Shout At The Devil! [Halloween Party] Band members and friends invited

[bangingthe_hellouttayou]

Zack had decided that he wanted to do something for Halloween now that he'd gotten his new costume and being a Spider-Man fan he'd gone for a Spider-Punk costume straight from his comics. He'd gotten it at a local comic store down on the Strip and couldn't wait to show Damien because he knew the Dog didn't have comics or anything fun back in Hunger City. Zack now pleased that he'd arranged a Halloween Party for the band members, their friends and family to attend inside the communal area of the apartments. It was the biggest space and there was a bar all stocked up with spooky drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic alike.

It would be a blast!

There were even spooky snacks with crisps and chips shaped like bats, ghosts and pumpkins. There were even actual pumpkins on a table for those who wished to carve a pumpkin alone or with friends. Zack had tried to make it accessible for all, those who wished to party and get drunk and those who wanted to do non-boozy activities too.

As for costumes---they were optional but preferred.

"Ok, I think that's it. Everyone should be arriving soon."

Zack looking around the room and hoping everyone would like what he had set-up with help from some of the others of course.

Comments

[itmeanstruth]

“Well, then they can create some new ones. And bring back a lot of sweet treats for everybody else.” Minoru smiled, his optimism shining through the harsh reality that they both knew Hunger City was.

Almost as an afterthought, he added, “They’d better not share it with Jack when they go back, though… I know Ziggy can’t eat any of it without getting dangerously sick.”

He wasn’t sure how well Damien fared. He was part-Anthean, technically. But maybe that part didn’t come with the dietary restrictions.

[hungercity_hellhound]

Damien managed another chuckle. "Rekker is the one to spoil people."

He can only imagine how much candy and goodies Rekker was going to send home. He knew how the man spoiled Bjorn and he couldn't imagine how that would apply to children since he was a teacher.

"I don't know if Jack and Ziggy are exactly the same any longer." Damien wondered about it and knew that Jack and Ziggy spoke about it before though Damien didn't know the details.

[itmeanstruth]

"Oh yeah. Rekker's basically a giant teddy bear around those kids."

And technically some of the big kids too.

Now that they had access to provisions from other worlds, hopefully that allowed some of the Pups the ability to be spoiled. Even if only for short bursts at a time.

"Can you eat candy?"

[hungercity_hellhound]

"It's probably because of his daughter." Damien mentions but his voice is down. He understands that kind of loss, not a child but a partner.

Damien was a teddy bear too when it came down to it and more aggressive and destructive than the ginger.

"I don't like sweet food." Damien shrugged. "Among the Ministry, we weren't allowed to eat it."

[itmeanstruth]

"Unfortunately, this holiday and most of the ones coming up are all about sweets..." he smirked, before his brain caught up to what Damien had said about Rekker.

He stopped. He couldn't remember Rekker ever mentioning having a daughter. Or any child. Just the students he teaches. And Bjorn, who might act like a child sometimes, but that definitely didn't count.

"Wait a sec... Rekker has a kid?"

[hungercity_hellhound]

"I remember from last year when Balthazar brought all the candy." Damien had seen that the year before but he had been here in New York for most of it.

"Yeah." Damien thought the topic had passed but it came right back. It wasn't that some didn't know but he did wonder how much to say.

"Yeah. His ex took her when she was a baby." Damien didn't want to say everything because it wasn't his place. "It's a... bad topic."

[itmeanstruth]

"... oh." Minoru glanced down at the floor. He rocked back and forth on his heels. "Sorry..."

He honestly didn't know. And hopefully hadn't exclaimed it loud enough for anyone to hear. That was an awful predicament to be in.

[hungercity_hellhound]

"It was awhile ago." Damien reached out to offer Minoru some support. Hugging was still awkward for the Dog sometimes. "A lot of us carry things we don't talk about."

Which was true for more than Rekker.

[itmeanstruth]

Time probably didn't make it better. But Minoru was a hugger, so he was quick to be distracted by Damien's hug. And then laugh when his coach came away with a green streak on his cheek.

"my makeup... oh whoops! Sorry!!" this time, the apology was a lot more jovial. "Guess this stuff comes off easier than I thought!"

[hungercity_hellhound]

Damien easily fell back into laughing. "It's not a first. Have you seen all the make up and glitter?"

Damien constantly had incidents with makeup, hairspray, glitter. Lots of glitter.

[itmeanstruth]

"Seen it? I think I've bathed in it before." Minoru laughed. "One of these days, Isamu really is going to invent something that neutralizes glitter when you walk in the door. He hates the stuff."

[hungercity_hellhound]

"I got thrown in a swimming pool full of glitter." Damien rarely complained but that had nearly made him lose his temper. Damn Joe and Bjorn for that.

[itmeanstruth]

Now that was a fuck ton of glitter… how’d they even GET that much glitter in the first place?!

Wait, never mind. Where there was a will, there was definitely a way.

“Were you there for the time they filled an entire hallway with bubble bath or something? Yuck!” Minoru’s nose curled up in disgust, but he was still laughing. “I took one look at that and went, Nope. Right out the window.”

[hungercity_hellhound]

Damien had assumed Rekker's credit card was the answer to anything that Bjorn ended up with in that kind of quantity.

"Yes." Damien nodded. "I left as soon as I heard that Robert was losing his temper on someone."

Damien knew better. There were certain people who he wouldn't tangle with angry unless he absolutely had to deal with it.

[itmeanstruth]

“Huh. You know, I wonder if that’s what stopped them from actually building that cheese pool last year.” Minoru mused aloud. And yes, he meant cheese pool, as in a pool where its walls were entirely made of cheese. “Isamu drew up diagrams and everything.”

He even bought a fruit tray, which consequently ended up at the nurses station.

[hungercity_hellhound]

"I heard about it." Damien had been busy with other things, thankfully. "Tom has become more passive with time but his patience is not without limits."

He could only imagine what Tom would have said to a pool made of cheese.

[itmeanstruth]

“That would have been a lot of cheese. I think the plan was to fill it with beer too…” Minoru scratched his head, almost knocking one of his neck bolts off. “They come up with the weirdest ideas.”

(Says the one who set up a tic tac toe board out of pool noodles, suspended it in the apartment lobby and then proceeded to play parkour tic tac toe.)

[hungercity_hellhound]

"I wonder if that is why we ended up with a dunking tank full of beer in the parking lot?" There were so many questions and most of them Damien did not want answered.

(He also has no room to talk because he was probably taking part in parkour tic tac toe.)

[itmeanstruth]

Minoru laughed. “Well, if they already bought all the beer…”

He was kind of glad he didn’t get called out for that one. Dunking booths weren’t his thing. It was probably while he was working anyway. His nights off varied quite a bit from week to week.

(And probably winning a few rounds of parkour tic tac toe, let’s be real. Once he knew the rules of tic tac toe, anyway, not really being a childhood pastime in Ministry clutches…)

[hungercity_hellhound]

"I don't know. I avoided the whole thing." Damien, like Minoru, sometimes walked away from the insanity. Not too far though because he was often on duty but definitely far enough away that he wouldn't be dragged in.

(Damien was a quick study and this was one task where his height and slimness definitely was an advantage.)

[itmeanstruth]

“Yeah, kind of like when they play strip poker, or strip monopoly, or strip anything.” He scratched his head. “I’ve got the worst luck when it comes to that.”

(Which is how Damien ended said night as reigning Tic Tac Toe Champion. Obviously.)

[hungercity_hellhound]

Damien started to laugh. "Jack, Ziggy and I are forbidden from poker. We have too man advantages."

Damien could read people like books, so could the Antheans. "I'm not interested in playing either."

[itmeanstruth]

“I can’t even get ahead on strip rock paper scissors.” Minoru lamented, albeit still somewhat playfully.

(Clearly, next time Minoru does the American Ninja Warrior finals course in Vegas, the Antheans need to hit the casino. But not the one Isamu got kicked out of for counting cards…)

[hungercity_hellhound]

"Have you ever seen Davon and Rekker get into rock paper scissors battles?" Damien had and it reminded him more of the children he taught than men 10 years or more his senior.

"I'm not interested in any of thier stripping games." He saw enough of that to survive that it lost some of the fun.

[itmeanstruth]

“No… and I think I might be happy about that.” He admitted, after all the ridiculous stripping games he sometimes found himself in. And the one where he didn’t and they still ended up stealing his clothes for some reason anyway. And all the towels in the gym. Seriously, Minoru really hated that prank.

“I’m just gonna stick to the little lobby parkour challenges. Or racing hotel room furniture down ramps. Gotta admit that was a lot of fun too.”

[Parkour hopscotch. Be on the lookout for it in a future visit.]