William and Martha both marveled at the decorations done for the interior of the gym, and figured that whoever had been in charge of it, be it staff or students had probably spent much of their Saturday getting things organized and ready. That likely included a lot of the things that helped served to have things ready. There were a series of long folding tables set up near the folded in stands that were covered in orange and black cloth with jack o lantern and bat cut outs pinned in various places. On top of hit there was a large clear glass punch bowl filled with what looked like fruit punch. It had a clear plastic ladle and a series of plastic cups stacked beside it. On the other end of the table were several boxes of pizza that looked like they'd been set up for those attending the dance. That gave both Anderson parents the confidence that their sons would be okay with regard to dinner.
That thought brought their attention back to the dance floor where they noted the sight of their younger son. Technically he was still in costume as Jacques Cousteau, but had adjusted the costume so that it worked better with his Stage 2 form. It let William and Martha follow his movements as his blue-green scales stood out as he and Julie danced together. They looked happy, and that gave them their greatest real joy in that Eric was coming out of his proverbial shell. So long as he was happy, they would be happy.
"I think they'll be fine," William gave a small smile and looked over to Martha for a moment.
"Yes, and it does look like the party is a fine one," Martha nodded, "perhaps next year we won't be personally taxed to be part of some of the other activities for the Skulk and we could stay for a dance or two of our own..."
William nodded as the two began to make their way out. They still had their own responsibilities that they'd agreed to perform for the Skulk's tasks that related to trick or treating. This included guides and guardians to make sure that no one came to physical harm and some directions to homes, and for William and Martha this also included provided having their own interest in seeing what costumes little weres wore to get candy. From what they could see some werewolves did come as werewolves, but that was a guess at them just wanting to be in their were form, just as they were presently in their own were forms, a male Red Fox in the traditional red phase and a Havana Brown werecat.
"Perhaps," William commented, "but then we'll still have the fun of giving candy to trick or treaters."
Martha nodded and the two smiled to each other and made their way out. As they did so, they met by a group of three coming in and three that they were fairly familiar with, though the third, William only knew by name and from what Martha had told him of her. The first two Samantha and Frances Twist. Both were in their human form, but both William and Martha knew that the two where werecats and the two did give a small smile of recognition to them. Behind them was Jennifer Decker. Jen Decker was another werecat, also in her human form, though she also looked a bit less "formal" than either Samantha or Frances. It was like they had just picked up the woman from her house, which William guessed made sense. From what Martha had told him about the special "pride picnic" that she attended to introduce her to her pride mates and welcome Jen Decker to that pride, William knew that she was a werecat, her were form was based on the Persian breed with long silky black fur that matched her hair, presently done in a simple pony tail.
Frances took the lead in the greeting as the three pride mates came together, ""Hello, Martha, William."
Martha and William both nodded back to their neighbor, and William soon felt his wife's paw-like hand gently press against the small of his back, just above where his tail poked out above the top of his pants. As she did so, Martha responded to Frances's greeting to introduce William to Jen. They shook hands and the greeting went well, though William soon noticed that Jen looked down as he held Martha to him and told her it was a pleasure to meet her. Martha had said something about Jen dealing with the loss of a loved one, but he couldn't know for sure and to a degree didn't want to come off as too nosy. Especially in front of Samantha, who he was fairly certain he'd be proving himself to for quite awhile given his actions while his transformation was still incomplete.
"Is everything...?" William began to ask after a few moments when the silence and Jen's downturned face began to become too obvious to ignore.
"I'm just getting over some issues related my husband's murder," Jen said slowly, and looking back up to him. William did notice that as she looked up she did look a bit more confident, "but I am doing better. The killer was caught and ultimately got what he deserved."
"Well... hopefully the party brings you some joy then," William said slowly and sounding a bit unsure, but he did a bit better. He was relieved that she was doing better. Losing a loved one had to be rough, and the mere thought of life without Martha, for any reason, made his bond tremble in fear inside him. Thankfully that bond had helped save his marriage, and he would do all that he could to keep it that way.
There was a short and awkward silence as William and Martha moved to aside to allow the Twists to have access to the gym doors and leading Jen inside. However, Jen soon noticed that they were truly on their way out and weren't just coming out to meet them.
"You're not staying?" Jen asked to Martha, "Moon Lake has sorta turned the school's dance into something the whole town gets involved in. You're free to stay if you like..."
"It looks nice," Martha gave a small smile, "but we've generally liked giving out candy on Halloween. I'd actually like to see what costumes little weres dress up in..."
William also knew that they had some duties with regard to the Skulk's planned official pranks for Halloween, but he didn't say anything out of the guess that telling them the games that would be played went against the rules. And from had gone on at the Skulk's meeting, he actually didn't see anything in the pranks that were to be played that were truly harmful. In that sense they were "innocent fun" that was something could be laughed off as "fun" and wouldn't be too hard to fix. In that, he saw no reason to spoil the surprise.
"Most costumes aren't that much different from what you've seen before," Samantha gave a small chuckle.
"Maybe... but we bought candy after the wedding," William commented, "it'd be a waste not to give it out to kids who've put up with a lot the past couple of weeks between a rogue and other nonsense."
Samantha and Frances soon shrugged, smiled, and then nodded in that order. With that, they let William and Martha head out to enjoy their evening. Martha warmly returned the wave that her pride mates gave her as they then made their way out through the doors that took them from a hallway next to the gym to the crisp evening air.
"She does seem nice," William said after a few moments as they made their way back to the Anderson family's SUV.
"Yes, and hopefully she does have fun," Martha nodded, "but right now, we have a bowl of candy and lots of little trick or treaters to give candy to..."
"And games to play," William smiled.
"And games to play," Martha smiled back, "and at the very end... love to make."