“I still think this is a bad idea,” he said as we wove our way through the crowd.
“I’ll take those chances,” I replied, casting a smile over my shoulder.
“Easy for you to say,” he muttered but let the subject drop.
When we reached the entryway, I freed Xander’s wrist and stepped inside. I was immediately barraged with an array of senses. An explosion of color hit me first—rows upon rows of booths that sold all sorts of paraphernalia and stretched in every direction. The one closest to us displayed tubs of plushies ranging from Hello Kitty to No-Face fromSpirited Away. Next to it, there was a booth that only carried superhero bathrobes.
People all around us were talking and laughing, but I couldn’t hear anything specific. The sounds slipped over my ears, unfiltered and blaring. Overhead, the fluorescent lights seemed to glare directly into my eyes. I froze in the middle of traffic. People streamed past us on either side, like river water rerouted by a boulder.
Xander’s fingers flittered against the small of my back, guiding me out of the way. “Hey, you okay?”
His touch jolted me out of the moment. “Yeah, fine,” I said, blinking and pushing my bangs from my face. “Just a bit of sensory overload. This…this isnuts.”
“Overwhelming, isn’t it?”
“Understatement of the year.” I scanned our surroundings. We’d entered near the Lucasfilm booth, and directly in front of us were display cases filled with costumes from theStar Warsmovies. A group of kids had their hands pressed against the glass of the nearest case, gawking over Boba Fett’s helmet. “So…what do you want to see first?”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “This is all you, remember?”
“All right, I have an idea. Follow me.” Turning left, I headed to the far end of the hall. With the Saturday crowds, it took a few minutes to actually cross the entirety of the room. Halfway there, a man with a microphone and camera crew cut us off.
“Awesome cosplay,” he said, thrusting the microphone in Xander’s face. “I’m Gary with Everything Geek, and I was wondering if you can tell our viewers who you’re supposed to be?”
I felt Xander go rigid, so I stepped in front of him and shot Gary a look. “He’s an Oken warrior from planet Urc Qlevaz,obviously. Haven’t you seen theGalaxy Riderfilms? How can you work for Everything Geek and not know that?”
Gary snapped his fingers and pointed at me as if I’d reminded him of a long forgotten movie he’d seen as a kid. “Of course! I knew I recognized the look. Okens are so distinct. Anyway, Everything Geek is hosting a cosplay contest later tonight.” He shoved an orange flyer into my hands. “You guys should check it out.”
A grin slowly stretched across Xander’s face as he realized Gary had zero clue who he was. “Yeah, we’ll think about it. I’m sure all the G-riders will be impressed,” he said, playing along.
“You bet,” Gary replied with an enthusiastic nod. A woman dressed as Daenerys Targaryen strolled by us, and when his eyes locked onto her, we were quickly forgotten.
“All the G-riders will be impressed?” I mimicked once Gary was out of earshot. “G-riders, seriously?”
Xander shrugged. “What? You try making up a fandom name on the spot.”
I crossed my arms. “I created a franchise complete with its own alien race and planet.”
“Good point,” he said, nodding in agreement. “I wish I could see his face when he realizesGalaxy Riderisn’t real. I bet they’ll cut me from the final edit so they don’t look like morons.”
“Oh, darn. There goes your five minutes of fame.”
We exchanged looks, and a single second of silence passed before we dissolved into a fit of laughter. It took a solid minute, but once our breathing was back under control, we finished our trek across the massive hall, and Artist Alley came into view.
“Good place to start?” I asked when Xander realized where I was taking him.
He nodded. “The perfect place. Let’s go find a commission.”
“A what?”
“I want an artist to do a commissioned sketch of me. Nothing fancy. Just something to remember all this by,” he said, pointing at his face.
We spent the next thirty minutes roaming through the aisles of artists, trying to find someone with a style Xander liked. We’d seen nearly everyone’s work when I noticed a girl at an empty table. Her chin was propped in her hands, and she had a long look on her face. The artist at the table next to her had a line of customers snaking around the corner to the next aisle.
“Do you know who that is?” I nodded to the man whose table was getting all the traffic. The banner stand behind him read BLUEHOODGRAPHICS.
Xander shook his head. “Must be a big deal comic book artist. Most of them rent booths, but sometimes they opt for a table in Artist Alley because there’s fewer regulations on what they can sell.”
“Whoever he is, his line is blocking the poor girl next to him,” I said, pointing her out. “I don’t think she’s getting any business.”
