Namine walked into their room from the connecting bathroom, smiling at Reno. "I'm going to call Kairi really quickly before we leave, okay?"
"Sure." Reno smiled at her.
Grinning as she searched her bag for her cell phone, she said: "Have I told you how incredibly awesome this has been enough times yet?"
Reno laughed, "A hundred, but it makes me happy every time you say it." he smiled at her.
"Good, because there's no way I can ever repay you for this trip." Namine found her phone, moving to sit on the bed.
"You have no reason to repay me for anything." Reno assured her with a smile.
She dialed her sister, shaking her head at Reno. Whatever he might say, she knew she owed him big for this. Hmm... Christmas isn't that far away... "Kairi, it's Namine."
"Oh, you're alive. Good." Kairi seemed slightly preoccupied with something, but pleased at the same time.
"Of course. I just wanted to let you know I'm fine and we're having a blast. We're at Disneyplace!" Namine said excitedly.
For that, Kairi stopped, "He took you to Disneyplace?"
"Yes! He says he called in a favor - we spent all day yesterday at the park and we even have a hotel room practically right inside them! We're going there again today and staying until they close, so I won't be home until late. Kairi? It's amazing!" Namine gushed, smile evident in her voice.
"Wow... well, that's good... have fun. I'm going to Xigbar's tonight, so I don't know if I'll be here when you get home. I expect details when I do see you, though."
"Of course, but there's not much to tell. This whole trip has just been perfect." Namine sighed happily.
"Well, I'm happy for you, Nam. I don't know what it is with the two of us, but we have freakin' awesome timing when it comes to getting boyfriends, apparently. Do you think high heels will kill Axel?"
"We're twins - of course we do. And I'm sure you could kill anyone with high heels, not just Axel. People underestimate their value as murder weapons." Namine laughed.
Reno stared at Namine for a second, but didn't ask.
"No, I mean Roxas wearing high heels. Would that kill Axel?"
"Oh. Definitely. Will he really wear them? Poor Axel, he doesn't stand a chance." Namine said. "So that was what you're working on? An outfit for Roxas to wear to make Axel's brain short circuit?"
"Yep. Slutty bunny Roxas."
Namine laughed. "Get a picture if you can! I'm gonna go, Reno's just sitting here waiting for me. Have fun tonight with Xigbar!"
"I'll do my best, and you too! Enjoy Disneyplace. I'm insanely jealous."
"Thanks! And maybe for our birthday we can make a day-trip and you won't have to be jealous. Bye, Kairi." Namine grinned.
"Sounds like a plan to me. I'll start guilting dad into paying for it immediately. See you later." There was a click as Kairi hung up.
Namine closed her phone and stood up. "Okay, I'll all set. Are you ready?"
Reno hopped up as well, "Yep."
Namine smiled and grabbed her bag. "Let's go!"
Reno smiled, taking her hand as they left the room.
She squeezed his hand and when they stopped to wait for the elevator, gave his cheek a quick kiss. "Thank you." She said sincerely, with a bright smile.
Reno smiled at her again, "You're very welcome."
XXXX
Finally satisfied with the result of a night and morning of work, Kairi put Roxas's costume into a bag before walking out the door and locking it behind her. She headed down the relatively uncrowded streets. A few children were running around in costumes, but it wasn't even dark out yet, so there weren't many.
Stopping at Sora and Roxas's front door, she knocked.
"It's not even dark yet, why are there kids out?" She heard Sora snap from within before the door opened. "Oh. Hey Kai."
Kairi rolled her eyes, "Hi Sora."
"I told you I was hanging out with Riku today, didn't I?" Sora asked, suddenly panicking.
Kairi laughed, "Yes, you did. I've got plans with Xigbar, but I have to help Roxas with something first."
"Oh." Sora blinked, "Okay. He's in his room."
"Thanks, Sora." Kairi grinned, heading up the stairs. Getting to Roxas's door, she knocked.
Roxas opened the door. "Kairi. Oh god. You're here. How impossible was it? I think I'm going to faint." He pulled her in and shut the door behind her.
"It wasn't impossible." Kairi rolled her eyes, "And calm down. Everything's here." she put the bag down.
"Okay. You're right. But I really really want to make him drool, okay? So if I don't look drop dead sexy, then we'll scrap the slutty bunny part and stick with the normal bunny costume. All right, tell me what you need me to do." Roxas said, taking a deep breath and looking determined.
Kairi laughed, "Don't worry, you'll look plenty sexy." she said, "Put this on, then come back out here." she said, handing him the bag. "I have to show you how to do your eyeliner."
"Okay." He took the bag and walked out of his room and into the nearby bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror. "Axel's going to love this. You can do it." He said firmly, before peeking in the bag. Slowly, he grinned.
Twenty minutes later, he dashed into his room, not wanting Sora to see him. Leaning against the door, he asked, "Well?"
Kairi grinned, "Looks perfect." she said, "Axel's going to love it." she surveyed him for a moment, "Okay, you're going to have to put eyeliner on yourself when you go to change. Out on a limb, ever done this before?" she asked, hoping.
"Once, for my drama class in high school. A few of the girls showed me how and I ended up doing it myself. I only wore it in that class, though, and it was a few years ago, so I don't know how well I'll do now." Roxas explained.
"Okay." Kairi said, "Well, I'll show you how again, then, but you're gonna have to put it on yourself when you change."
"I'll be able to do it." Roxas said firmly. He'd seen what he looked like in this outfit and he knew the eyeliner would be the cherry on top. Axel didn't stand a chance.
Kairi laughed, "Alright, good." she said, proceeding to explain the process to him.
Roxas nodded, sitting down at his desk and pulling out a small mirror, carefully following her instructions. He thankfully didn't poke himself in the eye once and turned to face her as soon as he was done. "Well?"
"Looks good." Kairi nodded, "Good job."
He grinned, standing and spinning slowly. "See anything to fix? Am I wearing it right?"
"Well, I would put the eyeliner on both eyes when you go to do it, but besides that, you look perfect."
Roxas stuck his tongue out at her before grinning. "Axel's reaction? What do you think?"
"I think you might kill him." Kairi admitted.
"From shock or from restraining his desire to screw me on his couch?" Roxas asked curiously.
"Mix of both, though I'm guessing more the second one." Kairi chuckled, glancing at her watch, "Alright, I have to go soon, so get on the rest of the normal costume so Sora doesn't see this one."
"Right. Do I have to take any of this off, or does it all go on top?" Roxas asked.
"Just have to take off the heels." Kairi said, "It goes on top of the rest."
"Okay." Bending down, he took the shoes off and pulled on the rest of the costume, Kairi helping to hide the parts of the sexier version that showed through. Once finished, he was wearing pink velvet pants with a cotton bunny tail on his butt and a matching long sleeves pink shirt as well the bunny ears that he had put on when he first changed.
Kairi nodded appreciatively, "And there you have it. Looks good to me. You'll want to take that one eye of 'liner off, though. There's some makeup remover in that bag somewhere."
"Right. While I do that, can you put the rest of the make up and the high heels in my backpack over there? I'm bringing it with me and telling Axel it's full of regular clothes to change out of my costume later tonight." Roxas said, grabbing the remover and cotton ball, sitting down to use his small mirror to make sure he got all the eyeliner off.
"Yep." Kairi said, grabbing them both and stuffing them in the bag.
Finished, he shoved the bottle into the bag as well before hugging Kairi. "Thank you so much! I'll let you know how it goes."
"Please do." Kairi grinned, "And if possible, take a picture later so I can show Namine."
"I'm sure Larxene will take some - I'll get you copies. Larxene is his roommate." Roxas grinned. "I'm totally going to kick ass! I'm nervous excited. Oh man. Maybe I should bake something..."
Kairi laughed, "Alright, well, have fun. I have to get going. See you later, Rox."
"Thank you!" Roxas smiled, following Kairi out of his bedroom and downstairs, giving her a quick wave before heading into the kitchen. He had enough time to make brownies...
XXXX
Kairi flattened down her pajama pants and glanced at herself in the mirror. Not her best look, but it was definitely exactly what she'd told Xigbar she'd be wearing. Grabbing her bag, she headed down the stairs and into the kitchen to wait for him.
Xigbar grinned and making sure the hand behind his back hid his present, knocked on Kairi's door.
Kairi spun on her heel as she heard the knock, having no real reason to actually go to the kitchen, and walked over to the door, swinging it open.
Bowing gallantly, Xigbar presented Kairi with a dozen white chocolate roses. "Happy Halloween, Red."
Kairi raised an eyebrow but smiled, "Thank you." she said, taking them, "People don't usually get each other gifts on Halloween, though." she let him inside.
"Do I really need an excuse to shower you with presents, Sass?" Xigbar laughed. "Besides, it's Halloween and I figured you deserved to have some candy since we don't have much at the apartment."
Kairi chuckled, "Well, thank you." she said, putting them down on the small end table in the living room and leaning on the back of the couch, "I'll be sure to devour them later." she winked.
"God, what an image." Xigbar grinned, looking her up and down slowly. "Damn, I was right - sleepwear is sexy. Ready to go, Red?"
Kairi rolled her eyes, "Yep." she smiled. "Any of your roommates gonna be there?"
"Leon's out with Cloud - yes Leon's the roommate of mine Cloud's dating - but Seifer'll be home. He should behave, though. And if not, well, I'm sure you can put him in his place, Sassy." Xigbar smirked.
"I'll keep that in mind." Kairi chuckled, picking up her bag.
"Let's go, then." Xigbar held the door open for her, locking and closing it behind them before leading her to his car.
Kairi climbed into the car, noting mutely that her sneakers did not match her pajamas and then rolling her eyes at the ridiculous thoughts that managed to come into her head lately. "So, Roxas is all sexied up in that costume now." she commented as Xigbar climbed into the driver's side.
Xigbar grinned, buckling quickly and starting the car, pulling away from the curb and heading to his apartment. "Did he actually pull it off or end up looking ridiculous? Because, I gotta say, that outfit would not look good on everyone, Red."
"I think he pulled it off, but I may be a little biased, having put a lot of it together." Kairi laughed. "He's promised to get me copies of the pictures that will inevitably be taken, so I'll be sure to show you."
Xigbar snickered. "More power to him, then. Dessert god's got balls." He slowed to stop at a stop sign, smiling at Kairi before refocusing on the road.
Kairi smiled back, "Oh, and just in case you were wondering, Nam's still alive and her boyfriend took her to Disneyplace for the weekend." she rolled her eyes, "She called me this morning, sounding like she was about to explode from happiness and excitement."
Xigbar cursed lightly. "That's a great idea! I shoulda thought of that..."
Kairi laughed, "You don't need to take me to Disneyplace." she rolled her eyes.
"For our anniversary, then." He winked. "Glad your sister's okay and having fun, though. Told you not to worry. You and her are both tough women, Red."
Kairi shrugged, "Yeah, well... in different ways." she said, smiling at him and not commenting on him spilling anniversary plans, especially considering they'd been dating (if she could call this that, which she supposed she could now) for a grand total of not-even-a-month.
"I think you're more alike than you see." Xigbar said in a rare moment of complete seriousness. Then he sent her a brief smile, "So. Tell me something about you I should I know, Red."
Kairi raised an eyebrow, before thinking, "Well, I have this unhealthy obsession with root beer. I'm pretty sure that if I stopped drinking it I would convulse or die or something. It might possibly be replacing blood or oxygen in my system."
"Okay then. Guess I should stock up on the stuff, huh? And this is it, by the way." Xigbar pulled into his parking spot, cutting the engine.
"Very nice." Kairi commented, looking around the parking garage, "But then again, you told me that you lived in an apartment building, not a parking garage." she smirked at Xigbar.
Xigbar stared at before laughing. "Damn, Red, you're perfect." Still chuckling, he climbed out the car, walking around to offer his hand to Kairi in order to help her out before taking firm hold of it and leading her to his apartment.
Kairi laughed, leaning against him for a moment as she squeezed his hand, and following him.
He stopped in front of his apartment, grinning at Kairi before unlocking the door and pulling them both inside, shutting the door behind them. "Seifer! I'm back! Get your ass out here!"
"Chill, man!" Seifer called back, "I'll be out in a minute!"
Kairi giggled.
Xigbar rolled his eyes. "He's touchy these days because he's suddenly the only single one of us three living here. I say he needs to get laid. Wanna grab a seat here in the living room and I'll get you a drink? I think we have root beer, aren't you lucky?"
"Incredibly." Kairi chuckled, sitting down and smiling, "Thank you."
Grabbing the soda for Kairi and a bottle of water for himself, Xigbar walked back into the living room and sat down next to Kairi, offering her the drink. Placing his on the table, he gestured to the impressive stack of movies. "You can take your pick of those or we can try to find something on TV. Up to you, Red."
"Oh, no." Kairi said, "I'm faced with decisions." she popped her can open, taking a sip, and standing up to look through the movies as Seifer walked out of his room and into the living room.
"Seifer, Kairi. Kairi, Seifer." Xigbar said, making the introductions.
Kairi turned, "Hello." she said, nodding at Seifer.
"Hey." Seifer nodded, plopping into a chair, "Nice to meet you. Watch out for Xigbar, he's not as nice as he seems."
Kairi raised an eyebrow, smirking at Xigbar.
"Ignore Seifer. He was dropped on his head as a child. Repeatedly." Xigbar grinned.
"Won't deny that." Seifer chuckled.
Kairi laughed, turning back to the movies.
"Find anything yet, Red?" Xigbar asked.
"Yep." Kairi said, standing up, holding two horror movies, "Pick." she said, handing them to Xigbar and sitting back down.
Xigbar shrugged. "Don't care. You're the guest, you pick."
"This one, then." Kairi said, putting the other one on the table.
Xigbar nodded, taking the one she'd picked and throwing it at Seifer. "Put that in, would you? You're closest." He put his arm around Kairi, pulling her closer and grinning.
Seifer rolled his eyes, catching the DVD case as it flew towards his head, and got up, putting the DVD in before plopping back down.
"Isn't he so well trained?" Xigbar asked Kairi with a grin. "That'd be mostly Leon's doing. But damn if I don't like taking advantage of it."
Seifer threw the closest thing he could find, the DVD case, at Xigbar as Kairi laughed.
Xigbar easily caught the case, chuckling. "Aw, you mad, Seif? I'm telling you, find a girl - or a dude, whatever - and you'll feel infinitely better." He pulled Kairi closer.
Seifer rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, whatever." he said, still not believing that Xigbar could ever possibly be serious about a girl.
"You watching, too?" Xigbar asked, grabbing the remote and getting ready to press play.
"Got nothing better to do." Seifer shrugged.
"Then let the fun begin." Xigbar grinned, starting the movie.
XXXX
Riku grinned as he pulled up to Sora's house, parking his car (it was actually working!) and grabbing the bag of candy he'd bought before climbing out and locking up, heading up to his best friend's house and knocking.
Sora answered the door this time without shouting about children trick or treating before dark, and grinned, "Hey, Riku."
Riku smiled. "Hi, Sora. I brought some candy, in case you were running low." He handed over the bag, stepping into the house and closing the door behind him.
"Thank youuuu." Sora said, putting the candy bag on the table he'd dragged over to the door, "Kids are fucking leeches this year, I swear."
Riku laughed. "No problem." He pulled Sora into a quick hug. "Movies?" He asked, pulling back and taking a step towards the living room.
"Yep." Sora chuckled, pulling him into the living room where he'd put a bunch of movies on the table in advance.
Grabbing a random movie from the pile, Riku held it up. "This one?"
"Sure." Sora nodded, taking it from him and putting it in.
"Great." Riku sat down on the couch, waiting for Sora to start the movie and sit next to him before taking his hand and licking his lips. "Ah, Sora?"
"Yeah?" Sora asked, turning to him.
"Usually when you're dating someone, you spend a lot of time trying to get to know them, right? But we've been best friends forever so we don't really have to play 20 questions - we know each other already. And we've been dating a week now and I know you want to go slow which I'm fine with, but I was thinking maybe I could kiss you?" Riku said in a nervous rush.
Sora turned a shade of bright red quite similar to Kairi's hair and stared at Riku for a minute as millions of different, not quite connected, thoughts ran through his head. "I... uh... O-okay?"
"Okay? Really?" Riku asked hopefully, scooting closer to Sora.
Sora's face was still bright red, but he took a deep breath, trying to calm his mind (which still wasn't forming a coherent thought), before nodding.
Riku smiled, thumb rubbing in soothing circles on Sora's hand which he still held tightly. He placed his other hand hesitantly on Sora's shoulder, pulling him a little closer, watching his face carefully for any signs of him wanting to back out. Slowly he leaned forward until their faces were only inches apart, eyes half-lidded, gaze flicking between Sora's eyes and his lips.
Taking a breath, Riku leaned forward those last inches and pressed their lips together gently.
After a few seconds in which Sora did not respond in the slightest, Riku pulled back a little, still clutching the brunette's hand and fingers lightly gripping his shoulder. "Sora?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you... okay? Did I go too fast?" Riku asked, face dropping as he pulled further away, letting his hand fall from Sora's shoulder and returning it to lay useless in his lap.
"No! No... I'm," Sora paused, "Er, fine. I... Do you see what you reduce me to, Riku? Fuck, all I do is babble."
Slowly, Riku smiled. "So you're not mad? It was okay?"
"Right." Sora said, "It's just... different, I guess. Gonna take a little getting used to. But definitely okay."
Riku grinned, leaning closer and placing his hand back on Sora's shoulder but this time letting it slide up his neck and cup his cheek. "You know what they say. Practice makes perfect." This time when he leaned in, he closed his eyes, sighing lightly as their lips connected again, moving his softly, gently against Sora's.
Sora's eyes widened a bit before he let them slowly drift closed, trying to not think and just feel. Riku, it's just Riku. Hesitantly, he tried to move his lips like Riku was, eliciting a soft sound of surprise from the silverette. Slowly opening his eyes, Riku pulled back, smiling.
Blinking, Sora fully opened his eyes once his brain registered that Riku had stopped again.
The doorbell ringing interrupted the two, and Sora jumped up, "Uhh, sorry. One sec." he dashed out of the room, taking a deep breath to calm his blush before opening the door to give the kids that were no doubt standing there some candy.
Riku chuckled and felt kind of proud to cause his boyfriend to blush so much as he watched Sora dash out to give the trick-or-treater's some candy. Patiently, he waited for him to come back.
A few seconds later, Sora returned, blush calmed and looking mostly normal.
Riku grinned. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine. Why wouldn't things be fine. Fuck." Sora grumbled as he sat back down, "The babbling. I swear, I only do this when you're around."
Riku's grin widened and he grabbed Sora's hand. "It's cute. I like being able to short circuit your brain."
Sora rolled his eyes at him, "You're killing my entire reputation. If Kairi ever saw me like this, I would never hear the end of it."
"Mhmm. Well, tell me what exactly about me makes you babble and I'll try to avoid reducing you to mush when she's around." Riku said, still smiling, ridiculously happy. "Of course, when she's not around..."
Sora rolled his eyes, "I don't think you can stop reducing me to mush, Riku."
Riku's grin turn into a smirk. "Good. I love you, Sora."
Sora's blush was back, but this time not as bright as Kairi's hair.
Riku laughed a little before cupping Sora's face again and just staring into his eyes. After several minutes, he sighed and smiled. "Do you want to try being the one to kiss me? That might be more comfortable for you since you're used to taking the lead in a relationship, right? Or is that too much for you in one night? I have no problem waiting for you, Sora, until your comfortable with me."
Sora let his forehead fall to Riku's shoulder and mumbled something about dying.
Riku chuckled and wrapped his arms lightly around him. "Too much, then. That's okay. How about I just hold you close and we actually watch this movie?"
"That sounds good." Sora said, not moving. The doorbell rang, "Ahhhhhhhhh, go away. Fucking kids..."
Riku laughed. "I'll get it this time." He let go of Sora and pushed him back gently. "Uh, Sora? You're kind of trapping my legs. I have to get the door."
"No." Sora said, not moving, "There's plenty of other houses that kids can get candy at."
Riku blinked, studying Sora's face. "So what you're really saying is, you don't want me to let go?"
"I'm telling you that I'm liable to tackle you if you try it."
Riku grinned as the blush reappeared on Sora's face. Unable to resist, he quickly gave him one more kiss before pulling him closer, holding him tightly.
XXXX
Managing to juggle the two fairly large pumpkins he was holding, Cloud knocked on Zack's door and stepped back a bit, smiling quickly at Leon who was holding the other two pumpkins.
"Coming!" Zack yelled and then the door was hastily opened.
"Cloudy! You guys made it and wow, look at those pumpkins! Oh man is this going to be fun! C'mon in!" Zack said with a huge grin, opening the door wider and closing it once they were both inside.
"Aerith's setting up the table for our carving so come on. Are they heavy?" Zack asked as he led the men through his house.
Cloud half-shrugged. "Not heavy as much as awkward."
Zack grinned. "Perfect. Aerith, they're here!" He grinned, walking over to kiss his wife, who was just finishing laying down a plastic tablecloth.
"Oh, hi!" Aerith smiled, smoothing the tablecloth down, "I'm Aerith, it's nice to meet you." she smiled at Leon, who nodded at her.
"You too." he said, "You have a nice home."
"Thank you." Aerith smiled.
Zack nudged Cloud. "Ain't he just mister charming, huh?"
Putting the pumpkins down, Cloud smacked Zack's shoulder. "Knock it off, Zack! I recall a certain someone desperately memorizing poetry when trying to woo Aerith."
Zack laughed. "Okay, okay. Still. I'm happy for you, you deserve a good guy for once."
Cloud rolled his eyes but couldn't hide his smile. As soon as Leon placed his pumpkins on the table, too, he reached for his hand, grinning at him before smiling at Aerith. "Hey, Aerith. Zack behaving?"
"As much as Zack can behave." Aerith rolled her eyes, smacking her husband lightly as she smiled.
Zack whined, "Owww, baby!"
Cloud laughed. "So, official introductions to get them out of the way - Leon, my idiot best friend's lovely wife, Aerith. Aerith, this is my boyfriend Leon."
Aerith smiled again, "Like I said before, it's very nice to meet you."
"You too." Leon nodded again.
Zack rolled his eyes. "Let's carve the pumpkins!"
"Jeez, Zack, you really didn't develop self-control, huh?" Cloud teased.
Zack stuck his tongue out at him, before pulling back a chair for Aerith and then sitting down himself, Cloud and Leon following his lead and sitting at the table as well.
"So... how do you do this?" Cloud asked.
Zack gaped at him. "C'mon, Cloudy, you seriously don't know?"
Cloud scowled at him. "I've never done it before!"
"Oh." Zack said, comprehension dawning on his face. "Oh. Well, uh... Leon'll help you." He grinned, turning to his wife. "Okay, baby: funny or scary?"
"Whatever you go with, if it's going to be scary, try and make it at least tolerable to the kids this year." Aerith rolled her eyes, "I'm the one that has to deal with the angry parents of the crying kids."
Leon turned to Cloud, "So, you really have no idea how to carve a pumpkin?" he asked.
Zack chuckled. "Okay, funny it is!" He grabbed one of the markers Aerith had set out along with the carving tools and gave it to his wife, taking another for himself and immediately drawing on his pumpkin.
Cloud gave Leon a look. "I told you, I've never done this before. I assume you cut the shapes you want, right?"
"Eventually." Leon nodded, "First you have to draw the face, or whatever you're carving into it on." he said, handing Cloud a marker. "So you know where to cut."
Cloud took the marker, staring at it like it was a live snake poised to strike. "Um... how about you draw it? I don't care what you make." He tried giving the marker back.
"You aren't worming your way out of this." Leon chuckled, "Just draw a face."
"I'm not good at drawing. At all." Cloud said.
Zack snickered, momentarily looking up from his pumpkin. "I forgot about that! Cloudy, here, failed art. Repeatedly. In elementary school. The teacher took pity on him and passed him so he wouldn't have to repeat any grades."
Cloud blushed and grumbled, "Shut up, Zack."
Zack just laughed louder.
"Well, I didn't fail art, but I barely passed." Leon said, "So, don't worry about it." he smiled, "Just... draw a smiley face or something." he shrugged.
Cloud looked doubtful but uncapped the marker, squaring his shoulders and drawing two shaky shapes that were almost circles and a wide laughing mouth under them that resembled a sinking ship.
"De-gutting time! Man, this is my favorite part!" Zack said excitedly, taking one of the carving knives and cutting the top part of the pumpkin off. He shoved his hand in and scooped out a large chunk of pumpkin guts. "Braaaains! Braaaaaains!" He moaned, shoving the guts at his wife.
Aerith squeaked, scrambling away from the pumpkin guts that were heading towards her and almost toppled out of her chair, "Zack!"
Zack grinned, dumping the guts on the table. "Sorry, baby. Couldn't help myself there."
Cloud looked at Leon's pumpkin and shook his head. "Barely passed art, my ass. You shouldn't lie to your boyfriend, you know." He reached across the table, grabbing the same tool Zack had used on his pumpkin and did what he'd watched his best friend do, cutting the top off of his pumpkin smoothly and efficiently.
"I didn't lie to you." Leon chuckled, beheading his pumpkin as well, and glancing at Cloud's, "I'm starting to doubt that you've never done this before." he said.
"Tools are my thing. This is what I'm good at - taking things apart and putting them back together. Also, I just saw Zack do it and contrary to popular belief, not all blondes are stupid." With that, Cloud shoved his hand into his pumpkin and proceeded to rip the guts out.
Zack laughed but didn't say anything, completely content to watch Cloudy and Leon. After all, that brunette better be good enough for him! "Want me to de-gut yours for you, babe?" He asked his wife.
"Please and thank you." Aerith chuckled, pushing her pumpkin towards him.
Gleefully, Zack shoved his hands into the pumpkin, mushing around the guts before thoroughly scrapping the inside of the pumpkin clean. He double checked them both and deeming the fun part done, sighed a little before giving Aerith a quick kiss and heading to the bathroom to wash his hands of pumpkin guts.
Cloud scraped out his pumpkin, nodding to himself. Done. "Cut along the lines, right?" He muttered, grabbing a carving tool, uncaring that his hands still had traces of pumpkin guts on them.
"Yep." Leon said, glancing up as Aerith grabbed a large knife to begin cutting hers open. He picked up a tool of his own to work on his.
Zack skipped back into the room, sitting beside Aerith once more and admiring her progress. "Beautiful." He said, grinning into her eyes, before hacking at his own pumpkin.
Cloud stuck his tongue out a teeny bit in concentration as he carefully cut into his pumpkin, hands completely steady.
Leon wasn't one for complicated patterns or faces on pumpkins, so he finished his simple carving rather quickly, replacing the tools on the table and checking it to make sure he hadn't missed anything he was supposed to cut, before glancing at Cloud's.
"Done! I'm done! It's alive!" Zack cackled madly. "What'dya think?" He asked, whipping the pumpkin around.
Cloud finished the last bit and put his tool down, glancing at Zack's clown face on his pumpkin. "Cute." He turned his around.
"Damn, Cloudy. For that being your first time carving, came out pretty good - all the cuts are so smooth!" Zack said.
Cloud shrugged. "Told you - working with tools is what I'm good at."
Zack chuckled. "I'll say. I bet you're really good with your hands, too, huh?" He winked at Leon.
Leon raised an eyebrow but declined to answer, turning to Cloud instead, "You did a good job."
Cloud grinned. "Thanks."
Just then, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it! It's the trick-or-treaters!" Zack yelled, jumping up and running to the door.
Cloud shook his head, standing. "C'mon, I'll show you where the bathroom is so you can wash your hands. That okay, Aerith?"
"That's fine." Aerith smiled, standing up to start cleaning up.
Leon stood up as well.
Cloud headed down the hallway, making sure Leon was following, as entered the bathroom, turning on the faucet and washing his hands, grinning when Leon's hands joined his under the water spray.
"Thanks for this. Zack's having a lot of fun and I can tell Aerith is, too, just 'cause Zack is so happy." Cloud said as he dried his hands, smiling at Leon.
"It's no problem." Leon chuckled, taking the towel from Cloud and drying his own hands, "I'm enjoying myself too."
"I'm glad." Cloud smiled, stepping forward and giving Leon a quick kiss. "Better get back out there." He reached for Leon's hand, leading them back out to where Aerith was all done cleaning up and Zack was putting candles in the pumpkins.
"Gotta light them up!" Zack said excitedly.
"You? With fire?" Cloud said. "Maybe someone else should do it..."
Zack pouted. "I'll be careful!"
Cloud rolled his eyes. "Fine. Don't complain if you burn yourself, though."
Giving Zack a look, Aerith snatched the matches before he could, "Well, if he burns himself, I'm the one who has to take care of him, so if no one minds, I'll just light them."
"Aw." Zack started to protest but one look from Aerith had him shutting his mouth.
Cloud snickered. "Yeah, Aerith's definitely in charge."
Zack stuck his tongue out at Cloud. "We love each other! And I bet Leon's the one in charge of you!"
Cloud cuffed his best friend in the back of the head. Hard. "Idiot."
Leon chuckled, and Aerith spoke up, rolling her eyes, "Enough." she said, giggling despite herself, "Zack, isn't there something you needed to tell Cloud?"
"Huh?" Zack blinked. "Tell Cloudy? What... Oh! Right! Ah, Cloud." Zack said, putting an arm around Aerith and grinning at him. "Aerith's pregnant. We're going to have a baby!"
"Wow! A baby! Wow! You're going to be a dad! Oh my god, wow, Zack! Congratulations!" Cloud pulled the couple into a hug. "You'll be great parents!"
XXXX
Demyx leaned backwards on the bathroom door, sighing, "Zexion, come on. You look great, and you need to come out of the bathroom."
"You can't know that! I don't know about this... I look ridiculous!" Zexion yelled through the door, tugging on his lab coat.
"You do not." Demyx rolled his eyes, "And I'll never know for sure until you let me in."
"...Promise you won't laugh?" Zexion asked.
Demyx smiled, "Promise." He stopped leaning on the door so he wouldn't fall backwards when it was opened.
Taking a shaky breath and feeling his cheeks starting to burn from embarrassment already, Zexion flipped the lock and turned the knob on the door, letting it swing open.
Demyx smiled at him, "That wasn't so hard, was it? You look great."
"You're just saying that." Zexion mumbled, letting his hair fall in front of his face, hands still absentmindedly tugging on the coat.
"I've told you a hundred times that I wouldn't 'just say' something like that." Demyx rolled his eyes, grabbing Zexion's wrist and dragging him back into the bathroom, "Anyway, I still need to do your hair."
"My hair?" Zexion asked, eyes widening.
Demyx grinned at him, "Of course."
"Why do you have to do my hair - isn't it fine like usual? I doubt anyone will mistake what I'm supposed to be, with this lab coat." Zexion said.
"Yeah, but you don't look crazy enough yet." Demyx said, "Now hold still."
Zexion held his breath as Demyx stepped up close to him, his cheeks burning again but for a different reason, stomach flipping. He frantically looked anywhere but at the blonde, who was way too close!
Amused, but trying not to show it, Demyx spoke, "You okay? You look like you're about to pass out. If you'd rather Larxene do your hair, I can go get her. She'll probably do it better than me anyway."
"No!" Zexion shouted. "No, I don't want her anywhere near my hair! Or to see me like this, for that matter... No. I'm fine." He took a shaky deep breath, trying to appear calm.
"You do know that she's going to see you in your costume, right?" Demyx asked, raising an eyebrow, "You're not hiding in the bathroom all night." he said, even as he started to style Zexion's hair.
"Y-yes?" Zexion squeaked. His brain couldn't come up with a single coherent response, not with Demyx running his fingers through his hair!
Demyx raised an eyebrow but decided that it was probably better to fall silent until he was done with Zexion's hair.
Zexion closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing. Demyx was still running his fingers through his hair, spiking it this way and that, but Zexion just focused on the fluttering in his stomach and how good it felt. He let out a small sigh, completely relaxing.
When Demyx finished, he took a step back, "Alright, looks good. Take a look." he gestured to the mirror.
Tensing as he stepped back, Zexion hesitantly opened his eyes and turned towards the mirror. He gaped at his image - it looked nothing like him! His hair was all over the place, sticking out in crazy directions. "How did you do that?" He asked, reaching up to lightly finger one spike.
Demyx shrugged, "Lots of gel and hairspray." he said.
Nodding and accepting the answer, Zexion let his hand drop. "Ah, how about we just hang out in my room? There's really no need to go to the living room - we don't need candy and I'm sure Larxene can handle giving it out by herself."
Demyx shook his head, "You're not gonna weasel your way out of it." he said, grinning, "Come on, you look great."
"You look great. I look like a crazy person." Zexion said with a shake of the head and light blush.
"That's the idea of a mad scientist, Zex." Demyx laughed.
Zexion's blush deepened. "I know that!" He snapped. "Fine, let's just get this over with."
Demyx chuckled, leading the way out of the bathroom.
Resigning himself to the laughter, Zexion followed, shoulders slumping. He looked ridiculous... He almost walked right into Demyx when the blonde suddenly stopped in front of him once they reached the living room. Zexion hid behind him.
Demyx glanced over his shoulder at Zexion as Larxene glanced over. She was dressed as a witch, which was one of her lazier costumes of the past few years, since it had been assembled by literally taking bits of pieces of her past four costumes. "Oh, hey, I was wondering where you two were hiding. Now I know where Zex has been hiding."
Demyx side stepped, leaving Zexion in full view.
"By the way, looking good." she grinned, turning to the door as the bell rang again and wondering silently how long it would take the parents of these kids to realize that every single kid under seven screamed as they left this house.
Zexion stared after her. That was it? No laughter? No mocking? Numbly, he followed Demyx and sat down on the couch, turning to the blonde. "Did you tell her I was dressing up or what costume you had picked for me?"
Demyx chuckled, sitting down next to him, "I only told her I'd convinced you to dress up."
Zexion nodded slowly. "Okay. Well, Larxene is in charge of terrorizing the kids and handing out candy and we're in costume. Now what?"
Demyx shrugged, "That's up to you."
"You're the Halloween expert here - I usually stay in my room and let them have their fun. We're too old to go trick-or-treating and besides doing that and handing out candy, I don't know of anything else to do." Zexion said.
Larxene walked over, this round of kid-terrorizing done, and leaned on the back of the couch, "I'm sure there are some old Halloween specials on TV. Turn something on."
Demyx grabbed the remote, doing just that.
Zexion looked between the two of them before shrugging and giving in completely to this bizarre holiday, watching as Demyx chose a movie.
Demyx smiled at Zexion as he found a movie, putting the remote down, and Larxene dashed off to answer the door again.
"Is this horror movie particularly gory?" Zexion asked.
"Never seen it before." Demyx shrugged. "I guess we'll find out?"
Zexion nodded. "I'm not a fan of gore."
"We'll change the channel if it is, then." Demyx said.
Zexion shook his head. "You don't have to - if you find you like this movie and want to watch it, then go ahead. I'll just go read a book if it gets gory."
Demyx just rolled his eyes and shook his head.
Zexion narrowed his eyes. "You know, it's rude to roll your eyes."
Demyx glanced at him, "Well, I'd have hoped that by now you'd have figured out that I'd rather spend time with you than watch a random Halloween movie." he raised an eyebrow.
Zexion blinked and his stomach flipped. "I..." He closed his mouth, not knowing what to say.
Demyx chuckled, but said nothing else.
Staring at his lap and blushing, Zexion muttered, "I enjoy spending time with you as well."
Demyx glanced over and smiled at him.
Wishing his hair wasn't spiked up so he could hide behind it, Zexion peeked at Demyx, just catching his smile. Quickly, he dropped his gaze back to his lap, trying to slow his racing heart and getting annoyed with himself for constantly acting like a lovestruck teenager around Demyx. But you are a lovestruck teenager. A voice in his head said. Shut up. He snapped at himself, gathering enough courage to resume watching the movie as if nothing unusual had happened.
Unaware of Zexion's inner mental turmoil, Demyx leaned back. Larxene vaulted over and into a chair on the other side of the room, not disturbing the two of them, but not leaving them alone either. Whether she was just bored without kids to torment or keeping an eye on them would never be known.
XXXX
Roxas heard a car beep and knew that was Axel. Grabbing his backpack and bag of brownies, he yelled as he ran, "That's Axel. I'm leaving - staying at his house tonight, have fun bye!" Barely catching a glimpse of his brother and Riku on the couch, Roxas threw open the front door and slammed it shut behind him, jogging down the path to the awaiting car. Grinning, he climbed in to the passenger seat. "Hi Axel. Wow! You look amazing!" And the redhead did, in his suit and top hat, and was that a cape?
"Hey Rox." Axel grinned back, giving his boyfriend a kiss, "You look awesome yourself."
Roxas smirked. "Thanks." As the car pulled away and headed for the haunted house, he said, "I made brownies while I was waiting. Want one?"
"Of course." Axel said, "I will never pass up your cooking. Gimme."
Roxas reached into the bag and pulled out one, holding it up in front of Axel's mouth with a grin so that he could eat it while keeping both hands on the wheel.
Axel laughed, "You're the best," and took a bite.
"Well?" Roxas asked, waiting for Axel to swallow.
Axel glanced at him for a split second, "Do you really need to ask?" he laughed.
Holding up the rest of the brownie to Axel's mouth, Roxas grinned. "It's nice to hear that you enjoy it."
Axel laughed again, taking another bite.
Roxas shuddered a little as Axel's mouth grazed his fingertips. "Um. So, the haunted house. You know how to get there?"
Axel nodded, before swallowing, "Yep, I think so."
"Okay." Roxas licked his lips, offering the last bite to the redhead, shivering as he took it and slowly bringing his hand back to his lap before clearing his throat. "Uh. Are you nervous? About meeting my friends? 'Cause you shouldn't be, they'll behave, mostly."
Axel shrugged, "Not really. I figure that if you managed to survive meeting Larx, Cloud, and Zex, that I can handle your friends." he chuckled.
Roxas nodded. "Good. It's right up here." Axel turned into the place and quickly found a parking spot. Roxas scanned the area and was just going to pull out his cell phone when he spotted his friends standing around Hayner and Olette's car. "I see them!" Leaving his backpack in the car but bringing the brownies with him, Roxas climbed out and shut the door behind him, walking around to Axel's side as the redhead did the same, locking the car. Sending him a quick grin, Roxas took his hand and they headed to meet his friends.
"Finally! Took you long enough to get here." Hayner grumbled.
Roxas rolled his eyes. "Everyone, this is Axel. Axel, the pirate is Pence, the zombie is Hayner, and the fairy is Olette."
"It's nice to meet you." Pence said politely, offering his hand.
Axel shook his hand, "Nice to meet you too." he nodded.
Hayner looked him up and down. "You're taller than I expected."
"Hayner!" Roxas snapped.
"Yeah, yeah. Nice to meet you and all that. I really only got one thing to say to you." Hayner stepped up close to Axel, glaring at him. "Hurt Roxas and I'll kill you." Stepping back, he grinned. "Can we go into the haunted house, now?"
"That was actually a lot easier than I expected." Axel chuckled.
Olette grabbed her brother's arm, "Come on, then!" she said, dragging him towards the haunted house.
Pence smiled. "I'm happy for you and Roxas. Keep him happy and none of us will have a problem with you." He walked after Hayner and Olette. "Wait for us, you guys!"
Roxas tugged on Axel's hand, pulling him down for a quick kiss. "Told you they'd behave. C'mon, let's go!"
Axel chuckled, "Right." he said, squeezing Roxas's hand and following him to the haunted house.
"Should probably have told you sooner, but these kinds of things freak me out." Roxas said, holding on to Axel tightly.
"That's right! Remember last year? I thought Rox was gonna piss his pants!" Hayner taunted, laughing.
"You're the one who screamed like a girl!" Pence laughed.
Axel chuckled, taking his hand from Roxas's and putting it over his boyfriend's shoulders.
Roxas smiled up at him gratefully as they moved through the dark hallway.
"Ooh, look at that!" Pence said. "So cool!"
"What? Ahh! What the hell? How is that cool?" Hayner demanded, pointing at the body shackled to the ground with several knives sticking out from several body parts.
Roxas closed his eyes as Pence snickered. "It's so real!" He said mockingly.
Axel squeezed Roxas's shoulders to reassure him.
They kept walking and Roxas opened his eyes as a loud, piercing wail filled the air.
"Shit!" Hayner yelled, leaping and grabbing onto his sister.
"It's a soundtrack, relax." Pence said with an eyeroll.
Roxas warily glanced around as they kept moving. Suddenly, something touched his arm and he screamed, trying to bolt forward but unable to really move with Axel's grip on him. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He yelled.
Olette grinned, "Roxas, it's just me." she said, "I couldn't resist." she skipped past them to catch up with Hayner and Pence.
Slumping into Axel, Roxas groaned. "I'm going to kill her."
"C'mon, lovebirds! Don't fall behind, now!" Hayner called.
Axel chuckled, squeezing him again.
"Oooh, looks like they've upgraded the torture chambers." Pence noted from the lead of the group.
"Y-yeah." Hayner said shakily.
"Ax? If I close my eyes and ask you to guide me through, will you think I'm a coward?" Roxas asked, paling as he heard his friends' screams from ahead of them.
"Not in the slightest." Axel said, "Go ahead."
Hugging him and burying his face into his side, Roxas clutched his brownies tightly and and sighed, allowing Axel to guide him through the next part.
"Ooh, I'd forgotten about the ghost and werewolf section. Nice." Pence said.
"How the hell is this nice?" Hayner yelled, ducking a flying ghost.
Roxas opened his eyes and peeked out, immediately closing them again and wishing he hadn't although the screams and horror music playing wasn't doing much for his nerves.
Axel reassured Roxas with another squeeze, "The animatronics are pretty nice but the art is pathetic. What's the use of having something move like it's real if it doesn't even look real?"
"Exactly! It's like they're not even trying!" Pence agreed.
"You're both insane." Hayner muttered. "This is the end, thank god. Rox, we're out."
Roxas slowly opened his eyes, realizing they were heading for the large exit doors and breathed a sigh of relief, although still clutched Axel tightly.
Axel chuckled softly, not complaining in the slightest about Roxas clutching him.
They left the haunted house and Roxas took a deep breath, finally letting go of Axel.
"Now that that's over, our house for movies?" Hayner asked with a grin.
"Oh! I baked brownies. Here, you guys take them. We're going to Axel's now." Roxas said with a smile.
"Brownies? Awesome!" Pence grinned, taking the bag.
Olette snatched a brownie, "Aww, well, you two have fun."
Roxas grinned nervously and licked his lips. "We will."
"Behave." Hayner smirked.
Roxas smacked his arm.
Axel laughed, "My roommates'll be there, and two of them are younger than him, so I don't think there's anything to worry about." he said, putting his arm over Roxas's shoulders again.
"Right." Roxas smiled.
"Your roommates are younger than Roxas? Dude, you dating a pedophile or something?" Hayner asked incredulously.
Roxas smacked him again. "Again with the talking before thinking. Are you trying to start another stalker-fiasco, or are you just that stupid?"
Hayner sputtered and moved to hit Roxas back but thought better of it with Axel standing right there. "Yeah, sure. My bad."
Axel laughed, but said nothing.
"See you guys later!" Roxas waved, grabbing Axel's hand and tugging him in the direction of the car.
"Bye Rox!" Hayner grinned.
"See you later! You should hang out with us more, Axel, if you're really serious about Roxas." Pence smiled.
"I'll be sure to." Axel promised.
Olette waved.
Roxas sighed as they reached the car, climbing in. Reminding himself that Axel was absolutely going to love his costume, he smiled at the redhead. "Let's go."
XXXX
Axel pushed open the front door to the house, holding it open for Roxas before entering himself. Larxene waved from where she was sprawled in a chair, "Hey you two."
"Hi." Roxas said, tightening his grip on his backpack.
"Magician and a rabbit, right? Very... creative." Zexion said from the couch.
"Your hair looks awesome, Zex." Axel said, walking around the couch so he'd have a better view, "You look good too, Dem."
Demyx grinned, "Thank you very much."
"Still can't believe you managed to convince Zexion to dress up, though." he laughed.
The doorbell rang and Larxene flew out of her chair to answer it.
"You try saying no to his pout..." Zexion grumbled.
"Ax? I'm going to go change, okay?" Roxas said, inching towards the hallway.
Axel looked up and smiled at Roxas, "Sure."
Roxas smiled back and headed to the bathroom, quickly entering and locking the door behind him. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath before carefully removing the regular rabbit costume and smoothing out the underlying sluttier version. He pulled out the high heels and strapped them on before stepping closer to the mirror to carefully apply his eyeliner. Several minutes later, he replaced the makeup and other clothes into his backpack and studied himself in the mirror. He still had on the pink bunny ears, but now his eyes were outlined in dark eyeliner. He had a collar around his neck and a vest on that ended just above his bellybutton. Two detached cuff links hung around his wrists almost like manacles. Short shorts that barely covered his ass with a small cotton tail on the back led into fishnet stockings and two each heels on each foot.
A light blush dusted his cheeks but he grinned. "Axel's going to love this. Confidence, Rox. You can totally do this."
Nodding to himself, Roxas left the backpack in the bathroom as it would have ruined his look and unlocked the door, fixing a cocky smirk on his face as he sauntered down the hall to the living room.
Axel's back was to Roxas as he exited the hallway, as he'd been holding a conversation with Demyx and Zexion. As Roxas walked out, Demyx glanced up, immediately stiffening and blinking.
"What's up?" Axel asked him, surprised, glancing over his shoulder. His eyes fell on Roxas. Straining around to get a better view, Axel toppled to the ground, falling off the arm of the chair he'd been sitting on.
Roxas's smirk widened and he completely ignored everyone else in the room. "Axel." He purred, slowly walking over to where the redhead was sprawled on the floor.
Zexion's eyes were huge and he opened and closed his mouth before turning to shared a shocked look with Demyx.
Demyx returned the look, but despite the shock, he was definitely amused.
Axel looked up at Roxas, muttering, "Zexion, kick me," as Larxene walked away from the front door. When her eyes fell on Roxas, she immediately grabbed her camera, snapping a picture.
"Don't you like my costume, Axel? I wore it just for you." Roxas said with a light blush and a spark in his eyes.
Zexion turned to Axel. "You're awake. He's really wearing that. Oh my god..." He trailed off.
Demyx laughed, more at Zexion's reaction than at Roxas, and Axel bolted up, staring at Roxas for a moment before grabbing his wrist and dragging him down the hall, and if the slamming door was any indication, into his bedroom.
Amused, Roxas smiled up at Axel. "So, you like it then, Axel?"
"Are you fucking kidding me, of course I like it." Axel said, "It's pretty much taking every ounce of my self control not to jump you right now."
Roxas grinned, slowly walking backwards towards the bed, keeping his eyes locked on Axel's. When he felt the backs of his legs hit the bed, he stopped and licked his lips. "And if I said I wouldn't mind you jumping me right now?"
Axel smirked, turning the lock he'd bought for his door before pouncing.
XXXX
THIS CHAPTER IS SO LONG.
So, we decided to make Halloween all one chapter, but it turned into… into… THIS. THIS THING. It took FOREVER to finish, and is the reason that we're almost completely caught up to written updates.
So, Jasmine and I are on vacation right now, so neither of us has internet access. I'm sure Jas mentioned this in her author's note for the last chapter, but I'm sending her this BEFORE that's posted, so I actually have no idea.
We're going to be writing and hopefully will not run out of updates before we write more, because… well, that would be bad. Very bad. We should speed up a little.
Uhh… yeah, so that's Halloween. If this was THIS huge, imagine Christmas? -cringes-