Fluff

Chapter Twenty-One - Costuming Up

Emily walked into her dorm with the same energy some people would arrive at a resort or a fancy hotel. It was the joy of finally being away from too many people and finally being able to enjoy the privacy of her own solitude.

“Oh hey Boss, you’re back.”

Emily sighed as she slipped in and closed the door behind her. Almost solitary.

Teddy was sitting on her bed, legs crossed and back against the wall while Emily’s laptop sat open before her with its charging wire extending halfway across the room and using Emily’s chair as a suspension so that it could reach all the way.

A deep Ritish voice was coming from the laptop. “The most ferocious predator of the northern Rockies of Anada, the Grizzly is a predator with a surprising soft spot.”

“You’re listening to a documentary?” Emily asked.

“Yeah,” Teddy said.

“The male bear, when his mate seems interested, will mount--”

The laptop clacked shut. Teddy kept staring past where the screen had been.

“How was your day?” Teddy asked a moment later as she unfroze.

Emily eyed her suspiciously, especially the red tint on the girl’s cheeks. “It was okay,” she said. “Classes were a little boring, and the professor handed out a bit of homework due next week.”

“That’s cool,” Teddy said.

“Have you been here watching... nature documentaries all day?” Emily asked. She didn’t know if she really wanted an answer to that.

Teddy shook her head then burst out from her pile of blankets. “I got you a costume, Boss.”

Emily’s mind took a moment to shut down, download some updates, then reboot. “You what?” she said at last.

By then Teddy had rushed across the room and came back with a pile of clothes squished between grubby hands. “Here Boss.”

She took the clothes, then set them on the bed as she took off her backpack and tossed off her shoes. Unfolding the costume revealed a black outfit that looked like a suit at first, but the lines on the pants and the little vest screamed ‘1920s gangster.’ The suspenders and the little tie that matched them didn’t help any.

And the fedora that Teddy plopped next to the costume put paid to any hopes that it was something else.

“There’s a mask too,” Teddy said as she reached into a pocket and pulled out a large black domino mask.

Emily looked at the clothes, then at Teddy. “Where did you get any of this?” she asked. She didn’t want to ask. She was terrified that the answer was ‘I mugged it.’ It was the kind of question where the answer might come as a knock at her door as a pair of cops came over to ask some pointed questions.

“I found Alea Iacta,” Teddy said.

Emily rebooted her mind again, clearly the first time wasn’t enough. “What do you mean you found him? How?” Had the villain visited their dorm?

“I used the internet.”

“He has his address online?” she asked.

Teddy shook her head. “Nah. See, I found out he’s a theater guy, so I went to the theater and then got him to give us some costumes.”

“Just... like that?”

Teddy frowned and looked off to the ceiling as she thought. “I had some help from some comrades.”

Emily pressed her face into her hands. “Did you hide your identity?”

“He didn’t hide his,” Teddy said. “His name’s Jacob. He looks kinda wimpy out of costume. Wimpier.”

Emily gestured to the costume. “And you think this is... appropriate as a costume for me?”

Teddy blinked then looked at the costume. “Yeah. It’s a Boss costume, and you’re the Boss.”

“I... I guess,” Emily said. She didn’t feel boss-like, but Teddy kept saying it, and it was her name, at least according to her status page. Maybe she should play it up. When she thought costume the first thing that came to mind was the skimpy short-skirted outfits with boob windows that heroines had worn during the 70s when heroism became a big deal.

She could safely say that she wouldn’t be caught dead wearing something like that.

The other option, the one she found a lot more acceptable, was the heavy armour worn by some of the more intimidating heroes. But that sort of stuff probably cost a whole lot, and she suspected that buying that kind of equipment would put her on a list.

“Aren’t we heading out in a bit?” Teddy asked.

Emily shifted. She hadn’t made any sort of concrete plans for the evening yet. She knew that she had to do something about Homie, and sooner rather than later, but acting, actually going out and doing something was... it wasn’t in her nature, especially not something that might be violent.

But then, if she didn’t act, wasn’t her future just as ruined as if she did?

“Yeah,” she said. “I mean... yes. We’re going to call Melanie and... and then we’ll see.”

“Cool,” Teddy said. “I’ve got my own costume. I can get changed in the bathroom while you change here.”

Emily hesitated, then nodded. Teddy was surprisingly kind about Emily’s reservations about personal space. She watched the girl take a big bag with something purple in it into the bathroom.

She made sure the door was locked, then got dressed in a hurry. The costume... fit almost as if it was tailored for her. She had to wiggle a little to get into the pants, but no more than when wearing some well-fitted jeans, and while the vest squeezed a bit, it wasn’t in a bad way.

Emily stared down at herself and hesitated. How had Teddy found something that fit so well? Or was it Alea Iacta? Her cheeks warmed. Had he figured out what would fit just from looking at her? The most likely answer was that his power had kicked in and found something that just fit.

She slid the fedora on and then hesitated before putting on the mask.

The bathroom door slid open and something purple walked out.

Emily didn’t know what to make of Teddy’s costume. It was... it was a pimp outfit.

The girl had found a cute yellow summer dress that Emily recognized from their purchases at the thrift store, but she was wearing it over a pair of cargo shorts. That much was bizarre but acceptable.

The huge, fuzzy purple jacket and the hat with a brim that was half of Teddy’s height in diameter was...

“What are you wearing?” Emily asked.

“My costume,” Teddy said. “It’s a pimp outfit.”

“I noticed,” Emily said. “Do you... know what a pimp is?”

Teddy nodded, the huge brim flip-flopping like mad. “Yeah, it’s a kind of big predator.”

Emily felt her nose scrunching up against the inside of her mask. “I don’t... I mean, technically. But I don’t think that it’s very appropriate.”

“I mean, it’s not brown,” Teddy said. “But it’s not that bad is it?”

“It’s... I think you’d look a lot better without the coat,” Emily said.

Teddy shrugged out of the jacket. “Alright. Can I keep the hat?”

“I... maybe the hat should stay too? We can find you a much nicer hat, I’m sure. Maybe a mask too?” She was certain they could find a nice mask at the Dolla ‘n’ Mor’ store. There were always masks for sale there, cheap knock-offs of hero merchandise.

“Cool,” Teddy said. “So we're going out like this?”

Eily looked down at herself, worked through the obvious consequences of stepping out of her dorm in the costume she’d be wearing while maybe committing a crime, and then decided that she really wasn’t made for the whole heroics and villainy thing. As if it hadn’t been obvious enough already.

“Okay. I think you can wear your hoodie over your dress. It’ll hide your ears too. And we can bring a backpack to put everything in. I’ll... have to change out of all of this. Can you give me a minute?”

“Yeah. I’ll be in the bathroom again, tell me when you’re done, Boss.”

Emily changed back into her normal school clothes, then tossed the costume into her backpack after emptying it. “I’m done!” she called out to Teddy while looking for her phone.

She had a call to make, and then, after that, they would be off to get themselves into a whole heap of trouble.

She was not looking forward to it in the least.

***