#chilldownyourspine

[needsanexorcist]

@chilldownyourspine​ | CONTINUED FROM HERE.

          THE RESPONSE WAS far from unexpected — hell, if anything, Stretch would be shocked if Casper ever actually agreed to do anything involving scaring. ( ‘When hell freezes over’ or however that saying went. ) He didn’t even glance at Casper when the protest came; he simply rolled his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose, a quiet but exasperated sigh leaving his lips — a response which, when compared to his typical behaviour, was actually quite patient.

          “ What’s it matter if ya’ ruin their day ?  You don’t know ‘em, “ he pointed out, as though it would somehow change the smaller ghost’s mind. ( Not that he really expected it to. ) He scrunched up his lanky form, the base of his tail hiking up to his chest in a manner that would suggest that, if he had legs, he’d be crossing them; and he tucked one hand under his opposite arm, and used the other to gesture as he spoke. “ Hell, if gettin’ a li’l frightened by a ghost is the one thing ruinin’ their day, then they've prob’ly got a good enough life. They’ll get over it. “ Was he talking out of his ass ?  Yes, most definitely. But that wasn’t really anything new — he was the sort of guy that would try to convince someone the sky was green rather than blue if he figured it’d get him his way. ( Again, not like he expected it to work much with someone like Casper. )

        When the boy suggested that he go on without him, Stretch un-scrunched his body, moving instead to bend forward, somewhat leaning over Casper, though the awkward way he craned his neck to meet the kid at eye level ( well, awkward to the average eye; he was used to moving his head at such angles after a hundred years of doing so ) indicated that was less of him trying to intentionally tower over the kid and simply him just being . . . well, tall. “ I'm draggin’ ya’ out for you, Bulbhead, “ he reminded, reaching around to place a hand on the kid’s shoulder, gripping it lightly. “ I would o’ been perfectly fine stayin’ home, ‘cept you’re flunkin’ again an’ someone ‘round here’s gotta change that. “ He didn’t say the word ‘flunking’ like it was a bad thing; he didn’t sound happy about it ( ‘cause he wasn’t ), but he wasn’t insulting him. “ So no, I ain’t goin’ without ya’. You’re comin’ with me, an’ if I gotta drag ya’ by the tail t’ do that, you know that I will. “

[needsanexorcist]

@chilldownyourspine​ (Casper) | CLOSED STARTER.

          LET’S JUST CUT to the chase: Stretch fucked up. Well, okay, he had a tendency to fuck up a lot in varying different ways, so let’s be more specific: He made Casper cry. ( ‘What, he hasn’t made him cry before ?’ ) Yeah, big shocker, but no, he hadn’t. For the amount of poking that he and his brothers did, the li’l glowworm was unsurprisingly thick-skinned. And sure, Stretch had his bad days where he’d be more short-tempered than usual, but he’d never ( to his knowledge ) said anything that was particularly insulting towards his nephew. And to be fair, he still hadn’t; he hadn’t said anything as a direct insult to Casper.

          He had, however, made a comment about the boy’s father that he realized shortly after he’d said it gave some rather painful implications for the young ghost. To make a short story even shorter, the topic of J.T. had come up — a topic which Stretch typically tried to avoid like the plague because it simply pissed him off to no end. He was normally good at shutting it down before frustration replaced his rational thinking, but the insistence to continue the discussion left his attempts unsuccessful. He should’ve said nothing — hell, he should’ve just left the friggin’ room entirely — but instead, he’d made a comment along the lines of ‘who gives a shit about him, the guy ain’t even here for his own kid.’ ( Not verbatim. Firstly, it was probably harsher than even that; more vulgar, too. Second, truthfully, Stretch had been so aggravated, so busy running his stupid mouth, that he couldn’t even recall his exact words — just the nature of them; the material that was most harmful. )

          Next thing he knew, the lights were bursting, hints of frost formed on the walls and furniture from the sharp temperature drop, and Stretch saw ( and heard — by god, did he hear it ) Casper sobbing, a sight which shocked him to his core. He didn’t have a heart, but deep in his spectral form, something had thudded in a way that felt incredibly unpleasant. And then Casper had fled, still clearly upset.

          What followed next was Stretch getting an earful from the other members of the household ( not all of it angry; but even the calm words held a clear tone of disappointment with his behaviour ), which he found himself eventually phasing through the floor to get away from it. He didn’t care if it made him look like a bigger asshole, seeming like he was avoiding the consequences of his actions — he knew he screwed up; he didn’t need anyone else to tell him that. He also knew that he needed to calm the hell down, and to do that, he needed to back away from the animosity he himself had caused. It would be a while yet before his brothers or the Harveys caught sight of him; he took care in avoiding them until he was able to get his shit together.

          Stretch was never great with words — even when he was actually trying to be nice, his tone and demeanour simply came off as rude and derisive. His apologies usually came in the form of actions as a result. However, he knew there was nothing he could physically do to solve the problem he created. He was gonna have to bite the bullet and talk to the poor kid.

          A long while had passed before Stretch had even dared go to the dingy, dusty room where he knew his nephew was hiding ( he didn’t bother asking himself how he knew; he just did ), but eventually, when there was no one else around to spot him doing this, he phased through the floor of Casper’s little hideout, pausing once his upper half was through. He coincidentally ended up popping in on the opposite side of the room from where the smaller ghost was. ( For the best, really; lord knows he wasn’t eager to see how the boy would react had he accidentally popped up right beside him ) He found himself absent-mindedly tapping his forefingers together, an expression of uncertainty clear on his features. For a moment, it felt as though his tongue were glued to the roof of his mouth, and he nearly felt tempted to bail on the attempt. Eventually, though, he simply forced himself to clear his throat, and finally spoke, voice much quieter than his usually loud tone:

          “ Um . . . hey. “ Pause. “ Can I, uh . . . may I come in ? “

[needsanexorcist]

"Boo!" - snatcher (chilldownyourspine)

@chilldownyourspine​

          STRETCH HAD HIS back turned when he heard the deep voice behind him shouting the classic ghost catchphrase. Sure, the spectre might’ve sat upright simply because he hadn’t even heard anyone come up behind him, but he’d hardly flinched. Why would he, when he was practically a master at haunting ?   He scoffed a little, an air of over confidence surrounding him as he jabbed a thumb behind him. “ Listen t’ this chump, “ he spoke derisively. “ Tryin’ t’ get a rise outta me with a cheap ‘boo’. Yeah, right, like heck that’d ever— “  

          As soon as he’d actually turned around to see Snatcher behind him, it felt like he got slammed by a shockwave, letting out a startled yelp and moving backwards. ( Not that it really did anything, putting that space between them; the guy was still huge compared to him — and considering Stretch was named for his height, that was sayin’ something. ) You know how humans just seem to know when they’re confronted with something that may actually be a threat to them ?  Well, take that feeling, and make it tenfold, and you’d come pretty close to what Stretch experienced in that moment. He immediately got the feeling that between the two of them, he wasn’t the scarier one.

          “ Ah . . . aha. “ He scrunches his tail up, making him seem even smaller. “ Heeey big fella, you, uh— ya’ startled me, I didn’t see ya’ there ‘til just now. “ There’s nervous laughter in his tone as he speaks, but everything else about him is silently begging for the other not to hurt him. “ Y’know, your, uh— your ‘boo’ ain’t none too bad, prob’ly one of the best I heard, actually— “

[needsanexorcist]

" to be fair, wendy was only doing it 'cuz hot stuff was climbing on you. " - chilldownyourspine (casper defending his feral pals LMAO)

@chilldownyourspine​

          “ YEAH, CLIMBIN’ ON me t’ get t’ the snacks which I was already givin’ you guys !  Seriously, ya’ offer the kids snacks, then they climb all over ya’ an bite ya’. This is why we can’t have nice things. “