== Be Jane
After soaking up the water from your hair, you dry the rest of your body and proceed to put your clothes back on. You settle your glasses on your nose, then open the bathroom door, releasing the steam from your shower into the main room. Dirk is propped up against the headboard of your bed, slumped as if sleeping. When he doesn't respond to your reappearance, you assume he did fall asleep after all.
You quietly prance over to the bedside, carefully slipping his anime shades from his face, you bend the arms and set the pair on the bedside table.
"Dirk." You whisper, he stirs, but his eyes don't open. You notice how close you are to him, suddenly feeling self-conscious, you move away, sitting on the edge of the bed next to him. Though, you're still awfully close, you hope he doesn't mind. Then again, he's the one that suggested "fun."
"Dirk, wake up." You say softly, shaking his shoulder. His eyes slowly open, blinking a couple times before he's awake. "Was I really that long?"
"I guess so." He sits up rubbing his eyes tiredly.
"I'm sorry, I just felt really gross after sitting on that bus for almost twelve hours."
"Nah, it's cool. I know how you feel, I took a really long shower when I got here yesterday," He stretches out his arms, they drop and he looks at you quizzically. "Where's my shades?"
"There," You nod at the folded shades next to him. He reaches to take them, but you move his hand away, "No, leave them off."
"Ugh, why?" He groans.
You giggle, reaching your hand to his face, "Your eyes … they're really pretty." You stare at his eyes intently, entranced by the bright sunsets compressed into his irises.
"No, they weird people out."
"Well, I think they're beautiful." You say. A second later, you realize what you said and you feel your face heat up. "I mean, uhm..." Dirk glances downwards, a smile hinting his lips, blood flushing his face for a second.
"Thanks, but orange eyes aren't really natural."
"Obviously, they are, since you have them. Unless they're contacts."
"No, they're not contacts."
"There you go, then."
"I'd still like to not get some weird looks."
"And those shades are going to prevent weird looks?" You wonder as he puts the shades back on, you see him squinting at you as his eyes disappear behind the shades.
"Feels more natural to have them on, you know?" He answers you, "So, what now?" He asks. You shrug, leaving the side of the bed, you wander over to the table where a few very uninformative pamphlets lay.
"We wander, I guess?" You say. Dirk slides off the bed, grabbing his jacket and slipping into his shoes. You follow him to the door where you slip your own sneakers onto your feet. You rip your purse from your backpack before joining Dirk in the hallway, he locks the door and you begin walking towards the elevator. You walk silently, though you want to start talking, you want him to talk, so you can listen to his voice, you won't be able to hear it again soon, but you have no idea what to say.
You stand in the elevator next to him. He smiles when he notices you looking at him, but otherwise shows no interest in starting a conversation. You're probably boring him...
The two of you are halfway across the lobby when you notice a sign being taped up by an employee.
"OTAKON TICKETS SOLD HERE."
You stop, latching onto Dirk's jacket, "Hey, what's that about?" You point at the paper with an arrow printed across it.
"Dunno. Sounds like an expo, or something, wanna check it out?" Dirk asks. You nod. He grabs your wrist and pulls you over to the receptionist. "Hey, what's the Otakon thing?"
"It's an anime expo held in the hotel this weekend annually. You can purchase tickets through here if you haven't already," The woman gestures to a door way along the wall her desk sits against. You fidget next to Dirk, unsure what to do with yourself, "Today it will only be running from one to five, but tomorrow and sunday it will be open from ten until eight, with plenty of workshops, viewings and celebrity appearances."
"Thanks." Dirk says, smiling at the woman, then leads you away from the desk, closer to the doorway, "Do you wanna go?" He asks.
"Sure! It sounds like fun," You nod, "I've never been to one before."
"Oh, you poor, deprived soul," He says, grabbing your hand. He pulls you through the doorway. There's already a small line-up at the ticket booths, but it won't take more than five minutes to make it to the front, "I'm buying us weekend passes."
"No, Dirk, I can buy it myself!" You insist.
"Too bad. I'm before you in line and I plan on buying two tickets. Do you really want me to waste my money on an extra ticket that won't get used?" He tells you stubbornly, "Besides, I've probably got more money to spend than you."
That's probably true, but you won't tell Dirk. He shoves his hands into his pockets, "How's lil Seb? Still working good?"
"I would have told you if he wasn't."
"Okay, good."
"My dad doesn't really appreciate him much, though."
"Oh, that sucks."
"Yeah, so he usually stays in my room. Or John's."
"Why doesn't he like Seb?"
"We'll just say Seb tried to defend us against a few menacing harlequins."
"Okay, yeah, that would probably piss him off. Oh, God, if someone sliced up any of my smuppets, bitches would die."
You giggle, "Gosh, you didn't bring any, did you?"
"Possibly."
"Why?" You groan. You know what he does with those things. Just, why?
"There are four things I wouldn't think of leaving at home for more than a few hours. Those would be my shades, my favourite smuppet, Cal and my katana."
"You brought your katana?" You whisper to him under your breath.
"Yeah, reason number one I drove my car here."
"Are you freaking serious?!"
"Yeah, I'll show you when we go back upstairs."
"Dirk! If someone finds that, you're going to be in so much trouble."
"Hey, Janey, no one is going to find it, unless I want them to find it. Don't worry."
You sigh heavily, rolling your eyes noticeably. Dirk chuckles lightly, then returns to silence. The pair of you make it up to the front of the line. Dirk is sure to step ahead of you, ensuring that he may purchase two tickets before you can pay for your own.
"Do you still have weekend passes?" Dirk asks as he steps up to the booth.
"Yeah, you're lucky, we've got almost a dozen spots left." One of the guys says.
"Sweet. I'll take two of those." The guy nods, taking the bills from Dirk. You make sure not to pay attention to the price, so you don't beat yourself up about how much the trip is costing Dirk. The guy hands Dirk two passes and the receipt, telling him to have a good time. Dirk hands one to you as you both walk away. You shove it into your pocket for now, there's still more than an hour before it starts.
"Do you want to get some lunch before we go, then?" Dirk asks you.
"I could eat." You tell him.
You find yourself in line with Dirk at another coffee shop across the street from the hotel. Again, the man has insisted on paying. All you can do now is think of how much you're going to regret it later. Not that you didn't put up a fight, but Dirk is much more persuasive and stubborn than you. He pays for the order and you help him carry everything to a small table adjacent to the wide window.
"I am buying dinner tonight, by the way, Dirk." You tell him as you try to figure out which to eat first. The sandwich, delectable looking cookies or one of the squares.
"No you're not." He says without removing his gaze from his sandwich as he unwraps it.
"Dirk!"
"Jane!" He trains his gaze on you with a flat expression before biting into his sandwich, "What if I buy everything for you to make me dinner?"
"What?"
"Jane, do you honestly think that while living with Dave and my bro, who is in and out of the house for days on end for work, I ever get a real, home-cooked meal?"
You don't reply—it doesn't sound likely. "Alright, fine. But this is going to be one hell of a dinner."
"And that's exactly what I want." Dirk says, shoving the sandwich into his mouth, which is still full of chewed up sandwich bits. You can't help but smirk while he isn't paying attention.
== Be Dirk.
No matter how popular the expo is, it's always the least busy on the friday, or even thursday, if it runs that long. But there's still quite a bunch of people, enough to not make you feel out of place. Jane totally feels out of place. She's never been to an expo, she's not as into anime as you, and she has no idea what to do. It's kind of funny. You lead her to a few booths that catch your eye. There's one in particular that makes you go straight for it. Hand made dresses, cosplays, corsets and other attire hangs from the racks within the few square meters allowed to the vendor. You see so many right away that you want to see Jane in, some sexy that would show her off, some so adorable that would flaunt her cuteness.
"Please tell me you're wanting to crossdress this weekend." Jane groans, knowing the answer isn't what she wants, as you pull her over. You skim the racks and the tags, they are pretty pricey.
"Well, maybe if I find one that will compliment my eyes perfectly." You say in a modest tone. You hear Jane giggle, though she probably hates herself for it now.
You pull one off the rack. It'll come down to a couple inches above her knees. It has a puffy skirt lined with plenty of sky blue ruffles. The top half looks like a corset, in a lighter shade than that of the skirt, sapphire laces used to tie it up, the only "strap" to hold it up is the collar to loop around her neck and attach to the edge of the corset.
"Try it on." You hand it to her.
Jane pushes your hand and the hangar away from her. She covers her face with her other hand, embarrassed. You can see the blood colouring her cheeks, "No way." Jane squeaks.
"Please?" You ask, almost begging, you realize as it comes out.
"No, I'll look silly," Her face is almost as red as a cherry.
"If you're worried about other people seeing you, I'll gladly go in the stall with you."
You had no idea it was possible for her to blush more. Jane snatches the hangar from your hand and stomps away to the changing stall set up in the corner of the dealer's area. You feel your mouth curling into a smile. Oh, god, you can't wait to see her in it.
It's a good thing she's pretty fast to change.
Jane pulls the curtain back, her regular clothes bunched up in her hands, face looking down at the floor. She glances up at you, she's not as red as before, but definitely unsure of herself.
You realize the smile she had put on your face before in now replaced by an "O".
"Does it really look that bad?" She wonders. You snap your mouth shut, mentally slapping yourself—you're just making her feel worse.
"No! Just the opposite!" You insist. You step towards her, meaning to close the gap between you entirely, but that would mean cutting off the good view of Jane, forcing you to stop. You instruct her to turn, she does so, but hesitantly. You hadn't noticed the back was tied with a larger ribbon with a larger bow at the base.
Finally you let yourself lose the view, so you can be face to face with her. Jane. She's gorgeous. You wish for a second that you could give her everything she deserves. But you know she loves Jake, and Jake's a better guy than you'll ever be.
"Uhm, I should change out of this before she thinks we're going to buy this." Jane turns to switch her clothes, but you grab her shoulder before she can step back inside.
"But we are going to buy it." You tell her, "More specifically, I will be."
"No way!" Jane protests. You rest your index finger on her mouth, forcing her to pipe down.
"This will be the last thing," You say, "Please." You arch your back a tad so you're eye to eye with her, "You look absolutely stunning. There's no way anyone can wear that dress like you can, so why should I deprive it of the beauty it deserves?" This makes her blush again.
"Fine, but I'm paying for part of it."
"Nope, you just have to cook me the best damn meal I will ever consume, so filling I won't need to eat anything else for at least three days. And you have to wear it for the rest of the day, and let me get a picture of you in it."
"I'd do all that anyway! Please, Dirk! I can't keep letting you pay for everything." She grumbles, but you ignore her and head over to pay the girl running the booth.
"Trust me, that dress will impress Jake so much, he'll have to ask you to marry him right away. All you have to do to repay me is be happy." You pull out your wallet to count out the right amount of bills.
"But Jake's not the one I want to impress," She says so quietly, you almost didn't hear her, and that was probably her intentions. But it makes you stop what you're doing to glance at her, it makes your eyes widen, it makes your heart skip a beat. The girl clears her throat, and you have a hard time handing over the money. She thanks you for your business and stashes the money away.
"He's right, though, kiddo. That dress does look amazing on you." The girl smiles, picking up a pair of scissors to rid the dress of it's tag, "Put on something as simple as a vest and you two would look absolutely perfect together. Not that you don't seem like a cute couple already." The girl shrugs as she puts the scissors away.
"We're not—" Jane begins, but you cut her off.
"Thanks, she starts doubting it after a while." You smirk, as though Jane is unreasonable on the fake topic.
The girl laughs, "Don't doubt this guy, honey, he sounds like a total sweetheart. Totally jealous I can't find a man like this," She pretends to whisper to Jane, though says it loud enough for Dirk to hear, he grins, "Anyway, have a nice day!" She smiles as she turns back to her table.
You look down at Jane as the pair of you begin to head away from the racks of clothes, a grin hinting your mouth. She glares back at you with raised brows. "Don't act as though you don't like pretending you're my girlfriend."
"And you do like it?" Jane wonders, doubting you.
"Yes, I do, in fact," You stop her in the center of the aisle, hand resting on her shoulder, you look over the edge of your lowered glasses to stare into her eyes, "We could always just make it not pretend."
It takes a second for Jane to catch what you're really saying. She's so naïve. The blush returns once more, "I … Uhm..." You cut her off with a light kiss on her lips. She returns that kiss immediately after you pull away. Her hand quickly slides up to your hair, her fingers tangle themselves into it.
You hear someone yell "Get a room!" at you. You pull away from Jane to look at the guy. He stares back at you intensely, like you have no other choice than to follow his direct orders. Without her consent, you quickly pick Jane up from the ground, causing her to squeak as you curl her up in your arms.
"We already did." You tell him, turn and walk away. You glance downwards to see Jane giggling as you walk, "Is there something you find funny, your majesty?"
She manages to say after the giggles stop, "Not at all, great knight, I am simply quite pleased to have you by my side, now."
"I was always at your side, Jane." You stare into the eyes that inspired you to buy that dress for her, no emotion showing on your face, only your honesty. Jane smiles tenderly and leans her head against your shoulder. You feel her chest heave in a content sigh. "I love you." You whisper into her ear.
"I love you, too, Dirk." She says sweetly, making your breath stop flowing for a moment.
"How 'bout we get out of here for today?" You ask her, she replies with a nod and you set her back on the ground. You lead her towards the exit. As you make it out of the convention hall, she slips her hand into yours, intertwining your fingers. You grasp her hand tightly, hoping you never have to let go.