Getting Ready for the Procession

"Okay okay, Al, enough already!"

Rafe was never one to admonish his enthusiastic sidekick and best friend, but he couldn't deny he was in a hurry tonight. The street outside thrummed with the sounds of party-goers, dancing and gyrating to the beat of drums and the rattle of castanets, their shouts and cheers slicing joyfully through the evening air. It was a rare occurance for the android to get to participate in anything like this, and the excitement was downright infectious.

Rafe intended to fully enjoy the occasion, even if it was only part of tonight's mission.

"Just a little more, Rafe!" Alex giggled, not perturbed in the slightest. "Hold still!"

Brush in hand, the young mechanic applied the last few strokes to Rafe's face, perfecting a painted mask that would serve both to blend in with the crowd, and to celebrate a bit of course. Alex always loved when work and fun happened to tie in with one another.

She'd had her misgivings at first; The sound of a holiday called "Day of the Dead" seemed somewhat frightening to the young girl. Not that anything could ever truly be scary with Rafe at her side. As soon as the shopkeeper had told Alex about the more colorful aspect of the occasion, and lent her his palette of face paints, all fears were forgotten.

"There!" Alex chirped, applying the last stroke with a flourish. "All done! And awesomely too," she added with a giggle.

"All right then, let's get going!" Rafe grabbed his long black trench coat from the table he'd draped it on, and as the garment fell into it's usual place, the android caught sight of his young friend's wide-eyed stare. "Whaaat?" Rafe asked, impatiently.

"Nothin'!" Alex pulled her own coat on after a moment, sticking her tongue out at Rafe. "Just admiring my masterpiece!" She pointed a finger at the android, indicating his macabre yet festive new look, and the way his trench coat accentuated it perfectly. "THAT artwork earns ME an extra piece of cake tonight!"

Rafe couldn't help a small laugh as he followed a bouncing Alex out of the shop and into the awaiting crowd.



My entry for my awesome friend *Robo-Shark's latest contest! As soon as he said it could be Day of the Dead themed, I was like, "...YEP!" This is not the idea I had at first, but that idea sucked. I'm BEYOND happy with this one!!

Got a little carried away with the border stuff, but it was FUN! And then I decided it needed a little bit of writing to go with it. So enjoy(?) my drabble, there... XD Jay - Hope they're not way out of character or anything!!

Rafe and Alex are property of the amazing unstoppable unfathomable delectable and magically delicious *Robo-Shark!

P.S.!! There are 2 random sugar skulls, and the rest represent characters belonging to the contest host and myself, respectively!