TITLE: Cosplayed
AUTHOR: MikeJaffa
SYNOPSIS: It's Halloween, and Meg wants her and Jo to dress up as Panty and Stocking. All she has to do is persuade Jo.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Halloween is a month away as I write this, but once I got this idea, I couldn't let it go.
DISCLAIMER: Burst Angel is owned by Gonzo; Panty and Stocking with Garter Belt is owned by Gainax. I don't own the rights to 'Guys and Dolls' either. I am making no money off writing and publishing this fic.
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"Meg," Jo said, "for the last time, no!"

"Aw, c'mon!" Meg replied. Standing facing Jo in their room on the trailer, Meg had dyed her long hair blonde and was wearing a red dress. She held up a bundle of darker clothes. "You said you would."

"I said that if you wanted to dress up as Panty," Jo (who was dressed normally) said, "I had no objection. But I am not going to 'play cos' as Stocking!"

"Cosplay," Meg corrected.

"Whatever," Jo said. "I'm certainly not dying my hair."

"You don't have to; I found a wig for you." Meg turned to her bed and spun back, dumping a long mass of waste length dark strands onto Jo's head. "There," Meg said as she adjusted the wig. "Except for the eyes, you're a perfect Stocking."

Jo kept her eyes locked on Meg as she tore off the wig and hurled it onto the bed.

Meg looked at her bed, turned back to Jo, and pouted.

"Don't start," Jo growled. "Have I ever said anything about how you spend all our money on 'Panty and Stocking' stuff? No. And when you wanted to go to that convention in the States and get autographs from those American voice actresses, I went along without a word of complaint, even when we waited in line for two hours. You want to dress as Panty for Halloween, fine. I won't stop you. But I refuse to 'kawz play.' Ask Kyo to do it! You keep saying he's a girl."

"Who's a girl?" Kyohei Tachibana stepped into the room wearing a light gray suit, black shirt, and white tie.

Meg wolf-whistled. "Wow, Kyo! Don't you look delicious? My sexuality is feeling pretty ambiguous right now." She ran a finger down his sleeve. "Who are you supposed to be, gorgeous?"

Kyo blushed. "Sky Masterson," he explained, "from this 20th century musical, 'Guys and Dolls.' Turns out Sei and I both like it. She's going as Sarah Brown."

"Hmm," Meg said. "Wasn't that a love story or something? Wonder if she's going to want to act out any scenes later?"

"She said she just needs a plus one, Meg. That's all."

Meg nodded. "Ssssuuuurrre, she did, Kyo, ssssuuuuuuuurrrrrrrreeeee she did. One plus one equals three, remember? You got condoms in that suit, right?"

"Don't mind her, Kyo," Jo deadpanned. "She's just getting into character."

"What character?" Sei came in behind Kyo. She wore a red jacket and skirt with a black bonnet and military style insignia; what they could see of her hair was in a style from the US in the 1940s. "Oh, Panty. Of course." She turned to Jo. "Jo? You're not ready yet?"

"Ready for what?" Jo complained.

"Sorry," Sei said. "I thought I'd called, but I have a hundred things on my mind and I'm a little frazzled. My grandfather has invited me to his annual Halloween party, and Kyo has been kind enough to agree to be my plus one. But I also thought it sensible to have both you and Meg along as my bodyguards."

Jo shrugged. "So?"

"So," Sei said, "Grandfather insists that *everyone* be in costume, including bodyguards. Which means, Jo, you will have to dress up."

Jo's eyes went wide. "Run that by me again?"

Meg smiled. "Got it covered, Sei. I was just about to help Jo get changed."

"No," Jo stammered, "wait a minute….let's talk about this…"

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When they got to the party at the Bailan-owned Chinese restaurant, Meg chuckled when the guard at the door noted Jo's dour expression under the Stocking wig and remarked that Jo was really in character. And when they got in, Meg whispered, "Nice of you not to kill that guy."

Jo growled but said nothing.

The party swirled on, Kyo and Sei on and off the dance floor together, without anything happening. Meg lost track of Jo for a while. When she found Jo, the red-eyed mercenary was eating a slice of cake.

Meg smiled. "And you said you weren't going to do it. If that's not getting into character, I don't know what is."

"Huh?"

"The cake."

Jo looked down at it. "Yeah, I know, I usually avoid the sweet stuff, but under the circumstances, I thought I'd indulge." She nodded towards the dance floor. "And after this, I have chocolate. Yeah. After this, I have chocolate."

Meg doubled over laughing. Jo shrugged and had another bite of cake.

THE END