SOMK: Halloween

After a long afternoon’s work, Vark and Snocone stared up at their doings. All around the lodge, there were tapestries of all manner of barely-spooky thing. Gengar boards propped in the shadows leered out with red, electronic eyes; the gentle mountain breeze tossed about the Zubat and Shuppet hangers, sending their flitting around in glimmers as the light caught on their shiny, plastic-y lamination. In the sparse shrubbery and the low treetops, a haze of cottony webbing had been wound and slung, and little Spinarak were waiting, just out of sight, to crawl onto it and wrap up any potential passerby.

In good fun, of course.

Snocone wiped at her brow, immediately recoiling. When her claws came away, the residue of her icy composition slicked then down, leaving blue smears. She grimaced at that, wiping it away in the snow.

“Welp, job well done, y’old lawn ornament. I’m ‘bout ready for another smoke. How ‘bout you?”

“Pass”, Vark offered back flatly. “And don’t drag the rest of them into your little indulgence. Their innocence should be preserved, so little of it there is naturally.”

Snocone scowled at him disbelievingly. “Y’know just ‘cuz they’re cute don’t mean they’re stupid, right?”

“Nor am I implying such. If you can’t accept that, then imagine I want it for my own health.” He pointed his beak up to the evening sky. “This is the nicest air I’ve breathed, this mountain wind. I’d like it not to be despoiled.”

About then, Frosted Lass approached them, and, to Snocone’s annoyance, foisted another little task on the two of them. They must have looked like the most amicable of options, seeing how she couldn’t hide the light desperation in her tone.

But over what?

“Here, you two! You’ve worked hard today! Look!” She motioned out to the various booths readying up for the night. “Some of our other guild members have volunteered to give out candy for the community.” She handed two burlap bags to both of them. Snocone snorked a bit at the obvious discomfort Vark experienced having to gnaw it in his beak.

“Oh, dear! Why don’t I take that back and affix a big loop on it. That way you can speak while you try the booths, she hurried off, returning with exceptional speed and lifted the newly-sewn loop around Vark’s neck.

“Now, go on! Go give our guildmates’ booth a test! I’ll be waiting to hear back!”

She floated off without another word. 

The two of them just looked at each other, shrugged, and walked to the nearest booth: Snowy Storm’s, the Glaceon with a glitch in her eye.

“Hey, friends! How are you tonight?”

“Doin’ as ‘bout as well as we can. So…that Froslass wanted us to test the booths out--”

“Oh, PERFECT!” She clapped her front paws together. “Hey, you think you can do me a big favor?” 

“It…depends,” Vark clarified, uncertain. “Really, we should be asking you--”

“Good! Can you watch my shop for a moment? I need to go check up on everybody, so just be sure to watch the stand and chase off any troublemakers!”

And just like that, she bounded off. Snocone immediately dipped behind the stand and started picking through the givings, stealing away a few pieces into her own bag. 

“Heheheh…I love me some Jolly Ranchers.”

“Quit rifling the stand goods, or else I’m going to chase you off!”