𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚎;

"Kids these days walking around bragging about their Pokemon card collections is just... I'm happy for them but I'm just saying," Penn sighed dramatically, sliding a tip across the counter to the bartender before he continued. Anyone would have thought him a hard done by old man, the way he was shaking his head solemnly. "I think Ram Sweeney bullseyeing me in the back of the head with a slushie and throwing me in the dumpster really moulded me as a man, you know?"

"I guess you could say the bullying really built character, or whatever they call it." Patton shrugged as he took a sip of his own drink. He had spent so many years in high school trying to separate himself from his family's odd reputation and claim normality. As he grew older, Patton accepted that he was just as weird as any other Addams. "It's more socially acceptable to be weirdos and nerds nowadays. Which is great for them, terrible for their elders who got slushied before them."

Lou knew better than to sit directly on the water's edge and kept to the outskirts of the action, as she usually did. A bottle of tequila sat in her lap, pawned off on her by one of her cousins, and after struggling to stomach a few sips she turned to the person beside her. "Do you want this? I sort of got stuck with it and honestly.. don't even like tequila so. It's your's. If you want."

Hubert was used to the strange and unusual. A pool party in November when winter was ushering in was not his sense of weird. It felt like a christmas in July scenario but a party was a party. Who was he to rain on anyone's parade? Wading through the crowd he found himself on the edge of the pool to find some solitude. He realized he wasn't the only one with this idea and gave the girl beside him a small smile. "Uh, sure? I'm not a tequila drinker either but I won't say no to free alcohol." he took the bottle to take a sip. The alcohol burned on the way down which caused him to clear his throat. "What's your drink of choice then if you're not big on this guy? I'm guessing something fruity and juice like."

"I'm not scared," Willow repeated for the umpteenth time since setting foot in the overgrown cemetery by the Addams mansion. "I'm just reminded of the time I spent underground and how I'd rather not do that ever again. Seriously, when I die, taxidermy me and sit me on the couch."

"It's okay to be scared. Things in this house are .. super weird." It was easy for Patton to say given he grew up in said creepy house. Nothing really surprised or scared him now. "Oh, shit. Uh, maybe the cemetery isn't a good place for you then?" Empathy was something Patton had often struggled with due to his upbringing. Being buried alive sounded fine and dandy to him. October had threatened it a few times and almost attempted it. He thought he should be a good party host and help the girl out. "Here, follow me." he offered and tugged her to his mother's greenhouse. "My dad can have that arranged. He actually had our pet cat taxidermied for my mother. She loved that thing so much and was soooo upset when he died that my dad did that so she'd always have Vincent. He always does crazy gestures in the name of love or whatever for her."

"No," she answered, straight-faced, as if that was even far-fetched. She might've tortured, literally not figuratively tortured, him growing up but their relationship was much more civil now. That wasn't to say she liked him necessarily but they could get along. "I want you to help me throw a party." It was out of character sure but people had been trying to get inside their family home for years; if they wanted an Addams haunted house she wanted to make sure they'd regret it. "Here. For Halloween."

"Throw a party that's a good one, tobe." Patton couldn't help the laugh that escaped him. October Addams throwing a party? In his teenage years when he was desperately trying to not be like his parents and cared too much what the social climbers of Rosewood thought of him, the idea would have been his ticket to popularity. Now well into his adulthood, the idea seemed more like a joke. "Oh shit, you're being for real right now."He cleared his throat to gain his composure. "So what, you want to like lean into the whole creepy Addams image everyone slapped on us? I mean, yeah, I'm down to help you plan a party. The house is already decorated."

"Honestly your mom could tell me she was from the moon and I'd still... Mad respect to your pops," Penn sucked his teeth as he thought out loud, shrugging because he wasn't exactly sorry. "You're still not about the season?"

"I don't know what's worse people thinking my family is weird as hell or people telling me my mom's hot." his nose scrunched up at the thought. unfortunately for Patton, their weirdo claims were followed by how people found his parents attractive. Living with their overly affection selves was bad enough in his book. He didn't need more therapy ammunition. "I like it more now than I did when I was in high school trying to chase popularity. I dunno. I wish I could embrace it without hearing anyone else's thoughts about it yanno?"

Catching the tail-end of her brother's run in with a couple nosy neighbors, October stopped herself short in the driveway, smirking as she overheard the rest of their exchange. "He's lying," she spoke up, taking another step towards the house. "I could curse you but I don't take requests. Sorry." She directed her apology at Patton, sarcastic of course, and waited for their unwelcome company to scurry off. "Hi. I have a proposition for you."

Patton watched in amusement as their nosey neighbors scurried off with the same look of discomfort most had when leaving their property. He was happy whatever weird sibling rift they had in their teenage years had long subsided. It was more fun to freak people out when he had his sister by his side. "Yeah, okay what kind of proposition are talking about here? I'm not going to have to be chained up to anything am I?"

"I would trust him. Totally not witches but last time I asked a question like that, our bushes mysteriously stopped growing," Aiden told the person who Patton had been talking to. He had told Lana he would be out there with her as community members walked through the neighborhood looking at Halloween decorations on all of the houses. He had been greeting people, making faces at babies and handing out the baked goods Lana had worked hard on when he noticed Patton across the street. He turned to Patton as the person walked away and held up the Tupperware in his hands. "Pumpkin cheesecake cookie?"

"Was it my mom or global warming the world may never know," Patton added with a shrug of his shoulders. He watched as the strangers walked away before turning to Aiden. His eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed the Tupperware of food. Gestures like that didn't happen often at his front door. "Do you always have baked goods on hand?" He took one and sniffed it before taking a bite. "Okay, yeah you should always carry cookies on hand. This shit rocks."

"Venus fly-trap, are those hypoallergenic?" He'd never considered it before but it made sense and was maybe good to know? As a fellow sufferer of seasonal allergies himself. Gerald paused for a second then pulled the handkerchief from his breast pocket that he wasn't really sure was working for him anyway and offered it out to the guy. "Here. Don't worry about messing it up or anything, I'm not really doing the whole black tie thing that often."

"I think? I don't know. I'm not a plant expert. I just know my mom has them and they don't have what makes people sneeze." His mother had probably gone over her various plant species at some point, but the information, as most information did with Patton, went through one ear and out the other. "Oh, thanks." Patton gave the other a quick bashful grin and wiped his nose before returning to his companion. "A nice hanky to remember you by. Didn't think I'd get a souvenir like that tonight. Well, shit dude you're in the wrong town then if you're not into the whole black tie thing. I swear there's an event once a month."

"Don't think I'm dead," he answered after a long pause. "In my head God looks more like Michelle Yeoh, no offence." Gingerly, he extended a hand in a request for Patton to help him sit up because his whole body felt like jelly. "I think I need an exorcism," he joked, though the pounding in his head felt like something was trying to beat its way out of his skull. "At least I'm not naked, that's a start. Possibly even a show of personal growth." After another moment of feeling sorry for himself, he felt a thought bloom in his head and clapped Patton on the chest, "Food, yeah. We should do that. My shout."

Patton placed two fingers next to the pulse point on Penn's neck. He let out a soft hum and nodded. "You're very much alive. congrats." he shrugged. "none taken. I can get behind God looking like her. or like Daniel Craig." he grabbed his friend's hand to help sit him up. His eyes narrowed some as he gave Penn a once over to really take in the state of him. "Oh, well, I think October can perform one if you really need it." If all else failed he'd ask his sister to pretend to perform one on Penn. For shits and giggles of course. "Have wild nights led to you being naked before?" A curious brow quirked up. Patton couldn't relate to that scenario. Blackouts led to more violent outcomes. "Yeah, I think we should. Come on, it'll be my treat."