Work Text:
1. October 31st.
There was some kind of flashy lights up above, music that was too loud and not to her taste, but the buffet wasn't too bad. Ema took bites of a little cracker and some delicious cheese. It wasn't until she saw Nahyuta's head jerk around as he caught sight that she realized something might be amiss.
"P-Pohlkunka! That is a demon!"
Nahyuta lifted up his rosary, with deadly intent.
"Evil doer, I shall send you back to the hell which you came," Nahyuta said in this stern, sexy way.
Thankfully, she had already swallowed before this all happened, or she'd be having a coughing fit right about now. And that goth would be exorcised. Though, honestly? She looked like she'd be into it.
"Nahyuta! Don't exorcise the goth demon girl! It's just a costume, I promise."
He tensed, but pulled back. "My apologies."
"Hey, no problem. Amazing exorcist monk costume. You really pulled off the whole routine, too. Made me think you were the real deal for a moment."
"It is who I am," Nahyuta said.
"Really? Rock on."
The sexy devil goth moved on to mingle with the crowd.
Of course, she should've thought there'd be some culture clash. But she didn't think Nahyuta would try and exorcise a goth in costume.
Ema had dressed up like the legendary detective, Herlock Sholmes. At least, a female version of him. But, instead of going as the Watson to her Sholmes, he'd just gone as himself. Which was flashy enough to be mistaken as a costume any day of the week anyways.
Wedding planning was stressful even when it didn't involve getting people from both sides of the world to there, as well as the balancing act of cultures. And even though she'd been in Khura'in several years now, there were still aspects of the land which eluded her.
And Ema figured maybe it'd always be like that. And that was okay. Part of the joy (and frustration) of being with Nahyuta was the way their differences meshed together.
But, the minute she got a chance to jetset with Nahyuta on some important diplomacy talk, and once they still had some free time in between it all, Ema had found a Halloween party to head to.
Khura'in had some great festivals. A lot of them even involved dressing up, albeit as historical and religious figures. But none of them had so-sweet-it-hurt candy which Ema thrived on.
"I love this holiday. Reasons to dress up, plus I get tons of free candy. Oh, and there are so many horror specials on. Whole countdowns of them," Ema said.
"Do you dress as demons to vanquish them?"
"I mean, there was definitely some sort of holiday here about appeasing spirits in ancient cultures, but these days people just go in costume, put up awesome decorations. And the adults dress in various costumes--like slutty lawyer--and use it for hook ups. Kid Halloween is all about dressing up and getting free candy. Adult Halloween--at least if you aren't a parent--is all about dressing up sexily and getting some beer and hooking up."
In fact, a sexy Phoenix Wright passed her. Not the actual Phoenix Wright, but he was popular enough to get slutty gay costume versions on him on Halloween. This Phoenix Wright had on tight booty shorts that would not be allowed in the courtroom...at least not on staff.
"Hey, Mr. Lawyer! Pose for a picture?"
He did the lawyer pointer thing, and Ema snapped a picture. Maya would LOVE this. In fact, she'd probably mention it daily to Phoenix, just to see his reaction.
"Well, there's the highlight of my night," Ema said.
The party shifted to another song which was super loud.
"This is fascinating...is it trying to summon some being from the depths of one of the many hells?"
"It's Witchcore, so probably," Ema said.
Years ago, Ema probably would've rocked this until past midnight. But tonight? Her high-heeled boots were hurting her feet, and she was missing out on the specials waiting for her. Drinking until she was hungover didn't sound appealing. She already had a guy, so no need to flirt around.
The costume part was fun, and this buffet was amazing, but even that only went so far.
"I must be getting old," she said.
"Is something the matter?" Nahyuta said.
"Oh, I was just thinking that I'd rather be watching 48 Hours with you than at a party."
"You wish to go back to the hotel early?"
"I'm considering it," Ema said.
"How are you liking the party?" Ema said.
He pondered on this for a moment before speaking.
"It is a learning experience. In your culture, lawyers are so popular to get people dressing up as them. Such as that costume of... Chief Prosecutor Edgeworth in those very short shorts with those white boots. I did not know such displays existed."
She got a picture too. The fact that somebody did Slutty Prosecutor outfit was something she wanted to frame and put on her desk.
Then, she saw flashy purple and glimmering fopitude. Ugh, someone decided to dress like Prosecutor Gavin? Well he was a rock star and public figure. People probably loved to go as him now and then.
No, wait. That was just Prosecutor Gavin. Going as himself, but from several years ago. And he was about to get on the kareoke stage.
"And that's my cue to leave," Ema said.
Ema looked sneakily down the way. Everyone was busy. She opened up her bag and grabbed as much food from the buffet as she could fit in her bag.
"Now we go," Ema said.
*
One last stop before then. They grabbed some burgers, and made a stop at one of those chain stores. It wasn't too busy this time of night. The cashiers looked seriously bored, and other workers listlessly mopped the white floors.
Ema hummed to herself as she threw Halloween candy into the cart.
"I apologize for my conduct back there. I shall remind myself not to exorcise these 'goths' who dress like demons for fun for some reason I cannot fathom."
"It's okay, I should've warned you. It's just, somebody dressing up in costume like that is so normal to me that I forgot how you'd take it."
"I kind of wanted to surprise you. I thought you'd like a costume party, but it was really loud and flashy. Not really my scene anymore."
"It was interesting to behold. My culture has many rituals and holidays about costumes--most relating to our past and history."
"Yeah? There's plenty more to show you. But, next time, I'll make sure you know when someone just has a unique fashion sense," Ema said.
They made their purchases and headed back to the hotel.
*
The hotel room was tiny, with a small watercolor painting on the wall, a whole lot of earth tones. It was decent, though. A flats creen television was unused on the wall. And hey, the bed was small, but Nahyuta was flexible. It came with the monk territory.
She dropped the bags of food on the bed, got changed out of her costume and into some yoga pants and a t-shirt, and grabbed her tablet.
Nahyuta, too, changed into some loose, white drawstring pants. She'd like to think that he left his shirt off as a gift to her. Maybe an early wedding gift.
"Honestly, it always goes like this. I get excited to go out and then I just want to go home and snack midway through."
At least Nahyuta had been okay with her leaving so soon.
"Did you enjoy it, at least?"
"It was an interesting experience."
"You didn't like it either, huh," Ema said.
"I learned many things. Such as this 'core of witches' that is a summoning rite Americans enjoy, and that there exists rites of dressing up as prosecutors and lawyers, but with extremely short shorts and these stylized boots."
Actually he hadn't learned anything at all, but Ema wasn't sure if she wanted to correct him. One, he wouldn't get it. Two, his assessment was so funny she had to just enjoy that for a while.
Oh, she'd tell him eventually, but spreadsheets would probably have to be involved.
Nahyuta smiled.
"And that I, too, would rather be here with you."
They settled down for the latest 48 Hours case on a guy who died tragically on Halloween. It was a winding case, the sort with many twists and turns before the perp (or as Nahyuta would put it, Putrid Accused From The Pits of Hell) was finally brought to justice.
Ema loved these moments. The old Forensic Files episodes with their soothing narration over gruesome content with fascinating scientific breakthroughs. And a happy ending, where the perp was caught and the victim brought to justice.
The nice thing was, Nahyuta loved them too. Nahyuta would watch these specials like he was studying every detail. And he'd eat just as much as her along the way, too.
They really were made for each other.