Things were a little quieter in the house now. Ardyn and Aranea had returned to their respective homes, promising to keep in touch should anything happen with Dino.
While Ignis did sometimes miss the vibrancy and interest they brought to daily life, it was nice to get back to their little family and pretend like any future troubles were far away.
Ignis arrived at the kitchen table with a tray of mugs filled with hot chocolate, topped with whipped cream, sprinkles, and a little marshmallow ghost.
"How's the pumpkin carving going?" he asked.
Noctis seemed far too invested in his own pumpkin to answer. He had his tongue poking out like he always did when he was concentrating.
Prompto was sitting in Gladio's lap, acting as his "assistant," which mostly entailed sneaking M&Ms from the candy bowl Ignis had very indulgently put out and popping them into his mouth while Gladio worked.
"You've outdone yourself," Ignis said, and Gladio didn't even crack a smile. He took his pumpkin carving very seriously, to the point that it was difficult for Ignis not to tease him about it.
"Some of the texturing on the fur doesn't look right," Gladio insisted leaning back to observe his werewolf design better.
"I doubt you'll be able to tell once it's dark."
"Yeah, but..."
Ignis knew it was a lost cause. Gladio was an absolute perfectionist when it came to pumpkin carving and probably wouldn't stop fussing about it all day. At this point, it was almost a family tradition.
Prompto seemed to have lost patience with him, because he squirmed out of Gladio's lap, squeezing himself between the table and Gladio's legs and crawling out from under the table so he could rest the center of his forehead on Ignis's thigh.
"Can I wear my costume now?" he asked.
"I suppose there's no reason why not, if you're done helping with the pumpkin carving?"
Prompto nodded on Ignis's leg, and Ignis smiled and went upstairs to get both Prompto's and Noctis's costumes.
Prompto had decided to be Lucky from 101 Dalmatians, and Noctis asked to be Burlioz from The Aristocats. Ignis didn't like the cheap costumes from the Halloween stores, so he'd gotten them little onesies from a boutique children's shop and made a little, red collar for Prompto and a red bow for Noctis.
Ignis helped Prompto maneuver into his costume one foot at a time and zipped him up, pulling up the hood on which he'd sewn two floppy black ears. He looked incredibly cute.
"Lookin' good, little man," Gladio said from his seat at the table.
"How's the carving coming along?" Ignis asked.
"Eh, could be better, but Noctis asked to get in his costume too, so I'll come back to it later."
When the boys were both sporting their onesies, Gladio sat them each down on a kitchen chair one at a time, kneeling on the carpet so he could paint a little black nose and spots on Prompto and whiskers on Noctis while Ignis took pictures to commemorate the day.
They finished up their dinner of chili and cornbread just as the sun was setting and went outside to put the pumpkins on the porch. Noctis's was a little haphazardly done, but a good effort— triangular eyes with a garish smile. Gladio's pumpkin, per usual, was a work of art, a snarling wolf howling at the moon.
There were a few trick-or-treaters already floating around the neighborhood, so they left out a bowl of candy by the front door while they handed the boys their pumpkin-shaped candy buckets and prepared to make a loop around their neighborhood, starting at the Nox Fleuret's house. Luna opened the door, wearing a witch's hat and a long, black dress with a shimmering, purple gauze cape.
"I love your costumes," she said as she gave them each a generous handful of candy.
Ignis couldn't help but notice the discreet little nudge Gladio gave Noctis.
"I like your costume too," Noctis said so quietly Ignis wasn't sure if Luna would be able to hear him, but she responded with a warm "Thank you."
"You're not going trick-or-treating, Luna?" Ignis asked.
"My parents took Ravus out, so I'm passing out candy until they get back."
"Ah, well that's very generous of you," Ignis complimented, and Luna blushed a deep crimson. Ignis had to concede that it was possible Gladio was right and she might have a little crush on him, but he would never dare admit that Gladio. The man was insufferable on the rare occasions he got to say I told you so.
They returned to the street just in time to find Ravus and his parents returning home. Ravus looked like a little pirate with an eye patch and a sword.
"Love the costume, Ray!" Gladio said, using the nickname he'd given him after Prompto and Ravus's first play date.
Ravus glanced up at him rather morosely. Ravus's father leaned in, "Between you and me, the boy wanted to be a ballerina. Can you imagine?" he said with a soft chuckle.
Ignis said nothing, choosing to instead observe the precious sight of the three boys conversing excitedly below them, Ravus smiling proudly as he showed off his bag of candy.
After Ravus returned home, the boys made their way to the next house, giddy with excitement for their first time trick-or-treating. However, by the time they'd made it half-way around the neighborhood, both the boys started to complain about being tired, and they decided to make their way home.
Once there, they all sat on the living room floor, and Ignis put on the Disney Channel, happy to find Hocus Pocus was playing. It was one of the few children's movies Ignis honestly enjoyed, mostly due to his lifelong appreciation of Bette Midler.
He watched as the boys sorted out their candy, making trades to get all their personal favorites. Eventually Ignis coaxed them away, honestly horrified by the amount of sweets such small bodies were apparently capable of consuming, and they all sat on the couch with a bowl of popcorn to watch the film. Ignis and Gladio watched to the very end while a cute little Dalmatian and precious black kitten fell asleep in their laps.