Joy meets up with a 'civilian.'

It had been a few minutes since the last strange feeling in Joy's pants, so she had felt confident enough to get to her feet again. Where the other members of the BB Brigade had gotten off to, she had no idea. Dammit, Joy thought. We were supposed to be here together. I bet that Lynn is off somewhere trying to hog a spotlight and she isn't even thinking of me. She scowled and wandered off into the crowd. If her friends weren't going to check up on her, then she might as well enjoy the convention by herself, she figured.

Some people went to conventions to see the guests. Others went to show off their fresh new cosplays. And then there were the ones that saw the con as the best time to pick up new merch. That was well and good and all, but it didn't hold much appeal for Joy anymore. Her studies kept her so busy that she wasn't even really keeping up with her favorite TV shows anymore. So for Joy, conventions were all about the tech. A side effect of nerds being the main convention audience meant that there were tons of engineers and scientists around, and a lot of them had brought their own inventions to show off, kinda like how Joy had with the BB's costume tech.

Joy found herself in front of the booth of some 'Tech Gnomes,' who were apparently really mostly researchers from MIT. The stuff they had in their booth was next-level cool. They had really earned their names! Joy couldn't even fathom how some of the Gnomes' contraptions were supposed to work, so she spent a long time at the booth just fiddling with them and chatting with the Tech Gnomes. The guys were more than happy to discuss with a fellow tech enthusiast.

After Joy had been there a while, she heard someone say her name. "Joy?" went the voice. It belonged to a guy, and it sounded familiar. She had been entranced by these strange goggles for a moment, but she turned away to look at who had spoken. The guy was dressed up like Spike from Cowboy Bebop, and it took her a second to recognize him through the costume.

"Dr. Maher!" she said, almost blushing. Dr. Maher was her professor for her Robotics class last semester. She had been proud to be the only person in the class to get an A. Most people had just failed, but Dr. Maher had submitted one of her assignments for consideration in one of the school's top engineering prizes. Even Joy hadn't expected to actually win the scholarship, and it would never have happened without Dr. Maher's help.

"How are you, Joy? And call me Tim." Dr. Maher's smile was warm and friendly, and Joy was glad to find that he was a good guy outside of a classroom, too. Some professors just didn't give a shit about their students any longer than they were obligated to.

That didn't mean she was going to start calling him Tim, though. That was waaaay too personal for Joy's taste, as much as she would have loved to be personal with Dr. Maher. "I'm good!" she said, smiling. "Are you enjoying the convention?"

"I am," he said. "It's really great. I try to come to SAX every year. I really like your cosplay, by the way, Mei is one of my favorites.

This time, Joy wasn't able to suppress her blush. She smiled modestly, looking down at her parka. "This? Oh, thanks," she said. "I'm not even that big into Overwatch, I'm just here doing a group thing with some friends..." She regretted saying that. If he asked about her friends, she would have to tell him she knew 'Bunny Hapa,' and that would be the end of Dr. Maher giving a crap about her.

Surprisingly, Dr. Maher didn't press for more information. "That's good! Conventions are always better with company," he said. "Speaking of, do you want to go grab something to eat? I know it's expensive, but I'm really famished."

Joy didn't think she even had enough money to buy a drink here with everything she had spent putting the BBs' costumes together. That didn't mean she was going to say no, though. She would figure something out when it came down to it. "I'd love to!" she said.

Not far away, Marigold was waiting, watching Joy and her conversation and considering the perfect time to act.