As the opening of the haunted hayride drew near, we all were practically buzzing in excitement. Topher, Adrian and I had been working on this for a month and a half, getting parts and finding time to assemble everything and deal with trial and error. One model had almost blown up while I was wearing it as a test run, and another kept jerking so my head would fall off rather than turn to look behind me. Topher had been hard pressed to find time to really help us since his mother decided to be spiteful for finding out her eldest son had skipped the last pack meeting for a booty call and therefore made it his complete responsibility to make sure everything was ready for the exchange student they were to be housing for the year. And apparently whatever supernatural species he was needed a lot of set up for. Space heaters and a fan to circulate had to be set up in the room and apparently they had requested their bed be replaced with a sturdy hammock so that had taken Topher a while to set up as according to the paperwork his mother loved to flash in his face, everything needed to be perfectly up to code and meet their every need. And apparently they NEED a whole winter wardrobe since they're coming from Jamaica and have never seen snow before let alone knowing how cold it is, a whole kiddie pool with temperature control or to completely redo their current bathroom to accommodate for size. Which just made me think just how freaking big is this student? But Topher refused to tell. Says his mother wants to keep a tight lid on everything until he arrives so no one is chomping at the bit to meet him and ask the tens of millions of questions we all seem to have. The only people privy to any knowledge about the exchange student, other than his name being Rusheen, is the Whorff pack and all have been sworn to secrecy by their matriarch. Either way, what the guy is seldom mattered as the time for our plans with the haunted hayride came to fruition. We finally were able to get a gadget working that worked like a neck with a small remote control that attached to my hand and moving different fingers would activate different controls. Moving my pinky would turn to look right, moving my thumb would turn to look left, my index would look up, my middle would look down, and my ring finger would be the essential eject button for my head. Adrian was also smart enough to make an override motion, so if I have my wrist bent inward it would immediately stop all controls from working until both buttons on each side of my wrist were hit at the same time and my wrist was flexed backwards to disengage the kill switch. I liked having everything under control and Adrian loved a challenge when it came to creating his gadgets. We made a good pair when it came to getting things like this underway and making them safe. Maybe I could get Adrian to see about selling his inventions and patenting them. Especially since he's getting better and better at making stuff to make life a little easier for Dullahan daily life since we started this project, He found new ways to tweak the neck apparatus so that it would be as natural looking as it would be for me to use almost as if I were actually human and had a neck. We practiced eating with it, took a ride on the carriage and horseback riding with it to see how it would feel and how steady my head would be, all of which gave Adrian information that he used to add changes to the design and programming as needed till it was perfect. It was a bit on the heavy side so I doubted I would wear it for long periods of time after this, maybe keep it in my car to make work a little easier for work so people didn't have to look down at my desk to look in my eyes, maybe use it when I go out to eat after this and future hayrides but not much else. I was proud of Adrian, strapping the apparatus to my shoulders and gently pulling the old ruffle style shirt over everything and making sure everything was covered but not interfering with the movement of the apparatus before laying my head on the pedestal section. Making sure my head was secure, I turned towards Heather who was in charge of makeup for everyone involved. She was in school to do makeup, hoping to make a real career out of it, and she was a pretty good friend.
Grabbing her brushes she smiled at me. "You know? It's weird seeing you with a neck after seeing you without one for so long." she laughed, applying the first coats to my eyes to make them appear more sunken in.
"How do you think I feel when I look in the mirror with this thing on?" I asked, grinning.
Heather rolled her yellow cat-eyes (contacts) as I tried not to laugh or move my face as she applied more makeup.
"Like you wish you had it back in school so your arms weren't constantly trying to angle your head around other people in class?" she teased, tickling my nose with her brush as she raised one sharply done eyebrow at me. Rolling my own eyes as I bit back a laugh as I couldn't deny that thought had crossed my mind at least once since the apparatus was finished.
"Maybe, but I also remember someone else mentioning once about wishing to be a dullahan yourself a while back." I taunted with a lecherous smirk. She smacked my cheek with a brush handle before quickly fixing the makeup there.
"Shut up, I was stoned off my ass and you were supposed to forget that." she huffed, then taking a spray and dusting my face with it to set the makeup.
When she stopped I stuck my tongue out at her with a chuckle. "And you should know better than to think someone would purposely forget perfect blackmail material!"
She looked like a ruffled parakeet for a second, ready to strike back when Topher tackled her in a hug and picked her up from behind.
"Merry-weather Heather! Where have you been hiding?!" he bellowed, swinging her around like a sack of potatoes as she squawked in joyful terror at the werewolf's antics.
"I have been doing my job, you overgrown puppy!! Like the one you were supposed to be doing half an hour ago!" she berated, grabbing a cornstalk prop as she was tossed about and playfully beating Topher with it till he put her down.
"Alright, alright, I'm going! But you better not skip out on me afterwards!!" he pouted, giving her a sly wink before trotting off to help with hay bales. He got about a foot away before he stopped and turned back. "Shit, I almost forgot, Cal, Rusheen's gonna be at the after party tonight. He arrived last night but mom's been helping him adjust and settle in so he can't join us for the hayride. So I convinced mom to at least let him free so he can come to the party tonight after the hayride to double it as a welcome party and a Halloween party." he explained, giving me a double finger gun motion before finally heading off to help finish setting up.
"Who's Rusheen?" Heather asked, setting down her corny weapon and straightening her posh designer sweater from being thrown about like a flour sack. My body leaned back in the chair and crossed one leg over the other.
"A foreign exchange student that his family's housing for the year. His mother's been really hush hush about the whole thing. Something about not wanting people to bombard him or something, I don't know. Maybe he has anxiety issues with new people and strangers or something?" I shrugged, running a hand through my hair. "Are we done? I wanna go make sure the horses are all tacked and ready for the first run." Heather nodded, waving me off with a well manicured hand and a flip of her flamboyant Flamingo pink hair.
"Yes, yes, go be the star of the show, Sleepy Hollow. Though please try not to scare any groups with kids too badly please, the last thing we need is crying kids and angry parents." I snorted a laugh and waved as I headed towards the barn after Topher.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. You just make sure to actually talk to Topher tonight and not chicken out on him," I taunted, dashing away as I put my head on the apparatus to avoid her flustered rage. I couldn't tell what was going on between her and Topher, but whatever it was must be very
personal as neither will talk about it and Topher at least is usually very open about most anything.
But for now I wasn't going to push them, I just had to hope they'd work it out on their own, because right now the hayride and getting Adrian back on his feet were my top priorities.
As I rounded towards the back of the barn where the horses were kept, I saw one horse already hooked up to the cart and the other petulantly trying to move around to eat the hay Topher and Adrian were spreading about the cart. I chuckled at the scene, Topher trying to feed the horse the hay and the horse not knowing whether to trust him because he likely smelt like a predator to a point all the while the farmhand was still trying to get the nervous stallion in place.
I walked over and offered to lend a hand getting the horse to cooperate. I grabbed his bridle and batted Topher's hand away to get him to stop distracting the horse. Topher pouted and gave one last feeble attempt to win over the equine who was not having his half assed affections and turned his attention to me. Once the stallion was harnessed in with his partner I hoisted myself up carefully into the driver's seat to grab the reins.
"Yo Cal, feel like giving us a lift to the maze?" Topher asked, sitting in the cart with Adrian under his arm giving me his best puppy dog face. Adrian looked like he couldn't decide if he wanted to go along with Topher's plan or if he wanted to just head over on foot. Not wanting Adrian to revert back into his shell I quickly agreed with a playful sigh as I signaled the horses into action. Topher had to keep a tight hold on Adrian to keep the spindly man from falling back on his ass in the hay when the cart jolted into creaky motion towards the maze. Topher and I gave a laugh, the werewolf urging me to get the horses to go faster but I shook my head and reached behind to flick his nose.
"Down boy. Can't tire them out too bad, they need a rest every now and then after walking all night tonight and heaving the heavy cart full of people. If I make them go too fast they'll tire out much sooner," I scolded, rolling my eyes before focusing on the trail and leading the horses gently.
Topher then heaved a dramatic sigh and an even more pathetically dramatic fall on his back into the hay loading the cart. Adrian and I laughed at his antics, and I rolled my eyes as I continued to steer on towards the maze where we saw more of the other volunteers doing final touches on the decorations before the early birds started arriving. Pulling up beside the barn and the large mound of hay for kids to play in I stopped the horses and looked back. "Last stop boys, time to file out and get to work before showtime." Topher bounded out of the cart like a madman while Adrian stumbled through the hay to get out like a normal person. As they passed I waved, "Stay out of trouble, and I'll be in the orchard if you guys need me." They both nodded and Topher took Adrian under his arm as they went. I smiled and spurred the horses on again to head back to the orchard to make sure everything was perfect for tonight so that the after party would feel all the better. I loved doing these haunted hayrides. It was a chance where most people found being a Dullahan cool instead of creepy or nauseating because they can't wrap their own heads around mine being detached from my body. There's so many questions about that and even though I am a Dullahan myself, I have no answers for them. It's just as much a mystery to me. So you just get to the point where you stop trying to figure it out and just accept it as facts. Sometimes I'll make up stories for kids to entertain them after the hayrides but nothing anyone else would believe. So you just get used to the questions and stares just like any other supernatural being and try to be comfortable with the fact that unlike most other races that you'll likely forever be an anomaly. For now though I could just sit in the cart and mentally rehearse the stories I could tell about the farm and the orchard for the crowds when they arrived. I stopped the horses when we arrived back at the unofficial starting point and I dismounted to grab them each a few treats for a good test run. I grabbed a bottle of water and an apple for myself, looking to see we were officially open and some people were signing up for the haunted hayride. It was still pretty early in the night so the first few runs would mostly be families and even if the kids were usually older, I'd keep the stories and scares pretty low so as to have as few crying kids as possible. It would happen no matter what, but at least this way it was minimized and we gave parents a pamphlet of how it would go down. If it was mostly kids I would take a trail that was decorated and set up accordingly with very few and very low effort scares. If it was mostly teens and adults I would take a longer route and everything was amped up to scare to the best of our ability with actors I would text alert to ready before each trip and which route to be on. The first trips with the families just trying to get out and celebrate Halloween with their kids were always the most tedious. Kids asking a million questions before I can get the story out, and having three million more after my head falls off at the end of the ride and parents then getting in on the questions. The worst of those trips are when there's overprotective parents bringing their teenagers to the early hayrides with the littler kids and expecting them to be entertained. Like no, your kid is seventeen and clearly wants nothing to do with the half assed stories we come up with to tell the kids. Then the parents wonder why their teen starts acting out and scaring all the little kids on the hayride and I have to ban them for the night for causing a scene. But it makes the ones at the end of the night so much more fun. The ones were people who genuinely like to get scared and are old enough for us to not worry about bad reviews and the like nearly as much. I smiled at the last group of the night as they loaded up, and then I nearly broke character in shock when I saw a Naga coming up to join the ride. Supernatural beings were neither uncommon nor common. There were enough of us for no one to usually be too shocked when they identified us, but some types were more common than others. Naga were one of the more rare kinds like Dullahan and usually only resided in warmer climates since their bodies didn't regulate heat well due to the reptilian genes. They weren't completely cold blooded as far as I know, but colder temperatures could still really hurt them if they weren't careful. So my shock at seeing a Naga all bundled up in a thick wooly coat that would look like a dress on anyone else and a rasta scarf around his neck was flooring. I pulled myself together and smiled at him.
"Welcome, need any help getting in the cart sir?" I asked politely, offering a hand to him. He smiled devilishly at me and shook his head.
"Ah should be able ta manage just fine putus." The Naga assured me with a playful wink. I carefully nodded but gave him a confused look.
"No problem. But, I've never heard putus before, what's that mean if you don't mind my asking?" I replied, watching him in awe as he extended his coils to then stand on the edge of the cart and hold the rails tightly as the rest of his tail quickly slithered up to join the rest of him.
"Ah apologize, ah forget da language be different 'ere. Putus back 'ome is like, how ya say, sweetheart." He explained, turning to face me as he got comfortable in the hay among the now muttering crowd looking unfazed by them as he seemed to turn on the charm. "Ya cute little white chocolate face 'ad me forgettin' maself an ah couldna resist praising ya in ma mother tongue." He chuckled as he rested his arms on the wall of the cart and his head atop his arms at a somehow lazily flirtatious angle. I felt like my face was on fire as I blushed and closed the cart off behind him as the cart was now full to weight capacity with the flirty Naga on board. I coughed and tried to recover as I smiled back at him shyly.
"Well let's hope you enjoy the rest of the ride more then." I prattled out lamely. What was wrong with me? I thought, going around the cart to jump into the driver's seat to begin the ride and only barely remembering to let the actors know I'd be headed down the back orchard path to give our last bunch a real scare. It wasn't like people never flirted with me, especially when I worked these events and looked normal at first glance but it was usually women. And for the few men who did flirt with me, most of them didn't exactly ask for my number after my head came off. Only once or twice did it happen and those didn't last long since they literally only asked cus they figured being a Dullahan meant I'd love being kinky with my head. Trying my best to ignore those awful flings, I carefully used the remote to turn my head to look at my passengers and begin my story.
"Good evening everyone, welcome to the Hackett farm Haunted Hayride. My name is Caellum and I'll be your guide this evening through the orchard. The orchard wasn't always haunted but you know how it goes; good things never last and all the best stories begin in tragedy." I chuckled, adjusting the puffed out collar hiding the mechanical neck from view. "The story in this case begins with some old farm hands a few generations back just before Paul Hackett took over from his father. Most of the farmhands lived on the farm with the Hacketts, they worked the orchard or with the animals and earned room and board alongside their wages. Most everyone got along except for Evangeline Roth and Jensen Crawford. Evangeline worked with the animals and Jensen in the orchard. But Jensen grew real sweet on Evangeline and did his best to win her over. She was not having it though as she had already fallen in love with the Hackett's family accountant. She told Jensen nicely at first she wasn't interested and to go be on his way. He obviously didn't take the hint or we wouldn't have a story now would we?" I laughed, flicking the reins and whistling sharply to start the hayride.
"Jensen was relentless in his efforts to woo Evangeline but she didn't budge. She told him she was in love with the farm accountant and Jensen grew angry. In his mind she was leading him on, trying to have them both. Completely rational right?" I asked, clearly joking as the small group chuckled. I reached up as we entered the orchard and plucked an apple, holding it so they could see it.
"In Jensen's mind she needed to pay. She needed to see he was the best thing for her. So he started spreading rumors. Awful rumors saying she slept around. That she was pretending to love the accountant for the money and to elevate her status with the Hacketts. Evangeline confronted him, furious and convinced he started the rumors. Jensen admitted it but told her it was her own fault for leading him on. The only way he would renounce the rumors is if she would marry him. She refused and tried to clear her name herself. But the rumors didn't stop there. And things just got uglier from there. Soon the animals in her care all got sick and died which only worsened things for Evangeline once the Hacketts heard. Now with her accountant hearing the rumors and the Hacketts questioning her about their livestock she felt her world crumbling down around her. That night she ran to the orchard and cried-" everyone jolted as loud sobbing and wailing could now be heard and slowly a woman could be seen curled up in a ball in her nightgown crying by a tree. "She was lost and yet still proud. She hated Jensen for everything he had done, she wanted him to pay but she couldn't prove he had done anything. But as she sobbed among these very trees she came up with a plan. Everyone knew hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and she was going to make Jensen remember that." I chuckled darkly, setting the mood as a man's scream was heard in the distance, shaking a few of the passengers.
"Evangeline hatched her plan and she waited till she was sure the time was perfect. Jensen believed she had lost everything. Banned by the Hacketts to mucking all the pens now and nothing more. Her accountant lover left her believing her to be unfaithful and uncaring. So he was overjoyed when she came to him in the dead of night looking forlorn and defeated as she begged for his help. He reminded her that he was the only one who would ever marry her now and she needed him. Evangeline agreed to his terms of marriage and that he was the only one who would even look at her anymore. She begged him to marry her and to make all her suffering disappear. Hearing her beg made him so happy. He had won the woman of his dreams. He pulled a ring from his nightstand and slipped it on Evangeline's finger. They were engaged. Jensen was so beside himself with joy he made wedding arrangements that next morning and they were to be wed at the end of the month." A Distorted wedding March began playing through the orchard and on a hill as we passed there was Evangeline and Jensen with a pastor behind them. Their silhouettes kissed and then waved to their guests as the song became more and more distorted and ominous.
"Jensen kept to his word. He reversed all the rumors and spread nothing but good about Evangeline. Treating her like a queen now that she was his to the point she almost forgot her plan. But when she saw him with a woman by the lake one evening her rage came back and she once more began her plan. She had been slowly poisoning Jensen with the very apples he brought home from the orchard, crushing the seeds to make arsenic and slipping little bits into his meals every day. But this was now no good. This slow death was taking too long. He wasn't suffering enough. So she set up a spot deep in the orchard that night and lured him out promising a frisky night under the stars." Giggling could now be heard and rustling among the trees. One passenger wolf whistled and egged the actors on which made everyone laugh. I rolled my eyes and steered the cart over a bump to gain their attention back.
"She lured him out promising pleasure and a romantic night, but instead she pinned him down and as he was distracted she strangled him with a rope, and when he stopped struggling she tied the rope in a noose around his neck and hung him up to stage a suicide. As she went to walk away he screamed, once again struggling against his binds and her knots came loose. As he dropped to the ground he looked at her with rage and hatred in his eyes and he chased her." The actors both screamed and ran about, coming to a stop as we neared a shed, disappearing for a moment but the screams didn't stop.
"Evangeline panicked, looking for a way out before she was the one who ended up dead. She shut herself in the tool shed and locked it behind herself to buy her some time. Jensen burst down the door in no time at all, blinded by his rage he didn't have so much as a second to recover from bursting down the door when it all went black." A shriek sounded before a sickening and wet 'thunk'. We reached the end of the haunted hayride and the finale was here. I stopped the cart and jumped to the ground to open the cart back up so everyone could file out before I continued the story.
"It was a long while before I realized what my sweet Evangeline had done. Wench decided for seeing my sister down at the lake I had been cheating and would pay for my transgressions against her. She lost her head, so she took mine!" I laughed loudly and darkly, ejecting my head from the machine with now practiced ease and continued laughing as the group screamed and tripped over themselves getting out of the cart. A few even actually continued by running and screaming back to the barn. One or two caught on and laughed with me, thanking me for the clever ending to the show. I bowed and turned to ensure the cart was empty to find the Naga from before had remained. He looked equally terrified and intrigued.
"How do ya do dat?" He asked, his tail coiled tightly around himself in what I assumed was more for warmth rather than fear.
"I would ask if you've never seen a Dullahan before but my kind is likely one of the few that's even more rare than your kind my friend. Dullahan are born separate like this. We don't have necks. No one knows why or how, but it's just how we are. In Irish folklore we are grim reapers of the night and if we call your name in the hills then your soul is next to be collected." I explained, finally removing the fancy collar that hid the machine pretending to be my neck. I motioned for him to please exit the cart and he did so, then leaning in close to look at the apparatus better.
"Ya really don't got no neck mon. Do dis ting hurt ya much?" He asked, his thick Jamaican accent throwing me off a moment before I realized he was worried and not disgusted. I kept my head in my right palm and shook my head.
"No, it doesn't hurt. It feels a little heavy because I'm not used to it, but it doesn't hurt." I explained, motioning to follow me if he had more questions since I still had to unharness the horses and bring them back to their stables for the night. He followed and watched curiously as I went about the task one handed as I held my head. I only placed it back on Adrian's machine so I could hold the freed horse in place while I unhooked his partner. When they were both free of the cart I led them back into the stable for their handlers to fix them up.
"Ya just born like dat? No neck? Like some gazumba black magic keepin ya alive?" He asked, making me groan and roll my eyes in frustration. Here we go, another person assuming there can be nothing good that's missing a normally vital body part so I must be evil.
"Born like this, yes. Black magic shit, no. I don't know how it works but if you don't count my lack of a neck I'm just like everyone else just trying to live their life man. I don't do some rituals to stay alive, I don't kick puppies or steal from babies to get my kicks. I'm just a normal guy without a neck. I'm human in all other regards." I explained a bit snappier than I'd like to admit. I hated conversations like this and I wanted it to be over, but he grabbed my hand as I moved to walk away.
"Ah am sorry, ah didna mean ta be rude. I just canna wrap ma own head around what could be so important that God sent an angel to Earth in such a hurry dat he forgot ya neck putus." The Naga explained, holding my hand firmly as he moved back into my line of sight. I sighed, I shouldn't be so snappy. But I still wasn't sure how to handle this guy's flirting.
"I'm sorry for snapping. A lot of people assume I'm evil because of old folklore and because they can't fathom someone not having a neck. It gets to be an old and kind of touchy subject." I explained, grabbing his hand in return and Patting it before motioning to the rest of the Halloween event.
"But go enjoy yourself. I have some chores to continue as a staff member but if you want we're having an after party later to celebrate our opening. Just staff and friends. Make some friends here and they'll let you stay I'm sure with all your charm." I rushed out, gently urging him towards everyone again as I then slipped away into the stables to nap until the event was done for the evening and the after party began.
After a long debate and several coin flips it was decided Heather was the DD for the evening and would be in charge of making sure everyone got home in one piece. Usually it was me but Topher and Heather reasoned I deserved a night to unwind, and Heather was one of the few people I trusted to make sure I didn't lose my head if I got drunk, which had nearly happened the first time I ever got drunk. Topher has never let me live it down. It was literally the funniest thing for him to walk into the bathroom to find my head going back and forth between crying and laughing about being lost on a counter in said bathroom. From then on I seldom drank past just feeling tipsy and even that was rare. So tonight they were adamant to make sure I at least tried to unwind. So as we made our way back to the barn by the corn maze after Heather made sure we changed and I cleaned off the makeup job for the haunted hayride and looked more like myself again. Especially since she found me napping with my makeup on in the stable loft, we could already hear the music blasting the old speakers. I had left the apparatus for the hayride back at the orchard and it felt good to have all that weight off and just carry my head like I was used to after all these years, and I was excited to dance and drink and hopefully have some fun with my friends. I turned my head to look back at them and stuck out my tongue.
"Hurry up slow pokes, they clearly started without us!" I taunted, playfully jogging further ahead with Adrian hot on my heels and Topher following up, Heather looking at her nails and rolling her eyes.
"'Fashionably late', Cal. It is a thing, and for parties it's never a bad thing." she huffed, flicking some hay off her shoulder and giving us one of her famously coy smirks as we joined the crowd. She wasn't wrong, it usually made partying easier as you could ignore the awkward lull when trying to start a party and not enough people had arrived yet. It took only a moment to find the food and booze and I was there, trying to keep Adrian in my sights even if he was glued to Heather for the moment as he tried to adjust to the party. I piled my plate high with apple crumble cake and ham before carefully grabbing some of the fesh hard cider all from the farm. I found a nice seat on a hay bale not far from the food table and sat to eat. When one has no neck, standing and eating is never a good idea unless you don't mind having no hands to eat with and just eat off your plate. But before I could even take a bite, I watched what looked like a tail wrap around the cup of cider I had just placed down on the hay bale and I could only watch in awe and confusion as the tail took the cup behind the hay bale I was sitting on. I quickly and carefully set my food aside and craned my arm to hold my head to look where the tail had taken my beloved cider only to find a whole lot of tail behind the bale. As I slowly looked up to find the owner of said thieving tail, I completely forgot why I was supposed to be upset. I don't know what I had expected to find at the other end of a giant tail but a very tall and handsome man with a playful smirk had not been on the list. It was the Naga from earlier. He looked to be much too flirty and coy now though. He was more stunning now that I could see him in the light and not a dark orchard with his sharp fangs, enticing yellow eyes and short brown dreads. Realizing I was suddenly staring, I gave a feeble cough and brought my arm back to hold my head normally again as I tried to look away for at least a second to pull myself together. Then I saw my drink in his hand and remembered why I had originally been staring.
"If you want some cider, it's a lot nicer to ask or get your own than to steal someone else's," I huffed, looking pointedly at my cider then raising an eyebrow at him. This man had the audacity to laugh and keep smiling at me.
"Too many people 'ere an ah'm not fond of gettin' stepped on an no one's been o'er 'ere but yuh criss ting." he winked, his accent easy to place once again as Jamaican, but his slang was harder to decipher. Especially with the flirty tone. Guy must have mistaken me for someone named Christian or something.
"Um, name's Caellum, not Christian, and I can get you a drink or something if you really want?" I explained, still very lost myself as he laughed even harder, wiping his eyes as he shook his head.
"No, no, not Christian, criss ting. Is, how do you say here? Pretty thing?" he explained, flashing another flirty smile my way, "I think you are cute, and ah was hoping ta see ya again angel." he chuckled, clearly looking me up and down before offering my drink he had stolen back to me. My brain just short circuited at this point. This guy stole my drink to flirt with me and was now giving it back to keep talking to me after I clearly missed multiple memos in his habitual homeland slang. I felt my mouth open and close before taking a sip of the returned cider, still staring at him stupidly.
I managed to look away. "You have to be the first guy to flirt with me in a long time, and definitely the first to call me an angel. Twice now even. Being a Dullahan usually makes people think I'm from hell. And going by old Irish tales Dullahan are a merciless type of grim reaper." I snorted crassly, turning my head away to look towards the party instead of the flirty naga who seemed to now only laugh at whatever came out of my mouth.
"Well dat would make sense too. But if da devil man gonna tempt me with sweet looking fruit like you den I will 'ave to say it can't be as bad as ma family make it out to be.''
This time it was my turn to laugh, nearly spilling my drink in doing so when I looked back at him. I craned my arm to meet him eye to eye and smiled. "You are one determined man. Makes me wonder if you're nothing but sweet words." I teased, the naga laughed harder and gave me his most seductive smile yet.
"Putus ya 'ave no idea, da way ya lookin' now, got me wantin' to be da one to take good care of ya body-," he placed one hand on my hip, the other moving to my cheek and his tail had snuck around the bottom of the bail to wrap around my ankle, "And ya pretty little white chocolate head." damn he was smooth. I could feel myself starting to blush all the way to my ears, and I'm willing to bet if I had a neck that it would be red too.
"Okay, playboy. I'm Caellum Barton." I introduced myself once more now without having it be part of my job, feeling he at least deserved that at this point, with his slick words and determination. I put down the cider to take the hand on my cheek and hold it between us with a coy smile of my own. At least I hoped it was. Mister Tall-Dark-and-Jamaican-me-crazy smiled invitingly as he held my hand back.
"Rusheen Graham. I also am wondering, do ya have a number? Ah lost mine." I almost fell over from laughing so hard, now grateful he was holding my hand so I could right myself and shake my head at him.
"Do you ever run out of pickup lines?" I asked, looking up at him in disbelief. He shook his head with a playfully innocent smile that would fool no one.
"Nah, dat would mean runnin' out of things to appreciate 'bout de beauty in front of meh. And from where I'm standin', I don't think dat will 'appen any time soon."
Laughing harder than before as I realized he was the exchange student Topher was going on about, I shook my head and looked back to my forgotten plate. I let go of Rusheen's warm hand to grab my fork and spear some apple crumble cake and offer it to him.
"Well from where I sit, there's quite a lot to admire about you too. If you interest me enough by the end of the night, maybe you'll get my number, or maybe I'll tell the Whorff's you're a terrible flirt and should be kept far away from their daughters." I taunted, causing him to nearly choke on the cake he had only just taken a bite of. It was an empty threat but the look of shock on his face as his sharp, sole patched jaw hit the floor was worth it.
"You would do that?! You know de Whorff's?! Wait, how did you know I am livin wit dem?!" he prattled, looking terrified until I couldn't hold back my laughter anymore.
"Relax, I grew up with Topher Whorff and he told me his family would have an exchange student this year, he told me nothing about you except your name though so I had no idea it was you until you introduced yourself." I replied, watching the fear and tension visibly leave him and give way to nervous gratitude.
"That, yah really scared meh there. I really do not want to upset them ma first night 'ere." he chuckled breathlessly, looking like he was recovering from a literal heart attack after my teasing. I almost felt bad, so I speared a slice of ham and folded it to an almost bite sized awkward shape and offered it.
"You won't. And I'm not a liar, you won't have any trouble with them and I won't tell them anything about you that isn't true. You're safe, handsome, so just enjoy the party." Rusheen visibly relaxed again and gave a more genuine smile as he took the fork from me to easily eat the ham off it in a single bite.
"Thank you. I am grateful. Dis… dis program, ah really need it ta work. Ah need ta be able ta stay in America."
I looked at him in confusion, but before I could ask, my head was plucked from my grasp and turned to be face to face with Topher.
"Yo! I see ya found Rusheen before I could even introduce you two!! Shame on you, slipping away so early into the party, Sleepy Hollow!!" The werewolf shook his head, then turned mine to rest on his shoulder as he faced my body and Rusheen who looked between Topher, my head, and my body in concern till I started laughing and elbowed Topher in the gut hard to take my head back.
"You knew I was hungry, dog breath. So of course I was going to get food, and your guest was over here to avoid being stepped on by the crowd. Not your brightest move to bring him to a barn where there's a ton of people drinking and not watching their feet to avoid stepping on others' feet, let alone tails." I rolled my eyes, fixing my hair as I settled my head back in my right palm so my left hand could take my fork back from Rusheen so I could eat some of my ham myself. Topher laughed, Rusheen still looking concerned and confused at our interactions which likely only fueled Topher's booming laughter.
"Cal here and I go wa-y back Rusheen, we do a lot of sparring together and I'm probably one of like four people he trusts to touch his head." as if to emphasize his point he once again grabbed my head by my hair and hold my head atop his shoulder. I knew he couldn't see my face at this angle but I still gave him my best unimpressed deadpan expression.
"It's about to be three if you keep taking my head away from me and stopping me from eating my damn dinner, Topher. If you think I'm bluffing, why don't we ask Heather if she knows you almost slept with her cousin when you went to her sorority party last year?" I could all but feel his blood run cold as he placed my head gently back in my own hand with a terrified shudder.
"Cold, bro. That's just cold." he pouted, looking like a kicked puppy while I enjoyed my apple crumble cake. Looking up from my dessert though I could see Rusheen only looking more lost, taking pity on the poor fool I winked at him and smiled around my fork before I had to use said utensil to smack away Topher's hand as it tried to steal my last slice of ham.
"Go get your own. Better yet? You know how to fetch, so go on, fido, go get us some drinks too while you're at it." Rusheen was instantly back to looking like he was trying to catch flies in his mouth when Topher flipped me off, stole my ham, and ran off to the food table to grab more and get us drinks. He looked at me in pure shock and amusement.
"Ya got me wonderin' now if ya got some black magic going on der ta make men do ya biddin'?"
I snorted in response, drinking the last of my cider so I could toss the paper cup when Topher returned with fresh drinks. "Scared of me now? Think I'll make you go out on the dance floor to be stepped on?" I teased with a sly smirk, "Because that's all way outside what I can do. Any magic I could possibly wield is currently just keeping me alive without a neck. You're safe, no enchanting going on here." he chuckled and leaned forward on the hay bale he had almost hidden himself behind and propped his head on a hand, tail coming back up to play with the abandoned empty cup I had set aside.
"Ya sure? 'Cus ya still look like a tempting little devil ta meh."
If snakes could purr, that's exactly what he just did, his tail abandoning the cup and wrapping up my forearm holding my head. The tip of his tail getting lost in my short beard and it almost tickled. I smiled and raised an eyebrow at him.
"Back to the pickup lines, huh? Are you interested in me, or just making sure you get a guy to bring home?" I jeered, rolling my eyes and finishing my cake so I could toss my plate and my cup at this point. Rusheen looked offended for a second, the grip his tail had on my arm tightened while his hand came to tap my cheek till I looked back at him.
"I admit, I came 'ere hopin' ta find a cute boy ta spend some time wit. But I am truly enjoyin' time wit ya. And I'd like ta know a lot more if ya'd let meh."
I couldn't tell if it was the sincerity in his tone or the genuine look of worry and intrigue in his eyes that tugged at me more, but for the first time in a long time, I actually felt myself agreeing with him. He was a flirt, that much was clear. But he was also funny and interesting so far and that left me wanting to find out more about him. I flashed him a small smile and held his hand again.
"How about I give you my number then? Ya know, since you lost yours." I chuckled, pulling my hand from his grasp carefully to pull my phone out of my pocket and open it to contacts to hopefully get his number in return. His yellow eyes lit up like stars and I swear I could almost see little anime hearts in them as he reached into his woolen coat pocket to pull out a new-looking phone.
"I am not totally sure how ta work dis yet. Mrs. Whorff insisted I 'ave a phone for while I'm 'ere ta be able ta talk ta everyone I meet 'ere witout worry. But ya number is one I know I want." he explained, handing me the phone to quickly set up my number. As an added bonus I was able to find his number in the settings and save it to my own phone as Topher came over with drinks for each of us and a mouth full of ham. I handed Rusheen back his phone and we both took our cups of hard cider from Topher as I gave him a playfully judgmental look.
"Did you leave ham for anyone else or did you deep throat as much as you could before you decided to come back with drinks?" I asked, Topher tried desperately not to laugh, with the fact his mouth was so full of ham he looked more akin to a squirrel or chipmunk than a wolf. Rusheen laughed behind me and Topher finally managed to swallow the meat and choke out a laugh.
"Hey, I had to get the good stuff before it went to waste, and sorry, not all of us have no gag reflex bro. I can't just swallow it like I know you like to~" he practically sang, waggling his eyebrows suggestively at me which made both Rusheen and I blush. Had to admit if I wasn't busy being embarrassed and trying to figure a line to turn it around on Topher I'd admire the view a bit more.
"You only wish you had no gag reflex so you can down the most food before you pop during the holidays with your pack. So quit being jealous of the perks of flat out not having a neck for anything to get stuck in, mutt mouth." I stuck my tongue out at him and with a tilt of my head I downed the cider in one go and looked to Topher and Rusheen in challenge. "Bet he's the only one who can take me on if he can unhinge his jaw like a snake."
Topher choked a second as he looked between us, Rusheen looking smitten and amused at my challenge, proceeding to do exactly that. Unhinging his jaw like it was nothing to fit his whole mouth easily around the solo cup and down it back like it was a shot. When he finished, he fixed his jaw and looked back at us with that same flirtatious smirk he had when he stole my cider.
"Well? Is this to be a challenge or not?" I asked as we laughed and Topher motioned over to the makeshift bar where the farm's homemade hard cider was kept with a cooler full of cheap beers and wine coolers underneath.
"Let's do this gentlemen. First one to tap out buys breakfast at Jenny's." he challenged, I looked to Rusheen expectantly.
"Sounds good to me. Think you can make it that far without getting stepped on slick?" he nodded with a laugh.
"I can do it. But my name is Rusheen, not slick." Topher clapped him on the back with another booming chortle.
"It's a kind of nickname here man. He's joking with you." he explained, trying to stop laughing and keep himself between Rusheen's long tail and the unaware party to help keep him from being stepped on with Caellum following suit behind him. When they reached the makeshift bar, Rusheen hid the excess of his tail under the table to avoid trouble and grabbed a cup for each of us to start downing cider. I grabbed mine and handed Topher his with a sly grin before hitting the tap and filling my cup.
"Alright, what are the rules here? Just who can drink the most or who can drink the fastest?" I asked, looking between them. Topher seemed to consider for a moment while Rusheen took his turn filling up his solo cup to the brim with cider.
"Alright then, how about both? Whoever can drink the most in five minutes wins." he challenged, taking his turn to fill his glass, and I had to stop Rusheen from starting then and put my own cup over his to block him from drinking.
"Find us a ref then Topher cus you'll get competitive and try to squeeze in more trying to catch up and then we would lose track of the time and end up pickling ourselves thinking time was about to be up." Rusheen chuckled, trying to hide it behind a cough as Topher gave a dramatic sigh and a roll of his eyes.
"Uggghhh fine!!" he groaned, quickly looking around until he saw someone he recognized and went to drag them over to join us. As I lost myself in thought over who he could have seen in a dense crowd, I was jolted from my thoughts by a wet sensation on my arm. I quickly looked over in shock to find Rusheen was gently nibbling on my arm that I had used to block him from his drink. He gave me a seductive smirk and a wink before sticking out his long forked tongue and wrapping it sensually around my wrist. Before I could even begin to figure how I wanted to respond to that strange action he was pulling his tongue back so fast I wondered briefly if he would choke himself with it and Topher was clapping me on the back in glee.
"Adrian said he'd ref for us!" he beamed, looking like a puppy that brought the ball back and would now be getting a treat for his good deed. Adrian for his part was looking a bit uneasy as Topher introduced him to Rusheen who held out a hand amicably to greet him. I was lost in his unusual reaction of looking away and just muttering vague pleasantries to him. But Topher was too excited to let me dwell on the matter and pulled out his phone to set up the timer and hand it to Adrian so we could start our challenge. We quickly got our drinks ready, the tap would slow us down so we filled about three cups each to give an even head start to the game. Now armed with plenty of delicious cider we grabbed our first cups and waited for Adrian's signal to start, each then chugging as fast as we could, Rusheen had a head start being able to down them like shots because of his jaw, but once he got to his third he was slowing down and not just because he ran out of prepared drinks and now had to fill his cup from the tap. It didn't look like the cider was agreeing with his stomach too well, which gave Topher and I a chance to catch up. I'd say we were neck and neck, but he's got me beat in that department so it was a close call to see who was faster. I had the advantage of no gag reflex but Topher had me for endurance and stamina in most areas and this was no different. As I finished my fourth glass, Rusheen had just finished his fifth and Topher was hurrying to beat me to the tapper but I was seconds quicker than both of them and could soon at least tie with Rusheen. Topher grabbed the tap after me and I was hurrying to finish my cup as I felt my stomach start to question just how much liquid I was ingesting at once on a nearly empty stomach. That made me question this whole competition and realize this was a bad idea and even if I won at this point, I'd be hammered in no time after and hopefully Heather can find me before I do something stupid. But as Rusheen downed his sixth cup he looked ready to tap out before Adrian called time. Topher and I sadly downed the last of our cups in defeat, but hopefully breakfast would be on the werewolf instead.
"Close you two. But it looks like breakfast is on you Cal." I cursed and slammed a fist on the table as Topher cheered and let out a loud belch. Rolling my eyes I looked back at Rusheen who seemed to be a little queasy.
"American liquor is, it is a lot stronger dan I am used to." he explained with a weak chuckle. Taking pity on the poor naga as Topher ran for some celebratory food, I put out a hand for him to shake.
"And you still won your first American drinking contest. I'd say you handled it really well." Rusheen smiled back at me and I bit my lip. This guy needed to stop smiling at me like I'm some form of angel or I'd definitely keel over. I looked back at Adrian who looked like he could practically read what I was thinking and as the cider started kicking in I couldn't tell if that was a bad thing or not. But Adrian put a hand on my shoulder as he always did when he was getting sick of crowds and I found myself leaning back into him.
"Tired of the party already bro?" I asked, trying to suppress my own belch from all the fizzy cider settling in my stomach. I barely felt him scoot closer behind me before his chin was on my shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm pretty done… Can we go now?" he asked, pressing his boney chin into my shoulder. I reached up and patted his head clumsily with my free hand.
"Yeah, but don't forget, breakfast is on me at Jenny's. An there's no way I can drive now." I chuckled, looking at Rusheen. "You comin' too hot stuff? I think we can fit you in my van if Heather drives." I offered, not willing to part ways just yet and using the bet as an excuse was fine by me. The Jamaican smiled and nodded.
"If you would not mind, I would like that verra much." he agreed and I felt Adrian shift closer behind me but I was already looking for Heather and Topher. I hooked Adrian's arm around mine as I held my head up to scan the crowd again and my free hand grabbed Rusheen's hand so we stayed together as I pushed us through the crowd towards the buffet style table where I last saw Topher.
"Let's go find them and get home then." I dragged them both along through the crowd as I felt like an anchored giraffe with my head on my left palm like a pedestal above the crowd with Adrian carefully but tightly hanging off that arm with Rusheen literally tailing behind. I was about to start calling Marco-Polo when a firm hand bumped into my chest to stop me in my tracks and make me look down to find Heather. She gave me a very analytical glare as I brought my head back down to eye level giggling at her.
"Ya found us! Can you take us home in my van? Rusheen won't fit in your baby buggy." I giggled more, pulling Rusheen forward to introduce him to Heather. She still looked unamused as she gave a heavy sigh paired with a quick eye roll and shook Rusheen's hand.
"Pleasure to meet you Rusheen, I'm Heather. And sorry to burst your bubble boys but I'm not leaving yet, it's barely been two hours and I wanted to stay at least three or four." she huffed, looking between us pointedly. Adrian tightened his hold on my arm and Rusheen looked ready to apologize but I stopped him. I leaned into Rusheen and did my best impression of a kicked puppy dog face like a real grown ass man.
"But Heather, we can drink at home and Rusheen's gonna get stepped on and hurt here. we can totally have a better party at home, and I gotta get everyone breakfast at Jenny's tomorrow. And, and if we go home, you don't have to drive and you can drink with us!" I pleaded, taking a page from Heather's own war tactics and batting my eyes at her as I pouted. I was sure she was going to laugh at me and tell me to go play in the hay bales but ever the wild card she seemed to be actually debating whether or not to grant my wish.
"You buy breakfast, and get me my goldschlager and Viniq and I'll take you all home and drive us out for breakfast when we wake up." she bargained and I could feel my wallet crying at her expensive taste but I could deal with that later. For now the fastest ticket home was getting her the key ingredients for her favorite drink she lovingly named Holographiq. Equal parts Viniq and goldschlager to start and adding a splash of orange fanta to the mix you got a spicy, shiny, fruity cocktail that perfectly summed up the woman who loved the drink she created with all her heart. I groaned and nodded "Deal, now let's go already!!" I whined, nudging her forward with my foot which only made her laugh at me.
"Fine, fine. Get in the van while I round up Topher." she instructed, pointing to the parking lot and giving an ear-splitting three pronged whistle as if calling a dog. The Native werewolf seldom minded. It was all in good fun when with friends, and he often reminded us that if you can't laugh at yourself once in a while then life is way too boring and censored. So we all often made fun of one another to keep things even and remind us that words only have power if you give it to them. But right now I didn't want to get my ears ringing so I tried heading to the exit but the crowd was hard to weave through even in the big barn with everyone drinking and dancing. Paired with the cider deciding now was a great time to start impairing my coordination it was now like a fucked up obstical course with the two men hanging off me so we stayed together, I shifted my head to look back at Adrian and Rusheen to see if either of them would take the lead when someone bumped me hard as they blindly danced along and my head rolled right out of my hands and into the crowd. My body fell flat trying to catch my head, and flinched as I hit the ground with a harsh but dull thud and awkwardly rolled just out of reach of my flailing hands. I couldn't see where I was rolling off too or if anyone had noticed a disembodied head rolling by their feet let alone if Adrian and Rusheen were coming after my now lost head but it didn't matter much. My head was lost on the floor in a crowded room of drunken dancers at a Halloween party. If I didn't find my head soon, some drunkard could think my own tipsy head was a really realistic prop, or just say finders keepers like they need a captive friend or are thinking I'd be a great trophy. I could hardly see, the music was too loud for me to yell for help, and now my head was being battered and bruised as it was kicked around in the crowd. What a way for the night to end. I'd lost my head.