I would have immediately tried to slip back inside the boutique, and probably would have succeeded if Kass wasn’t behind me. “They’re just regular people, there’s no reason to be afraid,” she whispered as she nudged me forward.
When George saw me he immediately stopped showing off, and ran over. Someone had given him a set of sausage links, so I found it much more likely he was looking for a place to hide and eat them than he was coming to greet me.
As he ran forward the crowd turned towards us and I could see surprise on the faces of adults, and joy on the faces of the children. “Easy…” Kass whispered before stepping around me and approaching the crowd. “Afternoon everyone! How are you all today?” she asked, as she waded into the group. I watched in awe as she shook hands, signed fliers, and chatted with the kids, all while keeping the attention away from me.
After a few minutes most of the crowd dispersed, leaving Kass alone with a single drow woman and a pair of young girls. Kass led the entire group up to the steps where I was nervously waiting.
“Talia, I know you don’t like crowds too much, so I asked people to give you some space, but there are a couple people I’d like you to meet. These are Alice and Joan, and they’re fans of yours,” Kass said as she pushed the pair forward. The drow girl jumped forward enthusiastically, but her friend was much more hesitant, hiding her face behind her plushy.
“We watched your match against the pirates!” Alice declared as bounced forward. “My momma brought us to the square so we could watch! I liked the part where George bit the big troll on the butt!”
I could see the older drow facepalm out of the corner of my eye, but I just hesitantly reached out and petted the girl on the head. “That’s nice. I’m sure he’s happy you enjoyed the match,” I said glancing back. George was busy sucking down the sausage links, but he paused when the girl and I looked at him. He hurmphed, then scarfed down the last of his treat, and crept forward. Alice squealed in joy, and stepped forward to pet him, but I noticed Joan didn’t follow.
While Alice was distracted, I slid closer to Joan. I didn’t notice before, but not only was she tightly clutching a very cutified spider plushy, but she had black hair instead of grey. She wasn’t a drow. “How about you? Did you enjoy the match?” I asked the girl. She hugged the plushy closer to her face and nodded, but didn’t say anything. “Was there a particular part you really enjoyed?” I asked again, only to receive another nod.
I rocked back on my heels, unsure how to get the girl to open up. “Do you want to pet George? He won’t bite,” I asked after a few seconds. For the first time the girl lifted her head a little, and nodded emphatically. I was caught off guard by her dark clear eyes. I gently took her tiny hand and led her over to where George was ‘wrestling’ with Alice. I shot him a quick glance, silently letting him know to treat the girl with care.
When Joan waddled over to the giant spider I finally noticed the six legs sticking out of the back of her dress. I whipped around to look at Kass, who put a finger to her lips to shush me, then gestured me over. The kids were so distracted by George that it wasn’t hard for me to slip away.
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“Talia, this is Avice Dhalyn, representative of the local drow families, and Alice and Joan’s mother,” Kass said, introducing the drow woman as I approached.
“But Joan isn’t a drow…” I stammered, “she’s an arachne.”
Avice nodded. “I adopted her down in Trizdell before we moved topside. Not sure how she ended up in a drow orphanage, but both Alice and I love her like our own flesh and blood,” she said, glancing over at the girls affectionately. “The last few years she’s grown a lot more withdrawn, she wanted to hide her legs, and it’s been a struggle to get her to leave the house. It was only after seeing you on the big screen that she started opening up again. I can only guess that because she never had another arachne friend, or good role model, she felt a little ashamed of herself.”
I looked at Avice for a moment. “You could have let her watch some of the Arachne Depths matches, or one of the other arachne adventurers,” I suggested.
She just snorted in response. “I said a GOOD role model. So many arachne bosses, or adventurers play up their efficiency, or cruelty, during matches. I don’t want my girl to be influenced by those sorts of people,” she said.
A few feet away the girls giggled as George slowly walked around, giving them a ride on his back.
“So seriously, thank you,” Avice said before stepping toward the tots. “Come on you two! If we don’t leave soon, we’ll be late for dinner.”
The girls moaned, but still slipped off George. Alice waved wildly, spouting various goodbyes, but I was more surprised by Joan. The small girl actually lowered her stuffed spider, smiled, and waved good-bye, before grabbing her mother’s hand. The small group slowly walked away, and disappeared into the crowd.
“See… fans aren’t all bad” Kass said, elbowing me in the side.
“You set that up!” I accused her. “There’s no way you just randomly bumped into those little girls just now!”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not some sort of brilliant mastermind setting up seemingly random encounters during our day out. That’s more of a you thing. They actually did just wander by. I didn’t want you to feel overwhelmed the first time you met your fans, so I was planning on choosing a small group, but when Avice told me her story I was convinced you should meet the wee ones first.”
“It was a good choice… a little awkward at first, but I enjoyed it. I didn’t know I actually made a difference in anyone’s life. It still blows my mind,” I told her.
“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. I would have hated it if your first encounter with the fans went badly.” Her smile fell slightly. “Unfortunately we occasionally do encounter toxic fans, but it doesn’t happen very often,” Kass mumbled to herself. After a second she straightened up, and threw an arm around my shoulder. “So now we’re done with the shopping, and got the majority of the fan meet out of the way, it’s time to enjoy ourselves! The square usually has quite a few interesting stalls, and a number of performers wandering around. Let’s see what’s here!” she declared, grabbing my hands and pulling me towards the center of the area.
I giggled at her enthusiasm, and let her guide me onward. I felt the feelings of apprehension I’d had since earlier slowly melt away in the face of her relentless optimism, and for the first time today I felt excited to see what we might find.