Yo...

"Yo." She raised her hand, waving in his general direction. "You Nocturne?"

"Yeah, and it looks like I'm out 20 bucks." He smirked, spinning the sign he had been holding into the nearest trash can.

"Yeah, I'm Sand..." She made no comment on his statement. If it was important, he'd explain it.

"That your real name, or did you have some really weird parents? Got luggage, by the way?"

"No, Sam, and yeah, I've got one bag. I'm assuming that it doesn't say Nocturne on your birth certificate." She began to walk with her escort along the hallways of the airport, following the signs that pointed in the direction of the baggage claim.

"Yeah, Nathan. Sorry. I just was betting with Kelly that ... oh that's Griffonheart by the way, I was betting I'd be the only guy in the room." Nathan took a long pull from his coffee cup as he explained. "Oh, and SeriousChaos cancelled at the last minute, so it's just you, me and Kelly for the room."

"Wait, Griffonheart's a girl?" Sandy inquired, scanning the rotating belt for her bag. Still a few minutes to wait, it seemed.

"Yeah, I shared a room with her last year. She's cool, just don't be a dick, OK?" Nathan punctuated the last comment with a roll of his shoulders.

"Wheaton's rule in full effect. No problem." Sandy nodded.

"So, what events have you signed up for already?" Nathan inquired, changing the topic to one that was infinitely more comfortable to Sandy. Sam, she had to remember. She had deliberately picked an alias that was near enough to her own name to be easy to remember, but it was still hard to make it seem natural.

While they waited, Nathan and Sandy discussed various events they were looking forward to, various artists they hoped to meet, and numerous other things, all having to do with the convention. It was a blessed relief when her bag finally ground around on the conveyor, and she yanked it one handed, trying to make the gesture look suave and practiced.

They left the terminal, Sandy still observing Nathan for any hint that he was on to her. The constant scrutiny made her realize just how good looking he actually was. Much more normal than what she was used to dealing with when it game to gamers in general. Nice eyes, friendly smile, although a bit attached to that coffee cup of his...

However, his car was par for the course when it came to gamers. When he led her to the parking lot and she saw the car, a feeling of dread coursed through her. The first thing she noticed was the rust. Visible rust. Two large patches, the paint of the car giving way to buckled and weather beaten metal. The paint shared the touch of time, and had no uniform color, although she supposed it had been dark blue at one time.

"Yeah, not exactly a babe magnet, I know." Nathan joked, kicking the side of the car with one foot. A fleck of metal burst from one of the metallic scabs at the impact.

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought." Sandy took the opportunity to quote the classic line. She immediately regretted it, since her contralto voice matched the original female character delivering it, a tad too well.

"Everybody's a comedian." Nathan smirked. "Watch your mouth kid, or you'll find yourself floating home."

"How far to Bigcon?" Sandy changed the subject, pulling on the passenger side door and finding it locked.

"It's about an hour and a half ... hang on." Nathan leaned across the front seat, flicking up the switch on the passenger side. "Sorry, lock button is broke."

At least the seat lacked tears, broken springs or any other obvious signs of distress. Sandy deposited her bags in the back seat, before taking her place at the front passenger side.

"So, did you eat yet?" Nathan asked, turning over the engine several times before the ignition finally caught.

"Yeah, on the plane." Sandy replied.

"Cool. So, I figure we'll get to the hotel about ... five, I guess, and we can hang out till then."

"Cool, did you bring your stuff?" Sandy asked, thinking about distractions to pass the time. Nathan had claimed he was bringing a bag full of board games.

"Yeah, but I don't wanna get burned out too early. I figure you're gonna want to meet Kelly when she gets in, and you're going to claim you're a girl and win me my twenty bucks back, right?"

A flash of pure panic raced through Sandy's mind before she composed herself. She took a deep inhalation, deliberately lowered the tenor of her voice, and responded with the most masculine "uh, NO," she could muster.

"A c'mon man, it's twenty bucks!" Nathan groaned. "I'll tell you what, we can raid Kelly's cosplay stash when she's not looking..."

"What part of cold day in hell is not getting through?" Sandy replied. She hoped Nathan was just joking, but this was hitting far too close to reality. It was time to change the subject as soon as possible. "So, are you doing the Battletech tourney?"

"Yeah, but only if I miss out on the Vampire LARP. I couldn't get in on pre-registration, so I'm on the waiting list." Nathan shrugged. "Quick! Vampires! Name three things they do not do."

"Whine, Sparkle and repeat High School." Sandy shouted angrily. "Team Buffy for the win!"

"Damn Straight!" Nathan cheered, turning his attention back to driving. "Except it's Team Kiefer for the win. Oooh! Speaking of which, there's a case of CD's by your feet. Mind putting something on?"

Sandy noted that there was one thing in the car that looked well maintained, and that was the CD player. Admittedly a bit retro, it still looked far more functional than anything else in the vehicle. She flipped open the case of CD's that she had found under the seat and scanned the selection. Admittedly it was pretty typical for any gaming table, with a bit more emo music than she was used to. After several flips, she found a band that she liked and pulled the disc out of its protective sleeve. With a single false start, she started the music.

"All right! Onward, to BigCON! To Pillage!" Nathan laughed as the thick bass beat began to play.