“Thanks,” Hjalmar said as a large black man in a Blade costume stopped by him and looked him up and down.
“Everything okay, friend?” Hjalmar said, blandly.
The man looked him up and down again, snorted faintly, and walked across the street towards the Marriott.
“What was that all about?” Drakon asked.
“I have no idea,” Hjalmar said.
“And why do I think I recognize him?” Sharice asked. “I think I’d remember a guy that big and that black. Seven feet of pure Nubian is memorable. But I’d swear I recognize him.”
“Me, too,” Hjalmar admitted. “But whatever. I feel I can stand sentry peacefully now.”
“You look anything but peaceful,” Sharice pointed out. The sun was starting to go down and she wondered how long they should keep up the stakeout. “We’ll stay until local time of midnight, then meet up in the Hyatt bar. Hjalmar…”
“I’ll take over sentry duty again,” he said, smiling. “I’ve got some bottled water.”
“I’ll bring you a sandwich, man,” Drakon said. “After that I’m going to cruise through the Hyatt again. Janea’s going to be making a splash one way or another.”
“Even with all these redheads she has got to stand out,” Sharice said as another one walked by in the “thermal bandages” outfit from the movie The Fifth Element. “I’m almost positive.”
“Are you hiding?”
The person asking the question was a short, slightly plump brunette who was maybe twenty. She was in a beautiful blue-and-black pirate outfit complete with a massive hat.
“Sort of,” Doris said. Traxa had said she had to go “talk to somebody” and had disappeared nearly an hour before. Since then Doris had been watching the goings-on from halfway behind a potted plant.
The lobby of the Hilton was the venue of choice for serious costumers. While more people gathered in the Hyatt in the evenings to show off their costumes, and bodies, the Hilton was where the people who cared primarily about their costumes tended to gather. And the amount of photography occasionally rivaled an assault by paparazzi. The current favorite was a guy in a very authentic Spiderman outfit who was just about a dead ringer for the actor in the movie. He had about twenty people taking pictures of him at a time.
“You can come out, it’s okay,” the girl said. “Nobody bites. Not here, anyway. They do in the Hyatt sometimes.”
“Really?” Doris asked, taking a tentative step out. Making up your mind to go out in public in what amounted to a very tight, nearly paper-thin robe was one thing. Doing it had turned out to be another.
“Some of the girls can be real bitches, if you’ll pardon my language, if they think you’re getting more attention than they are,” the girl said. “I’m Daphne.”
“Doris,” Doris said, shaking her hand. “That is a gorgeous pirate costume. You must have worked on it for months.”
“I bought it, to tell you the truth,” Daphne said. “Then I had it fitted. But I thought I needed at least one really good costume for Dragon. I love yours.”
“It’s really just something that some friends threw together for me,” Doris said, shyly.
“It looks really good on you,” Daphne said. “What’s with the mask? Planning on robbing a Japanese bank?”
“If I wear a mask I can pretend I’m not me?” Doris said.
“Got to get over that sometime,” Daphne said. “But maybe not tonight. Right?”
“Maybe not tonight,” Doris admitted.
“Can I take your picture?” an Asian man said. Unlike a lot of the people, he was carrying a fairly professional digital camera setup.
“Certainly,” Daphne said, grabbing Doris’s arm. “Thank you.”
“That’s the way to do it,” she whispered between shots. “You’re out here to show off, but be polite about it. Some girls aren’t, but the question is, do you want to be a bitch? I mean, why even costume and show skin if you’re going to be a bitch about pictures?”
By the time the guy was done with two or three photos there was a crowd of people taking enough pictures that Doris found herself blinking myopically.
“I’m not used to all this attention,” she muttered through her masklike makeup.
“But do you enjoy it?” Daphne asked.
“Yes,” Doris said. “I guess I do.”
“Then let’s just enjoy it,” Daphne said. “Smile.”
“Geishas don’t show teeth,” Doris said.
“Tea-house girl, surely.”
“Also don’t show teeth.”
“You realize your nipples are standing up and you can see them through the kimono?”
“What?”
“It probably won’t be noticeable in the pictures, but it’s sure attracting the guys. Just go with it.”
When the picture-taking had died down, Daphne gestured out into the lobby.
“You can’t just stand in one place. You need to promenade.”
“I’m perfectly comfortable hiding behind my plant. Especially now that I know…what you said.”
“Then why are you here?” Daphne asked.
“To learn to get over it,” Doris admitted. “I’ll go if I can stay with you. Sorry to be so silly about it, but I’m just learning to get over it. Baby steps.”
“Then let us promenade,” Daphne said, linking her arm into Doris’s and striking a pose. “I know how you feel. I was the same way the first time I came here, which seems like yesterday. Given some of the stuff… Never mind. I shall be the pirate and you shall be my captured Japanese maiden. And, no, I don’t swing that way.”
“Fine,” Doris said as they started out into the lobby. She nearly stopped and hid again as she noticed a simply huge black guy in a Blade outfit watching her. But he gave her a curt nod and then looked away. “I’m supposed to take little, dainty steps.”
“With the length of your legs compared to mine, your dainty steps are a stride for me,” Daphne said, dragging her out into the open.
They didn’t get far.
“Excuse me, can I take your picture?”
“Are we sure she’s here?” Hjalmar asked when he walked into the Hyatt bar.
“She’s here,” Sharice said, biting her lip. “What I don’t know is where she’s hiding. We’ve been looking everywhere!”
“Well, if there are forces at work against her, perhaps she’s hiding from them,” Drakon said. “Whatever the case, we need to return and find out what is happening on the mundane side.”
“Agreed,” Sharice said. “We’ll drop off Hjalmar’s gear in the room then return to the world. But we’re coming back tomorrow, damnit. She must be going without sleep, and a person can only go so long that way. We need to get her out of here before we lose her forever.”
“That was fantastic!” Doris burbled as Bran opened the door. “I had so much fun!”
“Glad to hear it,” Bran said, rubbing his eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Doris said, immediately apologetic. “I woke you up.”
“I’ve got early panels tomorrow,” Bran said. “No problem, though. Hey, a beautiful lady knocking on my door in the middle of the night is nothing to complain about.”
“I’ll get my things and get out of here,” Doris said, sliding past him. He was dressed, to her surprise, in pajamas.
“If you want to talk I’ll be awake for an hour or so,” Bran said, sitting down on the end of the unused bed. It was more or less covered in costuming material.
“No, I’ll let you get back to sleep,” Doris said, grabbing her bag and heading into the bathroom.
