Day 4: Cosplay

Being a huge metropolis, New Domino City boasted several large pop culture conventions. And Scotch being Scotch, he wanted not only to attend, but to dress up for every one of them. Visiting craft stores every year so he could find fabric and accessories to construct his latest ideas was a tradition by now.

Kalin watched as Scotch examined every bolt of fabric down the aisle, running his hands over each with thoughtful precision before either adding it to his shopping cart or putting it back. "Do you ever want to dress up for these things?" he curiously asked Radley.

"Nah, not really," Radley said. "I'd rather just go as myself. It's really impressive how Scotch always throws himself into his cosplays every year, though. He's won several awards."

"I can believe it," Kalin said. "Did he learn to sew from you?"

Radley nodded. "He could hand-sew, but I helped him figure out the sewing machine so it'd go faster. He still prefers to hand-sew some things." He tilted his head as he curiously studied Kalin. "What about you?" he asked mischievously. "You wanna try cosplaying this year?"

Kalin shrugged. "I don't know who I'd play."

"There's nobody you like enough you'd wanna emulate?" Radley ran a gloved hand over the shiny fabrics on the other side of the aisle.

A smirk played on Kalin's lips. "Well, if I dressed up as you or Yusei. . . ."

Radley chuckled, lightly tapping Kalin's upper arm with his palm.

"I'm surprised the Bunch doesn't throw costume parties," Kalin remarked as Scotch finally headed for the fabric counter with a full cartload of materials to be cut.

"They have, sometimes," Radley said.

"What do you do when they do that?" Kalin wondered.

"I'm a good sport," Radley said. "I've dressed up in traditional Spanish clothes or like Zorro . . . minus the mustache, of course." He shrugged. "Maybe I'd dress up as Zorro for a convention sometime. I don't feel like it right now, though." He smirked again as he added, "I make a quite dashing Zorro, if I do say so myself."

Kalin smirked too. "I'm sure." He eyed the rest of the Bunch, who had fanned out and were also looking at fabrics. A few, such as Billy, seemed to be seriously considering some. "So why isn't it something you normally like to do?"

Radley sighed. "I don't know. . . . Maybe because I feel like I've already had to play a part in my regular life, pretending to be a tough biker punk to keep myself and the town safe. Pretending to be something I only look like I am and am really not wasn't fun for me. It was taxing. I just don't think I'd get a kick out of doing it if I don't have to."

Kalin nodded. "I understand that."

Radley smiled. "I guess that's why I'll do Spanish attire if I need to dress up, since that's my heritage and I don't feel like I'm playing a part with that."

"I'm not really opposed to cosplaying," Kalin mused. "I just can't think of anything I'd really want to try."

"Well, if you want to, I'm sure Scotch has plenty of ideas for you," Radley chuckled. "He'd be thrilled if you'd join him."

"Doesn't Biff usually do costumes with him?" Kalin asked.

"Sometimes, if Scotch has ideas for that," Radley said. "One time he played Legolas and had Biff play Aragorn. He originally wanted Gimli, but Biff drew the line at getting fixed up with that kinda long beard."

Kalin snorted. "I can imagine."

"Hmm." Radley playfully jangled Kalin's long hair. "If you wanted, you could play Sephiroth or Yazoo and just use your natural hair. Or Kunzite."

"None of them have blue hair," Kalin objected.

"No, but in certain lighting your hair can look silver or even white," Radley said. He giggled. "If you wanted to play Kunzite, I might not be opposed to playing Zoisite with you."

Kalin had to smirk. Radley would definitely get a kick out of being playful with costumes like those. "And would you wear a red wig?"

"No," Radley said. "But I'd pull my hair back in a ponytail."

At this point, Kalin wasn't fully sure Radley was just joking. "Is it really something you'd like to do?" he asked.

"With you, I would," Radley said.

Kalin had to smile. "I'll think about it," he said.

xxxx

As it turned out, the idea stuck. Before Scotch was near done with having all of his fabrics cut out, Kalin was examining gray fabrics for the uniforms and colored silk for the piping. Radley joined him, fingering the material himself. "You wanna go for it?" he asked.

Kalin hesitated. "You'd have to sew them," he said. "Unless you wanted to take extra time to teach me how to. . . ."

Radley smiled. "It wouldn't take too much, really," he said. "They're pretty simple costumes overall, except that Kunzite has that long cape."

Finally Kalin nodded. "Okay," he said. "Let's try it."

Radley took down the gray bolts of fabric. "Let's get in line."

Scotch looked up with a start when they came up next to him. "You're getting material?!" he exclaimed in utter excitement.

"We're going to try playing Kunzite and Zoisite," Radley chuckled.

". . . That is going to be so epic!" Scotch gushed. "Oh man! I love it!"

Kalin had to smile. Maybe this really would be fun. With Radley, he was sure it would be.

"So which versions are you going to be?" Scotch asked.

"I have this feeling that even if we technically go with the manga or Crystal versions, people are going to think of the original anime versions," Radley said with a dark smirk.

"Probably," Kalin said.

"Their personalities are fleshed out more in the original anime, but it doesn't have their backstory of being Endymion's protectors who got brainwashed into helping the enemy," Radley mused.

"I like that version better," Kalin said.

Radley nodded. "I definitely prefer Zoisite not arranging Nephrite's death. Shall we just go with the Crystal or manga versions by default?"

"Manga, maybe," Kalin said. "I'm not a fan of the pairings Crystal introduced, especially since nothing much really got done with them. It felt pointless."

"I guess they were trying to go for the tragic romance trope," Radley said. "But you're right, it was poorly executed and it wasn't fair. I don't get why they can't ever stay alive in any verse. It's like they're doomed to die no matter what."

Kalin nodded. "I might have liked that in the past, when I wanted to die. But not anymore."

Radley smiled, glad that Kalin no longer wanted to die. "Good."

xxxx

Radley was definitely skilled with the sewing machine. He was right that it didn't take too long to actually sew the costumes. Measuring and pinning the patterns down and cutting the material out around them seemed to be the most difficult part. But eventually the costumes were being sewn together and soon they were both completed.

Kalin was impressed as he tried his on. "This is perfect," he said, running his hands down the front. "It fits like a glove."

"I was hoping it would fit like a jacket and pants," Radley smirked. He struck a pose. "Do you think I can really pull off Zoisite? He's not that much like me."

"You're both vain, at least," Kalin said. "And you like roses."

"True. He appears and disappears in a whirl of cherry blossoms, but I don't think I can replicate that," Radley mused. "I could carry a rose as a prop, though." He paused. "And can you believe, I still have trouble even thinking of Zoisite as a he? My first introduction to Sailor Moon was the original English dub, and Zoisite's female voice actress was so good, it just stuck. Any time I say 'he' for him, it sounds wrong."

Kalin grunted. "I've never heard that dub."

"Sure, it's cheesy as heck, but the voices really had a lot of emotion and feeling," Radley said with a smile. "The songs weren't bad either. I think I'll always be pretty sentimental about it."

"You've got me curious now," Kalin said. "Although I'm not as fond of cheese as you are."

Radley just smiled. "I'll show it to you sometime."

xxxx

Eventually the days of the convention dawned and the group drove up to New Domino City on the day they planned to attend. Kalin found himself nervous. He might look more like Kunzite than Radley did Zoisite, but Radley was a skilled showman who loved being the center of attention. Kalin had every confidence that Radley could pull off stepping into character if he so chose. On the other hand, the way Kalin was now, he wasn't as fond of the spotlight and doubted he could actually play Kunzite as well as he could wear the costume.

It was a relief when most of the other attendees were friendly and welcoming. Sailor Moon fans picked the duo out right away and rushed over for pictures. Radley was indeed completely at ease and interacted with them the most, which was in-character anyway, he told Kalin with a smile. He was sure Zoisite would be the one to take charge of such things. Kunzite was serious and aloof and likely wouldn't be as into meeting people if it wasn't necessary.

Scotch and the rest of the Bunch were also having fun. They all spread out across the convention, but came together several times to enjoy parts of it with Kalin and Radley. Radley was the happiest when they were all together, but he seemed to be getting a kick out of things regardless. When they all left at the end of the day, they were in high spirits.

"So, how did you like your first time cosplaying?" Radley asked Kalin on the ride home. Those who had cosplayed rode in their van instead of on motorcycles, to protect the costumes.

"I liked it," Kalin mused. "How about you?"

"Me too," Radley smiled. He took the tie out of his hair and let it fall loosely around his shoulders as he liked. "Do you wanna think about doing it again for the next convention we go to? Or for Halloween?"

"Yes," Kalin said. "I think I would . . . especially if we do it together again."

"Oh, I'm planning on that," Radley said. "That was the best part."

"Yeah! Your pictures will be all over!" Scotch gushed. "It'll be epic!"

"Hmm. If our true identities are recognized, that will be an interesting thing to be known for," Radley remarked. "I wonder if people will say it's not something the leaders of a town should be doing."

"They might," Kalin said. "But we don't care about that, do we?"

"If we did, we wouldn't have decided to cut loose like this," Radley said.

"You were right that most people thought about the original anime versions," Kalin said.

"It was nice that some of them thought about the other verses too," Radley said. "I'll admit I was drawing inspiration from the original anime Zoisite the most, although I'm sickened by what happened with Nephrite and I really don't like the character in that version. If I was passionate about the friendship and brotherhood between the Four Kings from before they were brainwashed, I might disown the original anime altogether."

Kalin nodded with a frown. "If the brainwashing was touched on a lot more, I wouldn't have felt comfortable playing Kunzite. I don't think I'd ever want to play Sephiroth for that reason. Him losing his mind and turning against his loved ones was key to both his character and the game plot. It hits too close to home."

"Yeah," Radley said softly. "I realized you'd probably feel that way right after I joked about you being able to pull off a Sephiroth costume with your hair."

". . . I'm glad you thought of Kunzite," Kalin said. "I really enjoyed this experience."

"Me too," Radley said.

Kalin smirked a bit. "So much for you not enjoying playing something you're not."

"Oh, but playing it with you made it fun," Radley smiled. "I wouldn't have done it on my own, no."

"I don't know if I would have either," Kalin mused. Maybe, if he had thought of a fitting costume. But Radley had come up with the idea for this adventure and had immediately thought of them doing it together. That had been the best way.

Kalin smiled. He was already looking forward to what they might try next.