[SFW VERSION]
🌹 There's something wonderful in those who stare death in the face. Even in a world wracked by relentless calamity, flowers blossom between a sea of corpses, the shapeless crimson rivers marched over by mechanical instruments of mass...
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. . .
Someone knocks at the door.
You look up from your phone, expecting them to come walking in like everyone normally does. The door is always unlocked after all. But they knock again, forcing you to call out.
"Come in."
They knock a third time.
"Come in!"
A fourth. With a long sigh, you toss your phone onto your desk and rise. Dragging your feet like a grumpy old man, you're on your way to the door. You even feel like an old man who's just be played into dealing with some ignorant teenager's pranks. Of course, you're not expecting this to actually be a prank, but still.
You press a button on the wall and the door slides open under your command. What you set eyes on the moment the hall fades into view is confusing, to say the very least.
The person standing before the entrance to your room is none other than Rapi, dressed in what appears to be a makeshift ghost costume. A plain white cloth large enough to drape over her full figure covers her from head to toe. Two empty eye sockets were cut out on the face, filled with her ruby hues that assume an incessant subtle glow.
"Trick or treat," Rapi stutters.
No way. You can't help but crack a smile at this. It all comes together; Rapi in a ghost outfit, shyly carrying herself to your quarters to deliver an even more timid performance at her own expense. Something tells you she was put up to this by someone else, but you're still amused.
"You're about the last person I'd expect to be trick or treating," you say and lean casually against the doorframe.
Rapi's eyes flick down at something you can't see. She nods for a brief moment, wrestling an arm out from beneath the long cloth that acts as her Halloween costume.
"... uhh, trick or treat, Commander. Bring me those... that—huh?"
You look down and find a slip of paper in her hand. You're not sure what's going on here but you're letting it unfold right before your eyes in silence. Rapi seems the most uncomfortable although you're the one faced with such an embarrassing display of Halloween festivity.
She resumes reading off the slip, squinting at what you assume is horrid handwriting.
"Trick or... or treat," she reads slow. "Commander... bring me that... err, that sweet beak of yours and make it soupy—I mean, snappy."
Rapi reads over the lines again in her head, then stares straight at you. You return the awkward stare, silently standing there in her presence. You know she doesn't really want to do this.
"Sorry," she mutters, instantly breaking character. "Anis and Neon told me to do this. That it would be funny. I'm only wasting your time, so I'll be on my way."
She starts to turn away, but not before pulling the cloth off her body. "Happy... Happy Halloween, Commander."
Before she can hurry along, you put a halt to her step by holding her shoulder. Rapi pivots, meeting your eyes, and shows you a plainly embarrassed face that spells out I definitely messed this up.
It wouldn't be a stretch to say she's even a little saddened by the way she presented herself.
You don't really care how she got here or why she agreed to it or if she's feeling totally defeated. She asked for something and you're gonna give it to her.
You pull her back near you, ushering her out of the hallway. Like a moth to a flame she steps closer, practically absorbed by your gaze and firm touch upon her arm.
Now, you know you don't have any sweets. If this were a real case of candy owner and trick-or-treater, it might be different. Only thing is, she was never carrying around a bucket or a basket or a pillow case ready to be stuffed with sugar. Rather, she came here looking for a candy she didn't know the true identity of — a candy all your own.
You pull Rapi in and give her a kiss on the lips. It's so easy, so casual just to hold her in your arms for a moment and lock lips with her. Upon these lips you taste the remnants of chocolate and cinnamon, a savory mixture; she must have been snacking on sugary treats alongside Anis and Neon before being playfully coerced into this.
As easy as you had pulled her in, Rapi melts in your grasp. It lasts longer than either of you had anticipated, but neither of you have a single complaint on your minds. Especially not Rapi. Instead of questioning why you've actually went along with it and kissed her, she's wondering why she can't do this more often.
For her, the kiss that was meant to be a simple joke turned out to be the highlight of her day, of her Halloween, where she managed to receive a candy sweeter than any chocolate a person could hand out to those who merrily bellow "trick or treat!"
It was the sweetest candy she'd ever tasted.
* * *
Somewhere down the hall, Anis and Neon eagerly monitor Rapi in secret as she approaches the Commander's Room... only for both Nikkes to drop their jaws when their awkward prank nets Rapi a free kiss from the man himself.
"No fair! He wasn't supposed to actually kiss her!" Anis hissed in a whisper. "I want one too...!"
Wearing a blank face, Neon looked at the girl. "Jeez, didn't take much to get you to crack."
"Don't try to lie and say you don't want a smooch too!"
Neon looked back down the hall, watching Rapi and the Commander stay in that sweet kiss forever. She huffed and crossed her arms.
