An Unlikely Friendship

Posted on Mon May 17th, 2021 @ 1:35pm by Unawakened Zosia Galantis & Private Mattias Tonelly

Mission: The Factions
Location: Comic Con-Long Island, NY
Timeline: Present Day

Ace Comic Con was a three day nerd fest. At least that's what Zo thought of it as her brother raved about what famous actors they would be meeting. It was only a four hour drive to Long Island from Syracuse, but Zane never shut up. Zane was one of the twins born two years after Zo. Zara had opted to stay home with mom while Dad took Zane and Zo for the three day event. Why had she agreed to this? The drive alone was torture. But Zane's excitement on his face when Zo hadn't immediately shut down the idea of her joining them was why she now followed the two into the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The building was covered in posters advertising the event.

Zo may not have shared the same enthusiasm as her brother, but she was looking forward to the artwork. The comic book artist that displayed their work for sale or just to see what they new concepts they had come up with. Art was art to Zo. She stood in front of a vendor in a back corridor, away from most of the ruckus. Zane and Dad were in line for a photo opportunity then they would be moving to a line for autographs. Zo wasn't willing to stand in line for hours, to meet someone who wouldn't remember her I five minutes. So there she was, flipping through a portfolio of designs of superhero's and villain's. The later seeming to attract her eye more.

Mattias slowly rolled his chair through the crowds. He had always heard about Comic Con, but, had never been able to go, due to the high ticket prices. But this year, his parents managed to pay for a full access, three day pass for him to enjoy.

He was looking all-around, amazed by the various stalls selling merchandise, actors from every genre of sci-fi, action and horror movies, new video game demos, plus much, much more. Mattias realized that it would take him three days to just attempt to see everything here.

And then he froze, his eyes locking on what could only be an angel come down to Earth. Her soft brown skin seemed to glow in the various light sets that were rigged up in the space. Her long brown curls seemed like a halo to him. And that smile that she had as she looked through the artwork. It made Mattias's heart race.

Zo started asking the artist a few questions, regarding his technique and programs he used. She wasn't much for the digital drawings herself, she preferred the mess paint and pencil created but she was always looking for new ways to create what she could, to express her feelings and thoughts. Then she felt eyes on her, it wasn't a creepy crawly feeling, more like someone was awestruck? Furrowing her brows she turned to verify her inkling. There were a pair of cerulean eyes gazing at her, a boy in a wheelchair. She gave an awkward smile and a raise of her brows before turning back to the artist. Still listening to him describe in more detail then Zo cared for about how he drew the prints found in the book in front of her.

Mattias felt as if a breeze of warm air had just washed over him. That grin...those eyes! Whoever she was, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Even more so than his mother, who had been a model at one point.

Suddenly realizing that he was staring, he looked away, then, seeing the chair he was in, he realized that a beautiful girl like that would certainly have a boyfriend or girlfriend. No way she'd be interested in a chair jockey. Besides, even if his legs did work, he knew there'd never be a chance in hell that she would even look at him twice.

So, his own hopes smashed before they could bloom, he turned around and, head low, he started to roll away, back to the dark corners where freaks and dorks like him belonged.

When Zo chanced a glance back towards the boy in the chair she saw he was headed in the opposite direction. A comic box lay on the ground, like it had been dropped. Excusing herself from the artist she went to retrieve the comic, she read the title as she picked it up. Godzilla Tron- The King of Monsters. Something about it told her who dropped it, it didn't take her long at all to spot the boy and catch up to him.

"Hey." Zo lightly tapped the boy on the shoulder, "I think you might have dropped this." She wasn't sure if she should walk around and stop him but quickly decided someone standing in her path would only enrage her so she hoped the tap was enough as she extended the comic toward him.

Mattias heard the sweetest voice before feeling a tap on his shoulder. Without looking, he knew it must've been the angel. Coming to a stop, he looked over and up, into eyes that seemed to sing with energy.

"Oh! Uh...th-th-thank y-y-you." He felt like an idiot. He just had to stutter in front of this angel. He blushed in embarrassment.

Zo chuckled, "It's no biggie." She caught the blush, feeling like she must have done something to embarrass him. So before she let herself walk away she nonchalantly asked, "Did you see there's a new movie coming out?" She pointed to the comic that was now in his hands.

At the mention of the new movie, Mattias's eyes lit up. "Yeah! It's AutoSaurs III: Cyber Kingdom! It's Tom Calhoun's third film as Sparky Rachetfield, the AutoSaur's human guide. It's supposed to be his best work yet!"

He suddenly realized that he was jabbering on like an idiot. He blushed again. Why was he acting like such a dork in front of this beautiful girl?!

It was difficult for Zo not to laugh, she didn't want him to think she was laughing at him but after shaking her head she couldn't help but chuckle. "Unfortunately, I don't know much about it, its more of my brother's thing."

Hearing that she had a sibling, Mattias felt a small pang of envy. While Mama and Dad never made him feel unwanted, he sometimes still felt alone, especially when he would hear other kids talk about their siblings.

Suddenly realizing that they were sitting in the middle of the walkway, Mattias found the nerve to ask the question, "Um, I-I was g-g-g-going to get some f-f-food. W-w-would you like to g-g-go with m-m-me? I'll-I'll-I'll understand if you don't." Where did he get the courage to be so bold?!

Zo pulled her phone out of her back pocket to check the time. Her brother and father were probably still in line, and would be for a couple hours so it couldn't hurt to get a bite to eat. It wasn't that she took pity on the guy, she knew people hated that, but she could see how lonely he was, it was in those cerulean eyes of his. Nodding she replied, "Sure, I could eat. Pizza?" She gave him a half smile.

Mattias smiled brightly. "I love pizza! C'mon!" Energy renewed, he started to make his way towards the food court, his chair acting as an icebreaker, clearing the path for the beautiful girl following in his wake.

A few moments later, once they reached the crowded food court, Mattias stopped and turned his chair so he could look at the angel. "Um, if y-y-you get us a t-t-t-table, I'll g-g-g-get us the pizza. W-w-w-what would you l-l-l-l-like?"

His sudden excitement came as a surprise to Zo, causing her to smile a little bigger as she followed him. She was glad the crowds were conscious of him in his chair, she wasn't in the mood to school anyone on being more aware of those around them. "I'm pretty boring, just pepperoni for me." She gave a shameless shrug. Then pointed to a table not too far off that was being cleared, "I'll be over there."

The smile on Mattias's face seemed to grow even more. A beautiful girl, who is into comic art, and pepperoni pizza, AND isn't laughing in my face! I must be dreaming!He thought to himself as he nodded happily and then moved over to the service counter to get their food.

Zo made her way to the table just as the trio that had occupied it before were finished packing up. Taking the seat that gave her perfect sight of the pizza vendor she pulled out her phone again. She had two messages, one was of Zane making a screaming face with some actor, and the other was from Lexi. Hope ur havin a blast! Thinkin of u! Zo immediately shoved the phone back into her pocket, trying to keep the smile from her face.

A few minutes later, Mattias was carefully maneuvering around the other occupied tables, balancing the tray containing two double paper plates, each holding two slices of pepperoni pizza.

Once he finally reached the table, he saw that the pretty girl had moved the chair opposite hers out of the way, allowing him to roll his chair right up to the table. This small action gave Mattias a warm spot, deep inside his chest.

"Here you go," he said as he hoisted the tray up onto the table. "Also!" He grabbed the stack of napkins on his lap, put them on the table, and then grabbed the two 20 ounce bottles of cola and held them up. One was root beer and the other was regular cola. "I wasn't sure w-w-which one you'd want. They d-d-didn't have much else. But, the guy said that they were ab-b-bout to go in the back and ref-f-f-fill the buckets. I could g-g-go get you a dif-f-ferent one." He seemed a bit out of breath after trying to get the words out.

“Coke is fine.” She accepted the soda from him. “I’m not hard to please. Normally.” She said with a side smirk.


*To be continued*