Hugs and Parties

"North, hurry the fuck up," South growled from where she was laying on her bed.

North stopped what he was doing and raised a brow at her. "Calm down, we'll be there in time."

Every year on Halloween, the Freelancers and some staff will throw a secret Halloween party. The only rule is to wear a costume of some kind. But since parties weren't really allowed on The Mother of Invention they couldn't get access to any good costumes unless you got them on shore leave or months in advance or even good connections, the costumes looked like they were made by first graders. Regardless, it was still fun.

This year South was going as Mazikeen from this really old show called Lucifer. It really just consisted of some tight leather clothing and two of Connie's daggers.

North was going as Godzilla. He got an old, black sweatshirt and cut holes into the back, and stuck pieces of cardboard painted blue through them. He even made a makeshift tail though South wasn't really sure how he did that.

South scowled and let her hair (temporarily dyed black) flop back into her pillow.

Another minute passed by.

"Jesus fuck, how long is this going to take?" South snapped, bouncing her knee.

North looked over at South, who looked very agitated. "What's wrong?" He asked, concerned.

"Leaderboard shit. Don't want to talk about it." She huffed, not making eye contact.

North watched her for a moment before sitting down next to her on the bed and held out his arms. "C'mon," He said. "You remember the deal?"

South looked at him and scowled. "I regret agreeing to that stupid deal." She grumbled but sat up and let North hold her.

Back when they both started out in Project Freelancer, North and South made a deal that if either of them gets overwhelmed with something, they had to hug each other. No details, no excuses, just hug the other. So far they've only had to do it three times. Now four.

They just sat there on South's bed with North holding South in his arms and South just leaning against him, not a single word exchanged between them.

After God knows how long North finally let go. "You feeling better?" He asked.

South wouldn't admit it but she did. "Little." She mumbled.

North smiled and stood up. "Good. Now c'mon kiddo, we got a costume contest to win." He said, pulling South to her feet.

South smacked North's arm. "What have I told you about calling me that?" She demanded.

"To not to. Sorry… kiddo." North grinned devilishly.

"You asshole!" South swore and lunged for him. "Come here!" She yelled running after a laughing North as he hauled ass to the party that was taking place in the hangar.

They made it to the door in record time and were barely out of breath. Predictably, the bouncer was Maine but he was wearing his helmet that had a pumpkin face drawn on it. Even though the twins couldn't see Maine's face, he looked extremely pleased with himself.

He let them in with a nod and North looked at him. "You want me to get you anything while I'm in there?" He asked.

Maine nodded. "Beer." He said gruffly.

North gave him a thumbs up. "You got it, buddy." He said before South practically dragged him in.

All in all, the party wasn't half bad this year. Plenty of booze, decorations this year weren't half bad, and some fun costumes.

Someone wolf-whistled at South's getup and she preened at the attention.

North rolled his eyes and went to go get Maine a case of beer while South joined some of the other Freelancers in throwing knives.

Though when he went to go grab some, North spotted York and Wash, speaking intensely with each other.

"…not two layers, Wash! Lasagna is a food made out of layers so if you stack one on top of the other, it's one lasagna!" York said hotly. This year, he had decided to go as a doctor, a doctor's coat and a stethoscope that he probably borrowed from a nurse.

"No, it's not! If you have to make two separate lasagnas, then it's going to be two if you stack them!" Wash argued. He didn't do anything in terms of costume other than make his nose black and drew whiskers on his face.

Not this again. North sighed exasperatedly. This was a recurring argument that made North want to smack the both of them.

North slowly backed away until he disappeared into the crowd. He weaved through the crowd until he reached the door where Maine was.

"Here you go buddy," North grinned as he passed the case of beer to Maine. "Happy Halloween."

Maine let out a pleased grunt and rumbled his thanks.

North chuckled. "Anytime. I'll see you later." North said as he jogged off, ready to have a good time.

¤¤¤¤

North collapsed into his bed. The party had gone on for hours and North had one too many drinks.

Though not as much as South. North thought with faint amusement.

The person in question was slumped motionlessly on her bed, clutching her blanket like it was a stuffed animal.

North chuckled fondly before sitting up to drape the blanket over South. He smiled and shimmied out of his costume and slipped into something more comfortable.

North sighed as he slipped into his covers and closed his eyes, drifting off into a dreamless slumber.

Sometime later, something was poking his side vigorously. North grunted tiredly and tried to swat away the offender.

"North. North, wake up." Someone said sharply. North cracked an eye open and saw it was South. "Move over." She said when she got his attention.

North let out a long-suffering sigh and scooted over, lifting the covers so South could join him. South obliged and curled around him like a snake would a warm rock. It took a moment to get comfortable but they managed.

"North?" South said, exhaustion dripping off of each of her words.

"Hm?"

"I'm still pissed that Wyoming won the contest. All he did was kind of dress up like a cowboy and used a shitty southern accent."

North snorted and pulled South closer. "Just go to sleep." He mumbled.

South grumbled incoherently but listened because within minutes soft snores were coming from her.

North rumbled happily before he too drifted off to sleep.

~~~~

Hey guys! This idea popped into my head and I loved it so I wrote it down and bam! Here you go! Happy Halloween!

That's all for now! Adios and don't forget to leave a comment and give a kuddos/vote! Love y'all!

Posted: October 31, 2022