A date?

(Matt’s POV)

Looking at the text sent by John again I try to come up with a suitable response. I’ve given Rob a foot massage and he’s now sleeping in the bedroom but everything about this situation is all wrong. He was only interested in finding out if I’d turned fully into a girl or not and was just using me to clean his house and do things for him. If I’d had any thoughts of dating him they were rapidly evaporating.
I start typing several times and erase each one. John has been so accepting of my changed voice and more girly behaviour lately, he hasn’t even said anything about me seeing him naked (although the unrestricted access perk may explain that one). I sighed as I realised I should have just confessed my feelings to him to begin with. Grabbing my bag quietly and sneaking out isn’t the way I wanted this trip to end, but I manage to get away without waking up Rob and let John know I’m coming back.

[John, it’s been a disaster. I’m going to stay at a motel tonight and will be home tomorrow]

(John’s POV)

Pulling up to Rita’s info I’m a bit nervous about this date that is definitely not a date but also sort of is a date. A chime from my phone distracts me, Matt is not having a good time and is heading home. It’s a shame, but I have to put it aside for now as Rita is just leaving her dorm building now.
I try a few times to start up a conversation on the way to the store, but mostly I just get back short one or two word answers from Rita, usually “good” or “I guess so”. I guess she’s more nervous than usual given this is probably her first date in a while.
Thankfully the drive isn’t too long, and we manage to park close to the entrance, the mall is rather quiet tonight.

At the shops, Rita comes alive and begins to start chatting a lot more. She shares more knowledge on cosplay and various different characters than I had any idea even existed, and I thought I knew my anime well. Watching her march through aisle after aisle with determination and purpose, accepting that she was in her element now I had to admit she was looking much cuter than usual. After piling me up with what feels like a dozen costumes she suddenly grabs one last one and turns around.

“Ok John, I think that’s enough for us now, what say we head over and see how you look in these”

“Have we got enough options?” I feel like the answer is obviously yes, but I continue, “because I can’t say I’m confident I’ll be able to pull any of these off”. The bright orange Goku costume was definitely right out for my build.

“Don’t worry about it, just trust me and we’ll have you looking tip top for the party”.

Despite her bravado, I’m sadly proven right as while she both looked stellar and comfortable in everything she tried on, I was not yet comfortable with the whole cosplay thing, and missing the compulsion to feel and act more like the character she had from the perk.
Thankfully, Rita is undeterred and not upset by my being less bold than she was.

“It’s fine John, I’ve had a bit of time to get into this whole dress up thing”, she smiled up at me, “while you look great I totally remember how I felt the first time I tried something on.”

“Thanks Rita, but we’ve been through all the matching costumes you picked out and nothing works for me”

“Actually… while you were busy I grabbed another one…” she pulls out a pair of outfits from behind her back and shoves one in my hands.

Emerging from the change rooms for the final time, I’m stunned at how good she looks, and how comfortable I feel in this costume.
Rita just nails the nerdy look of Velma, and with my gangly proportions I actually feel like a decent fit for Shaggy. It’s not a canon pairing, but something just felt right when I looked at her with it on.

“I think we have a winner” I tell her.

“yes-yes-yes” she squeals out and gives me a hug. It felt nice, however, she quickly realised what she had done and let go, blushing and looking down at her feet. “let’s get changed out and go pay for them”

As I change out of the costume in the dressing room, I check my app.

Matt completed an advanced quest. [+7 xp] [+7 bonus xp]
Rita completed an advanced quest. [+7 xp] [+7 bonus xp]
A target attained level 10 for the first time. [+1 instant perk upgrade for target]

Quest Master: John
Surname: Moore
Gender: Male
Age: 25
Level 17 (8 / 40 xp)
Class: Multi-classer
Perks: Quest Designer II, Recommended Reward III, Class Designer, Public Unawareness, Target Perk Tree, Character Editor II, Target Unawareness, Additional Slot I, Perk Sharing II
Shared target perks: Makeup II, Photogenic II, Modelling I, Flirty I, Cosplay II, Training Efficiency I, Pokerface I
Perk Points: 2

Rita still needs some extra levelling, and I’m having such a good time with her I want to keep it going a bit longer.

Rita will receive the following quest: “Have dinner with John in costume”

Select two rewards from these four choices:

• Flirty II perk
• Increased mutual attraction with John
• +2 bonus perk points
• Follow up date with John

This one doesn’t prompt the warning about being too hard. Maybe the increased mutual attraction reward has kicked in and made her more comfortable with me. The app had also decided that this was in fact a date and while I was down for another date with her, I’d rather have the ability to choose date and time.

Reward:

• Flirty II perk
• Increased mutual attraction with John

I go to close the app but am hit with a warning:

Warning, no perk upgrade selected for level 10 target. Exiting app will choose a random upgrade. Exit: Yes / No?

Shit, I wasn’t expecting this. And I’d already been in the change room for what was becoming a suspiciously long time.

“John, everything ok in there?” I hear Rita call out. Shit.

“Just a second Rita, the zipper got stuck” I quickly respond.

It’s not ideal, but I’ll have to accept the consequences of whatever the app chooses to give to Cotton.

(Rita’s POV)

John seems to be taking quite a while to get changed back into his normal clothes, I wonder if I should go and see if he’s ok.
I wait at the entrance, unsure what could be taking so long, the costume was quite simple.

“John, everything ok in there?” I call out to him.

I hear a faint sound of rustling clothes as he responds “Just a second Rita, the zipper got stuck”, what a cute dork, I think to myself.

A moment later, I see a stall open and he walks out, Shaggy costume in hand.

“Hey Rita, I was just thinking it’s getting a bit late, maybe we should grab dinner before I drop you home?”

“Uh, are you reading my mind because I was just about to suggest the same thing” I wasn’t, but responding well to John seemed to be getting easier lately.

“Cool, there’s a food court just down the other end of this mall” we reach the counter as he says this and he’s even kind enough to pay for my costume.

While he’s doing this, I check my phone and see a new quest.

The Questmaster sent you the quest: “Have dinner with John in costume”

“Hey John”, I begin

“Yeah Rita”

“I just had a crazy idea, how about we wear our new costumes while we eat? Get more comfortable in them for the party”, I hope he says yes.

“That’s an excellent idea, let’s hop back into the change rooms then”.