baby's first halloween

"I simply refuse to cosplay."

"Aww, c'mon, Luni!"

Northern's ideas for the other bayfox kept being shot down, although she couldn't really blame him. He wasn't super into Halloween in the first place even though the holiday matched his vibe quite well.

The quartet was hanging out at Northern's house, planning and/or making their costumes. Mione was vibrating excitedly in her cute little witch costume. She must've really liked it, she didn't normally emote this much. Luni had to admit, it was adorable.

Nachi must've still been off in the living room, using the small amount of art supplies to "make" his costume. He was nothing if not lazy, so Luni didn't have much faith in his abilities.

"Look, we'll do matching costumes. I'll do whatever you want, but you gotta come with us."

Northern was trying so hard. Luni's walls were starting to crack - he wanted to have fun. It was a pleasant feeling. He was just… still not very used to it. He had only truly experienced it when he'd joined this friend group.

… Perhaps that was a little dramatic of him.

"Okay, how about something more serious? What about… like… someone in the mafia? Those guys look cool!"

Luni sighed. "Alright. Alright, lemme see."

Northern, barely concealing her excitement, turned the laptop screen around to show a bunch of bays dressed up as mobsters. Pinstripe fedoras, pinstripe suits, fake cigars and guns, the whole nine yards. It was almost comical, and yet… Luni liked it.

"... They do look cool."

"YES! Good! I like them too!"

They wouldn't look so good on him - Luni's fur wouldn't let them. They were black, he was black, it just wouldn't contrast well, even with the white pinstripes. But Luni would commit anyway; Northern's excitement was infectious.

"We're gonna look so cool! You can be the godfather and I'll be the mafioso! Second in command!"

"I don't think the mafioso is actually second in command. I think that's just a Town of Salem thing."

"Shut up, it'll be great." Northern turned to look at Nachi, who had just entered the room with a cardboard sign tied around his neck. "What, uh… what are you supposed to be?"

Nachi held a paw up to his sign like he was presenting it at a game show. "I'm Nimda."

Sure enough, Nimda was written terribly in Sharpie on the sign. Looking closer, Luni spotted a small "try me! hand me your computer!" under Nimda as if it was the fine print of a contract. The reference was something that pinged a far corner of Luni's mind, not quite enough to remember but enough that he realized that, at some point, he'd known what Nimda was.

"... You're a… computer virus?" There was a complicated expression on Northern's face as she questioned him, as if she was feeling multiple emotions.

The ping in Luni's brain turned into a memory. "Weren't you named after a virus?" Luni asked, spinning to face Nachi. Nachi grinned.

"That's boring," Mione stated bluntly, staring at Nachi disapprovingly.

"I'll show you boring!" Nachi leapt forward and tackled Mione, who cackled in delight before realizing she still had her costume on.

"Wait, no, my hat! My dress!"

As they squabbled, Northern turned back to her laptop and Luni turned back to her. "Gremlins."

—

A couple days later, Northern burst into Luni's house and threw a box at him as he was eating breakfast. Her eyes sparkled with excitement and her sheetdog immediately came to Luni's side to beg for food. Luni ignored him in favor of giving Northern a fake weird look.

"You could've knocked," Luni said, joking although it sounded serious, before eyeing the clothes she had on. Her version of the costume. There was a fake machine gun with an orange tip strapped to her side. "... That does look good on you though."

"And it'll look good on you. Try it on."

Luni sighed and methodically ripped open the box, throwing aside bubble wrap for the sheetdog to enjoy popping before tearing open the plastic bag containing the costume. He pulled it on, even sticking the fake cigar in his mouth before finally adjusting his fedora and turning to face Northern. Northern lit up.

"God you look so cool."

Luni snickered and then trotted off to the bathroom to check himself out. It was maybe a lot of black, but it didn't blend nearly as badly as he thought it would. He definitely looked good.

"I do," Luni mused to himself. Holidays weren't really his thing - he celebrated because his friends did - but he felt ready for Halloween this year. More than ready. Those houses better watch out.