The sudden arrival of several guests immediately caught Kate's attention. Tobias should have known that it was only a matter of time before she went over to them, but he hadn't expected that it would happen so quickly - one moment, they were talking to the second guest. The next, Kate was dragging him over to the demon and angel-demon hybrid. Tobias awkwardly offered the previous guest a wave as they approached the two newcomers - feeling too shy to say anything.
Kate came to a stop a few feet away from the two.
"Hello!" she exclaimed, giving them a smile. "I'm the host of the party. You can call me Kate, and this is my best friend Tobias."
Rowenna looked up as two people went over to a demon and a demon-angel. The woman wore a witch hat and Rowenna overheard her say that she was the host. Interesting. Rowenna turned her attention back to the person who had bumped into her, but kept a watch out of the corner of her eye.
"Those moments when your in so deep, it feels easier to just swim down"
"I'm erasing myself from the narrative. Let future historians wonder how Eliza reacted when you broke her heart
Marciella watched from a distance. These people looked...wrong. They didn't belong to any faction of humans she knew of (though humans were prone to adding a subtracting bits of their bodies to make themselves look unnatural) and they certainly weren't mer.
She didn't comment though. Didn't approach anyone. She told herself it was because of some social rule she didn't want to violate. Really, she just didn't want to get out of the water.
Seeing that they had been properly introduced to the hosts, Tep decided they would indulge in some of what had been offered. They walked over to the stores of natural energy. Though it wasn't apparent in their physical representation, they were practically drooling; they hadn't seen such a large store of energy in a long time.
They were planning on draining the whole thing if nobody stopped them. Whether or not they were capable of such a feat was debatable, but they would certainly try.
Their body went still as the non-physical body began feeding.
Lost, not aimless. I know where I need to go, I just...don't know how to get there yet. (they/them)
"Baba," said Baba, still partially under the rug. They hoisted themselves up off the floor, and brushed several kilograms of dust off of their tatty overalls, leaving a fuzzy grey pile where they stood. Rowenna’s toes got away with a light coating. She must not have liked that, because she walked away soon after. Oops.
Baba sat on the carpet a moment longer, considering what had happened, but was soon distracted by the skeletons in funny clothes, floating couches, the lake in the floor… oh look, there was someone there! And she had a tail. But not like any sort Baba had seen before. She wasn't covered head to toe in thick crusty scales and barnacles. Her face was smooth. She had hair.
Baba, curiosity awoken, approached the lady, and offered a hand to shake. Just how proper adults liked to do.
"Hey lady, what's your name? I'm Baba. Baba the scarecrow. I ain't never seen a lagoon creature that looks like you. Where do you come from?"
____________________
Bettie smiled back. A passing skeleton dressed like a medieval priest fell to the floor, blinded.
"Charmed. I'm Bettie. -I love your palette, Kate, it's so cute. Black boots are just so perfect for that hard candy contrast, you know? And the taller, the better-" she got carried away talking fashion for a minute, before she remembered Guy was still there.
"Oh, and this is my plus one, Guy. He talks, sometimes."
Guy almost got a word in past Bettie, but then she stepped almost through him to get closer to Tobias.
"How'd you like to warm up the floor with me later, sugar?" she said, flashing her big bright eyes for a second, before she let them hide behind her eyelashes again. They were thick as caterpillars.
Bad souls have born better sons, better souls born worse ones -St Vincent
Marciella drew herself out of the water and took a seat on the edge of the pool before shaking Baba's hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you," she said courteously, "I'm Lady Filis of Freyellot. My first name is Marciella."
A talking scarecrow. It was difficult not to gawk, but she managed it. It was fair enough to assume that Baba had been brought to life by some powerful mage's spell, or that she was some kind of familiar. Either way, it was impolite to ask.
Carter straightened the purple, sparkle covered spider bow tie wrapped around his neck and adjusted the dagger cuff links while waiting for Paul to get out of the car. The magician had spent the entire car ride adjusting his fiery red hair. The deputy sighed at the weight of the bobby pins and hairspray while helping his date out of the car.
"Are you quite ready, darling?" Carter huffed out while lighting a new cigarette, blowing out a puff of smoke and wondering if his Charger was going to be alright in this parking lot. "We're already late for this goddamn thing that you wanted so badly to go to." A muffled voice crudely replied, "You wanted to come too, don't even dare deny that, Mr. Warlock."
The deputy reached inside and pulled out the smaller magician wearing a red velvet Victorian style suit, decked out in ruffles from head to heel, and carrying his usual walking stick. Carter had taken gentle care to decorate it appropriately so that it would be part of the elaborate costume.
"Paul, I'm a witch," he paused to button up the magician's coat. "Are you sure you don't want me to drop you off at the door?"
The magician ignored him, handing Carter a top hat adorned with similar spiders and daggers, and marched off towards the house. The deputy smiled at the image of his partner walking into the sunset, giving the man just a moment to get ahead before he dared to take his side arm out of the trunk.
Carter buckled the shoulder holster on carefully, double and triple checking to make sure it wouldn't be visible. He wasn't up for any surprises tonight. He decided to come prepared.
"Carter? Are you coming?"
He slammed the trunk down in reply and sprinted to catch up with Paul. They flashed their invitations to a literal goon at the door and stepped inside to the madness beyond.
Here's the two new characters that'll show up later in this post.
Ryan Evans: He has black hair that's noticeably shorter than Tobias's, but is still a decent length - probably down to his shoulders. His eyes are so dark that they could be considered black. He's wearing a costume - it's traditional Ancient Greek clothing, but with a black crown and all black cloth.
Azalea Evans: She has dark skin and long, dark hair that's currently styled in a fanciful ancient Greek braid. Like Ryan, she's dressed in traditional Greek clothing. Hers is white, but has flowers occasionally here and there. Her crown looks like a flower crown, but in the shape of an actual crown.
Before Kate could even offer a word in response to the compliments that Bettie had just showered on her, the demon had moved onto Tobias. He immediately froze up at the attention, and then grew noticeably more uncomfortable when she asked him for the first dance.
...Maybe she shouldn't have asked him to come.
But what was done was done, so she'd just improvise their way out of this one.
She slung her arm around his. "Actually," she said, practically hanging off of the much taller Tobias, "Tobias offered to dance with me first. Maybe you could dance later on."
She gave Bettie another warm smile just as Tobias gave her a grateful and relieved one.
Two things almost immediately happened: two guests entered through the main entrance, and two more appeared much more abruptly near one of the corridors - the magic that brought him there lingering in the air. There was little reaction to the first two, but a hush fell among the quietly chattering skeletons.
In retrospect, she probably should have spread the news that her boss and his wife was coming tonight. The skeletons were all in a frenzy, now - they were either frozen stiff or hurrying to make themselves look their absolute best. The chaos that suddenly - and briefly - unfolded made him look downright uncomfortable, but his wife was quick to point out Kate and Tobias.
Maybe they'd calm down once they forgot he was there?
Kate led Tobias away from Bettie and Guy, making a beeline over to the two newcomers that she knew so well.
"That's an outfit I haven't seen in awhile," Kate commented.
Her boss rubbed the back of his neck. "We wanted to do a matching costume," he admitted, "and this was the first thing both of us thought of."
"...Is that crown plastic?" Tobias asked.
Her boss reached up a hand and tentatively touched. "It is," he confirmed - still looking a little sheepish. "I didn't think the outfit was recognizable."
"We grabbed it on the way," his wife clarified. "I made mine before we left."
"Please make me one sometime," Kate begged. "I can never make mine as good as yours, and I've been trying to get the spell perfect for years!"
She laughed.
"Just remind me after the party," she said. "Or during it, if you want. I know you love that witch hat, but something tells me you're more interested in the flower crown right now."
Kate grinned.
"Great!" she exclaimed. "Now, to get down to business."
She dropped her voice low.
"He wants to go as Tobias tonight," she whispered, gesturing over at her best friend. "So I'm going as Kate for now. You've been using Ryan and Azalea lately, right? I always have trouble keeping track of your names."
Her boss nodded, his gaze wandering over to Tobias. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."
Rowenna quickly found a corner as more people arrived. The lady with all the hairpins and clips made her eyebrows go up to her hairline. She smiled as she saw Baba talking to the Lagoon lady. Baba was so energetic and friendly, it was hard not to like him. Taking a deep breath, she walked over to them. "Hi." She said shyly. "I'm Rowenna." She didn't offer her hand, not knowing how this mermaid would react to a vampire.
"Those moments when your in so deep, it feels easier to just swim down"
"I'm erasing myself from the narrative. Let future historians wonder how Eliza reacted when you broke her heart
Marciella offered her signature friendly smile, and her hand, "Lady Marciella Filis of Freyellot," she introduced herself again. Using her full name was getting tiresome.
The woman herself looked rather odd, but she was almost definitely human. Her every oddity could be easily explained away by those funny little modifications humans tended to inflict on themselves so obsessively.
Rowenna shook her hand, and sensed Marciella's thought. "I'm not human. My full name is Rowenna Silver Dracula. I'm a vampire." She smiled, showing her teeth a little bit. "I won't hurt you." She added hurriedly. She wanted to make at least one friend here.
"Those moments when your in so deep, it feels easier to just swim down"
"I'm erasing myself from the narrative. Let future historians wonder how Eliza reacted when you broke her heart
Marcialla blinked, her smile faltering for a moment before returning, "My apologies, I'm afraid I don't know what a vampire is. I hope you'll forgive my ignorance on that matter, but would you mind explaining?"
Why had she felt the need to specify that she wouldn't hurt her? If they were talking about stereotypes or abilities, then Marciella was certainly the more dangerous of the two. She had seen Rowena's fangs, but Marciella had fangs of her own. More than fangs, rows upon rows of teeth designed for shredding and skin much thicker than any humans. She could tell by the feel of Rowena's hand that her skin had no such advantage.
Still, she kept smiling pleasantly, closed-lipped, human.
Rowenna thought for a minute. "Vampires, we're....we're close to immortal, we can turn into bats, we drink the blood of humans, or animals if we're desperate. We can turn other humans into vampires, if we choose to. Sunlight, garlic and silver are the only things that can kill us." Sharing that probably wasn't the best idea, but Rowenna decided to risk it. "We have to drink blood to survive. My family, the Dracula's, are the oldest and first vampires ever."
She stopped, waiting for Marialla's reaction.
"Those moments when your in so deep, it feels easier to just swim down"
"I'm erasing myself from the narrative. Let future historians wonder how Eliza reacted when you broke her heart
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