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Madison drags me around again, from place to place, before we make our way to the other side of the building where panels are happening. Madison acquires a schedule and picks where we’re going. Comics in the Movies. The Art of Fan Art. Metaphors and Themes. I’m not sure she knows what half the stuff is. Hell, I’m not sure she can even read the words as she picks the panels, but she sits eagerly through them, eventually dragging me to a room with a sign that says ‘Fandom Feud’.
“I’m not sure about this one,” I tell her. “I think they’ll expect participation.”
“Oh! Does that mean I can play?”
“Sure does!” a voice chimes in, a woman walking into the room behind us, dressed like Maryanne. “We’re playing Breezeo trivia.”
“That’s me today!” Madison exclaims, grabbing at her costume to show it off.
The woman laughs. “I bet that means you’re going to know all the answers, huh?”
Madison nods. “Yep.”
The woman’s eyes flicker to me, but I avert my gaze and say nothing. We find seats toward the back of the room. They play a few rounds of trivia, picking players to face off, before opening it up to everyone and calling on people in the audience.
“In the comics, Maryanne is a nurse,” the moderator says. “What does she do in the movies?”
“Oh, oh, oh, me, me!” Madison yells, waving her hands wildly, trying to be seen, but the guy in front of her is too tall, so she climbs right up on the chair, standing on it. “Me! Me! I know!”
Muffled laughter flows around us when people notice her.
“The little Breezeo girl in the back,” the moderator says, calling on her. “What does Maryanne do in the movies?”
Madison beams, shouting, “Nothing!”
More laughter.
“I’ll accept that,” the moderator says. “She’s still in school. Come pick your prize, little Breezeo.”
Madison jumps down, walking proudly to the front. People ohh and ahh over her, and she plays it right up. A lollipop, it turns out, is what she wins. Returning, she shoves it at me.
I open it for her and try to hand it back, but she makes a face at me, like I’ve fucked up. “What’s wrong?”
“You gotta taste it first,” she says.
“Seriously?”
“That’s what Mommy does,” she says, “in case it’s poison, ‘cuz it came from a stranger.”
“Oh.” I lick it before handing it to her. “Like that?”
She nods, popping it right in her mouth.
I blink a few times, watching her. That’s one of the strangest things I’ve ever done in my life, taste-testing potentially poisonous candy.
Trivia is over after a few minutes. I lead Madison through the crowd, out of the room, fielding a few compliments from people about how adorable she is.
I probably look like an asshole, just nodding in agreement.
“Are you hungry?” I ask her once we’re away from the crowd. “I’m sure there’s something around here that you’ll eat.”
“Hot dogs!”
Hot dogs. I find them easy enough, but the line is crazy long. We wait damn near twenty minutes to buy some hot dogs and chips, and goddamn it she wants soda so I buy it, but there’s nowhere to sit inside, so we make our way outside to a small amphitheater.
A crowd is gathered in Knightmare cosplay. They’re putting on a show, having some sort of sword competition.
“What are those guys doing?” Madison asks before taking a bite of her hot dog.
“Looks like LARPing,” I mumble.
She looks at me like I’m crazy. “Like what?”
“LARPing,” I say. “Live-action role play.”
“Oh, I wanna play! Can I?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. Because you’re just a kid sounds like a shitty excuse to deny her some make-believe fun.
She eats her lunch as the knights battle it out, getting into it like she’s watching a movie, even picking a side—the one whose armor is trimmed in blue, unlike his opponent, who wears all black.
Picking up the schedule, I flip through it. “So, looks like we’ve got a choice—either The Consequence of Alternate Universes or Exploring Headcanon.”
“What do those mean?”
“I think they both deal with fan-fiction.”
“What’s that?”
“When fans make up their own stories,” I say, shaking my head. We sat through a panel that explained that to her, but I’m pretty sure it went right over her head.
“Can we do that? Make the fan-fiction?”
“Thought you already were,” I say. “You said you were going to fix the end of Ghosted.”
“I am.”
“Well, there you have it. So which panel would you refer?”
“The consequences of the cannons,” she says, mashing them together. I start to correct her, but she’s not paying me attention, on her feet and cheering. “Go blue guy!”
The blue guy, in fact, loses—if there’s such a thing as losing in what they’re doing. The guy in all black takes a bow, celebrating, while Madison loudly boos, drawing their attention.
“You, young Breezeo,” he says, still playing the part as he points his sword at her. “You have the gall to boo me? Me, the villainous Knightmare?”
