masquerade
Written for Spooktober 2021, Prompt: Costumes. Established relationship. Comments and kudos would be awesome. Enjoy!
The Halloween party is in full swing by the time Cooper makes it back to campus. He'd spent the last few days helping his dad out after an injury, and he's only just getting back into town. Busy as he'd been with that, he hadn't had time to put together much of a costume, but he'd managed to cobble scrounge up an old pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt, a black leather jacket and a lot of hair gel and dubbed himself a greaser.
Their residence hall at Daleman is all decked out for the holiday. Orange and purple and green string lights and similarly colored streamers hang from every available surface. A few black lights and a smoke machine add to the Halloween aesthetic. Some cheesy decorations – pumpkins and skeletons – are strategically placed around the entrance and in the main hall. And a spooky soundtrack plays over a stereo system, alternating between eerie haunted house noises and thematically appropriate songs ('Werewolves of London,' 'The Monster Mash,' and 'Season of the Witch,').
Cooper weaves his way through the crowded hallways – passes by Freddy Krueger, a sexy nurse, Batman (Zeke, maybe?), and a Baywatch lifeguard all very engaged in a round of beer pong.
He finds a Michael Meyers and a Ghostface passing out drinks.
A trio of witches are dancing with a very awkward Jason Voorhes (Jerry, definitely Jerry).
Wednesday Adams is bobbing for apples under the supervision of a vampire (Hank, Cooper realizes, nods in greeting).
A very short Frankenstein's monster (Pickle? Cooper suspects, impressed) is making out with a very sexy, very tall pirate wench in a dark corner.
Making his way upstairs, he sees a wide array of other costumes – a scarecrow, some Disney princesses, a couple dressed as Fred and Wilma Flintstone, several members of the Scooby Doo gang, a couple generic 70's hippies, a cheerleader, Spiderman, a cowgirl, Leatherface, a doctor, a prisoner, two more witches, and an eerily creepy clown.
And, Cooper notices, there is a very detailed wolfman lurking on the edges of the party who does not seem to be enjoying himself at all.
Aha, he thinks.
It might not be the costume he expected to find the other boy wearing, but he would recognize Josh anywhere.
He sidles up next to the sullen werewolf without being noticed. "Miss me?" he asks, grinning when the other boy jumps in surprise and turns to face him, clearly stunned by his presence when Cooper had been so sure he wouldn't be back in time for the party and had told Josh as much.
"What're you doing here?" Josh asks, pulling him into an enthusiastic hug and then an even more enthusiastic kiss. "Mm," he says, eyeing Cooper's last minute costume appreciatively. "I like the greaser look on you. It's kinda hot."
"I'll keep that in mind," Cooper counters, admiring the detailed make-up and effects. "What's with all this? Thought you were just gonna dress up as like an exhausted college student or something."
That earns him a laugh. "Oh, Jerry's new girlfriend is a theater major who's super into special effects and stage make-up stuff. She was looking for volunteers to practice on tonight, is all," Josh explains. "How's your dad?"
"Better," Cooper answers, "My aunt got there this afternoon. She's gonna stay with him so I could get back to classes."
"Glad you're back," Josh tells him, an arm slung around his shoulders. "And there's still plenty of Halloween left to go – how about we go enjoy it?"
"Lead the way, wolfy," he agrees, not at all surprised when Josh grabs his hand and leads him back to their room instead of back down to the heart of the party for some celebrating of their own.