All right guys, that's it for tonight's podcast. Hope now all of you will be able to finally get past the Megaboss on level 6! Oh, and don't forget, I'm heading to Sokyo Con on this weekend so I hope to see you all at my panel! Can't wait to actually get to meet all of you in person! Fredzilla out.
Fred lets out a long sigh as he hits the "stop" button for his livestream, grateful that he'd managed to make it through yet another podcast without any major glitches. Usually he was a lot more focused when it came to making his videos, but given he had a con to prepare for the next day-one that he was actually hosting a panel at!-he was a little all over the place tonight. Not only did he have his usual task of trying to keep up with all the comments, notes, and other activity on his the channel where he posted his video game videos, he was also having to try to scramble to finish packing (despite the fact that the con was in his hometown of San Fransokyo, the people in charge of the con were putting him up in a nice hotel and it was a lot more convenient to be staying just across the street from the convention center instead of having to get a ride from his family's butler every day or else take the street cars) and putting the finishing touches on his cosplay-well, the second one, that was. He was going as Lance from Voltron Legendary Defender, and while the casual clothes outfit had been easy enough to put together, he'd also wanted to do the full space armor and that had taken a lot of time to put together. He'd just finally managed to finish putting all of the pieces together last night, but he was still trying to finish painting on all the details. He was just going to have prioritize what was most important, and packing and the cosplay topped the list. It wasn't like he had time to keep up with all the communications from his 500,000+ followers anyways. And that wasn't that he wasn't trying or that he wasn't grateful, but it had been a whole lot easier to manage things back in the days when he was first starting out and only had, like, five loyal followers-followers he still made an effort to keep in contact with, humbled by how highly they thought of him and that they'd stuck with him all the way from his admittedly rather cringe-worthy beginning. There was one in particular who had a special place in his heart. LuckyCat623 had been one of his earliest followers and had always been there to give him encouragement on the days when he wondered if it was all worth it and to provide him with constructive criticism that had helped him produce better content. Fred always made sure to read and respond to his comments as soon as they were posted, eager for whatever feedback he might have for him. His internet friend almost always commented as soon as the video was posted, and it was usually worth it to wait by the computer for a few minutes for his response.
As predicted, less than five minutes later a new comment was posted, and Fred eagerly clicks on it to read what his friend had to say.
Awesome video, as usual! Glad that you were able to figure out my clue about how to get past that Megaboss! ;) I can't believe that Sokyo Con is tomorrow and we'll finally be able to meet in person! I swear that I'm going to be the first person in the room for your panel and the first one to meet up with you at your table afterwards!
Fred couldn't help but grin-not a lot of content related feedback there, but it was obvious that his friend was just as excited as he was to finally be actually meeting face-to-face. Three years of online friendship (and maybe something even a little bit more) was a long time to wait to actually meet in person, but somehow things had never worked out until now for them to actually meet up. Now it was finally happening, and Fred couldn't be more eager to finally meet the guy behind the username.
I can't wait to meet you too! Fred types, doing his best not to get excessive with the exclamation points and emojis-as tempted as he was to do so, he had to at least try to remain semi-professional. You sure you don't want to tell me who you'll be cosplaying as so I'll have an easier time spotting you?
A few seconds later, he had his reply. Sorry/not sorry, but you're just going to have to be patient! ;P I want to surprise you! I promise it's well worth the wait.
It had better be! Fred couldn't help but smile as he sends back his response. The playful banter they always kept up was both fun and frustrating-he had no idea if he was reading too much into things or if the other guy was actually flirting with him. It was a whole mess of mixed messages and uncertainty and, if he was being honest, he was hoping that maybe meeting in person tomorrow might finally give him some answers.
I promise it will be! the other man types in reply. Now I'd better get to bed so I'll actually be awake for the con, and you should be going to get some sleep soon too!
I know, I know! I just have a couple last-minute preparations to make and then I'll be heading to bed!
Okay, I'm counting on you to keep your word! If I catch you falling asleep during the panel know that I will be packing a water balloon to throw at you to wake you up!
Fair enough! XD 'Night, Cat!
Good night, Fred! :)
Fred couldn't help but grin as he finally tore himself away from his computer to get back to work on his cosplay. Hopefully he didn't have that much more to do and then he could actually get some sleep…
It was a miracle that Fred had thought to set his alarm ahead of time or else he would have overslept and been late to the con. He'd fallen asleep just after he'd finished painting the last detail on the armor and he didn't wake up until the theme music from How To Train Your Dragon started blaring over his phone's speakers. The good news was that the alarm did help him wake him up at the proper time. The bad news was that he'd fallen asleep before he could finish packing and so he was rushing around just throwing things into his bag and practically yanking on his cosplay (thank goodness he was wearing Lance's casual clothes today instead of all the clumsy armor, even if all of that had to be packed!) Still, somehow he managed to get everything into his family's limo by 6:30 am, and Heathcliff, his family's butler/driver, with whatever wizardry he seemed to possess, made his way easily through the heavy morning traffic and actually got Fred to the convention center by 7:00, the time he was supposed to be arriving. The butler promised to get him checked into his room at the hotel and see about having his bags brought up, leaving the fanboy to gratefully thank him before racing up to the back entrance to the con.
When he reached the door, it didn't take long for security to get him cleared, and con workers escorted him to the room where he would be having his panel in a couple hours. After making sure that he knew what he was supposed to do, the volunteers invited him to look around the vendor room or attend the other panels until it was actually time for him to be hosting his panel, and the fanboy was more than happy to take them up on their offer. As he strolled through the rows of booths, he couldn't help but enjoy the relative peace and quiet that was afforded to him since the main doors hadn't been opened yet to regular con goers. It was nice to get a chance to scope out the merch that was on sale before everyone else and to be able to actually stop and talk to some of the vendors who were finished setting up and just waiting for the crowds of potential customers to come swarming in. A few of the vendors actually recognized him, which was certainly flattering, and he promised a few who had particularly promising merchandise that he'd definitely be back to make some purchases after seeing everything that the con had to offer, as well as maybe interview them for his channel if they were willing (and most of them were only too happy to agree.)
At 8:30 sharp, the doors to the con opened and the vendor room was flooded with hundreds of eager nerds. As much as he'd enjoyed getting to have the vendor room basically to himself, Fred couldn't help but find things a lot more fun now that there were others with him. He could finally start one of his favorite con activities: finding all the awesome cosplayers!
There was a really good turnout this year, and he had a lot of fun getting to talk to people about their costumes, asking a few of his favorites (like the guy in the full body Toothless suit that looked ridiculously realistic) if he could take pictures and having many people in turn asking for his picture (apparently he'd chosen his cosplay well considering how popular Voltron was right now!)
Around 11:30 Fred realized that he should probably start making his way towards the conference room he was holding his panel in. He wanted to make sure that he had plenty of time to actually get there and, if he happened to be lucky enough, maybe Cat would already be there and they could actually get to talk for a bit before things started! He had no idea what Cat actually looked like in real life (his profile picture over the years had always been different cartoon characters and he'd never sent Fred any pictures of himself, not even in cosplay, which was probably a good idea internet safety wise but a bit frustrating when you had no idea what someone you considered one of your closest friends looked like.) Still, the other man knew what he looked like and he didn't doubt for a second that he'd come over to talk to him the minute that he saw him.
Fred was so lost in happily imagining his first meeting with his friend (and, admittedly, major internet crush) that he didn't even see another guy stepping out of a booth until it was too late and, both majorly caught off guard, the two men tumble to the floor in a heap.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Fred apologizes, hastily starting to pick himself up off the floor. "I didn'-t even see you-"
Whoa. Fred finds his words trailing off and his mouth going completely dry as he looks down into the face of the guy he had just fallen on top of. Despite being gay, the fanboy sometimes did have a bit of a hard time finding guys who fit his definition of attractive. As much as he knew that personality and character were definitely a lot more important than looks, the truth was that he was attracted to guys who were more in the range of what a lot of girls would call "cute" than overtly masculine. And this man, with his floppy black hair, almost puppy-like brown eyes, adorkably large ears, and rosy blush blossoming on his cheeks, was the total definition of cute. It took Fred a full thirty seconds to snap out of his daze long enough to realize that, as much as he was enjoying the view, he needed to get off this poor stranger before things got majorly awkward.
"I-I am so sorry!" Fred tries to apologize again once he manages to scramble to his feet, offering the stranger his hand to help him up.
"I should be the one apologizing!" the stranger answers, looking embarrassed and a bit shy as he takes the offered hand. "I wasn't looking where I was going!"
"Well, neither was I, so I guess that makes us equally to blame!" Fred states diplomatically.
"I guess that works…" the other man answers with a lopsided grin that pretty much had the poor fanboy's heart fluttering like a wild butterfly in his chest.
"I love your cosplay!" Fred tells him, both to try to keep things from getting awkward and because he was being honest-the guy was wearing Keith from Voltron's casual clothes, possibly one of the best cosplays of the character that he had ever seen. As much as he shipped Keith and Lance, was this some sort of meeting of fate being prompted by the cosplay gods?
"T-Thanks!" The stranger blushes even brighter as he rubs the back of his neck shyly. "My friend, Aiko, helped me put it together… Your Lance is amazing too!"
"Thank you!" Fred beams at that. "I absolutely love the show but I couldn't decide whether to go with the casual look or the armor, so in the end I decided to go with both and just wear a different one on each day!"
"That's an awesome idea!" The Keith cosplayer grins at him. "One of my friends is doing the same thi- Wait. Wait a minute, oh my gosh! Y-You're Fredzilla, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I am!" Fred agrees, grinning at the fact he'd been recognized yet again and eager to meet another fan. "I'll take it you watch my channel?"
"Watch it? You have no idea-!" the other man starts to answer, his eyes positively lighting up, when suddenly his phone starts going off.
"Oh my gosh, I'm sooo sorry!" he apologizes, reaching for his bag and starting to fumble inside it. "I know you're super busy with your panel coming up, but if you could just wait a minute-"
"It's cool!" Fred reassures him with an easy grin. Admittedly he was running a little short on time and if he didn't hurry he had no chance of getting to talk to Cat before the show. Still, this guy seemed to really want to talk to him and it seemed rude to just walk off so he could afford to wait just another minute or two.
"Thank you!" The Keith cosplayer flashes him a grateful smile before pulling his phone out of his bag and answering it. "Hello? ...Oh, hi Aunt Cass! ...Yes, I'm at the con right now! Actually, I'm about to go to the panel, is this super important-? ...Oh my gosh, he what?! ...Is he okay? ...Oh thank goodness! ...In the ER? Yeah, I know how to get there from here! ...No, it's okay, if he's hurt I want to be there-! ...I know it'll mean missing the panel, but Hiro is more important! ...All right, I'll see you as soon as I can get there! ...Okay, love you too! 'Bye!"
"Is everything okay?" Fred asks, gathering from the conversation that things definitely were not "okay" but not wanting to act like he'd been totally eavesdropping (it hadn't been intentional, at least!)
"My little brother managed to get his arm broken going to a bot fight…" the other man answers, already starting to turn towards the doors. "I-I'm so sorry, I have to go-!"
"It's okay!" Fred hurries to reassure him. "Go take care of your family! Maybe we can catch up later?"
"Thank you for understanding!" The Keith cosplayer flashes him a grateful smile before taking off across the vendor room. In his hurry, he forgot to properly close his bag, and as he ran a small metallic object fell out of it.
"Hey, you dropped-!" Fred starts to call after him, but by then the other guy was too far away to hear him. Not knowing what else to do, the fanboy reaches down to pick it up, intending to turn it in to the lost and found as soon as he had a chance, only to let out a tiny gaps as he found himself looking down at a perfect miniature model of the blue lion that Lance's character commanded.
"Whoa…" he whispers, awed by the craftsmanship. This must have taken someone days, if not weeks, to make! He'd never seen anything like it! He was just considering taking a quick picture of it so at least he'd have that to remember it by once he turned it in, only to spot a small folded card attached to it by blue string. Thinking that maybe the piece of paper might have some clue as to the owner's identity, he opens it up, only to find himself surprised yet again to find words written inside, "To Fred, from your biggest fan".
Oh gosh… The cute cosplayer had actually made this for him? He couldn't believe that someone would actually do something like that, to put so much effort into a gift to someone they'd never even met in person before…! It was the type of thing you'd only do for someone you really cared about, and the hastily scrawled heart on the end of the message said that the emotions were anything but platonic!
Fred can't help but grin as he carefully tucks the tiny robot into his bag, almost afraid of breaking it. If this guy really thought that much of him, he was going to have to find a way to find him! In a cheesy way, it was almost like a modern day Cinderella story, only instead of a princess leaving behind a shoe it was a very princely nerd leaving behind a tiny robot. Still, Fred had an advantage on the prince in the story-instead of having to knock on every door in the kingdom, he had the power of the internet and he could post a video in hopes that the guy would see it and contact him! There might be some imposters who tried to claim credit, sure, but only Fred knew what the guy actually looked like so he could quickly weed out the people who were faking it and hopefully find his own mysterious "Cinderella" of a fan!
But speaking of fans-
Fred checks the time on his phone and lets out a tiny gasp-shit, he only had five minutes to get to his panel! After making sure that his bag was properly closed so that he wouldn't lose the lion or anything else important, Fred bolts off towards the conference room, praying to the fandom gods that he'd make it on time.
By whatever benevolent powers seemed to be in his favor today, he yet again just barely manages to make it to his destination on time, hurrying up onto the stage for a quick mic check before sitting down behind his table and beginning some pre-panel banter with the fans already sitting in the conference room. His eyes scan over the crowd, trying to spot anyone who might potentially be Cat. Unfortunately, as many awesome cosplays as there were, he had no idea which one might be his friend and so he decides that it will just be up to the other man to identify himself. Fred wasn't completely surprised that, during the actual panel, no one spoke up and introduced themselves as Cat. He figured that the man might try to do so during the Q&A part of the session, but when he doesn't Fred wasn't that worried either-he probably wanted to actually make their official introduction face-to-face and the fanboy could respect that. But when the crowd of fans that he meets with outside the door to the conference room after the panel was over begins to dwindle and there was no sign of Cat, he starts to feel a little bit concerned. Still, he tells himself that maybe his friend was just feeling a little shy and so he heads to his table in the vendor room, thinking that would give Cat plenty of time to come find him. Four hours later, and there was still no sign of his friend. Two hours after that, when the vendor room was starting to close down for the day, the poor gamer has to admit defeat. Cat wasn't coming. After all that waiting and anticipating their meeting, his friend was a no-show.
Feeling heavy disappointment weighing in his stomach, Fred finally thinks to check his phone for messages. And there it was-a message in the inbox for his channel. He opens it up to find what appeared to be a hastily written note from Cat:
So sorry I couldn't make it to the panel. :( Family emergency. I may have to stay overnight here so I'm not sure I can come tomorrow… Maybe next con?
Swallowing down the lump in his throat, Fred types back,
Sure. Next Con.
Despite knowing that his friend couldn't help having something come up, Fred couldn't help but feel majorly let down that he was probably going to have to wait for only Heaven knew how long for another chance to meet his friend and potential crush. Maybe it was a sign that thing weren't really meant to be if fate kept keeping them apart like this?
Then again, maybe fate was also trying to prompt him down another course… He glances down at his bag, opening it up to find the blue lion from earlier. If things weren't working out with Cat, maybe there was something to be said for his mysterious fan crush? It was certainly a path worth pursuing, at least! Smiling slightly and closing his fingers around the smooth metal of the mini model, he starts heading towards the doors leading out of the convention center and to the hotel where he'd be staying that night. He had a video to make!
Hey guys! It's Fredzilla! I had an awesome time getting to see all of you at Sokyo Con today! I'm sorry that all of you couldn't be there... (*pause*) But I'm sure that I'll get a chance to see those of you I didn't see today at future conventions. So, I know a lot of you are expecting some news and maybe footage from the con, and I swear I'll be posting that as soon as I have a chance to get all my stuff from today and tomorrow edited! But tonight, I'm actually posting this video because I need your help. You see, at the con today, I literally ran into the cutest and possibly sweetest cosplayer I've ever met on my way to the panel. He had to leave really quickly because he had something come up with his family, but, like a modern day Cinderella, he left behind this-a miniature Voltron lion that apparently was meant for me. I don't know how he made it or managed to get ahold of it, but it's probably the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me! And I know he's one of my followers, so, I just wanted to say, if you're out there and you're seeing this-I want to see you again. I really, really do. Please feel free to message me and, if you're willing and able, maybe we can meet up tomorrow at the same time and place we met today? (*laughs*) Wow, this is pretty much the craziest thing I've ever done, but… as cheesy as it sound, I just feel like we made a connection, even in the short time we met, and I want to see where this might go. All right, I'm going to go ahead and stop this recording before I get any more sappy and ridiculous with this. But I really hope that I hear from you. So… Okay, this is Fredzilla, signing off!
The minute Fred was finished recording the video, he uploaded it on his channel, not caring about the quality, just wanting it out there as soon as possible. As he nervously waits for the replies to start coming in, he debates starting to edit his footage from today but found that he just couldn't concentrate and so instead he turns on the TV in the hotel room he was staying in. He got lucky and found an episode of Sherlock playing, but even though he loved the show it turned out to be mainly just background noise as he begins the very long process of starting to read through all the comments that start pouring in. There were people who just wanted to tell him that they'd enjoyed meeting him that day, some trolls who expressed their dissatisfaction with the video and how it wasn't the type of content and quality that they felt they deserved from his videos (Fuck off, Fred thinks, rolling his eyes at the non-visible jerks), and quite a few well-wishers and people asking questions about the his mystery cosplayer crush. But no one tried to claim credit for the lion. The fanboy had been afraid that he'd have to be sorting through a whole stream of imposters-now he almost wished he had that problem over not having any responses. He was starting to feel sympathy for Cinderella's prince!
Weighed down by the many disappointments of the day, Fred was just finishing his meal from room service and debating going to bed early so he didn't have to deal with all of the emotional drama of this afternoon for a few hours when suddenly a message appears in his inbox. For a moment his heart flares with excitement, only to sink again when he sees that the message is from Cat.
It was probably just an update on the family situation and a confirmation that he wouldn't be coming the next day, Fred thinks to himself, not allowing himself to get his hopes up only to have them crushed again. Still, disappointment or not, Cat was his friend and so he opens up the message, determined that he would be as supportive and helpful as possible. What he wasn't expecting to read were the following three words:
You found it!
Found what? Fred types, mildly confused-that was certainly an odd way to give an update on the state of your family's crisis.
The lion! I can't believe you found it! I realized when I got to the hospital that it fell out of my bag and I was freaking out because I'd lost it before I could give it to you!
! OH! Fred's eyes go wide with shock as he reads the message for the first time, and then again for clarification, and then about six more times, just trying to convince himself that he wasn't imagining things. No way! There was no possible way that Cat and the cute Keith cosplayer that he'd run into were the same person! But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense: the way the cosplayer had been so excited to meet him, almost acting as if he knew him; the coincidence that the cosplayer had a little brother in the hospital at the exact same time that Cat had a "family emergency"; the fact that Cat had promised him a special cosplay and, given he knew that Fred was coming as Lance, that it would make sense for him to come as Keith. If Fred had just been paying more attention, he would have seen all the signs and figured it out long ago! But apparently he'd had to have it spelled out for him. How had he been that dense? That didn't matter now, though! He'd found both Cat and the mysterious cosplayer, and he couldn't be more overjoyed to find out that they were the same person!
Oh my gosh, it's you! You're the Keith cosplayer! I can't believe I didn't figure it out until now!
Oh man, I totally forgot to introduce myself at the con, didn't I?! I'm sooo sorry, no wonder you were so confused! ^^; I guess I meant to tell you it was me but then I got that call about my little brother and everything just kind of flew right out of my head!
It's okay! I'd feel the same way if I had a sibling and found out that he was in the hospital! Is he okay?
Yeah, he's fine-little bonehead got his arm broken, but it was a clean break so he's just got to be in a cast for a while. He claims that he just fell down some stairs but I know he probably had it happen at a bot fight. He's not fessing up, though, so there's not much we can do… :( Still, having a broken arm means he'll have a hard time using a controller so hopefully that means no bot fighting for a while! :)
Oh man, that's crazy, but I'm glad that he's not too seriously injured!
Yeah, me too! He's a little sh*t, but I still love him insanely much.
Aw! :)
So… About your video… Do you really think I'm cute?
Oh my gosh, I was kind of rambling, but… Yeah. I do. ...Is that okay?
Honestly? It's extremely flattering! ^^; I mean, I've had a crush on your for ages!
You've had a crush on me?! Oh my gosh, I've had a crush on you for forever!
No way! Oh my gosh, I am seriously blushing right now… /
For the record, from what I've seen today, you look extremely cute when you blush! ;)
Okay, now you're just trying to make me blush on purpose…
Send me a picture? ;P
Do you one better? My aunt kind of saw the video and is insisting that I go to the con tomorrow to meet up with you, if you're still open to that!
OH MY GOSH YES! I totally want to see you if you can come! ...But wait, if you had to go home to your family, are you okay with coming all the way back here?
Fred nervously waits for the reply, hoping against hope that he was actually reading the signs right for once.
I actually live right here in SF so it's no problem! :)
That is freaking fantastic! I actually live here in SF too!
NO WAY!
Way!
Oh my gosh, this is amazing! I can't believe that we haven't run into each other in all this time…
Well, I was homeschooled by my tutor all the way through high school and it is a pretty big city… Still, you never know, we might have passed each other on the street and never even realized it!
Yeah, we might have… It's crazy to think about!
It is! But hey, the important thing is that we're officially meeting tomorrow! ...Y'know, unless you wanted to come over to the hotel I'm staying at tonight to hang out?
Oh man, I'd love to, but I still want to keep an eye on the little knucklehead tonight-you never know if he might be stupid enough to try to sneak out even with a broken arm and I don't want to miss out on tomorrow's con because he got something else broken.
I completely understand! You keep that brother of yours in line and I'll see you tomorrow, 'kay? :)
Sounds good! 'Night, Fred!
Good night to you too, Cat!
Oh, Fred?
Yeah?
Actually, if you want, you can call me Tadashi.
Tadashi it is, then! See you tomorrow!
Yeah, see you tomorrow!
Fred beams as he presses his phone to his chest before letting out a loud cheer and leaping up off his bed, not caring if he looked like an idiot-there was no one here to judge, and he wouldn't mind even if he had a full audience watching him! He'd found him! He'd found Cat, a.k.a. The Keith cosplayer, a.k.a. Tadashi! And he was even more amazing in real life than he'd ever imagined! Even better, he lived right here in San Fransokyo and so, provided things went well tomorrow, they could hopefully start seeing each other on a more regular basis-if he was lucky, maybe they might even start dating! What happened in their actual meeting tomorrow would determine a lot of where their relationship would go from here, but given they'd just confessed to mutually having feelings for each other, could anyone blame him for hoping for the best?
Oh wow… Fred lets out a long sigh as he finally flops back down onto his bed. He needed to get some sleep tonight if he wanted to be awake enough to actually meet with Tadashi tomorrow! He was feeling way too wired to even really be thinking about sleep, but he would just have to do his best. Hoping that one of his old sure-fire methods would work, he digs into his bag and pulls out his well-worn copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, flipping it open to the first page before turning off all the lights in the room except the bedside lamp and settling down under the covers. Somewhere around chapter 5, Fred's eyelids finally slide shut and he's able to drift off into a peaceful sleep.
The next day, at promptly 11:30 am, the fanboy finds himself waiting just outside the booth where he'd had his first fateful encounter with Tadashi the previous day, bouncing a bit nervously on the balls of his feet as he tries to keep an eye out for his friend. (Boyfriend? He wasn't sure exactly where they were on that but he was trying to be optimistic!) As much as he'd planned on wearing his armor today, he'd decided to go with Lance's casual outfit again-it would be a lot easier for moving around in, plus Tadashi would already know what he looked like in this outfit so it might help make it easier for him to spot him this way. The fanboy didn't know if the other man would also be wearing the same cosplay, but he couldn't help but hope that he might-how cute would it be if on their first maybe-sort-of-kind-of-date they were in a couple's cosplay together?
At 11:40, Fred spotted a familiar looking cosplayer making his way towards him-and wow, if at all possible, Tadashi looked even cuter today than he did yesterday! The fanboy felt as if his whole body was glowing with happiness, and the other man was blushing but grinning right back at him as he finally spots him.
"Hi…" Tadashi says when he finally reaches him, stopping about two feet from him and rubbing the back of his neck shyly.
"Hey," Fred answers, grinning as he closes the gap between them, waiting to see if Tadashi seemed okay with the proximity before gently taking one of the other man's hands in his own.
"So… Wow. This is actually happening, huh?" Tadashi says, flushing bright pink but smiling all the same.
"I guess it is!" Fred agrees with a grin.
"This is… Honestly even cooler than I thought it would be…" Tadashi admits with a small smile.
"C'mon, I'm just a normal human-it's not like I'm Spiderman or something," Fred jokes, gently nudging him.
"True!" Tadashi chuckles, seeming to relax slightly.
"So, you want to look around?" Fred offers, gesturing to the wide space of the vendor room around them.
"That would be awesome, actually!" Tadashi agrees with a grin. "I didn't get as much time to look around yesterday as I wanted because-well, you know."
"Yeah," Fred answers with a sympathetic smile. "How's the little squirt doing?"
"Fortunately staying in bed like he's supposed to-he's being a bit of a big baby about it, but at least he's behaving," Tadashi chuckles. "I promised him that if he behaved I'd bring him home something cool. He'll swear up and down that he's not a nerd, but he loves Kingdom Hearts!"
"Not a nerd?" Fred lets out a gasp of pretend horror. "We're going to have to fix this!"
"I'm doing my best to convert him, but he's a tough case!" Tadashi chuckles as they start to make their way down the crowded walkway.
"Oh, trust me, I have ways of converting even the most stubborn of resistors!" Fred declares with a fake evil laugh.
"I'm eager to hear your ideas!" Tadashi laughs, and it's all the fanboy can do not to shout with happiness when the other man gently squeezes his hand.
They spend pretty much the entire afternoon that way-talking about their families and lives outside of the nerd world while eagerly fanboying over all the amazing nerd merch they were finding. They actually had a lot of people asking to take their pictures, and each time the pair was more than happy to comply.
As the end of the con nears, Fred asks Tadashi permission to take him to the maid cafe for dinner, and the other man gladly accepts his invitation.
"Probably best that my aunt isn't here to see this," Tadashi chuckles as they wait for their orders. "She might get some ideas for her cafe, and I don't think I could rock a maid outfit…"
"I think maybe it you found the right one..." Fred answers playfully. "But yeah, no, probably for the best you don't have to even attempt that."
"Yeah," Tadashi chuckles, shaking his head slightly, before adding, "You know she's going to be insisting on me bringing you by the cafe sometime soon-she kept telling me last night how excited she is to meet my boyfriend. N-Not that I'm saying we're actually boyfriends! I mean, I'd like to be, but maybe it's too soon for you- Oh man, I'm making a mess of this, aren't I?" He trails off, cheeks burning bright pink.
"It's okay," Fred chuckles, reaching out to gently take one of the other man's hands in his own. "I wasn't quite sure how to go about asking you this without making things awkward, but… It sounds like you do want to be my boyfriend?"
"I mean, if you count today we've technically only been on one date…" Tadashi mumbles, seeming slightly embarrassed but hopeful.
"True, but we've been online friends for three years," Fred points out. "And I think that all those late night talks count for something, even if we weren't physically face-to-face!"
"That is a good point." Tadashi seems to brighten at that.
"So-does this mean that you do want to be my boyfriend?" Fred gently presses.
"I'd love that," Tadashi answers, beaming shyly.
"I'm glad." Fred grins back at him, gently squeezing his now-official boyfriend's hand.
"Wow… I can't believe I'm actually lucky enough to have someone as amazing as you as my boyfriend!" Tadashi says, beaming across the table at him.
"I could say the same thing about you," Fred answers playfully.
"If Hiro were here, he'd tell us what nerds we were being!" Tadashi chuckles as they happily hold hands across the table.
"And what's wrong with being nerds?" Fred asks with a slight smile.
"Nothing," Tadashi answers with a warm smile, his fingers lovingly lacing through the other man's. "Absolutely nothing."