“well I suppose that could work. Keep up interest in the second act slump.” He nodded along. “if you need to get anything for your outfit, you got a 100 dollars to cover it.” a crisp 100 dollar bill changed hands. “consider it an advanced payment.”
the two chatted some more, Andrew turned out to be quite a pleasant man. He had been named for a distant ancestor, an old school magician who pushed the envelope in terms of stage illusions. Quite the pedigree for a man willing to stoop to the level of convention entertainment for hire. Eventually she left to go home, take inventory on her costume, everything had to be perfect for this, if she wanted to make this a regular thing. She had the red contacts, the fluffy tail, the ear head band. And the clothes hung, a purple skirt and light blouse. It had won an award from a costume contest a few years back.
The days before the convention passed with agonizing slowness. Even her nightly matches seemed to tick by. The show was set for the Saturday which left her the Friday to explore the merchants row, which was the usual assortment of manga, colorful posters, and figurines covered every shelf and stall. It was honestly a little disappointing, she didn't have space in her room for all the new stuff that she saw. She retired to her room after attending a few very interesting panels by reviewers and voice actors, the room had been paid for well in advance, long before she knew about the show.
The day and hour of the show came silently, she got a call from Andrew at about six in the morning. He sounded strained, but still mostly calm.
“I just realized I forgot to tell you how the apparatus works.” there were sounds in the background like work men hammering away.
“will it cause any problems?” She asked, the show was in a few hours, not a lot of time to learn the mechanism.
“it shouldn't, the thing is virtually self working.”
“then don't bother, and don't stress. My reactions will be more natural this way.”
That was the beauty of Arcanotech props, they were nearly ten times the price of a gimmick-ed prop. But the assistant didn't need to learn a complex trick, and it could be used on any one. She'd heard from one girl that going through one of their props felt, like the best massage you ever had, focused on one part of your body. She tried playing a game until nine rolled around, but she was too nervous and excited to enjoy it.
Finally she settled on a shower, letting the water hit her body. It was nice, until someone used up most of the hot water, slapping her in the face with ice cold water. She let out a squeal and jumped, swiftly wrapping herself in one of the cheap hotel towels. Checking her cell phone, crap! Only an hour till show time. Quickly she applied the pasties over her breasts, the tan bikini bottom, and the loose fitting light purple tunic. She tied on the fake, limp tail that hung from the small of her back, poking out from under the tunic. She set a meticulously fit to her head, in line with her ears. Two fuzzy fake ears stood proudly in her hair.
She slipped on a pair of fuzzy slippers as she skipped down to the theater, her heart racing as she walked. The space they'd been given was a large conference hall, a stage made from girders and scaffolding. Andrew was pacing nervously, muttering under his breath. Different than the man she saw doing small tricks as he wandered the convention floor.
“hey andrew!” she waved as she bounced up onto the stage.