AN: Have my Halloween oneshot a few days early since my schedule until Wednesday is pretty busy and I won't have much spare time until after Halloween is over. I hope you enjoy!

~Apple Cider~

"Sonic?" Mario called out, entering the hedgehog's room and glancing around for his boyfriend. "I have a splitting headache, can you help me with that please?"

"Just a minute babe!" The twenty-three year old called from the adjoining bathroom. "Hang on - I think I've got some meds in here..."

The door clicked open and Sonic - dressed in his vampire costume - wandered out of the bathroom staring down at the pill bottle in his hand. "So it says to take two every eight hours an'..." Sonic trailed off as he looked up at Mario, blinking a couple of times before he set the pill bottle down on the dresser. "Oh. Nice costume - an' I appreciate the pun, even if it was pretty lame."

Mario adjusted the fake axe on his head and grinned at Sonic - which honestly looked a little disturbing thanks to the contacts he was wearing that made his eyes completely white. "Do I make a good zombie?"

Sonic nodded approvingly. "Yeah, I think you make a pretty sharp lookin' zombie. What about me, do I make a good vampire?"

"You do." Mario replied. "You better watch out for Simon and Richter. And don't suck my blood, alright?"

"Zombie blood is all gross an' black or somethin' like that." Sonic said rather matter-of-factly, sticking his tongue out in disgust. A coy grin spread across his face before he seductively whispered in Mario's ear, "'Sides, you know it's not your blood I'm interested in suckin'."

Even through the green face paint Sonic could see a blush creeping onto Mario's face. He laughed and threaded a hand in his boyfriends. "But for right now, let's go have some fun at the party!"

/~/

Fake cobwebs and black and orange streamers decorated the ballroom as classic Halloween tunes thumped from the giant speakers. Tables with snack food and two huge punch bowls full of apple cider (one alcoholic and one not) were off to the side of the room while couples danced to the music together. Sonic placed his cane off to the side and grabbed a handful of chips to snack on while Mario smiled at the sight of his brother dancing with Daisy, both of them looking like they were having the time of their lives. Daisy being in the mansion had really done a world of good for Luigi.

"Raaaawr!"

Mario glanced down to see the little pink haired Villager - Rose - had skipped up next to them in her werewolf costume, giggling like a maniac. "Did I scare you?" she asked sweetly, to which Sonic chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, that's a pretty scary costume you've got there! You look just like a real werewolf!"

Rose giggled again and twirled around in a pirouette. "I'm gonna go and scare Michael! He doesn't like werewolves very much, and he's dressed like a bug which Nori doesn't like. Bye!"

Rose skipped away and Mario smiled as he watched the little girl go up to her crush and roar at him before shyly asking him to dance. He had to admit, for only being seven Rose was quite confident.

"Do you feel like a proud parent watchin' their kid right now?" Sonic whispered to Mario as Rose began to dance with Michael. "'Cause that's kinda how I feel right now."

"I do." Mario confirmed. "I mean, we'll never take the place of her actual parents even though they're deceased, but I'm glad she chose to trust us."

Sonic leaned against Mario and rested his head on his shoulder. He lifted his eyes to meet Mario's. "What?" Mario asked when he realized he was being watched. Sonic shrugged.

"You're nice to look at," he hummed before he turned towards the vats of apple cider and elbowed Mario in the ribs. "Want some apple cider?"

Mario nodded and together they wandered over to the punch bowls filled with apple cider, the dry ice in the bowls making wisps of fog in the air. Captain Falcon - manning the station dressed as a bodybuilder - grinned as he saw Mario and Sonic approaching.

"It's about time the undead couple came to visit. Let me guess, non alcoholic for the zombie and alcoholic for the vampire?"

"You guessed right." Sonic confirmed as Captain Falcon poured the cider from the two bowls into the respective cups and handed them to Mario and Sonic. "Thanks Cap!" Sonic said before he clinked his plastic cup against Mario's. "Now the party can really start!"

/~/

And the party did start, but not in the way Sonic had expected it to. Whether Captain Falcon had made an honest mistake or done it on purpose, Mario had ended up drinking the alcoholic apple cider while Sonic disappointingly never got a single buzz off of his. Though he had to admit, being sober at the moment wasn't the worst thing in the world as it allowed him to take in the drunken antics of his boyfriend who was currently having an enthusiastic one-sided conversation with Dark Pit who he clearly mistook for Pit considering they'd gone as each other for Halloween. Why Dark Pit hadn't told Mario to piss off yet was anyone's guess, but Sonic suspected he was at least slightly amused by the fact that the leader of the Mansion was slightly wasted.

Even though Sonic wanted to stay at the party a bit longer, he knew that Mario was too drunk to enjoy it anymore so he begrudgingly grabbed Mario's arm and began to lead him out of the ballroom. Rose saw them leaving however and scurried up to Sonic, glancing between him and Mario curiously. "Where are you going?"

Sonic hesitated. There was really no reason that Rose should know that one of the Smashers she looked up to had accidentally gotten drunk off apple cider. "He's, uh... not feelin' very well. We're gonna call it a night an' head to bed early."

"Oh, okay!" Rose chirped. "Feel better Mario! I'll see you tomorrow!"

Rose scampered back over to her friends while Sonic continued his trek to the dorm building. Opening Mario's door he dragged his boyfriend inside and kicked the door shut, dragging him over to the bed and sitting him down on the edge of the mattress.

"Alright Mar, you've still got contacts in so if we can just get those out..." Sonic murmured, and Mario slowly nodded his head. After a few moments the contacts were out and Mario collapsed onto the mattress, asleep. Sonic lightly chuckled before he retreated into the bathroom and dampened a cloth before returning to Mario's side and slowly began to wipe his face clean of the green face paint.

"Sonic..."

Sonic froze, the cloth just above Mario's right cheek. Mario was talking in his sleep... talking about him. He smiled and kissed Mario's cheek before continuing his work.

"You're my... best... friend..."

Sonic's heart swelled and he quickly finished wiping off the makeup before he lay down next to Mario, cuddling him close. Who would have thought that what was supposed to be the scariest day of the year would end so sweetly?

AN: I really wanted to write something about Mario's new zombie costume in Odyssey. And I've always headcanoned Rose as an orphan long before I set both Sonic and Mario up as parental figures in her life. (Originally it was just Sonic)

Anyway, if you're heading out on Halloween, stay safe and I'll see you all hopefully soon with a new chapter of Runaways!

~Steel