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“Is it on now?” Kathleen tugs the front forward as Alicia squints.
“A little bit more, yep, perfect!” She flashes her a thumbs-up and Kathleen smiles back in the mirror. She steps back to double-check the rest of her outfit.
Anthy Himemiya has always been a dream cosplay for her but the break in between WebKomic™ and self-publishing has finally given her the time to actually piece together the outfit. Kathleen looks at herself from behind a fake pair of glasses and grins.
“Onwards!” Alicia yelps and takes her hand, dragging her out the bathroom door. Utena’s uniform fits squarely on her shoulders and with the gleam in her eye and the sword at her hip, she looks handsome.
In a completely professional manner of course! Kathleen slaps her cheek to bring herself back to reality and Alicia blinks at her.
“You good?” she asks, tilting her head and even the way she does that is princely.
“Yeah,” Kathleen replies, dazed.
“Where do you wanna head first?”
“Well,” Kathleen says and digs through her front pocket until she finds the paper she’s looking for. It unfolds like an accordion, brushing along the edge of the floor at its full length and Alicia stares. “I took a look at the panels being offered last night and compiled an optimized schedule for us.” She stops when Alicia’s jaw hits the floor, right next to the schedule. “Too much?”
“No, it’s awesome!” Alicia grins and takes a peek at the topmost block. “Toxic yuri panel? Hell yeah, let’s go!”
Smiling, Kathleen folds the paper back up to a tiny square and jams it back into her pocket.
“Man, it’s been a minute since I’ve gone to one of these,” Alicia says as a wave of Hashira dash past them, their wigs in various states of disarray. “It’s hard to find the time to go and I’ve done Artist Alley a few times but with the recent hike in badge and table prices, it’s hard to justify it.”
“Yeah, it’s definitely hard on my wallet,” Kathleen says, reminiscing on the way she subsisted on cup ramen for a week straight after last year’s Anime Boston because she went way over budget in Artist Alley. Who can blame her though, there was just so much awesome merch that she absolutely had to buy! Plus, she was supporting local artists! “But I always make a point to try and come to this one. I love conventions because you get to see all the beautiful stories that everyone creates and see everyone’s different takes on the stories that they love. It’s inspiring.” Kathleen blinks as an idea hits her. “Do you think I can write my badge price off as a business expense on my taxes?”
Alicia laughs, long and loud in the middle of the lobby.
“I don’t think the IRS is gonna let that fly,” she admits. “But I think what you said is beautiful. There’s not many places where you can be surrounded by people who love stories just as much as you do, enough that they’re willing to spend hours gluing together cosplays or editing videos. It’s a beautiful thing.”
Kathleen stares at her open gaze, the soft and honest smile on her lips and forgets what she was going to say next.
Thankfully because there is still some mercy left in the world, Alicia’s eye catches on a cosplayer’s outfit and she turns her head in recognition, conversation immediately forgotten.
“Wako!” Alicia calls after a cosplayer, waving. “I love your outfit!” In true Wako fashion, the cosplayer does a complete 180 mid-air, rushing back towards them like she’s on fire.
“You recognized me!” she says, grinning ear-to-ear. She flips through the bag at her side and finally digs out a Polaroid camera. “Would you like a photo? I’m doing them for anyone who recognizes my cosplay!”
“Sure!” Alicia says and then turns to her, eyebrow raised. “As long as you’re okay with it?”
“Yeah,” Kathleen says and quickly double checks her wig. “Um, what pose should we do?”
“How about the iconic one?” Wako suggests and Kathleen blinks.
“The iconic one?”
“Yeah, the iconic Utenanthy pose where she pulls the sword from her chest!” Wako says and Kathleen feels herself flush.
“Oh, um, sure as long as you’re okay with it.”
“Sure,” Alicia says as she unhooks the sword from her belt. “Let’s do it!” She holds the sword up in the air with one hand and then wraps her other one around Kathleen’s waist. Kathleen resists the urge to scream because that wouldn’t be very Anthy Himemiya-like.
She leans back slowly, Alicia’s arm still wrapped around her waist, until they’re angled low enough that Alicia can comfortably position the sword above her chest, making it look like she really pulled it right out of her heart.
“Smile!” Wako says, raising her camera up to her eye. Kathleen wonders what expression is plastered onto her face right now, her muscles stiff as a board. She feels like a rubber band stretched tight, two seconds away from snapping.
“Don’t worry,” Alicia says, grinning down at her. “I won’t drop you.”
“I wasn’t worried about that for a second,” Kathleen says honestly and Alicia’s expression softens into something small and genuine a second before the flash goes off.