thecat620

Prompt: Anyone want to explore how Moarte got that Hawaiian shirt he's wearing? Is it a gift (and if so, from whom)? Did he steal it? Go shopping for it in his regular costume? Order it online? I want to know - if you can make it silly and spooky at the same time, so much the better!

I like to think that Moarte probably wasn't too happy with the idea of awaking from his slumber in his castle outside of October and he'd probably less than thrilled about wearing something so goofy but he'd secretly like it. ;)

~*~*~*~*~

Moarte was asleep in his castle when he heard a familiar beeping noise. Grumbling, he looked up at his communicator that Linkara had provided him his first Halloween working for him. Speak of the devil, it was the trilby-wearing comic book reviewer.

“This better be important,” Moarte yawned. “I was in the middle of enjoying several months of sleep.”

“I know and I wouldn’t call you if it wasn’t but…I kinda wanted to ask you something…” Linkara’s voice sounded.

“It couldn’t wait until October?” Moarte snarked.

“Not really…it’s the fourth year you’ll have been working for me and…I wanted to go over something different we could do,” Linkara reasoned.

Moarte raised an eyebrow at this. “I’m listening…”

“I figured since you’re a popular part of my little web series and fans love you, maybe we could do something for this summer,” Linkara told him. “I was thinking of calling a Midsummer’s Nightmare and you could go over the Marvel’s Zombies comics.”

Moarte thought it over for a moment. Zombies were one of his favorite monsters, after mummies, which he’d love to gush about. And the Marvel’s Zombies story arc would probably take more than what he could do in October. As much as he’d hate to interrupt his eleven month nap, he might make an exception just this once.

“Alright you’ve caught my interest Linkara. I’ll come by to film for a few days,” Moarte conceded. “But then you won’t bother me until October?”

“I swear I won’t. I even have a special gift for you for doing this,” Linkara promised him. “And I’ll have a room ready for you to stay in too. See you in a few days.”

Moarte hung up his communicator and moved his head back under his pillow.

~*~*~*~

Linkara was sitting on his couch in the living room of his apartment when he heard a very loud pounding on his door. “That must be him,” he grinned as he got up to answer the door. “Welcome back to Minnesota Moa—augh!” Linkara gasped as he saw a very drained-looking Moarte standing in his doorway.

“You didn’t say how freaking HOT it was going to be over here!” Moarte growled, sweat pouring profusely down his face.

“I-I am so sorry. Come on in and enjoy the AC. I’ll go get you a drink,” Linkara offered, grunting as he was handed Moarte’s bags. “A-And I’ll take care of your bags too.”

“See that you do…” Moarte panted, trudging inside the apartment. He moved towards the couch and flopped onto it. “I am very tired from my journey so we will discuss filming after I’ve had a chance to recover from this hell you call summer.”

Linkara nodded as he went to put Moarte’s things away. Judging from how heavy his bags were and the fact that he was wearing his usual spooky attire, the ghoulish host from the Longbox probably didn’t own that many summer clothes. Hopefully this little gift he promised Moarte could be the start of building a collection of those since, if this went over well, he might have him come by twice a year instead of once.

After several glasses of water, Moarte’s anger at the comic book reviewer simmered down to a mild annoyance. “Alright. You want to discuss this whole Midsummer’s Nightmare with me? Let’s get on with it,” Moarte started.

“Right. I figured we do most of the on-camera filming first and then we’d do the voice-over work. It’ll probably be easier if we divide the work so you’ll be able to pace it out,” Linkara told him.

“That sounds reasonable,” Moarte nodded. “I would prefer working more in the evening since, when I am awake, that’s when I’m more active.”

“Fair enough. I’ll try not to wake you when I’m recording during the day,” Linkara promised before taking out a box. “I also figured I should give this to you now.”

Moarte blinked before accepting the package slowly. “You weren’t joking about the present?” Moarte replied.

“Of course not. I’m genuinely happy you agreed to this so this is a token of my gratitude,” Linkara assured him. “And I figured this would probably be more comfortable to wear in this hot weather,” he reasoned.

Moarte blinked again before smirking. “You are very sappy…but I appreciate the thought behind it,” the ghoul told him as he opened the flat box. He tore the paper out before pulling a very loud orange shirt out from the box. “Uh…what is this?” Moarte questioned as he held the shirt as far from his body as he possibly could.

“It’s a Hawaiian shirt!” Linkara grinned. “I was thinking what would be something you could wear that isn’t your usual attire. Then it hit me; this would be perfect!” At the raised eyebrow from the ghoul, Linkara continued. “It’s still going to be spooky but I thought you could…dress for the season?”

Moarte gave him a flat look. “Can I still wear the cape and hat?” he asked.

“Of course,” Linkara nodded.

“Fine…it’s not my style but I’ll wear it,” Moarte sighed as he put the shirt back in the box. “I’m rather tired from my journey so would you mind if we filmed later tonight or tomorrow?” he requested.

“Sure,” Linkara replied.

With that, Moarte retired to the guest room for now. He saw his things were placed carefully by the wall which was appreciated. The last thing he wanted was to trip over his clothes in the middle of the night. He sat down on the bed and glanced over at the box. He was grateful Linkara considered his feelings but he was expected to wear something this tacky?

“It’s so gaudy…” Moarte cringed as he pulled the shirt out. “So tacky…” He rolled his eyes as he put it on, only to make sure it’d fit. “I can’t believe…how good this looks on me,” Moarte mused as he looked at himself in the mirror. He was so used to wearing dreary colors that the thought of anything else repulsed him. But looking at himself and seeing how the pattern really popped against his pale skin, he was second guessing himself.

Linkara happened to glance into the room to check on Moarte, seeing if he would want something to eat when he caught him posing in front of the mirror. He snickered quietly to himself and moved away from the door; he could talk to him later.

“Mental note; buy more tacky shirts as future Christmas gifts…” Linkara mumbled to himself, grinning at what he saw.