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There were certain highlights in a relationship, landmarks to reach, roads to cross – the standard physical “bases”, of course, the first kiss, 6-month-or-1-year anniversaries, sex. Things to celebrate as a couple.
For Billy, ever since he first discovered such landmarks existed, the ones he’d thought up for himself were very… unusual, to say the least.
“Our first convention,” he breathed, staring wide-eyed at the convention center that awaited them, clutching Teddy’s fingers with one hand and his registration bag with the other. Teddy’s response was a gentle laugh and a squeeze of his hand, tugging a bit to get Billy moving again.
“Come on, we’ll be late for our first panel if we just stand here staring.” Teddy used his free hand to flip open his schedule, squinting at the tiny text outlining the mass of options. He glanced up as Billy suddenly started pulling at his hand, though, leading them in the wrong direction. “Billy, what-“
“Look! Over there, by that blue van- isn’t that the crazy sarcastic computer?”
“Oh my god, you’re right, that’s GLaDOS. How did they even-“
“I don’t know, but I’m taking a picture.”
The original plan had been to attend a Spiderman panel, then surf the dealer’s room for the hard-to-find good stuff before someone else got to it first, but thanks to Billy’s costume fixation and photography trigger finger they spent the first evening of the convention cosplay-watching and posing with various characters.
Not that Teddy minded in the least. Sure, he’d missed a few things he’d been interested in (something Billy would probably apologize for later) but nothing could top how happy he’d seen Billy as he practically danced from costume to costume. After everything they’d been through this past year, it was a huge relief to just kick back and have fun.
The second day was actually spent in panels, meeting guests, acquiring autographs. They’d passed Captain America’s signing table by chance, and while they hadn’t stopped to say hi – he looked busy, and it wouldn’t be fair to take time away from kids who didn’t get to have breakfast at Avengers Tower on the weekends – but he’d lifted a brow and smiled at them when they waved.
Billy had fallen asleep on the subway on the way home afterwards. He’d wanted a hotel to be closer to the con, but his mother had given them both a look and told them firmly that they would not be sharing a hotel unless they took Tommy along as a chaperone, and the speedster had firmly stated that he would rather wear cement shoes than be chained to the Nerd Patrol for an entire weekend, and that was that. Glancing over at his boyfriend as he drooled on Teddy’s shoulder, he thought to himself that maybe it was okay.
Day three he’d awoken to a sizable cup of coffee in his face and a smiling (and well-slept) boyfriend, who was, he realized after a prolonged moment, in costume.
As in, uniform.
“…Huh? Are we saving the world?” This early? He did not say, because it’s not particularly heroic. He also didn’t say that they’d told Cap and the other Young Avengers that they weren’t available this weekend.
“Probably not,” Billy laughed, handing him the cup and sitting down on the bed with him. “But it’s a con! Why aren’t we in costume?”
Teddy squinted at him. ”Be… cause we’re registered as civilians and not guests?”
“So what? It doesn’t mean we can’t do our own cosplays.”
The coffee kicked in, and realization dawned in the blond’s eyes. “Wait, wait. You want us to cosplay… ourselves? Isn’t that kind of cheating?”
“I only thought of it this morning, or I’d have come up with something different.” Billy gave him a somewhat sullen look. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure no one would think it’s really us, unless you Hulk out or something.”
“Or you use magic,” Teddy added, mulling over the idea while Billy waited. He couldn’t handle that pout, so after a moment he downed the coffee and pulled aside his bed covers, dragging Billy in for a quick kiss and a sleepy smile. “Okay, cosplaying it is. Maybe someone will ask to take our picture.”
“You think?” The level of excitement in Billy’s voice just then made Teddy laugh, and it woke him up just enough to get dressed so they could be on their way.
As if they hadn’t been in the paper half a dozen times already…
Before they left, they experimented with different looks for Teddy (or rather Teddy shifted and Billy offered critique) until they finally decided on a slightly bulked-up body type and a layer of green skin with a soft, textured look, like body paint that wouldn’t flake off. It was pushing it, but Billy had magicked up an adorable little pair of wire-and-mesh wings that connected neatly to Teddy’s uniform, and Teddy had managed to shift himself a few plates on his shoulders that looked to be somewhere between his real armor and cardboard replications.
It was actually a pretty cool experiment, but afterwards he glanced at Billy and frowned. “You look way more authentic than mine!”
“It’s not like normal people can Hulk out, T,” Billy mused. He slid off the bed, though, heading to his closet and fishing around until he emerged with a tall box, from which he pulled – surprise surprise – his old headband, complete with wings.
Teddy stared. “You kept it?”
“Of course I kept it,” Billy snorted, detaching the wings carefully as if they were made of glass. “You know how hard I worked on this thing.” With the wings off, he tugged the new headband free and switched it with the old, glancing back at Teddy and spreading his hands. “Well?”
…Well, it didn’t look that different, was what Teddy thought, but what he said was, “I think we’ll be turning some heads.”
Billy lifted a brow, and for a moment Teddy wondered if he’d been caught, but either way the exchanged was shrugged off as Billy grabbed his hand and his book bag and dragged him off to the kitchen for an early breakfast before his parents caught them in costume. “Come on, you can practice posing for the camera while I make toast.”
If Billy was really hoping to be noticed, he certainly got his wish; as they walked to that morning’s first panel, hand in hand, Teddy noticed a few people stopping and pointing at them, and within ten minutes of them hitting the convention ground, a girl screamed from across the parking lot, abandoning her very baffled-looking boyfriend and dashing towards them. The poor girl was in such a rush that she tripped on her heels and nearly fell on her face in front of them, dislodging the pink cat ears adorning her hair, but Teddy caught her at the last second, which only seemed to make her happier instead of embarrassed like Teddy had expected.
“Oh my god,” she exclaimed, eyes wide, her smile so big it looked like it might break her cheeks. “You guys look so authentic! How did you get your skin so green!?”
Billy and Teddy exchanged glances; after a moment’s pause, they responded in perfect unison, “Body paint.”
The girl’s smile faltered briefly, confused, then she let loose another excited squeal, finally noticing their clasped hands. “Oh my god, are you a couple?”
“Um- yeah, we-“
Billy didn’t even get a chance to finish; the girl seemed to have a penchant for shrieking. Behind her, in the registration line-up, her boyfriend’s hands were glued to his face.
“This is great! You’re the first gay-couple Wickling cosplayers I’ve ever seen! All the other Wiccans have been girls.”
Teddy mouthed ‘Wickling?’ while Billy mouthed ‘girls?’, and the blond had to conceal a laugh even when Billy elbowed him in the side.
The girl didn’t even notice. “Um… so can I get a picture of you two together?”
The silly nickname and gender issue was temporarily forgotten, and they grinned and obliged her with a pose that was probably a bit silly, but it wasn’t as if they did much of that on the battlefield. Their new fan didn’t seem to mind.
Once the photo was done, she seemed satisfied at first, but after a moment’s consideration, she asked shyly, “Can you guys kiss for another one?”
Behind her, a male voice hissed, “Jen, for god’s sake…!” But she ignored it.
Billy and Teddy exchanged another thoughtful glance, and Teddy almost attempted a polite refusal when he suddenly felt Billy’s arms wind around his neck, tugging him closer.
“…B?”
“Come on, why not?” Billy murmured playfully, touching his nose to his boyfriend’s. The girl looked like she was about to explode. “It’ll be our first cosplay kiss.”
Teddy briefly considered the implications of that comment, decided he didn’t care, and pulled Billy in for a deep, enthusiastic kiss that lasted well past the amount of time required for at least four photos. They pulled back just in time to see the girl’s boyfriend finally run out of patience, having wandered over to drag her back into the line as she gleefully waved, thanked them, and began to oogle her prize on the camera’s display.
“Well? Are you happy now?” Teddy commented, bumping his shoulder against Billy’s. The other boy looked a little dazed, though from the kiss or the aftermath of the whole situation, he couldn’t tell. “B? You all right?”
“I think she goes to my school,” he mumbled, glancing in her direction.
Teddy laughed, kissing the top of his head and tugging him forward to start walking again. “In other words, your disguise is perfect.”
“I think I’m just invisible to women unless I have a boyfriend around.”
“I think Kate would have something to say about that.” He took Billy’s hand again, giving it a little squeeze. “So, Miss Wiccan, should we get to that panel, or do you want to be exploited by a few more cat girls first?”
Billy turned such a brilliant shade of red that it made Teddy laugh again and lean in for another kiss, this time off camera.
It was official- this was the best first con ever.