samegawa | (kidzbop this is halloween blasting in the distance)

[Although he doesn't really look it, when Eustace first heard the concept of "trick or treating," he had been a little curious. Of course when on a mission he spared no thought in indulging in such a custom, but now that he has some free time...well. Halloween wasn't something his hometown had, and though it's been a few years since his first real exposure to it, he still hasn't had a chance to really participate in what people deem to be a more "childhood" affair.

Until this year.

Dressed in what is now considered his "trademark" costume as a vampire (for some reason no one would let him try anything else—not that he minded either way, less hassle), Eustace is "escorting" Lyria around one of the towns they were currently stopped at. Like most other islands that celebrate the holiday, the town is full of festive Halloween cheer with everyone running around having fun playing games, passing candy, or playing tricks on one another. Although noisy, Eustace is content to see such a display of peace. This in turns allows him to relax a little more and loosen up a bit.]

Ready, Lyria?

[Tonight they will be joining the locals in their particular "trick or treat" custom. Randomly handing out candy to those who are walking by is still done, but here they also have designated houses and businesses that also hand out candies and toys. He has heard that some places have really gone out in the "spooky, haunted" theme that many older children have proclaimed as "intense" and "super creepy!", so he'll be paying particular attention to those. He wants Lyria to have a good time, not be scared witless.

But for the most part he'll let her choose what she wishes to do. There's plenty to do and he just wants her to have fun.]

[ trick or treating and halloween in general is still a rather new concept to them both, but lyria has taken to it like she's been participating in the festivities all her life. then again, there's not much that lyria doesn't find enjoyable, especially when it involves spending time with eustace. ]

I'm ready!

[ she adjusts the familiar headpiece on her head, pushing it back so it doesn't fall over her eyes. with the tail and dress she's wearing, it softens the whole feral berserker vibe and makes her less intimidating, but not for lack of trying. this year, lyria has decided she has had enough with being baby, she wants power.

which means she will absolutely go for one of those "intense" and "super creepy" houses. no ghosts will get the better of her tonight. ]

Hmm... is there a place you want to go first? [ maybe she should work up to the more spooky ones. ] I think I remember seeing some shooting games on the main street!

[If anyone is wondering whether Eustace sometimes feels like reaching out to ruffle those ears—yes, yes he does. It is a little strange to see Lyria in the outfit, but mostly because he's reminded of a little puppy than the "berserker" feel it's originally intended to have. ~~sorry Lyria~~.]

Not really. [Just a small shake of his head.] Wherever you want to go, I'll follow.

Did you want to try the shooting games?

[It's true that he's a little interested, but it's clear he's thinking that Lyria is talking about herself.]

[ listen, he's had his own ears petted for so long, it's only fair he gets that chance to do it to someone else now. and she is talking about herself — if only in the sense that she'll have fun as long as eustace is as well. ]

Yes! And I heard there's other games like bobbing for apples, too!

[ if there's food involved, it's bound to get her attention. she reaches out with one furry paw to hold eustace's hand, turning towards the street. ]

We can try them all together!

[He's a little more used to holding Lyria's hand, but it's a bit different with the paw. ...Soft... And still small compared to his own hand. It's really like she's a puppy...

With those thoughts that may or may not have drifted through his mind, grasps her hand and nods.]

Sure. [And a small pause as they start going down the street, his eyes glancing around at the various bustling activity around them.] It's been some time since I actually played any games.

Heyyyy, Lyria.

[Fraux's voice carries like a song; like a confident, suggestive elder sister come to bother her favourite sibling in the whole wide world. She doesn't really care about the whole trick or treat deal, if she's honest, but the Captain had seem excited to teach her all the little details about the holiday, and it beats sitting around the ship with nothing else to do. Something about their smiling face, lit up like a child's at the prospect of dressing up and playing jokes on fellow crewmembers...

Maybe she's approaching Lyria partially as a distraction, too.

As her first official Halloween, though, Fraux's actually seen it fit to organize something of a costume -- so Lyria will notice that she's toting a pair of big, black canine paws, and two curved horns sitting atop her head courtesy of a black headband. This isn't reminiscent of a certain primal beast at all.]

Feel like doing a round through the streets with me? My bucket's looking a bit too empty next to everyone else's.

[That is to say, she's only got a handful of charity candies that she likely won't even eat.]

[You'd think it wouldn't take Baal an entire five years to find out about Halloween, given how much time he spends skulking about the world of mortals. Then again, it's not like he's particularly interested in human holidays, so maybe it's all par for the course -- but whatever the case, this particular year is decidedly different, and it won't take Nezha long to realize.

He is, after all, walking into the room with a fanciful looking mask pushed up on his forehead, and both of his hands trying to hold a half dozen pumpkin-shaped buckets filled to the brim with assorted candies. One wouldn't need to be Baal to sense the discord in his resonance; his displeasure radiates off of him in waves.

He slumps down on the nearest chair without so much as a hello, lowering his plunder onto the floor for Hannibal to sniff at while he laments the depressing turn his life has apparently decided to take.]

She's been having me do this 'trick or treat' thing for the better part of the last few hours. Who does she think I am, exactly?

[She being their beloved danchou, of course... So much for agreeing to go along with things in the hopes that she'd leave him alone.]

[ baal has a flair for dramatics, and so nezha wasn't too surprised when satyr had excitedly revealed to him the captain's plans for him that night. he did expect baal to put up a little more of a fuss, though he suspects the simple pumpkin mask being the only thing he was wearing was likely a result of that. it matches in a way — he's read and heard of the infamous lost jack who makes his appearance during this time of year, a haunting figure with a pumpkin for his head. maybe that was the look the captain was going for when she forced the mask on him.

in any case, nezha looks up from his own buckets of candy, a large pile growing in a bag next to them. he'd took it upon himself to examine every piece before giving them back to lyria and the other children of the crew, just to be safe. ]

I'm surprised she managed to convince you to stay for as long as you did. [ there's a smile on his face as he turns back to his task, holding out a piece of wrapped candy for hannibal to sniff and inspect when he slinks over. ] Indeed, the Captain is truly a force to be reckoned with.

[The bassist sighs, a quiet snap sounding as he pulls the mast off of his head and shakes his hair back into some semblance of its usually chaos. That's one way to describe the captain, that's for sure.]

It was less 'convincing' and more 'pestering me until I had little other choice.' [He'd thought all he'd have to do is knock on one door and then she'd let up, and next thing he knew he was being pulled all throughout the town...] I'll never understand what humans find so appealing about these pointless holidays.

[He'd much rather spend the night cooped up somewhere strumming his guitar? Get some taste, people. Hannibal, on the other hand, doesn't seem too bothered by it all, gracefully slinking over to give Nezha's candy a curious sniff, his nose pressing against the festive, plastic wrapping.

Baal scowls.]

Oi. Don't feed him any of that rubbish.

[He'll get fat, which means Baal will also get fat? Maybe? Who knows. Maybe Baal tastes everything that Hannibal does and the last thing he needs is to find out that candy might not be so bad, actually. Let him be petty.]

( The storm that kicked up hadn't been in the weather forecast and blew in icy and instantaneous with the downpour, sleet rain turning the ground to slush with gales rattling even double-paned windows with a reckoning force, but Angela's still working away at her reports even as the power flickers and ultimately dies.

It leaves her in the bay window facing her apple trees in the back yard, flashes of lightning illuminating the expanse of her yard and the light of her tablet screen leaving her own stark compared to the warmth of candles beyond her, blanketed and bundled tight against the chill in the window. She's always loved a good storm, with the clove of her candles scenting the entirety of her home where she's left one burning in almost every room for the light.

It's cozy. Comfortable. Peaceful in a way, tucked in the safety and warmth of her home even as it wanes without the power to work her heater system. She's no stranger to the cold.

The crash in her backyard some hour later, however, is not the roll of thunder rumbling in the sky. It sounded like something scrabbling over the wooden fence slats and the crack of tree limbs, something heavy falling, but even closing her tablet down to its keyboard cover doesn't allow her to squint through the darkness.

She'll wait. Whether it's some fat raccoon or something else escaping the storm, she'll likely have to leave her window and go back upstairs lest it remain on the fringes of her awareness and disturb her work.

Poor thing, out there in the freezing cold. )

[ with earth now being a universal port for humans and other species alike, acxa's decided to try to familiarize herself with human customs. they are imposing on their planet, after all, and she's mostly interested in learning about it to honor keith. what acxa doesn't realize is that keith doesn't quite celebrate halloween; but veronica dragged her out for "costume shopping" -- which acxa realized was in the spirit of the holiday itself -- and bought her something pretty badass looking.

coincidentally, keith's blade of marmora squadron has a mission briefing right after costume shopping, and acxa hasn't exactly had time to change out of her outfit. she shows up to the meeting dressed in the archer outfit, looking...pretty much like herself, but with a bow and arrow.

still, though. she feels a little out of place here. ]

Don't. Say. Anything.

[there are still a few minutes before the briefing is scheduled to begin, though it mostly means keith's seated at the head of the conference table reading over notes on a virtual display. he merely raises his head when acxa enters the room, about to greet her with his usual nonchalance, but then she shows up wearing... that. and holding a plastic bow and arrow to match.

she might have told him not to say anything, but really how can he not.]

...You're going trick or treating then?

[there may or may not be the beginnings of a small smile around the edges of his lips. it's hard not to be amused by the thought of his galra friends going around with little pumpkins to ask for candy.]

Edited 2019-10-31 10:45 (UTC)

[ dammit, keith. whatever. she looks away, embarrassed -- though whether it's because of the outfit or the notion that she'd go trick or treating or both has yet to be discovered. ]

No.

[ she says it immediately. she makes her way to her seat (on keith's right hand side) and sits, placing her plastic bow and arrow on the table while she opens up her own holographic screen. ]

According to earth customs, I'm too old for that. [ did she just admit she did her research? you bet she did. ] And gathering consumables from strangers sounds risky. I'd have to scan each and every piece of candy to check for poisoning.

[One way or another, 2B and A2 have somehow been roped into trick-or-treating. Honestly, from the research 9S gathered about "Halloween," she feels like they're not of the appropriate maturity (read: they're too old) to be participating in this, but here they are anyway. She also really doesn't understand why human children should be begging for food and sustenance from strangers... Suffice to say, she really doesn't get what this holiday is for.

But as always, 9S comes in with thorough information! After listening to what he found on costumes and the like, 2B has decided on dressing up as... a witch! Mainly because she's already more or less in all black, and that makes finding a costume simple enough. Seriously, she's only wearing a pointy witch hat. That's it, that's the costume.

With her candy pail in hand, 2B's all set to go about trick-or-treating with A2. However, she realizes that she forgot to ask beforehand for some clarification, mainly:]

The phrase is "trick or treat," correct? What happens if the person we're asking decides to trick us? [LIKE... WHAT'S THE CONTINGENCY PLAN HERE.]

[ honestly, this halloween thing seems more suitable for pascal or his machine children and not her and 2B. but here they are anyway, with 2B dressed as a witch and A2 wearing a pair of white cat ears and a matching tail — a witch isn't complete without her familiar, 9S had said with a confident nod. A2 didn't know if he was reassuring her or himself.

anyway, A2 has her own pumpkin candy pail ready while they wait for 9S to join them. there's a resigned look on her face as she adjusts the white ribbon collar tied around her neck, the small bell jingling gently with the movement. ]

We knock them out and take their candy.

[2B nods along at first because of course that makes perfect sense, no one said you couldn't retaliate against being tricked— but then she remembers this is a human holiday, so.]

If they're human, we should refrain from harming them. [Everyone else is fair game of course, but that YoRHa programming sure is strong.]

[Every year, Halloween becomes more of an overdone, overblown affair. Loud, packed, irritating on every level. While he doesn't live in Shibuya, it has spilled out into pockets across the city and one such pocket unfortunately happens to be his own. People decked out in unusual costumes line the streets, laughing and singing, having a good time in the most noisy way possible. He can barely hear his own thoughts.

He doesn't hate Halloween itself more than he hates any other holiday like this. But he does need a break from it. It can't be anywhere he usually would pick to be alone—they tend to be in trendy areas and they are all flooded now. So where in the world could he be almost guaranteed to be alone?

Leblanc it is.

Switching lines in Shibuya puts him in the chaotic center of Halloween for a brief and yet too long moment, a hellscape of bodies, music and shouts. But soon he finds himself in the relative peace of Yongen-Jaya. He makes his way to the cafe, head down in exhaustion as he pushes open the door.]

Good evening.

[All he wants is a cup of coffee and maybe to watch whatever program happens to be on TV.

There are multi-coloured streamers clinging to his hair. He doesn't know it. But it is perhaps the most important detail of all.]

[ that's the thing about yongen: it's its own peaceful little pocket away from the crush of the crowds and noise of the city, a hidden space that exists in its own time. but that isn't to say that yongen isn't affected by the busier parts of shibuya — there's still kids out on the streets dressed up as latest anime hero or magical schoolgirl, dragging their spoils of the night with them as their parents usher them back home to bed. it means by the time goro makes his way to the cafe, leblanc is empty of patrons but not its spooky cheer.

a toy spider is the first thing to greet him when he steps inside, dangling from the entryway just high enough to skim his hair. the bar is decked out with cobwebs and small jack-o-lanterns, tiny paper ghosts scattered around at the behest of futaba while hocus pocus plays on the tv. there's a bowl of what had been filled with candy next to him, but all that's left now is a single caramel and some wrappers at the bottom. ]

Welcome.

[ the customary greeting is unchanged, nor is akira's place behind the coffee press. he has on a witch's hat with a wand stuck in his apron pocket, and if he notices the multi-colored streamers clinging to goro's hair (he does), he doesn't comment, reaching up to the shelf above him to grab a clean mug. ]

What'll it be tonight?

[The spider startles him enough to earn a small jerk of his head, shoulders seizing up for a moment. Goddamn it. A flash of annoyance scrunches up his features before he manages to pack it aside. Plastering on a smile, he doesn't really give Akira much of a glance until he sits down and sees he, too, seems to be in a slightly festive mood. It suits him in a strange way, the edges of his mouth softening.

It is already quieter here even with the somewhat raised noise levels outside. Compared to other areas, it might as well be silent. Tension eases from his shoulders as he takes a deep, soothing breath of the now familiar scents of Leblanc.]

Just a cup of coffee, please. I'll leave the choice of beans to your recommendation tonight. [Chuckling, he adds:] Consider it my trick or treat. Please don't add anything strange and trick me, though.

[He really does not put it past him.]

Good evening, Akira.

[ Without having anything better to do, Yusuke decided to come over to Leblanc on Halloween and spend the evening there. By the time he has arrived, the cafe was already swamped with all kinds of decorations—pumpkins, ghosts, there was even a zombie figure on the counter which must have been the courtesy of Futaba because the first thing Yusuke does is changing its position.

It didn't occur to him to dress up which made some of the customers peeking at him and whispering, but it didn't bother Yusuke at all, especially after he noticed the bowl filled with candy placed just next to the zombie figure. ]

May I?

(kidzbop this is halloween blasting in the distance)

lyria, granblue fantasy.

NO ONE IS TOO OLD FOR TRICK OR TREATING, DANCHOU.

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is this the furry corner

replica riku, kingdom hearts.

nezha, granblue fantasy.

spooky scary skeletons mad guitar solo

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saix/isa, kingdom hearts.

werewoofs ) it's high moon

peter maximoff, xmcu.

acxa / voltron

for @marmoron.

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elmott, i hate this mobile game.

2b | nier: automata

@precedents

slides this one in first

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vanitas | kingdom hearts

riku | kh

ignis scientia | ffxv

thackery binx | hocus pocus

akira kurusu, persona 5.

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(kidzbop this is halloween blasting in the distance)

lyria, granblue fantasy.

NO ONE IS TOO OLD FOR TRICK OR TREATING, DANCHOU.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

is this the furry corner

replica riku, kingdom hearts.

nezha, granblue fantasy.

*spooky scary skeletons mad guitar solo*

no subject

no subject

saix/isa, kingdom hearts.

werewoofs ) it's high moon

peter maximoff, xmcu.

acxa / voltron

for @marmoron.

no subject

no subject

elmott, i hate this mobile game.

2b | nier: automata

@precedents

slides this one in first

no subject

vanitas | kingdom hearts

riku | kh

ignis scientia | ffxv

thackery binx | hocus pocus

akira kurusu, persona 5.

no subject

no subject

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no subject

spooky scary skeletons mad guitar solo