“You’re late, Steve.” Firefly said the moment he came back into the room. “It’s okay, though, the agenda can still be salvaged. I figure we take a stroll around the mezzanine level, then go on up to the VIP meet and greet for the stars from Time Travel Jack.”
“I need a shower and a nap, Firefly.” He said, fatigue in his voice.
“No, you just need a quick pick-me-up.” Firefly laughed. “It’s not like the comic book convention comes along every week.”
She seemed to ponder the thought for a moment, then approached Steve, touching his arm.
“No, that would probably ruin it.”
Steve might have missed a little of what Firefly said because he felt like she touched him with a charged defibrillator paddle. He jumped back away from her but the sensation was almost immediately gone. He was about to say something to her when he realized that his whole body felt supercharged, as if having woken from a long, peaceful sleep.
“C’mon,” Firefly grinned, grabbing his arm in both of her hands. “we’re going to miss out on seeing all the costumes.”
The Jinn’s enthusiasm was certainly contagious. “But what about a shower?”
Firefly looked back at him over her shoulder as she dragged him along, wrinkling up her nose and closing her eyes.
“There.”
“There, what?” Steve laughed, but the last of his hesitation was gone. He felt like he had just stepped out of a shower.
“Let’s go!” She sang.
Chapter Six
A New Companion
Okay, so Firefly was right about the convention floor, Steve thought, his eyes hardly knowing where to stop. Between the booths, giant display movie props and the virtual sea of people proclaiming their fandoms in costume, it was a spectacle.
“Where do you want to go first, Steve?” Firefly said, practically jumping up and down at his side. It was the first place that they had gone that she could completely be herself; lights, those eyes, her gray-blue pixie-cut hair, everything.
“I just want to give myself a moment to take it in.” He said, his voiced hushed in awe like a visitor to the Grand Canyon. “I should have come up with a costume.”
Firefly stopped bouncing and took a sudden step away from him. She eyed him up and down. “Close enough.”
“No, wait. Firefly, I don’t…”
He suddenly felt the change of clothes in the different places they hugged and outright gripped his body. Just looking down at the bottom half of his body invalidated the need for a mirror. He was Astro Jernigan. Astro was a mockingly-idiotic ‘superhero’ set inside a popular animated television series. His distinctive and somewhat glaring uniform certainly stood out in a crowd.
The Jinn giggled, covering her mouth with her palm just a fraction of a second too late to disguise it.
“Astro Jernigan?” Steve sighed. “Really?”
“C’mon, you look hot!” Firefly laughed. “It really works on you.”
“Astrooo Jer-ni-gannnn!”
The singsong lovelorn croon came from a gaggle of passing cosplay girls, their leader a hot Ginger McRae.
“See, they dig it.” Firefly asserted, turning back to face the direction the two were heading. It was her way of ending the argument.
By the time Steve had come up with the wording for his angry rebuttal, he was starting to notice heads turning as he passed. Female heads. Cute, costumed female heads. Within a few more minutes he had resolved to put a little more respect into the spunky Jinn.
“Time Travel Jack is really coming out strong this year.” Steve said as they past through a display of set props, the informational placards crowded by the characters of the show themselves. All of Jack’s travelling companions were represented; each duplicated in various combinations of race and age. None seemed to matter until Gillian.
Gillian.
She stood facing a display, slightly apart from the others, the points of her high heels lifted even higher off the ground as she gracefully went to her toes in a vain attempt to see from a better perspective. Her body was magnificent. Steve knew that it wasn’t supposed to matter, but he also couldn’t help himself. He could clearly see himself slipping into what he had feared but he wasn’t in the right place to stop it. Mutual benefit, right? If this was going to happen, it would be that way, just like the rest. Was he ready to be convinced of that? He turned to say something to Firefly, but the Jinn was nowhere to be seen. Typical.
A second later there was a commotion that finally tore Steve’s eyes away from the beautiful woman in front of him. Sounds of consternation and anger finally erupted right in front of his eyes, blocking his view of the redhead he’d been dreaming of. A non-costumed young man raced by her, his hands clutching several of the convention’s logoed bags. The atmosphere was mostly confusion, but Steve’s eye immediately caught the bag being torn from the sexy young woman’s hand, causing her to swivel around precariously on her heels, facing him. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second before Steve was on the move.
It had only been a few months so his military conditioning was still in full form. Steve overtook the bag snatcher within a few booths, a diving tackle sending him sprawling to the floor, the bags scattering outwards igniting a new commotion as the new onlookers had no frame of reference to know good from bad. The initial crowd quickly caught up, though, and shouts of encouragement started to clear up the situation for all involved.
“Get him, Astro!” Was mixed in with chants of “Jer-ni-gan, Jer-ni-gan, Jer-ni-gan.”
Within ten minutes, convention security had arrived and sorted out the situation. The bruised perpetrator had been led out through a back passage while Steve and another convention goer remained to try to sort our whose bag was whose.
“I would’ve thought this was security’s job.” Steve said, helping a con-goer search for his bag. He wasn’t complaining, though; at least not after it dawned on him that at some point, it would be the stunning redhead standing in front of him.
“I could take this over for you, if you want.” A voice behind him said. “You’ve done enough already.”
“It’s no problem, really, I just…” Steve said as he turned around to face the source of the voice while a different companion searched for her bag. He found himself face to face with the woman of his dreams. Well, at least the woman of his fantasies. As a cosplay, the Gillian was spot on. The fangirl was the spitting image of the true actress and, in Steve’s quick judgement, might have even surpassed her for beauty. Long hair draped over her shoulders and a sweet, innocently-sexy face examined him with a puzzled look.
“Hey, are you okay?” She asked with a concerned expression. “I guess no one ever asks the hero that, do they?”
Steve shook his head to clear his thoughts. “No, I’m fine, I…”
He started, but something seemed to snap in him. It was the thought of Firefly and her magic. He had almost entirely abstained from using her powers for his own personal gain. Admittedly, he’d taken the benefits that had come unrequested, but if he was able to do that; heck, if he was going to do that, he at least needed to get out of the awkwardness that had followed him all of his life. Being in the military had served as a great way to mask his own insecurities, but he’d put those days behind him.
The Gillian was still waiting for him to finish his sentence.
With a confidence that surprised even him, Steve completely changed direction.
“I’m Steve, by the way. Would you be willing to have dinner with me?”
The young woman’s face suddenly went crimson, as if trying to upstage the color of her own hair. She stammered for a moment and her eyes looked like she could bolt at any second.
“As long as you wouldn’t be ashamed to be seen with Astro Jernigan.” Steve added with a hesitant smile. He could feel that her response was shaking his resolve, but he struggled against it. They’d probably both end up bolting in the same direction.
The Gillian’s own internal struggle was an epic one it
self, but he saw the crack as she looked him up and down.
“Anyone willing to look as ridiculous as that just has to be harmless, right?” She said. Her tone rode the border between jocularity and seriousness. “I’m Gillian.”
Steve laughed and took her offered hand. “Not harmless enough to tell me your real name, though. I guess I’m going to have to prove my non-threatening nature by being singularly boring.”
The Gillian laughed. It seemed to be her first genuine moment of comfort while speaking to him. “No, my name is Gillian, and I’m a real redhead, and I am really a fan of Time Travel Jack.”
As she finished, Steve ticked off all of her points with his fingers, then glanced up at her with a smile. “I guess that covers all the bases.” He said. “I guess I can trust you, if you’re still willing to go out with me, Gillian.”
The beautiful redhead stood there, as if trying to comprehend why or how the tables seemed to have turned in the conversation. She could feel that the smile on her face was genuine. No attempt at hiding it would have worked. Maybe?
“It’s a date. What time should I pick you up?”
Steve looked at his naked wrist. “Well, I do feel a bit peckish.”
Gillian smiled and it made her even more beautiful. “Well, your cheesiness may reach harmful levels, but I think I can withstand it.”
Chapter Seven
Magic’s Been Afoot
“…but that doesn’t really classify as magic.” Gillian said, her eyes flashing up at him as they slowly made their way down the hallway. “Just because we don’t understand the science behind it, doesn’t mean we have to go all supernatural.”
The conversation had been amazing and Steve was already enamored of her. Though he had initially had some doubts about her being so much younger than he was, he’d been amazed to find out that the gap was just a few years. He’d made a light-hearted remark about how she looked so much younger only to catch a look in her eyes that told him he had touched a sore spot.
“I completely agree with that. It just isn’t that hard to me to actually step back and apply that to magic itself. We try to explain it away with science, but that is no different than explaining science away with religion in my opinion.”
“It’s a valid point.” Gillian admitted. “And I’ll try to be more open-minded when I think magic is afoot. You’ll help point it out to me, won’t you?”
Steve could tell that she was being playful, but it didn’t stop the response from playing out in his mind. He later considered it a sign that Firefly was really having an influence on him that it managed to actually be said.
“I think magic’s been afoot ever since I bumped into you.” He said.
“Aww…that’s…”
He could tell that Gillian was trying to downplay it with a bit of sarcasm, but he saw the true nature of her response in her eyes, at least until the distraction came.
“Oh, hey, Steve.”
The pair looked up, to see Lilly Austen coming out of her hotel room.
“Hey, Lilly. I want you to meet Gillian Dupree. Gillian, this is…”
“Lilly Austen, I know.” The young redhead said, stars in her eyes.
“Nice to meet you, Miss Dupree.” She said. “Any friend of Steve’s. You know how that goes. Anyway, thanks again, Steve.”
The actress seemed a little flustered. Given the roles she usually played, it was no wonder Gillian seemed surprised. She was ready to address it the moment the actress was sealed off by the elevator door.
Steve slid his key card into the slot.
“Astro Jernigan really does get around, doesn’t he?” She said, looking at him in disbelief as he showed her into the hotel room.
“Let’s just say Astro’s life is much more confusing and random than any of his fans would ever imagine.” Steve said, heading towards the door of the suite’s bedroom. “Give me a minute, I’ve got to get this thing off. It’s like it was put on by magic or something.”
Chapter Eight
A Squeak to Remember
“Funny.” Gillian said. Her eyes watched the handsome former soldier as he disappeared into the bedroom. She put her hand on the back of the couch to brace herself. Is this guy really for real? The image of him stopping her mugger and his overall good looks just didn’t gel with the amazing time she’d been having with him for the last few hours. She didn’t really know why. There shouldn’t be a reason why a guy couldn’t be nice and attractive. That’s just your own baggage talking, Gillian, she told herself.
“Now what?”
She asked the question out loud, though she was overly-cautious to make sure that it wouldn’t be heard from the other room. It felt like it had to be said in the open, though. Every time she tried to really focus on where she wanted or even expected things to go, her mind kept returning to the same place.
Astro Jernigan stripping off that skintight suit and…
“Did you want a drink or something?”
Gillian nearly squeaked.
You squeaked, she thought. Not nearly. You squeaked. A drink would certainly take the edge off of things.
“A rum and coke?” She said, forgetting to mask her nervousness with a twitter until the last moment. It ended up sounding odd.
Did that sound crazy? What time is it, anyway? Gillian knew that her sense of terror was just her past coming back to haunt her. Why had she come up to his room in the first place? The answer to that came to mind quickly. Steve Ballard was really a decent sort of guy. That’s the impression, at least, she thought. Why can’t I just trust myself, even if I can’t trust other people?
Gillian listened to the clinking of the ice cubes as he put them in a glass. Her eyes couldn’t stop looking at him. Gray shorts and a similar gray t-shirt with ‘ARMY’ emblazoned in black across the front. He’d mentioned his service just that one time in all the hours they’d spent together.
“I’m just going to have a water, if you don’t mind drinking alone.” Steve said, rocking a water bottle in his free hand as he handed her the already-condensing drink. “Don’t get me wrong, I like the honesty. If I were to be one-hundred percent honest with you, I’m nervous as hell that you’re up here.”
Gillian downed half the drink in one gulp. “I’ll be a hundred percent honest if you will be.” She said.
“Sounds like a deal.” Steve responded. “We can either sit or go back down to the con. I just had to get out of that thing.”
Gillian laughed. “Then why did you wear it?”
Steve hedged for a moment and she saw it in his eyes. She also saw him struggle with it, though she didn’t know him well enough to know how it turned out. “My assistant picked it out.”
“Assistant?” Gillian asked, intrigued. She moved a step over and sat down on the couch. Happily, he took a seat in the chair directly across from her.
“Friend, assistant, it’s hard to explain.” Steve said.
Gillian felt the internal flinch. This is it, she thought. “Friend, assistant…girlfriend? What was that about honesty?”
She tossed back the last of the drink, resolved to stand up and show herself to the door.
“Jinn.”
The redhead looked directly into his eyes over the rim of the tumbler as he said the word.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Firefly. She’s a Jinn.”
“A Jinn?”
Gillian had always considered herself an expert at reading faces. It was the main reason she had decided she could trust Steve in the first place. Something told her that even this didn’t change that, at least not yet.
“I found her when I was over in Iraq.”
“You found…a Jinn.”
She wondered why it sounded more like a statement than a question. She wasn’t even sure which she had intended.
“Just because we don’t understand something…” Steve started, then trailed off.
Gillian stopped him; her intellectual side ready to do battle. “But that only applies to som
ething that we see or feel evidence of. It doesn’t really help to defend something like…”
In the middle of her comment, just as she was preparing to counter any response like a chess player planning the next several moves, he did something that upended the board completely.
He clicked his tongue twice.
There was silence between them and the atmosphere seemed to be growing more tense by the moment.
He clicked his tongue again. This time she could see a bit of something in those cute eyes. Maybe a hint of desperation? If he was hoping for a miracle, he’d gone down the wrong path with her.
Magic Makes the Man Page 7
