Tricks for Treats (closed)

[Jordan Scholl]

It was a tradition for Jordan to go trick or treating with his family every year, and for the past five years he'd worn the same costume to do so. This year things were going to be a bit different. He wasn't going to go with his parents, his brother...he wasn't even going with the family that was in Pilot Ridge. But the other big change was that this year his invisibility cloak would actually work. Sort of.

He'd started planning for Halloween early in the month. He didn't know the town very well, but he was willing to bet there were still certain trends that would allow him to get the most candy possible. But if he was going to go, he'd need someone to supervise. And he suspected he wouldn't do as well if he had to go around with his uncle and Niko--sure, they were cool and everything, but Jordan played hard ball with his trick or treating.

So he went to someone else who he suspected would go along with his plans. And Mia had helped him to plot out the likeliest route to get the most and best candy, and even helped him brainstorm some new ideas.

Now they were on the prowl. Jordan stepped up to one house covered with Halloween decorations and put on his best smile--the one with the wide, innocent eyes and showing just the right number of his sparkly white teeth. He rang the doorbell, and when the door opened he held up his small bag with only a few pieces of candy in it.

"Trick or treat," he said somewhat nervously, and pushed up his fake glasses. "Thanks for the candy, ma'am." He kept the greedy look from his eyes as he watched the candy fall into his basket.

Then it was Mia's turn.

[Mia Keystone]

Mia had been working on her trick or treat routes since she was ten, in Boston. There were so many variables; age of home owners, vicinity to stores, number of houses per block who had kids, how old were those kids... and the word of mouth. People remembered who had given out full sized candy bars the last year, after all.

It had taken her two years to perfect her list for Pilot Ridge, and it was kind of cool to be able to pass that on. Plus, she needed someone to go with now, because while she could still pull off the kid thing, Jonah sure as hell couldn't.

Costumes had been ok. Mia had ordered the adult ghostbuster's costume, but it was basically the most horrible thing ever, not to mention totally cinematically incorrect. The kids version was way better, plus hid her boobs which sort of spoilt her whole 'I'm a 14 year old' routine. Seriously, there were major pros to being the same hight as an oompa lumpa come Halloween.

Jordan had some serious techique going on. The larger bag with most of the candy he'd collected was in her backback, and she'd followed suit because seriously, that would just look bad if she didn't follow suit.

"Trick or treat," Mia said, widening her eyes and holding out her bag, only taking a few pieces. "Thanks miss, we're trying to get enough to share with his little brother,"

The hand over her bag hesitated, "He's got a heart problem." Mia had found out quickly if she extended her bottom lip a quarter of an inch and rose her voice half an octave, she could pass for 14 easy. And when she raised her eyebrows, her candy intake rose an additional 1.3%

"Well you'd both better take some more for him, then," the lady said with a smile as she looked into the two mostly empty bags, and Mia grabbed another handful with a grateful look that lasted until they had gotten back to the sidewalk. "Sucker," she grinned, pulling her bag forward to empty most of their candy into the backpack. "Dude, you have serious kicked puppy potential! Am impressed."

[Jordan Scholl]

It was a good thing that Mia had a backpack to carry everything in, because otherwise they would've been forced to hide the larger bag of candy somewhere at the end of each driveway, with the knowledge that it could be poached at almost any time. And boy were they getting a haul.

Jordan had to be impressed with Mia's skill as well. She was doing very well with the big eyes and innocent expression. It did help, of course, that she was shorter than him. No one really suspected that they were anything other than the young teens they appeared to be. Though a few had doubted the sick brother story, Jordan had been able to come up with some creative lies in order to push the story, and they always caved in the end.

"Thank you so much for the extra," Jordan said. "I know Josh will really appreciate it--he hates just having to sit at home all the time." He gave the woman a cheerful wave as they practically skipped down the driveway. Try to look cheerful and young and innocent. Especially that last one.

"Here, take this," Jordan said, dumping the best of the goodies into the backpack. He left a few jawbreakers and a couple of the Double Bubble pieces in the bottom--clearly the sort of bulk candy that most people handed out instead of giving out any of the good stuff. Then he swung his smaller bag back onto his arm.

"Please. If there's anything I can do, it's kicked puppy. Had plenty of experience with that. And you know what I found out? It works." He walked up to the next house and pushed the doorbell. "Probably the same way you being so short makes people underestimate you," he managed to get in before the door swung open.

"Trick or treat!" he said again, putting on his practiced smile. It was an old lady. Old ladies could go one of two ways. Either they were ready to spoil you rotten and would have the best candy on the block, or they would be trying to protect your health and keep you from going down the wrong path, and so they'd slide a toothbrush or something into your bag. It was fifty-fifty, usually.

"Why hello there," the lady said with a smile. Jordan grinned just a tiny bit wider.

"Thanks for the candy, ma'am," he said. "Do you like my costume? I'm a wizard!" He brandished his wand excitedly. "Poor Josh, though. He wanted to come with me, but Mom wouldn't let him. He's my little brother, you know. But he has a heart condition, and he can't be out in the cold night air." Jordan pouted just a little bit.

When they'd finished milking the block, Jordan turned to Mia. "Right, so how's the bag feeling? Too heavy? I don't want to have to run home unless we have to, but if it's full up I'm not sure if we'll have another option. What's the next neighborhood on the list?"

[Mia Keystone]

It was enough to make you sick, really. If it wasn't for the weight of their haul on her back, Mia would have been unable to resist gagging just a little bit as Jordan skipped, (skipped) down the path. The thought of trying to skip made her giggle a little though, and she pulled off her backpack to empty their bags in, snagging a Red Vine before she zipping it up.

"And you exploit it for your own ends?" Mia asked, then ruffled Jordan's hair. "Aw, I'm so proud of you, grasshopper! Look at you, turning a weakness into an asset like that." Was enough to make you feel all warm inside... though that might have been the chocolate and sugar making her tummy dance with joy.

This time, it was even harder not to laugh as Jordan played off his "look at me, I am so adorable, couldn't you just puke?" Worried she'd ruin the show, all the technopath did was look sorrowful and stick out her bottom lip, then grabbed the candy when it was offered and split.

"I'm a wizard? Really?" she mocked as they emptied more into her bag. "Man, I wanted to punch you for that, and I don't even hate you or anything." Saying like was not really Mia's style, it gave too much away. "Still, while you talk it lets me get this baby out."

The end of her fake Ghost Buster Gun glinted suspiciously and Mia huffed onto the tiny lens and wiped it with her sleeve. "Pretty sure I saw a ball gag on that old lady's dresser," she crowed, then shrugged on the bag again and frowned as she weighed it. "We're good. Heading over to your uncles area next, but we cant see them," her face darkened, "They'll think I'm corrupting you."

She totally was, but not in the way James was scared about.

[Jordan Scholl]

Jordan grumpily put a hand on his head to smooth his hair back into place. He didn't appreciate getting his hair ruffled, but he knew better than to complain to Mia. She wouldn't stop--if anything she'd just do it more often. "I'm not a grasshopper," he found time to mutter, though whether Mia actually heard it was debatable.

"Gee, thanks. So glad you don't hate me," Jordan said. "But you still want to punch everyone. You even punch that Jonah guy you hang out with." That last part had kind of slipped out, but he didn't think it was a big deal. It wasn't like Mia's association with Jonah was a big secret. "Besides, you hate it, but everyone else loves it. Majority rules." He eyed her ghostbuster gun with some envy and a little bit of glee. It was so much fun being part of a secret mission, even if it wasn't really that secret.

Jordan made a face. "Do we need to? I mean, they might be out with Niko, and I'd rather not get into any trouble. How do we be sure we don't run into them?" He was perfectly aware that his friendship with Mia might not be particularly liked by his uncles. As they started walking, Jordan gave a small smile. "They're probably right to worry. But you shouldn't be afraid. I'm sure I would've found some person to corrupt me, anyway. At least you're cool about it."