Erik X Male!Reader ~ THIS IS HALLOWEEN

THIS IS HALLOWEEN

You clicked your tongue as you thought, staring between the three masks you had laid out on the bed in front of you. Honestly all three were far too informal for the annual masquerade but you didn't really care either way. You didn't really want to attend, seeing as Erik didn't and you'd be on your own, but you hadn't really had a good excuse when Christine had tried to convince you to go. The informal mask would be your protest. If you could choose one.

"What are you doing?" Erik's voice made you jump as your husband crawled onto the bed beside you and honestly, you'd been living in the house the Persian had helped you pick out for a little over a month now and you were 90% sure Erik had already built secret tunnels into the place.

"Help me choose." You curled into the former Phantom's side and he wrapped an arm around you, looking at the three masks curiously.

"These aren't masquerade masks," he queried, and you huffed, dropping your face on the mattress.

"I don't wanna go to the masquerade," you whined, voice muffled by the sheets.

"Then stay home."

"But I wanna go out."

"And do what?"

"I don't knooooooow."

Erik rubbed your back soothingly as you whimpered into your bedsheets, though you could sense his confusion. He lay down beside you, peering at what he could see of your face.

"_____, why do you want to wear a mask if not for the masquerade?"

You turned to look at him, perplexed, and seeing as he wasn't wearing his own mask (it had taken a while for him to become comfortable not wearing it in your new home) you could see the full force of the concern on his face.

"Because it's Halloween?" you tried, stunned as his expression remained blank in answer to your observation. "Wait have you never-?" You cut yourself off before you could finish the sentence. Of course he had never celebrated Halloween, it hadn't come up beyond the last masquerade, which you had attended together. And that could hardly be called celebrating Halloween. "Come out with me tonight," you suggested, and Erik's face twisted in indecision.

"There are always so many people out at this time of year," he pointed out mournfully. He preferred being out at night when people wouldn't see him, and Halloween's nocturnal traditions kept him firmly indoors.

"Yes, because it's Halloween," you chuckled, pressing a fond kiss to his cheek. "Everybody will be wearing a mask and I promise nobody will even give you a second look. We can-" You were cut off as the doorbell rang, glancing up to see that dusk was falling outside already. "If you answer the door you'll see for yourself," you teased, gently kissing him before jumping off of the bed and darting for the door, Erik sighing and taking his mask from the bedside table where he kept it before following after you.

He found you at the bottom of the stairs, by the front door, gesturing to the door welcomingly and he carefully pulled it open.

"Trick or Treat!" The three tiny humans stood outside chorusing at him took him by surprise, and Erik turned to you where you had moved to the foot of the stairs, a plea for help evident on his face.

"You just let them take some sweets," you told him in an amused tone, taking the bowl of chocolates and other sweet goods that you had left out on the stair and passing it off to him.

Erik clutched the bowl to his chest and slowly turned back to the door, sinking to his knees in trepidation before holding it out so that they could reach, apparently expecting them to take one look at him and run screaming at any moment. But the children paid him no mind, ignoring him completely in favour of swarming around the bowl. They examined the goodies on offer before picking out what they wanted and adding it to their bags, waving as they made their way back up the path, and Erik turned to you in wonder.