A/N: I LOVE HALLOWEEN!!!!
October 31th 2023
(Elijah's pov)
Claire loves Halloween, her enthusiasm for trick or treating had been made clear last year of our friendship and the past couple months of our relationship, she had spent the last month making matching costumes, so she sat almost on my lap in the living room, doing my make-up"
"Hold still" she demanded "I'm trying my hardest to be a statue ! " I retorted in a mock attempt of innocence
" I don't want to accidentally ruin your costume." She mumbled softly
" You won't tho" I replied "but what if I do" She said in a soft whisper, " then i'd consider it an improvement and move on with my Halloween, But I know you won't." She stared at me as if I was stupid
"Yo Eli ," James exclaimed as he walked in "what was tha-" he paused and stared for a moment "what are y'all doing and why are ya a clown ?" He asked incredulously, while gesturing at me towards the end.
I was in a black and red clown costume with trims of purple mixed in.
"Im doing his makeup for his Halloween costume !" Claire chirped happily. "Mhm" I let out as a sound of agreement.
"But I thought you hated Halloween ?" James asked me, his eyebrow raising slightly.
"Nah just didn't really celebrate it." I responded in a lackadaisical drawl dancing in voice, the lie slipped out easily , Halloween was filled with no fond memories .
James shot me a concerned look, definitely knowing I lied. "So what is the joyless prince of never celebrating anything's costume ?" He asked genuine interest and playful teasing mixed in his voice.
"A Clown !" Claire exclaimed happily." I'm gonna be a jester " she added in an imitation of an overdramatic performer's voice .
The room fell into a comfortable silence as I let Claire do the clown makeup James sat on the sofa .
She jumped to her feet and began searching the table she commandeered, "Eli, Where'd I put the neck ruffs and your hooded cloak ?" She asked urgently
"My bed !" I drawled, "why would it be on your bed ?" She asked "why wouldn't it be on my bed?" I asked in return.
She bounced into my room and I climbed to my feet , shaking off the pins and needles I walked into my kitchen,"So what ya doing ?" I asked James as I grabbed a glass from a cupboard, pausing for a moment a devious idea came to my mind.
I moved to another cupboard. I grabbed a pack of Hershey kisses and stowed them away in a pocket.
"You know the usual , probably gonna stay home, you know how I feel about parties" I did in fact know how he felt about parties, he hated them almost as much as I did.
As he was speaking I filled the glass up with
Water .
"So ima say here and hold down the fort, while you and Claire go trick or treating or whatever y'all got planned. " he continued after a moment of pause
"If ya wanna join us, you can " Claire spoke up from my room. "Nah, I ain't got a costume so there's no fun in it" he declined .
"Alrighty!" She responded, "if ya change your mind, just give one of us a call !" She offered
"I will if I do , in the meantime I will be watching horror movies" James replied.
Claire skipped back into the room, neck ruff in one hand, the hooded cloak "right come here !" She chirped, I did so with a glass of water in hand.
I walked back into the living room, and over to Claire "neck ruff please ?" I asked .
" Mhhhh, what do I get in return ?" She asked in return." What do you want in return ?" I shot back.
"Hmmmmmmmmmm" she drawled in a mock of innocence.
" How about a …." She started "KISS" she exclaimed.
I pulled the pack of Hershey kisses from a pocket, opened it and handed her one , she stared at it for a month before I received a look of betrayal in return , James erupted into cackling and I had to stifle some chuckles .
"Bu-wha nooo, NOOOO" she cried out, " can I have the cloak and ruff please ?" I asked if I hadn't just done that.
"I-I" she stammered, "F-Fine you win" she grumbled, before I pecked her on the lips and plucked the cloak and ruff out of her hands.
She stood there staring into space, James spoke through cackles "E-HAHA Eli I-HAHA thin-HAHAHA think you bro-HAHAHA broke He-HAHAHA Her !!!!"
"Ya dont say !"I chuckled as I put the ruffle around my neck. "Eli…" Claire said finally after rebooting.
"Mhm" I responded lazily, " has anyone ever told you you're evil ?" she asked .
"Plenty of times" I chuckled softly as I put the cloak on, I pulled the hood up to find 2 tails falling onto my shoulders.
I walked over to the table and grabbed my phone. The time read 11:03 am.
"Do ya like it ?" She asked, a hint of eagerness bleed into her voice. "havent had a look, I wanna see it in the mirror" I reassured lazily.
" Oh!!" She exclaimed "Then c'mon let's see how you like it !!" She continued grabbing my hand and dragging me into the bathroom.
It made me freeze, 2 blood red lines cut vertically through my eyes sending a wave of memories, the sound of a glass bottle shattering against my head , enraged shouting and horrified screaming, a phantom line of blood blocked my vision. The image of her face flashed in my mind alongside an ambulance. My father's voice screaming something unintelligible, more than likely cursing about god knows what.
"ELIJAH!??" Claire called out, sending me out of my spiralling memory.
"W-what ? Sorry I got lost in my thoughts" I asked sheepishly as I lowered my hand from a scar on my scalp.
"Are you ok ?" She asked, concern lacing her voice . "I called your name a couple of times and you had a haunted look in your eyes." she added.
"I-I" I sighed " I'm fine." I answered, " I just got lost in thoughts."
" Right…" she responded, "do you like your costume ?" She asked hesitantly.
I looked back Into the mirror, the memories threatened to flood back but they didn't yet "yeah it's good, REALLY good and Hella comfy too"
" Ima get into my costume, 'kay" she chirped as we walked back into the living room .
"Alright" James answered as she picked up a paper bag she brought.
"I'm stealing your room !" she giggled
"Go ahead" I responded.A moment later James spoke up "pop off girl" we both chuckled at that
The sound of my door clicking shut caused us to fall into a comfortable silence that lasted for a couple minutes.
Soon the sound of my door opening broke the silence
(Claire's pov)
"BOO !!!!" I exclaimed as I jumped out of Elijah's room.
"AHHHHHHH" Elijah drawled in a mock attempt of being scared.
James on the other hand jumped.
"So whatcha think of my costume !?" I asked while giving the two a spin .
It was a blue, white and gold jester costume with purple trims and the cap n' bell hat was blue on the top the 4 tails the cap had, had aluminium wires to keep them in a position I liked , in-between the tails were there was small metal symbols painted gold, for the suit of playing cards , the hearts was at the front , diamond and clubs on both sides and spades at the back. The bells softly jingled while I spun .
"You look great !!!" Elijah complemented , I felt my cheeks warming at that.
"We were about to watch some of the final destination movies ya gonna join ?" James asked excitedly, it was tempting but I wanted to do my makeup first so I expressed that "Start without me ima do my makeup and listen to music!!"
Hours passed in a blur a mix of horror movies and goofing off but soon it was evening and we were ready to goof off and trick or treat !!
I had painted a really big blue diamond with a white outline and a black rim.
"You ready ?" Elijah asked, a mix of amusement and excitement danced in his voice.
"YEAH !!!!" I exclaimed in excitement before grabbing his arm and dragging him out and outside.
We started going door to door trick or treating, like we were madmen robbing a bank , but our wealth was chocolates, gummies and everything and everything vaguely candy shaped.
Soon we gathered a large enough hall and decided to go back and stash it away in Elijah's apartment.
The walk back to his was filled with mostly goofing about , he had eventually noticed the card suits on his cloak when someone said they loved the matching costumes and he had freaked out.
"Nooooo, why didn't ya tell me we were MATCHING matching, cause that's so COOL." He exclaimed, practically vibrating. "Putting the other suits inside the diamond is actually sick , I didn't even notice!!!" I giggled that he was nerding out over the costume and it was adorable.
Soon we reached the apartment and James being the bum he was tried begging some candy off me , I promptly told him to fuck off. Elijah gave him some in the end.
"Hey ya wanna trade some Candy ? " Elijah asked nonchalantly
" Oh ?" I let out in surprise " what , do ya see anything you like ?" I asked .
" The lollipops " He answered easily. "Hmmm" I scanned his neatly organised piles of candy
"I'll have the kisses " I pointed to the Hershey kisses, he scooted over to me and pecked my on the lips a couple times .
James burst into laughter as he scooted the pile of Hershey kisses towards me, Elijah wore a wry grin of his face and slide the lollipops towards him
Elijah reached into his pocket in search of something, he soon pulled a box of cigarettes out.
"Hey James, do you know where my lighter is ?" He asked lazily, I hated the smell of cigarettes smoke, so secretly hoped he wouldn't find it.
" Erm, it might be in your coat " James replied, a slight wave of irritation shot to my chest.
He walked over to his coat and searched , his search bore fruits, he soon pulled a lighter out of an interior pocket.
He began walking towards the door, "where ya going? " I asked a hint of confusion bleed into my voice
" I noticed you don't like the smell of cigarette smoke, so ima have this up on the roof !" He chirped before the door shut before him .
"He isn't an idiot, y'know, he notices a lot of things" James chuckled.
"I knew that" I scoffed " I just didn't expect him to inconvenience himself for me" I elaborate.
" If Elijah was here, he would be shaking some sense into you right about now." James said with a chuckle .
The room fell into a comfortable silence until he returned
"Right !" He exclaimed the moment he walked through the door "who's ready to watch shitty slashers for the rest of the night, cause I am !!" He chirped .
We all soon were on the sofa watching the aptly named movie Halloween.
The Slasher binge continued long into the night, James was the first to go into the realm of unconsciousness, falling asleep in an armchair that would probably destroy his back .
Elijah and I sat quietly bantering while snacking on candy , his arm around my shoulder.
I shivered involuntarily, the room was getting colder as the night continued on , he stood.
"ill be back in a sec. I'm just getting James and us a couple of blankets ." He said softly .
"Alright" I grumbled before resting my head against the sofa's arm rest.
(Elijah's pov)
I stretched before wandering towards James' room to grab his blanket for him.
His room was a mess, the floor scattered with papers , clothes and random boxes strung about the room .
I didn't linger simply grabbing a blanket for him and existing, I folded the blanket over my hand and walked into my room to grab a couple blankets for me and Claire.
Returning back to the living room I found James still asleep and Claire who had drifted off while I was gone , I draped James blanket over him.
I also draped the blankets over Claire , instead of wandering back into my room a settled behind her and loosely wrapped an arm around her, eventually drifting into sleep