Page 12 of Turnabout Is Fair Cosplay
A regular-looking dude—well, not regular. A handsome, fresh-faced, twentysomething dude, with curious eyes, hair pulled back into a neat bun, wearing a T-shirt and jeans, walks in. Hesmells faintly of thyme and eucalyptus. I search for traces of the cosplay, but they’re all gone.
“Hey, Mike. This is Bea, who you met.”
“No, actually. Meeting in character hardly counts.” He sounds slightly peeved, and I’m into it. “Hi, Bea. I’m Mike Benedick.” He extends his hand, and I shake it. Because that’s the professional thing to do. Never mind that I shake it side to side like a fish tail instead of up and down like a normal person. “Nice to meet you.”
“Yeah,” I say like an idiot. Adam snaps a picture.
“Thanks for being a good sport in there. Sorry if I scared you. Adam said—”
“I’m fine.” Mortified, but fine.
Adam doesn’t look up from his phone. “You two look great. One hundred percent on point for my target audience. Now act like you’re on a date and pretend I’m not here.”
What? No. This might be worse than the Badpun cell.
Adam snaps a picture, and the flash burns into my retinas.
“So Adam said you’re a lawyer?”
“Yeah. Corporate litigation.”
“Fresh out of law school?”
“Two years since I graduated. What about you? Adam said he found you on campus.”
“I graduate this December.”
“Cool. Did you grow up around here?”
“A bit.” He fidgets with a toggle board.
I can’t stand it. “What happened to your voice?”
“My voice?” He considers. “Oh. You liked the other guy?” He smirks. “That’s a little kinky, but he can come back out to play if you want.”
I blush but press on. “Isn’t it like…like a method-acting thing? You have to be in costume or…”
“Say a magic word? Nah.” He rolls his neck and then a single shoulder. He smiles, and it’s the same intensity as before. Maybeit’s more without the cosplay to go with it. “You don’t look scared anymore.” His voice has slithered back into the pull and push of that bizarre cadence. “Still pretty.”
“Really good, guys.” Adam says snapping more photos. “Mike, can you step closer? That’s it. Bea, smile up at him, but keep your hand on those switches. Great. Stay there. I’m going to get some shots from the stairs.”
“That’s remarkable,” I say quietly. “You feel real.”
“I am real.” He relaxes, and the tension dissipates.
“No, grounded. I completely believe you’re a creepy psychopath.”
“Thanks,” he says with more than a hint of sarcasm.
“Are you?”
“Oh, Bea. You could at least buy me a drink first.”
I can feel the blood drain from my face. “I didn’t—”
He steps closer. “Why don’t we wrap this up, and then if you’re still curious, we can…” He reaches for the phone in his back pocket. Is he seriously asking for my number? That hasn’t happened since junior high. His phone screen is lit up and buzzing. He holds up a finger. “I’ve got to take this. Adam,” he shouts, “I’m taking ten.”
“K.” Adam hustles down the stairs. “How about some shots of just you, Bea, at the console in the back?”
