what do you want from me? why don't you run from me?

[finalem]

Comments

[finalem]

Wow, I guess that's part of the ticket fee too. Something like that. I wanna see if I can get a t-shirt or something.

[ but, like, at home when no one's looking. not at school. maybe to another anime event if it goes with her outfit, but she's also getting way ahead of herself.

her eyes follow a group of girls dressed like badass space cadets, wigs and all, and she lightly touches the ends of her ponytail. she likes her hair, it's been a vibrant red since the summer because her parents actually agreed to let her change her hair color that was still a "reasonable" shade. ]

Gosh. I kinda want to get a wig next time.

[yesterweek]

[ That's something Calvin can't relate to at all, as someone who openly wears his anime shirts to school on the regular. Then again, Calvin is known as a big nerd for a reason.

Still, he nods encouragingly at Essie's comment, glad to help encouraging this budding anime nerd to grab herself some free swag. He's certainly worn free con shirts from time to time, though honestly usually those get worn around his house too.

He doesn't really have a chance to talk up the free stuff though before she pivots the conversation to wigs, and he follows her gaze to the cosplayers walking by. ]

You can buy wigs in the dealer's room if you want.

[finalem]

[ instantly, essie's head snaps up to face the direction of the dealer's room and she perks up considerably. ] I'll have to see if I have enough allowance for that! I've always wanted a blonde wig, maybe they'll have something already styled or something.

[ but she's babbling on, half nervous, mostly excited, ultimately grateful for someone to talk to because she has been feeling awfully lost and out of place. the validation helps, at least the acknowledgment that she is not doing anything wrong. ( she'll eventually learn there's no right way to go about her day, all in due time. ) ]

Do you know where else to get the free stuff?

[yesterweek]

[ Calvin nods with matching levels of enthusiasm at her babbling. There will definitely be styled wigs in there, though he can't guarantee it will be for the character she wants. It usually depends on what is big at the moment, and the hot new shows tend to be the one that are easiest to get wigs for, but classics definitely can be found.

And FMA is nothing if not a classic.

The question has him stopping his nodding to think for a moment though. ]

Sometimes you can get freebies from artists in the artist alley? But no promises. You can try hitting up some of the panels that involve making things?

[finalem]

Okay. Okay.

[ she tries to settle, at least enough as she tries to find seats once everyone begins filing in and rushing to find enough seats for their groups or their costumes, in some cases. the excited buzz filling the room is just as infectious and she catches conversations in passing about the series or the manga it was based on, making a mental note to check it all out later on.

trying to gauge the situation and certainly not wanting to sit all by her lonesome in the middle of the crowd, she glances between calvin and some of the remaining center seats, twisting her hands around the sleeves tied around her waist. ]

Should probably find a place to sit before they get the screening started, huh.

[finalem]

[ x. ]

Gosh now I'm absolutely salivating!

[yesterweek]

[ Calvin has friends here, so Calvin is by no way doomed to sit on his lonesome. The thing is that none of his friends are a very cute girl who seems super enthusiastic about what Calvin has to say, even if it's only explaining the workings of a convention like this one.

He could go sit with his friends in the seats they're grabbing, or... ]

Do you want to sit with me? I think I see a couple of chairs free.

[ He could shoot his shot and ditch his friends for a bit.

He's sure they'd understand, because he's also sure every single one of them would do the same to him. ]

[finalem]

[ were she to find this out later, she would be incredibly flattered he decided to ditch his friends for her. perhaps not the best priorities when they get older, but as a teenager now, she delights in such things, being made to feel special when someone goes out of their way for her.

essie is genuinely surprised that he's invited her anyway, given that she has just latched onto him without thinking or even asking him if he was even okay with it in the first place. but that's pretty much what happened when you've gotten your way for most of your young life.

she recovers quickly from that initial shock, beaming ear to ear. ]

Oh, okay. Yeah! I'll try not to ask you too much while it's showing.

[yesterweek]

[ Getting your way isn't something that Calvin can relate to much. Hell, things even going his way in the first place is something he doesn't much relate to, so being the one of his friends the cute girl spoke to first is not something he's going to ignore. As long as she seems interested in carrying on a conversation with him, then he's happy to keep talking to her.

Even if he sticks his foot in his mouth from time to time during it.

He shakes his head with some enthusiasm of his own, even as he leads her over to the chairs he saw. ]

Ask as much as you want. I don't mind. I can just find the episodes online later.

[finalem]

[ she might sound a tiny bit awestruck when she replies with, ] That's really cool of you. [ which might be a little silly, a little dramatic, but she's also a teenage girl who has just been saved from potential loneliness and social awkwardness. in high school, she knows the rulebook, but on the convention floor, she feels like an alien.

perhaps she'll eventually learn that there's no right way to go about things, but it helps having her own personal guide. at least for the time being.

she takes a seat first and pats the other one, eagerly waiting for calvin to join her. ]

I hope I like it. The premise looks kind of cool, [ essie muses, holding the merch up admiringly, running her fingers over the intricate design. ]

[finalem]

[ My parents aren't home.

those are the most magical words that can possibly be uttered during an especially stifling midsummer week. essie is usually a good kid, obedient, goes to church every sunday with her parents. she comes home right on time for curfew even if she's negotiated later outings on occasion.

there's no real reason for her parents to be mistrusting of her which is why they're fine leaving her at the house for once while they drive an hour away to a gathering with family friends. it's a birthday for a six-year-old so she certainly won't be missed there and would probably be moping about in the corner anyway.

the second they're out the door, she calls calvin with the intent to watch more of that series he recommended. it's better together so she can hear his commentary between scenes instead of watching it apart and reporting back every few episodes. even more thrilling – she's got them set up in her bedroom, the scandal.

but around episode three, she's starting to feel a little restless, a little cuddly as she snuggles up to him and rubs her face into his neck. the central air is on but all she feels right now is hot under the collar. or well, the loops of her spaghetti strap tank. ]

[yesterweek]

[ The rules in a convention definitely play out a little differently than the rules of high school, but Calvin thrives so much more in this particular environment. For one, people don't stomp on other people's enthusiasm, and while there's definitely a level of social awkwardness that crosses some lines, a lot more is given a pass.

In high school any slightly awkward stuttered attempt at a joke is met with exactly the kind of laughter that Calvin doesn't want to hear. While he can make all the inside fandom jokes here to excited responses, he's just getting laughed at outside of his geeky fandoms.

No, it's much better here where cute girls actually give him the time of day. He's trying so hard not to grin like a lunatic as he takes his seat next to her, glancing back to see his friends staring at him and mouthing various confused expletives. They're not cursing him out for abandoning them though, they're doing it because of his luck.

It makes it even harder for Calvin to keep the smile off his face as he turns his attention back to Essie. ]

I think you will. The studio that made it usually puts out some pretty good stuff.

[yesterweek]

[ There are few words that a teenage boy longs to hear from his girlfriend (??) than "Come over, my parents aren't home." There is an unsaid promise in those words that has Calvin desperately searching his room for a couple of packets of free condoms that his school handed out. It had seemed almost like a joke to give them to someone like Calvin, but now...

Now it still seems like it might have been a joke, as apparently all Essie had wanted from him was an anime hangout session.

Honestly, Calvin would still be delighted by this if he didn't feel a little deflated by reality. He probably should have expected it, but his teenage brain has run away with him and made him think this was it.

But almost an hour had passed, and it had just been watching anime. Calvin has dutifully provided commentary for it regardless, because despite his disappointment, he still wanted to watch this show. By episode three he's even managed to do the reverse of Essie, and get absorbed enough in that he's starting to forget his initial disappointment.

And then Essie goes and rubs up against him like that, and his attention snaps back to her in an instant. He clears his throat, and tries to keep his voice from cracking when he speaks. ]

What's up?

[finalem]

[ she hadn't meant to mislead – since they had met over anime, she had thought it might be nice to watch at least a little bit of it before they got to what they both were hoping they'd get to eventually today. days are longer in the summer, after all, and without any homework or other obligations to bog them down or limit their time together.

though, given that kid parties that are mostly for adults gathering don't last forever either, it's probably high time to lean into teenage horniness.

essie pulls back and impishly smiles at him, her nose wrinkling. very purposefully, she brushes her hair off her shoulders and tucks a lock behind her ear as she adjusts her position to cozy up to him even more.

she is, at least, a girl who knows what she wants sometimes. ]

You wanna pause the show a sec?

[yesterweek]

[ It's hard when you have both movies and television setting up unrealistic expectations about how relationships will go, and a plethora of other sources telling you just how unrealistic those things are. So a hot couple might hook up in a sexy way during a movie, but you've got everyone around you telling you to not actually expect that of your girlfriend.

Even though Calvin very much wanted this to be a horny romp, the minute Essie had pulled out the actual anime to watch he'd killed that idea. The most he was hoping for was maybe a little make out session after catching up with what had been released.

He's trying to keep his expectations low right now too, and stick with that 'maybe a make out session' line of thought as she says that.

He doesn't even have time to respond verbally before he's scrambling to pause the show. ]

Okay. Yeah! Okay!

[ The over enthusiastic agreement coming after he's already stopped things makes it a little ridiculous, but Calvin has shown time and time again already that he's not very cool. ]

[finalem]

Cool.

[ it's so cute, seeing him flustered by even the smallest moves she makes on him. not that essie has a great deal of experience in comparison, but she certainly has a bit more finesse when it comes to these things. her smile widens as she watches calvin fumble to pause their show and she angles her body towards him even more, legs curled up against her as they sit against the back of her tufted daybed headboard.

her room is that of a normal teenage girl with posters and dance competition trophies, brand new nerd merch slowly edging out the the childhood princess-y vibes she had grown up with. it's frankly exciting to have a boy in her private space, regardless of what they end up doing and are comfortable with at the end of the day.

essie doesn't mind taking the first few steps either, leaning in to gently cup his cheek so she can kiss him softly.

it's not the first time they've kissed, no, but there's a promise of more this time, as tentative as it may be. ]

[yesterweek]

[ A lack of experience on both their parts puts them on theoretically even footing when it comes to things like this, but their very different personalities means that Calvin is always going to come off a little sweatier and a little more awkward than Essie ever will.

The lack of excitement about this is pretty even though. Calvin had never been invited into a girl's room before Essie.

Well, he had when he was a little kid, and they were literal playdates, but since puberty happened his number of female friends had dwindled painfully, and his romantic prospects managed to total out at zero before their fateful meeting at the anime convention. Even if Calvin is a cute enough guy, the way he dresses and styles himself does a pretty good job of making him look very ordinary and ignorable.

His inability to make any first approaches doesn't help his case, so it's nice that Essie is willing to take some lead here, because at the very least Calvin is ready and willing to enthusiastically follow.

He twists his body towards her a little as she starts the kiss, pressing his lips back against hers to deepen the kiss a little. They've had enough practice with this now for Calvin to feel pretty comfortable that he's doing an okay job here. ]

[finalem]

[ it is a nice kiss, a good kiss. essie is slowly learning how to tell someone what she actually wants ( her, not anyone else ), and while she still has a lot of growing to do in that direction, she is at least comfortable with the fact that calvin is someone who will actually take into consideration whatever she's saying. more pressure here, less tongue there, maybe they shouldn't sit in such a weird position. right now, sitting sideways is fine because she fully has intentions to move when things get hotter and heavier. and if they're on the same page, it certainly will.

she doesn't mind that he's sweatier or more awkward because, well, it's endearing. and it somehow makes her feel less pressured to do or be anything in this moment.

against his mouth, essie giggles softly, thrilled and already a bit breathless even if they've only just begun. she touches his cheek with a little rub of her thumb against the apple of it before her fingers push into his hair. ]

Um.

[ at the pause when she needs to part for air, she decides to pipe up with: ] I was kind of thinking ...

[yesterweek]

[ There's not a chance in hell that Calvin would ignore anything Essie says to him when it comes to things like this. Honestly, in general Calvin isn't the type to ignore what people tell him, but there's a sort of hyper alertness when it comes to her careful instructions on how he can improve his kissing game that has made him a surprisingly good student.

Maybe it's the fact that he really doesn't want to blow it with her, or the fact that Calvin has always been excellent at following instructions, but either way it takes very little effort to coax him onto the right track.

And if what she wants to talk about is what he's really, really, really hoping it will be, he's extremely ready to follow further instructions.

As she breaks the kiss, he sits up a little straighter, eyes almost feverishly searching her face as he waits for her to finish that thought. ]

Yeah?

[finalem]

[ that's when the jitters start, when she has his full attention and her entire body is buzzing and she's pretty sure calvin's might just be too. she's already blushing when she meets his gaze briefly, even as she tenderly holds his face while trying to muster up the courage to actually say what she's been planning on saying for a few days now. ]

Do you want to go further? More than just, like, making out?

[ s e x.

it's certainly on the mind of this good catholic girl. not so good. but maybe the sex fixation is a catholic thing considering how much guilt people still have over it. for a summer fling, it's starting to feel more serious to her than it had when she gave calvin her number at the convention a while back. most importantly. she likes him. and wants to do stuff with him. and she's pretty sure he wants to do stuff with her, even after they respectfully pull apart after more heated makeout sessions.

she leans in to kiss him, just a peck. ]

[yesterweek]

[ Buzzing is one way to put it, though Calvin feels almost ready to vibrate right out of his own skin in nervous anticipation right now. It's not like he wasn't well aware of the fact that Essie was interested in him, but he hadn't actually expected to be asked to take this step already. Maybe ever?

The chance that he's going to turn her down is absolutely zero. She just barely has a chance to give him that little kiss before he's blurting out a response. ]

Yes! Please? I mean, yes.

[ He clears his throat, trying to not focus too much on how his voice cracked sharply on the word "please" there. Very uncool.

Trying to reel it back, he reaches a hand up to brush some of her hair over her shoulder, giving himself something to do so he doesn't combust on the spot. ]

Whatever you want to do, I am all for it.

[finalem]

Cool, I – let's see, um, how far we get?

[ which is kind of a lame thing to say, essie thinks, but it at least gives them both an out in case things potentially go south. not that she wants it to! she very much wants it to go well and tries not to sit so heavily in her own thoughts about this afternoon. even if she might have been picturing it for at least a week now.

the brush of his fingers through her hair is sweet and she gently catches his hand between hers as she leans in to kiss him again, deeper this time but still with her bright smile. slowly, she places his hand on her chest.

this is a good start. ]

[yesterweek]

[ It's not lame at all to Calvin. In fact, it's a really exciting thing to say. It's a statement that offers a vague amount of promise with the possibility for fulfilling all of Calvin's wildest dreams tonight.

Alright, maybe not all of them. Some of his fantasies are a little unrealistic, but he definitely is ready for the chance just to be able to explore her body hands only, much less the chance for sex.

And it definitely feels like he's at least getting a chance at the first. Even as they kiss, Calvin's breath hitches a little as he spreads his hand out across her chest, marveling more at the reality of the fact that a girl is encouraging him to touch a titty more than anything. Over clothing it might not be something that feels super special, especially since during hugs and cuddling he's had Essie's chest pressed up to him before, but it's the principle of the thing. She's actually allowing him to touch them on purpose now. ]

[finalem]

( she giggles. it's not because he's done anything wrong, she's just excited that they're actually doing this and she's doing it with someone she genuinely really likes. maybe he doesn't know her inside and out but she does feel comfortable enough to be more of herself and essie thinks that is a more than valid reason to have sex.

and it's nice, inviting someone you like to, well, touch your boobs. she didn't think much of it before, skirted the issue, or batted hands away when any other guy tried with her. she gives his hand a squeeze around the small mound under his palm before wrapping her arms around calvin once more.

this is good, the kisses are good. all in all it's a very good start, maybe a little uncomfortable sitting side by side - maybe she should get into his lap? )

[yesterweek]

[ Calvin isn't about to disagree with her reasoning right now. While he's not so "horny teen boy" to eagerly hop into bed with a girl who he didn't like spending time with, just mutually liking someone is more than enough for him to nod in enthusiastic agreement to the idea of having sex.

Now Calvin admittedly isn't any kind of sex god here, and his palming of Essie's tits probably isn't anything spectacular that's going to feel like much, but he is at least trying to be mindful and gentle. He has no concept of how hard is too hard, and he doesn't want to hurt her in case boobs turn out to be be surprising fragile things.

But he is definitely taking his chance to feel and lightly squeeze, his mind whirling around too much to really think about how awkward their positioning is right now.

Of course if she wants to try to get into his lap though, he will help her out. ]