Scare Factor

Written for my 2021 Halloween event.

Pairing: Randall Carpio x Scare Actor!Male!Reader

Prompt: Randall + Scare actor with “Don’t you dare say ‘let’s split up’’ and “Oh, don’t worry. The blood is fake.”

A/N: This was the final prompt for my 2021 Halloween event! I hope that you had as much fun reading the pieces as I did writing them.

—–

When Lilith had suggested that the Knights of Saint Christopher take a little field trip to their local haunted house, Randall had expected it to be much more mild than this. He had anticipated crappy fog machines, guys in cheesy masks, and barely-functioning animatronics- nothing at all compared to the things he and his companions faced on a daily basis.

Except that the fog machines weren’t crappy- they worked well enough to obscure even his wolf-enhanced vision. The animatronics were genuinely terrifying; jolting forward unexpectedly and letting out ungodly shrieks whenever he thought it was safe to look the other way. And the scare actors…

The actors would come out of nowhere, popping around corners and appearing from dense clouds of smoke as though out of thin air. They would yell and swing fake weapons, using their sudden appearance and loud noises to spook the guests passing through.

Randall hated to admit it, but he was quickly finding himself increasingly anxious as he and his friends wound their way through the maze of hallways and themed rooms. He found his heart rate picking up with every jumpscare, a nervous sweat prickling across the palms of his hands and the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

Right as he was considering the benefits of just leaving, their group crossed the threshold into a room so dark that Randall couldn’t see anything even with his werewolf senses and the door slammed closed behind them. A group of actors emerged from the darkness with a scream and rushed the group, which split in the confusion.

At some point Randall’s hand brushed against the soft fabric of someone’s shirt, and he clutched onto it, dragging who he assumed was probably Hamish with him in the direction that he assumed the exit would be.

When he finally found the door and shoved it open, he couldn’t help but gasp in a relieved breath, chest heaving as he tried to get his breathing back to normal.

“So… the exit was actually the other way,” drawled a man’s voice from behind Randall.

Randall whipped around, lurching away as he came face to blood-splattered face with one of the scare actors. His eyes widened as he realized that he must have grabbed this zombie guy instead of one of his friends in all the chaos, “You… aren’t Hamish.”

The stranger huffed out a surprised laugh and Randall was hit by the sudden realization that under all the blood, the (h/c) was actually pretty handsome. “No, no I’m not. The name’s (M/N), actually.”

“Right,” Randall murmured, averting his eyes awkwardly; still embarrassed by the whole situation.

(M/N) grinned, running a hand through his hair. “Oh, don’t worry. The blood’s fake.”

Randall’s lips twitched up into the barest hint of a smile, knowing that he’d have been able to smell if it was real from a mile away. “Right, yeah. Of course it is.”

“Look, your friends took off down the main hallway,” the scare actor said, gesturing off in the direction of the path. “We’re in the back halls right now; I can take you through a couple of shortcuts and get you back with your group, or you can head back through the door and try and catch them yourself.”

“Don’t you dare suggest we split up,” Randall snapped. He faltered as he realized how that had sounded, “Sorry, it’s just- I’m a little bit-” he gestured uselessly back toward the room they’d come from.

“Of a ‘fraidy cat?” (M/N) teased, the corner of his lips twitching up in amusement, “Don’t worry; I already knew that.” He chuckled a little, before tilting it toward one of the ends of the hallway, “C’mon, I’ll take you back to your friends.”

Randall brightened, grinning so hard that he knew his dimples would be visible, “R-really? Thank you!”

The (h/c) smiled, the movement making the fake blood and makeup crinkle a little at the corner of his lips in a way that had Randall itching to kiss it away. He reached out to take Randall’s hand in his and Randall could feel Graybeard preening appreciatively under his skin. “Don’t want you getting lost,” (M/N) explained, though Randall couldn’t help but pick up the faint blush on his cheeks.

“Definitely not,” Randall replied, an answering flush heating his face as he twisted his fingers with the (h/c)’s and allowed himself to be tugged along through the dark scarers-only hallways that ran alongside the guest paths.

Eventually they came to a stop just behind a door disguised as a painting. “Your friends should be entering this room within the next minute, so you can hop through here and meet back up with them.”

“That’s amazing,” Randall grinned, watching through a hidden hole as his friends trailed into the room beyond the door, talking amongst themselves and trying to figure out where he’d disappeared off to.

“I like to think so,” (M/N) grinned, reaching out to press the button to unlatch the hidden door before hesitating. “I don’t know if you’d be interested at all, but, um, if you maybe wanted to see me again, I get off at midnight?”

Randall was surprised to hear that his attraction was reciprocated, but he definitely wasn’t upset to hear it. “Yeah, I- yeah, definitely! We could maybe go to the Blade and Chalice for a drink?”

“That sounds amazing,” (M/N) nodded, grinning widely. “I promise I’ll be less bloody for our date.”

The Knight smiled as he moved to duck through the doorway, “I dunno, I think it’s a pretty good look on you.”

Randall couldn’t quite figure out whether his good mood was from scaring his friends with his sudden reappearance or the sound of (M/N)’s raucous laughter echoing behind him and the plans for tonight looming ahead of him.