#i went a bit over my personal limit i set myself but 100 words isn't TOO bad

[lovelylogans]

robbers rejoicing

Hallowe’en provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc., much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word “trick or treat” to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing.

-blackie, alberta, the earliest known use of the term “trick or treat” in print

ao3 | read my other fics | coffee?

warnings: college tomfoolery (drunk people, partial nudity) alcohol

pairings: platonic lamp

words: 1,104

notes: so, this is for the 13 days of halloween prompt over at @sanderssidescelebrations​! today’s prompt is trick or treat!

“Look, pumpkin Pat-ch, it’s a nice gesture and everything,” Roman said. “But I really don’t think anyone is going to show up to trick or treat here.”

Patton gives Roman a fittingly parental chiding look. “Well, isn’t it better to be safe than sorry?”

“We live in an apartment that is predominantly, if not entirely, populated by college students,” Logan said patiently. “In terms of holidays, more people go drinking on Halloween than on New Year’s Eve, especially within our age bracket.”

“Drunk college kids like candy, too,” Patton pointed out, and, well. None of them could really argue with that.

Virgil did, however, make sure that Patton has the door to the house cracked just so slightly open so that they’d be able to hear him if he called for help. Just in case. Drunk people weren’t really known for their calm, polite demeanors.

So Virgil and Roman sat on the couch and watch The Nightmare Before Christmas as Logan read Frankenstein, and they kept an ear out for Patton on the porch, singing and humming absently to himself.

It didn’t take very long for the first “oh shit, you’re giving out candy?” to float indelicately from the porch.

“Well, you gotta say trick or treat, but yeah!” Patton said back.

“Oh, right, yeah—trick or treat?”

“Here ya go!”

“Whoa, thanks, man—just one, or—“

“You can take a whole handful, if you want, I’ve got plenty.”

“Fuckin’ siiiiiick, dude, thanks!”

“No problem—happy Halloween! Stay hydrated, be safe, make good choices!”

Roman snorted, and Virgil elbowed him in the side.

“What?” Roman said. “He’s dad-ing random strangers off the street!”

“BRO!” floated in even more indelicately from the street. “BRO, HE’S GIVING OUT CANDY! HE’S GOT REESE’S, BRO!”

Virgil’s the one who snorts, this time, as Logan pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed loudly as another voice shouted “DUDE, FOR REAL?!”

The continuous pour of noise after that is nowhere near as gentle and familiar as Patton singing quietly to himself.

There was a group of friends who probably live in the apartment complex coming back from a liquor store trip who exclaim over the free candy.

There was a group of fraternity brothers going out for a night on the town. 

One of their neighbors was apparently having a party, and each of their guests started making a detour to pick up some free candy to get the night started.

There’s some sorority sisters, one of whom had a last-minute wardrobe malfunction that Patton apparently helped stitch up. Virgil hadn’t even known that Patton could sew.

Virgil’s still hearing the group of sorority girls giggle and squeal when his phone buzzes.

Hey, kiddo! Could you or Roman bring out some more candy? It’s in the cupboard above the microwave.

Virgil showed Roman the screen. Roman held up his hands immediately, primed for rock-paper-scissors.

Virgil lost.

So Virgil goes to get a bag of candy—apparently, Patton bought five—and stepped hesitantly onto the porch, ready to toss the bag and run if it got too awkward.

He ended up freezing awkwardly in the middle of the doorway.

So, they’ve got a rocking chair on the porch. That was where Virgil last saw Patton sitting.

Now, a woman in what Virgil was pretty sure was a black cat costume was sitting there instead, parsing through Patton’s curls with her fingers, eyes narrowed in focus, as Patton did something similar with a woman in a... you know what, Virgil had no idea what she was supposed to be, but she had her eyes mostly shut as Patton braided her hair back. She was gesticulating wildly with the mini-bottle of wine she’s got clutched in an iron grip.

“An’s’like,” she slurred, “I deserve better, you know?!”

“You do,” Patton said loyally. “You so do, sugar.”

“He’s an asshat,” the woman in the cat costume said sagely, then, “What shampoo do you use? It smells so nice.”

“Thanks!” Patton said. “It’s formulated for curls. But, I mean,” he continued to the girl on the ground, “You really gotta think about what’s best for you, right? Breakups hurt, trust me, I’ve been there, but you’ve gotta put you first, not him. You’ve been putting in a hundred and ten percent, and it sounds like he hasn’t been treating you with the respect and care you deserve.”

“He didn’evn show up to our fun’raiser,” she said. “We were helpin’ kids with cancer and shit, and he skipped’t to go fuckin’ axe throwing. I mean, who does that?!”

“Um,” Virgil said awkwardly from where he’s caught between the door and the doorframe.

“Oh, hey, Virgil!” Patton said brightly, but not moving from where’s been caught in the braiding-hair-train. “Ladies, this is Virgil, he’s my roommate. Virgil, this is Olivia, and this is Brittany—it is Brittany, right?”

“Y’can call me Brit,” the drunker girl murmured. “You’re cool.”

“Aw, thanks!” Patton said. “And thanks for the candy, Virgil—Brit, I’m pretty sure this pack has got Crunch bars, you said those were your favorite, right?”

“Oh, hell yeah,” Brit said, and Patton carefully tied back the braid before he reached for the bag, digging out some mini Crunch bars for Brit to snatch. Brit does, and then Brit squinted up at him in the midst of gnawing absently at one of her chocolate bars.

“D’you want some?”

“I,” Virgil said. “Me?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh. Um. That’s—“

“You seem kinda emo,” Brit said. “Chocolate would help. And, like, clothes that actually fit you.”

Virgil could hear Roman cackling in the living room.

“Come on, we’re having girl talk,” Olivia said brightly. “After we convince Brit to dump Brett—”

“Your boyfriend’s name is Brett?” Patton asked, and Brit sighed.

“The alliteration was half the reason we got together.”

“—I could totally give you advice on how to get discounted eyeshadow, not the drugstore stuff I can tell you’re using.” 

Virgil felt unaccountably stung. His three-dollar mini-palette that he tended to pick up while he was in the pharmacy waiting for his anxiety medication had served him well over the years, thank you.

But... well....

“Plus, some that’s a bit more pigmented than that, if you’re gonna go for the emo look you gotta go for the emo look, you know?”

Virgil hesitated, and Patton grinned up at him. 

“You can help me pass out candy for trick-or-treaters, too,” Patton said. “I’ll give you some of the extra I’ve got stashed away as thanks.”

Virgil sighed.

“All right,” Virgil said, and plonked himself down onto their patio floor, helping himself to a handful of random chocolate candies. “Fuck it. Sure. Teach me all the secrets of eyeshadow.”

[tysukis]

Hi, first(?) AU anon here. I will absolutely dive down this rabbit hole with you. I went a little overboard (sorry?). I absolutely agree with you on your Zuko take. I think we all kind of land there naturally. But I also think that Zuko would latch onto stability the moment he realized he had it. So this is kind of how I see it going down:

I think the band Sokka is part of would be solid. Just a local hit, right? But Sokka is the plans guy, and the aspirations guy, and they can do *so much better*. I 100% do not know how real life musicians work so add a pinch of salt here, but he would absolutely land them a gig as openers to a mediocre niche headliner just by sheer power of phone calls and charm. (He scripted it as much as possible, we all remember how that canon speech went when he winged it, but he knows how to put words together when he has time).

And yeah I love the idea of Zuko being an academic. I'm assuming Ozai is out of the picture for this, and the boy gets to pursue his passions instead of an expectation. Unfortunately, you mix in passion and the general anxiety of a kid who lived under intense scrutiny and you get an adult who gets tunnel vision during spring finals/prep for a conference/etc. So he doesn't quite rise to the occasion when his boyfriend drops this life changing news, he's proud but distracted, and he's already so bad at words in comparison to Sokka that it's just. Lackluster. And he probably meant to meet them at the bar/house party to celebrate after he got home but he's sleep deprived and his phone is dead because he's a disaster sometimes.

So now you've got Sokka stewing on immediate events, and being a little heartbroken because he went all out every time Zuko accomplished *anything*, even if it wasn't super impressive to Zuko himself. And maybe there's a bit of Zuko assuming Sokka doesn't need that reciprocated. He just doesn't vocalize his important needs, so Zuko assumes they're being met, you know? I like the drama of a blown up confrontation but also the idea that Sokka just confronts him sounding hurt and so damn tired of being the emotional one for that long.

But on the other side you have Zuko with his internalized plan that this is his forever person, and he does go to almost every performance even if they don't play his preferred music. And he assumes Sokka is satisfied with this. Maybe because Zuko can't imagine being happier than near his family - the good ones anyway - or because he genuinely thinks Sokka and the band are happy with being local celebrities and leaving it at that. So he plans for permanence. Because he is still a disaster, Zuko probably never vocalized this beyond doing window shopping for apartments or something. Vague jokes about a wedding that Sokka laughs at/agrees with and Zuko interprets as, "Yes I am also thinking about being here with you forever." He's not the wordsmith, he's the pragmatist and love means house shopping and snuggling over takeout and planning trips to visit their distant family together, right? Sokka's confrontation blindsided him, because he thought they were on the same page, and Sokka didn't have to leave to keep playing music, why is that even a thing??

They're both justified in being jaded because they're dumb as hell (affectionate). This isn't an AU for two grown ass men who have put in therapy time, they're both young and full of their own understanding with poor communication skills.

musician au anon!!! hello welcome back thank you so much for this incredible ask, let’s GO

(I’m gonna pop this one under a read more because otherwise this post will be eight miles long lmao)

Honestly I’m wracking my brain with what I can possibly add to this because you’ve got like. A fully fledged outline here my dude and it’s a good one. Do you write? Because you should, if you don’t. I still love the alternative take of Sokka being the one to leave and honestly this pretty much cements how much potential it has. I absolutely adore how you’ve thought about just how the communication would break down between them - and you’re completely bang on the money with it as well. Zuko is fully a hot disaster and would completely just assume Sokka’s needs are being met if he isn’t vocalising them, and we know Sokka, he’s a complainer but when it really comes down to those he loves - he’s known for being pretty selfless and for putting up brave faces. I can totally see Sokka perhaps almost feeling a bit self conscious about how hurt he is by Zuko’s lack of enthusiasm. Because Zuko loves him, right? And it’s just one show, right? So maybe he’s just overreacting, right? Or maybe he’s actually not even that good. Oh no, maybe Zuko hates his music and is just waiting for the right time to break it to him gently. Oh no, oh no, oh no. I think I might have already said it at some point tonight but Sokka would absolutely spiral until he convinces himself that him leaving would be nothing more than simply just leaving before he gets left. And like you said: Zuko  is out here planning a whole future assuming that they’re on the same page, meanwhile he has no idea.

I totally buy Sokka winging his way into a supporting act spot using his charm and charisma, and yeah his speech in canon didn’t go too well but this could likely be over the phone to only one person which would probably make it easier. I was thinking about how Sokka performing would work in conjuncture with his canon almost stage fright/fear of public speaking - and I’m leaning towards the hc that he embodies a sort of persona in front of large crowds and he’s able to let that take over and act casually and confidently no matter the audience.  (source: I am someone who studied acting and excelled in public speaking most of her life despite having a chronic anxiety disorder - playing parts and speaking on stage didn’t feel like ‘me’ because I was always channeling a character either fictional or an alternative version of myself. It works, folks.)

Are we thinking he broke away from the band and went on to succeed in a solo career? As in, he felt being local heroes was a limited pathway? Or did they all go together? Who else would be in it I wonder.

I LOVE your interpretation of Zuko and how the factors under which he was raised would shape him, especially in a modern setting. He would absolutely go into tunnel vision and that perfectionist mindset he was essentially forced into as a kid would probably be alive and well into adulthood. (And yeah, these aren’t men who have been to therapy - yet! - so we’re probably gonna assume that Zuko views this as a Perfectly Normal And Healthy Way To Live And Not At All A Trauma/Survival Response.)

I’m assuming this confrontation is what leads to their break up and then Sokka going off to pursue music further? I wonder, even all their other issues aside, what Zuko thinks about him travelling so far? As you said, we’re operating under the assumption that he doesn’t understand why Sokka couldn’t continue music and stay local. Even if things were perfect between the two, I imagine they still might not see eye to eye on that, which of course would just be another breaking point for them to tack onto the list.

As for their eventual reconciliation, Kaleigh @zukkau with her gigantic brain, said earlier that Sokka being the one to leave could also tie into a whole ‘I couldn’t ask you to uproot your whole life for me’ anxiety (especially if we’re painting zuko as a bit of a homebody here; hates change, likes routine) and that sets up perfectly for a “I would go anywhere for/with you” moment. All this to say that I think that would slot into this (^) narrative nicely.

If you have (or anyone has) anything more to add or touch on I would absolutely love to hear it, I am now fully in love with this AU and all messages and mentions of it are permanently welcome in my inbox and DMs <3