Archive of Our Own ^beta

Silver glanced around at the hordes of children, he pushed down his distaste of being in such a crowded area. Tonight was too good of an opportunity to let slip by. 

He’d first seen it with Blue, when they still wore masks on their faces, they’d blended right in with all the other small children, they were able to complete their mission without a single hiccup. He kept the holiday in the back of his head (after Blue had managed to swipe some candy from some kid and then explain Halloween to him) as a strategic opportunity should they ever escape.

He hadn’t felt comfortable stealing a costume from one of the stores, and he couldn’t convince himself to put a mask on, so he worked with what he could find. Dumpsters had plenty that could be fashioned into a makeshift costume. Blue would have been annoyed for sure, telling him just to take a costume, to take food, but he couldn’t; he didn’t want to be bad.

He didn’t want to be the weapon that the mask wanted him to be. 

His little bag was full of candy. Brightly colored wrappers, most of which depicted the same costumes that wandered the streets, ghosts, zombies, witches, and pumpkins. A normal kid would be thrilled at the haul. If he’d gotten to grow up without ice and masks and constant beatings he probably would be too.

He’d spent the first bit of the night collecting as much as he could as well as mapping out the houses with the less than popular treats. Those were what he was really interested in. 

The candy would taste good, and it would provide immediate energy, but it wouldn’t fill his stomach, it wouldn’t last more than a bite or maybe two. No, Silver was after the little bags of pretzels, the granola bars, and if he were lucky, popcorn balls which provided lots of calories and tasted like he was getting a treat. 

He really needed a treat, because his whole life was nothing but tricks.

He stood just away from the front door of the house, watching for the groups of kids without parents. The parents may cause problems, it was best to avoid adults. He and Blue never came across any adult that could be trusted, and now he was by himself so he had to be even more cautious.

“Granola bars? Really! We should egg that guy’s house,” a boy laminated as he turned the corner, that was Silver’s sign. 

Stepping out from the shadows, Silver intercepted the small group of friends. 

“I’ll trade you,” Silver held up a few pieces of the more popular candies, he hadn’t actually tasted them, but the kids seemed to go crazy for them.

“Are you serious, pipsqueak?” the older boy asked, his hand hovering just over the bar.

“Yeah, I don’t really like candy,” Silver shrugged, holding out the pieces.

“Wait, I wanna trade too,” one of the boys said, shoving to get into Silver’s line of sight.

“I’ll take your granola bars-”

“What about pretzels?” 

Silver nodded as he reached in doling out handfuls of candy to each kid, taking the unwanted snacks. He stuffed them in his backpack before waving goodbye to the kids.

“What kinda freak doesn’t like candy?” One of the boys asked his friend, the other boy just laughed looking at Silver as if he were some kind of amusement piece, something to ogle at and be glad that they had nice lives.

“Dunno, but at least we got more candy,”

He watched them running off laughing, teasing each other playfully as they made their way to the next house. They’d fill their bags, stuff their faces, then go home to parents who would force them to brush their teeth and tuck them in. 

Those kids didn’t even know how good they had it.

To be loved, to be wanted, to get to play. To not live every waking moment in fear.

Silver closed his eyes, breathing in deeply, before straightening up, preparing for the next group of kids to trade with.

——————

“You’re coming over, right?” Gold asked, standing in Silver’s way, blocking his exit. 

He shrugged, he actually enjoyed hanging out at Gold’s house. His mom was nice, always forcing him to have seconds, telling him how great it was to see Gold with some well mannered friends. And the inclusion of a sleepover where he could use the shower with as much hot water and a warm bed was always appreciated. 

But- if he went over too much then they’d not want him around anymore. They’d grow tired of him, casting him away, just like everyone else did.

Sensing his indecision, Gold grabbed onto his arm, he had several inches on Silver, despite being roughly the same age. 

“It’s Halloween! You have to come over, mama makes these cheesy meatloaf skulls and we have caramel apples and then we can spend hours getting candy and making ourselves sick!”

Trick or treating. 

Another one of those activities that Silver had never gotten to do for real. He was nothing but an observer during his younger years. Hoping the night would give him enough food to not go to bed hungry for a few days. 

“I-”

“Have you ever even gone trick-or-treating?” Gold asked, eyes wide as he remembered that Silver hadn’t exactly had a normal childhood.

Chewing his lip, Silver looked away, this was one of those things he really didn’t want to talk about. He didn’t want the look of pity Gold would give him when he told the truth of how his Halloween nights had gone.

“Yeah, I have, so it’s no big deal,” Silver half-lied.

Actually, there was no reason for him to not return to his normal halloween activity. He could always use some more food, it was only a matter of time until Gold and his mother’s kindness ran out. He needed to build up a surplus of food. 

“Okay then we’ll go together!” Gold said, pulling Silver along, seemingly ignoring his protests. 

Whatever. There was always next year. He’d spend another night preying on their kindness. 

—————-

Gold’s mother had made him a costume, she’d sewed it herself, he was a sneasel, which his sneasel seemed to love. She had made one for Gold too, but his was an aipom to match Aibo. It was dorky, but really cute. She’d even made sure to make Silver’s with thicker fabric, knowing his aversion to cold weather. 

She’d fed them a hearty dinner just as Gold had said she would. The meatloaf was delicious, filling and nutritious, and the caramel apple slices after were a nice treat. He could have ended the evening there and been happy. 

Yet here they were, walking some of the same paths that Silver had gone in earlier years (he never spent the night in the same location, each year was a different town, for safety). But this time, he wasn’t hungry. There were no pains in his stomach as he and Gold carried their treat bags to the front doors of eerily decorated houses. 

Gold reached out to ring the door bell, Silver pushed down the irrational fear that they’d be turned away. He took a shower before dinner, he’d been gaining some weight because of how often he was eating at Gold’s, his costume was clean and not from a dumpster.

But years of being street trash were hard to erase. 

“Trick or treat!” Gold grinned holding out his bag (it was actually fairly empty, he had a little con going where the actual Aibo and sneasel guarded their candy stash and they’d go dump their bags every so often so the candy givers would feel bad and give them more, it worked surprisingly well), Silver shyly smiled, holding his the same way Gold did. 

“Aw! What cute little pokemon we have at our door! A little aipom and sneasel!” The older woman laughed, she gave each boy a massive handful of candy, “Have fun cuties!”

“Thank you,” Silver said softly as the woman closed the door, Gold was too busy digging through trying to find his favorite chocolate treat.

“This is actually a lot of fun,” Silver murmured more to himself than Gold as they made their way to dump the latest batch with their pokemon. 

Gold didn’t say anything, only smiling as he bumped his shoulder against Silver’s, nudging one of his own candies into Silver’s hand. He huffed out a laugh as he accepted the treat. 

He and Gold went door to door until the porch lights all shut off, they came home to Gold’s mother’s warm smile, offering them hot cocoa to warm up by the fireplace, the television playing childish Halloween movies. Wrapped up in a heavy blanket, laying pressed against his best friend on the plush couch, Silver fell asleep, feeling warm, safe, and loved. 

This Halloween he finally got the treat instead of the trick.