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Mu Qing hand sews himself and Feng Xin costumes every year. He normally would fully commit to the spooky theme and cover himself in fake blood and makeup, but Feng Xin is too squeamish for those kinds of costumes. So they usually end up in some sappy couple’s costumes that Feng Xin goaded him into. He would never admit it, but he actually started to enjoy the cutesy costumes a bit, though he wished there was more blood involved; it was growing on him.

However, everything changed when the twins were born. Their couple’s costumes became matching family costumes. He now has to start his sewing early to get four costumes done on time, so there’s no room for error or changes.

But this year… there was a mishap. He had everything done and ready, four costumes laid out to be tried on for final adjustments. Except Fu Yao is standing in front of him with tears streaming down his face. He sniffles pathetically, and it’s just enough to break Mu Qing’s heart.

“What’s wrong?” Mu Qing asks softly as he reaches out to pick up Fu Yao, cradling him in his arms.

“I— don’t want— to wear— it.” Fu Yao stutters through his sobs. His little hands grab onto Mu Qing’s shirt tightly, and he buries his red face in Mu Qing’s shoulder.

Feng Xin sighs from across the room, putting down his costume to come comfort Fu Yao at Mu Qing’s side. “A-Yao, your diedie work really hard on those.”

“I don’t care!” Fu Yao screams petulantly.

Feng Xin frowns, yelling back angrily, “Fu Yao! Be nice—“

Mu Qing places a hand on his chest, shoving him away. “Stop. Go get Nan Feng in his costume. I’ll deal with this.”

Feng Xin seems reluctant to go, but eventually, the other boy jumping excitedly next to his leg successfully drags him away. Mu Qing takes Fu Yao and sits him on his lap as he settles down on his shared bed with Feng Xin. “Why don’t you want to wear it?”

“Because!” Fu Yao whines, bawling his hands into fists and covering his eyes with them.

Mu Qing sighs heavily, running a soothing hand over Fu Yao’s back. He’s only five, so it’s still hard for him to find his words sometimes, but he’s becoming more open about how he’s feeling if this outburst proves anything. Although he’s small, he’s getting bigger every day, and it won’t be long before he goes off on his own to trick or treat, leaving Mu Qing behind with only his stupid husband to dress up with.

Mu Qing thought he still had time for cute costumes together, holding his hand when he gets too scared, and sharing candy, but maybe it’s time to let him grow up a little and pick his own costume. “Is there something you will wear?”

Fu Yao’s eyes seem to sparkle at the question, and his tears dry up almost instantly. He leans in close to whisper his desired costume into Mu Qing’s ear.

Which is how he ended up here, at six in the morning, just finishing up a new costume. It’s far too late for Fu Yao to try it on or make adjustments, so all he can do is hope it works out. He still has a full day of decorating and preparations ahead of him, so he sets the costume aside and heads off to attend to his duties. His head is pounding from having stayed up all night, but if he doesn’t have to see Fu Yao wail about his costume tonight, it’ll be worth it.

Later, when the sun has just started to set, they leave for their first house. The air is chilly, but Mu Qing always builds in extra layers to their costumes, so the cold isn’t bothering them. No, for Mu Qing, what’s really bothering him is the looming threat of sleepiness weighing down his eyelids. It’s clinging to his senses and muffles everything around him. He can barely even enjoy the sight of his boys flitting around happily.

They make it to the humble, but large home down the street that’s far too reserved for how much money these people have. Feng Xin leads the boys up to the door and encourages them to knock as Mu Qing stands a few steps behind.

“Trick or treat!” Both boys yell obnoxiously loud as Xie Lian opens the door with a bowl of candy tucked under his arm.

“Oh, look at you! Let me guess…” Xie Lian dramatically taps his chin as if he’s thinking, “You’re a bear!”

“Baby bear!” Nan Feng yells, giggling and twirling around to show himself off.

“I’m papa bear, and Mu Qing is mama bear.” Feng Xin says with a wide grin, wrapping his arm around Mu Qing’s waist to pull him closer to their little group. Xie Lian giggles as the costumes start to make sense, and Feng Xin continues, “Bet you can’t guess whose idea it was.”

“Um, yours?”

“What the fuck? How did you know?” Feng Xin exclaims, earning himself a jab in the side when he curses.

Mu Qing rolls his eyes, “No one else could possibly come up with something so cheesy.”

“Yeah, well… you agreed to it.” Feng Xin grumbles quietly as Xie Lian turns his attention back to the children.

“And Fu Yao, you’re…” Xie Lian tilts his head and taps his chin, but this time it’s in genuine confusion. He looks over the costume of mostly orange fabric that leads into a point near the boy’s feet and a plume of green feathers sticking up on his head. Xie Lian looks toward Mu Qing with pleading eyes as he attempts to decipher what he could possibly be.

“He’s a carrot.” Mu Qing informs him.

“Oh! Right, of course! And a very cute, um, carrot too!” Xie Lian chuckles nervously. He looks between Fu Yao and Mu Qing awkwardly a few times, trying to figure out how that ties into their joint costumes, but Mu Qing simply shakes his head.

There is no connection, and Mu Qing doesn’t have any kind of explanation for the absurd costumes other than: it’s what he wanted… for some reason. He loves his son, but he doesn’t always understand his eccentricity. Feng Xin would probably say he got it from Mu Qing himself, always claiming that Fu Yao is just a little version of Mu Qing. But even he doesn’t know why his son wanted to be a carrot of all things.

Xie Lian clears his throat as he grabs a handful of candy to put in each pumpkin basket the boys are holding. “I made all these myself, so let me know what you think of them!”

A shudder runs down Mu Qing and Feng Xin’s spines at those words, and they have to use all their strength not to rip the candy away and throw it into the bushes right then and there. They glance at each other and decide to let Xie Lian save some face by throwing them out after they leave.

Mu Qing preemptively turns to look for the best place to discreetly discard them on this street that won’t get anyone killed, but his vision is blurred from tiredness, and he stumbles over his own feet. Feng Xin’s arm around him catches him before he can fall, but everyone stops to stare in concern for a moment.

“Mu Qing, are you okay?” Xie Lian asks, worried.

Feng Xin pulls him against his side to avoid any further accidents as he replies, “Mama bear’s just a little tired. He stayed up all night on a last minute costume.”

Xie Lian glances at the little carrot in front of him and nods in understanding. “Do you want to come in and rest for a bit?”

“No.” Mu Qing automatically responds.

“Why not? I can take the boys. I think it would be a good idea. You don’t look very good, Qing-er.” Feng Xin brushes a few strands of hair out of his face toward the bear ear headband he’s wearing.

Mu Qing sways slightly on his feet, not ready to give up yet, “No, you can’t handle them by yourself. I’m fine.”

Feng Xin shakes his head. “Stop making excuses and tell me what’s wrong before you pass out, and I carry you in there anyway.”

Mu Qing thinks of denying it, making up some kind of lie to throw him off, but honestly, he’s too tired to put up much of a fight. He hangs his head, letting it fall on Feng Xin’s large shoulder. “I- I don’t want to miss this. They’re growing up so fast, we might not have many more to dress up together.”

“I bet we still have a few years left.” Feng Xin tries to comfort.

“Yeah, next year we can be a whole family of carrots!” Fu Yao chimes in.

“No, no, next year we should be soldiers. I want to have a big bow to shoot people with!” Nan Feng insists with his brother, and it quickly devolves into an argument about whose costume idea is better.

Mu Qing’s shoulders slump at the sight, and he sighs, “Family costumes are already over, aren’t they?”

Feng Xin’s hand rubs his side, and he smiles fondly at the two boys arguing, “Well, we can always just make more kids to dress up.”

Mu Qing’s eyes widen. “What the— I’m too tired to be talking about this.”

Mu Qing rubs his forehead, trying not to get too flustered, but Feng Xin leans in and whispers in his ear, “If I do it right, you won’t be able to talk at all for a while.”

Mu Qing nearly squeaks, “Sh- shut up! Alright, f- fine! You win! I- I’m going to take a n- nap!” Mu Qing yells, pushing Feng Xin away with a fire burning on his cheeks. Feng Xin lets him go, grinning stupidly with such a loving look in his eyes. Mu Qing can’t stand it. He might actually burst into flames. “Stop looking at me like that. Get out of here already!”

“Sure thing, Qing-er. Enjoy your rest.” Feng Xin says, pecking his cheek too quickly for him to bat it away.

Mu Qing places a hand to his cheek and watches the boys jump around, ready to go to the next house already. They’ve completely forgotten about their argument with the promise of sweet treats, each one taking Feng Xin’s hand as they say goodbye. Mu Qing can’t help but fuss one last time, “Don’t let them eat too much candy at once!”

“Yeah, yeah, alright.” Feng Xin says, waving goodbye, and just like that, they’re gone.

Mu Qing would say he was sad to see them go, but he’s far too tired to feel anything at the moment. He turns around to find Xie Lian inspecting his own door as he pretends to have not been listening to that conversation, but judging by the blush on his cheeks, he absolutely heard everything. Mu Qing sighs and chooses not to acknowledge it as the spare bedroom calls his name.