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Irep was pissed the fuck off. He had plans to eat an absurd amount of candy and watch horror movies with his boyfriend, plans that he was actually looking forward to, so obviously something had to get in the way. As always. And on Halloween of all days, one of his favorite mortal holidays.
Today, it was Wanda and Cosmo dropping three excited kids off at their door with some lame excuses for why they couldn’t take the trio trick or treating. He almost kicked their asses right there and then, his boyfriend’s feelings about the matter be damned, but it would be hard to fight the two fairies when they’d already left. Typical.
Hazel, Winn, and Jasmine were already hyper off sugar, too, dashing around the house wildly and giggling like the shrill little children they were. Fan-fucking-tastic. He wondered idly how upset Peri and Dev would be if he disposed of the small annoyances. He only needed to keep Dev alive, after all. The job’s terms and conditions said nothing about other kids…
However, Peri seemed rather happy about these surprising circumstances, so he supposed he’d let it go. For now. Peri had always had a soft spot for human kids.
The purple haired fairy called out to the three. “Hey kids! Happy Halloween! Just give us a few minutes to get ready, and we’ll be right back.”
Hazel smiled brightly. “No problem! Thanks for agreeing to take us around the neighborhood, guys.”
Peri dragged his seething boyfriend into another room by the arm before magically poofing costumes onto them both.
Irep was suddenly wearing blue jeans, a white shirt with a blue collar, and an orange ascot. His mouth turned up in disgust at his outfit. He’d never really cared for ascots. “Why did we agree to this, again, darling?” Adjusting the sleeves of the white shirt, he sidled closer to his boyfriend. Peri’s outfit, on the other hand, looked fantastic on him. The purple sweater and light lavender pants fit him nicely, not to mention the scarf. Irep reached up to fix his boyfriend’s new green scarf before suddenly pulling him closer with it. “Wouldn’t you much rather spend the evening with me?” He grinned, showing off those fangs that Peri loved, and the fairy gulped audibly.
“As… as much as I was looking forward to tonight, I think this could be good for Dev! You didn’t notice that he hasn’t made ANY Halloween plans??”
Irep’s eyebrows knit together for a few seconds before he let go of his boyfriend. “...oh. I… I guess I can try to play along. For Dev. At least for a little while. Ugh.”
Peri rolled his eyes with a fond grin and kissed the anti-fairy on the cheek. “How generous of you.”
Irep coughed in a sad attempt to hide the blush spreading across his face. “What are we even dressed as??”
“What?! You don’t know Scooby Doo???”
Irep raised an eyebrow. “Should I?”
“It’s only one of the most iconic shows ever! But we don’t have time for this. All you need to know is that they’re a mystery solving group of teens from a TV show. My parents were planning on going as Daphne and Fred, so we’ll sub in for them. I’m Daphne, you’re Fred, Hazel is Velma, Winn is Shaggy, and Jasmine is Scooby. Wait… who’s Dev gonna be??”
“Does it matter??”
“Of course it matters! Halloween is very important for human kids, trust me. Timmy… Timmy used to love Halloween when my parents could take him around the block. I haven’t even celebrated the holiday in the mortal world since…” Peri’s voice cracked a little as he trailed off.
Irep placed an awkward hand on Peri’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort the fairy. “Fine, fine. Let’s just ask him.”
★☆★
Dev had been curled up in bed watching Halloween movies, tapping away on his iPad. Honestly, it was kind of enjoyable, as far as bedrotting went. He’d never really done anything interesting for Halloween, anyways, and trick or treating probably wasn’t even that fun. His dad said it was for poor people and beggars, after all. Dev was totally content to just sit around the house. By himself. Again. Dimmadomes didn’t need anyone, anyways, or that’s what his dad had said before leaving for the night. It seemed like his dad always made it a point to have a good time on Halloween, even if that meant leaving Dev alone for the night.
Especially if it meant leaving Dev.
… at least it was quiet in the house.
That is, until he heard the familiar bickering of his two godparents, faintly in the hallway outside his room. Peri knocked on the door before entering.
“Hey, kid, what do you want to be for Halloween? We’re taking Hazel and her friends trick or treating, and we’d like you to come. If you… want to, that is.” Dev raised an eyebrow at that. Hazel probably hadn’t invited him for a reason, but trick or treating sounded interesting… He debated in his head for a while before the potential of free candy and curiosity about the holiday won him over. Hopefully they just wouldn’t mind that much if he tagged along. Dev hadn’t really even spoken to Winn or Jasmine since his takeover of Fairy World, after all. He still felt guilty about it. All that destruction they now knew he was capable of. He had a feeling that neither really enjoyed being around him before that, either.
“Ugh. Fine, whatever.”
Peri smiled happily. “Fantastic!! Now, what do you want to be? Anything your heart desires, kid, make a wish!”
“Um…” He looked at their costumes for a second, “…if we’re doing Scooby Doo, can I wish to be that scuba ghost guy? Like, um, with a glowing costume and everything?” His eyes shone with excitement behind his chunky sunglasses, though he tried to cover it with nonchalance.
Peri and Irep grinned at each other before granting the wish, then poofed themselves and Dev downstairs.
“Dev!! I love your costume,” Hazel ran over to take a closer look. He waved awkwardly at the kids.
“Uhh, thanks, Hazel. Hi, guys. I, um, I hope it’s okay if I come along.” Winn and Jasmine exchanged a brief look before nodding.
“Of course! As long as you don’t mind how hard we go on Halloween. We’re not going home until our bags are full,” Winn tossed a spare pillowcase to Dev. He fumbled with it for a few seconds before finally catching it.
“Alright kids, ready to go?” Peri twirled his cane as he transformed into his human form.
Irep turned into his human form as well. His characteristic evil smirk found its way onto his face. “Let’s hit the rich houses first.”
★☆★
It took several exhausting hours in the numbing cold, but the kids finally had pillowcases full of candy. Irep hated to admit it, but it was actually kind of fun. Peri seemed so happily nostalgic, and Dev was so excited to have friends to trick or treat with. Irep had even managed to toilet paper a few houses along the way.
Dev asked the three kids if they wanted to sleep over for the night and watch Halloween movies, and they’d said yes. He didn’t want to admit it, but it made him even happier. This was the most fun he had in months. He’d been so sure that Jasmine and Winn hated him, but the possibility that he could maybe finally be friends with them put him in a good mood for the rest of the night. It got even better when Hazel traded him some of his favorite candies in exchange for the lactose based ones he’d gotten. They’d chatted into the late hours of the night before passing out on Dev’s living room floor surrounded by candy wrappers, low-volume reruns of old Halloween specials lulling the kids to sleep.
★☆★
Peri floated quietly over the sleeping figures of the kids, turning off the TV and disappearing the empty candy wrappers. Irep’s lips twitched into a faint smile as he watched the fairy magically reorganize the kids into more comfortable sleeping positions on a mattress he created. Though slightly disgusted at just how domestic this was, he was shocked to find that he felt mostly content. Irep flipped the light switch off with a lazy wave of his wand as he and his boyfriend settled onto the couch together.
Peri grinned against his boyfriend’s chest. “I told you this would be good for Dev.”
“You’re insufferable, you know,” Irep grumbled before gently kissing Peri’s forehead.
“You love it.”
“Unfortunately.”