The Truth Of The Matter

Chocolate and Hellspawn: Happy Halloween!

As everyone knows, there are some ritual traditions on Halloween that you simply aren't allowed to skip.

A few of these include copious amounts of sugar and carbonated water, perhaps joined by a couple of loud, scary, graphically displeasing horror movies playing on the hotel TV screen, but a few others are more tuned in to whatever region someone is in. For example, you might visit your local library, where the staff are putting on their annual Halloween dance, or go out and watch a Halloween parade, or you might stay at home and watch a horror movie by yourself-- that is, if you don't have any friends. It all depends on where you are, if your town has a library, if your town likes parades.

Actually, in some far-flung towns a bit North of that one part of the Pacific coastline, a few brave youths participate in a coming-of-age rite where they dress in whatever cheesy Halloween costumes they can find (the bulkier the better) and try to swim across the town's half-frozen lake. Of course, it's very dangerous, so the mayor has a full team of boats out to catch any stragglers, whether they're drowning or dying of hypothermia. It was developed from old-day witch trials, and though it would be possible to talk about how it's all symbolic of the people in those towns finding a way to turn fear into celebration, it would also not be very relevant to this story.

See, Ranboo had been moving house for a good year now, and that meant that he hadn't really been in one place long enough for any good Halloween traditions to stick. Then again, he knew a good opportunity when he saw one-- and what he was carrying in his hand was definitely a good opportunity. He and his friends hadn't gotten in enough team bonding yet that month, anyway.

But alas, although he thought his idea was a grand one, when he waved the advertisement in Tommy's face the blonde did nothing but scoff at him, mouth still full of chocolate. Thankfully, Tommy did take the time to swallow before actually criticising Ranboo's taste in Halloween festivities.

"Haunted house?" he asked sceptically, bringing a sugar-sticky hand up to the paper Ranboo was thrusting in his face. His lips were covered in colourful candy leftovers and shimmery green makeup, his eyes still eerily pale due to some very effectively creepy contacts he'd decided to use.

Leaning against the hotel room kitchen countertop, he was still in his Halloween costume as the three of them munched on their trick-or-treat rewards. He'd chosen a dragon costume, its fabric wings extending from his shoulders to be hung up at his wrists by a pair of silver wristbands. He'd even dyed parts of his bangs green and purple, and let Ranboo tell you, Tommy with dyed hair was a sight to see.

"Haunted house!" Ranboo cheered in reply, lifting the slim, slick paper up over his head, giving a delighted twirl for emphasis. He would have clapped his hands, but he had been doing that too much as an expression of excitement lately and had decided to try and quell that habit.

"Haunted house, what?" Tubbo's voice was muffled, probably due to the huge, round rainbow lollipop he had stuffed in his mouth. He leaned back in his chair, leaving one hand firmly attached to the table so he wouldn't fall backwards, and peered over his shoulder at the two of them.

Black eyeshadow trailed in a sticky dark mass from his eyes, smudged from hours of wiping at his eyes, either blurry from tears (they had watched horror movies) or from laughter (Tommy had decided it was a good idea to watch a couple of old-- really, really old-- horror movies, out of which they all got a few good laughs). His werewolf costume was discarded on the floor, the huge cardboard head hung up on one of the hooks on the back of the hotel door. Out of all of them, his basket was the fullest, probably due to his unmatchable skill at puppy-dog eyes.

"Phil's in bed," Ranboo whispered mischievously, trying to restrain his excitement. He had been wearing a magician's outfit, complete with a tailored black suit that swished behind him and long, silky red socks, tucked into a pair of fabulous black boots.