Hope Your Halloween's the Bomb!
"I'm assuming it didn't go well," Nine observed upon seeing Twelve carrying an unconscious Lisa into the apartment, princess style. "I told you the blindfold was a bad idea."
"Yeah…I guess she thought Five was after her again or something. As soon as I came up behind her with it, boom! She was gone." Twelve rolled his eyes as he laid her down on the sheet that was covering the couch. Cheery little bats and skeletons paraded across an orange landscape. "Where you able to get the goods?" he asked the other boy.
"They didn't arrive yet."
"'Arrive'?"
"I ordered them."
"So…we have to wait five to seven business days? I really don't expect her to say asleep for that long…"
Nine sighed and turned back to his computer. "It's coming by same-day."
"Then why isn't it here yet?"
"Because I may not have realised that it was already past five in the evening, so it's coming tomorrow."
"I'll go back out and get different ones." Twelve headed back for the door he had just come through.
"She'll wake up before you get back."
"That's okay. You can see her face when she sees the decorations, and I'll see her later when it's time for the other part."
Twelve left and Nine went back to his project on the computer until he finally heard stirring from the couch.
It had been sometime since Lisa had slept on the couch. These days, she usually took turns sharing beds with the boys. It had started one night when Nine was having one of his nightmares. Lisa had climbed onto the bed next to him, in an attempt to soothe him, but had fallen asleep there herself. That morning, Twelve had joked about being jealous, and that she should sleep with him next time. Things just continued from there. It was a comfortable arrangement, if a little awkward. Nine was still prone to nightmare-induced tossing and turning, even though having someone near him seemed to lessen the frequency. Twelve drooled in his sleep sometimes. He was also a hugger. Lisa thought that maybe she would get him a teddybear for Christmas.
Lisa blinked a few times as she sat up. The room had been transformed. Paper cut-outs of pumpkins and black cats peppered the walls and fake cobwebs were strewn over the lamps. There was black and orange garland over every window.
A greeting card was standing up on the lacy, cobweb-esque tablecloth on the coffee table.
"Um, is this for me?"
Nine nodded, resting his attention from the screen for a moment.
Lisa picked up the card. The front read 'Hope Your Halloween is the BOMB!' with a little drawing of a cartoonish bomb sporting a little fanged face and bat wings. The whole thing looked suspiciously like it had been drawn in crayon, while the inside was blank. Did Twelve even know how greeting cards worked, or did he just get bored half way through?
"What is all this? Where's Twelve?" Lisa asked in confusion.
Nine wished the other boy had stuck around. He was much better at this, he thought as he adjusted his glasses. "We thought that since you stopped going to school, you might be missing the Halloween festivities. I checked some websites, and this appears to be the proper way to decorate for such a frivolous holiday. Was I wrong?" Lisa shook her head. "As for Twelve, he's out getting the second half of the surprise."
Tears began to well up in Lisa's eyes.
Nine closed the laptop with a sigh. "It's too scary isn't? I told him that girls don't like bats…"
At that moment, the door unlocked and Twelve came in, shopping bags in hand. "What did you do to her?"
"Me? The decorations you picked are clearly too spooky."
Lisa gave a sniffle. "No, no! It's not that! I-I love it. You guys went through so much trouble." Her face lit up with a smile that definitely made all the fuss worth it. "Thank you."
"That's great! I'm glad to hear it. Now are you ready for the second half of the surprise?" Twelve asked.
Lisa nodded as the boy sat next to her on the couch, sliding the spooky centerpiece over and placing the bags on the table. Lisa watched as he reached his hand into one. However, instead of pulling something from the bag he leaned over and placed a kiss on Lisa's cheek, winning a squeak from the girl. Nine rolled his eyes.
"That was the trick!" he announced proudly. "Now here's the treat."
Twelve took a white box out of one of the bags, passing it to Lisa.
Inside, was a chocolate frosted cake with the words 'Happy Halloween!' written in orange frosting. Candy grave stones and coffins dotted the rest.
Nine hadn't heard anything about there being a cake, but it was just as well. They had already taken the theme this far. It was better than having the girl try to make dessert at any rate.
"I don't know what say-" Lisa started.
"Wait! There's more!" Twelve shoved another bag into her hands as Nine took the cake away into the kitchenette. "Go try it on! Go, go!" the light-haired boy gave her a gentle shove to encourage her to scurry into the bathroom.
"We should put our's on too." Twelve suggested.
Twelve wrapped his arms around Nine's bare torso. "Thanks again for letting her stay," he murmured, breath warm against the taller boy's skin.
"It is nice to have a distraction now and then," Nine admitted, shaking the other boy off so he could pull on the top part of the costume.
Twelve pouted. "I'm not enough of a distraction?"
"I'm, uh, finished…" a voice came from the bathroom, followed by footsteps.
Nine quickly finished up his shirt buttons.
"Lisa! You look amazing! Like a real princess!" Twelve exclaimed.
"…Yes, very nice," Nine managed.
Lisa was clad in a pink floor-length gown, covered in sparkles. A small glittery tiara sat primly on her dark hair.
"See, he's the prince, cuz he's all stoic and stuff," Twelve jabbed a thumb in Nine's direction, "And I'm the knight!" he announced proudly. The boy grinned wide enough to be one of the jack-o-lanterns.
"And you…" he drew in close to the girl while giving a meaning look to Nine. "You're our princess."
Each of the boys gently grabbed one of her satin-gloved hands and pressed a kiss against the cloth.
"Happy Halloween, Lisa. We love you," Twelve whispered.
Lisa grew red as the fake blood painted on one of the paper ghosts, looking to the other boy for help.
"It's true," Nine agreed.
Twelve kissed Lisa's cheek for the second time that hour. Nine hesitated, turning slightly pink, but eventually followed suit on the other side.
"H-happy Halloween!" the girl wailed in response. Nine was quite proud of her for not passing out again.
"Package for you." The delivery man handed the box to Nine the next morning.
"What is it?" Lisa asked curiously, rubbing her eyes and scooting out of Nine's bed. He was an early riser, but she usually slept through him getting up.
"Oh shoot. I forgot about this…" Twelve said, opening the box and lifting out a second princess dress, this one a soothing lavender shade. The things Nine had ordered the previous day had finally arrived. "I guess we'll just have to have Halloween again today too!"
The end