The Aberrations of S.I.D.E.

No. 11: Anything Can Happen On Halloween

"I cannot believe you talked me into this," Roman called from the bathroom. "You know I'm Thor. You know my favorite Chris is Chris Hemsworth. You know I'm still mad at Cap for Endgame."

"Pretend that never happened," Virgil answered. "Besides, I refuse to be anyone other than Bucky, so you gotta just suck it up and deal. And I put a shitload of effort into that costume of yours."

Roman let out a loud sigh. "It's an amazing costume, I'll give you that."

"Got Sophia to make the shield. You can snowboard on it."

"Awesome. Okay, I think I'm done---god, these pants are tight."

Virgil hid his grin. "Dunno why, I used the Winter Soldier version instead of the spandex Avengers one."

Long pause.

Roman came out of the bathroom, giving Virgil a bemused look. "Did you purposefully---"

"Hey, America's ass is a crucial part of Steve's physique," Virgil said, smirking. "You don't have the Dorito body, so I had to make do."

"Janus has been rubbing off on you."

"No, that's not because of Janus's influence." Virgil kissed Roman on the cheek. "You've got a great body, and as your boyfriend, I'd feel guilty if I didn't make your costume flatter it in the best way possible."

Roman laughed. "All right, I give in. You don't look too bad yourself."

Virgil's costume was actually pretty easy to design, though he'd left out the mouth covering. The only hard part was the metal arm, which Sophia had offered to do along with the shield. She'd made it so it covered his real arm, but still looked real enough to the actual thing that Virgil could get by.

By contrast, Roman's costume was a little tricker. Since Captain America got a new outfit literally every movie, Virgil had way too many options to choose from---not to mention, it was hard getting the measurements exactly right. And it was especially hard to keep it secret from him, though it got easier once Logan let him do the sewing in the robotics lab.

"This shield is actually pretty cool," Roman admitted, hefting the large, circular sheet of metal painted in red, white, and blue. "What's it made out of?"

"Just regular steel. Same with this thing." Virgil patted the covering on his left arm. "Could you do my makeup?"

Roman held up a palette. "Way ahead of you, Hot Topic. By the time I'm finished, you'll be in full assassin mode."

"Can't wait."

.............

Virgil wasn't as quite as blown away by the ballroom's setup as he was the year before---probably because he'd already seen it. Still, though, it was insanely cool.

"Ah, I missed this," Roman sighed. "The Halloween Dance is one of the highlights of the year."

"Too bad it's so early in the year," Virgil commented. "And it's also kind of bittersweet, since it's the last day before the Christmas craze starts."

"Could you attempt to be positive?"

Virgil pointed at his head. "Brainwashed. Seventy years of murder and torture. Separated from the love of my life. Can't be positive."

Roman gave him a light shove. "You're not actually Bucky, Virgil."

He feigned confusion. "Who the hell is Bucky?"

"You're impossible," Roman muttered.

"You still love me, though, right?" Virgil teased.

"I think that's a given."