Put the Mask On

 Confident people who were unafraid of being themselves were like aliens. At least, that was what Leonard had always thought when he saw men and women who unabashedly did whatever they wanted, without any hint of self-consciousness.

Unlike the other people in the subway car who were glancing at the cosplayers through the corners of their eyes and were murmuring judgingly, Leonard gazed at them with longing. He had always admired the elaborate, colourful outfits, and the creative styles of cosplayers, yet had never been able to gather the courage to try to do it himself.


Their costumes were of amazing quality. Beautiful gowns with shimmering jewels, curved swords with a shiny finish, ethereal fluttering wings, and soft-looking furry ears and tails were a-plenty in this quirky group of friends.


He assumed that they were all going to a convention together. Leonard couldn’t recognize which show they were portraying, but it seemed to be a sort of medieval fantasy. The costumes were so good that he almost believed that they were real.


The huge fox ears of one of the boys twitched when a loud ring-tone played in the enclosed space. Leo wondered what kind of work had to go into being able to put such details into them. Maybe there was a sound detection system?


In his admiration, he almost didn’t realize that two of the beautifully-dressed women were approaching him. As they drew closer, he could see the smaller details of their outfits up-close. The dangling diamond earrings of one lady sparkled so much that you would never guess that they were fake. Even Leonard had a hard time believing they weren’t actually real.


“Excuse me,” The woman in the ballgown spoke politely, with the air of a Victorian noblewoman. Not a single strand of her perfectly-coiffed hair shifted as she slightly lowered her head at him. “Do you know where I can get a phone?”


There was a strange hesitation as she spoke the final word. She certainly looked like she wasn’t from America, with her facial features. Perhaps she was Asian? Her hesitation with certain words would definitely make sense if it was her second or third language.


He shook his head to clear it of these useless thoughts. Leonard instead felt suspicion as he thought over her words. Was this one of those scams where they ask to use your phone for a call, and then run away with it? His grip on his phone tightened at this thought.


Clearly seeing the skepticism on his face, the noble-looking woman’s companion dressed as a knight laughed and explained. “We lost the bag which had our phones in it. We were hoping you could tell us where the nearest store was where we could buy new ones, to be honest.”


The panicked expression on the ballgown-wearing lady’s face eased at her knight friend’s quick thinking, and she gave a dazzling smile. The man they were talking to couldn’t help but laugh slightly at their predicament, and looked up the location of the tech store closest to their next stop.

After giving them the address, he couldn’t help but ask them a couple questions to quench his curiosity. “You guys are going to a convention, right? Where is it?”


There was a moment of hesitation where they glanced at each other, but the noblewoman eventually smiled and replied. “Oh, we’re going to the harbour.”


Leonard was puzzled, unsure if he had ever heard of any large gatherings happening in that area, but decided not to question it. They exchanged a few more pleasantries before the two cosplayers returned to their large group. He continued to admire their costumes until they all got off at the next stop.


As they exited, he declared silently that he too would overcome his anxiety and try to join a convention as well. He bought a few items on the way home, and couldn’t help but feel excited when he deliberated upon his future costume.


That night, there was a loud explosion at the harbour. Witnesses claimed they saw women in fantasy costumes performing magic and men in armor running around with swords. When Leonard heard of this, he couldn’t help but wonder about the level of dedication the group of cosplayers had to committing to their roles.


It’s not like they were actually fantasy characters, obviously.

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