uh-uh! don't be alarmed!

BEING OUT AT NIGHT was pretty usual for Rita, even though it was much different than nights in the city, much less people. She was starting to settle in to only the second place she had ever lived. With her leather jacket around her to fight off the chill in the air, she thought she recognized the person speaking up. “Says the person who is also out. Settle down, though, I’m only up to the usual mischief.” She wasn’t really. “Comic book kid,” She snapped her fingers, recalling. “Fred, right? Something tells me the people in this town aren’t what needs to be worried about.” Something like the events that happened not too long ago. 

...

Fred was normally good with faces, but it took him a moment to recognize Rita. Blame it on everything else that was going on. His mind had never been so active. “That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” a usual quip with no energy behind it. He nodded in agreement. “You’re probably right. But some of them are dumbasses that want to go out and play hero, and nearly get themselves killed.” He paused, his shoulders falling into a shrug. “Not our job to stop them, though.”

𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘  𝐘𝐎𝐔  𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃  𝐍𝐎𝐓  find  barley  roaming  the  streets  at  night.  the  only  reason  the  eldest  lightfoot  was  out  and  about  was  for  a  late  night  pizza  run.  ian  had  been  busy  and  barley  wanted  to  treat  his  brother  and  find  a  moment  to  bond  in  the  midst  of  all  the  chaos.  he  had  no  problem  roaming  in  the  dark  alone  given  he  was  a  giant  who  could  defend  himself    (  even  though  he  was  a  pacifist  )    but  also  his  large  stature  meant  people  didn’t  mess  with  him.  there  was  a  figure  up  ahead  he  didn’t  think  too  much  about  until  the  person  spoke.    “  uh  ,  no  ?  ”    he  questioned  walking  closer  to  get  a  better  look  only  to  see  fred  standing  there.    “  it  is  but  you’re  also  out  alone.  why  are  you  ,  dude  ?  ”

Recognizing the other when he got closer, Fred’s guard --- if you could call it that --- went down. “Insomnia,” he replied, running a hand through his greasy hair. (Really, he should be washing it right now, not taking an evening stroll.) That wasn’t all of it. Anticipation, confusion, energy. There were so many things keeping Fred awake, he wasn’t sure what to blame, so he just pointed his finger at the most obvious. “Elias looks prettier at night, too. No rush hour traffic, no crowds of people. Just city lights and peace and quiet.”

Sora wasn’t a fan of the dark or night in particular but he didn’t have much of choice. He was lost but he’d never admit it. He was starting to see that something had attacked this town lately. Everyone seemed on edge and he didn’t think a town that was supposed to be protected from the dark should be this way. The guy caught him off-guard and he couldn’t help the jump and yelp. “Dude! That’s way spooky. I didn’t even see you there.” Sora chuckled a bit but had to bring his nerves down. “Uh, yeah I guess it is. Is that a problem?” Was there a curfew here? Weird.

...

“I’m a part time ninja,” Fred joked, though his attempt at humor fell a bit flat. He wasn’t feeling it. He wasn’t feeling much of anything. “No problem.” It was none of his business what anyone else was doing in town. He might’ve made it his problem before, but he wasn’t going to waste his energy worrying about what was going on now. Even if he’d wanted to do something, he was clearly not meant to be a hero. “I’m sorry I startled you, though. I wasn’t trying to be... spooky.”

a gamer? you like playing games? guess you can say i’m a gamer too, my favorite is freeze tag,“ he said, trying to understand the terminology. jack knew it would be difficult to keep up with the times, so he didn’t. after all, he was busy with other things. back up on his feet; he offered a cheeky smile. 

"No way! this isn’t fake” snow began to fall as he held his finger to his lips and blew, leaving a light chill in the air. “see?”

...

“Freeze tag is a good one,” Fred agreed. It had been awhile since he’d played --- probably middle school, come to think of it. It was clear Jack didn’t understand exactly what he was talking about, but he didn’t mind.

Watching the snow fall, his eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “It’s October. In California.” He had never been the brightest, but even Fred knew how unusual those circumstances were. Then again, wasn’t everything that had been going on lately unusual? The weather should be the least of his problems. “Well, at least it’s not ghouls.”

          IAN FOUND HIMSELF  working  later  at  night.  there  was  something  about  distracting  yourself  in  the  center  of  chaos  that  helped  ian  not  get  so  lost  in  his  own  thoughts  at  home.  getting  thrown  around  by  a  monster  like  you  were  a  pebble  really  did  something  to  a  person ,  apparently.  and  he’d  rather  do  literally  anything  other  than  stop  for  a  moment  to  think  about  it.  so  now  that  it  was  late  and  he  was  forced  to  close  up  show ,  he  started  walking  home  on  foot  with  his  hands  shoved  in  his  pockets.  his  bike  was  still  broken  and  he  didn’t  really  want  to  bother  barley  every  time  he  needed  a  ride.  as  the  passerby  posed  his  question ,  ian  squinted.   ❛❛  um ,  you’re  out  here ,  too ,   ❞  he  pointed  out.   ❛❛  can  i ,  uh.  can  i  help  you  with  something  ? ❞

...

There was nothing suspicious about Ian. He didn’t seem the type to be up to no good, and if he was... so what? It wasn’t Fred’s job to save the city. The city had never done anything for him. He tried to be a hero and almost died. A kick to the ego and a little bitterness that no one seemed to care or miss him while he was gone aside from maybe Haven --- at least in his mind. His parents were not even aware he had been sent to the afterlife limbo, and probably wouldn’t come home if they did know. No probably about it. Normally he wouldn’t be thinking that way, normally he wouldn’t mind. Nothing was normal anymore. “No,” he replied after a moment, where would someone even begin? “I doubt it.”

Victor was exhausted. The circles under his eyes were a testament to that. But still, he couldn’t sleep. Tv was doing nothing for him and he couldn’t focus on a book so he decided to get dressed and go for a walk. He pulled his jacket tightly around him as he walked, looking at the city through the haze of street lights until a voice drew him up short. “Oh… i… it is rather late.. but I couldn’t sleep, you see, so i thought.. i mean… some fresh air…”

...

Fred gave the other man a slow nod. “I know that feeling,” he sympathized, with no real sympathy. Sleep had not come easily to him lately. He was getting by fine without it, it wasn’t like energy was ever a problem when it came to Fred, but it was unnerving not being able to shut his mind off for a few hours every night. Especially now that it didn’t seem to stop, and he awaited a phone call from Hades at any given moment. “Hopefully the walk will tire you out.”

elias was nothing like the towns sally had lived before.. much busier and much larger. but, she still had that small town girl in her who wanted to know just about everyone she came in contact to. while it was near impossible to know all the town’s residents there were just some who’d made a name for themselves. one in particular being fred fredrickson. while never having met mr. fredrickson she’d heard about his outgoing personality and vivid imagination. so when she ran into him that evening his ever present tone took her off guard to say the very least. her inner mom was saying oh i know he isn’t giving me attitude.. but also wondering why he seemed so out of normal. where was the fun spirited lad everyone spoke so highly of? sally gave him a look before catching herself. “i don’t think you’re allowed to be the judge of how late i can stay out. but then it begs the question of why exactly you’re out this late as well, doesn’t it?”

...

“No judgement, just curiosity,” he replied, though he supposed he was judging in a way. He didn’t care what she was doing out this late, truthfully it was none of his business. It was his assumption that anyone out was either heading home from work or up to no good. He was supposed to care if someone was up to no good, he was supposed to try to put a stop to it, but if he saw someone right now bust a window of a store out wearing a ski mask, he couldn’t imagine himself getting involved. It wasn’t his problem anymore. “Insomnia is a bitch,” Fred responded honestly, “and the streets are a nice change of scenery. It gets boring staring at the same wall for hours on end.”

jack knew something was up. he blamed the eerie holiday that had him on edge, and the scenario of fighting again that caused him to stay high above instead of playing his usual pranks from down below. he was sitting on his favorite spot. the traffic light.  it had the best view for people watching and cause a bit of mayhem. night had come and gone, leaving the winter spirit bored. he figured spooky pumpkins would look nice lining the street.so he jumped down and was in the process of creating his first pumpkin out of snow when someone called out to him.

“huh? me? nah. i’m good” he replied, looking up, smiling with wide-eyed wonder. “shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“I’m a gamer, and it’s not five am yet.” An attempt at a joke, but it seemed to fall flat with a monotone voice. In reality, Fred could hardly sleep lately. He’d always been a night owl, staying up to finish a comic he’d started working on, a show he was binge watching or to beat the newest PlayStation game he’d bought. But he was able to doze off as soon as he climbed into bed and closed his eyes. Not in the last month. His mind wouldn’t shut off. “Where’d you get fake snow at this time of year?” He questioned, gesturing to the creation.

Haven was out late. She’d overstayed at the lab trying to clean up experiments that now had to be re-done. She noticed Fred and she made her way to him. She hadn’t seen him and she’d been worried sick. She was taken aback by his tone. He’d never spoken like that before. “Freddy? Are you okay? I was just going home. I’ve been worried about you.”

...

When he seen Haven step into his line of sight, he forced his demeanor to soften. “I’m fine,” he brushed off her worry, a smile breaking the stone expression. “Do you want some company along the way?” He was supposed to care if something happened to her, after all, he was supposed to keep his friends safe.

Hadrian felt his gut give that uncomfortable lurch with her kiss. The butterflies that people clung so romantically to felt so odd when sparked in his own body. It was all so new - and he didn’t hate it, but he wished it felt less like panic. People spoke of the warm fuzzies but he could only feel the heat. No one had ever produced this reaction in him before, though, and he let that rareness draw him in instead of run him off. He just needed time to adjust - and be at peace with the fear he usually refused to admit to.

It wasn’t something he had to worry about with his mom, his sister. They were legally bound to him and he felt comfort in that fact, in the lengths that Georgette had gone through to make him a Foxworth. Amelia chose him. Every time she saw him, she was choosing him. It gave her hundreds of opportunities to then stop choosing him. He had spent nearly half his life not being chosen, not being enough, and he might have the money and the wardrobe and the looks now, but those things do little to cover over the scars of being picked over again and again.

But she continued to choose him and Hadrian continued to chase after those panicked butterflies despite his better sense.

“Not only do I not think I can… I doubt I’ll even try, if we’re being honest with ourselves. But I’ll happily watch from a few feet behind, yell at people to get out of your way. Trip people that might run into you. Whatever you need, I’ll do it. You need me to hold your purse? I’ll hold the fuck out of your purse.”

“You need reassurance? Just look back and I’ll clap and yell back, you’re doing great, honey, and then eat more of your cotton candy… I’m carrying and eating your cotton candy in this scenario.”

“Wow, yelling and tripping, this is getting intense.” She laughed at the mental image of the chaos they’d create, feeling a butterfly of her own in her stomach. It was strange getting used to the person she was with being supportive again, actually speaking like they cared about her. It was strange, but it was a welcome change. Every time she worried about something, he proved himself without even trying to. It made her feel guilty for doubting him, but she had been with someone who put on a front before. How could she ever tell the difference between him being charming or genuine with her jaded outlook?

“Of course you’d hold my purse, you’re just that awesome. Who doesn’t love a man who refuses to cling to fragile, toxic masculinity?” Spoken before she truly thought her words through. They were not at the ‘I love you’ stage yet --- she wasn’t quite sure what stage they were at, but it was still new, and they definitely weren’t there. She didn’t outright say she loved him, but the sentence implied just that. While what she felt was undeniably growing stronger as time passed and she knew her heart was teetering on serious, Amelia wasn’t sure if she even wanted to fall in love again. Did she want to risk giving her all to someone who could break her into pieces, destroy her? If she went through that again, she might not make it out.

Her cheeks flushing, she parted her lips to correct herself before changing her mind. He might not have even noticed, nor taken it the wrong way, and she would be making the situation awkward for no reason. She did have a habit of overthinking. “You can have all the cotton candy you want,” she said instead, eyes flickering across his expression to make sure he wasn’t overthinking as well, “I’ll buy you the whole cotton candy stand if it’ll make you happy.”

         ❝  —  LESS  EXCITING ?  BLEGH ,  you  hurt  me ,  fredster !  ❞  the  half  demon  laughed ,  a  look  of  surprise  on  her  face .  usually  she  wouldn’t  face  disagreement  in  such  an  excited  manner  but  if  freddie  had  a  better  idea ,  then  chances  were  it  was  indeed  better .  cocking  her  head  to  the  side  as  she  took  a  bite  off  her  cupcake ,  abby  listened  to  the  suggestion  &  found  herself  slowly  nodding  in  approval .  ❝  firewooshers .  i  like  it !  ‘ woosh ’ ,  like  the  wind  blowing  or  something !  that’s  kinda  fun …  also ,  your  tongue  isn’t  blue  yet .  ❞  abaddon  laughed ,  figuring  that’s  why  her  friend  was  making  such  a  funny  face ,  trying  to  look  at  the  tip  of  her  tongue .  ❝  i  think  the  blue  stuff  is  like ,  way  inside  the  cupcake …  but  the  frosting  is  almost  just  as  good !  ❞

...

“I don’t mean it that way,” Freddie was quick to assure her friend, though she knew Abby wasn’t actually insulted. She supposed the words could come off insensitive. She should watch her tongue before it got her in trouble some day. “Oh, pfft, I know that,” she replied after a moment, of physically watching her tongue. “I don’t know, I think either works. You’re right about the word fighter, though. It’s a bit out of place. They don’t go into burning buildings with boxing gloves and baseball bats. Or whatever it is normal people use to fight, I don’t know--- point is, I’m electing you as mayor, perhaps even governor of California or the world, even, congratulations.”

“Mhm.” Olive gave a reassuring nod, hoping she hadn’t picked the wrong stranger to draw. Not everyone had good intentions but she was naïve enough to believe it true. When the blonde declared she liked it Olive let out a small breath of victory. She wasn’t sure how she’d react to rejection but she knew it wouldn’t feel nice. Olive shook her head slightly. “No, no no. You can totally keep it. I’d want you to have the original anyway. It is you after all.” She reassured with a small giggle.

...

“Are you sure?” Amelia asked, her eyes widening. She would love to show Hadrian later, and her dad --- her dad would definitely appreciate the art style. He wasn’t necessarily an artist himself, but he did his own drawings for comics, and she knew he’d love to see such a good drawing of his daughter. “You don’t need to keep it for your portfolio or whatever? I’m sure an art school would love this. You must be in art school...?”