(no subject)

[deathbyjumprope.livejournal.com]

Who: Anyone and everyone, including some unexpected guests
What: Halloween party, oh yeah!
When: Saturday night
Where: Destiny Islands

Selphie adjusted the hat of her witch costume and surveyed her work. Well, okay, maybe Tidus and Wakka had helped out a little, but this was her idea to begin with! Mentally, she went down the list.

Decorations - check! There were ghosts and bats hanging from the trees, along with the occasional hung skeleton and a vampire or two lurking in the shadows - all fake, of course, but who cared? This was for fun! There was also a cutout of a werewolf up on one of the decks, made to look like it was howling at the moon. She took a peek at it; it would look great in silhouette!

Background noise - check! The boys had set up some soundtracks of scary noises for the background, and set them to play on repeat for the night. She counted it off on her fingers: there were supposed to be ghoulish wails, bat noises, the occasional werewolf howl... She shuddered violently as a shriek rang out, and gave a devilish grin. They'd done better than she'd expected. This party was going to blow everyone away!

Music - check! There was a stereo set up to play some Halloween music, just for today. A pile of CDs sat on the table next to it, waiting for someone to pick one and put it in to play. She trotted over and picked up the first one, but didn't play it yet. That could wait until more people were here.

Food - check! There were two tables set up that were almost completely covered in food. There was a bowl of gum ball eyes - Selphie plucked out a green one and chewed on it happily - and bowls of chocolate, one with a hand sticking out of it that was supposed to grab you when you went for a piece. She couldn't wait to see their reactions when it did! There were cookies with all kinds of festive Halloween shapes, from black cats to witch hats to pumpkins, and... deviled eggs decorated like little devils? Whose idea was that? Well, she decided, if they were the same person that had done those spider cupcakes, they weren't too bad.

Drinks - check! There were coolers decorated like treasure chests spread out around the party area, filled with all kinds of drinks. She would have liked if they creaked when they opened or something fun like that, but that was something they hadn't gotten to do, unfortunately. Maybe next year.

Bonfire - here, she hesitated. It wasn't quite dark yet, so they only had the firewood so far. She was really looking forward to lighting it, but... she didn't have a way to light it. Tidus or Wakka were supposed to bring matches, but they'd left to get into costume or something. She just hoped they came through.

Still, everything else was perfect! And with everyone coming back, they'd have a blast tonight, she decided cheerfully. She just hoped they all had great costumes... Hey, that was an idea! Maybe they could have a costume contest later on! Grinning, she made a mental note and went to sit down as she waited for someone else to show up.

Comments

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

She blinked at him innocently, laughing only in her mind.

"Well, no... but why Sesshomaru? I mean, yes, he looks and acts a bit like you, but I'm surprised you even bothered to research who he was. I admit, the colors look better on you than I'd expect, but you could have done something more universally known. You'd make a good grim reaper."

Why was she critiquing Sephiroth's costume choice? Her more cautious side suggested that this might be unwise... unfortunately her cautious side had already been mostly buried under large amounts of sugar.
Besides, coming in costume to their Halloween party put him on equal terms with them, as far as she as concerned, and there was something immensely fun about chatting casually with a videogame villain. She knew this from years of experience.

Grim reaper makes me think of Botan from Yu Yu Hakusho and that is a hilarious mental image

[creepy-son-of-a.livejournal.com]

Honestly he hadn't even known anything about the character until he had seen a reference to him on the network and decided to look it up.

"Just a whim for the most part," he replied casually. That and he liked not having to do much to his hair for it to look right but, he certainly wasn't going to tell her that.

He didn't intend to cause any trouble at this time but, that would most likely depend on Cloud if he showed up.

:p

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

"Nice to know that not all of the great Sephiroth's whimsical ideas are full of doom and darkness." She was teasing him. Teasing him with a playful, friendly smile.

Oh yes. She'd definitely been experiencing silver-haired villain withdrawal.

[creepy-son-of-a.livejournal.com]

Sephiroth was not exactly used to people actually enjoying his company. He found it somewhat refreshing.

"Even I can get bored with that occasionally," he replied with a slight smirk.

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

She gave a small laugh, placing a hand on her hip in somewhat more confident pose. She hadn't known, at first, how he would react to her familiarity, and she'd been prepared for a hasty retreat if necessary, but he didn't seem insulted or annoyed, and that was encouraging.

After all, it was Song's greatest joy and most rewarding game to make friends with everyone, no matter who or what they were.

"Yeah, I tried the whole doom thing a while back. It's an interesting career move, but it's not very good for relationships."

[creepy-son-of-a.livejournal.com]

He may be enjoying casual conversation for a change but, that does not necessarily make him friend material. He did end up terrorizing a gummi ship pilot just to get here after all.

He found it interesting that no one seemed curious about how he had gotten here.

"I suppose it's a good thing that I have no interest in relationships then," he replied, assuming it was obvious that this was not going to be a common situation.

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

She shrugged. The answer was expected. "That may be the case, but it makes me curious as to why you are here. Spying on us?" She didn't sound concerned by this prospect, nor was she expecting him to actually say yes.

[creepy-son-of-a.livejournal.com]

"Honestly. Just a whim," he replied, clearly amused by the idea of spying on them. This was the last place he expected to get any information of value.

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

"You must really be bored. Has Cloud not been paying enough attention to you?" she asked sympathetically..

[lovely-fatale.livejournal.com]

"There are other reasons to look in on a gathering of you Refugees," a sultry voice murmured from behind them. The owner of the voice stood just a few feet off, the hood of her cloak still up, but her features were unmistakable in the dancing shadows and flame. "Something interesting always happens when they get together."

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

Song whirled on the owner of the voice with a startled smile. Here was someone much more interesting than Sephiroth, in her opinion.

"Lilith! I thought you left with Josiah! Or did you sense that I was trying to get myself in trouble again and fly back to rescue me from Sephy's wrath?"

[lovely-fatale.livejournal.com]

A faint smile appeared on her face, but it almost appeared strained. "Make no mistake about it - I did leave with Josiah." She glanced at Sephiroth and pursed her lips, a wary look appearing on her face. Obviously, she didn't exactly approve of all of the present company. "I doubt he'll risk upsetting any of you, at least this night."

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

"Probably not." She spared a glance back at Seph, as if to silently ask him if that was true, but she was speaking again to Lilith without waiting for a response.

"So why are you back, really?" A flash of concern made it through her sugar-induced cheerfulness. "Is Josi alright?"

[lovely-fatale.livejournal.com]

She lifted her eyes slightly to peer a bit more closely at Sephiroth before casually dismissing him, turning her attention back to Song, her smile vanishing.

"Not quite so dire," she murmured. She then began walking away, a quick nod of her head signaling for Song to follow her.

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

Song shot one last look at Sephiroth, gave a nod and a slight wave of her hand in fairwell, and quickly followed Lilith. She was already nibbling at her bottom lip in her usual gesture of uncertainty, and had to remind herself that Lilith was almost never openly cheerful, and this behavior from her could just mean that everything was normal.

[lovely-fatale.livejournal.com]

When they were far enough out of earshot of both Sephiroth and any of the Refugees, Lilith pulled out a black folder from seemingly nowhere and handed it to Song.

"He would have come, but he was a bit preoccupied," the succubus said quietly. Probably a lie, probably not - it was always hard to tell with her.

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

As quickly as worry had formed, it was replaced by curiosity. She only hesitated long enough to tilt her head at the folder's cover before opening it, obliging Lilith's desire for privacy by keeping it carefully turned away from the other party-goers, even if none where near enough to see it anyway.

[lovely-fatale.livejournal.com]

Inside of the folder were notes written about various worlds on the most farflung reaches of known gummi space, including one or two worlds that they didn't know about. The notes included any observations about odd occurrences, missing people, and strange activity - the amount of notes was staggering.

"He picked up where the other boy left off," Lilith explained, crossing her arms and looking away. "It's not much, but for all of those worlds none of you can make it to, he's trying to assist you as much as possible." She gave a lift of one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. "It helps, I suppose."

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

She looked up again at Lilith, the question apparent in her eyes before she voiced it. "The other boy?"

Her gaze drifted back to the notes, scanning for answers there even while she waited for Lilith to explain.

[lovely-fatale.livejournal.com]

She smiled slightly. "One of your former leaders? I'd imagine his current marital status keeps him from exploring as many worlds as before."

The smile vanished and she looked away, a distracted look in her eyes, as if trying to figure out a puzzle of her own. "Every world has its own... nuances, Song. Its own problems, its own mysteries. But something is tying them all together nowadays, something that you all no doubt are aware of." She nodded towards where Kairi was still off enjoying the party. "Something that will no doubt get worse."

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

Song nodded, but couldn't stop the corner of her mouth from twitching in something that could have been either a frown or a humorless smirk. "That's a fact that is rather hard to ignore these days. What..." she faltered, catching herself and seriously considering leaving the question unasked, but she'd already started, and she couldn't deny wondering.

"What is he doing out there? Gathering this information is useful, but if that were his only reason for going, I don't see why he couldn't have just said so..."

[lovely-fatale.livejournal.com]

She didn't meet the woman's eyes.

"It's not the reason he left, Song."

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

"And you're not going to tell me what is," she concluded.

Song sighed and looked away briefly, not annoyed, but... wistful, almost.

"Well. Thank you for bringing this. It's nice to see you." She touched Lilith's shoulder. A simple, friendly gesture to remind the succubus that Josiah wasn't the only one Song cared about.

[lovely-fatale.livejournal.com]

Lilith looked back at Song, her face carefully blank. "It's not my place to tell you." It never has been, was left unspoken.

She didn't flinch away from the light touch as she may have months ago. Instead, she only shook her head. "I'm only back to deliver this. I leave after the party." There were still words she would never say, even after everything.

Still, she glanced back at Song and offered her a small, if not overly warm smile. "He keeps his promises. And it looks like the same applies to me now."

... ... ...

[creepy-son-of-a.livejournal.com]

He was in Cloud's head for a year so... he's pretty much had enough of him for the moment. And he's not sure he wants anyone to know that he was in Cloud's head in the first place.

He's just looking at her as if she has a few screws loose.