Hello~ I wrote this for my friend's birthday! I promised her a three chapter Halloween story of a fandom of her choosing! I've only seen a few episodes and haven't really gotten well acquainted with the characters yet, so I apologize ahead of time for the possible out-of-characterness/incorrect things. I'm also not going to be using any honorifics because I'm not very knowledgeable on the subject and really don't want to get this wrong. I hope you enjoy, nonetheless!
"What did he tell you?"
"I don't know!" Kongpob sighed and shrugged his shoulders. He and Em headed to the back of the drugstore, where the walls were lined with an array of black and orange plastic decorations and pre-bagged costumes. "Arthit only said that I needed to dress up."
"That's a big task, though. First of all, does he mean dress up or dress up?" Em's eyes were wide as he inflected to make his point.
"Dress up," Kong answered, though he wasn't sure if he was opting for choice A or B as Em presented. "I mean, it's Halloween. So that type of dress up, I guess."
"Okay. Well. That's an even bigger task. I mean, do you guys want matching costumes? Should you go the slutty or scary route? There are just so many factors to consider."
Kong laughed as Em crouched down on the floor to grab a caveman costume from the bottom of a pile. Kong wasn't sure if bringing Em to go shopping was the best idea. Em always got lost in the small details of any affair. He would nitpick a costume for historical accuracy before even trying it on - never mind the fact that Halloween was basically the one night of the year where you could be as strange and weird as you wanted to be, without worrying about historical markers, accuracy, or even fidelity.
"I don't know why you're taking this so seriously," Kongpob said. "We should be embracing Halloween for all it's worth. Some time ago it was illegal to dress in another gender's clothing. Halloween was the only time of the year drag queens were safe."
"So you're going to be a drag queen this year?"
"No. I just mean that you shouldn't take things so literally, Em. This night is made for us. Just have fun. You remember that, right? It can't be that long since you've been out for a night."
Em rolled his eyes. He rose from his crouching position and folded his arms over his chest. He eyed a clown wig, but then turned his gaze and motioned to a policeman outfit that looked more like something a stripper would wear. Kong shook his head insistently. He didn't know exactly what he wanted to be tonight, but he knew he wasn't going to play a costume for laughs - or for sex appeal.
"Nice try, but no."
"Come on," Em whined. He sized up Kong from his shoes to his brown eyes and then back again as he shook his head. "Too bad. I think lots of people would like to see you dressed like that. What's the point of having a nice body if you're not going to flaunt it?"
Kong could do nothing but let out an easy, self-conscious laugh. He still wasn't used to being viewed as attractive. He was tall, but not too tall. His hair was dark brown and cropped short on the sides. His eyes were dark and he had skin that refused to be blemished. But over the past couple years, he had turned his frame into something that could be admired. He enjoyed jogging a lot - especially when he listened to audiobooks as he did it. It was an escape from his relatively mundane life at university. Though school eventually paid off when he met Arthit, his current boyfriend. Though "boyfriend" always seemed like the wrong term to Kongpob. It was too high school oriented. And partner always sounded vague, as if they were bank robbers instead of lovers.
"What are you thinking about?" Em asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Nothing." Kong grinned. He focused his attention back on the costumes in front of them, trying desperately to find something he could wear. "I just need to find a costume so I can go to his party tonight. That's the only way I'm getting in, apparently."
Tonight was the first time that Arthit had ever invited Kong out among his friends. Most of their rendezvouses happened behind closed doors, in bedrooms, and hotels. Arthit sometimes took Kong out for breakfast or dinner, but that never quite felt the same. A party would help to make Arthit and Kong's relationship a sure thing. Kong wasn't entirely sure if he loved Arthit or wanted anything long term, but this was still a step in the right direction, should that be the case. And dressing as a caveman or a stripper cop was not the way to go. Clearly. Kong sighed as he flipped through more costumes, finding nothing.
"I have no idea who to be."
Em snorted. "Don't we all."
"Shush. This isn't an identity crisis. This is a simple task. Not life and death."
"Well, the realms of the world are supposed to bend on Halloween night. Anything can happen - and anyone can come to that party. Even death, even the devil, and even a sexy caveman who's also a cop. Come on, hybrid costumes are the wave of the future."
Kong rolled his eyes. "I was thinking of being a pirate, actually. If you'll let me get out of the store with something terribly inaccurate."
"Ugh," Em groaned. "You just want to go as a pirate for the jokes alone. Getting covered in seamen. Looking for booty. All the men on the poop deck. Terribly childish, really. I thought you were more mature than that."
Kong pressed his lips together to suppress a laugh. "Okay, maybe you're right. But I still want to go as a pirate. I'll just control myself."
"Well, then you don't want anything here."
"Yes I do. Come on, Em. Not all of us are as picky about the accuracy of out costumes. Now help me out, dammit."
"Wow, cranky. Maybe you should go as someone under a bridge." Em picked up his phone. He ignored incoming Tinder messages with a cheeky grin and finally pulled up a location on the GPS app. Kong moved closer to him to look at the screen. A yellow dot glowed as if it was the end of a treasure map.
"Come on, pirate. I think this store will suit us much better. Just a walk around the corner."
With another sigh, and a careful eyeing of the caveman costume once more, Kong finally nodded.
"Lead the way."
Em led them both to a thrift store. Not one of the chain ones, Kongpob noted. Those places functioned more like a supermarket but with used materials instead of a large glorified yard sale. This place was definitely free of the dirge of corporate stink, and for that, Kong was relieved. It was family owned, small, and with a deep purple banner hung in one of the front windows with gold lettering announcing its name. A bell rang as the two of them stepped inside. The sunlight pooled through the windows as much as it could, but it did little to illuminate the dusty and dark atmosphere. Clothing was piled high on hangers and in circular racks. Used books, along with stray shoes, were stacked on a back wall. Glass cases held jewelry, mostly costumed pieces, and mannequins with broken arms had winter gear on them, as if they were semi-posed hat racks.
"Welcome!" a woman dressed in almost all pink greeted them. She fixed the purple banner at the front, allowing more sunlight to enter. "Please ask if there's anything we can help you with."
Kong nodded. Em walked over to shake her hand as if they went far back. Kong glanced at the tired man at the front, presumably the woman's father, with his head buried far into a leather bound book. He glanced up through bifocals and nodded, but didn't offer much else. By the time Em returned, Kong was near one of the wretched mannequins examining a bowler hat.
"Sorry about that," Em said. "I know her. She's given me great discounts on bulk orders before. I love this place."
"Uh huh." Kong's eyes narrowed on a moth-eaten sweater and shuddered. "But can we actually find something there? That's the real question."
Em smiled. His tongue flashed as he talked extra fast. "Of course we can. Well, I can. But even if I couldn't, that's not the point."
"And what is?"
"The pleasure of looking. Come on, this is like Dante's Inferno."
"Dante's Inferno?" Kong asked, eyes wide. "Really. This is the analogy you're going for?"
Em smirked again. He grasped his phone with sudden attention. "Oh, speaking of analogy, have I told you my terrible autocorrect story yet?"
"No, but I hardly think..."
Em cut him off. "I'm thinking of submitting this to one of those Damn You, Autocorrect! sites online because this is too good. I wanted to type 'analogy' but instead the phone corrected it to 'anal orgy'. I mean, come on! As if I've ever used that before."
Kong couldn't help but laugh. He ran his hand through his hair, relieved that this place was empty so no one heard their perverted conversation. "Well. I'm sure that got you a couple more hits on Tinder."
"As if. But right, right," Em said. He slid his phone away and then motioned down an aisle for them to begin their search. "I'm talking about Dante now. Have you read it?"
"Of course. Don't really remember much, though."
"Well, Dante meets Beatrice only once and he becomes captivated by her. He searches for her through all these layers of hell and lost souls, trying to get her back. So he can get her number or something."
"Stalker." Kong rolled his eyes. "But yes, Em. I'm aware Beatrice was the first manic pixie dream girl. I remember that much, at least."
Em nodded happily. He squeezed his friend's bicep. "I love how cynical you are. You keep me balanced."
And Arthit, Kong thought, keeps me balanced. Even if their relationship hadn't gone past their physical desire and wants yet, there was something about their chemistry that just worked. They were like two sides of the same coin, always balancing one another out.
"So I figured," Em emphasized, his hands on the hangers as he passed by. "That a thrift store is like purgatory in Dante's sense. It's where clothing goes that's been owned, used, but no longer belongs to anyone anymore. It has no soul left. Some people may have even died in the clothing hat ends up here. I see a purple shirt with a stain on it, and I realize it was probably someone's favorite item."
Em held up an old and weary pink and blue pastel sweater, the sleeves stretched out, with a smile. Kong only rolled his eyes. "Okay. Neat. But I'm here because...?"
"It's Halloween. And you'll find the best costumes here, hidden amongst the ruin."
Kongpob sighed. Em, in his most extravagant way, did have a point. Anything he would buy at this thrift store would probably be cheaper and much better quality than any costume at a drug store or party place. He could have more freedom to mix and match, and not be weighed down by the super-sexy or super-ridiculous options that someone else had packaged for him.
Kong let his mind wander as he moved through the aisles. He found another bowler hat, considered going as part of a Magritte painting, but then shook his head. Groucho Marx or even Chaplin would have been a more relatable reference. But even they may be too obscure - or worse, too overdone - for Arthit's friends. When he and Arthit were together, there was a casual way they interacted. Arthit was sweet and caring then, cuddling after really rough sex and making him breakfast in the morning. But the few times Kong had seen Arthit take calls during their dates, he became another man. A violent and intimidating person, one who would never take no for an answer. Like Jekyll and Hyde, but without the night to disguise him. Arthit became a kind of monster around his friends. Kong was nervous how Arthit would be tonight - and how he could anticipate, but try to not expect, the worse.
As they moved through aisles, Em remained close to Kong. He held his phone in his hand, texting, humming, and glancing around the large windows of the store.
"What are you doing?" Kong snapped. "You're making me nervous."
"Tinder's fucking lighting up like a store here. I'm seeing if I can find my own Beatrice in this madness, so I can follow her to the end of time. Or just a quick fling in the bathroom, whatever's more feasible."
Kong laughed. The thought was tempting to him, too - if for stress release and nothing but. Though they had never had an official discussion, Kong had a feeling that Arthit saw some guys on the side. It never bother Kong, though, even if Em often thought it should. Their relationship was not based on fidelity. Though Kong sometimes had a hard time recalling what it was based on, instead, other than sudden attraction.
"Do you mind if I leave you?" Em asked. "I think I'm about to get lucky."
"Go," Kong replied with a sigh. "I will stay here, maybe get lost a while, and come up another person..."
By the time Kong looked up, Em was already gone. He hadn't even heard the bell to the store ding as he left. Kong sighed as he checked his watch. A little after four in the afternoon. The party was at ten tonight. He had lots of time to shop and get himself ready - almost a lifetime.
Reconsidering, Kong dumped the bowler hat. He wanted something more fun than a silent movie star. He turned another corner, parted the hangers, and began to browse again.
Tomorrow (her actual birthday) I will upload the major chunk of the story (the smut). Thank you for reading this far! Even if it is awful, haha.
(Also, I did research and found out that some places in bigger cities in Thailand, they really do have costume parties on Halloween!)