Convention Commotion
With help from the lovely @tactax-art, who encouraged me and drew the art for me, this is a lil continuation of the previous cosplayer AU for my beloved Costume Anon ❤ Hope everyone enjoys 😉 proper art near the end of the fic.
***
What had started as his uncle taking pity on him for not being able to go to a convention by himself, had become a tradition of sorts. Any time uncle John was on leave, he'd ask Andy if there were any conventions. And any time there were, they'd meet up with Simon.
"Ye cannae call him Simon, Andy. It's Lieutenant Ghost, or Lt., or Mr. Riley. Or anythin' else, really. Just show him some respect." Uncle John had chastised him after he'd asked once if Simon was gonna be at convention they'd just arrived at.
"Until he joins the army, Johnny, I'll have none of that nonsense." Uncle John had jumped out of his skin (Andy had too, but that was less surprising. He wasn't a highly trained soldier, after all.) when the big fucker had snuck up on them and began speaking. "Just Simon is fine, Andy."
"Chew ma banger, uncle John." He'd said with a shit eating grin, before ducking out of the way of his uncles swipes.
So they'd taken to meeting up with Simon at conventions. Andy had realized two things rather quickly. One: there was undeniable chemistry between the two of them, and two: neither one of them was going to make a move on the other.
They danced around each other. Flirting, but in a "ha ha, I'm only gay for the joke" kinda way. They stared at one another, getting lost in each others eye's in a sickening display of obviously clear affection. God forbid one didn't catch the other's eye, either, because when that happened the one staring would take on this dreamy dopey smile. They were constantly touching. Brushing up against one another, putting their hands on the other's shoulder, or back, or thigh.
They were disgusting. It was adorable. And he had to share it. Because if Andy could see how perfect they were together, so would the internet. 28,000 followers on tiktok later, and every convention they went to, Andy filmed the whole thing. He'd divvy up the videos and get months worth of content, to tide them over till his uncles next leave. Simon and uncle John had no idea how large their fan base was. Or how feral. Those who weren't hard-core shipping the two together, were vying for the attention of one or the other, or both, in the comments.
For most, though, they'd lose their minds with every little interaction. Every gentle touch, prolonged moment of eye contact, soft smile, or act of service from one man to the other, and their fans were swooning, and it seemed all their waiting was finally paying off. Or, at least, Simon was now aware of John's feelings, though how he'd found out was less than ideal.
***
Soap was ecstatic. After the Spiderman and Deadpool totally-not-couples-costumes went over so well with other patrons at their last convention, Andrew had assured them that their tiktok fans were over the moon for them as well, Simon had agreed to do more comic book stuff with him. While Soap had wanted to be Deadpool, he couldn't deny how well it suited Ghost to be the merc with a mouth. Soap hadn't known beforehand how much the man loved katanas, nor that he even knew how to use them. More important than his skill with the (in this case fake) blades, however, was Simon's ass in that outfit. Which had led him down a rabbit hole of sorts. Yes, it was the source of plenty of wet dreams both before and after seeing him in spandex, but that wasn't what this was about. No, after seeing Ghost dressed as Deadpool with his nearly godly physique, John couldn't help but think of the superior comic book company: DC. Ghost would make an incredible Red Hood, and Soap had wanted to be Nightwing since he was a lad. After voicing that desire, Ghost had agreed, and got to work on the costumes.
At some point during the process, Gaz had found him deep in his work and asked Ghost about it. He then promptly kicked down Soap's door to yell at him for not telling him about their 'convention dates' he wouldn't hear of it that they weren't dates.
"So Gaz is comin' now." He'd said in lieu of greeting when he'd entered Ghost's room that night.
"Mhmm." Ghost had nodded and continued to work away at his sewing machine. "Said he had a matching cosplay. 'Red Robin', he'd called it. Assured me it was different from mine. Tried to tell him I wouldn't know or care, I just enjoy makin the costumes." Soap had made himself comfy on Ghost's bed, and pulled out his journal to doodle. Ghost continued. "Roach is tagging along too, said he has a costume for Blue Beetle. Said it's not Batman related, but it's the same comic franchise."
"Blue Beetle's costume is pretty sick, that'll be cool." Soap had been a little down in that moment that the others would be tagging along, and he'd no longer have Ghost to himself, but he got over it quickly. They were still his friends. "We should drag Price along. Bring the whole team."
"You convince him to go, and just tell me what to make."
And now here they were. The 141, arguably the worlds most elite counterterrorism task force, dressed up as various DC characters. At a cosplay convention. Soap had never felt hotter.
Andy had hit it off with Roach pretty much immediately, the two of them talking at length about tiktok of all things. Soap wasn't aware that Roach had one. They couldn't convince Price to wear a costume, but that was okay. Several people approached him and said his Dum Dum Dugan colspay was cool, resulting in all three of his sergeants cackling at his confusion.
"You can't smoke that in here, boss." Ghost had whispered when Price placed a cigar in his mouth.
"I'm not. It's for emotional support." It fueled other peoples assumptions that he was cosplaying a marvel character, is what it was doing.
As was usual for a convention with Simon and his incredible cosplays, they were stopped by tons of people for pictures, and Andy recorded everything.
"Excuse me." Their group turned around to see a man in red, maroon, and gold robes of some sort.
"Oh, cool! Prince Zuko!" Well at least Roach knew who he was.
"Oh, uh, my friends call me Costume An-... You know what? Yeah. Just Zuko works. Can I get a picture of you guys?" Everyone nodded or gave the guy some sort of affirmative, and he turned specifically to Gaz and Ghost. "Do you know the panel where Tim kicks Jason in the balls? Can you do that? It's my favorite."
Soap knew the panel. Gaz knew the panel. Ghost certainly did not. All eyes were on him. He shrugged. "I'm wearing a cup." Gaz had the most feral grin Soap had ever seen him with. In hindsight, that should've been their warning.
"Right, Lt., you're gonna stand here," Gaz placed Ghost with his back to the cameras held by both Zuko and Andy. He used his foot to guide Ghost's stance wider. "Like that. Perfect. Everyone ready?" Gaz had the cheek to wink at Andy's camera.
He reared back.
And gave it everything he had.
That cup could only do Simon so much good.
Everyone winced as Ghost crumpled. "Gaz what the bloody fuck?!"
Price was barely keeping a straight face. He used his hand to grab his cigar and hide his failure. "Haven't heard your voice that high since you enlisted, Simon."
"He's dead." Soap whispered.
"You're dead." Roach informed Gaz as he made his way away from Ghost, who was still crouched on the floor.
"I'm dead." Gaz agreed, albeit with a shit eating grin. "Worth it, though. Bastard used me as a training dummy for forty-five goddamn minutes yesterday!" Soap had seen the aftermath, Ghost was pissed at some rookies and dragged poor Gaz into the ring to blow off some steam. The bruising all over Gaz's body were no joke.
"You said you weren't going to hold it against me!" Ghost wheezed.
"I lied!" Gaz shot back.
"Dude..." Andy definitely felt bad for poor Ghost, as did Soap.
"Man I needed those working." He bemoaned. Talk about foot in mouth, he hadn't meant to say that out loud.
"Oh, d'you two get your shit together? I'm sorry, I guess." Gaz laid a hand on Soap's shoulder.
"You'll apologize to him and not to me?!" Ghost's voice was marginally less strained and more angry.
"I was apologizing for accidentally cockblocking you two. I didn't know." Well neither did Ghost! John thought angrily.
"WHAT?!"
"GAZ!"
Gaz clearly realized his mistake, because Ghost was on his feet, and Soap himself was fuming at being outed like that. He bolted. Soap gave chase, and could hear Ghost charging after as well.
***
Andy turned to their new buddy, Zuko. "You'll send those to me, right?" He asked. He didn't really feel like Simon deserved that, but damn was it funny.
"He's gonna be okay, right?" Zuko asked.
"Ghost has taken worse hits. Gaz might need medical leave when they catch him though." Roach said while laughing. Soldiers were weird. But damn tiktok was gonna love this. Maybe they would finally get their shit together after they finish breaking their friend's legs.
