Mystery Incorperated (Simon/Ru) - FINISHED

[beastly]

Simon gave a toothy grin as Ru whispered in his ear, turning to give Ru a little peck on the chin before answering.

" Every werewolf? That's a quest. Wolf quest, Ru-ootbeer?"

Simon batted his lashes at Ru with the best puppy eyes he could muster. Surely there weren't that many werewolves at the fair. Right?
He loved that Ru was feeling brave, having fun. He wanted to encourage that as much as possible. It was cute. He took a moment to appreciate the moonlight in Ru's eyes before answering.

"I think that's a good game plan, stan," Simon nodded in agreement, " Let's see if we can find any other wolves, get some snacks, and get lost."

[jarahamee]

Ru kissed Simon back, so quickly and discretely that he doubted anyone else had seen anything. Though honestly, given the kind of crowd it was at this time of night, he suspected that none of them would be bothered by something like this.

“Every…werewolf. We gotta get em all. We’re on a hunt for the boyfriend of the year.”

He threw his arms around Simon’s shoulders, resting his chin on Simon’s head. Did he look like some kind of demented bird? Probably. Did he care? No.

And then he heard ‘Ru-ootbeer.’ Never-mind. Definitely not boyfriend of the year.

He snorted out a chuckle, and leaned his cheek into Simon’s. He couldn’t help himself. The man had great puppy dog eyes.

“We should do scouting and recon, and then maybe get back to the car to drop the bad-boys off when we’re done. I’m assuming you’re going to want Heartstoppers Deluxe Banana Foster Funnel Cake?”

The vampire inclined his head towards one of the nearby stands. If he had been a human, he would have loved trying just about all of these, but the vampirism had robbed him of many of his small pleasures in life.

[beastly]

Simon snickered when Ru pressed his cheek against his own.

"I think that's a great idea, baby. Order of operations and all that," He kept the wolf shifted to one arm so he could put an arm around Ru, "I'd love to stop my heart with funnel cake, that sounds like it'll kill me."

He sounded delighted at the prospect, squishing the wolf in the bag as he held it tighter. Food was always the way to his heart. His greasy little werewolf heart.

"No complaining if you gotta roll me home."

[jarahamee]

Ru scoured the rest of the fairgrounds, and discovered two more werewolves for Simon. One was a small plush at the Balloon pop station, and the other was a handsome, medium-sized werewolf plush from the Ring Bottle Toss (Ru had gotten good at this).

While he managed to spend the rest of the 50 dollars he had put aside to win Simon all the prizes, he had managed to bring in some smaller plushes; two rainbow unicorns the size of a man’s hand, one huge husky, and a tiny cobra.

With his boyfriend sufficiently laden with stuffed animals, Ru and Simon made a pilgrimage to the car, then deposited the vampire’s new acquisitions, before returning to enjoy some fair food.

The vampire’s only regret was that there was no way he could enjoy the food himself. He watched Simon eat “Heartstoppers Deluxe Banana Foster Funnel Cake” with gusto, wondering exactly what that would have tasted like, but there was no time for regrets. Only time for spending the day with Simon.

As the evening deepened and the air became chill, he gestured towards “Double Dutch Hot Chocolate Cookie Drink” being served in a nearby stand, then turned back towards the “FUN MAIZE CORN MAZE.”

Was it his imagination, or was it calling his name? He’d like to pretend it was his sense of adventure, but when had he ever had one of those?

[beastly]

Simon cackled as he ran around the fair with Ru on their righteous werewolf hunt. It was a beautiful night, and his boyfriend was clearly enjoying his fairground prowess. Mercilessly, he was destroying the trials put forward by hapless fools challenging his skills. Sure, they took his money, but Ru was taking their wolves. Who was the real winner there?

Once the werewolves had been stored safely in the car, he was delighted to eat some delicious (and reportedly deadly) dessert.

Simon linked arms with Ru, strolling towards the double dutch hot chocolate cookie drink stand. It smelled amazing, and he was thankful that lycanthropy had not made it impossible to enjoy chocolate. He was a little unsure if Ru would be able to have any, he knew Ru could have some drinks.

He couldn't help but grin at the 'maize maze' pun. ha.

[jarahamee]

Ru leaned into Simon as if they were a two-man dance routine, looking down at him with adoration. He always forgot how happy he was on dates until he was on another one, and then the joy just… returned. It was nice to have someone at his side, and even better that it was his boyfriend. His very own boyfriend. The pining was over and he was so happy.

He stole a single sip of the double-Dutch-hot-chocolate-cookie-drink, and realized he wouldn’t be able to have more than that, but a taste of anything that wasn’t blood was a pleasure to him, even if his tastebuds had been changed irreparably.

“This is good. This is very good. I think you need like… three of these. Or maybe one when we’re done in the maze…”

As they wandered in, a bored-looking teenager took Ru’s ticket, and gestured half-halfheartedly inside. The corn was high, at least six feet, and made peering over the edge and looking at the rest of the path all but impossible. They’d have to wander through the corn, guess the pattern, and then turn in what they thought it was when they reached the exit.

As Ru reached his first dead end, both of them felt a cold gust of air on the back of their necks, and heard the pattering of feet in the other direction with a soft giggle.

"Um.. you heard that too, right?"

[beastly]

Simon loudly sipped his hot chocolate, considering the giggle. And the cold air. Maybe they had gone in for special effects? As soon as he had the thought, though, he started to doubt it. This didn't seem high budget enough for that.

"Yeah, I heard it."

The werewolf sniffed the air, and he glanced around looking for any mundane explanations for what they'd just experienced.

"Sounded like someone laughed."

He put a hand on Ru's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Whatever it was would either show up again and they could figure out what it was, or it wouldn't. He couldn't see anything.

"It's probably nothing to worry about."

[jarahamee]

While Simon smelled what must be other people who passed through the cornfield, he saw no signs of the child he had heard moments before. No footsteps, no scent, no movement in his sight. They were alone in what Ru suspected was the outline of a giant pumpkin.

The night was slowly becoming more chilly, and the once warm flush of Ru’s skin was steadily decreasing to the ambient temperature of the outside air. That was to say; his flesh felt as icy cold as it looked.

He rung his hands.

“Well, I don’t think we’re in any danger but we should keep walking. If something really wants to talk, it will find us.”

He squeezed Simon’s hand back, and walked with him, making his way around the pumpkin’s teeth.

As they rounded a corner, they were greeted by a Halloween display placed in a small clearing that probably represented the eye of the jack o lantern. Three pumpkins were piled on some haybales, each carved with a smile, and some large blocks that spelled out ‘Happy Halloween’.

Ru paused, adjusting Simon’s collar to better protect him from the cold, wrapping his scarf more tightly.

While Ru fussed over Simon, one of the pumpkins fell right off the display and smashed on the ground.

There was another giggle, and then silence again.

The vampire turned around, looking behind him, and frowned.

“Hello?”

[beastly]

"Yeah, it can follow at a spooky distance otherwise."

Simon held hands with Ru, looking over his shoulder. Ghosts and spirits were not his area of expertise, but Ru said he didn't think there was any real danger here. And Simon trusted him. If there was a ghost, that was fine. It was... Cooool. He paid attention to the scents of the place, but couldn't pick anything odd up.

He spotted the funny little halloween display, and took a moment to admire them. Big smiling pumpkins, very seasonal. Very cute.

Simon allowed Ru to adjust the scarf, giving him a smooch on the cheek when he got close enough to enter into kissing range.

"I'm toasty."

The werewolf turned at the pumpkin smashing, his sharp ears picking up the sound. Then, there was that giggle again. He scanned the area, but didn't see any other guests. Well. Ghosts.

"Someone's definitely here."

[jarahamee]

Ru smiled as Simon kissed his cheek, and drew him in a quick hug. He was distracted enough he missed whatever happened to the display before the pumpkin fell off the banister and smashed on the ground next to them. He made a soft startled sound, and released his boyfriend, searching for the source of the noise.

As if in answer, a ball rolled out of the shadows, colliding with Simon’s feet. The child’s laugh rang out again. This time, he could swear he saw something. A small, swiftly moving shadow dashed across his field of view, vanishing down one of the corn maze rows.

The wind brushed against him, as if encouraging him to follow.

The vampire took Simon’s hand, and walked with him, head down like a stalking dog as he peered down the corn row after the apparent ghost.

The way was as empty as he might have expected; Simon smelled the faint popcorn and hot chocolate wisps of the people who came before him, but nothing more. There was no fresh human breath on the wind, no sweat, no lingering heat. Only the now-nippy air.

From the end of the corn row, where he imagined the maze turned a corner, he saw the briefest flash of a shadowy form seeming to peer back at him, before vanishing again.

[beastly]

Simon tried not to let the child's laughter get to him- it wasn't that scary, he told himself, he had just been trained by horror films. If there was a dead kid, they were still a kid. Just dead. Now, if it was something pretending to be a kid, they were gonna have a few more problems.

It was interesting to watch Ru shift into 'work mode'. Pretty cute, actually, if he ignored the spooky atmosphere. Ru was good at his job helping spirits and ghosts. He'd seen Ru do a little bit of work with the spirit that hung around the apartment, but this was Ru out in the 'wilderness'. He squeezed Ru's hand and allowed himself to be lead forward.

The werewolf sniffed the air curiously, and again picked up no relevant scents. Nobody. When he caught the glance of something shadowy peeking out at them from the corner, Simon put his hands on his hips.

"You, uh. Think they wanna play?"

[jarahamee]

Ru pulled his gaze (reluctantly) away from the place where the shadow had disappeared, putting his hands in his pockets. Staring at the spot was not going to make the presumed-ghost reappear. In fact, he was fairly sure that the more that he wanted to stare at the spot, the less likely it was that the little face would come peeking around again.

No, the message was clear.

He sighed softly, and squeezed Simon’s arm.

“I think they want us to follow them. Why, I’m not quite sure.”

The vampire trotted slowly down the row, turning his face right, then left at the winding corn corridors. The wind whistled between the rows, but there was no one there, only the dark night and the now distance lights of the fairground.

Then, far, far down, a dark figure waved at the two of them. Like something out of the corner of one’s eye, or a trick of the light. A giggle traveled on the breeze to their ears. A faint whisper.

Ru turned to follow it, and found the two of them facing the end of the maze. The corn rustled. If he was a human, he would have paused, breathless and looked around, but as a vampire, he could have continued indefinitely.

He glanced down at Simon and frowned.

“…It’s…gone… I guess they didn’t want to show us the maze, but something else… Or maybe they were just toying with us…”

The fair’s bright lights beamed back at them, music louder with the growing proximity. Small crowds of people holding drinks wandered here and there, enjoying their evening.

The Ferris wheel turned slowly, rhythmically, dominating their view.

No one else seemed to have seen a ghost.

[beastly]

Simon, unfortunately, was human, and not one that preferred running. By the time they stopped, he was out of breath and puffing. A clear message he should really, really start taking more time on the treadmill if every there was one. What if it had been a more pressing chase? Being full of junkfood had not made it any easier to run.

The winded werewolf nodded, stopping to clean his glasses and try and pretend like the running hadn't sapped his strength.

"W-well, 's, ah... That's how the cookie crumbles..."

Simon put his glasses on with a sigh, wiping his face with his jacket. He leaned on Ru, looking around for any little ghost. Not seeing them, he stretched.

"They'll find us I guess if they want us. Right?"

It was kind of a shame they rushed through the maze so fast, it had been cute and fun.

[jarahamee]

Ru nodded, putting an arm around Simon’s shoulder. A part of him was a little disappointed about missing the rest of the corn maze. After all, it had been nice to wander around it in, in relative peace and quiet for a little while. He could imagine that other couples spent the time stealing a kiss or two, and he admitted that he wanted much the same right now.

As they stood by the ‘exit’ door, they saw a familiar shape;

Among the wandering drunks and other fair-goers, in the noise and light of the Fall Festival, was a void that drew their attention to it. A solitary shadow that peeled itself off the side of a tent labeled “Fairy Fun.” The expanse of nothingness looked straight towards them, as if to beckon them in and towards it.

Come come this way

It seemed to say.

And then, just as suddenly, as if it was an optical illusion, it vanished again into nothingness.

Only ordinary shadows now.

The vampire tugged gently on Simon’s arm, leading him towards “Fairy Fun.”

A pleasant, plump-looking woman and what seemed to be a lady friend sat within the tent. The interior seemed to peddle an assortment of candles, fantasy statues, blankets and clothing. A few hand-knit creatures, including a little wolf, stared back at them.

One of the women smiled and waved at the approaching men.

“Hi there, let me know if you need anything.”

[beastly]

Simon squinted over at the stall, following as they entered "fairy fun". Was it a little shop that sold knitted things? What was the fairy part? And why had the ghost lead them here? He gave the air a sniff as he stepped in, then waved at the woman that waved at him. She didn't seem like she'd just seen a ghost at all, was the ghost able to control who saw them?

The cute little wolf caught his eye. He eyed the other little animals, the thought occurring that maybe he should get Ru a little friend. But, they were now on a ghost mission. He had to be focused.

"Hey ya, sure," He returned the woman's smile, "Will do."

The werewolf exchanged glances with Ru as he looked around the tent. This was his territory, his thing.