Fuzzy, Sasha, Julie, Duncan and Beef – August 24th – Saturday Afternoon – Seattle Metroplex, Downtown Tacoma, The Magician’s Feast

Fuzzy, Sasha and Julie rolled into the parking lot of the Magician's Feast, a restaurant in the downtown area of Tacoma, a city South of Seattle.

"We're here," said Sasha, excitedly, as she turned to Fuzzy, "Oh, you'll love it."

Fuzzy figured that she probably would as she'd enjoyed most of the day so far. Despite the initial awkwardness, Sasha had taken both Fuzzy and Julie through a whirlwind tour of the city. The awkwardness just couldn't be sustained under this level of fun and novelty.

Initially they'd taken a trip to the Seattle Aquarium and had been given a personal tour by the head marine biologist on duty that day. Fuzzy had been exposed to a whole world of underwater creatures that she'd never even imagined before. The only fish she'd ever seen was either on a plate or was Blake Island's cartoon mascot, Sammy the salmon.

They'd also visited Seattle's International District, or Chinatown as it was also referred to. There they pigged out on a wonderful food and then burned the off calories by walking around Pioneer Square, Seattle's oldest neighborhood. There they enjoyed real coffee in a cozy cafe rather than soykaf, or the imitation coffee made with soy and caffeine that most everyone in Seattle who needed to stay caffeinated drank.

Finally, they'd gone clothes shopping and Sasha bought Fuzzy a new outfit and Julie received three. Fuzzy picked flannel once again and despite Sasha's urging, she kept to only the one outfit. Julie on the other hand despite third wheeling it all day had received a few pretty dresses and she was actually starting to come out of her shell just a bit by early afternoon.

Now the girls and the bodyguards both arrived in front of the Magician’s Feast and the car seemed to perfectly park itself with Beef at the wheel with Duncan sitting next to him. Though in actuality a security rigger that was several miles away on matrix overwatch just ran his simple parking program while half a dozen flying drones lurked just out of sight in case of attack. Like Marco said, some of the best security is often invisible.

The outside of the restaurant didn’t looked conspicuously plain with only a simple sign above. It was sandwiched between two far more interesting old style brick buildings on either side. When Fuzzy exited with everyone else, she stopped to peer into the window of one shop where there were a tons of books in the window. She used her reading app on the sign above.

"Merlin's Lore," chirped her commlink in her ear.

"Another magical store?" asked Fuzzy.

Sasha paused and so did everyone else as Fuzzy looked at all of the books.

"Oh, that's probably just a store for spells," said Julie, "We're in Tacoma's magic district right now. Well...I mean, maybe it's too small to be a district, but that's where we are."

Fuzzy and Sasha looked to her and she suddenly froze, put on the spot.

"I mean," she said hesitantly, "I was born in Tacoma. I never came here but I knew where we are."

Fuzzy nodded and Sasha looked back to the storefront, though at nothing in particular.

"Are those all spell books in front?" asked Fuzzy.

Julie shook her head, but paused as she reconsidered and then looked to Sasha, who looked to her security guard, Duncan, the blonde elf and senior awakened among them.

"Actually they probably are," said Duncan, "Most shops with something to steal have enough magical defenses to crush anyone who tries something. It'll only be the most common spells up front though. Health and detection spells are the cheapest and that's mostly what I'm seeing here. The good stuff would be in the back, though I don't know if a shop like this would have any good stuff."

"Odds are a shotgun behind the counter too," said Beef, "Maybe even a combat drone or two."

"Why?" asked Julie, "That seems like a lot for a little bookstore."

Beef and Duncan shared a quick look, the looks in their eyes indescribable behind their dark shades.

"Well...Sometimes people need to protect themselves," said Duncan, cryptically.

Protecting oneself made perfect sense to Fuzzy, but Fuzzy felt like there was something else that went unsaid. It stayed unsaid as well as neither Beef nor Duncan volunteered any more information.

"The books are expensive then?" asked Fuzzy.

Duncan shrugged.

"Depends on your definition of expensive," said Duncan.

"Most awakened make bank," said Beef, jovially.

Duncan smirked a little and waved a hand invitingly to the books.

"Anyone who can cast a spell, summon a spirit make bank," said Duncan, "Adepts and those with limited magic not so much...Anyway, healing and detection magic will run you about five-hundred a book these days for just the basics."

Fuzzy's eyes widened behind her black goggles.

"That much?" she asked.

Duncan nodded.

"Illusion spells will run you about a grand," said Duncan, "Manipulation is fifteen-hundred and combat spells, if you can find them, are two grand. And that's just for the spell formula. You can tell because the formula are the thinner volumes over there. The ones that look like magazines, which are called primers. The thicker spell tomes have reference material in them. They're good for learning on your own if you can't afford a tutor or don't have any bound services from a spirit who can teach you."

Fuzzy looked at the thinness of the spell primers and realized that Sasha had given her a full tome. When she'd accepted the gift, she had no idea how valuable it was and she shot a meaningful glass towards Sasha, who didn't notice. Meanwhile, Julie raised her hand, as if they were still in class. Sasha sighed explosively and pulled Julie's arm back down.

"Please don't do that," said Sasha, "The less I'm reminded of school the better, okay?"

Julie looked away, suddenly embarrassed. Then Sasha sighed as Julie went quiet.

"I didn't say don't ask," said Sasha, "It's okay. Ask."

Julie shuffled her feet a little but she eventually spoke up, though quietly.

"I heard you can learn spells off the matrix," said Julie, "Is that true?"

Duncan nodded again, but then waggled his head side to side and shrugged in a way that said, "Sort of".

"You can, but books from a reputable dealer are the only reliable way to learn a spell," said Duncan, "You can find spell formula on the matrix, but not all of the formula are trustworthy, nor are many dealers. You might spend days or weeks learning a spell that doesn't work right or at all. Someone's home brew filled with errors and inefficiencies might work, but the spell formula will end up what we in the biz call leaky. Leaky formulas make you push in more magic with worse results. That's how a lot of street level casters get stuck with a crap spell. Maybe multiple. And once you've learned it there's no fixing it. You have to start from scratch if you want to learn it right."

"So there are no good spells on the matrix at all?" asked Julie.

Duncan shrugged.

"There are," he said, "You just have to know where to look and who to trust. Corporate sources are trustworthy if you have the creds. But if you're new to magic and poor, odds are you're learning online unless you sign up with a corporation or the military. Some of the magical dealers work out a system for spells of favors for inexperienced spellcasters, but that can get complicated quick. Anyway, most spellcasters just go to their local sellers and once they find one, they tend to stick with them."

He leaned in a little closer to read the titles of the books and tapped the glass a few times with a finger.

"Yeah, these are mostly common spells and beginner's lore books," he said, and began to point at books, "That one is a healing spell, that one is for full body diagnosis...Bit of a mix between health and detection there. Here's an actual illusion spell but it's just a light spell...Might as well buy a flashlight. Pretty standard hermetic mage lore books too: Liber Hermetis, Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus...Nothing fancy."

"Nerd," said Beef.

Duncan stood up straight and made a show of dusting off one shoulder. The "dust" he flicked off his shoulders was actually tiny spark of electricity that popped in front of Beef's face without hitting him. A spell so quick and faint that you could blink and miss it. Apparently the ork was used to this and didn't even flinch. Instead he faked a yawn. Sasha cleared her throat noisily and Duncan's pale cheeks colored while Beef stood up straighter.

"Don't be crass, Duncan," said Sasha, her tone exasperated.

"Yes miss Oliver," said Duncan, immediately.

Beef gave the slightest smirk but Sasha gave him a side-eye and it disappeared back into practiced neutrality.

"Beef, would you scan the restaurant, please?" asked Sasha.

It'd already been scanned before they'd arrived and she knew this, so this was a subtle way of showing her disfavor.

"Yes miss Oliver," said Beef, immediately.

The ork bodyguard disappeared into the Magician's Feast and Sasha looked apologetically to Fuzzy and Julie.

"Sorry," said Sasha, "Beef is a friend of the family and we're a little more lax with Duncan than we should be. Most don't allow their security to be so informal, especially in front of guests."

Sasha shot Duncan a cool look and he did his best to look embarrassed.

"Though if you have any more questions, Duncan would be happy to answer them," said Sasha.

There was a pause, then Julie almost raised her hand to ask a question before she stopped herself. Then she opened her mouth, but thought better of it and shut it instead. Though she looked as if she was definitely going to ask questions later.

"The restaurant is clear Miss Oliver," said Beef.

While Beef held open the door, Julie noticed something on the opposite side of the street as she'd turned away from Duncan. Gang tags. There weren't particularly heavy but they were there. Fuzzy noticed Julie looking and saw the tags right after her. They were Human Nation tags which was a human supremacist gang. Not one she was intimately familiar with as they rarely came into the barrens, but once or twice a year there’d terrorize the locals and square off with the local gangs until they got pushed out. They'd never come as the deep barrens where she lived, but they had made it as far as the swap meet once or twice.

So before Sasha could enter, Julie tugged at Sasha's sleeve and stopped her.

“I’m not sure if I should be here,” said Julie, nervously, “This is Human Nation territory. They’re a human supremacist gang. They’re really tight with Humanis.”

Sasha looked over at the grafiti and clicked her tongue in distaste. Beef kept the door held open for her but she instead looked to him for answers.

"Like miss Julie said," said Beef, calmly, "They're a violent human supremacist gang. They don't target corporate aligned interests though."

Sasha seemed to mull this over and looked to Julie, her own frown turning into a reassuring smile.

“It's fine," said Sasha, "Duncan and Beef are here with us. Now we've spent enough time out here. Let's go eat."

Sasha took Julie by the arm and ferried her inside past Beef. Fuzzy and Duncan followed behind.

"Plus if you've never tried astral food before it's definitely worth it," said Sasha, cheerily, "You've never tried anything like it.”

The Magician’s Feast was a small restaurant with only a dozen tables. The number of clientele was small and dressed in eclectic styles which meant Fuzzy’s full leather devil rat hunting leathers would have fit right in, though she was wearing her newest flannel and jeans outfit at the moment. This contrasted with Sasha's normal looking casual wear, a white sleeveless top with blue jeans. Though the brands were anything but normal and only identifiable by the supremely wealthy. Julie had picked a cheery yellow sun dress. The kind that Fuzzy had steadfastly refused to wear despite Sasha's wheedling.

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"Okay, so the spirits only appear in the astral," said Sasha, "It's that exclusive. So just open up those third eyes and look around."

Fuzzy knew that Sasha always saw the astral. In fact, for Sasha, it was a sense that was always turned on. This wasn't the case for Julie, who had to open her senses to the astral world. When she did, her mouth made a little O. Julie suddenly lit up in delight and tried to look everywhere at once.

“There are spirits everywhere,” she whispered, excitedly.

If there were spirits everywhere then Fuzzy couldn't see them. And she saw a tall, troll waitress with green skin walk by with an enormous wooden platter that just had empty plates on it. Or at least she thought they were empty, but Sasha and Julie focused on the plates and not only saw, but inhaled a pleasing scent that Fuzzy couldn't smell either. Apparently astral perception wasn't just about sight, but engaged all of the senses.

"That's the astral fish," said Sasha, excitedly, "It's their specialty. They have to be prepared with special tools so the spirits we eat don't just disappear back into the astral when they're cut. And they're not even killed. Once we eat them they just go back into the astral. I'll be eating astral vegetarian of course, but you and Fuzzy are very welcome to the fish."

"This is so cool," said Julie, excitedly.

Apparently there was this whole, hidden world in this otherwise normal looking building. This explained why it looked so plain, with wooden floors and walls painted in a neutral grey. Sasha exchanged an excited look with Julie and then Sasha looked to Fuzzy, eager for her friend's awe and approval. Though before Fuzzy could speak, someone spoke up.

“Hello, welcome to the Magician’s Feast,” said a pretty orkish hostess.

She was smartly dressed in a black and white hostess uniform with light skin and a number of curving facial tattoos.

Table for one?” she continued.

“Yeah," said Sasha, "We have reservations under Lee."

The hostess' eyes briefly flicked to Duncan and Beef, the former of which posted up near the front door and wasn't moving while Beef stayed close to Sasha. The hostess looked to the intimidating bodyguards and her well practiced customer service smile turned nervous.

“Hello Miss Lee,” said the hostess, quickly, "Of course, you're right on time. This way please.”

They all followed her towards a table near the wall.

“Lee?” whispered Julie.

“I don’t want to broadcast where I am,” whispered Sasha, “Security precautions.”

Sasha and Julie both stepped around things which Fuzzy could not see and walked faster at times, both giggling. They looked as if they were trying to evade something or perhaps many somethings, though friendly or at least not hostile by their reactions.

When they were finally seated, a handsome waiter came by, this one human with tanned skin and dark hair, who caught Julie's eye. He smiled at her and turned her gaze from him, suddenly shy as he put down glasses of water for all of them. Though her gaze didn't linger on him for long. Apparently there was just too much to see, which again, Fuzzy couldn't.

"Hello, welcome to the Magician's feast," said the handsome waiter, "I'm Brad and I'll be taking care of you today. To start you off we have a lovely selection of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages for you to sample with a number of awakened properties."

He pulled out his commlink and made a flicking motion over it as he sent each commlink a file for the menu Sasha looked to Beef afterwards as she seemed interested in the mention of "alcoholic beverages". However, without changing his expression at all, he shook his head at her. After all, he wasn't her personal bodyguard. He was her family's bodyguard, so he could tell her no at times, which she didn't appreciate but did accept. Water was poured and the waiter departed for the moment. Sasha read over her choices while Julie stared not at the attractive waiter, but the empty room.

“It’s beautiful,” whispered Julie, her voice full of awe, “It’s like the aquarium we visited, but I’m in the tank. There are so many fish. And what’s that?”

Julie pointed out into space and of course, Fuzzy saw nothing.

“That’s a manta," said Sasha, "But I think it’s part shark too."

"That's what I thought too," she said, "But it's got horns like a ram. Do any sharks have horns?"

As Sasha and Julie conversed, Fuzzy was beginning to suspect that she wasn't going to see a single spirit today. And as she looked over to a nearby table, a couple scraped their bare plates with knives and forks and ate what looked like nothing. Though by the looks on their faces, it seemed that the food was amazing.

“Is that an enormous clam in the corner?” asked Julie.

“Yeah, it’s got to be what…Three feet wide? I wonder if it has astral pearls,” said Sasha, thoughtfully.

"Is that a thing?" asked Julie.

Sasha shrugged at Julie, but the initial excitement of the restaurant had cooled slightly. So finally, Sasha turned to Fuzzy, smiled cockily and spoke.

“What do you think, Fuzzy? Isn’t it great?” asked Sasha.

Fuzzy wasn't really sure what to say.

“It’s a restaurant,” said Fuzzy.

She'd been to a couple and honestly, she could see why it was exclusive. All of the spirits, food and decor literally existed in a parallel reality.

“Well yeah. A restaurant full of spirits,” said Sasha, her tone mysterious, “I mean, I thought about going swimming in the aquarium, all three of us. With the sharks, you know? But I decided that this was so much better. You don’t even have to swim or get wet this way since this place specializes in water spirits. Plus they serve awakened fish here prepared Salish style. And since the food is only magical and not...You know, made up of physical stuff, you can eat as much as you want without having to worry about the weight."

This definitely got Julie's attention, who now eyed the astral food on the plates of nearby customers with renewed interest. Meanwhile, Fuzzy shifted uncomfortably and Sasha, who'd only now began to notice that something was wrong, spoke up.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Sasha.

Sasha and Julie looked so happy that Fuzzy didn't want to speak up and ruin their dinner. The two were both spell casters- Shamans in training, and that came with the ability to see into the astral. Their spirits could even leave their bodies, Fuzzy had heard, though that was something that wasn't taught until sophomore year. And while Fuzzy was technically a spellcaster, she was also an adept. This meant she could cast spells, summon spirits and use adept body magic, but her body magic grounded her in her body. There would be no astral trips for her. And without dedicating some of her body magic to seeing the astral or finding special tools, she couldn't see the astral.

Fuzzy tried hard to see the astral even though she knew that she couldn't. And she was a terrible liar, so she sighed and decided to tell the truth.

“I don’t see the astral," admitted Fuzzy, "I'm an adept too, remember?"

The wide, happy smile that Sasha faltered at first in her confusion, then quickly died and left her devastated as she realized what Fuzzy meant. The Magician's Feast, which Sasha had been going on and on all day about how exclusive it was, had just excluded Fuzzy as well. Sure she was allowed inside. Anyone was allowed, but there was little for those who couldn't see the astral. There was only the barest bit of normal food and some beverages. That was all.

Beef put a hand on Sasha's shoulder.

"I'll call over the manager," said Beef, "One moment."

Sasha nodded and waited as Beef spoke to one of the servers, who hurried to fetch a manager. Apparently they had figured out roughly Sasha was, or at least that she was important, because an androgynous, light skinned elven woman with long, blonde hair all but sprinted up to Sasha's table to meet her.

"Oh, hello there," said the manager, "I'm told you have some sort of issue with the decor?"

Sasha nodded sharply.

"I forgot that my friend can't see the spirits," said Sasha, "And she can't eat the food. What can you do about that?"

The manager seemed to shrink and immediately bowed her head in such deference which made Fuzzy feel deeply uncomfortable.

"I'm so sorry for your issue," said the manager, quickly, "But when the spirits were initially bound, their instructions are only to stay in the astral plane. No one can alter their instructions unless the summoner rebinds them and that would take weeks. It's how we maintain our exclusivity."

Sasha narrowed her eyes and something bordering on terror threatened to overwhelm the manager. So Fuzzy put a hand on Sasha's shoulder

"You're scaring her," whispered Fuzzy.

Sasha blushed and frowned.

"I'm not trying to," she whispered back, "This is just a thing that happens sometimes."

Everyone was at least some level of uncomfortable. Sasha spoke quietly to Beef and he took aside the manager. Apparently whatever he said to her didn't help as she began to cry. At this, Sasha made a small, high, desperate noise in the back of her throat, lowered her head to the table and her forehead thumped repeatedly against it. Julie, who sat next to her in the booth, patted her gently on the back and looked vaguely guilty for enjoying something that Fuzzy could not.

"Fuuuuuuuck," groaned Sasha.

Her head thumped against the table.

"It's okay," soothed Julie.

Thump.

"I can't just go out to a fucking restaurant and be a normal person," seethed Sasha, "One tiny thing goes wrong and everyone gets scared of me."

Thump.

"You didn't know," said Fuzzy.

Thump.

"Stop that," said Fuzzy.

Sasha almost thumped her head again, but instead she just put her hands on top of her head and used her arms to hide her face.

“No, I should know that,” grumbled Sasha, “I've gone to a magic school for a fucking year. You think I'd know you couldn't see the astral. Didn't you even tell me that?”

Fuzzy honestly couldn't remember if she did or didn't. Though Fuzzy reasoned that since Sasha saw the astral all of the time that she assumed that Fuzzy could too. She was honestly flattered by all of the attention she'd received today and had considerably warmed up to Sasha once again. But so long as she was here, Sasha and Julie couldn't enjoy this place, which must be wonderful. It just wasn't for her. At least not yet.

Also, while Fuzzy didn't fully understand the manager's fear, whatever a manager was, she also noticed that a number of people were pointedly not looking at Sasha. In fact, they were not looking so hard at Sasha that it felt deeply weird. And the few people who looked at Sasha while she kicked herself were whispered to and then they stopped looking as well. Those who hadn't been told saw the quiet commotion and did what everyone else did. Not look. An aura of quiet fear filled the restaurant that Fuzzy could feel and that Sasha, when she raised up her head, could literally see as emotions bled into the astral. This did nothing for her mood.

“You tried your best," said Julie, "And Fuzzy can learn to see the astral. It'll just take time or she'll need some tools. That's all. Then you two can come back another time."

Julie was already excluding herself while doing her best to comfort Sasha. She didn't expect to come back which made Fuzzy feel bad. So she decided to include Julie once again and excuse herself so they wouldn't have to censor themselves. So Fuzzy formed a plan.

“So seeing the astral is like reading, right?" asked Fuzzy, "You can learn how?"

Julie turned to her and thought. The she nodded to the affirmative.

“A bit," answered Julie, "Since it's adept magic it might take you a month but most adepts don't bother learning how to perceive the astral. The magic is costly and really situational. You could bind a qi focus...Um...An adept magical tool...And learn how. It shouldn't take you more than a week and you could turn it on or off as easy as flicking a switch."

This caught Sasha's attention and she slowly pushed herself up. Then her AR contacts lit up and her previous despondent mood eased.

"Oh, those used ones won't do," said Sasha, "I'll have one made custom. It's only eight-thousand nuyen too. No big deal. I'll talk to dad about it. This won't happen again."

Both Fuzzy's and Julie's mouths dropped at the offhanded way she just planned to spend eight-thousand nuyen. Fuzzy planned to hunt dozens of animals and have blood all the way up to her elbows for five-thousand, and that was only if the deal somehow didn't fall through. Even then she was lucky to get a deal at all. And here Sasha was planning to have a magical focus made for Fuzzy so she could eat astral fish.

"You're just going to spend eight-thousand nuyen?" asked Julie, her tone fascinated and horrified.

Sasha gave Julie an annoyed look and then she rolled her eyes.

"I'll just have someone from Ares' magical division make it," said Sasha, defensively, "I shouldn't have said anything about the price. It's not actually going to cost me anything. Look, It'll just be a fifteen second comm call to arrange everything. They'll have a talk with Fuzzy about if she wants her focus to be a necklace or a ring or whatever and what she wants it to look like. Obviously."

The talk of a gift so fine set off alarm bells in Fuzzy's head. That kind of gift was far, far too much for her. Especially for something so trivial. That kind of wealth was never given in Puyallup. It simply didn't exist to give. But the greatest of gifts were for cementing friendships so tightly that they bonded two groups together into one larger group, often as part of a significant marriage. Though Fuzzy had only been to humbler ones at the Petrowskis that had much smaller gifts. Fuzzy had no concept of what this gift was for and it broke her brain a little that she'd be given such a thing so she could eat invisible...No, astral fish with Sasha.

It also helped put Sasha's wealth into perspective for her. With a comm call and just a few seconds, she could arrange for this gift to be given. A gift that was worth almost double what Fuzzy expected for a full month's work in a hunting ground so fertile that she wouldn't have believed it existed before she'd come. So much wealth she couldn't have dreamed of accumulating it as a barrens huntress. Not in a lifetime.

Sasha's gaze drifted over to Fuzzy and she seemed to take all of her feelings in in an instant. A very ordinary anxiety was made plain on her face.

"You know, if you want it," added Sasha, her tone suddenly unsure, "It's not a big deal. And you'd get a ton of use from it later. Anyway, since Fuzzy can't eat the food or even...Smell or see it, then maybe we should go. The school boat is coming in two hours. We have enough time to get something else."

Fuzzy watched Julie look longingly as another waitress carried several platters full of the astral food that Fuzzy couldn't see or taste or smell or touch. With the offhanded offer of such an incredible gift, Fuzzy decided that she needed some time to sort out all of these feelings. So she stood up.

"I'm going to take a quick walk around the block," said Fuzzy, "You two eat."

"But..." began Sasha.

"Go eat your invisible fish," insisted Fuzzy, "I'll be fine."

Sasha looked so dejected in that moment that Fuzzy's heart hurt. So despite her instincts, she threw Sasha a line.

"And maybe we can talk about that focus thing," said Fuzzy.

The answer was going to be the gentlest no ever. Fuzzy didn't like Sasha for her wealth. She liked Sasha for Sasha and she needed to make that very clear, though she had no idea how just yet. Still, Sasha's smile returned, a little hesitant, but it was there.

"Okay..." she said, as she reassured herself, "Okay...Rain check I guess. You're not mad that I fucked up?"

Fuzzy didn't know what a rain check was, but she wasn't mad, just overwhelmed. In fact, Fuzzy had been having a great day up until now. It was just that Sasha liked giving gifts that Fuzzy had no idea how to return in kind and that put her on edge. The clothes, the food, the spellbook containing the stun bolt spell and a bunch of other gifts that Sasha showered her in had all been appreciated, but Fuzzy felt like it put her more and more in Sasha's debt. Where she came from, people who owed such a great debt would eventually have that debt called in, which made Fuzzy nervous.

So what Sasha saw in Fuzzy's aura wasn't sadness or anger or some sort of mixture of emotions that could be construed as rejection. It was ambiguity. There were too many complicated emotions that Fuzzy hadn't been dealing with. Simple emotions were easy to understand, but too many at one time was a real challenge.

"I'm not mad," said Fuzzy, "And I think you two should stay and have dinner. I'm going to take a walk around the block. I need to think."

"Are you sure?" asked Sasha.

Fuzzy nodded.

"And when I figure out how to see the astral, maybe we can go here again," said Fuzzy.

Fuzzy wasn't just going to accept the gift, but she did want to see this secret world. And when she did, she'd earn it, not just be given it. Apparently whatever resolve Fuzzy felt helped reassure Sasha even more.

"You're trying to make me feel better," said Sasha.

"Yeah," said Fuzzy, "Is it working?"

Sasha thought about it and then nodded shyly. Then, on a whim, Fuzzy reached out for her hand and Sasha almost immediately grasped it. First Fuzzy squeezed Sasha's hand and then Sasha squeezed hers in return. Both girls blushed. They quickly parted and the blush remained on both pairs of cheeks. Fuzzy felt Sasha staring at her back and as she walked away, looked over her shoulder to see Sasha looking as well, though she pretended that she was looking at her augmented reality menu a few beats too late.

Sasha beckoned to Beef and Fuzzy overheard her as she prepared to walk away.

"I think everyone more or less figured out that I'm...Well..." said Sasha, "Anyway, can you arrange for their meals to be paid for so they're not so terrified? Apparently I'm staying."

"A few have already left," said Beef.

"Pay for them anyway."

Fuzzy squeezed past Julie and approached Duncan at the door. The blond elf and one of Sasha's two bodyguards and the one who was standing at the door.

"I need my spearknife and my leathers," she said.

Fuzzy had taken her new weapon but she hadn't been allowed to keep it. And she'd taken her leathers because they were comforting, though she had flannel and jeans on now.

"They're in the vehicle," said Duncan, "I can switch on privacy mode if you want to change."

Fuzzy didn't know what that meant exactly, but privacy was good.

"Yeah, please do that," she said.

Duncan nodded.

"Careful walking out there," he said, "This isn't a bad neighborhood, but it isn't a good one either. Beef and I can't go with you, so don't stray too far. And I'd strongly suggest staying away from the docks area."

Fuzzy appreciated the advice and had figured as much.

"Thanks," said Fuzzy, "But I know how to handle myself."