Beast and the Beauty

"Alright alright"

Orion had to wave off another overly excited pokenerd, clapping them on the shoulder as he tactfully made his escape from arguably the weirdest situation of his life, but we're getting ahead of ourselves here.  It all started at some ungodly hour in which the sun may or may not have been thinking about trying to light up the sky when Orion had arrived to the con.  This sort of thing wasn't something he could just miss out on, so of course he'd made the drive and shown up dripped out his mind ready to take this con by storm.  He'd never been to one of these before, and he was honestly surprised how nucking futs everyone was going for a game that'd been out of beta for such a short time.  There were people dressed up in giant pokemon mascot suits, eighty people cosplaying Ashe, and some people trying to cosplay their avatars; something Orion was technically doing already with no extra effort, not to brag or anything.  There were unwashed nerds and gajinkas galore, and the line to get it was longer than anything the fighter had ever seen.  He knew this was going to be a lot, but not this much.

Then the weird thing happened.

People started to recognize him.  First it was just some whispers, then some muttering, and by the time Orion had made it through security (No small feat given he was wearing metal boots for the drip bonus) someone had worked up the nerve to ask him if he was CaygeMatch.  As it turned out, back in the days where you could record the game, people had been taking mad screenshots and streaming and documenting all of the...jank that was Beta Island.  VoDs of raid streams were some of the most viewed content in the community, after all, who wouldn't want to see the once and done first major event of one of the most popular upcoming games?  So just about all of the homies who'd taken part were local legends, which apparently included him and Punching Codie.  The internet did what the internet does and suddenly Orion is having phones shoved in his face with memes like this on them.



The next two hours were a flood of people piling on and asking him to punch their precious Porygon plushies. At first it was funny as fuck, something Orion had never experienced before in his life. But then they just kept coming, and soon people wanted to take photos or videos, or some of them tried to get him to make tiktoks with them. Eventually he disentangled himself and began to make his way to some "Dream Kingdom" thing or something or other that was supposed to be chill and hopefully let him catch some peace from the rowdy crowd of Plush Punching fanatics. He was almost there! Just needed to get into an elevator and-

"Oh, afternoon!"

There was a woman in a wheelchair stan- sitting? In front of him. Gingerly he would engage in that awkward navigation in which he attempted not to invade her space whilst finding the perfectly ideal spot to stand in that's not too far away like you're scared or think they're smelly, but not too close that you're invading their space or coming across as a little too eager to be in a closed box with them. General rule of thumb? If you both put your elbows up and could touch, you're probably a little too close.

Anyways.

Once situated at the socially acceptable spot, his gaze would dart the the buttons hoping to and thanking god that she'd picked the same floor as him, avoiding the awful game of him trying to reach but her asking and then they're both like halfway to pressing the button, but then they both retract at the same time. Truly, he had avoided a terrible fate. Once the doors closed, they began their journey with a slight whirr.

"So."

Orion hated awkward silences.

"What're you the uh...most excited for with this whole con thing?"

Ah yes, the most masterful of smalltalk.

Man, Orion felt guilty he'd even asked the question.  He wasn't sure what was quite going on with her, but she definitely seemed uncomfortable.  Was she like some of the others he'd met earlier and nervous to talk to him?  Or was it him being some large, muscular looking thug towering over her poor defenseless self.  Maybe it was something else entirely, all he knew was that she glanced up at him, locking their gaze once before shying away.

Hrrrm.

Something seemed to nag at back of the fighters mind, but for the moment he chalked that up to feeling guilty about troubling the poor woman.  But then she seemed to grow her resolve and answered his question and he felt a slight smile form on his lips.  "Hell yeah, I'm mad pumped for whatever's coming up next chapter.  The raid was such a blast and the stories been really freakin good!  It's so wild!"  Well he supposed that answered the question of if she was a player or not, as well as bringing up her employment with the company.  "Oh worm?  You work for Hydance?"  He eyes shot to her lanyard.  "I just actually got done spending some time talking to Bryan earlier!  I bumped into him at uh..." he paused remembering the shitshow that had transpired.  "The Arcade."

The door dinged and opened, and he motioned for her to go first.  "Ladies first."  Once she had managed to leave the elevator he would follow behind her.  "As for me?  Well the whole con is pretty cool and a great venue, but I'm more hyped to meet a bunch of the other people I've met in game in person!  I've made so many friends in this game I can't wait to bro down."  

Once clear of the elevator Orion realized that they were now approaching that awkward state of figuring out if they were going to same way and whether or not this perfectly endable conversation would in fact end in this moment.  Normally he'd be totally fine with parting ways but...something was nagging at him and he wasn't quite sure what it was.  He would look around for a moment, spotting signage pointing the way to the dream lounge.  "Well I'm heading this way...it was nice meeting you miss...?"  He wasn't sure why he was asking her name when he could just glance down to a badge, but it felt more polite.

Kids these days and there Identification cards with the pictures of their face like it isn't dangling seven or so inches from their actual face.

Orion beamed slightly as the woman spoke well of Bryan, of course his Bandannadito was a good boss.  The rest well, he took that as a sign that they would be walk- going to the kingdom together.  He didn't mind, something told him this woman needed to have whatever conversation they were about to have given how nervous she was.  After all, they were both heading the same way and it would help kill the time.  And so they walked, and so they talked.

And boy howdy did she come right out of the gates with a whammy.

"Alright Abby, is it alright if I call you Abby?  Lets unpack that a bit."  He would place both hands behind his head as he walked, stretching out a bit and allowing blood from his biceps to flood into his noggin and help him think a little better.  It didn't even register to him that he hadn't introduced himself, something about the conversation made him feel less like he was talking to a stranger and more like a friend in need.  Maybe it was her nervousness in the face of something so fun that made him rush to her aid, or perhaps it was the fact that she was in a wheelchair, or maybe it was just the absolute ballsy amount of trust she had in a complete stranger.  Either way, he wasn't leaving her to cope with this alone.  "I can totally imagine being scared about meeting someone you just met online, like, that's a totally understandable fear to have.  But why would it matter whether or not you're in a wheelchair?  I mean, it's not like you were intentionally hiding that!  If they were actual homies they wouldn't even notice the chair and would be way more stoked to get to hang with you, y'know?"

There was the opposite of the effect too though, he wondered how everyone was going to react to him being the same out of the game as he was in the game.  After all, Bryan had been hella cool and was a bro, but that was Bee, he put the B in Bro.  There was all sorts of things to worry about when meeting people like this, he was just being a clown and pretending they didn't exist.  

His phone buzzed in his pocket, some sort of alert or something, he'd check it later.

"But if you're super scared..." he paused, rubbing his chin.  "Do you want like uh...back up or something?  I know we just met but if you get like shot down by your homies we can always hang and have a dope time!"   He didn't even have time to think about the ramifications of his words, he just knew that she needed some help and he was willing to commit some time into spending with Abigale in order to help her enjoy this whole thing to the fullest.

Orion was stunned.  Not by the fact that she used his name despite him not telling her, but by how could he possibly think about that right now.  Right now he was faced with one of the most radiant smiles he'd encountered in a fat minute, coming from a woman who was practically shaking in her wheelchair just a few moments ago.  His heart skipped a beat, and he found himself forcibly breaking the eye contact they had for a moment.

"Ay don't mention it"

Waving his hand a bit like he could banish her praise like a pesky fly, his gaze turned to scan all of the available seating, whistling slightly as he took in the sights.  "God damn, they really nailed this place didn't they..."  Rubbing his chin, he would turn back to her and raise an eyebrow.  "Do you have any preferences on where we sit?  I don't know much about like..." he paused as she laughed, something nagging at the back of his mind.  

"Why don't we find that pesky stamp first eh?"  He reached into his pocket, which was still occasionally buzzing at him with some sort of notification.  He would casually pull the phone out, giving it an idle flip to make sure it was right-side up in his hand and with a few practiced swipes he was in and pulling up the app to check the map.  Zooming in he scanned it over, looking for the kiosk.  "Looks like it's right over..." he paused as something else caught his eye.  That alert from before was saying that one of the people on his friends list was nearby, a few taps it he realized that Laguna was like...practically on top of him on the map.  

And then it all clicked.

"There!"  He looked away from his phone and pointed off toward what looked like a Kiosk surrounded by a group that appeared to be cosplaying most of the NPCs from the game.  "Why don't we go snag that, snag a spot, and see about helping you find your homies yeah?"  He wasn't ten thousand percent sure, given that the GPS could be off, but he was fairly certain that Abigale was the woman he was looking for, but she hadn't said anything about it.  Clearly, she seemed nervous about something, and if that something was him?  Well, he'd let her come clean on her own if she was, and otherwise he was making a new friend so like...win win.  

Click boom and another stamp was in his arsenal, one step closer to Space Jorts, which on paper sounded like a legally distinct movie about people hoopin it up in sick jorts in space.  Yet he didn't have much time to revel in the glory of his astrologic cosmetic for a videogame, he was also spending time with someone who he was pretty certain was his rival and dear friend.  He could tell she was nervous, he words now with new context struck a deeper chord.   But the thing with that sort of reveal was it couldn't really be fo-

"Laguna is a lot more confident than I am"

Well that was easy.  A grin spread from ear to ear as he turned to his friend and let out a soft chuckle.  "I was gonna let you take all the time you needed Blue."  The two would find a rather cosey little nook in the Garden where Orion could pop a squat and she could roll up next to him allowing them to share a small End table betwixt the two of them.  He'd let her words tumble around in his head for a bit before replying.  "Is she really though?  I mean, you and Laguna are like..." he'd pause and find his words, this was a tricky conversation to navigate given all of the particulars.  "Like, Blue is just You, ya know?  Everything you did and said as her didn't come from nowhere.  All of her is just buried up in you, Abby."

He was hoping he'd run into her of all people, right up on the tippy top of his "Homies to meet up with IRL" list.  Of course, he'd had some concerns, anyone who was meeting an online friend probably had a fistful of frets forcing them to frown, but he definitely didn't have wheelchair bound on the bingo card.  Yet at the end of the day that was Laguna, despite the fact that she didn't quite think so.

"And me? Well I learned a long time ago that there was no point in trying to be something I wasn't, so I don't?"  He shrugged and gave a little chuckle.  "I am who I am, for better or for worse.  Ain't no breaks on the Cayge Train."

He'd let that hang in the air for a moment, give her a moment to digest his words while he took in the interior decor.  Occasionally he would catch his gaze drifting back to her, and then flitting away, unsure if she would find prolonged eye contact uncomfortable given her...anxieties.  

Orion wasn't quite expecting that reaction.  Well, maybe the slug sure, but her beet red face was quite the surprise.  Perhaps he was used to being his normal, blunt, bombastic self around Laguna, who was always cool and composed.  Spunky and cocksure.  Abby of course was all of those things, she just didn't know it yet, and he needed to teach her that.  So to him it was obvious that he was going to move heaven and earth to let her dance.  One hand would reach up and gently massage where she'd slugged him, not because of it hurting of course, that would be ridiculous.  No it was because in feigning injury, he afforded her more power to the gesture and helped him communicate that he understood what she meant.  It was totally not because it hurt alright?   

It's an empowering gesture, to embolden her, okay?

"Well Firstly."  He would waggle his lightly bruised arm, holding up one finger.  "If anyone had the balls to tell you that you're taking up too much space I'd take care of em, so don't even worry about that."  To emphasize his statement he slammed his arm down, smashing his elbow on the edge and hitting his funny bone causing him to grit his teeth.  

"Secondly!"  He raised his arm up again alongside another finger.  "There's tons of other alternatives like uh..."  He paused, furrowing his brow as he realized he hadn't actually thought this far ahead.  They could get her crutches maybe?  But would that be enough for her?  Would that tire her out more?  He didn't know much about what she even really had going on with her disability.  They could like...dangle her from a harness attached to the roof?  That was unrealistic, and he got the sneaking suspicion she'd find that demeaning.

Aha!

All he had to do was pick...her...up.  

Hrrrm.

On one hand, he was definitely strong enough to carry her around and dance at the same time, and it wasn't like it would be difficult.  But he'd also only officially known her for like ten minutes.  Sure they'd done plenty of dances in game, and he'd picked Laguna up in a lift once or twice for like, dramatic effect but that sort of thing was always an in the moment kinda flair, some real extra shit when they were both high on adrenaline.  She could find it to be really demeaning and take great offense, or maybe she would be creeped out and think he was some sort of weirdo.  

Or she could be down for it, who knows, fuck it we ball.

A light blush crossed over his face as he averted his gaze.  "I could uh..."  he coughed slightly, clearing his throat.  "I could like...carry you..."