starter for @normallyxstranger's Dylan
Comic shops were their own sort of comforting. Most of Ayesha's old crowd had been comics nerds — took inspiration from them, even. Got powers? Put on a costume and try to do some good in the world.
It had been a long time since she'd seen any of those friends, but comic shops felt like them, in a way.
And so, when she discovered one here in New Ashton, she had to go check it out.
The Other Realm Comics, read the sign above the entrance. A plastic skeleton sat in the display window with a comic open in its bony hands. Ayesha passed it by with a laugh, and headed inside. A bell above the door announced her entrance, and she looked around, taking the place in. There was a display of the latest volumes right up front; off to the right was a reading nook full of comfortable looking chairs and beanbags. A fluffy white cat lay near the window there, basking in a sunbeam.
I think I'm gonna like it here.
She wandered into the stacks, not looking for anything in particular, reaching out here and there with a gloved hand to pick up something that looked interesting.
Hmm, she thought, placing one back on its shelf and preparing to move on, not feeling this one. Another time, maybe—
And when she looked up, there he was.
Dylan. Taker of souls, instigator of strange conversations, subject of... certain dreams, and now, apparently, comic enthusiast.
I have to get the hell out of here.
No dice, there: he was looking right at her, so fleeing the scene wasn't going to do any good.
"Dylan," she greeted him instead, and his name came out a little strangled. She couldn't pretend to know what to expect here, beyond maybe a solid round of mocking given the way their previous encounter had ended. "Didn't expect to run into you here."
