#sometimes i just wanna snack on the pumpkin insides when carving

[graves-doodles]

Spiritual successor to the drawing from last year!

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

(same anon) So since I finally found someone who writes for Zardy, I wanna request a quiet, yet bold reader with him (gender-neutral please). So basically friends at their high-school dared them to stay at the cornfield until morning comes since they're a brave one. So while wandering around in the corn, they run into Zardy and don't show any fear. How would he react to their emotion and why they're here? Also, call me "Warlock Anon"

“Has nothing ever actually scared you, [y/n]?”

“Eh, nope.” You shrugged nonchalantly, sitting with your group of friends during lunchtime. 

Everyone had just finished their food, so you were talking about anything that came to mind until it was time for class.

One subject that was brought up was your bravery, especially when it comes to scary things. Sure, you were quiet one, but you were also known to be fearless, even walking through the school’s haunted house without flinching.

But while Halloween had only recently passed, your friends believed you could be scared in another way.

“Say..” One of them finally spoke up, making you turn your attention to them. “You know about that one haunted cornfield, “Zardy’s Maze” as they call it? It’s waaaay out in the middle of nowhere.”

Their smirk had you suspicious, but curiosity won over. “I do..go on...” You nodded.

“I hear people have gone there to chop down those giant flowers...but something is stalking them, making sure they never succeed at their task.” They whispered in a creepy storytelling way. “Rumor has it that a scarecrow comes to life every night to protect its crops. A few other monsters roam about, but no one has faced this guy and lived to tell the tale. Some say it even uses its victims as fertilizer-”

Although your friends had mixed reactions over this ghost story, you were still intrigued by the scarecrow, who you assumed was “Zardy”. 

As soon as they were done talking about it, they proposed a dare to you:

You spend one night in the maze and see if the legends of Zardy’s reapings were true.

You decided to accept it right away, figuring that it would be thrilling--under the condition that they got you all the supplies you needed for the night. They were surprised that you accepted the dare so quickly.

But then again..

You were the bravest among them.

............

“It’s just one night..” You kept telling yourself as you curled up in the sleeping bag, checking your watch as the minutes ticked by.

So far you’ve been here for only a few hours, not doing much of anything except looking out for the scarecrow and eating snacks. But you were more bored than afraid, if anything. 

Trying to sleep in a musty old barn wasn’t why you accepted the dare. You wanted to see this scarecrow in the flesh--or hay, rather.

You got up and grabbed your flashlight, along with a sickle to defend yourself and cut crops with. You remembered your friend saying that Zardy would disappear if light was shined on him.

Thank goodness you kept that important mental note.

Soon enough you began exploring the maze. Fortunately the cornstalks weren’t so tall that you couldn’t see where the barn was, so you didn’t have to worry about getting lost or making a trail back. You did hear something rustling around, as well as strange rattling noises, but you figured it was just a few critters.

There were a few pumpkins with carved faces on the trail. You weren’t sure if they were from some previous fall-fest, though you pressed on regardless.

“It’s dangerous to wander in the dark, you know.”

Hearing a hoarse whisper from behind, you immediately spun around, coming face-to-face with a tall scarecrow dressed in black, with brown gloves, a witch hat, and a jack o’lantern for a head. In his grasp was a garden hoe; oddly enough it had a microphone attached to the opposite end.

A soft yellow light glowed within his triangular sockets as he stared down at you, waiting for your next move. 

But despite seeing the legendary scarecrow right in front of you, ready to kill you at any time, you were simply awestruck. 

Even now you weren’t afraid in the slightest.

Zardy seemed to have read your expression, as he tilted his head. “Well..this is certainly a first. Usually trespassers scream or run...or rudely shine their light in my face...or try to chop down my precious flowers.” He gestured to a nearby giant plant. “You’re not here to do any of that, are you?”

“No.” Once you found your voice, you nodded politely, offering him a smile back. In hopes that he believed you, you turned off your flashlight. “I..came here on a dare. Just spending the night in the barn.”

“...I see.” He hummed, leaning on his weapon. “You kids and your little “dares”. You think you’re so brave, but you’re naïve to the horrors that lie within my maze.”

You could tell he was trying to intimidate you, but the way he worded that just made you laugh. "Pfffft, haha.”

“What’s so funny?”

“Did you mean to rhyme like that? I’m sorry but it just made me laugh.” You chuckled. “It’s..fascinating to meet you, Zardy.”

Fascinating.

That certainly wasn’t the word any normally frightened human would use to describe him.

But because Zardy didn’t see any point in killing someone who wasn’t frightened at all..he accepted your compliment. And as thanks, he decided to guide you through the maze, helping you avoid monsters such as “Rattlers” that lurked in the cornfields.

You two had lost track of time, only realizing it was dawn as the sun began to rise over the horizon. Unfortunately Zardy knew that he wouldn’t be able to stay with you much longer--he was invisible to all during the daytime.

Yet somehow..he had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time he met you.

Before you returned to the barn, he gave you a jack o’lantern with a lit candle inside as a “reward” for your bravery. But when you looked back up to thank him, he vanished right before your eyes.

Sometime after that your friends picked you up on the side of the road, baffled that you didn’t even look the least bit traumatized. 

When they asked how you survived the night, you just smiled and answered:

“A friendly scarecrow helped me.”

[bililireinhartarchive]

Halloween Bughead 🎃🎃🎃

~~~

Humming quietly to herself, Betty finished icing the last of her Halloween cookies. Once, she set the cookie down, Betty looked down, at the array of fall-themed snacks laid out neatly on the counter, satisfied.

Betty hoped that her roommate, Jughead Jones, enjoyed Halloween, because Betty Cooper was known for a couple things back in Riverdale, and one of them was being absolutely bonkers about this holiday.

Although she restrained herself and kept the neatly packed box of Halloween decorations in her closet, she didn't want to decorate without her roommate's consent, and she had restrained from buying a couple pumpkins to carve when she stopped by the grocery store. She, however, did not restrain herself from making her favorite Halloween snacks. Including her mother's world-famous, well, Riverdale, New York famous, caramel corn and Halloween decorated sugar cookies.

She knew Jughead enjoyed eating, so she hoped, if he bore any ill will towards the holiday, the sweets might soften him to the idea of letting her go crazy decorating.

Betty had only shared this apartment with Jughead Jones for a couple months after her best friend Veronica Lodge ditched on the lease to move in with her long-time girlfriend, Cheryl Blossom. But she was over that now, mostly. It certainly helped that her roommate was incredibly easy on the eyes, but also Veronica had sent her a check covering the expense of the months she would miss. Betty promptly refused it, but once Veronica set her mind, there was absolutely no changing it.

Betty hears the door open after she sets the popcorn down on the coffee table in front of the tv.

She hears Jughead's deep and familiar voice call out her name.

"In the kitchen," she calls back.

"Holy fuck, was there some kind of baking competition here?" he asks, taking in the number of sweets on the counter.

Betty giggles, "No, just some light holiday baking."

"Can't wait to see how much you make for heavy holiday baking."

"I've got some caramel corn on the coffee table if you want to watch a movie together."

"So long as we can eat some of these other snacks too."

-

"Jughead?" Betty asks, a few minutes later, "Do you mind if I do a light decorating around the house for Halloween? And, by light, I mean about the same amount of work I put into the snacks."

"Whatever makes you happy, Betts," Jughead replies with a smile that makes Betty's heart squeeze.

So, she has a little (huge) crush on her roommate, everybody does sometimes, right?

-

The next few days when Betty isn't in class, she's either baking or decorating. She's figured out that Jughead has a soft spot for fall deserts, or, perhaps just deserts, so she makes as much as he could possibly eat. Which, in fact, is an incredible amount.

Finally, she finishes her work and looks around proudly. Jughead had seemed slightly surprised at the number of decorations she had, but, despite his nonchalant attitude about it, Betty is now entirely sure that he loves Halloween almost as much as she does. If the amount of horror movies they had consumed this week is any indication.

Betty hears the familiar click of his key in the lock, and she almost has to restrain herself from jumping up and down. Excited for him to see the finished product.

She hears the door open and close, and the unmistakable sound of the motorcycle boots, that he seems to constantly wear, walk closer and closer.

"Ta-da!" she exclaims when he comes into view.

"Wow, Betts! It looks incredible in here," he says, taking off his beanie to run his fingers through his hair.

"Do you like it?" Betty asks, trying to not sound as excited as she feels inside.

"Yeah! It looks great!" he replies, as he walks over to her, "I just noticed one thing was missing."

Betty does a quick glance around the room, she didn't think she was missing anything, but perhaps his family did something different for the holiday. "What's that?"

He reaches into his coat jacket, pulls something out of it, and holds it over her head. "This."

Betty looks up, and sees, clutched between his fingers is mistletoe.

She looks into his eyes, questioningly, and notices the nervous way he swallows.

"Juggie, I'm afraid you have your holidays mixed up," she says, closing the space between them.

He hums, "I need a lot of help it seems."

"Well, luckily your roommate is an incredibly patient teacher."

Smiling, she leans in and brushes their lips together. When she doesn't push any harder than light brushes against his lips, Jughead leans and kisses her with such an intensity that makes her toes curl in her slippers.

They slowly lean away from each other, not wanting to let go.

"So, do you wanna watch Halloween again tonight?" Jughead asks, breaking the ice.

Betty said nothing, just burst into laughter with Jughead joining in. Both deciding to save their conversation until after the movie.

-

For @awkwardteenwrites 🧡🖤🧡🖤