You Only Live Nine Lives

by magnumnopeus

When a few teenagers party together under one roof, things start to get a little frisky. But one shy teen is left out and stuck with the creepiest guy invited; the weed man. Human AU. Longfic.

3. Chapter 3

Author Notes:

BOO! HOW U DOIN? IT'S CHAPTER THREE: SPOOKYWEEN EDITION! AW YUSS! Here are some notes for you trick-or-reader:

As a polite regard to the use of ASL in my past chapter and possible future, I am just going to caption it like TV shows do. I hope you don't mind! Trying to authenticate it doesn't do much for the scenes and I want to focus on the pace and emotion of the story. As regard to the antagonist, I want to be blunt about it simply because no other character will have more of an impact to the development of Kurloz and Meulin's relationship than Gamzee. It just makes sense to me and there's really no point going further into it and saying "SURPRISE: Makara bad guy alert didn't see that one coming, did ya?" Pfft. Anyway, I take inspiration from the many stories I've read on this site involving the same antagonist but using certain writing devices to dissect and convey them in different ways. I've always appreciated that as a reader so I guess you can say I'm taking a risk! Alas, a writer is not without her serkets so stay tuned! What you will have to look forward to in this chapter is the turning point of the relationship which establishes the pace for development, more details between the characters and of course, some good ol' fluff. Basically it answers a lot of questions. Who doesn't like that? Anyway, everything still has all the necessary warnings! And goddamn that updoot was a game-changer so def. expect all trolls to appear properly next time! Thank you all for your encouraging words and bountiful support! It makes me all warm and fuzzy and I hope this chapter holds your expectations! *u* Again, the editing isn't perfect but will be corrected later on when my vision stops bouncing. A last regard to the content: there will be a significant difference between Kurloz and Meulin and don't worry you'll find out what it is without trying to look too hard. All I can say is that everything I put here has its significance, will be touched upon more and help me break down the innocence of Meulin. If it is not your thing then I sincerely apologize, head-canons and all. Regardless, this was planned beforehand and I will still continue on with writing how I want this story to play out and, uh, I guess I had a good run? LOL.

TL;DR: OH DAMN HOMIE! DIVIN' IN WITHOUT READING THE NOTES? LOL YOU ARE A BRAVE SOUL GOOD LUCK HERE HAVE SOME GOLD STARS. FLUFF, EXPOSITION, HALLOWEEN GALORE, HELP YOURSELF! Seriously, take it, I don't want it anymore!

Ok, have fun! And thank you for indulging me 38*

Homestuck belongs to Andrew Hussie. I am not affiliated nor do I make any profit from this story.

---

Chapter 3: From One Abnormality to Another

---

Meulin Leijon didn't know whom to confide in anymore.

The lights were off. Mog was fast asleep and huddled around the warmth of her khaki fleece, circular bed. Meulin, however, was huddled at the corner of her connected bedroom walls on her comforter. She was dressed in red-violet cotton pajamas with back stiff, legs bent and arms enclosed around them. She shut her fatigued eyelids and recollected when she felt her 'friendship' with Kurloz Makara had taken a sharp, distressing turn.

Her heart pounded with uneasiness and one of her hands brushed away the unkempt strands of hair in front of her face. The deep navy ambiance of her room, only illuminated by the slits of light from her closed blinds, made it the visual equivalent of the rift in her emotions. It was ominous and complicated but still managed to grasp onto a ray of hope.

Meulin straightened her arms on either side of herself, carefully lifted her body toward the edge of the bed and tiptoed out of her bedroom. She was used to knowing how many stairs there were in the late hours of the night and it didn't take long for her to turn left and flick the kitchen light on. The brightness caused her eyes to avert but she moved close enough to the microwave on her right to make out the neon red numbers in the corner of her eyes.

Two o' seven in the morning.

She trudged over to the right side of the kitchen, bent down, opened a wooden drawer and grabbed a pot, filled it with water, slid her feet back by the microwave and turned on the stove. There was nothing more relaxing than making a cup of tea in a midst of mental confusion. She opened a cupboard above the stove which was filled with small cups and variations of teas, spices and herbs. It reminded her of when she would come home after school and smell a delicious cooked fish filet, homemade sushi or tuna melts.

She grabbed her favorite green mug, an opened packet of chamomile tea and sat on a black stool in front of a rectangular granite countertop in the center. She was careful to position her body so that she could keep an eye on her water. Wooden spoons hung from walls that looked untouched for months. Drawers and shelves stored unused cooking supplies. If there was one thing she missed more than anything in that moment was her mother. She would put fresh slices of melons on a plate in front of Meulin, swat the long hairs out of her fretful appearance and wait till she spilled out what was bothering her.

But she wasn't here nor would be until the spring of Meulin's graduation. She moved temporarily to a different state because of work and told Meulin the pay would help financially support her college funds. For all her mother knew, Meulin had moved in with her friends but that was certainly not the case; Meulin had decided to stay in their two bedroom home to maintain her solidarity and peace. It was the only space that kept her calm and let her be able to keep up her happy-go-lucky façade no matter what.

There were times when she needed to be alone to actually express her untapped feelings. Her mother and she kept in contact though letters and texting to make sure they were both alive and healthy. Meulin would draw doodles with write speech bubbles for fun on the weekends and scan them into her laptop for her to see. Sometimes Meulin knew being face to face would have been significantly better because her mother was the only person she let experience her whole set of emotions and she knew she could depend on her never telling anyone about it. But who was she to express herself to now? Who would be her outlet?

The water started to boil.

She took a few steps toward the stove with mug in hand and tea packet inside, poured the bubbly hot liquid in, rotated the dial to 'off' and sat back down to twirl the white string around. It wasn't like her to feel this way; to wake up late and fiercely demand motherly conversation but since Kurloz Makara had wandered in her life she was beginning to ponder adult behavior that she didn't understand and was well beyond her romantic wisdom.

Was she really too young, or maybe just inexperienced? She glared at the microwave clock again and became aware that it was technically Halloween. Happy Halloween to her, she supposed. Her elbow touched hard granite and a cool hand covered her warmed forehead. Meulin Leijon once again retrospected the past five and a half weeks, starting with the second week of October.

---

"Miss Leijon!"

It was Friday morning on a school day. The devious, jade feline who donned a long-sleeved sweater, bleached orange capris and black ballet flats peeped shyly at her geometry teacher. 'Mr. Sourpuss' as she nicknamed him loomed in front of her desk and created a shadow nobody could miss.

It had started two weeks ago when Kurloz had fatefully given Meulin both his numbers. In the beginning he was the one who initiated the first few texts while Meulin timidly answered back whenever she could. Usually it ended up with him asking how her day went and when they could meet again. He said his schedule would be filled with Halloween preparation from his job as promotion manager, which she now knew was for some Juggalo-oriented nightclub. They had agreed to meet somewhere in the middle of October so while she patiently waited, Meulin decided on a whim to watch a little more of the popular British TV show he and everyone else on Bubblr were so enthralled about.

Thus the domino effect was executed. The reaction texts and animated mimes practically overflowed his phone. They discussed the various alien species, real-life themes through the author's commentary on humanity and, of course, the fabulous shipping between the protagonists. Once in a while Kurloz had to politely assure her to 'wait 'till season two :o)' and to 'calm thy tits!'

The problem now was that whenever she would watch an episode she felt compelled to not wait until after school and to text him in the morning during her most unanticipated class. Kurloz made the mistake of doing that when he was bored a with club meeting that involved his 'coked-up dipshit of a boss who's stuck in a motherfuckin' time capsule but he still liked anyway'.

The forest green customized handheld had been clutched in her hands under the wooden desk, which she thought was discreet enough until her wild snorts and sporadic giggles had fallen on deaf ears, the joke being her very own. She had never been in trouble at school quite like this.

Said geometry teacher outstretched a brown suit sleeve and curled his fingers in a beckoning manner.

"This is the third time, Miss Leijon. You know the rules."

She cringed and eyes briefly glanced at the school clock behind him. There was only fifteen minutes until lunch time? Oh, why didn't she just wait!? Oh yeah, because Meenah and Aranea would have poked and prodded her with their forks to death. They still didn't know it was Kurloz she was communicating with and she'd rather see her handheld be thrown at the wall filled with posters of geometric fractals and assignment notes than to let them glub glub glub to the whole neighborhood. It wasn't any better than what her 'asshat' of a teacher was about to do.

'Mr. Sourpuss' stiffed his upper lip and tapped his foot in impatience. Meulin sighed and dropped the phone in his wrinkled, stubby hand.

"Alright, let's see what was more important than compliment and supplement angles, shall we class?"

Meulin placed herself in the front row in order to read her teacher's lips, which she was amazingly well at doing, and to take notes. Just goes to show how much she knows about being discreet with the main squeeze. It was nice that she could avoid all the stares she had gotten from all five rows of juniors and seniors.

Mr. Sourpuss adjusted his glasses, put the handheld close to his face, squinted and started to read aloud:

"Rydas says: did you watch episode eight yet? Ninjette says: yes with an abundance of exclamation points. I cannot believe how sad and compelling it was I actually burst into tears. Rydas and Ninjette then both proceed to send each other an exchange of animated images which involve graphically designed tears. A blonde girl's tears that look like horizontal waterfalls, a man with computer graphic tears, a rather well dressed man in the rain…"

Meulin thanked all the cat deities above that she had the brains to change the names in her phone at the last minute, knowing it just might have come to this. Previously she had 'Rydas' and 'Makara' but she changed it to 'Rydas Personal' and 'Rydas Business', and she to him 'Ninjette' which she also found out was the Juggalo female pronoun for Ninja. Weird clown lingo was weird. She didn't even have to look back to know that the stiff reading from the teacher sent his 'shining pupils' into fits of hysteria. Meulin slammed her small geometry notebook shut, slumped in her seat and waited until he would get the hint that her and Kurloz's private conversation was nothing more than obscure mimes!

She felt a small, emotional spasm in her stomach. Was it weird to miss him already? Sure they were becoming good friends but she was itching to hug him and be near him and talk more about her evolving ships. Maybe they could have another marathon, or take a cat nap on his comfortable bed, or canoodle, or even-!

A stubby hand slapped her desk. She quivered and gawked at her teacher's irate expression.

"Miss Leijon, this is the exact reason I have to give you afternoon detention. You're not even paying attention to me anymore."

She pouted and wished she had just skipped altogether. Darn those powerful fandom feels!

---

"Aranea, I would like to talk to you about your triggering help promotion for my club. As you know I have been leader from quite some time and I only want to make sure we are represented in a professional, upstanding and open way. Not to say that we don't accept people who have a hard time with organization but I know it is the key demographic we are reaching out to. Now, as leader, I would hope there wouldn't be anything to promote the idea that we aren't safe and confidential. I only wish to look at the flyers you have so that I can be satisfied."

"Well as of now you don't have any flyers because you never told me you wanted any. Should I get on that now?"

"Yes. Let's discuss what I have in in my mind for the concept-"

"You know what? Just write it! Yeah, just, uh, send it to me in a very long e-mail! Don't worry, I'll read it!"

"But what happens if I have physical examples?"

"They have scanners in school so you can just send them in attachments."

"But you're not busy at the moment."

"Yeah I am! I'm working on Halloween flyers with Meulin!"

"So you're saying a confectionary-oriented period that comes once a year is more important than the psychological lives of others that are being affected every day?"

"Well, of course not, but-"

"I don't mean to impose bad judgment but I am horribly offended by your stack of priorities not to mention the unawareness of your holiday privileges. I think I will need to list off all of the ways this could be helpful to people now than to postpone them for a day that does nothing but feed the gluttony of innocent children and-"

"Listen here, Vantas. Serket-van-pelt doesn't have the time nor the patience to glub away aboat somefin you clearly care more aboat than she does, knot to say it isn't important. But cod, you can and you will glub us all to fuckin death so why don't you just fin her e-mail on the school website, grab a couple examples, pop in a five hour energy, write that shitscale out and she'll get on it, alright? Are we done here?!"

"!"

Kankri Vantas stormed away and trampled down ten side steps from Aranea's 'School Clubs' booth that was positioned on the small, elevated auditorium platform in the school gym. Meenah cackled as he marched and messily side-stepped around every skater working on tricks for their after school program and reached the exit.

"I thought my brain was gonna turn into caviar!"

Meenah laid her face on a stack of blue flyers and puckered her full lips out at the pair beside her. Meulin had been snatched from detention to 'work' with Aranea for an hour, as she was head of information for various organizations at Beforus High. What a surprise! But they did nothing of the sort because Meenah chatted about future Halloween festivities for the most part until Kankri shut her whole mood down. Talk about blowing some boat steam!

The colorful trio sat on small stools with Aranea in-between Meulin and Meenah. She was in charge of writing down the names of 'cool fronds' that were coming to their party on Halloween night.

"Leijon, you have it easy."

"I do?"

"Yup! Sea, when I get in trouble the teachers automatically latch me onto Serket cause they know I hate anyfin that involves their petty 'School Spirit'. So they enjoy swimmin up to me and askin what I've learned aboat the many waves you can spend a 'Beforus Boon-Dollar' or what club they'll need to join if some crazy student wants to be on the student committee. Trust me, Meu. You ain't tryna to do this again."

"I need all the helpers I can get, Meenah!"

"Of course you do, Serk, cause this is a fuckin drag."

Meulin continued to scribble little cats on the idea paper for the school's upcoming dance, but then eavesdropped, or rather mouth-dropped on Aranea and Meenah's social get-together conversation.

"So, we were talking about the party?"

"Oh yeah! So basically it's goin to be on Halloween. I thought to myshelf 'why have it on the weekend when I can just tail the followin Thursday to go suck my 2x3 prongs!' It's gonna be a huge profit."

"Why's that?"

"Cause you know that 'totally cool and amazin' teacher and student oriented Halloween party they're goin to have around seven that night? The one you're actually workin on posters for? Yeah, no, nobody in their right mind that has an ounce of reputation in this shell-hole is goin. So what I'm goin to do is make a small rumor that I'm havin a get together and that all grades are invited."

"That's nice of you!"

"Of course it is...until they sea your booth posted outside and some buoy I hire tailin 'em there's an admission fee of five bucks if they're knot on my list! And man, who wouldn't want to spend the sand dolla dolla knowin they wouldn't be anywhere else but my offishal party, huh? It's genius. I am a genius."

Aranea shook her head as Meulin peeked at a pair of unfamiliar names: Rufioh Nitram and…Horuss Zahhak?

"You're not using my booth, I worked too hard to make it."

"Oh come on, it won't get hurt! It will be outside and the work buoy will make shore knot a dent or scratch will get on it. Besides, it will be covered with black and orange construction paper AND it will house my metal money box!"

"Okay, but what about inside? That's my apartment you're talking about!"

"Hey, listen to me! Nofin is gonna happen, and if it does, that's what the money is for! You know our fronds wouldn't trash the place up on porpoise. And, as a bonus, I'm gonna buy cheap-ass supplies, no pumpkins, one streamer and a bottle of Absolut we can mix with lemonade before anemone even arrives."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? What kind of Halloween party only has one streamer and no pumpkins?"

"I'd rather invite MEGIDO than mess up my nails! I've learned my lesson from last year. You remember what one swordfish did? The drunk fuck slid on the wall while he was on top of our old couch, you know, the one we haddock to throw away because someone puked on it? Yeah, he literally tore all my decorations down and almost broke the shot glasses on the wooden table! You were somewhere else when this happened, maybe upstairs but oh my cod when I found out from Nitram I let 'em have it! So If any freshman wanna get caught with alcohol it will have to be from their money on their terms, knot mine! In fact I'll do a strip search before they come in! No drank comes in my party, only kids and fun!"

"That's an awful lot to do for some cash!"

"Hey! A sand-dollar is a sand-dollar. And buoy do I love me some sand-dollars!"

Aranea smacked her forehead while Meulin snorted.

"SO, miss kitty kit-"

Meulin's cheeks flushed a light pink.

"-you in? I mean, I don't know if you'll be comfortable with people jammin to stuff you can't hear but you'll get to meet more of our weird and awkward but semi-likable fronds so it's up to you."

"I'll think about it!"

"S'chool if you have other plans, maybe involvin that mystery fish of yours? Hmmmm?"

Oh no. Meulin's flush turned scarlet. They can't know about her and Kurloz, not yet anyways. She wanted to form her opinion of him before they altered it for her.

"I-I don't know yet."

"They're so many fishies in the sea for you to sink your little fangs into! I'm glad you got over the 'I need to compensate gettin some pleasure with friendship' from Makara…"

She gulped at that statement. She wasn't compensating per se rather she just wanted to know him better. What's wrong with that? She didn't know how all of this developing relationship business worked in the real world. It's much more complicated thinking about it on her own than with others. But she sighed and waited for the clock to strike four so that she could go home and prepare for the evening ahead of her.

---

"...And then he just went on and on and then Meenah just hissed at him and told him to go somewhere else!"

"She ain't never gonna get used to that shit."

"I know, but still. I understand where Kankri is coming from but he does seem to mouth an awful lot. Meenah always tells me I'm lucky I can't hear it otherwise I'd feel the same way she does!"

Kurloz ran a hand through his hair and chuckled. It was around seven thirty in the evening. Gamzee had departed for his bi-weekly sermons around four and it left Meulin time to prepare before she came at six. It was a particularly sunny day amongst the bitter October weather so she saw it as a sign to wear a more warm-oriented outfit. They both sat opposite each other on the burgundy rug in the living room with couches boxing them in. In front of them were white paper with a variety of pencils, crayons and markers that she brought from home. There were scribbles of black cats, witch hats, skeleton bones, which turned into small scribbles of themselves riding animals, silly hats, smiley faces, etc. Before they knew it twenty minutes had passed.

Kurloz had turned on the television and flipped through no particular channels but stopped to pay attention to Meulin when she removed the purple throw off of her bare shoulders. It had become colder in the house so he had given it to her for warmth. She wore a grey, plain spaghetti strap shirt, a short peach plaid skirt that reached the middle of her thighs that were covered with baby green cotton stockings. Her curvy legs were bent in a lady-like position and tucked neatly beside her body. She wore the same black ballet flats but they were placed beside the entrance of the house. The 'wicked ensemble' was complete with candy corn 'Kit ears' and fuzzy blue tail connected to her skirt via keychain. Makara, on the other hand wore a wine colored, silk button up work shirt and dark grey cargo pants that reached the bottom of his knees and revealed his crossed, hairy lower legs. She tossed the throw towards the purple love seat which landed on top of her pink backpack and turned back to Kurloz who smiled and started to mouth at her.

"Hey, you want me to try to see if anything scary is on?"

"Sure!"

Meulin continued to draw a little blonde girl beside a crude drawing of an older guy. She saw his body language exclaim something excitedly and looked up at the screen to see the title 'Halloween 2007.' She laughed at looked at him expectantly.

"That's my shit!"

"You're so obvious!"

"So are you, doodling little pussies and a Rose beside my doctor, which by the motherfuckin' way, I tried! I'm not the best drawer like you!"

She stuck her tongue out and neatly pushed her supplies in a single file across the fuzzy rug.

"Also, uh, apparently the original version is better than this one but I mean what the fuck else is new? I have poor taste in films, I guess."

"So what? People should like whatever they want! It makes the world go 'round!"

He nodded in agreement and stood up to head for the kitchen while she got up and moved to the big, brown couch and lied down vertically. She idly glanced at commercial previews and let her thoughts wander. The night had been going steady and surprisingly platonic. She didn't know long it would take for her sexual avidity, buried away in the back of her mind, to manifest once more. But she believed that the film they were about to watch could help with dispelling that. She inhaled a comforting, buttery scent and Kurloz came back by the couch only to sit playfully atop her lap. She gasped and a large, white bowl full of popcorn in his arms began to be devoured with his greedy fingers.

"Hey!"

"Have you seen this?"

"Uh-uh!"

"Oh fuck. I hope you don't get queasy 'cause this movie got blood for days."

"I can handle some blood and gore. Besides, I like to think of myself as a hunter from time to time, prowling in the jungle and saving innocent islanders like one of Rambo's accomplices!"

"Hot."

She smacked her teeth in amusement and tickled his waist. He slid to his side and finally got up to lie beside her on the edge of the couch. Dube, how merch dose thid bro eben weigh, one elelephant?!

Needless to say, she didn't get distracted or sidetracked or seduced in any form or fashion for that secret, unyielding hope was hit by a tree branch, pummeled and beaten to its unmerciful death never to be seen for the duration of the film. It had everything she thought he would like; family problems, psychiatry, violence, mood and atmosphere, sex, long messy hair and even the excessive use of the word 'fuck'. It almost seemed like the further the movie went into Michael Meyer's life the more Meulin had felt that Kurloz had stopped his breath at the word:

Psychopath.

By the first half of the movie the popcorn bowl was abandoned on the love seat, half eaten when they lost their physical appetites to their visual ones. Kurloz had felt her twitch at intense moments, stroked her hair and asked her several times if she was okay and every time she had nodded. She was more than fine with horror and violence! Hell, adventure and action was one of her favorite genres but this particular film was giving her some sort of weird real-life parallel and she couldn't put a finger on it.

As the movie progressed the affections had stopped. There were no longer fingers to detangle her locks or a thumb to caress her shoulder even when she felt abnormally squeamish and hugged his waist. It was as if she was abandoned, forced to watch the development of the 'antagonist' by herself.

By the credit sequence she had looked up to see wisps of smoke coming from a lit Newport cigarette. He had a disturbing satisfaction in his eyes when he met Meulin's gaze and rubbed the back of her neck.

"I'm guessin' no sequel for us, huh?"

There was no response simply because she didn't know how. She had realized that even though they were still becoming friends there was still much she didn't know about him and that caused a greater uncertainty than the film ever could.

He had finally caught on to her pensive yet lifeless gaze. It was like she wasn't there; a shell that searched deep inside for an answer that couldn't be found. He furrowed his brow, put the cigarette on a glass ash tray atop the window sill and cupped her face.

"You okay?"

She blinked. her sickly pallor showed signs of color.

"Yes. I'm sorry."

He smiled again and brushed a few long strands away from her face. She looked back to the windowsill that housed various iridescent candles and observed the placid strings of ash that arose. The light from the lamp post outside seeped through the slits of blinds and gave the smoke a menacing glow. She gave her attention to Kurloz again with strength and bravery brewing in the pit of her stomach.

"Can I ask you something?"

He plucked the cigarette from the ashtray, puffed and expelled the vapor through his nose.

"Of course, Kit."

"Well, this is the first time I've seen you smoke."

"You've seen me-"

"Cigarette! I mean-the first time I've seen you smoke a cigarette. Why?"

He looked at the cylindrical cancer stick and shrugged.

"Sometimes people start off with the small shit and end up with something more serious."

He looked into her eyes with a softer expression.

"…I know it's bad, Kit, but I've been doing this for a while."

She subconsciously played with one of the small button on his work shirt.

"It's just so pawful fur you."

"I wasn't exactly the prince of health to begin with."

He chuckled humorlessly but she wasn't buying it. Her frown had deepened significantly but more from her next sentence than his unscrupulous habit.

"I've heard some things. Rumors, I mean, about your brother."

The air stiffened. It was the first time Meulin had noticed a trace of somber emotion and for a moment, he said nothing. She felt her heart pound under his questioning gaze and tried to mend her error.

"But, I mean, I don't purrlieve any of it. I was just curious. We don't have to talk about it if-"

"No."

He moved upright on the arm of the couch, cigarette placed back on the ashtray and easily forgotten while his limb rested on the top of the cushion.

"You know what they say about rumors: You gotta dispel that shit from the source. So, what do you wanna know?"

She pushed herself up beside him to initiate a serious conversation.

"Well, I've heard from others, not my friends by the way, that something had happened in the past and it was pretty bad. I don't know. I think I have some idea as to what happened but I just don't know why it happened."

She paused, unable to word her indirect question any subtler and waited for his response.

"Well I can't really tell you all the reasons why that shit happened. But I can tell you that he was born on a day that my family did not approve of. They had let him grow up to see what he was like, skeptical of what they believed in-"

"Your religion?"

She saw Kurloz move his tongue around his mouth while he stared at the small rips and protruding fluff on parts of the cushions in front of him. It reminded Meulin of when she had talked to Gamzee on their way to his house.

"Yeah, so they thought something wicked would go down and I guess Gamzee knew about it before they could really react, so…"

His gaze deepened and searched for something that was clearly there and replayed in his mind.

"Stars aligning…Mirthful Messiahs…Angels of double-death."

She rubbed her shoulder with warm hands. What did that all mean?

"You cold?"

"I'm fine."

He nodded.

"Well, it's more of a cult than a religion but that's what we like to call it. Actually, Gamzee is the one that got me into it. It's something we don't really discuss in detail with outsiders. Not that you're an outsider to me but-"

"I'm not in the cult so it wouldn't be appropriate."

"That's right."

"What does Gamzee do?"

He licked his lips and tasted the chalky face paint.

"He converts."

"Oh."

Meulin grimaced inwardly from a delicate awareness. What if Kurloz thought she was just being his friend to get information? What if their trust was damaging? Meulin instantly regretted this whole conversation and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You know what? Let's not talk about this anymore. I'll tell you what! Since I asked something purrsonal you get to ask me whatever question you want!"

Kurloz smirked and cocked his head in mock disbelief.

"Anything…?"

"Mhmm! Anything that comes to mind!"

"Okay. How 'bout your favorite ship?"

She fake-scoffed and put a hands on her chest.

"What a loaded question! Psyche, I have no favorite ship! I have way too many to choose from to even narrow it down. They're all my purrecious gay babies floating though the sea of fight or sink. Such is the life and consequences of a hypothetical matchmaker!"

He snorted. The constricting air lifted like a small burden off her shoulders.

"Can I ask you something else?"

"Of course, Kit."

She smiled and drummed her fingers on her skirt.

"I know you work and I know you have to support your family."

She paused again and gave herself a moment to think about her word choice.

"Did you not finish high school? It's okay if you didn't, I won't judge you. I mean, you're doing better than most adults I know."

His face turned from puzzled, to skeptical and suddenly it was like his mind had an epiphany. He closed his eyes and chuckled, silently confirming his discovery.

"Damn, Kit. You really don't know."

"What?"

"You mean to tell me you weren't talking to your homies about me this whole time?"

"They still don't know that I'm talking to you, or ever talked to you…which sounds really bad and rude, I'm sorry-"

"No, no, that's fine. They're the damn empresses of blather but I have some secrets of my own they don't think I know about."

"Really?"

She looked mesmerized and wondered if he would 'spill the glorious deets'.

"Yeah, sis, but I don't think you'd want to know that more than what I am about to tell you."

She turned her head like a lost kitten. Was he secretly a genius working for the government? Or maybe a detective, or a spy or-

"I did finish high school."

"Oh, okay!"

"Six years ago"

She gaped. Her small smile turned lopsided, eyes widened and cartoonish with long mascara covered lashes. Her nose flared up and she didn't have the mental capacity to calculate his age let alone the fact that she sat beside an older gentleman.

He grinned so wide it almost touched his ears. His hand went up to almost cover his face but thought better of it and signed two numbers at her.

Twenty four.

Twenty four.

She laughed it off but the initial shock lingered.

"Wow, I wouldn't have guessed! I thought all this time you might have gone to a different school that me. Then when I found out you were working I figured you must have sacrificed school to take care of your brother!"

"Well I still did all that shit, in a way. I mean, I didn't go to college or get a degree, I just up and got myself a job not even thinking about it because I knew my main priority was him. I wanted to help that little bastard the best I could, you know? Plus, a ninja really didn't know what the fuck he wanted to do so there would have been no passion in it."

She nodded and understood the kindred sacrifice.

"But that's one thing I still want for him, to not make my mistake. Yeah, the house is paid and I just have to work day to day for light and food but I know he can be more than this. You already know he had it way motherfuckin' harder than me. To be honest, he ain't all there and he should be a sailor on s.s you cuss too got-damn much but I still want him to just squash our past and move from all of this. And you too, while I'm at it."

"Huh?"

"I have this feeling you're gonna produce some heavy fuckin' miracles in the future. You're smart, you can be dedicated and you actually pay attention in class until I start getting bored as fuck in the morning…"

She giggled and put both hands on his shoulder so she could rest her chin.

"You know that's your fault!"

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, Meenah told me you were twenty two but had some sort of problem that happened in the past so you had to be held back but l think it's really tight that you didn't give up. I respect that, so I hope you get your GED and do whatever you want to do."

He had moved his hand to run his fingers through her hair. She could only smile at him but he felt something was off after few moments passed. He lidded his eyes and looked into hers with a more serious expression.

"You ok?"

"I'm nineteen."

"Ninja, what?"

Well that turned extraordinarily awkward.

She gulped and her nervous eyes trailed all over the contours of the room, up to the innocuous clock that hung above the house entrance which said 'ten-seventeen' in the evening and finally back to the bulging eyes of the twenty four year old. If they got any bigger she would have to grab a bowl before they popped out of his sockets. She felt the breath from his nose become harsher and he glanced away, trying to search for words but no avail. No amount of Juggalo lingo could lift the heavy tension in the air that read 'You don't know jack shit about one another, do you?'

His nervousness was starting to affect her nervousness and suddenly she felt sweat forming under her arms and her body began to breathe manually and Kurloz looked back with his incredibly uncomfortable gaze, leaned even closer so that their noses were practically touching but she could still read his black-lined lips which moved so soft it was like he was uttering the vast sentence that could alter time and space as she knew it.

"...Am I gettin' locked up?"

"KURLOZ!"

He jumped away from her in horror and put his hands up while she was too stunned to do anything but gawk at him.

"Emm Oh Gee I can't even purrlieve you said that!"

She put both hands that were previously hanging in the air on her mouth to stifle her upcoming giggles.

"Eighteen is legal you know! Did you know there are some states where the age of consent is sixteen? I think we're doing okay!"

"No, don't sidetrack that shit on me. That doesn't make me feel any less of an old-ass man!"

"You don't even look twenty four!"

"Yeah 'cause you haven't seen my geezer face under all this paint! You know what, this is too much. I need to smoke."

"But you did smoke!"

"No, sweetheart, I need to smoke!"

She giggled again as he made his comical descension to the basement. So, she was canoodling with someone who was clearly over being legal and she didn't even think twice about that ever happening. She only had two years until she could call herself a full-fledged adult. Didn't girls her age have older friends all the time? Well, maybe not friends who did…stuff. When were Meenah and Aranea even going to tell her about that?

Oh yeah, never, because she hasn't uttered a peep.

So there she was; little naïve Meulin Leijon thinking about her past actions with old-ass man Kurloz Makara. She furrowed her brows and thought about how weirdly mature he was, open to her interests but still managed to maintain his mystery and charm. She took this time to remove her cat ears and tail and set them on the loveseat if she were to ever get truly comfortable with him.

Kurloz came up the stairs again in a much calmer state, stretched out beside her on the couch and looked back to her again. She took the time to really examine his features. He was definitely taller than her by about a foot but he still looked youthful. He was right, she wouldn't know with all the paint but that was a risk she decided she would take. The only details she could make out was his bushy brows, languid eyes and strong facial features. Everything he wore had a sort of baggy quality but that didn't mean he was to be considered lanky, quite the opposite. There was just something about his appearance that made her feel better about her own cat persona. His confidence would infect her and she would take more pride in her role play gear and care less about what others had to say. Maybe that's why she was so allured by him; she had never seen someone that relaxed about it.

She raised a hand to her delighted smile when she saw his hand twirl his rolled white owl cigarillo.

"I feel like this 'bout to be one of those long nights."

---

Meulin and Kurloz still lay delicately on the couch beside one another while breaths of smoke hovered in every direction. The old smoke alarm's battery had been removed, the blinds closed, the ashtray in arms distance and the air freshener on the ground for emergency, which to be honest wouldn't do that much good but they were high, what does anyone expect? In the middle of passing the blunt Kurloz got the bright idea to bring his desk lamp upstairs from his work desk while turning all the other lights off which gave off a more intimate ambiance. It had started to rain outside which added to the feeling.

"Kurloz?"

He turned his head and lifted his brows to indicate his attention but his eyes barely looked open and were dark with scarlet veins.

"I'm fine with your age."

She had patted his chest for emphasis. When she became high, her movements were more touchy feely.

"Are you fine with mine? I mean, we just started being good friends. And, I know you've got a life to live and I'm still trying to graduate-"

His left arm moved and his index finger hushed her lips.

"I'm solid if you solid, pussy cat."

She nodded heavier than necessary. He put a hand behind his neck in a stiff manner and she pouted at his strained countenance.

"You okay, Kurzorz?"

"I don't know, Sis. This old age is creepin' up on me."

"Only with me, right? If you're that uncomfortable-"

"Naw I was jokin'. It's just…Fuck, I don't know."

She bit her lip and realized the fragile relationship she had with him was already stained. The 'fuck it' in her system really wasn't a match for her validation for age acceptance.

"Maybe I should just leave-"

"No, don't do that, I said I was joking."

He turned his body so that he could face her, wrapped one of his arms around her waist so she had no choice but to pay attention to his speech.

"Read my lips. I am stupid high and I might say some dumb shit but believe be when I say: I don't wanna front. I feel uneasy but that's only because I've been through this type of shit before so it takes a minute for me to open up. You just have to up and be patience, aight?"

He looked like the typical dopey twenty year old but in reality he was spoken like a true adult. Maybe he was hiding some sort of deep intelligence, just like the paint that masked his face.

"Okay."

He smiled, squeezed her side in reassurance and laid flat on the couch satisfied with their conversation. He reached one arm to turn off the now harsh lamp light, nabbed the purple throw from the loveseat and covered them both. Meulin snuggled her face in the crook of his neck like a doting kitten with one arm around his chest and leg bent on his thigh.

She let her mind wander to a taboo while she felt the heavy rise and fall of her intoxicated companion's chest. This situation was similar to an innocent freshman in high school caught up in the flair and forbidden charisma of a college boy, and boy was she a sucker for all things forbidden. It's what caused her to be an avid shipper in the first place. Meulin could feel the shiny sparkles dance around her eyes while the hand that previously rested on his side slid up his neck and pulled gently on a few waves of hair.

Kurloz closed his eyes from the glare of the TV screen and indulged in his one true weakness. She felt his massive sigh and she lifted her head up while craftily adding the second hand.

"You must love hair salons."

He cracked a grin, moved his head to the side and stared at her as best he could with his barely lidded eyes.

"It's been three weeks. You have on hot as fuck thigh highs and now this. I hope you know not to start shit I'll want to finish."

She felt the spark ignite. It was that too; his natural assertiveness which seemed to bewitch her every time.

"Whatever do you mean, mister Makara?"

"No you didn't."

She could only cackle harshly while he pushed his torso up, flipped over and lazily pulled her body towards the center of the ashy brown sofa. He moved his body between her thighs and lifted them so that they were on either side of his waist and his knees could spread apart to keep them bent. He buttoned down half his shirt, fed up when he got one stuck and lifted it off with one arm only to discard it somewhere on the floor.

He bent down and silenced his giggly flame with a chaste kiss. Meulin couldn't help but smile as she put both arms over his shoulders but the mirth wouldn't last when he demanded entrance with his tongue. She had achieved the thought of them actually kissing in this manner too late when she automatically parted them. How was there to be any way of him knowing she didn't have experience when they were both out of it?

It didn't matter because all he did was suck her tongue and bite her lower lip which she was more than enchanted with. She made a light groan as he immediately began to form love marks on her neck. His fingers and palm caressed up her bare arms, atop her shoulder, down to her waist and finally her breasts. She lifted her legs and crossed them over his waist when he started to knead over the thin cotton fabric of her shirt.

Kurloz thanked all his lucky messiahs she didn't decide to wear a bra today. He licked the edge of his teeth and lifted his head from his affections, moved his hands down to the edge of her top and slowly removed it while she lifted her torso and arms up. He didn't even care for where he had chucked it.

His hands gingerly slid up her bare waist, which was covered in goose bumps and cupped both breasts with his index and thumb before he nodded and said:

"They do fit in my hands."

Meulin giggled and swatted at his arm playfully but held onto them when he began to gently pinch her nipples.

She craned her neck and shut her eyes from the shock and unusual pleasure. He kept pressing them between his fingers and tugged now and then while she crushed his waist with her thighs at the sensation. It was enough pressure to make them harden like ice and it wasn't enough to be deemed painful. It was torture and she enjoyed every second.

Once they was hard enough he gently caressed the tips and areola with his thumb while she relaxed her legs and whined in bliss. Her arms moved upward to take hold of the armrest which half concealed her healthy redness and carnal expression.

Just when she though it couldn't get any better he leaned forward, took one mound in his teeth and grazed before he whirled his tongue. The other hand continued its tender contact. She rolled her eyes back and drew out lustful cries and tiny gasps. The strong 'catnip' in her system released all her fan girl inhibitions. Meulin imagined them in an alternative universe where he was an older prince of noble blood and she only a meager teen mage of love and they could only meet in secret, not daring to expose their action to the likes of others! Oh no, it would be the scandal of the solar swee-uh…Year. Nonetheless it was really hot and she didn't give one can.

She felt his free hand slither down her contracting waist and before she knew it he had journeyed beneath her panties, fingers stroked between her labia majora. Kurloz was appropriately rewarded with hands deep in his hair and a cry so loud it could have woken the whole neighborhood.

"Oh, Kurloz!"

By god, this old-ass man had exceptional skills! He kissed her sternum and slowly inched his body downward on the couch, leaving a trail of hot kisses. His arm had moved so that he could make his trek down properly and still please her by rubbing her clit with his thumb. She twitched and pressed her mouth against her raised arm. Meulin was boisterous than ever before.

His sat upright, moved her legs straight up in the air and lifted her cotton black panties, discarded them wherever and spread her eager thighs. He licked his teeth again, deviously this time and concluded that she was like a frail, female lion in the unforgiving capture of a horny sea-goat, which in the future, if he were to dwell on it, would conclude that the thought made no sense whatsoever.

He moved down with her clouded eyes deliriously watching with excitement and zeal!

Until she caught sight of the disgusting mess of dripping, liquid acid blood and Alien monsters pelting a man in the head with Its second set of teeth.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Kurloz jumped out of her skirt, completely dumb -struck

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

He sharply turned in all directions, limbs helter skelter before he leaned too far over the edge, lost his balance and landed on the living room tile, head first.

"SHIT."

He heard the hitched gasp of his beloved Kit, ignored the massive knot forming on the side of his head and immediately stood up to see Meulin cover her mouth with both hands. Her hair was a dangling mess and the TV screen illuminated the sweat on her pale skin. He would have stepped closer, asked if she was okay and hugged her for comfort.

But he dared not to.

"Are you…are you motherfuckin' gigglin'?!"

"I'm-mmmf! I'm sorr…!"

She couldn't even finish. Her back slowly hunched and her mouth delayed any noise when suddenly she gasped, moved back and guffawed. She held her stomach which tightened from the infectious, hard laughter. He frowned deeply, not enjoying the harmless prank which shot his sensual mood.

"Damn, Kit, I didn't know this was what we do now."

"Look at the screen! Look what's on!"

She slapped the cushions and shrieked in amusement. All Kurloz could do was mouth a small 'Oh' to himself when he saw it. If he was getting some head and noticed a disgusting Xenomorph having his way with a defenseless crew in a ship out in lonely-ass space he would have lost his shit too. There was just nothing to be mad at.

Kurloz took a few steps towards the loveseat, grabbed the remote and changed the channel. She calmed down and smiled at all the widdle penguins in the arctic. This must have been a documentary on animal life.

He sat down in front of her and gingerly poked the small bump on the back his head while Meulin moved over and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sorry, Kurzorz."

"It's all chill, I've had worse I guess. So, you uh…"

He ogled her down and up. Meulin giggled and scrunched her face in playful awkwardness.

"Not really. That kind of turned me off? Like, a lot?"

He nodded slowly, bit his lip and swallowed.

"Okay…uh…okay."

She laughed again as he got up, hung his head and headed towards the stairs of virile shame.

"Oh no, Kurly Q, don't be like thaaaat!"

He extended his arm and raised a sassy hand to her, not bothering to look in her direction while she cupped her cheeks and cried out from hilarity. After a few seconds of deep breaths she lied back down on the couch while a puffy penguin waddled on the screen with a fish in its mouth. Meulin now had a new set of questions that needed answering. Were all older men detached or was it just him? What was his perception of love? Was it possible to warm his frigid, past-stricken heart and let her in? Could she delve deeper into more personal aspects of his life? She bit her thumb and wondered whom she could go to for general inquiry.

She had finished her thought at the same time Kurloz stepped back up. He changed into a loose black shirt and grey sweat pants.

"You tired? I don't think that couch would be great for that back of yours."

She smiled sweetly at his remembrance, stood up, turned off the television, grabbed her pink backpack and strolled towards the beam of light that came from his room.

---

"What do you guys think about older men?"

"Say WHAT?"

Meenah and Aranea spun around to face Meulin from the front seats of Meenah's parked, fuchsia painted ford focus. They had just finished their Halloween 'shopping' from a local party store and were discussing where to get lunch until Meulin decided to be brave in the privacy of closed doors. It was a week after she had visited Kurloz and concluded that there was no teen forum, anonymous advice site or yahoo answer that could quite give her the advice she needed.

"Ok, PUASE...How old we carpin?"

"Early twenties?"

"Oh dam. What's old to you is dolphinitely knot old to me. I instantly thought forties and was scared for a second you were caught in the net of a sugar-water daddy."

Meulin's nose wrinkled in amusement at the mental image of Kurloz with a pimp suit and cane.

"No definitely not."

"Good! I thought I was gonna have to smackeral someone. Kelp, you're askin what I think of 'em? Whale since we're carpin twenties I should start out by sayin that they are basically an upgraded version of the saggin' and baggin' flunkies we're dealin with at school. Sea, an older buoy pikes younger gills cause they can still drink and party and have fun and perfect their dick-u-puncture skills-"

"Meenah!" Aranea exclaimed.

"-And when they finally decide they're done with all that they turn into kelpless puppies. All they want is to be loved and cared for cause they finally bereef they have somefin to offer to the older ladies cause they're certainly knot gonna put up with their party animal shit. Not to say that's a bad thing, but we gills are more fun and easygoing and still their type, kind of."

"I see…so, we're just practice until something better comes along?"

"Yes and No. They can have their flings and knot worry aboat emotions with a young party gill. And if they do want to hook up with her or maintain somefin more searious they-Oh wait…hold up. Is that who I think it is?"

Meulin turned around and looked at the view of a slender, oriental-themed woman with a red uniform who pushed a cart filled with Halloween supplies; cups, napkins, bowls, pocky, black lights, assorted candies and boxes of cigarettes.

Meenah looked down at her bag in between the seats: A seventy-nine cent pumpkin streamer and some red cups. Meulin looked back just in time to see her mouth:

"Megido."

Meenah groaned.

"You wanna witness the queen of destruction and drama you're lookin at her physical embodiment. How did she even manage to get all of those supplies?! Oh she thinks she can just take all of my potential custo-I mean, guests away from me whale I wanna throw a second thought right at her vulgar dome and watch it shatter across the tar! I can make a good Halloween party, right Serk?"

"You try."

"Fuck you, I do a great job!"

Meulin stifled her giggles with her hands.

"You know what? I lost my appetite for thrift shoppin. Let's go to the new pizza mart they just built on the other side. Maybe if that eastern land whale shoals up I can her a give a good pokin with my spork and watch Ahab do eight flips in his water-grave."

They got out of the car into the bright warmth of the sun and started to make their stride until Meenah looked at Meulin questioningly.

"But seariously why you askin Meu? I told you what I know so the least you can do is lemminow this mystery buoy's age."

"…What if it's not a 'buoy'?"

"Guuuuurl you swim that way?"

"No, I'm teasing! But okay. I wanna say twenty three? Maybe…twenty four?"

Meulin strolled happily with hands behind her back and looked around at all the cheery shoppers on a Saturday. She took joy in knowing they were preparing for the festive holiday she would participate in. She was so caught up, in fact, that she didn't realize her two 'gillfronds' no longer walked beside her. She furrowed her brows and turned around to see 'Guppy Lips' and 'Spider Sylph' staring in the most entertained manner possible.

"Oh. My. Cod. I knew it."

Meenah wagged her finger at Aranea while slowly making her way towards a very befuddled cat girl.

"I fuckin KNEW that this sneaky little catfish was hidin somefin from us! Oh you're caught in my net now! You have no place to jump out for safety so you might as whale confess! I know your serket."

Meulin froze with fear.

"But it's not-"

"It's knot what?! Come on, no need to fib now. I always fin a wave to the truth courtesy of my dear friend Pyrope with her fabulous lie-detectin skills. You can reely learn a thing or two from that rad girl. Anemoneway, come on. Spit it out!"

Meulin felt her heart drop in her stomach. Aranea had inched beside Meenah for informational porpoises-uh. Purposes.

"…"

"Whale?"

"OKAY! I'm sorry! I just wanted to see if I could have a friendship with him first! I didn't mean to keep it from you guys but the day I talked to Gamzee we sort of went to Kurloz's house and then we talked and hung out and he gave me his number and-"

Meenah put up a satisfied hand with a smug look on her face.

"Who said it was Makara?"

Meulin gaped.

"I think we're gonna need a whole box of anchovy pizza now!"

Meenah cackled all the way across the street.

"I'm sorry, Meulin. I wish I could have signed to you or something but you know. Uh, ok I'll be walking now."

---

Meulin stared at her slice of anchovy and pepperoni pizza with slight distress and wanted to crawl under a litter box. All three girls sat at the far end of the pizza mart, away from the crowd of people who lined up to order greasy pizza and hot wings fresh from the oven. They each sat around a circular table at equal distance from each other to leave the right amount of viewing space.

"Mmm this pizza so good, mang. I'm so glad y'all chipped in cause my clam purse don't exactly got it pike that."

Meenah took a last bite of her cheesy goodness and glanced at Meulin.

"Oh COME ON, Meu!"

She leaned over and poked her shoulder.

"I was gonna fin out eventually! I mean look, you start textin more than usual right after I set you up with little Makara and then you don't wanna come to our house because what? You haddock to take your cat to the vet? You were goin out of town? You banged up your toe on the kitchen table and needed to let it heal?"

"I actually wasn't lying about that one."

"All of that was water under the crossing trestle until I heard you utter the word…miracle."

"…I did?"

"She did?"

"Ayup. We were glubbin aboat math homework and you said it would be a miracle if you could finally get a good grade in 'Sourpuss's class. I knew from then on because there is nobody in this god-forsaken earth who ever says the word miracle unless they've stayed in touch with a Makara for too long! Hell, I've stopped hangin out with him shrimply because I wanted to straighten out my vocab! And NOW I have to stop hangin out with Serket over here cause I'm ramblin unnecessarily!"

Meenah shook a mock-angry fist in the air.

"Dam you all and your catchy quirks! UGH."

Aranea could only shake her head while Meulin laughed lightly.

"You hung out with him?"

"Yeah, shore, plenty of times. I mean, come on. Nine whole years of him and he's pretty much the big bro who doesn't say shit. Who doesn't pike that?"

Meulin then remembered the serious question she had wanted ask.

"You told him I was twenty two. Why?"

"You told him she was twenty two? Meenah!"

"HEY! I haddock to say somefin to him otter-wise he wouldn't have given her another chance."

"But you lied to him and that kinda means you lied to me."

"Oh I sea how it is! You didn't even want to mention that you were in love-cahoots. Uh, yeah, you're welcome, AGAIN, and now we're even."

"No I'm fine with what you did but why…Oh."

She finally put the two pieces together.

"He doesn't like younger girls."

"Huh? Who said anyfin aboat that? I told him cause he wouldn't stop textin me aboat us drinkin at our age. He always does that; it's his sugoi big brother complex but I mean dam, I've got a life to live too! Cod he has this weird drug dealin hypocrite mentality. So, yeah, I lied! A little white lie, so what? He probably knows your reel age now, right?"

"Yeah, but wait. You told me you didn't know much about him befur!"

"Whale I do and I don't. I thought you weren't interested in him anymore so I didn't say nofin. So that's why you were askin all aboat that older man stuff huh? Oh man why you ain't tail a sista?"

"Beclaws I thought you were going to tell efurrybody."

"Hey, peep at these beautiful lips. I am a sometime-y beach but that's all I'll ever be. A sometime-y beach. If I was spreadin all the business around Serket would have kicked me out the crib a long time ago!"

"It's true."

"So you can trust me! Sea, I'm your frond!"

Meulin smiled and felt the doubt wash away. She lifted her still warm pizza and took a small bite.

"But seariously water y'all even doin together? Lemminow."

"Does it have to be here?"

"Are you kiddin me? Look; a jolly ol' fat santa clause and two badass kids runnin around with they broke momma on the other side of the restaurant. Who is listenin?"

"…"

"You know you wanna."

"MOG, okay! The first time we hung out it was at his house beclaws I didn't want anybody knowing what was going on and so we ate corndogs and made ships on paper and he even introduced me to 'Doctor Who' which is this cool British show that I am still not sure I should be taking seriously but anyway we started texting and getting to know each other and just last week we watched scary movies and smoked catnip and it was the best time evfurr-"

"Holy mackerel why is this so interestin. I seariously need to stop swimmin with you, Serk. Pigs will be flyin with bacon-wings any day now."

"Not fair, you know your thirst for knowledge is greater than mine!"

"-and he's really nice and sweet and more intelligent than I thought and he doesn't like to let a lot of people in but I think I can change that you know I mean I can be the dashing princess to rescue him from his tragic past and-"

"Woah someone call life alert my cares just fell and they can't get up."

Aranea looked at Meenah's grimace and knew where this was going.

"Oh no, Meenah, don't. I've seen that face before."

"Oh cod."

"She doesn't know any better. I know, how about we go get some more pizza-"

"Oh lookit me my name is Kurloz 'mothaglubbin' Makara! I'm such a dere dere bishie and I love skulls and bones and I'm so glubbin deep and I wear black over my eyes and treat all my ladies right and oh wow I'm so emotional and sophisticated and crazy cool and did I mention deep and ow my past hurts pay attention to me and wow check out this mad charm I got on these ladies I'm so fresh they can suck my nuts!"

"And so it begins."

"Bitch of water. Man troubles you have?"

"HOLY SHIT, MEGIDO!"

Meenah and Aranea sprang from their seats. They didn't even realize the schoolgirl vixen loomed behind them until it was too late.

"Oh NO, I am finishin this statement so both of you can just SIT THE SHUCK DOWN and LISTEN TO ME which I didn't think I would ever shout to anygill ever so DO IT!"

Aranea sat stiff between Meenah and a horribly confused Meulin while Damara sat in the empty space with pizza slice on a plate and a nefarious demeanor.

"Now be mouth hustler, Meu-meu. I bereef we all need a small and polite reality check at this table."

"No, Meenah, please! We don't have to do this now. She hasn't even been with him for the sliver of time you have!"

Damara moved her head up and down in violent approval.

"No, I don't want to go through this cullshit again. Now before we begin I want point out that Makara comes with a few hefty prices that I usually have to deal with later on! All his little fuck-buddy sylph-lookin maniacs wanna approach me and ask: "Oh, why doesn't he fancy me? Oh why doesn't he care for me?" Sometimes when a gill or buoy hollas at him they think he's this precious perfect puppy prince that's gonna sweep 'em off their feet with his 'skills, confidence and attitude' and want them to fall in love! Aww, how sweet...It makes my blood fuckin boil and I want to poke my EYES out with my shiny golden stick cause I want inform you, just in case you didn't know, that he is a JUGGALO. Now for those of us who don't know what that is-"

Meenah put one hand out like she was holding a invisible bread slice.

"-it is a mixture of Detroit trailer trash-"

And then the other.

"-and the dope boy rapper from next door-"

Then slapped them together and began to rub her palms animatedly.

"-smashed together pike some stale peanut butter and jelly sandwich or betta yet, oil and water! Gotta admit knot the best combination humanity has come up with but hey what can ya do!"

Meulin could only stare in terror as the high pedestal she had put on Kurloz shrunk to a modest size.

"Again, this guy is pretty much flesh and blood status but I've sean some shit and haddock to put up with more than enough of my share for nine whole years. When they get their little hearts broke and swim to me for answers I tail them the exact thing I am tailin you now so you won't say I didn't warn you before you go any further in your relationship. He drinks and smokes and parties and yes he has been through rough shit but tough, who hasn't? I am just lettin you know because Meu, you're my good frond, right? Please understand that this grown ass man who pays his bills and has a job and even earns a little cash for the fam has knot opened to anemone for a good set of years. Do knot expect shit to happen."

The whole restaurant was so silent they could hear a pin drop. Meulin died right then and there while she broke into a sweat from the tension. Aranea had her head in her hands while Damara lit a wood-tipped black n' mild, completely satisfied with Meenah's spontnaeous monologue.

"So…s-so I shouldn't pursue him, then?"

"Nah, I'm knot sayin that. All I want is for you is to understand crystal clearly who you are pursuin and if anyfin should arise you should knot be surprised or caught off guard in the least cause trust me I won't pretend to be."

Damara blew small smoke rings in Meenah's direction and she scrunched up her nose.

"Gurl, water you even doin? GET OUTTA HERE YOU NUTTY BITCH!"

The scarlet vixen mouthed an untranslatable language, stuck her tongue out between her fingers and sauntered away from the trio.

SO, Serket, you got anyfin you wanna add?"

"As a matter of fact, I do! First, that was the worst exposition of a person I've ever heard in my entire life and maybe you should take a break from me and second, I would like to rule out some important variables. Meulin, what do you think is the label of your relationship?"

"Label?"

Meulin pursed her lips. Was it really necessary to put something on it now?

"I'm not sure."

"Really? Then what do you want out of it?"

Meulin glanced at Aranea's shimmering, cerulean painted lips and wondered if Kurloz had ever kissed them. She was sitting next to beautiful women and he chose to keep in contact with her, of all people.

"I…I don't know yet."

"Well, let me ask you this. Has he kissed you? On the mouth, I mean."

She furrowed her brows, not knowing where this was going.

"Well, yeah, multiple times."

"Then you're definitely not friends with benefits!"

"I'm not?"

"She's knot?"

Aranea gave Meenah a face that read 'of course you don't know' and looked back to Meulin.

"When two people get involved in a long-term friends with benefits relationship, they tend to avoid kissing on the mouth because one, it doesn't lead to any intimate emotions and two, it's a great way to avoid any sorts of diseases. Have you been tested yet?"

"…Tested?"

Aranea patted her on the shoulder.

"You have so much to learn."

She felt like she was just hit with a ton of bricks. She thought Aranea and Meenah were on the same level but no. It turns out Meulin was just young and inexperienced. Meenah played with an anchovy piece and suddenly her face lit up.

"I got it!"

Aranea looked over to Meenah which cause Meulin to do the same.

"Are you still going to my beachin' Halloween party on wednesday?"

"I might."

"Ok, fuck that. Go ask Makara to, I dunno, go trick or treatin or somefin. You're never reely too old for that."

"But he might be working that day-"

"Cullshit, he gets off early at Halloween, and I do mean every Halloween. There's too much bank to be made from parties pike mine. If he's there late it's just because he's involved in the hot clubbin. Trust me, if he reely cares, he will shoal up. Think of it as a test of your frondship. If you're just some young thang he wants to have his wave with from time to time then dump him pike a rock bein thrown in the sea to never return!"

Meulin smiled brightly at her 'gillfronds.' but held her true emotions inside, which were a dark swirl of unsettlement.

"Okay!"

"REELY? I mean...s'chool"

"Meenah has never had someone deliberately tell her they liked her advice with a genuine face."

"Have so. Anemoneway tail us all the deets later and if it doesn't work out you know we're your plan B."

"I will! And I hope your party is a great success!"

"Oh shell yeah. I'll be rakin' in all that Halloween dough, don't you worry your pretty little cone ears."

She nodded and they all got up and left to return back to the car with Meulin in worse spirits and a confusing understanding of what she was dealing with.

---

Meulin relaxed on the white boarded porch in front of Kurloz's brick house around seven thirty in the afternoon. The previous moments of her brooding in the kitchen had passed. She had texted him a week before and asked if he would go trick or treating with her and he agreed. But he also told her he could be late because of his job. So she waited and explored the start of Halloween with eager eyes. Dusk was filled with scattered clouds and rays of flamingo and amber. The slivers of light gave every house on the block an ethereal glow. A group of five year olds started to make their way down the lit streets with adults in tow. She smiled at the sight which bared her homemade fangs and gave life to the dark shade of lipstick and sparkly forest blush. Her eyes, dark and clumped with mascara, eyeliner and dark green eye shadow batted quickly from the drafts of wind. She shivered with only a black and green striped spandex bodysuit, poufy hair and black, layered feather skirt to keep her warm. She wiggled her toes inside her green converse while Gamzee strutted out the front door dressed in his normal attire.

"Hey inverte-sister, long time no motherfuckin' see!"

"I know! How are you? Why aren't you dressed up?"

"Not a big fan of this holiday. I'm just gonna hang out with some bros of mine."

"Oh ok, well, have fun!"

"You waitin' on Kurloz?"

"Mmhm!"

"Don't you wanna chill inside and keep fuckin' warm?"

"Nah, I'll be fine! He should be here any minute now. Besides, it's not that cold."

"Yeah, maybe it's 'cause I just stepped outside. Anyway, I'll see you on the motherfuckin' flipside my Ninjette!"

"Okay! Bye!"

Gamzee jogged down the concrete steps covered with wet, crinkled orange leaves and made his way down the street, only to be seen if he passed under a street lamp. The bare trees bristled, children would pass by in batches and skimpy-dressed teens were no doubt headed towards a house party. Meulin just absorbed the warm atmosphere and enjoyed the last gusts of October air. This is what Halloween was all about to her; going out and having fun with people you like. She turned on her handheld which was sitting next to her, pressed the play button and continued to watch episode nine of 'Doctor Who', fascinated as to what would happen next.

---

"Who the heck is David Tennant?"

The website she was on automatically loaded each episode when she was done with the previous. She had watched episode ten through twelve, so caught up in the thrill, excitement and romance that that by the time it ended she cocked her head to the side and looked up, expecting some sort of outlandish comment about 'Blasphemy' but none came.

Street lamps lit the desolate, black tar and concrete littered with candy wrappers. The sky had turned oxford blue, the trees stock still and the crisp wind pierced needles in her quivering body. There was not a soul to be seen and Meulin had lost track of time. She exited out of the screen and gasped at the horrific revelation.

Twelve-thirty in the morning.

She shot up. Every single family was tucked away in their homes, soaking up the after effects of whimsical fantasy and togetherness. And what did she gain? A strong urge to scream at the top of her lungs? She had missed it all. It would not be back for another three hundred and sixty five days and for what? One person who didn't even have the nerve to text her or let her know they were okay or even when they would arrive? No. She had missed everything; her friends, the atmosphere and the last increments of a whole month. All for him.

Was it worth it?

If Meenah were here she would have scolded her about how he'd most likely found a hole to crawl in but there wouldn't even be that moment because Meulin was warned. Oh was she warned and now she was faced with being the 'stubborn fool' who had missed their favorite holiday. She scurried and angrily trampled on every step down to the chilled concrete. Her eyes became blurry from water, breaths short and sporadic, visible with every puff from the bitter air. She rubbed at her shoulders and wondered where she should go and what she should do.

She had made a pact with herself long ago to never let detriment get to her. She would rise above that and shine only with the brightest emotions, thoughts and feelings of positivity. She would think about how she had food in the fridge, a mother who loved her dearly and a small puff ball of joy who greeted her every time she stepped through the door. She had her health, her limbs, her heart and her eyes. She made friends and stepped out of her shell. There was no reason to be so upset at one holiday. Surly she can just make it up next year, and the year after that, and the year after...

The tears fell down her burning cheeks. After her hearing accident she would channel her negative emotions through drawing or writing and when that didn't seem to help she would turn to a tangible source, being her mother. Meulin refused to let anyone know she wasn't more than a happy-go-lucky teen girl with hopes, dreams and a disposition beyond her handicap.

But as well as being handicap, she was also a human being. She felt the whole spectrum of emotions just like everyone else. And now happy-go-lucky Meulin Leijon was all alone to let those nebulous, opaque and capricious emotions swallow her outer shell, deep within the tendrils of nothingness.

She sniffed and wiped her nose with her sleeve. There was something more dangerous that feeling uncertain and that was when her own darkness took over and left her feeling feral like a wild animal; only driven on instincts and all the thoughts she tried so hard to not let people be cognizant of. And one of those thoughts was pure selfishness. She deserves an explanation for all of this! She deserves to know why she was left here all alone to suffer in the cold, friendless, and without even the satisfaction of going to one house and indulging in the accepting light of another.

It was November the first and Meulin had become savage.

She slowly walked up each freezing step, back to the white-boarded porch, sat down, teetered back and forth for warmth, caressed her sharp nails with her thumbs and wept.

---

Meulin felt the rhythm and vibration of a large motor vehicle. Her head lifted and her eyes squinted from the bright beam of the headlights but she made out the form of a relatively immaculate, black SUV with chrome rims. She pushed herself up from her warm spot on the lighted porch and waited until the vibrations stopped and the lights turned off. The figure opened, stumbled out and slammed the car door. She noted the flicker of light that indicated the care for the safety of the lock. They used the wooden handrail to jog up the steps, walk into the light and halt dead in their track. He wore his signature jacket and face paint with hair messier than usual. His red shirt had been stained here and there. A pelvis, two femurs, tibias and fibulas were drawn on his black pants and purple combat boots completed the festive outfit.

"Heeeey Kitty-kat! Oh, damn you look hellaaaaa fine!"

Kurloz Makara was drunk off his ass.

She wrinkled her nose at the smell of alcohol in his breath. The dry stains of tears made her make up look more like black lines of tribal paint. She glared at him ruthlessly, teeth slightly bared, breaths in small puffs, hands balled into fists and body shaking from the November chill.

Hell hath no fury like a trick-or-treater scorned.

He stumbled and lifted his lower arms to clasp her waist with his hands for support but she quickly scratched them like disgusting maggots.

"Don't TOUCH me!"

He scrunched his face in pain and rubbed them together.

"Ow! Fuck…"

He straightened himself up, stumbled back a few steps away and squinted at the harsh porch light above Meulin. He then pressed his eyes shut and opened them wide with an attempt to sober up. His arms moved down to his sides and he swallowed. The last, untouched part of his brain finally comprehended the furious look he was receiving which caused his face to be conflicted with many emotions and one statement to come out of his mouth:

"Oh shit."

She stalked slowly towards him like a untamed lion ready to destroy every last bit of its prey. He put his hands up in defense and shrunk in fear.

"Wait, no, let me explain."

She stopped and cocked her head. Is this what she'll have to deal with if he was her boyfriend? This shit here? Gross, no thanks!

"Explain what?"

He balled his hands into gentle fists and sighed at the defensive tone in her voice. He moved his body from side to side so that he could keep himself from falling straight on his sorry drunk ass. His eyes would blink in desperation and he used his arms to accompany his every word.

"Listen, listen to me. Uh, I had to work very fuckin' late. I had no motherfuckin' choice, babe, I mean, I had a lot of fuckin' drinks and my boss just persuaded me to stay, I don't know, and I lost my phone, man. I lost it and I thought of you every second, I literally just raced home just to get to you-"

"Stop."

She puffed her cheeks and squeezed her fists just so more tears wouldn't fall from her face.

"Just stop. You're drunk. You're drunk, and you're lying to me. You didn't have to work this late, did you? And why didn't you just ask for someone else's cell phone?"

"I…I don't know. You're right, I am fucking wasted as shit and I'm sorry, I just…I wasn't thinking."

"No you weren't. You weren't thinking about anyone but yourself."

She crept closer to him and each step she would take forward he would take back.

"You forgot? You forgot? How long does it take to send a simple text saying that you won't be there? That you won't make it? How hard is that? Do you know how long I waited for you? Do you know how many smiling children passed me by? Do you know how that makes me feel when I waited for some drunk Juggalo asshole hoping he would keep his promise to me that I would be a part of that? No, you don't because you were too busy having fun and guess what? I missed everything. I missed the candy, the fun, my friends, all of that because I believed in your word and your trust but boy have you proven me wrong tonight!"

The tears started to form again. He had stayed silent and bit his lip so hard he drew blood.

"I'm sorry. I fuckin' am, believe me. Okay, I had a lot more drinks than I fuckin' should have-"

"Then how did you even manage to DRIVE IN YOUR CAR?!"

"I'M A GOOD MOTHERFUCKIN' DRUNK DRIVER, OKAY?! I don't swerve for SHIT and the twelves don't even GOT a motherfuckin' thing on me-"

Kurloz Makara then proceeded to have the biggest wipeout on his concrete, leaf-covered steps in the history of wipeouts. Meulin only snorted at him, tip-toeing around his sprawled frame.

"I hope you broke one your real bones!"

"Okay now that shit right there was just too motherfuckin' harsh!"

"Harsh?! I trusted you! I thought you would be here for me and you broke it! That is harsh! My friends even threw a party and I didn't even go!"

"Well then why didn't you?!"

"What do you THINK? God, If I'm just going to be some piece of animal meat that just sits here and waits for you to come do what you please then I don't want to DO this anymore!"

Her breaths were raspy and visible under the pale moonlight. The tears had started to flow again and she shook with lividity. Regardless of how broken her heart was or what holiday she missed, life had moved on. That, to Meulin, was the worst thought of all. There would be no sympathy for someone like her, someone who was warned and knew better.

Kurloz had taken a moment to let the adrenaline rush clear his bloodstream and properly examine the damage he had done. He heard tiny sobs sneak out of her lips, her heavy chest expand and release with each shaky breath she drew in. She blinked the sparkling tears off her beautifully made up eyes and he knew he had royally fucked up.

"…Who told you that?"

He had hastily lifted his frame which was now bruised from the fall and bleeding from his split lip. She didn't even have to do any damage, he was managing that all by himself.

"Who told you that I felt that way about you?"

"Does it matter?"

He looked to her like lost pup that had done the worst thing imaginable. He put his hands in his hair and tried to find the right words but to no avail. He slapped his hands on his face and groaned. Meulin couldn't deal with this anymore and made her way down the path to home.

"NO, wait, FUCK! Come back!"

He grabbed her wrist and she snatched it out like hot acid. She snapped her head back and he once again had to suffer with the misery on her face.

"Get in my car."

She slit her eyes and bared her fangs in disgust.

"What?"

"Just-…Get in my car, I want to make this up to you."

"What could you possibly do to make this up to me!?"

"Just get in the motherfuckin' car, Kit!"

"NO!"

She stepped forward in his direction, glaring daggers and lasers into his sorry skull.

"I don't want to get in your 'motherfucking' car I want you to stay away from me!"

"Shit! No, please..."

He clasped his hands together, kneeled down and pelted his forehead in agony.

"Please, please give me another fuckin' chance, I swear to every messiah there is I will make this up to you, just please don't say that to me…"

She grimaced at his visual display of grief and wasn't able to hear what he muttered from below. In the few moments Meulin had to calm down she came to a sad realization. Kurloz did care about her. He could have just as easily told her to fuck off or leave and that she was just a piece of meat to him. That would have been the end of it. But Meenah at some point mouthed to her that it wasn't possible to lie when you're at his stage of inebriation. He wouldn't have grabbed her wrist, apologized, pursued her or even groveled in front of her from his knees if he hadn't really meant it.

"Are you sorry?"

His head shot up, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Yes!"

"You mean it?"

"I motherfuckin' mean that shit so hard I put it on my fam. Just please stop crying and let me make this up to you. I swear you will not regret it. And, for the record, I don't think of you as animal byproduct."

She chuckled humorlessly, rubbed her arms with her hands, looked up to the stars and felt like a complete fool. She would probably be a fool later for grabbing her handheld from his porch and walking towards the passenger door of his SUV but she was cold, scorned and tired from the healthy release of unhappy emotions. She was satisfied with him being her outlet and if anything she'd make him drive her home if the rest of her night wasn't.

Kurloz ran to her side to open her door but she ignored his sudden chivalry and hopped inside. She saw the door slam and his lithe frame walked around the front. At least it was warm. She strapped herself in, folded her arms and looked at the bare road of what was once filled with Halloween spirit.

The light came on and he climbed in the driver's seat, fumbled with the key, turned on the ignition and she saw his lips move in a sporadic motion while he turned away from the curb and drove off. Wasn't he too drunk to drive? Was he as good as a driver as he said? Could his word even be trusted anymore? Meulin didn't care anymore. She pressed the side of her forehead on the cool window and stared at nothing in particular.

Meulin Leijon didn't know whom to confide in anymore.

---

"Kurloz…what are we doing here?"

Kurloz Makara had done the absolute stupidest thing in all of human male existence and driven all the way to a deserted supermarket. They stood inside where there were only a few cashiers and two customers. Meulin blinked and hoped she would wake up from this incredulous dream but no. Kurloz the homotool hass become the star of his own dumb-assery. It was him.

"Just follow me."

She silently obeyed his command, crestfallen. At least it was bright. He made his way across several aisles and made a right down to where she could see an assortment of party snacks, chips, bottled water. At the end was the candy section where the cashiers had just marked the big bags for half price.

"Okay, get whatever you want."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not. I got paid tonight. My boss told me if I worked overtime I would get my bonus then and I could not just pass that up. I did get drunk, I fuckin', I had some fun but I was honestly thinking about who I wanted to spend it on, and I thought of you the whole motherfuckin' time. I mean it."

"So now you're my sugar-water daddy?"

"Wait, what?"

"My sugar-water daddy."

She pressed her lips in a straight line and thanked Meenah from afar for a clever, aquatic pun she could now use in real life.

"No! No I'm not-…Fuck, that did come out wrong."

"You're still drunk so I'll let it pass for now. If you think this is how you're going to win my furrgiveness then you can just take me home."

He split lip tugged into a small smile. At least she was beginning to use her puns again. He missed it.

"Naw, Kit, this is just the start. If you want me to, if you really want me to, I could buy this whole motherfuckin' aisle for you, okay? I would do that in a heartbeat, if that's what you want. This can be yours."

He spread his arms apart like an eagle.

"I don't give a fuck! You want those fucks right there?"

He promptly pointed to the peanut butter cups sitting silently, minding their own business.

"Those can be yours, you want this shit here?"

He pointed again to the small bite sizes chocolate, caramel and peanut bars.

"That shit can be yours-"

He whipped his head back to the sound of a small giggle. Meulin couldn't believe what he was doing. He not only rambled like an idiot but he also talked like it was the most important thing in the universe. She couldn't help but snort at his ridiculous display and laugh. When she was done she saw the lopsided grin stick to his face out of triumph and she pouted.

"…Fine."

She nabbed both items he had pointed to, along with some pyramid chocolates and a small packet of red waxy fish.

"I know you not done."

She looked up at him disbelievingly.

"What?"

"One time, me and my brother went out, right? We ain't have no pumpkin buckets or Halloween bags or any of the expensive shit but the pillows sacks from our motherfuckin' pillows. And maaan we filled them STRIAGHT UP to the brim. I shit you not we had candy for months. So let me say it again."

He had moved closer, emphasizing each word in his sentence.

"I know, you not, done."

She stared at him down and up, shoved the candy bags in his arms and scampered down the aisle with haste. He waited for several moments until she came back with a shopping basket in her hand. He nodded energetically in approval.

"Now that's what the fuck I'm talkin' bout."

She smiled at him and papped his hands which made him drop the all the bags into the basket.

"Shut up and help me find the apple rings."

---

Meulin and Kurloz sat in the backseat of his car, still in the parking lot of the unnamed supermarket. Their backs were to the car doors so they could face each other with six bags of candy between them. The glucose to Kurloz's body had sobered him up a little while Meulin happily devoured small pyramid chocolate pieces.

"You know what I did last year on Halloween?"

Meulin looked up at him with a soft expression. She didn't really want to be reminded so early of the one she didn't get to have.

"…What?"

"After people came over for bud, I came to this exact spot, bought my candy, came straight home, ate it and fell asleep. You know why?"

"Why?"

"'Cause that's what grown-ass men do."

Meulin chortled, a piece of chocolate still in her mouth.

"That's so depressing!"

"I know. I didn't even scare any hoodlums! I just turned off all the lights, put a small bowl of candy corns out the porch and passed the fuck out."

She smiled at him and removed the silver tin from another piece of chocolate. The heat was turned on high so she could warm up. She stared thoughtfully while he chewed on a red fish. Her head rested on the seat and her legs were crossed. Something still didn't feel right.

"Well, you still have to make this up to me. What's your plan now?"

He relaxed his frame, folded his arms and progressively leaned towards the bags of candy like a great weight pushing him down throughout the whole sentence:

"I am still tipsy so I'll tell you the fuck what. I want you to ask me anything you want, I will answer it!"

His shot up and inhaled before his face planted itself on a bag.

"I mean it, whatever comes to mind. I don't think I can lie."

"You certainly tried."

His expression turned dejected while his arms squeezed tighter around his waist

"…I'm sorry. I really am. I don't know what I was thinking-"

"You weren't."

He smirked at her cheeky attitude, chewed on another red fish and waited for her first question.

"Why do you sell marijuana?"

"Money, simple as that. It's easy, it's discreet, you get to meet hella people, establish yourself, make partnerships. I realized a lot of people in my line of work end up doin' that."

"Speaking of work, where is it?"

"Oh. It's called Club Posse. It's far away across a long bridge up north where more of the city is. We just did a Halloween party so we made bank. I did all the promoting but boss said if I just helped with security I would earn a little more."

"I see. How do to you communicate?"

"How do I…? Ah, I have this wicked ninja who translates for me. Other than that I really just write out poster ideas, draw 'em up in illustrator and print 'em off."

"Have you ever talked to anyone at all besides me?"

"Of course I did, otherwise I'd be motherfuckin' terrible. After what happened to my brother I just shut down and chose not to say shit. Religion was a good excuse. Sounds childish when I think about it but now it was a bit of a catharsis for me. I do talk but only if it's a matter of life and death."

"Why the face paint? Is it really connected to your religion?"

"Naw, not really. You don't need face paint to be a Juggalo but I do it just because I grew up with it. It's like a mask, you know? Or a second face. You can be anybody under it and only few people would know the real you."

Meulin pondered about the 'mask' comment. Meenah did say he didn't let a lot of people in…

"I can imagine you delicately applying white powder and black eyeliner."

"If I straighten my hair I could probably make more dough with who I'm sellin' to."

She scrunched her face in mirth at such an outrageous statement but he just laughed it off.

"Are you actually uncomfurtable with my age?"

"Not really, but I just didn't want to say why."

"Say it."

He exhaled.

"…I just don't like letting young people this deep into my life. I appreciate how much they wanna have fun and don't want to take shit too seriously. And when they have gotten involved with me they either tended to gravitate somewhere else, be put off by my lack of speech or shrug off any seriousness to what I've been through. I don't like that shit. Some little fuckin' guppy told me it's 'cause I've been messin' around with partiers too much. I don't exactly attract anyone classy so it's somewhat of a lose-lose situation."

She nodded and understood where he was coming from. She even forgave Meenah again.

"Do you like me?"

"Yeah."

He had blurted it out without hesitation while he stared intensely at her weary face.

"Yeah, I like you. I like you because...you like me. It's been a hot minute since that's ever happened so I just I had this strong urge to fight for it. I didn't want to let you go."

"I'm glad you didn't."

He smiled tenderly at her and she returned his sentiment. They stayed there, ate chocolate till their hearts content and enjoyed the patching up of their friendship. Kurloz was about to reach for one of her chocolate pyramids when suddenly his eyes widened with agression.

"Wait here!"

He grabbed the keys from his pocket and climbed out the back door before he slammed it and raced towards the market with hope that it wasn't too late.

"…But where am I gonna go?"

She played with the feathers of her skirt before she decided to check the messages on her handheld. Turns out there were an awful lot of them. They were mostly from Meenah exclaiming that her fabulous party was ruined by the schoolgirl they had seen before. There was something about her boyfriend cheating on her with some strong guy, she going bat shit insane and pulverizing half of the guests. She didn't get to skim over the rest when she saw Kurloz race over to the driver's seat, toss another plastic bag on the passenger seat, start the engine and drive off. Meulin straightened up and put her seat belt on but still managed to lean forward between the seats to look up at the rear view mirror.

"Where are we going?!"

"You'll find out!"

---

Kurloz had parked on a darkly lit street corner and just a few feet away from a huddle bunch of wasted college kids stumbling back to their dorms from a Halloween party. Meulin looked at the bag he dug one of his hands into and puzzled the two, tiny metal horns he brought out. It suddenly clicked.

"Oh no. You're not…!"

He looked up at her with a most devious expression she had seen on his face.

"I'm getting an adrenaline boner just thinking about their fucked up-ass faces. This one time, a couple years back, I was going through this weird-ass phase and collected horns. I know, crazy right? Big horns, small horns, squeaky horns what the fuck EVER horns. Anyway, Gamzee gave me a lot, and I mean a lot of shit for it. So what I decided to do was put every horn I had ever collected into one huge fuckin' pile in the living room. I waited for him to go to sleep that night. I crept in, scooped him up, gently put him down on that sucka and I swear to you I wish I had filmed that motherfucker because he did not know WHAT to do with himself!"

Meulin Leijon had never laughed so hard inside a motor vehicle.

Kurloz waited for her to reduce her raucous laugher into small chuckles before he slipped out of the car and waited for her to do the same. They both ran on light feet across the street from the five college kids that tried to hold themselves up. There were three girls and two boys; One pirate, one skeleton man and the rest in matching sexy fairy costumes. They were all horrible, cliché outfits and Kurloz was glad he was going to drunk-scare the shit out of them.

He looked to the side to see his accomplice crouched under the same bush he was behind and stared at his chosen victims with awe. He tapped her shoulder and signed to her:

'Watch the master at work.'

She rolled her eyes playfully as he sneaked across the street in their general direction. He waited until they walked under a post lamp to make his move with the help of the surrounding shadows. She could still see his mess of curly locks so he wasn't that camouflaged but he continued to be unseen by them. Meulin found a closer hiding spot and lurked behind a green rectangular trash can. She could no longer spot Kurloz and the students just started to walk under another lamp post.

It was the best thing she had ever seen.

Of course, she couldn't hear the horn but she did have a good idea what it sounded like. All the girls flailed their limbs in fear as one of them even climbed onto another's back. The guys had dipped from the light into the shadow, scared shitless. The pair of girls fell over and hit pavement. The third one put her hands together in prayer before she jumped again which Meulin assumed was Kurloz honking at them a second time. They were all a huge mess and she covered her mouth to conceal her massive giggles. The pirate had finally spotted the perpetrator in the nick of time moving across the street and ran for the chase. Too bad the chase wasn't a chase at all. The poor guy barely made ten steps before huddling over and puking in the middle of the street.

Kurloz skidded behind her spot, took her hand and hoofed it out of there. Meulin could no longer hold her giggles and laughed all the way to the car. He had hopped in but she stopped dead in her tracks in front of her car door. Her eyesight focused on an arm that was visible on the edge of one of the looming lamp lights. She squinted and saw it move away and then form the visible shadow of a body being dragged away by a cloaked figure between two homes. The only thing she could distinguish from the body and the figure was that the figure wore some sort of elevated footwear.

Heels.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and she whipped her head towards Kurloz. He had already leaned over, opened the door from his seat and stared at her with a concerned face.

"You aight?"

She nodded, climbed in and strapped herself before he made a U turn in the opposite direction of the distraught college kids that were quite possibly scarred for life.

---

Meulin had finally directed Kurloz to her address. They were parked outside the entrance while she pondered in the car about how to carry all her bags of delicious candy plus the two horns for 'memorabilia'. She felt a finger poke her side and she looked over at her deliriously tired Juggalo.

"Look. I know this ain't enough and maybe never will be for what I did but you bet your fine little head I will keep trying. I just have to do it next weekend 'cause there's not much I can do now at two thirty in the morning."

"I understand. I have school anyway."

"You're still going? Goddamn, I would have said 'fuck it.'"

"My mom would flip if she ever found out!"

She saw him nod and look back at the steering wheel, put his forehead on it, close his eyes and sigh. She realized just how stressed he must have been all night with her looking like she wanted to tear him to shreds and him wondering if he could still salvage the pieces of friendship leftover.

"You can come in if you want."

He turned his head to face her with droopy eyes.

"You sure? After all of that?"

"I know you live a few blocks away but I can't help but feel like you shouldn't be driving anymore."

Kurloz chuckled and felt that action drain away his energy.

"Yeah, you right. But I don't want to impose and all that."

"My family isn't here right now. They won't be fur a while."

"Why not?"

"Just come in, okay?"

He lifted himself up and decided not to argue while he was practically defenseless. He put his car keys in his pocket, took three bags away from her lap and waited for her move. She put the four bags on her lap, plus her handheld, and looked all around his huge vehicle for the last time.

"Your car is so nice."

"Thanks, Kit. You know what they say: Big boys gotta have big toys."

"That's what they say?!"

"That's what I say."

She couldn't help but laugh at his sleep deprived humor. They both stepped out of the car, walked up stone steps covered with wet, brown leaves and surrounded by green shrubs before they reached the doorway. She set the bags down and removed the house key taped under her spandex sleeve. She unlocked, grabbed her bags and entered while Kurloz was greeted with darkness and a pleasant smell of catnip.

"Please close the door, I don't want Mog to get out."

She turned on the kitchen light and set her bags down before she came back to grab his.

"Mog?"

He did as instructed and as a treat got to see a tiny white cat approach from the stairway.

"Mmhm! I like to call her Moggie sometimes. Oh look! She likes you already!"

He bent down and put his hand out for her to smell. She wiggled her black nose for a moment and then rubbed her head so he could feel her long, soft bristles of fur.

"This is a pretty little pussy you got here."

Kurloz didn't even realize what he had said before he looked up with a straight face while Meulin put a hand on her hip.

"Really? Well I bet it likes it when you stroke its fur. I bet you can feel just how warm it is."

He closed his eyes in a small shame.

"Okay. I get it."

He opened one eye to see that she was too busy moving things on the stove to pay much attention to him so Kurloz was left to visually explore. The stairs in front of the entrance, he guessed, led to some bedrooms. He looked to the small kitchen on the right and back over to the living room on the left where Mog the pretty pussy had perched herself on top of a white couch. He walked over and noted the two big windows with white curtains on the wall by the door and the one beside it. He took off his combat boots to preserve the clean, beige floor and sat on the couch which was actually in front of a wooden television set. He was too lazy to explore the little frames with photographs inside the small, spacious squares.

Mog pounced on the cushion beside him and happily placed herself on his lap as a source of warmth. He leisurely scratched behind her ears and was rewarded with a small hum from her fluffy body. He observed the glass table with lime green coasters and realized that she couldn't have been the only one living here.

He saw Meulin hand him a white mug filled with chamomile tea while she sat down next to him, grabbed the remote from the table and turned on the sixty inch TV, flipping through the menu without purpose.

If anyone would have seen them on any other day, the pristine living space, the older Juggalo , the younger cat-themed huntress and the fluff ball, they would have said it was the weirdest thing they had ever laid eyes on.

Kurloz put his mug on a coaster, leaned back and looked to Meulin's face which was highlighted by the screen. He observed the delicate work of her outfit; the small feathers, the hair, the spandex and her made-up face. The stains of mascara and blush made a thin line from her long lashes down to her chin. He had done that. He had made her cry and what did he do? Buy candy and scare assholes? No, this was more serious than that. She would have to wait a whole year until she could do it all over again. How long had she been there, shivering and waiting to beat a ninja's ass?

Suddenly she broke his train of thought, leaned back and looked over to him.

"Kurloz, can I ask you one more thing?"

"Anything you want, Kit."

"…What are we?"

The question had caught him off guard. He furrowed his brows, looked away from her gaze and down at the glass table. She waited, heart pounding in her chest. She couldn't lie and say this was the real reason she had invited him over. She needed closure on the aspect or she couldn't go on without knowing what he meant to her.

He fixed his look back at her with a more determined expression.

"Whatever you want us to be."

"No."

She shook her head, unsatisfied. She had to know what he meant to her.

"I want to know what you think about us. What do you want out of this?"

He looked for a few more moments and lifted his arm to wipe away the tear stains with his thumb that held her previous sorrows.

"You."

She cocked her head in confusion. Was she satisfied with that? Did he even know the implication of using that one word? It meant he wanted her, all of her, every piece. Not just body, but other things.

"Do you mean sexually?"

He shook his head, his eyes searching hers in a deep concentration.

"No. I'm interested in you; what you have to say and what you want to do. And I want you to smile every time you see me instead of this."

He brushed her cheek with his hand for emphasis.

"Really?"

His touch warmed her up more than tea ever would. It was like her whole face had brightened and illuminated the room with her abrupt happiness. So that's what he wanted; for her to smile and be happy when she saw him. She was more than okay with this.

"Yeah. So, whatever you want this to be, it will be."

He suddenly scrunched his nose and yawned, taking his hand away from her cheek while she giggled.

"Here, I'm gonna go upstairs and get blankets. You wait here okay?"

"I ain't goin' nowhere."

She nodded and walked over to the stairs but not before he caught her thigh with his hand. She looked down at him with a confused face.

"Hey."

"What?"

He suddenly pointed to her like taking out a pistol from his pocket.

"I like you."

She laughed.

"I like you too."

"Yeah?"

"Uh huh."

"You do?"

"Yes, Kurloz."

"Ok, just checking."

She shook her head and giggled when he let go of her. She had found the time to wash the make-up off her face, take off her outfit, put on fresh pajamas, brush her teeth and walk downstairs with a baby blue blanket.

But it was too late. Kurloz was stretched out and passed out, succumbed to the allure of sweet dreams. Meulin spread the blanket over his body, kissed his forehead, turned off everything and headed back upstairs to see that Mog was tucked away in her cat bed. Meulin turned off her bedroom light, kept the door open, crawled in her sheets and lied down.

But not before squealing in her sheets, shaking her head violently and kicking her feet up and down in fan girlish ecstasy. He really was becoming her stoner anime Juggalo Mamoru Chiba! Move over Sailor Mars; a new, proper OTP has been born!