#I love the potential dynamic between Millie and Kamal

[sapphire-strikes]

Since the season calls for it, could you share some Halloween/Fall headcanons for the Habiticians?

• The air began to chill, the sun began setting sooner and the familiar sent of dying leaves filled the air as mid autumn was already around the corner.

• With this change in season came your first autumn in town as well as Boris' first time celebrating with friends.

• You'd been straddling the fence on whether or not to do anything festive this year, openly at least. It was entirely possible that no one in town even celebrated Halloween and it wasn't to unpopular to ignore other more mundane fall festivities altogether. You were getting older anyways, maybe it was about time you put the apple bobbing and costumes behind you.

• This train of thought was short lived as you made your way down the sidewalk. You were going to be passing Boris and Kamal's place soon, maybe seeing if they had any decorations out would help you make your decision? Truthfully, Kamal didn't seem like the type of person to over-celebrate holidays and you weren't entirely sure if they even did anything for autumn or Halloween in Russia.

"Flower Power!"

You turned your head in the direction of the excited voice and found yourself sizing up what was probably the biggest leaf pile you had ever seen sitting in Kamal's front yard. It was easily 5ft tall and twice as wide.

The owner of the voice was no where to be seen as you continued to stare amazed at the massive hill of leaves. "Hello?", you called out, stifling a flinch as something moved from within the mound. A second later Putunia jumped out of the vast sea of leaves and tackled you into a hug.

"Did I surprise you?!" The young girl asked excitedly as she swung around your neck to put you in a choke hold.

"Yeah, I'd say so!" You mused, stumbling a bit as she climbed over you like a jungle gym, flicking away the leftover leaves that fell from her hair into your own.

"Excellent!", Putunia let out a laugh of victory then leaned over your head to meet your eyes. "Flower Power, you should help us finish!"

Before you could respond she jumped off your shoulders and sprinted around the leaf pile, "Menace! Flower Power is here to assist us as well!"

Following her around the leaf pile you caught sight of Boris who was gripping a rake and focusing intently on adding to the ever growing sea of leaves that was beginning to encompass their yard. When he finally noticed you he smiled widely.

"Ah, Y/n! It is good to see you!"

"Same, but what exactly am I helping you guys with?" You asked, always happy to see the two of them playing around together. Before Boris could answer your question Putunia once again burst out of the massive pile of leaves.

"Help us complete the ultimate leaf base of course!" She stood proudly with both hands on her hips then looked prudently around the yard. "But we're running out of material! ...Menace!"

On queue, Boris dropped his rake and saluted her before walking over to a tree at the left side of the yard. Sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth in concentration, he framed the tree with his fingers for a moment before gripping the trunk and shaking it.

The way the massive tree creaked as it was forcibly shook was an obvious tell of the kind of strength it must have taken to even make it budge in the first place.

After the first few shakes you understood exactly what he was doing as the two of them were gently pelted by the rain of dried leaves that were prematurely coaxed from their branches.

You couldn't hold back a snickers as the trees on the opposite side of the yard caught your attention. All of them as bare as they'd be in late winter. That certainly explained where they got foliage to make that pile as big as it was.

You turned back just in time to see Tim Tam fall from the tree Boris was shaking. Without missing a beat they were caught by him on the way down. "So that is where you were, Teem Tam!"

Putunia was quick to run over and chew out her purple companion for fooling around while there was work to be done. Tim Tam on the other hand looked as indifferent as ever, seemingly not minding being held by Boris. They did look away from Putunia for a moment when they noticed you, even returning your small wave before staring emotionlessly back down at their passionate friend.

• "Augh, come on. Why are you taking so long...." Millie whined from the chair she stood on to better reach the counter.

"Hey, good things take time, kid. 'Sides, you don't have to help if you don't want to, go play with Boris, Putunia and Tim Tam if you want." Kamal offered, not looking away from the orangish brown mixture he way stirring together.

"No thanks. Where's the fun in playing around in a bunch of stupid leaves? Sounds like baby games to me. She crossed her arms and blew a bit of hair out of her face before continuing much more quietly, "Plus, it's...getting dark outside."

"Oh, I see." Kamal wore a knowing smile "Anyway, you done moldin' the crust yet?"

"No! I mean, yes! Maybe, I don't know. It doesn't look good but I'm not gonna do it over so you'd better not complain!" She pushed the pie dish roughly in his direction and pretended to look away in disinterest

"Hmm..." Kamal rubbed his chin to playfully exaggerate his inspection of her work.

"What!?" Millie looked nervously from Kamal to the pie crust. "Fine, of course I didn't do it right, I'm like 5 after all!"

Her defensiveness was interrupted by Kamal's laughter. "No no, nothing like that!" He ruffled her hair despite the way she angrily smacked at his hand. "It looks really good, Mil. Specially for yer first time."

"Tch, you're just saying that..."

"Nah, I mean it! Ya even used a fork to pattern the edges. Where'd you learn that?"

"Saw my mom doin it..." She spoke in an angrily embarrassed whisper.

"We're doing three total so you can take one home just for the two of you, that way you can show off how well you did. Sound good?"

Even she wasn't able to hide the smile that appeared on her face at that idea, "I-I guess that'll work!"

After working to pour the filling into the crusts, the pies were ready to go into the oven. Millie even inssisted on helping clean up despite Kamal's assuring her that she could go watch TV until they were done baking.

A moment later the chime of the door sounded as Boris stepped inside.

"You guys finally done out there?" Kamal asked, undoing his apron to hang it on the wall.

"Not quite, but it was getting quite dark so I thought it best to head in!" Boris responded. Putunia rode proudly on his shoulders and Tim Tam was held like duffle bag under his arm. Putunia quickly slid down his arm to rush to Millie who was currently staring down the slowly browning pies in the oven while Tim Tam was content to remain is his hold as he made his way to the kitchen.

"That is not all though! Y/n came to visit us as well!" Boris exclaimed, happily turning around to gesture in your direction.

Stepping through their threshold you were met with a wave of comfortable warmth, reminding you just how cold it was beginning to get outside. The cozy atmosphere of their house was amplified by the various shades of orange and brown that decorated the livingroom and kitchen. You plucked a few more leaves out of your hair and tossed them away before closing the door behind yourself. You weren't exactly planning on visiting today but you had a soft spot for Boris and he was just as excited as, if not more than Putunia was by your arrival. While Tim tam wasn't one to speak much, or show emotion, your first mention of heading home had them silently clinging to your leg, so you got the message that your company was most certainly welcome.

The next thing that caught your attention after shutting the door was the warm smell of cinnamon and pumpkin spice that was fresh in the air.

"Are you making pumpkin pie, Kamal?" You asked curiously, not quite paying attention to Boris' introduction of you.

"Actually-", Kamal started

"WE'RE making pumpkin custard pie!" Millie clarified, having suddenly appeared beside you.

"Heh, yeah. I'm trying to get back into the groove of baking so I can make some for Trencil's party. They won’t be done for a bit, but you want to stick around and have some? I consider it one of my specialties so it'll be a real treat." Kamal flashed you a thumbs up and a cheeky smile.

"Trencil's party?", you questioned, but before you got any kind of answer Putunia made an excited gasp and ran in your direction.

"Flower Power, you should stay to carve pumpkins with us too! Our moms aren't gonna be back until late so we'll have plenty of time!"

"That's an amazing idea!" Boris added clasping his hand together happily.

Suddenly all four sets of eyes were on you with Boris, Putunia and Kamal's looking at you hopefully while Millie’s almost seemed to be threatening you. You were just about to give your answer when you realized someone was missing and once again felt that familiar pressure grip your lower leg. Guess that answers that.

It's kind of hard to straddle a fence when you have friends that tackle you over the side.

• Boris never celebrated Halloween growing up and probably would have overlooked it once again this year if it wasn't for Kamal questioning him on whether he wanted to do anything.

• While Kamal hasn't done anything for fall or Halloween since he was young, he was surprised when he didn't hear anything from Boris about participating in the season. As it turns out, Kamal just bringing it up was enough to make Boris realize that he can actually celebrate holidays now, like for real and with his friends! And so the seasonal festivities were put in motion for the both of them.

• Kamal even surprises him by taking him to one of those pick your own pumpkin patches. Boris either picks out a little white Cinderella pumpkin or one of those absolutely giant, orange ones. There is no in between.

• As for the ex-habiticians; Jimothan puts up some spooky decorations around his lounge and gets a kick out of trying to scare the kids from around town. It's real cheesy stuff; fake spiders, pretend decapitation, animatronic hand in a bowl of candy. But with kids like Petunia, Tim Tam, Nat and Trevor, he ends up with more property damage than successful scares and the only person that actually gets spooked by his tricks is Parsley.

• While he often prefers to keep is vampirism on the down low, Trencil is a huge fan of Halloween and plays it up just for that night, even dressing the part. He sees it as his chance to look "cool" in front of Nat since her friends all get a kick out of it. The Varnia’s Halloween party is the place to be on the 31st if you want to have a good time.

• While Nat doesn't quite share her dads love of Halloween, she plays along since she can tell he really enjoys himself. Gives you an invitation herself, remarking that you have to come. She has to attend every year and now that you're friends, so do you. She also actually dresses up this year thanks to Trevor’s influence.

• Trevor's a Halloween fanatic. What day could be better for monster hunting?! Convinces Nat to break him into their party so he can make sure there's nothing suspicious going on. And by "break in" I mean she invited him and lets him come in through the back door so he feels sneaky.

After a good bit of investigating the only suspicious thing he can find about the party is how good the pie is. Once he's satisfied the two of them go trick or treating then spend the rest of night in a cemetery eating candy and testing out Trevor's new EMF sensor.

• Unsurprisingly, the two of them dress up as a vampire and werewolf respectively.

• You, Boris and Kamal take Millie, Putunia, and Tim Tam trick or treating while Lulia and Jerafina go to the Varnia's party.

• It might be more accurate to say that You and Kamal take, Boris, Millie, Putunia and Tim Tam trick or treating.

• Millie was actually scared to go out and despite doing her best to hide it, Kamal caught on pretty quick when he noticed her reluctance to change into her costume. As it turns out, she'd never actually gone before and was only agreeing to go because Putunia was so excited about it.

• After a pep talk, Kamal assures her that no one will be upset with her if she'd rather stay home. Shortly after that she regains her fire and remarks that Putunia looks up to her so she can't let her down! (Before they set out she makes sure to clarify to Kamal that his pep talk had nothing to do with her feeling better!)

• Boris plays into his natural glow and goes as Frankenstein's monster, Putunia goes as the Mask Diver (obviously), Millie goes as a Viking and Tim Tam didn't actually bring a costume so Kamal grabs a sheet, cuts out some eye holes and BAM~ a ghost!

• Kamal also gives in after some encouragement from you and Boris and ends up going as a Zombie, even if he is just chaperoning.

• If you weren't planning on going trick or treating yourself, you tended to hang back with Kamal, leaving Boris to escort the three kids up to the doors. You swear he must have given a good handful of people heart attacks with the way they flinched or stared wide eyed upon seeing the 7'4 green, monster man standing behind the three kids.

• Boris doesn't actually eat any of the candy he gets, happily giving it to Kamal who was more than willing to except. He's still not a fan of candy or soda and just because it's Halloween doesn't mean he's going to comprise his values. You're gonna get an earful too if he sees you going overboard with the sweets!

• You end the night by meeting up at Trencil's party with some of your other friends. Trencil is quite the host; playing up his greeting with ominous warnings and an almost exaggerated Romanian accent. The house is decorated from floor to ceiling with spooky décor and he's laid out quite the spread.

Jerafina came as a sexy nurse, Gillis was a football player, Randy came as a...crow? And of course Rondo came as a clown. Mirphy and Lulia also attended, though not in costume.

• It might be fun to make a point to stop by Jimothan’s on the way home. Tiff, Dallas, Parsley, Jimothan and Wallus seemed to be having their own little party among the other customers of the lounge.

• Getting to hear Tiff sing Thriller is also quite the treat.

• Before you head home for the night, give Parsley a break and least pretend to be scared by one of Jimothan’s surprises. It’ll make Jimothan happy and he’ll finally be satisfied enough to stop trying.

• Be sure to bring some candy back for Pabit!