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“So why do you hate Halloween?”
Kirsten flops down in the chair across from Matt’s desk and puts her feet up on the edge of his desk.
He can hear the way the heels of her shoes hit against the wood to know that she’s wearing Sperry’s. The dull sound of rubber scraping against leather before smacking onto the wood is enough to give her shoe choice away. Also, he can smell ocean water from the last time she wore them out on a boat.
“I don’t hate Halloween,” he protests. He doesn’t need to hear the sound of his own heartbeat to know that he’s lying. She snorts in that typical Kirsten way that’s adorable and obnoxious all at the same time.
“Please. As soon as October started, you’ve spent the whole month bitching about it like you’re a cranky old man without grandkids to brag about,” she replies. Matt blinks and lifts his eyebrows in cool indifference.
“That has to be the worst, most inaccurate description of myself I’ve ever heard,” he says blithely, choosing to focus on that instead of her statement. He listens to her shift the position of her shoes just a little bit on his desk.
“Matt Murdock hates Halloween, and I’m determined to find out why,” Kirsten says. He hears the smile and the determination in her voice. “You forget that I’m really good at digging up the truth. Like the whole Daredevil thing.”
“Technically, you found out about that because it was leaked in the news. Not because you put in time and energy to research it,” he points out, knowing that he’s being snarky. He hears her take her shoes off her desk and replace them with her elbows as she leans forward to get closer to him.
“That’s beside the point, Counselor,” she says in a dismissive tone. He can practically picture her rolling her eyes. She’s told him that she has brown eyes, and he can imagine that they’re large and dark and every bit as lovely as the rest of her is.
“Is it?” he counters. He leans forward to counter her movement. “I think it is the point, Counselor McDuffie.”
“Stop distracting me,” she demands. He grins in that way that Foggy says makes him look like an arrogant asshole.
“Why would I ever try to distract you?” he asks. His smile has the effect that he wanted because her heart jumps, and he hears her mouth shift as she swallows roughly.
“You’re not answering the question,” she says slowly, each word even and deliberate. “Why do you hate Halloween?”
“So you choose now to have this conversation,” he states without any indication of it being a question in his tone. “We could discuss this at home in one of our lovely, brand new apartments, but you want to have it now.”
“You told the staff that they can’t put up any Halloween decorations. It’s a good thing you can’t see or else you would have snipped at Ella and told her not to wear festive sweaters to work,” Kirsten points out. His mouth turns down into a slight frown because unfortunately, she’s right. He drums his fingers impatiently against the desk as he thinks of a good response. Usually, he’s never without a quick-witted response, but she’s got him this time.
“Did you just make a blind joke?” he finally asks with convincing seriousness. She groans, and he can tell by the way the sound comes out of her throat and echoes around the room, she’s got her head tilted back in exasperation.
“Matt, I’m not making a blind joke,” she replies. “I’m pointing out that while you can tell exactly which shade of lipstick I’m wearing based on the texture or the scent of it, you can’t see that our poor secretary has on a very, very cute Halloween sweater with bats on it that you would have chastised her for had you known she was wearing it.”
“She shouldn’t be unprofessional,” Matt points out. Kirsten shifts to the edge of her seat.
“She’s not being unprofessional. You’re just being cranky,” she says. “Why don’t you like Halloween? Is there some kind of deep, emotional story that I’m missing? Because if there is, tell me, and I won’t push the issue anymore.”
“No, Kirsten, there is no deep, emotional story behind what you think is my dislike of Halloween,” Matt says in a flat monotone. “I just…am indifferent to it.”
“Indifference is not suggesting to the staff that they can decorate. Full out dislike is telling them that they can’t. What’s going on, Matt?” she asks. He’s quiet. He can hear her—sense her—waiting for his response. Finally, after a few seconds of pure silence, she gets up from her chair and crosses towards him. Even though he can’t see, he moves his head in the direction of her movements, following her with his ears. She leans against the desk so that she’s facing him while he’s in his chair. “Matt?”
Her voice is gentle and kind, encouraging and supportive. She’s so good to him. He knows it, too. He knows that she puts up with a lot of shit from him, shit she doesn’t deserve. And most of all, she chooses to put up with it. He doesn’t know if he loves her more or thinks she’s stupid because of it. He wants to tell her all of these things, but he doesn’t know how. He presses his lips together and tilts his head up in the direction of her voice, of her soft breathing and musical heartbeat.
“Kirsten,” he says, the tone of his voice matching hers. He waits for her to say something, but he’s surprised to sense her reaching out her hand towards his face. She touches his cheek lightly, and her heart slows down.
“Halloween can be fun,” she says. He wants to close his eyes and lean into her touch, but he just sighs and takes her hand in his. Her hands are small and delicate, two descriptions that don’t fit her personality at all. She’s larger than life and tough. She’s loud, and she doesn’t like to wait for anything. Impatient 97% of the time but patient the 3% of the time she needs to be.
“I never really celebrated it,” he admits. “I don’t know. When I was a kid…I didn’t exactly have a lot of friends to go trick-or-treating with or to celebrate. Then it just seemed kind of dumb to me. Why dress up and go out to get candy? Like, why can’t you just buy some if you want some?”
“Oh, Matt,” Kirsten sighs. He can’t tell if she’s sighing out of pity or exhaustion; she’s not the kind to pity him, but he just can’t hear it in her tone, which is weird and unusual for him. “You’ve never had a real Halloween?”
“Not really,” he says, kind of feeling uncomfortable now. “I mean, I went to college.”
Kirsten laughs at that. Her laugh sounds like running water, and he loves listening to it. In fact, it’s impossible for him to feel uncomfortable when she sounds so beautiful and happy, and he finds himself smiling. “Matt, going to Halloween parties in college do not count as celebrating Halloween.”
“I didn’t go to parties,” Matt corrects. “It was law school.”
“I went to law school, and I still went to my share of parties,” Kirsten says. She holds his hand in hers and lets him run his thumb over the back of her hand as if he’s reading her skin just with the pad of his thumb. “Totally not an excuse.”
“Well, you didn’t really have to go to parties to get the Halloween vibe,” Matt answers with a shrug. “I don’t know. The cafeteria was always decorated with dark, looming things, and that just kind of threw me off more than anything.”
“Matt Murdock, we are celebrating Halloween this year,” Kirsten says. “You and me, cowboy. We’re doing it.” She shakes her head as Matt lets out a deep groan. “Nope. No arguing or complaining like the grumpy old man you are. We’re here in this brand new city of San Francisco, and so we’re going to have a brand new start, ok?”
“I don’t like change,” Matt whines.
“You can lie to me all you want, but I can tell when you’re lying without having to hear your heartbeat, Murdock.” She leans her face down to his until she’s just centimeters away from his mouth. Matt’s heartbeat picks up and mimics her pulse. He tips his head back in her direction, trying to hide his smile and how much he wants to kiss her just then, even if she’s going to force him to do this dumb Halloween thing.
“What’s in it for me?” he asks as he tries not to betray how badly he wants to touch her beyond the feel of her hand in his. “Why should I celebrate Halloween with you? And I need a reason more than the whole change thing. Because that’s not going to get me into a costume.”
“Matt, you think the fun part is dressing up,” Kirsten says. “But for you, that’s not fun because you already dress up like a vigilante.”
“Well, I kind of am a vigilante.”
“Not the point, Counselor. The point is that the fun of Halloween does not lie in the dressing up, taking on a new identity, etc. etc. part.”
“Oh, yeah? Then what’s the fun part?”
“The fun part…” She puts her mouth so close to his he can practically feel the heat of her lips burning his, “…is finding a reason to take those costumes off.”
After that, Matt begrudgingly allows her to go all out in the office for Halloween. He senses decorations all over the place, and he knows that Ella is wearing Halloween-themed sweaters every day. He tries not to be grumpy about it since Kirsten is very much delighted by his allowance.
One day they’re having dinner at their apartment, and she goes, “Do you still have your I’m Not Daredevil sweater?”
“Uh, yeah,” Matt replies, completely uncertain of why she asks. “I do.”
“Good,” she says pleasantly. “That’s exactly what I was hoping you’d say.”
“Why?” he asks.
“Don’t ask questions.”
Matt has to wait another four days before Halloween actually rolls around. The office is having a Halloween party with some of the other local law offices, which he, again, reluctantly agreed to because Kirsten was excited about it, and costumes are required. He’s never been to a costume party. The closest thing to a costume party he’s ever attended was the Christmas party where he wore the damn I’m Not Daredevil sweater.
He manages to get through the day of constant “Happy Halloween” greetings and questions over what he’s going to the party tonight dressed as. Each time someone asks him about his costume, he just grins and shrugs honestly. “I have no idea. Kirsten’s in charge of that.”
It isn’t until later that night when he’s sitting nervously in the living room that he finds out what his and Kirsten’s coordinated costumes are. He shifts uncomfortably on the couch and waits as she enters the room. He can tell she’s carrying something, but he doesn’t know what. She lays something on his lap, and he touches it, frowning as he recognizes the material.
“This is my I’m Not Daredevil sweater,” he says.
“Good job. You’re really smart,” Kirsten replies. He smirks at her.
“Ok, smartass,” he says. “What’s your costume?”
“I am Daredevil,” she replies. He pauses and tilts his head to the side, confused. She takes his hand and puts it on her torso. He can feel shiny, stretchy material beneath his fingers. Running his hand up her side, he feels that she’s in a tight cat suit, and his frown deepens even further as he continues to touch her. He feels her all the way up her side and her neck to her head, where he feels a small pair of horns. And then it hits him. She really is Daredevil.
“No,” he says as his face melts into one of his slow, rewarding smiles.
“Yep,” she chirps. “I thought the irony would be funny. You’re not Daredevil, and I am.”
“That…may be the best costume idea I’ve ever heard,” he admits, even though he doesn’t want to because God, he loves to be right.
“I thought so,” she smugly replies. He lets her take the sweater off his lap, and she straddles his hips, taking his face between her hands. He lets his palms roam over her back as he feels the entirety of the suit she’s wearing. “Think this is a good enough reason to take our costumes off later?”
“Uh—uh huh.” Matt nods vigorously. “Oh yeah. Definitely.”
He somehow manages to get through the party without getting too grumpy. In fact, he doesn’t feel cranky at all about anything. He has fun. He lets his co-workers compliment his costume, and he proudly tells them that it was all Kirsten’s idea. At the end of the night, he even leaves the party with awards for Best Couple’s Costumes and First Place in the Bobbing for Apples contest.
As he and Kirsten walk into their bedroom and collapse onto their bed, he looks over at her. “I’m tired.”
“Me, too,” she replies. He rolls her roll onto her stomach, moving closer to him. “So. How was your Halloween this year? You won one half of the Best Couple’s Costume and First for the apple thing.”
“Excuse you, it was the Bobbing for Apples contest. Not the apple thing. Get it right because I was awesome at it, and you’re talking to the champion,” he says, sounding mildly offended. She laughs and scoots closer to his body.
“Ok. Fine. The Bobbing for Apples contest. We also got a lot of candy at that party, and everyone from our office talked about how cool our decorations were this year. So. What’s your conclusion, Murdock? Did Halloween this year suck?” She brushes her nose against his neck, and he sharply inhales.
“No,” he admits. “No, it didn’t.”
“Yes! Mission accomplished!” Kirsten exclaims. Moving quicker than she process, he moves so that he’s on top of her, and she’s beneath him. Leaning down to kiss her, he closes his eyes and listens to her breathing, her heartbeat, and her pulse. He breathes in the smell of her shampoo and the spandex of her costume. He tastes her lipstick and just…Kirsten. He takes in Kirsten.
“Now that you’ve made me admit Halloween this year didn’t totally suck,” he practically purrs against her neck. “I’ve found a very good reason to get these costumes off.”
It’s the best Halloween of his life.