Cops and Assassins

Part 3: Talia

Initially, Talia suggested that she dress as a stereotypical nerd so she could study at the bar if she got bored. But that only resulted in Dez throwing one of Talia's dirty socks in her face.

"A Halloween costume should be a chance to dress up as something you're not," he retorted before he continued to look through Talia's closet.

"Then how come Trinh gets to be an astronaut?!"

"I already said I'm a Space Force guardian, not an astronaut!" Trinh yelled from the kitchen where she was pouring them another round of shots. "I'm an aerospace engineer, yeah, but I haven't actually gone to space. Not yet, at least."

"And I disapprove of her costume every year," Dez added.

Trinh joined them in Talia's bedroom and began handing out the glasses. "How about an escaped prisoner? That's fitting."

If it was anyone besides Trinh or Dez suggesting that, Talia would be more than pissed. But the three of them were close enough that it was more of an inside joke than an insult, and Talia found the difference comforting.

"I thought I had to be something I'm not?" Talia grinned.

They clinked their glasses before they tossed back their shots; Talia quickly grimaced when it immediately started to burn and Trinh sprinted for the kitchen. They were definitely getting too old for this.

"Both of you are no help," Dez said, ignoring the sound of Trinh gargling something in the kitchen. "And people say I'm not a team player."

"Maybe a hybrid costume like yours then," Talia suggested, her voice strained from the lingering burn in her throat. She grimaced and roughly cleared it before continuing. "I don't know, like... a zombie prisoner?"

Dez huffed in frustration. "That's just you with zombie makeup and an orange jumpsuit."

"How is that any different from your zombie doctor?!"

"It's completely different! I have a backstory! My patient was patient zero!"

"You want a backstory? One of the guards was infected and gave it to everybody else. There you go! Backstory!"

"Of course, that is so predictable. And how would you get an orange jumpsuit at this hour?!"

"What were you last year, Tal?" Trinh yelled from the kitchen, swiftly interrupting their argument. "You should combine that with a zombie."

"An assassin zombie then?" Talia shrugged, suddenly exhausted. "Whatever, that's fine with me. Of course, as long as Doctor Dez over here approves it, apparently."

"Or...!" Dez's face lit up like a Christmas tree — or rather, a Jack-o'-lantern, given the current holiday. "Or a prisoner assassin! How does that sound!"

"I must not be a very good assassin if I'm imprisoned," Talia grumbled

"You escaped, obviously," Dez said with an irate sigh. "How else would you be roaming the streets of an ordinary college town? Now where's your assassin costume?"

"Closet, back left," Talia replied. "So how did I escape, O wise one?"

"I can't write your backstory, Tal. That's not how this works."

It only took Dez half an hour to whip up the runaway assassin costume for Talia — the most time consuming step was drawing some realistic injuries to her face. But instead of using only dark red face paint like he did for his own fake injuries, he added some gray to imitate dust from her apparently very dramatic escape from prison.

"I must not be a very good assassin if I get hurt," Talia mumbled as Dez added the makeup.

"They're just small scratches; not all assassins are perfect," he replied. "Now shut up and don't move."