#fall shenanigans

The Senobium had such a habit of letting Vere go free on the worst of days, he had a feeling it was fully intentional.

He shuddered, trying pull his long sleeves closer to his body like that would warm him up. Eridia was never not a soggy, rot-smelling swamp of a city, but with the shift of the seasons, both of those factors could only get worse. He put a hand over his nose, sniffling uncomfortably.

Damn cold, damn approaching winter, damn ever closer snow.

He stooped under a small stall to observe the seasonal goods, still steaming and emitting a pleasantly spicy smell.

"I'll just take some glazed buns."

"Excellent choice my good sir! Two silver pieces for three!"

"Thank you."

His pastries in hand, he started wandering around the streets, trying to find a drier place to eat in peace, but with such a cold, humid weather, most terraces were reduced to a puddle meeting place, if they were even installed outside.

The ginger exhaled sharply, keeping his precious snacks close as he wandered into the streets, the humid air weighing down his ears.

Just as he was about to get frustrated at this waste of time, he noticed the underside of a particularly proeminent balcony with a bench he could comfortably settle under. He hurriedly sat on, unwrapping his pastries and enthusiastically preparing to take a bite, but the weather seemed to have other ideas.

Just right as his lips parted, a sudden gust of wind blew the contents of a nearby rain gutter all over him and his fresh, delicious handmade buns.

"FUCK!", he screamed out, immediately springing back onto his feet, suppressing a shiver. He stayed frozen in place a second, not knowing what to do with himself. So what was he supposed to do, if the universe was so hellbent on fucking over his day out? Was he supposed to go back to the senobium, to his cell? Have his snacks confiscated, be chained inside, like every day, just because at least he'd be spared more misery?

No, he'd rather swallow his own tongue and die. In a mute rage, all the fur on his ears and tail standing out, he stomped out in a random direction, crushing his pastries in his hold. 

The streets kept changing and shifting as Vere spiralled further, trying to chase away the gnawing feeling of helplessness threatening to to drown out his every thought. Who cared where he was going, it didn't matter. Eridia was just a bigger cage he was confined to outside of his cage.

And yet despite him knowing all that, he couldn't bring himself to just give up, he may have been chained to this place but he refused to give up and bow down. Perhaps too foolish, perhaps too angry. He'd find a way to break out, and when he did, the fury he would unleash on the Senobium would leave its mark. Hopefully he could manage to tear out its gangrenous roots out of the deepest parts of the world and erase it.

Only once he realised there was no more streets to walk into in front of him, had his anger started to die down. He realised he had stormed into a small parc, closed off from most of the city. The pavement had stopped, fading into a dirt path slithering among the trees. He sighed, exasperated. Since he'd walked all the way there he might as well take shelter under the sparse folliage and stew on his plans to destroy the world.

Sitting down at the roots of the trees after a bit of meandering, his heart suddenly felt a bit lighter. He'd forgotten how softly leaves and branches of a tree bristled against each other under a gentle breeze. After all, it'd been a long time since he had the freedom to come unwind here, been allowed even less than a day of respite. He sighed some more, angrily bringing out his first pastry and sinking his teeth into it. It wasn't as warm and airy anymore, and definitely a bit watery, but in the moment it tasted like the best thing he could've eaten.

Taking on the second one, he softened a bit. Maybe he was becoming too tame, he didn't feel like getting angry. His surroundings felt too peaceful to be disturbed and destroyed today, and there was no one near he could take out his anger on, not that he'd feel like doing it anyway.

He couldn't deny that the third one was finished too quickly, and he found himself wishing he had more. He threw the greasy paper in an abandoned composting bag with a sigh. He wouldn't call his outing a success in any capacity so far, but at least he didn't feel miserable, just lightly unsatisfied.

Pacing for a bit while trying to come up with what interesting thing he should definitely do before they'd start looking for him, his foot landed on something slippery on the floor and he paused. Leaves, of course. Spotting a small pile it probably slipped from, he nonchallantly put his foot in the middle of it, watching it sink into it and then slowly moving it around to scatter the pile all over the grass. Not really much of a destruction, but petty enough that he felt compelled to stoop down to it.

Once he was satisfied with his work, he noticed another small pile near another tree. Letting out a short jubilating sound, he quickly ran over to it and kicked it, sending leaves flying in all directions, some of the leaves getting kicked up high enough to be picked up by the breeze and diappearing out of view.

His tail started to wag at the sight, glee spreading in his veins. Oh, he absolutely needded to keep going now.

Weaving through the trees, running through the path and dirtying his boots in the process, he meticulously kicked through each and every piles, until he reached the deepest parts of the parc, where the biggest of them all laid, still undisturbed. It was so big it reached his waist.

His tail started to thump furiously as he got a very dumb, but very amusing idea. A single kick wouldn't get it down, or even multiple. But maybe if he put his whole weight on it...

Taking a step back, he erupted into a small sprint, lunging at the pile. He crashed into it at full force, sending tons of leaves flying as the ones not kicked up cushioned his fall. Getting back on on his knees, shaking his head vigorously to get the leaves out, he took a second to stare at his hands, sinking deep into the leaves and the grass below. That wasn't normal behaviour coming from him, but he didn't mind. It was quite fun.

He turned around towards the sky, laying down on the leaves before shimmying around, sending leaves flying around just to see them hover in the air and fall back down. How much time had even passed since he started? He truly didn't care.

He was so distracted he didn't even pay attention to the obvious footsteps on the dirt path getting closer and closer, until the sound of a choked up snicker right next to him snapped him out of his transe.

Cheecks burning bright red with shame, Vere turned around to see Ais, looking at him with a bemused but vaguely entertained expression. His lit cigarette was barely hanging onto his parted lips, and for a second, the ginger wondered how he managed to keep it lit among the light rain steaming over them. But his mind quickly snapped back to the embarassing position he had been caught in, and he tried to come up with something-- anything, to justify how he ended up here.

"What are you doing, can't you see I tripped? Won't you lend me a hand and help me up?"

The way his voice was wavering under the other monster's crimson eyes made him want to scream.

"You, tripped?"

"Why else would I be on the ground?"

"If you'd tripped you have already been up pretending it didn't happen.", he mumbled, a small smile lightly stretching the corners of his mouth.

The way heat rose up to his cheeks, he could tell his face had gotten ridiculously red.

"What's the implication here?"

"I dunno, why were you lying on the ground rolling in leaves?"

"I-I wasn't rolling in them--"

Ais threw his head forward, stiffling a laugh, and despite his hand flying to his mouth, his cigarette fell to the ground and slowly went out, but he didn't even seem to notice.

"Come on. We know each other enough by now. Do you think I'd laugh at you?"

Vere stopped moving, halfway through the motion on shaking off the leaves caught in and around his ears. Before he had the chance to do anything else, the raven had sat down with a grunt, and let himself fall back onto the scattered pile of leaves, closing his eyes.

"This is pretty nice, actually."

The tension the ginger had been unknowingly under suddenly evaporated, and his ears finally went back up. Taking advantage of the monster having closed his eyes, he laid back down, head turned towards him, basking into his serene expression.

"Do you actually think so?", he said, trying to hold onto his suspicion despite knowing it was futile.

"Do you think I'd lie about this?"

"Hmph. You're not above holding off  to make someone comfortable."

"Would that be a bad thing?"

"I'd rather you be honest."

"Well, rest assured that I honestly like this."

"Like I'd believe that."

"You're allowed to just enjoy the moment without a layer if irony you know."

"Were you under the impression I didn't know that?"

"It was a subtle way to get you to shut up, but you're being difficult."

"You like me being difficult."

"I do, but I appreciate the silence even more.", Ais eventually mumbled, opening an eye and grabbing a handful of leaves and scattering them all over the fox.

"And now you're not getting it just for that.", Vere hissed, fully unable to hide the smile plastered all over his face, clutching his own, bigger handful of leaves and brandishing it above his head as a threat.

"You give me no choice, do you?"

Rolling onto his side in an instant, Both monsters immediately launched at each other, leaves furiously flying around all around them. Grabbing each other with pure glee, shoving wet piles of wet leaves on each other and tackling each other in puddles in the grass, without a care in the world.

Vere didn't know how much time they spent tussling before he realised he didn't regret letting himself go today.

Ais suddenly grabbed him, shoving him gently against the trunk of a tree.

"Does that mean I win?", he teasted.

"Interesting thta your version of winning always involves dominating a man, huh?"

"I don't know what you're talking about.", he whispered, leaning close so their faces touched.

A small amused snort suddenly rang near, and he froze, looking frantically around for who he'd have to kill to keep this a secret from anyone else.

His ears flattened and he let out a rageful growl, staring at that wretched, fucking doctor, hiding his smile behind his hand, trying to look innocent.

"Good afternoon, Ais, Vere."

He must have been really amused if he even forgot to ignore him, and that was not something the monster enjoyed in any way in this situation.

"Hey doc. Uhh. this can stay between us, right?", AIs asked, letting out a nervous chuckle.

"Of course."

"And you better stick to it.", Vere added.

Kuras' eyes narrowed slightly, but his smile didn't falter.

"Rest easy, I have no desire to tarnish whatever reputation you may have."

The ginger scrunched up his nose, feeling a tint of insult to his remarks, but decided to not escalate the situation-- Allmother forbid taking on whatever he was, durign his free time of all times. The doctor didn't seem to want to linger anyway, quickly shutting off the book he had laid open on his lap, adressing a curt nod before walking away, pristine white coat wholly unsullied unlike both monsters, now staring at each other shivering, dumbfounded, covered in mud and leaves.

"I think we can also keep this between us", Vere whispered, a smile starting to appear on his lips despite himself.

"Just another secret to add the pile, nothing much",  Ais shrugged, pushing his hair back with his hand, "do you want to warm up with a cup of tea back at my place? My treat."

You bit your lip as tears threatened to spill out once more, snuggling closer to your boyfriend and biting back a sob. “Everything is just so...it’s too much!” You cried into his shirt, giving up on holding anything back as Hop held you close.

“It’s okay. Let it out.” Hop whispered in your hair, running his fingers through it as he gently massaged comforting circles against your spine. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.”

You didn’t know how long you two sat there, his hand against your spine and you crying into his chest. Eventually though, your tears began to slow, and you soon found yourself just leaning into him, tired but not nearly as stressed.

“Feel better?” Hop asked softly, smiling when you nodded. “I do...thank you, Hop.” You told him, going to sit up, only for Hop to hug you tighter. “Nope, I’m not letting you go until I properly get my cuddles!” He told you firmly, making you smile. “It’s kinda hard to cuddle when the room’s so cold, though.” You mused, not really making any moves to leave.

“Hmm, good point. Oh! Idea! You grab the fluffy blankets, I’ll get the cocoa going!” He told you, sitting back so he could look at you properly. “Let’s have a movie night!”

It didn’t take much to convince you. The idea of warm blankets, a movie and cuddling with Hop was all you needed to be told. The two of you set to work, you bringing fluffy blankets and pillows you knew he loved, him turning on the radio and singing to a song in the kitchen as he warmed up the cocoa, the oven going followed by the sweet smell of-

“Are you making cinnamon rolls?” You asked, feeling your chest squeeze with anticipation. “Of course! Sonia finally gave me the recipe for them! It only took 3 years of begging and lab work to get it!” Hop laughed, grinning at you over his shoulder. In the mixing bowl he added the ingredients for the frosting, singing once more as he got to work.

Putting down the blankets, you joined him in the kitchen, helping out where you could. It wasn’t long before the two of you were having a mini concert, singing into wooden spoons and dancing about to the sound of the mixer running. As the oven dinged signaling the finished buns, Hop dipped you back, making you laugh and easing the stresses of the day away one twirl at a time.

~~~

Soon you found yourself cuddled into Hop, Cocoa in hand and enveloped in warmth, the blankets pulled up to your chest and the pillows tucked around you comfortably. Your favorite movie played as Hop snuggled closer, resting his head against yours and smiling softly. “I love you, (Y/N).” He whispered into your ear, making you blush and glow. “I love you too. Thank you so much for everything.” You whispered back, turning around and kissing him gently.

The rest of the night was spent enjoying eachothers company, Hop reminding you with every gentle gesture that you are loved and appreciated. You couldn’t ask for a better boyfriend.

“Where’s the fun in having a giant pile of leaves if you can’t play in it?” Gabe reasoned. 

Robbie just rolled his eyes and went back to raking. 

A rattling, clunking sound pulled Robbie’s attention as a rusted out old van groaned down the street and into his next door neighbor’s driveway. The driver hopped out, a woman with short, dark hair, dark makeup and an all-black outfit. She tugged open the back doors, hoisted out a large box, and hauled it into her house. Robbie couldn’t tell exactly what was in the box, but it appeared to be something black. Shocking, given the sulky, goth-y appearance of their new neighbor. 

Robbie had only spoken to her once, when he and Gabe greeted her when she first moved in at the beginning of the month. Gabe had baked a plate of cookies for her and passed them over with an exuberant “Welcome to the neighborhood!” She didn’t really respond, other than to look a bit startled. To be fair, she looked exhausted; moving took a lot out of a person. Robbie was the less sociable brother, but he still had manners. He stuck out a hand and introduced himself.

The woman eyed him up and down and said, “Daisy.” Gabe was the kind to invite strangers in for a chat when first meeting someone, which ‘Daisy’ did not seem to inclined to do. Robbie chanced a quick glance over her shoulder and saw every surface that wasn’t covered in boxes was covered in black or skeletons and he realized he probably didn’t want her to anyway. 

Beyond that, neither neighbor made an effort to interact with the other. The front of Daisy’s house gradually started to resemble what Robbie had seen of the inside. Angry-looking skulls hung around the front door, with more complete skeletons and tombstones strewn about the yard. Giant, fake spiders dangled from the tree and roof and wispy cobwebs covered the shrubs. 

“I think she’s a witch,” Gabe had said, when more spooky decorations appeared in the yard. 

“She’s not a witch,” Robbie had replied, “It’s October. She’s just really into Halloween.”

“Then why does she only wear black?”

Robbie just rolled his eyes. 

~~~~~~

Robbie realized there were a number of other boxes in the back of the van and wondered if he should offer to help Daisy take them inside. She didn’t seem like the type to accept help from a stranger, though, so he thought better of it. The door clicked behind Daisy and Robbie turned his attention back to the leaves. 

Only to find Gabe’s eyes boring into him. 

“…What?”

“I saw that,” Gabe said with a smug smirk. 

“Saw what?”

“You checking out the neighbor. She’s cute. Didn’t know you were into goth chicks, though.”

Robbie sputtered. “She’s not a ‘goth chick’—and I’m not into h—“

Daisy’s door swung open again and she came out for another box. Robbie determinedly stabbed at the leaves with the rake, but he couldn’t fight the urge to glance towards Daisy. 

And it turned out she was already looking at him. Well, something behind him anyway. He caught a twinkle of something in her eyes before they swiveled and met his. Robbie knew he was caught and couldn’t just look away, so he offered an awkward smile and wave. Daisy tipped him a mock salute and turned her attention back to her boxes. 

“What was that?” Gabe asked. 

“What was what?”

“That was the most awkward way to pick up a girl I’ve ever seen.”

“Well, I wasn’t trying to pick her up,” Robbie defended. 

Gabe snorted and went back to helping rake the leaves. 

A few moments later, a voice echoed down the street. “Hey, Gabe!”

A group of boys Robbie recognized from Gabe’s class ran down the street towards them. 

“Mr. Barton’s gonna put a pumpkin in a catapult and he said we could watch! Wanna come?” one of them said. 

“Hell yeah I do!” Gabe replied. He turned to Robbie, who waved him off. 

“Just stay behind the catapult, okay?” Robbie teased. 

Without another word, Gabe was wheeling towards Mr. Barton’s house with his friends. 

Finally, the leaves were piled up nicely enough to get bagged up, so Robbie went to go fetch a bag. He dug through the crates in the garage, but they weren’t there. After a few minutes, he decided to go check in the house. He finally dug them out from underneath the sink (why the yard waste bags were under the sink, Robbie had no clue) and headed back outside. 

He passed by the front window and noticed someone in his yard. He stepped up to the window to get a better look. 

It was Daisy. The door of her van was still hanging open and there were still boxes in the back, but she casually strolled through his yard like she was just sight-seeing. She glanced around surreptitiously and Robbie ducked behind the wall. A mischievous grin split Daisy’s face and she took a running leap into the massive leaf pile. 

Robbie just blinked. He had never even seen her smile before. 

He grabbed his trash bags and headed back outside. He peered around the edge of the garage at the leaf pile, which was now wiggling. A low giggle drifted out of the center of the pile. Robbie smirked and headed over to the pile. When he was a few feet away, a head popped out of the leaves. 

Daisy sighed with a satisfied smirk on her lips and pushed herself back to her feet. She dusted herself off and tried to push the leaves back into their pile, but froze when she noticed Robbie standing there. 

Neither spoke for several moments. Then, 

“Uh…..hey,” Daisy said, casually. 

“Hey.”

“How long have you been there?”

“Not long.”

“Okay, ‘cause I, uh…fell,” Daisy lied. Poorly. 

“Right. How did you fall all the way over here from your car?” Robbie teased. 

Daisy flushed. “Well, you see, I dropped my receipt and then the wind blew it over here and my shoe was untied…”

Robbie blinked slowly and leveled her with the same look he gave Gabe when Gabe claimed the girl who drove him home from school was just a friend: the I’m Not Buying It. 

“Okay, the truth is that this is the first fall I actually have a yard and I don’t have a big tree in it like you do, but fall is my favorite season and my favorite thing to do in fall is jump in giant leaf piles,” Daisy confessed. 

“If you want to jump in a leaf pile you’re free to come rake it yourself.”

Daisy’s eyes widened. “Oh god, you’re right. I’m sorry, you busted your butt on that and I just—“

“I was kidding,” Robbie replied. 

Daisy’s blinked for a moment, then her face relaxed and she smirked at him. “Well, your ‘kidding’ face is no different from your ‘I’m tired of raking leaves face, so it’s hard to tell.”

“Spend a little more time with me and you’ll figure out the difference,” Robbie countered. Daisy’s eyebrows quirked up. “I mean— not that you have to, but like—if you want sometime—Gabe and I do homemade cider and—it’s not that great—but…”

Daisy smiled. “I’ll keep it in mind. I should probably finish unloading my car.” 

She turned to start walking back to her van.

“Wait!” Robbie called. Daisy spun to face him again looking expectant. “You have a leaf in your hair.”

Robbie reached out and plucked the crumpled orange leaf from Daisy’s dark hair. He couldn’t decide if she looked embarrassed or disappointed, but she flashed him a smirk. 

“Thanks. Let me know about the cider thing.”

Robbie watched her go until she was back in her house and then turned his attention back to the leaf pile with a smile on his face. A few minutes into shoving leaves in a bag he froze. Wait…did he just invite Daisy over for a date? And did Daisy say yes?