From Different Worlds

Chapter 3

Chapter 3Adam

“Wait!”

Oh, s**t, that came out a lot louder than I’d meant!

The green room had been gradually filling up with more and more people. But now the hum of conversations from everyone else dropped off abruptly when I yelled at Steve to stop, and I reached out to grab his hand.

He looked horrified when so many pairs of eyes whipped around to stare directly at us. But I didn’t really give a f**k.

He’d already snatched up his tote bag from the floor, and my hand closed clumsily around his slender wrist. I was shocked by how small and delicate it felt. Oh, s**t, I was gonna have to be really careful here.

Steve glanced down at my hand, which probably felt like an iron handcuff to him, then right back up at me. He looked like a terrified deer caught in headlights.

Fuck, I was scaring him to death, and that was the last thing I wanted to do. All my life, I’d always been the big, overgrown circus freak who scared people so much. And I knew from experience, it was always worse with little guys like Steve. He probably thought I was gonna try to beat him up, so I tried to turn on the ol’ Baxter charm.

“Sorry,” I said with a lopsided smile, loosening my grip on him. “I think I get it now.” I’d finally realized why he wouldn’t want to go out on stage right after me. It seemed silly, but I didn’t want to upset him any more than he already was. “Please don’t go,” I said as I started to stand up. “I don’t wanna ruin this for you.”

When I reluctantly let go of his wrist, he still looked like he might totally bolt, but he remained frozen in place, thank goodness. After I was standing up beside him, I was shocked that he was even shorter than he’d looked while sitting down. He barely even came up to my chest, so he must’ve only been about five feet tall. And f**k, what a huge turn-on that was for me!

It looked like my stupid height was scaring him even more though, so I tried not to emphasize it by staying hunched over a bit, with my shoulders relaxed, to try to look as small and non-threatening as I could.

“Let me go talk to the show staff,” I said. “Please don’t go anywhere.”

“Uh, okay,” he said, nervously biting his lip.

I was glad to see he was sitting back down while I started back over toward the registration table.

While I was explaining to them what the problem was, one of the ladies behind the table leaned over and glanced around me at Steve on the other side of the room. When I turned and saw that he’d realized we were both looking at him, his cheeks flared bright red before he quickly looked away.

Shit, he was so damn cute, I could hardly stand it!

After I’d walked back over toward the corner of the room, I smiled and spread my arms out to the sides as I approached him.

“Okay, problem solved!” I said.

“What?” Steve asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“They just switched our numbers, that’s all.”

“I didn’t think they could do anything like that this close to show time.”

“They said it was no problem. So…you’re in my seat now!”

I turned around and acted like I was gonna sit down right on top of him. Steve yelped like a little mouse as he jumped over into the last chair in the corner where I’d been sitting.

I couldn’t help but laugh while I settled down into Steve’s previous chair. “Sorry! Just yankin’ your chain, buddy!”

He gulped, looking like he thought everything had suddenly gotten even worse. But at least now I basically had him trapped in the corner, and he’d have to get past me if he wanted to run out!

Since he still looked so scared, I tried to distract him with more light conversation.

“So, umm, what happens next?”

“Huh?” he replied, his dark brows furrowed again.

“We just sit here until the show starts?”

More and more costumers were still arriving, and the room was rapidly filling up, causing the noise level to ratchet up as well. At least they were all ignoring us again.

“Umm, yeah,” Steve replied. “They’ll be calling out numbers for workmanship judging pretty soon. They do that out in the hallway, around the corner.”

“Oh. They said I wasn’t eligible for that since I didn’t make my costume,” I said with a frown.

“Oh, right. Sorry. After that, they’ll start taking us out to the stage in groups of ten, starting with the little kids.”

“Oh, okay. So we don’t get to watch the show?”

“Umm, usually not. They used to try to hook up a monitor so we could watch it back here, but it didn’t usually work very well and you could never hear the audio over all the noise anyway. But there’s a critique panel tomorrow morning where they’ll be showing the video of the whole show.”

“Oh, cool! I’ll definitely have to check that out!”

An ear-piercing shriek suddenly issued from one of the children on the other side of the room. Steve grimaced, like someone had just shoved a sword through his head.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah. It’s just…loud noises give me a headache.”

He bent over and grabbed a small bottle of Tylenol out of his tote bag. He swallowed two of them with big gulps from his water bottle, then started massaging his temple above his creased grimace.

“So, umm, how long have you been costuming?” I asked, trying to keep him distracted from all the noisy commotion.

He tilted his head to one side, looking like a cute, little android from Star Quest who was doing some quick calculations in his head.

“Gosh, I guess it’s been about twenty years now.”

“What? So you started when you were just a kid!”

“Hardly!” Steve chuckled with a tiny sliver of a smile.

I was tempted to ask how old he was, but I didn’t want to come on too strong like we were sittin’ in a bar or somethin’, especially since he got so much more nervous every time I tried flirting with him.

“Well, this is only the second time I’ve been here,” I said.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I don’t remember seeing you here last summer,” I pointed out.

“Oh, I didn’t get to come last year,” Steve said with a frown. “I had some unexpected bills that popped up at the last minute, so I didn’t get to come.”

“Oh, bummer. Seems like there are even more people here this year.”

“Yeah, it varies a lot from year to year, mostly depending on who the media guests are. I heard someone say earlier today that there are about two thousand people here this time.”

“Wow!”

“So did you enter the show last year?” Steve asked, tilting his head to nod around the noisy, crowded room.

“Nah, I didn’t even know what to expect last time. But after watching the show, I just knew I had to be in it this time!”

“So you’re a vir—gin?” Steve said, frowning and wincing as the last word dropped awkwardly from his lips. He squeezed his eyes tight shut, like he thought I might punch him in the face or somethin’.

When I started laughing, his eyes flew open like he was shocked.

“Yeah, I guess I am!” I replied, still chuckling. Then I leaned a bit closer and whispered, “But only in costuming!”

Steve looked stunned for a couple more seconds, then his cheeks burst into flames, just like I’d been hoping for. Dammit, he was so fuckin’ cute, I wanted to gobble him up right then and there! But he was so shy and timid, I knew I’d need to keep using kid-gloves so I wouldn’t scare him off.

“So…” I said, trying to fill the awkward silence. “You must be really good at sewing.”

I couldn’t stop myself from admiring the skimpy, little costume he was wearing, and his sexy, little, slender body. I’m not sure why, but I’d always had a thing for smaller guys like him. I didn’t really go for big, muscle guys anymore, especially after my last boyfriend had been such an asshole. There was just something about this cute, little guy and his big, brown, innocent eyes that really turned me on.

“Oh, uh, thanks,” Steve replied, self-consciously adjusting the shoulder strap on his toga like he was trying to make it cover more of his chest. “I taught myself to sew, just so I could make costumes for events like this.”

“Wow, that’s impressive! You’re really talented!”

“Thanks,” he muttered. “But not good enough. I’ve never won Best in Show.”

“Well, there’s always a first time!” I said, glancing around the room. “You look better than anyone else here!”

He groaned and rolled his eyes. “Oh, please.”

“It’s true! I don’t even know what half of these costumes are supposed to be.”

He started nodding at various people around the room, telling me which TV show or movie their costumes were from. It seemed like he knew what almost all of them were, except the anime ones and a few fantasy costumes I did recognize.

“So you’re only into the fantasy type stuff?” he asked, eyeing my costume again.

“Oh, uh, not really. I mean, I’ve always loved superheroes, and I do watch all the sci-fi stuff, but most of that doesn’t make much sense to me. I’m not a big brainiac like you!”

I expected him to laugh, but Steve eyed me cautiously like I’d either just insulted him or I’d admitted to being a big, dumb jock. Oh, well, can’t hide the truth, I guess!

“You know,” he said thoughtfully, “one of the things I’ve always loved about coming to conventions is how there’s always so many different kinds of people.” He nodded around the room again, pointing out how almost every age level and ethnic group were present. There were even a couple handicapped people who were being treated just like everyone else. “It’s just like the Voldan philosophy of En’dah on Star Quest.”

I turned and stared blankly at him until he finally explained.

“You know, the idea that societal cohesion is ultimately strengthened by diversity and interpersonal acceptance, rather than prejudice and hierarchal exclusion.”

Holy f**k! I was tempted to ask him when he’d swallowed a dictionary, but I didn’t want to insult him, even if I meant it as just a joke.

“Uh…” I stammered. “If you say so!”

Steve grinned and chuckled, and f**k, it sounded like music to my ears! Even if he was laughing at how dumb I was. I was just glad he was finally lightening up a bit!

* * * *

Steve

When a staffer arrived at the open doorway and called out my new number, thirty-one, for workmanship judging, it took me a second to realize they were asking for me. I jumped up and started toward the doorway to go chat with the workmanship judges out in the hall.

“Good luck!” Adam said with a bright, dazzling smile while I walked past him.

Geez, I still couldn’t believe that a big, sexy guy like him was actually talking to me. I kept feeling like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was still having some lingering flashbacks to all the football jocks in high school, but there was just something so kind and sincere in his bright, blue eyes.

Of course, I knew the only reason he was even talking to me at all was simply because we’d been forced to sit next to each other, and he was only trying to be polite. Good-looking people like him never gave me a second glance. Or even a first one for that matter.

My curiosity still had me wondering if Adam might actually be gay, but I knew that would be way too much to hope for. My gaydar had always been so faulty, he had to be just some big, nice, straight guy. So all this would be over in a couple hours, and I’d never see him again.

* * * *

By the time I made it back to the green room, it was even more crowded and noisier than ever. My heart sank like a stone when I saw Adam was no longer seated back near the corner of the room in our assigned seats.

But then, a deep, enthusiastic voice rang out from right beside me.

“So how’d it go?”

I turned and found Adam was standing near the wall between the room’s two open doorways, right next to a tall lady who was dressed as Wonder Woman. She seemed like a real-life sss who was nearly as tall as Adam, so I felt like a midget standing next to them.

When he turned a bit more toward me, I realized I was staring directly ahead at his bare chest since he was so much taller than me. One of his large n*****s came into view directly in front of my face, and I gulped when I felt a strong desire to lean forward to start sucking on it.

God, I could feel my cheeks burning, so I forced myself to look upward, imagining I heard the words, My eyes are up here! in Adam’s deep, booming voice.

“Umm, okay, I guess,” I muttered, in reply to Adam’s question about the workmanship judging.

“Great!” he replied before turning his attention right back to Wonder Woman.

He didn’t even try to introduce me to her, and I couldn’t really hear what either of them were saying above the loud din of noise in the room. It felt like I was intruding on a private conversation, so I reluctantly trudged back over to my seat in the very back corner.

After I sat down, I started glancing around the crowded room. Maybe I should get up and go talk to someone, just like Adam was doing. There was a large group of people on the other side of the room who were dressed as everyone from the main crew of Star Quest: The Next Adventure. And they all looked really great.

Yeah, that’s it. I’ll go over and compliment them on their costumes. They’d say thank you, and then…They’d all start staring at me while the dreaded black hole of awkwardness started sucking every last molecule of oxygen out of my lungs. At least until I tucked my tail and ran back over to my chair.

I knew from experience that it’d be so much easier on everyone if I just stayed put and minded my own business. So I sighed as I reached down and pulled my cell phone out of my tote bag. The only notification was a new text message. It was from Diane.

I had met Diane Mitchell in this very same room many years ago, purely by chance when we’d wound up sitting next to each other, the same way I’d just met Adam tonight. Somehow, Diane and I had struck up a really nice conversation, become good friends, and we’d stayed in touch ever since.

She’d been an incredible costumer “back in the day” who actually won the overall Best in Show award that same night we’d first met. But she had retired from costuming shortly after that, so we’d never had a chance to collaborate on a costume skit together.

Diane and her husband, Jake, were about ten years older than me, and they still attended these conventions, but mostly just as spectators now. They still flew up from their home in Florida twice a year, and they always offered to share their hotel room with me, to help cut down on the lodging costs.

Diane’s recent text message had apparently arrived while I was out in the hallway for the workmanship judging. It said they’d just found good seats for the show out in the ballroom. And she ended with some friendly advice that I should fracture a femur during the show.

I chuckled since I’d always enjoyed her wry wit, but before I’d had a chance to start typing out a reply, a loud peal of laughter distracted me.

It had come from Wonder Woman. She was leaning forward, gripping Adam’s huge forearm, and she was laughing her damn fool head off about something.

I suddenly heard Sigourney Weaver’s voice inside my head, just like in the second Aliens movie. Get away from him, you b***h!

I sighed as I glanced back down at my phone. I ignored Diane’s text and opened a new browser window. I started a search for how to defeat Wonder Woman. But then I realized how stupid and childish I was being. God, that was probably why no one ever wanted to talk to—

A huge shadow suddenly came looming over me and the phone in my hand. When I turned and looked up, I found myself staring directly at Adam’s leather-clad crotch. And I felt the exact same desire to start leaning forward again…