that anyone would take the screenname that she chose in that way. She certainly didn’t, which he acknowledged. She’d never want to hurt him or disrespect his mother on purpose. “I admit, I never thought about it like that. Maybe I should have. Maybe I should have thought what ‘just’ would be taken as. But I can take care of that too. I can change that. I can’t change the way that it made you feel, and if it made you have any regrets, but I can try to change the way you feel going forward.”

[cryptid-killjoy]

HC: Memes that get thrown into “The Group Chat” where I’m sure there’s a few circles of friends that have them in the tighter nit circles that hang. But Valerie has gone ahead and thrown GoGo into the “The Group Chat” since she there for the whole werewolf turning and even the birth of the trips. It’s mostly a bullshitting chat where the family can be open unlike how they might post publicly. Everyone’s in it. Like everyone who bothered to hit accept. Delta, Frank, Maddy, Bastien, Clopin’s Fam, Piper, The Laveaus, Team Savanne. Elsa, Koda, Chess. All the main people who Laveau congregate. Nothing really gets said in it. Sometimes people shoot off group invites to things or jokes just shit talk. It’s not really where you go to pour your guts out in front of everyone or anything. Never been confrontational, just a shit chat where they can be themselves. GoGo’s eyes will get flooded with a scroll back of memes like this once she’s in. 

 the jesus cat was posted just before Easter by Chip and then Dale in subsequent conversation calling him coward for waiting till he was dead that would get hilarious with references to the gravestones out there in Kuzpin Island wondering if he needs one too

Bastien obvi posted the Medusa one and would have been giggling for awhile behind his phone while an entire other conversation was going on in another chat room with his stoner friends only that was all over the place with how to get away with hanging with Medusa now they understood their superpower. 

Piper would post the Mandalorian meme unable to not compare it to Pierre and Thomas where Thomas is Mando and Valerie and her are laughing it up in there. Piper may still have some unresolved issues. She getting ‘em out. Meanwhile Dale silent reads on the side wondering where he weighs in on this scale of man judging because he’s still feeling a bit rascally over this guy with a Lord moniker and prowrestler pecs that managed to stay in the circle. 

Ray would have posted the signs all excited. LOOK our camp signs are a meme. Part of our old camp lives on. 

Delta sent the Patrick meme. Self explanatory. 

Kuzco posts the Prince quotes because he’s all about dat. followed by a live vid of him just rocking out in the middle of a platform on his guitar pool because that’s Kuzco’s MO, just randomly throws grooves out at any moment into the chat for any reason

Raya would post The Moon Made Me Do It and she’ll post it every full moon to carry on the tradition that was there before by Brigitte when she was in the group. If she was unable the other girls help her. 

[cryptid-killjoy]

HC: Bastien has had a lot going on in his head lately. Feral is fun in it's own way. Looting is it's own joy. Instead of watching out for cops or nosey citizens who can't mind their business he mostly watches out for rogue zombies. Delta tried to keep them herded back at Skull Rock for awhile, but that's easier said than done. They roam off. They're around considering the huge population. He likes to pretend he's in The Walking Dead now only... he actually is. Thank goodness for his "troll" hammer.

He's created several hoard hubs he's now calling Fox Holes. He's not quite sure where the lingo came from, but when that sort of thing happens 8 times out of 10 it's because Jetsam is mixing in. He might not be controlling Bastien but he leaves an imprint from possessing him so often, souls touching, like wires crossing. It's that out in the swamp language coming out. He doesn't necessarily dress like Jet, because if he ever could have afforded whatever he wanted he might have styled up. But, since he's been looting the rock look might be incorporated more than it used to be because he's been able to find it all his own Bastien-way without spending the cash- just the way he likes it.

To picture Bastien having a dressing room movie montage in all the abandon stores, thrift shops, and people's empty homes trying on all sorts of different looks with Hugo and the gang at his side is something Delta would pay money to see on a big screen.

There is another store he looted which might have been humorous to watch. The lingerie store down the way from the bridal shop Maddy went to with Piper. Yeah, he went there all by himself holding up dainty things trying to figure out what to bring home as a surprise for his wife. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Ticket worthy experience for sure. That said, when he brings home this bag to his wife he will say, "I would have brought more, but I couldn't figure out how they went on. Ladies undies are very confusing. Laverne told me to relax because all I need to do is figure out how to get you out of them. But, I still only picked out the easy ones... well I mean, and the pretty ones. The good ones." But he would expressly explain how beat he was over it taking a whole day on pantie decisions. "I had no idea how much stress underwear was for you ladies." Then he'd dump several six packs of boxers and briefs in his size. So easy in plastic packages. All the same and shove them in his drawer.

In his mind though his daily excursions like this were yet another way he was providing for his family. He still had a big fuck that debit card Esme gave him attitude and now hoarding instincts were kicking in big time because opportunity was knocking. He didn't know when times would change again. He never believed anything would last forever so, he was staking claims everywhere he was allowed. He was dragging all sorts of items to his personal property and storing it there. He asked for a room at the Blue Piper from Kuzco. Kuzco allowed him a room and Bastien was filling it from floor to ceiling with just... stuff. Stuff in his mind they may need some day.

He even started to claim places he used to hang out, old trap houses, and buildings weren't his property, but were his spots back in the old days. Delta had the whole dang city. When she noticed what he was doing and questioned his activity she even gave them to him. So, in his mind these were business transactions between him and his boss. As long as his loyalty remained he earned these properties as his own for just a small favor which gave him more work. He liked work. He liked feeling like he was doing something and useful. He had to hoard for Delta too.

Now, she already technically had everything within the ring, but what he was doing for her was organizing special items he might run across for her. So he had a hoard building for that too. Maybe this didn't mean much now, but if the city of Feral ever thrived with any populace again, Bastien would be quite the land owner when people did come in. The time he was putting in now was being looked at as an investment for his future whether Feral had much more of future than it did now or not.

Back to Jetsam, after the whole Father's Day pull Bastien would have wanted to across the sea for a visit. The only thing holding him back is Bastien's incessant hoarding obsession lately and his closeness to his brother. Believe it or not Bastien's close enough with Flotsam to know this isn't a good time and was holding back on purpose. As much as everyone loved Jet, Flo is the living person, and who Bastien bonded with that fated Halloween. He vowed to remain open for Jet for Flo's sake and even Bastien worries about the effects sometimes. It's only since then he's gotten closer to Jet. He won't be able to help it if Jet takes over completely of course, but he's tried to wait despite the pulling sensation to go due to conversations with Flo who's going through a lot right now. He never wants to make things worse for Flo. He also doesn't want to lose the connection and have Jet jump into someone else when he feels this is his duty to his friend and doesn't want to let him down, or have Jetsam take aim at him for not being cooperative. So it's a balancing act he feels he's playing all the time. However, he'd go soon because Flo would actually call him up for music reasons. That meant he was ready.

Jet is small stressor in Bastien's large room of voices that like to mess with his head. There's the gargoyles. Then new ones pop up sometimes.

Like one time he was looking for Frankie with his night vision goggles and his mind started to play tricks on him. It was like all the night visions movie sequences started to play in his head. Too many video games. He's looking around and suddenly he's got a commander in his ear telling him which way to go and where to look like he's on a covert mission, secret ops. It was like having VR on and when the visual hallucinations start popping up. He's blasting monsters with an imaginary gun he wasn't even carrying like he's in Men In Black. He freaks out and tears the goggles off disappointed and hyped he hesitated to shoot the girl with the lab equipment only to see Frankie sitting there with her pacifier safe and sound. Like okay. What just happened?

Not a monster. Not lab equipment. His hands are empty. Yeah, he needed some weed. Time to reduce stress right now. Something. That one freaked him out. Nothing happened. Nothing at all happened. But, for a split second he almost thought he about shot his kid. Hallucinations. Visual disturbances. Schizophrenia. Mentally challenged. Different. Ability to see into a different world. Magic vision. Whatever anyone wanted to call what Bastien went through off and on that one scared him. He didn't like the goggles anymore. He didn't like mirrors. He didn't like sunglasses. He sure as Hell wasn't going to play VR with anyone.

He liked cars though. Now that he didn't believe he was going to hurt anyone by driving key collecting was also a new hobby. Finding which keys went to which cars. There were abandoned car lots full of new and used cars. Feral was a land of plenty for the people there.

Everything that happens only makes him more protective of Frankie even if the threat is unreal. In his mind the threats are out there and possibly from another world/realm and could pop out at any time. Whoever they are is trying to trick him. So, if he seems extra paranoid of who knows what, in protective daddy mode, husband mode, even minion of Delta and Frank mode, he's got his reasons.

[cryptid-killjoy]

All the Happenings

Valerie and Scout would have a freeze moment when they’d both be see what Chip was going through with swamp fires through the camp. No one would know for sure this was Piper but there would be suspicions after the magical reinforcements from camp were the best way to tame it. 

It was possible even Thomas got some connections with Raya on this one with her dead-side Hell-mind being so triggered. Valerie suspected Piper right away whether Brigitte did or not. She was too in tune waiting for news after Dale left. Laveau property being ground zero for a swamp inferno couldn’t be a coincidence. 

Valerie would tell Thomas about this tragedy. Her precious other world, her camp, Chip’s community, Zeke’s home, his mamma’s people, so many hurt, the village nearly destroyed. There was a selfish part of Valerie that felt her life in her new Lothlorien was exactly what she wanted with Thomas, protected, and safe, felt so fine. Then there was another part of herself that felt that natural inclination to need to help. It was in her blood to pull together with the group and help the village if something real went down. This was something real. But, not wanting the responsibility of it was also why she left and the guilt was going to be put to the test with this one. 

Zeke would have contacted Thomas personally just in case Valerie got any impulsive ideas. She was in no condition with the triplets to be coming home to all this mess. Physical labor was the last thing she should be doing and she didn’t need the emotional stress of seeing it all up close. He, Brigitte, Chip, and the elders left would handle it. 

That was one happening. 

The next happening was the most recent amazing moon. 

Thomas would change and head out like he usually does. Valerie would wish he’d not wonder too far. She couldn’t communicate with him, but she’d start to feel sick herself, nauseous, pain she wasn’t used to feeling. Victor wasn’t there. Jesula was in no way available. Scout stayed home on full moon nights out of habit and sense of duty ingrained, but she was still a kid, and no specialized nurse here. She had no idea how to help when her mother started to cry out in pain clutching round her middle. It had finally happened, the big it. The triplets were being affected by the moon and with three of them crammed in there Valerie could feel it and they would only get bigger. 

Valerie would be compelled to go outside swearing up and down to Scout the pups wanted their father and moon. In her condition, barely able to stand, Scout had to help her walk to the door, but would beg her to go no further. She was scared if she stayed on the porch she’d just be a target for other wildlife like that on a night like this. She didn’t trust her father was the only wolf left in New Zealand after the camp they plowed down. Who knew if there were any strays out there? So, Scout would sit on the kitchen floor with her mother right by door trying hard to muffle the sounds of a wounded animal Valerie might make by keeping the radio on unsure of what else to do as she tended to her mom with cold cloths, and they waited for Thomas to return. 

It didn’t end there. There was another happening. 

Flotsam/Valerie was groomed to have a connection with the other side. They’d had a strong one that had grown more powerful with age. Dr. F’s saying “He’s got friend’s on the other side” was one of Flotsam’s favorites. They tried so hard to appease the Gods, spirits, and such. That same full moon night would end with Valerie in an involuntary seizure-like trance ghost writing on the floor. It took a while for Scout to figure out to put pen in their hand. The writing would not be in her own handwriting, not even the parts that were clear, though most of it was scratchy and gibberish, hard to make out, like her body was hard to invade and control. Something possessed her and it was not Marrassa or Savvy. Neither entity had ever worked that way before. 

All of this was going to be what Maddy and Bastien were flying in from Nola to New Zealand to. As if their little miscommunication wasn’t a jumble of a mess of it’s own, the Laveau family stress just rose a little higher in worries that would feel a lot less petty or emotional and more life concerning. Valerie was still half in the dark about Thaddeus so she didn’t know Thomas had that piled on it too.

 Victor and Zero were traveling by the same Jolly Roger magic sea portaling and would be as long as Delta had anything to say about these trips. He’d be bringing Tree back to Nola with them. That said, if Victor were a guessing man, he’d guess Thaddeus better not test Thomas’s patience at this point in the game because his wife was now officially in a very, fragile, high risk state, and would get a doctor’s warning label over the phone before he’d arrive to see her. Emotions matter. Getting heated matters. Mamma gets upset. Babies get upset. They could have emotional changes too not just full moon just like daddy. 

Chip hadn’t even reached out to Maddy he’d been so exhausted and busy in the village. Though the fires themselves were all over the news, so the Bellerose’s had to have been wondering. If anything they might have been able to get more news out of Scout than anyone. Scout would be the most open line in the Laveau family at the current moment. 

Still, with all this going on in the background, Bastien and Maddy were going across the sea. So, were Delta and Frank. 

Delta and Frank were happening. 

Delta wanted to check out this place Tree had been. They thought about not making a move till Maleficent did something, but it was dragging out. They took a risk and left Heresy alone in the castle. It was a big risk, but damn it they were bored. Fuck it all. They would not even announce they were coming to anyone. They would just board the Jolly Roger right before they set sail, even Victor and Zero did not know. They would tell no one where they were going to stay. They would tell no one their itinerary and just show up and take over the Captain’s cabin. Smee would start to lift a hand when they chose that door and all it would take was one look from Frank and the ever slow slight bounce of one of Delta’s curls as if she might turn her head and he lowered that hand and opened the door for them. Delta never had to turn her head. Frank’s stares always did it. 

The Cap’n wasn’t going to be happy about this. He doesn’t like his things moved unless he’s the one doing the breaking or throwing of course. Delta decided it was much more fun to stow a ride on the infamous Jolly Roger and mess up Hook’s room than to hitch a ride a plane with the Hunch and Maddy if given the choice and since Victor was going they had a choice. So, Delta told Maddy they weren’t going and gave no other reason. She didn’t say they had another ride, just that they weren’t going with them. 

Bastien and Maddy went on a plane. Maddy got a plane all to themselves this time she said. Bastien liked that. He was not a fan of ear popping in planes and going deaf when going high and low, but he was a big fan of being alone. So he would sing his wife lots of praises for that.  

 This was a new place and Bastien got a little skittish about leaving the airport unless it was dark. He kept asking what time it would be when they landed even after he’d already asked. He was jazzed up in Paris on marriage confidence. In Nola everyone knew him as Delta’s hammer guy at the very least. Going out in the day just wasn’t so bad anymore, but this was a brand new world out there that didn’t know him. The nerves started to hit. He was very thankful their arrival was in the evening. They’d arrive at Valerie and Thomas’s most bragged about and highly recommended honeymoon hotel. They’d mention Valerie and Thomas and get the star treatment from moment one. With a pocketbook like Maddy’s they won’t be regretting it or wasting their time either. They’ll surely be amply rewarded for their hospitality. 

Still, Bastien had that groggy after-transformation face with extra travel exhaustion on top as he sat down on the balcony for a smoke without taking much of the room in yet. 

“Look at us in a whole new world again.” 

He was calming down after everything. Bastien always needed a moment to step back and recenter after the pain. He gained strength through the night. As confident as he’d become in Nola in the day his love for the night would always remain. He always longed for a day in the sun like a normal man but there was comfort in the dark. There was muscle memory in what this was. There was never pressure here to be brave or overcome. He could just be. 

He liked that feeling. 

“Come check out the view, Mama Bear.” 

[orleans-jester]

Looks like you can’t take all of NOLA out of Feral after all.

It’s snowing still - which Thomas thought was interesting. Snow wasn’t unheard of in Louisiana, especially with the weather being as wet as it was, if temperatures got cold enough snow would happen. But so early in the year? He let that out of his mind for a second, thinking about hurricanes.

“Don’t think there’s going to be many hurricanes around here anymore,” Thomas admitted. Not with the magic that Delta had over the place - natural weather wouldn’t have a chance. Though, of course, if she wanted to stir things up, that was another story entirely. He chuckled a little, thinking about what disasters she could cause here if she wanted, considering the barriers that had already been put around the place.

“Until next time,” Thomas said, giving Eeyore a bow, flourishing the top hat and all as he did it. Hey, if he was dressed the part, he might as well play it.

He let out another small chuckle at Valerie’s words, a wave of fresh warmth going through him at her flirtiness. “Up and down, and around and around, love,” He promised with a wink.

But then back to snow and how it was odd for this time of year and seemed to be centered around -

Oh.

Ohhhh.

He wasn’t always privy to displays of Elsa’s powers, mostly having seen just ice being thrown out during the battle against the Tremaines - but he should have figured that she would do snow too."Maybe she had to cool down after how warm Koda was making her.”

He wasn’t above gossiping like a nosy old lady about their friends, even if their friends were one of Flotsam’s exs. He was secure enough in himself not to feel jealous about past flings, especially when it had been very clear that there were no feelings left between them. He’d also noticed how the two had come in together, looking good in their Halloween outfits, and staying closeby to one another until Flotsam had come along and kidnapped the kids - Koda included.

It was very much a ‘Good for Her’ sort of moment, seeing the snow centered on the one area. There was a purpose there but it wasn’t for them and that was all that he needed to know. He admired watching it for a moment, and then was focused on taking his tipsy wife back down to the inn, where he could show her how much he truly appreciated that dress.

When Elsa was seen on the beach behind the castle, she was completely in her element, letting creativity fly in a way that she hardly ever let herself do. Ice sculptures - she could do, and there would be plenty of them around in this winter wonderland that she was creating. Much like she had created them while living up North in Alaska, in the competition that she had helped to start up, coming in first everytime - except for when she shared that win with River when he had come up to find her. When she saw two figures passing by, far away but still passing, she thought at first that it was Bastien and Maddy until she was able to really look, squinting her eyes.

I.C.U.

It was almost enough to make a cold gal feel warm. It made her snow stutter for a moment, freeze in midair, before it began to fall and Elsa would raise a hand to wave back to the happy couple.

Esmeralda had done most of the alterations to make it more modern after Kuzco and Clopin left it to her. So it became more of a relaxing city retreat than an inn. Maddy mostly just looked after the upkeep, and then worked on reverting it back to the way that it had been when Kuzco and Clopin had lived in it. With the constant blue flowers, making it less luxury and more like a home away from home. And now she didn’t spend much time there at all, not since returning it back to the original owners. Not since her bachelorette party that Piper had thrown, which had been an amazing night.

The room itself wasn’t that important to Thomas. He was an old fashioned kinda guy. As long as it had a bed. Anything extra was just fancy. He just wanted that mattress, clean sheets, and his wife right now. As soon as they were in the room, he was pressed up against her back, running his fingers over the dress. “Are you sure you want to take it off?” He asked, playfully. “I’m really enjoying the view.”

But of course he would help, bringing down the zipper, his other hand following behind, touching the soft skin that it was exposing. It was only then that his phone started to buzz - and he quickly did a check through the eyes to see if the kids were alright, saw Scout’s phone. He sent his own text back and knew that they would be able to handle it themselves past his advice. It was a new city. Frank and Delta were the closest thing to a police force and it was highly doubtful that they cared.

Then he was back to the moment, his arm wrapping around his best girl, pulling her in. “I don’t think I’ve told you enough times tonight how simply ravishing you look.”

Good memories seemed to be a theme this Halloween, not frights, or jump scares, and horror movies. No. It was a theme. It didn't just seem. Valerie didn't mind. All the memories were wrapped up in costumes and dresses. Valerie felt good memories' warmth every which way she turned all evening. This whole season would be a delight for her actually. Whether it started with on pins and needles or not. This was perfect as far as she was concerned from rewriting over more old memories that could use a boost to reliving some of the best that refuse to be forgotten. What a magical season it would forever remain in her mind. Every step along the path to the car made her feel as light as a Winehouse song in her heart. She loved how floaty she felt right now.

Then the way Eeyore's face lit up seeing her husband's felt like sipping some of her gifted tea customized just for her by his sophisticated tastes. All she could do was smile as the pair conversed for a short moment. Another moment in time gone by. Another story's end finally known. Eeyore was waddling around Feral, possibly the Forbidden Forest of Hundred Acre Wood, maybe around the Nevers? He was still donkey boy-ing around with his emo bangs quiet as ever minding his own business like always, even after death in his ghost state. It was so fitting, probably trailing after Pan barely keeping up 20 feet behind looking for his glasses or his tail depending on his form, like nothing ever happened. So, so fitting.

“It’s snowing still. And freezing. However, we haven’t had a hurricane lately.” Eeyore would say with some lift of his spirits actually looking on the bright side in his Eeyore-type way. So, maybe Thomas was right? Eeyore was in good spirits in spirit form and that did count for something.

But that Eeyore in him couldn't stop himself from saying, "What goes up must come down."

Valerie looked over to Thomas and slipped her arm around his waist under his jacket line. "That sounds perfect. Until next time, Eeyore." She gave him a little wave as they turned to keep going not truly taking in what the donkey had said until they stepped fully out the doors.

Snow? For real.

It wasn't just an autumn chill out there. There was snow out there. Her eyes were catching it just as she leaned into whisper, "Please make sure those hips must come down on me tonight." She was making a little joke of Eeyore's passive gloom when the snow popped her head right back up.

"Oh my. Wow." Her mouth hung open at the sight around them as every hair rose along with goose bumped skin and the shiver she hadn't expected. She shimmied her head at the sight because there was no way that was natural. "Someone's doing maaaaaagick."

"How fun."

She didn't know why, and she honesty didn't care. What she knew was it was awesomely great power and that was always impressive. She couldn't help but give a little head nod of thrill towards it. She loved that magic shit. Not to mention it wasn't hard to deduce there was only so many people who could pull something like this off. Maybe even only one. After all Flotsam had been through with that person it was one more beautiful portrait of a landscape to view, a past picture, an image pulled to the now. She was in control. That felt so good inside somehow even if they weren't part of whatever path she had to follow to make that happen. That's all that went through Valerie's head. They'd not seen anything this grand that wasn't destructive from them since they were a teenager aside from the Battle of the Star People, but that of course was also destructive.

She didn't want to be a monster. Part of Flotsam had the same mentality. Except he embraced the monstrosity within. She learned to love the monster within herself. Maybe Elsa wouldn't think of it that way, but that's all Valerie could see from their experience with all this, and it was one of the most beautiful winter scenes they'd ever seen just because of it. The dangerously beautiful in the most delicate ways. Elsa's voice came into her head when she said. "I see you" to Valerie. It was something that mattered to Valerie on so many levels. She kept that one locked inside special. As Valerie looked out at this magnificent display, she said it softly to herself, "I see you, girl. I see you."

Then she kept walking with Thomas on. Then she'd see Elsa out there. She'd try to wave goodbye despite the large distance between them. Then Valerie would use sign language to pass an I. C. and pointed at her before walking on curled into Thomas. She didn't know if Elsa would even understand the reference or how much that meant to Valerie or what Valerie might be referring to seeing in her, but it was something the Flotsam in them, and Valerie in them just naturally had to pass on.

They'd travel to the inn.

The Inn was one of the places left alone in Feral. It was more or less left as it was pre-Feral. However, Kuzco, Piper, and Maddy had done a lot of altering. It had become Feral's main hub for most imports and exports since there weren't that many guests coming and going to use the rooms. However, ever since Frank started in on letting some randoms in there have been a few people attempting to use the place like a modern society still exists striving to not be lost to the void of abandoned homes in the ghost town left behind. So, the couple that ran the inn did extend the business to the building next door which wasn't a big deal. It was obviously empty too and started to use that for the post office and reverted The Inn back to mostly Inn mode. Call it an extended business model.

All that said, to see Thomas and Valerie walk in, actual guests, this was a grand day for them. So, they'd be treated like VIP guests from the moment the door would open. If anything, they'd get the kind of treatment they get when going to their favorite hotel in New Zealand only they weren't regulars here. They'd act like they were celebrities though. That's how slow business was. They mostly dealt in pizza orders to Funky Town.

Now when Valerie entered the room they were given and gave it a good look over she wasn't disappointed per sae. It was just another blast from the past. Everything about the room said Nola to her.

It was plain and cold. From the hard floors to the brick walls. Even the sheets. The place could use a little jazzing up. She thought to herself the Motel 6 at least put in some tacky photographs to liven the place up. But Nola often had that appeal, the bland and mysterious. Good craftsmanship, architecture with story and history, but to the eyes in her opinion rather cold. It was a rather sad room actually. At least it was until her joy of the night walked into it. There was however an actual chill from the room not being used in some time.

She looked over at Thomas and plopped down in her dress as the most colorful thing in the room, with all her fluffy black and orange, and bright eyes. She wanted to lounge around in whatever she had on underneath sounded just fine to her.

"I'm dying to get out of this thing, love. Help me get the back?"

Then she turned her back to him so he could help her with the zipper so she could be comfortable for the night. This was also when Scout's texts would start coming in for Thomas about whether to eat people or grind people into dust or not in Feral.

Valerie's magic shared sight wasn't focused. Sure, her kids were there behind her eyes somewhere, but with enough practice it was easy enough to zone it out when she wanted to focus on her own window to her own life. So, nothing out of the blue was garnering her attention enough to jar her out of her dazey evening yet. The kids blasting zombies hardly felt like a cause for alarm.

[cryptid-killjoy]

Dark Fae Hunchie Happenings

Delta set things in motion when she decided to keep the Hunch. This meant plotting how Pierre and Esmeralda were going to be used in the process with Maddy too. It all started to blend together as part of her first steps to free Maleficent. Even though Bastien didn’t directly relate all of it happening it once pulled him into her core. 

So, to free the Hunch of societal annoyances she followed up on how Chip was making things happen, which lead to Dale, and the Beagle Boys. If Dale could pay Megabyte to make shit happen, she could get him to make some shit happen. Megabyte the megahacker managed to cut through and capture the media. All around the city, tv’s, radios, streaming devices would get taken over for Delta’s live feed. 

She will make an announcement showing Bastien visually in photographs. Then she will play clips from the hospital footage to make sure everyone understand he is one and the same. She will do as she told Frank. She will tell the world He is now hers and no one is to approach him for any reason associated with the wanted posters, man hunts, arrest warrant, his name will be cleared, and taken out of any systems considered off your grid the same way they have wisely chosen to leave her and Frank alone. This is not a request. An image of Maddy would go up too. They would no longer be the missing twins as Maddy would be completely publicized as residing with Delta and Frank’s Hunch. That’s how Delta would word it. “This woman, Maddy Bellerose lives with my Hunch, in my castle. No one will touch them. No one will consider doing anything but leaving them be to live their lives however they please. This is not a request.” 

She will not make threats. The consequences of not listening will happen automatically. 

Toadstools of different varieties would encircle the mental institution, city hall, other official city buildings, families of the victims Bastien hurt or killed, law enforcement, and a few particular individuals homes she knows have kicked the shit out of Bastien homeless on the street before when he used to not stand up for himself like the day with Esmeralda. Then she has one around the entire city perimeter. It’s large and it’s the one that no one’s going to notice right away. Toads stools suddenly surrounding your house or a building in a city with no grass is a what the fuck sight. 

What Delta has actually done is make her first move. She’s trapped the entire city and it’s higher powers in different sorts of fae circles. She’s telling people now it’s about Bastien and the girl and that works out well and fine the Hunch. But, she’s just entrapped the entire city for her mother’s arrival if and when Pierre or another time keeper pull this off. She’s placed her fae around the city. This means at any moment if anyone within any part of the city step out of line she can make them do anything she wants within the confines of the fairy circle which is why she now has fae not just on the mountain, but their presence around the city. She has many of the Moore’s from the fae realm here hidden throughout. 

Exceptions to the rule would be magic folk with serious magic around their homes already. If strong enough they might be able to combat the control that Delta’s just waiting for someone to dare her to use while hunkered down in their own homes. Like the Laveaus or the Boogies or whoever else might be use magic protections, the Magisterium grounds. But, they’d have to stay within them or they’d get sucked into that fae circle control she’ll have over NOLA. 

Halloween Town is a different realm so it isn’t technically in this. 

Belle & Beast Castle

That said let’s assume Delta’s live feed threat is enough to let Bastien and Maddy be able to walk around outside without being arrested. They’re going to get hella looks though. 

On that note. Bastien had no clue his name was used on Maddy. Chip and Dale didn’t either. Delta suggested it as an alias name when they were changing her records and they rolled with it having no clue themselves what Bastien’s last name was. Delta’s a little shit like that. They can take that up with her if they can figure it out. 

Also note that the entire city is currently trapped in a fairy circle the Moore’s are not currently making things happen yet. Delta might let them play some pranks here or there, but nothing big to give away the larger containment. All the focus is on Bastien with the big shroomies around the institute and cops mostly so it’ll seem like it’s just a Hunch thing, but smart people are still going to be suspicious. 

[orleans-jester]

Dreams {Ellie HC}

The day started out like most. Alarm clock. Get up. Take a shower. Get dressed. Go down to the bakery, say hi to the staff, have breakfast, ask if any help was needed but nope, they had it under control. Take a few sweets for later. Tease dad, make a joke to mom about something or other, upstairs, work on homework. After finishing what needed to be done for the day, and the hours counted down to the right hour, tell the ‘rents she was going out, skateboard on down to the crib, make sure no one was looking while slipping into it and spending time with the crew. Maz was there now. It was the four of them, like it always should  have been.

Day after day. Some good days, like April Fools when she and Maz put worms in Babyface’s clothing drawer at the crib where he kept some spare sets. Valentine’s Day dates where it was just her and Babyface together, having a makeshift dinner and he presented her with some flowers that he picked out of someone’s garden on the way there. Shopping days with Maz. Jax finally came into his powers. He couldn’t die of ordinary means. He fell and impaled himself on a fence but he was able to climb off and was healed within a couple of hours. Completely healed. Happiness.

And there were bad days. Getting into fights among the crew over little things like treats being left out and getting ants all over the place. Accidentally freezing half of the living room when she blew out the candles on the birthday cupcake that Maz made for her. The day when Babyface did come up short on cash, due to no fault of his own, and he had to deal with the consequences and it was so hard to see him beat up like that. Bad days. Not horrible ones.

One rainy night. It was just the two of them at the crib. Jax and Maz were spending the night with the dads. Babyface’s room. Virginities were taken. It was sweet, somewhat short, but definitely special. Fumbly and awkward but there was some laughter after, because they were just too close for it to be entirely serious. There wasn’t any regret. There wasn’t any feeling of having rushed it. They’d do it again a couple of hours later. Less short that time. And then watch a movie and eating treats.

Graduation. There wasn’t actually a ceremony. It came to her in the mail. But did the Bjorgmanns throw a party? Hell yeah. Everyone was invited. Dale and Piper came back out, since things were settled in Peru by then. The crew, of course. Maddy, Bastien, Wulf brought Agnes, treats were brought out, Ellie got applause. Was she going to university? No. A gap year, she’d call it, while she made up her mind. But mostly, she knew she was going to keep working with Babyface. Nothing else was as appealing as being with her boyfriend.

Jax found someone. She was pretty cute. She didn’t necessarily fit into the crew as easy as the original four but she was welcome and she was trusted. Maz - she joined in sometimes with Babyface and Ellie for some things. Nobody wanted her to feel lonely. She was more than welcome to come and cuddle up in their bed. Ellie unofficially moved into the crib, but kept a part time job at the bakery so that she could have some income coming in and people wouldn’t question where she got money. Her parents - they were worried about her, obviously. They didn’t like what they thought that she was doing. But they didn’t want to drive a wedge in their family either, so they’d just keep it to light questions, and knew that she was lying.

Not everything was perfect. There were still arguments. There was still tension sometimes. It was life. But overall, things weren’t terrible. Until there was a night when a lot of alcohol had been drunk during a crew party, and Babyface and Ellie forgot the protection one night and there was a plus sign on the pregnancy test. Though stressed, it wasn’t Ellie’s initial reaction to want to get rid of it. She was an adult now, a grown woman. She sat down with Babyface and they talked through it. There was going to be another Beagle coming into the world - and then Babyface proposed that there should be two, and she should become one as well. A proposal. An acceptance.

It wasn’t going to be a big thing - until the Beagles found out about it. And then it turned into a big thing. No church, nothing fancy, definitely nothing expensive. A trailer park wedding. Ellie wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. She wore a simple white sundress, had Elsa and Maddy as her bridesmaids because one turn deserved another. Maz was the ‘Maiad of Honor’ though it was a title more that showed her best friend than having any real responsibilities. Her parents disapproved. Majorly. So she asked Dale to walk her down the aisle, which was more of a dirt road than anything. Watching Elsa have to walk with Bouncer was worth it alone. Pictures were taken by their friends because why hire a photographer when everyone was going to have their phone out anyway? She barely even showed in those pictures, but her happiness did as she kissed Babyface and said I do.

They got a trailer of their own, but they always had the crib. The area beneath was still sitting empty. It had been years and Babyface still didn’t know what to do with it. He liked it to still be a private thing. Somehow, the rest of the Beagles never found out. They didn’t do a honeymoon thing. They didn’t need to. They could love each other right in New Orleans, they didn’t have to go anywhere else to do it. Besides that, there was work to do. Always work to do.

Pop went the Ellie. And out came the newest Beagle boy - Blaise Beagle. And wouldn’t you guess it, the name fit. Little guy got his mother’s fire blowing powers. Another dragon to add to the bunch in NOLA. Definitely a handful. That’s when the Bjorgmann’s would start to come around to the way that Ellie was living, but only just. She stayed home with the kid, since Babyface was always deeper into Circe’s shit than she was. He’d keep bringing home the money and she would count it for him, on top of managing their own money. At least she was good at that. She could handle the books just fine.

Days went by. Up came the age of twenty-nine. Every time that Ellie looked in the mirror, she saw more and more of her mother. It - wasn’t nice. She loved her mom, yeah, but that fake happiness, that never-stop cheerfulness, that was something that she saw as a flaw. Their parenting styles were different. Their wife styles were different. Babyface would find her that night, crying in the bathroom, having a bit of an identity crisis, half of her hair cut off with kitchen scissors. The next morning, she put on a brave face, went to a salon and got her long red hair cut to her shoulders, something younger, something - less Anna like. But she’d never get rid of the fiery color. That was all her. That same day, she fell ill and found out she was pregnant again. A girl. Brianna Beagle.

Did Babyface ever mature? A bit. Enough. He never finished his high school, but that mattered very little. He still put on that tough guy persona a lot, especially when they weren’t in their trailer or in the crib. He backed it up well. But Ellie never fully stopped worrying when he went out to do whatever it was that he needed to do that particular day. She mothered him a bit. She couldn’t help it. Not with the lectures, no, but taking care of him. Making her own ice packs and making sure that his food was never cold when he got home.

Blaise and Brianna were a lot like their parents. Mischief. Ellie had her hands full with them. Especially when Uncle Jax and Aunt Maz came over and played with them, then things got intense. Usually she just gave in. She never wanted to make her kids feel confined in any way, not like Elsa had when she was a kid, or the way that she felt when her parents really began to disapprove of Babyface and realized that he wasn’t just a phase. Outright fantasy battles happened in the trailer with Blaise on Jax’s shoulders, blowing fire, being a menacing dragon, Babyface being a Lord Farquaad in this instance because of course the kids knew about Shrek. Ellie was the Fiona in distress, since her hair was the right color, tied with skipping rope onto a laz-e boy chair, while Maz and Brianna were Shrek and Donkey coming in to save her.

She loved this family. Oh fuck did she ever. Well into her thirties and not really showing any sign of slowing down. They were her energy. They were her fuel. Her husband, her kids. Her friends. Things weren’t always perfect, but day to day, she was mostly happy. The kids were happy. They tried to put them into school buuuuut it didn’t work out too well. There was too much Beagle in them. Ellie had to meet with the principal of an elementary school to even get the kids in, since they were rejected just by the name alone. Nope. No more Beagles. Not in their halls. There was a pretty big shouting match which ended up in middle fingers and burning paperwork and their kids were going to be homeschooled by her and Babyface - she could do the academic stuff, Babyface could do the real life stuff.

The dreaded teenager years. Blaise and Brianna never lacked friends. There were so many Beagles. Uncles, cousins galore. There were Chip’s kids. There were Maddie’s - Frankie came over once in a while too. Of course there was drama. ‘Mom, Blaise tried to set my hair on fire again!’ ‘Well if you didn’t use so much fucking hairspray, it wouldn’t have caught!’ ‘Mom, Brianna made Wiggins mow a dick onto our lawn’ ‘I did not, he chose to do that himself!’ But after dealing with the problems, Ellie would always relay them back to Babyface, and they would laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

It was a good life. Which was exactly what Oogie wanted her to have. Oh, she was there, lurking. This, though it felt like it was twenty years, this was one night. This was one dream. Like most ‘good guys’, Ellie’s biggest fear was losing the people that she loved. She didn’t have one big enemy the way that Maz did. She just had a secondhand account of loneliness and never wanted to feel that way, and had enough faith in her friends and family that the only way she would was if they died.

She created love so that she could take it away. Ellie, nearing her fourties, would go to bed with Babyface one last time. Snuggled up to him. Planning on working with Brianna on her calculus the next day, since she was struggling a bit. If she did well, then she’d take the kids to a skate park and show them a couple of moves. She wasn’t Tony Hawk, even old Tony Hawk, but she could still do a couple of ollies, and a few other tricks. And then she would wake up, a teenage girl, long messy hair, not a wrinkle in sight, all alone in her bedroom above the bakery which had long since been turned into a guest room for the grandkids.

She was dazed, at first. Not remembering where she was. Then took in the posters and signed pictures on her walls. The pictures that she printed off of her and Maz during their sleepovers and put in tacky frames with feathers and glitter all of them. She ran her fingers through her hair. It was long again. Her hands. The chipped green nail polish. And they were smooth. Hands showed age, and all that this showed was youth. It took her a couple of minutes of just sitting there, staring at her own hands, at her cherry print comfortable pajamas, to realize that the life that she had thought that she lived, the husband, the children - they were all just a dream. It hit her like a freight train. The loss. Raising the two Beagles, loving them with all of her heart, every moment, just to find out that they weren’t real and she had a very big hole in her heart for some time.

She wouldn’t keep it entirely to herself. She told Elsa. She couldn’t bring herself to tell Babyface about it because it was just too embarrassing. They only just said that they loved each other and meant it in a romantic way, not just a friendly way. They never got past just a bit of light groping. To tell him that she had this whole life with him in a dream - it was too much. Too cringe.

On top of the homeschooling that she did, and found that she was pretty proficient in learning things by herself, she didn’t need someone over her shoulder explaining every little thing to her, not when she could just look up how to do it if she had trouble, she was taking those mindfulness lessons that Koda had taught to Elsa, and that she in turn was now being taught. But a bit of that damage was done. There didn’t need to be a second nightmare. There didn’t even really need to be a first one, since life had been good in the dreamworld. She kept expecting to see the blue eyed teenagers come into her room once she got settled into bed or she’d accidentally put cranberries into her morning oatmeal, which she didn’t like but Brianna did. Maybe once things got a little more serious with Babyface she’d tell him how Oogie didn’t entirely let her go, but if he asked if there were any nightmares - she could honestly tell him no. Just good dreams.

[cryptid-killjoy]

Bah, research. Even Dr. Frankenstein would tell Maddy as much as reading up and being prepared is good, often times all it does is give new mothers a thousand useless things to worry about in case they're the select few of the small percentile. Just leave it to their doctor if something felt wrong. Yes.

Off went the shirt.

Then there was Bastien who didn't think about whether they were medically healthy or not. All he knew was when the fabric came down his wife's titties had the power to get him sprung thank you very much. Pants tight. Heat in his throat. The coil in the pit of his gut that would connect the two growing ever more present to him as he pulled her near. It was like his insides that felt invisible before suddenly became tangible parts of him he was fully aware of right up his center and every part of that parallel line needed to align with Maddy. Closer. Closer. Not close enough yet and he had right up against him.

Large enough hands to carry his giant troll hammer, strength in his grip to enough whirl it on his shoulder to switch smashing ends, but gentle enough composure to caress her breasts like they were delicate artwork precious in his palms. Even the look on his face elated to touch his fingertips over their texture feeling the difference the nub verses the smoothness of the under-skin. Even the taste was Bastien enjoying his textures again, his wife's textures not some factory made linen.

He was penciled in. So, he was utilizing his time. His honey skinned girl might not have tasted literally as sweet as such as this. But, oh when his tongue ribbed the bumpy feeling of nipple after cruising between hills of smooth breasts and tasted her milk there was a pause in him. He could smell baby. One didn't need to be a wolf to catch it if they were this close. Bastien was a slow guy. He had issues, delusions, beliefs, and out there guy is the term. Not everything he believed was based in reality. He hadn't been like Thomas all up on Valerie. He wasn't going to "take" what was for Frankie. Bastien had already gone through worst case scenarios in his head where if he got stuck in a cabin during a zombie apocalypse or a snow storm, then and only then would he feed from his wife if he needed to to survive, things like that. But, Bastien had a trauma brain that constantly thought of wild scenarios to be ready for ever watching his back, and well, now his family's back making up survival plans.

So, it was in this moment as they were finally nearly a year out and baby foods were being introduced he was taking a slow down during his penciled in time. Maybe a part of him thought that through. Frankie would be fine, but mostly he was just lost there in this gorgeous set of brown tittie so soft and sweet on his tongue, so warm when the liquid unintentionally pooled in his mouth, and his responsive reaction was a hand shot straight down to his belt line to yank it open. The sound of the buckle would fill the air. Zipper. Pants shoved and kicked while still holding his cock in his hand. He was squeezing his cock as he latched on, truly lost in her for just moment. Bastien was gone. Somewhere else. Everything was instinctive. His thoughts were gone.

He looked up from her chest as he lapped up his new found joy. As a white droplet lay against her he couldn't help but think it was just beautiful against her skin as his cum.

Then he pushed her back while kissing that exquisite face that said yes in the pumpkin patch, the face too good for his, always someone else's, never listens but it always there face that could never see past the end of her nose, his wife's, Mrs Bellerose's face with those endearing yes lips. But, suddenly it wasn't those lips he couldn't get out of his head.

This was a man on self serve tonight as instinctual more raw and filthy possessing moves came out in him. Once he yanked and peeled her pants and useless panties off he crushed down for a face melting kiss as he gripped her breasts and then kissed his way down her chest and belly. He could feel milk pour over his knuckles with that move. He took the warm liquid over the back of his hand and wiped it between her legs like he was spreading icing on a cake. Then with a near smirk he went face first into the best first lick of ooey gooey pussy ever with a hint of something new.

"Mmm frosted pussy." He even said it out loud like he was gone, a haunted tone, speaking more as someone satiated by a delicious bite rather than speaking to someone. He would take more than his fair share too, lingering in places Maddy probably didn't need, but he was taking his time for his own sake. That boy liked to use his tongue.

But, that also wasn't stopping Mr. Bellerose from going for his tried and true never even guilty about favorite viewing pleasure. Dat ass. When he finally came up for air he was pushing her over on all fours to get the good view. Two big hammer holding palms on those palpable globes so good for squeezing. He'd give that twat a nice little pat all good from under that ass of those spread knees. Damn his wife had a hot ass. He couldn't stop thinking it every time she was bent over. Then he anchored himself to her, grabbed his cock, and hauled in that pretty pink space so soft. It was a doggie style move, but just after he shoved in he wrapped his arms around her to pull her up so she'd no longer be on all fours. She'd be sitting backwards in his lap, her back against his chest, his cock firmly inside her.

Then he'd keep his arms wrapped around her ribcage, his head over her shoulder, cock thrusting in a haze, mind in a state, but in that state would think he needed penciled every day. Even the gargoyles were suddenly looking like they were in the spy room getting turned like Columbia and Magenta being voyeurs.

"Fuck I needed this."

As if it'd been anywhere, but maybe parenthood and distractions had a way of slowing down Bastien's roll.

Bastien came rushing in their dungeon at a run. He dropped his hammer without even putting it in it's proper put-away location.

"MADDY!! MADDY!! You have to listen to what I learned tonight. You just have to."

His cheeks were flushed from the sprint. His pale skin all splotchy from the exertion to hurry up to get to her.

[orleans-jester]

“It’s totally fine, love,” Thomas said, keeping close to Valerie as they started to walk into the night. Going down the mountainside. It was more chilly out here than expected, and unknown to them, it was Elsa on the other side towards the beach, creating something beautiful for Bastien’s and Maddy’s eyes. “Being here makes me want to take you back to our old home too.”

He loved their new house, obviously. It was entirely theirs. No Cinderella. No Jetsam either, other than the small hints of him that were here and there, mostly in Scout’s room. The twins were grown up and with their own houses, so there were pieces of them too but not as big as there had been in the house that they had grown up in. But he did still like the original house, because it was there that he had met Valerie for the first time, where he had seen her all dolled up and performing an Amy Winehouse song, and where he fell in love with Flotsam, and where they planned a war on goddamn Star People and WON. There were a lot of good memories associated there.

He was just thinking about taking off his jacket and putting it around Valerie’s shoulders, give her that extra warmth, maybe even offer to carry her down the mountain with those high heels that she was wearing, when something, or rather, someone, seemed to capture her attention.

Eeyore - now that was a name that he hadn’t heard in quite some time.

His own blue eyes settled on his former pan-pal. They had seen each other a couple of times in person since those letters all that time ago. He still had a few, he thought, tucked away into one of the boxes of sentimental things that he had brought from NOLA during the move over to New Zealand. They weren’t the rough kind of sentimental. He hadn’t had a falling out with the guy.

He lifted up a friendly hand up to Eeyore, a boyish grin on his own face. “Hello, my writing friend. Nice to see you.”

He really hadn’t thought too much about Eeyore in the past couple of years, he was loathe to admit. Hadn’t really thought about where he might have ended up. He knew that the boy was close with Cinderella, and probably had been grieving her loss but… well, not much other than that. He felt a bit bad about it. Of course the poor boy was deceased, but he did look happier now than he had ever seen him. That counted for something, right?

Oh. Poor boy. Poor, poor boy. Didn’t even realize what he was. Without asking Valerie, he was following her line of thought. It was probably better not to push that point.

He gave a little chuckle at Valerie’s cover. “Thomases can’t fly either,” He added. “Though with this lovely lady by my side, sometimes it feels like anything is possible.”

He put his arm around his wife, pulling her in closer, and kissed her cheek as he says this, and then notices her chill. Without a word, he pulls off his jacket and settles it around her shoulders, able to take that bit of a chill. “There you go, love. Let’s get you to the inn and we can…” He raised his eyebrows. “Warm up together.”

Valerie knew Dug would have always led Thomas back. She believed in that. Flotsam had the master plan. She gave Dug all the credit, but she wouldn't mind giving River some too.

Valerie loved how Thomas and she were in sync tonight. "Yeah, I like that. Best kids. All of them." She was grinning to herself with the term wolf-mauled still in her head. Everything was keeping a smile on her face tonight.

Valerie felt close enough to Geppeto just by proximity. Their lives were entwined by the people she cared for. Parents knew of parents. At least it usually worked that way if one was an involved parent anyhow. They knew of Geppeto after all they the visits. Parenting worked that way even if they were probably in Flotsam form when they'd met before and were possibly confusing them here.

She was pleased with Figaro's reaction. It seemed they took it in and understood the impression would last.

Thomas even gave Chess an extra safety measure which helped ease Valerie's thoughts. It made her admire her man all the more.

As they were headed out she'd be reminded they couldn't actually drive home since they were in Feral. It made her laugh. Blame it on the alcohol.

"Oh, my bad. That works. It feels like forever." She was smiling because The Inn sounded fun like more memories come back to life. Feral had heart beats of Nola left in it, just the good ones. "We'll get tomorrow's bus out. Chess can come back there too. It's all no big deal at-" She was rambling away as they walked down the lengthy castle pathways to head out and down the mountain when she felt the breeze from the doorway. It was a draft she wasn't expecting on her bare shoulders.

But, before they'd reach the large exit as she shivered she noticed a face on the way out she hadn't throughout the entire party.

She had to do a double take. No one had noticed him so far.

"Eeyore?" Valerie would probably have to introduce herself to this one. He never knew her this way, only Flotsam. But, Valerie sure knew Eeyore. It was a ghost that Bastien would run to if he noticed. Thomas knew the guy and had a little friendship with him once upon a time, but Valerie? It was a surreal moment because of their history.

"Yes? Thanks for noticing me?" He'd say back unsure of who Valerie was. Maybe it was a good thing? Eeyore was always a little scared of Flotsam because of all the stuff that went on with Cinderella.

He tried to be Cinderella's moral support when their toxic relationship was stir crazy. Eeyore was always waiting for it to fall apart wishing he could swoop in and it never did. He finally moved on to Piglet. Flotsam understood very well that Eeyore was in love with Cinderella long before he ever married her. He's one of the few friends he allowed in Cinderella's life that never fucked up. He was waiting for it, dying for him to mess up. Just give him a reason. But now? Valerie could only think how amazing it was he survived him and ended up dying by another's hands. It meant he was a good one. He didn't cross any lines. Hell, if he wasn't a ghost he'd almost want to shake his hand and be cool with him now. It's like the bully respecting the guy who takes it. Eeyore made it through smelling like roses.

It was probably a weird thought as they stared that Eeyore was probably more Cinderella's speed and the girl really should have gone with him. Guess Eeyore dodged a bullet. That was Valerie's next thought as he watched him smile. Eeyore smiled, but they were emo smiles. It was hard not to find it cute in it's way and Valerie didn't want to see it's light put out.

As a matter of fact as the guy's eyes started to light up at the sight of Thomas something felt oddly relaxing. It was her husband that brought that cuteness back to the donkey boy's otherwise bored face just moments before. They were used to him wincing at their presence, Flotsam's presence.

"My pen pal. Thomas."

That's who Thomas would forever be to Eeyore. His pen pal. A lonely lost boy who got a letter was ever grateful. Valerie could look at Eeyore now and see his spouse's pen pal friend too. What a small world.

The fun part about being Valerie right now in front of Eeyore was she knew they weren't intimidating him like they always had before as Flotsam. She smiled as Thomas would make whatever conversation he would. It wouldn't matter what was exchanged. To feel such a contradiction in feelings from the past, more being written over she didn't even know was still hidden in chapters in the back of her mind, rewritten, all feelings overjoyed. She could stand next to her spouse next to Eeyore and just think cute kid and enjoy how her husband lit up the hearts of so many people, but she got to go home with him. It was such a good feeling. She really liked connecting her memories back to being a kid with the lost boys, the one that couldn't fly. They did have their own history before girls got involved. Valerie was trying to keep her inner giggle to herself.

Then she wondered if she should take her opportunity to ask Eeyore something. It was killing her inside and wasn't sure if it was impolite, but the Flo in her could not stop herself.

"Can you fly? As a ghost? All ghosts can float around some. Surely, you can fly now, right?"

The question took Eeyore off since they had no idea this person knew who they were that intimately. Maybe Thomas told them?

He'd shrug like it was no big deal. "Nope. I guess Eeyores aren't meant to fly. I don't know what you mean by ghost though. It's pronounced Lost Boy."

That answered a big question to Valerie. He really was a ghost. Stuck. He couldn't be dead-dead, just dead. Only a ghost stuck in their life's problems would still have those same problems. She wasn't going to push the word ghost on him again. She was starting to realize fast he was one of those that didn't realize he was dead. How would he? No one ever noticed him anyway.

She smiled back and forth to Thomas. "Don't worry. Valeries can't fly either. Just my heart when this guy looks at me just right." She joked diffusing it giving Thomas a little silly nudge before looking at the door and rubbing her arms as she felt that chill.

Even Eeyore laughed.

Valerie was getting her sights on that Inn though no idea that chill was coming from another unexpected sight out those doors. Even with that chill her heart was so warm. She couldn't stop smiling at every single event that happened this evening. She curled into Thomas trying to keep her body warm though.

[orleans-jester]

Frank wasn’t dragging his feet about any of this, which might have been an odd thing considering. No, actually, he had some pride in what Feral had grown into. In part because of him, but mostly because of Delta. Her power was intimidating, and that was one of the many reasons why he loved her so much, had from the beginning. They weren’t just showing off the castle, but the people on the bus were seeing the transformed streets, the darkness of the woods. They could rival Halloweentown in it’s spookiness, but without all of the corniness. He didn’t have to inherit shit from his father. He earned this through Delta.

Also, the night was sure to be entertaining. Add dashes of Halloween, this crazy crowd, everyone in their costumes, who knows what kind of amusing thoughts are going to be going on inside of their heads? Frank intended to catch as many as he could, laying out a wide net, filtering in the best for Delta. It wasn’t really a ball without a little drama, now was it?

The guests were arriving, and they had a lot to look at. Of course Delta and Frank were a spectacle of their own, him in his tight leather costume, looking almost like a bladeless S&M Edward Scissorhands. Then there was the setup of the Ballroom, the decoration, the drinks and all that were set out for their guests, as if they had come to a King’s court.

Beagles, Laveaus, Belleroses, Trouillefous - and other. A mishmash of people who had collided over the years.

And Frank had a careful eye on it all.

GoGo moving to dance with Scout and Neb, Ellie joining in, making a silly dancing group. Only thing was, GoGo always looked a bit silly when she danced because the girl had absolutely rhythm. Her dancefloor was the racetrack. She wasn’t winning her way onto Delta’s dancetroupe anytime … ever.

Maddy was whispering to Bastien, admiring the way that everyone was looking ronight - nothing but complimentary and wondering who they should approach first - when Piper had gone ahead and made that decision for them. Her smile was genuine, like it always was when she saw Piper after a while. And then she bit down on her lip to hide in the giggles at her husband’s reaction. He’d told her about the eyes. She’d seen some of them at their wedding when Frank had given her glimpses into Bastien’s mind. So she caught on right away as to exactly what Piper was doing. It was also easy to tell that it was Piper - who else would wear something so bold?

“It’s a party no one could miss,” Maddy said, holding onto Bastien’s arm.

“Okay,” She nodded to Piper, and slowly let go of Bastien. She was excited for this dance, for the costumes, for all of it. “Hmm - it’s up to you, but I think he’d like to see it again.”

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."