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Shi Qingxuan excitedly bounded down the stairs leading up to their room, a cute angel outfit on. It would usually be a bit too feminine for them, preferring to look masc, but they truly liked it and were excited to wear it. They noticed He Xuan at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for them and noticeably not in a costume.
“He-Xiong! Where’s your costume?” They pouted, skipping the last few tips to jump on their friend.
“I don’t remember saying anything about actually wearing the costume.” He Xuan replied, not even moved by them literally jumping on his back and looking down at his phone. Shi Qingxuan pouted.
“You promised you’d go trick-or-treating with me!” They whined, letting go of the other to properly stand up. They pretended to brush off invisible dust on their dress.
“I will, I promise. I wasn’t going to put my costume on until then,” He Xuan looked up at them, “Do you want me to put it on right now?” Shi Qingxuan bit their lip, not wanting to force He Xuan to do anything.
“Whatever you want, He-Xiong. I’m just glad to spend time with you.” They answered honestly, smiling at him. He Xuan felt himself smile softly back.
“Let me change and then we can get going, alright?”
🎃
Finding the perfect pumpkin, apparently, was very serious business. They needed one that wasn’t too big, but wasn’t too small, that had nothing visibly or not visibly wrong with it, and a great number of other things Shi Qingxuan would never think to think about.
He Xuan, now dressed in a red and black suit with red devil horns on his head, was busy investigating a pumpkin with a humored Shi Qingxuan watching when disaster managed to strike. Unbeknownst to them, a man approached the angel from the side. As soon as he was within 7 feet of them, He Xuan’s focus shifted from the pumpkin to the man.
“Hello, gorgeous. What brings you here?” The man said, tapping Shi Qingxuan on the shoulder. They jumped, too focused on He Xuan to notice until he was next to her.
“O-Oh, me?” Shi Qingxuan managed to stutter out, pointing to themself. The man nodded.
“Of course, a lovely lady like yourself seems a little out of place here.” The man commented. Shi Qingxuan wrinkled their nose, what did that even mean? A snort sounded from beside them and Shi Qingxuan instantly relaxed, turning and linking arms with He Xuan, the latter putting his body in front of Shi Qingxuan in case the man pulled something.
“Not a lady, and more in place here than you. Get lost.” He Xuan stated. The man, small in comparison to the devilishly dressed man, paled and instantly huffed and stalked away. Shi Qingxuan laughed awkwardly.
“Well, that’s never happened to me before…” They said, sagging against He Xuan. He pet their hair a bit, soothing them.
“Are you okay?” He asked. They nodded. “Well, we can go. This pumpkin fits all requirements, and it should be about time to trick or treat.” Shi Qingxuan instantly brightened.
“Thank you, He-Xiong.” They said, not disconnecting their contact. He Xuan’s eyes softened.
“Always.”
🎃
“Alright, which street first?” He Xuan asked. Shi Qingxuan thought for a second.
“Where does Hua Cheng live? His rich ass probably has bomb candy.” He Xuan snorted.
“Or healthy gross shit, knowing him and Feng Xin.” He muttered, making Shi Qingxuan laugh.
“I stick to my idea. If they have healthy junk, we can run away. Deal?” Shi Qingxuan held out their pinky.
“Deal.” He Xuan said, linking their pinkies and laughing. Shi Qingxuan used that as an opportunity to grab his hand as they set off for a few streets down. When turning onto Hua Cheng’s street, Shi Qingxuan laughed at the scene in front of them. Feng Xin and another person (who they identified a few minutes later as Xie Lian’s husband, Mu Qing, who they had met a few times) were engaged in a fierce battle of insults while Hua Cheng and Xie Lian watched on in amusement.
“Xie Lian!” Shi Qingxuan called, waving his free hand wildly. Xie Lian laughed and waved back, giving the eccentric man a hug while He Xuan and Hua Cheng had a stare off.
Xie Lian explained the situation, also the fact he and Mu Qing lived across from Hua Cheng and Feng Xin, and Shi Qingxuan chuckled. What a small world.
“Oh right! Hua Cheng, give me some candy!” Shi Qingxuan demanded, turning towards the man in question with a finger pointing. Hua Cheng rolled his eyes before handing them a pile of candy. They cheered, putting it all in his bucket. Xie Lian gave him some too and he mentally cheered louder. Feng Xin and Mu Qing were still fighting.
“They’re loud.” He Xuan commented with a sigh. Shi Qingxuan laughed.
“Thank you gentleman, we have more trick or treating to get to! Have a good night prying your husband’s apart!” Shi Qingxuan giggled, grabbing He Xuan’s hand again and dragging him off to follow behind them as they got candy for the rest of the night.
🎃
“Did you have fun?” Shi Qingxuan and He Xuan had retired for the night, the former now successfully content with their amount of candy and, quite frankly, exhausted. They were now curled up in Shi Qingxuan’s bed, which is something Shi Wudu will never find out about unless He Xuan wanted his head on a mount on some wall. He was still shocked that Shi Qingxuan had offered it, ready to sleep on the floor or a futon on the floor or something.
“Hm… Yeah.” He answered their question. Their eyes widened a bit.
“Really? I thought you thought Halloween was childish?” They asked, turning on their side to look at him. He shrugged.
“Yeah, but that’s okay. Besides,” He looked at them, “Any time with you is time well spent.” Their eyes softened, some sort of understanding flashing. He Xuan felt his heart pound, not ready if they brought it up, but they didn’t. They just smiled.
“I feel the same.” Then they scooted forward to slot themself against him, and he gently put an arm over them. He smiled up at the ceiling. Yeah, he liked Halloween.