Glad You Came

Final Drafts

Having a demon dog was completely one thing, Brian admitted. Smiles could at least fake his way into being a normal dog. Hell, having a Wendigo follow you around almost seemed normal at this point. They'd gotten so accustomed to Steve following them around when they came and went, with the Proxys being the only ones who weren't chased down in sight without someone else being with them -- and that "someone else '' usually tended to be the Proxys, so at this point he was almost a pet as well.

But a goat? This just seemed so odd. Especially since it looked so -- so normal. No special horns or markings, it couldn't talk or walk on two legs. It couldn't fly or change into some demonic creature from the depths of hell. It was just -- a goat. Granted, it especially seemed to like the dry, dead grass that grew in an almost perfect circle around the house before turning into green grass, but that was about the only thing that made it different.. The girls seemed to like it, at least, and it hadn't tried to attack anyone else besides Jeff. Of whom, the animal still seemed to have some kind of grudge against and would attack on sight. Why, no one was sure and Jeff had yet it say. It liked everyone else, however. And it often took very kindly to those that gave it treats. At least it wasn't demonic or anything.

Hopefully.

***

It was a nice day in the Other Realm, for once. One couldn't be too sure if it was just in a mere constant state of gloom that had good days every so often, or if the weather correlated to the Tall Man's mood. In all fairness, it was hard to tell how the creature was feeling when it had no face almost always spoke in some monotone voice. At least that meant he didn't actually yell very often. That was a plus. Right?

Brian sighed from his spot on the swing sitting in front of the house, watching the occasional cloud pass by. The girls were having fun at least, if the sounds of their giggles were anything to go by. They had insisted on bathing on brushing the new pet goat -- of which Jane insisted on calling it Lucifer due to its full black coat; Jeff, for once, agreed with her on something -- since it was obvious it was going to stay. Tim had mentioned how surprised he'd been when he found that the goat hadn't been eaten by Steve yet. He hadn't been there the day Liu walked out to see Luci chasing down Steve until they disappeared into the forest, only to return shortly after by himself. As there wasn't any video proof, Tim outright refused to believe it without evidence -- and Brian couldn't quite boame him.
Here that was temperamental goat was, happily allowing Lazarus and Sally to pay it dry with a couple of towels as it ate at the dead grass growing around the house. A couple brushes and a few yellow and pink colored bows lay strewn around the grass beside them. Brian just hoped that those bows would stay on for longer than just a few moments, else the girls would be sorely disappointed they spent what little money they were given for nothing.

Luci didn't mind as Brian thought he would, either. If not for being in a totally different realm completely, Brian might have assumed he wandered in from some farm or house with just enough land. But then -- even if that still were the case, what Moot Point did that poor goat stumble upon? The Tall Man would likely want that "situation" under control if a mere goat could just appear in this realm like this. Hoodie had half a mind to sneak out to check one night -- Brian just hoped he wouldn't catch a cold from it. Hoodie wasn't the smartest when it came to dressing for weather, it seemed. Or in anything other than his classic hoodie and jeans.

Poor guy really needed a better sense of fashion, now that Brian thought about it. Maybe he'd talk with Jane about it later.

Luci was getting a house, at least -- or so Jane persisted, as Smiles also had one. Jeff, of course, tried to tell her no, but that didn't end quite well for him. Or Tim, considering she'd enlisted his help of all people. Then again, Toby had been banned from it and Tim had been all but overly worried since his recent asthma attack (he was fine, really). Brian couldn't find it in him to protest. He'd wanted a decent day off for a while.