Room 229, Thursday Morning

[arsenicmauls]

Gert wasn't big on Halloween -- hadn't been, really, since she was about nine. Now that she was sixteen, she was pretty over the whole thing, and in the interim she had all but memorized an annoying spiel about how this dumb holiday was just another sign of the appropriation and Americanization of everything anywaySo. No trick-or-treating for her

Comments

[ultron_junior]

Victor had two reasons for visiting Gert today. The first was that the bakery in town had miniature sugar skulls for dia de los muertos, they were really good, and he wanted to share them with somebody who'd appreciate how morbid it was to be crunching on candy shaped like a human skull.

The second motive was that he'd heard from (his) Nico that morning; Chase was finally healed enough from the car accident to be released from the hospital, but they'd had no luck finding Old Lace's corpse. The contact made him really want to see the living Old Lace he had two floors down.

So he came tapping on Gert's door frame, scanning the room for Old Lace. "Hey," he said. "Happy Halloween. I have a present for you."

[arsenicmauls]

Old Lace had been dozing between the two beds, but she stirred at the sound of Victor's voice, looking as though she might even get to her feet in a minute or two. Waking up took time.

"Ooh?" Gert said, swiveling around in her chair to face Victor. She was already in a much brighter mood with the promise of a present. "If it's a rotting pumpkin, I may have to pass," she joked.

[ultron_junior]

"Calavera de azúcar ," Victor said, stepping into the room to hand Gert a miniature sugar skull decorated with frosting. "You can eat it or decorate with it, so it's, like, a multipurpose present. Bakery had 'em."

He smiled at Old Lace, crouching to offer her a pat on the head. Aww, sleepy dino.

[arsenicmauls]

"Thanks," Gert said as she accepted the little skull and set it down on her desk, genuinely pleased that he'd thought of her. "This is cool. And now I can feel less like a crotchety old lady for not having Halloween plans."

Taking a bite of the little skull, she said, "Long time no see, by the way. How was your break?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Here was her chance to deliver her screed to an unsuspecting trick-or-treater, even!

Because later that afternoon, a Minnie Mouse-costumed Kathy was knocking on Gert's door, pillowcase in hand, calling "Trick or treat!"

At least she wasn't dressed up as sexy...anything?

[arsenicmauls]

...Gert had not foreseen this. In fact, she didn't know that people over thirteen did trick-or-treat. Revealing costumes and loud parties, sure, but door-to-door candy demands? In a dorm building?

She swiveled around in her chair, looking a bit apologetic, but also a little judgey. "Yeah, I don't have any candy," she reported. Not now that she'd eaten most of the sugar skull Victor had given her, anyway. "Has anyone actually given you anything?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"You didn't grab any from outside?" Kathy asked. She had some in a bowl outside of her door with a sign that offered it to any trick or treaters that came 'round while she was gone. "I--oh."

She was definitely feeling the judginess and fidgeted a little. "I got some?"

[arsenicmauls]

"Not exactly." Gert didn't mean to come off as mean, which was why her tone was somewhat lighter when she asked, "Wait, couldn't you just sit outside with a bowl?"

It did make trick-or-treating kind of redundant.