Wolf and Leo: Own nothing but the craziness.
Yoh's grandfather glared at him as he came down into the dining room with Kitty and Pyro. Yoh looked away and sat down between Anna and Manta. Pyro grabbed Kitty and walked over to where Tim and Josh were sitting, sitting down next to them. The curtains on the windows were drawn, the only light from the intricate chandelier on the high ceiling.
Tim had bits of whipped cream still stuck in his hair and it had gelled into crazy spikes. Josh had missed a couple of spots on his face, and his buzz cut had random bits of cream dotting it. Both of them frequently elbowed the other, muttering trash talk.
"Well then, now that y'all are here, we can get started." Evie said, words a lazy drawl. "Come on in ladies."
At her words two of the strangest creatures any of the shamans had ever seen walked in the room, each pushing a trolley heaped with food. They were both clearly female, but that was the only thing recognisably human about them.
The one had deep blue, scaled skin and no hair anywhere on her body. Her four-fingered hands ended in sharp black claws and her eyes were completely crimson red. The other looked cat-like, with sleek, short golden fur and soft cat ears. A tail flicked back and forth behind her as she walked.
Both were wearing aprons over black t-shirts with the band Linkin Park on them. The two of them silently placed the platters of food on the table, pointedly ignoring the amazed, frightened and downright nasty stares aimed their way. As they headed back into the kitchen, the cat one hooked an arm around the other's waist and pecked her on the cheek.
"That was Deedee and Flo." Evie said calmly when they left. "Deedee was the blue one and Flo was the one that looked like a cat. And to stop any further questions, yes they are dating."
"Disgraceful." Marco muttered.
"Wouldn't say that to Deedee's face." Tim muttered. "She gets real pissy when someone gets in her face about sexuality." Deedee and Flo came back in, aprons off to sit down at the end of the table.
"Alright, let's eat then."
"Can I ask you something?" Kitty asked Deedee and Flo as the food was passed around.
"Of course." Deedee's voice was warm and deep for a woman.
"Um, I always thought that goblins were, like, green men with warts and stuff all over them." Flo laughed.
"That is all the old stories, yes?" Her voice was lightly accented in a way that made it sound like a purr. "But, that is not the truth. We goblins are cousins of the Fae, what you would normally call Faeries."
"Yes, and like our cousins, our looks come in all shapes, sizes, colours and species." Deedee added. "But unlike our cousins we cannot go out in direct sunlight, else we turn to stone."
"So that's why the curtains are drawn." Yoh said. Deedee nodded.
"Can I ask a question?" This came from Pyro. Most of the other shamans, excepting Yoh, most of Yoh's friends, and Keiko, who merely regarded the female version of Hao curiously, glared at her. Pyro lifted her chin, favouring them with a haughty stare.
"You may." Flo purred, flexing her fingers and letting the retractable claws on the end of each finger slide in and out briefly.
"I have heard many tales of Faerie, and many talk about the effect of iron on them, in that iron is poisonous to them. Is that true, and do you share this trait with your cousins?"
"It is true and no, we do not share it." Deedee said. "We do not share much in common with our cousins." Her voice was bitter and a little bit afraid.
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Hao asked.
"The Fae live in extremes." Flo explained. "Extreme pleasure...and pain. Being with one of the Fae can be the most incredible and the most horrifying experience of your life, all at once." A collective shudder went through the room.
"On that note, there are many Fae living in this city, and they pay special attention to magic-users. So, anytime you go out, make sure you have iron on your person somewhere. There are iron necklaces by the front door for that purpose." Evie said. "Now, I'm not one to pry, but I'm getting some negative energy from all of y'all. Now, do y'all mind telling me what your beef is with each other."
"The only 'beef' is with that monster." Marco snarled, pointing at Hao. "And I am certain that the she-devil is just as bad." Pyro's eyes narrowed. Hao merely chuckled darkly.
"Well, one thing is for certain, Yoh is stronger than that 'Kitty'." Yohmei said smugly, dismissing said girl. He didn't see Pyro's hands curl into fists. "Yoh would never give into that-" He halted as something struck him on his bald head. He looked around, but everyone was calmly eating.
"Hmph, a clear sign of weakness, that girl giving into the murderer- hey!" Marco yelped as he was struck. Tim and Josh snickered quietly as Pyro reloaded her spoon with another pea, waiting for someone else to go after her sister. Yoh was watching her with an amused half-smile.
Tim saw it and placed a carrot on his spoon, letting it fly at Yoh. Yoh flinched and then grabbed a pea. Josh just laughed until he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned in time to have his grandmother smear a handful of mashed potatoes in his face. He stared at her slack-jawed for a moment.
"Oh, it's on." He yelled finally and let fly with the mashed potatoes. Evie ducked and the potatoes smashed into the back of Flo's head. Flo turned and grinned predatorily. She scooped up some peas and shot them at Horohoro and Ren. Ren sputtered angrily, but Horohoro got into the spirit of things and pitched his potatoes at Faust.
"FOOD FIGHT!" Tim screamed as an all-out brawl erupted, with the older shamans, the Iron Maiden and Hao and his followers as non-active, but still equal, participants. At the same time from upstairs in the house came the sounds of Tuttie Fruitie, an upbeat, fun song.
"SHUT UP BRIAN!" Tim and Josh roar at the same time, before being flattened by peas and carrots. Tim then pulled Josh under the table chuckling as he wiped food off his face,
"Hey Josh what do you get when you mash a bunch of cooked peas and carrots together?" Josh's grin got bigger
"A handful of goop that sticks better then the whole peas does" he supplied as Tim pulled the dish of mixed peas and carrots off the table, but his action wasn't without consequences. He got a face full of mashed potatoes from Evie who in turn got pelted by more potatoes and carrots. Josh chuckled at Tim's potato covered face, as each of them took a hand full of peas and carrots and smashed them up in to one big goop pile.
Josh and Tim nodded at each other then rose above the table to chuck their "presents" at Marco, who didn't see it coming till it was too late. Both boys ducked under the table again holding onto each other laughing at Marco's surprised face which is now very, very green.
"Hey Tim!" shouted a male voice. Tim raised above the table just enough to see over the top, to have Yoh place the mashed potato pot on his head covering his face and shoulders with potatoes.
Everyone who saw this started laughing so hard that they started crying, and then the music cut off abruptly. A few minutes later so did the food fight and the uncontrollable laughter. Everyone in the room is plastered with food, as are the walls and part of the ceiling.
"That was completely uncalled for." Yohmei growled angrily.
"Oh, y'all don't know how to have fun." Evie grumbled. "It's easy enough to clean up."
Naelc pu!
As she said the strange words the food that coated almost everything disappeared and everyone was clean once more.
"How did you do that?" Kitty asked, staring down at her baby blue t-shirt.
"That's just how our magic works." Tim shrugged.
"It's a combination of words, will and total faith," Josh added, "Something that a lot of human beings don't have these days."
"So, what you're saying is that anyone could have this magic, they just don't believe in it." Hao clarified. The twins nodded solemnly. Deedee and Flo had disappeared back into the kitchen already.
"Who were you yelling at earlier?" Yoh asked.
"Oh, that was Brian." Josh and Tim answered and then chuckled.
"Who's Brian, and why didn't he come for dinner?" Anna demanded, checking her hair to make sure there was no food left in it.
"Because Brian is a poltergeist" Tim answered.
"I thought you guys didn't like poltergeists." Manta said, "Weren't you catching them before we got here?"
"Yes, well, Brian is a special case." Josh explained, "He's reformed."
"Which means he doesn't play nasty pranks on people like all the others." Tim added, "He stays in the jukebox in the library upstairs."
"So that's why he could play music." Horohoro said. Tim nodded.
"Anybody else we should know about around here?" Kanna demanded crossing her arms.
"Oh, yeah, we got a couple more permanent residents, but they can be kind of shy." Josh nodded vaguely, staring into the distance.
"What is it?" Tim asked.
"We should probably patrol the parks tonight." Josh answered. "You know how the equinox can stir up the Fae."
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Tim and Josh headed for the door. "I wouldn't go outside tonight. The Fae are going to be particularly rowdy, and we don't feel like having to save your butts." With that they each grabbed a necklace from by the door and headed outside into the twilit night.
Little did they know it was going to be one long night.
Leo: (lol!) THAT WAS GREAT!
Wolf: (lol!) I agree I think that was one of the best chapters we've written yet!
Leo: (nods) yep!
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Leo: so please hit that pretty little button that says Review! We know you want too!