It was the night on Halloween, and throughout the neighborhoods with their designer decorations of ghouls and witches and children running amok with glee and excitement, Arthur was in his home, waiting impatiently for the children to come over for his candies. Every Halloween year, Arthur's house was known for its spectacular setups, its realistic backgrounds and, the most favorite thing in every child's mind, Arthur delicious candies he prepared himself.
Arthur went the extra mile this year; baking and crafting newly created delights such as ghoul vanilla flavored cookies, red velvet vampire fanged lollies, and his newest creation: black licorice eyeballs with chocolate filling. Yes, he knew children despised black licorice, but he used the chocolate filling to overcome the nasty flavor polluting their mouths.
Tonight, however, the children seemed busy for the other houses and it was only nine o'clock. He worried this year's decorations were a tad too realistic...
He remembered asking the children of the neighborhood what they wanted his house to look like this year, like he always does every year since they gave the best ideas and had given Arthur inspiration since he came to this neighborhood. Maybe the ghouls roaming dreadfully around his house, the spiders crafting their webs above the roof, the zombie arms grabbing one too many times from the soil and his latest addition of clowns sitting at the porch looking dead but holding bowls of candies for those who dared going near them was a little...excessive?
Arthur peered through his window, watching for any signs of movement on the dark, chilly night of October. Alas, the only movement he saw was the zombie arms dragging themselves out onto the pavement, lurking for anything to grab. He made a mental note to fetch them later on at night, preferably when the neighborhood was sound asleep.
"Hmm..." Arthur mused quietly to himself, puzzled for the lack of action around the house.
But then, like a flashing miracle out of nowhere, a body was just beyond the sidewalk, frozen as the stranger looked up and shivered at the sight of his sweet home. Arthur snickered, amused of the youngster's anxious body language. He wondered mischievously if the stranger would go near the clowns, thinking it a simple prop instead of a paid employer from his working place.
But the stranger casually walked forward like he wasn't afraid. Arthur's original thought of a dared child was out of the picture, so who could it be? Arthur got up fully, straightening his starry cloak and adjusting his pointy warlock hat. His full bowl of candies was taken with him as he headed for the front door, getting ready to scare the child playfully.
Only a few minutes later, the front porch doorbell rung loudly in his house, but it was the sound of a woman screaming cold, bloody murder. It was a fine touch... he mused confidently.
But instead of the youngster's scream, he heard Francis' scream and a crash in a quick motion. Arthur pulled his curtain away and saw Francis, dressed in a colorful clown suit, running off with a shrilling scream that would tear any cat's coat off in fear of the unknown.
"Bloody bastard," muttered Arthur irritably. "I shouldn't've had him for this damn job."
Arthur grabbed the golden doorknob, swung open the door and was about to say something when-
WHACK!
A cool, creamy substance invaded Arthur's face, his muffled scream vibrated from the tin plate and he collapsed backwards, landing uncomfortably on his bottom. The bowl of candy didn't break, but the candy splattered all over the floor and Arthur swore he sat on a cookie because of the crumbled feeling below. Arthur succumbed to his fallen feeling and got up with a spiteful anger rushing in him, preparing his confrontation with the stranger.
"Who the hell are you?" His voice shouted, some of the substance slipped into his mouth. It was whipped cream!
A hearty laugh rung in Arthur's ears; the man hooted with glee of his successful prank. It didn't take a moment for Arthur who recognized that excited tone.
"Alfred?" Arthur hissed, slowly becoming more irritated.
"Yeah, that's me!" Alfred laughed happily. "I can't believe you...you fell for that!" His ceased laughter bursted into a larger hoot, more obnoxious than the previous.
Wiping his face off with his hands, Arthur saw Alfred in a costume which he had no idea what it was. It looked like something from his games, with his nerf-looking toy gun resting on his back and a laser beam glasses in red frame covered his eyes and bottom half of his face.
Despite his first demanding question, he asked, "What are you wearing?"
Alfred took his mask off, grinning childishly. "I'm Soldier 76!"
Arthur tilted his head, confused.
"From Overwatch? The game?"
"I do not recall such a thing," he said bluntly. "Why is that your Halloween costume?"
"Well why are you a witch, huh?" Alfred retorted.
"I am a warlock, you prune."
Then, there was an awkward silence between them.
"So, um, can I have a treat?" Alfred asked sweetly, ignoring Arthur's deathly glare.
Arthur opened his mouth out of protest, but Alfred took one quick step forward and made a speedy go for the lips. Though Arthur's lips were pursed tightly, the burning feeling in his cheeks and lips were recognizable. This delightful, sweet feeling they shared when they kissed was spectacular. But he was still mad at Alfred for his unforgiveable act. Out of spite, Arthur pulled away from the wonderful embrace Alfred started, but he caught a sight of Alfred smiling with his tongue licking his bottom lip, making a pleased expression.
His eyes peered in bewilderment and curiosity. "What are you so smug about?" Arthur question skeptically.
"Oh, just pleased with my experiment's success,"
"What, 'experiment'?"
"To see if kisses with cream would make it sweeter," he explained, "and I can guarantee it does have some difference." Then, Alfred winked at him, his grin widen an inch.
Arthur felt his cheeks redden deeper, his eyes stared from his gleaming blue eyes of happiness to his lips still pink and soft from the kiss from before. Irritation was meant to be his first feeling, but curiosity beguiled him further.
"Only...some difference?"
Alfred looked surprised by that question.
I swear if he doesn't figure it out what I meant... Arthur swore he would kick him out of his house, even if he was at the doorway.
"Well...only a little," Alfred drawled teasingly.
With one step forward, Arthur became nervous for such closeness Alfred had pursued. Staring into his ocean blue eyes, Arthur's breath slipped between his slightly opened lips. Thankfully, Alfred's face leaned in and stolen a kiss from Arthur who encouraged the act by taking his arms around Alfred's neck and drew him closer.
"EWWW!" A chorus of children's voices echoed and the lovers ceased their action, separating the other awkwardly and saw the small youngsters watching them with mischievous grins...and cream pies.
"Children!" Arthur squawked, feeling flustered. "H-how long were you here?"
"Just a few minutes, Mister Kirkland," said a small ghost behind a pirate boy.
"What's with the cream pies?" Alfred asked, sounding a little sketchy.
"We were gonna trick you with pies," the boy in a police costume declared, "but I guess Al caught you first, his idea's so popular right now. Trick or treat?"
"Trick or treat!" the children sang happily to them, expecting candies.
Right away, Arthur went to the kitchen and retrieved all his goodies for the youngsters. They all gave their thanks and ran out to the street, but the little ghost came back and said they saw a hand nearly their home, but will bring it back tomorrow. With that, Arthur gave them another vampire cookie and watched the ghost race off to find their friends.
"Hmm..."
"Uh-oh, what is it?"
"I was just wondering," Arthur said, his tone serious, "how come that boy said that pie was your idea?"
"Oh, uh, well...uh...I can kinda explain that-"
"Nevermind, come with me," Arthur said, walking back into the house.
"Why?"
"Because you have some work to do...after we resume our previous moments."
"Oh, that's so ghoul, dude!" Alfred said, laughing at his pun.
Arthur froze mid-way in this strut, looked over his shoulder with a piercing stare and said, "If you don't want to, you can leave."
That surely made Alfred bleak, because he stopped laughing and ran into the house, closing the door on the way. Soon enough, in the kitchen, Alfred and Arthur resumed their kissing eagerly. While they kissed, Alfred recalled telling all the kids if no one gave them candy on Halloween, they could use the cream pies for a trick. Alfred thought his stunt might have be forgotten, but then...
Arthur pulled away, panting, "By the way, you better make sure you apologize to every neighbor who have the unfortunate dismay of getting creamed. I mean it."