Submission (#6783) Approved

Words: 645

Resh was having good luck as far as trick-or-treating went. There was something about having a costume on that helped a social interaction not feel as daunting as it could be, it was a nice change from the usual. Also, getting some candy as a reward for every brief conversation was something Resh kind of wished happened more often, but maybe that was a little too much to reasonably expect.

Noikar was having fun too. Resh had been getting plenty of pet-safe treats along with the usual candies, which was all well and good until the pile of pet treats in their bag began to rival the little boopsie’s size. If Resh wasn’t careful, the little noodle on their shoulder was going to be eating their weight in sweets while Resh was asleep.

They came upon another house, which wasn’t particularly different from any of the others at first glance. But that all changed the moment Resh rang the doorbell.

A rush of heavy feet, something much bigger than a regular pet was RUSHING to the door, and…barking?

POW! The door slammed open, barely missing the tip of Resh’s beak. They stumbled back as a voix with a purple skull burst through and barked in every direction.

Oh, right, Voix use echolocation, on account of the whole ‘no eyes’ thing. Well, there were two outcomes to this: that Voix is friendly and just overexcited, or that voix is trying to find Resh to tear them to pieces. Resh decided it was better to be safe than sorry and quickly ducked behind a decorative tombstone.

“Staccato?” A surprised voice came from the depths of the house, followed by slower footsteps. To Resh’s shock, a rotfeind stuck their head out. “Hello? Anyone there?”

Resh held Noikar close and tried to stay quiet and calm. They had no idea how friendly or unfriendly these guys were, all Resh knew was neither of them had eyes, so maybe this was their cue to sneak away?

Resh felt a tug on the wing of their bat costume, and looked down. Staccato had chomped down on it and was playfully growling and rolling over.

“Erm, hello.” an unfamiliar voice said from right above them.

Resh nearly yelped, the rotfeind was standing right above them. Now that they were outdoors, Resh could see they were covered in grainy green fur and dragged a thick, fluffy tail behind them.

“The name’s Cioco.” The rotfeind said awkwardly. “Sorry, I’ve been trying to get him to stop tackling trick or treaters all night.”

“T-that’s alright!” Resh said quickly. They tried to stand up, but Staccato’s grip on their bat wing held. “Uh, can you ask him to please let go of my costume?”

Immediately, Staccato let go. He hopped back to his feet and cheekily pranced back over to Cioco’s side.

“Thanks.” Resh said anxiously.

“Sorry again about all this.” Cioco sighed. They reached into a pumpkin shaped bowl–oh yeah candy! Resh almost forgot.

Cioco lifted something out with the very tips of their claws and held it out to Resh.

“An avocado!” Cioco said proudly.

“Oh.” Resh said, letting Cioco drop it into his bag. “...Thanks.”

“You’re very welcome!” Cioco said brightly. “Come back any time, I grow them right here in my yard!”

Resh thanked the rotfeind and quickly said goodbye. But as they stepped back out onto the street and reached up to their shoulder for Noikar, they realised with a fight that the boopsie wasn’t there. They looked around in utter terror for a few seconds and nearly RAN back to the two avocado dealers when they heard a small burp from the bag.

Noikar sat in the middle of the candy with a suspiciously avocado shaped lump in their midsection. Seeing Resh looking, the boopsie thipped their tongue up at them, completely unfazed by any of what had just happened.