Page 50 of Cosplay & Consequences

Brayonna and Bennet stood off to the side, conferring with each other as I approached them. When they turned to look at me, it was all the confirmation I needed: I was a hot mess.

“What in the world happened to you?” Bray asked. She reached out to help me with my outfit, but stopped when she realized there was nothing she could do to fix this disaster. Her hand hovered in the air reluctant to touch anything on me in case the entire thing fell apart.

“Let’s just say I murdered Samuel Gamgee, and the entire con won’t be getting any turkey legs until the deep fryer oil is changed. How’s it going?”

“Well, the first full take wasn’t bad,” Bennet said, trying to sound positive.

“It wasn’t good either,” Bray grumbled.

Oh boy. “And the other takes?”

“Progressively worse,” Bennet admitted.

Brayonna shook her head. “It’s getting ugly.”

I scanned the room, gauging just how bad things were. Two elderly women and a girl stood off to the side. One was a woman in her seventies, her grey roots prominent in her otherwise dyed hair. Despite the circumstances she seemed to be enjoying herself. The other woman had a black bob with thick framed glasses, and her lips were puckered as if she had taken a bite out of a lemon. I recognized the girl with glasses from her photo. It was Daniel’s niece, and her eyebrows were furrowed in worry.

“Who are they?” I asked.

“His agent, his publicist, and his niece I think,” Bray answered.

“All right! We’re trying again!” The director called out. The crew filed into place and the director went back to his station near the camera. “All right, Danny. We know you have it in you. Let’s do it. All right?”

Daniel nodded and went to his mark. He was back in his costume from the convention center, but I could tell he was off. It was the first time I’d ever seen him without his usual swagger.

“Action!”

I watched him settle in and began to speak. “Friends and allies, gather close to me and hear-”

The words felt empty, and he knew it. He stopped and began walking around in a circle until he got back in position.

“It’s okay Danny. Keep rolling! Action!”

“Friends and-” He stopped and shook his head.

“Cut.”

There was a groan from the crew. The mean looking woman with the black hair pulled out her phone and walked away. The other old woman held up her hands. “It’s okay everyone. It’s fine,” she called out.

She waddled out to the stage and gestured for Daniel. “Come here, Woobie. Let’s talk it out.”

The girl frowned, and I found myself walking over to her.

Her eyes went wide as she watched a train wrecked Fiona approach her. I didn’t blame her.

“Hi,” I said, trying not to freak her out. “I’m Jessica. I’m a friend of your uncle.”

“Hi! I’m–” she choked and sputtered on her own words, blushing furiously. “I mean. Um. I’m Faye.”

I winced. My appearance must have been frightening for her to react that way. “I know. Your uncle told me a lot about you. Do you know what’s going on?”

She let out a long sigh, turning back to watch Daniel’s struggles. “He’s not in his head. My mom got a job offer to be a producer on a show in Toronto. He won’t admit it, but I think it got to him.”

“You’re moving?” My thoughts went back to our dinner together and how he beamed talking about Faye. No wonder Daniel was freaking out.

“Yeah. I mean he totally supports Mom and insists she needs to take the job, but….”

A scuffle broke out. I turned, and Paige was strong-arming another crew member back on set.