Halloween.
Text (her): You home?
Yay!
Calm down.
Text (me): Yep.
Text (her): Stay inside.
Ooh. Ominous.
Text (me): k
Sounds like a surprise is coming for me- let me rephrase that.
Sounds like a surprise, for me, is coming.
... Only slightly less foreboding. Anyway....
I was sitting on the sofa when I heard the gravel crunch, and as much as I wanted to open the door to her, I knew that not doing that was implied, so I just remained seated, consciously stopping my leg from bouncing.
Car door shut.
Text (her): Close your eyes.
Oh, my. New outfit?
... No outfit?
Shut up.
Text (me): Ready.
I closed my eyes and set my phone aside. Hands over eyes for good measure.
After a few seconds, the front door opened.
Her footsteps on the hardwood floor sounded slightly different. New boots?
Door closed.
A couple more steps.
"Okay. Open."
I obeyed.
Never, in the entirety of my life, up to that point, had I ever put my hands to my open mouth in surprise.
"Oh, my god," I said through my fingers as I stood in awe.
I absolutely had to get a closer look at this... miracle.
I circled around her, as she casually strolled over to the arm of the sofa, for a proper leaning pose, and then I grabbed my phone to pull up the reference image.
Poking, prodding, and fondling, I inspected her further, comparing details.
A two-tier skirt. Purple on the top, shorter layer and gradient to a pinkish purple at the bottom, which was slightly tattered.
The belt with the double chain.
The purple, off-the shoulder, sleeved vest with only the one button at the top. And nothing underneath.
Arm sheath, wristbands, and infection lines drawn on one arm, copied with impressive accuracy.
I pinched some of her hair and slid my fingers down, leaving purple smudges.
"Temporary dye," she informed.
Appreciated. She knew I loved her natural self.
Short pigtails held by spiked hair ties.
Amazingly accurate and realistic looking horns.
Five-tooth necklace.
Pointy ears.
Purple contacts.
Purple stockings.
The purple-stained, calf-high boots were not exact match, but that was understandable.
She even had a realistic spell book, and a real-life accurate-equivalent dagger that was sharp.
"This is amazing," I finally said. "How... were you able to do this?"
She had achieved something that I almost doubted could be done at all.
An almost perfectly accurate cosplay that did not look like an obvious cosplay.
Of one of my favorite characters.
I took some pictures.
"Lots of internet searching, and have I mentioned that I'm half-way decent at crafting and sewing?"
"Half-way my ass. So much effort."
"I've wanted to make an amazing cosplay outfit for years, but there was never one that I thought was worth the effort, especially since I didn't have any real reason to wear it. Then I found the reason and the one I wanted to do."
"I feel like I should be wearing an oversized hooded coat, right now."
She lightly chuckled.
"Nope. I've done exactly what I wanted. ... Now it's your turn," she added, quietly and slyly, turning her face away and flipping the dagger around.
Hell, yeah.
My feet on either side of hers, I moved in to slide my hands around her waist and kiss her.
"Oy," she said, abruptly, impersonating the character's voice as she pushed me away with the book. "My trust is not at 200%."
I find that hard to believe.
But, okay. This seemed fun.
"Unfortunately, all base operations are assigned, and there are no missions available. In fact, I sent your sister on a mission."
Her eyebrow raised, and she turned her face toward me slightly.
I eased a little closer.
"She'll be gone for days."
She faced me.
"Would you like something sweet?"
"Whatcha got?"
I gave her quick, light kiss on cheek.
She froze a moment, with widened eyes, dropped the book and knife, then and lept up at me.
"Sugar rush," she shouted, wrapping her arms and legs around me and repeatedly kissing all over my face as I stumbled backward into the wall laughing.
Pretty sure this would not have been true to character.
I steadied myself, held her thighs, even though she was still securely affixed, and I somehow managed to catch up with her lips.
Her onslaught slowed until it was just one long kiss, and my hands had moved to her ass.
I was wrong.
They weren't stockings.
They were leggings.
I broke the kiss to ask, "Were these leggings expensive or hard to find?"
"No. Why," she asked with a devilish smile.
"I'm gonna need that knife."
Looked me deeply in the eyes for a moment, and then spoke in a soft voice.
"Trust is at 200%."
I can't really say that I was expecting anything, but I was definitely not expecting her to let go and slowly start leaning backwards until she was hanging upside down reaching a hand out for the knife on the floor.
Her loose, cloth vest flipped, uncovering her breasts, which was definitely not a distraction that I needed at the moment.