The kids: Trick or treeeeeeeat!
Being a space alien was awesome. The helmet was heavy, so he lost his balance a little, but his jumpsuit made a cool crinklely sound when he moved and his face was painted green, so Koarin felt like the most awesome alien in the world and the universe. And the ray gun in his goodie bag (for easy accessibility to fight off other Halloween monsters) was pretty sweet, too.
But he still held onto Dawn's hand. Even aliens need to be safe near the mothership, right? Or so she told him.
The mothership was forgotten, however, because Lucrecia and her troop were waiting for them to arrive at the corner of the road, and Koarin ran the rest of the stretch of sidewalk to hug Seph meet them.
Of course, Seph and his cousins were in cool costumes, too. Loz looked like a big, giant black cat (he liked cats, Koarin remembered), Yazoo was....um, a princess?, and Kadaj had a big dragon head hat and a scaly tail and were chasing his brothers around the yard of some festively decorated house as they waited. And Seph... "You're a wizard!" And Koarin couldn't be more gleeful.
Seph's blue (black?) hat was tall and his silver-star speckled robe was long, and he had a staff (made of plastic) with a light-up red orb thing at the top and it was so cool!, Koarin's mind supplied.
"Knew you were from space," Seph teased him, with a haughty expression that Koarin ignored entirely (because while he didn't know what "just for show" really meant, Seph was still Seph).
"I'm gonna conquer the world," Ko said.
"Nope, pretty sure I'm going to. I'm an evil magician."
Koarin pouted. "Join forces?"
Seph cast a glance over to the cousins, whom the adults were trying to rein in, because it was time to go trick-or-treating. "Yeah, okay." And remembering the incident that happened over the summer, Seph grabbed Koarin's hand told him sternly, "Stay close to me, 'kay?"
"Okay!"
Angeal had it easier, but had no idea to the fact. Traveling around the neighborhood with his mother Gillian and Genesis told him only one thing: Genesis was a complete nightmare to handle on his own. Being dressed like a police officer brought Angeal no authority on his best friend, dressed as a samurai and calling himself a hero of heroes. Which meant he was being his usually loud, obnoxious self. Angeal was honestly embarrassed for him, but Gillian didn't seemed concerned with it. Which meant she probably knew something that Angeal didn't.
Angeal adjusted his hat and rushed after Gen on the footpath to the next house.
Zack was already home by the time evening came, tuckered out from going with a group of younger kids (strictly for the reason that they were young, and should be brought around in broad daylight), and already napping on the couch, still in his ninja costume. His bag of candy was trapped in his arms, having no desire to let it go far from him as he slumbered.
Loz, in fact, did like cats. A lot. He even thought Yazoo looked like one, which did not make his brother happy. But Yazoo never teased him about it; Kadaj, on the other hand, did. A lot. "You should have been a knight!" Kadaj had accused earlier. "A dragon, a princess--"
"I'm not a princess!"
"--and a wizard don't need a cat! Why are you a cat again?!"
Their mother had scolded Kadaj (before Lucrecia had picked them up), while Loz was on the verge of tears. But Yazoo has hugged him, because apparently it was the middle child's job to take care of the elder child's woes. "You make a very nice cat."
"Thanks." Loz wiped his nose on his sleeve. "You make a pretty fairy queen, too."
Yazoo preens; at least someone understands his vision.
Cloud was too young to go out on Halloween, and not to mention his mother had to work. So he was at the sitter's house, helping give out candy to the kids with a paper hat, a too-long green shirt, and a new cardboard tube to swing around. "Tweeeeeet!"
"Later," Blues told him. "Trust me, you will be taking home plenty of left over candy."
"Andy!"
Ah, toddlers.
The two older groups cross paths at one point, which causes its own unique ruckus. Genesis teases Koarin, Angeal likes Loz's cat ears, Yazoo and Kadaj get mystified by the awesomeness of Gen's costume, and Seph asks Angeal, "Have you even tried arresting Gen for being annoying yet?"
"He slips out of the cuffs," Angeal explained, with a tone that says it wasn't his fault.
"Get something to shut him up with, then." And he glared at the redhead's way, tugging Koarin away from Gen in an effort to show Gen just who he's messing with.
Not that Gen cared. "You're like a babysitter, Sephy. Baby."
"I'm not the one who needs a dog leash!"
Gen scowled. "I'd kick wizard's butt, just so you know."
But once they separate again, Koarin sticks a little closer to Seph, and Seph believes Gen is good for only one thing.
Of course they all, at various points of the night, hit their sitter's house. Zack had stopped by before Cloud had been dropped off, and lingered a little to pawn off some piece of candy he's gotten earlier onto him. "You like apples?"
Yes, Blues took the caramel apple off of Zack's hands. His parents would make him actually eat the apple, and Zack wasn't big on fruits in his Halloween stash.
Angeal and Genesis came later, when the sky was almost dark, Genesis at the stoop and ringing the door bell while Angeal was a bit slower (shyer?) to make it. "You left us the best stuff, right?" Genesis demanded, once the door opened.
"Gesis!" Cloud cried from Blues' arms, managing to identify Genesis in his strange apparel and waving his tube at him.
"Aren't samurai supposed to be humble?" Blues asked.
"Humble?" Gen looked confused. "No, we kill people and save countries!"
Angeal apologized to Blues before they left.
The remaining kids had made the sitter's house the last block they were going to travel, the kids finally growing weary of all the walking, the night sky long dark. Of course they were let inside for a few minutes, for the kids to rest and play a little (Cloud loved Koarin's ray gun) while the adults did the same (but with more talking and less playing).
Koarin took off his helmet and his hair was matted well to his head and wet with sweat. Seph tried to fix it, but to no avail ("Gross," he said, wiping his hand dry on the couch).
"Well, it was stuffy."
"I know. You should'ven't worn it. You look better without the helmet." Koarin didn't get it, but Seph liked the green/blond contrast. It looked more alien than the helmet alone. But Seph didn't say that. "So, you want my chocolate orange ball?"
"Yes please!"