Change of Venue

The conversation shifted again. Danny started moving about the house a bit, and found himself getting hit on.

"Indiana Jones" asked Danny if he wanted to see his whip. Danny rolled his eyes. A low effort toilet paper mummy, repeated the joke about "thighs and breasts" only in a far more lecherous way. And there was definitely a surreptitious ass slap from either a vampire or the President of the United States of America. Danny didn’t want to deal with that directly and ducked into a closet for a breather. When he came out, there was smoke.

He wasn't sure where it was coming from, people were already moving, Danny tried to follow them, but not before some smoke got in his eyes and irritated his throat.

Soon, he joined everyone else on the front lawn, "Danny! You okay?" Trish and Linda. Danny coughed an affirmative response, with his throat still irritated. "Do you know what's going on? Some people said there was a bang, but others just said they saw smoke...."

A few minutes later, the flashing blue lights of a police car and fire truck were on the scene as more smoke could be seen in the house. Onlookers strained their eyes to see if they could see any flame among the smoke.

It was kinda predictable where things were going at this point. It seemed everyone was safe, but conflicting accounts were around about what had actually happened. Confused statements were made to officers wading through a variety of costumed party goers, but the party's momentum had been killed and people were wondering whether there was any chance of returning to the house before the end of the night. It was too late to have any other major plans, and too early to call it a night for most people.

"Any ideas?" It was Jack, a friend of Trish's who Danny was casually acquainted with. He was dressed as James Bond or a butler.

"I'll be honest," Trish responded. "I could really go for something to eat. I was spending all the time before the party trying to get ready and the party started early to begin with." Danny nodded, realising that his costume was one of the reasons they needed so much preparation.

"Hey friends!" The group turned at the voice, and saw Steve.

"Hey Steve," Trish said casually, but with a smile.

"Hey Trish, good to see you," Steve responded, acting like this was the first time he’d seen her today.. Then his eyes darted towards Danny, still in full Hooters gear. "And Danny, did you do something with your hair?"

"Well..." Danny burst out coughing, new long hair swinging in front of his face.

Trish made sure Danny was okay, while Linda spoke on his behalf. “His hair wasn’t the only thing you were looking at earlier.”

Steve winched a smile. “Hey, just trying to give a compliment.”

Silence.

Linda. "I don't care what sort of drama or ego you have going on here, but if we're going to spend all night on the lawn we should at least pitch a tent."

"Hey," Steve chimed, "No egos, no drama. It was a joke, I get it, a good one." He splayed his hands out. "You got me, got me good. And it is good to see you all again, I really mean that. But you know what? We’ve still got to head out and get something to eat, and you've all put me in the mood for real Hooters girls!"

"Hooters?" Trish queried.

"Hooters sounds good," Jack chimed up.

“Yeah,” said Steve, “can’t waste the evening or our costumes, let's head to Hooters!”

"Wait, are we getting something to eat? I'm starved." A completely random person in faux military gear spoke up.

"Yeah, we've already got one of the waitresses here." The mummy guy popped up again. "I really could eat"

Soon enough, a mini convoy of cars was on their way to the local hooters, Trish, Danny and Linda among them, not really having other plans and knowing a lot of people in the group already. Danny had to content himself with the military guy and a surprisingly decent ghost sharing the back seat with him. Danny ended up in the middle, the pressure on the seat not exactly helping his trapped manhood.

They arrived at the hooters, pouring in as a fairly large group, they ended up taking up two large tables they were thankful to get.

Danny found himself near the end of one table beside Steve of all people. The mummy guy sat across from him. The ghost sat to his left at the end of the table.

At the other end of the long table, Linda and Trish were side by side, angel and darkness. Danny glanced and nodded in their direction and they returned it confirming they were okay, but they couldn't talk to each other without really making an effort and speaking across all the people between them.

Danny sat down, feeling the novel sensation of his padded rear end on the seat. After adjusting his arms so they didn't push against his newly acquired chest, Danny turned and talked to Steve. "Anyway, is everything okay about earlier?" He used his feminine voice and was thankful his throat seemed okay.

"Sure, fine!" He replied, looking away.

"We just meant it as a joke."

"I know!"

With not much else to say, and Steve starting to talk to other people, settled back and absorbed how strange it was that he was suddenly here. He looked at the Hooters waitresses busying about and Danny chuckled at the irony that he'd dressed up as a Hooters girl and was now seeing real ones.

Time passed and they didn't seem to be getting served. Danny started idle chatter to pass the time. The ghost talked about their handmade costume, the mummy made a lewd comment two seconds into the conversation, and Jack responded to Danny’s teasing about James Bond being in a Hooters by saying Bond was at home wherever there were attractive women.