October 7th: About angels and demons

(Sam & Wanda friendship, rated K)

Sam fixed the small paper lampions in the shape and color of jack-o'-lanterns to the timber above the kitchen-unit. He stepped back and looked at his achievement before turning around: „Do you like it?"

Wanda was sitting on the couch facing in his direction holding a cup of tea. She nodded and smiled: „Those are cute."

Satisfied Sam walked over and sat next to her: „Now it finally looks like Halloween in here a little. If that was up to Steve and Nat we would never have any kind of decoration."

Wanda chuckled: „You are an adult, you don't have to ask them for permission, you know."

Sam grinned: „That's not what I was saying… They don't seem like holiday people, I guess."

Wanda shrugged: „I don't really consider Halloween a holiday." She placed the cup on the small table next to her.

Sam looked at her confused: „Why? It's about eating candy and dressing up funny. There is no better holiday than Halloween."

Wanda grinned: „I take my earlier statement of you being an adult back."

Sam crossed his arms in front of his chest: „Didn't you like it a lot as a kid?"

Leaning back Wanda looked at the lanterns: „No… we don't have your American Halloween in Sokovia."

Sam immediately started staring at her: „You don't? Do you have nothing in Sokovia?"

Wanda couldn't help but laugh at his reaction: „Don't worry, Sam. We still have Easter and Christmas. But holidays in Sokovia are more on the religious side. We would go to church and only Christmas meant presents… at least for the time we still had our parents."

Sam looked down: „Sorry Wanda…"

Wanda smiled: „No, it's alright… it was just the way it was. I wasn't missing anything."

Curious Sam looked up to face her again: „Did you have a holiday instead of Halloween?"

Wanda nodded: „Yes… but you would find it boring."

Sam shook his head: „I want to hear about it…"

Picking up her cup again Wanda thought about it before she started: „Since it's the day before All-Saints it is about getting rid of evil spirits. We would have to wake up really early and go to church for the morning prayer. It ended when dawn came. One of us would bring a candle with the blessed fire home. During the day all neighbors would meet up and cook together and eat together. Us children played together with the few toys we had, but we didn't really need them."

She paused, but Sam said nothing. He just listened to her. Wanda nipped at her tea before continuing: „In the evening the young men would meet at the town hall and dress up as demons. They would wear animal fur and masks like… carved in wood and painted, most red for the devil. They would carry cowbells and like those bells which are on sleighs and the altar in a church. They would leave the town hall when it's getting dark and walk into every house, ringing the bells loudly to scare the real demons and evil away so they wouldn't linger around on All-Saints. They would scare us when we were really little, but Pietro joined them himself when he was nine. It's nothing special at all. But I like thinking about it."

Sam smiled as she finished: „I never knew that… I also never thought about how other countries celebrated Halloween. I knew that Mexico had the Day of the Dead because Rhodey likes that thing, but otherwise I had no clue. Do you miss Sokovia?"

Wanda shrugged: „Kind of… I mean, it is my home and it will always be. But I'm with you guys now. Although America is loud and busy and different – I like it here too. Also… ever since there is a war going on all the time in Sokovia which can't be stopped…"

Sam nodded: „I see…"

Wanda started smiling again: „Now tell me about little Sam's Halloweens as a kid."

Sam grinned: „Well most of the time little Sam had a really lazy costume like a ghost or a pirate because he didn't care. When I was seven, however, I was into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles like… crazy. My mom was getting so annoyed with me talking about nothing else like ever she made me a costume for that year's Halloween. She started in August, so she could finish in time. It was so cool. It was a turtle-costume and I was going to be Leonardo of course. They didn't admit it then, but I knew the other boys were jealous. When I got older however it was more about the Halloween-parties. It was about the girls in short skirts dressing up as sexy cop or something like that. I stopped wearing costumes when I was sixteen and focused on the ladies, that's the story really. Not as cool as yours, unfortunately."

Wanda grinned: „Well… not everyone can have a cool story." She rose from the couch and placed the cup in the dishwasher: „Come on, Sam."

He looked at her confused: „Where are we going?"

She looked at the jack-o'-lanterns again before returning her eyes to him: „Shopping. We need more decoration. Those are so lonely, it's almost sad."

Sam grinned: „Wouldn't it be too funny to not only decorate the kitchen and living room, but also the training room and… Steve's apartment and… Natasha's apartment. They would absolutely hate it! It would be literally the best thing."

Wanda chuckled: „Okay… I'll help you! But when Nat tries to kill someone for the mess they made, it was your idea and I didn't know anything about it."

Sam stood up enthusiastically and grabbed his wallet: „Deal!"

I know nothing about Halloween-rites in other countries, but since Sokovia is not real I felt free to invite one. I hope some people are enjoying this challenge so far! :)