A/N: Happy Halloween. :3 Written for the AkuBleepingRoku club's Halloween contest on dA. I barely managed to squeeze it in on time (got it submitted forty-six seconds after the deadline, but they were nice and took it anyway). BrokenKagami of dA did the world's fastest betaing job on this one. THANK YOU! Without you, I'd have made some truly embarrassing mistakes. I'd also like to apologize for what's quite possibly the least original title I could have come up with. Sorry, guys; it's too late (early?) to brain.

Roxas was six years old, Halloween was less than a week away, and he wanted nothing more than to be a zombie.

He had his costume all picked out. Raggedy pants, an old shirt of his brother's that was stained with dirt and grass, and lots of fake blood. Maybe even some jello smooshed up for brains. He could go around snarling and stumbling, and all the girls would think he was the grossest thing ever. To his first-grade mind, it was heaven.

Of course, Axel had to go and ruin the whole thing.

"No," he protested, stomping one converse-clad foot indignantly. "I'm going as a fairy princess this year, so you have to be my prince!" His green eyes narrowed, daring Roxas to disagree. Of course, his dignity was at stake here, so he not only disagreed, but did it vehemently.

"But I want to be a zombie," Roxas insisted. He didn't like the scrunched up expression on Axel's face--that always meant either a fight or tears or both, and Roxas liked Axel best when he was giggling. "Why don't you be a zombie princess instead?"

Axel gave an over-dramatic sigh, sitting on the kitchen floor with a loud flump. "Because the sugar plum fairy isn't a zombie. Duh. Besides, I don't want to be something scary. I want to be something pretty! And my mom already made me glittery wings." He flapped his arms to demonstrate, as if Roxas didn't know what wings were. Roxas wrinkled his nose with displeasure and ignored Axel, choosing to clamber up the kitchen stool and try to reach the cups instead.

"Roxas, I thought you were going to be a squirrel," his mother called from the dining room, where she was fitting Roxas' brother Sora for his pumpkin vampire costume. "Because we could use Cloud's old werewolf costume. Remember? Cloud, go help your brother get some juice, please."

Roxas stopped trying to wriggle his way onto the counter when his oldest brother's big hands pressed against his ribs, lifting him within reach of the cupboard. Momentarily satisfied, he focused on grabbing his favorite plastic cup and ignored Axel's unhappy screech of "But Roxas's mom, he's supposed to be my PRINCE!"

Cloud set Roxas down and moved to the refrigerator, pulling out a carton of cranberry juice. "Axel, you want any?"

Roxas rolled his eyes. "He likes grape juice," he said at the same time that Axel shook his head, face twisted up in the universal expression for 'yuck'. "You should know that, Cloud. Axel's been my boyfriend for a whole month already!"

"I stand corrected," Cloud replied, delving back into the fridge for the grape juice. "Hey, couldn't you guys compromise? Roxas, I'm sure we could figure out a way to make you a zombie squirrel or something." He finished pouring the juices and handed Roxas his cup.

Axel took his own, tugging on Cloud's sleeve when he leaned down to hand the cup over. "A prince zombie squirrel. He has to be a prince, or it's all ruined."

Roxas took a careful sip of his juice, considering the concept. A prince zombie squirrel wouldn't be so bad. It sounded pretty okay, actually. Instead of just being bloody and gross, he could be furry and bloody and gross. Being the prince of the zombie squirrels was even better, because that meant he could have zombie squirrel minions. Most importantly, Axel would be happy, and his mom always said that the most important part of being someone's boyfriend was making them happy.

Axel caught his eye, grinning again, and Roxas sighed with relief.

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"Prince of the zombie squirrels!" Axel and Roxas cried simultaneously for what must have been the zillionth time. The lady behind the door blinked at them, her mouth hanging open as she took in the various 'blood'-stained rags adorning Roxas' body. As they clutched each other's hands and darted away, pails of candy banging against their thighs, Axel shouted over his shoulder, "You trying to catch flies?"

Cloud, having been assigned chaperone duty, clapped his hand on Axel's shoulder. "That was rude," he scolded, but his disapproving words fell on deaf ears. Roxas, firmly clutching Axel's hand, had dragged him ahead to the next house, and his tummy was so busy squirming with delight that he didn't even hear his brother's shouts for them to slow down.

Being a boyfriend and making someone happy was hard work, but in moments like now, with the cold air on their faces and Axel's shrieks of laughter in his ears, it was worth it.