“The Fox and the Lion Cosplayer” by Jaden Drackus

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You’re listening to The Voice of Dog.

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I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,

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and today’s story is

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“The Fox and the Lion Cosplayer”

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by Jaden Drackus, whose work has appeared in anthologies like FANG,

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Heat, and The Infurno.

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You can find more of his stories

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on SoFurry and FurAffinity.

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“The Fox and the Lion Cosplayer”

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by Jaden Drackus

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A convention can be a scary place if you’re a guy like me.

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Especially if you’re small,

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shy, and totally on my own at my first ever con.

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In short, it was trouble—and for a fox, that’s admitting something.

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It didn’t start out that way, of course.

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I’d planned, saved,

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researched, and gotten my friend Chris to agree to come with me.

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But I’d made one mistake

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—I let my friends talk me into to going to DrakeCon, the biggest sci-fi/anime/gaming convention around.

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Things got worse when Chris came down with a nasty cold just days before the con started.

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He was super sorry about it, but he had no intention of being Patient Zero for con crud.

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The whole thing got me down since this was going to be my first ever convention,

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but my friend insisted that I go.

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Insisted to the point he even paid for his half of the hotel room in advance.

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“Have a good time, Jeff,”

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the possum told me.

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“And remember—everyone there has a lot of the same interests.

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Don’t get scared and hide in the room the whole time.

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It’ll be fun and you’ll be alright.”

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He forgot to mention just how many other people that shared interests with me would be there.

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My muzzle hung open the whole time I was in line to get my badge as I stared at the massive crowd.

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Wolves, deer, foxes

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—though I only saw one other kit fox

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—and coyotes dominated.

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Enough of them were in costume that I was feeling underdressed in my

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“Gaymer Fox” t-shirt and jeans and drawstring backsack.

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I wasn’t ready for that number of people,

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and did my best to not panic while making myself as small as possible so I wouldn’t get bumped into.

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Not that it helped

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—being small and quiet was as good as asking for people to accidentally run into me.

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By the time I got my badge and a bag of goodies, I was overwhelmed and ready to bolt back to the room.

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Well, almost ready.

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Away from the massive crowd around registration, I got my courage back a little

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and flipped though the con guidebook from the bag.

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On a Friday, there wasn’t much going on until afternoon and it was only about 10:30 in the morning.

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Maybe I should go and get some breakfast?

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That’s when I saw him.

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I’d never seen a lion in person before.

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He was dressed up as the main character from Fantasy Saga 9,

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in the character’s trademark black pants and jacket with

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gold and white chest plate.

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I didn’t notice it much, to be honest

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—I was just caught off guard by how huge he was.

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I’d never seen anyone as big as him,

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he towered over most of the con goers.

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He glanced in my direction,

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flashing his fangs at me.

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That was all I saw before I darted around the corner

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and down the corridor.

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I finally stopped once I was alone.

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I leaned against the wall and held a paw to my heart to keep it from hammering out of my chest.

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I’d never been so frightened of anyone before in my life.

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But as my heartbeat slowed,

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I felt the heat of embarrassment rise in my ears.

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I’d run away from someone

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dressed as the protagonist of my favorite game.

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But he was so huge and scary.

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I sighed, pulled myself together

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and headed out in search of something to eat.

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It was a big con—maybe I wouldn’t see him again.

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Leaving the dealers den three hours later,

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I learned it was a forlorn hope.

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He was standing against the far wall,

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posing for pictures with a couple of wolves.

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My body went tense as I recognized him and my

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ears and whiskers twitched.

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The urge to bolt filled me,

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but I saw the wolves laughing at something the lion said.

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Everyone’s tails were swishing behind them,

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and smiles covered their muzzles.

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But still that lion was huge!

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I swallowed and my own tail went still.

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But if people were having a good time with him,

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was he really that scary?

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The lion turned my way,

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and the battle inside me ended.

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No way was this fox getting close to a lion that big.

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I rejoined the flow of traffic and scurried away.

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I barely slept that night

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—I just lay on the bed staring at the ceiling,

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my tail thumping the mattress in frustration.

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I kept running my encounters with the lion over and over again in my mind.

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At first I tried to rationalize my behavior

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—I was at my first con,

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I was on my own, I was a kit fox and he was a lion, and on and on it went.

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But as the hours went by, all the reasons felt like excuses.

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I was ashamed of myself.

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At some point I fell asleep,

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resolving to try and face my fears tomorrow.

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The morning put my resolve to the test right away.

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The lion was outside the room as I walked out of the first panel of the day.

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He’d changed his costume, now to the set the hero wore later in the game

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—a deep crimson outfit with gold trim and a gunmetal chest plate.

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It was my favorite armor set in Fantasy Saga 9,

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and I went out of my way to get it on every play through I did of the game

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—even though it required an agonizingly long series of side quests to unlock.

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And the lion looked good in it. While he was standing against the wall and watching the lighter early morning traffic in the corridor.

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From what I’d learned at the “So This Is Your First Convention” panel yesterday,

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he was inviting people to take photos.

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But no one was. His shoulders were slummed a little, and his tail was still.

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He brushed something off his shoulder and

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looked at his outfit, shaking his head.

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I stared for a moment,

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stunned and saddened.

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Why was no one taking pictures with him?

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He’d had plenty of people wanting to yesterday,

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and that armor was awesome.

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He’d put a lot of effort into it.

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I don’t remember making a conscious decision at first.

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By the time my ears went up and my tail was swishing in nervous determination, my paws were already carrying me across the corridor.

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It didn’t matter that he was bigger than me and scared me

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—there was no way I was going to pass up this opportunity.

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I pulled my phone out

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and stopped a few paces away from the lion.

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The nerves returned,

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but the urge to flee was gone.

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“Excuse me!” I called politely,

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my tail slowing as I tried to remember what the panelists from yesterday

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had told us about asking for pictures.

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“I love your costume.

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It’s my favorite one in-game.

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Would it be okay if I got a picture?”

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He turned and looked down at me.

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My ears fell as my worries returned. I fought the urge to take a step

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back. Then his expression changed,

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and a broad smile crossed his tawny muzzle.

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His eyes flashed with

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what looked like recognition.

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“Of course!” He said,

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his tail swishing behind him.

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“Especially for you.”

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“Me?” I asked, puzzled.

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What had I done to merit special attention?

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If he’d even really noticed me, I deserved the opposite.

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“Yeah,” the lion said as he adjusted into the

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Fantasy Saga victory pose.

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“I wanted to ask where you got that cool shirt you were wearing yesterday.”

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This was “The Fox and the Lion Cosplayer”

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by Jaden Drackus,

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read for you by Khaki,

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your faithful fireside companion.

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For more stories you can find us wherever you get your podcasts,

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or on the web at thevoice.dog.

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Thank you for listening

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to The Voice of Dog