#this was also just an excuse to make jenny dress as carmilla

[lesbicosmos-writes]

@deadboyween day 11

the day we've all been waiting for!!

day 11 prompt: halloween

summary: the girls wonder if the boys have ever done anything for halloween. they convince them to have a mini party at the office - including costumes.

notes: this fic brought to you by my love of comic!crystal being a nerdy cosplayer <333

also on ao3!

the case of the halloween party

“Do you think Charles and Edwin celebrate Halloween?” Niko asked, lounging on the floor of the office while Crystal was on the sofa, her laptop propped open on her lap.

The boys had gone out ‘to the library’ to do what they called ‘private ghost research’ – but both Crystal and Niko knew that was just their code phrase for a date – leaving the girls to their own devices back at the office. Niko had been reading but her attention span had depleted several minutes ago, while Crystal was trying to win a bid for a cursed teacup someone was trying to sell on eBay.

“I dunno. Wouldn’t that be a bit weird? Spooky supernatural beings celebrating a human-made spooky supernatural holiday?”

“I think it would be even better as a ghost,” Niko commented. “You could actually, properly scare people.”

“True. I wouldn’t exactly have taken Edwin for a Halloween kind of guy though.”

“Maybe we can try and do something with them! We’ve only got two weeks left! I think we can convince them to dress up, at least.”

“Good luck with that,” Crystal chuckled.

“Oh my god! We could go as Mystery Inc.!” Niko sat upright, clearly already making plans.

“Ah, um…I’d love to Niko, but I kind of already had my costume planned.”

“Oh. Do you already have plans for the day?”

“Not really. A lot of the clubs around here do Halloween nights so I was probably just gonna go to one of those if we weren’t busy. I’d rather do something with you guys though, clubs are no fun on your own.”

“What’s your costume plan, then?” Niko asked.

“Well, I used to be really into cosplay and-”

Niko cut her off.

“You were into cosplay?” she asked incredulously.

“Yeah?” Crystal shrugged.

“I thought you were like…a typical mean girl?”

“Well, I was a typical mean girl who happened to love cosplaying characters from video games.”

Niko stared at her girlfriend open-mouthed, her eyes wide.

“I’m in love with you,” she said simply.

Crystal laughed.

“I think you’ve mentioned that before.”

“How have you never told me you used to cosplay?”

“It just never came up, I guess,” Crystal chuckled.

“So, who are you dressing as?”

“Oh, just this character from a pretty niche game.”

“What game?”

“Yonda.”

“You play Yonda? I love that game!” Niko had moved forwards and was sitting beside Crystal on the tiny sofa.

“Really?”

“Yes!” Niko replied excitedly. “Ayumi was like...my lesbian awakening!”

Crystal’s face morphed into a smirk. “Well…”

“No. You’re not.”

“Mhm,” Crystal hummed, teasingly.

“Oh my god Crystal I need to see this right now,” Niko all but shrieked.

“You’ll just have to wait til Halloween babe,” Crystal said, leaning forward to press a kiss to Niko’s lips.

“Ughhhh,” Niko groaned, just as the mirror rippled and Charles and Edwin stepped through it.

“What’s going on?” Charles asked, perching himself on the arm of the sofa next to Niko.

“Oh, Crystal and I were just discussing Halloween costumes.”

“Costumes?” Edwin asked, the tone of his voice somewhere between confused and ever so slightly judging.

“Yeah? Don’t tell me you’ve never dressed up for Halloween!” Niko sat upright on the sofa.

“I’ve been trying to get him to for years but he just refuses,” Charles complained, shaking his head slightly.

Niko jumped up from the sofa and stepped towards Edwin.

“Edwin, you have to!”

“I was under the impression that this strange tradition of dressing up was only for events like parties. I’m afraid I don’t see the point of it when we have no party to attend,” Edwin explained.

“We can have our own!” Niko waved her arms in the air a little, turning to face the others to see their reactions.

Crystal had a smile on her face but reluctantly asked, “Who would we even invite, Niko?”

“Jenny!” Niko said, pointing to one finger as though counting.

Everyone looked at her expectantly, waiting for the rest of the hypothetical guest list. Jenny had moved her shop to London but she was still about the only person any of the group really knew.

“Okay I guess it’s just Jenny but still! I could bake! We could decorate the office! It’d be fun!”

Who could resist Niko Sasaki when she looked so excited and full of joy? Sure, it wouldn’t be much of a typical party, but it could be a celebration in their own way, so everyone eventually agreed that they would have a gathering on Halloween night. Edwin still insisted they kept the agency open just in case – there never had been a Halloween without a strange new case to crack in the many years they had been working together.

As expected, Niko got very into the party planning. She was planning on baking enough snacks to feed a small army – including finding a recipe and enchantment for biscuits and sweets ghosts could eat thanks to Tragic Mick. She and Edwin had been crafting decorations while Charles and Crystal went out to buy supplies.

“So what do you want to dress as?” Niko asked, cutting out skull-shaped bunting.

“I’m not sure. I don’t think I want to dress too differently, if possible. The idea is still a little silly to me, I must admit.”

“Everyone dresses up on Halloween, Edwin. It’s the one day a year where cosplaying is normalised – expected, even! But if you want to keep your style as much as you can, I think I have an idea.”

“What is it?”

“That’s a surprise,” Niko grinned. “You trust me, yeah?”

“Of course,” Edwin replied sincerely.

The surprise didn’t last very long. Merely one day later, Niko returned to the office with inspiration for Edwin’s outfit to show him, and he wasn’t as against the idea as she expected him to be. Crystal was there too, and was as excited about the costume as Niko was. But they all agreed to keep it as a secret from Charles – who was being very secretive over his own idea anyway.

Soon enough, Halloween arrived. The office was decorated with a mixture of lovingly crafted handmade decorations and ornaments bought from shops. Niko’s paper skull bunting hung across the doorframe and across the blank wall between the games closet and the desk. She had also made bats to hang from the ceiling by string. The four of them had carved pumpkins the day prior, to varying degrees of precision, which all sat along the windowsill. Edwin had intricately folded several little origami pumpkins and placed them on the bookshelves, while tiny plastic ornaments of skulls and bats and witches’ hats sat amongst them. A string of brightly coloured lights shaped like skulls were suspended across the window.

The largest of the decorations were two plastic hanging skeletons, which hung either side of the door. They had been plain when Crystal bought them, but she and Niko had crafted a tiny bow tie and book for one of them, and an earring, backpack and cricket bat for the other. Edwin seemed sceptical about the mini him-and-Charles, but grew fond of them after seeing Charles’s grin when Crystal hung them up.

The office looked different, but somehow the atmosphere hadn’t really changed – after all, it was the permanent residence of two ghosts in the first place.

It was 5pm, and the girls were currently both in the bathroom getting into their costumes, while the boys waited in the main room of the office, both still in their usual outfits.

“So like, you really never did anything?” Charles asked.

“Charles, I’ve told you several times over the years. When I was alive, Halloween wasn’t as much of a deal as it was now. It was a childish holiday. A few of the boys at school would sneak out to the cemetery at night, or play games in the dormitories, but people rarely dressed up or had parties like you do now.”

“Right. Sorry. I mean, it wasn’t like a huge thing when I was alive – not for my family, anyway. My dad thought it was stupid, so even if my friends did have a party I could never go. It always looked so much cooler in America, like it is in films and stuff.”

“Hmm,” Edwin hummed.

“So…what’s your costume?” Charles asked.

He’d been trying to get Edwin to tell him for a week, but he didn’t budge, insisting it was a surprise.

“I’m not telling you,” Edwin replied, a smug smirk on his face.

“You’re evil.”

“Oh really? Because I seem to remember you saying something different when you were kissing me ten minutes ago.”

“Oi!” Charles grinned.

The sound of giggling echoed through the bathroom door, and both ghosts turned towards it.

“Seriously, what are they doing in there?” Edwin asked, folding his arms.

“I dunno, mate. Girls and bathrooms, innit? They always go in pairs and take forever and come out giggling like maniacs.”

“So strange.”

“Yup.”

“How long does it take to change clothes? They’ve been in there for nearly an hour.”

Charles stepped forwards and knocked on the door.

“Hey, uh, are you two good in there? You’ve been in there ages,” he said.

“We’re fine,” Niko laughed.

“You better not be snogging!”

“Charles you can’t say anything, we know you were making out with Edwin like ten minutes ago.”

Charles opened his mouth to argue but ultimately gave up. “Okay fine, shut up,” he said instead.

More laughter erupted from the door, and Charles gave up, walking back over to the desk.

It was several minutes later when the door to the tiny bathroom finally opened. Charles and Edwin stood up straight, ready to see the girls’ outfits…

…only to find the two of them standing there with white sheets over their heads, holes cut out of the faces so their eyes could be seen.

Charles snorted, but Edwin didn’t seem as amused. Perhaps if you looked closer though…maybe there was a slight smirk hidden there on his face. Maybe.

“Very funny,” he said sarcastically.

“We’re ghosts!” Niko said, giggling.

“Yes, I can see that, Niko.”

“Come on, it’s a little funny!” Crystal argued.

“Fine,” Edwin gave in, letting that tiny smirk be more obvious on his face.

“Anyway, these aren’t our real costumes. Don’t worry,” Niko said, and both she and Crystal pulled the sheets from their heads and threw them onto the sofa.

Niko had the more recognisable costume of the two – a bright orange turtleneck and matching socks, along with a short red skirt. What with her usual bright monochromatic wardrobe choices, the other three had seen every main part of the outfit before many times. What they hadn’t seen before were the large-rimmed glasses that rested on her nose, or the short brown wig she wore that seemed to conceal her bright white hair so well, it was as if it wasn’t even there beneath it.

“Velma!” Edwin said, smiling.

“Yeah!”

Then the boys turned to Crystal, and both of their faces morphed into confusion.

“You guys have no idea who I am do you?” she laughed.

“I’m afraid we don’t.”

“Wasn’t expecting you to, don’t worry. I’m Ayumi from Yonda.”

“Are those words?” Edwin asked, one eyebrow raised.

“It’s a video game,” Niko explained.

“Oh, nice! Well, you look great. Both of you,” Charles said.

“Thank you,” Niko smiled.

“Right, now it’s your turn,” Crystal turned to the boys, a smile on her face.

“Do we really have to?” Edwin complained.

“Yes!” Niko exclaimed, ushering him into the bathroom and closing the door behind them.

Since the boys didn’t exactly get changed into their costumes, each had one of the girls there to help them alter their appearances, especially since they also didn’t have reflections. So, Niko joined Edwin in the bathroom whilst Crystal helped Charles in the office.

Edwin managed to get his costume right fairly quickly – Niko had made him practise whenever they got the chance and were away from the other two. Niko looked him up and down, smiling to herself.

“Perfect!” she grinned.

He was dressed as a traditional vampire, and thanks to some convincing from the girls (otherwise known as Niko’s puppy eyes – Edwin really ought to learn to say no to her), he’d also manifested a pair of fangs. He couldn’t alter his own body, but he’d managed to create a pair of plastic ones that fitted perfectly to his canine teeth.

“Oh my god you look so good!” Niko said, using a finger to dab some fake blood onto the corner of his mouth, so it dripped down his chin.

“Niko, is this strange sticky concoction really necessary?”

“Yes! How will anyone know you’re a spooky vampire without fake blood?”

“I think it’s fairly obvious from the rest of the outfit. And the fangs,” Edwin chuckled.

“Oh well. It looks cooler.”

Edwin wasn’t going to argue with her. Niko shuffled around him in the tiny bathroom before she reached the door. She knocked on it a couple of times.

“Hey, is Charles ready?”

“Nearly, just finishing up his…nearly!” Crystal replied from the other side of the door.

“Yay!” Niko grinned, placing her hands together in front of her like she was running some evil scheme. Edwin had come to fear that look.

“Ready!” Crystal called.

Niko opened the bathroom door, and both of them stepped out.

Edwin froze when he saw Charles. Charles seemed to freeze too, the two of them just staring at one another open-mouthed.

“Pick your jaws up off the floor, you two,” Crystal said, her arms folded in front of her.

“Shh let them ogle,” Niko said, that grin still plastered across her face.

In terms of style, Edwin’s costume wasn’t too dissimilar from what he usually wore; the blue sweater vest was replaced by a red waistcoat, and a frilly collar took the place of his bow tie. His trousers were black instead of pinstripe grey, and his brown coat was now black and had a higher, upturned collar. It was different enough to be considered a costume, but similar enough that it wasn’t too uncomfortable, and he wasn’t revealing any more skin than usual.

The same could not be said for Charles’s costume. He wore what appeared to be a teal surgical gown, only unlike actual surgical gowns, this one cut off halfway down his thighs. Under it, he wore fishnet tights and boots that resembled the ones Edwin usually wore. He had a pearl necklace around his neck, and bright pink rubber gloves on. And that wasn’t even mentioning the make-up. Of course, Charles always wore eyeliner, but this was different. His eyelids were painted the same teal as his outfit all the way up to his eyebrows, and he wore lipstick.

“He wouldn’t wear the heels,” Crystal tutted, shaking her head at him in disappointment.

Edwin recognised the costume from a movie Crystal had made them watch a few weeks prior. Charles had already seen it, had snuck into the cinema to watch it with a girl when it was playing on Halloween the year before he died. It hadn’t been a date; Charles was sure to tell them. They were just the only ones who wanted to watch it - all their other friends had claimed it was for queers. Charles had brushed it off at the time, but now saw the ironic truth in their claim, given both his recent revelations and the fact he knew that girl he snuck out with was now happily married to a woman.

“Mate, you look…” Charles began.

“Charles…” Edwin breathed, unable to tear his eyes away from Charles’s legs.

He’d seen Charles’s legs many times by now, but never like this and never in this context. It was overwhelming and he couldn’t figure out how to look anywhere else.

“His face is further up, Edwin,” Crystal teased. “Jeez, now I’m glad we didn’t go for the corset,” she muttered to Niko.

“Do you guys want us to leave you alone?” Niko smirked.

Edwin cleared his throat, finally managing to look somewhere other than his boyfriend’s legs in those fishnets.

“No, that won’t be necessary. Besides, Jenny will be here soon,” he said, hoping no one noticed the way his voice cracked a little.

Everyone noticed.

As Edwin and Niko headed over to the desk to lay out the food, Crystal stepped towards Charles – who was still silent and staring.

“Are you okay there, buddy?” she asked, the amusement clear in her voice.

Charles snapped out of it, turning to face her.

“Yeah. Aces, why?”

“Hmm…sure,” Crystal smirked.

It was nearly twenty minutes later when Jenny arrived. She was also dressed as a vampire, wearing a dark red corset top over a flowy white long-sleeved shirt with black trousers and a collared cloak. The shirt had several small bloodstains on it. She brought in a tray of pastries that were made to resemble severed fingers.

Niko came running over to her and took the tray from her hands.

“Oh my god! You and Edwin match!” she exclaimed, pointing between the two of them.

Jenny looked up to Edwin, who appeared to be looking for a book on their many shelves.

“Dracula. Neat,” she said.

“Just a generic vampire, I’m afraid,” Edwin corrected. “Although, I suppose it could be Count Dracula.”

“Right, okay.”

“Are you a specific one?” Crystal asked before biting into one of Niko’s decorated cookies.

“Yeah, I’m meant to be Carmilla.”

Everyone looked at her blankly.

“Carmilla Karnstein? From the book Carmilla? Like one of the first pieces of vampire literature?” Jenny asked, bewildered.

“I cannot say I have ever read it,” Edwin apologised.

“Well, you should. It’s a classic. And it’s really gay, so…”

Jenny turned around once more, taking one of the skull-emblazoned paper plates Crystal had found in a shop and moving onto the food.

“Is that blood…real?” Charles asked her, pointing out the stains on her shirt.

Jenny just raised her eyebrows and took a bite out of one of Niko’s cookies. Charles didn’t want to think about that too hard.

“Nice Frank-N-Furter costume,” she said. “Good to know you’re not entirely uncultured.”

“Thanks,” Charles replied. “So, what food is enchanted?” he asked excitedly, practically bouncing over to Edwin.

Edwin and Niko had successfully baked some foods that the ghosts could eat, and Charles had been incredibly excited about it for days. He really missed food.

“Aptly enough, the cookies shaped like ghosts. And also, the white marshmallows. Not the orange ones, though,” said Edwin.

“Brills,” Charles said, already reaching across the desk to take one of the cookies.

He took a bite, and the satisfied sound he made gave Edwin flashbacks he’d rather not be thinking about with other people in the room.

“These are so good, Niko,” he said, giving her a playful punch to the arm. “God, I missed food. Can you do this to anything?” he asked Edwin.

“I believe the enchantment will need a few tweaks depending on what item it is, but yes. Don’t worry Charles, you’ll get your enchanted spaghetti,” Edwin laughed, practically reading Charles’s mind.

“I love you, you know that right?”

“I do believe you’ve mentioned it once or twice before.”

“Are you guys just gonna keep flirting all night or are we gonna do more party things?” Crystal asked from where she was sitting in Edwin’s usual chair.

“We can multitask,” Charles argued, throwing an arm around Edwin’s shoulders and kissing him on the cheek.

Crystal was beginning to regret her involvement in getting them together. Niko walked over and perched on the arm of the chair beside her, leaning in to kiss her. Okay, maybe she could multitask too.

“Wow you guys, way to make a woman feel single,” Jenny said from the other side of the room. “You two are literally dead and you’ve got more game than me,” she looked over at the boys.

“Don’t worry Jenny, we’ll find you someone!” Niko reassured.

“Preferably someone who isn’t a psycho murderer who stalks me this time.”

Niko nodded, looking at the ground. Enough time had passed now that they could make light-hearted jokes about the Maxine situation, but it still left as much trauma as expected for Jenny. Niko still felt guilty, even though she’d been mostly forgiven.

The vague tension in the room was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Do we really have to take a case?” Niko groaned.

“I don’t think it is a case, Niko, don’t worry,” Edwin said, walking to the door while Charles reached into the games cupboard and pulled out a large green bowl, filled with what looked like tiny little trinkets.

Edwin opened the door.

“Trick or treat!” came the small voices from outside.

There were three small children: a young girl around nine years old dressed as a witch, a boy around the same age with a werewolf mask, and another girl who looked no older than about two wearing a pumpkin outfit. All three of them had similar burn scars on their faces and arms.

“Hey, you three! Happy Halloween!” Charles said, offering the bowl out to them.

They all took two tiny curios each. A green feather, an engraved brass ring, a chunk of amethyst, a tiny brooch with a leaf design, a small bag of pink dust, and a wishbone. All small harmless items the boys had picked up over the years but had no use for – but always brought joy to the faces of the young ghosts in the neighbourhood.

“You’re dressed up!” the older girl said, surprised.

“Yeah, thought we’d give it a go this year,” Charles said.

“What are you meant to be?” the boy asked him.

“Uhhh,” Charles stammered.

“Shouldn’t you three be running along? The night won’t last forever, you know. I heard the fortune teller down the road is giving out magical coins!” Edwin cut in.

All three children gasped.

“Really?”

“Yes, but they won’t be there forever so you’d better go quick!”

“Thanks Edwin!” said the girl.

“Bye Charles!” said the boy.

Charles gave the youngest a high five before all three of them leapt down the staircase excitedly.

When they closed the door and turned back around to face the room, they were met with looks of confusion from Crystal, Niko and Jenny.

“What-” Crystal began.

“The ghost children in the area come around every year, we always make sure we have trinkets to give them since they can’t eat sweets.”

“Hey maybe next year we can actually give them enchanted sweets!” Charles suggested.

“Wait, those three were ghosts? Did they all-” Jenny trailed off.

“The James siblings. They all died in a housefire a couple of years ago. Their parents were out shopping so they had a babysitter, but none of them survived the fire. Death came for the babysitter, but the children were all hiding in the rubble,” Edwin explained.

“Shit, those poor kids. I bet their parents feel horrific, oh my god.”

“That is precisely why we haven’t reported them to the Lost and Found Department,” Edwin said sternly. “The parents got into a terrible car accident upon getting the phone call about the children. They both survived, but only barely. They can see ghosts now, so the family is reunited.”

As Edwin spoke, Charles walked over to the window.

“Their dads are just outside, look,” he pointed across the road.

Everyone gathered around him and looked down. They saw the three children running over to two men stood on the opposite side of the road. They all showed their buckets to their parents excitedly, then pointed down the road. Their parents laughed, and the family all headed off down the road together.

“That’s sweet,” said Niko. “They’re still all together.”

“Precisely. It’s nice to know tragedy doesn’t always end in entirely pain.”

The others didn’t miss the way Edwin looked towards Charles as he spoke.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long before the boys insisted on a game of Cluedo.

“Not fair, you guys always win!” Crystal argued.

“Well, we’ve got thirty-four years on you, Crystal.”

“Also, it’s more a game of luck than one of skill. If you get a good hand of cards to mark things off, you’re already further ahead than other players.”

“Yeah, yeah, fine whatever. But if you guys win, you owe me, like, the entirety of the payment for the next case.”

“Deal,” Edwin agreed, and they shook on it.

“Hey! What about me?” Niko pouted.

“You win almost as often as they do, babe.”

“I keep telling you! You should watch more Scooby Doo,” Niko shrugged, leaning her head on Crystal’s shoulder.

The deal however, never got resolved. Halfway through the game, there was another knock on the door, and this time it wasn’t ghostly trick-or-treaters; it was a case. And surprisingly, it was a real one. Usually on Halloween, their cases were less often genuine supernatural encounters and more often paranoid older ghosts misunderstanding typical Halloween living-people things. But this one was real. It wasn’t difficult, and only took them an hour or so to solve, but it was real.

Someone nearby had been having their own ghostly Halloween party, but their decorations had all been possessed by mischievous imps that had begun causing havoc. But the Dead Boy Detectives had dealt with imps dozens of times before; they arrived, set a few traps, Edwin cast a few spells, Charles swung his bat a few times, and the job was successfully jobbed.

By the time they got back to the office, Niko had already beaten Crystal and Jenny at Cluedo twice, and they were currently tied one-all in a very intense Uno tournament. When Crystal won the fourth game, they decided to wrap it up.

Then, Niko suggested – well, insisted, but no one can resist her puppy eyes – that they play Monopoly. Her argument was that it was thematically relevant since the box they had was Beetlejuice themed.

The game was as loud and chaotic as anyone would expect, and Crystal and Jenny both nearly flipped the board twice each in the first half an hour. Charles was the first to go bankrupt, closely followed by Edwin. The other three swore they planned it in advance, since they used it to their advantage, sneaking off into the games cupboard for a snog and locking the door whilst Jenny was in the bathroom, Crystal was clearing away the empty food trays and Niko was distracted watching fireworks outside the window. They were in there for the entire last ninety minutes of the game, and when they finally stepped back into the room, both had incredibly messy hair, and both Charles’s lipstick and Edwin’s fake blood were smudged over both of their chins. Crystal had never been happier that they put a silencing spell on the cupboard a few months prior. But then again, it meant they had an excuse to disappear into there whenever they felt like it. God, she and Niko needed to get payback at some point.

“Could you guys not have waited until after everyone else left?” Crystal asked, her eyebrows raised at them.

“Hey, don’t look at me,” Charles put his hands up in defence. “It’s not my fault this one couldn’t keep his eyes off my legs.”

“It absolutely is your fault for wearing those tights.”

“And on that note, I’m leaving,” Jenny butted in, standing up from the sofa. “This was great, but it’s nearly midnight and unlike you guys who don’t seem to have a schedule, I have a shop to open at nine o’clock tomorrow.”

“Understandable. Goodnight, Jenny,” Edwin said, reaching to readjust his bow tie only to remember he wasn’t wearing one.

“Yeah, Niko and I should probably head off, too,” Crystal said.

“Do we have to?” Niko complained, but her face changed when she turned and saw that Crystal was giving her a look. “Oh. Yes. Definitely. We should go.”

“We’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” Charles said.

“Yep. ‘Night guys! Great party, we should definitely do that every year!”

“I must admit it was…much more enjoyable than I anticipated,” Edwin admitted.

“See! Told you you’d like it.”

Niko hugged Edwin before she was practically dragged out of the room by Crystal.

“Oh! I forgot my jacket,” Niko realised when she and Crystal were halfway down the road, and she had begun to shiver.

“Here, take mine,” Crystal said, taking hers off and placing it around Niko’s shoulders. “I highly doubt we would wanna go back in there.”

Niko snickered, locking her arm with Crystal’s.

“Seriously, they’re insatiable! At least we’re more subtle about it.”

“Give them some slack, they’ve got over thirty years of built-up sexual tension to resolve!”

“I really don’t wanna think about those two resolving their tension,” Crystal practically gagged.

“Maybe you wanna think about me in this turtleneck instead?” Niko said suggestively.

“I-” Crystal stammered.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice you staring at my chest all night,” she teased.

“Okay, shut up.”

“Hey, it’s allowed. I’ve been staring at you all night, too. I told you Ayumi was my gay awakening, and I was not kidding.”

“Glad you thought my costume was a success, then.”

“I think tonight was a success! I don’t think we’ll have any trouble convincing the boys to properly celebrate dress up again next year. Maybe we can even get Charles to do the full corset look!”

“I’d rather not be in the room, or even anywhere near the room, when Edwin sees that.”

“Fair,” Niko giggled.

Illuminated by streetlamps and the soft glow of pumpkins and decorative lights from nearby apartment buildings, the two of them walked back to their flat.

Maybe it was a little strange that two supernatural beings began celebrating a holiday that turned them into novelty ornaments or silly stories. Or maybe it made perfect sense: two ghosts, their psychic best friend, their other best friend who had literally died once, and reluctant older sister figure who just happened to have been possessed by Crystal’s demon ex-boyfriend one time and got herself involved with everything – celebrating Halloween as a strange little family.