Wow, I slack so hardcore XD Sorry, guys, I know it's been a while.

I bring you another Rainy Day, my second one with a Halloween theme. Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I started this thing. And i can't believe people are still reading it.

I wanna give a HUGE thank you to someone who sent me a review a little while back. It was the sweetest review I've seen in forever, and it made me feel so utterly awesome. Tamarani, you gave me that extra ounce of inspiration I needed to get back into writing fanfics. It reviews like yours, and everyone else, that keep me going. Also, thanks to everyone else for reviewing. I try to respond to them, but I'm really caught up with stuff right now.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Square.


As he knocked sharply on the door before him, Rude began shedding his jacket slowly. He looked down the stretch of hallway on either side of him, noting their eerie silence. He could not shake the fact that it was Halloween, and the onslaught of creepy decorations never failed to freak him out every year. It was not so much that the large man was afraid, it was more the fact that there was a continuous threat of something trying to catch him off guard. He would have thought that several years in a job where there was a threat around the corner all year round would desensitize him to the spooks of Halloween. However, as he was invited to Reno's apartment to share a few drinks, the feeling of impending doom seemed to grow more and more.

There was the sound of shuffling feet on the other side of the door, followed by a single click. The next thing Rude saw was a big mess of yellow feathers, and an all-too familiar massive beak and freaky black eyes. The Turk stumbled back, letting out a short scream of fright as he flattened his back against the opposite wall of the hallway. His jacket fell into a heap on the floor, and his sunglasses fell strangely over his face from being moved by his sudden movements. His one uncovered eye showed his fright, widened and looking like he had seen a ghost.

Well, there was the impending doom. In the form of Reno with a chocobo mask.

The redhead dropped the offending mask onto the floor and doubled over with laughter. Rude straightened up from the wall, and let his hands clench into tight fists. The next thing that sounded in the apartment hallway was a short yelp from Reno, and his laughter stopped at the same time.

"Oww…" the smaller man whined as he followed Rude back into the apartment. "What the hell, man?" On his way in, he kicked the chocobo mask in some random direction to get it out of the doorway. He rubbed the back of his neck as it stung from Rude's knuckles being jammed into it. Rude glared back at Reno before adjusting his sunglasses on top of his nose.

"Is that why you called me over? Just to have your death sentence written out?" Rude growled, quite angry about his greatest fear being exploited. Reno looked at his friend with a loose grin that spelt out more horrors than anything related to Halloween could.

"You gonna kill me…?" Reno's voice was in a sweet tone, the grin still showing as he picked up two bottles and held one out to Rude. "Your bestest buddy, who graciously provides alcohol and horror films on this wonderful day of Halloween? Not to mention large abundances of candy later on."

Rude gave his friend a sceptical look as he took the bottle of beer. "Later on?"

The heightened look of a mix of innocence and mischief on Reno's face only gave more reason to be afraid. "I've got a system all worked out."

Before the two men could sit down on the couch to watch one of the many movies Reno had rented to celebrate Halloween, there was a knock on the door. Rude glanced at Reno, raising an eyebrow. "You have kids in your building?"

The smaller man nodded and stood up. "A handful of brats who get mad when I don't give them candy. The staple factor in my plan." he stated. A puzzled look swept across Rude's face.

"That's probably the most intelligent collection of words I've heard you say." he commented in monotone, shaking his head at his best friend. All Reno did was offer him another grin. He moved towards the door, picking up a bag as he passed his kitchen counter. Rude watched, almost too afraid to inquire about what he was doing. As the redhead opened the door, a bunch of kids were crowded in the doorway. They wore costumes, crude ones at that, and held out pillowcases. The ones not wearing masks had mischievous, greedy looks on their faces, which was mirrored on Reno's face. Rude suddenly had an understanding on what was about to happen, and he stood up quickly.

"Trick or Treat!" the kids chimed at the same time, their voices sounding like anything but childish innocence. They held up a carton of eggs in silent threat to give Reno's door a fresh coating if he did not fork over the candy they were looking for. Rude saw Reno smirk widely, and paled.

"TRICK!" Reno shouted at the top of his lungs, pulling a handful of his own eggs out of the bag and pelting the kids with them. The group screamed as eggs cracked on their heads, and fled down the hallway. Reno cackled and picked up the fallen pillowcases full of candy. To say Rude was astonished would be a terrible understatement. His jaw hung low, and his eyes were wide as saucers.

"Reno!" he barked sharply, stepping towards his friend. Reno was unaffected by his friend's shout, as he straightened up and waved his newly acquired loot. He had a victorious smile on his face, and Rude was in complete contrast as he stared in disbelief. "You… are going straight to hell, y'know that?"

"Yup!" Reno chirped as he pushed one pillowcase of candy into Rude's hands. "But so will you. And we'll have candy. Why worry?" The redhead almost skipped back to his seat in a joyful, mobile butchering of the happy dance. Rude watched him for a second before looking down at the candy. Shrugging, the bald man sat back down as well.

Much alcohol and illegally acquired candy was consumed that evening, and there were dire consequences to be suffered the next morning in the form of migraines. Being hit by a train and surviving would have been a less painful experience. Rude cursed himself as he dragged his feet down the office hallway in the morning. What possessed him to allow Reno to consume a combination of thing that gave him further impaired judgement, and the energy to do something stupid? Rude was just glad that he himself had survived the ordeal, and that in his drunken, slightly giddy state, managed to get through the cab drive home. Rude stepped into his office, eyes half closed as he almost fell through the door upon turning the doorknob.

He still gripped it as he partially stumbled is way in, and it saved him from an embarrassing yet humorous face plant. He stared at his partner, looking surprisingly chipper this morning. The fact that he was even there was more of a shock. Reno was sitting at his own desk, the whole thing almost covered with candy as he had dumped out another bag on top of it. The sight of it made Rude feel even more sick, but Reno seemed unaffected by it. He was staring at a container of bubble tape, one of those stupid products of bubblegum that was supposed to be like a roll of tape. Reno was glaring at it, as if trying to figure it out like it was an impossible puzzle.

"…Reno?" Rude said slowly, voice barely above a mumble as talking worsened his headache. His friend glanced at him before gaining an expression that silently demanded assistance with whatever he was doing.

"Help me figure this out!" he whined, waving the bright pink container in a helpless manner. "It's like trying to work out quantum physics!"

Rude blinked, still standing in to doorway. "How did you say that without your head imploding?" he replied in a confused tone. He wondered if Reno even had a clue of what quantum physics was. Reno looked even more distressed as he grabbed the end of the tape and pulled it out as far as his arms could reach. He examined it closely before whimpering out loud.

"I don't get it!" he shouted in great dismay. "Is it tape, or is it gum?"

Rude opened his mouth to make a response, but thought otherwise. He just shook his head and flung his suitcase half-heartedly towards his desk, and turned away before he could see if he was anywhere close or not. He stepped out into the hallway and trudged down to Tseng's office. He knocked once and stepped inside before bothering to wait for permission to enter. The Turk leader was sitting calmly at his desk, and he glanced at Rude with a look of annoyance that quickly faded.

"Are you alright?" Tseng inquired. "You look like hell." he added as he pushed his chair back and stood up slowly.

"And I love you too." Rude replied blandly, running a hand over his face. "I need Advil. Now. I know you have a secret stash somewhere." his voice had a tone of finality, as if there was to be no questioning about the subject. If Rude was suffering any less, he would have thought second about using such a tone with his superior. Tseng, however, looked concerned.

"Reno again?" he asked conversationally while digging through a drawer and pulling out a bottle of the lifesaving painkillers. He handed Rude two pills.

"Yes. That and hung over." Rude mumbled. He might as well be honest, whether Tseng got mad at him or not was not much of a concern to him right now. He turned and half-shuffled towards the door, muttering a word of thanks before leaving. Tseng watched the Turk leave, an odd look on his face as he sat down. Maybe he should send them back to the ShinRa Mansion again next Halloween, just so the two would be too freaked out to get utterly annihilated.

Rude dry swallowed the pills as he made his way back to his office. He stepped back into the room, but only got about halfway to his desk until his groggy mind noticed that Reno was standing on his desk. He only got a second to look at his friend until he noticed that there was a growing shadow around him. The light was being blocked by something above him. Rude looked up and only had a second to leap back to avoid the object… an office chair about to crush him. He landed on his back, and heard a loud thud as the chair hit the floor inches from his feet. The man muttered a curse as his head throbbed with pain, and opened his eyes. On the ceiling was a blob of pink, and Rude sat up with a puzzled look on his face. Reno was still standing there, staring from the chair and the ceiling and seemingly unaware of the near death of his friend. He seemed deeply concentrated, with his hand on hand on his chin. After a long, silent moment, Rneo nodded, as if he had finalized something in his mind.

"Yup… it's definitely gum."