A quick note before we begin

This story is about Halloween Dorcas, and is thus rated T for This Outfit Shows A Lot Of Skin.

Tread carefully, dear reader!

 

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“Natalie, I’m back,” Dorcas opened the door to their cabin to see his wife standing at the stove tending to a pot, “Are you feeling well enough to stand up?”

He shut the door and walked over to her, worried that she might lose her balance and hurt herself again.

“Yep! I was even able to do a little housework today!”

Natalie’s voice had an unusual level of pep, but for someone who was commonly bedridden for weeks on end, being able to move about was cause for celebration.

“That’s good, but be careful that you don’t overexert yourself.”

Dorcas worried about her a lot, but if she felt she was alright, then he was happy she wasn’t in pain. He had taken up carpentry to be able to buy the medicine she needed, and the onset of fall had given him no shortage of repairs that needed to be done before the first snowfall, so their financial position was more comfortable than it usually was.

“You know I’d never do anything to worry you, dear.”

“I’m just… I’m happy you’re feeling better.”

Natalie turned around, a smile on her face.

“Oh, I am too!”

She leaned up and gave Dorcas a kiss on the lips. Dorcas blushed and looked away, having not expected the sudden smooch.

“I know you don’t like it when I tease you, but you’re really cute when you’re embarrassed, you know?”

“Mhmm,” Dorcas hummed in acknowledgment, trying to conceal how flustered he was.

“Oh, and that reminds me, the fall festival is coming up!”

“And…?” Dorcas didn’t know where Natalie was going with this, but knowing that there was something that would bridge the gap between the fall festival and him being embarrassed made him nervous.

“Well, a few weeks back you mentioned that they were doing a costume contest this year, and today I finished making one for you!”

“You… really didn’t have to do that, Natalie.”

Dorcas’ nervousness continued to rise. What could she possibly have made for him?

“I need something to do while you’re gone, don’t I? And don’t worry, I didn’t spend any of the money we had been saving; that girl you had met when you were working for Lyn, Farina, had stopped by last week to chat and arranged for the materials to be sent to me, free of charge!”

Hearing Farina’s name in association with an outfit he was supposed to wear sent a shiver up Dorcas’ spine. Was this one of her get-rich-quick schemes? Was Farina even capable of goodwill?

“Oh, that was nice of her. What’s for dinner?” Dorcas said, trying to take a peek into the pot Natalie had put on the stove.

Natalie threw herself between Dorcas and the stove, refusing to give him the chance to change the subject.

“Let me handle dinner while you try on your costume. I really want to see how it turned out!”

“Er…” Dorcas relented, knowing this was a battle he could never win, “Where is it, then?”

“It’s on the bed,” Natalie turned back to the stove and began tending to the meal she went to great lengths to conceal, “Give me a shout if you need help and I’ll come a runnin’.”

‘It being difficult to put on doesn’t fill me with confidence,’ Dorcas thought to himself as he made his way to their bedroom, fearing the fate that awaited him.

 

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Dorcas initially had no idea how the mess of fabric and leather on their bed was supposed to amount to a full outfit, but Natalie had the foresight to leave him a note with a few instructions,

“Pants and harness, then cape, then belt,” the note read, giving him a vague idea of what each piece was supposed to be.

Dorcas started by changing out of his clothes and separating the pieces from the mound they formed on the bed. He eventually found what he could only assume was meant to be the pants, but they seemed far too short and far too… tight to be something that he could wear.

“Does she really think these are going to fit me?” he mumbled out loud, absently tugging on them.

To his surprise, the pants stretched far more than he expected them to, and, no matter how far he pulled them, they continued to expand, only to return to their original size when he released them.

“I guess it’s worth a shot…”

His mind still filled with doubt, he pulled them up his legs, bringing them all the way up to his hips.

Releasing the fabric caused it to snap against his skin, but when it came to a rest, it was snug and more comfortable than he could have expected something so small to have been.

The issue with the pants was instead that they didn’t even reach halfway down his thighs. They covered …everything that needed to be covered, but it was far more revealing than Dorcas was comfortable with, prompting him to blush.

“Next is the harness…?”

He grabbed what he could only assume was the harness and looked at it. It was a metal ring with four straps of leather extending from it, each of which extended for a few feet before it met up with the strap from the opposite side of the ring. From the size of it, it could only be meant to go around his chest, but, again, it didn’t seem like it would cover much, if anything.

He took a deep breath and tried to wrangle his way into the piece of leather. It took some doing, but with a little effort it managed to slip on without incident. A few adjustments brought the metal ring to rest in the middle of his chest, where it and the leather straps pushed his pectorals up and out, but just a little. Almost without thinking, Dorcas flexed, causing the leather to creak under the strain of his chest which in turn caused him to jump.

“The cape, right, that should cover more…”

Dorcas grabbed the huge piece of fabric from the bed and attached it to two studs located roughly where the harness overlapped his collarbone. The fabric, which was more like an orange fur than something like wool or cotton, extended down along his back and nearly reached his ankles, but to Dorcas’s utter disappointment, was not wide enough to cover much of his front.

“Maybe the belt will make it look better?”

The belt was wide, almost as wide as Dorcas’ upper arm, but in the end all it did was bring the cape closer to his body. There was a tail attached to the back, which left Dorcas with more questions than answers, but the front had a wide piece of fabric that would hang in front of him well past his knees, so at least the outfit wasn’t as immodest as it could be.

At this point Dorcas was blushing like mad, wondering if Farina had convinced Natalie that this depraved outfit would be a good idea or if it was something she had come up with on her own.

Dorcas wearily glanced at the articles remaining on the bed: there was still a headpiece with two horns sticking out and a pair of fur-lined boots styled to look like hooves with similarly styled greaves attached, as well as a set of bracers that matched the greaves. In addition to those, there were two accessories that seemed to be intended to be held instead of worn; an axe with a soft head painted to look like it was made of caramel, and a piece of wood carved and painted to look like a pumpkin missing its top, filled to the brim with candy.

Dorcas moved the pumpkin and the axe to the side, and picked up the boots. Despite his dislike of this outfit, he was careful when he sat down to put the boots and greaves on, since this must have taken a lot of time for Natalie to make and he would hate for something she put so much effort into to be destroyed by his own carelessness.

The boots were, like everything else, snug but not uncomfortable, and the fur made Dorcas wish they had a less unconventional design so he would feel comfortable wearing them more often. The bracers were likewise comfortable, but he'd be hard pressed to find a reason to wear them in his day to day life.

Eager to finish so he could get out of this outfit, he grabbed the headpiece and placed it on his head as he stood up. His boots clacked against the floor as he turned to grab the axe and pumpkin. He double checked to make sure that he didn’t miss anything and left the bedroom, his face flushed a deep crimson.

“Oh, that was quicker than I expected!” Natalie said without turning away from the stove, “I’m almost done with dinner, so I’ll check how well it turned out in a moment.”

“What is this supposed to be, exactly?”

“Farina had stopped by to show me some books that she had picked up from a merchant, and one of them an illustration of a type of beast called a ‘Minotaur’, which is half-ox, half-man creature that patrols a giant labyrinth in a far off land. It’s known for its impressive musculature and the large axe it wields, and since everyone says you’re built like a bull I figured it’d be a small nod to that, since you do use axes a lot.”

“Ah.”

Dorcas reacted with dull surprise to the revelation that it was his wife and not Farina who had been the one to design the costume. He put the pumpkin down on the dinner table, growing tired of carrying all the candy contained within its unwieldy shape.

“Are you ready?” Natalie picked the pot up off the stove and moved it to a trivet on the nearby counter, “This is going to need some time to cool down, so I’m good to go.”

Dorcas shrugged.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Natalie spun around and her face immediately lit up.

“Oh my gosh, it’s even better than I thought it would be!” Natalie walked over to Dorcas, “I’m really glad I decided to skip making a mask and just go with the horns; it frames your face nicely.”

“This is kinda… is this really alright, though? It’s a bit… too revealing, don’t you think?” Dorcas felt himself blush even harder and looked away, trying to hide his embarrassment.

“That’s the best part, though! It makes you look even cuter!”

Natalie poked Dorcas in the pectoral, navigating her finger around the harness to hit him right where it had been pushed out the most.

“Mpft!”

Dorcas stifled a grunt of shock at the sudden contact and looked down to see Natalie bearing a devious smile.

“Does Mr. Minotaur not like that?”

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t, but I don’t think that’s going to stop you.”

“You’re absolutely right!” Natalie giggled, wiggling her fingers around as she drew closer, as if to taunt him.

“Be careful,” Dorcas conceded that the only way to get Natalie to retreat was to play along and raised the axe she made, assuming a stance not unlike what he would use when fighting bandits, “I’m armed.”

Natalie moved in to poke Dorcas again, but he swung his axe in an overly broadcasted and slow arc, allowing her to easily deflect it away. She stopped her advance a moment before she made contact again and continued her narration.

“Oh no! Mr. Minotaur forgot I made the axe head from a super soft material just in case he’d fight back! Will Mr. Minotaur be any match for the wise Queen Natalie? Or is this the end of his reign of terror?”

Oh great Queen Natalie,” Dorcas spoke in an excessively theatrical tone that put Natalie’s narration to shame, “You have shown me the errors of my ways! I should have never-” Dorcas glanced at the pumpkin on the table, “-raided the kingdom’s vault of candy. What ever could I do to earn your forgiveness for this terrible crime?”

“Queen Natalie is a strong, but just ruler and in addition to the return of the candy to the candy vault, she only asks for something sweet.”

“Oh Queen Natalie, fair and just,” Dorcas bowed, stepping back so he wouldn’t knock Natalie over, “I apologize for I have not a single sweet thing to give.”

“Though it seemed Mr. Minotaur has met his end, Queen Natalie is merciful, and in her wisdom has realized a way for this story to have a happy ending. Every Queen needs a King, and Queen Natalie knew that having Mr. Minotaur would be quite the sweet treat.”

Dorcas tried his hardest to not chuckle at how cheesy that line was, but failed miserably and let out a loud burst of laughter.

“Hey! Does Mr. Minotaur have a problem with my- with Queen Natalie’s storytelling skills?”

“No, Queen Natalie, I just-” Dorcas broke down laughing again, unable to deal with the absurdity of the situation.

“Oh, listen here you big meanie!”

Natalie grabbed Dorcas’ harness and pulled him in for a kiss which he gladly accepted, wrapping his arms around her. Every day was difficult, wondering if he’d get home and find that Natalie’s illness had taken a turn for the worse, but he loved her all the same. He couldn’t imagine spending his life with anyone else, and even if these days were to come to an end tomorrow, he’d cherish them forever.

Natalie eventually broke away, a smile on her face.

“I love you, Dorcas.”

“I love you too, Natalie.”

A moment passed as Dorcas smiled back at Natalie as he held her in his arms.

“This outfit, on the other hand…”

“Hey! I worked hard on that!”