(October '17) Prompt #3 - "This is Halloween." [Archive]

ArtisticVicu

10-30-2017, 05:28 AM

Chatter and laughter filled the streets of the generally quiet neighborhood. Children squealed and raced about decked out in a costume of their choosing. Ninjas, ballerinas, pirates, and superheroes of all kinds blended with robots, villains, and any sort of concoction a child's mind could come up with. Some were store bought, some were homemade, and a small number were clearly thrift store creations, though not a single kid seemed to care. Already that night a butterfly princess and a ninja ballerina had raced passed to the next house, not to mention a number of things he didn't recognize but not a single face showed any sadness or dislike for the costume they wore. He smiled at the parents he passed, greeting those with soft words that spoke them first and giving nods to those that offered no such words. Everyone, though, was in good spirits, and that was all that mattered.

He brought the cigarette to his lips, taking a slow pull as he came to a stop at the corner. This deep into the neighborhood at the given time meant that traffic was near nonexistent, especially with the holiday, so adults walked crowds of kids through the street, lenient on the rule of playing in the streets till the random vehicle came crawling by. He released the breath of smoke, watching a group of children that had clearly planned their costumes with each other cut across the intersection he stood at, the chaperones trailing behind chatting. He brought the cigarette to his lips again, looking about as a thought came to mind.

Sure enough, the majority of the adults walking about weren't in any obvious costume. There were the spatterings of adults in costumes but they generally had a kiddo in a costume that was far too young to even understand what trick-or-treating was, let alone understand what was even going on. These parents also generally had other kids with them so it was an assumption that the candy would be spread among the kids at the end of the night and stashed away for the adults to enjoy at a later time.

He released the breath of smoke, turning his gaze over the street again. He scratched at his ear, growing bored. As much as he enjoyed people watching and contemplating the costumes running about, he was growing bored. He dug out the old pocket watch he couldn't seem to be without and popped it open. The hands shown that it wasn't all that late in the evening, though the sun had already set due to the higher latitude. While the information was useful, it hadn't been what he was looking for and he swiped his thumb over the glass, watching as the face of the watch melted into what he had been wanting to look at.

The ink on the watch's face began to bleed. The gorgeous background bled this way and that, colors coming forth that hadn't been part of the numbers nor the background itself. Soon, the entire thing redrew and re-orientated itself into several things. First, a compass, the smallest hand from the clock shifting to become the needle. Second, a ring of images, the largest hand staying in place. Third, an odd sort of grid that took up what the tiny compass in the center left untouched and the seconds hand started to rotate clockwise smoothly in a manner that didn't match the speed of a second passing. It picked up speed and soon it became almost invisible as it spun on its axis at an amazing rate. The seconds hand lit up and suddenly there were dots all over the grid of different colors. He used the crown to zoom in and the grid shifted as the lights moved. Soon there were only a few lights and he easily picked out who they belonged to without having to strain. He pulled the crown in the up position and the hour hand started to slowly move counterclockwise. It made three full rotations before stopping on an image, swinging clockwise, stopping on a different image not even opposite image, and then moving counterclockwise to the opposite side of the other image, nearly making it all the way around to the second image only to stop. This time it continued on counterclockwise only to pause on the third image before going clockwise. The hour hand swung this way and that, almost at random and picking up speed. Eventually, it would seem to make no sense at all going this way and that, bounding from image to image, pausing at certain images more than others, and any onlooker would be amazed to see his expression blank beyond the attentiveness in his gaze upon the swiveling hour hand.

When the hour hand came to a stop at the 12 o'clock position resting on the line between two images, he rolled the crown between his fingers, zooming the grid out a bit. A few dots were moving towards him and he smiled. He swiped his thumb over the glass of the watch once more before snapping the lid shut and pocketing the watch.

He turned, smiling at his friends as he put his cigarette out.

"Bout time," he commented, voice scratchy around the edges. "Thought you'd never show up."

"That pocket watch of yours didn't tell ya we got caught in traffic?" the smallest of his friends challenges, eyes glinting in a way that spoke more than simply human.

He shrugged. "Hard to tell what it's trying to say more times than not."

"Lies!" came a comment from somewhere near the back. He looked towards the back, pegging the shortest dude with an arched eyebrow and an amused smile. The dude grinned at him, hefting the fake ax onto his shoulder. "What? You are clearly lying. We all know it."

"Eh," he responded, shrugging again even as a large smile broke across his face. Proper greetings swiftly followed before the group meandered down the street.

He itched to pull out another cigarette and light it simply for something to do with his hands. Thankfully his boyfriend came to the rescue by slipping their hand into his and holding tight. Though he later realized that it was so his boyfriend could slow them down, separate them enough from the group to speak.

"What did the watch say?" his boyfriend asked, eyes mildly concerned.

He sighed, running a hand over the back of his neck. "Nothing good, at least. Supposedly this is the last Halloween like this, whatever that means."

His boyfriend frowned, hand tightening around his. "Something bad?"

He shook his head. "It's never that straightforward and with my filters, my interpretation could be off. It simply said that change is coming, that the next Halloween will not be like this."

Again, his boyfriend's hand tightened around his and he registered that both were attempts to comfort and assure. "Maybe it just means we'll be dealing with a larger or different friend group or something."

He glanced over his boyfriend's head, eyes catching the glint of fake gold of a crown in a fake wig. His hand convulsed around his boyfriend's hand, seeing his boyfriend's gaze snap to the object as well. The urge to keep his boyfriend calm was a reflex bred out of years of being with said boyfriend but thankfully it was an invisible reaction to most. The magic wrapped protectively - and almost possessively - around his boyfriend, drawing said boyfriend's gaze away from the fake crown and back to him. There was a soft smile on his boyfriend's face and once more the hand around his tightened in a show of comfort and assurance. "It's fine. I'm not so easily swayed anymore."

He brought the hand up to press a gentle kiss to the knuckles, offering, "I forget sometimes how much control you have now and sometimes simply react."

His boyfriend beamed at him, reaching up with their free hand to cup his cheek. "I would much rather you react out of habit than take the chance of my control slipping without your magic there to keep me in this human form. The longer I'm in it, the easier it is to suppress my instincts but not even I can resist the call to hoard sometime."

He smiled gently, leaning into the touch. "Then why be a dragon at all? I could change you so very easily."

His boyfriend shook their head, offering in kind, "I quite enjoy being able to fly as much as you quite enjoy being able to wield magic as you do. That and I will always be of dragon blood. Even using magic to turn me human would not change that. I would retain aspects of my draconian self, hording included."

He gave a gentle laugh. "True." He looked over to where their friends were waiting for them before focusing back on his boyfriend. "Come on. The portal closes in a few hours and we still have a party to get to."

His boyfriend fell into step beside him as they made their way towards the group. His boyfriend did inquire, though, "How did you manage to get invited to a party not even in our realm?"

He grinned. "Surprisingly, friendships transcend even the boundaries of realms and dimensions. Not sure how they ever managed to send the invite to begin with, but apparently there are going to be more from other worlds than those that are from this given realm."

His boyfriend grinned in turn, showing off far more teeth than he had and the shiver that raced down his back no longer held fear like it used to. Even human a dragon's grin was something to be wary of. He had seen it too many times, though, to associate it with anything negative now. Well, negative towards himself. Other people were screwed. A dragon's amusement came from more than harmless pranks. "I do hope I get to make a few...acquaintances with a few other world guests."

He laughed, feeling as if he should feel sorry for his boyfriend's newest victims at the Halloween Party. Instead, all he felt was joy and anticipation to see who would be able to meet his boyfriend head-on in a battle of wits, pranks, and magic. "You will probably make a many acquaintance without trying. This is Halloween, after all. All those that do not belong here come out for the night."