fandomhigh | Library, [10/31]

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Library, [10/31]

It would be a very, very silly mistake to assume that, just because today was Halloween, Jonothon wouldn't be in the library.

Okay, granted, Jono actually liked Halloween, particularly on this side of the ocean, where being a little freakish and a little frightening was more or less encouraged. He could handle that. In fact, he did 'freakish and frightening' like a pro.

... That said, wearing the costume that he'd worn to Petey Sci-Fi last night was about as good as he was going to be able to do. He'd spent money on the damned thing, he might as well get some use out of it, even if he couldn't play his rock-and-roll horn while singing Hot Patootie.

Some of the effect was probably lost on the fact that he was way, way more scrawny than Meat Loaf.

[Open!]

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"No, I expect not," Elphaba said. Then, in an effort to shift the conversation, even though she'd been the one to go down that track, she said "Your outfit is certainly... interesting today. Is it a special occasion?"

//You,// Jonothon noted, //must not be from Earth.//

Very astute observation, Jono.

//It's Hallowe'en, today,// he explained. //A holiday, around here. It's a little different around th'globe, but in this neck of th'woods, people dress up in costumes and go door to door, soliciting sweets from strangers.//

"...Why would you want to take sweets from strangers?" Elphaba replied, thinking that a rather stupid idea.

//Because children are stupid and will do anything for sugar,// Jonothon replied, as if that explained anything at all. //Generally, th'young ones at least have their parents with them, to go through what they've managed to get while they were out.//

Really, though. Going door to door for candy? Why do that, when you could go around looking for money, instead? You couldn't poison yourself with pennies, so far as he was aware.

Well, if you ate the pennies, that might have some effect...

"Children who go door to door begging for candy are asking for trouble," she said. "I assume there's some sort of cultural basis for this?"

//Mmm, yes. It's some sort of twist on th'day of souls, or something like that. It's supposed to be about honouring th'spirits of th'dead.//

At least, that was what Jono was fairly certain it was about. It was difficult to be positive, nowadays.

//Traditions change. People stop believing in things.//

"I can only imagine spirits don't exactly like being honored by begging for candies," Elphaba said, laughing a little but shaking her head. "Not to demean your traditions, though. I don't mean offense."

//None taken,// Jono replied, shaking his head dismissively. //I'm not planning on begging for candy, myself.

Not eating sort of took all of the fun out of that sort of thing.

//Besides, where I'm from, Halloween was never really so big a deal as Bonfire Night. At least while I was little. Apparently, American traditions have made their way there lately.//

Damn you, America. Infecting everything.

"Bonfire Night?" Elphaba asked, intrigued. "I have to be a bother, but would you mind telling me about it?"

Admittedly, she just liked talking to Jono. But she was genuinely curious.

//It's a night we celebrate one idiot bloke's failed plot to blow up our Parliament back home,// Jonothon explained. //Bonfires, treacle, fireworks...//

Really, the fireworks were a fitting way to mark the failure of gunpowder treason, he thought.

"You celebrate a failed explosion with mocking celebratory ones," Elphaba said, finding that rather amusing. "Though odd to commemorate such a thing at all."

//When yer from a place like London, you'll celebrate whatever you can come November,// Jonothon noted.

Perhaps, he noted, it would be a good idea to not share that they burned Guy Fawks in effigy, as well.

//It's... something t'do. And any excuse for fireworks, right?//

They didn't really have firework celebrations in Munchkinland.

"I suppose?" Elphaba ventured. "And I take it London isn't the most exciting place?" She was misinterpreting Jono's sentiment slightly.

//Oh, that isn't th'case at all,// Jono replied, shaking his head quickly. Well. Quickly for Jono, anyhow, who didn't tend to do anything too emphatically unless he was irate about something. //Quite th'contrary, really. But... well. November.//

And okay, yes, once you kicked up a tradition of effigy burning and huge public bonfires, really, it was just a difficult one to kick.

"There's something wrong with the close of harvest season?" Elphaba said. It was normally a big time in Munchkinland.

//London is... a large city,// Jonothon noted, understating the fact perhaps a touch. //It isn't so much th'close of harvest season for us as it is the onset of winter. Short days. Crisp winds. Rain.//

Really, Jonothon was totally a fan.

Truly.

"That does sound rather miserable," Elphaba admitted. "Though wouldn't the rain make any fireworks rather difficult to enjoy?"

Elphaba, you were getting yourself a kind of weird look, now.

//Well, he hope for a dry evening,// he noted. //I'm going to take a wild guess and say you haven't seen many fireworks, luv?//

"Not very common in Munchkinland," Elphaba admitted. "I've heard of amazing shows in the Emerald City, but never seen one."

//Never?//

Jonothon was no longer looking at you strangely, Elphaba. He was just... looking very thoughtful, instead. It was probably good to be afraid when Jono looked thoughtful like that.

//I wonder how much a decent selection of fireworks costs, around here...//

Because that was an excellent idea, right?

Elphaba smiled at that, though she also blushed a bit. "Please don't put yourself to any trouble on my account."

//Well, not just yer account, then,// Jono replied, definitely bemused at that blush, there. //I happen to enjoy fireworks, and next Friday is November fifth...//

This could not possibly end well. Could it?

"I would be honored to share in your holiday," Elphaba said. "Since I think it's a little late for me to celebrate this one."

//Well, so far as I understand,// though he'd been somewhat terrible at following up on and organizing rehearsals for it, //there'll be a bonfire on th'beach that night. Perhaps if I get a chance, I'll try to get my hands on some fireworks before then, and hopefully th'weather'll keep up.//

Because concerts, bonfires, and fireworks all seemed to have difficulties in the rain, for whatever reason. Go figure.

"I'll attend, then," Elphaba said. "And wish us good weather and luck when it comes to fireworks."

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Library, [10/31]

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