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Harry adjusted his laptop. Louis pressed against him, leaning in close to make sure they were both on screen. They were on the couch in the living room, ready for their scheduled Zoom call with Liam and Niall. While it wasn’t the first time they’d connected with the other boys over a video call since quarantine began, it never felt less weird. But, it was still good to see their faces and chat.
Harry opened the meeting link. Liam, ever the diligent Zoom Host, connected the call right on time. Liam's and Niall's faces appeared in the boxes on the screen and after they all exchanged greetings, they spent the next ten minutes catching up on each other’s projects and some of the gossip they’d heard since their last call. As they chatted, the fact that it was a video call faded away and soon it felt just like meeting up with the boys again.
Then the call turned to serious matters, Halloween. Or rather, the unfortunate lack of Halloween festivities.
“We’re gonna miss the annual Halloween pub crawl,” Liam lamented.
“Don’t remind me,” Harry whined.
“I miss going to pubs,” Niall said. He held up his beer, toasting to his web cam.
“I miss hanging out in person,” Louis added. “I hate video calls.”
“It’s a shame. Halloween is even on Saturday this year,” Liam said.
“This was going to be our year! We would’ve won this time.” Harry pouted.
“You wish.” Niall teased. “You two haven’t won the best couples costume award yet.”
“That’s because the judges were unfair. How was it possible that my meticulously planned Top Gun costumes lost out to a nut and bolt made out of tin foil? Blech.” Harry scowled, recalling the disappointment of losing to such an unoriginal straight couple the previous Halloween.
“Right? The judges had no taste. We were robbed!” Louis shook his fist. “But it’s fine. H started planning our next costumes last November.”
Niall rolled his eyes. “Of course he did.”
“They’re really going to be something.” Louis scrunched his nose, proud of his creative husband.
“I spent so long working on the plumber costume designs.”
“Plumber?” Niall asked.
“What?” Liam laughed.
“Like Mario and Luigi?” Niall guessed excitedly. “That must be why you have those mustaches!”
“You know Mario and Luigi are brothers, right?” Liam challenged.
“Of course we know that,” Louis said. “And, we are not going as Mario and Luigi.”
Niall made another guess. “What about Mario and Princess Peach? Louis’ arse would suit her ballgown.”
"Watch it, Horan!"
“No, we’re not Nintendo characters.” Harry corrected. “It’s obviously going to be something more original than that.” He turned to Louis. “You think we should tell them?”
“If you want.” Louis said. Harry nodded in agreement. Louis paused for the dramatics before the big reveal. “I’m going dressed as a toilet!”
Liam and Niall went slack-jawed, staring speechless at their screens with confused looks. If they didn’t know better, Harry’d have thought the video call was frozen. But he could still see them blinking despite their silence.
Harry smiled cheekily, dimple popping. “Get it? A plumber and a toilet.”
“But, why?” Liam asked, exasperated.
Louis smirked. “Because I’d let Harry snake my drain anytime.”
“Oh my god.” Niall dropped his head in his hands.
Harry and Louis broke out into a loud fit laughter, cackling over the sounds of Liam and Niall’s groans.
“No. You can’t be serious.” Liam looked concerned. Even through the pixelated video image, Harry could see the furrow between his brows.
“Of course we’re not.” Harry laughed. “We aren’t going to give away our costume ideas for you to steal. We might not be able to go out this year, but that just means we have twelve more months to perfect our costumes.”
“We are going to win for sure next year!” Louis turned toward Harry, raising his hand palm faced out. As their hands came together in a victorious high five, they shouted in unison, “Dream Team!”