#nebbyxgogo

[cryptid-killjoy]

"I'm sure. Um, excuse me for a minute." Nebby said having heard a few things of the Laveaus herself, but never have had experience with them herself. She went gunning off looking for Black Arts. She was the one wishing she'd packed extra panties and not for the same reason GoGo had been teasing Scout about earlier.

Scout sounding so proud he was dead and just announcing it like that with no shame stoked Jetsam up. Then he got the intro of GoGo on top of it.

"I know who you are. You're that friend of Scout's that's basiclly a human beanpole shaped computer chip that seems constantly pumped up on liquid schwartz ready to go ludicrous speed at any moment. I like your dress. I think we're the same size. I'm beanpole size too." Then because he's Jet he'd off-handedly say, "I bet that'd look hot on Floppy." And no he didn't mean Koda's horse. He meant Flotsam. They were all skinny lanky people and all Jetsam saw was how they could share outfits the moment he saw her, not that Jetsam was much of a dress wearer, but two seconds on this plain and there he was trying to dress his twin again.

Scout just laughed. "I think Floppy's good in the stable tonight, Dad. But that horse would look sexy in anything." She knew how to turn it into a joke.

Then Jet said, "Well girls, I have one night on earth in my own body. That's not long. Think fast." He lifted his brow at GoGo like it was a challenge. "What should we do with it?"

--

Valerie looked into Thomas's eyes, trying so hard to focus directly on them and nowhere else. The visual lines of focus could be dizzying of one didn't have their coordination down, completely practiced with the windows. It took a long time to become natural. The triplets added a new vision field to tune into and blink through. There was a lot to shut down and hold closed. She gained it though. She held Thomas's eyes, his face, his safety. It was strange because it was only in a moment like this they realized there was very little they ever feared and one of things they feared the most was one of things they loved the most. Jetsam. It was their lack of control over Jet.

She saw what she felt there. She saw the same joy she felt when she first saw Jet making Scout happy. It was such a relief. Such a finally. It was even nice just to see him again for herself. They had such happy memories all their own. They were brothers. Then that feeling of Valerie's skin started crawl and reason's Chip grew up way too fast all rushed back. That's where Thomas's barricade was needed.

She was wanted for more than her song. Damn. Weirdly, it made her think back to Ariel's voice still stuck in that seashell Delta likes to keep. Valerie definitely didn't want to be reduced to her voice. It made it sound like her song was something that could be put away like the necklace. This made her remember Valerie being hidden under the bed. She liked being able to change when she wanted from Flotsam to Valerie now with the new magic, but the way Thomas worded it, it made her feel reminded she wasn't something that had to hide under the bed anymore. She could wasn't a parlor trick for entertainment. She was his wife and no matter what was going on around them she was wanted here. He said she could change if she wanted, but she was wanted for more than her song.

That was all she needed, that moment of Thomas having her back. His voice being her reminder helped straighten hers. She was wanted. She was Valerie fucking Laveau. "I'm your fucking wife and I deserve to be here."

"Every now and then the box under the bed likes to creep up on me. Thanks for the reminder, my love."

She kept pushing her forehead against his to keep that connection. "Plus, fuck that. I don't want to give anyone the satisfaction of me running. I'm here to stay and I'm yours. I don't want to send the wrong signals if I change." Then she slid her hand down his hand and took his hand in hers. She gave him a kiss, a nod that she'd be alright, then started to back her head up, but she did not let go of his hand.

--

As for River when he and Elsa's embrace finally started to loosen the familiar way she messed with his curl brought a smile to his face.

"And you look amazing." River replied loving her costume. It was up his alley.

But rough?

"Oh. Right." He looked down at himself. "Yeah. That happens. It always starts out so good. By the end of the night I'm rotten again. I should have waited to manifest till right when I got here. I messed it up. I've been practicing. My tangible time's been getting longer and longer. I think I wore myself out doing it too much this week wanting to surprise everyone this week too. Ah well."

Koda was amazed though, "So, you're telling us you've been around more than tonight? AND YOU'VE TOLD NO ONE. Dude. Bruh."

"I know. I know. Surprise. I'm the new-"

Koda yelled out Patrick Swayze right as River finished his sentence with Sparky. He was the new Sparky. Then the two guys laughed thinking they were going to finish each others' sentence, but finishing it so different made them laugh so hard.

Koda was all grins just behind him until he noticed Jetsam. That was his buddy. With all due respect to Elsa and River's relation's his emotions went on overdrive when he caught sight of Jet. He slapped his hand on River's back.

"I'm gonna leave you two to it for a minute. I see your ol' man over there. I'm going to go catch him before he disappears. You cool, Elsa?"

--

Silas felt the pull and didn't didn't resist. He walked like he was being escorted like a gentleman making no fuss to the partygoers. That's what's Delta wanted. Frank would be able to feel a slight stiffness in his body since he wasn't the one in complete control. This was unnerving even to a narcissistic psychopath. A loss of any amount of control is always a red flag in their mind even if regular person can't detect them feeling bothered.

The comment however amused Silas. "How very Ed Gein of you. Quite inspiring. I never did think he went far enough. So much potential there. His creativity was cut short. Your mind is far more innovative."

What he didn't say out loud were thoughts of how he'd like to work with a mind like that. Why didn't his partners ever have ideas like that? Wastes of skin, all of them. Then the random flashes of actual human skinnings would cycle through his head. He made better uses of their skin than their wastes of lives did. There was a superiority and matter of factness to his thoughts that only someone with a certain lack of understanding of true empathy has.

When Silas called Frank innovative Delta said, "Innovative? Oh honey. You have no idea. Whatever high horse you think you rode in on, I won't just knock you off the horse. I'll cut the horse off at the knees, shove those knees down your throat, and shove you up that horse's ass. That's just what I'll do. You don't even want to get in Frank's head. So, why don't we just cut the bullshit right now and you tell us what you want here? Now. Before you find out the hard way."

What a feisty, little, spunky, girl. He was finding her personality so far very acidic and inviting. No wonder his father adored this child. Memories of how many times his father left his own side telling him he had to go "take care of Delta" or he was on "Uncle Jenner duty" and that took priority over him. Memory flashes of Chernabog's face telling him he was a big boy and he had to handle himself while he carried out Maleficent's order's. Coven always came first. Time was strange because this became a simple matter of fact these facets of Silas's hidden childhood despite never having met Delta in person the whole time. Delta always to priority. Jenner was late for dinner. Oh, he was doing something with Delta and Maleficent again. Sure, he'd seen her before now. But, now they were here truly face to face.

Then of course there was the Oogie Boogie layer to his life. This came later. She never truly pushed any agenda in his head to feel one way or another about these two. Jenner tried to give the boy some stability a little too late. Silas has always had his own personal agendas and was thrown in the middle of whatever he was born into. It was difficult to navigate what he felt especially for a person who didn't feel a lot other than the urge to satisfy his own curiosities.

Silas pointed at Delta's necklace.

"I want to see my father. I know he's alive. I can feel him."

---

Then there was Bastien who picked up his hammer as he said he said he was going to. When he got it he didn't go over to Pierre. He got stuck again. He still felt like he was supposed to go rushing up to the situation and to go lay down the law on the guy or even smash smash smash. He still hadn't gotten any orders from Delta. Maybe she really did want all these ghosts here. Maybe she even invited them. So many thoughts raced through his head. He was loyal to Frank and Delta. He didn't want to fuck up, but his emotions were getting the better of him.

But by this point he was starting to reevaluate the whole situation. "Maddy?" His voice was soft. Seeing Zero and Seven with him was one thing, but what he was seeing now caused him to rethink everything.

It was Piper, the Reaper's daughter. She wasn't in her eyeball costume anymore because she'd just done the dance with Maddy and the rest of the girls. She'd caught sight of Pierre.

"Pierre?" She called his name. "The hourglass flipped over for you." She sighed like it was the most relieving news she could ever recieve. "The hourglass flipped." Then she reached out to give him a hug like all their past disagreements were wiped away with that hourglass turn. As far as she was concerned, at least for Halloween if that's what was happening, they were good until the sands ran out again. She wasn't wasting what time she had with him.

Bastien would look back at his wife. "We have to rethink this. I'm confused. Is he dead or alive?"

“You kinda get used to it overtime,” Go-Go said to Nebby, keeping her cool. The Laveaus had been shocking her since Dale had made Anton come to life. She could be shocked - but hardly ever surprised.

It really did look like a young Flotsam, though maybe a bit more wild in the eyes. The resemblance was uncanny. “Hi Dead Dad, I’m Go-Go,” She introduced.

--

Thomas was fine tuned to the word Daddy now coming from Scout’s lips. So of course, for a moment there, he thought that she was calling for him and his head turned as well, only to see the jet black hair of Jet, it couldn’t have been anyone else. He saw Scout’s smile, and he couldn’t help but smile back - he did love to see her happy like that, her cheeks looking like they could become sore at any moment from the smiling. And then he felt his wife hold onto his arm a little heavier, and he looked up at her. The storm behind her eyes. Not a raging storm, no, but a conflicted one. A storm holding castaways on the shoreline rather than being the reason they were being castaways in the first place.

Thomas turned around, turning his back to everything that was going on. Scout hugging Jet. River hugging Elsa. He put all of his attention on his wife just then, standing a touch taller on his toes so that he could rest his forehead against hers, looking one another eye to eye. He wanted to protect her from Jet. He remembered how Jet had wated to fuck Valerie, to take her, but Valerie had always said no. He was going to stand as that barrier, protect her right then.

“You can change if you want to, but you don’t have to,” He said, gently. “I like having you here with me, Valerie. You’re wanted for more than just your song.”

Even while everyone was looking over the newcomers, he was looking at her. His lips brushed against hers in a gentle kiss, giving her every inch of his attention, not even watching through the eyes, just her.

--

Elsa’s heart had leaped into her throat. It was stuck there. Frozen there though her feet kept on moving. The moniker of mom, she had missed it. She hadn’t realized that she had missed it exactly this much. And then touching him, the flesh, even if it was’t the best looking, even if he looked like the corpse that he was while everyone looked like the day that they died, it was a relief, it was a beautiful thing, it meant everything.

Elsa hugged him back, head in his messy dark hair, the curls towards the end, always with the handsome curls. She kissed his cheek affectionately, and then backed up to look at him, her lips pursed, looking over his face. And then the smallest of grins as she said honestly, “You look rough.”

--

Frank wasn’t going to give Silas any satisfaction in saying his name. It wasn’t going to come out of his mouth, no, he came as a clown, and so as a clown, he would be referred. Weak ass creepy clown shit. What did he think this was, a Stephen King novel?

He held Silas in place, his grip strong, his gaze still on Delta as she laid down the law, which made him smirk again. Really, it seemed like everything they did turned each other on. The way they dealt with this situation was no different. That defiant little ‘how dare you’ expression on her cute face, he loved. He even loved it when she turned it towards him.

He wasn’t gentle about pulling the clown towards the special room in which they would find out exactly why he was here. It could have been as simple as looking for his father, or spying for Oogie or some shit like that, but one never knows with people like them. Could be nefarious, could be innocent.

“He’s got nice skin,” Frank said aloud, wanting the clown to hear him. “If we tan his hide, we could make new seat covers for the car.”

He wanted Silas to know exactly who was in charge here, and it wasn’t going to be him.