The Fun With Festivities

- Day before Halloween –

"Come, for Ray's sake. I'm not saying please so don't expect me to."

"You just did. And we're not going."

"Kai, you suck."

"Ray's practically begging. He really wants to see you and Tala. Why won't you come?"

"We're not coming. That's all you need to know."

"I know Tala wants to come."

-Pause-

"Tala's his own person. He can come if he wants."

"He'll only come if you do too. You know that."

"Bryan, I said no. I'm not going. If Tala doesn't want to, he's not going. That's final."

"Fine"

"Fine"

-Click-

"So, neither of them are coming?" Ray's voice was filled with half exasperation and half fatigue. His hot chocolate was heavy in his hand as he leaned, elbows on the kitchen countertop, and sighed.

"That's right." Bryan's voice held no hint as to his feelings on the matter. A piece of orange tissue paper fell from his hand as he attached the black strand of the same material to the living room wall with masking tape.

Ray set his mug down before gliding over to Bryan, picking up the crumpled orange paper, and handing it to his boyfriend. Said boyfriend was balanced precariously (well, precariously for anyone who hadn't had hours of practise) atop a wobbling chair in an attempt to decorate the two's humble abode for their encroaching Halloween party.

Ray sighed as Bryan stuck the tissue paper to the wall before glancing down. "C'mon, Ray. Is it really that big a deal?"

The younger boy's black hair swayed slightly as Ray shook his head in anger. "It is to me! Please Bryan, there must be some way we can get them to come!"

Now it was Bryan's turn to sigh, pale eyes rolling as he descended carefully to stand beside Ray. Kai could be so stubborn sometimes, all right, make that all the time, and he just knew that Tala wouldn't object to coming. The younger boy was the real problem. He just couldn't enjoy himself for one night, could he? Never mind all the effort Ray had... hmmm.

The lavender-haired boy wrapped an arm around the other's waist as he led him away from the living room and back towards the kitchen and Ray's cup of hot chocolate.

Sure he wanted Tala and Kai to come, but if Ray wasn't so damn persuasive (and didn't have the cutest pout ever) then Bryan would never have thought twice about the two bladers coming or not coming. As it was, however, Ray was persuasive and he did have the cutest pout ever (though Bryan would never admit it) which meant he'd have to resort to drastic measures.

"Well, Kitten, I might just have an idea..."

Kai frowned as he glanced out the window. It was the day before Halloween. Halloween Eve, he supposed, even though that would be silly since really it would be All Hallows Eve's Eve. Shaking his head, Kai wondered when he'd lost what little sanity he'd retained after the era of the Bladebreakers.

"Stop thinking to yourself and help me here,"

Kai rolled his eyes. "How did I ever get such a pushy boyfriend?"

"You watch it Kai, or someone won't get any cookies!"

Kai blinked, walked into the kitchen, and blinked again.

There, in his line of sight, was his boyfriend, cookies, and an oven. Anything involving Tala and an oven was sure to be disastrous. For a second the silver-blue haired boy wondered if this was some ingenious plot devised to kill him in the most perfect manner possible. The fire would surely take out any evidence of foul play, or maybe the redhead just wanted to kill him with death by food poisoning. It wasn't too far-fetched if one knew Tala's cooking skills as well as Kai did.

"You're cooking? You're cooking cookies? You're cooking Halloween cookies?" Disbelief was evident as Kai blinked again and frowned. He couldn't believe this.

"You're wearing my apron?"

Tala's grin was plastered across his face as he checked the timer and turned to his boyfriend. His eyes were bright with merriment and for a second Kai almost smiled too. Then he remembered the real problem with this situation.

"Tala, you're wearing my apron. Why are you wearing my apron? And why are you baking?"

"Well, Kai, since you don't seem to be too astute today, I'll explain. I am cooking, they are cookies, and they aren't necessarily Halloween cookies, just sugar cookies with pumpkins on them. And yes, I am wearing your apron. Your powers of observation are magnificent. I see the Abbey had a star pupil in you."

Kai scowled.

"I just got off the phone with Bryan. He's having a Halloween party tomorrow night at 5."

Tala's eyes flared briefly with excitement before he forced himself to hide it. He knew Kai hated Halloween; hell, the silver-blue haired boy hated all holidays. Still, it would've been nice... and Tala couldn't deny the fact that he'd become quite fond of the holidays he'd never before celebrated. If Kai didn't go, though, Tala wouldn't go.

It wasn't a forced thing, he was sure Kai would let him go, it was just the fact that he didn't want to go without Kai. He could see Ray and Bryan any time he wanted to, they didn't live that far and he did have a car, but if he wanted to have a good time he wanted to share it with Kai.

"Tala," Kai sighed, moving towards him so as to observe the 'not-Halloween' cookies. Upon closer observation, the younger boy discovered two finished racks of sugar cookies with bats and fearful cats. Tala shrugged at Kai's raised eyebrow.

"Tala," Kai started again, "you know you can go if you want. I really don't care."

His voice was almost convincing. But Tala had had years of practise, and that 'almost' was enough to tip him off.

"I don't want to go without you. I won't go without you. And that's that."

Kai looked down. He did feel guilty for keeping Tala from having fun, but he was altogether too uncomfortable with the idea of a Halloween party. He had no real reason for it, and he'd never really been to one, but he knew he didn't want to.

The redhead wrapped his arms around Kai's waist and rubbed his lower back gingerly. Kai placed his arms around Tala's shoulders, nuzzling his face into the other's neck. They stayed that way until Kai warily pulled away enough to look into Tala's face.

"Um... Tala? Do you smell something burning?"

"Shit!"

"Do you understand, Tala?"

"Ray, Kai may be dense. I, however, am not. If you ask me that one more time..."

"Ok, ok, I get it. You understand. Care to recite it back to me?"

"Ray Kon, I swear on all that is good and holy, you ask me that question once more and you won't need a Halloween costume tomorrow. Understood?"

"... Yes."

"Good. I'll be at your house at 7. Be ready."

"Ray, I'm not going to hurt you. Just make sure you're ready, ok?"

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

"Ray..."

"Heh, just joking. See you at seven."

"Hn"

"Bye"

-Click-

Kai was in an grey armchair reading Perseverance: one beyblader's tale of his struggles with addictions, violence, and lies when Tala hurried towards the door, swiftly putting on his coat, scarf, and boots. "I'm going out with Ray," he rushed, "be back later."

Kai, thoroughly engrossed in his book, responded with a drab, "Hn."

The redhead paused, arm halfway to the door handle. "I'm going out alone with another attractive man."

Flipping a page, Kai nodded absently. "Hn."

"I'm going out with Ray and we thought we'd pick up Bryan and have a hot threesome."

"Hn. Enjoy yourself."

"You realize I just –"

"I'm fully aware."

Tala nodded uncertainly. "Love you."

"Love you too. Now would you get your ass out that door so I can read my book in peace."

"Is that the –"

"Don't say it, Tala."

The redhead bit his lip but let the devilish urge pass. "Fine. Bye." And with that he opened the door, cast a last glance back at Kai, and walked out to his car.

The silver-blue haired boy read peacefully... for about 10 minutes. For that was the time that Bryan arrived, lavender hair a-fluttering in the autumn breeze, hand knocking loudly on the door.

"Absolutely perfect," Kai grumbled, folding his page and rising to answer the knock.

Needless to say, when the former Bladebreaker answered the door, he was less than pleased. Bryan mustered up his brightest smile (which fell about 10 degrees short of an actual grin) and clapped a hand to the thinner boy's shoulder.

"You know, Kai, it's time we had a little talk."

-The next night (aka Halloween) –

Tala hadn't asked why Kai had had a change of heart, indeed he didn't really want to know. He'd gone through with his part of the plan, the part that had him out of the house and shopping for Halloween goodies, decorations, and costumes whilst Bryan took care of the other part of the plan. Bryan's part was the part Ray hadn't elaborated on. The black-haired boy had said it was 'something he didn't need to know, but would work perfectly.' Hell, he wasn't even sure that Ray was aware of what Bryan had done.

Either way, though, Tala could care less.

There were people everywhere, all the teams that Ray and Bryan (Ray especially) could get their hands on had ended up at the party. Couples danced in disguise, strewn across the house, as Ray handed out special Halloween treats and watched over the apple dunk while Bryan served the drinks in the kitchen.

All in all, the couple had thrown an amazing party. Ray was dressed up as a cat (which was rather effortless, in Tala's opinion, but he still looked good) and Bryan had dressed like a secret agent (again, not much of a stretch of the imagination). Tala, in simply a dark, silken robe and slippers, had dressed as Hugh Hefner. And Kai...

Kai had dressed up as a Playboy bunny.

How Bryan had managed to get Kai into that costume, Tala would kill to know, but as it was he was just happy staring at him. And stare he did. But he wasn't the only one.

Tala had been possessively dogging Kai all night, keeping him from the many people who couldn't quite understand the phrase 'see with your eyes and not with your hands'. Then again, Tala couldn't blame them. It was hard enough for the redhead to keep his hands off; he could only imagine the difficulty someone who wasn't Kai's boyfriend must be having.

When Michael made his third pass of the night, undoubtedly drunk and highly annoying, Tala decided it was time to take this show on the road. Kai was starting to droop, dark blue painted eyelids hanging heavily over crimson eyes, and Tala himself was feeling the after-effects of overly much candy.

The redhead placed a cool hand on the small of Kai's back, using all of his charm to work his way out of a conversation involving a very loud Tyson and a giggling, stumbling Max. Tala pushed Kai gently before him, allowing himself to enjoy the view, before guiding the younger boy over to where Bryan was sitting wearily on the coach, Ray in his lap.

"Hey guys, I think we're gonna call it a night," Tala said.

Ray pouted slightly, "Aww, all ready?"

"Ray, it's 12 o'clock. We've been here for five hours. We're going home," Kai stated, fidgeting slightly. He was more than uncomfortable with all the eyes on him and all the hands wanting to be on him.

With a small chuckle Ray acquiesced. "I suppose you're right. Thanks for coming, you two. We hope you had a great time." Bryan nodded with Ray's statement.

Tala grinned and pulled Kai a little closer. "Oh we did. I'll never know how you got Kai to come, Bryan, but I'm very grateful," Kai scowled, "so I guess we'll see you guys later. You still on for poker on Tuesday?"

"Of course! We'll see you Tuesday!" And with that, Ray snuggled further into Bryan as the two waited for the rest of their guests to become tired and leave. All ready some of the younger kids had gone home, but there were many still wandering the house.

As Kai and Tala left, the redhead turned to the other and asked, "Really, how did Bryan get you to come?"

The silver-blue haired boy scowled and pulled his coat closer, bare legs freezing in the crisp air. He pursed his lips, thoroughly unhappy that he'd not only been 'convinced' into going, but also that he'd been 'convinced' into this costume.

"Tala, if I told you once I've told you far too many times. And I've already told you twice."

"Kai, you're making no sense."

"Tala, shut up."

"Do you want to get any?"

"Do I look like I want to get any?"

Kai blushed fiercely as Tala leered. "Why yes, yes you do."

With a playful smirk, Kai winked. "Well then, can't argue with that. Let's get home."

"Lead the way."

"So you can look at my ass like you've been doing all night?"

"Why of course. Love you Kai"

"Happy Halloween, Tala."

A/N – And that's that. I don't have too much else to say besides that, except that I really really am working on the next chapter of China but it's taking a lot more effort than it should. Just be patient if you're reading that, and please review! By the way, sorry it's so late. Plus, this is my first attempt at comedy, give me a five minute head-start before you come after me with the torches and pitchforks.

Happy Halloween, All Hallows Eve., Samhain. Whatever you celebrate! Love.