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 Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:34 pm
"I'm still pissed at you," Roch said quietly as they got off the bike and headed for the stairs that led down to the casino.
"Pissed at ME? You should be pissed at her!" Austin growled. "That ghoul is a complete and utter b***h, boil, you were better off when you weren't friends."
"She just... she's just Hel," Roch said, frowning. "She doesn't think before she speaks, and she has trouble takin' it back afterwards. It's... y'know, cuz she's what she is, I guess."
"Well, either way, she's still--" Austin opened the door, blinking at the sight in front of him. Then, slowly, he looked up, staring blankly at the white berries that were hung over the door. "Monica? Why is there mistletoe here?"
"It's Christmastival!!" the ditzy pole dancer called from the kitchen. "Come in, come in!"
"Come in, come in," Vegas called from inside. He sat at the large poker table in the middle of the room, which had been covered with a table cloth. But that wasn't what had Roch's jaw dropping. It was the ghoul sitting with him.
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:03 pm
Where had that boil gone? Danny hadn't seen him since the infirmary. After carrying Taryn there, she'd stayed for a while and then booked it out of there. Something felt odd and uncomfortable when Roch and Taryn were together. She felt almost like ... there was a big inside joke going on that she wasn't part of. She couldn't quite figure it out, but she would in time.
Still, he wasn't in his dorm, wasn't in the gym, wasn't playing Desiree, wasn't-
Well he wasn't anywhere.
She had decided to just return to his dorm, and sit there until he came back. It always seemed to work eventually. She was like a puppy- just sit there until her owner came back, and then leap all over him. That sounded about accurate.
Today was different though. Roch didn't show up. Instead it was an older man. Odd. Maybe he was a new teacher or something.
So why was he stopping in front of Roch's door? "Uhhh hi!" she said, same stupid smile as always.
Vegas looked over the small ghoul sitting in front of his grandkid's door, fingering the cigar between his teeth. "You... waitin' your turn?"
Danny looked at the man. "Uh. No. Why?" She hesistated. "Wait wait, turn for what?"
"Never mind. My grandkid lives here, you seen him around?" Vegas asked, reaching for the doorknob rather than waiting for her to reply. It was locked. That meant one of two things, but he doubted the kid was gettin' laid in the middle of the day.
"No, I was looking for him earlier, but he's not anywhere." She bit her lip. Did that mean something happened to him after the infirmary? Danny didn't expect Roch to die off without a fight but- ... "Who're you?" Her tail flicked around mindlessly; she'd taken the lantern off today.
"His granddad," Vegas said with a hint of pride. "I came here to pick him up for the family dinner... but I'm bettin' my jackass of a son already thought of it..."
"YOU'RE THE GUY WHO TOOK HIM ON THE MOTORCYCLE-" she blurted out, then covered her mouth with both hands. Oh man. This was Roch's grandpa. They were related. Whatttt. Danny just hoped he wasn't like her grandpa. That one only ever yelled at her and gave her mean looks. "Um. I mean. S-Son?" She wasn't quite sure what to say. It was small talk.
"Roch's dad," Vegas said, looking at her thoughtfully for a long moment. "You weren't plannin' on spendin' Christmastival with the kid, were you?"
Danny stared at him like he was Jack incarnate. She'd never expected to meet Roch's dad or grandpa with the way he always talked about them, and yet here was one of them presenting himself to her. "No ... I mean I was going to spend it with Rikki, but he's being dumb," she said, explaining it even though it would probably go over this stranger's head, "So I don't really know what I'm going to do ... but! I had a present. So um. I was gonna give it to him." She bit her lip. Maybe Vegas could take it for her?
"Hell, if you're close enough to give him a present, why not come with me?" Vegas asked. "It's just a little gathering, by my... lady friend insisted. And we're gonna have a lot of food--"
Well she didn't want to just invite herself to their gathering ... Who was she kidding, of course she did. "I wanna! I wanna!" she said, standing up and grabbing his arm eagerly. Even after a short encounter with Vegas, she liked him already. She wanted to meet the whole family! Besides, who could deny free food?
---
So it had come to be that she was seated beside Vegas (seated rather closely at that; Danny had never been one for personal space). "So then there was this skeleton and he was li-"
Her eyes caught Roch. "Roch!" she squealed, standing up and running over to him. "You know you have like the coolest grandpa ever?" she said quickly, "Mine just sits around and yells at me all the time, but yours has lady friends and poker!!!." Danny was excited. Her present sat idly on the table.
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:27 pm
Austin took the moment of shock and surprise to lift his cighoulette to the sprig of mistletoe, catching it on fire and watching with satisfaction as it turned to ash and fell to the ground.
"Danny? Jack, what are YOU doin' here?" Roch asked blankly before finally catching a clue. "You KIDNAPPED my best friend?" he demanded of Vegas.
"Of course I did," Vegas drawled sarcastically. "Hell, boil, she was sitting outside your room, I figured she wanted to spend the day with you, but this was already planned. So I brought her with me."
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:31 pm
Danny looked at the two of them idly. Grandpa, dad and son all in one spot. The fiery mistletoe, admittedly, distracted her. So the dad liked fire? She had fire friends here?
THIS WAS SO COOL.
While Roch talked to Vegas, Danny busied herself with Austin. "Are you the dad one?" she said, sticking out a hand to poke him, "Oh um! I'm Danny." She didn't bother sticking out a hand for a handshake. It would be weird. Like shaking Roch's hand. Jackdamn they looked alike! The hair, the face. It was weird. Like seeing older Roch. Well no, like seeing and older, grizzlier Roch.
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:36 pm
"What happened to my mistletoe??" the undead ghoul asked as she came out of the kitchen. She looked strange wearing a dress that went down to her calves, Roch thought, distracted for a second. Much less the apron. Her long blonde hair was even pulled back in a braid. But she still wore way too much makeup and had dangly earrings, so he guess she was still the usual Monica underneath.
"Spontaneous combustion," Austin said easily, his attention on Danny. "Best friend?" he repeated, curiously, looking over at Roch.
"She and I run a club together," Roch said with a shrug. "She plays a guitar, too."
"Ahhh, that explains it," Vegas said. "C'mon, bring that food in, Monica's been waiting."
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:43 pm
Ooh there were people all over the place. Danny didn't like this one as much. Her dress was far too long for her own good. Then again, Danny's dresses were far too short for her own good. Maybe it was a trade off. Her earrings were nice though. Danny would take them if they weren't ... well attached to her ears.
Idly, she was wondering what spontaneous combustion was when Austin said Best friend?
Her smile was indisputably proud. She was just waiting for Roch to say "Of course, she is my best friend in the whole world of Halloween." Obviously. What else would he say?
Her face fell into a pout. His description was subpar. "I'm the best friend in the whole wide world ever ever," she said, punching him on the arm slightly. Probably not the best move considering the ... well the incidents that occured beforehand, but nevermind that.
At the mention of the word food she was already dancing back to the table next to Vegas. Between grandpa and dad, she liked Vegas better.
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:50 pm
"She's fun," Roch said with a shrug as he headed for the kitchen with his bags. "You need help, Monica?" he asked, tugging at the sleeves of the dress she was wearing with a frown. "Where the jack did you get this thing, anyway? It's ugly as hell."
"Don't," Vegas called to him. "She insists it's what women wear for these things."
"It's a FAMILY dinner! I'm dressed appropriately!" Monica said, as if she'd said it many times before. "And go keep your grandfather busy," she scolded Roch, slapping lightly at the hand. "Go on, I've got it all under control in here!"
"If you say so," Roch said, heading into the casino part. He dropped down in a chair, looking at the strange pairing of his granddad and Danny. "So... he didn't drug you or anything, did he?"
"Haven't even given her a glass of water--well, that's pretty obvious," Vegas said. "She's cute. Kinda like a... puppy."
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:55 pm
Danny looked at Roch, "I ... no. Unless he did without me noticing!" she said, pointing a finger. Clearly she was proud of that deduction.
Her head tilted at the puppy analogy. "No, Demi is puppy. I'm Danny. Remember I told you that at the dorms?" He was kinda slow, huh? Then again, Demi was pretty cute as a puppy. Maybe that's what he meant?
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 8:59 pm
Vegas smirked, letting his point be made without saying anything. Austin rolled his eyes and took a seat next to Roch. That left it to Roch to make conversation. But Roch had a question, anyway.
"What, exactly, are we supposed to be doin' here anyway?" he asked them blankly.
"It's a Christmastival dinner," Austin provided.
"... Whut?"
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:03 pm
Now she was looking at Roch. "It's a dinner. On Christmastival!" she added helpfully. Maybe his whole family was a bit slow today. She was certainly keeping up easily enough.
Her eyes caught the package she'd brought with her. Right! "Oh Roch, I have a present for you!" she said excitedly. This was a good one.
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:06 pm
Roch blinked. Oh s**t. Oh s**t, s**t, s**t, he hadn't gotten her anything--he'd barely managed to dig up something for Taryn, but--
"I uh, didn't bring yours with me," Roch said. "It's in my closet--"
"Check mine," Vegas said. "Back in the negotiations room," he added.
Roch hesitated, then nodded. "I'll be right back," he told them. He had to go through his granddad's stuff real quick and grab something that could be passed off as a gift. Greeeat.
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:17 pm
"I wanna go t-" she began to stand up, but was cut off as the boil darted out of the room. Danny wasn't even sure if he shadowstepped that time. Was he getting faster than her? Unholy s**t, he couldn't be faster than her.
She flopped back down on the chair, idly wondering where to put her tail. She'd darted out here without even thinking to go get her lantern. Well here's to hoping she didn't burn the entire thing down. "What's in the closet?" she whispered to Vegas, even though he was only a foot or so away, and Roch clearly couldn't hear them.
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 9:21 pm
"Hell if I know," Vegas admitted. "s**t just shows up and disappears all the time," he added, not too bothered by that fact. "So, you play guitar, huh? I bet you've heard the boil play."
"Course she has," Austin said, looking bored. "They're in a club together."
"I wasn't asking you," Vegas said.
In the back room Roch had found the closet and was fighting off a swarm of bloodthirsty minis that were fighting over-- He blinked and grabbed the fuzzy thing, looking at it blankly. Hell, why not? He headed out the closet, slamming the door shut behind him quickly.
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Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 11:20 pm
Danny liked this family. "I play lots of guitar! And Roch plays all the time. He won't let me play his guitar though. I don't really know why..." she trailed off, looking absently in the direction Roch had left.
Shaking her head, she turned back to Vegas and said, "Do you have funny stories of Roch? He told me you guys went to the amusement park or something I wannna know!!" She was wiggling in her seat now with excitement.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 8:00 am
Vegas and Austin looked at each other. Sure they didn't always agree with each other--well, NEVER agreed with each other, more truthfully, but they did have one thing in common, one thing that neither of them would admit to Roch.
"Well, you've been spending a lot more time with him than we have, screech," Austin said, taking a drag off of his smoke. "I bet you got a ton of stories about him, don't you?"
"I got your gift!" Roch called, coming out.
"Gifts gotta wait till after dinner," Vegas told him. "Family rule--well, more of a Monica rule, but she's the one that's cooking."
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