Despite already loving it in this new home of his, Luke didn't have a clear image of his future, whether he'd eventually want to go back to his old life and his original home, along with his real appearance. It all seemed like a big bummer when thinking about it now — he'd hardly even been in the mortal world that long yet — so it was easy to brush it off as a problem for his future self. Instead, he was just living in the moment, enjoying the now since it had always been hard to live that way back home. More specifically, he was enjoying his time now with Marnie.

"Don't worry, I'm not floating away anytime soon," Luke promised with a grin, giving her a light nudge with his arm after she poked his forehead. Of course, he was flattered as she continued to compliment his goblin form, but he still struggled to agree. There was no use in going back and forth and trying to change her mind, that was for sure. "Yeah, yeah, whatever," he attempted to brush her off instead. "We don't have to get all sentimental about it."

The real you, Marnie wanted to remind Luke when he referred to his goblin form as the old him (which was probably precisely the kind of humbling he was referring to.) She didn’t really like to think of his new look with permanence, as something that would be sticking around forever, but the longer he lived here the less likely it seemed that he would ever choose to move back home. It made her sad to imagine their friendship going back to being long distance whenever she eventually settled down in Halloweentown as she had always planned for herself. She didn’t know exactly when that day would come, but it was inevitable, and if Luke was still as in love with humanity by then as he always had been…

Marnie let out a little half-scoff, half-sigh, gathering herself to maintain the playful tone of their conversation. She wasn’t going to rain on her best friend’s parade just because she got a little sad. “If I don’t keep you humble, who will? You’re going to float away with that inflated ego of yours.” She poked his forehead as if trying to pop a hole in the aforementioned ego. “But I stand by that looking human doesn't make you look more handsome. You were a handsome goblin.”

Luke grinned as Marnie rolled her eyes. He was beginning to get much more comfortable in the mortal world, specifically within his own, very handsome human form. He hoped he'd never have to see his ugly goblin form ever again, truthfully. Marnie gave him the reminder that his new look wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon, though sometimes it felt too good to be true. This time, he rolled his eyes. "Cause you're the only one who prefers the old me," he reminded her, as if it were really that simple. "Which, I guess can be a good thing. You know just how to humble me."

@goblinboyluke said: "I probably look in the mirror 24 times a day just to be sure I'm still so darned handsome"

Marnie rolled her eyes; even if Luke was joking, she didn’t doubt the number he’d provided as a low estimate of how often he checked himself out. He’d turned into a real Narcissus since getting his human face back on. She still wasn’t sure if she should just be glad that he enjoyed her magical handiwork so much, or concerned about his ego growing at such an alarming rate. “You’re not gonna turn back into a pumpkin at midnight, Cinderella,” she promised, her tone teasing and just this side of bemused. “I still don’t get why you prefer this face so much anyway.”

I need to somehow get there in 2 seconds.

"You're a game changer." -@itsscphiie

The statement made Luke chuckle a bit, shaking his head at the thought of the mixed opinions between the Piper siblings. "You think so?" Well, it was good to know he had Sophie's approval; he always liked Marnie's brother and sister when he was able to see them during their Halloweentown visits. Things shouldn't have been any different now, at least from their understandings. To them, he simply had a prettier face and was starting a new life in the mortal world. Obviously, it was more than that, with his secret side-hustle with magical drugs from Halloweentown. Though he didn't think Sophie or Marnie were onto him yet, he got a sense that Dylan was suspicious about something. He likely didn't have any leads, but Luke could tell that his vibe had shifted since moving and spending more time with the eldest witch. "You should put in a good word to your brother for me — I've gotten a feeling that he'd disagree with that."

It was crazy, having watched Sophie grow up over the years and now she was here, dressed up with a date and still having her protective older sister take care of her. Luke grinned as the brunette stated the obvious; he hadn't been sure if Marnie had been sneaky enough or not, but Sophie's response only revealed that answer. Luke returned the half-hug with no hesitation. "I know, she just cares a lot," he chuckled. Luke understood, though. In fact, Marnie wasn't the only one concerned about how the youngest Piper's date was. "Everything's going alright, though? That's what matters most out of all this."

Catching sight of her sister making her way towards her date, the youngest Piper rolled her eyes and shook her head. No doubt was Marnie about to drill into Binx and see for herself if he was good enough for Sophie. Not only that, but she was aware that even after telling Marnie that things were better between her and Binx now, and he explained why he had ghosted her for an entire month, her older sister still wasn’t happy with the guy over how he had treated her, and so if anything, Sophie hoped that after tonight, her sister would see why she gave him another chance. That said, with her date preoccupied with her sister, that left the young witch alone, but not for long as she smiled at the sight of a certain ginger.. “More like Marnie snatched him away.” She replied, rolling her eyes once again. As Luke got closer, the brunette raised an arm and gave him a half-hug. “Everything’s fine— she’s just making sure that Binx is a good match for me after what happened before between us.” 

Luke was still getting used to the mortal world and adjusting to all that was different about it compared to Halloweentown. For one, he was the new guy. He’d spent his entire life in Halloweentown, so mostly everyone recognizes him there. In Echo Isle, he was really a nobody, but that was where the fun of it was. He could be whoever he wanted to be, just while balancing his bus driving job and his drug dealing side hustle. The skate park was already one of his go-to places the moment he moved here, both for his own skating purposes and for business related transactions. It hadn’t crossed his mind until this very moment that he’d soon get recognized from his line of work, turning his attention toward the father a few feet away with a young girl by his side that Luke recognized. “That’s me, Luke Phillips.” Pausing, he eyed them for a moment to try and recall names. “Katie, right?” He asked, pointing at the girl with a smile. It was actually kind of fun, getting to know all the kids as he grew more familiar with the routes he took. It was much easier to remember the kids’ names than the parents. “Maybe for the older guys, sure,” he laughed, “but not me. Maybe in another 30 years. You skate?”

@goblinboyluke

“Hey. You’re the bus driver, right?” Jay had noticed the other man skating when he entered the park and was almost certain he recognized him at a distance, but it wasn’t until they got closer that he knew for sure. Even then, he’d spent the next half hour strapping his daughter’s safety gear on and teaching her how to roller-skate before she wanted a snack break and they sat to watch the skateboarders, one of which being the red-haired driver. The man had only started doing their route about a month ago, and Jay knew they’d introduced themselves the first time he dropped Katie off, but he wasn’t really great at remembering names and Katie only shrugged when he asked her. “I always wondered where bus drivers hung out after work. I had my money on bingo halls.”

Luke shrugged his shoulders, not wanting Marnie to think that her protective older sister instincts were turning him off from the date. He was happy to be here regardless — away from Halloweentown, here with Marnie and really starting his own life now. It almost felt like tonight was the beginning of whatever he wanted his life to be next. Even if he was still tied down to his other business in Halloweentown, he could find balance and still be who he wanted to be, starting here and now. He chuckled, nodding his head. "I get it. Intimidation first, friendliness later," he grinned.

Truly, having Dylan there would have put Marnie at ease. They probably would've had to pay him to be there in that case, which then he really would be a babysitter. "Well, Sophie's old enough to not need a babysitter, but I get why you're keeping an extra eye on her," he continued, knowing she meant it out of love for her siblings, something Luke couldn't relate to as an only child with no close-connection with his own parents. The redhead paused at first, thinking of what he would want to do tonight. Of course, might as well take advantage of the special night and have fun, but he also wanted to keep Marnie's needs in consideration. There was a compromise, of course. "Let's get a drink, we can wait for the right moment for you to meet her date," he suggested, motioning for her to follow him. "We'll save a dance for after you get that out of the way."

“Sorry.” Marnie pulled her attention away from Sophie and her date to flash an apologetic sort of smile towards her own. “As soon as I get a chance to talk to this guy and make sure he knows what’s good for him, then I’ll be able to relax.” Even if Luke had the patience of a saint to put up with her focusing a little too much on her little sister since they’d arrived, she did feel bad for neglecting him. He had just moved to town recently and this was his first major party in the mortal world—only fitting that it was Halloween-centered—so Marnie really should be making sure he enjoyed himself as well. Luckily, besides obviously not liking the mask, he seemed to be having enough of a good time. His sense of humor was still intact to say the least.

Marnie couldn’t resist a laugh at the expense of her brother with the dig about him being unable to find a date. “You got that right. But we really could have used him here for babysitting duty,” she joked along. Treating her younger siblings as a loser and a child respectively were done out of familial affection; perhaps Marnie should have been a little more mature at this point, but Luke had a sassy side that only brought her own out to play even more—it had always been like that. “So what would you suggest instead of spying on my little sister and her date all night? Want a drink? Wanna dance?”

Now that Luke was no longer living in Halloweentown, he was enjoying getting to know Marnie's family better since he was able to see them far more often. Before, he only got to see them for short periods of time when they came to visit their Grandma. He came around to the mortal world perfect time for Marnie's favorite holiday, and it seemed that Luke and Marnie weren't the only two on a date tonight. Noticing his date's protectiveness over Soph tonight, Luke figured he could check on the youngest Piper sibling himself when he got the chance, noticing her alone for a moment with her date nowhere in sight. That was strange. "Don't tell me you scared him off already," Luke teased as he came up to Sophie, a smile present. "Everything alright? Your sister's worried." @itsscphiie

Even though the stupid mask Luke was wearing was already starting to annoy him (who wanted to wear something like this anyway? Why did people want to hide their faces at a fancy event? He was still trying to make sense of some of the mortal traditions around here) the redhead was still happy to be with Marnie tonight for her favorite holiday. He did prefer this to actually dressing up in a costume, of course, always having fun dressing himself up and looking nice. Luke watched as Marnie's eyes followed Sophie and her date as the two of them stood a few feet away. He smiled and shook his head, lifting the mask from his face. "Are you gonna be on Sister Duty like this all night?" He asked, though not in an accusatory tone. Sure, Luke wanted to have fun and not stalk the two the entire night, but he knew that Sophie was important to Marnie, so he wouldn't push her at all. "Maybe we should've made Dylan come for Sophie watch. He wouldn't have had a date anyway." @witchmarnie

Name: Luke Phillips Age: 29 Height: 5'10 Pronouns: He/Him Sexuality: Bisexual Occupation: Bus driver/drug dealer Zodiac: Scorpio sun, Gemini moon, Leo rising Faceclaim: Cameron Monaghan

Description

It had always been pretty obvious that Luke wasn't very happy with growing up in Halloweentown. He hated being a goblin, he hated his parents, and he hated his hometown. His parents were never really around much, anyway. They were there, fighting constantly and making up without giving Luke a second thought, but when he needed them most they never really pulled through. He learned at a young age that there was no point in relying on them. This only further built on his insecurities, despite that his parents were goblins too. He couldn't help but think of himself as hideous, unlovable, blaming that for the lack of attention he received from his parents rather than their own selfish actions. Ever the outcast, it made sense that Luke eventually found himself hanging with the wrong crowd while growing up in Halloweentown, even willing to work for sketchy people for his own personal gain. It was how he got wrapped up working for Kalabar initially, easily persuaded with the magical promise to make himself look human. From there, his association with bad crowds only continued.

Marnie Piper was a good influence on Luke, but he only really got to see her when she'd come visit Halloweentown, which wasn't enough to keep Luke completely out of trouble. Eventually, the redhead's local friends got him involved in local drug dealing. Halloweentown's drug business was a lot more intense than in the mortal world, with magical drugs that were far stronger and more dangerous than any regular drug. It was never something that Luke wanted to get deeply involved in, but once he was part of the business, it was pretty difficult to get back out.

When he eventually began to express more desire to leave Halloweentown for good and move to the mortal world, Luke had initially hoped it would be an easy escape from his current drug affairs, but instead it made things more complicated — suddenly, he was smuggling magical drugs through the portal to the mortal world, and now he had to adjust to human life and blend in, all while selling magical drugs behind the scenes. It isn't something Luke is proud of, especially now that he's spending more time with Marnie again, but so far he isn't sure he has any better options. In the meantime, he's found a local bus driving job that he works during the day, feeling more like himself now that he's in his human form and able to embrace what he's always wanted to be. Despite the bumps in the road with his current job, Luke can't help but feel it's a small price to pay to live in the mortal world.

Headcanons

There were a lot of reasons he decided to move to the mortal world. For one, he really has no connection to Halloweentown, no family ties or close friends to make him feel like he should stay. He also wanted to be closer to Marnie, missing her more after each time she visited. With his ever growing fascination of the mortal world though, no one ever really questioned his decision. Besides, who wouldn't want to live in the place where they were more attractive and more comfortable in their own skin?

Luke never has bad intentions at the end of the day, but that doesn't always mean he makes the best choices. He always proves his good intentions are there eventually, of course, which was exactly what he did for Marnie. The moment he met the witch from the mortal world, Luke became more and more facinated with human life, wishing he could always look as handsome as he did as a human (even if Marnie liked him better his natural way). Marnie is the one who used magic to make him appear human again once he was ready to leave Halloweentown, and he appreciates her for it!!

In his human form, Luke is the opposite of his usual, insecure self. He grows super cocky, self-aware of his attractiveness as a human (aka he's hot shit and he knows it!)

He was ever the pop-punk skater boy as a teenager. Still gives off that energy but more elder pop-punk energy now. He doesn't skateboard as much as he used to but it's still something he enjoys

He's still adjusting to the mortal world but he's loving it so far! He's even gotten super into social media and is gaining a decent following on Tiktok and instagram (which of course doesn't help his fat ego!)

ISFP