they say if you say 'martini' in the mirror three times at midnight, james bond will appear
Tanner dressed up as a ‘vampire’. James doesn’t buy it for a second, considering that the only thing that’s changed is the fact that he’s suddenly wearing a cheap cape over his suit. There’s a pair of fake teeth, but he only puts them in when M is in the near vicinity so James is calling bullshit from right then and there.
As it is James is a cowboy because it was the first thing he could find at the store. (And maybe, before things happened, he enjoyed throwing on a stetson and begging his father for riding lessons. He had agreed, after his mother insisted, but things happened, and the idea of learning to ride a horse wasn’t important anymore.) As it was, the chaps he were wearing were surprisingly comfortable. Point to the Americans.
There was M, but James was scared of talking about M, because it was scaring him how into all of this she was getting. She was dressed as a witch, which, appropriate, but was wearing a long black dress, and pointed hat, and carrying a broom everywhere she went. Bond supposed that he should get used to it, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to. It was quite amusing seeing what new costume she would come up with every year.
James sips his punch, which was probably spiked, but he rather hoped it was, so either way was alright with him. A few people had asked him if he wanted to dance, but he had turned them all down, preferring to lean against the wall the entire night until M would let him go. It was probably around the time whoever was controlling the music decided it would be alright to play a dubstep remix of Ghostbusters that James thought ‘no, fuck this’ and started towards the door.
Except.
“Trick or treat, 007,” Q says, leaning forward and smiling. “A cowboy?”
James breathes in. “Yes, a cowboy. And you’re?”
“Tanner lent me one of his old costumes. This was all very short notice. I’m an angel,” Q says, tilting his head and smiling. “I’m lucky the wings fit.”
He was. The wings were huge, and semi-life like, branching out wide. He was wearing all white, except for a black blazer over his shirt, and on top of his head was a floating halo.
“Does it look alright?” Q questions, and Bond licks his lips.
“You look…heavenly,” Bond says, and Q rolls his eyes.
“Cliche of all cliches there, James.”
Q looks up and him and before Bond can come back with a reply, he’s already moving on to the next conversation. “You’re not leaving, are you?” Q questions, eyebrows drawing together. “The party only began thirty minutes ago.”
“I’m not a party person,” James says, and wonders if he can somehow miraculously manage to distract Q without distracting Q and get away with out M noticing. The odds aren’t in his favor. ”I’m not a halloween person, either.”
“A holiday dedicated to masks and pretending to be who you aren’t?” Q asks, raising an eyebrow. “You would think that this holiday was tailored to you.”
Bond scowls. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m just saying,” Q says, taking a step back. “That, perhaps, you would try, instead, to put on a mask you usually don’t?”
“Are you asking me to pretend I really am a cowboy?” James questions, glaring. Q shrugs.
”Do you want to be?” Q looks mildly curious. “I’ve never thought about being an angel. It’s probably boring.” He suddenly looks wistful. “I’d like to do something boring.”
James frowns, and thinks of the late nights Q pulls, never sitting down, alway chasing after agents and pulling them out of danger. He shifts, ignoring M cackling at some interns in the background, and Tanner running after them to make sure they don’t sue, while the DJ changes from ‘Ghostbusters’ to ‘the Theme from Halloween’.
“Well, if I was a cowboy,” James finds himself saying, out loud. “I would be one from Montana, not Texas like everyone else says. And I’d have a cattle ranch.”
“You’ll be avoiding a huge cliche,” Q says, smiling. “I suppose I should congratulate you.”
“Shut up. What does an angel even do?”
Q blinks, and twists his mouth. “Well, I think that they would probably follow orders, but I think that they’d spend a lot of time lazing around on clouds, just watching people passby.”
“Wonderful,” James says. “I’m going to find some beer and steak, and we can find you a nice couch to lay down on and watch the people go by. Plan?”
“Plan,” Q agrees. “A good plan.”