Coffee and Books 2

Sly fox - part 1

With some pins I fasten the white lace cap in my hair, low pigtails peeping out from underneath it at both sides. I'm wearing a pinafore dress with a wide skirt, little windmills and tulips printed all over the white and blue fabric. Underneath is a white blouse and I'm wearing knee high socks with small orange bows on the sides. Each pigtail is also endowed with orange hair elastics with bows.
I look like a ridiculously over the top tourist version of a Dutch farmer girl, the only thing missing is a pair of wooden clogs. Hannah, my step-brother's wife, made me the pinafore and shipped it to me from Holland. I feel a bit awkward in it, but I'm happy to put up with my outfit for today. I wanted a Dutch costume and I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The only things that resemble the true folkloric dress of my home country are the lace cap and the blood coral beaded necklace I'm wearing. It's just a single string of beads, one part of a multi-string necklace that has been passed down in my step-father's family for generations. He gifted it to me when I turned 18. I took it with me to New York as a token from home and it's perfect for my costume today.

When I get downstairs in the coffee shop, Thomas pushes a heap of pumpkin streamers in my hands.
"Here, you hold this end, I do the other end." He climbs up on the stepladder and hangs the streamers from the ceiling above the counter.

"Aye-aye Captain!" I salute him. Thomas is dressed as a naval officer in a white suit and he looks very handsome. "Didn't we put up all the decorations yesterday already?"

"You can never have enough pumpkin jack streamers," Thomas states. His voice sounds a bit muffled because of the tack pins he is holding between his lips.

"Don't swallow one of those," I remark, holding up the streamers for him. Thomas just rolls his eyes and pins another streamer to the ceiling.

In the kitchen I find my cousin Lisa and her boyfriend Marc. They're making lemonade and muffins. We're expecting a big crowd today and it's all hands on deck, that's why Marc is here to help us out.

When I see their outfits I practically scream with joy. "Oh my gods! You guys look amazing!"
They have dressed up as Woody and Jessie from Toy Story. The result is utterly adorable.

"Marc's idea," Lisa says defensively, as if I can't see she knows she looks good in her cowgirl outfit.

"You look good too, Ylva," Marc offers, filling up another pitcher with blood red lemonade. He tops it off with a hand full of candy vampire teeth. "The cap is cute."

"Thanks, I feel a bit daft in this outfit, but I'll live." I touch the lace cap on my head self-consciously.

"Nonsense, honey! You look great!" aunt Yvonne says from behind me. She pushes me aside to get into the kitchen. She's wearing a brightly coloured Caribbean dress and a hat with fruits and flowers. All that is missing is a colourful cocktail with a paper umbrella.

The whole staff dressed up. Emilia came as Catwoman and her sister Gabriela is wearing a witch costume. Even uncle Lars put out, he's dressed as a distinguished British gentleman, complete with bowler hat and monocle. It's Halloween and at Coffee & Books that means it's time for our annual kids costume competition.

"What time will Thor be here?" Yvonne asks me. The fruits and flowers on her head bob with every move.

"I told him 10:30 at the latest. You want to do the prize ceremony at 11, right?"

Yvonne nods. "It's great that he agreed to judge the costumes!"

"Thor does everything for your muffins," I smirk.

Pretty soon, the place is crawling with kids and their parents. There are three mini-Thors, I saw an Iron Man or two and at least four Captain America's. We play games, dance to music and all the while the staff of Coffee & Books keep the trays with muffins and lemonade coming.
A little after 9:30 Tova and Astera come in, with six Asgardian children in tow. They're all dressed up as animals: I see a dog, two cats, a mouse, a frog and a tiger. Tova and Astera are wearing bird costumes, with multi-coloured wings attached to their sleeves and feather headbands. The costumes are all handmade by the girls, with a little help from the royal seamstress Brunnhyld. My friends jumped at the chance to play dress up when I told them about Halloween and the contest at Coffee & Books.

I hold out a cup of blood lemonade to a 5 year old girl who is dressed as a bunny cop. I recognise her as the main character of Disney's 'Zootopia'. "Well, hello officer Hopps! Would you like some lemonade?"
The girl is delighted I recognised her. Her father nudges her to say thank you, he is dressed up too. "I see you brought your partner," I tell the girl. "Do foxes like lemonade too?"
She nodds fervently and looks up to her father. He is looking the part, with a police uniform, a fox tail and fox ears.

And then I recognise him. "Hello, Gary."
For a moment we just stare at each other. I don't have fond memories of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who kidnapped me. Every now and then I still have nightmares from being in that lab. I haven't seen agent Wilde since that night as he was promptly removed from Loki's detail, courtesy of Tony Stark.
I always thought I would kick him in the nuts whenever I saw him again, but this is hardly the time and place to do that. Especially with his daughter standing next to him. Still, I'd like to get back at him for what he did to me. And I think he knows that, because he's certainly feeling awkward about seeing me.

When I look at his fox attire and face paint, I suddenly know what to do. I hand him his lemonade and grab my phone from my apron. "You make a good Nick Wilde, Gary," I tell a confused looking agent Wilde. "Smile for the camera!"
I tuck my phone away and smirk at him. My revenge is gonna be sweet!

Credit to the author for the drawing on top. Found on DeviantArt.