[Monster] Unstabul's Keep

[Pepzilla]

Bul has a Groanspring! Click here to ask- he follows anyone from Amityville!  

[Pepzilla]

Solo Entry: Confiding in Reality

Unstabul was adamant about making sure that Mei-Xiu returned to her dorm safely and in one piece. For a while the half beast sat with her and talked idly about things doing what he could not to let the incident that occurred on the island consume all conversation. Frankly, he was a flurry of emotions and the memories he had of that dreadful place only set him in a fit of rage. Leaving her room would lead to a long pace down the monster dormitories and deep, conflicting inner dialogue within the boil.

It was supposed to be a field trip... something fun... something worthwhile.

Bul's tail began to drag along the floor the closer and closer he got to his own hall. His hand was wrapped at the back of his neck and squeezing lightly to remove any tension but it would take a lot of time and a lot of rest to heal all these wounds. His legs and arms still retained some fairly awful scars from the event- his legs were battered and bruised from traversing the island with virtually nothing to eat and no sleep. Of course, the boat ride had been fairly relaxing.. when he wasn't fretting about the deep ocean below. Something about it was hardly as frightening as weapon-welding reapers and dark chasms split unto the earth. No monster should be afraid of the dark but Bul wasn't going to settle well with pitch darkness for now.

Shipwrecked. Sentenced to an inevitable death...

A large chunk of the student body "died" on that trip. Whether or not Bul knew this was irrelevant... he had seen plenty of death to be afflicted. Death was almost a cherished thing in the world of Halloween but seeing death being erased by itself... seeing boils and ghouls Bul knew to be strong and fearless being sliced into chunks of slick, bloody mess and bodies falling helpless down the ravines of darkness was disturbing. At least temporarily. But how long would these images stay in the half-beast's mind?

Mei... Seiji... Icky...

For someone who didn't truly value friendship before Bul was really turning a leaf. He knew he needed these people he was learning with at Amityville. What good was it to NOT try and meet new creatures? If Bul had only learned more of his comrade's names... he felt that he owed every single soul in the school a favor out of guilt. Survivor's guilt. Instead of saving their lives he pressed on only able to avenge them in theory.

I was... so close...

And perhaps it was remembering that he too was standing in the gaping maw of death that made the monster halt in the hallway and lean against the wall. Swallowing a lump in his throat, Bul mustered up the strength to break into a clumsy run to his room.

I'm here... I'm here... I'm

"...here." Bul panted as he threw his door open. Slowly, he closed it behind him and slid down the frame until he could curl his tail around his body. Through grit teeth, Bul began to hiss and wince... a mist swelling up in his eyes. The world around him peeled away. Feeling naked and weak, the monster coughed and choked back a cry. His feelings had caught up to him. Feelings he was having back in that cave about to be obliterated by the cloaked reaper.

Too weak...

Never before had Unstabul come so close to eating s**t. Having been in a lot of fights he usually came out battered and dizzy but never so helplessly fragile like he had become in the abandoned school. Things were so dark and blurry and he could feel pain on the entire surface of his body. He inhaled bugs and noxious gas and everything inbetween. Mei and Seiji were kind enough to patch him up the best they could and a monster ghoul was willing to put it all to an end for him. Of course, Bul was glad he hadn't have taken her up on the offer but felt sincerely awful when she didn't survive through the night.

Clenching his knees, the monster was able to lift his head and stare up at his ceiling with wet streaks down the sides of his face. "Wasn't... even close to stopping any of them... they are still out there, still thriving on our loss.." he murmured aloud. "Jack.. damnit.." he sniffled and rubbed his face on his spiny arm. "Acting.. like a god damn p***y..." he shuddered inwardly. If any of the others had seen him now he'd lose all credibility as a tough boil.

Avoiding any further apathetic thought the monster kicked up a couple of pieces of trash on his way over to his bed and turned on his heat lamp but not the other lights as he crawled under some of the covers and curled up. He was still so gnarly and gross but.. all he wanted in this world- besides seeing his friends safe that is- was a very very VERY long and peaceful nap.

Bul shut his eyes and wriggled around until he was comfortable and let out a final sigh.

It's... good to be back in reality..

 

[Pepzilla]

*Homework*
Solo Entry: Learning the Sticks

Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage,
Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage,
Then someone will say all that's lost can never be saved-

Bul head-banged across the room with what would be his bass guitar had he not smashed it. With every other step he'd stop and pick up his snot ball to lug it at the wall with a splat. Occasionally he managed to get a red ooze built up from his FEAR power easily aided by his angsty, pent up rage. At this point the half beast had gotten over the initial terror from the previous field trip but was still incredibly bitter and spiteful towards the island's inhabitants. All he wanted was to bash something in and he knew that wasn't good for his room or his belongings- but his only tool to combat said frustration was smashed by the weights and dumbbells he carried in upon moving.

"Jack damnit I need something to play fuuuuck!" he groaned and knocked the bloody snot ball he was playing with into his door frame, leaving a very unpleasant stain. Practically snarling, Bul picked the thing up and squeezed it, stretched it, then tossed it again like a baseball to the wall. It was a moderate stress reliever but he knew he could only do this for so long. Besides, he was already broken out pretty bad with his boils.

"Gonna look like a nerd next time I go out.." the monster sighed, reaching up and feeling one of the bulbous things on his cheeks. "********... gross and s**t.."

Finally he couldn't keep up with his music as it roared on louder. There had to be something to kill this need... oh wait! Bul stopped in place, dropping his snot ball and watching it slowly retreat to its natural, greenish color. "Homework for Blue's class..." he slapped his forehead. "s**t I nearly forgot... s**t... and class is soon.." It wasn't that the monster didn't want to do his homework, that certainly wasn't the case. Prior to the field trip, the monster intended to get started right away but had to help his friend Seiji move in and attend the Scarentine Party. After that he was sent on a boat to a horrible island were he witnessed the death of his friends around him- it was quite damaging.

Here he had found himself rocking to his music and smacking his inanimate friend around like a dead goose. All he needed was something to play and he had been blessed with one of the best stress-relievers the school could provide. Bul hurried to his closet where he had been storing the drumset until he could set it up again and immediately began piecing the set together. Seiji's set was far more impressive but it didn't bother the half beast. He was out of his element in a way.

Once assembled, Bul stacked a couple of his weights to make a mock drum-stool and grabbed the sticks provided with the set. His music was still blaring from the other side of the room and it gave him something to attempt to mimic. Questioning whether or not to use his drumsticks, Bul thought for a bit before jumping in about ways to imitate sounds on the set that he was provided with. Maybe he could talk to Blue about various methods to get some synthetic sound effects out of them- if he didn't provide any help though he could always run to Seiji.

Finally the half beast began to strike the surface of the snare and kicked the pedal into the bass simultaneously. It sounded like a mess against the sound of pre-recorded music on his eye-pod but Bul seemed to be handling the distracting noise better here than in the classroom with a dozen other students trying to practice. Louder and louder he pounded assertively, no passive or weak hits- if he was going to play perhaps one of the loudest possible instruments well jack damnit he was gonna play hard. And so he did-

For a while Bul would stop between songs to try and play to the beat of the next but never got any further than about thirty seconds before he found himself off beat and focusing on the sound of the bassist.

s**t... this is really kinda hard.. never really thought it'd require so much coordination... he thought to himself. After a couple more slip ups though he decided it was best to turn the music off all together for now. When he got more adapt at playing percussion he may move on to that but for now he needed to last a full three minutes or so with a consistent beat. Bul didn't own a metronome but knew he may very well need to invest in one before too much of the class went by.

Maybe Blue lends them out... Of course it would be something he'd prefer to ask for outside of class- he didn't want to look like some brown nosing suck-up in front of all the other boils and ghouls. To be perfectly honest, Bul didn't really even know what to think of Blue now. It had only been one session of class but it seemed he didn't like nor dislike the monster- which was always a good thing. Usually it didn't matter if he were under the radar or not but with Blue, Bul wanted to make sure he stayed on his good side. After all, it would suck to get kicked out of the only class worth doing the homework for anyway.

After a while the monster got tired of playing even physically worn out. He pushed the drums aside or at least the best they could be before walking back to his snot ball he had been pummeling earlier and snatching it up. For a moment he juggled it then tossed it up on his bed before following suit with his own body and curling up. "Whelp... maybe I'll play a little tomorrow or something... at least Ill get a good workout from dragging those back and forth." With that the half beast grinned to himself and laid his head back into the pillow.

 

[Pepzilla]

Solo Entry: From Home with... er.. Love?

It'd been quite some time since Unstabul last spoke with his parental figures. Convinced they were much too busy with their financing and boring law work, he'd neglected to give them any sign or sight of what he'd been up to since he'd left home. Of all things he neglected to mention to them including the island and Mei, they'd somehow managed through the powers of the internet and groanspring find out about his destruction of his bass. The two knew how much it had meant to him considering it was the first thing he really kept for a long time without getting bored of. Despite the image he had painted of them being out of touch with the 'real' scaring world, they loved their son very much- enough to condone his bully-like and rambunctious behavior as a scareling.

Sitting on the shelf above Bul's bed was his yellphone. He'd formed the habit of leaving it up there at night so that it'd either fall or he'd have to sit up in order to shut off the alarm. By then it was safe to leave it there since very rarely did he expect any actual calls from people.

Bzzzzzzzzzt


Bzzzzzzzzzzzt




BZZZZZZZZZT RAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWGH WOOOOAH AHHH OOOOAHHHHHAAOOOOAHHAOOOOO

A lazy weekend nap was halted abruptly by the sound of a low quality recording of a heavy skull rock band and vibrating yellphone on cheap wood. Unstabul had himself tightly locked in his bundle of blankets with his heating lamp set on low all afternoon. When he shot back to consciousness, the half beast panicked and threw his head into his shelf, the impact loud and painful. He could feel the gooseegg forming but had to grab his phone with a freehand. Not even bothering to look at the number he answered the call.

"...ghuuh.... hello?"

"Bul sweetie? Bul is that you?"
"Hey kiddo you there?"

Two very familiar voices spoke simultaneously over the phone loudly into his ear. Quickly he smashed the volume buttons some while reaching his hand through his hair before realizing who it was.

"Mom, Pops?" he asked quirking his brow and shutting his eyes again.

"Yes it's us! How have you been? It's been a couple months now, you've been gone for so long.." a whimper was muffled out. "We haven't gotten to talk to you we were just wondering if you were doing all right and stuff, have you been eating well? Sleeping often? Talking to ghouls anything?"

"Yea mom I've-"

"OH WONDERFUL THAT'S SPECTACULAR! Listen hunny, we were just wanting to talk to you and see how things were."
"Yeah. Your mom and I were looking around on that internet site doohinky, the Groanspringy?"

"Just.. Groanspring dad-"

"Yea that. Anyways son, we saw that you had broken your bass in the move over. Why didn't you tell us?"

"Uh I dunno...

"Well now that just won't do~"
"Yeah. Listen we know how much you loved that thing so your mom and I are putting a couple of pumpkin seeds in your bank. Instead of a care package, and we don't wanna get it smooshed again now do we??"
"Sweetie we're going to give you money to go pick out your own guitar and we're gonna put some more in there so you can get some new clothes I always hate how you let them get so ruined!!"

A new bass? AND surplus money? How could Unstabul say no? "Wow thanks you guys.."

"So sport what else has been happening in your neck of the woods?"
"Yes we'd love to hear about it, we've been so quiet today at work isn't it splendid?"

"Yea mom, that's great. I uh.. well I've taken a few classes now and we went on a field trip and I'm going ou-"

Suddenly on the other end a couple dozen phones began to go off- a cornucopia of irritating noises that distracted his parents from their call.
"OH DEAR, one second sweetie PLEASE HOLD!"
A lyricless version of This is Halloween played 'soothingly' while the noises and their voices vanished.

Bul let out a heavy sigh and layed back into the pillows letting the phone rest beside his head. They were always too busy. They were busy with work that wasn't scary at all to him. To think they had almost roped him in to joining their family business but a couple of nasty bites and a huge hissy fit involving the destruction of their entire dining room had proven his point loud and clear. He wanted them to know about Mei and bruteball coming up. He could easily spare them the details about the island plot but he did survive a long trip over water.

Sooner or later Bul began to doze off again while This is Halloween circled its third or fourth replay. Finally, it ended and two over zealous voices echoed into his ear.

"So sorry about that Bul, we had a moment there.."
"But do go on something about a uhm... what were you telling us again?"

Rolling your eyes was never polite to do in front of your parents. Good thing Bul was miles and miles away. "I said I've taken a few classes and I'm dating this ghoul her name's Mei." he said making sure that they heard that part.

"Reeeealllllly?" Now that they had actually heard them he nearly regretted mentioning it. "Is she pretty?"
"Is she smart?"
"Is she your age?"
"What's she look like?"
"Will we get to meet her?"

Bul shook his head while chuckling uneasily. "Eventually I hope you will but for now you're asking too many questions. I Uh... I really do appreciate the money though you guys know it'll help a ton. Heh I mean prom is coming up and-"

"PROM?????!??"

"Jack Skellington, Mom... jeez..."

"I'm sorry Bul, I am just so excited and so proud of you! You're growing up to be a real gentleman!" Those words made the half beast cringe. "Maybe some day you will turn out to be a business man like your father!

Bul could picture his dad in his suspenders and wide rimmed glasses blushing on the other end like he was the greatest thing and sighed. That was the last thing he hoped to do with his life was work in their office. "Uuuh... sure... right... right after I win the Joe Frightman trophy in bruteball."

"Well hey listen, we gotta get back to work now our calendars are booked up from here to October!! Talk to you later sweetie and don't forget to check your bank account before spending. Overdrafting is bad for your credit!!"
"Bye son!"

"Bye..." Bul replied. "Uh.. love yah." Whether or not they caught that was a mystery now. Hanging up with his parents was never hard they just had to realize that they were spending too much time talking and not working... then it was off to the races. Now that he had some money he could call up Seiji and go to the maul to pick out a new ax. But for now, that nap was calling back to him and the sinking feeling of one day wearing suspenders and wide rimmed glasses was a little more than he could bear while awake.

 

[Pepzilla]

Solo Entry: Never Not Glowing

In the wake of Sex Ed Bul had learned a couple of things. Amongst learning not to ever have sex ever ever, that FEAR can cause implosion if exchanged without protection, and NEVER. Repeat, NEVER eat a bug in Cricket's classroom.

Perhaps it wasn't just the fact that he'd been humiliated before his peers. Perhaps it was the idea that he'd been INJESTED by a professor and then later spat out like he didn't even taste that good. He would've at least liked to know that he was delicious in case some day he actually meet this fate he seemed to keep brushing with.
What was supposed to be an effort to learn, or at least a superficial attempt, turned out to be a serious change in the next few weeks of his life prior to prom.

One of the massive side affects beyond a bruised ego to Cricket's punishment was the fact that Bul now glowed at uncontrolled, spontaneous times, in unpredictable places. His boils glowed, his stripes glowed, even under his fingernails on occasion he could see a light emitting through his skin with a sort of greenish tint. It was on one particular night though that the luminescence would cause him agony and disturbance of sleep- something no student wants during their weeks leading up to finals.


Back in class. The walls and cieling were damp, something that reminded him of Savage's classroom where he took Human Studies. Upon stepping in though Bul could hear a wave of noise like a skelevision set on an invalid station. The boil couldn't tell whether or not the noise was inside his ears or just that loud around him without any source to be found. With his first step into the classroom he heard a thundering crackle and when he looked down he could see an enormous bug squished under his claws.

"Shi-" was all he could utter, the hallucinogenic state robbing him of his voice.

He knew what he'd done wrong the moment it happened and felt the guilt swimming over him in the form of all of Cricket's hissing, glowing bugs. They dissolved from the crunched one and swarmed up Bul's leg, their tiny little bodies slowly conglomerating into a single form wrapped around the half beast.

Scream after scream and yet nothing came out he was overcome by these insects. Biting at the figure only made things worse for the boil as it lifted him up into the air and started to laugh. Then it threw his body down it's throat. Things were different on the inside though, it was as if he were transported into another room. No longer did insects make any noise but Bul could see in this void- off in the distance a glowing light. The light wasn't some opening to anything but a drawing or sorts. It appeared to be spelling something out but everything blurred together making it completely illegible.

"What are you trying to say I can't read you! Is it about FEAR?" he asked the light expecting some prolific explanation. After a long period of silence the light stopped and burnt out, leaving Bul disappointed and for some reason laying on the ground.

The noise picked up again and a wave of bugs literally forming from the ground started to hurdle into his direction. Once more he yell at the swarm but instead of a pitch his 'voice' created a glowing light that blinded his eyes and finally-


"AH JACKING-" Bul whined out and punched his pillow. "GLOWING. AGAIN!" He seethed and blinked his eyes to make sure he was correct. When he shut them he could see practically THROUGH his eyelids they were a translucent bluish green. "Mother of Jack I'm gonna ******** grrhmb.." he mumbled and sat up in bed.

Something scurried out of the corner of his eye and he felt a little tickle across his foot. "What the.." Bul lifted the covers and saw a couple of little bugs crawling around under his bedsheets. The monster looked mortified and immediately jerked out of his bed. Not that they grossed him out, Bul just didn't like the idea of anything that small crawling around on him while he was unconscious.

So far he'd tried falling asleep thrice and the same thing continued to happen. Just when he figured his eyelids would stop glowing his subconscious would tell him that another round was coming in the form of his bug dream... although the bugs really had a huge influence of their own this time. Quickly he made sure none of them escaped and kept them in a cupped hand. Squishing them would've resulted in him having to clean his sheets again right after doing an enormous load of laundry and cleaning his room.

"I am... just about done with this glowing... if it doesn't go away after prom... I'm gonna talk to Cricket.." he shook his head frustratedly and took all of the live bugs in his hand and threw them in his mouth like sunflower seeds. He could've had a worse infestation but he preferred none at all.

EVERYTHING around him was glowing beside of his eyelids. "Jeez how ******** much is glowing.." he pouted as he pushed himself to the bathroom to look in the mirror, not needing to turn on any lights to see, conveniently enough.

Around each eye was a full ring of glowing skin. It'd be impossible now to count on going to sleep with it so vibrant. Letting out a sigh the half beast turned to his tub and crawled in reclining. "Maybe... if I make myself so tired for laying in here.." His theory was plausible but it wouldn't work the way he'd planned.

Because he'd really never spent time in his bathroom the bugs started to sneak their way out of the crevasses and corners and slink into the tub with only sweet intentions. They were attracted to the light he emitted, it was even attracting a couple of moths the half beast presumed to be dead every other time he was in there. "You've got to be kidding me.." he snarled, snapping at one of the frittering dusty creatures. Moths were bitter compared to their other buddies and he had to spit it out before the taste got so bad. "EEuugh... Maybe I should stop eating bugs.." he groaned. Bul had eaten bugs since he was a baby in fact they were a portion of his diet that he never bothered to monitor (get it?) since he just ate them so instinctively. Why exactly DID Cricket get so upset?

Tumbling the thought around with his company in the porcelain bed he'd chosen Bul rolled his head back and frowned. He couldn't come up with anything other than the idea that they were parts of her. "Eew..." he stuck his tongue out at the unpleasant thought.

Eventually Bul found sweet sanctuary in the form of sleeping in his own bathtub when his eyelids stopped glowing. He would however wake up to find himself swimming in a bathtub of more bugs in the morning when the glowing would resume again.

 

[Pepzilla]

Solo Entry: Home for the Weekend

Healing, recovering, the usual after a field trip was all that rang on Bul's mind when he'd come home from the haunted house. The first few nights were tough, much like after the island but Bul had little angsting to do and more sweet talking his ghoulfriend over yellphone. When it was time to sit and let the ointment kill the burns he would turn on bruteball and get a little too excited and regret it when he'd break open a scab again. But over time it was nothing more than clearing up damaged skin from a sunburn. He'd gotten out a lot too contrary to what he'd believed in the infirmary tents they had been nested in for Cricket's care. Limping around the school was all he could do when there was still so much happening. Unfortunately the one class and couple of ceremonies for Red were not enough to ease the horror and shock when one of the leaders of the hunters decided to strike on school grounds.

Deciding how to approach the community after that and JUST as he'd done most of his recovery was hard to handle. All he wanted to do was see Mei; which he did, however, nobody else would have heard from him again until he was almost entirely healthy and able to defend himself again. It was then that he'd started trying out the gymnasium and lost in a landslide to Tahki who had managed to make his body completely dissipate. His fight with Levi was equally disappointing when he started showing signs of getting a wretched cold that was keeping him now in his room once more.

Was it something contagious or was he just making it up? The coughs and sneezes felt real but none of it seemed like anything that would warrant any attention from Cricket. (Which he preferred to avoid anyway.) What nurse needed to deal with runny noses when there were much bigger things at work here anyway? Perhaps now was a good time to see his family again whom which, unless the Boogeymen directly contacted them, had absolutely no idea how his life was going right now.

Yea... it seemed like a good time to visit them. Unstabul looked to his yellphone and shrugged. He'd spare them a call and just send them a text.

Hey ma, pop, taking bus home to visit see you soon!

----

CLICK! Bul shut the yellphone and took in a deep breath. He'd already packed his overnight bag as it was only for the weekend then gently placed the HP Doll mini in with his clothes and leaving a small crack in the zipper for it to breathe. Sniffling up a trail of snot the half beast made a small detour to his bathroom to clean up his face before he'd head out into the cold. He was wearing a cap and puffy coat with a long ragged scarf wrapped tightly around his neck and dangling uneven behind him. Unfortunately his feet still remained un-socked and un-shoed but if anything they'd grown tough enough to handle any sort of surface anyway. It was the air blowing on his ankles that would really get the boy chilled.

Rubbing his face down with tissue he groaned and stared at his for-once cleaned room before heading to the door and locking it tight. After the talk with Nox and even Riley's speech the boil went through the trouble of getting extra locks installed. The last thing he needed was to come back to a trap set up like he was some animal.

Off to the bus he walked shivering from the crisp air. Cold.. he loathed the cold. It made him sleepy and weak and if there was one sad way to die it was from hypothermia. Surely the rents at home had the fireplace roaring already. Luckily he had made it just as the hearse-shaped vehicle turned the corner and reached the stop. Climbing aboard he flashed his student pass and found himself a seat closest to the heater and melted down into his puffy coat, smiling contently while holding his overnight bag gently with his gift from Mei inside. Perhaps it was best for now that he didn't make any eye contact. If he really did have a cold he didn't want to ruin it for anyone else. Any other time he'd be pleased to collect his snot for the snotball but it wasn't a good idea until he'd at least had some medicine and some babying comfort from his mom. The latter he'd keep to himself of course.

The candlelight of shops and businesses were soon replaced by the roaring light of fire-pits of red, blue, and even some noxious green in suburban homes; a sign that he was nearing the stop for his own neighborhood. Reaching up to request the hearse to stop he gathered up his bag once more and stood starting to step out into the aisle with his head ducked. One too many times he'd hit the tops of those jack damned things. Tipping the driver with whatever lint covered pocket change he had, Bul stepped out and once more shivered unpleasantly before scanning the street signs. Hey, it was a long time since he'd been home!

"Spiderbite... and... ah, there, Myra Manes Lane," he uttered to himself before speeding up his step and slowly approaching his old home.

The front porch torch was not lit... did they get his text? He could see some lights on inside but for the most part it wasn't a very welcoming display. With a frown Bul approached the front steps and knocked on the large wooden doors to their modest house when he heard a vicious snarl and... barking? on the other side he rolled his eyes. If they had gotten his text then they would have put Moneybags the Koobo in his kennel.

"OKAY SHUT UP MONEYBAGS, CANDLEJACK!" Bul growled back at the creature which prompted a shocked remark from his mother inside.


"Unstabul? Unstabul Itches is that really-" The door opened as a rather plumply monster with a bluefang attached to her ear. "Get in here, it's absolutely freezing outside!! Why didn't you call us? Oh nevermind I'm so happy you are home!"

"I'm so glad I am t-" Bul was pulled in before he could say anything else and the door was shut quickly behind him. Moneybags circled him angrily and bumped him with his two horns until the half beast gave him a good kick. "Back off you old fart, jeez." he snapped as he started to shed his heavy coat and accessories.

Acnecus peeked his head out from upstairs and excitedly started to tell all of his clients on the phone to 'please hold'. Eventually the stick-like man came thundering down the stairs and adjusted his belt. "Son, it's so good to see you home. We weren't expecting you! How are you fairing in this nasty weather? Let me go fix you a hot snotlatte, just sit tight make yourself comfortable."

Bul chuckled and nodded graciously. "Thanks dad," he said then turned to Cystney who had already begun poking at the bluefang, though she was in the middle of turning it off. Luckily she had the 'night off' or something like that. "Sorry I sent you guys a text but I.. uh.. guess you didn't see it yet. I wanted to stay the weekend I think I'm coming down with something."

"Sweetie, you don't have to worry about it this is your house afterall," his mom replied as she started to hang his things up and relocated his bag to the couch where Moneybags promptly jumped to examine it. The Koobo had smelt the other mini sitting inside the bag and started to growl at it. Bul whipped around and smacked the creature on the head.

"Leave that alone, its from Mei!" he snorted and carefully took the HP Doll into his arms as Cystney approached curiously.

"Oh from your ghoulfriend? It's cute~ When are you gonna let us meet her? I haven't even seen a picture of her yet." his mother teased.

"I know I know. We're so busy its hard to find a time that's good for everyone. I haven't met her dad yet anyways so.." Bul shrugged. "But I have some pictures of her on my yellphone I can show you?"

"Sure honey. You should show your father too when he's done with work. We'll all sit down and just talk for a while. You do sound and look kinda stuffed," Bul's mom reached for her son's face and lifted his eyelids a little and rubbed his temples to check his sinuses. "Yea you're a little backed up. Honey when was the last time you shaved huh?" she gave him a disapproving head shake before he pulled away.

"Fft.. mom whatever.." was the only thing the half beast could come up with and thankfully Acnecus came back out with a freshly steaming mug of snotlatte.

"Here, I'll go tell everyone to hang up and clock out for the night. We've actually been much less busy than we usually have it's a miracle. He said after he let Bul take the mug while his mother set him up a comfy spot on the couch.

"Thanks dad," Bul smiled and watched his father run back up the stairs and sunk into the couch pleasantly putting his feet up on the ottoman where Moneybags crawled and relaxed upon. Cystney went to the kitchen to pick up a couple of things after dinner; which Bul would likely be getting microwaved leftovers of. Eventually they would all three find themselves sitting at the couch with the fireplace crackling away as they talked.



---



Bul explained to them what he'd been through in vague detail. He left out a lot of names, even the part about Red. It was too soon for him to think about that and right now all he wanted was to sit happily on the couch with them while he sipped the snotlatte and bragged about his triumphs and failures. He made sure to mention more of the former of course and toned down those embarrassing moments where he got his a** handed to him on a platter. There were so many things to talk about even that a lot simply remained unspoken of and probably for good measure. The last thing he needed was his parents demanding he switch schools or take on the family business. He'd worked hard to get them to cease with such annoying requests best not to ruin it now.

"It sounds like you've been through a lot sweetie. I'm sorry that everything's so crazy, your father and I know how that is. When we went to Amityville it was all about the preparing for financial crisis future, which you know... explains a lot about us now. Hopefully everything will calm down soon and you will all be able to study hard and focus on what you're all best at, right?" Bul's mom turned to Acnecus who nodded approvingly.

"Your mother is right. And we are always going to be proud of you so don't you worry and don't let anything stop you from what you want to do."

Bul was just happy his parents were understanding and not prying. Sometimes over the phone they were exhausting but this trip home reminded him that they were just wonderful monsters and it made him proud to be a part of the Itches family.

"Now. Let's see Mei, I would love to meet this ghoul~" Cystney leaned closer to her son when he flipped his yellphone open and started to flip through the gallery of shareable pictures (a couple folders had injury pics and things that just weren't good for showing your parents) and pulled up a picture of the two of them walking to class.

"Wow she is a lovely young lady!" The two exclaimed, honestly a bit impressed their boil made such a catch. Not that they didn't think he came off as attractive but he was never known for his charm.

"Jeez Unstabul, when are we going to meet her?" Inquired his mom frustratedly while his dad messed up the ginger's hair.

"When I get a chance to bring her home I mean the school is kinda far and all. Plus she has her dad so... but you'll meet her sometime soon I promise?" Bul sighed and flipped through a few more pictures before setting the phone down and yawning. It was getting late and the cold herbal medicine was taking effect making him drowsy. "There's not a bunch of laundry piled on my bed is there?" Bul asked. Ever since he'd left they'd turned his old room into the laundry room and partially Moneybag's domain.

"Yes, but we can clear it off for you if you'd like?" Cystney replied.

"Uh... no thanks I'm too tired to get upstairs anyway.." Bul moaned groggily and curled up some on the couch. "Just get me a blanket and I'll be good to sleep right here."

His mother nodded and smiled after she pecked him on the forehead. Acnecus did the same and patted his son's shoulder and whispered another fatherly 'I'm so proud of you' before his mom draped a warm throw across him and brought him a more comfortable pillow.

"Don't be afraid to wake us if you need anything, Unstabul," she said while her husband wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Sleep tight okay?" They both turned and walked up the stairs after flicking off some lights and called Moneybags up to leave Bul more foot-room at the end of the couch.

The monster boil smiled to himself contently as he started to drift to sleep but checked his phone one last time and left the picture of him and Mei up as he finally let himself take a long needed rest away from the chaos of school and in the never-failing comfort of his family's home.