RP: Comics and dice and geeks, oh my!

[drewcooper]

Date: August 25, 2011
Characters: Drew Cooper, Jay Shaw
Location: Oddball 42
Status: Public
Summary: Browsing about while taking a break from house hunting
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[drewcooper]

Drew shrugged. "How can I put it without sounding like a complete ass? Upmarket without being stuck-up and snooty? Anything decent really. I'm starting officially on the first and I'd like to get that sorted if nothing else so I can have my furniture forwarded from storage. The company is good enough to put me up in a hotel, but I dislike them with a passion and I don't think the bosses will let me live there for more than a week or two."

He grinned. "I like the way you think, sir," he said with a little bow. "I guess a regular gaming group is too much to ask for?" he added with a quirk of the eyebrow. "Though, I have to admit, is a bit early to be looking for that kind of thing. I know exactly two people in town. Well, three with you included."

He shook Jay's hand. "And a big pleasure to meet you, Jay Shaw." He looked around the shop for a moment. "Nah, I'm not looking for anything in particular, though something to tide me over until my stuff arrives will be a big help." He gets a hopeful expression. "If you have the Girl Genius collection, or know where I can get it, I will worship at your feet."

[jayshawoddball]

Jay grinned, "That's a good way of putting it. I know there's some apartment complexes over in Arlington that cater to the college students. They're pretty decent places, not too skeevy and not too snooty."

Jay affected a serious look as he pulled out the schedule of events that Oddball hosted. "DnD, GURPS, or other?" He grinned, "Join our group, I guarantee you'll meet more." he handed the flyer to the man.

Jay grinned broadly. "Right over there, third shelf from the top. Pretty sure we have the full collection, if not I can order them for you."

[drewcooper]

Drew smiled in return. "Well, I'll have to take a look at them then. Give me the names of the places and I'll get hold of the managing agents or landlord, or whomever I need to speak to. Or do you know someone that stays around there that can put me in contact with the right persons?" Students all around might put him in the mood to work on his Masters some more - he's been a bit lazy the last month or two.

He pondered a moment. "DnD or Mage, well almost anything White Wolf will be good. I haven't played since I finished my degree, too many years ago to matter." He took the flyer and looked it over. "If you don't mind a complete stranger joining in, I'm happy to drop in and have a look."

Drew managed not to run over to the shelf, but glanced over and looked back at Jay. "Do I fall to my knees here or would you prefer another method of worship?" he asked with a smirk tugging at his lips.

[jayshawoddball]

Jay thought for a moment, "I can't remember the exact name of the place that two of my regulars were talking about, but I can put you in touch with them. Cam, Cameron Porter is one of the regulars here, you'll see him floating around from time to time, he lives in the complex I was thinking of. If you give me your contact info, I can have him call you."

"We've just finished up one DnD campaign, be starting a new one soon, and we take all comers." He grinned widely, silently exulting over possibly adding another member to the gaming cabal, as one of the other regulars had named it.

Jay snickered, "Kneeling's only required for special orders and christmas orders put in a week before the holiday."

[drewcooper]

Drew nodded and pulled his phone out of his pocket again. "I can email you my details - work, cellphone and email - no home number yet, and then Cameron can drop me a line or an email and we can arrange things from there. I'll be staying with a buddy until I get a place of my own." He gave a lopsided smile. "Or I can write it all down, I'm just so used to do things electronically these days." He looked around for a moment and then looked at Jay again. "The curse or advantage of working in a digital environment, no-one writes anything down anymore."

Drew smiled. "Well, how can I refuse an invitation like that? Where do you guys play? Here, or at someone's house?" He slapped his forehead. "Oh crud, my dice and books and whatnot else are all still in storage." He raised an eyebrow. "Could you show me the dice sets? Oh, and at least your number so I know who's calling me," he said. He wouldn't object to Jay calling him about something other than gaming, but that can wait for another time.

Drew grinned. "Well then, I will probably have to invest in knee-pads then, I'm terrible at getting gifts on time." He kept talking as he walked over to the shelf, looked for a moment and took all the books in the collection before returning to the counter and putting it down. "I'll just take these, the dice and could you order the missing ones from the collection?" He looked quickly. "It looks like book five and six."

[jayshawoddball]

Jay grinned back at him, "Email works, man. Mine's Jay@oddball42.net." He nodded, "Yeah, it's why I like keeping paper backups of things. You can never have too many backups, I've found."

"We play here, got rooms in the back all set up for it, specifically." Jay grinned, motioning for the man to follow him to the other side of the counter. "We've got a million and one different types of dice." He pulled out the tray that most of the basic dice samples rested on. "What's your pleasure?"

"My number's here, for the store and then my cell." Jay handed Drew one of his business cards. The comment about knee-pads made him snicker. He nodded as he made a note to himself to order the missing volumes for Drew. "Awesome," he smiled as he rang everything up. "Cash or credit?"

[drewcooper]

Drew quickly forwarded his contact details to Jay. "I hear ya, but one runs out of room when its reams of paper every month. With that said, I still print out and file my personal papers... I'm strange like that."

"Cool, but I'm willing to offer my place for change of scenery, when I have a place." He walked over to where the dice display rested and grinned. "You are my new hero." Drew perused the dice sets for a moment before pointing to his choice. "Those ones," he said. It would do nicely for a back-up set. "And a set of D10s of the same."

Drew took the card and tucked it into his wallet. "Cool," he said and grinned back as Jay snickered. "It will have to be credit this time," he said as he took out the card and handed it over.

[jayshawoddball]

Jay nodded, "Yeah I hear you on that one." He did the same thing for most of his personal papers and the business ones. Never managed to break himself out of the habit.

"Appreciate that." He hadn't even played with them yet and he still offered, yeah, he'd fit in just fine with the group. Jay nodded with approval at Drew's choice. "Shiny. Want to grab them yourself, so they don't get contaminated with my gaming mojo?"

Jay took the card and swiped it. "Here's your card back, and just sign here on the dotted line."

[drewcooper]

Drew grinned. "We're a product of our generation," he said mock seriously. "There is something more satisfying about holding a document in your hand, don't you think?"

He just shrugged. "Feels like the right thing to do," he said. "I guess it depends on where everybody lives so its not too far. I'm guessing the shop is most central for everybody, or just the most convenient." Drew grinned up at Jay. "Can't have that happen now can we. Unless you have good mojo and don't roll ones the whole time." He reached into the display case and took out the dice he wanted. "I guess the only question I have would be when do you guys play?" he asked.

Drew took his card, signed the slip and handed it back to Jay. "I think I'll be holed up in my hotelroom tonight, reading and playing with my new shinies," he said, then realized how it sounded and groaned inwardly.

[jayshawoddball]

Jay chuckled and nodded, it was true. They were products of their generation. Some of the last of a dying breed as one of his other customers had remarked once. "There really is. It's why I still collect drops instead of just going for all of the digital comics."

Jay nodded, "It'll depend on how big the group we've got this time is. I mean if we've got eight or nine people, might be better to do it here, depending on how big your place is." They'd had campaigns with 10 people before and those had gotten crazy. Crazy fun, but still crazy.

"My mojo is crazy variable, man. Got the gift of random luck." It was something that made him either the greatest asset or biggest liability in most campaigns that he played in, instead of just DM-ing. "We mostly play on Thursday evenings. I'll send out an email when we start, so everyone will know what time and which room."

Jay added it to the pile of other credit card receipts and snickered as he heard what Drew said. He was guessing that it had probably sounded better in the other man's head than it had out loud. "I completely understand that. I've got a stack of reading and some Doctor Who to catch up on."

[drewcooper]

"Digital has its place, but I still prefer a book to be in my hands when I read it." There was something satisfying when holding a book in one's hands.

Drew nodded. "Well, I'm quite willing to hold it at my place every now and again," he said. "Change of scenery and all that." Besides, he liked hosting people and being all social.

"Best you keep away from my dice then," Drew teased as he clutched his selection to his chest in an exaggerated move. "Thursday evenings fits my schedule perfectly, though I'll probably be useless at the office on a Friday," he added.

Drew blushed as he grinned at Jay. "At least it made sense in my head," he commented. "Do you like Matt Smith as the Doctor, or are you a die-hard David Tennant fan?" he asked. He liked each incarnation of the Doctor so far, so he was not worried. "And please tell me you are a Torchwood fan," he said.