Brawn is Beautiful [Complete]

[mymanlyself]

Character(s): Gaston, Jack Skellington, any others who want to join in.
Content: Gaston and Jack enter Paixao...
Setting: Joutenheim Gate
Time: Monday morning
Warnings: None

Comments

[averyspecialguy]

Perhaps Gaston was right; being dead so long really did alter your perception of things. The oddity of having a rotatable head had been long overlooked in favor of its convenience, until he imagined how it must look. In fact, it was rather pleasing to imagine how it must look to other people, especially since he hadn't used that particular trick in a while. He'd have to use it again soon, just so he didn't go out of practice; it would probably work better on people without such good nerves as Gaston had. If he had been privy to the muscular man's thoughts on the matter, he might have protested; he was considered quite handsome back in Halloweentown, after all.

Jack amused himself by choosing to interpret the crowd's moving away as the line advancing, and thus matched their pace without comment, making no move to overtake them--one or two actually left to go to the back and start waiting again. He did feel a little bad about inconveniencing them like that.... then again, it had been their own choice. "From the looks of these gates, I would presume it has something to do with those who died in battle, or lived with courage--that would explain you, I imagine." It didn't need to explain him; he certainly hadn't died again, just.... taken a wrong turn, or something of the sort.

He turned his head around to face forward as they came to the booth, leaning down to smile at the woman behind the counter. "I do beg your pardon, miss, but what part of the afterlife is this? Do you happen to know where a door to any other parts are, or one back to the living world?"

She shied back a step, not quite daring to look impatient. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, sir. Our city of Paixao is very fair and peaceful. Would you like some brochures and a journal?"

Jack accepted the handful of brochures, tucking them into his breast pocket. "I see.... thank you. Do we get to pick our journal color?" He could spy piles of the things behind the counter, sorted by color and whether they needed a carrying case.

"Certainly, sir." She was starting to look a little annoyed. "What color would you like?"

Jack really couldn't help it now; the opportunity was too good to pass up, and (to him, at least) it was Halloween.... "I'm in a bit of an awkward position to see.... mind holding something for me?"

"Of course." She sighed, holding her hands out.

"Thank you very much. Here." Jack reached up to pull his skull off with a distinct pop and toss it to her, face contorting into a horrible expression, as if he meant to devour her.

This obviously hadn't been what the woman expected; she dropped the skull with a squeal of shock, which chuckled delightedly as it rolled along the floor. "Any color preference while I'm down here, Gaston?" It called, voice raised a bit to be heard properly; Jack leaned over the counter to retrieve it, picking a black journal for himself while he was at it.

[mymanlyself]

Gaston enjoyed a good practical joke as much as the next man (at least, as long as it was someone else who was looking foolish). He laughed heartily at the poor gatekeeper's expression, giving Jack a friendly smack on the back in appreciation of the spooky trick he'd just played. "Good one!" he exclaimed, glancing over at the pile to take a look at what was over there. "Sure, see if they have any in red... That's my favorite color."

The muscular man reached down and picked up some of the pamphlets as well, giving them a quick scan. He didn't much care for reading, but one of them had a map of the city on it, and that was one thing that might be interesting to look at in the future. It always helped to know where the local taverns were. Actually, a cold beer sounded nice... He wondered if that sort of thing even interested his companion, though. Jack didn't exactly look like someone who would appreciate good food or drink.