Page 38 of Do You Ship It

I arrive first, but soon spot Jake and Max. They’re deep in conversation, smiling as they talk, and Jake bumps Max playfully on the shoulder about something. Neither of them have noticed me yet.

Max strides along in the same cosplay as last time, cloak billowing behind him, his loose, old-fashioned shirt buffeting against his chest in the brisk October breeze; the long blonde wig is drawn back in a low ponytail, pointed elf ears sticking out. He’s covered in the same leather armour pieces that I’ve since learned are called a bandolier, bracers and pauldrons.

Jake, beside him, is in jeans, and I can see the glint of the circular runic pattern of his OWAR T-shirt underneath his jacket. Anger flares, hot and red, in my chest.

I can’t believe he didn’t tell me he was going to flake on the costume!

Was he really going to let me show up in a medieval ballgown (or, you know, close enough) and not even at least look like an idiot with me? Ugh! I’m so glad I changed my mind.

I can’tbelievehe would do that to me.

But, then again … maybe this is a sign that we’re so in sync and therefore totally meant to be together?

Max notices me first, just as they’re waiting to cross the road. An expression I can’t identify tugs at his eyebrows, pulls his mouth downward, and he says something to Jake that makes my stomach knot – I get the impression it’s not very favourable.

Did Max really expect me to show up in cosplay? In the span of me saying I’d ‘think about’ borrowing his spare elf ears, did I really give him the impression that I’d do it? Is he stillthatmuch of a superior arse that he thinks I’m a fake fan for not doing it?

Then Jake looks up, smiling, and gives me a big wave that cools the anger in my chest a little.

By the time they reach me, Jake comes forward to wrap me in a big hug, talking a mile a minute about how – ‘The wings broke! I’m so gutted. We spentagestrying to get them to look right, taping them together and painting them, and they totally disintegrated assoon as I stepped outside. Max told me I should’ve used something better than craft paper and chicken wire … And we putsomany hours into it, too! Getting them to fit, measuring, trying different types of glue or tape … Lesson learned: Max is always right. Especially when it comes to this stuff!’

I hide a wince. So this is why he’s been so quiet lately: he’s been holed up with Max every spare moment, the two of them building a set of costume wings. Something fandom-related that hecouldhave involved me in, but chose not to.

It stings more than it has any right to.

I never thought I’d be so jealous of Max, or so desperate to be a cosplay guru.

I glance his way, find his eyes boring into me, and tear my gaze away instantly.

Jake doesn’t even notice when I fight to craft a more neutral expression to hide my hurt, and he’s too busy still chattering away to notice my breath tremble on the exhale.

He says, ‘The costume just didn’t look any good without them. You were right, Cer. I should’ve gone as Roach instead, or Devon. Oh well. Next time, right? What happened to yours? I thought you had a dress sorted? Didn’t you style a wig?’

I grimace, feeling Max’s dark eyes boring into me, and tell Jake, ‘Mine didn’t really work out either.’

Jake’s face falls; I’d gushed in Discord about how pleased I was to find pieces to pull the look together and how happy I was with how the wig turned out, but before he can be too sympathetic I put on a smile.

‘Next time, right?’ I repeat, and he nods, grinning once more.

‘I’ll hold you to it. Never mind. We’ve still got Sir Grayson here, huh? One of us managed it! Andkilled it, of course.’ He slings an arm around Max’s shoulders, admiring his outfit, and I fall back half a step, blinking rapidly as I take it in myself. The white-blonde hair, the ears of a half-elf character, the dark armour and sturdy boots and …

Oh, God.

I don’t know how I didn’t twig this before, but Max’s cosplay character is Sir Grayson – ‘the Moonwalker’ – one half of the other popular ship in the fandom, Moonsilver. As in, the Moonwalker andLady di Silver, who I almost came dressed as.

I cannotbelieveI almost showed up in a couple’s costume with Max!

Thank God I freaked myself out of wearing the dress. My intuition must have been tuned all the wayin this morning. I would never have lived it down anyway, but a couple’s costume with my crush’s best friend … That’d be a sure-fire way to kill The Plan.

Unless it would’ve made Jake just a little bit jealous …?

It’s too late now, anyway.

Who knew fandom could be such a vessel for romance and flirting and missteps in love?

Jake’s been saying something I’m totally oblivious to while I’ve been staring blankly at Max’s outfit, and I jolt back to reality when I hear my name. Not sure I want to have been caught staring (even accidentally) at Max, I just smile and hope Jake didn’t ask me anything that needs a response.

They’re both pulling their phones out of their pockets, though, and I catch on – we’re finding our tickets to go inside.

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