Title: A Lovely Hallows' Eve
Author: nend0roidgal
Rating: T
Summary: Nick's reluctance to help with the trick-or-treaters infuriates Monroe until he finds out why. Slash. Established Monroe/Nick.
A/N: Just a short one-shot. And, gasp, I'm actually a day early (that never happens)! Normally a day late and a dollar short, lol. Happy Halloween everyone! And to all my SGA readers, don't worry, I'm still busily working on that (while avoiding other things that I should be devoting all of my time and energy into, oops).
"Halloween's coming up," Monroe mentioned pointedly to his boyfriend one night as the other was washing the dishes.
Nick froze. "Oh, god," he said slowly as he turned to look at Monroe, a soapy dish in one hand and a fearful look on his face. "You don't want me to help you put up decorations, do you? I'm all for your enthusiasm, but…"
"No, no, I have that covered," Monroe quickly reassured him. He loved Nick, but holiday decorating was something he had to do himself, especially when he considered how terrible Nick was at it. "I just thought it would be nice if you could stay home this year."
Nick hesitated. "You know how busy Halloween night is for the police…"
Monroe crossed his arms. "I know, but… I'm sure they can handle it for one night. Or even half a night. Trick-or-treaters start pretty early, especially the younger ones. At least until 9:00, Nick? Please?"
Nick's eyes softened. "Okay, of course. I'll put in for leave tomorrow."
Monroe smiled. "Thanks," he whispered as he bent to peck Nick on the lips. "You don't know how much this means to me."
"I have an idea," Nick murmured as he leaned into Monroe, his arms resting against the taller man's shoulders while soapy water dribbled down the back of Monroe's neck. "And I love you, almost as much as you love Halloween."
Three weeks later, Monroe rushed around the yard turning on lights and lawn ornaments while Nick hurried to fill bowls full of candy, a slightly frazzled look on his face already.
"Okay, kids will start showing up soon," Monroe said as he reentered the house. "How do I look?" he asked, turning once in place.
"Great. Scary. Almost ironic," Nick replied with a grin. Monroe had decided to go as the Wolfman. The costume wasn't nearly as convincing as the real Monroe, but it was safer and less tiring that way.
"You're looking quite fine yourself, Mr. Burkhardt," Monroe replied as he pulled Nick into his arms. The only costume he'd managed to convince Nick into was a Count Dracula one, probably because he didn't have to wear a wig, and the younger man did a pretty good job pulling it off.
"I'd better watch my neck," Monroe teased as he bowed his head to kiss up Nick's neck. "Maybe I should turn you into a werewolf first before you - pfpht, pfpht!"
Nick stifled a laugh as Monroe spit, trying in vain to get the taste of white costume makeup out of his mouth.
"I told you we should have gotten the sealer."
"Oh, shut up," Monroe growled before he grabbed the back of Nick's head and pulled the younger man into a deep kiss. When he pulled away, Nick stumbled out of his grasp, his back hitting the wall as he nearly lost himself in laughter. Monroe quirked his head to the side, completely confused, until he turned to examine himself in the hall mirror.
"Well, now I just look like a transvestite," he commented as he grabbed a tissue to wipe off the transferred blood-red lipstick. "One in dire need of a shave."
He glanced over at Nick who was still leaning hard against the wall, a hand clutched to his side. "Will you control yourself? Kids will be here in a few minutes. And fix your makeup, you bawdy harlot," he teased with a smile.
Nick's face sobered a little. "It's only 5:30 PM," he commented as he checked his phone. "Surely we have some time."
"I told you, it starts early. Oh, speaking of trick-or-treaters, there's one now," the blutbad said as he noticed a fairy princess start up the walk towards their house. Monroe grabbed a bowl of candy in one hand, the doorknob in the other as he waited excitedly for the festivities to start. Nick's lips curved into a fond smile as he watched his boyfriend.
"Whatever makes you happy," Nick whispered just loud enough for the other to hear.
As the night wore on, Monroe saw less and less of the Grimm. At first Nick had stood besides him, happily dishing out candy to all of the greedy, sticky little fingers that came their way. Then he'd stood off to one side, watching with a smile on his face as Monroe did all of the work. Soon after that, Nick had graduated to the kitchen.
"Can you help me with the candy, at least?" Monroe called out to the other side of the house.
"I - I can't," Nick replied quickly.
"'Can't' or 'won't,'" Monroe muttered as he busied himself with dumping another bag of candy into a bowl between raids. He'd asked Nick to take a day off of work for a reason: he wanted help, damn it. He loved going all out for Halloween (anyone with half a brain could guess by taking one quick glance at his house), it was his favorite holiday after all, but keeping up with the demand was nearly impossible at times.
"Nick! Candy, please?!" Monroe yelled as a screaming swarm of ninjas and pirates descended upon the house with fervor, their eyes intent on Monroe like tiny human-heat seeking missiles.
By 7:15 PM, Nick had disappeared completely and Monroe was left to ward off the children by himself. Even if he didn't have superior Blutbaden hearing, he'd still be able to hear the distinct sound of the upstairs shower running. He couldn't believe it. Nick was normally so good about stuff. Even when he had to do things he hated, like cleaning toilets or scrubbing floors, he did so with a determined look on his face and rarely complained. If he did complain, it was more teasing than anything else. Monroe was just… He was honestly disappointed, especially since he didn't ask very much of Nick. Was helping him with this one thing that much of an inconvenience for the Grimm? He thought Nick liked kids and that the younger man would have jumped at the opportunity to spend a night with his boyfriend handing out candy to excited children rather than busting teens for underage drinking and stupid pranks.
Whatever, Monroe thought as he did his best to ignore the growing irritation in his belly so at the very least he could enjoy the rest of the night, Nick be damned.
A little after 8:00, Monroe had to call it a night. Normally Monroe liked going until 9:30 - 10 o'clock, but he'd ended up running out of candy earlier than expected. He would have liked to ask Nick to make a run to the store to get some more, but apparently the other man had more important things to fill his time with (he had yet to see Nick since the younger man had retired upstairs).
When Monroe stomped up the stairs a bit later, he didn't bother to hide his irritation. Inside their bedroom, he found Nick curled into a ball under the covers, his back to the door.
Monroe was so completely pissed, he didn't have the words to possibly even describe his frustration to Nick. Instead, he ignored the other man as he swept through the room as quickly as possible to grab some clothes before heading into the bathroom. By that point, Monroe just wanted to forget it was Halloween, something he'd never felt before. Hell, he almost wanted to start tearing down decorations immediately, get the whole damn thing over with. If Nick hated Halloween so much, why hadn't he just said something? Why ruin Monroe's night as well? And if it was that inconvenient for him to take the night off of work, he shouldn't have! When Monroe was done with his shower, he would seriously consider ripping Nick a new one…
"You know, I really don't ask for much," he finally snapped when he reentered the room fifteen minutes dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, ready for bed even though he felt far from it. Nick didn't answer him, but Monroe noticed his shoulder slump a little as though ashamed. Monroe wondered for a moment if Nick was feeling sick, which made him hesitate. He felt a bit like a dick for ragging on the other man if he was already feeling horrible, but he was so upset, he couldn't help himself. He wanted his side to be heard.
"If you hated Halloween so much," Monroe continued, "you could have just said, 'no.' I would have preferred that to -"
His voice trailed off as he neared the bed, his nose twitching suddenly. He quirked a brow. Curiously, he took another two steps forward and was overwhelmed by the strong, pungent odor of Nick's arousal.
"Nick..?"
"I'm sorry, Monroe," Nick croaked softly, sounding completely miserable with himself. "I didn't mean to ruin your night."
"Are you… horny right now?" Monroe asked, his voice flabbergasted as he completely ignored Nick's words. "Seriously?"
Nick's head snapped up to look back at Monroe, an incredulous look on his face. "How did you… Oh, right. Smell." Nick turned away, a red flush on his cheeks.
Monroe immediately crawled onto the bed to lean over the smaller man's body; Nick looked like he wanted to sink into the floor or just die.
"So you've just been laying up here like this all night? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"And ruin your big night?" Nick scoffed, his irritation directed at himself. "I know how much this night means to you. I thought it'd be better if I just left."
"Making love to you is the last thing that could ruin my night," Monroe said seriously as he kissed Nick's jaw. "You should know that."
Monroe felt horrible now that he'd been upset with Nick in the first place, especially when the only thing on the younger man's mind all night was Monroe (and not just fantasies about throwing the blutbad down onto a bed and ripping off all of his clothing).
"I'm sorry I was cross with you. I'm not mad anymore," Monroe apologized as he stretched out besides Nick. And he genuinely meant it. He'd already forgiven Nick, even for not being honest with him.
He pressed his chest to Nick's back as he rubbed the smaller man's shoulder softly, his lips ghosting across the exposed nape of the smaller man's neck. He could sense Nick's anxiety level slowly dropping; eventually the other man turned around in his arms to kiss him back. They kissed for awhile, relishing the familiar comfort, until Nick pulled away, no longer able to contain his laughter.
"Sorry, it's just… you forgot to take this off," he explained as he tugged at the synthetic fur adhered to the older man's face.
"Oh, well… crap," Monroe thought aloud as he touched a hand to his face. He imagined he looked pretty ridiculous. He'd been so angry moments earlier that he'd been operating mostly on autopilot; he probably would have fallen asleep with it on if Nick hadn't said anything.
But for now it seemed to distract Nick from feeling guilty about leaving Monroe alone, so the blutbad decided to roll with it. He darted forward to capture Nick's mouth under his own again, grabbing Nick's hands to rest them against his silly, artificial facial hair. The breathy laugh that emitted from his partner's mouth made Monroe's heart beat faster, his arousal growing. Things were shaping up to be a pretty great Halloween after all. It certainly beat chasing villagers through the forest any day.
Monroe eased himself into their normal post-coital cuddling position, drawing the other's back against his chest. He rested his head over Nick's, his tender facial skin pink from where Nick had tugged the fake fur free. Suddenly, Monroe remembered what he'd wanted to ask Nick earlier; so Monroe posed, as unobtrusively as possible:
"What exactly made you so… uh, well, hot and bothered earlier?"
Nick tensed immediately, his shoulder bone digging into Monroe's chest with its sudden movement. The only thing Monroe could immediately think of was the few young mothers out and about wearing costumes way too risqué for family-oriented activities like trick-or-treating.
"I won't be upset," Monroe reassured the other when Nick failed to answer. "Was it the moms? 'Cause a few of them were pretty good looking. Hot, even."
"What? No," Nick retorted without hesitation.
"Then what was it? Because if you say it was the kids…"
Nick sat up and whirled around to glare at Monroe.
"I was joking! Totally, one-hundred percent joking!" Monroe begged, his hands in front of him defensively. "Please don't punch me. I'm sorry…"
Nick's shoulders sagged after a moment. He smiled, rolling his eyes, before he bent down to kiss his boyfriend on the lips. Nick eventually returned to lay beside the blutbad, continuing to kiss him languidly.
"I probably shouldn't get this sort of treatment every time I joke about you being a pedophile."
"You don't know when to stop talking, do you?" Nick murmured between kisses.
"Not generally, no."
After a brief diversion, Monroe, not to be put off, asked again, "So, are you going to tell me why you were so excited earlier or don't you want me to know? Is it the wolf costume? Are you into that sort of thing? 'Cause you know I don't want to mess around when I'm in the middle of woging since it's so dangerous, but we could try some other things if you wanted. I could even wear this again," Monroe said with a sincere look on his face as he held up one of the furry sideburns.
Nick rolled his eyes when Monroe finally stopped talking. "It's nothing so perverted. Just… seeing you around so many kids, I couldn't help but think what a great dad you'd make one day. And… it was really hot, I guess," he finished, completely mortified he'd admitted anything at all.
Monroe buried his face in a pillow to stifle his laughter. When he looked at Nick again, he did genuinely fear getting knocked in the face.
When he'd deemed it safe, he said, "I'd understand if you were a woman, or if I was, but I thought that was more of an evolutionary preference."
"You know, I thought so too." Nick glanced at Monroe, his eyes looking the older man up and down. "I guess not."
Monroe flushed. Was Nick hinting at something? They had been together for nearly four years, but it still seemed… a little rushed. But neither of them could be considered spring-chickens anymore, well, certainly not Monroe.
"Does that mean…?" Monroe asked slowly.
"I think something else should happen first," Nick said with a grin, his fingers rubbing Monroe's ring finger suggestively under the blankets. When Monroe blinked several times, a startled look on his face, Nick kissed him on the nose. "Let's leave it for the morning."
"O-okay," Monroe agreed as Nick turned off the bedside lamp and straightened out next to him. Monroe was excited, anxious as hell, but positive it'd been the best Halloween night of his life thus far.
Well, until the next one at least.
THE END
A/N: I'm not entirely happy how this came out; felt a little unpolished but… it wasn't getting better the longer I worked on it (though I did go through and fix whatever errors I noticed; I'm obsessive...) :/ I thought of this when I saw Monroe interacting with the kids. Wouldn't he make a great dad? Anyway, thoughts always appreciated : ) Thank you for reading.