A/N: hi! Guess I've never done one of these before. Help ya girl out and leave as many comments as possible on as many paragraphs as possible. Comment every time there's a detail you like! It lets me know what I'm doing right and how I could improve! Thank you so much XD
This chapter of my fanfic was co-written by the fabulous WickerOfBeasts! Happy Halloween everyone!

Tw: arachnids (never mentioned by common name)

Virgil woke much earlier than usual, around 6 a.m, actually. Despite the fact that he was still catching up on sleep from earlier in the week, all of that would not keep him in bed past noon―not today anyway. The anxious trait reached over to his bedside table, blindly patting around for a moment or two before locating his phone in order to shut off the alarm. He'd had to set it pretty loud to actually wake him up, having to hurry to silence it before he woke any of the others, which probably wouldn't happen, but he was still cautious about it.

Once silence filled the room again, Virgil forced himself to sit up, one hand brushing through his hair to try and get himself awake enough to comprehend what he wanted to get done today. Okay, it was Halloween, but nobody had even started decorating yet, which was a huge disaster in Virgil's opinion. Halloween was the best holiday there was! If nobody else was going to decorate around here, then Virgil certainly would.

Resolute now in his plan, Virgil untangled himself from his blankets, his legs swinging over the edge for his feet to touch down on the wonderfully soft carpet. After standing up and stretching a bit, the anxious side pulled his usual hoodie over his pajamas, figuring it was way too early to put on normal clothes yet. As for his hair, he just brushed his hands through it a few times to get the general shape of how he liked it to look, which basically just meant having his bangs cover his eyes.

A few minutes later, Virgil was silently making his way downstairs, relieved that nobody else was awake this early. That would've made this much more embarrassing than it needed to be. He started from the stairs themselves, winding fake webs around the bannister for a spooky look that did not even remotely include any of Patton's feared arachnids. Patton would never leave his room if there were creepy crawly death dealers of any kind in the mindscape. Virgil continued on after that, setting up lights, plastic skeletons, pumpkins, and anything else he thought would really make the living room pop with October energy. He got so into it he couldn't resist the temptation to blast "This Is Halloween" from his phone.

Just as he was plugging in a set of orange and purple lights around the TV corner, Virgil froze, looking back toward the stairs as the sound of footfalls edged closer. Without really giving it much thought, Virgil darted to the kitchen, grabbing a butter knife to defend himself with. "Come out right now or I'm coming for you," he said, ready to attack anything that came around the corner. With a butter knife.

It was a pretty unnecessary action in hindsight, as it was only a very confused Roman who came down the stairs. And seeing as a samurai sword made his butter knife look ridiculous, Virgil was quick to place the silverware back in the drawer. Roman merely smirked at him in response, walking into the kitchen to get himself a cup of coffee before speaking, "Save the threats for when you're in costume, Mr. Nightmare."

Virgil glared at the prince, but before he could throw a handful of sugar packets at him, Logan came downstairs, followed soon after by Patton. Oh well, he supposed he could get Roman back for the nickname later. Patton looked very excited about all the decorations, just as Virgil had hoped. Logan... well, he at least gave one of those little half smiles as he looked around, which Virgil took as a victory.

Another victory: throwing individual packets of sugar at Roman while Patton and Logan were busy discussing their plans for tonight. Logan naturally wanted to work out a schedule for them to follow, though Patton kept on adding more and more activities the moment the list had been finished. Virgil watched the exchange from his current perch on the counter, tossing yet another sugar packet at Roman before resigning himself to helping Patton make Halloween themed pancakes. Everybody knew that Virgil made the best ghost shaped pancakes of the group.

~🏹~

Logan sighed. It seemed he had absolutely no choice in the matter. At this moment, Virgil was checking all around him to make sure that his costume was neat and perfectly in place. The anxious trait could be quite nitpicky, even though he didn't often broadcast it.

"There, think you're all good, Lo. Come look in the mirror." Virgil tugged him over to the bathroom vanity and shoved him a little in front of it. "'Kay that's good, I'm gonna go get my costume." Virgil slinked away. Back to his room to go put on his costume, which he was just as meticulous about getting perfect, Roman had designed quite a realistic ghoul, and just seeing himself in the mirror made him feel spectral, like he could walk through a wall at any moment and scare someone. Actually, he could probably do that anyway, but this was more fun.

Logan looked over his own costume in the mirror. To be honest, he didn't really see the point in dressing up as Prince Charming. He looked very formal and elegant, which Logan could certainly appreciate, but he just didn't get it. Wasn't Roman supposed to be the prince? That was kind of Roman's thing, not Logan's, and with a costume like this, Logan would hate to steal Roman's "thunder".

Meanwhile, Logan was oblivious to a plan Patton had set in motion. As Logan inspected his costume in the mirror, Patton was getting dressed in his own, with Roman's help. The corset was a bit hard to fit into, but face it: these facets were shapeshifters. Patton wasn't super good at holding forms for a long amount of time, so the corset and body padding was a simple precautionary measure.

Don't mind Roman squealing in excitement every other second. Can't blame him for being excited about this. He couldn't believe Patton thought of this idea and not he.

Patton held his breath with excitement as Roman finally zipped him up. The moral trait kept his eyes closed, waiting. For what, exactly? He was standing in front of Roman's floor-to-ceiling mirror, waiting to surprise himself with how he looked. His makeup was all done, his hair was tucked neatly under a blond wig, and now Roman had only to put the finishing touch on.

Roman was never one to do anything halfway. He cast a blue glittering spell over Patton to give him some flair, then slipped the delicate tiara onto the top of Patton's head. Inside he was absolutely going crazy with excitement, but he kept a cool exterior in place for Patton's sake. "There," he said softly. He stepped back so Patton was the only one visible in the mirror. "You can open your eyes now."

Patton's lids slid open slowly and he let out a gentle gasp. "Oh my..." His eyes swept over his form in the mirror and he was absolutely floored. Well, floored by the glittering blue translucent shoes he wore, 'cause they were on the floor. Also, he felt like melting into a soft blob on the carpet.

He wore Cinderella's dress, the blue one that she wore to the ball. Around his hands and arms were immaculate light blue silk gloves. His shoulders were exposed and around his biceps were small puff sleeves. Roman certainly outdid himself with the sparkly, frilly accents. Patton's dress seemed to shimmer like a cascading waterfall every time he moved. This was almost too much for Patton to handle. He tried to breathe deeply, but he knew he was about to faint with the realization of the sheer beauty he was encased in.

Roman knew those signs. It wasn't the first time Patton fainted around him. With ease, the prince scooped up the moral trait and kept him from falling to the floor. He carefully carried Patton over to his bed and laid him down, smoothing out all the crinkles in the dress's skirt. That thing was not about to be creased, Roman worked too hard on it for that.

It only took Patton a few minutes to wake up, and by the time he did, he was re-energized and ready to give Roman all the love. He hopped off the bed and started bouncing in his dress.

"Ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmy-" He practically barreled over Roman in his haste to crush him with a wonderful Dad Hug™.

Roman, being the experienced and brave prince that he was, squeaked like a startled mouse and flailed his arms to catch his balance before hugging Patton back with gusto. "Hahaha, brilliant! I am pleased that you enjoy your costume, Patton. After all, it took me hours and hours. My handiwork is flawless."

Patton made a series of loud, happy noises. That was the only way to explain them. He was Patton Gorgeous and it made him feel like he was floating in the clouds. Or on a cloud, considering how fluffy and soft the petticoat of the dress was. "Roro! Ah! Alkfjsdhjsdfksd!!!"

Roman looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "How can you say a key smash in real life?"

Patton looked out to the reader and smiled cheerfully. "They know what I mean!"

Well, Roman was impressed, to say the least. Look at his splenderific Patton, even going metta to express his emotions. "Oh, my right brain comrade, you are beautiful and wonderful. Logan will adore you tonight, I know it. If he doesn't, I will toss him off the east parapet of my castle. And fight him to the death with my sword."

Patton thought that the innocent smile the prince wore after that comment was very suspicious. Detective Dad was on the case. "No killing him, Roman. That's not right." He giggled a little bit. "But thank you for the thought, that's what counts!" Back to Patton Happy.

For a brief moment, Roman's smile faltered. It was too small for Patton to notice, and Roman was an actor. He knew quite well how to mask his emotional response to Patton's words. He took a deep breath and picked Patton up, spinning him through the air. Patton laughed gleefully and waited until Roman put him down before nuzzling into his chest.

"Thank you," Patton murmured, smiling at one of the buttons on Roman's jacket. "Hello Button," he whispered in a high-pitched and excited voice, almost like a child.

Roman was trying very hard not to go insane because Patton was so pure and innocent- now he wanted to key smash too. Contagious.

"Alright my fluffy sunshine angel princess, why don't you go downstairs and dazzle our Charming Prince Calculator?" Wow, both of them were just a ball of giggles. Patton nodded and together, they made their way out of Roman's room and down the hallway, towards the stairs.

Roman was very eager to follow Patton downstairs for the big reveal, however, once he'd gotten to the top of the stairs, a hand suddenly held tight to his sleeve. Virgil? Why was he keeping him from his moment of showing off what he'd made? The prince opened his mouth to tell the ghoulish side off for the action, but he got a finger pressed to his lips instead.

Logan waited in the living room. He usually always broadcasted himself as the patient one in the household, who always kept his cool in any given situation. Right now, however, he was pacing and quite impatient. They were supposed to leave 15 minutes ago. What was everyone doing up there? It shouldn't take them so long to put on makeup and fix up costumes- well, actually, that statement was incorrect. In Roman's case, there was never a long enough period of time to satiate his needs. Logan just wished he'd hurry up.

He wasn't lonely. Nope. Definitely not. Noooooo way. Never.

He didn't have to wait too much longer. The sound of high heels clicking on the floor drew his attention and he turned to the stairs to chew Roman out about taking so long-

All of his thoughts halted mid stream. He could hardly believe what he was seeing? Was this real life? Or was he dreaming an incredibly beautiful, vivid dream?

From the stairs descended a beautiful being, the likes of which Logan had never seen. For several seconds, his logical mind rested in complete silence, taking in every detail from the iceberg blue pearly gloves, to the flowing, sparkling azure skirt. From the baby blue puff sleeves to the perfectly smooth bare shoulders. From the little Egyptian blue pendant around his neck to the dazzling sapphire tiara nestled into his hair. Logan was breath taken... not literally, he could still breathe... Patton was dazzling.

"Oh..." Logan whispered. His heart hummed in his chest and he subconsciously took a few steps towards the moral trait, his eyes wide and his jaw hanging slightly open. "I..." He had no words. Just one look from Patton's beautiful hazel eyes rendered him completely speechless.

Patton batted his long lashes at Logan and descended the stairs, letting his dress waterfall down the stairs. Haha, get it? Aaaanyway... He made it all the way down and just floated over to Logan. He was living the royal life now. He could see why Roman loved it so much.

"Hello, my prince," Patton said softly, giving Logan a light, sweet smile. Here he was, in the moment. He wasn't about to throw away his shot to show Logan a good Halloween time.

"Shh, look." Virgil nodded in the direction of the stairs, which Patton now stood at the bottom of. Roman finally got the hint, urging Virgil to crouch down beside him so that they could watch Logan's reaction. And it was just what they'd all been hoping for. Logan looked absolutely starstruck, like the real Prince Charming seeing his Cinderella for the very first time.

Speaking of the logical trait, he was still struggling to speak. He finally managed to murmur, "Hello, Princess Patton...." The fluttering in his chest wouldn't stop. He was sure Patton could literally see his heart beating at 112 beats per minute through his Prince Charming outfit.

What was this feeling? He couldn't identify it. His core hummed with warmth. His eyes sharpened, and he felt the overwhelming urge to step closer and closer to Patton, just to get the moral trait to "notice" him, which was completely illogical because he was already there, looking at Logan with wide, innocent eyes that glittered in the orange and purple fairy lights Virgil put up- dang. "Patton... you are... exquisitely beautiful." Any more words wouldn't do him justice. Logan smiled softly and held his arm out like a gentleman. "My princess, will you allow me to escort you through the streets of our Halloween-filled town? I will protect you with my fake sword."

"Look at him! He's totally falling for my work!" Roman whisper-yelled to Virgil, who snorted quietly and gave a light shove to his shoulder.

"You doofus, he's falling for Patton." Virgil whispered back, a rare smile on his face as he watched his best friend absolutely rock that costume. Patton looked fantastic, even more so now that he was getting such a response from the guy he'd been in love with for years.

There was a tiny singe of jealousy in Roman's heart. He wanted that kind of love- Well... never mind. The scene below him is literally heavenly, but Roman definitely wants more spice in his future relationship with his prince in shining armor. 

Patton blushed and took Logan's arm, leaning on his shoulder a little bit. "Thank you very much, Sir Logan... I believe I would love that." Logan was warm and soft... Patton certainly gravitated towards that. Who wouldn't? And now... he was being invited out by the guy he loved... Patton's heart swelled and he giggled, blushing even more. He couldn't love Logan any less. Star crossed since their childhood. Patton loved everything about the man with the strong jawline and cool, calm eyes.

The word "love" echoed through Logan's ears. Of course, it wasn't any different than the thousands of times he'd heard it from Patton's lips in the past. The tone and pitch matched with the sentence. Logan shouldn't have been stuck on it. Yet here he was, rolling the word around in this head like a snowball. Perhaps with his newfound emotions, these words were gaining new meaning for him. When Patton said "love" Logan's heart jumped in his chest.

Perhaps this condition is directly tied to Patton. It made sense, after all, Logan found that he could connect all his symptoms to Patton. Perhaps he contracted some kind of illness that only a facet could get, one that made it impossible to be without the other for some period of time, but at the same time cause unusual and concerning symptoms while in the presence of the other. Curious. Perhaps he would seek advice from the others.

Roman and Virgil couldn't stay hidden, not when the group was already running a few minutes late for trick or treating. So after a few more minutes of observation, down the stairs came first Virgil the ghoul, then Roman the vampire. Virgil was secretly very proud of how Roman's pale makeup turned out, seeing as it had been the first time he'd been asked to help accomplish such a thing. Virgil stuffed his hands into his pockets (he didn't care if he was a ghoul, he still needed his pockets) and sniffed a little. "Alright, let's go before all the full size candy bars are gone."

~🍬~

Logan looked up to Virgil coming down the stairs and snapped out of his musings over his Patton-related condition. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Roman's unusual white foundation. "Roman, you look, well, exsanguinated."

Patton giggled lightly and put a hand on his cheek. "Well, he is a vampire." Logan probably would have made some smart remark about how in vampire lore there was no definitive proof that vampires had no blood in their system, but then he realized that Roman would probably throw a fit, so he held his tongue.

Roman tilted his head in confusion, lifting his arms up to exaggerate a shrug. "I have no idea what that word means, but I'm taking it as a compliment either way." Maybe he should add that word to a vocab card... nah, he doubted he'd ever use it.

Virgil rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest to hide how excited he actually was for this. "So what's the plan here? I doubt you all are down for my ghost hunting night of terror." As entertaining as that would've been, he won't be responsible for scarring Patton tonight.

A tiny bit of fear flashed over Patton's face (which Virgil probably felt) and he leaned into Logan just a little to calm himself. Yeah, he had a strong rock, now. Nothing could stop him. Insert superhero pose.

Logan felt Patton lean up against him and he tugged Patton's arm in just a little bit in the hopes of comforting the moral trait. "Er, no. I do not believe in the existence of ghosts because I have not been provided with scientific proof. Therefore, Patton and I will head to the rich suburban neighborhood. The house decorations are tamer there." He would protect his princess. After all, he made a promise. And he had a fake sword.

Roman caught the subtle act of Patton moving in closer to Logan, but he decided to keep his mouth shut for once. He could feel the love radiating from Patton though, and it made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, not enough for his Romantic thoughts to overpower the rest of him or anything, but it did make him feel more energized than he had been moments ago. And he could have sworn he felt something coming from Logan, but it was hard to tell for sure, with how much emotion was coming from Patton at the moment.

Virgil noticed it too, and he felt it was very important to get this show on the road before he was stuck with a love drunk Roman for the night. "Right, you two can do that, but Ro and I are going to that rundown corner of the neighborhood. That's our best chance of finding ghosts." He was also determined this year to find some proof that would make Logan believe in ghosts too, though he hadn't mentioned that part to Roman. "So we'll meet back up here at, what, maybe one? Midnight is so cliche."

Always the realistic one, Logan reasoned that he and Patton would most likely arrive home before the other two, so he nodded. "I will expect you both at home by 1:00 AM."

Patton thought Logan sounded very much like a mom placing her kids under a curfew. He squeezed Logan's arm a little bit. Ohh... strong arm. And now Patton was all blushy and flustered because ohmygoodnesshewasgoingtospendanightwithhisrealPrinceCharming- He was feeling the love for sure. Oops, sorry Roman.

Virgil huffed, but nodded in agreement to his formal companion. "Yes mother... Now come on, it's time to get spooky!" Oop he let some of that excitement show, and he briefly debated hiding for the rest of the night. Please let that slip be easily forgotten-

"Yes! That's the spirit! Get it? Cause you're a ghost?" Roman snickered at his own joke, even after Virgil groaned and smacked him on the arm. "Oh come onnn Virge, that was funny!"

"Knock it off Count Chocula." Virgil responded with a sigh, but there was a little smirk on his face as he hurried over to the door to open it and usher the group out into the night. On a very well lit street. Lame.

Logan breathed the cool night air and sighed. Ah, perfect temperature. Not too freezing for this evening. "We will teleport to our destination. Patton's dress will not fit in the car." And with that, he sank them both out, leaving Roman and Virgil alone in the porchlight.

~🐉~

"Hm, not even so much as a goodbye." Roman said in a fake tone of offense, which was soon cut off by Virgil grabbing him by the arm to start tugging him down the street. "Geez Spooky Scary Skeleton, we do have all night you know-"

Virgil however did not pay any mind to Roman's complaints, only letting go of him once they were well on their way down the sidewalk. "If you want to get any candy before ghost hunting, then we have to hurry up." Well, that's more than enough incentive to get the duo moving, to fill each of the bags that Roman had conjured up for them.

There weren't too many houses in this part of the neighborhood taking part in the Halloween festivities, so Virgil and Roman could only accumulate so much candy. But even so, it was actually... fun. Roman couldn't really remember a time where he had been able to laugh so easily around Virgil before. They joked around, made fun of crummy decorations, took spooky selfies together―it was great.

As they made their way through the darker portion of the neighborhood, Virgil suddenly stopped, and Roman gave him a very confused look. "Why are we stopping? I thought you wanted to get there soon." Virgil responded with a mischievous smirk, before pointing down a very dark alleyway beside them. "Bet you can't make it through that shortcut without freaking out."

Roman gasped, lifting a hand to rest over his heart as though the challenge had actually hurt him. "I'll show you, just you watch! I'm gonna walk down there and not even flinch!" The prince nodded in determination, but he figured it would be better to hurry along down that alleyway, with Virgil following closely behind him. Not that he was scared. Not at all. He just didn't want Virgil to miss out on anymore ghost hunting time, that's all.

"Wait, did you hear that?" Virgil asked in a hushed tone, his gaze turning up towards Roman.

"Stop trying to scare me Virgil, it's not working." Actually.. it did almost sound like there was something moving up ahead. Probably just a cat. Right? Of course.

But then a loud crash boomed right in front of them, and a high pitched scream pierced the night air.

~💋~

The couple rose up into the suburbs, one with a smile on his face and one with his naturally blank face yet warm eyes. They looked like the perfect couple.

Instantly, several small child traits shrieked and ran over to the pair, hovering around Patton's blue dresses and giggling. Logan blinked. There were small children in costumes now. Alright then.

Patton adjusted his dainty glasses and smiled down at the little kids. He's a dad! This is his time to shine. "Hiya kiddos! It's so good to see you! It's us, Patton and Logan!" That declaration spread a lot of happy cheering. Everyone knew that the main sides worked the hardest for Thomas, and any chance to see them was like a chance to speak to a celebrity. Several adult sides stepped away from their houses for a moment to going the small bevy of children swirling around the pair.

Logan shifted a little uncomfortably. He'd never been particularly good at social interactions with small children. Thank goodness Patton was stealing most of the attention with his puffy blue dress. He squeezed Patton's arm a little bit and Patton looked over, studying Logan's face.

Okay, it looked like Logan was getting a bit uncomfortable with this crowd. They should probably leave.

Just as Patton was getting ready to disperse the kids, a couple walked toward them, holding hands. One was wearing two small white wings and a cute cloud dress, as well as a floating, feathery white halo. The other sported a small red pitch fork, read leather knee high boots, two red and black horns, and a crazy look in his eyes.

Patton's face lit up and he waved to them. "Hi Sanity! Hello Insanity! How are you tonight?"

The one with the horns pouted and slouched a little bit. "Sanity won't let me kill any of these little monsters." He seemed so sad that he couldn't act on his natural compulsions. Fortunately, his boyfriend put a comforting hand on his back and rubbed it gently. Insanity smiled a little bit and leaned on the other's shoulder.

"I know you want to, but that would hurt Thomas, and we're all here to make sure that doesn't happen, okay?" Sanity said in a very cheery and patient tone. It sounded like they'd had this conversation several times before. Logan smiled a little bit and manifested his vocabulary cards. He quickly flipped through them, throwing them left and right. Patton laughed and a few of the small children shrieked, running around Logan to try and catch the cards before they hit the ground. Finally, Logan found the one he was looking for and held it up at shoulder height for all to see.

"I believe you are, as the teenagers say these days, 'couple goals'." He de-manifested the cards and they vanished from the childrens hands, replaced by chocolate kisses, which yielded a very positive reaction from the group.

Patton reigned in his laughing and nodded, rubbing Logan's shoulder. "Good job! You got it right."

Logan's chest burst with warmth and he blushed lightly, looking into Patton's eyes and then away quickly. "Um. Thank you. Patton."

Sanity laughed lightly and held hands with his boyfriend. One of the kids looked up at Patton and Logan and said, "Hey! You guys should kiss!"

~🔦~

Virgil was doubled over, his arms held over his stomach to try and cope with the aching pain. Roman had stopped screaming, and was now leaning against a wall for some support that he was clearly not getting from his usually anxious companion. "Virgil knock it off!"

Virgil wasn't listening at all, he could barely even hear Roman over his own laughter. He knew exactly what would happen if they went down this particular alleyway, because it wasn't just a shortcut. It was also where a certain somebody did all his best scaring.

"Wow Roman, you're so brave. Such a heroic prince." Deceit smirked, having since removed the mask he'd been wearing because wow it was hot in that thing. He'd been waiting in the alley, jumping out to scare anyone and everyone who walked through. It was the perfect hiding place, just stand in the dark, then boom! Get a good scream out of somebody. He really had outdone himself this year, his alien costume looked just like the ones on the classic movie. All the best to scare with.

Roman glared daggers at Deceit, reaching over to shake Virgil by the shoulder to snap him out of his laughing fit. "That is enough! Can we just go find your stupid ghost now?" This seemed to intrigue Deceit, his head tilting to one side as he de-manifested his alien mask and picked up his hat that.. yep, it's full of candy. Of course it is. Not that he could eat everything in it, but the other dark sides could have what wasn't snake friendly.

"I am not at all interested in this ghost of yours. Perhaps I should just stay here?" Virgil finally managed to silence his laughter, breathing hard to catch his breath and get back to his usual self. Somebody sure is in a good mood.

"After that blackmail material? Hell yeah, you can tag along Dee." Roman groaned loudly, but he couldn't really argue over it now. Virgil had already agreed after all, and he didn't want to sound overly rude to Deceit. That guy got enough attitude from the main sides already.

"Okay okay, whatever. Can we actually go now before we run out of time to do anything?" With Roman's half-hearted agreement, Virgil led the way through the rest of the alleyway, now with Deceit in tow. There were soon no more houses lit up with decorations, no more kids running around, and no more signs of any life beyond that of rats.

Virgil could feel the little pinpricks of anxiety from the whole group, but he kept on walking towards the old abandoned house. He's come too far to chicken out now, and this was something he's always wanted to do. He slowly walked up the old and creaky porch steps, standing in front of the door that couldn't lock anymore due to the metal rusting away almost entirely. The anxious side lifted a hand to what remained of the doorknob, but hesitated to open it. "So.. you guys ready?"

Roman nodded, conjuring up a flashlight for each of them. Deceit de-manifested his hat now, so that he could have a free hand, before speaking up. "Let's do this." They're both clearly nervous, which made Virgil uneasy. He held his breath, very tightly gripping his flashlight as he pushed the door open.

"What. The hell. Is that?"

~💫~

Someone... just told Patton and Logan to kiss? Really? Several of the other kids groaned and covered their eyes. "No really! 'Cause they're like, you know, like, the couple from Disney!" The little kid jumped excitedly and tugged on Patton's hand. "Pleeeeeeease?"

Sanity nodded and smiled. "Yeah! That would be cute, right Insanity?"

The other looked like he was going to throw up. "Disgust-iiiingly cute. Yep. That's what I was going to say all along."

Logan bit his lip, worrying a little. Obviously, this kiss was not one of the fammilial kind. He felt very anxious and a little upset about kissing Patton in such a way. What if Patton was not comfortable with-

"I'd be fine with that, as long as Logan's up for it," Patton said with a big, innocent smile at Logan.

The logical trait blinked.

Many times.

"But only of you want to, of course!" Patton quickly rushed out. He turned to the swirling children at his feet. "Remember, everyone, it's wrong to force someone to do something if they say no. Okay?" All the small humans nodded and echoed Patton's words. Logan was vaguely surprised that Patton could teach them lessons so easily... then again, he was a dad. Sort of.

"Uhum..." The question now was, did Logan want to kiss Patton? Yes, because he was under pressure of appearing likable and sociable to the traits currently watching him. No, because he couldn't stop his heart from pounding so hard. He almost felt like sitting down and trying to get himself under control before anything else happened.

Patton looked over to Logan with wide, curious eyes. He knew how the logical trait's mind ran in situations like this. Logan was probably overthinking everything right now, trying to weigh the pros and cons, and the pros and cons of those pros and cons, and Patton wouldn't be surprised if Logan started walking in circles and muttering to try and solve his problem.

Patton needed to take a Dad Action. He reached up and turned Logan so that they were facing each other. Slowly, he wound his hands up and around Logan's neck, petting his hair softly. "It's okay, Logan," he murmured. "You can do it." Had this been a different situation, Patton would have been 100% giddy and excited to be kissed by the one he loved, but here, now, he knew that everything was for Logan's sake. "It doesn't mean you love me," Patton said softly, which broke his heart a little, but he continued. "It just means you care."

Logan's hands automatically drifted up to hold Patton at the slim waist of his dress. He held his counterpart gently and looked into his warm, glittering eyes for a moment. The gaze was the perfect opening he needed. For some reason, Logan's mind relaxed and he leaned over to sweetly press his lips to Patton's.

The din of claps and small cheers reached Logan's ears, but he couldn't hear it. His mind was lost in the sensations he was experiencing. Patton's lips tasted like sweet raspberries, freshly picked. Logan realized that he'd never actually kissed another being on the lips. Roman spoke of how it felt inside when Thomas kissed a boy for the first time, but this was much different. Like before, warmth spread throughout Logan's body and relaxed his muscles. His mind stopped running at full throttle and he focused on enjoying his sensory input. He stuck his tongue out just a little and licked Patton's bottom lip.

Patton was in heaven. He couldn't help but moan just a tiny bit and press into the kiss, relishing every moment he got. Logan's lips sent butterflies through Patton's body and turned his legs off. He was glad that Logan was holding his waist, because Patton almost fell and had to lean forward to clutch himself to Logan's chest. He almost fell right to the ground, and if not for Logan's strong arms, he just might have. His mouth was filled with the taste of a delicious cookie, better than any snickerdoodle he could ever have. He felt like he was legitimately tasting bliss in cookie form. He never wanted this to end.

Of course, it did have to end several seconds later. Logan and Patton pulled apart and looked at each other in astonishment and a haze of happiness. Logan was very confused. He enjoyed that. Very much. Too much? Maybe... he needed to figure out what kind of illness he had, and fast.

Patton blushed deeply and moved his hands down so the he could entwine them with Logan's and swing them back and forth, gently. "Thanks, Lo." The other stiffly nodded. He had absolutely no idea what to do.

Patton, ever the gracious soul, finally managed to give all the little pieces of candy and make the little crowd go away. Finally, Logan and Patton were on their own. "Do you want to meander for a short while?" Logan asked. The moral trait nodded and held Logan's hand. Together, they set off down the street.

~👻~

Virgil stood frozen in place, the hand with his flashlight shaking as it lit up the darkness of the house. Roman's free hand has already conjured up his sword, and Deceit, the poor thing looked like he wanted to be sick.

"Please.. please tell me that is not real." Deceit mumbled, taking a small step over to hide part way behind Roman. Because sitting there on the floor, in the circle of light Virgil provided, was the skeleton of a snake. Or most of one anyway.

"Roman, go poke it." Roman made a very distressed noise in response to Virgil's command, but seeing as he had the sword it was probably better if he went in first. He is not at all happy about it though, every step creaked uncomfortably loud in the old house, and there was dust and cobwebs coming from absolutely everything in sight. The princely vampire leaned over the skeleton, making a disgusted face as he poked at the pile of bones with his sword.

"Ewww okay that is real-" He's going to spend the next month cleaning his sword after this. He honestly wanted to just go home now to do just that.

Deceit groaned, but Virgil nudged him inside anyway, so there would be no chance of anybody getting separated from the group. "C'mon guys, let's just move past it." He did have the decency to at least cover the bones with a moth-eaten rug so they didn't have to look at it directly. "Let's cut to the chase, the basement is probably where we'll encounter anything."

Virgil conjured up a night-vision camera, hitting the record button and aiming it down the stairs that were definitely not up to code. "Alright spooks, it's time to come say hello." With that, Virgil and the others took the precarious trip downstairs, which fortunately didn't give out from under any of them.

It was very... quiet. Their flashlights only lit up so much, which left the majority of the basement hidden in pitch black darkness. But other than the squeaks of rats or their own footsteps, it seemed like any other basement. Dark, musty, full of junk, not a single ghostly moan or rattling of chains or.. whatever ghosts did.

"This feels... Anti-climatic." Roman mumbled, his light shining toward the walls to try and get some sort of perimeter outlined.

"Maybe Logan was right this whole time?" As much as Virgil didn't want to admit to it.

Then suddenly, there was a crash across the room, making everybody jump about a foot in the air. "That didn't scare me at all-" Deceit was very quick to claim that, but when all their lights went out at the same time, he was definitely just as shaken up as the others.

That was when a painfully loud roar came from the other side of the basement, causing the entire house to shake on its foundation. Only one thing was heard over the screech, and that was a deep, distorted voice, that echoed within the very minds of Virgil's companions. "Run! Get out now!"

~🏠~

Logan and Patton walked in comfortable silence, enjoying the mild night. Occasionally, Patton waved to some small children or pointed out interesting house decorations for Logan to see. The logical trait was mostly enjoying how Patton's face lit up when he saw something nice and tugged on Logan's sleeve. Perhaps, Logan thought, Patton was so good with children because he himself indulged in child-like behavior.

Patton loved being happy and carefree like a kid again. He never wanted Thomas to forget how it felt to run through meadows and laugh without having to care about money and work and self support. That's why he kept Thomas's child spirit alive within himself.

Everything was perfect... that was until the pair came upon one particular house.

Patton wasn't necessarily scared by webs, but when a large, fake creepy crawly death dealer dropped down from the ceiling onto the porch, he shrieked and jumped away, right into Logan's arms. He trembled a little and huddled into the logical trait.

Logan was startled by the sudden shift, but he immediately wrapped his arms around his princess and held Patton tightly into the folds of his outfit. He waved a hand and all the decorations on the house vanished into thin air, never to torment Patton again.

Poor Patton... he was shaking like a leaf. That was quite a scare for him. "L-Logan, I wanna go home," he said into Logan's shirt. the logical trait seemed to get the message loud and clear, because he sank them out as quickly as possible. They reappeared in the living room and Patton sighed. He was Patton Shaken Not Stirred. Without much thought, the moral trait snapped his fingers and whisked away their costumes in favor of some warm, soft pajamas.

Logan relaxed and rubbed Patton's back. "There. Everything is fine. I am here, you are here, and we are in the living room, where you will not be hurt by anything." Logan would protect Patton from even the tiniest of black specks if they dared so much as move in Patton's direction. This overprotectiveness of the moral trait was new to Logan, but he was not scared by it.

After a few long minutes, Patton finally pulled away and rubbed his eyes a little to get rid of the image. "I'm okay now, thank you, Lo." He smiled just a tiny bit. "Sorry I uh... kind of ruined the rest of our night." He never wanted to do that. Now he felt guilty. Sad face.

Logan rubbed Patton's shoulders and shook his head. "Of course you did not ruin our night. We can still enjoy Halloween activities. Would you like to watch a movie? Coraline, perhaps?"

Ah, that was a good point! Patton's face brightened a bit, and he nodded. "Okay! Yeah, let's do that. Can I um..." now was his time to be selfish. "Can I please lie in your lap?"

Well... it wasn't the first time Logan allowed a Side to lie in his lap, though it was usually slightly awkward. He reasoned that because it was for the sake of emotionally supporting Patton, he could manage the position for a little while.

"Yes, Patton, you may."

~🌙~

Whatever it was making that sound, it was effective. Virgil didn't bother trying to catch it on camera, so the sound alone would have to do. Roman tossed his flashlight aside, using his now free hand to urge the other two up the stairs before him, allowing him to keep a blade between that thing and his friends.

For all they knew it was probably just some wild animal that had seen their approach as a threat. Roman certainly wasn't going to wait and find out though, not when he had Virgil and Deceit to keep safe. "Out of the house! Move it!"

Virgil was suddenly reminded of how useful his fight or flight instincts could be, as he led the group in a sprint to get out of that house before something bad happened and they joined that skeleton. It certainly wasn't the safest thing to run through a house that was falling apart at the seams already, but they were out of there before anything could actually come crashing down on them.

They didn't stop running, even after getting outside, as they tried to put as much distance as possible between them and the thing. It could still be heard, albeit faintly, as the house was finally out of sight. Virgil took the chance to slow down and catch his breath, while Roman conjured up bottles of water for them all.

And for a while that's all there was, just panting for breath and chugging water. The scream in the background eventually faded away, as the trio finally began to walk (quickly) in the direction of home, shaken. "So.. do you think it was really a ghost?" Virgil asked, breaking the uneasy silence that had settled among the group.

"Who knows? I'm not going back to ask it-" Roman replied, casting a nervous glance back over his shoulder. Nothing there of course, but everybody was on edge after that. And who could blame them?

"My ears are still ringing," mumbled Deceit, who was for once actually sticking pretty darn close to the light sides. They all wanted to hurry and get home, but didn't have the energy to sprint like that again. So they could stay nearby each other, but they couldn't move as fast.

In fact they were all still out of breath as they finally lumbered through the front door of the light sides' house, shutting (and definitely locking) it behind them. Virgil tossed his costume aside, before Roman took the initiative to just snap the festive clothing away in favor of comfy pajamas. The three of them slowly walked into the living room, to find Patton curled up on Logan's chest on the couch, with Coraline playing on the TV. Both were sleeping soundly.

They didn't hesitate to join in―Roman taking a seat on the floor in front of the couch, while Deceit curled up in the unused armchair. Virgil just took the opportunity to flop down on the floor, laying across Roman's lap with a groan. "We are never doing that again."

Roman and Deceit both replied at the same time. "Agreed."