milliways_bar | (no subject)

"Yeah, I dunno what that was about!"

Cal just shakes his head, amused. Smurfs.

"Sounds like the Bar takes Halloween pretty seriously," he says.

Yep. So staying upstairs for Halloween.

"Uh-huh! What do they do for it on Earth?"

"Pretty much the same thing, except you pick your own costumes," Cal says. "And it's, uh, just clothes and makeup and stuff. Some people have parties, and kids go out trick-or-treating in their costumes and people give them candy."

His gaze drops briefly. He ordered a tiger costume for Calvin, to be delivered a week before Halloween. He wonders if Deborah will bother with it. No, Calvin's Halloween will probably be left up to Marisa to deal with. Marisa will use the costume.

"Dude, that sounds fun! I wish we had... hey, you okay?"

"- uh, yeah." Cal looks up with a quick reassuring smile for Enzo's benefit. "It is fun. Some people really get into it, spend months planning their costumes. My parents always used to throw a party. There were always great costumes. It was fun."

Running aimlessly at the mouth is hardly unusual for him, though this one sounds a bit more forced then usual. He hopes Enzo doesn't notice.

He does. He might not have if he weren't looking for it, but as it is, he catches an off note.

It's the mention of his parents that tips Enzo off. His mouth forms a small o, and then he looks awkward, wondering if he ought to say anything.

Shit.

Cal can keep right on going forever, though.

"Dad and Mother always used to have these matching costumes, you know like in pairs. Like one year they were Antony and Cleopatra, one year they were the King and Queen of Diamonds, stuff like that. Once Uncle Grahame suggested they dress as the Perons, just to pi - to make Mother mad, I think. Peron was a President of Argentina once. His wife was kind of a social climber, I guess. They made a movie a couple years ago. Anyway, it was always something glamorous, and there were always pictures on Page Six the next day."

Seriously. Forever. Especially when it's out of sheer nerves.

Okay, it might make things worse to say something, but at the rate Cal is going, Enzo thinks he'd better.

"Cal..."

". . . I mean, it was all about publicity, but -" He stops.

"Yeah?" His tone is entirely different, quiet and tired. He knows. He can't hide it from Enzo every time. He knows.

Spam.

There's nothing he can say that'll help, not really. He's been through some major loss himself, he knows how hard it is at first. And later. 'I'm sorry' is so inadequate as to make it worse, but there's nothing else to say.

"I dunno. I shouldn't've..."

Oh, no. This will not do at all.

"No no no," Cal says firmly. "You didn't do anything wrong. Don't worry about that. You talk about what you want. Ask questions. It's fine. How else you gonna learn anything?"

It is fine, in a way. He's used to it around Enzo, on a lower, more subtle level. Just spending time around the boy makes him think of Calvin, hurts frequently in small ways that he deals with and puts aside because he likes Enzo, because the paternal impulses, now awakened, need somewhere to go. Not that he'll ever, ever let Enzo see that. He'll watch himself even more closely from now on.

He'll have to, because Enzo's likely to pay more attention from now on.

Well, maybe.

"O-okay." Enzo's still hesitant, but Cal did say to ask, so... "What's trick-or-treating?"

Cal smiles, mostly to reassure Enzo, partly to encourage. "Pretty much what I said. Kids get dressed up in their costumes, and their parents - well, usually their parents - take them out Halloween night to go around the neighborhood and knock on doors. When the doors are answered, the kids say, 'Trick or treat!' and people give them candy. I don't really know where it all comes from, but it's been a tradition for a long time."

See? It's fine.

"What's the trick part?" The treat is obvious.

"Mostly symbolic," Cal says. "I mean, you get the teenagers who go around doing stupid sh - things like smashing pumpkins - uh, carved ones, it's a decoration people put out for Halloween - but that's not really part of it. I guess the candy's supposed to be like a bribery to keep the kids from playing tricks, but really if people aren't giving out candy then they leaves their lights off and you just skip their house." He concludes with a slight shrug.

Of course, he was never one of those teenagers who did stupid shit like smashing jack o'lanterns. Not Cal. Well, okay, a couple times. But after that he was mostly too stoned on Halloweens to bother.

This is also not information he will be sharing.

He sort of gets the damped-down-ritual idea, but still...

"So... you're supposed to threaten grown-ups unless they give you candy?"

Sanctioned juvenile extortion!

Cal laughs, surprisingly genuine given what's just been going on.

"Yep. One night a year. Isn't that great?"

Enzo's face absolutely lights up. That means that—for one night a year—the kids are in control.

"Major! I wish we had holidays like that in cyberspace!"

Cal grins at the delight on Enzo's face. This is the kind of moment that makes it all more than worthwhile.

"What sort of holidays do you guys have?" he asks.