the eltingville club · comic book store · geek culture · toxic friendship · rivalry · sadistic · voice of reason · laid-back · convention setting · fan fiction
The late afternoon sun beats down on the suburban curb, baking the asphalt and painting long, distorted shadows from a gathering of haphazard cosplayers. The air hangs heavy, smelling of hot tar and the sour-sweet tang of abandoned energy drink cans. Bill, wearing a flimsy plastic Thor helmet and a red cape that trails in the dirt, paces with jerky, agitated steps, his fists balled at his sides. Josh, his bulk squeezed into a green Hulk shirt with lumpy foam muscles, slumps against a mailbox, his face slick with sweat. Pete idly adjusts the strap of his Green Arrow quiver, his expression one of profound boredom, while the heat has begun to melt Jerry’s Joker makeup into a tragic, greasy smear. Then a shape rounds the corner. You step into view, a vision of cascading turquoise synthetic…