Chapter 29: Upper Level

   “Upper level?” Brian called over the noise of the nearby crowds in the main lobby. Stephanie nodded and Kelly took initiative to lead the way, the raven-haired gothic beauty’s self-assured presence of confidence seeming to help open a path among everyone. To Brian’s surprise, he also noticed that she reached back to take Stephanie by the hand, ensuring the shy, diminutive girl wouldn't run into anyone. The pair of escalators was overloaded and had lines forming, so Kelly chose the staircase leading up between them, which was almost empty. Together, they climbed up towards the terrace that overlooked the convention hall.

   Brian wasn’t sure how to feel about Kelly, anymore. At first, seeing her in the Calamity Queen set had painfully reminded him of Chloe. After all, he’d been picturing Chloe wearing the outfit for months leading up to the convention—ever since ordering it for her, in fact.

   However, while Kelly was likewise endlessly confident, a little imperious, and even manipulative like Chloe, everything else about her demeanor seemed warmer than his ex-girlfriend. Despite the intimidating bravado Kelly sometimes affected, some subtle change in her mannerisms—this morning in particular—made her feel friendlier, closer to both him and Stephanie. Maybe in ways even Kelly herself had yet to realize.

   No matter what happens today… Brian mused, looking thoughtfully back at the raven-haired beauty as she ascended the stairs, Think I’ll let her keep the outfit. The thing had been atrociously expensive, but that particular dent in his wallet was already in the past, practically forgotten. He’d only brought the outfit to the convention so that he could try getting rid of it without feeling like it was a waste—not necessarily to recoup his whole loss.

   Looks like it was practically made for her, anyways.

   Brian led the girls to a free spot along the railing, where they could take in the entirety of the convention hall. While there were a lot of people on this upper level as well, it was a breath of fresh air compared to the oppressive crush of bodies in the lobby below. Though they were two stories up now, the ceiling skylights were much, much higher overhead, giving their area a mezzanine view of the entire convention.

   “It’s… it’s amazing,” Stephanie breathed, still almost hopping with excitement. “Look! There’s a Solar Bear cosplayer! I-I hope I can get a picture of him, later.”

   “There’s probably a Monster Battlers meetup going on at some point today,” Brian said. “Let’s ask the next Battlers cosplayer we see, maybe somebody’ll know something.”

   “Okay!” Stephanie agreed, flashing him a smile and turning back to try and spot more familiar cosplays.

   “Excuse me, Miss in the lovely dress,” an older voice chimed in from behind them. “Could I take your photo?”

   All three of them turning at once to see a man in his early forties wearing a pocketed vest. He was wielding an oversized camera rig, the bulky cylinder of a specialized lens protruding forward from the thing and an external flash mounted above. Professional photographer?

   “As you wish,” Kelly sighed theatrically, twisting back against the rail in a sensuously graceful way. The distant, morose expression she wore while dressed in the Calamity Queen set was effortlessly captivating, and the photographer took several shots at different angles. Stephanie and Brian even had to edge back further out of the way as the gentleman stepped back to take a wider picture.

   “Excellent, thank you. Very beautiful.” The man nodded with satisfaction at each still he replayed, and turned next to Brian. “Could I get a few of you as well?”

   He posed once casually, leaning back against the rail as if relaxing, produce sticking out of his shopping bag, and then did a more serious one. He left the bag on the ground for the ‘serious’ pose, adopting a proper combat stance, fists raised at a ready to the camera and stylized skull helm glaring with menace.

   “Ooh, I like that one,” Kelly whispered loudly to Stephanie.

   “Dan Andrews, Sunday Morning Gazette,” the middle-aged man offered Brian a hand. “You may’ve just made the papers.”

   “Brian,” Brian chuckled, returning the photographer’s firm handshake and then respectfully taking off his helmet. “And, me? No way. With all the other costumes here, I’m nothin’ special.”

   “Well, you’re right, and you’re wrong,” the man said with a hearty laugh, turning to take in the entirety of the convention hall with a look of appreciation. “Couple years ago, I woulda singled out a couple of cosplayering twerps from some big, well-known series and been able to call it a day. Woulda made for a cute little interest piece... buried sixteen pages back in the the paper.”

   Cosplayering? Brian gave the older man a lopsided smile.

   “But now, you know, this anime stuff’s big. If there’s no other big news before tomorrow, this event’s got a good shot at making front page. People attending anime conventions aren’t these, y’know, these social pariahs anymore—they’re, potentially, the sons and daughters of parents who read our Gazette. Everyone knows somebody who’s crazy into this stuff nowadays, so now, you’ve gotta give stories like this a very… special treatment.”

   “So it’s changed the... criteria you look for, in taking photos?” Brian asked, a little interested. Kelly and Stephanie seemed to be huddled into their own whispered conversation again.

   “Well, yeah, sure,” the photographer nodded. “Going right for the ones that look the most nerdy just doesn’t fit the narrative anymore. Can’t just stroll around taking shots at tits and ass, either, though—er, if you’ll pardon my language. My editor’s this shrewish old harpy, know what I mean? Heaven forbid, nothing improper, hell, nothing suggestive can be put in our paper, not in this day and age. I’ve gotta avoid taking any shots that show too much skin, and that’s—hell, that’s most of ‘em, these days.”

   “Sounds like that doesn’t leave a lot for you to take pictures of,” Brian laughed.

   “Hah, no, it really doesn’t,” Dan Andrews chuckled, shaking his head as a young brunette woman wearing a virgin-killer-style sweater passed by. The knit sweater’s backless opening extended down far enough that the first few inches of the cleft of her butt was visible to all. “Well, when you’re young, everything’s all sex, sex, sex.”

   Brian’s eyes absent-mindedly wandered up Stephanie’s profile instead. Up her tall red boots, to where they slightly pinched the plush, pale skin of those lovely thighs. The fluttering, breezy hem of her pink-and-red dress, and that alluring hipline that angled into the shy girl’s slender waist. She turned, as if feeling his eyes upon her, and her cute face bloomed into a warm smile.

   “Hell, you fit the bill for the Gazette, though,” Mr. Andrews said. “Interesting, but not inappropriate. You are a…?”

   “A... Darkmask minion, from Hero Hero Haruki,” Brian explained guiltily. With some difficulty, he tore his eyes away as Stephanie turned back to Kelly. As usual, no matter how tempting her figure was, that brilliant smile of hers was a thousand times more dangerous.

   “A dark mask, okay,” Dan pulled a tiny notepad out of his vest pocket and scribbled skeleton guy = a dark mask.

   “I web search ‘em all when I’m back at the office,” he explained with a sheepish smile. “Fill in the character and series details, and all that. Otherwise I’d never keep track, you know?”

   “No worries,” Brian shrugged.

   “Now that, there,” the photographer sighed, pointed out a nearby young mother ushering along a screaming costumed child away from the railing, “Would’ve been my safe bet, woulda been perfect for the Gazette—if only she wasn’t bawlin’ her eyes out.”

   The frail-looking mother in front of them stopped in place, still attempting to coax the young girl, who looked no older than four, to calm down. The child was cute, and probably would have looked sweet and adorable—if not for her little face being contorted into a screaming wail. With a pink-and-red dress, tutu-like skirt, and what looked like a familiar headband with ears attached, Brian realized that she was actually dressed up gijinka-style, as a monster from Monster Battlers. Either Embrin, or its evolution—Flamituff.

   “Cassie—please,” the frazzled young mom begged in a tired voice. “We can fix it. Mommy can fix it when we get back to the car. Cassie? Cassie?” The girl was clutching at a small animal-eared headband in her tiny hands, not unlike the one Stephanie had made for her own costume. The ears were slightly rounded triangle shapes of red craft foam, but one of them had separated from the headband, exposing dried beads of hot glue.

   “Maybe I’ll wait and see. Cute kid, recognizable costume,” Dan Andrews nodded to himself. “Makes the event seem like a family thing, broadens appeal across demographics and all that targeted thinking mumbo jumbo—”

   “Oh my goodness!” Stephanie exclaimed suddenly, crossing over to the crying girl right away. “Are you an Embrin?”

   With teary eyes, Cassie looked up at Stephanie’s approach with so much surprise that she nearly dropped her broken headband, and the little girl shrunk back against her mother’s legs.

   “You look so pretty!” Stephanie praised, slowly crouching down beside the girl so that she wouldn’t appear threatening. “I’m a Flamituff! Do you know Flamituff?” The little girl stood in awe for a moment, completely enthralled by Stephanie, before slowly nodding and reaching out a hand in wonderment.

   Sucking in air between his teeth with a hiss, the journalist disregarded his conversation with Brian and stepped in, bringing his expensive camera rig to bear. The photographer hurriedly snapped photo after photo after photo in quick succession of this unexpectedly perfect scene between Stephanie and the little girl.

   “Yes, she’s an Embrin!” the mother spoke up, gently nudging her daughter forward. “Say hello to the pretty girl, Cassie!” Naturally, Cassie didn’t speak, still entranced by this beautiful girl suddenly crouched down in front of her. She stepped forward and grabbed at Stephanie’s outfit as if to ascertain she was real.

   “She’s shy,” the mother apologized.

   “I am, too,” Stephanie confided to Cassie with a knowing smile. “But, since you’re the most bravest little Embrin… here!” She withdrew the rabbit-eared headband adorning her own pink tresses and then carefully placed them upon the little girl’s head.

   So astonished that her mouth was hanging open, Cassie immediately pulled them off and held them in front of her, working her pudgy fingers across the soft felt of the ears and then looking back up at Stephanie, an adorable smile blossoming across her features.

   “Those are for you, little one,” Stephanie insisted, helping her put them back on again. “Look, you’ve already outgrown your old Embrin ears! You’re ready for big Flamituff ones!”

   “Oh! Thank you so much! Thank the pretty girl, Cassie!” the girl’s mother said quickly, covering her mouth with a hand, taken aback. “Your costume looks great, and I just love your hair! Are you sure you’re okay with…?”

   “Yes, of course,” Stephanie beamed, rising up from her crouch and giving Cassie a last little wave. “I hope she has a really great time.”

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   “Doesn’t matter what other news is happening, now,” the old photographer mumbled to himself. “We just clinched cover page, for sure. Dan Andrews, Sunday Morning Gazette, sorry to interrupt. Would you be alright with this being published in tomorrow’s paper?”

   “Yes—oh my god, yes,” the mother hurriedly agreed. “Cassie, do you want to be in the newspaper? You got a picture of—?” He leaned in, tilting his camera for them and clicked through several of the photos he’d taken.

   Shot from an angle just behind and slightly over the shoulder of Stephanie’s Flamituff gijinka dress, the pictures were extremely well-composed, capturing the vibrant colors of their costumes with vivid clarity. In the foreground, the pink-haired young woman was proudly crowning her own rabbit-eared headband onto the little girl’s head in the focus of the shot, giving the still photo a sense of depth and movement. Wearing the matching colors in her little Embrin outfit, Cassie’s cheeks were still wet with obvious tears, but her expression captured in that moment was dawning surprise and happiness.

   “Wow,” Kelly mouthed, impressed.

   “That came out perfect,” Brian congratulated, and he took Steph’s hand. “That was cool, what you did.”

   “N-no,” Stephanie blushed. Giddy with excitement, she kept stealing glances back at Cassie wearing the oversized Flamituff ears, rather than the photographer showing off the shot. “She was just—she’s too cute! And, and it broke my heart, seeing her with her little broken ears.”

   “But now you don’t have ears,” Kelly pointed out.

   “That’s okay,” Stephanie smiled, adjusting her glasses and running a hand through her fluffy pink hair. “I’m, um, I’m already satisfied, with how my cosplay turned out this year. It made her so happy. Did you see?!”

   The smile she turned towards him was dazzling, and she was so perfect, so overwhelmingly cute in that moment that Brian lost control for a moment, unconsciously leaning in to kiss her. The fire in her eyes seemed to flare brighter, and she happily allowed herself to be pulled closer, tilting her head up to kiss him—

   But he stopped himself, pulling back in alarm and giving her an embarrassed look.

   “I—uh, yeah, sorry,” Brian said with a nervous chuckle. She seemed to understand, to know that he’d almost lost control—lost himself because of her, seriously struggled to hold himself back—and she looked extraordinarily pleased with the notion. She gave him a shy grin, turning away to hide the fact that she was going completely red, a rosy tinge spreading across her entire face and all the way down her neck.

   What was I doing!? Brian wondered, turning away and exhaling slowly. Staying within the lines was so much simpler and easier to understand with Chloe setting iron-clad boundaries. A stern frown here, a disapproving look there, immediate and intentional guidance for his every subtle behavior.

   But, with Stephanie, that whole rulebook was thrown out the window. She radiated raw attraction, and her every appreciative glance, her every beaming smile seemed like she was eagerly inviting more. He was a little afraid to discover how little restraint he actually had when it came to her.

   “Hey, you two! The fu—” Kelly began to gripe, before looking to see that the mother-daughter pair was still several feet away from them. “What the fuss was that supposed to be?!”

   “What do you mean?”

   “You’re like this stubborn little kid who doesn’t wanna take his medicine.” Kelly shook her head in exasperation. “You just don’t get it, do you?”

   “Get what, exactly?”

   “C’mere. Come over here,” Shooting him a wry smile, she took Brian by the hand and tugged him along after her in search of a more private place for them to talk. He couldn’t help but notice the entrancing way the layers of Kelly’s petticoat and dress slowly twisted back and forth about her as she walked, as though ever-so-slightly pivoting with each step them. She remained conspicuously silent as she pushed through the flow of passerby with Brian in tow, meandering through another group of anime fans over towards a secluded area of the overlook. Stephanie followed close behind them.

   “Okay. You don’t get that you need this. It’s like, all the stars are aligning, and everything’s falling into place for you to have some amazing sex this weekend. This is exactly the kind of intimacy you need to get past all of this bullshit with your ex.”

   “I... don’t think we’re—well, I don’t think I’m ready for that,” Brian shook his head. “Getting myself into all that right after a breakup like this, that would be dumb.”

   “You tell yourself that all you want,” Kelly laughed. “S’not gonna help you sleep any better tonight, trust me.”

   “What’s that supposed to mean?”

   “It means, us girls—Stephanie and I—well, we’ve both got the itch.” She eyed him in apparent amusement, leaning to rest her elbows on the upper level railing. “That itch that only you can scratch, Brian. What’re you gonna do about it?”

   This whole conversation feels... surreal, Brian thought as he met Kelly’s brandy-brown eyes.

   “Okay. Stephanie, I could see,” Brian said, glancing at the speechless pink-haired girl beside them. “Maybe. But you? You don’t even like me, Kelly.”

   “S-see what?” Stephanie blinked.

   “Oh?” Kelly arched an eyebrow.

   “You know what I mean,” Brian said. “You don’t have feelings for me, Kelly, not really.”

   “I’ll have you know I have very strong feelings for you,” Kelly teased, looking out across the plethora of attendees below. “So what if they happen to be... a very specific sort of feeling?”

   “What—strictly physical?”

   “Is that a crime?” Kelly pouted her lips at him. “I don’t catch feelings, Brian. Not in that other way. They fuck people up. No thanks.”

   “Kelly, I don’t think that you and I would ever work out.” He decided to be blunt with her.

   “Oh?” She quirked an eyebrow, seeming unfazed. “Why’s that? Our parts match up, right?”

   “...I don’t think that they do,” he said. “Our personalities wouldn’t fit well together for an actual relationship.”

   “Oh,” Kelly laughed, rolling her eyes. “Those weren’t the parts I was talking about. Your idea of what a relationship is is way too static. Let me guess, you’re just in for the long haul? The serious relationship; monogamous dating, with the intention of maybe eventually getting married?”

   “Yeah,” he agreed. “That’s how I see it.”

   “Well, that’s dumb. Romance ain’t gonna play by just your one little set of rules, and you shouldn’t try to force it to. Take it from the bisexual girl—‘relationship’ can mean, like, a bazillion different things, and each and every one is gonna be completely different. They can be a long and boring like you want, or they can be short and sweet… you know, punctual. They could be with just one undeserving broad, or with as many as you can stick your dick in.”

   “When I do find the person I want to spend the rest of my life with,” Brian explained, shaking his head in dismay at her choice of words, “I don’t want to have to tell her that I’d been just having meaningless flings, all casually. I feel like that would demean the sex I have with her.”

   “Then, don’t have meaningless flings, Brian,” Kelly rebutted. “Have intensely meaningful flings, with someone you’ve just met. Or, several someones... if you’re up to it.”

   “Okay—and what would the meaning be, then?”

   “Well, you know,” she teased, flashing her bewitching smile. “There’s only one way to ever find that out. You look real deep inside of yourself to find your answers. Or sometimes, deep inside someone else?”

   “Very funny.”

   “I’m being serious, though,” Kelly insisted, grabbing his arm. “Like, Brian—I’m for real serious.”

   “I’m for real serious, too,” Brian countered. “Last night was… I don’t know. Things went that way, and it happened, and no, I don’t regret it. But, that doesn’t mean I’m gonna play along with your act like this, whatever it is. I’m not into casual hook-up stuff like that. That’s not me.”

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