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 Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:04 pm
Riley didn't like the way the boy was staring at her. She'd already taken a step back, ready to move on, when he spoke, and her mind broke. It wasn't the voice she recognized first, but the phrase, and the feeling behind those words. Her jaw dropped for a single moment, letting out a choked sound, before she stifled her laughter and bit her lip to keep from letting it out.
And oh, how strange it felt to do such a thing. She half expected her teeth to tear through the flimsy flesh, but they merely held on, as she choked back her amusement.
"Ah. Uh. I didn't. Know. Right then." She tucked the bill into her cleavage, and reached out to take Malodore's arm. Once she'd done so, however, she stopped - it all felt remarkably strange, and soft, and just.. not Malodore. It was jarring her a bit.
"Didn't see your disguise. My sincerest apologies, my dear." Her confusion turned jovial and teasing. "Have you hugged your human today?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:18 pm
Mort was swept up in her renewed excitement and couldn't speak for a bit - that was one tight hug! "Mrrrr . . ." He winced a bit at the most unmanly shriek she gave, though at least it was small enough that only a few of the humans gave them strange looks. "E-Easy, Bells. Uh, not sure how much this . . . "twenty" gives, but maybe just look around and see what catches eye?"
Abstaining from getting back on the Byron train (as he called being carried about by), Mort scanned the immediate area. "Perfumes n' cologne . . . Candymart . . . Books . . . Skellyvision stuff . . . mrrr, think down that way is food court too." He stroked his chin, unwittingly searching for the facial hair hidden away. "Actually, think books might be good idea like mentioned. Will go see what Humans like reading but - oh!" Mort peered down the food court route again.
"Aha! Think see photo booth." It looked a bit on the ratty side, but at least nobody was occupying it. He took her hand and swung it a bit as he lead them over. Mort wasn't particularly interested in getting photos as humans (the suffocation of sagging chests still lingered on his face), but Bells was being insistent and it looked harmless. Hopefully their twenty would suffice! "Looks like ours," he commented as he examined the booth as inconspicuously as possible. "Only for $3!" the painted message boasted. Huh! So it was sorta cheap for four photos.
He looked up to Bells and smiled, putting his bill in where the arrows pointed."My treat."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:18 pm
"Five of them. I'm not sure they enjoyed it, but I didn't either. There was a child..." It shook its head. "I believe you would have appreciated her, ruffles and all. Ah..." It poked at the money again. "I suppose we could go to any shop we want. This says 20' on it, so if we match it to the price tags..."
It leaned in very close, then. "You have... a nose. And a mouth. This is passing strange."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:32 pm
There was that voice in his head again. Sighing, he listened quite intentely and then blinked. Human money? Odd.... Well, if they were getting it as part of the assignment he had no qualms about taking it from the professor. He murmured something under his breath to the professor and wandered off a little more. What could he get with this? How did he know how to do it? Frowning a little bit, he looked around for that one Kind human that hugged him so well last time. Hm, she was no where to be seen. Letting his brows knit, Uller kind of stood there like a bump on a log, looking even more lost than last time. If only he knew where Jack or Frost were... They might know more than he did. Sighing heavily, he rubbed his face and decided to call out for Frost this time. Jack didn't answer when he tried before, so he figured with Frost's hearing, he'd find him. "Frost?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:35 pm
"I did not appreciate the children I met. They assaulted Christof. I believe they infected him." She shuddered at the reminder. "Their guardians were even less interesting. In fact, the only human I tolerated was the one I met right before I saw you. She exhausted herself with the amount of Fear she produced.. my body still tingles at the thought."
When Malodore leaned in, she responded automatically, as if there were secrets to be had. The mention of her nose and mouth made her eyes widen, and her hand reached up to start poking her lips again. "I know. Isn't it absurd? I haven't gotten used to them yet. Look how squishy.."
Then she reached out and started poking his lips, too. "Did you realize you have the same, I wonder? Look, the fatty flesh, it responds so easily to pressure."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:44 pm
Malodore flinched away from her fingers. "It is... I do not find it repulsive in other species, but when our faces are soft and fleshy, we are unmasked. Blinded, muted. To feel flesh when I touch my face is physically foul for a plague doctor... at least you have a mouth in your natural state."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:46 pm
...they were giving her money
...human world money.
...and she could keep it
this was the best field trip ever
Poke's eyes lit up like fright lights, waiting with baited breath as a DETH assistant handed her one of the thin paper objects. Immediately she examined the bill, turning it over in her hands, reading the green writing on the front and back of the paper, trying to get a feel for what she was dealing with. Just looking at it she wouldn't have been able to tell it was human currency. Did they really buy, sell and trade with pieces of paper? It was absurd! Money was supposed to be valuable, like gold or silver or even gemstones.
The writing itself made no sense what so ever. What was a 'Unites States of America'? Was it another form of money? And the words 'in god we trust', what did that mean? It also had a picture of some old human, and the words '20 dollars'. Her mind couldn't figure out the meanings of the text on the paper. And as she looked at it, the dragon ghoul realized she had no idea how much it was worth. She felt frustrated with the lack of knowledge, wanting to know how she could get more of this human money so she could obtain riches from the human world.
Placing the paper in a pocket, she moved away from the group, deciding she would at least try to finish their ‘homework’, though what she was supposed to purchase she had no idea. Maybe it would be good to watch the humans and see what they did.
Her gaze settled on a group of them, talking away loudly and pointing to a clear box with smaller rectangles inside, displaying moving images…Oh! This must be their version of a skelevision. There was a giant yellow label with red writing on it that said “SALE! $999”. Taking out her bill she looked at it, then at the sign again. Then at the bill again, then at the sign again.
“Can I help you miss?”
Poke looked up at the human who was addressing her, smiling happily.
“..Umm….” She paused, looking at her paper and then at the sign. “…I have no idea how much this is worth.” She showed him the paper.
The human blinked at her question, looked at the bill, then back at her. “…That’s worth 20 dollars. It says so right there, see?” He pointed to the writing on the paper.
“Oh! So that what that was…” She looked back to the sign. She was willing to bet that the 999 was how much it would cost, and her 20 wasn’t going to cut it.
When she looked back, the human wasn’t looking so happy. “That costs 999 dollars, You don’t have enough to purchase it.” Yup, she was right.
“What could I purchase with this?” She looked at the other odd items on display.
“We have some headphones on sale for 19 dollars,”
“I’ll pass, thanks” She said, then walked off. At least she could understand what the dollar part meant now.
As she passed a few more stores, she caught sight of something…shiny. She stopped and got a closer look; feeling amused when she realized it was a small statue of a dragon. Its body was curled around a treasure chest, complete with colored rocks and even a few pieces of glass that she assumed must have been treasure. It was kinda cute, and the little tag hung around the model said it was $5. That would leave her with a fair amount left, so she walked into the shop with her bill in hand.
The actual process of buying wasn’t that complicated, and reflected Halloween procedures rather well. Pick up item, give item to store keeper. Give money. Receive item and change. She walked out of the shop, item wrapped up in some weird material (apparently to protect it), and proceeded to move back to the main group.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:52 pm
Riley thinned her eyes, and her lips curled up in a devious smile. "Then I think I just figured out what I'm going to use my money on." She stopped poking Malodore and took his hand in hers, squeezing it as the warmth between them shocked her. "Come with me. I know just where to go."
She tugged him softly, and led him to a colorful looking store, though the colors were not abusive to her senses the way Malodore's outfit was. In fact, the rich golds and reds were warm, and pleasing. There was also black and green everywhere. It was a gaudy version of home, and it was perfect.
Her favorite part was that the store was called..
Halloweentown.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 9:56 pm
Malodore allowed itself to be tugged along, its balance off from missing wings and tail. However, when it saw the store in question, it stopped and stared. "This... is this like the false Haunted House that the Professor took us to before? All fakery and imitation of our home?" It stepped forward and pushed at the door, which opened with a very fake-sounding scream.
Inside was...
...
It took a step back and gave Riley the most intensely skeptical look ever.
"Humans are strange. Why would the Hunters hate us so if their own kind honors us in this way?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:01 pm
Riley laughed openly at the question, her head tilting back, and then straightening with a wide smile. "The hunters are idiots. Humankind can't make their minds up about anything, my dear. They hate us, then they love us, then they fear us, then they worship us, it's absolutely absurd." She dragged him straight through to the masks section. "At present day, I think there may be more humans who like us, than hate us. But their version of like is still discriminatory. If they saw one of us.. truly saw us.. they would not hesitate to kill."
She said this nonchalantly, even as she started filtering through the masks.
"But it's the children that inspire stores like this. They do not hate us, despite how much we feed upon them. They thrill at the thought of us. And so.." She pulled out a floppy, plastic mask, and put it over her face. It was a Frankenstein mask. Her voice was muffled when she spoke through it. "They try to look like us during Halloween. Roar." She held her hands out menacingly.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:21 pm
"The children? I thought you didn't like them," Malodore said, pulling a thick plastic mask off the shelf - thick for the selection there, at least. The rubber band at the back pinched at its hair (and so strange, to have hair), but as the mask settled into place it felt a little better. Just a little. "The one I met was terrifying, and yet... I still feel like these don't deserve what some would give them."
The mask's eye-holes didn't fit perfectly; it had to lean in to read the price tags. "How much are these?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:33 pm
"I hate them." Riley smiled toothily. "But they are the only humans worth remaining alive. They could feed us for millenia, and when they become too old to believe, and just old enough to become a threat.." She pulled the mask off quickly, making a head-popping sound.
She turned the price tag over, and tapped it with one finger. "19.99. That is under twenty dollars almost exactly. It is as though they expected us, hmm? Which one do you like the most? I insist on buying it for you as a temporary gift, until we have to hand them in and go home, of course."
A mask wouldn't do him much good when he was back to his old self again, anyway.
"I like this one, myself." She plucked out a long, purple one, that had a ridiculous chin. But it was the color that had caught her eye, of course.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:34 pm
Wobbling, Christof scribbled out his form, and was confused when it was traded off for a piece of green paper. He tasted that as well, but it didn't seem edible. Disappointed, he continued his search. "MITHTRETH??" Several shoppers turned to stare at the petit young blond girl with the voice of a gruff male foreigner with a lisp. She flushed, hissing more quietly, "Mithtreth??" THERE! Speaking with some other human! "There you are! Mithtreth I wath tho afraid there wath thith human the wouldn't leawe me alone but I got more Ithed Cream and-" The other 'human' wasn't going away, and with a squeak, he promptly hid behind Riley. What crude and horrible looking Parts they held! They couldn't be considered masks. The Igor-turned-teenaged girl gave a burly sort of sneer. THE FIELD TRIP OBSERVATION FORM:Name of student: Christof Human 1 Observed Type: Small Human Child Comments After Hugging: Yelled a lot when chocolate flavored dessert was taken from them. This "Ice cream" is delicious. Human 2 Observed Type: Small Human Child Comments After Hugging: Did not stop crying even after hug was offered. Strawberry ice cream is also delicious. Human 3 Observed Type: Small Human Child Comments After Hugging: Very fat, I suspect ate too much ice cream, would not get off of me and tried to spit on my face it was very unpleasant I did not hit this one, though I hugged it hugging did not help I do not like children. Human 4 Observed Type: Chatty Human Comments After Hugging: Did not have ice cream. Enjoyed hug I gave apparently after she gave me wet napkin. Ran away because she would not stop talking about my shoes. Human 5 Observed Type: Angry Human Comments After Hugging: Apparently hugs are not proper payment for more Ice Cream.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:37 pm
"... Christof," Malodore said, after a moment; that lisp and that phrase could only come from the Igor's mouth. "What is ith cream? Some mysterious pharmacological substance?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 10:42 pm
"Ice cream." Riley corrected, as she turned to face the igor. "More of it? You didn't spend all your money on the ice cream, did you Christof? I think we need to buy something that we can return to school." She wrapped one arm idly around Malodore's waist. "You can stop looking at Malodore like that, by the way. Though his style of clothing still deserves a sneer or two." She grinned, showing far too many teeth to be friendly.
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