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The Trouble With Americans...
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Trick or treating went far better than Kiku expected. His parents were working late, and even then, they'd accepted Kiku's feeble excuse about late-night studying with a friend from school without so much as batting their eyelashes. Sure, trailing behind groups of four year olds and their parents was kind of awkward, and sometimes they got weird looks when Alfred loudly exclaimed "trick or treat!" but it was definitely worth it—for a couple of reasons.
First and foremost, Kiku got to inwardly gush over the sheer amount of cuteness that surrounded him. Kiku had expected horror and gore, but instead most of the children were just plain adorable. Little girls dressed up like like princesses, butterflies, and animals, while little boys dressed up like spiderman and superman and power rangers. The smallest of children—toddlers that could barely walk and infants pushed in strollers—were dressed like up like bumblebees and ladybugs, and there was even one dressed up as a Hershey kiss that was so fat Kiku could barely handle it.
"So cute," Kiku whispered to Alfred, subtly gesturing to a little girl with cat ears. It made him think of Feliciano, and he wondered briefly if he and Feliks were enjoying themselves at the party.
Alfred rolled his eyes. "Halloween is supposed to be blood and guts—scary stuff!"
Kiku laughed as they started towards Alfred's house. It was getting late and the houses were starting to run out of candy, the children slowly petering out as parents took them home for bedtime. By the time they made it back Kiku's feet were sore and his arms ached from carrying the heavy pillowcase full of candy.
The house was dark and the living room was strangely empty.
"My Mom and Mattie are out," Alfred explained as he turned on all the lights on the first floor. Kiku thought that maybe that was a waste of electricity, but he didn't voice his opinion. Alfred hurried to elaborate. "Not the same party, I mean! Mattie's at that one that with Feliks and Feliciano."
Kiku nodded, but there wasn't much he had to say on the matter.
"That means we can watch scary movies down here—it's gonna be awesome. The screen is way bigger!" Alfred grinned, dashing for the steps.
"Be right back, I'm gonna grab my xbox and my external hard drive!"
Kiku nodded, arranging the sheet that was draped over the couch and gingerly taking a seat. He wished Alfred had told him what they'd be doing in advance—he would have brought a flash drive with a few horror movies of his own. Alfred wasn't the only one up to date on technology or into horrific flicks.
Alfred came down the steps in a tangle of wires, struggling to carry everything at once. The setup only took a few minutes, but the selection seemed to last for hours. Alfred couldn't make a decision to save his life, and every time he seemed about to pick, he would shake his head and go back to all of the movies, tapping his foot nervously as if what movie they'd watch was some sort of life-changing decision.
Kiku couldn't stand it anymore. "The Grudge is good," Kiku said hopefully when Alfred hovered over it.
Alfred cringed but forced a smile. Did he not like some of the movies he'd added to his own movie collection?
"You don't mind that it's the Japanese one—" Alfred started, before stopping himself and bursting into laughter. Kiku quirked a brow and smiled softly.
"I've seen it already but I haven't seen a movie in Japanese in a while. Cool."
Alfred grinned, jumping up to make popcorn and turn off all of the lights. Sometimes Kiku really didn't understand him.
One blanket and two bowls of popcorn later, Kiku was beginning to regret his movie choice. Alfred was still tapping his foot nervously, and he tensed his body every few seconds as if preparing for an incoming attack. When the "scary" stuff started happening, Alfred screamed. Every time.
And then every time Alfred screamed he felt it was necessary to pause the movie and—
"Sorry, ahahaha, I don't usually do that, it's just," -make up excuses for himself.
Kiku didn't really care very much that Alfred screamed, so as long as it wasn't so close to his ear. They were supposed to be scary movies, after all. Just because they didn't frighten Kiku didn't mean they wouldn't frighten others.
"It's fine Alfred, let's just watch the movie," Kiku said, trying not to sigh.
By the end of the movie Alfred was was watching from between his fingers, shaking like they were stuck in the Arctic Ocean. Who would have guessed that Alfred would be so afraid of something as silly as a horror flick?
Still, Kiku had to admit that even he jumped just a little bit when the front door slammed open during a particularly tense moment of the film. Kiku recognized Alfred's brother almost immediately. He waved while Alfred peeked out from beneath the covers, so close to Kiku that he could feel Alfred's body heat.
"You still watching horror movies, Al?" Mathew said, words slurring slightly and smelling like alcohol. Alfred quickly tried to compose himself, forcing a laugh.
"You know me, I'm not afraid of anything!"
Matthew rolled his eyes and kicked the door shut behind himself. "Yeah well I hope Kiku is spending the night because you're not sleeping in my bed.".
"Haha!" Alfred said loudly as Matthew flipped on the light switch, illuminating the living room and the spilled popcorn covering the blanket.
"Yeah right Mattie! You mean when I let you sleep in my bed because you were scared!"
Matthew laughed dismissively as he made his way up the stairs. "Whatever you say Al. Just keep it down, I'm having company soon," Matthew muttered, slamming his bedroom door shut.
Alfred rubbed nervously at the base of his neck. "You can spend the night if you want," he offered. "Not because I'm scared, just cause like—"
Kiku resisted the urge to roll his eyes, as if Alfred wasn't as see through as the plot to the movie. "I'd be honored."
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