James shivered slightly. For a moment, it felt like his costume was getting tighter. But as he stepped up to the house, he realized it felt pretty comfortable. The suit was surprisingly breathable. It was like he could feel the breeze over his skin through it... and on a chilly fall night, that made him all the more eager to get inside. He knocked on the door, too chilly to question why he felt the texture of painted wood under his knuckles.
The door was opened by a man in a cartoonish blue jay fursuit.
"Hey, those are some seriously good costumes!" James recognized the voice coming from within the fursuit as belonging to his friend, Brad. "Like, so good, I actually don't recognize you."
"James," James said, then pointed to his sister, "and Kacey Parks." James tried to ignore a slight heaviness growing just above his rear, seeming to make the costume's tail cavity feel less hollow.
"And Rosa Wu," the girl in the kitsune costume added.
"Woah, you guys really went all out this time, huh?" Brad chuckled. "Never thought you'd get so into it. Sure you're not secretly into furries?" James could practically hear Brad grinning ear to ear behind that costume beak.
"I'm a lot more interested in getting 'into' your house and out of the cold," Kacey muttered, wrapping her arms around herself.
"Oh, right, come on in."
Brad pulled the door back further, allowing his guests inside. After letting the ladies in first, James stepped through, looking around at the large front room. The walls were decorated with images of pumpkins, cat witches riding brooms, gravestones, jack-o-lanterns, and other Halloween paraphernalia. A dozen fursuiters chatted with each other, as well as four other guests that had simply bought generic Halloween costumes like he had. And by the punch bowl, one girl had just bought a cat-ear headband, put on a little whisker like makeup, and called it a day.
James' observations were cut short when he suddenly felt his tail getting pinched by the door closing behind him.
"AUGH!" James let out a pained yelp that sounded a bit deeper than normal.
"Woah!" Brad called, quickly opening the door, and letting James pull his tail out of the way. "Sorry about that, man." He spoke a little quieter. "You might want to get a costume that's a little less tight next time. Don't want to put undo pressure on Little James anytime the tail gets stuck on something, eh?"
"Er, yeah, right!" James muttered, stepping away.
Then it dawned on him.
He had just felt the door slam on his TAIL.
A part of the costume he should not have felt anything in.
"You know, uh, I just... er... Bathroom! Gotta go!" Brad, Kacey, and Rosa barely had time to reacte before James has darted off to the hall bathroom, his tail twitching behind him. He became uncomfortably aware of the fact he could clearly feel the hardwood floor directly below him with no trace of the socks he'd worn under the costume.
Locking the door behind him (and being careful not to get his tail or wings stuck as it closed) James turned to the mirror, and gasped. What he saw did not look like the costume he had put on this evening.
No, that wasn't quite true. The creature facing him in the mirror DID look like the costume had, but far more detailed and realistic. He could make out each individual, overlapping scale on his face. There was no cloth, or plastic. He felt dull pressure in his fingers, toes, and head, and realized, tapping his "nails" on the counter, that his bones had been slowly pressing out into sharpened claws and horns. The wings were slowly looking more leathery, and he felt a warm, heavy sensation behind him, as if parts of him were slowly inching back into the wings, filling them, and making them a part of him.
"Wh-what the hell is going on? H-How is this happening?"
Without even a thought, James raised his tail up and around his body for a better look, seeing a spade-like tip on the end. He opened his mouth, and the dragon in the mirror did the same, the pink cloth in it's jaws turning wet and fleshy as he felt it become more of a part of him. He winced as his tongue split at the tip, all the scents of the guests and treats just outside the bathroom door growing stronger. His eyes rose up to fill the costume's sockets, turning a bright yellow, the pupils narrowing menacingly.
"No," he whispered. "No no no no no! I can't go out like this!" He turned around to reach for the zipper on his back, his neck craning far more easily than before, only to see in the mirror that the zipper had been replaced with a string of short yellow spikes running down his back.
"I- I can't do this!" He muttered quietly. "I have to find a way to stop this, I have to get back to normal! Maybe try some mind over matter stuff? It's not like it's less crazy than this!" He took a deep breath, trying and failing to calm down.
"I am-"
A dragon, A low, powerful voice echoed softly in his mind.
"-a dragon," James muttered, sounding slightly calmer as he did. "I am-"
Powerful.
"-Powerful," James mumbled, barely registering the muscles beneath his scaly skin slowly swelling. After all, he was powerful. That was the norm.
"I am-"
Invulnerable.
"-Invulnerable." James could see his scales shimmering like emeralds, and his scutes gleaming like gold, as they seemed to become even firmer. "I have-"
Nothing to fear."
"-Nothing to fear." James smiled as he finished his last deep breath. He could remember feeling so worried just seconds ago, but now it seemed so silly. He had been human, yes. And now he was a dragon. A truly magnificent beast at a party of pretenders. Why should he worry about anything? His scales could repel bullet and blade alike. He had the strength to uproot the decades-old oaks in the front yard. It was like the old joke about where a five hundred pound gorilla sleeps. Who would be able to object to anything he wanted to do.
He shook his head. Yeah, that was just the confidence boost he needed. He'd got the best costume in the party, hands-down, even if it had technically rendered him naked. Now to enjoy it and show it off.