October V
Summer loved Huntoween. Summer loved celebrating and spooky decorations and spoopy decorations and seeing the cool costumes and distributing the sweets to those at the front door. Summer loved everything about the holiday at the end of October with all of her heart.
It's literally the perfect holiday. Sure, the Winter Holiday might possess a more personal, family-oriented seasonal spirit, but the way Huntoween is run just rubs me the right way. People come up to you – not just any people, but happy, sweet little kids, and you can give them candy that you know they'll get to enjoy, and they say thank you, and – oh, so perfect!
The Rose family had always been trailblazers when it came to adapting to the future, so Summer's parents had leaned all the way into the spirit of Huntoween and accepted sweet-or-swindlers to their house. They had been the only ones in the neighborhood at the time, but their means combined with their generosity made them the perfect house to go to.
Some families gave out full-sized candy-bars.
The Roses gave out full-sized bags, the kind that others would empty two or three of into a bowl and call it their entire candy supply for the night of Huntoween.
And Mom and Dad took care to make sure it didn't fade away into a storebought holiday. We'd spend the weeks leading up to Huntoween carving our pumpkins, making our own costumes, and gussying up the candy by opening the bags, mixing them, and redistributing them into our own hand-sewed ghost-sacks.
Of course, she would tone it down. She had to, because permission or not, she dared not go overboard and risk offending Raven a second time in just as many weeks.
I wish I could be like my parents and go hog-wild, but I think they'll understand that Raven's emotional needs come first. She's a newbie to holidays as a whole, as our time at Beacon surrounded by teenagers held a lot more parties and a lot less sweet-or-swindlers. I'll ease her into it, meaning no giant heaps of candy or endless hours invested.
To that end, Summer had amended Raven's grocery list to include a few select items for her to bring home the next time she went into town on a grocery run. Summer would've picked them up herself, but she needed to stay at the cabin to keep an eye on Yang, something they couldn't exactly switch on.
She's getting better, but I think we can both agree that Raven, at this point, can only really watch over Yang if Yang stays in her crib the whole time. That means I can leave the house for short periods, maybe hours at a time, but I can't spend more time gone than I do at home. Yang needs neurological stimulation and light exercise to get her mind and body up to shape, not full days in her crib. Plus, if an emergency pops up, I might be able to spare us a trip to the hospital if I can resolve it in time.
And speaking of the God of Darkness, there were three hard raps against the door in short succession. Raven did that at Summer's request, just so she would hear her returning when she got back.
"You're back!" Summer said, still watching Yang as she tried to crawl in a quite ungainly fashion. "Did you get what I asked?"
She could hear Raven setting bags of groceries down on the kitchen counter. "No."
"W-What? But we need the –"
"It's way too much candy, Sum. We live out in the sticks. I can't imagine we're going to get more than two or three kids. I have no idea why you'd want so many full bars."
"It's…" Summer bit her lip, stopping before she might say something that could flare up their argument from the other day. "Okay. It's your house, and I'll respect your wishes. But know this, Raven: my logic is not flawed. When you hand out full sized candy bars, you get more sweet-or-swindlers. If you don't want to get the candy because you want it to be a smaller celebration, we can stop right here. But if it's just that you think I'll have more than I can hand out, you're so wrong."
"You're wasting money, Summer. Our current lie is pretending to call the act of you paying for the bills 'rent' for staying in the cabin, but I'm not going to charge your credit card hundreds of lien for chocolate bars, even if it's your own."
"Oh, this isn't rent," Summer said. Raven was sorely mistaken if she thought Summer was doing this on anyone's behalf but her own. "It's different than the groceries. The candy budget is coming out of my own pocket, as is the fabric and materials for our costumes." She raised her hands in surrender. "Again, we stop at your limits, but don't cheap out on my behalf. I have the money, and I have the will to spend it here, on this stuff."
Raven entered the room and shrugged her shoulders. "If that's the case, I'll do it. But I'm not making another trip. Next time I go into town, tomorrow."
It would be cutting it close, as every day mattered when it came this close to the event, but Summer truly would be putting her friend out if she asked her to organize another multi-hour excursion just to get her candy and stuff.
There were a lot of ways to costume up a baby. The cute appeal typically meant that you could dress them as anything and people would fawn over the precious things. Ghouls, spiders, bats – it didn't even need to be spooky. Summer saw plenty of parents leading little Huntoween elephants and firefighters around by the hand for their special night.
Yang was showing early signs of blondeness, and it was tempting to try and factor that into the costume, but the sprigs of hair were far too small and sparse to actually be seen.
If I try to make her a lioness or something, the mane won't be sufficient. I'd have to add it on, and that defeats the whole point.
She instead decided to make Yang a classic pumpkin. It was a low-risk design for a baby, as the roundness of a chubby infant typically lent itself exceedingly well to the stout shape of the gourd. Plus, it would make up for not carving any (an action of which Summer knew she would never in a million years be able to convince Raven to partake).
Naturally, Raven would also be a pumpkin, the pumpkin mother to her pumpkin Yangling. It would be a costume that fully crossed the line from cute into hammy, and it would be as round as Summer could make it with the limited orange fabric that existed on the island of Patch. She even briefly considered if she could somehow incorporate a vine tying the two together (she decided against it, as Raven might somehow trip and strangle Yang).
In spite of their prior…disagreement, Summer wasn't keen on making things weird by acting like someone else. She would respect Raven's wishes, but she knew Raven hadn't been asking for Summer to be some kowtowing pushover. Their relationship was predicated on playful teasing and screwing around with one another, and Summer fully intended to honor the original spirit of the Team Stark covenant.
It's just making a costume more silly and less flattering than I need to. No harm done, and a great way for us all to have a little laugh, except for Yang because she'll have no idea what's going on.
A pair of mother-daughter pumpkins were relatively simple, as all one needed to do was sew together a jack-o-lantern grin onto the chest of a puffy orange vest and top it off with a green beret for the stem. It took a little longer than it had when she and her mother had sewn the costumes back at the mansion (Summer supposed that would be a byproduct of the using a needle in her bare hands rather than a sewing machine), but she had plenty of time while Raven was out job hunting.
Summer made her own costume last, only when the others were fully complete. It was a little more laborious, as she needed to make the pointy hat from scratch and carefully shred the ends of a black dress without damaging the integrity of the article, but it came together well.
I'll be a sexy witch. Not too sexy that it might cross the line into a slutty witch, but just sexy enough.
They already had a broomstick, meaning that it could still be a surprise for Raven.
It was sort of weird. Summer knew the identity of the only real witch in the entire world, and she didn't dress like the classic image of a witch Summer was basing her costume off. Salem had pale gray skin, demonic eyes, and surrounded herself with true monsters. It was a far cry from the broomstick-riding, cauldron-stirring cackling old lady of green complexion and cartoonish silliness.
If I went as her, I'm sure I'd spook the neighborhood solid, but Ozpin would have a cow at the secret of her existence getting out. I guess it's just plain old sexy witch for this Rose.
The delays incurred with Raven's initial denial meant that Summer finished with less than two days before Huntoween night. While that might've sounded like time to spare, Summer had predicted she would have a full business week before the big night, and her perfectionist side had her worrying down to the last stitch.
Raven had pulled through and bought Summer her candy bars, only on the condition that Summer herself would eat any leftovers.
"I've no sweet tooth," Raven said to her the day before the sweet-or-swindlers arrived. "To me, this is something of a wager. I doubt we'll give them all away, and you believe otherwise."
"How is being forced to eat all of the candy we don't give out a punishment?" Summer asked. She knew Raven somehow took pleasure in the practical more than the pleasurable, but not eating candy on Huntoween?
Is she going for some sort of spartan diet? Well, you won't catch me complaining.
Except she probably would, because Summer knew for a fact that they would be handing out every single chocolate bar she'd purchased.
The second we get labelled as the house that gives away big candy bars, we'll be swarmed. Patch is a small island, and the number of youngsters is inflated by the presence of Signal. There are more kids than there are houses to fill up a bag, so I'm gonna bet they'll be willing to hike a little bit for the promise of our chocolatey reward.
Summer was prepared to bet money on it, if Raven had so offered, but candy and the pride of being proven right would have to suffice.
Yang the pumpkin was easily the best choice Summer could have ever made. Unlike the gray elephant she could have been, the bright orange colors piqued her baby-sized curiosity and got her interested in what she was wearing far more than any other costume ever could have.
"And a green beret to top it off," Summer said, plopping the slightly oversized cap onto the little girl's head. It fit without sliding off, but only just barely.
Yang, ever the precious, flapped her now orange arms around two or three times, as though she were getting the hand of her sleeves being a new color, then began to splutter happily. She grabbed her equally orange booties by the orange toes and rolled backwards, giggling at the sight of her first Huntoween costume.
One picture, Summer promised herself, as she took out her scroll. For posterity's sake.
Her own parents hadn't had much to teach her about the overuse of mobile technology, mainly because the advent of scrolls becoming socially acceptable to carry on one's person had transpired after she'd already entered Beacon. Summer's self-imposed rules about minimizing her screentime stemmed solely from her own intuition and the mistakes she'd seen other parents make.
So many of them distracted their kids or even themselves with a device. It might make it easier, and maybe it's useful in a pinch, but I don't want my daughter being raised by a screen instead of a real person, not when she's so young that you could still pick her up and put her on the top shelf next to the flour and baking soda.
Fuck.
Summer exhaled tensely as she realized it.
Fuck
Fuck.
She cringed uncomfortably while Yang rolled onto her tummy and started trying to attempt crawling.
She's not my…I mean, sure, I do spend a lot of time with her, and I'm her 'auntie,' but I serious about respecting Raven's wishes. It was just a slip of the tongue…of the mind, rather.
No matter. Summer hadn't voiced it aloud, so if she just – fricking, fuck! – if she just never brought it up again to herself, it was like it had never happened at all.
Gods, that was bad. That was so, so bad, what I just did.
If anything, it was more just a hypothetical statement that had only mistakenly…yeah. Huntoween. Summer needed to focus on Huntoween right now, because it was a safe topic to focus on.
"Alright, Yangling. You've got your costume, now Auntie Summer's going to go and get hers." Summer winked at the baby as it tried desperately to use its weak little limbs to propel itself forward. "Don't you worry when ya see me – I promise it's not too scary."
"I'd imagine," said a voice behind Summer, the voice of Raven. "Doesn't seem all that frightening."
"Awww, didja peek?" Summer asked, turning around. "I was planning on keepi–"
Raven was wearing Summer's costume, the sexy witch one.
"W-What?" Summer asked, confused.
"Yeah, this bird's not going as a pumpkin, no matter how matchy it gets with the kid." Raven nodded her head towards Yang, and the pointy witch hat nearly slid off. It did look like it was pointing towards the infant in question, though. "Which means you're out of a costume, Sum."
"Ohhhh, you!" Summer balled up her fists in annoyance. "Give it back!"
Ray just grinned and folded her arms. "No."
This was a disaster. There was no way to force Raven out of the witch outfit without violating a lot of social taboos, but Huntoween without a costume was hardly even a holiday! Summer could have cried.
"We do have one more costume," Raven slily japed. "It might not be all that flattering, though."
Summer let out a long sigh. "So that's what this is about."
"You were gonna make me a frumpy lumpy pumpy. Now it's your only choice." Raven's grin somehow grew even wider, and Summer truly saw no difference between her and the villainous witch she'd dressed herself as. "Well, that or disappoint your Rose ancestors by spitting on their traditions."
Raven was wrong, as it happened.
Summer might have loved her parents and her storied family, but she'd never done it for them. That was a part of it, sure, but her main motivations for loving Huntoween had always been about her own enjoyment of the season. It was the one time of the year where strangers would approach you for gifts and treats – the kind of things Summer wished could happen year-round.
I'd carry a bowl of candy with me all the time to give out to kids if I could get away with it without being labelled as a nonce.
To wear her street clothes during this most beloved month of the happiest night would be no different than changing her career to a common prostitute and whoring out her body for pop rocks. Summer would never be able to bear the shame.
"Better think fast," Ray taunted, the broomless, shameless, wicked witch that she was. "Sweet-or-swindlers are going to be showing up any moment now."
Summer stormed past her towards the upper floor of the house. She'd left Raven's fat pumpkin suit in the closet upstairs, hoping it wouldn't be discovered until she could force Raven into it.
I need to find a new hiding place. There's a lot of reasons why I might want to have a spot where I can put my own stuff without Ray knowing, but the Winter Holiday jumps to mind. Gifts are meant to be surprises.
That was assuming that they would even celebrate it. Raven had made it clear that Valean traditions would be accepted or declined on a case-by-case basis, with her as the judge, jury, and – well, Summer would be the executioner, but Raven alone held power.
Unlike Summer's…unlike Raven's witch costume, the pumpkin one was not flattering at all. She'd sewn in a lot of padding around every possible area to turn it from a set of orange fabric sheets into a fat suit of sorts, and whoever wore it would have to waddle instead of walk. At least the green beret stem would actually fit snugly onto Summer's head.
Yang's basically dressed in orangey pajamas (actually, come to think of it, that would be a good use for them after the holiday ended), but I'm more similar to an actual pumpkin than a huntress when it comes to proportions.
Summer could barely make it down the stairs, and she tripped a little on the last step and came tumbling down onto the ground floor of the cabin. Raven was now laughing wholeheartedly at her expense, holding up baby Yang to see Summer's shame.
"See that, Yangling? It's your Auntie Summer. I know her outfit matches yours, but it's just because she's experiencing the consequences of her own actions."
"Har har." Summer bounced herself a few times and used the momentum to get herself upright. "You win this round, Branwen, but you realize that this is only the beginning of a long and arduous –"
"No it isn't," Ray smugly said. "My house, my rules. No prank wars."
Oh, this witch. This literal witch. She gets one over old Summer then immediately pulls rank as woman of the house to declare a new no-vengeance rule.
So this was what it was like to be the second-in-command. Summer thanked ex-headmistress Clydesdale for making her leader so she didn't have to experience four full years of this kind of treatment in Beacon.
If there was one saving grace to restore this night to its rightful glory in Summer's eyes, it was that she'd been spot on about the candy.
The sweet-or-swindlers were rare at first, only a few trickling to the old, abandoned cabin at a time, but when word got out that full-sized candy bars were being handed out, it only took one walk back to town and one walk over for the news to draw in a line of kids (Summer estimated it was about as lengthy as Signal was populated). Summer made a mental list of all the costumes and vowed to sort out the best ones for future use on Yang, assuming Raven permitted it. So far, the contenders were cutesy Beowolf, the floating continent of Atlas (it was a two person costume, with the second being Mantle), and Headmaster Ozpin himself.
"You win this round, Rose," Raven admitted as they got through the first wave. "I'll admit."
Teasing or not, Raven hadn't ever been truly vindictive or spiteful. Summer had tried to get her into an unflattering pumpkin suit, and Raven had turned it around on her head – nuisance or not, that was fair game. Summer had been defeated, so Raven was letting her salvage her pride by conceding their informal bet about candy.
The night had also doubled as something of an advertisement for Raven's new stake in Patch. It was no secret that she was on the island occupying the old Xiao-Long household, but since she didn't show up to town hall meetings or the PTA, the news of it only traveled as fast as word of mouth.
Now, people know she and Yang are here. The more islanders that are aware of her presence, the better chances there are of someone thinking of her when a jump opportunity arises. Mind you, that was never my intent, but it's a plus.
"I've got to admit, this isn't that bad," Raven said as a new gaggle of sweet-or-swindlers closed in on their remote household, parents lagging just behind. "I thought it would be a drag to just be hassled by dumb-butt teens and have to give them free stuff, but I think I can see why you get so gassed up by this junk."
"Oh, you've such a way with words," Summer playfully flirted.
Under normal circumstances, Raven would have handled Yang while Summer gave out the chocolates, but it would have been a sin to break up the matching pumpkin costumes. Summer gave Yang a little bounce up and down, just to engage her.
"She'll have to go to sleep soon," Summer admitted.
"Can we give her some of the candy to keep her awake?" Raven asked.
For a moment, Summer wondered if Raven was being serious.
I'm being dumb. Of course Raven is being serious.
She shook her head and explained it logically, holding back any jokes and favoring an explanation that would actually help Raven learn. "We'll stick to the diet plan. She doesn't have teeth yet, so solid foods won't work."
"I could chew it for her," Raven offered. "I could even do it with my beak and drop it directly into her mouth."
"Oh, ew." Summer nearly gagged at the thought of it. The fact that Raven genuinely offered was equally repulsive to her. "No way, Ray. Also, I just realized that we missed a huge opportunity by not having me be the witch since you could be my raven familiar."
"If only," Raven said, shaking her head. "Oz says I should limit the use of the powers when people might see, and I'm taking his words to heart. You may be the baby expert, but he's the bird expert."
The ten clustered kids finally made it up to the porch of the house. "Sweets or swindle!"
Raven actually let out a smile as she dropped the candy bars into the sacks, and that alone was enough to bring about the biggest smile Summer had worn since she'd landed on this island.
Add bumblebee to the list of costumes for Yang. If she has her father's blonde hair, I could even tie that in somehow.
"Besides," Ray continued as the kids left, "I think I pull of the witch better than you could."
Summer scoffed. "Oh-ho-ho, shots fired."
Raven unexpectedly spun around, causing her long dress to spin with her and rise up as it did. She landed out of the spin with arms crossed in front of her, squeezing her chest slightly, and she leaned up against the porch barrier. "Oh, come on. I'm rocking this costume."
It wasn't the first time Summer had seen Raven's bare skin, nor was it the first time she'd seen her teammate in a flattering outfit. The two of them had spent four years together in the same room with shared bathing facilities, and changing together in the non-gendered locker rooms after Professor Locasta's combat class had eliminated meaningless concepts like modesty between Team Stark. Summer had even seen Raven showering before.
But no matter how much Summer had seen Raven, she'd never looked until now.
And she immediately regretted it.
What is wrong with me? I'm here to help her, not…oh, that's sick, Summer. She's a married woman, a formerly married woman, and you're ogling her like – and you're her team leader! You have power over her, making it even worse. Much, much worse!
Raven depended on Summer to keep her daughter alive. That kind of imbalance between the two of them was unforgiving, and the idea of…of being aroused by Raven, even accidentally, disgusted Summer with herself. She was holding the woman's infant daughter right now, for the Brother's sake.
"Summer, you good? You're closing your eyes."
No, Summer was not good. She was bad, for taking advantage of Raven like that. For looking upon her with lust, even when she knew that Raven had no recourse to being lecherously gazed upon if she didn't want to lose her nanny. Even Taiyang, dingleberry that he was, hadn't ever abused Raven like Summer had just now.
She can't tell me not to stare, because she might think objecting would offend me. It's up to me to inhibit my own impulses, and I let her down by failing to do so.
Never again. Never, ever again.
Now back to Huntoween. Don't ruin this entire night for everyone.
"Yeah, no, I'm good." Summer held out Yang. "How about we switch? I wanna hand out candy for a bit."
Author's Notes
And so the pining begins. Unlike most of my fics (Living The Dream, Jacques Schnee's B- Parenting, Murderess) where the romance is secondary and done so I can tag a ship, Can I Make It To Summer? is primarily a romance. It's equally a 'raising the baby' fic, though I'd hesitate to call that a genre the way romance is.
Happy rats, and don't do crime!