The Magpie Emporium, Thursday (6/12)

[drumsticksandd20s]

As far as Steph was concerned, it wasn't so much putting up a Pride display of queer games and games by queer creators as it was giving the existing LGBTQ games section the spotlight for the month. Still, it was (obviously) her focus right now, along with prepping for Free RPG Day next Saturday.

This morning, she was adding a new game to the display; she'd ordered it weeks ago, actually, but it'd been held up in shipping. Something about accidentally getting routed through a dimension that ran at 0.25x speed, according to the sheepish delivery person.

She kept humming, for some reason.

[OOC: As have I, ever since I saw this one at my FLGS. Open!]

Comments

[pocketpretzels]

"Afternoon, Steph," Watts greeted, making his way into the shop, hat deposited on the usual tentacle.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Llewelyn," Steph replied, waving at him with the handful of paintbrushes she was stocking. "What's up, man?"

[pocketpretzels]

As was habit every time he heard that phrase, Watts did in fact glance upwards.

"Just paying a social visit," he said, grabbing a couple of dice to roll in his hand.

He was, as per usual, dressed in a suit (the dark grey pinstripe, for the record), the small Pride flag pin he'd picked up last year on display on his lapel.

[drumsticksandd20s]

There were reasons Steph kept saying it. Ahem.

"Which you're always welcome to do," she said as Little Bot rolled by with a greeting beep and wave of his flag. "Been okay lately?"

[pocketpretzels]

"Yes," he nodded, giving Little Bot an amused smile of acknowledgment. "The recent strange weekend passed me by unaffected this weekend, for which I am- grateful."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Ugh, same," Steph said, grimacing. "Most of the time it's not so bad, but I've had that one happen to me before and it's... kind of really disorienting, if that makes sense."

[pocketpretzels]

"Oh, agreed," Watts nodded.

Particularly when you lived with someone(s) with an occasional tenuous grasp on reality. "It affected me last year. I would be fine with never repeating the experience."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"It hit me the last couple of years," Steph said, nodding as she hoisted herself up to sit on the counter. "Nothing too bad, it was actually kind of funny, but I was probably luckier than other people that way. Still, not complaining that it skipped me."

[pocketpretzels]

"Funny?" Watts asked, clearly curious.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"I was some other girl named Steph who looked nothing like me and apparently was secretly a superhero," Steph replied, the expression on her face showing just how much that whole idea still bemused her. "Actually had, like, muscle mass and everything. The kind of thing I used to imagine I was when I was getting picked on as a kid, so... kind of funny that in a way I got to actually live the fantasy for a while."

[pocketpretzels]

"Huh," Watts said. "That- doesn't sound too bad. I was- I looked like I did when I was younger. A teener. But I was someone else entirely. Someone from this time. Someone who- happens to be acquainted with one of our boarders, as a matter of fact."

[drumsticksandd20s]

"Yeah, that's way weirder," Steph agreed, frowning. "Remembering there was a totally different person looking out of your face for a while? Trippy. Throw in the extra mindfuck of having that person know someone you know in a totally different way? Shit, man, I'm sorry that happened to you."

[pocketpretzels]

"... 'Trippy'?" Watts echoed.

[drumsticksandd20s]

"The kind of weird that really messes with your head," Steph clarified.

[pocketpretzels]

"But where does the tripping factor in?" Watts wondered. And much like earlier with the glancing upwards, he was now reflexively glancing at his feet.