An Un-Haunted House? (Open/Active)

[averyspecialguy]

Characters: Jack Skellington, Sally Ragdoll, Nanaki, others?
Setting: Entrance Room, moving into the Greenhouse, possibly others?
Time: Day 002 (shortly after Jack, Sally, and Zero's intro post. Oh god, so backlogged..... D=)
Summary: Jack and Sally explore, and stumble on Dollsy's resident lion-wolf-thing.
Warnings: None at the moment.

Comments

[raggedysally]

This house--mansion, really--was certainly interesting. She had never seen something so opulent, and its style was unlike Halloween Town in a way she couldn't place. Not enough spiderwebs or dark colors--too many colors, maybe? She didn't have the experience to compare it to anything but the town she was created in.

"Should we really be wandering around like this, Ja--Ooh!" Sally's worried question was cut off when she caught sight of the greenhouse. A garden inside, how interesting! She was quick to step inside, peering around at the various plants and looking for herbs in spite of herself.

She really shouldn't take anything from here, though; they weren't hers. But still, this was a very unusual house.

[ineedthumbs]

Red XIII had been sleeping under the canopy of leaves for the past hour, napping as large predatory mammals tend to do in their free time. He'd missed the feel of earth under his feet, the smell of green things (Zetsu excluded--the ninja had his own smell, neither earthy nor human entirely) and the leonine beast had been so glad to see the greenhouse that he had abandoned some of his dignity to roll in the plants for a while upon discovering it. That had been a couple hours ago, before he'd had his fill of nibbling and sniffing plants and had decided to take advantage of the sun while it lasted

[averyspecialguy]

"Oh, I don't think it will be a problem to just walk about--only a Medusa can hurt things by looking around, after all!" Jack laughed brightly, letting the door swing shut behind them as he followed Sally in. "We'll just ask the owner of this house to unlock the door for us once we find him."

He perked up a little as he heard rumbling. "Is that a wolf?" Or a wolfman, for that matter? Curious, the skeleton picked his way through the flowers and plants, approaching Nanaki as he woke up.

((OOC: orz, failpost. x_X I'm sooorryyyy....))

[raggedysally]

Sally was, for the moment, distracted by greenery. It was far more vibrant than anything in Halloween Town--really, it was quite pretty. She was so distracted she didn't notice the rumbling, Jack's words, or anyone else in the greenhouse until she had almost tripped over it.

Letting out a little cry of surprise, she took a few swift steps back, lost her balance, and fell head over heels.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!" Sally said as she made sure all her limbs were still attached.

[raggedysally]

"I'm fine," Sally said, trying to hide her embarrassment as she accepted Jack's help in getting back to her feet and regaining her balance.

The creature seemed a bit more like what she was used to than some of the people she had met before, but they way he was watching them, she didn't think he had seen walking skeletons and rag dolls before. The idea that someone wouldn't be used to that was hard to think about, but she could just manage it.

Could Jack, though?

"I'm Sally," she said with a shy smile.

[ineedthumbs]

Red XIII did a double-take when the skeleton's--Jack Skellington's--head turned around on its shoulders to look at him. He did another one when the undead man turned around his arm. He hesitated, too startled even to sigh before sitting up and extending one heavy, calloused paw, which he planted cautiously in Jack's bony hand. Normally he just dropped the full weight of his limb into the other person's offered hand and let them do the shaking--in this case, he was afraid he'd make part of his new acquaintance's hand come off, so he simply made sure to aim his paw carefully and made sure he wasn't going to tear it off before giving it a smidgen of the normal pressure. "I'm Nanaki--what are you? Or where are you from, rather?" he amended, trying to be polite.

He inclined his head to Sally graciously. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you," the warrior continued, still a bit bewildered and groggy from sleeping. "I suppose there could be better circumstances, though..."

[averyspecialguy]

Jack grinned at Red's surprise; being startled wasn't as good as being scared, but it was still instinctively pleasing. His hand held up nicely despite the pressure; Jack gave Nanaki's paw a few brisk shakes before letting go. That said, he made short work of twisting himself back around to a more normal position, standing so he could see both his new companions.

"The pleasure's ours." Jack returned, looking a little surprised, though not offended at the question. Couldn't he tell? "A skeleton! The Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, to be exact. And yourself?" He was rather curious; Nanaki looked a bit feline, a bit lupine, a bit like a salamander, perhaps, with his flaming tail.... Where did he live, if he wasn't from Halloween Town too?

[raggedysally]

"Ah, um, a doll," Sally said, flushing a bit at the question simply because she wasn't used to it ever being asked. A doll made for cooking and cleaning in a lab, a little maid that couldn't ever compare to someone like Jack. And because of the thoughts rushing through her head, it was a moment before she replied, "I'm from Halloween Town, too."

Though she was nothing as glamourous.

[raggedysally]

Sally was quiet now, obviously interested but hanging back and letting Jack and Nanaki do the talking. It was what she was best at; observation, background work, generally remaining unnoticed.

It was, as Dr. Finkelstein so loved to remind her, what she was made to do. And in a situation like this, going back to her normal habits as best she could was comforting. She had to resist the urge to start straightening things up in the immediate area.

[ineedthumbs]

"The Planet is just that--a planet," Red XIII smiled, oddly gratified to find someone interested in the world he called his own. "It has stars, mountains, oceans, cities, and people. Cosmo Canyon is a canyon on West Continent--it's named that because it offers the clearest view of the cosmos and because of my people, who originate there." His people, of which he was the last. He didn't add that, though, for obvious reasons. It was still a sobering thought, and every time it came to him, it dragged him down a little further. The subject matter was more than interesting enough to distract him, though

[averyspecialguy]

"Oh, I see." Jack sounded interested enough; if this place had Halloween, then he had never actually been there before. "So your people are named Cosmos, then?" He nodded at the analology. "I should think so! Of course, it sounds like there are places you can't get to from there.... But I imagine it would be possible, if people began to celebrate Halloween there as well." He wondered if Red XIII would take Halloween back when he went home--if that was the case, then he might even be able to visit him at some point, after all of this was said and done. "Well, you just open the tombstone right up like a door, and walk through to open up the other side. Only a Pumpkin King can use the connections to do it, but while it's open, anyone can go through." The skeleton beamed; he did let almost the entire population through on a yearly basis, to go spread frightful fun amongst the citizens of the living world.

((OOC: ooorz, sorry for the short fail tag. Jack is not very amenable to introspection for me.))

[raggedysally]

Sally's eyes widened as Red XIII described his world. Her imagination filled in what his description didn't, and despite her picture of it being of uncertain accuracy, she would have loved to visit it. So enthralled from the image was she, she almost missed Jack's explanation of tombstone travel. She had never left Halloween Town, herself, kept back both by Dr. Finkelstein's demands and her own uncertainty. She wouldn't be very good at scaring, anyway.

So she watched from afar, as always.