The crisp air smelled of apples and sun-warmed leaves. It was Saturday afternoon, he had a beautiful girl on his arm and Death the Kid wanted to murder someone. own fault, really. He never should have let Liz see that coat...
"Where are you going?" she'd asked, managing to pop into the back hall just as he was removing the coat and a scarf from his closet.
"Do you have a chip in my neck or something? Maybe I'm not going anywhere, you stalker." He snapped, wondering if her love of gossip had resulted in a sixth sense .
Liz was not to be deterred. "Obviously you're going somewhere dressed likethat."
"What's wrong with how I'm dressed?" Kid looked himself over critically in the full-length mirror on the closet door. Gray trousers, silk-blend turtleneck that wouldn't look bulky under his casual black top coat. He thought he looked fine.
"Nothing...if we lived in Vermont."
"Maybe I just wanted to dress warmly." the excuse sounded lame and he knew she had him.
"Kid, it's 102 outside the city limits, and you don't get hotor cold unless you feel like it. You only dress to fit in, so you might as well tell me where you're going and get it over with before I have to smack it out of you." Liz crossed her arms and gave him her best don't-mess-with-me look.
Beaten, Kid heaved a sigh and folded the coat over his arm, "Fine! I'm taking Maka to a cider mill. Do you have a problem with that?"
Liz rolled her eyes at him, "Who the hell wears an Armani coat and Prada shoes to the cider mill? Aren't they usually outside, with barns and crap?"
"Cider mill! We're going to the cider mill?" wherever Liz went, Patty was sure to follow. Great.
"Maka and I are going to the cider -"
"Did you call Black Star and Tsubaki yet?"
"No! I-"
"Okay dokey. I'll do it!" Patty whipped out her phone and dialed before Kid could stop her.
"Thanks for that. Really," he told Liz sourly, "Between getting ready for Death Fest and the Halloween Ball, this is the one Saturday I have free for over a month and I wanted to spend it with my girlfriend, not Black Star. Or Patty. Or you!"
"I thought she was going to Mexico with you in November?"
Alvaro Belasco, the Death Scythe in charge of Central America, had fallen while battling the Kishin on the moon. Lord Death hadn't found a suitable replacement yet, so Kid was representing his father at the Dias de los Muertos celebrations in Mixquic and Janitzio. While the two-day ritual was a time of celebration he looked forward to, international relations could hardly be classified as a hot date.
"That's business, not pleasure, and you know it. Dad wants Maka to start seeing what the diplomatic work is like. Besides, we'll be leaving for Mexico straight from the ball at midnight, while some people get to party until dawn and sleep through the next day."
"What time are we leaving?" Patty asked, "Tsubaki wants to-"
"Whatever. I still can't believe you're going to wear those shoes to a muddy cider mill." Liz interrupted, shaking her head, "Go throw on a sweatshirt and some rubber boots!"
"Hey," Patty tried again, "What time are we leaving?"
"I don't do sweatshirts. And they're my shoes." Kid's phone was ringing and he dug it out, careful not to disturb the box in his pocket. If Liz saw that, it was all over.
"Fine, see if I care! Just don't ask me to help you clean the mud and horse shit off them when we get home!"
"What time are we LEAVING?" Patty hollered, and Kid answered his phone just in time for Maka to hear it.
"What's going on?" she asked, "I can feel you getting upset. What's Patty yelling about?"
"Ask Soul if he wants to go to the cider mill with us." Kid replied tiredly.
"What? Why do you want take him with us?"
"Because Liz was grilling me about our plans, and Patty overheard and she's invited herself, along with Black Star and Tsubaki. I imagine Liz is going too, if she can get over her apparent fear of mud."
"Her fear of...mud?"
"WHAT TIME ARE WE LEAVING?!" Patty screamed at the top of her lungs, startling the cook in the kitchen across the hall. The sound of pans dropping and the cook cursing added to the racket.
"One hour!" Kid yelled back, "ONE HOUR!".
Across town, Maka held the phone away from her ear and soothed her boyfriend's soul with hers. As always, Kid relaxed into it like a warm bath and his sense of humor returned.
"Liz says to tell Soul he should wear a sweatshirt." he smirked at his sister, who was staring at him in horror, "And waterproof boots. Hipwaders if possible. Apparently she's really into rubber these days."