Chapter 3

Of all the things Sandy expected upon meeting Kelly, a tackle hug was not even registered in the book. Upon opening the door, Kelly had taken one look at Sandy, and immediately had thrown herself in a full lunge at the startled onlooker.

Sandy took in only quick glimpse of the girl, noting the blonde hair and curvy figure, before she found herself with a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders and Kelly's full body pressed against her.

"Squee!" Kelly shouted, crushing against Sandy with her full weight. The unexpected assault caused Sandy to be forced to take a step back just to avoid being knocked over by the energetic woman. She looked like something out of a comic book, with a long grey trenchcoat which billowed out around shorts and a t-shirt.

"Uh..." Sandy grunted, still in shock from the attack.

"Sorry, shoulda warned you! Kelly is a glomper!" Nathan laughed from the front door, shutting it closed as he did so.

"Aiee ... sooo cuuute..." Kelly spoke in an obvious falsetto, maintaining the death grip on Sandy. It was actually starting to feel a bit awkward to Sandy, and she momentarily panicked at the feel of Kelly's soft chest pressed up against her bindings.

"Ok, hi ... uh ... Kelly." Sandy stammered out, gently pushing at the girl pressed up against her. "Can you uh..."

"Sure, sure! So cool, two cute guys! I'm a winner!" Kelly laughed, stepping back. As she did so Sandy took in more of her costume. It appeared to be a feminized version of one of the Final Fantasy characters, although Sandy couldn't recall for the life of her which game it had come from. The whole effect was striking however, and Sandy noted the toy sword which lay on the floor. Fortunately, during Kelly's headlong charge she had dropped it, rather than impaling Sandy upon the plastic.

"I have a girlfriend! Really!" Nathan responded to Kelly's triumphant cheer.

"Awww ... you're no fun. I thought you knew that con hook ups don't count!" Kelly chuckled. "Well, how bout you, Sam? Going to take advantage of the Convention Vegas rules?"

"The what?" Sandy boggled, her eyes flitting to the door and the three large bags that had accompanied Kelly's entrance.

"What happens at the con ... stays at the con..." Kelly giggled, then stuck out her tongue and flashed a V sign with her fingers.

"Ok ... I think I'll just go sleep in the car now." Sandy spoke with a forced smile.

"Ok, ok. Mr. Serious..." Kelly pursed her lips in a parody of a stern expression. "So, I'm Kelly, as you now know, and I ... call dibs on the bathroom."

With no other ceremony, Kelly spun on her heel, snagging up the smallest of her bags and disappearing into the bathroom. The click of the lock was audible, and Sandy found herself staring at Nathan, who had a broad smile on his face.

"Well, it's not going to be boring." He smirked. "I stayed with Kelly last year, and she always does the crazy girl intro."

"So, she does calm down?" Sandy asked, her nerves still a bit frayed by the physical assault. She momentarily wondered about the bindings at her chest and whether the aggressive hug had knocked them loose. A quick glance told her that it hadn't, but she didn't want to tempt fate with another application of force.

"Oh yeah. But she hugs everybody the same way the first time she meets them." Nathan shrugged his shoulders. "Some people really don't like it, but I hope you're cool with it."

"Yeah, just ... just warn me next time." Sandy wouldn't have admitted it under any kind of oath you could name, but it actually had felt rather nice to be hugged like that. She hadn't had a boyfriend in years, and the physical contact was pleasant, even if a bit unexpected. For a moment, Sandy wished that Kelly was a guy, if only to enjoy the closeness just a little bit more.

"Ah, but then I wouldn't get to see you all embarrassed." Nathan grinned. "And you owe me twenty bucks anyway."

"I do not..." Sandy began before her words were cut off by Kelly exiting the bathroom. She had done something to her hair, which caused it to stand up from her head. Now more than before, she looked like the anime character, and her face bore a deadly expression.

"So ... what do you think?" She asked quietly, obviously trying to portray a different personality than she had earlier been showing.

"Looks cool. Are you wearing that tomorrow?" Nathan asked, his eyes roaming over Kelly's figure. Sandy noted that the way the long jacket was now worn it accentuated Kelly's curves, making the entire ensemble look sexier.

"Yeah, but just for day one. I have Reiku and Black Canary for days two and three." Kelly dropped the serious expression, her face lighting up as she mentioned the other characters that she would be portraying.

"Cool. So you're fighting Sam for the bed tonight." Nathan grinned.

"Awww ... Sam will let me have it, won't you Sam?" Kelly put her hands together and lowered her eyes in a puppy face.

" ... ok..." Sandy sighed, rather embarrassed by the obvious manipulation that Kelly was attempting. "But I get the spare key."

"Whaaat? That's no fair! What if I have to change?"

"Then you call me, and I get back to the room when I have a chance." Nathan spoke up from the left double bed where he was now reclining. "And you're blocking the TV." He waved the remote control to accentuate his point.

"Oooh, what are we watching?" Kelly ran to the unoccupied bed and jumped onto it, her legs under her. "Sam, sit down, lose the jacket, and stay a while."

Sandy nervously pulled the jacket from her shoulders. The t-shirt she was wearing underneath was fairly thick, and she was pretty sure nothing underneath showed. She knew that she had checked it often enough in the mirror, but this was going to be the first real test. She tossed the jacket onto one of the small chairs set next to the lone table in the room, then found a place on the floor, facing the TV.

"Is there anything on?" Kelly groaned, as Nathan continued to flip through the channels.

"We've got crap, crap, crap, Kardashian crap, crap and hey! Spongebob."

"You're kidding, right?" Sandy spoke up, looking over at Nathan, who wielded the remote like some kind of scepter.

"Ok, no Spongebob..."

It took several more minutes for them to find a show that all three could agree on, but it didn't seem to matter what was on, as Nathan and Kelly both kept up a running commentary about random topics the whole time. Sandy had never been one of those people who could just have a conversation with a television on, and she found her attention constantly drifting from the TV back to the conversation.

Eventually, the light from outside dimmed, and Sandy knew that it was time for her to find a way to prepare for bed. With only a small bit of coaxing, she managed to make both of her temporary room-mates donate a pillow and a blanket from their beds. Sandy arranged the items into the semblance of a sleeping arrangement in the corner, pushing one of the chairs out of the way in order to find room.

"Sure you don't just want to share?" Kelly flirted, quite obviously and not seriously in the least. At least Sandy hoped it wasn't serious in the least. The situation was uncomfortable enough without adding in flirting to the list.

"No, I know how this always goes. I fall for it and next thing I know I've lost three experience levels." Nathan joked.

"Darn, you saw through my illusion. You realize now I'm going to have to kill you all to keep my secret." Kelly giggled.

"At least let me clean up before you spill my blood all over the room." Sandy bantered back, grabbing the smaller of her two bags and proceeding to the bathroom.

Once inside, Sandy double checked the lock on the door, before starting the shower as a precaution. There was no sense in any random noises causing suspicion among the other occupants. However, she was surprised by how well this was going. For once it seemed like she was going to be able to just enjoy the convention without having to worry about distractions. Unlike Kelly who...

Kelly seemed to have her own way of dealing with it, Sandy reflected. Instead of being uncomfortable, Kelly reveled in the attention, even going out of her way to make other people uncomfortable. It made her wonder whether she could have ever pulled off such a blatantly aggressive manner of dealing with others.

Sandy undid the metal tags which held her chest binding tight to her, and breathed a sigh of relief as the flesh toned medical gauze came away from her breasts. She inhaled, feeling free from the tightness that had secured her the entire day. Only three more days of this. The first day is the hardest, they always say, and today hadn't been too difficult. Apart from that one moment, there had been no reason to fear for her disguise. She smiled, looking in the mirror at herself.

"You go, boy..." She smirked, running her hand along her neck. The mist in the air was beginning to fog up the mirror, and she quickly shed the rest of her garments. Boots, socks, Pants, rolled up sock, underwear...

Nude, she stepped into the shower, and enjoyed the relaxing spray of the water across her body. Traveling was always something that Sandy enjoyed, but the first moment of true relaxation was always the greatest. She reached out of the shower to grab a wash cloth from the metal rack, and proceeded to enjoy a long, luxurious shower, which she would never have taken at home. Money to pay water bills didn't grow on trees, after all.

After she had finished, Sandy took her time preparing herself once again. She quickly wrapped the gauze around herself tightly, securing it into place with the sharp toothed metal tags. She dug through her bag, finding the large t-shirt she intended to wear as sleepwear, and the pair of sweatpants that went along with it. She tucked the rolled up sock carefully into the crotch of her underwear, smirking as she did so. It was an essential part of the illusion, after all.

She stepped back, and after wiping off the mirror with a towel, checked herself carefully. Still looked fairly male, with the wet hair slicked back and face free of makeup. She took a deep breath, stuffed the remainder of her clothes into the bag, and opened the door accompanied by a rush of steam.

"Thought you fell in." Nathan commented, as Sandy crossed the room towards her makeshift bunk. She glanced at the television, noting the typical good cop, bad cop drama being played out on it.

"All yours." Sandy nodded, sitting down on the slightly rough upper blanket that had been peeled off one of the beds. She could still see the TV from where she was, and tried to lose herself in the banal inanity of the formulaic show.

The slamming of the bathroom door immediately after Nathan's exit caused Kelly to swing her legs over the side of the bed. She sat on the edge, staring over at Sandy with a look of curiosity on her face.

"I didn't freak you out or anything did I?"" Kelly asked, her gaze scanning Kelly intently.

"No ... why do you ... is something wrong?" Sandy asked, looking back at Kelly. Had something happened? She suddenly felt very nervous once again.

"It's just ... Look, I don't want you to hate me because I like to play, ok?" Kelly explained. "You seemed like ... I don't make you nervous do I?"

"A ... a little, honestly." Sandy nodded, feeling panic rising in her. She knew that the fear of discovery was starting to show now, and she needed to deflect it into something that would be more explainable.

"Are you ... Ok, don't take this the wrong way, but ... are you ... you've never had a girlfriend, have you?" Kelly's expression took on a more gentle cast.

"I well ... I never had a ... no, not really." Sandy wasn't quite sure how to answer the question, and as a result what came out of her mouth was the unvarnished truth. She had once had a boyfriend, of course. It wasn't like she was a blushing virgin.

"I don't bite. I promise." Kelly smiled, her voice becoming reassuring. "Just relax a bit, ok?

"Relax?" Sandy asked, leaning back against the pillows.

"Yeah, Relax! I mean so far you've been ... well you're so formal, like you expect my dad to come in and bust you. You had that one joke, but ... well, look at Nathan. He at least is having fun and relaxing."

"It's just that I don't really know you." Sandy answered, willing her leg to stop shaking. A nervous twitch had started to form in her calf, and she could feel the muscle tense and relax rapidly.

"Ok, I'm Kelly, I love to cosplay, and I think you're really cute but need to calm down." Kelly grinned. "I think we're gonna need to get a few drinks into you at the Hideaway and then we'll meet the real Sam."

"The Hideaway?" Sandy asked, stretching out her leg. The twitch stopped, but she was now very aware of her breathing. For a second, she wondered at Kelly's conversation, wondering where she was going with this.

"Oh, it's this great little club about four blocks away. We're totally going to go there after the con closes on Saturday." Kelly's eyes lit up as she described the place. "It used to be a speakeasy back in the twenties, and then they redid it in the sixties into this spy bar, and now, it's just this really cool and fun place that we get to go to."

"Sounds like fun." Sandy agreed. It did sound like a fun place to go, and it might be nice to enjoy a drink without pressure.

"Maybe we can grab a dance or something, as long as you promise to have fun." Kelly smirked. "No sad face. Big smile now!"

Sandy couldn't resist cracking a smile at the request. Kelly was indeed fun. Before she could say anything more Kelly's attention was drawn to the bathroom, where Nathan was exiting.

He wasn't wearing a shirt. He wasn't ripped or cut in any way, but the fine hair on his chest and stomach was rather appealing, and Sandy felt her gaze drawn downwards to where it pointed towards his shorts. She felt a twinge go though her as she looked at him, and forcibly dragged her attention back to the television.

"Ooooh, HOT! Sam, I have a request for the next time you get out of the shower." Kelly tossed the last comment over her shoulder as she breezed past Nathan into the bathroom.

"Put a shirt on, man." Sandy remarked, actually enjoying the show but not wanting to make that fact public knowledge.

"Too hot in here." Nathan replied, lying down on the bed. "So they had the wrong guy, right? Show is only half over."

Somehow, Sandy managed to concentrate on the television for the ludicrously long time that Kelly stayed in the bathroom. She hadn't expected to have to deal with this, since in her previous experience there was considerably more modesty among con roomies. Of course there had also been three other people staying in the room the last time that she had been to a con, and she had made it clear that she wasn't comfortable with people changing in the common room.

The thoughts were brought to a grinding halt when Kelly exited the bathroom. She had changed into a long nightshirt, but underneath it her legs were bare. Her hair was wet, but she had obviously spent some time combing it, and it lay across her shoulders like a veil. She walked through the room slowly, her eyes flitting back and forth to the other two occupants of the room, as if waiting for a comment.

"You guys are no fun." She complained after reaching her bed without so much as a word from either Sandy or Nathan.

"Girlfriend." Nathan spoke one word rather curtly.

"Uh... " Sandy tried to think of something clever, but failed miserably.

"I'll ask you again after about three beers, Sam. And Nathan, you're officially no fun." Kelly pulled the sheets over herself, settling into bed. "Well, since you've invoked the girlfriend rule now, you have to tell me all about her."

"Wait, what?" Nathan reacted with a slightly shocked look.

"If you are going to get out of con flirting by claiming a girlfriend you have to tell me all about her. Those are the rules that I just made up." Kelly announced to the room at large. "I'm sure Sam wants to hear all the details. Is she cute?"

"I ... yes, she's cute. She's normal, ok? Can we get some sleep?" Nathan answered, with an exasperated tone.

"Normal. As in not a cool gamer girl or cosplayer or anything else interesting?" Kelly continued to pry, tossing out each idea with ease.

"Sam, a little help here? Can you distract Kelly so I can run and hide in the bathroom for the rest of the night?"

"You're on your own here." Sandy smirked, glad to have the attention off of herself.

Kelly continued to pester Nathan for a few more minutes, then finally satiated, turned her attention back to the television, which was still playing random cop drama number twenty three. The show continued to play in the background as Sandy tried to drift off to sleep. So far things had not gone perfectly, but the minor hiccups she had experienced had been easily dealt with.

Kelly though ... Sandy had not expected to be sharing the room with somebody so unashamedly flirty. The instant physical contact and come-ons had not been something she had ever experienced. She knew that there were girls like that in the world, but had never in her life actually been friends with one. Sharing a room with a woman who took every opportunity to hug, question and generally be attractive to men present would be ... problematic.