Aru Shah Oneshots and Headcanons

Another Time

"No," Aru said firmly. "Absolutely not."

"Come on, Aru!" Brynne wheedled. "Last time was a bust, but it'll be better this time. We promise. Right, Mini?"

It was the end of October, which meant only one thing: Halloween. Normally, Aru would be excited, since Halloween was one of the best times of the year. The candy, the decorations, and the costumes all made for an excellent night.

But last year, her friends and mom had convinced (read: forced) her to go to the Otherworld Halloween dance. All in all, it had decidedly not been an excellent night, and Aru was determined to steer clear of Otherworld dances this year.

"Yeah," Mini replied. "The five of us would be perfect as the Scooby Doo Mystery Inc."

"I don't care! I'm not being a dog for Halloween! In fact, I'm not even going to the dance!"

Aiden looked up from where he was fiddling with Shadowfax. "You're not?"

Aru shook her head. "Last time was a disaster. I have no desire to endure that again."

Nikita crossed her arms. "Your lack of faith in me is honestly shocking. I could make you look fabulous dressed in a trash bag, let alone a brown dog suit."

"Dude. I absolutely do not care. Sorry. But yeah. I'm not going."

"Come on, Shah." Aiden turned slightly towards Aru, whom he had sat next to on the couch a few minutes ago, for some reason. "It'll be more fun if you're there."

Aru saw Brynne grinning like an idiot. Brynne, she sent warningly through the mind link. I swear to gods, if you start with your stupid Aiden-likes-me theory again, I will force you to eat burnt cake.

Brynne's smile vanished.

Just then, Aru's mom strolled past, a mug of chai in one hand and a book in the other. "Aru, what's this I hear about you not going to the Halloween dance?"

Aru internally groaned. "Mom. No. Don't do your thing and somehow get me to go."

"Aru, you're only 14. You have the rest of your life to sit at home and be a weird cat lady."

"I prefer dogs." Aru crossed her arms defiantly and refused to give in. She glared at the wall behind her mother and slumped in her seat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aiden raise Shadowfax and heard the familiar click as he snapped a photo of her expression.

Sheela, who was on the other side of her, tugged her sleeve. "You'll have fun," she whispered in Aru's ear, her eyes flashing silver. "Trust me, I know."

Aru sighed. "Look, I appreciate you guys trying to drag me out of the house, but I'm not going. End of discussion."

Aru's mom raised an eyebrow.

----

Two days later, Aru stood in front of the mirror and scowled at her reflection. She still wasn't sure what had happened, but Aru was now dressed as Katniss Everdeen from the Hunger Games, and, (unfortunately) waiting for the others so they could head over to the Otherworld Halloween dance.

Aru's mom wandered over from where she had just finished setting up the museum's Halloween display. After rudely rejecting Aru's ingenious idea to hang up decorations on the exhibits themselves with a flat no ("Just imagine," Aru had said, flinging her arms out to show the awesomeness of her idea, "cobwebs on Lord Shiva's trident and a bat hanging off of Krishna's flute"), Aru's mom had decided to set up a smaller display in the lobby. It was kinda lame, if you asked Aru, but of course no one did.