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FIC: Trick or Treat
Title: Trick or Treat
Rating: PG
Fandom: Petshop of Horrors
Pairing: Gen, with hints of pre-Leon/D
Word count: ~1,000
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Matsuri Akino. No money is being made off this story; consider it a little wish fulfillment on my part.
Summary: The petshop opens its doors for Halloween, but the trick-or-treaters get a little more than they bargained for.
***
This year, the Chinatown Merchant's Association decided to promote a safe Halloween by inviting families to do their trick-or-treating at the Chinatown shops. It was safer for the kids than knocking on the doors of random strangers, and it was good publicity for the shop owners. At worst, they'd be out the cost of a few bags of cheap candy, and at best, the parents might spend some money at the shop while the kiddies were collecting their treats.
Unless, of course, the shop owner was Count D--in which case, a few bags of Hershey's miniatures or Tootsie Rolls simply would not do. He insisted on purchasing expensive, high-quality sweets from the hideously expensive gourmet store where he usually shopped at even though Leon told him that the kids wouldn't be able to tell the difference anyway. Still, Leon had to admit that the chocolate gravestones, white chocolate ghosts, licorice bats, and marzipan pumpkins were really cute and quite tasty, which they certainly should be, considering that they were practically worth their weight in gold.
"That's enough, Detective," D said sternly, swatting away Leon's hand as he reached for another gravestone. "Those are for the children, not you."
"Like you weren't snitching a few of those yourself earlier," Leon muttered under his breath.
"Was there something you wanted to share with the rest of us, Detective?" D asked, giving him an icy glare.
"No, nothing," Leon replied.
The trick-or-treaters began arriving in the early evening, and at first, everything went well. D politely commented on how cute the little ghosts and devils and pirates and princesses were, and the parents exclaimed over how cute and clever Pon-chan was when she held out the bowl of candy for the children. She preened happily, while Tet-chan hovered protectively at D's side, looking rather grumpy--but then again, he always looked ill-tempered. One family even lingered to take a look at the puppies and kittens, and said they would come back later after they'd talked it over and decided what kind of pet would best suit their family.
Leon made a mental note to visit the shop when the family came back, just to make sure that D didn't sell them anything dangerous, although they seemed to be the type of responsible pet owners that he approved of. Still, Leon figured that it was always better to be safe than sorry.
And then a group of rambunctious brats arrived, rudely shoving their hands into Pon-chan's bowl to grab handfuls of candy instead of politely taking one or two pieces. Their parents smiled indulgently, doing nothing to stop their precious offspring as they tore off the wrappers, shoving candy into their mouths, then began chasing some of the pets around the room.
The huge lizard that normally slept under the couch hissed in alarm and hastily scuttled away as one of the brats tried to grab its tail, and D's eyes began to glitter murderously. Leon rose from his seat, thinking that he ought to intervene before anyone got killed or eaten, but before he had a chance to say or do anything, one of the other brats petted Tet-chan roughly with grubby hands, smearing melted chocolate across the little beast's orange fur.
"Is this thing a real sheep, or is it a dog in costume?" the boy asked as Tet-chan growled in a low, ominous rumble. "These horns look fake!"
Tet-chan opened his mouth and roared in outrage. Leon had the distinct impression that he was shouting, Get your filthy paws off me, you little brat! although it was vocalized as more of a "RAHWRRR!!!" Normally it would have been a comical sight, but Tet-chan's body seemed to blur and grow larger and more intimidating, his golden eyes glowing eerily as his mouth opened wide to reveal teeth with the length and sharpness of daggers. D had told Leon once that Tet-chan was a Tou-Tet, a fierce man-eating beast from China, and Leon had brushed it off as one of D's weird jokes, but in that moment, he suddenly believed that it might be true.
Parents and children ran from the shop screaming in terror, and just as suddenly the moment passed, and Tet-chan was nothing more than a small--though very pissed off--sheep or goat-like thing.
"I think perhaps it would be best to close up for the night," D sighed regretfully.
"Well, look on the bright side, D," Leon said with a grin. "At least you'll get to eat the leftover candy!"
"For once you are right, my dear Detective," D laughed.
"Whaddya mean, 'for once'?" Leon grumbled, and D laughed again.
"And you must admit that I was right, too," D said smugly. "If I had followed your advice, we would be stuck with those cheap, chemical-laden chocolate bars instead of these fine gourmet treats."
Leon decided to be magnanimous rather than get into an argument with the Count--which would only result in him spending a large portion of his meager paycheck on more of those expensive sweets to get back into D's good graces.
"Yes, you were right," he said almost meekly, and was rewarded with a slightly startled but warm smile from D.
"Then I shall put on some tea and we can enjoy these treats together," D said, hurrying off to the kitchen. Tet-chan followed after him, bleating indignantly--he seemed offended that the Count had forgotten about his chocolate-stained fur.
Leon sat back down on the couch, grinning to himself. Pon-chan clambered up onto his lap and curled up there contentedly, while the lizard reclaimed its spot beneath the couch.
"It's turned out to be a pretty good Halloween, after all," Leon said to Pon-chan as he stroked the raccoon's fur. She chittered happily and nodded at him, and the lizard made a noise that sounded like a hiss of agreement.
-End-
***
Afterword: I haven't written a Petshop fic in a long time, so it was fun to get back into this series again! And I figured Halloween was a perfect holiday for D, given his sweet tooth. His gourmet candies were inspired by some of the special Halloween chocolates at Godiva's--I particularly liked the gravestones! ^_^
Happy Halloween :)
Re: Happy Halloween :)
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::now craves Godiva chocolates:: :P~~~ (<---drooling)
Thanks for the yummy treat!!
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And the candy sounds yummy.
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