Author's Note: If it's not obvious when you read it, I 100% based Dominic's interactions with Gizmo off of maseplace's TikToks with his cat, Cooter. If you haven't seen them, I'd definitely suggest checking them out!
"So you're tellin' me that Dev staged this whole…possession illusion thing complete with visions of body horror that I'm sure it'll take years of therapy for those people to overcome to get back at a different group of people for knocking over some statues and to help ensure you guys are able to have a big fancy Halloween party tomorrow?" Dominic summarized after Idia recapped the events of the evening for him.
"That about sums it up, yeah," Idia replied with a nod. He was trying to get as much time in with Dominic as he could just in case his device's ability to connect to Devon's world faded after Halloween was over. He was confident he could make the tweaks needed to sustain the connection reliably, but he needed to know what had to be fixed before he got started. "All the dorms staged their own payback, but Ramshackle's way probably the most elaborate. The rest of us don't have an army of Wisps to help us out."
"Hmm… Sounds mad petty and way too extra. I like it!" Dominic said with a smile.
"I'll see if I can find a way to send you the drone footage," Idia told him. "Might take some time to work out all the bugs since I don't if the adapter I made can send texts and other stuff across worlds…"
"Well, if anyone can make it happen, it's you," Dominic assured him confidently, causing Idia to flush pink. "I can't help but notice that you look kinda worn out. Do you wanna hop off here so you can rest?"
"N-No!" Idia protested a little too quickly before clearing his throat and shaking his head. "No, th-that's… I am a little drained, but it's not because I'm tired. See, the only reason I sent my drone to check in on Ramshackle was because Ortho was curious to know what Devon was up to. Apparently someone overheard us talking about and invited everyone to come and watch, so I ended up surrounded by a bunch of normies for an extended period." He briefly debated whether or not he should say the next part but ultimately decided to go for it. "Honestly, talking to you right now is doing wonders as far as recharging me goes."
Though it wasn't possible for Dominic to blush, the way his hazel eyes darted to something else in the room and the bashful smile on his face were more than enough to get Idia to inwardly swoon. Dominic gently scratched his cheek as he said, "Yeah… I'm startin' to find you recharge me pretty well too, you bein' so easy to talk to and all." His eyes darted briefly to another spot in the room before he smiled. "I think I know something that'll recharge you even more. Do you like cats?"
Idia gave Dominic a flat look. "Is that a serious question? Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to coax your sister's cat monster-slash-familiar thing to let me carry him around the way she does?"
Dominic laughed. "Just wanted to make sure. I can't tell you how many times I've been talkin' to someone who seems really cool, but then they hit me with a "Yeah, I don't like cats". It's like, yeah no, we can't be friends now. I don't need that negativity in my life." He smiled. "I'm really glad that's not gonna happen with you 'cause I'd hate not being able to talk to you like this anymore. There's someone I'd like to introduce you to." He turned in his computer chair so that he was facing into the room, angling his phone so Idia was still facing him. "First, I have to summon him."
Idia watched in amusement as Dominic gently patted his chest a few times before letting out an audible 'eeeee' sound when the most adorable tuxedo cat jumped up onto Dominic a second later, settling down on his chest and shoulder with its head pressed against Dominic's.
"He has arrived," Dominic chuckled. "Dev's probably already mentioned our pets by now, but just in case, this sweetheart is Gizmo and he's just about the friendliest chonky boy in the world."
Gizmo's bright green eyes focused on Idia and he let out a little 'mmrph' in greeting. Idia promptly melted on the spot.
"Oh my…I can't. I can't, Dom. He's too adorable," Idia gushed. "Wittle kitty-witty with his wittle kitty paw-paws~!" He glanced up at Dominic, his hair turning pink when he caught sight of the amused smile on his face. "Look, don't judge me. All kitties are precious, but yours takes it a whole new level."
"Hey, I ain't judgin'," Dominic assured him. "As far as I'm concerned, your reaction is the only correct reaction to Gizmo's cuteness. And also," He lifted one of Gizmo's paws to reveal the pink and black paw pads underneath, "just look at these little toe beans~!"
It was all Idia could do not to squeal. "I'm dead. Gizmo has killed me with his cuteness."
"But at least you died happy, right?" Dominic teased. "If you were here, rest assured that he would 100% let you hold him and squeeze his toe beans too."
"Mmmrph," Gizmo chimed in as if agreeing, causing Idia to slam his head down on his computer desk.
He lifted his head up a moment later. "Y'know, I'm not surprised that you like cats so much, but I bet you'd get along with pretty much any animal."
"Heh. Guess that comes with the territory when your mom's a vet. I've been around all sorts of animals pretty much my whole life," Dominic replied. "Honestly, I know that whole cat person or dog person thing is supposed be an icebreaker, but to me that's like asking if I'm an inhale or an exhale person. Like, just hand me an animal and let me talk at it in a weird voice."
"Right?!" Idia agreed. "See, cats are my favorite but I love dogs too. I just don't like the self-proclaimed 'dog people'. My experience is that they have no chill."
Dominic nodded. "Same, my dude. Hard same."
"What in the world…?" Crowley murmured. He and some of the other faculty members were making rounds at each of the stamp rally venues to ascertain the situation. All of them had been dreading this moment, expecting to see a deluge of Magicam Monsters and the students running themselves ragged trying to contain them all.
They were pleasantly surprised to see that, along with the other dorms, Diasomnia's venue at Ramshackle didn't appear to be experiencing any such trouble. The guests were keeping to Ramshackle gardens with not a hint that anyone was even about to attempt to go inside, the students of Diasomnia were happily entertaining the guests, and the Ramshackle ghosts and Grim had set up a queue for people who wanted to get pictures taken with them. Everything was operating as smoothly as it had been that first day of Halloween Week.
"We've been all over the campus at this point, but there's no sign of any Magicam Monsters," Trein observed.
"Both the students and guests seem to be having a great time," Crewel added.
"It's as if all the pandemonium from earlier never even happened," Sam said.
"All the other dorms are running their stamp rally venues without any issues too," Vargas reported.
Crowley was about to open his mouth to say something when the front door of Ramshackle opened and Devon walked out, Zephyr hovering dutifully over her shoulder as always. The gathered staff members watched as she adjusted her witch hat and called something to Grim, who finished up the picture he was taking with a guest before excusing himself and rushing over to her, hopping onto her other shoulder. They waved to Regina and the Diasomnia students before heading toward the gate.
"Hello everyone," Devon greeted once she and Grim caught sight of the staff members. "Checking in on all the stamp rally stuff?"
Crowley nodded. "Indeed. We need to make sure there's no trouble afoot if we want to hold the party later tonight."
"You headed out somewhere, little she-imp?" Sam asked.
Devon nodded. "Yep. Ortho told me that Ignihyde's made some adjustments to their projection mapping show, so Grim and I wanted to check it out. We're gonna make our rounds at the other venues too, though. I got plenty of good shots with the ghost camera on the first walkthrough, but this time I wanna get some with my phone." She rubbed at her bracelet. "I don't know when I'll be able to talk to my brothers again, but I need to be prepared for when it happens." She smirked. "I'm gonna show DJ and Dominic that I had a much cooler Halloween than they did."
"The floatin' pumpkins alone'll make 'em so jealous!" Grim chimed in with an equally devious smirk. "Ain't no way they're havin' a better Halloween than us!"
"Well, I'm relieved that you seem to be in much higher spirits than you were earlier this week, Ms. Lopez," Trein commented with a small smile. "Though I'm surprised that you're so invested, Grim, seeing as the Lopez brothers are Devon's siblings and not yours."
Grim shrugged. "Eh, Dev talks about 'em so much they're practically my brothers too now."
"Well, we don't want to keep you two," Crewel said with a mischievous look in his eyes. "Make sure you get plenty of shots worth boasting about if you and your brothers are planning to compete. No pup of mine will be taking second place, especially not when Halloween is concerned."
"That's right, kid," Vargas agreed. "Show 'em what Night Raven's Halloween is all about!"
"Yessir!" Devon and Grim replied before heading off toward the library.
Crowley spoke up as Devon and Grim walked off. "Finally… Peace has been restored to my campus!" He turned to the gathered faculty. "Everyone, round up the committee representatives. I think it's time for a little chat."
Crowley cleared his throat before addressing everyone gathered in the lecture hall. "First of all, I'd like to wish you all a very happy Halloween."
"Happy Halloween!" the rest of room replied in unison, looking much brighter and more energized than when the committee last met.
"Very good. Now then, today is the last day of Halloween Week-Halloween itself," Crowley continued. "I told you all yesterday that we decide whether or not to hold our Halloween party after assessing the situation this morning."
"So you did," Vil replied.
"If I'm being completely honest… When I spoke to all of you yesterday, I had more or less given up hope of being able to hold the party this year," Crowley admitted. "I was certain we'd be overrun with Magicam Monsters even if the party was canceled, given that it's Halloween and all. That would've been a disaster for all involved! I'd even resigned myself to ending todays' event early. However…," He paused for dramatic effect before breaking into a bright smile, "after taking a look around the campus this morning, it would seem the Magicam Monsters have up and gone! I have to wonder what could have happened to bring about such a conveniently-timed miracle. Even if magic was involved somehow, it would've been nearly impossible to pull off!"
"We're just as surprised as you, sir," Jade replied.
"Yeah, no kidding. Wonder what changed?" Cater mused.
Trein eyed the students warily, not entirely convinced by their innocent acts. "And all of you insist that you know nothing about what happened?"
"N-Nope-I mean, no sir. We don't know anything," Deuce stammered, trying to look nonchalant. "We were too busy yesterday with practice-er, with greeting our guests. If something happened, we sure didn't see anything!" He looked over at Jack. "Isn't that right, Jack?"
"Exactly. It's just like Deuce said, Professor!" Jack agreed before he, Deuce, and Epel let out a nervous chuckle.
Trein crossed his arms eying them sternly. "You're all acting very suspicious…" He gave them a small smile. "Be that as it may, the fact is that the Magicam Monsters are gone. As such, we have no reason to cancel the party."
"Does that mean…?" Vil began, the eagerness in his eyes betraying his otherwise neutral expression.
"You guessed it!" Crowley replied, beaming. "Today's party…is official ON! Oh, am I not the kindest headmaster in all of Twisted Wonderland?!"
The room erupted into cheers immediately, causing Professor Crewel to scoff-without malice-at the display. "Hmph, just look at this lot. Like a bunch of untrained pups running around a yard and barking for no reason." He pulled out his pointer/whip and cracked it. "Enough! It's too early to be celebrating!"
"Exactly! Now that the party officially happening, none of us are gonna have time to relax!" Vargas added.
"We're looking at a huge uptick in visitors compared to last year, so we need to plan accordingly," Sam said. "The locals have been looking forward to this event all year. We owe it to them make this an amazing Halloween."
"Precisely. I expect each of you to maintain your stamp rally venues until closing time," Crowley said. "In addition, you'll also be splitting up and tackling the party prep."
"Yes, sir!" everyone replied.
The meeting ended shortly after and Deuce approached Cater as the committee members began filing out of the room.
"Cater, it's just about time for my shift at the stamp rally," Deuce said. "Would you mind heading over to Ramshackle and letting Dev and Grim know about the party? I don't have time to head over myself."
Cater nodded. "I got you, fam! I bet the ghosts are eager to hear the outcome too. Besides, after everything Dev-Dev's been through emotionally and all the trouble we caused, passing the word along is the least we can do. I've actually got something I needed to talk about with them anyway, so I'll grab Vil and Jade and we'll head over."
Deuce smiled. "Thanks, Cater! I'm sure they'll all be over the moon when they hear the news!"
"So the party's back on after all?" the short ghost asked after Cater had finished telling the Ramshackle crew the good news. The ghosts immediately erupted into cheers.
"Myah-ha-ha! It's time to get our party on!" Grim shouted. He turned to look over at Devon, who'd been watching Jade warily out of the corner of her eye. "Hey, Dev! Grab all the dishes we got, okay! We're bringin' home as much food as we can carry!"
Devon turned her attention back to Grim, fighting to keep a smirk off her face as Jade attempted to open the door to one of the rooms, only for Regina to promptly slam it shut and manipulate the floorboards to forcefully move him back with the others. "I'd better make sure to bring some bags too…" She caught Vil's disapproving look. "Don't look at me like that. With how much Grim eats on the daily, I'll take whatever free food I can get."
Cater laughed. "Glad to see you're both so excited for this."
"But we have one more job for you before the party," Vil added.
"What?! We gotta do more stuff?!" Grim exclaimed.
"He who does not work, shall not eat and all that," Jade replied.
Grim sighed and crossed his arms. "So whadda we gotta do? Put out chairs? Set tables? Polish silverware?" He brightened slightly. "Ooh, but if you need a taste-taster, I'll totally sign on for that."
Grim's question was met with a series of sinister-sounding chuckles in response, causing Devon and Grim to exchange a look.
"What's with the creepy laughs?" Devon asked.
"Nevermind that. We have a much more special job in mind for you two," Vil replied.
"Special?" Devon and Grim repeated together.
"Follow us," Cater told them, nodding toward the front door. "It'll be easier just to show you."
Grim, Devon, and the ghosts were led to the main gate of the college, where what looked like the whole rest of the student body was standing around chatting amongst themselves, as if they were waiting for something to start.
"Why're there so many students gathered at the front gate?" Grim asked. "What's goin' on?"
"Dev-Dev, Grimmy! Over here!" Cater called, waving them over to him. He, Vil, and Jade were standing beside what Devon could only assume was some kind of parade float. It looked like some sort of pirate ship, but it was loaded up with several Halloween motifs, including a haunted castle with a large full moon behind it and a dragon made from papier-mâché that was painted to look like stone. It almost looked too cluttered at first glance, but somehow it still managed to look trendy. Cater motioned for Devon and Grim to climb up onto the float, which they did, but not before sharing another look.
"Okay, is anyone gonna tell us what's about to happen here?" Grim asked exasperatedly.
"Don't waste your breath, Grim. Something tells me this a 'just roll with it' moment," Devon replied.
"You ghosts should come over this way as well," Lilia said as he waved the ghosts closer before looking out at the gathered crowd. "Does everyone have their candy baskets?"
"It's nearly time to set out," Jade added.
"We've got a special surprise for our Halloween Week guests," Vil told them as he, Jade, and Cater climbed onto the float as well. "Now then…," He pointed his black parasol toward Main Street, "Let's get started!"
"Happy Halloween!" everyone shouted.
The float lurched slightly before beginning to move forward, apparently powered by Vil's magic. Devon knew she shouldn't have been surprised; most motorcycle-like devices that Deuce and Epel were crazy about were powered by magic too, after all. Still, this was her first time riding on a parade float at all, let alone once powered by magic. She and Grim found a spot on the bow of the ship where they could wave and toss candy to the guests gathered along Main Street, their schoolmates and the ghosts walking and floating alongside to do the same.
"Hey, Dev! Lookit all those people lined up and wavin' at us!" Grim exclaimed as he tossed more candy into the crowd, delighting the nearby children. "And what's the deal with this thing we're ridin' on? It's bright and flashy and it looks like a giant monster!" He and Devon took in the scene. "People are wavin' to us… Candy's rainin' down… All the other students are almost as well-dressed as we are and everyone's got a big smile on their face! Ya know, if this is what Halloween is really about, then it's the best holiday ever!"
Devon giggled. "I'm glad you're having fun now, Grim. You've changed your tune on Halloween, I'm guessin'?"
"You bet your tuna cans I have! I vote we make every day Halloween, starting tomorrow!" Grim cheered.
"I told you I'd be delivering the finest Halloween this school has ever seen," Vil reminded them, causing Devon and Grim to turn around to face him.
"Oh, hey you guys," Grim greeted when he caught sight of Jade and Cater as well.
"I was the head of the committee this year. Doing the same old thing was out of the question," Vil continued. "That's why I arranged this parade, after all. And we couldn't very well have a parade without showing off the hottest stars of this year's Halloween: you and the ghosts."
"I won't lie, you kinda threw us for a loop when you said we were havin' a parade outta nowhere," Devon said. "When did you even have time to put this together?"
"Yeah, and what's the deal with this big truck thing, anyway?" Grim asked.
"Truck?" Jade asked, tilting his head. "Oh, you must mean the float."
"Truth is, we've been putting this bad boy together bit by bit over the past month on top of our decorations," Cater explained. "Lemme tell ya, it was a LOT to look into. We had to get everything figured out for the party, this float, candy to pass out, and costumes for everyone." He heaved a sigh and began playing with a strand of his hair, a worn out expression on his face. "Our budget's mad strained as it is, actually. If it weren't for Jade's money management skills, I doubt we would've been able to pull this off. In fact," He turned to the Octavinelle vice dorm leader, "putting all this together on the budget we had should've been a non-starter. How'd you manage this, Jade?"
Jade gave Cater one of his signature 'friendly-looking at first glance, but something's definitely lurking behind it' smiles. "It's not so difficult if you know how to squeeze every Madol for all it's worth. The heavy influx of guests was also quite the delight to the locals of Sage's Isle. They also supported us in our attempts to truly wow the guests so they'd be more likely to come back. Thanks to them, we were able to put together a much more elaborate parade than we had originally planned. And that's not even getting into your contributions, Cater. Our doubt the decorations would've come out so well with all the input you gave us."
Vil nodded. "That's true. We were too busy getting everyone's costumes in order to handle perfecting the float ourselves."
Cater gave them a playful salute. "Hey, you know me! Hashtag #NRCSpirit #Cay-CayAlwaysDelivers!"
"The rest of the committee gave their best efforts to impress the guests too," Vil added, smiling. "It's pure good fortune that we ended up with the mix of people we did on the committee this year." His smile turned into a smirk. "I couldn't have asked for better supporting actors."
"Really, Vil? Right in the middle of the parade?" Cater remarked, rolling his eyes playfully as everyone tossed out some more candy.
Jade chuckled. "I consider it an honor to lend my support to our fairest Vil." He glanced behind Devon and Grim. "Ah. It looks like we're nearly at the end of the road."
"Hm?" Grim turned to look in the same direction. "Hang on, where are we headed, anyway?"
"Take a guess," Vil replied.
"You remember what's happening at the end of Halloween Week, right?" Cater reminded Grim as the ghosts flew over to them as well.
Grim's eyes widened. "Y-You mean…?
Cater nodded. "Mmhmm~!"
"It's party time!" Grim and the short ghost called out together as they attempted to high-five.
Devon let out a relieved sigh. Everything everyone had worked for had managed to come together after all.
Ending Notes: We've just got a few more chapters and then the Halloween arc will be done. The next chapter will be the start of the Halloween party and Devon going around talking to her friends while she tries and fails to babysit Grim. Then we'll cut back to her brothers for the Lopez Halloween party and the drama there. Finally, we'll have the end of NRC's Halloween party and one more Devon/Malleus and Dominic/Idia moment before the event ends and I can get crackin' on the Octavinelle arc.
On another note, I am so happy they finally released the Scalding Sands event on the English server! I'm having so much fun playing through it and I can't wait until I'm able to adapt it for this story! So many Devon/Jamil opportunities! I don't think there's any real hint as to what time of year the event takes place in, but fireworks make me think of summer, so that's when I'll have it set for the purposes of Open Your Heart. The Star Sending/Wish Upon A Star event will also be taking place in the summer in this story.
I know I've said this before, but it always makes me laugh when I write Devon being so wary of Azul and the tweels since I know how tight she gets with them after Azul's Overblot. She'll finally have somebody (Floyd) that she can play parkour tag with! Too bad Floyd goes absolutely feral whenever he's 'it' and will most likely full-on tackle Devon (possibly off of something, though she only ever gets minor injuries when this happens…almost like Floyd's using his magic to break the worst of the fall or something) if an opening presents itself. He just looms over her menacingly and everyone watching if positive he's about to kill her as he leans down so he's right in her face…before breaking into a big smile and being all, "You're it, Shrimpy!"
…Riddle's almost positive these two are going to cause him to have a stroke one of these days.
Thank you all so much for reading! As always, feedback and constructive criticism are welcome. Geekinthepink, out!