Ace Con (ChipFics)

>Laika frowned, staring at the crowd around her, why did she think this was a good idea?
>"There you are!" Marla ran up to her from out of nowhere, dressed up as One-Eyed Jack, she lifted her eye-patch as she eyed the taller girl up and down "Hey! I thought you said you were dressing up as Ace?"
>Laika gestured to her torso "I said I wear Ace shirt, is enough" Marla slumped her shoulders and pouted "Ah man, I should've come as Ace then"
>The Russian girl scanned the crowd again "Many people here, is annoying" Marla flipped her patch back down "Well, yeah. The main artist lives here, the cons are always packed"
>"This man, what is name?  Мама wishes for autograph" Laika held up an older looking comic, her mother had asked for this one to be signed specifically "Lincoln Loud, he's Lacy's dad, he has a booth but there's a big line"
>Laika flipped through the comic, it was alright, she thought, the newer stuff was much better in her opinion.  Her eye caught on something on the inside cover
>"To my biggest fan, Becky, from Lincoln Loud" she read out loud and furrowed her brow "Is already signed"
>The smaller girl raised an eyebrow "That can't be right, that ones from before he started working on it, by like, 10 years, lemme see"
>Spotting the signature Marla let out a hum "Weird, maybe they knew each other a long time ago?" she handed it back "Whatever, c'mon lets get some swag" and she darted off, Laika sighed as she followed with a glower, not out of anger but to keep people out of her way
>Laika scanned the crowd as she weaved through. There were many people there, the majority in simple Ace t-shirts like herself, but a large number in full costume
>She wasn't expecting to enjoy the comics as much as she did, but boredom and the large number of them that her mother owned lead her to start reading, and soon she was hooked
>Laika came to a stop beside her friend, who was hunched over a glass case, peering in "Check these out"

>The tall girl leaned over, noticing many small key chains with various anthropomorphic animals dressed as Ace Savvy, Laika raised an eyebrow "What foolishness" she huffed
>Marla grinned and held one up "Gotcha this one" the Russian girl studied it, a brown bear clad in hero garb, she felt her face flush slightly "Is cute, I admit" Laika took it and clipped it to her jacket "Thank you"
>"You really own everything you do huh?" Marla laughed and got a second one for herself, clipping it to her belt for now "We match now" she smiled, and Laika actually gave a small one in return
>"Show me more swag, I am curious now"
>Marla nodded and scanned around "Ooh, there's some grab bags and bobble heads over there, lets go!" and she rushed off again, and Laika followed with a smile this time
>Thirty minutes later they were standing in line for autographs, Laika was holding two bags and wearing a domino mask and a small blue cape  clipped to her collar
>Marla smirked at her "You went ham didn't you?"
>The taller girl averted her eyes "Is appropriate for setting"
>The sporty girl snickered as they shuffled forward, nearly at the end of the line
>Laika shifted both bags to one hand as she reached in and retrieved her mother's comic and nodded
>Their turn came up and Laika looked at the man sitting in front of her, an orange polo, white hair with a silly cowlick, and a warm smile "Hey Marla, how are you? Great Jack costume by the way" He turned his attention to the taller girl "Who's your friend?"

>"Hi Mr Loud, this is..." Marla elbowed the taller girl, an act that normally would've gotten her smacked if her friend wasn't slightly awestruck
>"I am Laika, recent fan" Marla snickered and mouthed "BIG fan" to the comic book artist, making him chuckle "Glad to hear it, do you have anything you want me to sign?"
>Laika held out the book in her hand stiffly and Lincoln eyed it curiously "This isn't one of mine, you sure you want me to sign this?
>"Is for mama, she is big fan, this book is special to her, already signed by you, she wants another"
>Lincoln looked confused before understanding seemed to dawn on him, he opened the book to the inside cover and spotted his signature, eyes going wide and mouth slightly ajar
>"You...your Becky's daughter?"
>Laika nodded and tilted her head in confusion, raising an eyebrow "You knew mama, yes?"
>"Yes, yes, she's a friend of my older sisters and I, but I didn't know she had a daught..." Lincoln turned his gaze to look at the Russian girl "H-how old are you?"

>Laika didn't know what to make of this "I am 14, will be 15 this winter" and she noticed, for just a brief second, the man's eyes seemed to water
>He looked down quickly to hide it and signed the book, right under his old signature, and handed it back "Here you go, my handwriting never got any better, but it should still be legible" he chuckled softly
>Laika took the book and smiled softly "Thank you, Mr Loud.  Mama will be glad"  he grinned warmly at her "What about you? Do you want to have anything signed for yourself?" and Laika shook her head
>Lincoln reached over to a pile of gray line work comic covers kept for such an occasion "To my newest fan Laika, from Lincoln Loud" he smiled and handed it to her as she took it with a shaky hand "T-thank you"
>Quickly signing one for Marla he turned his attention back to Laika "Tell your mother she should come over for dinner one day" and Laika nodded with a small smile "I will do this"
>"We have a lot to catch up on"