When all the kids in school got excited about a holiday named 'Halloween', Damocles and his sister went to their mom and dad to ask what it was. Daddy didn't seem to know, but what mommy said surprised Damocles and Cassia so much they couldn't even talk.
Getting to dress up and play pretend and get free candy? It must be their birthday! No. Christmas! Maybe even better than Christmas and their birthday together!
Mommy and daddy said it was good that they asked before too long because now they could get costumes just like they always wanted. Damocles must have spent a million hours looking at the extranet with Cassia on daddy's computer so they could find costumes, but they found the perfect costume. Mommy had the clothes lady in the Wraith city that always makes their clothes fit better make them the costumes they wanted and Damocles couldn't wait until he could dress up, go out trick or treating, and get lots of candy.
And mommy and daddy would actually let them eat it that night too!
"Dammit," Mommy says, puffing out a breath that makes her hair fly off her face, and Damocles giggles at her trying to help Cassia get into her costume. "Why did you have to pick an outfit that makes no sense?"
Cassia smiles up at their mom as she holds the grey dress thing for Cassia in both hands, holding it up and pulled out. "I wanted to be a wizard." She looks to Damocles as they both say without actually speaking 'duh' to each other.
"This robe makes no damn - Ah!" Moving her hands, mommy holds up the fancy dress the right way where Damocles can finally see the sleeves now. "I had no idea this thing came in two pieces." When both Damocles and his sister laugh at their silly mom, she snorts and comes to where Cassia sits on her bed. She's the first to get her costume on, so Damocles waits for his own. "Alright. Put this dress looking one on first. Then come back out and I'll help you buckle your belt and tie your cape on." She hands Cassia the dress looking part of the costume. "Off you go, Gandalf," she says with a chuckle before looking at Damocles, smiling. "Is my scary little ringwraith ready to get his robes on?"
Damocles grins and nods. "Uh huh!"
Mommy laughs and waves out of Cassia's room. "Go grab your costume, then."
Chirping happily, he runs to his room. He had seen his costume when the clothing lady had it sent to their house, but daddy said he couldn't wear it until today. All day at school, Damocles wiggled and jumped in his seat, just waiting for class to be over and it to be night.
When asked what he and his sister wanted to be, the only thing that came to his mind was the grown up movie he and Cassia watched when mom and dad weren't looking. Up on the upper balcony, Damocles and his sister pressed their faces against the bars as they watched a vid about monsters and soldiers that fought with sword instead of guns in shock and excitement. Mommy and daddy had caught them, but they didn't get mad and, instead, invited them to come see better on the couch and share popcorn and snacks.
It was the coolest movie Damocles had ever seen. He even thinks Cassia loved it as much as he did because she wanted to dress up as it for Halloween too.
His sister loved what the vid called 'magic' and 'wizards', but a human man called 'Gandalf' even more, so she wanted to dress up as him. The clothing lady had made a face and asked why Cassia wanted to be a boy, but mommy and daddy said she and Damocles could be whatever they wanted, man, woman, or monster. They even smiled when Cassia said she wished she could be magical and told her that, for Halloween, she could have all the powers she wanted and could be someone that's not Cassia Vakarian.
That's why Damocles wanted to be one of the scary black monsters that chased the heroes around through the whole movies. If Cassia could be someone nice and magical, then he could be scary and covered in clothes - even his head. Being someone that would scare everyone made Damocles feel like he belonged more than trying to pretend he was like his sister. The other kids were already so mean and thought he was a weirdo on normal days, so, for Halloween, he was going to have a reason to be different. And maybe he could even scare the others for being so mean to him.
When he comes back to Cassia's room where mommy waits for him - and his sister to get done dressing in the bathroom - he purrs at her smile. Mommy and daddy were also so nice to him and, even when others were confused about some of the stuff he and Cassia did, they always understood or let him explain why he does what he did before getting mad. That made them extra special to him and his sister, and more cool than any of the other kids' parents no matter what the stupidheads said at school.
Just as Damocles hands his costume to his mom, Cassia returns in her grey dress, full of happiness and chirping. Mommy chuckles and pats the bed for her before looking at the black clothes in her hands. "Alright. Let's see here…" Laying some of it on the bed, mom finally holds up what looks like another dress with lots of rags hanging on it. "Here we go. Damocles," she says, looking to him and holding the dress out by the arms so he can grab it. "Put it on like a big shirt, over your head. Be careful not to trip on it." She looks to Cassia, tilting her head. "And if these things are too long for you guys, we'll pin them downstairs."
"Okay, mommy," Damocles says as he takes the dress. He's never worn one before, but it doesn't look hard like some of the others his sister likes. Tucking it under his arm, he rushes into Cassia's bathroom and closes the door.
He first lays down his costume on the counter before pulling off his shirt and throwing it into Cassia's dirty clothes bucket. Next, he unbuttons his pants around his waist and down at his spurs before yanking them down and off. He throws those somewhere without looking because he's in too big a hurry to get dressed and out trick or treating. At the very end of his dressing, he pulls the big costume over his head and cowl before looking at himself in the mirror.
He doesn't look quite like the monsters yet, but hopefully the rest of the costume will help. He sure hopes so because it's not even to look kinda like a monster, but to be the monster. How is he to scare people if he doesn't look scary enough? He just hopes mommy can help.
Frowning, he comes out of the bathroom with his head down. He can hear mommy helping Cassia into the rest of her costume, talking about wearing a hat like the wizard, but he doesn't pay attention as he walks to the bed and flops down with a huff.
"What's wrong, little one?" Daddy asks and Damocles jumps at being surprised. Looking up, he sees daddy in white clothes with a circle floating over his head. He doesn't really know what the costume is, but mommy and daddy are weird like that sometimes. "You don't seem all that happy to be wearing your costume."
Daddy kneels down as Damocles keens softly, looking down at his lap and playing with one of the rags on his outfit. "I don't look scary like the monsters."
He hears daddy chuckle and the sounds of moving. In a second, he sees dad hold out a pile of more black rags. "You haven't even finished dressing." Daddy smiles when Damocles looks up at his face and he hears the deep rumbling from his dad's vocals. "How about you get your shoes on and I'll help you with the rest of it? Then you can tell me you're not scary."
Damocles nods as he looks towards mommy and Cassia, now dressed in her whole costume. He doesn't know how, but mommy and daddy found her a beard too, and she now wears it. It covers most of her face, but she's trilling in happiness and brushing it, so Damocles knows she likes it. He thinks it'd be too scratchy to wear, but his sister has always liked mommy's hair, so now it's like she has her own.
As he sits down on the floor to pull on his shoes, mommy lays a hand on his fringe before giving daddy a kiss. "I'm going to go get dressed," she says as she walks away and daddy purrs.
"No problem, Jane. I think I can handle dressing our two monsters."
"I'm not a monster, I'm a wizard!" Cassia holds on to her big hat and stomps, clicking her mandibles in anger.
"I'm a monster!" Damocles hops to his feet and holds up his hands into claws. "Ra-awr!"
Daddy gasps before chuckling, pulling Damocles to him with a pull on his costume. "Alright, monster. Let's get you dressed so you can be even more threatening."
Damocles nods as Cassia moves to sit on her bed beside where daddy stands. Going to him, Damocles looks up in readiness, mandibles fluttering as his belly tickles. He's so excited to become the monster, to be something better than just Damocles Vakarian, and he can barely stand still as daddy looks over the rest of his costume.
"Alright, little one. Lift your chin." Following what daddy says, Damocles lifts his head up so that daddy can put the cape on his back and tie it. "Now the hoods."
Damocles doesn't understand, but he lets daddy do what he wants as he pulls a black hood over his head and covers his face. He trills in surprise, unable to see, but he feels his dad move the hood around until Damocles can see through some kind of see-through part of the mask. He smiles, but daddy doesn't smile back, so he thinks that everyone else won't be able to see him.
"Can you see me, daddy?"
Shaking his head, dad chuckles and pulls the heavier hood that only covers Damocles' head and a bit on the top of his eyes. "I can't. And that'd ruin the effect, now wouldn't it?" Smiling, he tilts his head to look Damocles almost in the eyes. "You definitely look scary now."
That tickling feeling grows as Damocles bounces on the tips of his toes, hitting his hands together. He quickly pulls on the gloves daddy gives him and runs to the door. "Come on! Let's go!"
Cassia runs to join him, but daddy is slower, snorting as he stands and follows, turning off the light. "Easy, you two. We still need to wait for mommy to get dressed." He hums and climbs down the stairs after them. "Take the steps slow and hold up your costumes so you don't trip."
Damocles stops and pulls up his costume like dad says, and it does make it easier to get down the stairs. Mommy still isn't out of her room yet, but his and his sister's trick or treat buckets are and they run to them in excitement. They look in to see if there's any candy, but find nothing, and daddy chuckles as he goes to them carrying something white and fluffy.
"We have to go out to get the candy, you two." He stops to put loops in the fluff over his arms and Damocles can now see that it's wings on his back.
It still doesn't make any sense, so he asks, "Daddy? What are you supposed to be?"
Daddy snorts and chuckles, looking down at his clothes. "That silly, huh?" He smiles when he looks back to Damocles and Cassia. "It's called an 'angel'. Some sort of human deity, but it's sort of a running joke between your mother and I."
"Because you're my Archangel." Mommy steps out of her bedroom, a long and poofy red and black dress on. She puts on a hair thing with red horns on her head and smiles at them. "All ready?"
"Uh huh!" Both Damocles and Cassia answer with nods. Cassia runs over to the door where her supposed magic stick is and Damocles grabs his bucket, stopping and looking at mommy and daddy.
"What about Xero?"
Mommy, walking to the backdoor to let their varren in, stops and chuckles. "Xero is still too young to go with us, but next time. I promise."
Their puppy runs in from outside and jumps up on mommy's dress, yipping. She chuckles and picks him up, walking to the bathroom downstairs where they keep Xero when they aren't able to play with him. When Damocles hears the door shut and Xero whine, he knows it's finally time to go and rushes to the door before Cassia. Daddy is right behind them and, when Damocles looks to him for an okay, he nods and smiles.
Chirping and grinning, Damocles throws open the front door and runs down the steps. He hops the last step and spins to his parents. "Come on! Hurry!"
"Calm your tits," mommy says with a big smile and shake of her head as she steps down onto the stepping stones. "It's barely dark."
"We're gonna be late, though" Cassia whines and bounces as mommy and daddy take each other's hands before offering the open one to each of them.
Damocles doesn't want to, thinks it's silly on a day when he's supposed to be scary, but he takes his mom's hand anyways. Her touch is warm through his glove and she gives him a light squeeze and smile, so he supposes he can hold her hand. At least until they come up to the other kids and, then, he doesn't want to be seen. They already make fun of him enough that he doesn't want to seem like the baby monster who has to hold his mommy's hand.
They walk a long ways, past kunkle's house, past his aunt Aelia and uncle Lantar's house, past the school, and even past the large field and buildings he doesn't know before they finally reach everyone else's houses. Here is where all the other kids' families and other adults live, in little houses lined up next to and across from each other. He's only been here a few times to visit Cassia's friend Gelta and her daddy and brother or to see Aunt Miri on her house at the close end of what mommy and daddy call 'the block'.
It's at their aunt's house that mommy and daddy stop first, but they at least let Damocles and Cassia rush to be the first at the door to ring the bell. Cassia manages to get there first by just a little bit and Damocles growls in upset, but she stops and smiles at him with a rumble as the bell dings inside. That makes it a little better, but he still tells himself he's going to be the first to the next one. He can't let his sister win twice, after all.
Auntie Miri comes to the door just as slowpokes mommy and daddy make it. She's wearing a weird dress and pointy hat kind of like Cassia's, but her clothes are black where his sister's are grey. He doesn't recognize whatever his aunt is supposed to be but, then again, he doesn't even understand his mom and dad's, so maybe it's just a grown up thing to dress weirdly.
"Well, this isn't that much of a surprise," Mommy says with a chuckle as Auntie Miri carries what Damocles has heard is a pumpkin, a carving of a face so light can shine out.
She sets it down on the ground beside her door. "Yeah, yeah. Me? A witch?" She rolls her eyes and lays her hands on her hips, tilting to the side in what mom sometimes does when she's mad. "How about Garrus?" She chuckles and says, "An angel? Really?"
Daddy shrugs, rumbling and smiling. "I'm nothing if not original. Are you going to take Alexia out?"
Aunt Miri shakes her head, no longer mad as she relaxes. "She's still too young, Garrus. I want her to be safe."
"We could take her," mommy says, but Damocles' aunt shakes her head again.
"There's nothing against you, but I want to be with her." She sighs and motions inside her house. "Besides, I'm having a crew set up a lab for me in a prefab behind the house and I need to be around to, well…"
"Boss the shit out of them." Mommy chuckles when Aunt Miri sighs.
"If you really want to put it that way, yes." She smiles. "I think you probably noticed how pristine the Lazarus lab was when you woke."
"I was too busy being shot at," mommy says with a chuckle and nods. "So, I see you're leaving a pumpkin out. I noticed a lot of the houses have them. What's with that?"
"It marks houses that have candy." Damocles and Cassia both gasp in excitement, looking down the street at all the houses with glowing pumpkins outside. Some even have cool decorations! "With different species around, it wouldn't really be fair to have kids constantly knocking on those houses who aren't even celebrating Halloween."
"Right. Because multitudes of children running through the street won't keep them up tonight." Daddy hums and Aunt Miri snorts, rolling her eyes, as mommy chuckles.
"You never know. Maybe not every species sleeps as light as you do." She looks to Aunt Miri, jerking a thumb to daddy. "I swear, a leaf could fall from a tree and he'd wake up."
Damocles grins at the silliness of that - no one can hear a leaf, mommy - and Cassia giggles. Mommy smiles down to them, but the funniness of it quickly goes away as Damocles sees other kids out on the street. He really doesn't want to miss out on the candy because all the others took it all. Looking up to Auntie Miri, he purrs in plea. "Can we have candy, Auntie Miri?"
His aunt looks down to them and he fears he upset her when she doesn't move at first. Suddenly, she blinks. "Right! I'm sorry, guys." She turns and rushes into the house to grab a big bowl. "Take a handful. Family gets first pick." Kneeling down, she looks over them as they rush to grab candies of all colors - even the good ones that usually only come from Mr. Harrot. "Cassia? Does that beard itch?"
"Uh uh." Cassia drops her costume's stick to grab candy and shove it in her bag. "It's cool."
Aunt Miri chuckles and hands back the stick. "Try not to drop this. It might break." She smiles and moves her chin to the street. "You have fun."
"Why don't you two go ahead of us?" Daddy steps aside to give them room to walk down the short steps to the flat ground for the road. "We'll hang back." He chuckles and rumbles. "Wouldn't want to, what is it, cramp your fad?"
"Style, Garrus. Wouldn't want to cramp your style." Mommy chuckles. "Later, Miranda."
Mommy and daddy take each other's hands, but they're too slow as Damocles runs ahead and leading his sister. They laugh, side by side, as they pass a group of human children dressed in all kinds of costumes not as good as what he and Cassia wear. The kids look at what are probably the only two that look like their daddy, but are still trick or treating like all the other humans, but, for once, Damocles doesn't care. He is a scary monster and no stupid kids are going to make him feel bad because of their mean looks.
Climbing up the steps to a house, Damocles rings the bell as mommy calls from the street. "Remember to say 'trick or treat'!"
"Okay, mommy!" Cassia calls back, missing the chance as the door opens to a round woman and Damocles shouts 'trick or treat!' over his sister's own shout.
"Whoa… okay." The woman looks over them, her brow dropping in confusion. "Uh… aren't you guys-" She looks up and must see their parents because she makes a rumbly sounding cough and nods. "Right." She lowers her voice, but Damocles still hears her say, "You're those kids." She raises her voice some. "But just one!"
Damocles frowns under his hood, but he knows the lady doesn't see as she offers the bowl of candy with a rule he knows the others didn't have. Cassia takes a big bar of Chocolate Crunch and gives a thanks, but Damocles is less happy about getting treats from this mean woman. Instead, he just grabs something without looking and spins, stomping down the stairs. He hears Cassia's rush of footsteps behind him and sees mommy and daddy look at him with a frown of worry, but he doesn't want to talk about it.
Talking about the mean people does no good anyways.
As he walks with Cassia, a tiny bit less excited about continuing down the street, and hears mommy and daddy talk together in low voices. He knows that others talking bad about him and his sister hurts them, but they don't really know. They aren't the same no matter how they try.
He lets Cassia do all the talking at the next few houses, not even walking up to the door or opening his bag for candy. Many of the grown ups will frown until, making her face mad looking, mommy takes his hand and walks with him to the door. Something tells him she's not mad at him, but he still worries about having to go to the door of what's probably going to be another mean grown up.
His mom lets some kids pass before she kneels down before him at the bottom of a house's stairs. Cupping his head through the hood, she lifts his chin to look at her even if she can't see him. "Don't let those fucking bastards break your spirit. They are afraid of you."
"But I'm not scary…" he whispers, vocals keening softly. "Why does everyone hate us?"
Mommy frowns as Damocles hears daddy come close, purring as he crouches down and presses his forehead to Damocles'. "People are idiots. They fear what's different. They fear the possibility that you will be better than all of us, you and your sister." Mommy nods and stands to go to a confused and worried Cassia as daddy pulls Damocles into a hug. The pain eases a tiny bit, enough to make Damocles think that maybe getting candy is still a good enough thing to not think about the mean looks. "Just remember, you are better than all of them. They are nothing but talk, but hate and fear. You are so much more and will be so much more." He lays his hand under Damocles' chin, flaring his mandibles. "Prove them wrong."
Damocles sniffles and nods softly. "Okay, daddy."
He can be strong, for daddy, for mommy, and - even more - for his sister. She is hurt by the mean looks and words, crying when others make fun or sometimes when they come home from school. She needs his protection, to be looked after, because, unlike Damocles, he can hold it in.
He is strong, and he's going to prove it.
Daddy smiles and nods, standing and offering a hand. Damocles takes it, but only walks with him for a short time before he gets bored and rushes ahead to join his sister. They are only a few houses away from the end of the street - and the houses of the people in the city mom and dad own. At least, those houses on 'the block'. There are still other people that live around the other parts of the city thing, like around the field, but he's sure mommy and daddy don't walk that far away. They are old, after all.
Uncle and Aunt Sidonis live in the third house from the last one - the one next to the small playground - and mommy and daddy stop there to knock on the door. Damocles doesn't understand why because there's no pumpkin outside and turians don't really celebrate halloween, but grown ups are strange sometimes and don't always make a lot of sense. And they like to talk a lot, too.
"Mommy." Cassia tugs a bit on mommy's big dress and points to the last houses. "There's still a house."
Their dad chuckles as mommy heads to knock on the door. Crouching down, daddy smiles at Cassia and pulls her hat on straight. "We'll be right here talking to your aunt and uncle about work. I know you don't want to hear that boring stuff, so you head to the last house and, when you get your candy, you can go play."
Cassia chirps and hops, her bag making a crinkling noise as she swings it. "Really?!" She squeals and grabs Damocles' hand, dragging him to the last house with the pumpkin by the door.
Damocles doesn't really care about getting more candy and lets his sister ring the bell, standing make to make sure his hood is still pulled down over his head as far as it'll go. The play area looks empty with all the other kids wanting to get candy, so he wants to be there instead, watching out for his mom and dad to come take them home. He knows he'll feel much better once he's home with Xero and his family and able to eat all the candy he got.
"Trick or treat!" Cassia's trill makes him turn back to the house. At least, this way, he can get some more candy before he goes with her to the playground.
"Oh! Hello, kids." The woman in a bright yellow and black outfit tilts her head and frowns, looking from Damocles to Cassia. "My, your costumes certainly are… unique."
"I'm Gandolf!" Cassia holds up her bag, jiggling it. "And my brother is a ring waif."
"But…" The woman moves the bowl from her two hands to one against her side. "Wouldn't you want to be something pretty? Girls should dress in something pretty or cute." Cassia shakes her head, grinning with a chirp, and the lady looks to Damocles. "And you look very scary tonight." She frowns and Damocles clicks his mandibles. "Wouldn't you rather want to be something like Blasto, or some superhero?"
Getting mad, he growls softly and crosses his arms. "Mommy and daddy said I can 'be whoever the fuck' I want. And I wanna be a scary monster."
Cassia makes a noise of worry at him, and he knows she's frowning, but mom and dad aren't around to punish him for using bad words. And this lady isn't the boss of him and Cassia, so she can't do anything to them either. Besides, it's her fault for trying to make them feel bad about their costumes.
"Well…" The woman stands straight up and looks at Damocles through his hood, and he stares right back. He tenses up, never having to defend himself against an adult when not practice fighting with daddy, but he'll do it if the lady tries to do something.
Finally, the yellow and black dressed lady sighs and looks up past Damocles' shoulder. He looks back without turning and sees other kids coming, so he thinks she's not wanting to fight anymore before she leans down and drops a candy bar in Cassia's bag with her lips in a thin line. Damocles doesn't even ask for one of his own, taking Cassia's hand and walking with her past the other kids and towards the play set at the end of the street.
"You don't have to be mean, Damo."
"I wasn't mean," he says, frowning and letting her go to face her. "She was mean first." Cassia frowns behind her big fake beard and Damocles' mandibles flutter, not liking to make her upset, but he's right. He knows he is. "I don't like how she was talking to you. You can be what you want."
She steps forward and hugs him, purring. He doesn't understand why after she was upset earlier, but he rumbles and hugs her back. Flicking his mandibles, he doesn't notice when she goes still until he hears heavy footsteps behind him and quickly lets her go, spinning to stand between her and someone who doesn't sound anything like his mommy or daddy by their footsteps.
"Well, well, well." The krogan bully, Srack, stands before them, arms crossed, mean look on his face, and his two friends - asari and another krogan - with him. "Guess I might get myself some candy today." Damocles growls and pulls his mandibles in tight as the boy laughs. "Shut up, runt freak," he says and shoves Damocles back a steps. "Now. Give 'em over."
"Fuck you!" He shouts back, offering his bag back to Cassia so he can get ready for another fight. This time, he knows more than what he's seen on vids thanks to his dad's lessons. Even if he's not as good as daddy, he knows he's better than this stupid ass. As Srack tries to push him again, Damocles shoves the boy himself, that tingling feeling surrounding his arms as he throws the krogan bully off his feet.
"You little…" Roaring, Srack jumps to his feet and starts to charge. He stomps towards Damocles and Damocles readies himself, surrounding himself in that tickling feeling the grown ups call biotics and spreading his legs into a 'defensive stance', as daddy calls it. But before Srack can come close enough for either of them to hit the other, he stops just as Damocles hears the whirring sound of real guns coming out.
Blinking in surprise, Damocles looks up.
Standing above him and Cassia are mommy and daddy, mean looks on their faces and a gun in their hand pointed at Srack. Damocles' mandibles drop in shock as the krogan's eyes widen and he raises his hands, backing away, but mommy and daddy don't move, don't lower their weapons.
Instead, mommy says, "Stay the fuck away from my kids."
"I didn't-"
"Don't bother," she says, interrupting Srack. "Consider this a promise."
Daddy growls. "If we see you come near our son one more time. You and your family are gone, off Virmire, and never allowed back into the Wraiths or under our protection." He lifts his chin and his eyes go narrow. "You remember that."
"My parent's won't just let you hold a gun to me." Srack growls back as mommy lowers her gun.
"Good," daddy says, rumbling and flicking a mandible before he - strangely - chuckles. "We'll be waiting if they decide they don't agree to our terms."
"Now, get the fuck out of here. All of you." Mommy's hand is glowing blue as she waves towards the street. "Before we change our minds about letting you go."
Srack's friends' eyes widen, but they run before he does. Srack takes another second to look up at Damocles' dad before he, too, stomps away in a bit of a run. Damocles isn't sure if that's really what grown ups are supposed to do, but at least he can't be in trouble for getting into a fight if his mom and dad were the ones to do it instead. And they brought guns.
How he wishes he were as cool as them. Maybe, one day, he will be.