Adventures In Parodyverse: Costumes Part 1 (CSFB! wedding tie-in)

Note: Because I started writing this during the weekend I didn't have much planning time so I made up a few things. Hopefully you'll all like it, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed in case.

Adventures in Parodyverse - Costumes Part 1 (CSFB! wedding tie-in)

    "Jay, how do I look?" Liu Xi was standing in the doorway of Jay's room dressed entirely in leather, including boots. She was smiling, her long hair nearly pushed behind her ears.

    Naturally Jay was a little shocked by the vision. She was usually dressed very casually and plainly - and due to her small frame and stature, often in clothing that always seemed just a little too large for her. But the leather followed her shape very accurately, and he wasn't used to seeing his friend that way.

    "Um...nice." he said quickly, seeming embarassed to have said that much. "Is that a costume? What's it supposed to be?"

    She put dark sunglasses on and laughed. "I'll be back." she quoted in a false husky voice. She then peeked over the edge of the sunglasses and noted Jay staring at her blankly. "Come on, Jay, it's funny because of my Chinese accent."

    "It's not that, it's--" He took a deep breath to compose himself, and then said plainly, "it's that you look good. Attractive."

    Liu Xi turned around and looked at herself in a mirror across the room. She shrugged slightly. "You like it?"

    Jay gave a half-nod, unusure if that was something he wanted to admit to.

    She shrugged again and approached him, hugging him gently. "Thank you," she whispered with a smile. "But don't get used to it," she added as she let go, "it's not very comfortable. I feel like I'm wrapped like a mummy and can't move."

    "So you're all ready for Dream's wedding," Jay finally noted.

    "What are you dressing as?" she asked.

    He smiled at that. "It's a surprise," he replied.

    "You're not going as Hatman are you? We've already seen that."

    Jay didn't reply to that.

    "And if you think my costume is attractive wait until you see Lara's." She was serious saying that up until she saw Jay's reaction, and then she giggled.

    "What's so funny?" he asked.

    Liu Xi cleared her throat quickly and tried to suppress her amused smile. "Your mouth was open and there was no blood left in your face," she replied cryptically.

    "How come I don't tease you when you're admiring guys?" Jay asked her, sounding a little tense as he did.

    "Because it sickens you to think about it." Liu Xi patted him on the upper back gently and smiled at him. "It's okay, I know you don't let your daydreams about girls into reality."

    Jay relaxed and smiled once he was reminded again why Liu Xi was a friend - because she always knew where to draw the line and stop. "I guess I'll get ready for the wedding too."

    "Okay." She nodded and headed to the doorway, stopping and leaning against the doorframe as she left. "Don't let my costume or Lara's embarass you. Visionary is the one supposed to freak out."

    "Wait till he sees you," Jay replied instinctively, sounding amused, before he realized what he was saying.

    "Yes," Liu Xi giggled as she finally left the room, closing the door behind her.

---

    "Are you supposed to be a geisha?" ManMan asked as he passed the Psychic Samurai in a period Japanese costume.

    Chiaki wheeled around quickly and frowned. "I'm not wearing makeup," she corrected him curtly, "and the decorative sword should be a clue."

    "So...an armed practical geisha?"

    She clenched her teeth subtly and stared at ManMan for a few seconds before turning to walk away. "I fear any explanation would be lost on a man unable to even comprehend the brief history of Elvis."

    ManMan remained there for several minutes even after Chiaki had shuffled away. "Hey!" he finally said, even though he was all alone by then. Knifey snickered cruelly from his belt.

    There was a loud crash and a cloud of dust as someone crashed through the wall next to him. He screamed and dove face first to the floor, covering his head. He didn't realize that in his out of shape condition that caused his pants to slide below his belt line.

    "Geez, pull up your pants," Yuki called to him from within what looked like a black and purple metallic hard suit from some sort of anime. She flipped up the visor to speak to him. "I'm not an not an alien here to probe you."

    "What are you doing?" ManMan asked, sounding both angry and shaken as he rushed to pull up his pants.

    "Sorry," she said quickly, "Al B Harper just finished this and I have to learn to pilot it before the wedding." The contraption snapped open and she stepped out, dressed in some sort of shiny, form fitting black and purple pilot's suit designed to fit her into the mech without getting jammed in its mechanism. "It's a surprise for Dream. I'm going to crash the wedding with it and he'll love it."

    "ohmygodwhendidIeversignupforthis..." ManMan whined to himself as Yuki stepped back into the mech and began trying to pilot it back through the hole in the wall, and more debris began falling around him.

    "Don't worry," Yuki called after him, "I'll be back to fix that. Unless I can't find it, or I forget."


---

    "Hey Dream," Lara greeted him with a hug as soon as he answered the door. He looked shocked, partly because she knocked instead of entering, and partly because she was still in regular civilian clothing. "I don't want anyone to see the costume until the wedding," she answered before he even said anything.

    Dream nodded and smiled as he hugged her back. He wasn't in costume yet either.

    "So you guys nervous about this yet?" Lara asked as she let go of him.

    "Nervous? Why? We've been living together for ages."

    "No, no, I mean the whole center of attention thing," she clarified. "You and April have always been together, but kind of in the background. Now it's center stage, the talk of everyone at the mansion."

    He shrugged, seeming mostly unconcerned about it. "It's a little weird, yeah, but you know I like the attention." That was followed by a sly smile.

    "Never mind." Lara rolled her eyes but seemed amused by his answer. "So besides the costume party theme, what kind of wedding is this going to be?"

    Dream thought about that for a moment. "Not sure. We could forget about sticking to any kind of convention and just give speeches. We could follow the traditions of my ancestors and April's, but even that gets kind of complicated. Or maybe something really alien. Like Caphan alien...I like some of theirs."

    "Because they all involve a harem and lots of sex." Lara pointed out. She noted that Yuki entered the room silently - dressed in a shiny black and purple form-fitting one piece outfit - and stood with her arms folded.

    "Make fun if you want," Dream replied, "but their traditions are actually beautiful. I have to think about the details but it involves putting together a harem of girls you know--"

    "I knew there would be a harem," Lara interrupted.

    "Keep listening for a sec," Dream scolded her yet still smiled. "You share with them each one last physical act--"

    Lara silently mimed checking an item off a list.

    "--and then give them to someone else." Dream continued. "The beauty of it is that at the end you have one girl. Just one, and you've given away all your other 'possessions' to share your life with her. It's a pretty cool guesture, telling your future wife that you want no one else but her...and mean it."

    "That is pretty cool," Yuki finally piped up. "If you do that one count me in."

    "Count you in?" Lara asked, sounding like she didn't quite follow what Yuki referred to.

    "For the harem," Yuki quickly clarified. "Sounds like fun, and a wonderful gesture."

    Lara stared at Yuki for a moment. The purple-haired cyborg didn't seem to be joking. She also glanced at Dream and noticed him staring back. "What?"

    "Can I count on you too?" he asked.

    "Wait a sec." Lara thought carefully about something Dream said that didn't seem to stick when Yuki volunteered. "What's this about giving away to someone else?"

    "That's the exciting part," Dream replied. "You never know who I'll give you to, and you have to do what they ask for a full day. C'mon, Lara, you've probably done stuff like this for charity."

    "Not exactly," she replied with a laugh. "Similar, yeah. I've 'rented' myself to families for charity." She sighed when she noticed Dream nodding encouragingly. "Okay fine, I'm in."

    "Are we assembling for something important?" Chiaki Bushido asked calmly. She was in a costume, and no one seemed to notice here there until she spoke.

    "Oooh, an Edo period samurai!" CSFB! gushed. "That's so cool!"

     Chiaki sighed sadly. "You seem to be the only one who guessed that correctly."

    "Are you in for this too?" Dream asked her.

    Chiaki nodded once.

    "Without even asking questions?" Lara asked.

    "Questions aren't necessary when you have all the answers," Chiaki replied calmly.

    Lara gave them all a mock frown. "Fine, but all of you are making me look like a big coward."

    Dream put his arm around Lara, making her smile again. "You're braver than you think," he said, giving her a little wink to tell her that she knew what he meant. He laughed when she blushed slightly. "I'll see you girls later, I need to ask Lisa, Liu Xi, and Dancer, and talk to April about whether we'll do it. And also whether we'll do this harem thing."

---

    "Either you're in costume or you just bought a Harley," Dream guessed as he found Liu Xi lounging in her attic rec room. She seemed to be slouching on the plush couch there watching television while waiting for the wedding party to assemble.

    "Maybe both," she spoke quietly in response, never taking her eyes off of the TV.

    He sat on the couch next to her. As he did she pulled herself up and crossed her legs, trying to keep from sliding down again due to the slick leather clothing. "Nice one. Terminator?"

    Liu Xi looked at him and smiled, and then put on the sunglasses she had hanging over her shirt. "Jay didn't guess," she said.

    "So," Dream began, "I might do a Caphan thing involving a harem and physical acts and then giving each of them away to someone else if April is up for it and so far Yuki, Lara, and Chiaki are in but I still have to ask you, Lisa, and Dancer."

    "That's a big harem," Liu Xi noted. "You don't need me."

    Dream shrugged. "I wouldn't want to leave you out. Besides, what makes the tradition special is really the giving away, so it's like giving away everything you 'have' to be with that one special girl."

    She looked at him and removed the sunglasses. "Did you make that up?"

    He looked hurt at that response, though not too deeply. "Miiri told me about it," he said, "when I told her me and April were getting hitched."

    "Is she going to be in the harem?"

    "If she wants to." Dream smiled. "That would be pretty cool, actually."

    "What if Miiri made that up to amuse you?"

    Dream opened his mouth to reply, but then stopped. He thought about Liu Xi's suggestion...it was a possibility. "I'll have to ask her," he said with a shrug. "If she did it'd be one excellent practical joke. But if it's not...are you in?"

    "I don't know." She frowned and looked down. "I don't think that's something I can do."

    He put his arm around her comfortable and nudged her gently with his head. "C'mon, I bet you have the cutest ass of anyone I know, and it's a crime you won't share it."

    She giggled at that, but didn't say anything right away. After a long pause her smile disappeared and she finally explained, "I'm still afraid."

    "Of me?" Dream asked, sounding a little hurt.

    "No, no." She shook her head and thought again, trying to put the right words together. "Of making a mistake."

    "Look, Liu Xi...it's not a contract, okay? The rules only specify a 'physical act', it doesn't say what kind, so it's not so scary. Though if I were you I'd go for the gold cause a chance like this doesn't come along often."

    "A chance like what?" Liu Xi asked. "It's not as if I'll never sleep with anyone for the rest of my life."

    "To give something of yourself to something bigger than you," Dream replied. "It's like...Lara says she rented herself to a family for a day for charity. Sure it's a little scary and kind of a pain but it's worth it because then you're something special to other people."

    "But I'm already special to you."

    Dream smiled. "You are, but if you become something so much more than just a spectator at my wedding...the first day of the rest of my life...I'll always remember it. So will April, and my kids, and the person you're given too for a day at the end of the ceremony."

    "Who?" she asked.

    "That part is a surprise. But think about all the people who will remember that you put aside your own needs for someone else for a whole day."

    "Okay." Liu Xi sighed and nodded slowly. "Just don't give me to Flapjack for the day."

    Dream hugged Liu Xi tightly and enthusiastically said, "Thanks so much, Liu Xi."

    When he stood and bounded out of the room Liu Xi watched him and couldn't help but smile...and she secretly hoped she wouldn't regret her decision.


TO BE CONTINUED

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2006 by Jason Froikin, and may not be
-- reprinted without permission.
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
-- Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
-- Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin

Post By Anime Jason Wed Nov 29, 2006 at 04:45:18 pm EST	Subject Adventures In Parodyverse: Costumes Part 1 (CSFB! wedding tie-in)

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