Trick or Cheat

[Wyvern]

The sounds of ghastly howling can be heard echoing down the Mighty Pen's dimly lit corridors, triggered by a certain Almost Dragon and a certain stainless steel Jack-O-Lantern that fell on a certain sensitive tail. The howling fades as Wyvern tosses his throbbing stinger into a cold vat of Pumpkin Seed Bruteweiser that rests at his side, cocking his head back and breathing a hiss of a relief as the pain slowly subsides. The overgrown lizard spreads his wings under his cheap carnival ringmaster cape and slumps back in his seat, scooting it back so he can reach over to adjust the "Almost Dragonic Brand House of Horrors™" sign that hangs on the front door of Grimmael's quarters. The reptilian Elder scribbles "50 geld" on the bottom of the sign in messy crimson ink taken from Tamaranis' personal stash, then turns and begins rapping his claws across his wooden tabletop as he awaits his first gullible customers.

 

"Ssssstep right up, one and all, to the mosssst horrific Pen sssspectacle since the day Melba was hired!" Wyvern shifts the collection plate so it sits adjacent to the "Candy Wish Collection Jar" on the table, then waves his arms back and forth with a grin. "Only the brave need apply... though the fearful are welcome as well, for an added fee of 10 geld!"

 

OOC: Slightly belated as usual on my part, but wanted to wish a Happy Halloween to the Mighty Pen.

[Degorram]

Degorram poked her head (which resembled a fleshy turnip encrusted with horns, needle-shaped teeth, and two watery, yellow, glaring eyes) through the curtain to see the back of Wyvern's head as he awaited his customers. Pennites were starting to line up, but Wyvern hadn't started collecting geld just yet. He seemed rather intent on stirring his cauldron of beverage with the tip of his tail....

 

"Wyvern!" she whispered frantically over the growing murmur of the crowd.

 

The almost dragon turned around to attend to his only employee and almost fell out of his chair at her appearance. "D-Dego!" he wheezed. "Get back behind that curtain! Y-you'll give yoursssself away." He avoided looking at her whilst he spoke, turning his eyes to the ground as if he had dropped something. "Wh-what is it anyway?"

 

"I am going to receive copious piles of chocolate for this, right?" Degorram asked. A trickle of monstrous slime oozed out of her teeth.

 

Wyvern gulped fearfully as she stared at him. "Of coursssse Dego, just as I promised."

 

"And no one will know that I am actually the creatures that are scaring them, right?"

 

"Yes, yes yes yes," Wyvern said, waving his hands around. "Now pleasssse, go back before someone -gulp- sees you...."

 

Degorram bared her teeth and pulled her head back into the curtain of the haunted house. An unearthly groan, echoing through the throat of some creature, floated from within. The scales on the back of Wyvern's neck stood up and he hastily turned back to his table, slapping down a stack of papers that he pulled out of his bag. "L-lasssst minute Almost Dragonic Brand Wyvern-Protecting-Waivers! Enter the house at your own rissssk!"

 

 

 

OOC: I've always wanted to work in a haunted house....;D

Edited November 1, 2009 by Degorram

[Wyvern]

Wyvern cackles quietly to himself and rubs his claws together as he glances over the first of the daring/dumb customers that have arrived to inspect his haunted Pen quarters... a gang surely brought by the pull of boredom and morbid curiosity, but a geld-sporting gang nonetheless. The overgrown lizard scoots the "Candy Wish Collection Jar" ever so slightly closer to the pennites examining the sign for his scare show, staring up at the ceiling and hisses something about "sissies" under his breath to motivate them to give his cheap thrill ride a chance. He scoots himself quickly in the direction of the first person that reaches for their wallet, stirring the special Bruteweiser vat quickly with his tail as his excitement grows, his eyes sparkling with the imminent promise of geld...

 

"Oh Wyvern, I almost forgot."

 

Degorram steps back out from her hiding place looking even more hideous than before, now with feeler tentacles swishing around her shoulder blades to compliment her already ghoulish demeanor. The few customers inspecting the booth freeze and start stammering at the ghastly sight of the monster, letting out a collective scream before turning and high-tailing it down the hall as fast as they can.

 

"W-wait!" Wyvern jumps up, clutching a clawful of Almost Dragonic Brand Wyvern-Protecting-Waivers™ and waving them frantically in the air. "H-hey! HEY! That'll be 60 geld for the ssscare! 50 geld plus 10, that makes 60!"

 

The reptilian Elder grumbles to himself and slumps back into his seat as the potential customers fade from view.

 

"Oops. Sorry." Degorram cracks a little smile over her current shape working so effectively, then extends a hand to Wyvern with a little clear of her throat, tapping the tip of his wing with one of her tentacles. "May I have my one bar of chocolate in advance payment, as we agreed upon?"

 

"Your one bar of chocolate?" Wyvern flinches as he suddenly remembers the reason that he had had the chocolate bar on the counter earlier, his side of the deal forgotten when his appetite had kicked in. The overgrown lizard hisses and turns away from Degorram in his seat so she won't see his expression, quickly grabbing the empty candy-wrapper from the tabletop and holding it in his lap so she won't see it. "After you sssscared away my first set of customersss? Forget about it! Now, get back in there like a good demonic monssster and maybe, jusssst maybe, there'll be chocolate waiting for you at the end of the rainbow. Capiche Dego?"

 

Wyvern sits with his back turned to his talented assistant, his tongue flicking in and out nervously as he hopes she'll buy the tough talk. An ominous feeling of fear washes over the almost dragon in the silence that follows, and he very slowly clears his throat, wondering if Degorram is still there.

 

"D-dego? Are you there?"

 

Wyvern bites his lip and slowly turns his head in the direction of Degorram, only to suddenly go pale at the sight of the tall Halloween tax collector that now standing behind him. Wyvern backs out of his seat with a little shriek, getting his foot caught in the steel Jack-O-Lantern and tumbling backwards into the vat of Bruteweiser, which teeters before spilling over him on the floor, coating him in an alcoholic stench of pumpkins...