[Fic] Costumes and Magic

[coley_merrin]

Title: Costumes and Magic
Pairings: Zhou Mi/Kyuhyun, Henry/Donghae, Henry/Ryeowook, Kris/Suho, Lu Han/Xiumin, Suho/Kai, Gen
Rating: R
Genre: AU, non-au, fluff, smut, fantasy

Summary: Twelve Halloween themed prompts.



***

Prompt: Zhou Mi the fairy and Kyuhyun the vampire go out for halloween :) think like...the sims fairy and vampires haha. (Zhou Mi can be real excited the moon is out)

***

“You can’t trick me,” Kyuhyun sighed, for at least the seventeenth time that month. “You are going to run out of magic, and then what will you do!”

All he heard was a little buzzing whine, like a mosquito had zipped past his ear, and he pretended to wave his hand around as though that would knock Zhou Mi right out of the air. It wouldn’t - but it would get him a very irate fairy.

“Aren’t we going out?” Zhou Mi asked, finally normal sized - or rather, normal sized to Kyuhyun anyway.

Halloween was a time for Zhou Mi to go out, and he especially liked going out to places where no one knew fairies like him existed. The butterfly edges always twitched a little bit quicker when they were in public and seemed to mesmerize. There was definitely no touching, Zhou Mi twitching away like an arrogant cat any time someone tried. Unless they were a kid, in which case he dropped down and shook his finger and said his wings were special fairy wings, no touching allowed.

“It’s Halloween, and the moon is almost full,” Zhou Mi said, twirling around in his pretend-fairy robes which made Kyuhyun cackle a little. He packed himself a couple of servings of juice just in case. He hadn’t quite talked Zhou Mi into letting him bite him, or try at least. Maybe they weren’t compatible that way. Zhou Mi got energized in the moonlight, and he’d finally just been able to go out in real sunlight.

At least they were able to live in the same times of day, or they never would have met.

“You’re going to bare your teeth and try to scare people, aren’t you?” Zhou Mi asked, linking his arm with Kyuhyun’s.

That was a given, of course.

And they went out together for the one night of the year where they could be themselves. (And it was great, except that Zhou Mi slept in his collar the entire way home, movements of his wings tickling him the whole time.)

***

Prompt: Zhou Mi talks Kyuhyun into dressing as a catboy for halloween or Kyuhyun loses a bet. Zhou Mi finds it adorable. Kyuhyun doesn't.

***

“Can you meow?” Zhou Mi asked, his eyes bright.

Kyuhyun bared his teeth instead. He might have cat ears on his head, and some kind of fuzzy tail pinned to his dark jeans, but he was absolutely not going to play into all of Zhou Mi’s whims.

Especially not when Zhou Mi started humming about painting his face, or-

“I’m supposed to be a cat boy, not a cat,” Kyuhyun pointed out. “You do not need to pain my nose or give me whiskers.”

At least that way, he could slip off the ears so no one had to see him in public. The tail he could just hold onto.

And Zhou Mi was fussing over him like he’d just found a new pet.

“Go get your costume on,” Kyuhyun said, jabbing at Zhou Mi’s side before he got any other bright ideas. Zhou Mi had promised when Kyuhyun had lost the bet that he wouldn’t put Kyuhyun in anything too embarrassing. The cat ears were bad enough, though Zhou Mi could’ve dressed him up like a butterfly or a maid or something like that. In that light, he appreciated Zhou Mi’s restraint. Plus, it was just one party, and Kyuhyun was picking out his own for the next.

Though, Zhou Mi’s choice of devil horns and a little pitchfork were all too accurate, and it had him snorting. Still, the smoky eyes that went with it were, well. Hot.

Zhou Mi used the pitchfork to try and poke his butt to get him moving out the door, and Zhou Mi turned to him after he’d locked up, beaming.

“You just look so cute.”

He wondered if Zhou Mi couldn’t have given him a paper bag instead.

***

Prompt: Qmi being ghosts and only able to inhabit a physical body once a year on All Hallows' Eve, where they reacquaint themselves to being alive if you know what I mean ;) smut!

***

It was always cold. If anyone had asked Kyuhyun, and no one did, it was always cold. What he liked most about waking up with flesh was that he could feel warm again. He wasn’t the kind of ghost who haunted, not really. It took energy to scare people, and if he used all of that, he didn’t know when he’d come back conscious. At least moving around, even cold, he could see what was going on. He’d stopped being envious a while back. He didn’t really feel pain, and he had a hard time imagining pleasure. But that was different on one day of the year. It wasn’t like they woke up in their graves or anything, that was too creepy. But they woke up in their skin, in their clothes - he didn’t know why, really, and he recognized the clothes, but they were always the same, always.

He wasn’t alone, though. Somehow he knew when Zhou Mi was near, like the caught at each other’s presence like they couldn’t catch on anything or anyone else. When he shivered, Zhou Mi was like a cat that rubbed against him as night faded and the stupor of day began, an endless cycle.

When they woke, it was always together, too, always in a different place. Usually in the same neighborhood about but always someplace empty, like their bodies knew they couldn’t just come to form on top of someone when they were sleeping.

They weren’t that kind of ghosts.

So they woke to dust - they could smell! - and feeling - it was sometimes cold, no heat, but their skin was warm and the light didn’t shine through them.

They scrambled for warmth, laughing as they adjusted to their new legs. That year they were lucky, and the floor heat came on, Zhou Mi flopping back on it while Kyuhyun slithered on his belly, cheek against the warmth.

“Kyuhyun,” Zhou Mi murmured. He knew that voice, that tone. As surely as feeling came back to them, want did, too, and only a night to sate everything they had waited for. He turned to his side, not willing to part with the warmth as he freed Zhou Mi of his trousers. He could taste again as well, and he reveled in it, moaning as Zhou Mi’s lips slid around him. It made his head spin, Zhou Mi’s whimpers and the warmth, and the pleasure on too-sensitive skin. He tried to wait, to make it last, but the brushes of Zhou Mi’s tongue and the seal of his mouth made him gasp and try to bury himself deeper even as Zhou Mi slid against his tongue. He came first, and Zhou Mi would be smug, but only by mere moments. It was too much to hold out against, Zhou Mi’s mouth. He rested on his back, panting with the novelty of it all, as Zhou Mi sidled up to him.

“Should we go explore?” Zhou Mi asked, lips sweet against Kyuhyun’s mouth. And then, together, more.

For a night, at least, they were alive. For eternity, they were together.

***

Prompt: Zhou Mi meets Kyuhyun on Halloween night on which Zhou Mi is dressed a pirate and Kyuhyun, an angel (or so he thinks). But after it’s a few days after Halloween and he thinks he’ll never see Kyu again after he vanished on Halloween night, he discovers Kyuhyun is an angel that has lost his grace and is undergoing the painful process of adapting to mortality.

***

There was something profoundly sad about the way the man was sitting, as though the wings on his back were too heavy for him. Zhou Mi tilted his head, feeling the loop earring he’d put in for his pirate costume flop against his neck.

“Arrr,” he said, hoping for a reaction. And he got one, dark eyes raising to meet his. And a tiny smile.

There were feathers on the wings, ragged and dirty. A fallen angel, Zhou Mi surmised. Not the happiest of costumes but certainly not the most horrifying. In the square, there were lots of little goblins and ghosts and vampires and skeletons running around and becoming sticky with candy. Zhou Mi had volunteered to be there to help out if needed, but he was helping with everyone, not just the kids.

“How’s your night?” Zhou Mi asked, perching on the arm of the bench, as close as he could get with the drooping wings.

“I don’t know,” the man said, his brow furrowing. “I feel like everything is wrong.”

“My name is Zhou Mi,” he said, and held out a hand. Sometimes human contact had a way of soothing. For all he knew, it could be an act, but he didn’t think so. The sadness could match the costume, but it was more than that.

Another smile. “My name is Kyuhyun.”

***

They walked together, Kyuhyun’s wings brushing behind him. They look heavy but Kyuhyun walked as though he could not feel they were even on him.

“I’m sorry it has been a rough night for you,” Zhou Mi said.

“Yes,” Kyuhyun said, his eyes raised for a moment to the sky. “You live here?”

“I do. I teach at the school here, music. What about you?”

“I’m not sure where I’ll choose to live,” Kyuhyun said, sounding as though that bewildered him.

“Does that mean you have options?” Zhou Mi gently teased.

And he got another smile. “I guess it does.”

He liked to see a bit of the good side, even in the rotten things. Otherwise what was bad could be too bad even to imagine. Kyuhyun refused water, and candy, the only two things Zhou Mi had available, but he smiled when he did. Zhou Mi did not ask if Kyuhyun had brought his child with him, because it was clear that he had not. Though the wings on his back were ruffled and dirty, the clothes he wore were neat and clean, the dark jacket quite lovely in fact. Zhou Mi cleared his throat.

“How did you hear about the party tonight?”

Kyuhyun stopped, and the rustle of his wings did as well. “I heard the sound of laughter. When I closed my eyes, I could hear it. It helped.”

“I’m glad,” Zhou Mi said, and Kyuhyun reached for him, fingers curling around the bare skin of Zhou Mi’s forearm. The warmth there startled him, seemed to startle them both, but Kyuhyun did not let go.

“You are a good man, Zhou Mi. Don’t ask me how I know, but. Thank you. And I will be all right.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” Zhou Mi said, pressing his fingers against Kyuhyun’s.

“Hey, Zhou Mi!”

Zhou Mi smiled at Kyuhyun. “Just a moment.”

When he turned back, after pointing Donghae toward the extra stash of candy, Kyuhyun was gone. Zhou Mi steppe forward even, looking up and down the corridor, toward the street and around the building corner.

Nothing was left, but for a single feather clinging to Zhou Mi’s sleeve.

***

The meeting with the mysterious angel Kyuhyun stayed with Zhou Mi over the next several days. There had been something sad, but also valiant about his posture, as well as something resigned. Kyuhyun’s last words, that he would be all right, stayed with him at least. There was no reason to worry of worse things, and he imagined Kyuhyun would find the place he was meant to stay. Sometimes the belief that things would be better was the first step to making them so. But he was too busy most of the day keeping kids from escaping the circle, keeping their attention with story songs and simple instruments that they could all play together. It was fun, for all of them, watching their eyes light up when they raced for him, shouting his name.

Zhou Mi’s head was half in a song itself, when he went out the back entrance of the school. He was pleasantly tired, but most of all hungry. Take-out was in his future, and he was still deciding what he wanted when he saw the bench not far from his car.

Zhou Mi’s steps did not falter, but his mind did when he recognized the profile, the clothes.

“Kyuhyun?” he said, stopping nearby.

The wings were gone, mostly. There was a bedraggled tangle of feathers hanging to waist length, though that wasn’t the worst of it. Kyuhyun’s pants were stained with mud, his shoes dusty and coat covered in what looked like brick dust. It looked like there was blood crusting on his cheekbone, and Zhou Mi reached for Kyuhyun’s hand.

It was cold.

“Are you okay?”

“I thought I could go home,” Kyuhyun said. “I thought- I didn’t know where else to go, Zhou Mi.”

The invocation of his name had Zhou Mi tugging Kyuhyun up, pulling him to his car. No matter how filthy Kyuhyun was, he would get him home, get him clean. If he needed- No matter what he needed, Zhou Mi would find it for him.

Instead of restaurant food, he opted for soup while Kyuhyun showered. He’d started up the water, pointing out the shampoo for Kyuhyun’s hair, the soap and washcloth, the robe Kyuhyun could put on when he was through. When the water turned off, the soup was done and he had unearthed some nearly outdated crackers to go with it, as well as tea and a plate of sliced apples.

Kyuhyun looked flushed from the water, drying his hair with the towel Zhou Mi had provided.

And he looked so much more relaxed.

“I didn’t realize how cold I was,” Kyuhyun said, and his eyes closed as he inhaled the smell of the soup. “Oh. Food.”

It all seemed so normal for a while, until Zhou Mi finished and went to find a napkin. He stopped on his way, staring at Kyuhyun’s back, the terrycloth covering him. But much like the black jacket, drooping feathers and a single glinting bone dangled against the blue cloth. Surely Kyuhyun would not have put a dirty costume on over the robe, or poked a hole through it to have it on underneath.

“Oh,” Kyuhyun sighed. “My wings. They will be gone soon, though… I kept hoping they would-“

Kyuhyun’s voice caught, tight, and the feathers flexed up though his shoulders did not.

“Is it a trick?”

Kyuhyun squinted. “A trick? No, it is very real. When my grace was stripped from me, they began to die. I bleed now. I… I hunger? I am cold. It’s getting worse. The night I found you, I was praying to be taken back, but now I know-“ Kyuhyun choked, shaking his head. “No. I fear I will not be able to, though I will continue praying.”

Wings. “You are some kind…angel?”

Perhaps it was a humoring thing, but the way the tears slid as Kyuhyun shut his eyes confirmed at least what Kyuhyun believed.

But it was no trick, no sleight of hand. When Zhou Mi pulled down the robe, the feathers - the wings - slid through it as though it had not been there, leaving no holes, no trace. Though he could touch the feathers with his fingers, it was not in his capability to touch or see how they fixed to Kyuhyun.

“How… Why…?” Zhou Mi whispered, kneeling.

“I don’t know,” Kyuhyun said, and his voice roughened, and he sat very straight. And Zhou Mi’s eyes closed as Kyuhyun touched his face, smearing the tear there that he had not realized he had shed.

“I knew you would believe me, even if no one else would,” Kyuhyun said.

“Because I’m a good man?” Zhou Mi asked, remembering Kyuhyun’s words.

Kyuhyun shook his head, smiling.

***

Zhou Mi whined, burying his head beneath the pillow at the racket coming from his kitchen. If by racket he meant the voice of an actual former angel. Kyuhyun was singing to the food, like that was going to help it. Though, for all Zhou Mi knew it did. Even without Kyuhyun’s grace as he had explained to Zhou Mi, he seemed to have a preternatural knowledge about some things - like when Zhou Mi was keeping a secret.

“Come back to bed,” Zhou Mi mourned, huffing because the bed was cold without Kyuhyun’s little furnace of a body blazing against him.

“If you don’t get up and eat, you’re going to turn into the witch from Hansel and Gretel and start roasting your students,” Kyuhyun called back.

“I don’t know why I buy you books.”

And Zhou Mi just barely got both hands cemented in the covers before Kyuhyun could yank them off, a stare-down of epic proportions happening.

“I’m up,” Zhou Mi said. “I’m up.”

“And you know why you buy me books,” Kyuhyun retorted, wearing nothing but a robe as he turned back from the kitchen.

There were scars along Kyuhyun’s back, as though he had been in some great battle in the losing of his wings. Zhou Mi had traced those with his fingers as Kyuhyun had struggled with his new reality, and later kissed them as Kyuhyun begged him to. Kyuhyun was so sure about things, at times. So sure things were meant, so firm in his convictions. They had met that night because they had been meant to, because the laughter had drawn him to the person meant for him, to guide him through, and stand beside him in his new life.

He wondered sometimes, when Kyuhyun sang, the sound so rich, and beautiful and sad, if he missed what life he had before.

The freedom of it, perhaps. The abilities he had lost.

But Kyuhyun rested his cheek against Zhou Mi’s back at night, and smiled at him in the morning even when he chased Zhou Mi around to get him ready.

“I would show you everything,” Kyuhyun had said when Zhou Mi had asked what Kyuhyun would do if his grace was returned to him. “Every secret place, every wonder. You would gasp with joy, and terror.”

Though when he slid his hand into Kyuhyun’s, and felt their fingers tighten together, he did not know what more there was that Kyuhyun could reveal, what more that Zhou Mi might possibly want.

***

Prompt: Suju-M go to a haunted house! One of the good, truly scary ones. Somebody in the group screams like a girl, somebody else makes hilarious faces. Clinging to one's crush in fright is optional. :)

***

Walking in felt a bit like a bad idea. They’d all gone in a giant group, but they’d been let in in groups of four or five. Zhou Mi was not stoic, but anticipatory, eyes looking around as they went through a rush of air and heard the first shivery notes of an organ. Ahead of them, Henry was walking behind Donghae and Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun knew why even if the two ahead of Henry didn’t. Silly people. That was why he was behind them - not because he thought Zhou Mi was a little angel, but he was a little less quick with his limbs.

Kyuhyun jolted to the side a bit.

“Did you see that?”

“See what?”

There was something move- Ooh.”

Something tickled against his neck and the hall started flashing green and white, and the three just ahead of them squealed. Zhou Mi was laughing, the giant jerk, even as he was cringing and trying to get out, too.

Kyuhyun’s heart was thundering, even as the hallway cleared, and he tried to stand up straight so it didn’t appear like he was trying to lean into Zhou Mi for moral support. He was really, really close, though. So close.

There were these cool moving pictures, and scenes set up with blood dripping and mist dancing. They turned a corner and thought themselves safe, only for a woman’s scream to erupt around them, ghosts flinging themselves out of the walls as Ryeowook wailed and grabbed Donghae’s arm. They faded back, the sound of dragging chains following them, enough so that Kyuhyun was looking behind himself like he’d actually see someone walking there.

The next scream was Donghae.

And Kyuhyun nearly did leap into Zhou Mi then, because it sounded like Donghae was imminently going to be killed, a full-on ax murderer leaping out of him.

Zhou Mi was panting quietly beside him, smile a little less thrilled and a lot more anxious, and when the music swelled again, he may have taken Zhou Mi’s hand, flinching as little puffs of air assaulted him

Henry gave up the idea he was going to be scary in the least with everything going on around them, settling for holding Ryeowook’s shoulders and pretending he was doing it for Ryeowook, not himself. Donghae was marching like a soldier with a poker face.

They watched in horror at a different bloody scene, fake blood splattering against a wall even as water sprinkled on their heads. Ryeowook fell at that one, scurrying forward with distress as he rubbed at his hair.

“You’re going to hold me if I have nightmares, right?” Kyuhyun asked.

And Zhou Mi yelped when they were waiting to get out, in total darkness but for a safety lighting strip.

“Something wet touched my neck,” Zhou Mi wavered.

They got out of there. Fast.

Prompt: kid kyu and trick or treating

***

The question was supposed to come with an option - good things or bad things. In his child’s heart, Kyuhyun wanted nothing more than a faux-pumpkin full of candy that his mom would then ration out. He’d worked for it! It was- No arguments ever really worked, and his sister patted him on his head and snuck him a caramel because she was the best.

“Are you supposed to be a skeleton?” he asked a boy taller than him.

“Yeah! You can call me Skeleton Mi.”

“Cool,” Kyuhyun said enviously. He was a vampire, and the fake teeth were a little too big for him. But his sister was a fairy, which was…sparkly, he guessed. “What do you think would happen if they gave us a trick?”

“We’d have to be brave.”

Kyuhyun straightened his cape, staring at the spookily lit door.

“Want to do this one together?” Skeleton Mi asked him.

And as bravely as two kids dressed as a skeleton could be, they walked up together under the watchful eyes of a mother and sister.

Kyuhyun scooted closer against Skeleton Mi’s arm as the door opened, revealing a woman dressed as a witch.

“Trick or treat!” they wavered out together.

Candy was dropped into both their buckets, and they shouted a thank you, racing back down the sidewalk.

“That wasn’t so bad,” he said, panting.

Skeleton Mi laughed, and they high-rived. One place down. And so many more possibilities.

***

Prompt: something where a spirit or ghost (or guardian angel, if you prefer. or it can take the form of a black cat. anything slightly magical/supernatural that can play matchmaker and gently nudge them in the right direction) is responsible for bringing donghae and henry together? like, a wind blows hae's hat away and that's how they first meet. or they're raking leaves together and their scarves mysteriously get tangled up, awkwardness and accidental kisses ensue, etc.

***

Henry felt tired. There was no other way he knew how to describe it, the way his mind felt like it was sagging, his eyes aching and shoulders tensed like they were lined with steel cable instead of muscles. He was tired, and he sat and waited for his bus, watching all the others go by -one twice even - before his finally got there. That was how his day was going. He didn’t even have the energy to make it into his building, sitting on the steps and wondering if he had anything in his freezer he could eat. Or maybe ramen, and some rice.

The breath in his throat caught as a weight landed on his lap. At first, he thought- He didn’t know what he thought, but he realized a dark cat was standing there purring and kneading his leg.

“Hey buddy, where’d you come from?”

The cat meowed a little, circling and Henry gingerly started petting it. It snuggled against his fingers, settling down on his legs like a little purring muffin.

Somehow he felt better just sitting there and petting a cat he didn’t know. It probably had fleas.

The cat chirped and dug his claws into Henry’s leg at that, like he’d read Henry’s mind.

“Nice kitty,” Henry said absently.

His steps were light, after the cat leaped down to the sidewalk and looked back at him.

“Sorry, you have to stay out here,” Henry said. “Good hunting.”

The cat meowed, and trotted off.

Henry had his ramen, and he slept and he dreamed.

***

October was a silly month. It wasn’t like September which always seemed warmer than Henry remembered, but t was a month of in-betweens. Some days were cold and frigid like snow was around the corner. Others were rainy, balmy, like something in the spring. And still others were warm and bright, like they’d never left summer behind.

Henry walked, because he wanted to hear the melody in the rattling leaves, old making way for sleep, and then for new growth. Tiny branches that would one day grow thick and strong, big piles of leaves that had children laughing as they jumped and played in them.

In front of him, a cat darted, sprawling on the pavement as it looked up at him.

He wasn’t far from his apartment, so it could be the same cat, but he wasn’t sure.

“What are you doing out here?”

“Mrow.”

And then the cat rocketed off, weaving through the legs of a bench and staring back as though asking what Henry was waiting for. In his head a tiny tune played, a cat’s adventure, leading some great doofus through the park. It made him laugh as he followed the cat onto the grass and past a play structure, almost to the line of trees.

Henry froze, gritting his teeth at a burst of freezing wind that blew back his hood and blew right through the bones of his legs it felt like.

When his eyes opened, the cat had gone, but a man was running toward him, reaching out like something was getting away from him.

Henry stared down at his feet, where an errant cap had landed.

And he nearly crashed his head into the man’s when they both bent to get it.

“This wind!” the man exclaimed, curling his fingers over the fuzzy lining. “Thanks for catching it!”

“I didn’t, really,” Henry laughed, reaching up to rub his neck. “Sorry for almost crashing into you.”

“No problem.”

“I was following a cat and then that wind nearly knocked me over.”

A tilted head. “A cat?”

It sounded silly. He knew it was silly.

“Just out for little cat adventures, I guess.” It flustered him to be stared at, and he shifted his weight. “I write music, so… I guess I was looking for inspiration.”

“Ohhh. Lee Donghae,” Donghae said, sticking out his hand. “I like music.”

“Er. L- Henry. Lau. Yeah, music is awesome.”

He was cute, Henry thought with a trickle of panic in the back of his throat, a cute little grin and laugh as he stared at Henry like Henry held some kind of secrets he wanted to know.

The wind caught Henry’s hood again, and Donghae’s back, nearly sending him staggering into Henry.

The wind was cold, but Donghae’s breath against his neck was not.

“There’s a cool place nearby that serves tacos,” Donghae declared, on his own two feet again.

“That sounds good,” Henry said, and felt his stomach growl, all adventures forgotten, though the tune still danced in the back of his mind.

Donghae chattered as they walked, one of those people that in mere minutes became almost like someone known for years. Henry thought he caught sight of a happily flagging cat tail weaving through the long grass.

***

“I’m tired.”

The text went through and Henry leaned against the railing of his building, pulling his scarf up a little tighter over his nose. October had given way, and November had faded into dull brown and gray, lingering leaves catching on building corners waiting for snow to flatten them down into the earth.

A warm weight settled on his lap, and Donghae pressed his lips against Henry’s cheek.

“I brought food,” Donghae promised. “Don’t be tired.”

And Henry’s heart got a little lighter.

***

Prompt: Halloween pranksters henwook? Keke

***

The best thing about Halloween was that there were so many things they could use. Sure it was fun to prank everyone the rest of the year, but once stuff started popping into the stores, the options were endless. And the best part was being able to think up stuff to do with someone. Henry had plenty of good ideas, but watching Ryeowook start to cackle when something really evil occurred to him was the best.

(Ryeowook also kept people from getting in Henry’s face in the odd event that a prank wasn’t so funny haha but actually made someone mad. Ryeowook was the best, as though he needed any more proof.)

They got Kyuhyun first, mostly because he was easy, but also because he started to get wary once everyone else was getting pranked. Henry might possibly have hidden a tape recorder in Kyuhyun’s room, too, because when Kyuhyun pulled back his blankets and found an ultra-realistic spider in his bed? He needed a record of that. Henry nearly died laughing after Kyuhyun brought the piece of rubber out on a piece of paper - he couldn’t even touch it! - and threw it at Henry. Kyuhyun had then done a sad thing and flushed the poor spider down the toilet. They could’ve used that again.

Zhou Mi was also fairly easy to prank, if only because sometimes he was a bit absent minded. Sure enough, Zhou Mi came charging into the living room with green goo hanging off of his fingertips and smeared across his cheek. Henry might possibly have saved an old face cream pot and replaced the contents with that.

To Henry’s great regret, Ryeowook wasn’t there to save him as Henry howled and got pinned down to have green stuff smeared all over his face. That stuff tasted /nasty./ Though he’d sulked for a minute and told Zhou Mi where his real goop was. If he hadn’t, Zhou Mi probably would’ve started tickling him. Zhou Mi wasn’t the guy who laid in wait, but when he got Henry back, he really got him back.

Sungmin was a different story. Henry had hung up all of Sungmin’s underwear in his closet, putting all his clothes in the drawers instead. Each piece of underwear had little patches fixed (impermanently) to the crotch, like ghosts and pumpkins. But unlike the other two, Sungmin didn’t point it out.

When Henry was handed his portion of ramen, he was totally caught unaware as his mouth started burning. He should’ve known better. He should have known.

Sungmin smirked at him. He’d been had, and he admitted it, as he took another bite.

***

Prompt: kris/suho- kris is a skinwalker (can morph into a canine at any time) and he tries to pursue his co-worker suho by turning into a dog that shows up on his doorstep with gifts often because he is too shy to reveal himself. And suho (who is aware of skinwalkers) is curious to find out who the skinwalker is until one day kris finds the courage to show up on his doorstep in his human form.

***

The dog’s tail wagged, making its whole back end waggle as Joonmyun rounded the corner. It wasn’t a small dog, either, long legged with a fine head and soft, dark fur. Most people would have thought it was just a dog that had gotten into the building, but it was clear to Joonmyun that it wasn’t just a dog. Skinwalkers always had subtle signs, like discoloration on the back paws where the human’s shoes had been or faint markings around the eyes for glasses. This human had been clearly wearing a coat from the lines up the dog’s chest and around its neck. The bulkier an object on a human’s body, the more likely it was to show through in their animal skin. Skinwalkers who didn’t want to be identified usually got naked first. That meant that this skinwalker didn’t care if Joonmyun knew, or maybe wanted him to know.

The dog sat politely, picking up a plastic bag in its teeth, tail quietly thumping.

“For me?” Joonmyun asked, and the dog stood, pushing its muzzle into Joonmyun’s hand and letting go when Joonmyun had ahold of the bag.

“Thanks. Hey!”

The dog took off down the hallway, disappearing around the corner and leaving Joonmyun alone.

In the bag was a bottle of juice and a candy bar, one of Joonmyun’s favorite. There was no note, just some lingering dog drool.

***

What was first a cute coincidence became something of a routine. The dog was by his door a few times a week, once running up the stairs after him. With him, there was always some kind of bag - a box of cookies one day, packets of ramen, a movie Joonmyun hadn’t seen. They were like little care packages with a wagging tail attached.

“I asked my friends about this,” Joonmyun said, getting down on his heels in front of the dog. “They said someone doing something like this isn’t just being friendly or trying to make me feel better, but is probably a secret admirer. What do you think?”

The dog’s head dipped as if in shame, and Joonmyun hummed. “Okay. Are you… a guy?”

At that the dog looked up and yipped.

“Okay, okay. I guess so. That’s good to know. I wish I knew what to call you.”

The dog padded forward and dropped his prize at Joonmyun’s feet, walking close enough to rub himself against Joonmyun’s side before disappearing again. In the bag there was a smaller bag of chocolates and a box of instant curry.

“I guess I know what I’m eating tonight. I’m being fed by a dog instead of the other way around.”

Or rather, a human who was being a dog to show Joonmyun that he was liked.

***

It took almost three weeks before Joonmyun got to pet the dog. Instead of taking the gift as usual, Joonmyun unlocked his door and stood with it open.

“Want to come in a while? I promise I’ll let you out as soon as you want to go.”

The dog hesitated at first, but skirted past Joonmyun into the apartment.

“I don’t think I’m allowed pets, but I think it’ll be fine for a while,” Joonmyun murmured.

The dog sat on the floor and he sat on the couch and they stared at each other.

“Do I know you?” Joonmyun wondered. “I hope you don’t laugh at me because I talk to a dog. I just know there’s a human in there.”

The dog woofed slightly walking a step closer before sitting again.

“Can I…?” Joonmyun asked, holding out his hand.

Almost like a dog afraid of being hit, the dog came forward and leaned his head into Joonmyun’s hand. His head was warm, the fur brown-black and soft, and Joonmyun traced his fingertips against it.

“I wish I knew who you were,” Joonmyun murmured. “You seem to know me pretty well. Do you think I’ll reject you? I haven’t even given you a name like Fluffy in my head, so…”

The dog stared at him with judging eyes.

“Oh, you don’t like fluffy either? How about Bunny? Cutie? Pumpkin?”

The dog turned around before glaring a little more.

“You’re right. Definitely not a Pumpkin. I’m not dating anyone, you know. I haven’t in a while. I like cuddling with dogs. I like cuddling with people more.”

The dog walked away from him, standing by the door and looking back.

Joonmyun had promised, after all. But the dog allowed him one last stroke, before disappearing into the hallway. And two days later, he followed Joonmyun in again, falling asleep against his knee as Joonmyun watched TV. Joonmyun was starting to wonder about every guy he knew, which of them the skinwalker could be. There were some he hoped it might be more than others, and some he knew better to even imagine.

***

When Joonmyun rounded the corner, the dog he was expecting to see was not there. In his place was a human, raising a hand in greeting and holding a take-out bag.

“Hey, I just stopped by to see if you were home,” Kris said. “Looks like I almost missed you.”

The dog might have stayed away to see Kris there. Though, his eyes opened a bit wider as he unlocked the door. He’d been telling the dog he wanted to know who he was. Maybe-

Joonmyun stole a glance at Kris. Kris worked in the next room over, with a perpetual headache because of people calling in for the simplest of directions. Sometimes they shared grins or ate together in the lunchroom, trading corporate horror stories. He was sort of awkwardly congenial, enviably tall and good looking. It wasn’t as though Joonmyun had been pining for him, it wasn’t that cliche. Kris hadn’t even really made his short list of possibilities. He’d more been on a list of not even possible. Glancing at Kris as he dumped food onto plates, he considered that it would explain the dog’s size.

“What brought you out tonight?” Joonmyun asked.

“A friend wanted to bring you a gift,” Kris said.

“Oh?”

When he turned to look, there was a familiar bag sitting next to him. A bag much like the dog had brought each time. He looked at Kris, who was arranging salad, and Joonmyun opened it. Affixed to the bag of cookies was a note. “Because I’m not very fond of dog treats.”

Joonmyun blinked. “Oh.”

If he wasn’t mistaken, Kris was blushing.

“Sometimes it’s easier to express myself as a dog.”

Yes. It was almost like a mask, not having to reveal himself.

“I really liked your visits,” Joonmyun said. “I was hoping it would be someone-“

He pictured Kris grinning at him at work, rolling his eyes as the phones started up again.

“It’s all right, if you’re not interested,” Kris said. “I was hoping I could take you out some night. As myself.”

No trips to a dog park then, and He could see Kris read his mind there, a wry smile curving his lips.

“Then this is date one?” Joonmyun asked, lifting his plate.

The way Kris touched his hand was better than he could have asked for.

***

Joonmyun sprawled onto his back, laughing as Kris in dog form licked his face, or bathed more like until he was almost begging him to stop.

“You never licked me before,” he almost giggled out.

When he opened his eyes, Kris the man was above him. “No. I didn’t want you to associate our first kiss with dog breath.”

When Kris leaned down and kissed him in proof, it was a point Joonmyun could well understand.

***

Prompt: xiuhan- luhan going out of his way to try to convince minseok to dress up as a stripper... the success of the attempts is up to you :D

***

“But I am not-“

“You’d make a good one,” Lu Han observed, absolutely trying to to help and not put Minseok off of the idea, though how well he was succeeding he didn’t know. “You’d look good in all the outfits. It’s not like you’d have to dance with a pole. Though, you could. I wouldn’t mind.”

Minseok scowled at him, and Lu Han blinked in return.

“You do really amazing things with your hips, so?”

“But I’m not going to strip for anyone,” Minseok shot back. “This is supposed to be a party. I’m not going to end up there in whatever you’re thinking and rip my pants off or- I don’t even know what you are thinking, or what you’re thinking with.”

“My eyes, “ Lu Han drawled.

“You mean that’s how big your brain is? I see what the problem is now- Eep. Lu Han!”

Minseok had seen his attack coming and had gotten away mostly unscathed with just a towel to the back of the head.

But Lu Han sidled up to his back, and pulled Minseok back against his chest.

“Just think about it, okay. You could put on eyeliner, and show off your arms. Maybe a cute little vest and tight pants. You definitely wouldn’t strip there. That’s for me only.”

Minseok turned his head. “Let me guess, you’d want a strip tease when we got home.”

“Naturally.”

“And tell me, what are you going dressed as?”

Lu Han very nearly opened his mouth to say anything he wanted, but he remembered that year he said that when he’d ended up dressed as a caterpillar beside the excessively pleased Yixing-butterfly.

“We’ll work on that,” Lu Han said instead. He was sure they could come up with something great.

Prompt: halloween party exo maybe maybe suho is an unpopular student who gets an invite to the popular party by mistake and he gets dressed up w a mask by his friends (aka kyuhyun) and kai is like "who is thaaat"??

***

Joonmyun did not know many of the popular students. Oh sure, he knew of them since he actually went to school and possibly spent too much time there. The library at school was more familiar to him than the kitchen at home. But the popular kids didn’t really pay attention to him, and he was grateful. He wasn’t funny, or tall, or talented in sports. He got good grades, but that didn’t seem to be one of the reasons they were popular. His family was well off enough, but everyone’s family was who went to his school, so that was about as distinguishing as having hair.

And he was okay with that. He had his friends, and they got together, and it kept them out of the drama more or less. The popular crowd had parties that could only be gotten into by invitation, ones they had printed up and embossed and everything. Joonmyun had seen one, once, from across a classroom. It had been a girl nearly leaping out of her seat because of her first time invitation to one of the cool parties. That, he was pretty sure as he adjusted his glasses and refocused on his math homework, would never be him.

At least, until he got one of those envelopes in his backpack.

You are cordially invited, and everything. It didn’t have his name on the envelope, or on the inside, but it was in his backpack. His.

“Maybe they gave it to the wrong person,” he said, as Kyuhyun lifted it up and tried looking at it like it held some secret code.

“And what, like you’re going to go find this… Who’s giving the part again? Lee… Yeah, I don’t know her. You going to find her and say you think you got it by mistake?”

Joonmyun frowned, because that girl was never, ever alone, and that was asking for a year of mocking.

“Either I got it by mistake, or someone meant to give it to me. Why would they do that? Do they invite nobodies so they can humiliate them in their fancy pools?”

“Maybe they want to initiate you,” Kyuhyun said, waggling his eyebrows.

Joonmyun snorted. “Right. I should just keep it and use it as a bookmark. A souvenir.”

“You have to go, though.”

“I could be crashing their party. I wouldn’t have anyone to talk to. What if no one meant to invite me? Then I’d actually have to hide from them instead of just wanting to.”

“But it’s a masked party, who’d know? You could glide around and be mysterious and eat their food.”

“And what, come home having claimed Prince Charming?”

“Or Princess Charming. Or both, I mean, why choose.”

Joonmyun groaned and buried his face in his pillow.

***

Kyuhyun, and Joonmyun was being very polite about it, convinced Joonmyun to go.

“If it sucks, fake a polo emergency. Or say your dad tipped over his golf cart and you have to go dig him out of a ditch,” Kyuhyun said as he sat back and let Zhou Mi do something to Joonmyun’s hair. It smelled funny, but apparently looked nice. Gone was his thick glasses, and in their place was the contacts he reserved for things like weddings and meetings with his grandmother.

Joonmyun had a mask, which Zhou Mi had swore he hadn’t let Kyuhyun pick out, and a bedazzled jacket. The jacket had also been Zhou Mi’s fault, because Kyuhyun had “stolen” it with Joonmyun’s grudging consent.

“Now if you just wear nice shoes and pants, you’ll blend right in.”

“How do you know? What if everyone else is-“

“He may end up in his college classes in green fuzzy shoes, but he knows, don’t worry,” Kyuhyun said, smirking. Apparently they had some kind of in that Joonmyun wasn’t aware of, and when Joonmyun narrowed his eyes, Kyuhyun shook his head. “Nope, I wasn’t responsible for the invite. But it’s not every day my little buddy gets to be Cinderella.”

Joonmyun wasn’t sure if he squawked more because of the headlock or being called little.

***

Joonmyun furiously sucked on a mint after he was let out of the taxi. His mother had looked at him when he’d said he was going to a party and told him that was nice, and to be home by ten, and that was it. He half wished she’d grilled him and then when he said he was going to a stranger’s house - albeit a stranger he went to school with - made him stay home. Luckily with lurking he saw someone else arrive in their mask already, so he fastened his on and steeled his nerves, and tried to look like he belonged.

The girl who opened the door beamed at him like he was a precious friend and told him to have fun, and put a glass in his hand. Operation Get in the Door, success. And then he started away, hoping he was being normal. Everyone had probably come in and started scanning for people they knew. Some people had on masks that looked like birds or butterflies, others had on just plain old fancy filagree masks. Only one he saw had on something that looked scary.

Joonmyun clutched his glass a little closer and moved toward a wall where some people had congregated. He figured he could lean and look like he belonged, and maybe sip whatever was in his glass. Like Kyuhyun said, he could make an excuse at any time and leave. No one was required to stay. Oh, and then he really found his salvation, a large-screened TV playing a movie that a few people had pulled up around. He wedged himself into a plush chair with his unidentified drink and pretended to be fascinated, all the while people watching.

Actually, he felt a little like a spy, infiltrating a party full of strangers. But it was lonely, too. He wished Kyuhyun could’ve snuck in with him, that he had one person in the room that really wanted him there as opposed to however he’d gotten the invitation to begin with. The wrong bag at the wrong desk, maybe. Or maybe one random person was always added, to see if they stuck out like a sore thumb. Parties were best with people it was fun to be with, even if he did feel a little better seeing some of the smiling faces. They were having fun with people they liked. It wasn’t about being popular.

Joonmyun exchanged his empty punch for a different drink, holding it up a bit so he could examine the bubbles.

“Sparkling cider,” he heard in his ear. “For some reason they always lock up the champagne.”

It was amused, that voice, and though Joonmyun couldn’t identify a lot of the party by sight, he’d found one person he could. He knew that mouth, at the very least. Kim Jongin, one of the kids Joonmyun didn’t hear all that much about at school, except that he was friends with Oh Sehun, who was friends with all the older girls, so they always had invitations. Jongin was in one of Joonmyun’s classes, but that was it. He didn’t stick out in that class one way or the other. He had a reputation for being kind of distant and quiet, two things he was disproving to Joonmyun’s face as he kept staring.

Joonmyun’s awkward chuckle came a beat too late, and Jongin grinned. Oh, good. Right. Getting flustered because a kid in the grade under his was paying attention to him had not been on the list of things to do. See what went on, yes. Laugh at people dancing, yes. Eat a lot, yes. Get all coy because of a pretty mouth he sat across from in a lab, no.

He’d gotten food, between people using it as a place to chat in front of, and it wasn’t all that great in his opinion. And though people were dancing he didn’t want to accidentally get too close in case someone tried to pull him in because that would get ugly quick.

“Do I know you?”

Joonmyun’s mind froze. “Oh. Er. Um. Isn’t it supposed to be secret?”

He adjusted his mask for good measure, as though trying to make his point.

“I guess it is. Usually I can tell who people are though.”

Joonmyun didn’t blurt out something stupid like, But I got an invitation! because that would’ve been instantaneous proof he didn’t belong.

“Good to have a little mystery?” he said weakly instead.

And then Jongin laughed and left him alone. Joonmyun thought that was about it for him, the way his heart pounded, the way that everyone who looked at him after that caused him to tense, and every time Jongin talked to someone else he wondered if he was asking if they knew who Joonmyun was.

And then their hostess clapped her hands. “In fifteen minutes, the unmasking by the pool!”

Joonmyun’s stomach turned into a snow cone with saw blades. So he texted Kyuhyun, and fidgeted. And fidgeted more until his phone started vibrating. And that was his excuse, edging toward the front door with a frown, putting down his empty glass with his phone to his ear like he couldn’t hear or someone was telling him bad news.

“Sorry, I-“ he said, gesturing wildly at the door and his phone, and someone actually opened it and let him out. And he was free. He took a quick jog down the steps and onto the sidewalk, and then kept on walking.

“Did you make it out?” Kyuhyun asked, laughing.

“Yes, thank you,” Joonmyun said, calculating where he should get a taxi to pick him up or if he should just hike to the nearest subway stop to get the jitters out of his system.

“No one made you?”

“Almost, I think. But no.”

“Hey!” Joonmyun heard from behind him, and startled, half turning.

“I gotta go,” Joonmyun told Kyuhyun, shutting his phone. And he was mildly worried as Jongin came jogging up to him. He could run pretty quick if he had to.

“You took off,” Jongin said.

“Yeah, I got a call. Something came up at home,” Joonmyun said, trying to let regret seep into his voice. Something had, too, since Kyuhyun was going to be there demanding information.

“That’s too bad. Still not going to take off your mask?”

Joonmyun blinked, realizing he’d been walking down the sidewalk with it still on. He was glad that it covered most of his blush.

“It’s not time to take it off yet,” Joonmyun said, voice soft, half glancing behind himself to see how easily he could start backing away.

“Then from one stranger to another?”

Joonmyun wondered what Jongin meant, until he leaned in and pressed his lips against Joonmyun’s. The edges of their masks scraped, and Jongin kissed too hard, but he was grinning when he backed away.

“Wuh,” Joonmyun burbled.

“See you,” Jongin said, and darted back up the sidewalk.

Joonmyun blinked. “Buh?”

***

Kyuhyun had laughed at least half of forever when Joonmyun had relayed what had happened.

“Wow, you really are Cinderella, and your prince actually came after you.”

“Who just kisses someone they don’t know?” Joonmyun asked, both irate about it and strangely embarrassed, because even quick and hard, it had been a nice kiss. Not his first, but a nice kiss. So the party had been worth going to, just for the memories he made.

Joonmyun’s head was in his first class, that day English, when he approached his locker. He was used to having to muscle past people but seeing someone leaned up by his locker kind of caught his attention. And especially so when that someone was kind of tall and listening to music, utterly relaxed.

Why was Jongin at his locker. Why was Jongin- Maybe he’d figured out who Joonmyun was, that he’d been at the party. Maybe whoever had given Joonmyun the invite had ratted him out. Maybe- Joonmyun could wheel around and not bother going to his locker at all, but he couldn’t just start skipping classes so Jongin wouldn’t figure it out. It was time to face it. If Jongin had gotten it, he had. He’d deal. If not, then that was for the best.

Joonmyun cleared his throat, and Jongin opened his eyes, edging over two precious inches so Joonmyun could shove in some of his books. Though good manners took over everything.

“Good morning,” Joonmyun said, not actually meeting Jongin’s eyes and being glad that his hair was down and not gelled up, and that he had his glasses on. Everything that could be different, was, except for his face.

“Morning,” Jongin said. “Hey, did you take notes in chemistry yesterday?”

Of all the panicked worries, chemistry notes hadn’t even occurred to him. He sent a look out of a corner of his eye that had Jongin shrugging. That made total sense. Even though Jongin had been in class that day, sometimes notes weren’t taken with enthusiasm. Like say, if Jongin was chatting with his friends or drooling into his book. Joonmyun just noticed those things, even while he was frantically scribbling down information and underlining concepts.

“Sure, let me get my notebook out. We can photocopy them in-“

“Can I get them after school?” Jongin asked, interrupting. “I have class pretty soon.”

“That’s fine?” So did he, actually.

“Cool,” Jongin said. “I’ll wait at the front gate for you. I’ll buy you bubble tea as thanks, okay?”

Joonmyun was about to open his mouth to protest that Jongin didn’t have to, when Jongin grinned and killed all of his thought processes.

“And we can talk about the party,” was a promise Jongin made, before he waggled his fingers and walked away.

It could’ve been sinister. It could’ve been a threat, or blackmail. But it wasn’t.

“Did your friends not want to come?” Joonmyun asked through nearly numb lips as Jongin peeled off from a mixed group and beelined for him.

“Nah, they knew I had a date.”

And then Jongin sent him a look, kind of like a puppy aiming a look at a piece of food in someone’s hand.

“How’d you know it was me?” Joonmyun asked, still mystified.

And Jongin squirmed and laughed at the same time. “I knew,” he said, and took Joonmyun’s arm as they crossed the street.

***

Prompt: could I have an EXO Halloween party with jongin changing into a girl and everyone hits on him thinking it's a costume?

***

“Nice costume,” Baekhyun said, leering at his chest.

Jongin blanched, clutching at the turtleneck. No. Wrong. Her chest. She. She was a she now. How, she didn’t know, but she was. She’d woken up these…extra bits, and lacking others and that was weird. She kept pressing her thighs together and nothing felt right, nothing. She’d kept herself hidden most of the day because she was trying to figure out what to do about it. Logic wasn’t the strongest part of that plan, though, because when she thought of everyone getting together and being able to tell everyone and maybe possibly get a hug, she wasn’t counting on emerging to Baekhyun’s face painted a shade of green and gray not found among the living. Kyungsoo had on a Superman shirt under a suit jacket and a hysterical giggle was swallowed. Joonmyun had on little angel wings, and Chanyeol had on…moose horns? Maybe?

Jongin had come out in what she thought was okay, being a chin-high sweater, and the loosest pants she could find. That didn’t hide the fact that there were breasts or the part where her hair had waved weirdly around her face in a way she wasn’t used to since she’d been young.

“You’re definitely going to get the prize,” Chanyeol whispered, ogling her and patting her butt as he went by.

She actually froze at that, meeping and backing away before Jongdae actually reached out to touch and see what her shirt had been stuffed with. Nothing! Nothing but flesh and whatever else. The tank top she’d put on to try and contain them didn’t feel at all up to the task and she wished furiously for some kind of industrial bra.

“You’re really pretty,” Tao said, blinking at her.

Really not helping.

“Er,” she mumbled, and tried edging over, nearly crashing right over Kris and squeezing right past Sehun before he could open his mouth or grab her. Yixing was safe, she reasoned, at least until Yixing looked her over, his mouth dropping open.

She pivoted and then kept on going because Lu Han absolutely was not.

A little freaked out, she perched on the edge of a chair, going still as an arm went around her shoulders.

“You here alone?” Minseok joked at her.

And that did it. She stood up.

“I turned into a girl!” Jongin shouted, and everyone went silent.

Chanyeol’s jaw was dropping, Kyungsoo’s head tilting to the side, and Joonmyun bolted straight up.

“What?!”

(She got a few apologies after, like Jongdae mumbling that he wouldn’t have tried to grope her if he’d known, and Tao turning fourteen shades of red when Jongin had created a Yixing-and-Joonmyun fortress. Everyone had questions, and she’d had no answers, and Joonmyun had petted her hair and looked serious. No one made jokes or tried to hit on her then, probably because they knew she’d take someone apart, but also there’d be ten others to take them down. For as long as she was a girl, however long that’d be, that was a pretty comforting thought - having friends she could trust.)

***