Alex always thought it was strange, the way his family seemed to pick and choose at random which human holidays to celebrate. Easter went by unacknowledged, but Christmas was always a big to-do. Valentine's Day saw some attention, but Father's and Mother's Day were just blank squares in the calendar. Alex knew his father had celebrated Hindu holidays once upon a time, but he had no memories of taking part himself. He only had very surface-level knowledge of a few of the big ones, gained from his social studies classes rather than lived experience.
One severely neglected holiday was Halloween. Alex had always been vaguely aware of it, but even in the UK at large it wasn't that elaborate of an affair. He didn't think much about it until Jack came to Conrad and complained about the lack of Halloween spirit. It was a much bigger deal in the States, to human and wyvern alike.
"You guys don't do anything?" Jack had asked Sean that October back when they were all year sevens. It was long before Jack and Alex's relationship had taken a positive turn, so Alex just listened to the conversation and hoped to remain ignored during its duration. "No parties? Haunted mazes? Nothing?"
"Think there's a ghost tour or two in Brighton," Sean answered. "Bet this school is more haunted than those tourist traps though."
"Do you people hate fun?"
"You hoping to dress up and go trick or treating?"
"Hey, free candy is free candy."
"You're the last person on this planet who needs anything for free, Johnny."
Ever since then, Jack had tried to campaign for a Halloween party like the ones his friends always got wasted at back home. But not even Mary Somers seemed interested in throwing a horror-themed party. His campaigning got less and less fervent each October, and each time it seemed like he was finally going to give up the next year. But he found an extremely unlikely ally in Matthew Montoya when he learned at dinner that night that October 31st was his fellow American's birthday.
"Wait, seriously?" Jack said when his annual Halloween party proposal was met with that information from Ellie. "Don't mess with me Hollywood."
"First of all, I'm from Inglewood, Farrow," Matthew said. "So stop calling me that. How would you feel if I went around calling you Long Island?"
"Oh, don't you dare?"
"That's what I thought. Second, I take nothing more seriously than the sanctity of Halloween and my birthday. I was born into that sanctity. Literally."
"Wait. Wait." Jack suddenly grinned like a madman. "The 31st is a Saturday this year, right?"
"Oh yeah," Ellie said. "It is, isn't it? Then Jack's right Matt, we should have a birthday party for you!"
"A Halloween birthday party," Jack amended. "Please, I've been begging all the wet blankets around here to throw a Halloween party for years."
"Why didn't you ever?" Ellie asked.
"Princesses don't plan balls, Ellie," Matthew answered for him. "They just attend them."
"Exactly. Thank you, Inglewood."
"The holiday shouldn't overshadow your birthday though," Ellie said.
"I mean, is any kind of party the best idea?" Matthew said with a frown that made Alex's stomach feel cold. "Last one went ever so slightly sideways."
"What, are we supposed to let that stop us from having fun for the rest of our lives?"
"You aren't the one who got choked out by a python masquerading as a teenager."
"The week after is when Autumn Break starts," Jack pointed out. "Most old family kids will bail on Friday anyways."
"Oh yeah. The only scholarship kids I know of planning to go home are the more local ones." Ellie looked between Jack and Alex. "Are either of you?"
Alex shook his head, trying not to heat up as he heard his mother's voice forbidding him from coming home until winter break. "We don't usually," he said out loud. "Are you not?"
"No, the break doesn't line up with any of my mates' from back home. So, I'd just waste money on the train ticket to sit at home by myself. Why do you guys stay here?"
"Oh, we don't," Jack clarified. "We usually spend the week fucking around in Europe."
"You have fun in Europe," Alex corrected, slightly glad his friend had come up with an excuse a lot less sad than the fact that their families simply didn't want them home. "I spend the week working as your translator."
"French people are nicer when I let you talk to them," Jack said with a shrug.
"Well, Matt?" Ellie said, turning her attention back to the soon-to-be birthday boy. "Party's a lot less likely to go wrong with fewer people on campus."
"I don't know. I still give it 50/50." Matthew glanced at Emilio's table. He had stopped his habit of glaring at them recently. Maybe his horse shit shovelling was building character. "Besides, certain old allies have turned adversaries since that night."
"And vice versa," Jack reminded him. "Look, anyone comes around trying to spoil my night, I promise I'll fuck them up. I want this so bad; you have no idea. Please. Please. Plea-"
"Okay! Fine! Shut up already."
"Will you come, Alex?" Ellie asked. "I know you said parties aren't your forte, but this one should be lowkey. We can have it on the communal lounge on my floor, and only invite close friends."
"What sets a Halloween party apart from a regular one?" Alex asked, not sure he should echo Matthew's formerly lodged concern.
"Not much, honestly," Matthew said. "The decor. The music selection. And the costumes, of course. But it's just another excuse for drinking, dancing, and debauchery."
"I've never really done any of that stuff before."
"You don't have to," Ellie insisted. "But it would be nice to have you there still."
"I'm gonna dissent on one thing there," Jack said. "Al, you have to wear a costume. I will not let you be that guy who shows up to a Halloween party plain clothes-ing it."
"Reluctantly I'll have to agree with Farrow on that one," Matthew said, sounding pained as the words came out of his mouth. "If you show up without a costume you're getting bounced at the door."
"What should I wear?"
"Whatever you want. Deciding is half the fun."
"I'm sure that thrift shop in Brighton will have enough for us to scrape together some options," Jack said with a too eager smile.
"Oh no, Jackie, you are not dressing him again," Ellie said. "You made him look like a tacky loan shark last time."
"I thought he looked great!"
"Why don't we all go?" Alex said quickly, not wanting to dwell too long on Ellie's very apt description of the last costume Jack made him wear. "Sunday, maybe? If you guys aren't too busy. Then we could all find something."
"I think I can make that work," Ellie said. "Given I get enough studying done on Saturday."
"Hey, Alex?" Matthew said, his expression turning slightly contemplative. "How dead does it get over the fall break? I mean, does everyone go home?"
"Mostly, yeah."
"It's like the eerie kind of dead," Jack added.
"Do you think they'll pull back the beefed-up security too?"
"Maybe," Alex said slowly, a lightbulb going off in his head as he watched the gears turn in Matthew's. "You want to take the opportunity to look at Timber Hall, don't you?"
"You were serious when you said you changed your mind about that?" Ellie whispered, leaning forward.
"Since when?" Jack said his good mood over getting his party fading quickly. "Montoya, I thought you were supposed to be smart."
"I thought you wanted to start swinging at things that mattered, Jackie."
"This thing you guys are trying to swing at just feels a bit more like a hornet's nest."
"You can stay out of it if you hate it so much, Jack," Alex said. "But Matthew has a point. It might be our only chance to get up there without anyone noticing."
"I'm sorry, you expect me to just sit in my dorm while you three commit a felony?"
"I think breaking is a misdemeanour at best," Matthew pointed out.
"Then it's either come with us or stop us," Alex challenged. The two stared each other down for a few seconds before Jack smirked and leaned back in his dining chair.
"Fine," he conceded, crossing his arms. "I want it on the record that I still think it's a dumb idea. But I've been waiting for you to break a rule for years. Suppose I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth."
Ellie suddenly gasped and poked Jack's shoulder with her finger. "A horse!" she said as if it was a revelation. "That should be your Halloween costume."
Matthew snorted as Jack's face went red. "Shut up!" Jack said, swatting Ellie's hand as she giggled. "If you pick that for me then I get to pick yours."
"You know what? Depending on what we find in Brighton I might just take you up on that. Dare you to do your worst."
"Oh, you are on."
The two continued to banter throughout the rest of their meal, barely pausing to say goodbye to Matthew and Alex when they left the dining hall for McAvoy together.
"Heterosexual flirting rituals are so bizarre," Matthew muttered as he and Alex made their way home.
"Is that what they were doing?" Alex asked.
"I think it's what they're trying to do. Do you think Farrow was serious when he said the flowers weren't just him trying to impress Ellie?"
"I... I think so."
"Yeah?"
"He's seemed... different lately. Since... since the vigil. I think..."
"All this even got to someone like Jonathan Farrow?"
"All this has been quite a lot, hasn't it?"
Matthew hummed, suddenly very interested in the cobblestones beneath his feet. Alex bounced on his toes a little as he debated whether or not he wanted to say what he had been thinking since Jack brought up his Halloween party wishes. After a couple of seconds, he worked up the courage.
"Um, Matthew?" he said, warming at the way his voice cracked with nerves. "If... If you don't want a party, I can talk to Jack. I don't know if he's thought about it... Well, it's going to be so soon after... So, if you don't feel like..."
Matthew smiled and bumped Alex's arm with his own. "I was thinking about that a little, yeah," he admitted. "But maybe it'll be good, especially if it's more about Halloween than my birthday. Not sure how much I feel like celebrating getting older when..." Matthew swallowed hard and shook his head like he was trying to shake something out of his brain. "But Halloween was about honouring the dead right? Before Americans made it all about selling candy and alcohol."
"I'm the wrong person to ask. I've never celebrated it."
"Really? It started as an Irish tradition, I think. To mark the seasons changing, but they also believed it was a day when the spiritual veil was lifted. Something like that. Mexicans have a similar tradition. Día de Muertos. Pretty much the same day. Funny how that happens sometimes. People in different parts of the world believe the same silly things."
"Maybe it's not silly. Maybe Irish and Mexican folk both believe it because it's true."
Matthew chuckled and brought a hand up to one of his eyes, flicking away a tear that had managed to make an appearance. "If it's true," he said, his voice a mix of grief and joy, "then we need to have a party. Give Baptiste a reason to come visit us on his day-long allotment in the mortal realm."
"Right. Okay. If you're sure."
"Yeah. Remind me to tell Ellie no gifts though. And that if anyone sings Happy Birthday to me, I'm leaving."
"Do you not like it?"
"Does anyone? It's like a weird form of torture, sitting in front of a bunch of candles while a room full of people sing off-key in unison."
"I'll have to take your word for it."
Matthew stopped walking and stared at Alex with narrowed eyes. "Do not tell me you've never had someone sing Happy Birthday to you," he said slowly. He shook his head when Alex's obedient silence functioned as confirmation. "Dude. That's fucked up."
"You just said it's an unpleasant experience."
"Well, yeah, but... I mean it's a basic human right of passage."
"But we're-"
"You know what I mean. You get birthday parties at least?"
"Well, it usually falls in the middle of a term, so no. Not in a long time. My aunt Claire always sends me a card though."
"Just that one aunt?"
"Yeah."
Matthew blinked at Alex slowly, looking at him with the same pity people give terminally ill patients. "That's kind of sad, Allie," he pointed out.
"I mean, I don't like parties much to begin with. And it's not like I'd even know what I would want out of gifts. Claire's card always makes me smile, though. I know she means it when she writes well wishes. That's what it's all really about, right?"
"I guess. Will you not want a party this April then?"
"Do you think Ellie would be disappointed if I said no?"
"A little, maybe. But your birthday is about you. We gotta do something though."
"I don't know what I would want. I told you, I'm pretty boring."
"Well, start brainstorming. After you finish brainstorming your costume."
"Do you know what your costume will be?"
"Got a few ideas. I'll see what I got to work with when we go into town. It's been a while since I thrifted one. These past few years I've just matched whatever costume my sister picked out. She's gonna be a princess this year."
Alex noticed Matthew's demeanour change a touch when he brought up his sister, hints of regret and sadness tinging his eyes. "I'm sorry you won't be able to spend your birthday with your family," Alex said, guessing as to that tinge's source.
The tinge remained, but Matthew gave Alex and small but genuine smile. "Thanks. Honestly, Thena's probably gonna be stoked I won't be there to steal half her trick-or-treating candy."
"You steal candy from a baby?"
"Hey, I earn it. I'm usually hauling her bag by house number three."
"I was going to suggest that you could match with her despite the distance, but that doesn't sound like very princely behaviour."
"Oh? Stealing shit from brown people doesn't sound like something this country's royalty would do?"
"... Fair point."