A group of friends streams their gaming on Wednesday nights. But not all the action is on the dining room table.

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Chapter 15 -- Final Fitting

"Stop it."

"I'm not doing anything."

"Well, stop it anyway," I said, glaring at Brian for a brief moment before turning my attention back to the road. He still had the same stupid smirk plastered across his face he'd been wearing when I'd gotten back home the day before, bags in hand, not all of them particularly subtle about what was inside.

I was never going underwear shopping with Maria again.

"Are they that different from--"

"Brian!"

"Road!" He croaked, grabbing the dash as I had to slam on the brakes to keep from plowing into the rear bumper of the car ahead of us. "Alrightalright, sorry."

I grumped a bit, more to hide my embarrassment than in actual anger.

I'd intended to keep things simple on the shopping trip: a pack of cheap women's undies, in, out, done. Maria, however, wasn't content with that.

"If you're gonna get 'em, be serious," she'd said, and after we'd made the stop for the cheap and cheerful ones, she'd dragged me to a couple of the stores she preferred, the kind of stores that I'd always walked briskly past in case someone thought I was a perv for looking at the manikins in the windows.

I'd never figured I'd own anything from those stores myself.

I was wrong.

I did have to admit, though, there was a degree of method to Maria's madness. She'd assured me the cheap-o pack we'd picked up -- high cut bikinis, at her suggestion -- would be comfortable enough, but that if I was going to make a habit of wearing women's underwear I needed to know a bit more about what styles I liked and didn't, and materials. She'd also insisted that if I was going to be buying lingerie (her term) to wear with my costumes, then I needed to "embrace the sexy" and get something that would make me feel right from the skin out. The result was more than just underpants in the lurid pink, green, and silver bags I'd brought home.

I could have said no. I probably *should* have said no. But....

I squirmed in my seat again, not out of discomfort, but out of confusion at the lack thereof, I guess.

In the end, Aunt Cici was brought into the fold via a quick phone call to confirm the things she thought would work best with the costumes she had planned, and a few "extras" she felt that I should have as well, for Reasons. I was wearing one of those extras now, what Maria and Cici had called a tee shirt bra. They'd assured me that it would minimize the chest I was now all too aware I had and, so long as I wore a tank over it, wouldn't be obvious under any of my tees or anything either.

It was soft. It had wide straps, and little hooks in the front, and the last thing I was about to admit to *anyone* was the immediate reduction in jiggle I hadn't even realized was a problem only a week ago.

I felt like an idiot. I felt like everyone was going to notice what I was wearing. I felt like I was doing something wrong. But damn if I didn't also feel less exposed, and if Aunt Cici hadn't been right: the panties *did* fit better than even the men's bikinis did.

I glanced toward Brian as we pulled into the lot at the studio, and wilted a bit when I caught the look of regret on his face. Sure, he'd called the forfeit, but he hadn't actually done anything to force me to do it, and I'd been surly at best with him for almost two days now.

I pulled into our normal parking spot at the studio and shut the car off, but before Brian could climb out I locked the car doors. A symbolic gesture at best, since they'd automatically unlock if you pulled the handle from the inside, but it caught Brian's attention.

"Leigh...."

"No, can I, let me go first," I said, unbuckling my seat belt and turning to face him. Brian gave me a smile, but I could see a wariness behind it that set off a pang in my chest. "Listen, I'm sorry I've been such a--"

"No, I should never have--"

"I know you didn't mean it like--"

"I thought it'd help and be fun but--"

"Brian."

"Leigh."

We both stopped talking at the same time, and I found myself staring into Brian's eyes, my heart skipping a beat as he reached out and touched my shoulder, just for a moment, before dropping his hand again.

Sigh.

"Just..." I stopped talking again, taking some time to figure out what I needed to say. "I don't... you weren't *wrong,* I don't think," I finally said. "It just feels like everything's being super weird all of a sudden, and…"

Brian nodded. "You always freak a little before conventions," he said, the tension fading in his eyes. "But maybe the baby thing was a bit much."

"A bit," I agreed, rolling my eyes at the understatement. "But it's also a fun idea. I don't know if I'd have agreed to it if I'd known Aunt Cici had something like it planned, but I think it's gonna be popular with our followers and--"

"Leigh."

"Hmm?" I asked, the bit of agitation in Brian's voice throwing me off.

Brian sighed. "Don't... I'll back you up if you want to tell Cici and the others you've changed your mind about the baby part of the costume," he said, pushing his hair back from his face. "And I'm sorry -- I am -- that I've pushed you even more about things after."

"You didn't--"

"I did," he said, cutting me off. "I thought... it doesn't matter what I thought. Or think," he said, glancing down at my chest just long enough for me to scowl at him, which only made him smile even more. "Just like it doesn't matter if the stream loses every follower it has. I want to know you're comfortable with what you're doing."

I think I surprised both of us by laughing at that.

"Comfortable?" I said, unable to keep the disbelief out of my voice. "Brian, when am I comfortable with anything?" I closed my eyes and laughed a little more, more to myself than anything. "If I only did what I was comfortable with I'd still be sitting in my room at home, playing my Game Kid and refusing to interact with anyone."

"You had a Game Kid? I didn't get a handheld 'til the TS," he said, laughing along with me.

"Phillistine," I said, but smiled at him. He reached out and rubbed my shoulder again, and I couldn't fight the urge to reach up and give his hand a squeeze before dropping it on the back of my seat.

I thought about what Brian was saying. In a lot of ways it was the same kind of thing Maria had said to me the day before... and in the end, I had to answer it the same way.

"I think I need to do this," I said, looking him in the eyes. "I think I need to see where this goes, because it feels like it's important?"

"I'll be here for you no matter what," he said, and I could see in his eyes the truth in his words.

"I'll hold you to that," I said back, quietly, as we kept looking at each other.

*KNOCKKNOCK*

"Eeek!" I squeaked and jumped in my seat, turning to the front of my car to see Sydney leaning on the hood, watching us.

"Either start making out or come inside," she said, rapping on the hood again and giving us a shit-eating grin before turning around and heading toward the building.

I gave Brian one more look. "Shall we?"

"Make out?' He asked me, waggling his eyebrows, which set off my laughter again. By the time I'd recovered he was already out of the car and around to my side, waiting to hold the door for me when I finally opened it.

-==-

I looked at the two garment bags Cici was trying to hand me warily.

I knew what was in them. I knew they fit. I knew how to put them on.

They still scared the hell out of me.

"I promise you, mija, you can handle them," she said, giving me a one-armed hug and laying them in my limp arms. "Do you have your makeup?"

"Yeah, I picked it up from Maria's yesterday," I agreed, still unsure.

"Bien. Use the color guide I gave you for the princess gown from last convention for the dress for tomorrow morning, and the guide for the emerald robe for the one on Friday, and I'll give you a touch-up when you get to the hotel." She gave me another, longer hug this time. "Oh! I wish I were going on the boat with you!"

My nerves relaxed as she continued to hug me, and I finally freed one of my arms to hug her back, laughing a little. "Maybe next time, Aunt Cici."

Aunt Cici let me go and looked like she had something more to say, but was interrupted by one of her assistants calling her over to the temporary barriers they'd set up giving each of us a smaller, more private changing and fitting area. I think that assistant was working with Deidre. Aunt Cici gave me a long look, then left my little room, closing the curtain behind her.

With Aunt Cici gone, I carefully hung the garment bags from a piece of conduit running along the wall and sat down on the single chair in my own little area, taking a deep breath.

Four dresses. *Four. Dresses.*

Okay, so it was more like three dresses, since I wasn't sure the fourth really counted, being more like a fancy sorceress' robe. That one was something else: it was a deep crimson velvet for the most part, it had a train, and I was one hundred percent sure I wouldn't be able to risk eating or drinking anything the entire time I was wearing it lest I ruin the damn thing.

The other three were less worrisome, but still far from anything I would say I was excited to wear.

Aunt Cici had truly gone above and beyond this time around. For the first day on the boat she'd designed me something she claimed was similar to a dirndl, a cobalt blue with a white blouse underneath that she said should be easy to wear but also fit my character. To fantasy it up a bit she'd paired it with a light cape and hood in a matching blue, but with silver symbols sewn into it to give it a more mystical look.

I could see why she wanted me to use the same makeup colors as I had with the gown from the last convention: it was a very similar blue, but I was already thinking of ways I could change up the look a bit, since I didn't want to deal with the high-maintenance look we'd done with that gown.

For Friday she'd surprised me again, with a dress that seemed like a similar style, but this time in a dark green, with a brown blouse for underneath. Instead of a cape, though, she'd paired this one with a handful of props to go along with my character's magical abilities, like a leather belt covered in pouches, some of them full of things like cotton fluff and bits of string, and a silver diadem with orange and red jewels in it.

Those were the two dresses that now sat in the garment bags beside me, along with notes on which lingerie she expected me to pair with them and the pair of long brown boots she'd paired them both with, *thankfully* with a very low, flat heel. Shoes had long been a point of contention for us on my costumes, but I was glad that even Aunt Cici didn't want me trying to wear something silly on a boat.

Saturday's outfit was a long, white dress that Aunt Cici told me was based on an early nineteen hundreds lingerie dress. "It's very anachronistic, but you kids have guns and airships and magic in your game, so I'm taking creative license," she'd told me when I'd asked about the time period. Unlike the other outfits for the weekend, this one went all the way up to my neck and fully covered my arms as well, and was paired with another short cape and hood, similar to the one for Thursday's dress, but in white.

As much as Sunday's dress scared me for its slinkiness and material, Saturday's scared me for an entirely different reason. Seeing myself in the mirror wearing it I hadn't been able to resist a comment about how much like a wedding dress it looked, and the sparkle in Aunt Cici's eyes at the thought was enough to chill me to the bone.

Thankfully, both the Saturday and Sunday outfits were safely out of sight, secured on a costume rack somewhere outside my little booth and set to make the trip to the convention in the back of a van, giving me a merciful two days before I'd have to think about either one again.

My musings on my fashion future were interrupted by a light knocking on the thin barrier in front of me. "You decent in there?" Brian asked.

"Sure, come on in," I said, standing up and, for some reason, double-checking my appearance in the long, thin mirror one of Aunt Cici's assistants had set up in the booth.

Brian peeked through the curtain before opening it up and stepping inside, closing it behind him. He had a garment bag of his own draped over one arm, bulkier than either of mine.

"Only one bag?"

"Yeah, she made me some new armor and leather pants, but said I have most of what I need at home already," he said, waving a list in his free hand before glancing at my own garment bags. "She sending all of yours with us?"

I shook my head. "Those are just for the boat trip. She's got Saturday and Sunday out on the rack."

"Four different costumes?" He said, then chuckled. "I guess that makes sense for a princess, doesn't it."

"I guess," I said, trying not to pout a bit. "None of mine have armor or anything with them, though."

"Your fault for playing a squidgy mage," he said, grinning.

"You say that, but she didn't give me any armor for my cleric last campaign either."

"Did you ever ask her to?"

"I... shut up," I said, fighting not to laugh at the goofy looks Brian was giving me.

"She spends more time on your costumes than anyone else's except Deidre's," he said, hanging his garment bag next to mine.

"Yeah, Aunt Cici's always loved dressing me and Maria up. You wouldn't believe some of the Halloween costumes she made us growing up."

"Disney princesses?"

"No!" I snapped, blushing. "I mean, she *wanted* to, one year, but we nixxed that," I said. "We did dress as our game characters a few times, but I was playing a lot of rogues and rangers at the time, so it was a lot more pants and cloaks than anything else." I thought for a moment, and frowned. "And even *then* she never made me armor!"

Brian laughed. "I'm trying to imagine like a fifteen year old you running around dressed like Jonah's idea of a rogue, and it just doesn't work."

"Ugh, never," I huffed, crossing my arms and glaring at him. "Nitara wouldn't stoop so low."

"So even then it was girls' costumes?"

"I... I mean, technically?" I shrugged. "I dunno. Aunt Cici's designs have definitely gotten more...."

"Feminine?"

"I guess," I admitted, "as we've gotten older." I thought about all the bits of my costumes from high school that I'd kept and worn on occasion as regular wardrobe, like the leather vest she'd made for Nitara or the bracers for Killi, and for the first time wondered just how much of that read more girl than boy to everyone else around me.

"Deep thoughts?"

"Nah, just embarrassing ones," I said, sliding down to sit cross-legged on the floor. "Now you've got me wondering what kind of costume she would have given fifteen-year-old me for Lunea."

"Probably something with a higher neckline."

"Maybe not," I said, smirking as I thought about the lingerie dress again. "But yeah, I don't think she'd let me show as much skin as she has me show now, most of the time."

"Shame."

"What?"

"Nothing," Brian said, a rare blush of his own showing. "Ah, hey, I'm gonna go get us some tacos," he said, after a few awkward moments, then left the booth, leaving his garment bag with mine.

Had he really...?

I shook my head and laughed. We hadn't even set out on the boat trip yet, and already this whole convention ordeal was off to an embarrassing start.

Idly, I cradled my baby bump. It had been the first thing Aunt Cici had given me to put on, and I had been entirely unsurprised when she'd asked me to wear it overnight to get used to it again before the trip. I knew that a second bodysuit and bump were in the bag with the dress for Friday, too, and she'd told me she had a special one for Sunday, something that filled me with even more dread than the gown for that day.

Today. Thursday. Friday. Saturday. Sunday.

Was I really about to be dressing as a pregnant half-elf princess for four, make that four and a half, days?

I was glad to be already sitting on the floor when the wave of dizziness hit me as what I was committed to finally sank in.

-==-

NOTES:

Comments and kudos welcome.