Of Stalking and Tomatoes

Chapter 4

Nyx was lost cause. He concluded that himself. After they sat down in the little soundproof room, and listened to Rose's instructions on what they should be doing, Nyx couldn't keep his eyes off of the man beside him.

Ren had his plastic chair turned sideways, his left arm resting on the backrest with his head leaning slightly on the same side. He had his left index finger curled out with his lips softly biting on the skin of it. He's probably thinking on how to do his character's introduction. Everyone was. Nyx should be too. Should, anyway.

Being this close to Ren just made Nyx an absolute mess. His head might facing front but his eyes had been trained to the right this whole time. He never got to take a good at Ren back when they first met. He remembered his auburn eyes but that was it. He couldn't remember much of anything. He didn't remember the lightly tanned skin, the long slender fingers, the thin eyebrows. All he remembered were those eyes, looking at him. Just like they were now.

Shit!

Ren caught him looking and was giving a look asking him what he wanted. Ren tiled his head to the other side and, oh, did Nyx thought that was cute!

He quickly shooed away that thought as fast as it came, shook his head at Ren, and smiled before turning those orbs of his forward. He heard a snicker to his left and whipped his head to the side. Jul was quick to look away from him but with his hand up on his own face, Nyx knew he was laughing. He gave Jul's chair a kick that slightly shook him but that just made the snickering worse. He was so gonna take a swing at him once this is over.

"All right, time's up!" Aaron's voice echoed in the little room, "Let's see what you guys got for us. Starting from...Japan over there!"

Aaron pointed to the person on the other side of the sitting arrangement. Looks like Jul's going last in the order. That can make someone nervous but as Nyx looked at him, he found a wide grin as if Jul was planning something. Nyx hoped it wouldn't be trouble.

The other cosplayers went through their introductions one by one. Most of them only said 'hi' and then their character's names. Well, how else were you gonna introduce yourselves? Nyx also thought of doing just that, since that seems to be the norm for every panel, but Ren totally blew his mind.

"Buon giorno." Ren's voice resonated as that accent got thicker, "Mi chiamo Italia Romano, Southern Italy."

Nyx had his head towards Ren before he even noticed. His eyes widened and his heart pounded through his ears.

Ren was still sitting the way he was before: chair sideways, left arm resting on the chair's backrest, casually sitting without a care. But there was even more now. Ren had made himself even more comfortable on that chair. He had his left leg resting on the edge of the seat as his right leg hang on his left ankle, toes touching the ground and heel up. He had leaned himself even more on the backrest, making himself look like he was about to fall asleep. His left index finger, the one he was biting on earlier, was barely touching his lips. Said lips were slightly curled, giving an illusion of amusement and...something else. Something that made Nyx's breathing unstable and his mouth to slightly part. But it was Ren's eyes that had him hooked.

"Ciao, il miei piccoli gattini."

Amusement, playfulness, danger, and a promise of absolute fantasy.

This was much more intense than what he saw during that day back in 2010. Back then, he could still blink. This? Right here? Nyx was afraid that the moment he blinks, it might be too late for him. As if a knife would slice through him so fast, he wouldn't even feel it. As if he would barely feel himself bleed and fall, and it would be all over before he knew it.