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Katherine smirked a little to herself as she adjusted the scarf she'd picked for her Halloween costume. After two years in a row of accidentally dressing up in matching costumes with Spot, there was no way he'd predict she'd show up in this.
After nearly six years of knowing Spot, she'd heard more than enough of his obsession with Star Wars. His really endearingly annoying obsession with Star Wars that he had constantly badgered her with for five-and-a-half of those six years. So, to poke a little fun at him, she found the most obscure character she could find, one that wasn't even in the movies, and dressed up as her.
Pushing open the door to the kitchen, she shrugged out of her coat, hanging it up in the corner.
Shoving her hair back—she'd ridiculously teased it and hadn't brought bobby pins to hold it back—Katherine used her hip to push open the door to the barroom, where Race and Crutchie were perched on barstools, as Harley Quinn and what looked like the infamous lamp from that Christmas movie respectively.
Spot stood behind the bar, prepping.
And the bastard was dressed as Luke Skywalker.
Katherine's jaw dropped. "You're kidding me."
They turned to look at her, Crutchie looking delighted. "Another one for the wall!”
"Do you know how long it took for me to put this costume together?" Katherine demanded. It wasn't Carrie Fisher's gold bikini, she couldn't just buy it at any store, she had to meticulously piece together the costume based on action figures and artwork.
"How the hell do you even know who Mara Jade is?" Spot asked, looking as shocked as she felt.
"How do I know—Don't insult me, Sean. I've only listened to you rattle on about Star Wars for five years, some things stick."
"Wait, who're you guys?" Race asked.
"Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker," Katherine explained. "They're...technically married, or whatever, in the Star Wars books."
Race looked at Spot accusingly. "Ya said you didn't do couples costumes."
"I don't," Spot insisted. "Kath an' I've been doin' it by accident for years."
~*~
Katherine twisted her hips, looking down at her outfit. "I don't know, Smalls. What do you think?"
"Very sexy. Like a classy prostitute."
Snorting, she looked back at the younger girl. High praise, coming from Wonder Woman, she supposed. "I don't even want to know how you know that, but I guess it works for this. I just wish these boots were easier to walk in."
Smalls went back to setting up the chairs and setting out nuts, and Katherine took a few tentative steps behind the bar. They were really impractical footwear for the bar, but she'd be in the office for most of the night, anyways, which is probably why she'd been brave enough to dress in Julia Roberts' infamous prostitute outfit for Halloween.
She poked at her side a bit, making a slight face, before looking up as she heard the kitchen door open. Spot emerged, dressed in a nice suit. He slowed a bit, taking in her outfit.
"I know, don't worry, I'll be in the office tonight. I'm just helping you prep." He still stared at her, and Katherine started feeling self-conscious. "Looking slick, Spot. Who are you supposed to be?” she asked, changing the subject.
Katherine had seen him wear a suit exactly three times in the almost-decade of knowing each other; the unfortunate court date about a year after they met, a fancy anniversary dinner with Race, and the time they don’t speak of anymore.
Thankfully, this looked like the fancy anniversary dinner suit, so Katherine didn’t have to think about that time.
Spot wrinkled his nose, shaking his head. “Don’t wanna say,” he muttered.
His refusal to admit to his costume could only mean one thing and that meant... “You’re not," she said.
“Race made me see the musical three times," he said defensively. "I didn’t think you’d show up dressed as the hooker!”
“Excuse you, I showed you the movie first, way before you even knew Racetrack Higgins," she said, throwing a dish towel at him. "And her name is Vivian, and I'm disappointed in you for forgetting that."
The door to the bar slammed open, interrupting them, and Race stood there, wearing...
“Oh, god,” Katherine said, dropping her head into her hands.
Smalls let out a delighted giggle, reminding them of her presence. "This is the best day of my life."
Spot simply covered his face with his hand.
Race put a hand on his bare hip, tapping the toe of his thigh-high stiletto boot. “Well one of us is gonna hafta change.”
Katherine rounded on Spot. “Five years we’ve been accidentally dressing in couples costumes and you don’t tell me the year you actually set it up with your boyfriend?”
“I didn’t set it up with my boyfriend,” Spot said, shaking his head.
“Nope.” Race looked all too proud of himself and way more comfortable in the heels moving across the bar than she did, which definitely wasn’t fair. “Four years, I’ve been beggin’, pleadin’, and bribin’ with sexual favors—”
“Gross,” Katherine said with an eye roll.
“Well there goes my innocence,” Smalls muttered.
“—to get my stupid boyfriend to do a stupid fuckin' couples costume with me, and I finally figure out what he’s doin’ for Halloween. It’s my year, Pulitzer. Get your own costume.”
“My god, Tony.” Katherine was already rounding the bar, pushing the swinging bar top up. “As moving and eye-opening and disturbing as that little speech was, it’s unnecessary. I have no desire to wear the same costume as you.” Honestly, Katherine just regretted the boots so much, she wanted to get out of them and give them back to Sarah.
If she didn't burn them first.
"Wait, really?" Race asked, looking surprised, and like he had more to say. "I win? But I didn't get to say the thing."
"Would that make you feel better?" she asked, pausing with her hand on the door to the kitchen.
Race pouted. "Not anymore. It's not organic."
"Okay, Race," Katherine said, shaking her head and leaning her back against the door to the kitchen. "Spot, you're prepping alone with your prostitute boyfriend. Smalls, you're in charge."
Before she could make it all the way into the kitchen, she heard Race say, "Big mistake! Big! Huge!"
She poked her head back out into the barroom. "Did you get it out of your system?"
"Yeah, thanks."
Wrapping her coat around her to fend against the October chill, Katherine made her way across the street as quickly as she could in the stupid boots. She didn't love the fact that she'd have to take the subway—dressed as a prostitute, no less—but her car was still in the shop, so here she was.
Before she could descend, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Taking it out to send whoever it was to voicemail, she paused when she saw Jack's name on the screen.
Swiping to take the call, she said, “Hey, I’m getting on the subway, can I call you back?”
“You ain’t at work?” he asked, surprised.
Moving to the side to let someone else down the entrance, Katherine shook her head. “It’s a long story, I have to run back home to change because Race and I accidentally wore the same costume.”
A long pause met her and Katherine wondered if she lost him.
Finally, Jack said, “Sorry, but, uh...what did that look like?” It almost sounded like he was trying not to laugh.
Katherine looked down at her costume. “Well, I’m dressed as Vivian from Pretty Woman, and if you can believe it, Race looked better in the boots.”
Jack did laugh this time. “Why do you have to change?”
“Because Spot’s Richard Gere and Race is mad we accidentally dressed matching again.”
“Again?”
“Oh yeah, this is like the fifth, sixth year in a row it’s happened. We never plan it. In fact, we actively try and pick something the other would never guess but we’ve managed to do it year after year.” As she said it, Katherine found herself wondering if this would set him off, talking about the past. Jack seemed to have let go of whatever hang-ups he'd had about her being so close with the guys, and he and Spot weren't constantly at each other's throats anymore, but she didn't know what might be something that would spook him.
“What are you gonna do instead?” he asked, and she breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Katherine hadn't thought that far, and tried to remember what she had in her closet that could be thrown together into a costume. “I don’t know, I think I still have the Jessie costume from when we were accidentally Buzz and Jessie," she said after a moment, remembering the yellow plaid shirt she'd seen a couple days ago, shoved in the very back of her closet. Jeans, normal boots, a braid...it'd be easy enough to pull off.
“From...Toy Story?”
“Yeah. Spot was technically 'Buzz in Spanish mode', and only spoke in Spanish all night," she explained. "Which I said made it look more like a couples costume but I think he was just looking for an excuse to piss me off all night."
"Sounds like Spot," he said with a laugh. "Well I'll see ya in an hour, didn't mean t' keep you from the subway."
"No, it's okay. Are you still coming in?" she asked, cursing herself for actually feeling bummed that he might not show. "We're not doing music, it's trivia night before all the partiers come in."
"Yeah, figured I'd come help set up, an' everythin'. An' now that I know Race is dressed like Julia Roberts, no way I'm missin' that."
Cursing herself, again, for feeling—happy? relieved? She didn't want to look too closely into her reaction—that he would be coming that night, Katherine said instead, "I mean, it is certainly a sight to see. Okay, I have to catch to subway. I'll see you in an hour."
~*~
By the time she returned to the bar, dressed far more comfortably in jeans, low-heeled boots, and the yellow plaid shirt, the bar had opened and filled up enough with the dinner and trivia crowd that Katherine had to weaved her way through a maze around an Indiana Jones, a witch with gorgeous makeup she didn't have the time to appreciate, an Aziraphale and Crowley, and several others before she even made it to the bar.
"Hey, sorry. I couldn't find Bulls-eye," she said by way of explanation, plopping the stuffed toy on the bar top, which was immediately picked up by Annie, dressed in Mary Janes and a red dress. "Annie, did you dress up as Annie again?"
Annie was too busy knocking Bulls-eye into the saltshakers to answer, so Albert did. "Can't get her to dress up as anythin' else," he said, shaking his head.
"Well, why aren't you Daddy Warbucks, Albert?" she asked. "I think the bald look would really suit you."
Looking mortally offended by that, Al gestured to his costume. "I've got a Halloween costume, thanks." This was true. As long as she could remember, Albert DaSilva had been dressing as a pirate for Halloween. And not even a good pirate, really. All khaki shirt and striped pants, nothing so spectacular like Pirates of the Caribbean, but whatever worked for him.
"You had this since college, ya look stupid," Race said, sucking on a maraschino cherry.
Al gave him a dry look. "Big words, comin' from the hooker."
"Wha'sa hooker?" Annie asked, looking up from her make-believe game with Bulls-eye.
Folding her arms, Katherine gave Albert a pointed look, curious to see how Al would handle this.
Wide-eyed and panicked-looking, he paused a moment before scooping Annie up. "I think it's time f'r trick-or-treatin', huh? Ready to ruin your teeth, kid?"
"Yeah!" Annie cheered throwing her tiny fists in the air, Bulls-eye forgotten on the bar counter.
"Wait, wait, wait." Katherine reached over the bar as best she could, looking for the bucket she'd stashed earlier. Grasping the edge of it, she awkwardly maneuvered it out from under the bar and set it on the counter. "Thanks," she said drily to Spot.
He shrugged. "You didn't ask."
Shaking her head, Katherine held up the bowl for Annie. "Pick a piece, Annie."
Digging through the bucket noisily, Annie inspected each piece thoroughly before choosing one for her bright orange pumpkin bucket.
Al shook her leg lightly. "Whaddaya say, Ann?"
"Thank you!" she chirped.
Setting the bowl back down, Katherine said, "You're welcome. Now go on, before all the good candy is gone."
Annie turned to Albert with a wide-eyed horror. "Daddy!?"
"Thanks a lot, Kath," Albert grumbled. Saying their goodbyes, they made their way through the maze of costumes.
Turning back towards the bar and bracing her hands on the counter, Katherine said, "Okay. Trivia starts in a half hour. Need anything before that, or am I good to go to the office?"
"Uhm, I need an explanation for that tom-foolery," Race said, looking past her.
Smalls made a thoughtful noise. "Is it a tom-foolery or a shenanigan?"
Katherine looked at Spot, who seemed as lost as her, before looking at the two of them. "What?" She swore the two of them had a language all their own.
Race pointed behind her with his straw.
Turning, Katherine didn't see what he was pointing at for a moment. There were too many costumes, and besides the fact that Crowley seemed far more interested in Indiana Jones than the angel he came with, she didn't see anything interesting.
And then the crowd parted and, at first, all she saw was Davey's cardigan, bright red and drawing every eye in the room. A little stuffed Hobbes in the crook of Crutchie's arm. And a yellow plaid shirt, looking an awful lot like hers...
"Okay, but this was planned, right?" Smalls asked.
Jack laughed. "I swear. I was already wearin' this when we talked."
Katherine felt a little thrill go through her, and felt her face warm a bit. Hoping desperately that the lights were dimmed enough to hide the blush, she tipped her hat to Jack. "Howdy, Sheriff."
He tipped the brim of his own hat back at her, smiling a little.