Chapter Text
Halloween is a celebration once a year. Everyone looks forward to this celebration to dress up according to their favorite character and enjoy a variety of sweets. Or, they use this moment to decorate their house as spooky as possible; or some other people use this day to do a scary little prank.
The point is, everyone eagerly awaits this celebration, Wanda even gets an invitation to attend the Halloween party between the Avengers even though she is not an Avenger anymore. Stephen obviously didn't want to come because he wasn't very close to Avengers, but that wasn't what Wanda was concerned about.
As previously mentioned. People are really looking forward to this celebration, even some have started decorating their homes since the first day of this month. The 31st is getting closer than she thought, but why do people in this house didn't look excited for that day?
“This house is so empty!” shouted Wanda.
She just returned from work with little hope that at least Stephen or someone else had put up the Halloween decorations. Of course, her hopes were in vain.
“Agreed” Loki, lying on the couch, closed his comic book and turned to Wanda who sit on the armchair next to him. "Halloween is in sight, but there is no spooky decoration in sight."
This time Wanda looked at Loki in surprise. So far, Loki has not been interested in learning about the world of Midgard, he only learning what he finds interesting. So it's quite surprising to know that Loki learns about Halloween.
"You're interested in Halloween?" asked Wanda.
"Why not? That's when we can freely scare people without anyone calling the police after that. It's a once-in-a-year opportunity.”
Wanda gave a low 'ahh' as she nodded slightly. Of course he would be interested in that. Wanda made a mental note not to introduce the April Fools to Loki... don't say he already knew?
“Why didn't Stephen decorate this place? I've been waiting for him to invite us to start decorating," said Loki, looking around the room. “We need to scare people until they wet their pants when they enter this place.”
"Wouldn't it be better to decorate with cute things?" asked Wanda. This place is already gloomy, what else to add?
"Where's the fun in that?"
Just as Wanda was about to start an argument about good decor, America burst in breathlessly. Her backpack was still on her back, a sign she had just arrived from school. Wanda and Loki looked at America, thinking maybe she had something important to say.
“Why did no one of you tell me about Halloween?!" cried America.
America looked at the two of them slightly annoyed. As if this information was kept tightly and they were not allowed to tell it.
Well, she has the right to feel upset. The past few days she had seen people decorating the streets with joy. America thought it was a natural thing for this Universe to decorate each place with a different theme every month. When she asked her schoolmates how they decided on the theme each month, they instead talked about Halloween at the end of the month. And America felt like an idiot for asking what Halloween is; even if they didn't laugh at her.
"No one keeps it a secret from you," Loki explained. "We're also wondering why Stephen never brought that up."
"He's... not busy, is he?" asked America. As far as she knew, for these few days, Stephen was not on a mission.
"Today he went to visit some dimension with Wong," said Loki. "They said it's not gonna long... I think he'll be home tonight."
“Yeah…” America flung herself onto the empty spot on the couch before dropping her backpack onto the floor. "Once he gets home, I'll ask why we're not getting ready for Halloween."
Wanda and Loki nodded in agreement. They were just about to continue their activities when an orange spark appeared in their midst.
A portal appeared and Wong step in from across it. Behind him, Levi is seen dragging Stephen away from a strange plant from Balak's dimension, a dimension filled with strange plants.
“Levi, please… I just want to touch it for a bit, it won't hurt me!”
Levi shook firmly, it then yanked Stephen, throwing him through the portal and falling right in front of them.
"Ouch."
Stephen blinked slowly as the light was too strong for his eyes after being in the dark for a long time. He wiped his face before looking at the three people who were watching him.
"You guys!! My Universe!! I miss you all!!” Stephen said cheerfully before jumping up and hugging them tightly.
"Uh... what's happened?" Wanda asked as she hugged Stephen back.
Wong adjusted his wrinkled clothes. "We accidentally bumped into a Mandam plant and he accidentally got poisoned."
"Oh god!" America hurriedly helped Wanda to lay Stephen down on the couch Loki had been sleeping on. Letting the exhausted Levi lean on the nearest armchair.
"Will he be okay?" asked America, who allowed Stephen's hand that was trying to reach her ponytail.
"The poison effect is not dangerous, he will only experience symptoms such as being high," said Wong while waving his hand casually. “But if we leave it for too long, the effects will get worse.”
"Interesting..." Loki muttered, watching Stephen who was now forcing himself to sit up and hugged Croki who had just come to see what is going on. Stephen's hand swiftly stroked Croki's stomach, and the crocodile struggled to escape, didn't like the stroke.
"It's not interesting. When Stephen is high, he can't contain his curiosity and acts even more recklessly,” Wong grumbled. “Please take care of him while I make an elixir to get rid of the poison!”
Wong then walked away from the room still grumbling. It must have been difficult to escape from that swarm of living plants while restraining the drunken man who was acting like a child. Yeah, it must be troublesome.
The three of them looked back at Stephen who was now opening Croki's mouth wide to examine his teeth. Some say the crocodile's jaws are very strong, but why Croki couldn't get his mouth out of Stephen's grip?
It's pretty funny anyway, so Loki quickly pulled out his phone and recorded the moment.
“So Stephen... are you okay? Do you feel dizzy or nauseous?" Wanda asked as she helped Croki get Stephen's hand off him.
"Oh, I feel so good!! Good enough to sing, where's the piano? Let's sing together!” Stephen now standing and looking around the room cheerfully.
"You can play the piano?" exclaimed Wanda in surprise.
“Yes, I can play any instrument. But it's quite difficult to play with hands like this." Stephen showed his hand while pouting his lips.
The three of them didn't expect that person could look so cute. Luckily, Loki's cell phone was still recording all of that.
"Hmm... you're right," America said as she put Stephen sat back down on the couch. “How about we decorate this place instead?”
Stephen nodded enthusiastically, looking really excited about the idea. "What do we decorate it with?"
"Well, because soon will be Halloween, what about we use Halloween decorations?"
Taking advantage of the situation for what they want. Loki and Wanda silently raised their thumbs at America.
“Halloween decorations?” Stephen muttered, his brows furrowed slightly, still looking cute.
"Yeah, you know, it's Halloween soon, shouldn't we get this house ready for the celebration?" Wanda joining America.
Stephen nodded in agreement. "But I don't know how."
"How could you don't know," Loki commented. “You are Midgardian, you must have celebrated it.”
Stephen shook his head sadly. "I never celebrate Halloween."
That answer made the three of them too stunned to say anything. They both questioned whether they heard correctly.
"You never celebrate Halloween?" Wanda asked reassuringly, signaling Loki to stop the recording for a moment.
Stephen nodded weakly, his hand grabbing Croki again and carrying him into his lap.
"Why?"
Stephen shrugged. “My father was a very religious person. He thinks that Halloween is a celebration for the devil, so he doesn't allow anything Halloween-related in his house."
“Wow… imagine his reaction knowing that you are now studying magic- ouch!” Loki rubbed his head, looking at America in annoyance while America gave him a sharp glare.
'This is not the time for that!'
"So... you never celebrated Halloween?" asked Wanda again.
"Uh-huh."
"What did you do when Halloween comes?"
"Nothing. Sometimes I sleep early, sometimes I'm just studying. Got no problem with that, although sometimes I wanted to go trick-or-treating. But my father always told me to stay in my room."
Wanda fiddled with her fingers stiffly. No one ever assumed that Stephen had a father like that, it must be awful to him. She couldn't imagine what it is like to just sit quietly at home while the other kids were running around collecting candy or hanging out with other friends.
"Is that why you didn't tell us about Halloween?" America asked after a moment of silence.
"Hmm? Not really," muttered Stephen who was now busy rubbing Croki's stomach again. Croki who couldn't break free surrendered himself to his fate.
“I want to ask you to decorate this house, but I don't know what we need to decorate. When I searched on the internet, there were too many choices that confused me, and for some reason I became annoyed. So, I decided to keep my mouth shut and hope this month will pass soon."
Stephen slowly leaned back on the sofa, his eyes closed as his brows furrowed slightly; his own hand massaged his forehead gently. Wanda didn't know if it was the effect of the poison or the effect of her sad memory. Both make her worried.
Stephen's eyes slowly opened again and he looked back at them with a gentle smile.
"Hey, did you guys know that there are quite a few Doctors who like to dance?"
For the next few minutes, they listened to Stephen rambling about various things he liked; sometimes Loki had to hold back his laughter at how stupid Stephen looked at the moment. But so far, they've all listened well.
Maybe it was just Wanda who didn't listen very well. Her mind still drifted about Stephen's words.
Stephen obviously wanted to celebrate Halloween but didn't know where to start. Knowing Stephen, he probably didn't have the courage to ask anyone. Maybe that's also another reason why he didn't want to go to the Avenger Halloween party.
Wanda couldn't just let it go. Everyone should be able to enjoy Halloween happily. Of course she couldn't force Stephen to join the party, but they could have enjoyed Halloween in other ways. Something fun they can do together...
That's it! Something fun they can do together!!
.
Stephen caressed his face. His eyes were still staring straight at the ceiling of the library, ignoring the books he read earlier on the table. The poison had completely gone that morning, so there was nothing to worry about… except there is something he really needed to worry about.
The fact that he has a different personality when high is not a secret. It wasn't that he was ashamed of it, the problem was that he couldn't remember anything he had done during that time. And since he lived with Loki, Stephen could guess the boy had recorded him for blackmail.
That's what he's worried about. He had to do something to delete any videos that were on Loki's phone before the boy spread them to Kamar Taj.
'Maybe I can put a sleep spell on him and then quietly delete the video,' thought Stephen. 'If only I know his password.'
"Stephen!"
Loki's shout made Stephen jump from his seat. He then glared at the boy who was now grinning mischievously as he leaned against the door.
"What's the matter?" Stephen asked, 'you're not trying to blackmail me with whatever video you've got are you?'
"You're not busy, right?" Loki asked back.
"Depends on what you want."
Loki rolled his eyes.
“Go to the living room now!” asked Loki.
Stephen raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"You'll know when you get there," said Loki. He then turned around and faded into empty air.
Illusion, no wonder Stephen couldn't feel his presence. The boy was getting better at his favorite illusion magic.
Stephen took a deep breath. With a heavy heart, he got up from his seat and staggered towards the living room; Levi followed behind him. His heart was preparing for various things that might be happening in the living room right now, or perhaps preparing himself for whatever the child wanted to do to him.
Hopefully, it's not something weird like what happened during game night.
“Alright, what are you- huh?!”
He paused to see Wanda, America, Loki, and Croki who had been sitting on the carpet around the table with a few pumpkins lying near them. On the table, there were four knives, four large spoons, as well as scissors and markers, and some other utensils that Stephen didn't know what is it for.
“Stephen, come sit here!” America called, patting the spot next to her.
"Uh... what are you guys doing?" Stephen asked as he sat down next to America.
"You forgot? it's Halloween soon, we have to decorate this place," said Wanda casually.
"O-oh, yeah," Stephen rubbed the back of his neck. He had completely forgotten about it because of yesterday's incident. After all, of course the three of them would definitely remind him. It seemed he couldn't avoid this celebration like in previous years.
Stephen took a deep breath. Should he tell them all that he's never celebrated anything like this before? He means, he just didn't know what he was supposed to do, what if he makes a mistake?
“Stephen.”
Stephen blinked again. He then turned to Loki, Wanda, and America who were staring at him intently.
"Sorry, I-"
“We know,” Loki said, cutting off whatever Stephen wanted to say.
Stephen furrowed his brows. "Know what?"
“Yesterday when you were high, I was just asking you about Halloween, and yeah…" America lowered her head. "We know you've never had Halloween before.”
Oh... so... that's what happened... What did he say while high? Did he say everything or just the Halloween part?
"Uh... What exactly did I say back then?" Stephen asked, a little careful so they were not suspecting that there was anything else Stephen was keeping to himself.
"You said that your father thought Halloween was a celebration for the devil and forbade you to celebrate it," Wanda gave a small reassuring smile. "After that, you just babble about the instruments you can play, before you dance like a maniac."
"I have a video of your dance, by the way," whispered Loki.
Stephen groaned quietly. That awful dance… looks like he'll have to destroy Loki's phone memory after this. Although he was a little grateful that he didn't say anything else.
"The point is, we want to make you feel what Halloween is like," said Wanda.
“This will be fun! First Halloween for the three of us," America said as she held Loki and Stephen's hands cheerfully.
"And Croki!" Loki corrected, pointing at Croki next to him.
“Right, sorry, and Croki too.”
"And our first Halloween together!" added Wanda.
"And our first Halloween together!" repeated America with a cheerful smile.
Stephen smiled faintly upon hearing that. Well, there's nothing wrong with trying to celebrate this, right?
"So let's start with making Jack O' Lantern!" said Wanda, she then gave each of them a pumpkin.
Stephen stared at the large pumpkin in his hand as he listened to Wanda explain what they needed to do step by step. He used secretly made Jack O' Lantern with a small pumpkin so he could easily hide it. At least he had some experience to make that even though he never finished it.
Well, no one can stop him now. Let's do it.
At first, it sounded easy, but once he enter the carving section it starts to feel difficult. Stephen's hand wasn't steady enough to follow the line he drew. He ends up using a little bit of magic to steady his hands.
“Hohoho, look at this, I'm the ugly Jack O' Lantern!” Loki said, holding his homemade Jack O' Lantern over his face. The face on the pumpkin did look strange, the eyes were too small while the jagged smile looked like an old man who had lost his teeth.
"Hey ugly Jack O' Lantern!" America said as she held up her pumpkin. "I'm the hideous Jack O' Lantern."
Her Jack O' Lantern wasn't much different from Loki's, except that the smile was more like the mouth of a surprised old man.
They both laughed at their first creation before putting it down and preparing to make another Jack O' Lantern. There was still another pumpkin they could carve.
Stephen's own work is not much different from theirs. The difference may be that there's a crack that joins the nose with the smile, which looks as if his Jack O' Lantern has flu.
Not perfect. Somehow he feels upset.
Stephen then looked around. Wanda tried to embellish her carve while Loki and America had already removed their second pumpkin innards. On the other hand, a curious Levi finally joins in trying to carve the pumpkin using the knife that was used by Stephen, while Croki uses his teeth which makes the carvings quite scary and strange.
They all looked happy, completely oblivious to the fact that their results weren't as good as they had hoped. Well, maybe from the start they didn't expect the results to be as good as they imagined. Yeah... it's their first after all; what does Stephen expect anyway.
“Loki!”
Stephen turned and saw Loki who was bothering Wanda who was still neatening her carvings.
Ignoring Wanda's protests, Loki continued to nudge Wanda's arm hard enough to make it difficult for Wanda to adjust the knife. Losing her temper, Wanda picking up a handful of pumpkin innards and tossing them at Loki.
"Hey, not on my clothes!" Loki's protest.
Wanda just stuck out her tongue to Loki. Disapproved, Loki took a handful of pumpkin innards and threw them at Wanda, which Wanda brushed aside with her power and hit America instead.
"Hey!" yelled America did not accept it.
"Not my fault!" Loki defended himself first.
America threw back the pumpkin innards, which Loki brushed aside using his magic and smacked Levi.
"That's America," Loki pointed out.
In the end, they all tossed the pumpkin innards at each other. Stephen just laugh seeing that. But because he didn't want to get involved, he decided to create a shield around him and went back to carving his new pumpkin. The war just stopped when the pumpkin innards hit Wong who just passed through the open living room door.
Once the sun started to set, they finished carving all the pumpkins. They then put a candle on each of the lanterns and lit them at the same time. The lantern lit up beautifully; a faded orange glow that looks warm on the eyes.
Stephen sat staring at the lantern, a smile subconsciously forming as he saw the result of his hard work. It's not perfect, but it still looks beautiful.
"Well, it's not bad, right?" said Wanda who sat next to him.
Stephen nodded. Without even needing to say they would agree that their work is quite satisfactory.
"But it's quite tiring," America groaned, hitting her arm lightly. “Tiring, but fun.”
Loki mumbled in agreement. "And I'm hungry, let's order something for dinner today."
They all agreed. One by one, they got up and left the messy room, deciding to clean it up tomorrow. Stephen was the last to get up, his eyes returned to the lantern still with a warm smile on his face.
'Yeah... not bad.'
He then closed the door slowly.