Chapter Summary: Ra is a dear friend to Casper, and Casper realizes he'll do anything to protect his friend. Anything.

Casper spent the day following Mantha and Slither around, since he actually knew where they went, unlike Ra and Thatch. He wished the two had more luck than their group. He helped move things, search chests buried under crap to see if there were useful things and generally assisting the pair to search the large, eerie location. Before long they had found several padlocks, and Slither managed to unscrew some plates off the front of an old dusty chest that they could use one of the padlocks for, but only half the padlocks they found had keys to them. The one they were favoring, a nice gold plated padlock was missing its key so they were searching for it.

They all agreed a gold-colored padlock might make Ra happy because... mummy's like gold, right? And besides, if Ra was forced to put a lock on his own bed, they wanted to give him something nice. Ra had been through so much, Casper knew every small deed could help in some way, surely.

So they ended up searching all day, but admittedly the attic was bigger than Casper first thought. They barely got done with half the room when dinner time was approaching. They called it a day, tossing their gathered items into an empty box near the door so they could keep track of them. Mantha looked so tired Casper was sure she was just going to fall to pieces if she didn't hold herself together. Casper didn't even bother flying- too much effort. The exhausted trio headed down to the cafeteria, and the ghost admittedly felt irked when he saw Ra and Thatch eating dinner and laughing, looking perfectly fine.

Casper took a calming breath and tried to remain friendly as he headed over to the table. Thatch looked up and smiled brightly. "Hey, Casper!" He greeted happily. He patted the spot right beside him, wanting the ghost to sit down. "Wow, you look exhausted. I'll go get you your tray." He decided. He then took notice of Slither and Mantha. "Oh er... I'll get them trays too." He decided and got up. Casper begrudgingly took his seat and watched as Mantha sat beside Ra and Slither... Well, Slither seemed to think sitting was too much of a hassle because the monster just curled up beside the table and settled right there for a nap.

"Slither, come on get up." Mantha yawned tiredly as she peered over the table. "Sit with us."

"Hmmn... In a minute." Slither softly muttered, using his extendable arms as his personal pillow, just seeming content to lay on the stone floor. Mantha rolled her eyes and rested back in her seat and doing her best to not glare at Ra, who was just ever so chipper as he ate his meal. Casper could see Mantha clearly wasn't too happy, but only because she was exhausted.

Casper tried to keep positive. They almost got the perfect lock for Ra. They just need to find the dumb key...

Thatch returned, struggling to balance the three trays he was carrying, but the vampire seemed pretty stubborn and refused help from Wolfie who had kindly offered it on the way. Thatch carefully set the trays down in front of Casper and Mantha, and of course in front of Slither's empty spot. It was only then Slither hissed and got up, finally crawling into his seat. As Thatch sat back down Mantha cleared her throat. "So," she started with an authoritative tone.

"We found several locks in the attic."

"Oh, that's cool," Ra said offhandedly, earning a glare from the zombie which he seemed completely oblivious to. "Once Thatch and I left the dorm Thatch remembered he had an extra set of locks and spare supplies in his coffin."

"In case one of them broke. Mom sent me 5 spare parts of everything." Thatch rolled his eyes. "Even got some tools we can use." Casper took a deep breath, trying not to flip his shit. This was handy, yes. Would have it been nice to know before they searched the attic for hours on end looking for a single golden key for the dumb gold padlock they found? Yes, it would have been fucking nice! Oh, but Casper tried to calm down. He bet Thatch's supplies was all black to match his coffin.

"Well, that's nice," the ghost drew out slowly. "But I don't think black will match Ra's sarcophagus that much. Me, Mantha and Slither all found a gold padlock and some golden screws and stuff. Slither managed to salvage them off a chest. We just need to find the key to the padlock." He said proudly.

"Oh true," Ra said thoughtfully. "I guess black won't look that good, Thatch. Nice work Casper." Ra smiled brightly. Finally. Casper smiled and motioned over to Mantha and Slither. "They did most of the work."

"Awe Casper you're too modest," Mantha mumbled, too tired to give him a full-hearted smile. She looked like at any moment she would just fall asleep. Thatch seemed completely oblivious to just how tired the trio was.

"I guess black would look awful with Ra," he hummed softly, then shrugged. "Tomorrow we'll look for the key. Ra and I have been talking almost all day."

"What on earth can you two be talking about all day?" Mantha watched the two carefully, suspiciously. Ra and Thatch both started to laugh, then simply continued to eat. Seems like they resisted to answer Mantha. Casper was growing more curious... Surely Thatch would tell him when they were alone again. Thatch wouldn't keep a secret from him now! So with that comfort in mind, the exhausted ghost started to eat his dinner. He couldn't wait to crawl back into bed... Should he sleep in his own bed, or Thatch's coffin? He wondered what Thatch wanted... Eh, he'll worry about that when they get to the dorms.

Dinner was pretty uneventful. Ra and Thatch kept looking at each other and trying not to laugh. Clearly there was something going on, but honestly, Casper was too tired... As the small group headed into the dorm Thatch gently guided the tired ghost towards the coffin. Well, guess Casper got his answer. He faintly smiled as Thatch opened the lid for him and helped the tired ghost climb in. "Hey, Casp? Think you can get Cappy to sneak us into town tomorrow?" Thatch excitedly asked. "I swear it's nothing bad, I was just thinking we could go clothes shopping again."

"Go to sleep," Casper whined as he settled right down. Thatch gave a small pout but accepted that Casper seemed tired. The vampire climbed into the coffin after watching Ra and Slither get into their beds, and of course, waving goodbye to Mantha as she headed for the girl's dorm. As the vampire climbed into the coffin Casper moved, making sure there was enough room for the vampire.

"You're not wearing clothes again." Thatch huffily said. "I didn't want to mention it though. I think it's cause you don't got enough outfits."

"Hmn... Perhaps."

"So we'll fix that tomorrow-"

"Shhhhh..." Casper raised his hand and put it over the vampire's mouth, quieting the chattering monster. "Go to sleep," he ordered tiredly. Thatch playfully gave a hiss before he laid down beside Casper. He, of course, locked the lid, purely because the vampire didn't want anyone seeing them. In the coffin was an intimate experience. Just them and their trust for each other. Casper naturally allowed Thatch to hold onto him, the pair contently cuddling as they dozed off into their peaceful dreams...

~~~

Ra's yelling woke them up. It would have woken anyone up. Casper's eyes snapped open, terror striking him at the sound of his friend's screams. Thatch sat up to bolt out of the coffin and slammed right into the lid. He held his head and cursed loudly, kicking his foot and releasing the latch for the dumb lock. He was then able to push the lid open and crawl out of the coffin despite the painful knot he had swelling on top of his head. Everyone was awake in the dorm, their eyes wide as they saw Dummy Girl and Ra fighting.

"Oh for star's sake... Ra, break it up!" Thatch shouted and hurried over, prying the mummy off of the living puppet. Dummy Girl was quick to get to her feet and attempted to bolt for the door, but Casper immediately got in her way. He didn't trust this. Dummy Girl wasn't supposed to be in here anyway, and clearly, she tried something with Ra. Casper could feel it in his gut.

"Give it back! Thatch get it!" Ra yelled, struggling against the vampire, but Thatch was stronger. "Dummy Girl you're nothing but firewood if you-"

"Easy there," Thatch tried to restrain Ra, pulling him back and away from Dummy Girl for her own safety, that was until the awful puppet started to laugh. Thatch's eyes narrowed and he looked far more hostile, but he was still holding Ra back, though it was more for Ra's safety.

"I'll give it back if you give me my camera!" Dummy Girl screamed back at Ra.

"H-hey hey! You can't be bullying him!" Wolfie yelled from his bunk, growling angrily. "You can't be stealing from people!"

"They stole first dog-brains!" Dummy Girl snapped, her eyes going to Casper and she gave a disgusted look. "Give me back my camera, or I break this!" She yelled, holding up Ra's beetle pendant, the one he always wore around his neck. The gold pendant glowed green in the gentle light of the room, the small legs actually wiggling, as if the beetle itself was desperate to get away- wanting to crawl back to Ra.

Casper didn't know the importance of it, but clearly, it was terribly important to Ra even it the object was a bit freaky. Casper watched the pendant as it swung gently in Dummy Girl's hand, then let his blue eyes go back to Thatch and Ra. Thatch now had his arms around the mummy, keeping Ra close and protected.

"I didn't mean for this to happen Casper, but please... I can't lose that. I need it back."

"Then you'll get it back," Casper said adamantly. He looked at Dummy Girl, keeping his head high and his chest puffed out with confidence. "You're an awful monster. No wonder all your friends deserted you." He snapped. Casper just felt so enraged, and yes what he said was mean, but it was true! He watched Dummy Girl's mouth uselessly swing in silence, taken back by Casper's aggressiveness. She looked to Thatch as if silently asking what the hell was going on. Thatch just huffed and turned his head away, giving her no kindness or comfort.

Casper shuffled over to Thatch's coffin, naturally shutting the lid, well not shutting it. He more like slammed it as he watched Dummy Girl. He then rolled his eyes and fazed through the wood, sighing as he was encased in the dark comforts of Thatch's coffin. He opened up the secret compartment, removing the camera carefully. He nervously moved the object hand to hand.

He... Ra was so important to him, and if that necklace was so important to Ra then so be it. Casper could handle his pictures being posted everywhere. He would fight Dummy Girl the right way. No stealing, no planting evidence, none of that. He'll just have to trust in himself and all his friends to make things right. The ghost was tempted to delete the pictures right now, bur scrolling to the right one and deleting will take time, just enough time for Dummy Girl to become suspicious, and the camera made a sound when it booted up. He slammed the compartment shut and pushed the lid off the coffin, flying out and holding the camera by its strap. "Give Ra the pendant and you can have this dumb camera. I'm not scared of you."

"You should be!" Dummy Girl snapped but clearly wasn't in the mood to argue with the ghost. She strolled over to Ra, looking at the mummy and her previous friend in disgust. She then pitched the pendant at Ra, who quickly caught it and held it close to himself, pure relief on his face now that he had it back. As Dummy Girl marched towards the door Casper flew towards her and begrudgingly handed her the camera as agreed. He'll let Dummy Girl think she won. He knew he was better than her, his friends were all better than her!

The second Dummy Girl stepped outside the dorm Casper slammed the door behind her. He was just so mad!

"Whoa there Casper," Wolfie whimpered. "You ok? What's going on with the camera thing?" He restlessly asked. Casper looked back into the dorm, seeing nearly everyone was gawking at him. He could just feel their shock. Yeah, he had yelled at Dummy Girl, said some mean things too. He was supposed to be a friendly ghost but...

"That camera has pictures of me and Thatch in it... She's going to show Kibosh." The ghost weakly answered, slowly floating over to Ra and Thatch with his head hanging low. The mummy was sitting beside his sarcophagus, the pendant back around his neck. He was just resting back, eyes closed while holding the beetle tightly in both hands, keeping it close. Thatch was kneeling beside Ra, looking worried. As Casper drew near Thatch looked up and offered a gentle smile.

"He's ok, just a bit stressed out..." Thatch softly spoke, seeming to assess Ra's situation in a better light than Casper. The ghost was purely worried about his dear friend, sadly watching Ra- but Thatch spoke again and demanded on ghost's attention." Casper, what are we going to do?"

"I'll handle it."

"You can't Casper. There is no way."

"I said... Yeah." He mumbled softly. He honestly had no plan, no clue what to expect. "Dummy Girl is going to plaster those pictures everywhere."

"Well.. why don't we hide them!" Quasi yelled from his bunk. "We can wake up early. Right, right? We can all go searching and hide them!"

"Yezzz. We can heeelpzzzz!" Fly-Boy buzzed from his bed.

Casper could feel himself smiling. He still felt horrid but... If everyone here wanted to help him then, of course, he'll agree. "We'll just have to get every picture come morning. We'll all wake up early, an hour before our routine alarms." He said confidently, and almost instantly everyone was changing their alarm clocks. "Everyone get to sleep, we all need to be awake and ready come morning!" Maybe they really could keep everything a secret. They would fight Dummy Girl daily if that's what it takes!

Casper looked back at Ra and smiled kindly. He had some questions as to why that beetle pendant was so important, but it didn't matter. He helped a friend, and now all his friends would help them. "Go to sleep Ra," he spoke softly. Casper helped move the stone lid while Thatch kindly guided the mummy right to bed. As they pushed the heavy lid shut Casper and Thatch looked at each other, and both of them couldn't help but let a smile form.

"You were actually scary for a bit Casper."

"And you were so friendly."

"Don't expect it frequently." The vampire huffily said. "I'm not used to the whole 'nice' thing."

"And I'm not used to being so... mean. I think I prefer the way we are." Casper giggled softly and took the vampire's hand, escorting him back to his coffin. "You need to stop hitting your head by the way."

"Oh shut it marshmallow." He grunted as he hoisted the lid of the coffin and climbed in, Casper naturally following him. No one even seemed to bat an eye at the fact they were sleeping together. It just seemed normal now, and no one minded it anymore. Love was ok, being friendly was ok. Why couldn't the adults just accept that?