Ooo, What's This? [Caiden]

[Midna]

"Oh." Caila nodded, Kai was the only one of them who never really believed in all of the holiday stuff. Most grown-ups would find it silly, but Caila believed in most of them. Santa, the Easter Bunny... They were all real to her. She wasn't sure if Caiden believed though, or if he just played along. "That would be sad..." she said softly. Her parents didn't believe in holidays or fairytales either.

[Snow]

Zel smiled brightly. "it's okay though, because that's my job as the Prince of Halloween. I make sure all the little kids don't grow up into Scowls!"

"Oh really?" Ally scoffed from the door, a jar with the spider in her hands. "How?"

To that, Zel smiled brightly and pulled his long-sleeved shirt off, grinning as Ally's eyes widened in horror and fear. There was a hole in his chest where his ribcage showed, as well as part of his right shoulderblade and some of his right wrist bone. His lower spine was also visible. On his left arm, the only thing connecting his upper arm and his lower arm was his elbow bone, which showed.

"This is how," Zel said proudly, sliding his shirt back on. "But people don't really appreciate my bones unless it's Mischief Night..."

[Midna]

"Cool," said Caila, not sure what to think anymore. Zel was saying all this stuff... Maybe he was from the Halloween Town of the stories? Some kind of hybrid maybe, or just changed by the environment.

Of course, she did freak out just a bit when she saw what he looked like under his shirt. There was bone showing, for goodness sake! How was he still alive?! "Oh, Zelly," she said softly, "Doesn't that hurt? How do you still live, sweetie?" There was absolutely no way that was a costume.

[Snow]

"Course it doesn't hurt," Zel shrugged. "It doesn't hurt to peel off dead skin, does it? And holiday beings don't really need to 'live'. On human terms, I'm alive because I breathe, eat, drink, need to sleep. But I'm also not alive because, well, I don't have a heartbeat." Zel shrugged. "The simple explanation is magic."

Zel looked up at the ceiling and wondered for a bit, and then he nodded and grinned like a silly little kid. "I'm going to go steal your bed, Ally!" And Zel was gone, skittered off to steal Ally's bed.

Ally sighed. "He's a weird kid."

[Midna]

"Well, okay..." She's still a little surprised, but Caila's starting to wrap her head around little Zel's appearance now. "No heartbeat... that would take some magic to keep you animated, yes." Hmm, she'd have to turn in her idea for a Science Fair project soon. Maybe Zel could make a good research subject if he decided to stay.

She giggled when Zel ran off to go steal Ally's bed. "We have a guest room if you want it!" she called after him, "It's at the end of the hall by Caiden's room and my room!"

[Snow]

Zel did not in fact take the guest room. Instead, Ally had to take the guest room because Zel cocooned himself in her blankets.

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Zel peeked over Caila's shoulder, his big silver eyes watching intently. "Whatcha doin'?" he asked, reaching out a hand to poke the cardboard.

His wings, which had not been present yesterday, had decided to show themselves today. They were somewhat too big for his body, and parts of his wings had rotted away as well. The wing bones were delicate, but sinew wound its way around his wings and kept the bones safe. Like the rest of his body, his wings were gaunt and some of the bones showed through, despite the fact that he actually ate quite a bit and quite often.

Currently, he was clinging to the back of Caila's chair, his light weight barely upsetting it. Though, if Caila stood up, the chair would go down with him.

[Midna]

Caila smiled as she heard Zel's voice. "Hiya, Zel. I'm not really sure yet. This is the trifold board for this science fair project I have to do for school- Are those wings?" She looked them over, a bit incredulous. "Wow. Do they really work?" She wasn't sure, considering the holes in them. "I wish I had wings..."

She shook her head, trying to bring herself back to what she'd been talking about. "Anyway, we have to do a science project, but I'm not sure what to do yet. Though... may I do mine on you? I'd just be asking a few questions and running a few relatively non-invasive tests on you. Pleeeeease?"

[Snow]

Zel glanced back. "Oh, so I do have wings. Normally those only show up in Halloween Town. They work well enough, it's mostly magic that gets me off the ground but the wings help me stay in the air. ...I'm not entirely sure what invasive means, but okay."

And that's what Kai walked into that morning when he slumped out of bed and crossed the dining room into the kitchen. He took one look at Zel, said, "I don't even want to know what's going on right now," and promptly slumped his way into the kitchen.

Zel pouted. "Scowl."

[Midna]

"Cool!" She grinned when he said she could do her project on him. "Thanks! Non-invasive means that I won't do anything painful or too personal. Medical term."

Caila put her project away for the moment, taking a break, and snickered at Kai. "He doesn't have much of an imagination... I left the pancakes in the oven to stay warm if you guys would like some."

Caiden walked down the stairs, smiling and with his sketchbook in his hands. He stopped when he saw Zel though, eyes widening. "Whoa," he said, "You have wings?" He needed practice with drawing wings; maybe he'd sketch them later. Yeah, that seemed like a good idea.

[Snow]

Zel extended one of his wings at Caiden's comment, fingering on of the bones. "Mhm. Normally they're only physical in Halloween Town." He noticed the sketchbook and he tipped his head to the side a little, but he didn't comment on it. Instead, he tucked his wings back against his back (some of it brushed against his exposed spine), pulled his shirt back on, and scampered into the kitchen for pancakes.

Afterwards, he found a box of colored pencils and, naturally deciding they were now his, he hid them in the hole in the wall that had yet to be fixed.

[Midna]

"Wow." Caiden breathed, and he headed off to go get some pancakes too. Maybe they had some of that blackberry jam he really liked...

After a yummy breakfast of pancakes and blackberry jam, as Caila had found him some, Caiden flopped on the couch to draw. That's when he realized that his box of colored pencils were missing. Frowning, he started looking for them. About ten minutes later, Caila walked in to find her distressed brother digging under the couch. "Looking for something?"

"Yeah, my colored pencils," said Caiden sadly, "I think I lost them."

Caila nodded. "Sorry, I haven't seen them. I'll help you look." So she joined the search too.

[Snow]

Zel, sitting in the hole in the wall, heard and seemed confused. So the pencils were Caiden's? Well, Mrs. Clause always said not to take what wasn't his... But Jack always said 'finders keepers losers weepers'. He struggled with himself for a little bit, and then sighed. Mrs. Caluse would be really really really disappointed if he didn't give them back. So, he did the natural thing.

He yelled, "Catch, Caiden!" and threw them at the boy. Grinning, he scampered out of the hole and and back into the kitchen for more food. He might have looked like a gaunt, starving kid, but really he ate a lot. Coming back with three cookies, he settled himself down on the floor, acting completely innocent, to watch the magic box with his wings purposefully spread for drawing purposes.

Jack rubbed off on him.

[Midna]

Hearing Zel's yell, Caiden looked up and almost got hit in the face with his wayward box of colored pencils. Instead of being angry though, he grinned in delight, checking the box over. Perfect condition, no pencils missing. "Thank you, Zel!" he called, and went back to sketching with the smile still on his face.

Caila knew that Zel had probably taken them, but she didn't feel like she should scold him. He'd given them back, after all. So she went upstairs to read a book.

When Zel walked back into the kitchen and sat down, Caiden glanced over at him curiously. Huh, his wings were in the perfect position for a quick sketch. And he did need practice... Caiden started to sketch, slowly at first, then faster with more concentration. Maybe he'd give it to Zel when he was done.

Several minutes later, he'd actually pulled out his special colored pencils and was gently coloring what was now a full picture of Zel, no longer just a sketch. By now, he was kind of reluctant to give it to Zel. What if the kid thought it was weird that Caiden had drawn him? Maybe he'd just keep it. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. He just had a few more details left now.

[Snow]

Zel yawned about quarter-way through the sketch, but he had quietly resumed his position. During the sketching of his wings, he'd flicked the left one a few times to rid it of an itch. During the actually drawing, Zel had laid down with a skeleton grin on his face. Now, during the coloring, Zel had shifted to lay behind Caiden's head.

"The skin covering my wing bones is darker than the membrane," Zel corrected sleepily, letting one of his holey wings rest lightly on Caiden's head. "You did good. I wonder if you get a creepy drawing of me just by using that picture as reference."

Zel yawned again, his fangs making a strange sound as he closed his mouth. Eh. Just his fangs rubbing against each other. The silverette put his head on Caiden's shoulder, surveying the drawing. It was a near exact replica of Zel; all that was missing was his crown and his hair seemed a little messier than usual. Even Zel's clothes looked baggy on his skeletal frame, which was completely correct. Zel wondered if Caiden would have been able to get his eyes right, them being too big and too wide for his head as well as a little sunken in.

[Midna]

Caiden jumped, and he would have messed up the drawing if he hadn't just put his pencil down. Instead, he blushed. He hadn't realized Zel was there. "O-oh..." he said, slightly embarrassed, "Thank you."

He guessed this drawing was pretty good. He still had a long way to go, but he'd gotten most of it right. Caiden looked down at it, then smiled. Yes, he liked it. Maybe, if Zel let him, he'd do another one later in the week. For the moment, he very carefully tugged the sheet out of his sketchbook, then held it out to Zel. "For you."

If it were anyone else that close to him (except probably Caila), Caiden would have jumped away by now. But for some reason, he didn't.