“Promise you won’t let them walk all over you?” Rus scooted away some, then pulled Kaiden down so he’d lay beside him again.
“I promise.”
“Good, because I’m one flippant comment away from popping everyone in that damn house of yours across their smug little faces.”
Kaiden burst into laughter, burying his face into Rus’ chest. “I would pay to see that.”
“Free of charge,” Rus said, slapping Kaiden’s butt. “Well, not entirely free.”
They fell into each other, cuddling the entire morning away, enjoying synchronized breathing and the silence of content comfort in each other’s arms.
Chapter Eighteen
Rushopped out of the shower and used Kaiden’s blow dryer to air out his curls. Normally, he didn’t care about such things. But he wanted to enjoy every second of the day in his costume, which meant he needed to dry off quickly to get dressed.
Thankfully, Kaiden didn’t mind bringing a few things over to Rus’ apartment. Not that he ever took Rus up on the offer to leave whatever oddities there that pleased him. Kaiden believed in boundaries and somehow thought that, by letting his stuff pile up at Rus’, he’d be overstepping them. Rus would have to work on that, get Kaiden to see that was what folks in relationships did. However, that would have to come after celebrating Halloween.
First came the red contacts, then the fangs, and finally he clipped on his little elf ears. They blended with his perfectly. He’d have to thank Kaiden for that, since he picked them out, claiming the pair Rus wanted didn’t match his complexion enough.
Next, he grabbed his outfit, a perfectly tailored dress shirt,pants, and boots to embody Rus’ favorite murder happy vampire twink. After getting dressed, he added his belt and a realistic fake dagger, then finished off the ensemble with an expensive white wig. Courtesy of his mother, who loved cosplay almost as much as she loved her children.
Rus stuffed his laptop into his satchel and headed out the door to classes. The first year on campus, Rus considered himself too cool at eighteen to dress up for the holiday. Did it matter that Halloween was his absolute favorite day of the year? No, not when his very sophisticated adult ego was at stake.
It ended up being his biggest regret. It also ended up being how he met Daysha, who dressed all out as some fairytale princess who carried a giant mallet with spray paint on the front saying ‘Not Your Damsel,’ and she proceeded to bop the ground between her and any guy who got too close.
Close to half the campus dressed up, from those showing off the assets they planned on bringing to whatever party they attended, to others who hid behind masks while causing chaos in the form of mischief and silly pranks.
“Aren’t you a little too old to be dressing up?” Landon asked with sass in his voice and swagger in his hips.
“Aren’t you a little too fruity to be dressing with that aesthetic?” Rus eyed Landon’s outfit up and down, always perplexed at how hard he tried to flex as some type of frat guy fuck boy.
Personally, Rus didn’t give a fuck what anyone wore. Someone’s aesthetic could fall wherever they felt most comfortable, but Landon had gradually, quite literally, straightened up his wardrobe since Rus had the misfortune of meeting him their freshman year.
Landon’s face turned sour, and he craned his neck to really revel in the height difference he had on Rus. A truly transparent jab that brought a smirk to Rus’ face. He knew full well he was a tiny tyrant who fumed with fury at any little injustice that crossed his path, but Rus never worried himself over being short. Over the years, he never bothered defending himself to those who made their jokes on something he couldn’t control, allowing their insults to go over his head, so to speak.
With a smile on his face and a pep in his step, Rus swaggered away. He definitely added a bit more flair to his step, trying to emulate his favorite character. After all, if he was going to be a sexy vampire twink, he had to do the part justice. That meant more than dressing for the role.
“Don’t you look fabulous,” Daysha said as they met after classes for a late lunch.
“Of course I do, darling,” Rus said, poorly imitating the British accent of his character.
“Oh, you sweet thing, at least you got the outfit right,” Daysha replied with a perfectly posh accent.
Speaking of outfits, she’d shown up in a stunning white and gold dress that’d been ripped to shreds and covered in blood and dirt.
“Pretty fancy zombie.”
“Zombie prom queen,” Daysha clarified. “My mother took it upon herself to buy me this dress in case I wanted to look nice.”
“Nice for the right guy, I’m guessing.” Rus snorted, making his way through the café line.
“Or the right girl.” Daysha shrugged. “At this point, she’s so desperate I don’t end up alone, she doesn’t have time to be homophobic.”
“I mean, it’s still homophobic. Acephobic? Just plain ole queerphobia.”
“Meh, it’s whatever.” Daysha grabbed a sweet treat to add to her tray. “I posted a video this morning on how to turn designer into decay, and I’m still waiting for her response.”
“She might be stunned speechless.”
