Jimmy and Connie do a convention
((Eigtheenth story in the Ester series, Preceded by In a brave new world and followed by Mommy and Mousie day. Jimmy and Connie are all copyright myself. Please do not use them or repost this story without consent. Comments and criticism adored))
Jimmy and Connie do A Con
By TerraMGP
Maneuvering his large ramshackle transit van though the narrow lanes of the Hilton parking lot, Jimmy let out a sigh of relief as he finally managed to squeeze the thing into a parking space. "Ah, there we go. See Connie I told you this thing could make the trip. You just need a bit of faith that's all. These old Transit vans are still tougher than most of the new trucks they are putting out today, and this one hardly ever breaks down."
"So that blue and grey smoke the tailpipe started spouting about six hours ago was perfectly normal?" Connie laughed halfheartedly. She pulled herself out of the now sweat-caked vinal seat and into the cool air of the parking lot looking around at the hustle and bustle of countless vendors and gamers all making their way to the hotel. It had been ages since Connie had allowed herself to go though the time and trouble involved with conventions. It seemed like every time she went to one of these things it ended up being a disaster in some form or another. After a particularly bad 'wardrobe malfunction' four years ago the young mouse had sworn never to set foot in a convention hall again. Of course this was well before she had met her current boyfriend, the surprisingly persuasive young game shop owner.
Jimmy chuckled and popped his door open before turning to Connie with a horrible attempt at a wry Han Solo grin. "Oh come on. This ol' girl drove me all the way up from my parents house when I moved, without a single major repair." He hopped out of the van before Connie could offer any response and dashed to the back of the. He popped open the double doors and threw both arms out mere moments before the jumbled mix of boxes, booth trappings and baubles pushed itself out onto the cold parking lot pavement. After much fiddling and cajoling he finally managed to push the avalanche of stuff back long enough to pull two suit cases and a rolling bag out before slamming the doors shut again and taking a few steps back. 'Ok, there, got it. Now we if we can just avoid opening the back of the van ever again, I think we're good."
Connie rolled her eyes and just sighed softly at overly animated antics of her boyfriend. Pacing her way around the van she snatched up the handle of her roller bag and turned to look at the massive hotel that dominated much of the otherwise nondescript landscape. "Don't we need to get all that stuff out and set up your booth in a few hours anyways?." Even though she was quite certain that he knew this all too well in the first place, that look of sudden shock and horror at the supposed realization was just far too priceless. "Come on, we should get going. You know they usually charge a late fee if you don't check in on time."
It took a few minutes for Jimmy to finally finish sorting himself out and scoop up the bags, dashing quickly towards the hotel entrance, promptly smashing his gut into the back of some poorly parked sedan, landing on the pavement in a heap. "ok ow, that hurt." he groaned slowly pulling himself up, rewarded by Connie's small, lyrical chuckle. "You know its not funny. Every time I ram myself into something or fall off of something or get buried under an avalanche of something, it hurts." Jimmy pulled himself up from the pavement and leaned against the car for a moment before hauling the bags up again and running up beside his girlfriend.
"Yeah, whatever." she laughed rolling her eyes and then walking along beside the young man as the two of them made their way towards the hotel lobby. "Well when you stop suffering from a three stooges level accident every twenty minutes or less I'll start buying that they aren't intentional. You really think I don't know you that well yet?" Rolling her eyes the young woman finally made her way up to the door and pulled it open so that her overlaiden boyfriend could stumble in first and haul the bags over to the desk, flopping them down near the counter and collapsing against the wall trying to catch his breath.
The wolf sitting behind the sign-in desk leaned out to look at the man who had just plopped himself a few feat away, half wondering if he needed to call the hospital. "Um... Can I help you?" the man asked with a growing level of concern. His paw moved over the receiver of the phone, ready to pick it up until he heard a thud on the counter and turned to see the red haired young mouse standing there with a rather amused smirk on her face. "Hello Ma'am. Can I help you perchance?" he asked rather earnestly, emphasizing the you in the hopes that he could at least move one more customer though this rather hectic crowd regardless of who it was.
Connie fought the urge to chuckle. Once again her Boyfriend had managed to cast chaos and confusion into the heart of some poor soul. "Hehe don't mind him. He's always like that. We're checking in though. Room for MacRoi" she said gazing impatiently at Jimmy who was still having his little false asthma attack, or perhaps it was a fake panic attack this time.
"MacRoi... ah here you are." the man behind the desk said fingers moving across the keyboard bringing up the name in the search. "I see, so it says here you're going to be checking in with us for four days. I take it you're here for the convention?" the man asked, watching the young man finally peel himself off of the wall and take his place beside the young woman. "Allright then I just need your card and your ID, and we should be all set. I have to say its nice seeing an actual couple coming to these things for once. Usually its these groups of six or seven people to a room, maybe more. Frankly it makes me a bit nervous about what the hell is going on behind closed doors." The man laughed a bit more as Jimmy put the ID and card on the table then scooped them both up, entering the numbers into his computer. "Just seeing a young man and his wife without twenty other people trying to jam into a room."
The two mice simply looked at each other and tried very hard not to chuckle. "Well you know, I guess we are just a bit more traditional." Jimmy laughed as he took his cards back and put them back in his wallet grabbing the bags once more. "Well I'm glad we could make your day a little bit. Come on Dear, we should probably get everything settled before we set the booth up."
Connie sighed and shook her head as she followed Jimmy over to the large glass elivator shaft sticking out from the middle of the lobby. Smacking the up button she moved herself around and just looked the young man square in the face, arms crossed as she shot him a wicked glair. "So what exactly did you think you were doing there?"
"Wait, what did I do?" Jimmy asked pulling back in overly exaggerated fear as Connie staired him down. "Oh come on, you aren't seriously mad that I made the reservation under my name are you? I just applied what was on my card. Its not like I was trying to exclude you.""
"That isn't It at all and you know it." the redhaired girl snapped back. "You know just because we are sharing a room doesn't mean you can pass me off as the 'little woman' like some nerd trophy to boost your ego. Are you honestly so convinced about me being in the bag that you are ok with showing me off as your wife? I don't know just who you think you are Mister, but you still have a long way to go before you can make a claim like that. Unless you are planning to put a ring on this finger right now I expect you to watch what you imply to others. I'm not here to show off for you and I sure as hell won't stand by while you posture like some pathetic alpha geek. You got that?"
Jimmy stumbled back and just gazed at his girlfirend for a few long moments. His face had all the confidence and composure of someone about to get clocked by a heavyweight prize fighter. "W-wait a second. What in the.. I didn't. I mean I was going to. I thought that..." He managed to grab on to the elevator doorframe just a moment before he went tumbling backwards into the stack of bags gazing up at the ceiling several stories up. Moments later that view was blocked by Connie just leaning forward and stairing him right in the face, her foot tapping and arms on her hips.
"Hehe have a nice trip?" she laughed reaching down and grabbing her young man by the arm, allowing him enough leverage to pull away from the soft bags and suitcases. "Oh come on, I was just messing with you Jimmy. Considering what I had to sit though all the way here it seems like I'm entitled to play around with your head for a change. Or is the great and powerful Jimmy MacRoi unable to take a taste of his own medicine?" After so many hours cooped up in the car listening to countless corny jokes and little affectionate verbal jabs it felt rather good to finally get the upper hand. It wasn't until she actually stopped and took a look at his face that Connie realized just how hard the little jab, or perhaps rather hard emotional body blow, had ended up smacking him.
In spite of himself Jimmy found it hard not to chuckle. True he saw nothing inherently amusing in what he could only describe as a sudden and violent mood swing the likes of which he had never seen before, but then he did seem to have it coming. "Yeah well a taste I don't mind. You on the other hand seem to enjoy opening an extra strength bottle of the stuff and pouring the whole thing down my throat in one go. Honestly girl we have to work on where you draw the line with this kind of thing."
"Yeah, maybe your right." Connie murmured, a slight dent in her exuberance. 'Hay, honey. Why don't we listen to this mix CD? Two hours of Weird Al songs and Excerpts from the Silmarillion Audio book!' is annoying, but probably not as, well, you know." Connie sighed and took a moment to reflect on what might have come over her, before deciding it was best to just shake it off and give the man a smile rather than dragging out a bad and impulsive joke. She placed one hand on the twisted brass hand rail lining the elevator at waist height and then quickly pulled it away, glairing at it as if she had just laid her hand on a bar of uranium. "Honestly why do these places have to be so tacky? I mean look at this. Brass everywhere. A glass backing to the elevator. What do they want you to see anyways? The brilliant shade of magic eye they picked out for the carpet?" Looking out from their slowly moving glass box Connie could see the hotel's main lobby slowly moving away from them. It had been quite a while since the last time she witnessed such a gathering of 'her kind'. People lugging around extra suitcases and containers full of miniatures or manga. They scuttled around the hallways and moved though the large open space so often used to serve buisnessmen piss poor meals on the go. "You know I'm still kind of curious." She mumbled as they passed into the higher floors. "Why do people come to events like this? I mean yeah you can make some money selling stuff and building a customer base, but most people are just coming here to game and watch anime and buy stuff. Its like a renaissance fair with ten times the admittance charge and a few tables for war gaming. I really can't see the draw. Hell even when I was younger and got all excited about stuff like this it only took half an hour to get bored." She leaned back and glanced at Jimmy feeling far further from her depth than she would like at the moment. "Maybe its just me, but the whole thing seems a bit like overkill."
"You know in times of old the Greek scholars and wise men would often congregate on hills to exchange thoughts and ideas about the meaning of life and countless other questions that have plagued man throughout the ages." Jimmy leaned against the railing and looked out across the scape of the hotel lobby like a king surveying from a parapet. "Personally, I've always liked to think that the people are drawn here by a desire to take that concept, and turn it into a Steve Jackson game."
"I don't know what is worse." Connie sighed. "The fact that you actually went there, or that I'm not at all surprised." As if on cue the elevator stopped and the doors popped open. Connie took it upon herself to push one of the larger bags next to the door itself before snatching up two others and carrying them along the hallway, passing the bland row of stained wood doors until she arrived at one matching their key card number. "Well, here we are, home sweet home for the next few days I suppose." She took a few steps in and set the bags down next to the door, surveying a small living room area painted up in sterile white and a rather nice shade of red. She quickly kicked her shoes off, savoring how the carpet felt plush between her toes. Everything in the room was about what she expected. The couch, table and TV all nice enough if a bit artificial feeling. "Its not too bad I guess, for a hotel room."
A few moments later Jimmy pulled himself in behind her with the rest of the baggage and pushed his way into the middle of the room. "Well would you prefer a bigger room with five or six other people all crammed in?" he laughed to himself.
"I'd rather not be here at all." She sighed in response. "You need me here Jimmy, and I am more than happy to help you out. I just don't like conventions anymore. I donno maybe I just grew out of them." that comment held a clear note of worried semi-sincerity as she walked over to the couch and sat down, crossing her legs and fiddling with one of the smaller bags.
"Grew out of it... Miss 'call in sick because I got a new pot of metallic blue and want to apply it right now' outgrow something?" Jimmy just laughed a bit more and then shook his head. "Why do I have a hard time believing that? Seriously it's a convention. A three day convention no less. The whole thing is distilled fun and merryment spread over the crunchy cracker of friendly competition."
As much as she didn't want to, Connie sighed and shook her head. "Well that's just it though, that's the problem Jimmy. Like it or not you have a hard time seeing past what you enjoy. To me its nothing but long lines, bad food and people I don't want to see. For you, well for you it's the only chance you seem to give yourself to game anymore. Of course you are going to have fun. Its just not quite the kind of fun you should be having."
"Aaand you lost me." Jimmy sighed dodging around a rather poorly placed otamon and giving his apparently frustrated girlfriend a tight hug from behind. "Ya can't come into something like this expecting to know anyone Connie. That's part of the adventure. Granted the food is probably going to be cardboard and the competition gets a bit old after three straight days. But the whole reason you come to these things is to be amongst ones kind. This is the kind of place where you can make a joke involving Batman, a Terrasque, and Clan Ghost Bear all in the same breath and people might actually get it. Its about being yourself."
"I'm always myself Jimmy and so are you." she replied. For a few moments Connie actually tried to act a bit more miffed than she wanted to be, but those loving arms around her and those light hearted words were once again too much. She gave in and quickly turned to wrap her arms around Jimmy kissing him on the cheek. "I understand that this is a good time for you sweetie. I promise I'll try like hell to have fun too. But don't forget that we are here for your shop." Those white-furred ears perked up as Connie slipped out from under Jimmys hug and winked playfully. "We have a mission mister MacRoi. First priority is to accomplish it, then we can have some fun."
That seemed to perk up the young man. Without a word of warning he ran to the small balcony window and threw the slider open, throwing his hand up in a mock-sentai pose. "Well then lets get started! I'll go down and get the cases with the diorama pieces in them, you print off the flyers in that portable printer of yours. Together we will conquer this convention with great justice!"
"Um... yeah..." Connie giggled, failing at her attempt to sound frustrated in the face of such utter sillyness. "Go team game shop?"
"I'm not coming out like this." Connie yelled from inside the Hotel rooms only bedroom. "If you want to make a fool of yourself in your own booth, go right ahead. I feel ridiculous in this getup."
Jimmy chuckled to himself and leaned back against the sofa bed still fiddling with his Vanilla Coke bottle. "Oh come on sweetie you know it's not that bad. Hell you were on board for all of this when I brought it up last month. Why the sudden change?" The male mouse perked his ears and leaned forwards listening intently for the complaints he knew were coming. After several months of dating the two had started to find their comfortable groove with each other, Connie playing his rock and his voice of reason, while Jimmy did his best to antagonize and provoke the woman in the most endearing and entertaining way possible, anything he could to eventually get that beautiful smile out of her. "Now come on out and let me look. It can't be that bad if you are the one in the costume."
"Just keep it up and see if you don't get the tar smacked out of you when I get out of here." came the rather embarrassed response from the other side of the door. "Seriously the dye job was a total wreck, and I really don't think my hair is long enough to pull this look off, and the shirt is a bit big. It just all feels kinda odd."
"What do you expect? Its cosplay." Jimmy laughed as he tried to picture the frantic pacing between door and Mirror that Connie must be going though. It was honestly all he could do to avoid bursting out in laughter at the situation, though the knowledge of how much trouble it would get him in really did help. "Besides you told me you liked this idea."
After a few quiet moments the door finally opened, Connie standing there in A simple white shirt and yellow brown cloth overalls. Far more noticeable, at least to Jimmy, was the fact that her stunning red hair had been dyed black, its once moderate length having been grown further so that she could tie the whole thing into a braid behind her. "When you proposed we cosplay you said it was going to be Chrono and Lucca. I have no issue with that. Garnet doesn't work, she was way too detailed in the game. There is no way I can make myself look anything like her." Connie sighed and looked into the mirror one more time ensuring that none of the dye was leaking out onto her fur. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the point of good cosplay to go with elaborate outfits and characters with relatively vague faces so people don't notice all the ways you fail to match up with the source character?" the shift in plans had been rather sudden, so sudden in fact that Connie was shocked her boyfriend could pull the outfit off so quickly. "Face it, Lucca just makes more sense. She's much easier to pull off."
"Yeah but the more I thought about it, the more I figured it simply wouldn't work." Jimmy said trying hard not to laugh at his loves pessimism. "For one thing Zidane and Garnet are a classic lovers couple. On the one hand you have the brash, womanizing, inwardly focused young man with little regard for his life beyond the moment. He lacks a serenity of soul but doesn't know why, and tries to use everything he can to fill the void. On the other you have a quiet and reserved yet determined young woman who is perhaps too selfless and giving without always realizing what she is giving for. Throw in a dash of fate and a hint of world saving and the two slowly learn that they are each others respective yin and yang. They feed off of each other, learn from each other and eventually their love grows them together so that they are both better than they were." The mouse boy nodded sagely as he pulled himself off of the sofa putting a hand on Connies cheek. "Now don't get me wrong I think Lucca is freaking sexy, and I think you could pull her off easily considering you both share and many other traits. However the canon ending, both implied in the game and shown in the sequils always puts Chrono with Marlie. That intense emotional symbolism just isn't there with those two. Hell Lucca shows more of an attraction to Robo or Frog than she ever does to her best friend." He paused for just a moment to let those images set in, waiting for the impending scream of nerd pain that never seemed to come, and finding it oh so hard not to burst out laughing. "The way I see it, you are my Garnet. I don't care if you don't match her face or build perfectly. I'm just thinking about what is on the inside." Having said his peace Jimmy placed a peck on Connies nose before she could react and turned to scoop up a couple of bags, fidgetting around to ensure his vest didn't ride up into his neck.
"Wow, when you put it that way I guess it's kind of sweet." Connie mused just watching the man she was falling for finish fiddling with his outfit and set to work prepare the things he needed to set up his booth. "Do you really mean all that? I mean do you really think we are anything like those two?"
"Sure I do." Jimmy laughed "Besides a Lucca costume is really hard to make. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find proper metalwork for a steam punk outfit?" Of course the comment was met by a hard smack to the back of his head, but as always Jimmy took it in stride shifting the various bags full of books and paper banners around in his arms until he was able to open the door and make his way out to the elevator. "After you, Dagger." Jimmy said with the best bow he could muster under the current circumstances.
The makeshift Garnet paced her way up to the elevator and smashed the call button. "Could we not bring up that lame nickname please? Seriously if they had made that game with voices like in Final Fantasy ten it would have ruined the whole thing. It doesn't even fit the lame excuse for her attempt at an alternate identity." ((edit ends here till tomorrow))
Once the elevator arrived Connie pushed her way in first and then held on to the door until Jimmy could maneuver the various cases and boxes he had into the small glass capsule. The two mice then sat back as the elevator began its slow descent Connie taking it on herself to shoulder one of the many duffle bags before her boyfriend could protest. "So I really have to ask, why are you coming here anyways? I mean conventions are fun, we all know that, but this is a bit out of the way isn't it? I thought you always told me you were against a far-reaching customer base."
Jimmy nodded sagely and tried to take the bag away from his girlfriend only to get his hand batted away firmly. "Ok ok fine, you keep the bag then. Yeah, I suppose it is a bit odd really. Apparently though a lot of people from our area come down here for the convention. I figured I could give em a taste of what my shop is like and maybe get them in as new blood." At that the elevator doors opened allowing the pair to stride out onto the main floor of the Hotel with their things. "Besides, as much as I hate to admit it online sales do keep the doors open. I can get a special order in every now and then for a latex boffer or some cosplay outfit and have something to do while I sit behind the counter, then just ship it off and get a check from a grateful customer. Hell if I'm really lucky someone might order a pre-painted army of some sort. It isn't often but those can really help get the bills paid. True it's a bit of a compromise, but I suppose it could be worse."
The young woman sighed and stopped right in the middle of the lobby, shaking her head in confusion. "That's just it though. How is it a bad thing to pay the bills? You know as well as I do that you could make more filling online orders. Hell you haven't sold half of those replica swords or Mecha models that are sitting behind the counter gathering dust." Connie leaned against the wall and looked her boyfriend square in the eye, her face a mask of frustrated concern. "Sweetheart I have had a look at your books. You charge grocery store prices for snacks and let people bring things in from the outside. You run FNM basically at cost. The amount of credit you give for trade ins frankly shocks even me. Jimmy the biggest spender in your shop is your best friend, and he is followed by your little cousin and her friends. I don't understand why you aren't using the net to push some more product out the door. You know how bad things are already don't you?"
For the first time in what seemed ages Jimmy's ever present smile faded as he cast his gaze down at the floor. "If things don't change drastically I won't last out the year, and that is assuming Aunt Lil can be a bit patient on the payments I owe her." he admitted one fist gritting around the hilt of his foam mage masher. "I'll be honest Connie, I've had a pretty clear idea of how bad my shop was doing for a while now. Hell even my customers have been pointing out that I don't charge them enough on a lot of things. To be honest I really don't want to charge more than I have to in order to get by. I never wanted it to be about the money. I mean I'll make what I have to, but life is too short and I just can't imagine being that dick behind the counter who charges people three bucks for a soda and gouges everyone on tournament fees." He sighed and just looked at the woman he loved brushing a few strands of hair from her face. "Its even worse with the online thing though. I really don't want to end up being one of those guys who runs his shop like a warehouse and just gets things before sending them out at markup. My principals are just more important than making the money I guess."
"Well that just isn't going to cut it anymore." Connie replied firmly. "I'm sorry. I understand that you have a dream, and that you have your principals, but this isn't just about you anymore. You are a really smart guy Jimmy, even when you try to act stupid so I'll laugh. Unfortunately I'm not in the market for a guy who is just going to be a friend with benefits. I grew out of that phase back in high school." She saw the dejected expression on her boyfriends face and took a step forwards leaning down to look into his eyes with that same soft smile that always seemed to cheer him up. "Sweetie I'm with you because I love you, and because I think you have the potential to make a good father and a good husband a few years down the line. That doesn't mean I am going to go in for being someone's emotional or financial crutch though. I couldn't live that way and I'm pretty sure you couldn't either could you?" She placed a small kiss on the tip of his nose and then leaned back against the wall with him putting her head on the young mans shoulder.
After that stunning barrage of mini revelations the man felt like he had just gone ten rounds with Mohamed Ali in his prime. The idea of losing Connie, the sweetest and smartest girl he had ever known due to his own iniquity was as intolerable a thought as he could imagine. Yet at the same time... "I wont ever let you be my crutch Connie. I just don't know what to do. The whole idea behind Hoard Raider was that people could come in and have fun. Sit around, eat a little bit, have a few good times between friends. All of those chain game shops just feel so cold and impersonal, even when the people behind the counter are friendly the atmosphere still comes off like the Disney store." He sighed once more and wrapped his arm tight around Connie's shoulders giving them a hard squeeze.
"I'm not asking you to sell out the store to a franchise or gouge people at the counter." Connie replied insistently "But that doesn't mean you can just throw your hands up and let the shop sink on moral grounds either. Especially not while you are dating me." she slowly slipped herself out from under his arm and turned to look him square in the eye again ensuring that he knew just how serious this was. "If you want to keep me Mr. MacRoi Then I suggest you get your furry brown butt in gear." She gave that ass of his a slap to emphasize the point, watching his face for any crack of a smile.
There wasn't of course. That little threat striking like a laser right between Jimmys eyes "So in other words if I want to stay with you, I have to at least try to make some more money?" he asked fearfully.
"No." she sighed "You at least have to make the effort." Connie leaned up and gave him another comforting kiss, this time right on the lips. "The Jimmy I know doesn't just give up on his dreams on principal or because its not fun anymore either, does he? If the shop makes no money, if it gets no customers, then that is it. Game over, time for a desk job. You don't want that, and I don't want that. So logically we have to make sure that doesn't happen."
"Yeah but how?" the now bewildered shop owner asked trying to process this massive hunk of raw data at once, and failing miserably.
Connies ears perked up upon hearing him ask that. She had to stifle a rather hard chuckle which she feared might be a bit too rude considering the normally stoic young mans fragile state. "You're a creative guy Jimmy. You better not be telling me that you are incapable of figuring that out for yourself. If there is no way in hell we can get past the other shops undercutting our little place then logically the only way we can win is to work around them and offer stuff they can't. Make sense?"
"Wait we?" Jimmy gasped starting to walk forwards slowly with his eyes still fixed on his rather convincing Garnet proxy "You just said we, as in you and me? As in both of us?"
Thankful to see a bit of spark in her loves eyes Connie was about to nod in agreement, but thought better of it when she realized a bit of black dye was still trying to slip out of her freshly coated hair and drip into her snow white fur. Instead the mouse girl just grabbed on to the oddly cuffed wrist of her costume prince and started to drag him along with a huge grin on her face. "Yep, we. Its pretty obvious you need me. If you aren't giving up, then I'm going to stay right there with you come hell or high water."
With that said the pair made their way quickly down the hall and out towards their booth, dashing into a grand new adventure that would hopefully save their own little kingdom.
The air of conference room 3C was thick with fear and anticipation. People of all ages, genders and species stood around a large clump of tables sorting though foam casings and carefully laying out hand painted figurines into carefully calculated patterns. Others took their time sorting out datasheets for home made terrain pieces and formations. The whole room was abuzz with the tense nervousness that has preceded every battlefield since the dawn of civilization. Though all of this one man strode, blue vest buttoned up neatly, the man all but marched though the scores of people with cold green eyes glancing around behind a pair of cheap fake aviators. Jimmy strode towards the backmost table with all the strength and calm composure of a pretend Patton, glancing at the young mouse standing across from him and setting a large heavy case down on his end of the table. "I love the smell of plastic in the morning..." the young mouse quipped, chomping down on the end of a thick sourdough pretzel stick "It smells like... victory." Letting his outright slaughter of an otherwise epic movie quote sink in before thrusting his arm out in offer of a handshake. "So, you my first opponent today?"
"Um... yeah I am." The other mouse said hesitantly taking Jimmys hand and shaking it once before turning back to his own box, lining up the methodically painted Eldar along his table edge and putting out a few sheets. "My name is Ryan by the way, and don't worry I'll be sure to give you all my stuff before we start. I just like to have my forces out beforehand. It helps me keep things organized in my head." He paused for a moment and looked over the props that adorned his already cosplaying opponent, a smirk crossing his lips. "Though just to make sure. You aren't gonna pull out a bunch of Space Marine minis painted up in Tin are ya? I mean with the whole Final Fantasy Nine meets Apocalypse now thing going I kinda have to wonder."
It took a few moments for the lights to come on in Jimmys head. He glanced at his opponent, then down to the cutoff white office shirt and blue vest he had rigged up into a costume. "Oh that! Nah, no worries. Just didn't want to shlep all the way back to the room and then head right back down again to compete." Jimmy laughed popping open his own box and smirking a bit more. He couldn't help but feel sorry for this guy, in part because he knew how ridiculous he must look to Ryan. Even at a convention there were some people who simply took it way too far, and being one of them gave the cosplaying mouse an edge in his mind. The other reason became clear as he slid a datasheet over and began to carefully remove his first piece from the container.
That simple declaration salved Ryans worries quite a bit. Leaning back in his cheap plastic chair Ryan scooped up the sheets and scratched his muzzle tip intently. Each sheet of paper was supposed to hold the actual statistics for a squad or vehicle in someones army, which really started to bother him a bit since there seemed to be only five sheets in Jimmy's list. That worry started to worsen as he flipped to the second sheet, and then the third. He glanced back down at the table, sure that there must be something he was still missing. "Ok wait a second. This is some kind of joke right? I mean the only thing you have here is"
"Baneblade Mothafuckaaaa!" Jimmy laughed plopping down the relatively massive tank right on the end of his lines. Its massive main cannon and fire linked auto cannon and powerful demolisher cannon tucked away underneath with a set of linked heavy bolters ready to fire. Four more sets of twin-linked heavy bolters each with a turret mounted lascannon protruding menacingly from each side. All of this was set off by a clean and clear matt black and metallic copper finish, with simple square war markings clearly painted in silver and metallic blue on each gun barrel. "Now this is twenty one barrels of hot, screaming death my friend. Capable of long range devastation, mid range annihilation or close range obliteration all in fairly good measure." Letting the imposing figure sink in for a few moments before adding in four more tanks of the same scale. First two Shadowswords, similarly constructed tanks with their turret capability and forward guns removed and replaced by one long imposing looking cannon barrel. These were then followed with a pair of Stormlord tanks, which seemed to replace any sort of conventional front canon with two large vulcan-looking gun assemblies and their heavy bolters with heavy flamers, along with a flat bed in the back that seemed to be designed for troops.
Ryan took a few moments to just gaze at the collection of super heavy tanks and shook his head, trying hard not to laugh. "Dude, I admit its going to be hard to crack those but you realize those are going to be slow right? You sure this is what you want to bring up against an Eldar army? Doesn't seem like it would be very efficient." Ryan began to stack up his front line with a few methodically painted minis, but kept an eye on Jimmy as if expecting him to move most of the tanks back into the box and replace them with a proper array of troops and lesser tanks.
"Maybe not, But hay, at least I get to have fun, right?" the cosplaying mouse chuckled. "I mean just think about it. Five big, bad engines of death dragging themselves around the battlefield. Hell, the storm lords alone are gonna let me roll at least thirty die just from their main guns. That alone is worth the speed disadvantage" Once the main tanks were all set up, He set about moving and adjusting the pintile mounted guns to get everything just right, keeping one eye on the growing flood of Eldar set against him.
Ryan shook his head and continued to make his precise and thought out patterns of Eldar forces along the leftmost corner of his table edge, followed by a few wave serpents. "No offense bro, but that seems like a lot of money to dump on an army that would probably never work in a real tournament. Why not invest in some Russ tanks and basilisks if you want to play heavy armored Imps so bad? You'd probably come out even on the number of guns, and hell you would have some ground troops to help with assault. I mean come on, all that had to be, what, five hundred bucks?" he asked moving around to examine the layout of Jimmy's tanks. "I donno, Just seems like way too much to spend on something you can't even use in a serious game. I assume you have something else set aside for tournaments?"
"Ah hah, you are assuming quite a bit there my friend." Jimmy winked and just chomped down on his pretzle stick. It was quite hard not to throw his hands behind his back and take a faux military stance right then and there. "If I'm gonna be at any tournaments, I'm going to be hosting them. My shop doesn't make nearly enough for me to go out and enjoy my gaming experience like that. Besides those big things are always so serious. People freak out over small rule disputes and throw out every kind of cheese imaginable. Its just no fun."
The Eldar line stopped growing for a moment. Ryan narrowed his eyes and just staired Jimmy down for a sec, wheels apparently clicking around in his head. "Dude you work in a game shop? Now I'm really confused. Isn't it like, your job to game with the customers so they don't get bored?" Ryan wiggled his ears for a few seconds, seemingly trying to process this new bit of information. Finally though he just slumped his shoulders and shrugged. "Ah well I guess no dream job ever ends up a dream huh? I mean that just seems like a lot of work to go though if you can't even game when you want. Doesn't seem like that much of a payoff."
"Well, I have kinda gotten addicted to this whole eating thing." Jimmy chuckled at his soon to be opponents disbelief. "Besides I do get in a good game once in a while. It just has to come after everything else is sewn up. I mean I have to get up at the crack of eight, pack boxes, clean, Paint minis for clients. Not to mention dealing with Vendors who don't want to co-operate and customers who can get the same product easier at the local Meijer or Wal Mart, or worse yet get exclusive Yugioh deals over at Target. Those more or less devour the impulse market. But hay, That's the free market apparently."
"So your boss makes you get up early and do all the work, and you don't even get to game with the customers? Wow what a dick." Ryan shook his head and went back to assembling his forces. "What the hell does he do around there anyways?"
"Oh you know, the usual." Jimmy shrugged playfully "Gets up at the crack of eight, clean, deal with vendors..."
That comment brought another skeptical gaze from the Ryan as he perked one of his ears. "Ok, now I know you're bullshitting me. You are way too young to own a game shop. I mean hell what are you twenty two? Twenty three? No way you're a day over fucking thirty." He kept his gaze fixed on Jimmy for another moment before glancing back at the array of super heavy tanks. "Though I guess that explains how you can afford to drop half a grand on a casual army like that."
"True I'm not over thirty, but I'm not twenty anymore either. I have to tell ya though, seems like you have a few misconceptions about the biz. It really isn't that hard to get a shop if you are willing to work for it. I drove up north here right after I finished off my Masters and got a loan from my aunt, making her co-owner until I can pay her off. As for the army, the Baneblade is probably the only one I paid full price for. The Shadow swords I got on the cheap from some people looking to get out of the hobby. Then I got a StormLord from my aunt and little cousin. Well at that point I had a two point five K army that I could only use in Apoc, so my girlfriend decided to just splurge and grab me this last one for my birthday. Oh, and speak of the angel." Jimmy chuckled, turning to see the normally red headed mouse girl walking across the confrnece room towards the back table. Her poor, temporary dye job already fading quite badly showing traces of her original color
"Jimmy I need to borrow your glue." Connie grumbled holding up a spindly limbed red and black model easily larger than most of the things in the room. Its large oval head and almost citanlike armor seemingly reminiscent of the Eldar figures now lined up along Ryans end of the table, only far bigger and more willowy. Looking around for a few moments she finally found a spot to set the thing down and slowly removed one hand while using the other to hold the torso in place. "This stupid freaking revenent titan wont' keep its legs on. Its lucky you got this for my Birthday, because right now that is the only reason I don't go up to the roof and...wait... Ryan?"
"Connie? Connie is that you?" Ryan moved himself around the table and tilted his head, catching a few hints of that coppery color under the dye. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought that you said after last time you weren't going to any more conventions. Or was that just because it was me?"
Still dumbstruck by the chance meeting Connie stood stark still and gazed at Ryan in disbelief for several minutes before finally pacing backwards into Jimmy. She was quite nervous, that much was obvious to people even a few tables away who stopped to gaze at the spectacle. "Look, Ryan. Lets not make a big thing about this ok? This has nothing to do with you. My boyfriend just decided to come here so he could drum up some business, We talked about trying cosplaying again. I figured that it would..
"Wait boyfriend? You mean this guy?" He looked at Jimmy for a few moments and then turned to Connie shaking his head. There was a note of frustration in Ryans voice as hetook a step closer and tried to look Connie in the eyes. "No offense Connie but that kinda pisses me off. I mean I'm sure he's a nice guy and all but he's still a gamer. What was all that crap about maturity and growing up about if you turn right around and start dating someone else who is into this stuff? What the hell makes him any more mature than I am?"
Connie shook her head and took a step back, not expecting this kind of behavior "Ryan this is not the time or the place to talk about any of this. Now if you are still upset after the tournament I'd be more than happy to meet you somewhere and talk, just not here, please?" She looked around once more and bit down on her lip a bit as the situation continued to explode out of hand. People were already starting to look up from their game preparation to see what the commotion was about. A few had even started to move around their tables, as if preparing to break up some impending altercation.
"And if you aren't around after the tournament? If we are going to talk about this Connie then we are going to talk about it now." Ryan said rather insistently crossing his arms and staring her down. "There's no way I amgoing though a tournament with all this junk in my head. If you can't handle that then maybe you should have talked things out with me more back then. I think I was owed that much."
Jimmy pushed himself between Connie and the other mouse, glairing Ryan down and gritting his jaw a bit. "Look pal, I don't care what your problem is, but you don't talk to her like that. Now unless someone wants to tell me what the hell is going on why don't we just go back to our respective games and drop it." There were few things that Jimmy could not shrug off. Secrets were one, especially big secrets like this one seemed to be. The other and far more serious one was when people started getting an attitude with Connie, and he sure as hell was not going to put up with any of that now.
"You know what?" Ryan laughed turning and walking back to his end of the table. "Whatever man, Its cool. I'm over it by now, and if you want to stick up for her I'm not going to stop you. Just don't come crying to me when she decides you aren't good enough for her." Without another word Ryan went back to setting up his army, not even giving the couple a passing glance.
That glance alone set Jimmy's dander up. He paced around to his own side of the table, hading Connie a big tube of super glue before spacing out his models the rest of the way and Glairing back at Ryan. "Allright then, lets do this." he said somberly. It was rare to see him take a game, or most anything else seriously. Now though there was a fire in his eyes as he surveyed the terrain and the surrounding forces, Ready for blood. "And when I win, I want some answers."
A loud thunk and louder thud echoed though the small hotel room as Jimmys boot finally popped free and bounced its way across the floor. This was quickly followed by a mad dash to tug the other boots laces free and pull them loose enough to start wedging the other leather costume piece off with both hands and the now socked foot. "Gahh, Damn it I am never buying cosplay equipment form goodwill again. My feet are freaking killing me. Damn it and I think the 'pantaloons' chapped my legs too. What are they burlap?" he sighed "I think I'm going to need some ointment."
"Oh stop your bitching will you?" Connie yelled with a hint of playful faux anger in her voice. "At least that blonde looks like it could be a passable blend for your hair color. Black and red are just... gahh. Come out you damn dye. I have work in two days." The grumbling continued unhindered as the fiery young woman wandered out of the bathroom, still clad in yellow overalls and a white shirt with patches of dark black and bright red marking a leopard print across her hair line. "Next year we are coming here dressed as us, or at least as characters with the same hair color. Maybe Vyse and Akia from Skies or something like that. Cool Characters, elaborate costumes, and just a little Palm aid or something to keep the hairdos. Just... no more dye ok?"
"Yeah, speaking of next year..." Jimmy interjected. His voice slowly shifted from its normally playful demeanor, taking on an unusually serious tone. "I really need to ask what exactly was all that down there at the tournament? One minute I'm getting ready to pit my super heavies against some guy with a textbook Eldar army, fully content to just lose and have fun. The next second he's yelling at you and ranting about god knows what." Jimmy pulled himself up from the couch and paced slowly over to his girlfriend. "Now I know I'm usually a pretty laid back guy, but this is pretty freaking atypical. Who exactly was this Ryan guy, aside from your ex that is?" Something was clearly going on and there was no way Jimmy would let it go now. Even if he wished to be firmly planted on Connies side of the argument it was clear that she had been keeping something from him. That simply wasn't going to do.
Sighing softly Connie plopped backwards into the couch and tossed her now semi-stained hotel towel off to the side, leaning her head back and just letting the question hang in the air. "Its complicated." She whimpered. "Promise you won't be upset?" Connie glanced at Jimmy tentivly just waiting for some sort of rant or chastisement for what she
"Well so far I haven't heard anything that makes me think I would be upset, other than the fact that . But sure I promise." He replied with a nod. "Connie you already laid into me once today about taking this relationship seriously, and I'm grateful. It gave me a lot to think about. Now you gotta do the same thing. I don't care who you dated before me, but if there is some kinda problem with him that you aren't telling me about." He trailed off, not even wishing to think of things like breakups even if the whole scenario was a bit on the dramatic side for him as-is.
Connie nodded and closed her eyes. It really shouldn't have been so hard to bear her soul about her past like this. Nothing else in it worried her this much. Still she could not shake the notion that she was about to walk blindly though a mine field. "Well, like I said before I dated someone before you who just didn't want to grow up. Well I guess that isn't totally fair to Ryan. We went to high school together... he was really charming in ninth grade. Seemed a lot more mature than the other kids. For a freshman in high school that can be really refreshing. He read as much as I did and could hold his own with me intellectually. He even bought me my first Eldar dex and units. For a few years everything was great." Connie trailed off and shook her head apparently rather reluctant to continue, shaking her head and scooting in closer.
Nodding somberly the young mouse boy ran his fingers though that black and copper hair oh so gently, getting a bit of black dye on his fur but seeming unphased. "Well, I would assume a happily ever after... except that you are sitting here with me now. So what went wrong?" He trailed off as quickly as one might after saying they had a bad feeling about something.
"I don't know that I'd say it went wrong. Not in the strictest sense of the term anyways." Admittedly the first instinct Connie had was to dance around the problem, and she was finding it hard to fight that impulse even knowing how crucial straight honesty was at the moment. "He was still nice and happy and fun to be around of course. We just got in a rut. I decided to try out for chess team, he worked on his army. I started taking AP writing classes, He was obsessing over his new forgotten realms campaign. I was looking for colleges, he..."
"Was trying to get the point value right for a new lance?" Jimmy ventured. "So what you are saying is that you left him because he was a gamer? Ya know I am starting to get this sudden knot of foreboding in my stomach..." He laughed a little trying to sound far more upbeat than he felt. "If I remember correctly I do own a shop where all of the recreations you mentioned previously can be purchased for a rather reasonable price and used for free. I'd think that's ten times worse than just sitting around gaming all the time."
"You also took me to see that new Dragon movie in 3D last week, Not to mention ordering in dinner and trying to pass it off as something you made yourself." she chuckled putting a hand on Jimmy's chest and leaning in closer, one ear perked to hear his heartbeat.
"Hay, it's not delivery, It's De Jorno. Therefore I made it." Jimmy offered up the best smile he could in the situation only to feel it falling flat on his lips. As much as he wanted to joking his way out of this discussion did not seem possible, or healthy. "But that still doesn't answer my question. What is it that makes me any different from Ryan? He seemed ok enough, if a bit of a munchkin. Hell Brian is a huge munchkin and he's had some pretty good relationships in spite of it. I just don't get it."
It all sounded laughably easy at that point, as if a few common gaming stereotypes had managed to sum the painfully complex feelings which dominated Connies adolescence. That alone was enough to make her smile. "Like I said you take me to movies, and dinner, and sit around watching TV with me. See Jimmy, you actually try. You don't just assume I'm going to be around, and I'm not just some female gaming buddy. Yeah you have some issues with how you run your shop that we need to clear up, and you have a tendancy to let pride or personal scrupals convince you that you can't do things another way. But at least you give a damn and try to follow your dreams." She couldn't help but laugh a little at that and hug him even harder. "As you are so fond of saying, you got your Masters in... whatever it is, and headed right up here to make a living for yourself."
He just chuckled a bit and nodded kissing her cheek "Chemistry sweetheart, but go on. It doesn't really matter too much." The truth was he felt a huge weight starting to just lift itself off of his shoulders.
"Last I heard, Ryan got a job at Gamestop just for the discount, and he dropped out of college after only one semester. I mean he really just didn't seem to care too much about getting anywhere. He was making good enough money, and had a comfortable place at his parents..." Connie's explanation trailed off into a clumsy sigh as she pushed a hand into Jimmy's and entwined their fingers tightly, drawing out just that little bit of strength she so desperately needed. "By my sophomore year in college he was talking about teaching himself how to program and starting some big simulation design company, but all he did was sit in his basement and work on the next game or tournament."
Jimmy nodded slowly and hugged the white furred girl a bit closer. "So he and I are different because I put in more effort and think about the future I want. Even though you were just telling me this morning that I wasn't putting in enough effort with the shop which is why it wasn't doing as well?"
"You put in the effort." Connie said insistently "You just don't always do it in the right way. You won't get as creative with how you run the shop as you do with actually gaming for god knows what reason. Its almost like you have a block against it. If you can just get over whatever hangups or worries you seem to have when it comes to making sales and accept you can still accomplish something even without stooping to the level of the big chain stores I know for a fact you would be doing wonderfully. That's the main reason I tried to shock you the way I did, because I know for a fact you can accomplish something huge, you just need to get past this block you have and"
A finger to those lips and a small shh silenced any other worry. Jimmy slowly moved his paw over that cheek and began to run his fingers though that hair in slow and gentle strokes as he reveled in the quiet bliss of being close to the girl he loved. "I think I'm finally getting what your trying to say, so its probably best to stop before I get confused again." He leaned back and just pondered for a moment what she was really saying. Amazingly, aside from his Aunt lil and his little cousin this was the first time anyone had genuinely and sincerely told him that they belvied he could do this. True Brian had tried to reassure him from time to time but the badger was usually too breezy and short sighted to make any meaningful comments about it. As for Jimmys parents the very notion of them being proud of him was almost laughable. Hearing Connie encourage him though, and moreover understanding just where that faith in him came from seemed to hit him in a way nothing had before. He felt A wellspring of pride and confidence in who he was and how he had gotten to the place he was now. For the first time in years Jimmy MacRoi felt like more than an idealist paddling upstream against a tidal wave with a stupid grin on his face. Now he felt calm, confident. He felt that he had hope.
"Ow! Um, Jimmy, a little too rough there." Connie yelped out as her boyfriends fingers ran though those half-dyed locks seeming to catch every single knot and tangle left over from the gooey residue.
"Oh sorry babe. I was just thinking... you know how lucky you make a shmuck like me feel? Seriously do you have any idea what you do for me on a daily basis? I got a list if you want it. Seriously, a whole Excel spreadsheet and everything. I could probably." He blinked as a soft paw reached up and just bapped him playfully on the muzzle, looking back down into those eyes happily.
Laying into the tender caresses that danced across her scalp and tugged at the free flowing strands of headfur Connie just let herself relax and ponder that for a few moments before churring oh so gently. "Gah you are such a spaz some times you know that?" She laughed before prying herself up and planting a kiss on that bewildered muzzle "But you're my spaz. My big, strong, funny spaz. Don't you ever forget that, ok?"
"Whatever you say, my queen" Jimmy chuckled drolly watching the beautiful young woman pull herself up off of the couch and saunter towards the bedroom door. He waited for her to disappear into the room before pulling off of the lumpy old couch himself and throwing off the cushions, granting himself access to the less than comfortable metal frame. He managed to yank the bed frame out about half a foot before it decided to stick fast, the sudden lack of momentum sending him sprawling onto the ground with a loud thud. The next few moments were spent staring at an upside down room as Jimmy pondered just how the hell he was going to get this underused framework out and still keep all of his fingers in tact. Of course that question went to the wayside as he saw a familiar white furred face, draped in a flowing upside-down mane of black and copper peek itself out from behind the door frame once more.
"Hay." Connie chuckled, the normal playfulness of her voice darker and much more sultry than usual. "Get that cute butt of yours up and bring it over here Mister." She watched for a few moments as Jimmy's face went from stunned silence, to confusion, until finally he was up and over with shocking speed, walking past her at a comical breakneck saunter. Connie took one last moment to gaze back at her young beau before slowly closing the door behind them, a broad grin plastered on her muzzle.