Shaun stared at Sophie as if she was crazy. In all honesty, he might even argue the case that she truly lost her mind.
"You want us to dress up as characters from a kid's movie?" He asks, punctuating the pronouns in complete disbelief.
"Yes, I want us to dress as Disney characters." The young woman huffed as she crossed her arms. "You're overreacting. Plenty of people do that every year, and there's nothing wrong with that."
"Yes, indeed. Plenty of children do that every year." He points out pedantically, and then sighs. "Which characters are you even thinking of?"
He was not completely on board with this idea. He had not watched too many of those movies since he was a kid and there were only a few characters he remembered, even less that he remembered with any fondness. Not to mention how vexing it sounds to go out in public wearing this sort of clothes. Couldn't they be a pair of vampires or something?
She smiled at the prospect of convincing her boyfriend. "I was thinking I could be Rapunzel and you could be Flynn Rider. We could pull them off very well together."
Shaun stared at the woman confused. He does not remember seeing a movie about Rapunzel as a child.
The young woman, however, deftly continued her argument before he could reject the idea outright. "Come on, it would be fun to do. We haven't done a couple's costume before and I'm not really comfortable with the typical adult stuff. But if you really don't want to do this, we can pick something else."
He shook his head, desponded but resigned. "No, if these are the characters you want us to go as, we'll go as them. I trust that you won't choose anything too shameful."
Sophie squealed as she threw her arms around his neck, kissing him repeatedly in the cheek. He held on to her, avoiding that both of them fell to the ground in a thud.
"Thank you, Shaun! This will be so much fun!"
He wrapped his arms around her waist as she settles down. Dressing up as Disney characters would not be the worst thing in the world, he concluded with optimism. Seeing his girlfriend so excited about the idea made him happy, and that is what matters in the end. He would do anything for her. Maybe it would not be as bad as he initially thought.
Sophie pulled away. "You do know who Rapunzel and Flynn Rider are, right?"
He smiled. "Of course, I know who they are."
Shaun lied. He had absolutely no idea who she was talking about in regards to the movie.
The next day, Shaun googled the characters to at least know what he would have to wear.
He was relieved to see that Flynn was actually a handsome-looking animated character and could see the resemblance Sophie had mentioned, as they clearly had the same chiselled chin and tall demeanour. This would be easier than he thought.
However, if he was going to do this, he was going to do it right. There was a prize to be won, and he felt like a costume contest ribbon would go along nicely with the others he already has. So, he decided that he needed to watch the movie to see what this Flynn Rider was like, to capture the essence of the character, so to speak.
After dinner that night, Shaun and Sophie moved from the table over to the couch.
"What should we watch tonight?" She asked as pulled over a blanket.
"I was thinking we could watch Tangled." He offers lightly.
The woman smiled brightly. "Let's watch it!"
He walked over to the DVD shelf and searched for the movie. He had no idea how she ordered her movies, but it was certainly chaotic. In fact, even the very insistence of hers to keep the discs instead of just subscribing to a streaming service like the rest of them seemed baffling.
The woman sensed he was lost and took pity on him. "It's on the third shelf on the left-hand side."
With an eyeroll, he soon located the movie and pulled it off the shelf. Once he put it in and got everything set up, he re-joined his girlfriend on the couch. She threw the other half the blanket over his waist and snuggled close to him.
Surprisingly, the man felt that he enjoyed the offering despite his overall thoughts on Disney movies. He loved the character of Flynn, so much so that he was even on the edge of his seat at the end during the last scenes with Mother Gothel.
"What?! He can't die! This is bullshit!" He screamed at the TV, causing the woman to laugh at him.
"Just keep watching." She responded.
Shaun quieted down and did as she said, focusing back on the movie. Flynn cuts down Rapunzel's hair and Gothel turns into dust, all on the while he is saved by a true love's tear. The man was happy to see that the character he liked was saved.
"I knew that would happen, of course. These movies always have to have a happy ending." He scoffs.
Sophie could not help but smile at him. She loved all of his reactions from the movie.
"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that." She responded, smug. "So, did you like the movie?"
"I loved it! It was really good." He answers, with a grin, but then amends his position. "Well, for a Disney movie, of course."
"You can be a perfectly respectable adult male and also like Disney, you know?"
Shaun shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so."
The night of the costume party finally arrived.
Sophie entered the bedroom and found Shaun checking himself out in the mirror in his costume. He did see her reflection in the mirror, but he did not stop.
"I think I look quite good in this." He said, turning to face her and getting a better look at her as Rapunzel. "You look amazing."
The woman looked down at her purple dress then back to him.
"You think so?" She asked, a bit unsure.
Shaun closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her waist, a smile on his lips. "You look good in anything, love, but you really do look amazing as Rapunzel."
She smiled in response. "You look pretty good yourself."
As he leaned in to kiss her, he tried to run his hand through her hair, but she stopped him.
"You might not want to do that right now. I don't want the wig to get messed up, it's really hard to put it on." She explains, sheepishly.
He chuckled. "I wouldn't want to do that."
Shaun moved his hand down to her back and leaned back in for the kiss.
"We should probably leave soon. I don't want us to be late." Sophie said as she pulled away.
With that, they leave the apartment.
The couple shortly arrived at the Montgomery house, where their reluctant company for the night waited. Shaun made a big entrance for them, grabbing everyone's attention.
"I love your costumes!" April said with her usual marked drawl as Trish and Bryce walked over to them, looking, as they often do, as if they have just finished up another row. "You two look really good!"
"Thanks, April!" Said Sophie as she gave her a quick hug. "I love your costumes too!"
Bryce joined them and took a look at Shaun. "A Disney character? Really, Shaun?"
"Get bent, Montgomery." He snarled.
"Shaun, be nice." His girlfriend said, looking pointedly at his side.
Shaun slid his arm around the woman, pulling her close. "Yes, a Disney character, Bryce, not unlike those dreadful initiations of yours at the Investments Club. It was Sophie's wonderful idea. And plus, I look good as Flynn Rider."
Sophie looked up at her boyfriend and smiled with satisfaction and a great deal of pride. She had not expected him to get so into dressing up with her.
As the guests arrived and the crowds grew larger, the couple made their way further into the room and looked at everyone else's costumes. More of their friends showed up a little later into the evening dressed in various costumes. The party was filled with games and of course, alcohol. The more they drank, the crazier their games became.
Sometime after midnight, still dressed and reasonably decent, Shaun and Sophie stumbled into their flat.
"Thank you for agreeing to dress up like this." She said as they entered, her weight half supported by the man next to her.
"How could I refuse you?" He replied giving her a kiss on the forehead.
She smiled. "Since you were so cooperative, you can pick our costumes for next year."
Shaun shrugged. "I don't mind you choosing, I'll do anything you ask."
"Anything? Be careful of what you say, Shaun. I'm a demanding mistress." Sophie had a mischievous smile.
He was unfazed by her. He would do anything to make his girlfriend happy.
"Go at it." He smirked, defiant. "Is there anything else I can do for my mistress tonight?"
She raised her arms childishly. "I don't think I can make it to the bedroom, could you carry me?"
Without a second thought, Shaun scooped her up into his arms and started making his way toward the bedroom.
"Someone must be tired." He comments.
"Actually, I have something else in mind." Sophie whispered into his ear.
She had other ideas for their costumes tonight, and Shaun lives to please.
