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"I promise, you'll love this show. Over the Garden Wall is a yearly rewatch for me. And it's really nothing like Elf." Trinity flashes Mel her widest, most earnest eyes to convince her to go along with it. She is absolutely determined to introduce her girlfriend to the world of movies and shows outside of watching Elf over and over. And it's not like Mel seems opposed to it! She just doesn't really seem confident that Trinity isn't going to play a trick on her, especially with Halloween so close. And in fairness, Mel is right to be cautious. Trinity loves holidays that celebrate tricks, but she would not do that for something so important. No, she recognizes the privilege of getting to introduce Mel to the cinematic world and takes it very seriously.
"You promise? Because it looks like a cartoon kids show," Mel says reluctantly.
"It is a cartoon kids show, but it's really good, I promise. A lot of great Halloween stuff is for kids, but I'm only going to show you the very best. I promise. As a Halloween baby, I take this holiday very, very seriously," Trinity says firmly.
"Okay, I'll watch it with you."
Trinity grins at Mel's acquiescence. "Great! Let me get it ready and you can go get some popcorn and maybe hot chocolate." Mel drops a kiss on Trinity's head as she stands up to head into the kitchen. Trinity studiously ignores how flaming red her face gets at these kinds of casual displays of affection and navigates the TV to pull up the show. Then she scurries into her room to pull out some extra blankets. Over the Garden Wall is best with maximum comfort and coziness. By the time she's done setting up, Mel is done getting the snacks ready.
They settle into the couch, and as Trinity hits play on episode 1, Mel leans onto her shoulder. It makes her glow. She loves having her girlfriend close and tucked into her side. The opening notes of the theme song drift out and she grabs some popcorn.
It's not a surprise to her that Mel is immediately entranced. She sips her hot chocolate without taking her eyes off the screen for a moment.
"The Beast? Who is that? Because I don't think it's the Woodsman!" she asks.
"Just watch!" Trinity responds.
Mel is thrilled by Beatrice, as well as the harvest celebration episode. Trinity hides her smile at Mel's unconscious humming along to Potatoes and Molasses and her delighted squeak at the tavern episode. Trinity's been dragged to enough Fort Pitt events to have expected the reaction. Trinity is barely watching the screen though. Nearly all of her attention is on Mel, watching her reactions to the show. Every twist and turn the story takes results in gasps and occasionally even a buried face in Trinity's shoulder.
As the show goes on, Mel gets quieter and quieter. She stops guessing the twists, which she's been right about so far, and just watches with rapt attention. When they get to the episode where Greg is in "heaven" and everything is brightly colored, she turns questioning eyes on Trinity.
"Yeah, I know. But keep watching. It's not over yet."
When the show finally does end, Mel's eyes are wet.
"You good?" Trinity asks.
"Yeah, I loved it."
Trinity squeezes her hand, "I'm glad!"
Mel curls up against her. "I know Wirt and Greg are nothing like Becca and I, but it was still a little hard to watch. But I still loved it."
Trinity wraps her arms around her girlfriend and drops a kiss on the top of her head. "Thank you for indulging me and letting me share it with you. I love this series so much that I was Lorna for Halloween one year in high school."
"Do you have any pictures?"
Trinity laughs. "Of course." She pulls out her phone and scrolls through as quickly as possible to find the pictures. "Here."
Mel swipes through the pictures with a soft smile. "You really went all out," she says. "I like the way you tried to do the transparent effect as evil Lorna." Trinity squeezes her tighter for a moment.
"I had a good time that Halloween. I won first prize for my costume for my class and it ended up highlighted in the yearbook."
Trinity knows that Mel can't resist kissing the smug look off her face, then peppering kisses all over her face. It doesn't take much for that to escalate to Mel fully lying on top of Trinity. She didn't plan for this, exactly, but she is always happy to be in this position with her girlfriend.
Before it gets too hot and heavy though, she pulls back. "Bed?"
Mel plants one more kiss on Trinity before crawling off and extending her hand. "Bed."