I made my way to the living room, where my backpack was waiting by the front door. It was a little more packed than usual, which made the walk to Rohan’s house feel just that much harder. Hopefully the extra work was going to be worth it in the end. I looked through my items as quietly as I could, pulling out my pajamas and change of clothes for the next day and placing them on an end table for the moment. At the very bottom of my bag was where the goldmine was. I had planned this weeks in advance as sort of a surprise for my boyfriend, though it was going to be a bit more of a challenge considering that he didn’t even know what day it was. The first and most important item I brought was a costume, a cute witch outfit that I’d found while shopping with Yukako. She’d pointed it out casually and I fell in love with it at first sight. It was a simple black dress and big floppy witch hat, with some cute thigh high socks. The dress was long enough to be mostly appropriate, but short enough to still be cute.

Excitedly, I changed into the outfit. The blinds were closed as tight as could be so I wasn’t worried about anyone seeing. All I was worried about was Rohan possibly walking out and seeing, but I knew he probably went right back to work the moment I walked out of the room. I didn’t blame him, he wanted to get a lot done so he didn’t have to worry about sending in manuscripts for a while. This entire thing was mostly just a way to help him unwind, as well as relive a bit of my own nostalgia about the day. Halloween was my favorite holiday when I was a kid, because I got candy for acting strange instead of being scolded for it. Once I was finally able to adjust the outfit enough for it to be comfortable, I started pulling out the other items at the bottom of my bag.

The first was a bag of candy, specifically a bag of both regular and fruity Tootsie Rolls. I wasn’t sure whether or not Rohan had tried them, but I remember them being a favorite from when I was young. They were pretty hard to come by, but luckily one of my American friends managed to send some over in a package just a few days prior. The second item was a collection of VHS tapes, both movies I’d already had and a few buys from the video store. It was a bunch of horror movies, at least enough to last us through the night. They varied in tone from fun slasher films to psychological nightmares. I saved the most messed up ones for the latest at night, and for the very bottom of the pile. He’d shown me a few movies that kept me up before, and I wanted to get back at him (and possibly get some cuddles out of it). Once all of my stuff for the night was taken out, I put the normal items back in the bag to avoid a mess. Then, I placed the bags of candy and VHS tapes on the couch in his living room. If things went well, that’s where we were going to end up for the night.

That was, if I actually managed to convince him to get out of his office. I knew that was going to take a lot, and I could feel my hands start to tremble as I approached his work space. If this went badly, I knew I would just be greatly embarrassing myself. I had no idea how to be cute for him like this, I was sure that I had parts of the outfit on wrong or that my hair was a mess. Once I was standing in the doorframe, I had to take a moment to compose myself. No matter what he would at least be entertained by what I was about to do, and even if I embarrassed myself at least it would be a funny memory for later on. At least that’s what I told myself so I could go into his room and confront him instead of run back and instantly change back into my regular clothes.

“Rohan…” I kept my voice quieter than before, though heightened my pitch a little bit. Slowly, I made my way over to him and slid my hands back over his shoulders.

“Oh? Are you back from whatever you were doing?” He didn’t turn to look at me, as he was finishing up the final page for one of his chapters.

“Y-yeah, and I have something to show you.” I rubbed his shoulders gently for a moment, giggling when I felt him lean into my hands.

“And what exactly is tha--” He was stunned into silence the moment he turned around and saw me.

I had no idea what to do while he scanned every inch of me, so I just stood there nervously. Even though he had drawn me before, even while wearing certain outfits for him, it never had this kind of tone to it. The look on his face and the way he was breathing made it clear to me that I had wowed him much more than I expected to. Just feeling him staring at me was making me blush, the moment he stood up from his chair and approached me I could barely stand still. He placed a hand on my hip, the other cupping my face as he leaned in to kiss me. Until he looked behind me and saw an untied bow.

“You’re so messy.” He lightly scolded, reaching behind me and very neatly tying the bow.

“A-at least compliment me before you fix my outfit…” I whined, leaning into him.

“I assumed that getting up and starting to kiss you was enough.” He finished with the bow, but kept his arms behind me as he pulled me into a hug.

“Y-you have to say what you think too! It’s only fair!” I pressed my head against his chest and looked up at him with the same puppy dog eyes as before.

“Well, everything else about your outfit was put together perfectly. Your socks aren’t even falling down.” He kept one hand on my back, while the other started to stroke my hair that was visible with the hat on.

“That’s not what I meant!” I playfully pinched his cheek, while trying to keep a straight face.

Without saying a word, he picked me up and placed me on another desk in the room. I squeaked, never being able to get used to how easily he could pick me up. One of his hands was gently placed on my hip, almost to the point where I couldn’t feel it. His other hand cupped my cheek so I could look him directly in the eyes. My entire body was starting to flush at that point, he rarely looked at me so closely. I could see every detail of his emerald green eyes, they always seemed to slightly glow no matter what the lighting around him was. My breathing got a bit more uneven when he started to rub my hip, every touch he made was electrifying.

“You want me to compliment you, right? So needy.” His voice was at a lower pitch than before, sending shivers down my spine.

“Y-yeah, of course I do! I dressed up for you and everything…” I tried to make it seem like he wasn’t affecting me, but I was failing hard.

“You looked good enough to distract me from my work.” His hand started to slowly work its way up my side, and I tried not to squirm from the feeling.

“Hmm...not quite enough. I-it’s embarrassing to get all dressed up like this so I wanna feel like a princess.” I felt no shame for being so demanding, despite how flustered I was.

“If I were to tell you exactly how you’re making me feel you’re gonna be much more than embarrassed, brat.” He smirked, fully leaning in and kissing me on the lips.

Once I finally felt him kiss me it was all the complimenting I needed. I could feel how much he liked the outfit on me from the way his hands trailed along my curves. That was only the way he touched me while I was posing for his art. It was clear that he wanted to appreciate me without damaging my outfit in any way. When I felt just how intense and deep his kiss was, I knew I wanted to dress up for him more often. I was breathless and dizzy when we disconnected, and part of me wanted to just continue from where we started. Yet, I didn’t want to waste the night at hand. If I enticed Rohan anymore I knew exactly where the rest of our night was going to go.

“T-that’s…” I had to take a few breaths, still reacting from his kiss. “That’s not all I have to show you.”

“I still don’t know what’s gotten you so riled up.” He looked back at his work for a moment, before looking back at me with a more determined expression. “So please, show me.”

I got off of the desk and grabbed his hand, taking him into the living room. There was a little bit of nervousness about how he would feel about doing something much more casual after our moment in his office, but I didn’t want to let that get to me. All of my worries went away when I heard his gentle chuckle at the setup in his living room.

“Ah, okay I remember now.” He squeezed my hand reassuringly. “It’s Halloween, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is!” I pulled him into a hug, nearly shaking with excitement. “Why else would I be dressed like a witch?”

“I just assumed that you knew what my preferences were.” He looked off to the side for a moment, and I could see a hint of a blush on his face.

“You like cute witch girls? That’s good to know for later…” I stuck my tongue out at him playfully, before nearly pulling him over to the couch with me.

“H-hey! Don’t get any ideas, I just like the aesthetic!” His cheeks were fully pink at that point, but they subsided when he looked down at everything I had brought.

“Do you like it? I kinda missed celebrating Halloween so I brought some of my favorite snacks and movies so you could try them out! It’s alright if you don’t wanna…” I started to get self conscious again as I looked through the movies, some of them were really cheesy.

“I’ve only seen a few of these...and this candy looks sugary enough to keep us up for a while. Oh, why not? I’ll indulge you, but only because you went through all this trouble.”

I couldn’t help but squeal with excitement when I heard him say that. The last thing I was expecting was for my dumb plan to actually work. Now I could watch a bunch of my favorite movies, and snuggle with my boyfriend. I could barely contain myself as I got out the first movie and put it in the VCR, I decided to start with Halloween because it was a good mix of scary and fun. Rohan had already opened up the bag and was beginning to open one of the candies once I saw down next to him.

“These taste like pure sugar. How were you not bouncing off the walls from these when you were a kid?” He instantly pulled out another one and opened it.

“I totally was bouncing off the walls! But that was the fun of Halloween for me. I could act however I wanted and it was...I dunno, normal I guess?” I took out one and opened it happily, instantly flashing back to memories from my childhood when I tasted it again.

“That seems like it would be heaven for a child. Especially if she was anything like you right now.” He put his arm around me, bringing me a bit closer to him in the process.

“Rohan…” I leaned against him, looking up at him lovingly.

“What is it?” He was trying to both focus on me and the movie at the same time.

“Thank you.” I gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “You really didn’t need to do this just for me.”

“No need to thank me. All I’m giving you is my time, which...I want to be spending with you anyway.” He gave me another kiss in return, smiling warmly at me.

  I held the small bottle containing the unknown purple liquid between my fingers and gazed at it.

“We can't let this fall into the wrong hands.”

Arno gently took it into his hand and lifted it upwards and gave it a wee shake.

“It's probably harmless,” he proposed.

“We should be heading back to Café,” I advised.

“Right.”

  The cool breeze left goose bumps on my skin, even with a coat on. Making our way through the door of the Café, it seemed to have been closed for a while now. Arno reached for his pocket watch in his robe and clicked it open.

He peered down at me as he uttered, “we should be making our way to the room.”

  Before we made our way up the substantial stairs, Arno who yet again peer down at me, asked for my hand with the corners of his mouth rising. Without hesitation, I took his hand and made our way up the Café’s stairs. He opened the door to our room and went to his desk, letting go of my hand. I realized that I was caught up in Arno’s company that I've forgotten where the strange liquid was placed.

I gasped,“Where's the liquid?”

“Relax ma cherie, it's here in my pocket,” as he laughed and pulled it out of his coat pocket. I felt the weight lift of my shoulders and began to change out of my assassin robes and into something more comfortable.

  I heard a quick pop of maybe a bottle or some sort. I froze and turned to see Arno drink the purple liquid with the cork still in his left hand.

I closed my eyes in disbelief and dictated, “I know you didn't just drink that to its entirety, Arno Dorian.”

He stared at me seeing that my eyes were now open and not to impressed with him.

“I said we shouldn't let this fall into the wrong hands, I didn't think that meant you,” I ranted.

Arno placed the cork back onto the bottle and put it in the far right drawer of his desk.

“Tu voit, nothing is happening,” he quoted.

I gave him a quick conceded reply, “Perhaps you're right, I'm sorry I got a bit mad at you.”

“You're kind of cute when you're mad, Tay, with you being much smaller than me,” he jested.

“You are lucky that I didn't get really adorable then,” I cajoled.

  Arno began to undress out of his blue robes and many waist coats. While he undressed into something more appropriate, I was already waiting for him to wrap his arms around him. Arno left his boots by the foot of the bed and wrapped his right arm around my waist, allowing me to be the smaller spoon.

“J’taime,” I whispered.

“J’taime aussi mon amour.”

Arno knew I was already tired so he didn't say much more before I fell asleep.

  I was woken by the sound of a beam braking. Before I did anything, I reached for my glasses on the table beside our bed and unfolded them onto my face. I recognized that Arno isn't beside me and that there a claw marks near the ladder that leads to the attic. I only imagine the worse being that something supernatural took my Arno. My feet gently pressed against the wood floor and I reached for a candle and lit it with a nearby match. Before I began investigating, a broad, at least six foot tall, bipedal wolf jumped in front of me. I was expecting an attack or something but, no, it starred into my eyes. Those large yellow eyes said something that I didn't quite understand yet but, it wasn't an alarming feeling. Then I noticed a familiar looking ponytail tied off with a red hair ribbon. My eyes couldn't have deceived me but I cleaned my glasses’ lenses to be sure. This enormous beast couldn't be Arno, or at least I thought.

  “Arno?,” I echoed. The werewolf whimpered to me, leaving me almost heartbroken knowing that it was him. Arno lowered down to my eye level and I was almost hesitant to place my hand on his furred face.

“You'll get through this,” I mumbled with a tear streaming down my cheek. I wiped the tear off my cheek with the tip of my finger and headed towards Arno’s desk. Arno followed me his desk while I began searching for books on lycanthropy. Being the researcher I am, I find some valuable information.

“Ah, here it is,” I mumble to myself. “Just need some Mountain Ash…”

  In one whole hour, an antidote was brewed and ready to be served. About a half cup was put into glass and I handed it to Arno to drink. He was sitting on the floor with the antidote in his hand and he gazed at it and drank it rather eagerly, I won't blame him though. We stared at each other waiting in anticipation, hoping this would work. A minute passed and I saw how Arno began to twitch as he began to transform back to human form.

  It didn't take long for the transformation to end. Arno peered down at himself to see that his shirt and breeches were torn up and he pressed his palm to his head.

“Ahh, mal a la tete,” he groaned.

I jabbered his name and placed myself beside him as I wrapped my arm around his.

“Are you alright?,” I proposed

“I'm fine, just a bit of a headache. That's all,” he replied. “But, what exactly happened? All I remember is waking up and now I'm on the floor with ripped breeches.”

“Well,” I added, “you kind of turned into a werewolf.”

“What?!,” he shouted.

I could only nod at him since there wasn't much more to explain.

“Just promise me something?,” I muttered, “Don't drink unknown substances again?”

He giggled before giving me a reply, “oui ma chérie.”

He stood up and put his arms around me to pick me up bridal style. Arno laid me on our bed and pressed his lips to my forehead and laid beside me. I was pushed closer to him as he ran his fingers through my hair.