Hello and welcome to our fall collab! I hope you have as much fun reading this as we did writing it. And to my fellow con-goers, I hope you can use it to live vicariously like I did!

We own nothing :)

This chapter of the Fabulous Fall Fic 2020 Collaboration was brought to you by: claraowl

Chapter One

Kyoko accepted the full-access badges from the exhausted service representative at the booth. She smiled and thanked them, then moved to the side to collect the lanyards, clips, and convention guides from the nearby table. It was lucky that she had gotten here so early – there was still plenty of everything left. She snagged two of the lanyards and badge clips each, but figured that she and Kuon could share a guide. A small smile crept onto her face as she clipped the plastic badges into place. This was going to be such a fun week, even if the way it had come about had seemed more than a little contrived.

Early last summer, Kuon had learned that Lory was having a costume line designed by R'Mandy – and, since 'Tsuruga Ren' was their main model, he would be responsible for helping to advertise them. The catch? Lory insisted on advertising them at a convention, as he was Lory and there is no known cure. R'Mandy had agreed, presumably because of Lory's influence and their familiarity with his notorious idiosyncrasies. Ren was slated to appear at a few panels and a runway show throughout the week, as well as to attend some company dinners, but he was otherwise left with plenty of time to enjoy the convention. The fact that Kyoko's president-ordered, week-long vacation coincided with Ren working at a Fairytale convention was probably Lory's least subtle matchmaking attempt to date.

Kyoko giggled to herself as she made her way back through the hotel to the elevator. I wonder when Julie-sama – I mean, Mom – is going to let Father tell the president that Kuon and I are together. Her head spun as she pressed the button to call the elevator. Sometimes it was still hard for her to fathom that Kuon was Father's son. Wrapping her head around the fact that Julie-sama, the woman called the most beautiful woman in the world, had accepted her into the family. She had insisted on Kyoko calling her 'Mom' the first time they had spoken on the phone, refusing to answer to any other name. And once she had heard about Kyoko's own mother, it had taken Kuon calling them to stop them from adopting her legally! She shook her head at the memory. Thank goodness they came around. I couldn't live out a Heel sibling situation in real life.

She hoped that Lory wouldn't find out about them particularly soon. Yashiro-san had warned them that the president was planning a giant celebration for when they inevitably got together. Honestly, it surprised her that he had yet to find out about them; she supposed it was thanks to Mom and Father's advice. The two had plenty of experience with sneaky dates back in the day, after all. That, and the fact that she and Kuon had a super-manager. Without all of that, Lory definitely would have found out by now. They had been dating for quite a while, after all – long enough that she was comfortable sharing the hotel room R'Mandy had provided Ren with him. Thankfully, any bed that was big enough for Kuon had some room for Kyoko, too. The elevator dinged and she stepped inside.

Their hotel room was empty when she returned; Kuon had been caught at a last-minute fitting and debriefing for the week's events. This left her with plenty of time to finish making the last pieces of their cosplays. Kuon had gotten most of the main pieces as samples from R'Mandy (his were certainly samples, and hers were allegedly samples too… as far as she knew), but the accessories Kyoko had made herself. Technically, she was in the process of making them – she still had to put finishing touches on one accessory for Kuon's last cosplay, only he had no idea that she was making this one. It was going to be a surprise for her fairy prince. And given the sheer amount of items in their room, he was unlikely to see it. Seven days' worth of cosplays did take up a lot of space… and seven different cosplays meant that fans were less likely to recognize and mob them.

Kuon opened the door to their room to find Kyoko flipping through the convention guide. She popped off of the bed and came to greet him, beaming. "How was the fitting?"

"It went smoothly, so we're all set for the panels and show." He tugged her to him for a hug. "Did you find anything you want to go to this afternoon?"

"Yes! Come sit, I brought bentos for us to eat before we get into our costumes. I'll tell you all about it as we eat." She led him over to the small table in their room, never leaving his arms.

He made a show of sighing and dragging his feet over to the table, presumably at the prospect of eating, but the effect was ruined by the grin on his face. She giggled. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap, making her roll her eyes,though she offered no real protest. She simply pulled both bentos to their side of the table and opened them. He gave another exaggerated sigh as he picked up his chopsticks, earning him an elbow to the ribs.

"So I found a panel that looks really interesting," she said between mouthfuls. "It looks like it's about the different ways that faeries have been portrayed in fairy tales."

"Sounds fun." He pressed a kiss to her ear. "Anything else catch your eye?"

"Mmm, not really. We don't have much time today before you have to go to that work dinner." She leaned back against his solid torso, feeling incredibly safein his arms.

"You can come with me to that, you know." He took a bite of his lunch.

"And have President Takarada question why I'm there?" She shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I've got some pieces of our cosplays to finish."

He didn't press the issue; as much as he wanted to have her there, he knew that she wasn't ready for the president to find out about them yet. To be fair, neither was he; his godfather's reaction was going to be unbearable. Not to mention the fact that the party the man was sure to throw would reveal the news to everyone. As much as he wanted to let all of Tokyo know to whom he belonged, he didn't want to put that type of pressure on Kyoko – or her career. He also didn't want her to have to face the wrath of his fans. "At least get room service, then?"

She poked her bento with her chopsticks. "But it's so expensive. I could maybe make something…."

"But there's no kitchen in here – and we're staying here on R'Mandy's dime. They're paying for me to be here, and you being here helps me enjoy the convention. Besides, the food here is apparently really good. Not as good as yours," he gestured to the bentos, "but still delicious. I think I even saw that they had hamburgers with egg on the menu."

"I… okay," Kyoko mumbled, letting the matter drop. "I still can't believe they paid for all those costumes."

For all of mine, yes. My R'Mandy stylist helped me order yours under a pseudonym, as thanks for helping her find a good, discreet place to take her wife on a date. "It's part of the business. Having the pieces being worn is good advertising."

"Speaking of which, we should finish eating soon and start getting ready." She ate the last bits of her bento, pressed a kiss to his cheek, and slipped off of his lap. "I'm going to go get changed, so finish eating, okay?"

"Okay, princess." His eyes followed her form as she picked up a bundle of clothing and disappeared behind the bathroom door. He finished eating then stood up to wrangle his own costume.

Half an hour later, Snow White (of "Snow White and Rose Red") and her bear (who turns out to be her prince in the end) exited the elevator. Kuon chuckled to himself. There was no way his fans would recognize him in this cosplay, that was for sure. He was quite literally a bear – he might as well have been wearing a bearskin rug, for how realistic his costume was. He just wished that it wasn't so hot. Fortunately, Kyoko had sewn some cooling packs into the inside lining so he wouldn't overheat. And, as he was a bear, he didn't have to actually talk to people if he didn't feel like it. He could just growl at everyone but Kyoko. It was honestly such a welcome break from being the ever-polite, small-talking Tsuruga Ren.

His princess was safe from recognition, too. Her Snow White (not the one from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves) had her wearing a long, blonde wig, a blue peasant's dress with puffy sleeves, sturdy shoes, a white apron, and a white-and-blue hair kerchief. She also had a small blue draw-string backpack with their wallets, some snacks, her small sewing kit, a notepad, two pens, and a water bottle – con essentials, according to her research. All in all, she looked adorable. She slid her hand into the crook of his fur-covered arm as they exited the elevator, her other hand coming up to double-check that her lanyard had her badge properly secured to it. He went to peck the top of her head out of habit, but wound up just smacking his muzzle against her head. She laughed.

"Where's the panel being held?" he asked, bending a bit so she could hear him more easily as they walked down the hallway. Even in the hotel portion of the convention center, it was loud. Kyoko started to answer him, but was quickly distracted by another convention attendee – one dressed like a fairy. She fished her phone out of her apron pocket, unlocked it, and tugged Kuon over to the cosplayer.

"Pardon me," she said, affecting a sweet tone befitting her character and holding up her phone, "but I adore your cosplay. May I take your portrait?"

"Of course!" the fairy replied, beaming. She struck a pose.

Kyoko snapped a picture, checked it, then bowed. "Thank you!"

"My turn," the fairy replied, whipping out her phone. "Both of you, pretty please?"

Kuon-the-bear crouched down, put his hands on the floor, and cocked his head at Kyoko. She posed like she was brushing snow off of him and smiled. Kuon smiled, then realized that his face was not visible. The fairy snapped the picture, thanked them, and bounced off to enjoy the con. Kyoko gave Kuon a hand up, which he brushed his muzzle against before releasing. She giggled and tucked herself into his side as they made their way to the panel.

As always happens with good panels, the line was long, leaving them plenty of time to people-watch. Kyoko kept up a running commentary on who was from which fairytale and snapping pictures from afar (or close up, when possible without stepping out of line – Kuon was beyond terrified of them getting separated). This left Kuon to listen for her favorites and point out a particularly impressive cosplay of Baba Yaga's house, which Kyoko managed to get a picture of for him to send to his Mom. It also gave him plenty of time to unabashedly stare at his girlfriend as she glowed from enthusiasm. Kyoko even makes waiting in a line fun, he thought with a grin. Her angels curled around him, letting her know he was happy, and she beamed even brighter in return. Oh, to just have this week with her here, without any work involved. Maybe next year…? The doors to Ballroom B opened, and they were let inside.

Kyoko led him to seats at the end of a row near the front, and was pleased that there were tables in this room. They took their seats and she dug out her notepad and one of the pens (the other hid, as pens always do in bags). He cocked his head, making the costume's ears flop a bit. "Why the paper?"

"I want to take notes, so I remember the important parts. Plus, I'm sure I'll want to share some of this with Maria-chan!" She flipped the notepad open and tested to make sure her pen worked.

"I'd offer to help, but…" He gestured with his paw-covered hands. She giggled, but didn't get a chance to respond before the panel started. Kuon spent most of the panel admiring Kyoko and came to the conclusion that wearing a bear suit was worth it if it meant that he could watch her this much.

"That was such a fun panel!" Kyoko exclaimed, her arms thrown out to her sides as people filed out of the ballroom.

"It really was," Kuon agreed, lumbering to his feet. He had actually learned some neat faerie facts despite mainly watching Kyoko's expression change. "Was there anything in there you didn't already know?"

"A few things, but it was still really interesting to hear the other tales that back up the stuff I already knew! I can't wait to tell Maria-chan. Though I probably won't tell her about the Bannik." She shuddered. "I'm glad they live in Ireland! I'd have hated to have to deal with one at the ryokan."

"Would a Bannik really have been worse than some of the customers you had to deal with?" He offered her his arm and she took it, her bag secured on her back.

She laughed. "Probably not. But who knows what other entities it might've invited!"

"Nothing you couldn't have handled with salt, iron, and your nakai smile, I bet."

He opened his mouth to say more, but Kyoko started vibrating wildly and her bag seemed to shriek. Her face fell as she dug out and silenced her phone. "That's the alarm I set. We should head back to the room and get changed so you can get to your dinner on time."

He let out something between a growl and a whine as she hooked her bag back into place. "Can I just… not?"

She poked his ribs as they started walking. "Excuse me, Mr. Even-If-A-Parent-Dies?"

"This isn't filming. This is a stupid social dinner where they will feed me way too much rich food and expect me to play nice with people I can barely stand." Despite his words, he helped her weave through the crowds on their way back to their room. "I'd really rather stay with you."

"I would, too," she admitted, "but we both know you're going to go no matter what, because work is important to both of us. And it's the first day, so it's extra necessary to show face."

"You could still come with me," he offered. "Taste all sorts of yummy food, do some networking…."

"And lose any possibility of privacy this week." She rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Just bring some of your leftovers back to the room." She cut him a sharp look. "Some. Yashiro-san will tell me if you don't eat."

"Well, there goes that plan." He pressed the elevator button. The walk back had been so much shorter than the walk there. As the pair stepped inside, somehow just the two of them, he willed the elevator to break. Being stuck in an elevator was a good excuse to skip dinner and spend more time with Kyoko, right? Sadly, they reached their floor and were all too soon inside their hotel room. If only we could stay in here, Kuon thought.

Kyoko helped him out of his bear costume, laughing hysterically at the way the head had made his hair stand up at odd angles. "Wait, wait, let me take a picture before you fix it. This is too good!" He obliged her, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue to complete the goofy image, before giving her a proper kiss and going off to shower – even with the sewn-in ice packs, he had still gotten a bit warm in the suit. She flopped onto the bed, still in her cosplay, and stared at the picture on her phone. I am the only person in the whole world who has this type of picture of him, she thought, beaming even as her face turned pink. This is definitely going in the treasures picture folder.

A few minutes later, Kuon came out of the bathroom and sprawled out on the bed next to her, half-dressed, his towel around his shoulders and his hair still wet. "Thank you again for the ice packs. You're brilliant. I would've sweltered in that without them."

"You're welcome, but you're getting the blanket all wet." She smiled when he gave an exaggerated sigh, sat up, and started drying his hair. "I learned it for playing Bo. I usually have to sew them to my clothes instead, though, because his suit isn't mine."

"I figured it was something like that. It's a wonder you don't die of heat with all those stunts you do as him, though." He scrubbed harder at his hair with the towel, wanting to get it dry faster but also wanting to be able to talk to Kyoko while doing so. Hair dryers were just too noisy.

"Ah yes, 'stunts' like walking across a stage while carrying a basket of eggs." She rolled her eyes. "Muse-sama's going to yell at you if you keep being that rough on your hair."

"Maybe this is a blatant attempt to get you to offer to dry it for me." He grinned down at her, but started drying it normally. "And I was more referring to stunts like your gymnastics routine when you guys interviewed that Olympian." That had been a wild show.

She stuck her tongue out at him, but did raise herself to her knees and steal his towel. "Okay, that was one time. And you could've just asked."

"True. How about I bring you a dessert from the restaurant as thanks? Yashiro said that they were supposed to have really good little cakes." He felt his eyelids droop as her hands worked the towel over his hair. God, her hands felt so good. He hadn't even realized that he'd had a headache.

"…You say that like you weren't secretly planning it already." She squinted at the back of his head through the towel.

"Guilty as charged." He held up his hands in mock-surrender. "C'mon, princess, I barely get to spoil you as it is. At least let me do a little of it this week while you're cosplaying royalty."

"You spoil me plenty, Kuon." She pulled the towel away and gently raked her fingers through his now slightly damp hair, combing out the knots. "A bit too much, honestly. What if I get greedy?"

He shook his head, making her fingers dance over his scalp. "Not enough. Dad would be truly appalled at the state of things and Mom would kidnap you for a girls' day."

Her fingers trailed down the sides of his neck and her arms followed, hugging him from behind. "Your time is enough, Kuon. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all of this," she gestured to the cosplays and their room, "but my favorite part of this is that I get to do it all with you. The fact that you choose to spend your precious free time with me – the fact that you work your schedule around date night is more than enough. That spoils me enough for a lifetime."

He leaned back into her embrace and tilted his head so he could kiss her softly. When they parted, he said, "And that makes me want to spoil you even more. You know I'd give you all my time if I could. Because that means I get all of yours, too."

She gave a sigh of contentment as she leaned against him. "That does sound nice."

"We could spend all day acting together until we wanted to be just us again. And then start all over the next day." His hand slid up and back until he found her jaw.

"I think we'd run out of scripts too soon, but we both love acting too much to give it up." She wrinkled her nose. "Neither of us are really writers, as far as I know."

"I'd be happy to be your prince forever, over and over."

Before Kyoko could respond, Kuon's phone started beeping. He let out a sigh that would have made Maria scold him. Kyoko raised an eyebrow. "And that is?"

"My cue to finish getting dressed and try one more time to convince you to join me at dinner." He slid reluctantly out of her embrace and stood.

"Boo." She smoothed down her skirt, then realized she was still in her cosplay. "I should get out of this before I order dinner."

Kuon paused as he pulled a shirt out of the closet. "Princess, you saying things like that makes it even harder for me to leave."

She blushed. "You know I didn't mean right this minute!"

He chuckled as he finished getting dressed and prepared to become 'Tsuruga Ren' again. Before he left, Kyoko caught him at the door and tugged him down for a slow, sweet kiss. "Have a good dinner."

"Last chance to join me," he teased.

She shook her head. "I've got some last-minute pieces to finish."

As it transpired, after she had eaten she didn't quite get the pieces finished, as she did not want to risk him seeing them before they were done. She did have time to look through the convention guide a bit more. There were so many things planned for the week that caught her interest – contests, panels, workshops, and even a charity cosplay ball! There was also the dealer's room, which was sure to be a good place to look for a souvenir for Maria-chan… but was probably a dangerous place to visit with Kuon, especially since his other costumes had pockets, meaning that his wallet would not be safely trapped in her bag.

But that would all be an issue for another day, she mused, slipping into bed next to her fairy prince that night. The pair drifted off to dreamland, safe in each other's embrace and looking forward to the rest of their fairy-dusted week.

End day one! I wonder what the rest of the cosplays are going to be… leave your guesses at the bottom of your review! :D

~claraowl

This author can be found at:

AO3: (website goes here) /users/claraowl/pseuds/claraowl

FFN: (website goes here followed by a slash) u/3551005/