Chapter 6: An Impossible Art Form

When Junie opened her eyes, she saw that she was still standing and that her wrist was being held firmly. She raised her eyes from the leather-covered hand that had kept her from falling and she felt her face turn red when she recognized her savior.

"You okay?" Kyzen asked breathlessly, tugging on her wrist so that she was standing completely upright.

Junie just nodded tightly, her throat going dry. She couldn't believe her rotten luck. He must have seen her shove Will and probably thought she was completely out of line. Her eyes widened when Kyzen stepped up to her and searched her face, his dark chocolate-colored eyes concerned.

"He didn't…" his voice trailed off as he struggled to find the right words, "...hurt you or anything, did he?"

Junie blinked as she tried to process the tone Kyzen used. She shook her head slowly. "No, just wouldn't leave me alone."

Kyzen leaned in closer and she realized it was because the music was so freaking loud and he was having a hard time hearing her. He heard enough however because he smiled and said loudly near her ear. "That's good! I saw the way he was touching you and it looked like he was forcing himself on you."

Junie couldn't help but smile widely, relieved that he had correctly guessed what was going on and didn't think she had done anything wrong. She still felt bad though, so she said, "I didn't mean to shove him so hard that he fell like that."

She was rewarded with a grin and chuckle from Kyzen. He waved his hand in a careless way. "He deserved it. I'm glad you shoved him. He should have gotten the hint when you tried to move away from him several times."

Junie looked away. She didn't know why, but she was embarrassed that he had seen the whole exchange even though he clearly was on her side about the whole thing. "He fell, though," she repeated helplessly.

Kyzen just shrugged. "He wasn't going to get the hint otherwise," he said in a gentle voice despite having to yell over the music. He looked around. "Wanna go grab some food with me?"

Junie's heart fluttered and she nodded shyly.

Kyzen practically beamed at her before gesturing for her to go ahead of him toward the bar.

About ten minutes later, the two were seated at a tiny table tucked against a wall, with some fries and loaded nachos between them. The loud music was giving Junie a bit of a headache and they didn't really have a lot of privacy, but she was still in awe at the situation. She had already started to accept that she might not talk to Kyzen at all and somehow, they wound up running into each other once again.

'He's the one that approached you both times,' said a smug little voice in Junie's head. She blushed before telling it to shut up.

A different voice in her head decided that it was a good time to remind her that she had next to no social skills and that she had never had a meaningful conversation with a guy her age before. And then she realized in a bit of a panic that she didn't even know his real name.

"May I ask what your real name is?" he asked suddenly as if reading her mind. "Don't get me wrong, I think that JunBug is a really cute username but I would like to know your actual name."

Junie's felt her ears heat up and she shifted her eyes slightly. "What's yours?"

Kyzen's eyebrows rose but he smirked gently. "I asked you first."

Junie swallowed the lump in her throat before answering. "Junie."

Kyzen's face brightened. "Mine's Kian," he said.

Junie finally raised her head back up. She couldn't help the way the corner of her mouth twitched. That name suited him somehow. "It's nice to officially meet you."

Kian was watching her, a relaxed smile on his face. "You too, Junie," he said. Then, his dark eyes traveled lower, to the details on her cloak. "Did you actually add those patterns on your cape by hand?"

Junie felt like her face was just going to stay permanently red at this point. She decided right away that she liked the way he said her name. She nodded. "I did." She paused, not knowing what else to say to that, but she didn't need to worry. Kian jumped right in.

"That's amazing," he breathed out. He reached across the table where her arm lay and ran his fingers over the embroidery that was etched onto the edge of her sleeve. "That must have taken a long time. Is the pattern all the way around?"

Junie politely answered the slew of questions he had about her cosplay and her process in making them. As a maker of videos, Junie was used to answering these types of questions, but she'd never been asked about them by a live person before. The closest was Callie, who wasn't that interested in the actual process of making her cosplays. Kian genuinely seemed like he could listen to her talk about them all night.

Junie could have talked about cosplaying all night with Kian, but she wanted to know more about him as well. "Do you make all of your cosplays?" she asked once she had answered his tenth question. Now that she was seated in front of him, she could more clearly appreciate the details of his outfit. The dark vest he wore looked like it was made out of well-worn leather and had Celtic-looking swirly patterns on it. His matching gloves looked like they had been hand-stitched.

Kian looked down at himself and chuckled, pushing some of his dark hair off his forehead. It was such a dark brown that it almost looked black against the odd-colored lighting of the venue. Junie wondered if that was his natural hair color. She could tell he didn't style it at all, the way it went in every possible direction. It was a bit frizzy, but somehow still made him look cool.

"I don't have much experience or patience for fabric," he admitted, looking embarrassed as he scratched the tip of his nose.

"Fabric is difficult to work with," she said, not wanting him to feel bad. She frowned, not wanting to sound like she was bragging at all about her skills. "Where did you get your cosplay then? It looks really well-made."

"A friend from college has an uncle who owns a cosplay shop," he said. "He lets me come in and borrow them from time to time." He pressed his lips together, looking embarrassed at the admission, but then bent down to pick up his sword from where it lay on the chair next to him. He held it up. "I did make this, though."

Junie smiled at his enthusiasm and took the shiny sword. It had a golden hilt with a green gem in the center of it. Her mouth formed a little "o" when she felt the familiar light-weight material. "Is this made out of foam?" she asked in astonishment.

He seemed pleased by her reaction. "You couldn't tell?"

"Not at all. I was so sure it was wood or something," she said in awe. She bounced it in her hands, testing the weight. "How'd you get it so shiny and smooth?" Junie had been attempting weaponry for the past few months and wasn't anywhere near that good. Even her armor, which she thought she had done pretty well, still looked like foam from a distance, despite all the work and paint she put into them.

"A lot of sanding and paint," he said, sounding embarrassed again. Junie looked up in surprise at his change in tone to see that he was smiling at her. She looked away, suddenly feeling shy. She handed the sword back to him without looking at him.

It was the first awkward silence that had occurred since they sat down together. Junie felt a wave of panic as they both started to look around the loud room as if searching for a conversation topic.

Kian ended up finding one first and it was one that surprised her. "I found your videos online."

This just made Junie want to look away from him even more. She blushed hard. "Oh."

"I really enjoyed them," he said quickly, seeming to sense that she was going to take his words the wrong way. "You're a natural, really. And you're really funny too."

Junie's embarrassment only grew at his words, but she couldn't help but giggle. She watched the tension leave his body and he grinned at her.

"What?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing really," she said. "I just really like how many times you really used the word 'really'."

Kian pursed his lips and narrowed his dark eyes at her. "Are you making fun of me?" he asked.

Junie was about to apologize, thinking she had gone too far, but she then realized that his tone was teasing. She felt something devious rise up in her. "Maybe. What are you gonna do about it?"

Kian stared at her, his jaw dropping slightly for a brief moment. He matched her challenging expression and raised up his sword threateningly. Junie fake-screamed and then the two burst out laughing.

Junie considered herself pretty socially awkward, but she wasn't blind. She had seen enough movies to recognize that she and Kian were, in fact, flirting with one another. It was glaringly obvious to her, but it was still an unfamiliar sensation that left tingles all over her skin. From watching the girls on TV flirt, Junie always assumed that the act was an impossible art form that girls like Junie would have to master over time. Now, as she sat across from Kian, she found it easy, even natural, to be playful and unguarded with him.

She only hoped he felt the same way, and wasn't just being polite.

"Junie!"

Junie and Kian looked up to see Callie coming toward them. Junie rolled her eyes when the girl got close. She could see that Callie's cheeks were flushed, her eyes bright, but still a little dazed. She was surprised to see that she was still with the guy that had invited her to dance. Junie nervously looked around and let out a breath when she didn't see Will.

"Callie, where have you been?" she asked when the two got to their table. She gave Callie a knowing look when the guy she was with wrapped an arm around her waist.

Callie rolled her eyes. "It's not like I was hiding or anything. Micah and I have been on the dance floor this whole time."

Junie laughed. "Glad you're having fun," she said. "Who knew you'd have this much fun at a cosplay meet-up."

"To be fair, this isn't your ordinary cosplay meet-up," Micah said, pressing a kiss to Callie's temple.

Junie wasn't too shocked that Callie and Micah were already super friendly with one another, despite the fact that they had just met a couple of hours earlier. Callie made friends everywhere she went. She tended to be very open with strangers and they all seemed to be charmed by her.

Callie giggled like a schoolgirl before turning to Junie with an apologetic look. "Something actually came up so I gotta get going. You'll be able to find a ride home, right?" She looked pointedly at Kian.

"Callie," Junie snapped, knowing full well what the younger girl was trying to do.

Kian didn't miss his cue. "I can give you a ride home."

Junie looked at him, opening her mouth to tell him he didn't have to, but Callie jumped in before she could.

"That would be great, thanks!" she chirped, batting her eyelashes in that irresistible way only Callie could. She took Micah's arm and the two turned to go. Callie made sure to look back over her shoulder to wink at her cousin. "Have way too much fun."

Junie was glowering at their retreating backs when Kian's voice cut in. "She seems nice," he said conversationally. "Callie, right? Have you two been friends for a long time? You seem close."

Junie laughed, her sour mood evaporating immediately as she focused her attention back on Kian. "I've known her for way too long," she said. "Callie is my cousin."

Kian's eyebrows rose in surprise. "It's cool that you're so close to your cousin," he said. "I haven't even met some of my cousins."

They fell back into an easy conversation in which Junie asked him about his family, both immediate and extended. He had a large family, with multiple aunts and uncles, but many of them lived in different states so Kian didn't really know them growing up. He loved his little brother though, who was still in high school. Junie wasn't surprised to learn that Kian was an older brother. He gave off that vibe somehow. Maybe it was the way he insisted on driving her home, or the way he helped her fix up her costume at the last convention.

Junie had her elbows on the table and was leaning forward eagerly as Kian continued to talk about his childhood. He had such a relaxed personality, giving her all this personal information with hardly any prodding. She wished she could be like that toward people she hardly knew. She panicked slightly when, a couple of times, Kian tried to ask her more about her own upbringing, but Junie would just blush and turn the questions back on him, urging him to talk more about himself.

"We should probably get going," Kian told her, reaching up to stretch his shoulders.

She looked around in surprise. There were only a few people in the club now, and a couple of workers were starting to clean up glasses and sweep the floor. She gaped at her phone screen when it read just past midnight. Time had never flown so quickly in her life!

They stood from their seats, pushing their chairs in before standing in front of each other. Junie felt like she should say something, maybe thank him for sitting with her? That sounded kind of dumb. She could tell him that he's really fun to talk to, but that would probably sound like it was coming from out of nowhere.

Kian looked like he was having a similar internal debate, but instead of saying anything, he held out his hand to her.

Junie looked from his outstretched hand to his face in astonishment. He had another one of those tight smiles on his face, but his eyes shone with an intense confidence with just a dash of hope.

She looked down, her face growing hot as she took his hand.