#asktheghosthost

Caiti tries to do a portrait of Beau "for posterity". Beau has other ideas.

[Text reads, "Please don't make that pose."]

[Cont. From] @asktheghosthost

In the oddest way, it was a relief to hear her apology hadn't been necessary; which made sense that Beau had eternity and all the stuff that went with it. Pushing down that sliver of guilt had been surprisingly easier than one could imagine. And knowing The Ghost Host like she did, the 'hang out' comment was a pun in some way or another. There was a chuckle of her own, following where he was escorting her to. "You make a very solid point there, I sometimes forget 'ow understandin' you are 'bout things. That you were. Do you ever miss it? I don't believe I've ever asked that."

With a delight, ivy hues went a touch wide as the teapot's lid was lifted, and even more so at the name of the tea itself. "That's delightful. Is boo-long similar to oolong?"

Now with a cup of tea in hand, she simply listened, sipping on it every so often--though then allowed it to float in midair once she went to speak. "Hmm, I always thought 'undead' referred to zombies and livin' corpses. Unless it's what Mel would call one of those 'umbrella' sort of things. What sort of circles, if you don't mind me askin'?" No harm in asking.

“Oh you have no need to worry! I am simply bringing the little one to the kitchen for some food- Do you suppose we’d have some extra chicken or tuna to feed them?”

Erika spoke with a gentle laugh, happily holding the relatively unbothered, one eyed feline in her arms, holding it on the opposite side of her beating heart least the sound be too much on the smaller creature’s ears.

“And besides, I am sure mother wouldn’t bring a malevolent creature home with her…….right?”

For a moment she hesitated- after all, it wasn’t often Beau gave a warning like that. Perhaps it was worth heeding, her footsteps reaching a halt, though her fingers still gently caressed the cat’s fur.

Thank you!

🍑 - I've joked about this before, but crossing The Haunted Mansion with something like Peter Pan (or its adjacent Disney Fairies line) would be hilarious by virtue of Randall's extreme fear of the Fae. To him, there is nothing whimsical about the Darling children being spirited away to Neverland by Pan and Tink, that is his worst nightmare (both as a child and as an adult), and so being confronted with any of the Neverland denizens would be hysterical because Randall would be having none of it. He's got a cannister of salt in one hand and a piece of iron in the other, and he's ready to ask the Fair Folk to leave!

(Also, since I've fan-casted Randall's maternal grandfather August Burke with Hans Conried, the original voice and model for Captain Hook, that adds another humorous layer to the crossover!)

And, of course, that doesn't even get into all the AU ideas I've been cooking up; not strictly crossovers, but defidently mixing The Haunted Mansion with other franchises to create a new story. @beatingheart-bride and I have been discussing future AUs centering around werewolves and mummies, just to name a few, but one I haven't run by her yet is one inspired by Sleepy Hollow, specifically Tim Burton's film: An Emily in the crosshairs of a villain using a Dullahan-like Randall to do their dirty work (with the added wrinkle of that Dullahan falling in love with his target), I think, has the potential to be a really exciting AU!