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The hour neared.
Mycerra, Lenaye, and Amani encircled ten-year old Tia in the living room, the most spacious area in the entire apartment. Lenaye frowned and crossed her arms, open disapproval stubbornly ignored by Mycerra and blissfully dismissed by Amani. Tia, like any child, chose to focus on the most important part of the day – Reap-or-Treating!
Tia adjusted the Reaper costume headpiece, her face visible through a face sized hole in center of it. She tugged on the end of her sleeves irritably. “It’s not fitting right, Dad.”
Mycerra leaned over and fixed the headpiece for her daughter. “You look perfect.” She kissed Tia’s forehead.
“What do you think, Grandma?” Tia asked Lenaye cheerfully.
Lenaye’s thin line of a mouth answered the little girl. “Your costume is high quality.”
“Dad made it for me.” Tia bragged. “And Mom helped dye the squid dress.”
The squid dress, a compromise between the metal suit that Amani wanted to make, and their budge couldn’t afford, looked more like a reaper-colored dress with sown on cloth appendages of reaper appendages. Tia loved it from the moment she tried it on.
Amani rubbed Tia’s back. “I’m sorry I can’t go with you tonight. They need me at the lab to review surprising results. I’ll be back after, and we can have dessert to celebrate your night out.” She softened her voice in a tell-tale sign of another last-minute cancellation of an activity on the schedule for weeks in advance.
Tia pouted. “But you promised.”
“The lab doesn’t care about promises, Tia.” Amani sighed and pulled on her work coat. “Mom, ‘Cerra, play nice.”
Mycerra chuckled. She enjoyed this, and no one would believe otherwise. Lenaye previously protested the community event with all her heart and pulled out every argument in the book. The mother in Mycerra recognized the familial concern Lenaye expressed and held off the inevitable blow up for another day by smiling and agreeing sweetly to the condition.
In an unlikely chain reaction of begrudging cooperation, Amani excused herself from the community event and wished the trio a happy Reap-or-Treat.
Tia’s lip quivered dangerously. Mycerra knelt in front and hugged her. Tia refused to cry, although she clung to Mycerra for emotional safety. Lenaye’s disapproval softened. “We’re going to have so, so much fun.” Mycerra vowed.
She wondered what kind of lab results called for a late-night visit. It vaguely occurred to her that Amani might be cheating, but nothing short of seeing with her own eyes would convince her. Perhaps it was Javik related? Javik and Amani’s work relationship developed surprisingly quickly and sustained itself. Neither shared with her what project they cooperated on.
“We’ll need to catch a taxi soon if we want to be on time.” Lenaye whispered.
“But Mom won’t be there.” Tia whined and rubbed her eyes.
Mycerra’s heart broke. “Grandma will be there with us.”
“I don’t want Grandma. I want Mom.” The high-pitched whine verged into tears.
“I know, I know. But. Grandma really wants to spend time with you. And we’re having family time tonight.”
“I want Mom there.” Tia pouted.
Mycerra captured Tia’s hands and held them tenderly. “We can call Mom while we’re there, okay?” She pleaded.
Tia relented. “Promise?”
“Promise.” Mycerra held up her pinky finger.
They pinky promised. Lenaye checked the time and grumbled about being late. Mycerra wondered why the woman cared about being late when she didn’t want to go in the first place. She wouldn’t look the gift in the mouth, though. She hustled Lenaye and Tia out of the apartment, remembering to lock it behind her.
They caught an air taxi to the residential ward that hosted it. Tia nestled between them, her Reap-or-Treat candy sack on her lap. “Dad, is everyone going to be mad we’re RoTing?” She asked Mycerra.
Mycerra winced at the acronym verbing. “Probably, but you can’t please everyone.” She squeezed Tia’s shoulder.
Lenaye tensed, and her lips twisted contemptuously.
“The world has to move on eventually.” Mycerra said and looked directly at Lenaye. “It can’t languish in the pain and misery of past wrongs.”
Tia leaned onto Mycerra’s side and hugged her, the headpiece forcing physical distance between father and daughter. “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, Little Reaper.”
“If they’re doing it next year, can I go as a brute?” Tia asked excitedly.
Lenaye’s eyes bulged.
“Maybe we can think of a less sensitive costume choice.” Mycerra compromised. “Besides, you’d need a second person to properly costume as a brute.”
“A banshee then?” Tia pleaded.
Mycerra shuddered. “Let’s not. But we can spend all year picking a costume. And it doesn’t have to be scary. It can be cute too.”
Tia smiled at Lenaye. “Can I dress up as an asari commando?”
“I’ll help you craft the mock armor.” Lenaye agreed. “I draw the line at you using a fake weapon.”
“She has her biotics.” Mycerra reminded Lenaye.
Lenaye started to speak and stopped, then politely smiled. “We’ll have to wear matching armor.” The defense councilor reluctantly agreed.
Tia squealed. She kicked her legs adorably and angled her face toward the window.
“Why does Mom work so much overtime?” Tia asked Lenaye.
Lenaye shot an accusing glare in Mycerra’s direction. She shrugged apathetically. “The requirements of the job.” Lenaye guessed.
Mycerra massaged Tia’s shoulder. “We’ll take lots of pictures for her.” She promised.
Tia’s head hung low. “But she always misses the fun stuff.”
“I know, I know.”
“She promised she’d go RoTing with us.”
“I know.” Mycerra’s voice broke. “But we’re going to have fun tonight.”
Tia sighed and stopped swinging her legs. Lenaye frowned. Mycerra held her tongue.
They landed at the closest air taxi station and walked the rest of the way to Reap-or-Treat central. Floating death squid lanterns lined the streets on strings strung post to post. Adult chaperones gathered their hordes of costumed children around them and handed out orders no child intended to follow. Magnetic floating death squids magnets marked each door of participating homes along the ward. A journalist filmed shorts with a floating drone and monologued over the background noise.
Mycerra tucked Tia behind her instinctively and discreetly pointed out the journalist to Lenaye. Tia poked her head out to spy on the oblivious journalist sticking out like a sore thumb. “Alright, Tia, we’re Reap-or-Treating first, and then we’re going to check out the other festivities.”
“We’re playing the game of ‘avoid the journalist’.” Lenaye instructed softly.
Tia’s head bobbed in agreement.
Mycerra remembered a time when Tia wanted to post everything to social media. She remembered a time when she and Pacyra maintained an extranet presence to keep people out of their personal life. Spoiler alert, that didn’t work; and more of the galaxy wanted to know every detail.
The small horde of costumed children spread out across the residential ward like a swarm of miniature reapers. Several banshees, brutes, cannibals, a whole army of floating death squids, and a handful of collectors descended upon the start of the Reap-or-Treating route. Lenaye and Mycerra lost sight of Tia the moment she greeted the other reapers and fawned over their ‘awesome’ costumes.
“See? She’s smiling already.” Mycerra said to Lenaye. “Let the extranet tear me apart for this. It’s a day of celebration for us.”
“I don’t see how dressing up as reapers is a celebration.” Lenaye snapped back.
Mycerra breathed deeply. “It’s not normally called Reap-or-Treat. It’s called Trick-or-Treat. It’s a holiday we have on Earth. It started as a holiday to dress up of what was scary to ward off the things that ‘go bump in the night’. It evolved into a holiday where children collected candy from neighbors one night a year in costumes, a sort of holiday that is meant to bring people together under a ‘spooky’ umbrella so to speak. We’re just adopting it to the Citadel.”
Lenaye shook her head violently. “Humans and your foolish traditions.”
“Last I checked, Lenaye, there are quite a few asari traditions I don’t agree with.” She whispered. “And we agreed to play nice tonight.”
“What Amani doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”
“Excuse me?” Mycerra turned on the woman. “You know that she’s your daughter, right?”
Tia appeared at their side, all smiles. “Dad, can we walk through the maze after?”
“Absolutely.” Mycerra latched onto the distraction.
“Yay!” Tia unexpectedly hugged Mycerra and danced giddily. “Grandma, Grandma – can we videocall Mom?
Lenaye stalled. Tia turned to Mycerra. “Mom’s too busy for us again, isn’t she?”
Mycerra sighed dramatically. “You know how private the Alliance is. I’m sure she’ll have a fresh dessert waiting for us when we get back.”
Lenaye gave up on excuses. Tia rejoined the army of reapers, now marked by an unnoticeable tracker Mycerra placed on her costume headpiece. Mycerra synced up the tracker with her omni tool.
They followed the route marked on their omni tools. The army of reapers startled those returning from work or social outings. The smattering of other reaper forces representation, along with the small parade of adult escorts responsible for the miniature reapers, set those people straight in short order. A few complimented the costumed children. An irate drunk accused the group of being insensitive to the destruction the reapers spread liberally years prior.
Tia ran from door to door alongside two cheap reaper costumes donned by human children. Mycerra mused back to the dark days and how ‘not fun’ it was to survive it. She liked this version of the apocalypse better.
“You are aware the extranet will take this and paint you in the worst light, right?” Lenaye needled in a whisper.
“Fuck them.” Mycerra faked a smile and pointed to Tia and her two new friends. “See that? I haven’t seen that ever since Amani started working overtime and you tried to step into her role. That child right there is having the night of her life and I’ll be damned if the extranet takes that from her.”
Three little reapers grouped up, picking up speed. Their candy bags swelled with a grand haul an hour later. Tia hobbled over to her grandmother and offered up the hefty bag bulging with small candies and non-food goodies. “We’re coming back next year, right?” She asked Lenaye.
Mycerra spotted the two human fathers trailing after their human sized reapers. She waved and smiled at them.
“Tia’s father?” One balding father asked.
She offered a hand. “Mycerra Colton. You?”
“Mac.”
“Baxter Baxter.” The other smiled and shook her hand. “Prism wanted to know if Tia could attend her birthday party.”
A little girl, all smiles, hugged Tia. The two set off at lightning speed hyping up the birthday party in a way only children were capable of. The adults listened to the wholesome conversation patiently. Lenaye checked the time semi-discreetly before sighing dramatically.
“Dad, we have to do the maze before it closes.” Tia held out her hand to Mycerra.
Mycerra checked the time and sighed. The night of fun reached its appropriate conclusion, and she welcomed the relief it provided. No more chasing after kids. No more picking out their reaper from the small army of reapers. No more tolerating Lenaye and ‘keeping’ the peace. As much as she regretted it, all good things must come to an end.
“Grandma, you ready to walk a maze?” Mycerra asked Lenaye.
The woman’s hardened expression softened for a moment. “I suppose we could squeeze it into the schedule.” She permitted.
“And Tia will come to my birthday party?” Prism begged.
Mycerra held out a fist to the child. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” she vowed.
The little girl turned to father and squealed. “Daddy, can it be a reaper party? Please! Please, please!”
Lenaye barely restrained her annoyance as Mycerra walked Tia away from the others. Lenaye easily caught up with the spirited duo. Several feet from the entrance of the maze set up in the common area, Tia skipped away from Mycerra and Lenaye into the reaper lantern lit pathway. They matched her pace in a muted mood. Mycerra recorded Tia via omni tool for Amani. A notification on the far end of the omni tool screen alerted her to a Reap-or-Treat journalist vlog with a clipped title before the notification disappeared.
She prayed Lenaye didn’t ruin the night.
“Tia, slow down!” Lenaye called out after the child.
Mycerra breathed easier.
They were perfectly fine. Lenaye would start up her griping tomorrow.
“Mycerra, pay attention to your daughter!” Lenaye shouted back at her.
Mycerra flipped her the middle finger. “Tia! Slow down and wait for us.”
Tia slowed to a self-jog and waited for them. They cut down the left path, looped back around on the well-lit walkway, the reaper lanterns adding an ambience that weirdly soothed Mycerra’s annoyance at Lenaye’s annoyance. More weirdly, the reapers being featured made this event more relatable to her. Call it fucked up, but without the reapers, she would still be a nobody.
“Dad, Dad!” Tia tugged on her arm and pointed at a well-done costume of a marauder donned by a turian. The turian walked around and through groups, ‘creepily’ spooking kids and adults alike. It reached them and Tia dove in for a hug. The marauder snaked an arm around her shoulder and moved to pose for a picture. “Reapers!” Tia grinned.
Lenaye’s audible sigh and near audible eye roll brushed off the collective high spirits.
Mycerra snapped several pictures from different angles and thanked the costumed actor.
Tia couldn’t talk about anything else the rest of the maze and begged to call Amani on the taxi ride back to the house. Lenaye hurried ahead to reduce the impact if Amani wasn’t home yet. Mycerra scooped up Tia into a hug and kissed her forehead.
“Did my little reaper have fun tonight?”
“Yes!”
“Do we want to do Reap-or-Treat next year?”
“Please, please, please!”
Mycerra put Tia back on her feet. “Alright, we’ll do it next year. I’ll even make a costume.”
“Can we be a team of asari commandos?”
They started toward the apartment. Mycerra relaxed at the sight of mother and daughter stepping out with a bowl of candy for one last house to Reap-or-Treat at. Theirs.
“We can be a team of asari commandos.” Mycerra agreed readily.