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She spent her time picking bits of rubbish out from the end of her tail, the white tendril that hung over her left shoulder lazily while they waited to get their passports. The ghoul couldn't say she found this to be an efficient way of getting a piece of paper, but the law was the law. Tucked under her arm was a bundle of pages inside a folio which West showed her were necessary from the pamphlet he'd acquired with a list of the required documentation. You'betcha. Got everythin'. She felt at the side pocket of her shorts to make sure the seeds hadn't magically disappeared on her while in line, confirming that she indeed had everything she needed for this task. It was quite a bit of seed for one little old paper, she thought, but once again the tatzel shrugged it off as something unavoidable. A small price to pay in the long run for wrangling up FEAR freely for all of her kin. They'd provided her with the seeds in the first place, so it was an even trade.

"Next in line." A hand waved them forward from the fourth stall lethargically after they heard the mechanical voice sound.

Levi's ears perked to the voice of the demoness at the counter and she moved up in unison with the eager boil. Me n' him both need one. The ghoul placed her folio on the counter and opened it as well for her to see, smiling triumphantly for having been prepared. While the clerk seemed to take up West's photos, eyeing them closely while looking up at him, Levi caught a glimpse of something in the corner of her eye. From where they now stood on one side of an L shaped line of cubicles, there was a counter with "closed" written on the sign carrying a bowl of something colorful. It was a practice of profession that Levi should investigate all matters of candy corn she came across and this occasion was no different. If this was a corn they served to people entering a government building, would it be of a special quality? Her lips curled up and she turned to address West briefly with a I'll be right back'a sec before skipping over to the empty stall and bobbing two fingers into the bowl, retrieving a kernel in a hurry.

The tatzelwurm ghoul held the triangular bit of candy up to the lighting, surveying the translucency and gradation of the hues with one eye closed. It was a bit darker overall compared to those she grew. Did that mean it was aged or was it a regional difference? She gently squeezed the kernel and got a feel for the texture. No, it had to be aged. A fresh piece of candy corn would have been warm and soft to the touch whereas this was that more waxy feel with a harder interior. Levi bit the bullet and popped the piece into her mouth for a final evaluation: it was old. With some surprise, the ghoul wrinkled her nose at this finding, somewhat disappointed that the city had decided to display this as their example of candy corn for those who perhaps had never tried the crop before- it was almost heart-breaking. What a shame. The tatzel sighed on this subject, ready to hurry back to West and their purpose for being here when she saw the tone of a wrath demon's hair passing on her opposing side. Huh? Had that been all? West got them both passports in such a short amount of time?

One brow promptly lowered, the tatzel bounded over to the wrath demon who seemed to be getting smaller as she approached. Done already? Well c'mon, boil, lemme see 'it! Excitedly placing a gripping hand at the demon's shoulder, and nearly leaning over him (this wasn't normally this easy without use of her tail, was it?), Levi attempted to turn him around to take her own newly completed passport in hand. She scanned his hands to see… nothing they'd brought... and just one booklet-like thing. Sure hope that's fer tha'both of us, West. Levi's eyes moved upward to the boil's face and locked on to his eyes.







Levi stared widely and a hand came up to grab at the wrath demon's temple, attempting to see what was perhaps afflicting his eye sockets to turn that white. What'in tha'Jack'n'a'box-

Is tha'passport doin' that? Would her eyes turn black?...

The hairs on Levi's ears and tail bristled at the manner in which the wrath demon grabbed her wrist; it didn't feel right. More constricting than the boil's usual manner of clamping down. Was his hold tighter? Or did his hand just get smaller? The tatzel decidedly focused on his voice, dismissing the grasp and listening for an explanation on why he hadn't gotten their passports.
Who was she?
WHO WAS SHE?

If Levi's face could get any more surprised, she'd be on the verge of frustration- she was getting there. The ghoul hissed through her teeth until his tone suddenly changed mid sentence. She opened her mouth, ready to retaliate with a few chosen words, which included danged looney and one too many hits to the head, but stopped upon further evaluation of the "boil's" face. He never had scars like these, let alone ones that healed within seconds of him getting them had he gotten into a quarrel with the clerk here. His features were different too- and his horns stuck out rather than curving around more. Overall, this West was more… stocky? Aged? No… Yer not Westus. I'm- sorry? But-

He knew who West was.
This wasn't just some demon doppelgänger, it seemed.
Yew know'im? Oh my skelepony pie. How in the heckle ya'both got that same darned hair? Sorry fer ma'manners. Somewhere ma'Ma's huffin' n' puffin', I'm sure. Name's Levi. She couldn't get over it; it was the exact same color and everything. Even his eyes, despite the brightness of the white sclera, seemed to be just like West's green peepers. Levi considered two possibilities here while giving her hand to the man in normal city folk greeting: 1) He was a demon of wrath and all wrath demons looked similar this way; 2) He was kin of West. A third and more outwardly conclusion popped into her head (a hunter impersonating West) only to be dismissed quickly by the demon's manner of speech. It was too West-like to not be kin.

An alarm suddenly went off and she retracted the hand, folding it with her other hand behind her back and locking her forearms. This was a demon. Lizzy warned to never shake hands with them. It was a lesson she'd learnt early on in Amity and felt a need to apply it now. But he's family, right? Shouldn't be a problem. Despite Levi's inner debate on the issue, she still tensed at the thought. The awkwardness she felt was swiftly overcome, however, when that lightbulb inside her head flickered on and the cogs wheeled forward thought again. He's kin. He had to be. Not only was he referring to his own with a derogatory term (like West), he was neglecting proper etiquette by introducing himself first (like West).

The tatzelwurm's tail snaked passed the older demon's feet and spun around his tail once. If he was kin, this was just as good a greeting as any. I guess I am her! Though I don't mind if ya'wanna have yer hand at that eatin' anyway, kekeke~... Her tail swayed twice before releasing and slithering back behind her. N' yew are?… Some kin'a his, I'd reckon. The ghoul felt a bit more at ease with this notion of kinship, placing her hands at their more usual position at her hips. If yer not, I'll… eat all them candy corns thar. It wasn't the best bet to offer, but it was all she could think of on such short notice.

"Wha'd'y'mean, sponsor? I never saw anythin' mentionin' a damn sponsor." West tapped irritably against the counter, each impact accompanied by a surprisingly loud miniature boom.

"It's a new rule, son," the clerk said, her pleasant, unflinching monotone proof that others had reacted similarly. "All it means is that you'll have to spend your first week amongst the humans with a chaperone. An adult passport holder must agree to keep tabs on you and forfeit their own traveling rights for a time if you step out of line." She slid two copies of an additional form across the counter. "Get your sponsors to fill these out, mail them in, and you'll be all set." Another pair of documents joined the forms. The clerk also gave the security guard standing near the wall a meaningful glance, drawing West's eyes there as well. "Here are your temporary passports. Have a nice day."

The boil grumbled something unintelligible as he gathered up their paperwork and moved away from counter number four without a word of thanks. This was just great. West couldn't really articulate why he wanted to go to the human world so badly, but like so many other things, he wanted it now and any delay in his plans made him twitchy. There was also the new and unexpected problem of finding a sponsor. He had no idea where they were going to track down anyone who would risk their own traveling rights for a wrath demon.

West pocketed his own temporary passport and advanced toward the crowd, but he didn't get far. There had been a time several years ago when he couldn't have distinguished his uncle's surprised shouting from anyone else's, a time when the older demon had won every spar and never had an outburst that wasn't at least partially premeditated. These days, however, West got the drop on him quite often. He had come to recognize Tel's girly screams, and he had just heard one here. In the passport office. That wasn't good.

He stood straighter, scanning the crowd and catching sight of a familiar head of man pink hair bobbing within feet of a bright white pair of pigtails.

"Well, s**t," West muttered. Now really was not the time for this.

That stance and impulsive offense, complete with irritated vocals? Yeah, he was West's Uncle alright; no doubts about it. She supposed West hadn't told his kin all that much about her if his uncle was that surprised, but he did say some things by the sound of it. The tatzel was curious about what was deemed characteristic of her if not her robust tatzelwurm tail and strengths.

Levi followed along with Uncle Tel in meeting with West, affirming her status by standing beside the boil and curling her tail with his, smile beaming at the scenario. It was her first time meeting his family; a newly welcomed kin. He even had a generous word about her from what little they spoke. What a fine fellar. Uncle Tel must've considered his nephew lucky to have her; that seemed like an honest approval of her into the family as far as she was concerned. Haven't met his folks yet, but if they're anythin' like tha'two a'ya'll… Levi had positive expectations trailing from her words, evident in her tone and expression, answering the older wrath demon's inquiry before noticing the papers West carried. Oh! Is that them? The passports? Now that's more like it! kekeke~ She reached down to pluck one of the forums out from West's hands, expecting it to say she was permitted access to the human world, when a name was uttered.

Eh? Who's Duran? She looked from one to the other, expecting a conversation to start up regarding more family. Perhaps this was a good chance to learn more about the wrath demons. Hope he goes in tha'proper place instead. That didn't sound very comfortable.

"I'm here to renew my passport," Tel replied, pausing after every other word to rub in the stupidity of West's question. "That's what you do here, right?" He glanced at the couple's tails with an inquisitive tilt of his head, then continued addressing West as if he hadn't looked at all.

"And the library? Really? I'm not gonna spend nights researching your life like some loser or stalker or something." Tel narrowed his eyes faintly once he had finished rolling them, cluing in almost immediately to what West wasn't asking. Instead of addressing the question, however, he smiled at Levi.

"Duran is my snooty sister's husband. I'm surprised West hasn't mentioned him. Seems to me he's told you about as much about his family as he's told me about you. So how about we change that?" he said, stepping over their twined tails and putting an arm around the ghoul's shoulders as he wormed between them. "I'll tell you about Duran and Zira, and you tell me about Levi."

"Relax." Tel flicked his fingers in West's direction as the boil bristled. "It's not like I'm making a contract with her. She can say no." Recalling their fleeting introduction, Tel whispered a faint ohhh as he turned his attention back to the tatzel. "There's more to it than a handshake. You actually have to agree to something, but shaking's the easiest way to do that, so I guess you were probably right to avoid mine." He shrugged. "Demons on the up and up file paperwork too, so as long as you don't shake any hands in back alleys, you should be fine."

Uncle Tel.

Those two words might have been the only things keeping him from abruptly backing out of this cozy little introduction and walking right through the door without turning back. It certainly hadn't taken long for Levi to latch on to him as a potential sponsor as well, and as appealing as the promise was of knowing more about West's life than his brother-in-law did, Tel didn't want to saddle himself with the responsibility of looking after a couple of... well... dumbass kids. His passport was important to him and he hesitated to risk losing it, not even to benefit family. But... Uncle Tel. That really was kind of adorable.

He hadn't thought much about the similarities between himself and his nephew beyond being secretly pleased they existed at all. Duran was no proper wrath demon. Their place was in the thick of things, spreading anger and vengeance, not sitting in some mansion selling people as if they were sweaters or skelephones. That West took after his mother's side—if not his mother herself—was something to be celebrated. Tel had always held on to the belief that Zira had been corrupted and brainwashed by that suit-wearing piece of s**t, so it was rather satisfying that Duran had ended up with a son he hadn't known what to do with. Probably not as satisfying for West himself, but... whatever.

"I could see that," Tel replied, countering West's eye roll with a grin. "Zira and I have the same complexion and hair and stuff, even though she's all small and ladylike." He glanced at the other demon. "He's definitely got her fluffy wings too."

He continued to ignore the passport-shaped elephant in the room for the time being, snorting at the face West made when the tatzelwurm uttered the words 'Papa Duran.' He might have whispered a faint, "Priceless," as he raised a hand to hide his smile, quieting when the boil turned a glare on him. As much as he wanted to interject, it would probably be better to let West handle this one on his own.

Tel really should have left when he'd thought to. He sighed, weighing the pros and cons of accompanying them and coming up woefully short on tangible cons. There were cons, he just wasn't going to be able to quantify them until they arose. He hadn't thought on what he would do here beyond feigning ignorance to irritate West, but now that he had been asked outright to make a decision, that wasn't going to fly any longer.

"I owe you, do I?" He shrugged. "All right. Yeah. I'll do it." The shock on West's face was almost as fun to see as his anger. Tel winked back at the ghoul. "When were you thinking we'd go on this little bonding excursion?"