Title: Just Another Visit to the Office
Author: Kristen Sharpe
Date: June 8, 2009
Rating: G
Warnings: None.
Disclaimer:  Anyone you recognize belongs to their respective owner(s). Of course, given the nature of this storyline, characters may be hopeless mixes of original and pre-existing fandom characters.
Author’s Note:  Another entry in my series of ficlets based on mine and Sage's Halloween RPG, which is, in turn, based on Spaceman's "Halloween World" fanfics. This is set about ten years after our current timeline. In our world, a few weeks after Halloween, the world slowly began to revert to a more or less normal state. However, all manner of supernatural creatures were left behind, and people who had had a special affinity for their costume retained features, powers, memories and/or sometimes full split personalities of the character they dressed as.

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As he made his way up the short staircase to the office, he tried to ignore the feeling of eyes boring into his back.  It became somewhat more difficult when he pushed open the glass door and sensed the eyes of everyone in the lobby zeroing in on him as well.

No, they couldn’t all be staring at him he thought as he absently held the door for his partner.  It was just the usual tingle of the wards built into the doorway.

He glanced up to confirm the theory, green eyes sweeping the room.

Huh.  They were all staring.

Stubbornly, he shoved aside a suggestion that he stare back.  Instead, he glanced toward his partner.  Unflappable as ever, the red-head was already making his way toward the main desk to present his ID.  He was getting more than his share of stares as well.

Honestly, what was so unusual?  This was the Supernatural Counter-Measures Department.  If the people here hadn’t seen everything already, they should have certainly seen enough to find a couple of fairly average young men quite boring by comparison.

So, their attire was a little different.  He thought both of them had found happy mediums between functionality, conflicting fashion sense and that which most people considered normal.  His own outfit was quite boring really.  Only the long coat he wore was slightly abnormal with its dull red color.  Apparently, it was the natural color of fire rat fur, and it resisted most attempts at dyeing.  Well, that was fine.  Its flame resistance had served him well, both in the field and the office.

Huh.  Maybe…

He reached up to pat his hair.  Yes, the fire was safely out.  His bangs were a little singed though.  He tugged them closer to his nose and sniffed.

Oh.

If the rest of him smelled half as much as his bangs…

‘Yeah, “oh”.’

‘Shut up and fix it.’

For a moment, his hands weren’t his own as they moved together in a sharp clap.  A whirl of calculations rushed through his mind, some his own and some not.  Then, his hands touched his chest, and there was a brief burst of electric-blue light.  That done, his hands were once more under his control, and he used one to pull his bangs into range for another inquisitory sniff.

‘Much better.’

‘You’re welcome.’

Grinning now, he made his way over to the desk to join his partner.  As he passed the red-head, he quickly repeated the process of clearing the noxious fumes from his clothes as well.  Then, he turned and presented his ID to the man sitting behind the desk. 

“Edward Gallagher, Supernatural Forces Manipulation.”

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This would be my character Francis. His full name is Francis Aloysius Gallagher, and, at his crush's urging, he went as Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist, for Halloween ten years ago. It left him with a new look, new powers.. oh, and the original Ed stuck as a second personality in his head. But, hey, at least it gave him the excuse to ditch his original first name.