Chapter Text
He got out of the car, closed the door shut behind him and took a deep breath of the warm air around him. Coming home after a trip, no matter how long, always felt like a relief.
This time, Louis had gone away to spend some good money.
He had invested, and in something nice as well. Some might even say luxurious. He had gone away for the day to buy himself a brand new car.
Turning around to gaze upon his newest and most prized possession, he could only admire the glossy red surface gleaming in the afternoon sun.
Quirking his lips into a content smile, he walked toward the apartment complex in which he lived. His tiny frame disappeared through the door from the empty street into the lobby of the complex.
***
The following morning began like any other. Harry still sleeping lazily on his, according to Louis, too big of a bed. Louis gets lost in the sheets way more often than he would like to admit. Drool is collecting in a growing puddle on his pillow. Although their wake up time, which they agreed on together AND need to follow to have enough time to comfortably get ready for the day, is 6 AM, Harry is still snoozing at 6:05. Louis rolls his eyes. COME ON!
Louis sighs. “Good morning ladies and gentlemen, today’s temperature is going to be around 20 degrees, perfect for all reptiles out there. As the time is five past 6, today seems like a perfect day to relax, sleep in, drink some tea OR MAYBE GET UP BEFORE WE BOTH GET FIRED!!” Louis screams square in Harry’s face after he had not reacted even the slightest to his calmer words.
Harry jumps up with a start. Looking as startled as ever. His unruly hair is sticking everywhere and his stance is tense.
“Took you long enough” Louis says calmly and walks into the kitchen.
“You scared me half to death, Lou” Harry pants, dragging a hand across his face from where he follows Louis around like a lost furrball. The irony, honestly. Louis raises an eyebrow at him, standing with his hands to his sides and one foot tapping the floor impatiently.
“Someone has to make sure we get to work,” he says, looking Harry up and down. “Now go do some exercise or you’ll lose your spot on the top of the rank.”
Finally something that gets Harry some energy back. Louis always helps with Harry's workouts. After all, Harry is the one doing all the hard labour in the factory. He has broad shoulders and fuzzy brown hair that thickens around his head in a heap of curls, but continues down his body. His sharp teeth, big eyes and muscular upper body makes him terrifying to the children he scares every night. In reality though, Harry is a softy. Louis and Harry met at university. They had both wanted to become scarers. They had started off on the wrong foot but became friends after months of budding heads. In the end, it was only Harry who had ended up an actual scarer.
Louis worked alongside Harry, kind of like his assistant, as he was, well, not scary-looking to put it simply. As a scarer you have to be terrifying to look at, or at least be able to become scary when needed. Louis had tried to be terrifying, if only just a little bit scary, but he had failed tremendously. With his short frame and green skin, cute and angular face with only one big eye in the centre (where most monsters had at least two) thin arms, curvy waist and two small (although some would say tiny) horns atop his head, peeking through his feathery hair, he was not the most grotesque monster to ever walk the earth. Someone who, no matter how much they wanted to, could not be scary enough for Harry’s profession. His expertise was instead used to help Harry become the best of the best. A living legend. Someone who could live up to and become better than his late father and his family name. So far, Louis thinks they have done a splendid job.
“Scary feet! Scary feet!” Louis says while Harry stands in front of him, tipping on the very top of his toes. “THE CHILD’S AWAKE” Harry throws himself to the floor. Hiding from the imaginary child. Practice makes perfect, right? Harry stands up again.
“Scary feet! Scary feet!” back to the tip toes. “THE CHILD’S ASLEEP” A loud roar echoes through the room of their attic apartment as Harry uses power from deep within, sounding like the true scarer he is.
“Great job, Haz! I think you are ready for the day!” Louis says with a smile. Harry grins. “Let’s get those good old teeth brushed before you grow cavities. Real scarers don’t have those.”
“I’m sure they do, Lou. But they are good at hiding them.” Harry ponders. “Maybe Nick has them. I hope Nick has at least three.”
“Alright, scare star” Louis chuckles, handing him his toothbrush and toothpaste. “I hope he does too. Another way you can be better than him, yeah?” They both smile. Harry finally brushes his teeth.
***
They march out of their building at 7:15. It is a sight to behold. The large Harry Styles in all his glory. A famous scarer on collector scarer cards right next to his companion and partner, Louis Tomlinson, the small more-cute-than-scary looking monster barely reaching the scarcer’s extra set of nipples. They have tried to hold hands, but it looks too odd to do in public. Hand holdnig stays within the comfort of their attic apartment.
Louis walks into the sunny day with a bright smile. Taking 8 quick steps up to the side of his new darling. His new car. It does not even have a roof! Can it be more awesome? He is tremendously proud of it AND of himself. In a store window from across the street the low humming of the new commercial for their company plays. Louis perks up and instantly forgets about the car and sprints over to the window.
“I’m in this one! I’m in this one!” He chants excitedly as he makes his way over. Harry follows him, just as excited. Being on TV is something they both find extremely cool. This time, it was Louis and Harry who had been asked to be the last scene in the ad. Sure, Harry was the one speaking, but Louis had been standing right next to him. Smiling bright and thinking about how cool it would be to see it finished. The time has finally come..
‘We power your car, warm your home, and light your city’
“Isn’t this so cool?” Louis says. His hands are by his chest and he needs to refrain himself from clapping as he bounces on his feet, up and down, next to Harry. Harry is focused on the screen but smiles big and nods at Louis’ words.
Suddenly, the screen changes and a familiar monster pops up.
‘I am monsters Incorporated’.
“Look, Lou! It’s Betty!” Harry exclaims and points excitedly at the screen.
‘We carefully choose the ideal monster for each child in the human world to produce clean and dependable energy from their screams. Every time you use electricity, we are there with you.’
The screen is cut to one of Harry opening a door and scaring a child in the human world. Louis jumps up and squeals in excitement. “That’s you!” He is so proud of his scarer.
“You’re up next!” Harry reminds him with a big smile on his face.
The screen finally flicks to the final scene. Louis and Harry are stood next to each other in front of a small crowd of coworkers. As Harry says ‘We are working for a better tomorrow’ the factory logo shows up, covering Louis up entirely with an exception for his arms and legs which are peeking out from its sides. Harry winces.
The ad finally ends and the screen fades to black before another commercial starts up. Louis stands in front of the screen with his mouth hung open and eyes wide. Harry slowly turns to look at him. Bracing himself.
“I can’t believe it,” Louis says at last. Harry sighs and goes to comfort the smaller monster. To tell him how they probably did not mean to do that to him. Harry is proved wrong when Louis suddenly exclaims: “I WAS ON TV!!” he jumps up and down with the biggest smile splitting his face in two. Harry fish mouths, confused. “Did you see me?! I’m a natural!”
Harry smiles, still very confused, but hugs Louis tightly nonetheless.
“I need to call my mum!” Louis exclaims. “They must have watched it too.” Harry rubs his back.
“I’m sure she has, but we need to get to work now,” Harry replies. “You know, not to get fired and all that.”
Right. Louis slinks out of Harry’s hold and straightens his posture. Work.
“Speaking of work,” Louis says, taking the lead back to his beloved car. “I got us something to make the trip easier.” He fishes up his car key from his trousers and clicks the open button, making the car give off a clicking sound which, in turn, makes Harry’s head whip around.
“You got a car?!” He asks.
“I sure did, Styles,” Louis says, smug, and whistles while caressing the polished car.
Harry gapes at him, mouth hung open to reveal his sharp and pointy teeth. “But,” he starts. “We don’t need one.”
Louis' face falls. Because, what?
“There is a scream shortage,” he says. “You know it as much as I do. It’s a gorgeous car, Lou, but we are walking to work. It is not even that far. Besides, we could both use the exercise.”
Louis gets desperate and clings to the car, holding onto the door for dear life. Harry sighs and brings his arm out to pick Louis up and carry him the first bit of the way. If they could only get away from the car this would be a lot easier. Tiny arms circle around the rearview mirror as bigger ones grab the remainder of his body in an attempt to get the smaller monster away from the car. “Come on, Lou.”
“No, look at her, Harry,” Louis says. His eyes are closed and his arms are trying their hardest to stay put around the mirror. “It’s my baby! She needs to be driven!”
“Oh stop it,” Harry laughs and succeeds in pulling Louis away from ‘his baby’.
“My baby!” Louis reaches back toward the car as he is carried away. “I’ll call you! I promise!”
“I thought I was your baby,” Harry says, putting Louis to his feet and looking down at the frowny monster he is now dragging behind him. He pouts.
“No, uh, not anymore.” Louis decides.
Harry chuckles and continues dragging Louis along by one arm.
As they walk the (according to Louis, way too long) way to the factory, they walk past a school where tiny monsters are playing in the school yard, cafés where business monsters sit in suits with their steaming coffees and numerous headlines where the scream shortage in their city is the main topic. Harry frowns. They really have to step up their game at the factory if they want electricity in their homes. But the people could help too. He is glad he made the decision not to travel by car this morning. He would only feel awfully selfish afterward.
Louis strolls around greeting every monster he sees. He has made quite a few friends and acquaintances both and likes the energy boost he gets from the social interactions. Maybe the two of them walking this morning wasn’t so bad after all. As they walk past the store of one of their mutual friends, the owner and their friend Niall, is stocking up his counter for the day. “I hear someone is close to breaking the all-time scare record!” he says with a big smile on his face. He bumps one of his tentacles against Harry's shoulder, making Harry smile. Niall is an octopus-like monster which comes in handy when owning a business like a food store. He can carry way more food in his arms than any other monster ever could. His store has gained a significant amount of popularity after the word that Harry Styles shops there spread around town like a wildfire.
“Just trying to make sure there is enough scream to go around,” Harry says, humble as ever. Niall laughs and they bid their goodbyes, chewing on the apples they had gotten for free from their friend. He is the kindest monster they know.
They stop by a traffic light. Next to them stops a monster the size of a giant. His name is Ted and he resembles some kind of mix between a chicken and a dinosaur. Next to Ted, Louis feels incredibly small. Something he does not like to admit to. He barely reaches up to Ted’s ankles, so he figures it is okay to admit defeat this time.
“See,” Harry says as the lights turn green and they start walking again. “Ted walks to work.”
Louis tries his hardest not to laugh. “The guy takes like five steps and he's there!”
***
They get to work on time. Not thanks to Harry, Louis thinks. The tall building stretches far into the sky, showing off the huge logo of the company to anyone within a five mile radius.
They walk through the doors and are greeted by monsters of all shapes and sizes. A purple furrball with octopus legs slides across the room, a broad snail-like slime ball stands by the receptionist along with a dinosaur creature with a short tail and sharp spikes on its neck.
“Morning, Styles!”
“It’s the Styler!”
Monsters flock to greet Harry after only just having stepped past the threshold. Louis smiles and greets them all, still thrilled by the advert because, hello!? They all must have seen how totally awesome he was! They may also be a little jealous. Not everyone can be darling enough to be seen on national television.
One wall of the facility is even dedicated solely to Harry and Louis, the best scarer team around. Sure, Louis is not really tall enough to fit entirely in the pictures, but if you look closely he sure is there. Harry is front centre but who is to blame? Harry is the scarer after all, and Louis did get to be in the pictures. They even display their many trophies! The company has to be crazy proud of him, Louis thinks, or well, them.
Two worker monsters who, Louis must say, are not very intimidating looking (maybe even less intimidating than himself), scatters over to them.
“Mr. Styles!” one of them calls after them. He has a big red nose and a lanky green-ish body.
Harry flings around to face them. “Ey, I already told you guys, call me Harry!”
They both swoon, giggling like two teenage girls. Louis is thoroughly entertained.
“We don’t think so,” the other monster gushes. Much too starstruck to call Harry just that, Harry. “We just wanted to wish you good luck today.”
At that, the entertainment Louis had felt from their interaction drains like a bathtub with massive pipes. It vanishes in seconds. “Hey, no. Get lost! We can not let Harry here lose his focus. You two are making him lose it right now as we speak. He needs to be at the top of his game!”
Harry sighs and shakes his head. Of course Louis would jump in and, as Louis has said himself, rescue him from ‘annoying fans’.
“Sorry, so sorry.” The monsters say sheepishly as Louis quickly turns his back to them and storms off.
Harry sighs again. “See you around, boys.”
As Harry left the pair standing in the same spot he could hear a loud: “You’re the best, Mr. Styles” followed by a thump and a much quieter: “Quiet! You’re making him lose his focus!” followed by a, once again, loud: “Sorry Mr. Styles! I apolog-” before his friends shuts him up by slapping a hand against the mouth of the monster. Harry smiles to himself and quickens his steps to catch up to a stomping green monster he calls his sidekick and boyfriend. He has stopped by the reception to talk to the kind receptionist, Eleanor. She is currently batting her eyebrows suggestively at Louis.
It is no secret that the ever so kind receptionist has a lasting crush on the smaller green monster. The purple snakes which make up the hair on her head are always whispering sweet nothings into her ear, boosting her confidence by forever taking her side. As of now, the biassed snakes are blinking seductively at Harry’s boyfriend.
“Happy birthday, Eleanor!” Louis exclaims. As luck would have it, it is Eleanor's birthday, and his boyfriend, ever so considerate, remembered.
“Oh, Sweetie Pie Boo Bear Lovely, you remembered!” Her heart eyes are difficult to ignore. Harry gags openly and rolls his eyes. What in the world? It is a miracle Louis have not realised the girl's infatuation with him yet. She leans over her oversized desk and ruffles the green man’s hair. Louis huffs inn annoyance but smiles kindly at the woman regardless.
Harry tries to stifle a laugh. He seems to be unsuccessful in his attempt. Eleanor shifts her gaze to him. “Oh, hi, Harry Barry Boo.” Her tone flatter than the one used with Louis.
“Oh, um,” Harry starts. Does he really have to do this? “Hey, Ellie… Pellie?” It comes out more like a question rather than a statement. He winces. “Happy birthday.”
She smiles at him with her mouth and Louis gives him a grateful look. At least he is trying.
“Are you taking me anywhere tonight? It is my birthday after all.” Eleanor suddenly asks Louis. Harry rolls his eyes once more. How can she not see the totally established and well functioning relationship the two male monsters engaged in this conversation are in?
Louis looks apologetically at Harry. Harry’s eyes widen. Oh. He. Did. Not. Harry looks in shock at Louis as he responds.
“Actually, I got us a table at a little place called ‘The Malik Mansion’.” Eleanor’s eyes shoot open in sync with the mouths of the snakes atop her head. Harry sighs. Because, really?! Is this the way of showing the poor girl that he is, in fact, already in a relationship? And a good one at that. With a great monster, if Harry gets a say in that statement.
Eleanor has now resorted to shrieking. “The Malik Mansion!? But, it is impossible to make a reservation there! You have to be booked months or even years before or it will be full!” Her eyes are glittering, impossibly gone for the man Harry does, in fact, take home every evening, shares a bed with, and cooks for. Every. Night.
“It is not impossible for Sweetie Pie Boo Bear, darling.”
Harry wants to die.
“Okay,” he decides to finally interrupt. “Lou and I should get going. Since you guys appear to have a date set for tonight, you two will be seeing each other later.”
By a firm grip of the green man’s slender arm, Harry tugs him along down the corridor to their locker room.
“What did you just say about losing focus, huh?” Harry asks the smaller monster sarcastically.
Louis pouts and looks up at the taller man. “What? She is nice.”
Harry raises his eyebrows.
Louis continues, “What is the harm in taking her out for dinner once? Isn’t it cruel not to bring her and let her spend her birthday all alone, huh?”
“You are giving her false hope, babe.” Harry tries to explain. “She thinks you guys will become a thing.”
“Well, this is not a date.” Louis says firmly.
“Have you told her that?” Harry retorts.
“She clearly does not see this as a date.”
“She totally sees it as a date, babe. The poor monster has feelings for you.”
“You are lying. To make it clear to her that this isn’t a date, why don’t you join us?” Luis suggests.
Harry laughs.“I think you should make it clear to her that you do not, in fact, fancy her like she fancies you without bringing your actual boyfriend to your supposed date.”
“But it’s her birthday, Haz.” Louis reasons with a whine.
Harry smiles fondly at his partner. “You are so cute sometimes, babe.”
They share a quick kiss. Lips lingering for a little longer than necessary.
“I used your phone to make the reservations, by the way.” Louis says after they have resumed dressing themselves in work clothes. “Zayn, at least, is supportive.”
“Oh, I know you did not use my friends to go on a fake date with a girl.”
“Oh I did, and if it brings her happiness on her birthday, who are you to criticise me, Party Pooper.”
Harry smiles and shakes his head fondly. This monster is unbelievable.