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“Um…Cream, I’m not sure about this…”
“Don’t worry, mom! You’ll look great!”
Cream took the time to adjust a hair bun she had attached to the side of her head, looking at herself in a mirror, as she waited for her mother to come out of her bedroom. Cream smoothed out the black dress she was wearing, and looked her outfit over again to make sure everything looked right.
An anime and gaming convention had recently come to town and Cream had been expressing interest to go. Vanilla agreed to take her after Cream had been showing good grades at school and Cream had insisted in going in costume, picking out a costume for her mother and Cheese that fit with the costume that she herself wanted to dress up in. As Cream double-and-triple-checked her outfit in the mirror while waiting for Vanilla to change, she glanced at Cheese as he fluttered about beside her, wearing a dark tie and what looked to be a white dog suit that covered his body except for his face. He gave a cheery smile at Cream as she smiled back in approval for the outfit.
Cream glanced at the door to her mother’s room again. “The convention’s already started by now, mom!” She called out. “We need to get there before it starts getting too busy!”
“I-I’m coming, dear! I just hope that I look as good as you think I will…”
Vanilla emerged from her bedroom, dressed in the costume Cream had picked out for her. Vanilla, as opposed to her normal dress, was now wearing a stylish-looking white dress that went down to her knees, a pair of high-heels and a frilly headband.
Cream’s eyes lit up. “Mom, you look amazing!” She said.
“I…Honestly wasn’t expecting an outfit like this, Cream. What are these outfits from?” Vanilla asked. “I don’t even know who I’m dressed up as.”
“Oh, it’s from a new, popular anime called ‘AGENT X FAMILY’, and it’s about a pair of secret agents that end up taking in a psychic girl for an undercover mission to pretend to be a family but they still do secret agent stuff while keeping it from the girl.” Cream explained. “It’s actually a real funny show when you see the kind of antics they get up to trying to keep their secret agent lives secret from the daughter.”
“Okay, so I’m the female secret agent and you’re the daughter then.” Vanilla gave a nod of understanding. “Um…What’s Cheese, then?”
“Oh, Cheese is the family dog that looks lazy and dopey but he’s actually a super-ninja when no one’s looking.” Cream replied casually. Cheese responded by striking a few karate-like poses while he floated in the air.
“Oh, that’s pretty cute, then.” Vanilla nodded, forming a light smile. “So are you ready to head out to the convention, Cream? You and Cheese look all set.”
“Oh, not yet! We’re waiting for someone else who said they’d come.” Cream mentioned.
“You invited someone else? It’s going to be hard for me to keep tabs on two kids in a crowded convention center, Cream.” Vanilla reminded.
“No, no. I didn’t invite another kid.” Cream laughed. “I invited Mr. Vector!”
Vanilla’s eyes widened. “V-Vector?! You invited Vector?!” She asked.
“Of course! Someone needs to be the guy secret agent to complete the set and he told me he was going anyways.” Cream replied. “Don’t worry; I told him what to look for in an outfit so he should come over ready to go.”
Vanilla wasn’t sure what to think as several thoughts went through her head. She knew that Vector had looked after Cream in the past and, despite his usual antics with the Chaotix Detective Agency, he was surprisingly-responsible when looking after her daughter. He had his moments but he had proven to be someone that Vanilla trusted with Cream’s wellbeing, so having him around as an extra set of eyes to keep on Cream at the convention certainly sounded like a good idea, but she also knew that Vector was likely to be as interested in the convention as Cream was and his attention span in the thick of things could potentially mean Vanilla would have to keep tabs on him as well.
Suddenly hearing a knock on the door, Vanilla was brought out of her thoughts. Before she could move towards the door to open it, however, Cream was already on her way instead. “That’ll probably be him! I hope he found a good costume for the character!” She said.
Opening up the front door, Cream saw a familiar green crocodile standing on the front porch, rubbing the back of his head. He was wearing a formal-looking suit and tie that, in the same vein as Vanilla, made him look a lot more-stylish than he was used to looking. “Oh! Hi, Mr. Vector!” She greeted. “You look great!”
“Thanks, kiddo. Heh. I did a little research into that anime you said and I thought that this was what the character is usually known to wear.” Vector chuckled as Cream let him in. “You look the part yourself, as well.”
“Thanks! I spent a week on the dress to make sure I had all the details right! I even put the finishing touches on mom’s dress!” Cream said.
Vanilla stepped into the living room to greet Vector. “O-Oh. Good morning, Vector. I’m sorry, but I didn’t realize you were going to the convention as well until just a couple minutes ago.” She explained.
“It’s all good, Vanilla. I was going to go to the convention anyways and when Cream came to me about going in costume I decided to go with it.” Vector shrugged. “I’ve never watched the anime myself but I kinda think the costume has style.”
“Are…Charmy and Espio going as well?” Vanilla asked. “I don’t usually see the three of you apart from one another.”
“Nah. Charmy got in trouble with the security guards last year and isn’t allowed to go…Uh…Let me just say that he ate a BIT too much sugar before going.” Vector replied. “Espio heard that Mighty and Ray were in town and went to go meet up with them. So…Yeah. It’s just us this time around.”
Cream looked excited. “We’re going to get so many people taking pictures of us as a group since we’re the complete set!” She said.
Vanilla blinked. “People…Will be taking pictures?” She asked.
“Yeah, and because all of us are dressed as a group we may get a bunch of requests!”
“It’s all in good fun, Vanilla.” Vector assured. “A lot of people enjoy getting their pictures taken at conventions because it makes them feel like they did a good job on their costume.”
Vanilla sighed. “This is going to be a long day, isn’t it?” She asked.
“Is this your first time going, Vanilla? It’ll be fine!” Vector assured. “There’ll be a lot of people there but with the two of us we can at least keep tabs on Cream.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you at least know where my priorities lay, Vector.” Vanilla admitted. “Are…You three ready to go, then?”
“Yes, mom!” Cream said eagerly. Cheese cheered as well.
“Sounds like a yes to me.” Vector chuckled. “Let’s go before it gets too busy over there, huh?”
Vanilla gave a nod and followed her daughter and friend out the front door, deciding to go and see what the convention was like, especially since she was wearing a costume for it.
(A few hours later…)
The front door to Vanilla and Cream’s house opened again as Vanilla and Vector stepped into the house, Vanilla carrying a tired-looking Cream in her arms and Vector holding a just-as-tired Cheese in his. Vanilla exhaled in relief as she entered the house again. “My feet are exhausted…” She lamented.
“Yeah, that tends to happen.” Vector admitted as he closed the front door behind him. “Where d’you want me to put Cheese?”
“Just on the couch for now. It’s too early for me to tuck Cream into bed.”
Vector nodded and patiently waited for Vanilla to place the tired, almost-asleep Cream on the couch before he set Cheese down beside her. Leaving the two to rest up (they had exhausted themselves during the convention with the amount of walking they had done in such a short amount of time), Vector followed Vanilla out of the room and into a place they could talk without waking the children up.
Vanilla sighed in relief. “It was an interesting experience but I’m glad that it’s done.” She explained. “It felt awkward for the first few times someone asked to take a picture of all of us together.”
“It’s something that you get used to.” Vector admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “But did you have a good time for your first con?”
“I did see a lot of interesting handmade things.” Vanilla replied. “Cream picked out a handmade trinket that she felt Tails would like for his next birthday and used her allowance to buy it.”
“Yeah, I like supporting the artists that make that stuff.” Vector replied, deciding to keep quiet that, during a second trek through the artist’s area with Cream, she found something that she wanted to get for Vanilla and Vector had gotten it for her, opting to keep it in his own bag of purchased items for now. Vanilla would be certain to like it when she opened it at her own next birthday. “This was my first time going without the guys but I felt you’d need some help keeping tabs on Cream since I saw how excited she was for it.”
Vanilla sighed again. “I can’t thank you enough, Vector. You were SO much help today.” She explained. “There were a lot of times back there where I thought I would be overwhelmed just by the sheer amount of people there.”
“It’s all good, Vanilla. Like I said, I was planning on going anyways and I knew you’d probably get a little intimidated due to it being your first con.”
“Well, regardless, it was sweet of you to help and I definitely appreciate it.” Vanilla said with a smile.
“What d’you think of the costume that Cream picked out for you?”
“The dress is nice, though it’s still unlike what I’m used to wearing. This silly frilly headband is a little much, though.” Vanilla explained, pointing at the headpiece Cream had provided her.
“W-Well, I think you look great! You wear that dress very well!” Vector admitted, blushing slightly as Vanilla removed the frilly headpiece from her head.
Vanilla blushed a bit in return. “Um…Thank you, Vector. I’ll admit I’m not used to dressing up in costumes. The dress itself, though, I-I do think I like.” She admitted before glancing at Vector. “Y-You look rather stylish yourself in that suit. How come I never see you dress this formally regularly?”
Vector couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t really have a reason to dress fancy; the guys and I never get invited to fancy parties and the only times we eat out it’s usually take-out.” He said as he put a hand into his pocket. “Yeah, I’m not used to suits. Not usually my style.”
“That’s too bad because I think the outfit makes you look rather handsome.” Vanilla mentioned with a smile. “An air of professionalism could attract more customers for you and your friends, anyways.”
Vector rubbed the back of his head. “Maybe but then that’d take away from what makes me ‘me’ for my customers. They have an expectation of me at this point.” He replied.
Vanilla couldn’t help but chuckle as she glanced back into the living room, where Cream and Cheese were still resting. “You’re something else, Vector. Half the time I see you you’re just going around trying to be a detective in this…Well, if I’m being honest, over-the-top and carefree persona of yours.” She mentioned. Vector glanced away in response. “…But the other half of the time you’re the sweetest guy in the world and extremely-responsible with Cream. I just…Don’t know what to expect from you.”
“Vanilla, you know the last thing I’d want is to be responsible for something happening to Cream.” Vector assured. “I mean, I know she likes to tag along with Sonic and Amy sometimes and that she could absolutely destroy Eggman’s army of robots if she really tried…I mean, seriously, it’s scary how powerful she can be when she gets going. I also know I can be a little irresponsible but I know how to work with kids.”
“You…Don’t seem to change much around Charmy.” Vanilla mentioned, lifting an eyebrow.
“You’ve seen Charmy. It’s hard enough trying to keep him in one place. Compared to him, keeping tabs on Cream is a piece of cake.” Vector laughed.
The two laughed and conversed for a little while longer while Cream and Cheese continued to rest in the living room. After a while, and going over the events of the afternoon and everything that they had experienced at the con, Vanilla glanced at the clock and saw that it was getting close to dinner. “Oh, I’m sorry, Vector. I need to get started on supper.” She explained. “You’re welcome to stay if you want.”
“Eh, I appreciate the offer and I’ll probably take you up on it another time but I’m gonna have to pass. I promised Charmy we were going to get burritos for supper and if I don’t come back to the agency with the grub I’m gonna get an earful.” Vector shook his head.
“Well, okay. I’ll let you go on your way. Thank you for helping with Cream again.” Vanilla nodded. “Maybe sometime I can treat you to dinner.”
“My pleasure, Vanilla. I’ll be happy to take you up on that sometime, but…Um…” Vector fidgeted. “…I mean, if you wanted, you could totally wear that dress to a restaurant. You really DO look good in it.”
Vanilla blushed for a moment but smiled back. “Only if you wear that suit.” She countered.
Vector chuckled. “S-Sure thing. It’s a date!” He nodded.
Bidding farewell a final time to Vanilla, Vector slipped out the front door, making sure not to disturb Cream and Cheese while they rested. After Vector left, Vanilla sighed in relief as she grabbed a pan out of a cabinet in the kitchen and set about getting supper started; Cream may have had a long, tiring afternoon, but it was still too early to sleep. A decent supper would be sure to give her a bit more energy to carry her through until bedtime.
Suddenly realizing that she was still wearing the dress that Cream had picked out for her, Vanilla made a quick mental note to change back into her normal dress before she got too involved in preparing supper; the last thing she wanted was to stain a fancy-looking dress during meal-prep, after all. Still, looking over the dress she was wearing, Vanilla realized that she didn’t mind it as a dress; if she didn’t know that she was cosplaying as a character from an anime she had no idea about she probably would wear it to a more-formal gathering.
Putting some water in a pot and setting it to boil, Vanilla quickly retreated to her room to change in her normal outfit. She knew that she needed to save this dress for a special occasion now…