Wholesome!Gaz who had no idea he was a giant nerd until he met you.
Gaz enjoyed living in London when he wasn't on base or deployed. It was a hike from Hereford, but there was always something going on in the city - a street fair, an expo, an art installation in the parks. He was on his way to pick up some groceries on a sunny spring morning when someone in the throng of passers-by waved him down.
"Hi!" you said enthusiastically, walking right up and introducing yourself by name. You were cute - all sunshine and smiles and colorful clothes. Gaz wondered what about him had caught your attention.
"So, this is going to sound so random, but have you ever cosplayed?"
He almost laughed at the notion, at how different that was from his usual M.O. "Can't say I have," he admitted.
Your smile was undimmed. "Would you ever consider it? I mean, I've been dying to find a cosplaying partner for this particular costume I have, and you look just like one of her companions from the game."
I look like a video game character? To say he was amused and surprised was an understatement. But at this point, wild horses couldn't drag him away from your eager, earnest questions.
"One sec." You whipped out your phone and began scrolling through with a look of intense concentration. After a moment, your eyes lit up. "So this is who I usually play. Her name is Karlach."
The phone displayed a photo of a girl he never would have guessed was the same person standing in front of him. Every bit of skin was colored deep red and a curling horn protruded through a wig of dark, shaggy hair. The costume included a ripped, black leather top and similarly distressed pants to match. She - you - posed with a huge grin on your face and a Halloween-prop battleax slung jauntily over one shoulder.
Until that moment, Gaz had never thought twice about cosplay (beyond occasional late night Internet searches that had very little to do with honoring the source material). But seeing the incredible effort that went into crafting this costume, and how confidently you portrayed the character, had him deeply impressed.
"S'brilliant," he told you quite genuinely, leaning a little closer to the phone. You snatched it away before he could admire it properly.
"And here's who you would play..."
Gaz awaited the reveal with an uncharacteristic nervousness. Clearly this was a fantasy game. What if you'd approached him with some weird, ugly creature in mind? Or just, like, a really blah looking chap that suggested you didn't find him attractive?
But he had nothing to worry about, because the character on your phone was the very definition of classically handsome. Well, he had horns like yours and one of his eyes looked fake, but he stood tall and proud with a rapier held aloft triumphantly.
Well damn, he thought, unreasonably pleased.
"His name is Wyll of Ravengard," you explained. "He's sort of like this prince - well, the son of a duke, technically - who was disowned by his father for making a deal with a devil. But what his father didn't know," you gushed on excitedly, "is that he only made the deal to save the very city his father ruled over! So he's this complex character who's really honorable and concerned with justice, but has been cast out from his home like a criminal."
"And you think I look like him?" he couldn't help but confirm.
"You could be brothers!" you agreed.
"I see. And what's his relationship to Karlach?"
You appeared thrilled he'd remembered your characters name. "Initially, Wyll was charged with hunting her down. But when he finds out she's sort of a victim of the same devil, they team up and become buddies."
"What does cosplaying... entail?"
Your eyes went wide. "Ohmygosh, I would love to tell you all about it, but I have to run to work." You whipped out a little notepad with anime characters on the front and quickly started scribbling in it. "I'm going to give you my phone number and you can shoot me a text whenever. I'll send you some reference photos and answer all your questions, promise."
That was two years ago. He couldn't even wait until your first cosplay together was over before asking you out. Since then, he's dressed up with you at every convention he could make, learned how to play Magic: The Gathering, and dedicated an embarrassing quantity of time to playing the very game that brought you together. He spends his leaves at your maximalist flat filled with Funkopop dolls and Hello Kitty stickers and shelves upon shelves of manga. It's home.
He misses you terribly on deployments. It helps to swipes through the ever-growing album on his phone of the two of you together in various couple costumes.
And his favorite will always be the first time you hit the town as Wyll and Karlach.
