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In the past, none of this had mattered. Yes, he had wanted to put on a good show and impress creeple with his work, but he had never shared his enchantments with the public while representing something bigger than himself, someone who could stop paying him if he did something stupid. It was why the booth had an emergency shower and eyewash station, three fire extinguishers, and a bag of sand in the back. For emergencies. To prevent stupidity.

What was not preventing stupidity was Piper's presence. Brenley found himself looking at her when he should have been taking notes, and worrying over whether or not she thought his creations were stupid, even though none of that should have mattered in the slightest. He could make other things—better things. Hopefully she knew that.

He tried to look personable for those who passed, but he just seemed kind of oddly intense, like he was marking them with spells instead of inviting them closer.

Riyo, in all her grouchy glory, followed close behind the catboil with a deathgrip on her wrist. Her trademark look of emotional constipation ever present, she had at least resolved herself to stop fighting the constant pestering and prodding. Just let it happen. Let... Nature take it's course, or something.

The house cup was, at least, something she had sort of wanted to do, but wouldn't have signed up by herself because she remembered house cup's past... None of which are entirely good memories.

"You say that now. Wait until you fail your first course." And disappoint your would-be team mates with your failure.

Her stare became distant for a moment.

Riyo could only release an exasperated sigh as Akubi proclaimed himself a god of failure to the heavens. "You, little man-" She made a gesture to his height. "-probably don't realize just how badly you can fail around here."

As far as she knew, Akubi had yet to experience the kind of trauma she thought Amityville to be famous for. And... Maybe it should stay that way. It almost seemed a shame to think such a happy soul could be warped.

Her eyes cautiously glanced towards the booth. The sight of brightly colored gifts seemed to soften her expression, if only a little. She enjoyed Christmastival, for what it was worth. Perhaps things wouldn't be too bad. "So... We just pick one?" Simple enough.

Unless there was something unpleasant in those boxes...

"Psch." Big man. Riyo would wait with baited breath for that to happen.

The demoness watched and braced herself as Akubi picked his gift, subconsciously taking a step back as the paper started to rip. This would be bad. It was probably...

... What was that?

Her head tilted as she watched the cat boil attempt to apply the little enchantment to his hand. "I hope that comes off.."

Riyo took in a deep breath as she looked over the mysterious parcels and plucked one for herself. Much like the most annoying family member everyone has, she meticulously went about unwrapping. Her hands took great care not to rip or tear the paper in any way that could be considered chaotic, lest she hit the secret trigger.

Of which there was none.

She peered into the box, almost thinking it might be empty but... Oh. What was this? A... Stamp? It was sort of like Akubi's but... Much more sinister.

"... Mhm." Riyo went to reading the instructions on the back of the stamp, her eyebrow raising as she reached the bottom. Her eyes glanced from the stamp, to Akubi, then down at his stupid little tattoo. "Well. You're pretty excited about one... How about another?"

Riyo vigorously rubbed her finger over the stamp until it was void of all color, then without a second of hesitation, she reached out to poke the boil's nose. The temptation proved too much and she let out a "boop" much like she would if he had been one of her cats.

Hah. Brilliant.

His reaction managed to illicit a small smile from the taller, grumpier cat. "It says..." Oh. Well that wasn't nearly as fun. "... B.F.F." Her smile warped into a grimace. "Ah well. We should move on." If he was going to drag her through these potential hells, she wanted the experience done and over with as soon as possible.

Oh! Presents!

Damaris had some how wondered just such a festive area and she couldn't help but look around at the many boxes. She had never seen so many beautifully-wrapped boxes before! This was such an amazing event!

She poked around at a few before being approached and greeted. "O-oh! I don't- I..." Damaris held her hands up before the boil walked away to greet various others.

The terron blinked, obviously nervous on what exactly to do but he had said 'one per customer.' Perhaps... Well, it was the season.

And of course she would be the one to pick a rather heavy box. She was barely able to carry it but she managed it while hugging the box to her chest. Damaris, while squatting, brought the box up onto another surface and opened it.

Damaris blinked a few times as she reached inside and pulled out a sort of fabric and a ring. She turned the fabric over in her hands a bit after placing the ring back into the box. The boil that had initially greeted her came over once more and gestured for her to pull it onto her head. She blinked a few more times. "O-oh... Okay." Damaris removed her normal hat, her sandy hair just barely touching her shoulders. She placed her normal hat in the box before placing the fabric over her head.

And poof!

Like magic, it formed holes for her horns and became a hat she had exactly been wanting for a while. It was a knitted lavender-colored hat that sagged slightly in the back but it so incredibly comfy and warm. The little Terron pulled her shoulder together with the sweetest smile she's probably ever worn.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" She could have hugged the boil but she thought it would be best not to.

But she wasn't done! She still had one more item. It was a ring. It was a pretty ring. Damaris couldn't help but put on the ring. It fit perfectly on her middle finger and she admired it with a smile. Damaris wasn't one to collect such things. That was Aureole in spades.

But it was nice and cute. A simple ring. Perfect for her.

Damaris was about to thank the boil once more before feeling something touch her leg. She jumped enough to sit on the same surface her box was sitting on. Her wide terrified eyes softened at the sight of a white, fluffy mini staring up at her. "O-o-oh! Y-you startled me." She shimmied off of the counter before crouching down, lightly petting it's head.

She then felt another touch to her leg. Then another. And another.

"Well..." She looked around and she seemed to be stuck in some sort of sea of adorable minis. "This is going to be hard to explain, I suppose."

At least they were cute and just wanted attention.

The boil nodded in approval at Damaris's box experience, taking a note or two until he was addressed. Oh! It was the ghoul from the human world! Even though it had only been a handful of months since then it felt like forever ago.

"I've been doing well," he said, smiling up at her from his seat. Halloween had been hectic with his artifact search, and then there had been his strange experience with the Ring of Greed, but all in all everything was just fine.

"How are you? Are you thinking of attending Amityville in the future?"