"My costume?" asked Tibur, rising to greet his half-naked boyfriend, "What about yours?"

"I'm a fireman."

"And where's your shirt?!"

"The kind from the sexy calendars" Michael explained, "I thought you'd like it."

"Excuse us a minute" said Tibur, pulling Michael out onto the terrace to talk in private.

"When did you land? Why didn't I hear anything from you? Do you know how worried I've been that something might have happened? It's one thing if you don't want to come home, but just bother to tell me where you at least."

"Hey" said Michael, his palm resting on Tiburs cheek as he stroked his velvet lips with his thumb, "I wanted to surprise you, I didn't mean to make you worry. And what do you mean? Why wouldn't I want to come home? It's all I've been thinking about."

"You've been away... a lot. What else was I supposed to think?"

"That maybe I had my reasons for taking every longhaul flight no one else wanted? And avoiding you wasn't it. I missed you. I told you I loved you every time we spoke."

"Then what was the reason? You could have at least told me that."

Michael smiled at Tibur's furrowed brow and large, accusatory eyes.

"How am I supposed to surprise you if I tell you every little thing?" he said, "But I guess if I don't, that big old mind of yours starts to wander to dangerous places... I know you want to go back to college and get your degree. I saw the scholarship forms."

"So what?" asked Tibur, "I just wanted to know that I could have got it. It's a stupid idea anyway. Even if I can scrape the remaining tuition together, with what they've offered, I'd have to study full time."

"I think you should do it" said Michael; "I want to support you."

"By never coming home?"

"By saving every penny I can for our future you idiot, so I can take six months off without worrying that I don't have the money to feed you."

"You don't feed me anyway" said Tibur, "You always forget to buy groceries... Why do you want six months off? I told you last time, you can't get pregnant."

"So I can be there when you start. Bring you coffees, deliver whatever books or files you've forgotten when you've rushed out the door in a panic... support you. I know you, and I know this is what you want. You're just scared about the money... scared that you'll fail. Tibur, you can do this. I want to be there to help you."

"If" said Tibur, "If I went back to college... I'd be busy studying. I wouldn't have time to spend with you in the way that you'd want. Wouldn't it be a waste of time to take a break from work just to watch me?"

"Not a waste to see you happy. I'll go back to work once you're settled, but I know how much new things scare you. I'll be there to hold your hand. I'll even walk you to class each day... so long as they're not too early. If that's the case, then I'll pick you up instead." 

It didn't seem such an impossible dream with Michael there. One look into Tibur's large intelligent eyes, and Michael could tell that his boyfriend was finally allowing himself to follow the path he'd been too afraid to take before. He smiled proudly as a giddy air of anticipation settled in.

Tibur yanked on the suspenders that held up his boyfriend's pants.

"You're a firefighter?" he asked.

"Yeah" said Michael, "Want to slide down my pole? Or how about sucking on my hose..?"

"No one sucks on hoses, Honey."

"So make an exception."

Michael's tongue was quickly welcomed back into the warmth of Tibur's mouth. He'd missed him too much to care this wasn't their house, and that an array of embarrassed eyes were watching them through the large glass windows.

"Well" said Angela, "It seems we didn't need to worry... looks like whatever it was has all worked out. Anyone up for another game..?"

By the time the ghost and the firefighter had finished devouring one another, they came inside to find the others were playing charades. All but Tristan, who was busy force-feeding his husband sliders in an attempt to sober him up a little.

"This is your idea of a good time?" asked Michael, "Guessing the names of scary movies? Why not watch one instead? Every time there's a jump scare you take a shot."

Tibur pinched his waist and made him shudder.

"Here" he said, passing him a lurid green spirit, "Drink up."

Caleb regained enough of his senses that when he met Michael by the bathroom, he was almost his usual self again.

"Captain..?" asked Michael, eyeing Caleb's costume, "You know that's my job right?"

"You're not a boat captain" Caleb replied.

"No. But... 'This is your Captain speaking' is basically my line. Was I your inspiration tonight?"

"Tristan's a sailor. So I am too."

"Seamen..." laughed Michael.

"And what inspired your costume?" asked Caleb, "Your apartment fire..?"

"My burning love, as it happens" Michael replied, "And an excuse to go shirtless. Tibur may complain but I still catch him drooling... There's nothing I like more than getting him worked up when we're out in public, then reaping the rewards when we get home..."

Michael could picture it now.

"But the whole matching thing is pretty 'cute', I guess" he continued, "And the uniform, it's er... very realistic."

It didn't sound like a compliment.

"These rewards" said Caleb, "what kind of rewards are you talking about..?"

The others were playing a game of 'Werewolf' with Angela taking the role of moderator. The day phase had come, and another of the villagers had been killed.

"Oh" said Amy, "I'm out already?"

"That makes Tibur and Amy killed, and Farang falsely accused in the last round..." said Tristan, "I'm starting to worry how many of us are left."

"I told you Farang was innocent!" Fraser declared, "And now the werewolf got another one."

"So it's two versus two now, right?" asked Fletcher, "Doesn't that mean the werewolves win?"

Tristan, Fraser, Fletcher and Stephen were still in the game.

"Wasn't Millie playing too?" asked Tristan, "Where did she go?"

Millie had been invested until she got distracted by Duck and Turkey playing in the kitchen. She was baiting them with a bat on a string and forgot to rejoin the game after the first round. 

It was decided to abandon the idea entirely, and focus on drinking instead.

"Did you guess it was me?" Fletcher asked Tristan.

"You were a werewolf?"

Fletcher howled and pretended to transform, ripping at his shirt in the process, and revealing a sliver of his taut and tattooed skin. No one could have blamed him for looking. Except for his husband returning from the bathroom. 

Fletcher had some muscle, but he was no match for Caleb's strong physique. A physique he now regretted having hidden away from Tristan's view.

He was about to make a costume change when someone else beat him to it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Captain has turned on the Fasten Seat Belts sign. Please sit the fuck down" announced Tibur, the lackluster ghost having been revived as a member of cabin crew.

The shirt, tie and vest fit him just as Michael had hoped they would. He'd never seen anyone look better in that uniform in all the years he'd flown.

"Fuck" said Michael, half to himself, and half to Caleb, "This is why I love Halloween. I'm getting a boner already..."

"Why did you change costumes?" asked Tristan.

Tibur leaned over. 

"Same reason you did" he whispered, "Because I look fucking hot."

Tristan was puzzled. He'd only changed his pants after spilling the dye.

"Do I look hot?" he asked.

"If Stephen wasn't so obnoxiously straight, and Caleb wasn't so possessive, I'd have asked you for a three-way" complimented Angela.

"Oh" said Tristan, "Thank you..?" 

Turning red at the sudden realization of his own allure, Tristan pulled Goose onto his lap; hiding his face behind black and white fur as he smiled shyly to himself. Caleb watched him. As jealous as he was that so many eyes had been on his husband, he had to admit that Tristan was glowing so brightly that even a blind man couldn't fail to notice his appeal.

"Cabin crew prepare for landing..." said Michael as he ran his fingers across the uniform that Tibur had finally worn, "Fuck me, but it's even better than I expected."

"I'll wear it when you start to miss work" offered Tibur, "I'm worried you'll get bored on your sabbatical."

"Another one?" asked Caleb, "Didn't the airline only just take you back?"

"Husband..." warned Tristan, aware that Caleb's dedication to Caffray rested solely on whether or not Tristan had time to play with him.

"Michael's taking some time off while I go back to school" Tibur announced.

Millie poked her head out of the kitchen.

"You're going to be a flight attendant..?" she asked.

"No" said Tibur, "I'm going to be an engineer."

"Weren't you one already?" questioned Millie, "I was hoping you'd chosen something a little more exciting."

Tristan was reminded of the lack of interest his friends had shown when it came to the news he'd shared about himself and Caleb. He was almost tempted to rain on Tibur's parade... Almost.

"That's wonderful!" smiled Tristan, "Husband, can you open a bottle of champagne? I think it's worth celebrating."

A glass was raised in his honor before the spooky festivities continued on, until Caleb started to mention how late it was getting. As much as he was trying his hardest to be diplomatic, the glare in his eyes was unmistakable; it was time to call it a night.

While the couples went home to enjoy their costumes in private, Millie jumped in a taxi with Stephen and Angela. It was only the guests of the ninth floor apartment that were left to be dealt with.

"Can one of you help me take him downstairs?" asked Amy, as Fletcher was reluctantly lifted from the couch. "He's not much of a drinker."

Caleb sighed and prepared to step in when his husband held him back.

"I'll do it" said Tristan, "I wanted to show Amy how to change the settings on the air con anyway. Why don't you go get changed and I'll be back in a minute."

Unbuttoning his jacket, Caleb slipped it onto Tristan's shoulders before he was willing to let him take the brother and sister home in the elevator. His jealousy was curbed by Fletcher's near inability to stand unassisted.

When Tristan returned alone, he hung his husband's jacket over a chair and looked for him in the bedroom.

"Husband..?" he called.

A splash sounded from the pool.

In the water, a merman was swimming. The shimmering tail glided through the water, and flashes of golden net and seashells adorned his glistening torso. Tristan crouched at the edge to better admire the view. The merman swam in his direction, his dripping arms emerging from the water and wrapping around his husband's legs.

"Don't pull me in" Tristan warned.

"Sailors should beware of sirens" said Caleb, "Especially ones as tempting as you..."

Large, wet hands landed on Tristan's ass.

"I'm sorry I didn't wear this to the party... but I hope it's enough that you alone get to see it."

Tristan smiled and pulled Caleb's face closer, holding it steady as he tenderly kissed his lips.

"I'm happy it's only for me" he confessed.

The merman was sulking.

"Why? Not enough of a reward?" asked Tristan.

"It's not that" said Caleb, "Look at you Baby. Everyone's eyes were on you tonight. I wish I could have had you in this costume to myself... But they all got to see how incredibly sexy you look. Especially that idiot downstairs..."

"Who, Michael?" asked Tristan.

"No... the other idiot. The one dressed as a devil."

"Ah" said Tristan, "Did you notice then? All the attention he gave me?"

Caleb scowled and the sailor couldn't help but giggle.

"I didn't like him much either" Tristan continued, "He wanted to get closer to me, because he thought my husband was so handsome... when you were in the bathroom he asked me if we had an open marriage, if I wouldn't mind sharing."

"And what did you say?" asked Caleb.

"I told him if he could finish what was left in the punchbowl I'd consider it... and proceeded to pour in another bottle of absinthe."

"You might have killed him, Baby. It would have saved me the trouble. There's no other man in the world I want but you, there's no other man I would wear this for."

"I know, Husband" Tristan praised, "You're mine. I've caught you."

Caleb felt Tristan had got things the wrong way round. 

"Can you tell me now?" asked the merman, "What's going on underneath those shorts? I can't feel any underwear. Did you go commando..?"

"Of course not!" said Tristan, "You think I'd let all our friends see my junk?"

His husband's puzzled look was endearing. Tristan stood beneath the stars and revealed his secret; the nude colored dance belt he'd purchased just in case.

The pool lights lit the silky fabric that covered his genitals, and when he turned around, the thin strip of fabric that ran between his cheeks couldn't help but invite curiosity. Like just how easy it would it be to pull aside...

"What do you think, Husband?" asked Tristan, "This costume is only for you."

"I'm not wearing my glasses" said the merman, "Can you come closer..?"

The naive sailor obliged, and was swiftly snatched into the arms of the siren.

"Husband! I said not to pull me in!" cried Tristan, his legs swinging above the water as he clung to Caleb's neck.

"Don't worry Baby" said his husband, laying his back down gently on the patio as he angled his lower half above the surface of the pool, "The only thing that will get you wet is my saliva..."

The merman's tail fluttered in the water as he buried his face between the sailor's legs, moving the strip of fabric aside with his teeth and plunging his tongue deep into the buried treasure it contained.

Tristan saw the merman's tail flip in the air as he laid back down, staring up at the night sky as he was ravaged by the creature from the deep. He was already thinking about who he should be the following Halloween, which fantasy he would live out next.

As bats flew, pumpkins were carved, and skeletons danced across the globe, Tristan reveled in his own celebration; stripped bare from the waist down, a merman eating his ass as he lounged by the pool of his penthouse, gazing up at the waxing moon. 

The only screams were of infinite pleasure.

"For fuck's sake" said the fireman eight floors down as his hose was sucked by the open window, "Do they realize how loud they are..? Oh... oh... Tibur! Fuck..!"

Happy Halloween ~🎃