Volume 13 - ComicMon, Chapter 95 - Ahh! Real Gargoyles
Unsurprisingly, Chione was in charge of the Gargoyles portion of the convention, which included a video room, a panel room, and a meet-and-greet area. She had a few volunteers on her team as well, which was enough to manage her little nook of the con just fine.
The video room was playing every episode of the TV series in order, allowing anyone to drop in and catch a bit of the show or to stick around and marathon it. The fact that the video included Japanese subtitles was very helpful for all the fans that weren't fluent in English.
The panel room hosted a wide variety of discussions and events throughout the weekend. There were panels where the voice actors shared their experiences from when they'd worked on the show, as well as question and answer sessions with the audience. An unexpectedly popular event was the Gargoyles trivia session, where dedicated fans could flex their trivia skills and compete for special Gargoyles-related prizes.
But none of that compared to the excitement around the celebrity autograph sessions. Chione was managing that event directly, and that meant herding hundreds of excited fans through the line in an orderly fashion. It would be especially challenging for Chione, given how excited she was to meet the voice actors.
While most of the fans were there because of their interest in the Gargoyles TV show, there were about a dozen people that lined up for a different reason entirely. When Chione talked to those fans, she learned for the first time that both of the voice actors visiting the convention had also acted in a much bigger franchise: Star Trek.
With wide eyes Chione said, "Wait, the Star Trek? I haven't seen much of it, but that's a really famous series!" She was standing at the front of the line, getting ready to let the first wave of attendees through to meet the celebrities.
"Yeah, the Star Trek!" the man in the very first spot in line proclaimed, He was wearing a red and black long sleeve shirt, and had some sort of metal pin on his chest. "They were both actors in Star Trek: The Next Generation." He raised one eyebrow critically and said, "I'm a bit surprised you didn't know that, since you arranged for them to appear here."
A new voice cut in, "Are you sure you're a real fan, lady?" It was a younger man with thick glasses and an anime-related shirt that was much too big for him. It had a bunch of characters on it, all arranged around some magical heroine in skimpy clothes.
Chione glared at him. "I'm a huge fan of the Gargoyles franchise, even if I don't follow the careers of all of its voice actors." The man didn't seem to expect her to stand up for herself and he shrank back a bit.
Before the conversation with the two self-proclaimed 'trekkies' could continue, a volunteer ran up to Chione. The young woman seemed out of breath and a little frazzled as she said, "Hey, Chione? The guests are in there, but their translator is nowhere to be found. Can you go make sure they have everything they need?" Then the girl, who wore a bright green volunteer shirt and had her black hair back in twin ponytails, frowned and added, "I would have, but my English is awful…"
Chione nodded and confidently said, "Sure thing. You watch the line for me. If we're not ready by the time the session's supposed to start in fifteen minutes, I'll come let you know."
As Chione turned to leave, the younger man called out, in extremely accented broken English, "I can English. Can do instead for you."
Without breaking stride, Chione replied in solid English with a slight french accent, "I'll be quite alright on my own. Thank you."
The older fan, who was clearly not impressed with the younger man's rude behavior, grinned and said, "I think the lady's got it under control."
Chione jogged to the back of the meet-and-greet area and up to the table where the celebrity guests were sitting. They both looked a little lost without their translator, but otherwise pretty comfortable as they chatted together.
"Missus Sirtis, Mister Frakes, I am sorry for the mixup. We will find your translator soon. Do you need anything right now?" Chione said carefully. In high school she had learned enough English to get by, and she'd watched all of Gargoyles with English audio, but she was a little rusty at speaking it.
The man, Jonathan Frakes, replied, "Oh, I'm fine. Though I guess a bottle of water would be nice." He had a deep, soft voice that resonated well. Between his thick beard and impressive height, he really stood out compared to the primarily Japanese attendees.
Chione couldn't help but grin at hearing the voice of the infamous David Xanatos coming from a real person. She was trying to stay serious and professional, but it was getting harder by the second.
The woman spoke up as well. "I'd like some water as well, if that's okay. Oh, as for our translator, he had mentioned he was feeling off after lunch. I hope he's alright." She had a slight Cockney accent, at least when she wasn't affecting a different accent for a role. She had long brown hair and she wore large dangly earrings.
Chione's smile widened. That was Marina Sirtis, the voice of Demona the gargoyle, and she was much more polite than her character. Of course she would be, Chione thought, especially given her age. They're both in their sixties now, so they wouldn't act like the snarky villains they played over twenty years ago.
Jonathan leaned forward in his chair. Even seated, his height was imposing. "What's with the smile, miss?" he asked with a slight smirk of his own.
Chione couldn't hold it in anymore or she'd burst. "I'm just so excited to meet you!" she nearly shouted. "I'm a huge fan of Gargoyles and you two did such a wonderful job acting in it. The whole cast did, really." She felt better after letting that out, but she was still practically vibrating with excitement at actually talking to the voice actors of some of her favorite characters.
Marina smiled and said, "We're excited to meet you too. Back when we worked on the show, gargoyles were just a myth. If I had known there were real-life gargoyles out there in the world, why, I don't know what I would have done."
Jonathan nodded enthusiastically, then said, "It's a little surreal to meet a gargoyle that is a fan of our work." He smiled and added, "On the topic of meeting, I don't believe I caught your name." He could see her blue ComicMon director shirt, and he could tell she was a gargoyle from her wings, horns, and stony-grey skin, but that was all he knew about Chione. The convention had used a professional translator to arrange the celebrities' travel, so he had never even talked to Chione on the phone.
Chione turned red with embarrassment. "Oh, sorry about that. I'm Chione, and I helped found ComicMon with my friend Mara. I'm so glad you were able to travel out to our little convention."
Jonathan smiled kindly and offered his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Chione. I'm Jonathan."
After an instant of hesitation, Chione shook his hand. His hand was big enough to engulf Chione's and his grip was strong.
Then Marina put her hand out as well, saying, "I'm Marina, and it's wonderful to make your acquaintance." Chione shook it but she was immediately self conscious about her rough skin, especially when compared to Marina's soft, delicate hand. Marina didn't seem to mind, however, since she kept smiling a wide and beautiful smile.
Chione really wanted to stay and talk more with the two celebrities, but she had things to do. "It's great to meet you both, really. I'll go grab you some water and try to find your translator. I'm no professional, but I can try to fill in if I have to." With that, she waved goodbye and ran off, her plaid skirt flapping with the happy wiggling of her long tail.
As she rounded the corner and zipped down a hallway, Jonathan commented, "It's so amazing that supernatural beings like her really exist. Existed all along, even."
Marina nodded. "And it's wonderful how nicely Japan has accepted them. England or the US may not be so welcoming, I fear."
The two continued talking like the old friends they were until Chione eventually returned with the translator. He had apparently been stuck in the bathroom the whole time because an ogre had accidentally broken the bathroom's doorknob clear off. A maintenance worker had to take the door off its hinges to get him out.
With the translator issue solved, the autograph session started on time and went off without a hitch. As the fans waited their turn in line, Chione overheard one of them say that two other real gargoyles were attending the convention as well.
"Really?" Chione asked with visible excitement. As an urban liminal, she'd grown up as a human and had never met any gargoyle relatives. She had met only one other gargoyle back in school, and never one her age.
"Yeah, one of 'em was a really ripped guy. He could do a pretty kickin' Goliath cosplay, I bet," answered the fan. He had rugged short brown hair and was looking really sharp in his black and white jacket. His convention badge had a red sticker on it indicating that he was an Exchange Program host, but his homestay must have been off somewhere else in the convention.
Another fan said, "Nah, Dalton, I'd rather see that other girl dressed up as Angela. She'd look hot in Angela's tunic, and she had the dark-colored wings, so she'd just need a wig, and I guess makeup to make her all her skin the right color."
From then on, Chione kept an eye out for those other gargoyles. Once the autograph session was over and Chione was free to wander, it didn't take long before she spotted one in the crowd. In fact, it would have been hard for her to miss him. He was over six feet tall, with huge wings and bulky muscles.
When Chione spotted him, she lit up with a smile. She skipped up to the man and introduced herself. At first she tried Japanese, but he looked like he was struggling to understand her. She repeated herself in English, "Hello! I'm Chione, and I'm one of the convention directors."
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The tall gargoyle nodded stoically. He had short cropped blonde hair and reddish-brown skin on his hands and wings. His horns were the same color, and a similar shape to Chione's.
He responded in English, "I am called Dietrich. I traveled from Germany und I must say I am wery impressed with your convention." His accent was pretty thick, but not enough to be a problem.
Chione beamed. "Thank you! I'm so happy you like it!" Then she fidgeted with the hem of her skirt and said, "Um, sorry for bothering you. I guess I'm being a little selfish, but I wanted to meet another gargoyle."
"Oho, do not apologize! I am happy to meet you as vell." He looked up at the ceiling and scratched idly at his cheek, then quietly said, "You seem more friendly than that other woman."
"Oh?" Chione asked. She wasn't normally big on gossip, but she was super curious about the other gargoyle she'd been hearing about.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
"Oh ya, she was wery rude, und she thought I was trying to, how do you say, 'hit on her'. Even after I told her I vas happily married!"
"Ahem!"
Dietrich and Chione turned to see that very gargoyle standing a few feet away with her arms crossed over her chest. She had deep blue hair in long braids that cascaded over her shoulders, and she wore a long, summery white dress. She looked right at Chione and said in Japanese, "So you are the gargoyle I heard was on staff."
Chione's eyes went wide. To put it simply, the woman was gorgeous. Her wings were a uniform dark blue that contrasted nicely with her light grey limbs and the white dress she wore. Chione was captivated by the woman's beauty and for an instant, Chione even felt a familiar twinge of a crush.
Then the woman spoke again, "Perhaps staff shouldn't gossip about the attendees. Especially not with that womanizer." She gestured casually at Dietrich, but the look in her eyes was surprisingly hostile.
Dietrich bent down and whispered to Chione, "See? She is rude."
Chione gently pushed Dietrich back. "Hold on. I think there's a misunderstanding." She turned to the woman and said, "I assume you are most fluent in Japanese?"
The woman nodded, but her glare never let up.
Chione calmly said, "And Dietrich is much better at English than Japanese. Perhaps there was a miscommunication because of the language barrier."
Dietrich smiled and nodded. "Ah, yes, I could see that."
Chione put a hand on his muscular arm and asked, "Perhaps we can figure out where things went wrong. What did you say to her?"
In English, he answered, "I asked her to join my online gargoyle community. Not the TV show, but actual gargoyles." Then he scratched at his chin and added, "She didn't seem to understand my English, so I tried in Japanese."
"And what did you say in Japanese?" Chione asked.
Dietrich started to recount it, but Chione saw the problem with his bumbling attempt at Japanese almost instantly. Chione put up a hand to his mouth to get him to stop. "That's enough," she said, fighting to keep a straight face.
The phrase he used didn't mean 'join my community'… It was much closer to 'join my harem'. Additionally, his comments about being happily married would only have furthered the 'harem' misunderstanding.
From there, it just took a minute for Chione to explain the situation to the woman and get everything cleared up. Only after the woman had calmed down, she finally introduced herself.
"I'm Cyma," she said in a much sweeter and prettier voice than she'd used at the start of the conversation. Along with her beautiful blue eyes and shining smile, it helped to make her absolutely stunning.
"I'm Chione," Chione said sheepishly.
"Dietrich." The large gargoyle's voice was also quiet and meek, since he was still incredibly embarrassed by his 'harem' screw up.
Cyma shook his hand and said, "Sorry about that misunderstanding. I wish my English was better."
After Dietrich puzzled out what she had said, he replied in English, "Und I vish my Japanese vas better."
Chione piped in, "Maybe you two could work with each other on that, over voice chat. Especially if you'll both be in that online community for gargoyles.
"Great idea, Chione!" Dietrich cheered. "Und you vill join the group too, yes?"
"Absolutely," she said with a smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got another panel soon. See you around the con and online!" Chione repeated her goodbye in Japanese to Cyma and jogged off.
In reality, Chione didn't have another panel for over fifteen minutes, but she needed to get away and clear her head. She had started getting uncomfortably attracted to Cyma. While she wandered the halls of the convention tower, she thought, I wish Actia was here. I feel awful for looking at other girls, especially when she's stuck at home working.
In the months leading up to ComicMon, Chione had been too busy to spend much time with her girlfriend. Actia occupied the lonely time by getting a job on the nightshift at the same convenience store that Yuisu had worked at. Sadly, as a new employee she wasn't given much flexibility in her days off and it resulted in her missing out on ComicMon.
Chione had promised to bring Actia some cool stuff from the convention, which had cheered the mothgirl up nicely. Chione planned to visit the vendor hall on Sunday and buy a few things she thought Actia would like.
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After getting her mind off Cyma and back onto her love for Actia, Chione returned to her post in the Gargoyles area. She was watching the line for the panel room, a job which barely needed any attention, when a voice called out to her.
"Hey, Chione. Long time no see!" The voice was coming from a man wearing a red vest, blue shorts, and a huge straw hat.
The man's voice was familiar but Chione was having a hard time placing him due to the costume. Then she saw the object he was pulling behind him on a cart: a treasure chest.
"Hajime and… Mimi?" Chione said tentatively.
The chest popped open and her old friend Mimi stood up from inside. Her long pink hair was the same as always, cascading down and connecting into the rest of her mimic-body inside the treasure chest. In typical Mimi fashion, she was dressed in skimpy clothes. However, instead of her typical sheer t-shirt and bikini, she wore a shiny gold one-piece swimsuit.
"Chione!" Mimi cheered, then she beckoned with both arms. "Get over here and hug me!"
Smiling, Chione did just that. After the hug, Chione stepped back and looked over their costumes again. "It's great to see you guys, but I don't understand your costumes."
Mimi just smiled and said, "Have you heard of the manga called One Piece?"
Chione nodded. "Yeah. I haven't read it though. It's about pirates seeking treasure, right?"
Mimi's grin widened. She plucked at her already plunging neckline and said, "And what kind of swimsuit is this?"
With a chuckle, Chione answered, "A one-piece…" Then she looked back at Hajime and realized he was dressed as the main character from the series. "Aha, a pirate and his treasure. What a cute couple's cosplay!" she said cheerfully.
Instead of smiling at the compliment, Mimi and Hajime glanced at each other with slight frowns. There seemed to be a bit of wordless communication between them, then Mimi said, "About that… We're not a couple."
"Huh?" Chione said with a puzzled look on her face.
"We're not actually dating anymore," Mimi explained. When she saw Chione's expression start to wilt, she quickly added, "There aren't any hard feelings or anything."
Hajime nodded and added, "We're still friends, and I'm still her exchange host. We just decided to see other people."
Chione blinked and asked, "Why? You two seemed like such a perfect fit."
Mimi glanced at Hajime, then said, "It's just that when we were living together, we realized all the ways we're different. Hajime wants a stable, long-term relationship, but I can't really do that. At first, I thought I could make it work, but it just isn't in my nature. We thought it would be best to break things off before I did something that would hurt him."
"Oh, okay," Chione said as she processed the news.
Mimi grabbed Chione's stony hand in both of hers. "But enough about that sad stuff. How have you been, Chione?"
Chione beamed and proudly said, "I was really busy preparing for this con, but it all worked out."
"I'd say! This place is the shit, Chione! You really outdid yourself, girl," Mimi said.
"Thanks, Mimi," Chione said, blushing. "How about you? How are things in Tokyo?"
Mimi sat down on the edge of her chest and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Oh, it's been pretty fuckin' sweet! The number of people around is just crazy, and I love meeting them, especially the liminal guys. You wouldn't believe how hung—"
"Ahem." Hajime cut her off, then whispered, "Not in public, Mimi."
Chione hadn't realized the lewd direction Mimi was headed, so she just resumed the previous topic. "I feel like I've met enough people today to last me a lifetime."
"Oh yeah, you must be busy since you're a director and all," Mimi said. Then from inside her treasure chest, her cell phone started to beep. A tendril passed it to her hand and she silenced it, then she said, "Ah, crap. I've gotta get going. I've got class tonight. Tomorrow too, so I won't be coming back to the con."
"Class?" Chione asked.
"Just some vocational stuff. Figuring out what the hell to do with myself." She hugged Chione, then said, "Remember, you can call me any time, Chione. I'll even put sex on hold for you."
In total deadpan, Hajime said, "She's not kidding on that. She's done it to me." He laughed, then he frowned and fidgeted with his straw hat. "Well, back before we split up. I guess I'm still getting used to this 'not dating' thing."
Mimi patted him on the arm. "Don't worry about it. No sense in pretending we never dated. I prefer to be open about this stuff."
"And everything else," Chione added with a laugh.
"Oh? Even Chione's in on the ribbing!" Mimi said. She seemed to appreciate how Chione had opened up a bit. "Well, gotta go. Seeya!"
Chione and Mimi hugged one more time and said their goodbyes, then Mimi and Hajime left, rolling down the hallway. Before they could even get out of sight, they were surrounded by con-goers that wanted photos of their cosplay.
Chione smiled, since she knew Mimi liked all the attention. She just hoped it wouldn't make Mimi late for class.
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The Tokyo Big Sight convention center featured several shops and restaurants on the ground floor, but there was one additional restaurant in the conference tower. Located on the eighth floor, the Al Porto Italian restaurant looked out over an amazing view of Tokyo Bay.
Mara had reserved a table for Yuisu's entire group at 8PM and the Mountain Lily Inn girls all met up for dinner. Between Iormu and Tsuen's size and the sheer number of people, they took up half of a dining room by themselves. Iormu and Quess were seated along one side of the table with Pwess between them, then Mara and Tsuen were snuggled up together on the end. Yuisu and Haru were to their left, then Chione finished out the rectangle.
They weren't the only group of host and homestays either. At a nearby table, a group of four liminals and their host was already deep into their own meal. A full-size arachne loomed over the table, with her blonde hair and striking violet eyes visible from a distance. Next to her, a very long lamia was curled up and enjoying her meal. Her scale-covered arms and tan and brown stripes suggested that she was a venomous Echidna lamia and not one to be trifled with.
Next to her, a tall werewolf girl with beautiful fur that ranged from brown to white was pawing at a shorter human man who seemed to be their host. On the man's other side, an even taller copper-scaled dragon-man was clinging to his arm and cooing his name.
The host, apparently named Brant, didn't seem to be interested in either of their flirty actions: he was just trying to eat his plate of spaghetti without staining his wolf-themed shirt.
Yuisu felt a bit of kinship with the man. Even from a distance, it was apparent that he was an experienced host and quite used to his homestays' little escapades.
As everyone in the Mountain Lily group got settled in and started to read through the menu, Chione leaned forward and said, "You won't believe who I ran into today!"
Instantly, several voices spoke at the same time.
"Mimi?"
"Was it Mimi?"
"Mimi."
"It's totally Mimi."
Even Pwess bounced up and down on Iormu's lap, cheering, "Mimi! Mimi!" She didn't know why they were all saying it, but she really liked the sound of Mimi's name.
"What? How'd you all know?"
Chione blinked in confusion until Yuisu said, "Haru and I ran into Mimi and Hajime outside the vendor hall earlier. We chatted for a little bit."
Iormu nodded and said, "She found us earlier as well. It was nice to see her again."
Chione smiled. "Oh, that's nice that you guys got to see her."
With a grin, Mara said, "I never actually ran into her, but I heard there was a mimic at the con wearing a sexy cosplay, so I figured it had to be Mimi."
Chione chuckled. "Yeah, she was wearing a one-piece swimsuit as a reference to One Piece, and Hajime was a pirate." She paused her conversation to tell the waiter her order, then Chione turned back to the table and said, "Did you girls hear that she's taking classes?"
Everyone shook their heads. It appeared that Mimi hadn't shared that tidbit with anyone else.
Yuisu was particularly curious. She leaned close and asked, "Oh? What kind of classes?"
Chione shrugged. "Something vocational, but she didn't say what."
"Ooh," Mara said with a grin, "Maybe she's gonna be an exotic dancer?" She demonstrated by wiggling her upper body side to side. With no curves to speak of, the petite arachne's sexy attempt wasn't very effective.
Haru thought for a moment, then said, "Nah, I bet she'll be something that doesn't need so much movement, like a mechanic." A job like that was out of the question for Haru, due to her lack of hands, but Mimi could certainly do it.
"Maybe a chef?" Tsuen suggested over the top of her menu. She was still trying to decide between two delicious looking salads. She and Mara had eaten Italian food the night before as well, but it had been at a different, and much fancier, restaurant.
Yuisu shook her head, which made the fuzzy black dog ears on her headband flop around adorably. The other girls had noticed the ears, but they had all been avoiding bringing them up so far. She said, "I don't think she cares about cooking. Did you see how she ate when she was at our house? Just pre-packaged junk food and pizza."
Quess nodded in agreement. "As a mimic, she can digest literally anything, so why learn to cook?"
"Hmm, I'm really not sure what kind of classes Mimi would take," Chione said. "I'll ask her next time we talk." Chione had another thought that she kept to herself, It sounded like she might have been keeping it a secret on purpose.
Finally, Mara couldn't contain herself any longer. "So, Yuisu?" she asked with a mischievous grin, "What's with the dog ears?"
Yuisu's hands flew to her head and grabbed the fuzzy black ears she'd been wearing all afternoon. In a flash, she pulled the headband off and hid it on her lap. Her face was bright red as she muttered, "I forgot I still had those on…"
Mara giggled and said, "Are you a furry now? Not that there's anything wrong with that."
Yuisu shook her head. "I was thinking of Cat and Mouse Game, where all the characters have animal ears, so I decided to get some of my own."
"Ah, fair, fair. I'm not gonna troll someone for being a fangirl at my own con of all places," Mara said, dropping her teasing. Her six eyes lit up and she added, "But on that note, make sure you get to the manga area by 11:55 tomorrow for your Katrina-chan autograph session. At noon, it's opening up to the masses."
Yuisu's resulting smile was bright and happy. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. Thanks again, Mara!"
Shortly after that, the waiter returned with breadsticks for the table. He set them down in the center of the table, but he could barely withdraw his hand before they had all been grabbed by hungry liminals.
"Uh, I… I guess I'll go get more…" he said, looking a little unnerved by the experience. He scampered off while the girls ate their breadsticks and continued chatting.