Keith looked in the mirror. His hair was a mess and his shirt was wrinkled. His pants ripped and boots muddy. He checked his teeth. His fangs were barely showing through, but at least they looked white and clean. He heard the door to the basement open and footsteps going up the stairs. His older brother, Shiro, turned the corner at the banister and stared at Keith for a second. Shiro was dressed in a well-ironed red and black suit, his hair was neat, and not a lock was out of place, a stark contrast to Keith's messy ragamuffin look.

"And where might you be going, dressed like that?" He asked. Keith rolled his eyes.

"There's a Halloween party at Lance's and I'm going." He replied, getting his black leather jacket.

"Not dressed like that," Shiro spat, his tone laced with venom. Keith rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Whatever." He said and tried to walk past Shiro at the bottom of the stairs. That was a mistake. Shiro took a tight hold of his arm and just about dragged him into the bathroom on the second floor. He sat Keith down on a stool and forced him to stay still as he brushed out his mullet and just about pulled out the knots in it. Keith winced though he knew damn well once Shiro had started he wouldn't be satisfied until there weren't any knots left. Once he was done Keith started to stand up, only to be pushed back down and held in place. Shiro hummed to himself as he braided Keith's long black hair. He brushed the front one last time and left a small fringe he knew Keith liked.

"There, that's better. Now then, we'll have to do something about what you're wearing now that your hair doesn't look like a rats nest." He said and finally let Keith stand up. Shiro was down the hall and back within a second. He was holding two hangers, each of them with a suit on them. He held each up to Keith and once he decided which looked better he set it on the doorknob and took the other back to his closet.

"You're kidding," Keith said, looking over what Shiro picked out for him.

"No, I'm not. Now strip and put it on or I will do it for you." He replied with a hiss. Keith grumbled angrily to himself but did anyway. The last thing he wanted was his older brother digging his claws into his shoulders because he wouldn't change his shirt. Once Keith was done he started to leave before Shiro stopped him again.

"Oh, what now?" Keith asked, annoyed. Shiro looked over him twice before walking Keith back into the bathroom and forcing him to sit back on the stool. Shiro picked out a red eyeshadow and his eyeliner.

"Mascara or no?" He asked, looking at it in his hand. Keith couldn't believe his brother.

"Why are you doing this? I'm gonna be late!" He yelled. Shiro scoffed.

"No you aren't, look at the clock," Shiro replied, calm as ever. Keith looked up and to his surprise, it wasn't just a trick to get him to look in the right direction so Shiro could apply eyeshadow. The clock wasn't moving. Nothing was. Shiro had frozen time to prettify his brother.

"Okay so I won't be late, but why are you doing this? It's just a party." Keith said.

"No, on the contrary, my younger brother. Tonight is Halloween, it's the only night we can show our true form and not get a bible thrown at us, though some people still do as a joke." As Shiro said it his human disguise melted away and revealed his bright red skin. Shiro was a demon, Keith was his half-witch younger brother, and somehow they got along.

"Keith, please, just show your horns and fangs, they aren't extravagant and you're lucky for that," Shiro said.

"Ex- lucky? What?" Keith stuttered.

"What do you mean by lucky? You know that I know that the size and beauty of your horns are directly related to your magic!" He yelled. Shiro just blinked at him. Shiro was a tall, thin, young demon with large beautiful horns that had gold accents, and was extremely powerful, however, he was only allowed to go to the land of the living year-round because his mother was human but sold her soul to Satan while she was pregnant with Shiro and died before he was born. Only a few demons had the option to be Shiro's father by a blood bond and Tex- Keith's father- was lucky enough to get to Shiro first.

"And because you have small and dull yet still beautiful horns you will be ignored by the powerful demons that only get to visit the land of the living once every century. You won't be a target and won't be taken as seriously as they would think you don't have the chance to overthrow those who have been in power for so long. If they do want to hurt you and pick off a weaker younger demon- though you're only half and not bound to Hell- then I will be there to make sure you won't be hurt." Shiro explained, putting his hands on Keith's shoulders.

"Now then," He said.

"Mascara or just the eyeshadow and liner?" He asked. Keith smiled and looked up at his brother.

"Just the eyeshadow and liner but if my eyes don't look on fleek enough then and then will you be able to use mascara." He said. Shiro nodded.

"Fair enough." He said.