And Here's to You, Mr. Popular

There's an old joke about Asian tourists and cameras. Well, that joke had nothing on the folks at the Cosplay breakfast. Nearly every second somebody would be demanding that Kelly or Sandy pose for a picture, even after Sandy had repeatedly explained that she wasn't wearing a costume. Apparently her look was generic enough that multiple fandoms recognized their characters in her appearance.

"Is it always like this?" Sandy asked Kelly after being photographed mid-bite of her pancakes.

"No, sometimes it gets really crazy with the pictures." Kelly smiled back. They had been placed into a booth along with several other convention attendees.

Sandy acknowledged the joke with a twist of her lips, and was about to return to her trademarked breakfast combo when she suddenly felt a hand on her knee. For an instant, she felt the urge to tell whatever guy had pulled the stunt to take a flying leap, when it registered on her that the person sitting next to her was Kelly. The contact was soft, a gentle rubbing which showed obvious intent.

"Uh ... you want to uhm ... move that hand?" Sandy asked, trying to draw Kelly's attention, who was apparently trying to take a one handed picture of a girl in a gothic costume of some kind.

"Sure..." Kelly grinned, before sliding her hand up to rest on the upper portion of Sandy's thigh.

"That's not ... what I meant." Sandy dropped her fork and used the now free hand to push away Kelly's. Kelly took the contact as a cue, however, and spun her hand so that she could squeeze Sandy's fondly.

"Oh, I know. But I like playing..." Kelly grinned, whipping her camera around to take a quick shot of Sandy's once again red features.

"Look, Kelly, I'm ... I'm flattered really, but I don't think..." Sandy started, once again trying to find a diplomatic way out of the situation.

"Shh ... enjoy it. Or make me work for it. Either way is fun." Kelly punctuated her final word with a broad wink.

"I'm not trying to make ... I don't want to lead you on here." Sandy tried a different tactic. Maybe if she was totally clear, Kelly would back off.

"Oh, don't worry; I'm not going to show up at your house uninvited." Kelly laughed. "I'm not a stalker or anything creepy. Just know that I'm here to have fun. And I want to have fun with you. And quick! Say cheese!"

The camera went off again, and Sandy smiled at the playful way that Kelly had changed the subject. Even the touch on the shoulder afterwords didn't seem as aggressive. Perhaps she had finally gotten through to her after all.

For the rest of the meal, Sandy found herself beginning to enjoy the attention. It was general, not specific to her, after all, with costumes the focus, and the photos thereof the main event. She lost track of the number of times she was asked to hold a camera, a pose, or both whilst some girl showed off a particular item. She actually seemed to be pretty popular with regards to being the "Straight man" for numerous anime girls, who alternated glomping, with the angry girl stare, and finished it off with gratuitous "V's" of the fingers.

The breakfast with the costumed characters finally began to break up as the time for the opening of the convention approached. From experience, Sandy knew that it was best to wait a few minutes before trying to get into the registration line. Especially the line for those that had already bought their passes. It almost always cleared out rapidly, but the jostling and maneuvering required for those first few minutes was not something she wanted to deal with, especially restrained as she was.

It was however, a welcome relief when Kelly finally scurried off to one of her cosplay events. Sandy managed to avoid coming along by claiming that she was going to be involved in a classic 2nd edition game on another floor, but did not manage to avoid the quick kiss on the cheek "For Luck", or the promise that she would be meeting Kelly for lunch afterwords.