Summary: Abel was just visiting New York City for some fun and tourism, as well as to look at universities with a few school friends. Not to mention the awesome cosplay sites. While making a cosplay video in Central Park, Abel catches the eyes of a lot of people, whether because they think he looks cool in his all new cosplay or because they think he looks weird (the majority being the latter). However, one of Abel's biggest fears comes to life: he becomes separated on the subway from his friends, stuck in the middle of the large city while in a cosplay. To make matters worse, he isn't exactly fluent in English. Not that he doesn't know how to speak it, but it takes more time to speak than it should for someone who's studied it as much as he has, much less for someone who wants to go to school in America. Finding Central Park his only safe haven, Abel hears a guitarist who has attracted quite a crowd with their soothing voice. The singer turns out to be Tyler, a stunningly pretty local who happened to have been admiring Abel's cosplay earlier in the day. Tyler is nowhere near the type of person Abel would befriend, with their opposite personalities clashing as Tyler is outgoing and talkative, and Abel is shy and introverted. But Abel needed help, and Tyler offers help to anyone who needs it. Albeit the lack of clear communication kept them from understanding each other well, Tyler turns out to be patient and kind with Abel's clumsy shyness. After spending a whole day wandering around the city, Abel never finding his friends, they end up in Central Park again. He knows that being in the city late at night is dangerous–it's something he learned long before he traveled to New York. But a carriage ride, a meal, and a kiss later, Abel figures he might actually enjoy New York City a bit more than he expected.
"What did he say?" I ask, adjusting the wig on my head. Helene smacked my hand away.
"Don't mess with it. He said that Central Park is just up this street," she replies. I raise my hand up again only to have it batted away from the black strands of hair. "Stop it! It looks great."
"But I haven't cosplayed this OC before," I whine, my hands moving to mess with the gold necklace dangling around my neck. "I don't know how good it is."
"It looks as perfect as always. Besides, what can a little photo editing do?" She waves her camera happily.
"People are staring!"
"You're used to people staring!" Helene laughs, patting my back comfortingly.
"It feels weird," I say quietly.
"There, there," the young woman sighs with another laugh, before grinning. "Look, we're here!"
When I first saw Central Park in pictures, I thought that the greenery, the lakes, and the people were all beautiful. It was serene and peaceful for a place in the middle of a city. Not that I'm always looking for the perfect cosplay location, but I immediately knew it was perfect. And so here I am, skin dusted in blue paint, wearing robes and gold jewels, in Central Park, New York City. With the black wig that falls to my shoulders, I'm now baking in the sun even though it's Spring.
"So let's get started," Helene grins, taking the cap off her camera. "We need to find a good place, and then do a little touching up, and I'm sure there'll be a lot of good shots."
"Cool," I nod, looking around, doing my best to ignore some of the stares I knew I was getting. "Let's get further into the park so here's not as many buildings around. Some green areas would be nice, and some rocks, like those," I point, "There's also canoes we can pay to use if you think that would be okay. I at least want to be near some water sometime."
"That sounds good to me. Are you sure you're not too hot?" she asks as we continue walking. I nod in reply.
"The body paint won't run if I sweat," I tell her. "But I don't sweat much. There's also a nice breeze that's cooling."
