Work Text:
Halloween night, a festive night. Usually celebrated in kingdoms by going door to door asking for food or candy, dressed up in costumes. Mostly thought of as a childish tradition with the trick or treaters getting younger and younger every year.
This year, Tubbo is celebrating Halloween himself. He isn't going door to door, asking for treats of any sort. He is hosting a get together with three of his closest friends, all dressed up and together, carefree.
They are just finishing up with the purple and black decorations when there is a knock on his front door.
It's Ranboo!
A bright smile and a warm hug suddenly envelops his whole being as he greets his guest. After the warm welcome, Tubbo ushers his friend inside.
"Hey Boo!! So glad you could make it! What are you supposed to be?"
"A reaper! Grim reaper if I remember correctly! I saw it in a book somewhere once and thought it would be quite fitting for Halloween!" The enderman chirped in excitement, obviously pleased with themself. The deer just chuckled and shook his head.
"Well what are you supposed to be? Are you this vampire I read about?"
Tubbo nodded, a smile as wide as the Grand Canyon spreading on his face.
"Actually, I am a vampire deer!" Ranboo made a puzzled face, encouraging their small friend to continue. "Unlike regular deer like me, they have tusks, or fangs, that they use for fighting! Because of this, they got the name of Vampire deer!"
By the time he finished speaking, he was bouncing from foot to foot in excitement, happy someone had asked. Ranboo clapped their hands together happily, making a soft trilling sound in response; Tubbo's excitement was contagious.
Tubbo was smiling, properly excited now. He had all sorts of things planned, one of which would be their own mini trick or treat with just the four of them.
Snowchester didn't have as many people as it once did, nor did they want to see their boy King out trick-or-treating. So, in an attempt to recreate the experience, he has set up a simple set of rules!
He has three simple rules; Bring your own bucket of candy plus another for the experience, dress up, and saying "Trick or Treat" is mandatory. When all his friends arrived with their candy, he would then lead the group up to his attic where he has set up four cardboard neighborhoods with opening doors. Then, their candy will be distributed throughout their designated neighborhood and the fun can begin.
He spent weeks making the neighborhoods functional as well as aesthetically pleasing to look at and he was so proud of himself. He could barely hold in his excitement as Ranboo handed him their bucket of candy and proudly showed off their plastic pumpkin bucket.
"You got that from Phil, didn't you?" Tubbo asked with a smirk, knowing that he himself had used that very one when he was little and taken in by Phil.
Ranboo nodded happily, their tail showing it just as much as the smile that was almost stuck to their face.
"I did! And I'm surprised I did because he almost couldn't find it. He said something about how it's been so long since he last saw it. He even mentioned how he thinks it's your old one!"
All the deer hybrid could do was laugh gently as they made their way up the ladder to the attic.
It had been years since they last went trick or treating, especially as a family. Phil stopped going sometime before he left them behind with only Wilbur and Tommy, off to do something that involved never speaking to his family again. But Tubbo didn't mind, he had this family now, and they were going to have an amazing Halloween night.
After what felt like hours, Tubbo descended from his attic to find that Tommy and Purpled had arrived, both with their own buckets of candy as asked of them.
"Toms!" Tubbo yelled, flinging themself at their friend. Tommy barely had any time to react, quickly turning to face his friend just as the two collided.
The bucket flew from the raccoon's hands, spilling candy everywhere on the floor before Ranboo caught it. The damage had already been done though, Purpled tried to move out of the way of the two that were falling but with the candy on the floor and the large enderman in its way, it also fell to the floor with a shriek. It clung desperately to Ranboo's sleeves, pulling them down as well and earning a surprised scream from them.
All four, now on ground in a pile, sat very still with bated breath before laughter erupted. Tubbo hadn't felt this much happiness in a long time and he couldn't be happier than to share it with his friends.
Purpled, who was at the bottom of the pile, spoke up hoarsely. "Alright can we get up now?" It's words came out quick and breathlessly, stirring up a slight noticeable panic in Ranboo as they began to shuffle off of it as much as possible without hurting Tommy or Tubbo. This earned a giggle from the two but either they didn't hear it or simply chose to ignore them.
Once Purpled was free, they sat with their back to the front door and breathed in and out deeply. Tubbo watched in silent amusement from his seat on Tommy as Ranboo apologized profusely while Purpled tried to wave them off.
"Hey Tubs, gonna get off any time soon? We do have to pick up all the candy that got spilled." Tommy spoke up, his voice barely above a whisper as he also watched the two go back and forth.
"Oh, yeah! Sorry my bad Tom." Quickly he stood up, careful to not step on his friend at all; he had done enough damage tonight as is.
Reaching out a hand, Tubbo helped his friend from the floor before they stepped over to talk with the other half of their group by the door.
"Please, Ranboo, I'm fine I promise please,"
"But I hurt you- we hurt you. Please let me apologize, I can give you gifts! I can have Foolish build you anything, how can I-"
"Alright," Tubbo spoke up, catching the attention of the others. "That's enough of that now. How about we put it behind us for now and pick up this candy so I can take them upstairs before we get started with the rest of the night?"
Tubbo watched as the enderman slowly shrunk in on themself, fidgeting with their hands but slowly nodded their head after a quick glance at the other. Purpled, on the other hand, immediately smiled and nodded, ready to get the night started.
Reaching out his hand again, Tubbo helped Purpled to their feet and turned to start picking up loose candy. With the four of them, it was a quick task, barely taking more than five minutes in total.
After the cleanup, Tubbo sent the other three off while he divided up the candy buckets, soon meeting them outside.
With a clap of their hands, they began to speak.
"Now! Tonight, we will simply be enjoying ourselves and having fun. Some of the activities for tonight include a color changing bonfire, roasting marshmallows and making smores with them, scary stories, and then trick or treating!"
A small cheer sounded from the three, the excitement bouncing off of everyone. Tubbo watched as the three began to try and start a fire before the deer pulled out his flint and steel and started it himself.
"I bought some colored powder to make it change colors. I just got four so we'll just go in order of which one I pickup first, got it?"
"What colors did you get?" Purpled sat to Tubbo's left, leaning on their hands that stretched out behind them.
"Purple, Green, Red, and White!" They chirped back, haphazardly ripping open the first packet over the flames.
Suddenly, bright, white light erupted in front of them blinding them all. Sounds of shock and pain mingled together in a symphony of anguish.
"CHANGE IT, CHANGE IT!" Tommy shouted.
"I'M TRYING OKAY?!" Tubbo frantically reached for another packet before ripping it open and changing the color to red.
Although it was still incredibly bright, it was better than the white. The four slowly opened their eyes again and stared at the way the fire danced.
The white still crept into the red, throwing off pink petals of warmth so much kinder than the blistering red heat. Those sat close to the fire could smell the scent of burnt wood and paper from the powder.
Slowly, Tubbo emptied the last two packets and they all watched as the fire danced beautifully with green and purple flames reminiscent of raw jewels such as emeralds and amethyst.
Half way through, Tommy broke out the marshmallows and began to roast his own, despite protests from Tubbo. It did make a very gorgeous sight; a pure white marshmallow engulfed in the fiery greens of the flames.
So then the rest started to as well.
Tubbo gave up on trying to keep them from it and joined them himself soon, enjoying his smores and laughing with his friends around a warm fire.
"Can we tell spooky stories now as well? We're already here so why not!"
"Fo you wanna ho virst, Burp?" Tommy questioned, mouth full of chocolate and marshmallow, having long abandoned the crackers.
They rolled their eyes and shook their head fondly. "I actually do! Thank you for asking Tom." The raccoon simply rolled his eyes as Purpled cleared its throat.
"It started on a night just like this one; warm and buggy."
"Boo, get a new starter!" Tommy pretended to shout, Ranboo throwing a marshmallow at his face.
"Anyways. There were four friends, all sat out around a campfire in the middle of the night. It's pitch black except for the light the fire provides. They're all laughing and joking, having fun! But soon, one is suddenly missing!"
Ranboo gives a dramatic gasp that could be interpreted as fake and dramatized but indicated by their fur standing upright and their tail wrapped tightly around their torso, they were genuinely spooked.
"Where could they have gone? They were just here, talking and having fun with everyone else only seconds before. The last three barely even noticed number four's disappearance before one asked why they had been so quiet."
Tubbo had to admit, they were pretty good at storytelling. He was hooked, desperate to find out what happened to the fourth friend.
"The three decided it would be best to stay together while they looked for Four, just so no one else got taken."
Ranboo was nodding along, as was Tommy. Everyone was captivated and on the edge of their seats.
"They three set out looking, arms locked together so they'd notice when another was taken from the group. They searched and they searched for what seemed like hours before going back to their campfire base. They were all ready to head to bed and assume their friend had gone home without telling anyone when they realized another had disappeared."
"How? Weren't their arms locked together?!" Tommy asked.
Purpled shushed him before they continued. Tommy groaned and sunk into his chair, arms crossed over his chest.
"One of the two remaining friends began to panic, 'How could this have happened!?' They cried, unaware of their last friend standing eerily still. They stopped and stared for a minute, noticing just how translucent their friend has become."
"Ghost?!" Ranboo called out, quickly covering their mouth and signaling Purpled to continue. Tubbo chuckled softly as the story started again.
"They noticed how translucent their last friend became and then they hesitatingly reached out a hand. And right before the hand goes through, the friend's head snaps back! A toothless grin plastered on an empty face is all that greets the last remaining friend. They scream!"
Tubbo lets out a shriek, getting the other two to jump and let out scared noises of their own. Tubbo shoots Tommy an apologetic look as they notice how his friend has begun to pick at his scab littered skin.
"They run as fast as they can, desperate to get away. They needed to hide and escape, but how could they? Suddenly, a soft chant was heard in the distance; 'Youuu did thiiiisss, Yooouuuuu diiiiddd thiiiiissss.' The friend's knees buckled under them. They fell to the ground as memories came flooding back."
Ranboo had their hands clasped tightly around their tail, wringing it out as if it was a wet towel. Their eyes darted around nervously, making brief contact with Tubbo. He gestured for the enderman to move closer and when they did, Tubbo held out a hand for them to hold, which they graciously took.
"The last friend sat in a mess on the ground, tears flowing from their face uncontrollably. Memories of how the four were being hunted, memories of how they left their friends to die, going as far as to push the last one off of them to get out by themself."
Soon enough, Tommy was on the other side of Tubbo, grasping tightly to their arm to avoid picking at any more scabs than they had. He was careful to try and avoid getting the dabs of blood on them but they were a vampire, it would fit right in.
"Grief so overwhelming too over their whole being, being consumed by it. They covered their ears in an attempt to drown out the voices and the guilt, but it did nothing. They stayed there in the cold all night, fear having paralyzed them. By the morning, they had frozen to death."
Purpled leaned back, proud of himself and his work while properly scaring his friends. Tubbo gave him a round of applause, being mindful of Ranboo and Tommy, both of whom still clung to him.
"Thank you, thank you! Glad you all enjoyed it as I pulled that out of my ass!" Tommy burst out laughing and so Ranboo began to chuckle, Tubbo cracking a smile.
"You did a very good job Purp, I quite enjoyed it. I don't know about these two though!" The raccoon shot his friend a dirty look and all they did was shrug.
"Can, can we go trick or treating now? I would like to go back inside now," Ranboo's voice was soft and small, still evidently spooked. The deer hybrid nodded and led them and Tommy inside his small cottage while Purpled stayed outside to put the fire out.
Once everyone was inside, Tubbo sat everyone down on their couch to explain how the rest of the night aaa going to go.
"Alright everyone, we have trick or treating left on our list of activities. Now, i need you all to close your eyes as we go up the ladder."
"How are we supposed to do that?" Everyone turned to focus on Tommy after he spoke.
"Well, I will go up first and then, one at a time, you all will follow. Line up at the ladder and once the first one is up, I'll call down for the next one!"
The three nodded, finding this explanation suitable and reasonable. And so, they lined up in front of the ladder and Tubbo ascended to their attic.
First one up was Tommy, insistent that he be first despite being reminded by Purpled that technically, Tubbo was first and he was second. Tommy shoved it to the back of the line for that.
Slowly but surely, everyone made it up with their eyes closed. Tubbo couldn't control their excitement any longer, rushing over to get their empty buckets and all but throwing them into their friend's hands.
"Okay you can open your eyes now!"
Three sets of eyes opened and finally saw what their deer friend had been working on for weeks now. Four mini neighborhoods, all made of cardboard and glue, color coded with each of their favorite colors, with some accent ones.
Tommy's neighborhood was mostly brick houses, with red walls and some having white siding.
Purpled had, of course, purple houses with some grey and lots of greenery.
Ranboo had also lots of brick houses but also ones with deep, royal blue siding. Tubbo had also added lots of plants and greenery to their neighborhood as well.
"Wow, this is amazing Tubbo!"
"YOOO!! MINE LOOKS SICK!"
"Oh my! This is so cool, thank you Tubbo!"
Tubbo was beaming, hopping from foot to foot and clapping their hands in excitement. They were so glad their friends liked it.
"Thank you! I'm so glad everyone liked theirs, I tried my best to make them look cool and different. I tried to use everyone's favorite color at least once, with different shades as well so it wasn't crowded and flat." They couldn't even look at their friends, over explaining themself and their process as the excitement turned to worry.
What if they didn't actually like it?
Was it too much?
They were snappes out of their over thinking as Tommy ran over to look at his closer, finding the opening and closing doors with candy behind them.
"OHHOHOHO! THIS IS SOO COOL!!" He exclaimed, looking back to show the other two; They both were also impressed.
Tubbo stood off to the side, watching as their friends fawned over their hard work like excited little kids, thinking it was the coolest thing in the world. They couldn't help but tear up, how could they have got so lucky? Their friends meant everything to them and how could they ever doubt them when they showed such positive reactions?
The three noticed Tubbo's soft sniffling, rushing over to check on their friend. He waved them off, smiling brightly as they went to grab their own bucket.
"I'm fine guys, just very happy is all. Lets get to trick or treating, yeah?"
The three shared a look of brief concern, broken but Tommy running to join Tubbo in starting at the first house. Slowly, they got to trick or treating, with Tubbo behind the houses and their friends asking "Trick or Treat" in front. The door would open and they would take candies, all saying thank you and laughing at how ridiculous it seemed. The laughter would only continue with each new voice the deer hybrid would use.
Slowly, the trick or treating began to come to a close, sides properly hurt from laughter and smiles almost permanently etched onto faces. When they reached the last house, after going around almost four times in total, they all said their last "Trick or Treat" and Tubbo used the last voice.
They sat in a corner, looking at all they got from the night and talked mindlessly about anything and everything. Tubbo rested against a wall, watching them chat amongst themselves, with a soft smile on his face.
"You save any candy for yourself Tubs?" Tommy asked, looking up to his friend. They nodded and held up their own bucket, full of candy they didn't get.
"Of course I did, how do you think you only made it around four times? There was a lot of candy to divide up between us four."
"Mm, that is fair Tubso." Tommy went back to looking through his candy and Tubbo chuckled.
"Well, that's all I've got for the night my friends! It's pretty late so i do have blankets and pillows for all of us and even some extras if anyone gets colder. If you guys want to stay that it."
The three looked between themselves before turning to smile at Tubbo, nodding enthusiastically.
So the three descended from the attic, setting up blankets and pillows into their preferred sleeping arrangements. They had mindless conversations again as they worked, everyone finally getting tired as the excitement and adrenaline wore off.
Everyone soon was settled into their spots and Tubbo was about to shut the lights off and settle into bed themself when they were engulfed in a warm hug.
"Thank you Tubso, this was fun." It was Tommy who first spoke.
"Yeah, thank you Tubbo. I never got ti have this is the End." Then Ranboo, who tightened their hold as they whispered their thanks.
"Same here, I've never really got to experience this," Purpled paused before also hugging their deer friend tighter. "It was nice."
Tubbo, overwhelmed with happiness and pride, started to cry. They made their friends happy, they did a good job.
Slowly, they brought their own arms up and tried to give each of them a semi-hug while they were trapped. They just cried and let their friends hold them, making sure to cover Ranboo's arm and hand with their own to not burn them.
Tubbo was home, surrounded by people he could call friends but also call his family, and he'd never been happier.
Finally, he felt safe and a sense of comfort when he thought of what his home was.
He couldn't wait for Halloween next year.