All Hallows Haunt and All Must Have Fun

[concierge]

The fog had begun near the dusk hours, coating all the plants and flowers in the garden. It settled, heavy, and blanketed everything with a new cover that was only matched in mood by the graveyard that had unearthed itself from the grass and the moss. Names were etched on each gravestone, but the most unnerving part was that every few steps, if you stopped and listened very, very carefully, you might hear a knock of a human hand against hard wood. It was almost as if the dead were being called upwards.

The maze stood normal, but inside around the corners, there were things lurking and waiting.

Outside might have become frightening and gloomy, but the contrast to indoors was stark. Inside, carved pumpkins lit with candles turned the ballroom and restaurants into amber-lit abodes, costumed partygoers twirled to the music played by the band in the lobby (while the DJ had set up in the conservatory). Candy and small hors d'oeuvres circulated on the trays of immaculately clad waiters and though outside it was stormy, foggy, and spooky, inside was a delight of themed drinks, delicious food, and the manic and half-crazed mood of people in the midst of their fun.

The party for Halloween had begun.

And there was no telling when it might ever end.

Comments

[likepalegold]

"It sounds fantastical," he says matter-of-factly, but that doesn't mean it isn't to be believed. After all, it's never in good taste to insult someone by implying their interests are silly or anything less. "And it sounds as though there's a great deal in the future that I must discover for myself, but I'm stuck in my ways." And in other ways, he's stuck in his own past. "Is it something you enjoy regularly?"

[the_dawnster]

"I don't play games that much, just certain ones I'm interested in. Mostly I'm a game voyeur when other people play them, especially if they have a good story line. All to say, I read more than I play games." She answers in her long-winded sort of way that she hopes isn't too much for Gatsby just yet. Because she enjoys talking to him.

"For awhile I was in college at Berkeley, but that fell through. Cause of... life shenanigans." A mixture of Dawn's bad choices and the supernatural that always infiltrates her life forced her back into the mix of her sister's crazy life. And she's never found her way back out of it after that. "Besides, some of the greatest minds of our time never went to college. Did you go to college?"

[likepalegold]

Here, in his throat, is a lie.

Gatsby could tell this lie and allow it to burst and blossom like a flower, taking on life. Inevitably, though, that flower will wilt and die and his lie will be found out. They always are, aren't they? If he's learned anything, it's that he can't trust his lies to live forever, but they feel safe and they protect him and how can he ignore something like that. And so, instead of a lie, he offers a half-truth. "I completed some time at Oxford and Cambridge, after the war," he says, proud and ever prouder that there is truth in this. "Of course, my lessons were never from college, oh no, my dear. They came from the hard life lessons I endured," he says, tapping his nose. "And life can be a very good teacher, but also very cruel."

[the_dawnster]

Even with that half-truth, he's done amazing things toward making Dawn's point even more pointy. Her eyes grow wide and she nods in agreement. "Exactly! Life is the best teacher there is. Nothing I learned in college taught me to stay alive as long as I have. I mean... algebra is so overrated. And why do you need chemistry unless you're gonna be a chemist, am I right?"

To be fair, Dawn sometimes wishes she could do the college thing still. She wishes she could be normal and have a normal life. But the truth of the matter is that her life is filled with supernatural things and the plural of apocalypse to the point that she's had to accept that normal is never going to be her thing. She's learned to transcribe ancient languages from Giles and through her own hard work. She's learned to wield a sword, a crossbow and a stake from her sister, the Slayer. She's learned to run and hide when she can't win a fight from everyone. She's learned what little magic she knows from Willow. Life lessons.

"But when it gets cruel, which happens a lot, I like to give it a good kick in the shins." This is classic Dawn. Metaphorically kicking bad, evil things. "People underestimate the power of a good shin kick."