Chapter Summary: Casper is happy with his new look, even his friends approve- mostly. Casper and Thatch's relationship is changing even during the daytime, which is bringing suspicion from some of the students.

Casper sighed heavily, his eyes barely opening as everyone around him was starting to get up. He was exhausted, he could admit that. He was staying up far too late and barely getting any sleep. The first few nights he could handle, but it was all catching up with him now. The ghost boy tucked his legs up to his chest, pulling the thin blanket over his head to fully hide from the rest of the dorm. Just a few more minutes, it was just a Thursday after all- the most unimportant day of the week. Surely he could rest just a bit longer...

The bed was his safe space and he felt like he never wanted to leave it. In his hazy mind, he could still remember last night so well.

~~~

Thatch and Casper had snuck back into the dorm, unseen by the cover of the beauty that was the night. Thatch had led Casper over to his coffin, where he opened the lid and pulled up a soft mattress that covered the bottom, revealing a hidden storage area. It was filled with extra clothes and a few other things Thatch had stashed away in it. Now it made sense. Casper had always wondered where Thatch's clothes came from. Thatch, unlike some of the other monsters who wore the same clothes daily, preferred a cleaned, pressed look.

Casper had unclasped the cloak from around himself and offered it back to Thatch, who took it and draped it over the side of his coffin. The vampire then reached down to the bottom, searching around until he pulled out a white button-up shirt and some black slacks- identical to his own.

"Here, have some real clothes." The vampire offered. "Your shirt has no buttons anyways." He said easily.

"Oh... Thank you." Casper whispered softly, wary of waking the other monsters in the room. His clothes he had made himself faded back into his body- which seems to odd Thatch out more than Casper would have thought. The blue-eyed monster got dressed in the new outfit and it felt much better than the one he made. He could actually feel the fabric pressed against his body. It was all a bit big, the sleeves hanging over his hands and the pants dragging the floor. Thatch didn't seem fazed by this. He simply rolled the sleeves up to Casper's shoulders and rolled the pants up to the ghost's ankles.

"Maybe we can get you some actual clothes one night..." He carefully offered. "These pants will get dirty quick if you let them drag on the floor. They never clean this place." He angrily mentioned.

"Wait, I thought monsters liked things dirty?" Casper curiously asked. He always noted Alder and Dash making the school EXTRA dirty whenever they had visitors.

"Only uncivilized, petty monsters actually like the filth." Thatch turned his nose up. "Vampires like myself are a much higher class, overall the filth and grime. It's honestly disgusting."

Casper could only figure that made sense. Vampires always seemed the neater of all the monsters. They were suppose to live in huge, really fancy castles with cool stuff, weren't they? No wonder Thatch seemed to hate this place so much. "Where do you even wash your clothes?" The ghost boy asked, his head tilted to the side so his newfound blue-tinted hair covered his eyes barely, like an unkempt child. Thatch didn't seem to be in the mood for answering questions out of the forest, for he just glanced around the silent dorm and pointed to Casper's bed, almost as if shooing the ghost boy away for the night.

Seems Thatch had enough social interaction. Not wanting to overload the vampire Casper just nodded and returned back to his bed while Thatch climbed into his coffin for the night....

~~~

That was how last night ended, and while it had all been pleasant Casper realized he needed more than 3 or so hours of sleep per night- which somehow Thatch seemed perfectly fine with! He hadn't seen Thatch yawn once in these past few days, which surely meant the vampire was too use to getting this little sleep.

"Casper," Ra yawned as he walked over to the ghost boy's bed, lazily tugging at the blanket but not pulling it off in the slightest. "You need to wake up now, come on." He tiredly encouraged. Ra always seemed tired no matter how much sleep he got. The tired mummy pulled pitifully at the blanket once more just so Casper knew he was there, then yawned loudly.

Casper whined, knowing he would have to face the light of day now. He sat up, sighing as he let the blanket fall off of him, gently wincing as the light attacked his eyes. He really, really wished night lasted longer now. He kicked the blanket off of himself, more annoyed than anything that he had to get up.

As he lifted his gaze he saw Ra's mouth was agape and he was looking at Casper in... horror? Confusion? The ghost couldn't tell.

"Who are you!?" Ra yelled loudly, drawing the attention of every single boy in the dorm. Wolfie leaped off his bed and walked over, looking between Ra and Casper.

"... Ra are you nose blind? That's Casper. He's just..." Wolfie moved closer, sniffing at Casper, though his nose seemed to go to the clothes more... Casper quickly put his hands over the other's big nose.

"It's me, it is me. No need to do that. I just... Look different is all."

"Why?" Flyboy buzzed from his top bunk across the room.

"I just... I didn't want to... Uh, look like a marshmallow?" That was the only excuse he could really come up with. That's what Thatch had said, and that's the only thing that could be an excuse without bringing the vampire up.

"Aww, Casper you don't look like a marshmallow." Ra comforted the ghost, patting his back. "Your new look is cool. I had no idea ghosts could do that."

"Oh... yeah, me neither..." Casper muttered to himself mostly. "I'm hungry, aren't you hungry? Let's go get food." He swiftly said. As always, food interested Ra and the mummy boy seemed more than happy to drop the topic of Casper's new look.

As Casper walked out of the dorm with Ra he could still feel Wolfie watching him. He had to pull the other off to the side and speak to him alone- he couldn't let Wolfie tell anyone he noticed anything.

Mantha was already in the cafeteria waiting for them, and she seemed positively excited for Casper's new look, though the ghost could see she was hesitating about... something. But as they drew close she fawned over his soft fluffy hair, ruffling it up playfully.

"Casper you look amazing, you should have done this sooner but...Casper?" She gently started. "Why do you look so much like Thatch?" She asked.

"Casper looks nothing like Thatch." Ra scoffed. "I mean look at him, blue eyes, blue hair, and he's a ghost."

"Ra you're blind. Look, he's wearing... Casper is that Thatch's clothes?" she asked bluntly. "How'd you get Thatch's clothes?" she followed up, not even waiting for the first answer. She knew they were Thatch's. No one else wore those type of clothes- and it wasn't like there was a shop anywhere near the school.

Casper looked away from his friends, unsure of how to explain. But he wasn't keeping that many secrets from them. They knew he was sneaking out to follow Thatch, so maybe he could explain this one simple detail? It wasn't a secret or anything. "Ok, I'll tell you once we get food." He decided. Ra was looking like a very hungry mummy and he rather not let his friend stand there starving.

After the trio got their trays and sat down at their normal table Casper could tell Mantha wanted all the details, so he pushed his tray away, not feeling that hungry anyways. "I snuck out again last night, so I could explain to Thatch that what he saw yesterday wasn't what happened... He was expecting me to follow too, he stopped for me to catch up even if he couldn't see me... We talked and once he calmed down everything was fine again."

"Well, that's a relief. I was sure he was going to murder someone if he stayed that angry." Ra joked as he horked down his food.

"Ra, manners!" Mantha scolded, then turned back to Casper quickly. "Well? And how'd you end up like this- in Thatch's clothes might I add?"

"Well, it's rather simple." Casper giggled. "He was asking why I decided to look the way I did, and why I didn't change my form like other ghosts. I figured I could give it a shot, and since Thatch was there I generally copied him- his hair and all. He didn't like it slicked back so now it's all ruffled and down- he says he prefers it that way," as Casper went on he didn't notice the glance Mantha and Ra gave each other. "I didn't copy the clothes right though, and it was weird because the clothes were technically a part of my body when I made them. When we return back to the dorm he just gave me this old set he had." The ghost seemed pleased with his explanation. It was nice, simple, to the point and revealed utterly nothing about Thatch, surely!

Apparently not.

"Thatch said he likes your hair down?" Ra poked at his food, glancing between Casper's soft-looking hair and his weird looking breakfast.

"I never thought Thatch could like anything," Mantha mumbled.

"Come on guys, I've been telling you he isn't that bad. He's just..."

"A bully- still." Ra rolled his eyes, using his fork to point across the cafeteria as once again, Thatch had shoved Wolfie to the ground and was laughing with his gang. Seems Thatch was making a new habit of torturing Wolfie every morning. "Casper you gotta stop that, come on don't you have some control over Thatch?" Ra pressed.

In all honesty, the blue-eyed ghost had no clue. He only seemed able to direct and sooth Thatch, and that was when they were alone at night. He didn't know how things would go in the day surrounded by people... but he just couldn't let Wolfie be constantly bullied like that! And so the ghost stood up and walked across the room to the large group, his eyes set on Thatch. He didn't exactly know what to say or do, and he could feel his unseen heart thumping away in his chest.

"Knock it off, Thatch!" He raised his voice, standing before the group of bullies. His hands were shaking by his side, but he was trying to be brave. He hated seeing people hurt and bullied- and if anything... It made no sense. Thatch, the vampire who could be calm and caring was a horrid bully. Was this all so he could be the biggest, meanest vampire and go down in history? Casper just didn't see the point in it all.

The violet-eyed vampire looked up, his foot still resting on Wolfie's head, keeping the poor thing pinned down to the nasty floor.

"Ah look, it's marshmallow boy!" Dummy Girl laughed. "Once a marshmallow boy, always one Casper. Your new look is awful. Ew, your clothes are utterly dreadful too." She said snidely. Thatch's eyes briefly narrowed, but he then regained his calmer look. He adjusted his foot so it was on Wolfie's back, letting the creature lift his head to look up at Casper with desperate, pleading eyes.

"... Thatch I mean it, let him go..." The ghost repeated, a bit softer this time.

"As if Thatch will listen to you!" Dummy Girl laughed.

"... Yeah, sure. Whatever, he was getting boring anyway." The vampire responded, ignoring his gang. He removed his foot and let the monster scramble away from him, running all the way back to Ra and Mantha, knowing the two undead would protect him as Casper always had.

"Thank you," Casper turned back to Thatch, looking at him with those desperate blue eyes. The vampire wasn't saying much, and Casper knew by now normally Thatch would be in his face yelling.

Dummy Girl was in shock and generally looked mad. She looked around, and she grabbed another student's tray, filled up with the gross thing they had to call food in this school. She was about to dump it over Casper, when Thatch grabbed her wooden wrist and twisted it, causing her joints to creak as they were forced to turn ways they weren't built to. His violet eyes narrowed- barely moving as he easily subdued the much smaller female.

"That's enough." He hissed carefully. "This is boring, drop it." He lied simply. He released her once she nodded, not wanting to have her arm dislocated, or to simply snap. "Better..." He said as if comforting Dummy Girl to let her know he wasn't that mad at her, and this would be forgotten and forgiven instantly. As he turned away Dummy Girl was quick to return right back to his side, staring up at the vampire in confusion as she followed his lead out. Mosshead wasn't far behind them, but Slither lingered longer.

He silently watched Casper, studying him coldly, before his normally uncaring eyes narrowed threateningly; and soundlessly he went to follow the gang. Slither seemed upset Thatch had let Casper off the hook so easily, but currently, he was in no position to question their little leader.

And while Casper was worried about that look, he felt rather light and happy. Thatch had actually stopped, and protected him from Dummy Girl! Maybe all these nights together really were doing something. And so with a happy heart, Casper went back to his table where his friends were. Mantha was currently picking bits of food out of Wolfie's fur, trying to help him get cleaned up.

"Casper!" The werewolf perked up instantly, his tail wagging quickly behind himself as he stood up to greet Casper. "Thank you for your help today."

"Anytime." The ghost replied kindly, taking his seat once more. He was feeling pretty good about himself. He got Thatch to listen and stop picking on the werewolf, at least for now. "He was really going at you today. What happened?"

"Oh, I dunno." He shrugged. "He saw me laughing with Harpy, said my laugh was really annoying or something." He simply said. "I never really thought my laugh was anything to get mad about..."

"It's not," Ra commented. "Thatch is just a jerk face." He said without thinking, though he cleared his throat as Casper looked away. "Well uh, a jerk face sure but um, at least Casper made him back off?" He weakly offered.

Casper understood Ra and Mantha still disliked Thatch, and they had every reason. They had not seen the softer side of Thatch yet, they did not know. All they could do was believe in Casper's words. Believing could only go so far, and Casper understood. Tonight he'll have to prove to them that Thatch was ok! So, he made a plan...

Casper took his time, waiting and planning things ever so carefully with Ra and Mantha. When curfew hit he was nervous, but also excited. He was feeling more awake, but that was because he kept falling asleep during the day now. He slept through all of lunch, along with Dr. Burn's lessons for the day. He had a feeling he would regret that later, but these late-night meetings with Thatch was too nice to turn down really.

The day had passed peacefully, with Thatch not really picking on anyone. It was strange, but a nice sort of strange. Casper contently watched in bed, still dressed in his newfound clothes. He found it rather distressing to wear clothes. He never knew all the things he always did could make things so dirty! He had to be careful around food now, around dust and dirt and generally try to act like he was a solid THING that needed to tend to its body. One thing that was bad was, he couldn't get rid of his legs which were a habit of his, and he couldn't faze through things or go invisible! The clothes still showed when he did that.

It was like everything he did ghost wise was stripped away by wearing clothes... But he liked wearing them. So giving up his normal abilities didn't seem like too bad of a trade-off. He could faze out of them anytime but he really didn't need to use his powers at the school so everything was working out just fine honestly.

The ghost boy waited, listening. When Thatch's coffin open he didn't hesitate. He got up and went over, helping Thatch lift the lid so he could climb out. The vampire was trying not to smile, Casper could tell even in the darkroom.

"Actually going to walk with me this time?" He whispered, trying his best to not really look at Casper. The ghost didn't mind, just sweetly smiling as he stood by Thatch's side, trying to get him to leave the dorm room quickly.

"Figured while wearing these I can't sneak out, so I'll have to learn how you do it," Casper said, hoping that Thatch could teach him a few tricks about actually sneaking around without the chance of getting caught. Thatch seemed to understand because he just nodded and motioned for the ghost boy to keep close, and so he did.

The vampire lead him out calmly, taking the same path he did every night. "Why this way?" Casper had to ask.

"I memorized the gargoyles patrols. This is the safest way." He explained simply. Thatch said it like it was no big deal, but Casper was rather shocked by it. So Thatch had to sneak out every night to have memorized the patrols. Maybe vampires really didn't need that much sleep after all. It was so confusing.

"Why do you bully Wolfie?" He asked as they headed outside the castle doors, out into the fresh cool air.

"You asked two questions in a row." Thatch said simply.

"No game this time, Thatch why?" Casper pressed. "And don't say cause you want to."

"It's not cause I want to."

"Well, then why?" Casper stopped walking, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest.

"Cause I have to." Thatch sighed heavily. "You don't understand anything, do you?" Thatch frowned and stopped walking to look at the ghost. The forest was just in view, but still a good ways away. Casper wanted to talk about this now, which was fine with the vampire.

"I guess I don't...I lived in the fleshie's world all my life, I don't know much about monsters... don't be mad." Casper almost whimpered.

"I'm not mad I... I guess that makes sense," Thatch muttered. The violet-eyed vampire avoided eye contact with the ghost, instead of looking back at their school. "Look... Wolfie is a strange case, both his parents were werewolves, which is kinda rare." He explained calmly. "So Wolfie is normally a werewolf, and not just under the full moon like most of his kind. But the thing is... Casper, he can turn into a fleshie. If he does that while in school I have no doubt Alder and Dash will turn him to stone."

"So... How does that explain...?"

"Simple- as long as Wolfie is feeling any extreme emotion, whether anger, sadness or even joy he can stay a werewolf. If he ever becomes mellow and relaxes he'll be a fleshie... I bully him to-"

"-To keep him angry... Thatch you're helping him, why?" Casper gingerly asked.

"That's what monsters do, we help each other. Fleshies are the true evil in the world you know..." Thatch sighed. "Any other questions? You're breaking the rules though." He reminded the ghost, gently smiling.

"Yeah, I guess I did. I promise to follow them again." He assured the vampire with a big smile. Who knew Thatch was actually such a big softy?

"You better." Thatch rolled his eye and continued to walk. "Keep up ghost boy." He reminded gently. "We're not in the forest yet."