2025-09-20 - Cooper's Costume Side Hustle

It's spooky season, and Cooper's side-hustle is just started to gear up. It's likely most people will be asking for costumes much closer to Halloween, but those who ask early are a lot more likely to get what they're looking for.

Lennox is directed via messages to come to his apartment in Silver Brook. "Hey, come on in," he says, opening up the door to let him in.

His apartment isn't that much more settled than it was at his housewarming. But, there is furniture now, in the form of a sofa and a vintage armchair that looks like it's been reupholstered. The coffee table is only a crate, and the dining room set is actually a patio set. One corner of the room is set up with big bookshelves full of physical media and a record player with a decent vinyl collection.

The far side of the room has been set up for said side hustle. One wall is entirely covered in mirrors that look like they were repurposed from somewhere in the park. There is a small platform like you might see at a bridal studio with a coat of matte black paint.

What there isn't is any fabric, sewing machine, pins, notions, or any of that.

Lennox is dressed in his usual black from head to toe when he arrives on Cooper's doorstep, the birds tattooed along his full sleeve moving every so often, sometimes disappearing beneath the hem of his t-shirt before landing once more on their original branches. He takes a look around the room and notes that there's more furniture than the last time with a grin and a dip of his head. "Starting to look like somebody lives here," he says.

He moves over toward the vinyl collection to take a brief look at it. He then glances over at the little studio that's been set up and begins to wander in that direction. "So, here's my problem -- I have no idea what I want to do. Every year I ust sort of dress up in the same stuff I have for costuming for work and kind of leave it at that.. but I figured, maybe this year I'll do something different."

"Ah yeah, sort of finding pieces in bits and pieces. I think I am what they call house poor," says Cooper with a grin as he motions to his apartment. "Got tons of space and nothing really to fill it with."

His vinyl collection is a huge mixed bag. There's a good collection of 70s and 80s music, but also a chunk of 90s and a bunch of newer, special edition and re-issue. It definitely leans more rock overall, with 90s rock the most represented. The VHS and DVD collections are similar, heavy on the 90s and early 00s.

"How different we talking?" he asks. "Also, you want a drink of something? I have pop and beer."

"You'll get there," Lennox says. "My place was pretty cobbled together over time at first, til I started replacing the temporary stuff with long-term stuff." He seems to approve of the vinyl collection as he nods, looking at a few of the titles before he drifts away from it.

"Pop'd be good. What've you got?" He asks and then slides his hands into his pockets, considering how different he wants to go. "I could be really crazy and wear something with color in it." His smile skews a little bit wry. "I'm just used to being the raven, you know?"

Cooper wanders over to the fridge. "Got a bunch of random stuff left from the party. Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, some store brand root beer, lime Bubly. Uhhh...cream soda? Who brings cream soda to a house party?" he asks as he squints at the hot pink can.

He grins and cracks open a Bubly for himself. "You could throw everyone off and just drench yourself in rainbows. But why don't we start with the technical bits. When and where are you gonna wear these? Mostly at work?"

"Coke's good," Lennox says as he wanders over toward the kitchen and comes to a stop near the counter, leaning one hip against it. He groans and shakes his head. "No. We do not do .. drenched in rainbows. I would melt. An inky puddle of doom covered in a thin film of glitter." But a little more seriously he says, "Nah, I have to wear the costumes at work. I'm probably going to hit the mainland, go to a couple of parties, or maybe even head back to Detroit, tempt fate. I've been invited to a couple of things. Might be good to just.. get out of the park and away from it for a bit."

Cooper snort-laughs as he pushes the Coke towards Lennox. "In this park, I could see that happening quite literally. We have magical powers, why not magical weaknesses?"

He leans on the island across from Lennox, then grabs a sketchbook from nearby. He's not a great artist, but he's getting better as he's been playing with his clothworking. "My uh..." he hesitates and clears his throat, "...Parker...has been talking about going on trips. It might be nice, but to be honest, I've never had it as good as I have it here. I mean..." he gestures, "I have this nice place and a job that lets me afford it. I have magic powers. There are worlds to explore. So I guess I don't have the itch to leave just yet."

Then he sucks air between his teeth. "So something you can move in for work. Nothing too bulky behind the bar or too constraining. Maybe on-theme? Hell, we could dress you up as a crow. Or like, an Edgar Allen Poe look. Or like, a bootlegger? Go all Peaky Blinders."

"It could happen," Lennox says in a faux-grave tone. But his expression soon twists with a little amused smile at Cooper's hesitation. "I noticed. Congrats. And hey, there's nothing wrong with taking little day or weekend trips out into the rest of the world. It's not like you have to give up your job or your place to travel a little." He lifts his can in a little salute and then takes a sip from it.

"No no, I mean, I have to wear the work-specific costumes at work. I'm looking for something for a not-work party. But yeah not too bulky or too constraining is a good idea in general."

He does consider the options that Cooper suggests though and says, "I kinda like the peaky blinders. That show was damn good."

"Ohhhh gotcha! Yeah they don't make maintenance dress up for obvious reasons. I didn't think you might have work-issued costumes," says Cooper.

His cheeks go a little red when Lennox notices his hesitation. But instead of addressing it, he just clears his throat and scratches his neck. "Yeah, I mean...I guess it just kinda freaks me out to leave. I know that's silly, but what if we start forgetting more quickly? Or something happens that we can't make it back? I dunno, not logical, really. Nothing to suggest that'd happen. But this place is not big on logic."

He raps his pen on the sketchbook page. "You've got the look to pull it off. That'd be easy and comfy and wouldn't take up a lot of space when travelling."

"It takes a while, man. Unless you were gone for like months, you'd probably be fine," Lennox reassures Cooper. "Trust me, you could take a week skiing and come back and it'd be fine. Even a while ago I took a couple weeks off and didn't forget anything." He does grin a little though when Cooper points out the place isn't big on logic, "Fair enough. There is a degree of unpredictability here and there."

"Yeah, I like that idea. And it's a distinctive enough style it won't just look like I'm wearing my own clothes," he chuckles. "Let's go with something like that."

"He was talking about going to Montreal after I told him about it. And Paris. And...somewhere else. And then there's me who hasn't been further east than the Ottawa area and not further west than Sudbury or further south than Detroit," Cooper shakes his head. "Meanwhile, he's been all over the damned place."

He makes a couple of sketches as he talks and pulls out his phone to check references. "Soo what I'll do is make basically just the right shape that's fitted to you. Then I'll dig into references online and make sure I get the fabric and details and stuff right."

"Sounds like he'd make a good guide to show you some cool places, then," Lennox says as he leans back against the counter, taking a sip from his can as he glances over at the drawing that Cooper is doing as he sketches. "I've been thinking about maybe going to one of those other worlds. Since they're letting anyone willing to sign their waiver go check them out. I kind of want to explore something more than just.. Toledo, Ohio or something." He then nods to Cooper and says "You and Parker should come."

"Okay," he says, leaning over to look at the sketch a little more closely. "How much will it run me?" He doesn't look concerned, just curious.

"It's wild, man. You haven't been yet? I've been twice now. This world with giant lizards and a pirate ship in the ice, and one that looked like something out of Skyrim. I fixed a still," he says that quite proudly. "I'm always down. Especially with the worlds that seem to be safer."

As for a quote? He ponders that and taps the pencil on the page. "Depends. I'm getting pretty good at this but sometimes it takes me a couple of tries for it to come out with decent quality. If I get it the first try? Fifty bucks? And this will be good shit, too. You could probably wear pats of it to work."

Lennox shakes his head, "Haven't been yet, no. Been thinking about it, though." He raises both brows at the pirate ship in the ice and giant lizards, but then chuckles, "So you went into a video game and fixed their still? Weird. Sounds kind of cool. But weird." He's still deciding what he thinks about the whole thing.

The price that Cooper quotes him seems to catch him by surprise but he nods, "Well, if it comes out great I'm giving you more than fifty bucks for it." He grins. "You're not gonna furnish this place if you lowball yourself."

Cooper chuckles and nods. "Something like that. Maybe more like a ren faire?"

Then he sets the sketchbook aside and spreads out his hands. "Maybe not, but like...in this instance I realize I'm competing with Spirit Halloween and thrifting and y'know...Temu. If I ask a lot of money, people won't go for it. I'll charge more for fancy Christmas outfits and stuff like that."

Then he wriggles his fingers. As he does, the air kind of knits together until there's a pair of slacks, a shirt, and a jacket in roughly the right shape. They form out of a nondescript white fabric. "OK, so you can put these on and then I can do any tweaks on the sizing if it needs it. Then I can do my research and change it into the real thing."

"I've been to a Ren Faire or two," Lennox says with a bit of a smile. "There's one not too far from Detroit."

"I guess. Depends on how good they want their costume to look and how much that's worth to them. But I think hand-crafted stuff, you're more competing with Etsy level sellers than you are Temu or Spirit Halloween. Kind of a different audience comes looking for something custom versus just picking up a plastic package."

He watches with interest as Cooper's fingers wiggle and he creates the pieces right out of the air in front of them. "Damn. That's pretty cool."

He then reaches for the pieces and sets them to one side. He pulls his t-shirt up and over his head, revealing the rest of his ink, and then tugs the shirt on, settling it into place.

"I suppose so. But hey, if you really wanna help this side hustle? Let people know what I'm doing here. And encourage them to come early. If people wait til the week of Halloween, I won't have time. I still gotta work, after all! Word of mouth is worth more to me at this point than a few extra bucks. Especially if people keep me in mind if they want a special outfit or a unique piece just in general."

Cooper moves out of the kitchen into the main room. "You can pop into the bathroom for the pants. Unless you wanna just locker room it," he says with a grin. Then, "Full disclosure. I might use my ability to copy your proportions if I need to check something. But I don't copy people's actual appearance without their permission."

"Oh, you bet," Lennox says, "I'll talk to some of the folks over at the spiderwalk and spread the word around the boo'edwalk." He then nods and says, "True. Could turn it into a year-round side hustle."

He unlaces and tugs off his boots, shrugging, not really being particularly modest. "Nothing you didn't already see at the water park." He was in his trunks then, he's in his boxer briefs now as he tugs off his jeans and pulls on the trousers without much in the way of fanfare. He's used to changing rooms and the like. Then he's settling the jacket on over the shirt once he's got it tucked in properly. "Alright," he says, shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah there's already a couple of me as it is. Not sure the world needs more than that."

Cooper gestures to the little platform situation he's got going on after Lennox has changed into the mock-up. Even this prototype version fits relatively well and the fabric feels nice. There are a few areas where it's not properly fitted though.

"You ever wonder if there's a reason we got the powers we did? I mean...I never gave much of a damn about fashion before I came here. Now I'm taking out books from the library and watching YouTube videos to learn about garment construction. And I mean, it pairs really well with my shifting thing, but it's not like it helps me with maintenance. Well..." he shrugs, "...unless you count growing or shrinking to reach stuff."

Lennox settles himself on the little platform with the mirror for Cooper to adjust whatever he needs to adjust in the fit of the fabric. He's a decent tailor's dummy. He doesn't squirm or shuffle restlessly. He just sort of hangs out and moves if/when Cooper tells him to move so that he can adjust things. "I can't say as I ever thought about being my own twin.. and I sure as hell never thought much about trying to predict the future. Though, I guess that coming out of my tarot readings is probably the least surprising of all of it." He looks thoughtful as he studies his own face in the mirror. "But I never like, dreamed of having telepathy, or turning into animals, even if I've always had a thing for ravens. Maybe it's just something latent within us that just sort of comes out? Or maybe it's just totally random luck of the magical draw."

Cooper moves behind Lennox and pinches at bits of the fabric to adjust it. Slowly but surely, the mock-ups turn into perfectly tailored pieces. He reaches over and grabs the jacket and he helps Lennox on with it so he can work on that as well.

"Yeah, like...I never wanted to be anyone but me. But it is pretty rad to never have a bad hair day and to be all sculpted without having to spend a million hours at the gym," he says with a grin. "And I'm sure it will eventually come in handy if I keep doing world exploration stuff. But I don't tend to use it very often. It's in contrast to people who seem to use theirs pretty much every day. Has saved me a hell of a lot of money on clothes, though! And linens. I was also able to make my couch and mattress more comfortable."

Lennox watches the process in the mirror, curious about how it all works. He smiles a little as the pieces begin to take shape and the outfit starts to come together. He slips his arms into the jacket and stands up straight so that all of the lines fall as they would naturally. "Once I started doing it, I realized how much I enjoyed flying, or just taking the part of an animal in the shows, or just wandering around as something entirely other than myself. But I definitely never thought about it much before. And there are people who can do all kinds of things with sound, and as a musician you'd think maybe that'd be my thing? But it isn't."

"Yeah that's kind of what leans me towards it being random. But maybe it's that we haven't found the purpose for it yet?" Cooper shrugs. "I dunno. Maybe that's overthinking it too much. Maybe this whole magic thing is just luck of the draw."

The jacket needs a little bit more tweaking. The entire waistline shifts upwards, then the cuffs shorten. It's all very smooth and it seems he has pretty good control over his ability. "Being someone else is weird. There's all sorts of little things you don't realize make people treat you differently."

"Being able to be in two places at once can be really handy at times," Lennox says. "Especially if it's a really busy shift. I can tend bar and perform at the same time if I have to." He tilts his head as he watches the garment come together. "Or if I need someone to help carry something heavy. Maybe I just always subconsciously really wanted a twin."

He then glances over at Cooper and says, "Yeah, I can imagine that'd be strange. I mean, I can be two of me, but it's still just me they're reacting to. And being an entirely different species, you very much expect people to treat you differently. But I'd imagine there's a lot of more subtle stuff that you don't notice until you're.. a person.. but a different person."

"Yeah, exactly. And it's not even like...malicious or even bad or worse. Just different," says Cooper as he checks the garment from all angles and pinches here or there to adjust it. Then he moves to stand in front of Lennox and straightens the collar. As he does, it changes shape subtly. He pulls out his phone to check a few details, then changes the pocket shapes as well.

"People change the ways they interact with you in a dozen small ways. I mean, everyone gets that to an extent if they're a hot mess one day and super put together and stylish the next. It's that, but like...way more intense and kinda jarring."

Then he steps back. "OK. That's all I need for now. The rest is just looking at references and getting all the details and textures right."

Lennox nods a little thoughtfully and says, "Sure. Even just going from being a bartender to being in character on stage or doing tarot readings, people interact with me differently when I'm still technically the same person, just a little more costumed and a little more formal." He grins slightly, lifting his chin a bit so that the collar can be adjusted. "But yeah, I can see how that could be weird." He's probably turning over some scenarios in his head while Cooper is busy adjusting the pockets.

He glances down when Cooper steps back and then into the mirror, taking in everything that's been done so far. He grins, smoothing his hands down over the jacket and checking the pockets in the trousers. "That is so cool.. I mean, I know you never thought much about clothes before the park, but hey, this is some artistry right here."

"I wouldn't go thaaat far," says Cooper when he calls it artistry. "My job just requires precision. So I guess I kind of transfer that over to clothes?" He shrugs.

"Any other outfits you want, or are you going to wear this to the other parties? We wouldn't have to make another mock-up. I have a good sense of your proportions now that I could make something else and then make any adjustments at a fitting."

"It could be. And there's something to be said for precision," Lennox says, but he doesn't argue it, really. He unbuttons the jacket and takes it off, laying it gently to one side and then adding the shirt to it before folding the trousers and laying them on top before reaching for his own clothes. "I think I'll wear the same thing to the parties. They're in different places, different people. And I think I only want to carry and worry about cleaning one costume." He grins, "Though you never know. If I think of something else that I want that I can get custom made by magic, I might hit you up for more."

"Sounds good! I'll have everything you need except a toothpick. That you've gotta get for yourself," says Cooper with a grin. He picks up the mock-ups and folds them and tucks them in a spot on the shelf. There are a couple other similar garments on the shelf in different states of completion.

"Also, if you want your clothes made nicer, I can do that too. You could buy a cheap-ass Amazon shirt or pants and I can make 'em high-end. That's easier than making things entirely from scratch."

"I think I can probably manage that on my own," Lennox laughs. "Thanks, Cooper." He finishes off his can of coke and then sets it down wherever it seems they should go. "I've actually got kind of a collection of suits, old costume pieces, and stuff from when I was performing. Could always see what could be done to touch it up." He looks thoughtful as he laces up his boots and gets himself fully back in order. "Not that I have anywhere to go or anything to do in high end clothes, really. But, you never know."

"One thing I'm learning is that clothes don't need to be all fancy to be high-end. It just means nicer material and better stitching. And it washes better, too," says Cooper. "And yeah, if you need me to do repairs, I'm happy to help. I could probably fix things you couldn't fix any other way. Like missing bits of fabric or jagged tears." He gestures.

"I know we're a long way from Halloween, but if I don't pick up any extra shifts this should only take me a couple days."

Lennox nods at that, perhaps having never had much occasion in his life to consider what high end really was, or to even think about having high end clothes. The fanciest things that he owns are things from the park and a couple of suits for formal occasions. "Yeah, well when your Halloween rush is over and you're just doing the clothes side gig, maybe I'll bring some things over and figure out something to do with them."

He pulls away from the counter then and says, "No rush. Like you said, we've got some time. Whenever it's ready, just send me a text and I'll come pick'm up." He grins then as he begins to head toward the door, "And Coop? If he wants to take you somewhere... go with him. See someplace new. You won't forget." He gives a little wink then, and then makes to head out.