Buy her something sharp

“Bet I know which one you want,” you say.

She gives you a look. “I don’t need anything. And these things are a scam.”

“Yeah,” you reply, holding her gaze. “But you still want one.”

She smiles. “I don’t,” she says, but you can see through her.

“I’m going to guess,” you say, pulling her into the line. “And when I’m right, you won’t be mad at me anymore.”

“Is that how it works?”

“You’ll be just so moved.”

“OK. Sure,” Colby says, giving up. She follows you up to the table. Two long-haired, bearded guys are managing it, one skinny and one bigger.

“My good man,” you address the closer of the two. “Can I handle your merchandise?”

“Honestly?” he replies, gesturing at you in your ropes, shirt, and costume, “I’m not sure that you should have sharp objects.”

“You wrong me,” you tell him, placing your hand on your chest. “I’m in a sorority. I’m being hazed.”

He scratches his head, trying not to look at your chest. “Sure.”

“OK.” You pick up a fancy short sword from the table. It might be junk, but it does look good. But Sting is a little obvious. Everyone loves Lord of the Rings, including you and Colby, but she’s not thirsty for this blade. You put that down. Assorted katanas from anime and film are available, including a very nice Kill Bill one. But… having katanas on the wall is a bit of cliché that is not lost on you or Colby. That’s not what she wants. She certainly doesn’t want the huge copies of massively oversized video game swords.

You pick up a black, utilitarian knife and give Colby a sidelong glance. It’s the Joker’s knife from the Dark Knight. Colby loves that movie… but this knife isn’t a great souvenir. It almost looks like just a normal knife.

There’s a pretty snazzy replica of the Scream knife, but that imagery won’t work for Colby. She used to like that too, but she’s an anxious person. Now you’re involved with CCL and all of that. She doesn’t want a reminder of slasher stuff as a keepsake. It’s irrational, but she’s probably afraid that you’re going to get stabbed now that you live at CCL House. So that’s out. So is the Halloween knife and the Jason machete and the Freddy claw, although those are all pretty cool.

“Ha,” you say. “That was easy.”

“I’ll take this one,” you say, tapping a knife in the middle of the display.

Colby bumps you with her elbow. “You don’t actually have to buy it.”

“So I’m right?”

She rolls her eyes. You’re right. You know her too well.

“That will be one hundred and twenty American dollars,” the man with the ponytail says, reverently lifting the replica of the curved Riddick knife off the stand.

Cringing, you pay him and accept the knife, which you offer to Colby, who is doing her best not to look excited. She loves those movies. You like them, but she *loves* them. You can picture her opening packages from Amazon with this thing, which is what she’ll inevitably use it for, giggling to herself.

“See?” you say. “I’m not different.”

“You are so different,” she says, but she’s blushing. It feels like you’ve patched things up. Things go more smoothly after that as you stroll through the con, taking in the costumes, the booths, and the occasional finds, like a sealed CD of the Ghost in the Shell soundtrack that Colby insists on buying for you.

Your time together goes by quickly. You look at your Apple watch worriedly, slurping ramen with her outside. It’s already later than it should be; you have to get back to the others. It’s just easy to lose track of time watching her in her adorable cosplay. You never used to stare at her this much.

“I have to get back,” you say, more for your benefit than hers. You knew you had to get back five minutes ago, you just didn’t say anything.

She looks disappointed.

“Right,” she says.

You can’t just leave her like this. It won’t be as bad as what happened last night, but it wouldn’t feel good. But… you don’t know what your evening is going to look like. You’ll be here at the con until late, but after that? Is CCL planning something? You’re free to do your own thing, of course…

Invite Colby to whatever… CCL is doing?

Or ask her on a date?