I've been suffering through crappy moods and writer's block all weekend, so I cranked this simple fluff out in attempts of pushing past the blockage of my creative juices. I hope you enjoy it anyway~

"How old do you feel right now?" Kofi twisted the knob and bumped the door open with his waist, both wrists aching from the bags of candy weighing them down. Xavier trailed him into the house. He didn't have "bags" of candy: he had one giant pillowcase of goodies.

"Twenty-two," Xavier answered with a grunt. He didn't make it much further past the front door before dropping his king-sized sleeve of sweets onto the floor. The bag tipped over, spitting out a couple of bite-sized Kit Kat bars.

"How do you get twenty-two?" Kofi mused, slapping a light on.

"Well, I figure the Power Rangers costume puts me at, like, ten, eleven at the oldest," Xavier analyzed. "Then you have trick-or-treating, which come on, kids aren't all that into past the age of twelve or so, right? Ten plus twelve. Twenty-two. Not counting that one kid who still dresses like a Power Ranger at the age of eleven." Or himself, at his true age, twenty-nine.

"We just spent the past two and a half hours trick-or-treating. We're little kids." Kofi, in his Sub-Zero costume—he'd pieced it together all year, and Xavier had to admit, it looked pretty badass—dropped his heavy bags of candy in front of the coffee table in the living room. The weight of both might have crushed the wood of the table to kindling and the glass to ash.

"We could have gone to the grown-up party. Given a little more credit to ourselves as the grown men we know we are."

Kofi unwrapped a lollipop and slipped it into his mouth. "Nah. I'm tired, dude. All that walking. Plus, my feet are frozen numb. It's cold as hell out there."

"Cold as hell. Boy, that's one that just doesn't make any sense."

"Hush."

"Cold froze your brain a bit too, didn't it?"

Kofi nudged his shoulder, and Xavier laughed. Kofi had his reasons for skipping the party, and Xavier had his own. Their company was split tonight over the country, attending parties of their own, some with one another but most separate. If Sasha, Naomi and Tamina were around, maybe he would have tagged along to a gathering with them. But no party was that fun without Kofi. Especially with numerous people who found them both insufferable.

Better to be alone with a guy who liked you than surrounded by others who've put you through a table before—and would do so willingly again, if a party were an appropriate place to do so.

Trick-or-treating with the New Day had been a blast, though. They'd posted about their destination streets on Twitter all week, and many people had opened the door for them wanting pictures and autographs, and flinging candy at them so fast it sometimes hurt Xavier when the projectile sweets made contact with his skin.

E was at one of the parties. Xavier wasn't a party guy. Especially a party without Kofi.

"So, we're here alone on Halloween night, just the two of us," Kofi said.

"That's usually what alone means, Kof."

"Your ass is about to be back out in the cold."

"Apparently I can handle it better than you can."

Kofi grinned, the lollipop stick jutting out the corner of his mouth. "What do you want to do?"

"Well, we could fire up the old PS4 and I could whoop your ass in your point of origin, Sub-Zero."

"Or, we could watch a movie."

"A movie?"

"Yeah. Not just any movie. A horror movie. Seems to be more appropriate on a night like tonight."

"Sure, I guess. If you're just too afraid of getting a beatdown."

"Trust me, there will be many a day for me to school you at Mortal Kombat X, son. But when was the last time we just watched a movie together?"

His voice had a tinge of delicacy to it. Xavier held back a couple more smart-ass remarks he had on standby. When was the last time he and Kofi had simply…sat down in front of a flick? No good-natured arguing, no Youtube video deadline, no matches to warm up for, no finding some way to fall asleep in this adorned hotel room because they had to catch a flight early the next morning. They weren't even on the road for the time being. They were at Kofi's house.

This might have been their first chance in a long while. And, as far as either of them knew, the last in quite some time as well.

"Sure. A movie sounds perfect."

"Want some popcorn?" Kofi offered.

"Sure. Don't mind if I retch all over your carpet later from all this junk food."

"Don't be sick, man." He shuffled into the kitchen. "DVDs are in that tower next to the TV."

Xavier's eyes skimmed Kofi's enormous movie collection. They were arranged in alphabetical order, something Xavier found both amusing and impressive, considering the size of the stash. He recognized some notable horror films—Scream, the Saw movies, Halloween, The Exorcist, Cabin in the Woods. In the "P" section, between Police Academy and Pompeii, Xavier regarded a movie he'd heard so much about but never sat through before. He freed the DVD from the tower and turned the case over. The summary told of a storm and a child named Carol Anne Freeling getting "whisked away into a spectral void." It didn't look too bad. Ghosts, haunted houses, those were the norm. Little girls upped the creepy factor, but if she was the protagonist, it shouldn't have been anything he couldn't handle.

A strong scent of popcorn pushed from the kitchen. It met Xavier's nose solidly as Kofi carried a large bowl of the salty snack into the living room. As much candy as he'd consumed over the last hour or so, suddenly he was hungry again.

"Survey says?" Kofi queried.

Xavier held up Poltergeist. "This any good?"

Kofi was incredulous. "You've never seen Poltergeist?"

"If you expel me as a friend, I understand."

"Dude. It's a classic. We've gotta watch it."

"But is it good, though?"

"Good as in good, or good as in scary?" A teasing smile touched Kofi's lips at both corners, which prompted some arrogance within Xavier.

"I can handle scary just fine."

"You sure? 'Cause this is up there as one of the most terrifying movies ever."

"I made it through The Shining. This won't be a problem."

"The Shining is, like, E.T. compared to this one."

"So you're afraid of it. And you need me to hold your hand through the whole thing."

Kofi pushed the bowl of popcorn into Xavier's hands, trading it for the DVD. "Fine. Welcome to the cult classic. But don't say I didn't warn you."

Xavier denounced his hesitancy. "Don't worry. I promise you can bury your head in my shoulder when it gets too scary."

"Mhmm. Keep saying that."

Kofi removed some of his costume accessories, setting them on the coffee table, but he kept the rest of the apparel on. Halloween wasn't over yet in more ways than one. Xavier opted to keep his black Power Range costume on as well. Kofi joined him on the couch, leaving a foot or so of empty space between them.

"Sure you don't wanna move a little closer?" Xavier ribbed. "Hard for you to cling to me from that distance."

"Keep talking. No, really, keep it up. The longer you talk, the louder I laugh when you're in a ball on the floor, begging me to tun the TV off."

"Bring it, Miss Carol Anne Freeling."

"Mind if I turn off the lights?" Kofi asked, lifting from the couch before he got an answer from Xavier. "Set the mood a little bit?"

"Mr. Kingston, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you?" Xavier jabbed.

"Yeah, yeah. Jokes are funny. Look at you, on a roll." The living room was dark again, leaving behind only the glow of the TV. "See how much you're joshing around in a few minutes."

Kofi returned to the couch. Xavier couldn't help but notice he'd filled a few inches of room between their upright bodies. Good. He needs me for this and he knows it.

He took a handful of popcorn. Kofi finished up his lollipop, then peeled the wrapping off a chocolate bar.

Xavier's breath caught in his throat as Carol Anne's mother passed by a horrific clown statue. "Uh."

"What's up?" Kofi asked, sounding like he knew the answer.

"Does that clown play a role in this movie, by chance?"

"No. Not at all."

"You dirty liar."

Kofi laughed heartily. "You afraid of clowns?"

"They're just...unnatural."

"Don't worry. We've got a bunch of other fun shit to get through before Bobo starts causing trouble."

Xavier pushed a breath out. "Sure. Alright."

Kofi was stifling laughter under his breath. Xavier could feel him shaking from the compressed giggles.

When the clown appeared on screen again, Xavier's body tightened. Jesus, no, no, no, no, get that damn thing out of my sight. He rubbed his eyes as an excuse to cover them, not see the clown.

"Clown's pretty creepy, huh, Woods?"

"Fuck off. I have something in my eye."

"Yeah. Tears. From your fear."

Xavier forced himself to reopen his eyes, big and wide to compensate for the fraction of the scene he'd missed. At least the kid had covered up the creepy clown with a sheet, at long last. Why didn't he just do that before? What parents despised their children so much that that particular "toy" had to be positioned right before the bed at nighttime?

He was calmer once the clown was off-screen.

"Who's she talking to in there?" Xavier asked when Carol Anne conversed with a television set blasting static. "Barney the Dinosaur?"

"You nervous, Xavier?"

"No."

"Then just watch. Quit trying to cut the silence."

That was exactly what Xavier had been doing. He was anticipating a jump-scare, and the way he handled the feeling when playing horror games was jokes and banter. He flinched when the white apparition discharged from the TV, entering the Freeling's home. At least Xavier couldn't taunt him for it—he'd jumped, too.

"Every time, dude," Kofi said, shaking his head with a chuckle at himself. Xavier saw him reaching for the popcorn bowl between them. He timed it so his own hand entered the bowl at the same time Kofi's did.

"Ready to hold my hand already?" Xavier asked.

Kofi patted the top of Xavier's hand. "Let me know when you are. That little jump you just made, this is just the beginning. Remember: still got the clown to look forward to."

The reminder alone was enough to make Xavier go frigid. of course the clown was coming back, of course. He hated clowns. Hated, hated, hated them. Maybe he wouldn't vocalize his fear to dodge a little jeering from Kofi, but God, did he abhor those creepy bastards.

"Alright," Xavier said when Carol crooned her famous line of the movie: "They're heeeeeere." "That's a little spooky, not gonna lie."

Kofi giggled.

"You know what would be funny, the twist of the movie? If it was the dad stacking all this shit up in the kitchen," Xavier said when the family was in the kitchen. "That's why he didn't want anyone to go in there. He doesn't want to get caught pulling the ultimate prank on his family."

"There you go, jabbering again," Kofi said. "I'm telling you, you're terrified and it's obvious."

So he shut his mouth—for a little while.

"Ooh, trees," Xavier carried on as the gnarled plant snatched up Carol Anne's brother—though he had to admit, the scene was directed well and sent something of a chill through his muscles. Especially because now, for whatever reason, the clown was in Carol Anne's bed with her. "Those are just petrifying. Hold me, Kingston!"

Kofi opened up his arms. When Xavier didn't move, he turned his focus from the movie to his partner. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

"You serious?" Xavier asked, rubbing his lips together.

"You seriously petrified?"

"No," Xavier scoffed.

"Alright," Kofi said, returning his arms to his lap. "Had your chance?"

"I can fake it, if you want. To humor you."

"Nope. I'm good, man."

Xavier was quiet for a good portion of the movie. The fear factor dimmed when the investigators arrived and the poltergeist was more playful than sadistic and murderous. He didn't want Kofi to read too deeply into his commentary. But he did grimace at Marty's hallucination of tearing off his own face. "That's just nasty."

"Creepy, huh?" Kofi asked.

"Just a little…"

"Don't worry. Bothers me, too. Even if the effects are a little cheap."

No teasing tone intact. Kofi must have felt for him now. Alright. Better for us both to be a little scared than one guy walking home as the horror movie champ, right?

"Of course the house was built over a cemetery," Xavier mocked in a deep voice. "No wonder shit's haunted."

He reached for some popcorn and his fingers brushed against Kofi's. This time it hadn't been planned. Xavier blushed in the dark and pulled his hand away.

A little while later, his throat constricted again. The viewers were back in Robbie's room, and the clown had returned. Nothing in this movie got to him quite as badly as that damn clown.

This is it. This has gotta be it. This clown hasn't sat around all movie creeping me out for nothing. It's gonna do something.

"You okay?"

"No," Xavier admitted. Wasn't it obvious? His hands were clenched fists, trembling at his sides. His legs were tucked beneath him, for he felt if he left them dangling off the couch, they'd be bitten off by a clown.

"This is still here, if you want it." Kofi leaned forward to place the popcorn bowl on the coffee table, and he left his hand open between them in its place. Xavier looked at Kofi, then at his waiting hand.

He slowly pressed his palm against Kofi's and braided their fingers together.

"Don't laugh at me," Xavier muttered.

"I ain't laughing."

Xavier gripped Kofi's hand tight at the building suspense. His jaw locked, and his eyes narrowed—but still he could view everything on the TV. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my GodohmyGodohmyGodohmyGod—"

One of the most famous scary movie scenes of all time succeeded in making him nearly rocket off the couch.

"Dammit!"

His free hand slapped against his leg, the other refusing to let go of Kofi even as his arm waved around. "Dammit, dammit, dammit, I saw it coming, I was ready for it, and it still got me! Ugh!"

He expected Kofi to laugh, but not one giggle passed his lips. "Need a hug?" he asked instead.

"Ugh, yes, just tell me when it's over, Jesus."

Xavier leaned into Kofi's secure hold. Kofi cradled him. He felt foolish for cowering at what was probably now viewed as a cheap, predictable, trite horror film. But his first time viewing such a classic combined with his intense fear of clowns had done him in tonight.

Kofi felt good, warm. The way he held Xavier so closely, so tight, convinced him there would be no clowns trying to drag him to hell or wherever. Not so long as the two were together like this.

"Poor Woods," Kofi sighed. He stroked the top of Xavier's head, wiggling his fingers through Xavier's frizzy hair.

"Is it over?" Xavier groaned.

"It is now."

Xavier pulled his eyes open. Kofi had been speaking the truth. All sorts of scary shenanigans were commencing now, but they were as gentle as a Disney movie compared to what he'd just seen.

"Phew. Does it come back?"

"No."

"I think you're lying again."

"I promise it doesn't. And I'm sorry I made you sit through that. I had no idea you were that afraid of clowns."

"Not something I brag about on a daily basis." Read my mind, Kofi. Clown or no clown left in the movie, I'm comfortable.

"It's gone. I promise."

"Nope. Not moving."

"I don't have a problem holding you, Woods. Even if you're feeling braver after surviving that scene."

Xavier didn't say a word. Answering Kofi's question.

He didn't move a muscle. His heart thrashed beneath his ribcage, and he sensed Kofi's was no calmer.

Kofi held him until the end credits.

"Whew," Xavier sighed again. "See? Wasn't so bad."

"Nah, of course not. I'm just holding you because I love the feel of your skin on mine. Not because you were freaking out hardcore."

"You were wrong, though. I wasn't a ball on the floor."

"Just a ball in my arms."

"You didn't have to coddle me. You could have made me brave it out."

"But did either of us want that? Really?"

Xavier smirked up at him. "Guess not."

"You want me to put in E.T.?"

"If you want…not really Halloween-y, though."

"Exactly. It's not shit-your-pants scary. You need a break."

Xavier had dropped the haughty act long ago. "Eh, I wouldn't mind sitting through another scary one, if it means—"

"What? That you'll be pressed up against me the whole time, burying your head from the horror?"

"I don't need the excuse of a scary movie to do that, though…" His voice had waned significantly. "I mean, right?"

Kofi rubbed Xavier's arm. "You sure don't."

"E.T. is fine," Xavier spoke softly.

Xavier had to sit up, free himself from entanglement in Kofi's arm, so Kofi could switch the DVDs out. He missed Kofi's touch in the thirty seconds he was away.

But no sooner did the warmth of Kofi's hold leave than did it return to him, embracing Xavier in a guarded hold through a much less sinister movie…and through Xavier's eventual slumber there on the couch, Kofi dozing beside him, through dreams of terrifying clowns and his hero Kofi Kingston battling them off.

And the hero just might have kissed him at the end of the combat.

And Xavier just might have smiled in his sleep when it happened.