The doorbell rang.
When opened, the door revealed two small figures standing on the doorstep, bags held in front of them expectantly. One was dressed as a ninja: head-to-toe black, a scarf with two eyeholes cut out wrapped around his head, and little throwing stars – probably cardboard, wrapped in what looked like tinfoil – tucked into his belt. The other was wearing a fairy outfit, with a puffy pink skirt, and some slightly bent wings attached to her back. "Trick or treat," they chorused, looking up at the person answering the door.
Their eyes went up. And up. Until they had taken in the full height of bulky, purple-furred muscle, standing nearly seven foot tall, and looming. Golden eyes stared down at them, fierce and intent. Lips pulled delicately back from long, yellowed fangs, and an ominous growl filled the air.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" the two children squealed, reaching that truly piercing note only small children are capable of. When they ran out of breath there was a moment or two of wide-eyed silence, then the seemed to realise they were still standing on the doorstep with a monster – a real, honest-to-goodness monster, not a costume – staring down at them, and it was licking its lips. They turned and ran, the boy dropping his bag in the process. He hesitated, scooped it up, and continued. The sound of squealing followed them down the street.
"Dammit, I was only gone for two minutes!" Cid cursed, fastening the top button of his fly as he hurried down the hallway to the front door. He glared at the Galian Beast, who had settled on his haunches in the doorway, and was staring out at the street with a drop-jawed grin. The new position didn't make him look any smaller, but the tongue hanging out the side of his mouth was more reminiscent of a large dog than a man-eating monster, and probably wouldn't have scared small children as much.
Probably.
There was a bowl of candy on the small table next to the door. It was nearly full.
"It's bad enough that Vincent refuses to even show his face on Halloween because he gets sick of being mistaken for a vampire," Cid grumbled. Although really, with the way the man dressed it was his own fault, and he had been known to sleep in coffins. "I hate being stuck answering the door every five seconds. But you!" He put so much emphasis on the word that Galian turned, looking at him with not-so-innocent eyes as the mechanic waved an accusing finger at him. "You enjoy Halloween too damned much!"
Omake: Completely aikonamika's fault.
The next day, Vincent felt sick to the stomach. "Cid, you let Galian eat the leftover candy, didn't you?"
"Well, yeah. It's not like it was going anywhere." Cid scowled. "Your furry side scared away almost every kid in the neighbourhood."
The doorbell rang.
"It's your turn," Cid said, refusing to look up from his newspaper.
Vincent made his way to the door, and opened it.
A small child with scruffy hair, freckles and a definite gap between his teeth smiled up at him, oblivious to the fact that Vincent was staring at him with a distinctly non-child-friendly expression.
"Hey mister, can I play with your dog?" He was holding a frisbee in one hand.
"My dog?" Vincent asked, confused.
"Yeah, the big purple one."
Inside Vincent's head, Galian was growling. I am not a dog! Vincent was too busy picturing a six-foot plus monster playing frisbee. Would the kid expect him to catch it in his mouth? He shuddered. No way he was going to say yes to this.
"We had him put down," he said firmly. "He ate too many small children. And he shed everywhere." With that, he shut the door.
"I thought you said the Beast scared all the kids away," Vincent complained. "One of them came back, and it's not Halloween again for another 364 days!"