Before the games can begin: Full Moon over the Afterparty

A fire crackled low in the ornate fireplace of Sarah's living room, casting a warm glow and dancing shadows across the floor. Ornate fixtures above the hearth glistened in the light, their gold gilt reflecting the rising tongues and sparking embers from below, making the fire seem to rise much higher than it was.

Arrayed on three plush couches around that flaring source of light, were five incongruous characters, and one oddly sexy animal. Save for the smoldering flames, the only other source of light in the room was a table lamp, that provided cozy lighting to one corner of the room, whilst the other by the window fell almost into shadow.

On the couch to the right of the fireplace, Tinkerbell and Harry Potter were sat chatting, although the Boy who Lived kept casting irritated glances at Johnny Cage flirting with a black cat.

"Don't worry about it, John," Nicole reassured him, "he always tries flirting with her, and she's never been interested."

"Mmm, but Tom's never done it while looking like that before," John huffed, picking at the frayed edge of his cloak. Right now, Tom was embodying Johnny Cage very well by being smugly insufferable, and completely shirtless. Most of the girls he had flirted with during the Halloween party hadn't gotten his costume, but they didn't need to. All that mattered to most of them was that he had exposed six pack abs under an open leather jacket.

After making out with at least one sexy nurse and a slutty Harley Quinn, Tom had now set his sights on John's crush, Miranda. She was looking even more sexy than usual too. A long sleeve black leotard accentuated her natural curves, and her 36C bust, simultaneously leaving nothing and everything to the imagination. On her long legs she wore sheer black tights, practically showing off her toned thighs and ass. The kitty-cat ear headband, painted on whiskers, and fluffy black tail, were all just the icing on top. John had never wanted a cat to sit on his lap more in his life.

"And she doesn't normally look like that either," John tore his eyes away as he spoke, hoping Nicole wouldn't notice the color in his cheeks under his fake glasses.

"It's Halloween, everyone dresses a little slutty," Nicole shrugged, "I mean, look at me."

John had been trying not to all night. Without even really trying, Nicole had made for an uncomfortably hot Tinkerbell.

Everything about her had been almost perfect for the costume, from her waifish figure, to her pixie-like features, to her natural blonde bob that she already kept short and messy anyway. The only thing she had been missing was a pair of wings and the tight green dress, the sort of form hugging garment that she never normally wore. It was shameful to admit, but when John had arrived at the party and saw her costume, her tight dress hugging every inch of her figure and coming such a short distance down her thighs, he had felt his wand stiffen in his pants.

John hadn't been the only one to notice Nicole's sexy new look. A few other guys had made a pass at her, including Tom, but when he asked her to shake some pixie dust on him she told him the only way he would fly was if she threw him out a window.

Everyone else had gone so hard on the sex appeal that John felt self-conscious in what amounted to a school uniform with some lenseless glasses and a bit of makeup on his forehead. Eager to change the subject before he made a comment on Nicole's dress that he might regret, John shifted the conversation to the two other people still present.

"At least Matt seems to be doing alright, " he nodded his head towards the third couch, where the Terminator chewed the Little Mermaid's ear off

"I don't know, Sarah hasn't said a word to him all night," Nicole joked.

"She hasn't said a word to anyone all night," John laughed.

Sarah had taken her costume very seriously. Since Ariel couldn't speak on land, neither could Sarah. For the whole evening she had gotten by on sign language and mime, making drinky-drinky motions whenever she was thirsty, and sucky-sucky motions whenever she was feeling something else.

Since she still had Sarah's body, including an hour glass figure, bubble butt, and big boobs, but now dressed in just a bikini with a shell-cup bra, Ariel had gotten everything she wanted handed to her straight away. A girl didn't need words when she had pouty lips, fluttering eyelashes, and perky breasts that constantly threatened to overspill her tiny seashells, combined with a shameless willingness to use those assets.

Matt, meanwhile, had worn a costume that made John a little less worried about his own. Since he had a "perfect" Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, he had decided to go as the iconic Terminator, replete with borrowed biker clothes, a leather duster, and topped off with a pair of dark shades.

Despite her silence, Sarah seemed at least amused by Matt's talking, as she smiled, nodded, and swirled her finger around the rim of her glass as he did enough talking for the two of them.

John had almost turned around to reengage with his own conversation partner, when he saw something that made his blood run cold. Tom had shifted over to be even closer to Miranda on their shared couch, one arm laid across the cushion to be nearly around her shoulders. As he watched, Tom said something about knowing every girl's sweet spot, before reaching forward and rubbing Miranda's head with two knuckles, just behind her cat ears. His crush giggled at his joke, tilting her head into his fingers and purring dramatically.

Before John could say anything, Nicole placated him by resting her hand on his own.

"I got this," she muttered to him with a wink, before getting to her feet and clearing her throat. She was a great wing-woman, which made sense considering she had a pair of wings of her own on her back.

"Hey guys," she announced loudly, drawing every eye to her and stopping Tom's flirting in it's tracks.

"Let's play a game."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Happy Halloween!

This new spooky thread will be what I'm publishing at least through all of October. It's a bit of a departure from the usual formula for Afterparty stories, but it's still all very hot, despite the cold temperatures of the season.

By the way, Nicole and Sarah's hair colors are intentionally not using the customization tags, because their hair colors are quite integral to their costume's. They are canonically a blonde and a redhead for this story. Sorry, if that's not your preference.

If you want to see the next two chapters of this story early, then consider joining my Patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/Cheesers123