Fangnyl was completely and utterly fascinated... no, enthralled with the entire Halloween season that the people of Earth celebrated. It all seemed like such fun, and he wanted to do all the research (hands on, of course!) he could on it. Get the full experience.
Learn part of what it meant to be human.
So when Aliez had offered to take him out to the pumpkin patch and corn maze in full Halloween tradition, he'd jumped at the chance. They'd get to pick out pumpkins and have fun in the little puzzle the humans enjoyed every year.
He'd walked out to where they were meant to meet and started looking for the human glamour he knew to be Aliez, having to work extra hard to contain his pure excitement at the entire thing. Even with a bit of misty fog curling at their feet. It wasn't enough to be any kind of problem yet.
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One Foggy Night (5): As the seasons shift, the temperature changes too. It’s not uncommon for fog to roll in, sometimes from the mountains, sometimes out of nowhere. This fog is particularly thick and difficult to see through; Destiny City has issued several weather warnings and cautions being out or driving at night. It’s easy to get lost and difficult to see obstacles. Not to mention the strange, smothering sensation of dread and fear that rolls in with the fog. While there is sometimes the sensation of being watched, it worsens when the sun goes down. Some have even said they’ve caught glimpses of a tall, horned figure traveling with the fog. The news has reported that this is probably just a side effect of climate change and suspects that weather patterns should return to normal towards the end of the month.
Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 5:50 pm
Aliez couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Fangnyl, amused by how excited he seemed. It was a good thing -- getting to enjoy themselves while they were on Earth. There was no telling the next time they would be able to visit, so they should try and take advantage of it as much as possible.
And he was also enjoying Halloween in general.
“You look like you’re already having fun,” he pointed out as he approached the destination they intended to meet, turning off the GPS tracker from his ComTech.
He was glad to see that the corn maze was tall enough that they couldn’t see over it. He wasn’t entirely sure of the purpose, other than entertainment, but if it made Fangnyl smile then he was happy.
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Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 10:32 pm
Fangnyl blushed and ducked his head to hide it. "Yeah," he confessed, looking back up with a sheepish smile. "It just seems to be in the atmosphere, somehow. Everyone is so joyful and having such a good time."
He grinned a little wider, perking up as he passed by his moment of embarrassment. "I think we're going to have a good time solving this puzzle together. Come, I see the signs for the entrance."
He held out his hand for Aliez to take. Even though they had their GPS, he didn't want to lose Aliez in the maze, especially since he wouldn't be able to just barrel through the corn stalks to find Aliez. They were quite tightly packed, from what he'd seen while waiting for Aliez. Also, it was against the rules, no matter how freaked out one might get. So, holding hands.
It only made sense, of course. There certainly weren't any other reasons for him to want to hold Aliez's hand.
Or so he told himself so he could keep calm about the fact that he was going to be holding Aliez's hand.
Guine
Posted: Wed Nov 17, 2021 7:34 pm
Aliez was happy to see Fangnyl in high spirits. They were all still on their mission, of course. But they were there to learn more about Earth and find out why it was the way it was, so partaking in some of the holiday traditions couldn’t hurt anything, right?
He took Fangnyl’s hand without much convincing because it was smart to stick together and not get lost in this strange Earthen puzzle.
“The goal is to find the center and then return?” he tried to recall. He did some research on it, of course, but Earth had such weird things. He was still trying to learn the animals. There were so many.
“Have you been discovering other interesting things about Halloween? I hear they collect treats from houses one night, although I’ve scanned some of those treats and they don’t seem to be very nutritional,” he frowned as they made their way to the entrance of the maze where the signs were, but it didn’t bother him too much. He just didn’t want anyone getting sick.
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Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2021 1:05 pm
Fangnyl nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, that's the goal. So simplistic, and yet I hear many of them say they never find the center. I'm very curious about it."
He tilted his head at Aliez's next question, humming in thought as he pulled Aliez in and picked a direction to go in.
"Well, that is what happens on the actual night of Halloween, from what I understand. As for the treats... Well, it's only one night, isn't it? I think it's supposed to be a night of fun and indulgence because of the weather turning cold. Much less spent time outdoors and enjoying the sunny, nice weather. Perhaps some kind of last hurrah?"
The fog curled higher around their ankles, but it wasn't unpleasant enough (yet) to send him running for home.
Guine
Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2021 9:40 am
The fog around their feet was a bit curious, but there was nothing to draw concern, so he just nodded to Fangnyl and followed him into the maze.
“That sounds logical,” he agreed with Fangnyl’s understanding of Halloween. Aliez didn’t know any better about the holiday. Other than carving pumpkins was a laborious and fun undertaking. “There is a lot of preparation for this holiday. I don’t suppose it would be as enjoyable to purchase the preferred treats from a store instead of traveling from home to home,” he mused.
Curiously, he reached out to touch the corn stalks as they walked, intrigued by their texture and how they grew so tall. One day they would have Velenia growing plants like this again. It was just a matter of figuring everything out.
“Oh,” he paused as they reached the first fork. “Do you have a preference, Fangnyl? This direction seems to lead away from the outside of the field, but I am unsure.”
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Posted: Wed Dec 01, 2021 11:50 pm
Fangnyl watched Aliez touch the corn and copied him, making a pleased sound at how it felt. Oh, how wonderful it was. Scratchy and smooth somehow at the same time. It was strange, as well, to feel so short next to these clusters of corn.
"Hmm. Let's go the way you picked," he decided, "We can always loop back around and try again, if we hit a dead end."
The fog crept higher, and he frowned a little as the cold started to pierce around his legs, but it still wasn't bad enough. Besides, nobody else in the maze sounded concerned—as far as he could tell, there were plenty of shrieks of delighted laughter and chatting, nothing sounded upset.
Guine
Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2021 6:41 pm
Aliez nodded to Fangnyl's suggestion and turned to head in the direction he first thought. There was a likelihood that they would just run into a dead end, or the path would have been purposefully misleading, making the maze go around the outside before turning back towards the center.
The fog was starting to get worse though. And it was getting darker. Aliez paused so he could press a command into his ComTeck so it would light up the path in front of them.
"I do not like the sound it makes in the dark," he shivered as the wind rustled the stalks of corn so that they sounded like they were all cascading on top of each other. He normally wasn't concerned about things like that, but the growing darkness of the evening, the shadows of the corn stalks, and the rising fog did nothing to calm his nerves. And ever since getting to Earth, it seemed as though every tiny unknown sound was heightened uncomfortably.
To the point that he jumped when either he or Fangnyl stepped on a fallen stalk on the ground. He laughed about it, of course, because he knew he was being ridiculous. Oh, and he probably should relax his hand so he wasn't squeezing Fangnyl's so hard. He could hear others laughing at least, so that was good.
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Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2021 11:46 pm
Aliez startling startled Fangnyl more than the sound that had originally startled Aliez, and he jumped nearly a foot in the air before laughing at himself with Aliez.
"We're being a bit silly, huh?" he asked sheepishly, squeezing Aliez's hand gently.
Though, a moment later, he didn't quite feel so silly. Not when the fog suddenly rose up, swamping them in it, and the sounds around them almost entirely ceased.
A shadow moved in the dark and Fangnyl pulled out his dagger with his free hand, heart pounding. That shape... it was like nothing he knew.
It moved closer.
Guine
Posted: Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:46 pm
Aliez laughed again when Fangnyl jumped too, but any humor suddenly faded when the fog surrounded them. Fangnyl was fast and already armed, whereas Aliez could barely remember which side he kept his blaster (he didn't… it was in subspace).
He squeaked in alarm at the sight of the -- goat?? No, no, goats were smaller and didn't come with an overwhelming sense of dread.
Instead of just standing there and waiting for their fair, Aliez held tighter to Fangnyl's hand and ran straight into the wall of corn stalks. Sure, it was cheating to get through the maze, but if they were being pursued then they needed to make their escape.
"This way," he insisted, holding up his ComTech so he could measure the approximate distance from their starting point in the maze to what likely would have been the center -- when he wasn't pushing corn out of the way at least.
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Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2022 10:52 pm
Fangnyl yelped when he was suddenly dragged through the scratchy stalks, but he got his feet moving as the shadow shifted behind them, towards them, and kept up with Aliez.
So did the shadow, it seemed, because he felt breath on the back of his neck.
"Aliez," he said in a strangled whisper, "Get us back to the camp!"
Guine
Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2022 7:49 pm
Aliez kept pushing through the stalks, surprised at Fangnyl’s whisper, but also very concerned because his friend was asking him to do something, so of course he was going to do it.
With one hand he held tightly to Fangnyl’s hand, but kept one finger ready to press the button on his ComTech that would warp them back. Whatever this fog was, he didn’t like it, and Fangnyl didn’t seem to like it either. Something was chasing them, so getting back to the camp was the smartest thing to do.
It only took the press of the button to take them out of the corn maze and drop them both at the warp pad in the dome on the hill.
Aliez let out a sigh of relief, but didn’t yet let go of Fangnyl’s hand, looking at him with concern instead.
“Are you okay? Do you need to sit down?” he wondered, hoping taking a moment to breathe would be good enough for both of them.
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Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2022 3:20 pm
Fangnyl gasped when they warped back, eyes wild as he looked around, the familiar-but-not-quite surroundings almost calming him entirely, but Aliez's words did the rest of the work, and he sighed, slumping against Aliez and clutching him close.
"No. I just need to hold you for a moment," he said, "Make sure... we're both... still real."
He shuddered, hiding his face in Aliez's shoulder.
Guine
Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2022 10:25 am
It was easy for Aliez to wrap his arm around Fangnyl and rub at his back and pet his hair. He was glad that they got out of that strange corn maze and that strange fog. What was that? Why did it feel like something had been following them? Were they in any real danger or was it just a figment of their imagination?
"We're still real," he promised, not moving away until Fangnyl was ready for him to do so. His own heart was racing still, but the most important part was that they were both safe and unharmed.
"Humans are strange for enjoying things like that," he said quietly, because… it was just weird to them because they weren't used to it, right? Surely it wasn't anything out of the ordinary for humans.
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Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2022 1:02 am
Fangnyl shivered, enjoying the closeness and the touches between the two of them. It helped him calm down, relax, and he finally sighed and pulled away after a few minutes, looking up into the expanse of stars.
"I have no idea why," he said, shaking his head, "Being scared like that isn't very fun. I suppose if you grew up with it, and knew you wouldn't really die or something from it, but..."
He shrugged, turning back to Aliez. "Are you okay?" he asked softly, cringing internally when he realized he'd drawn comfort from Aliez but had no idea how Aliez felt.
