"How come she lets you do stuff to her?"
"Uh, 'cause I'm nice and I haven't dunked her into a bathtub full of Jell-O?"
"But this is practically the same thing, and I can hear her purring from here."
Dani pouted and crossed her poofy arms over her chest, watching as Danny carefully clipped the green hood together. She wanted to go over and pet the cat, but any time Maddie caught her eye, she hissed and made Danny flinch.
Danny looked his work over with a wide grin. Maddie lifted her paws, inspecting the fabric that draped lightly over her fur. Her tail curled up, flipping a length of glittering sequins along her back and Danny quickly readjusted it, his own armor shifting quietly.
"Are you two finished torturing my cat?" Vlad asked from the doorway, readjusting the crown Danny had found at a junk store. Not quite the Crown of Fire, but the plastic gleamed nicely and it still had most of the plastic jewels glued to it.
"I guess so," Dani continued to pout. Sam had let her borrow one of the gaudiest, fluffiest dresses her mother forced into her closet (because if Dani got scratched up by the cat again, Sam wouldn't care how much blood got on the dress), and Dani had found a bit of lace in Vlad's attic to make a veil.
"She seems happy with it." Danny stood, making sure none of his armor had come unglued. He and Tucker had stayed up all night with a hairdryer and hot glue, forming every "metal" plate out of crafting foam while Sam sprayed it all with silver paint.
Maddie padded up to Vlad, squeaking and clicking until he picked her up, the green dragon costume barely even twisting. She curled up against him and purred, rubbing her nose against his cheek and almost knocking off his crown.
This promised to be one of the happiest Halloweens he'd had in a long time.