10506/Yo, Dawg, I Hear You Like Games

Yo, Dawg, I Hear You Like Games
Date of Scene:	19 March 2022
Location:	Steve's Comic Books
Synopsis:	Susan and Peter visit Ned and the gaming group at Steve's for an introduction to RPGs. It proves to be a rough start.
Cast of Characters:	Peter Parker, Susan Sullivan

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Peter Parker has posed:
Peter takes a deep breath. He hopes he made the right choice.
He stands near the front of the store, next to the bulletin board with all the ads. LFG, NO INCELS. ANY1 WANT TO STOP THE CORPS? SHADOWRUN GROUP SATURDAY NIGHT.
Might be too much, too soon.
Peter had needed to come down tonight to scope out the AD&D group, and he had realized he hadn't seen Susan in a couple of days, so he had texted to see if she was available. Welp, she was on her way.

Deep breaths, Parker.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    If Susan only knew how nervous he was about sharing part of his life with her. When she arrived, it was as she appeared when meeting Aunt May. She maybe hadn't gotten over her self-consciousness, yet. Despite that, she looks quite calm as she enters the gaming store. Heads turn toward the jingling bell that betrays her entry, and any woman coming in the door would get stared at. Maybe that's why she's hiding behind padding. She soon sees Peter, and a smile crosses Susan's features. She walks to him with her arms wide, ready for a hug after a couple days without.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter smiled with relief and hugged Susan tightly, kissing her cheek. "Hey, Suze. Glad you could make it." He looked around, his arm around her waist. "Welcome to my home away from home."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan blushes slightly and puts her fingers to her cheek. She smiles and lets him put his hand on her hip. She's not used to him being so forward, but she seems to like it, or at least not be opposed. She looks around the place and says, "Wow, there's a lot of games, here." She looks at Peter and asks, "Which one is D&D?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter smiles. "It's back here."

As he led Susan through the aisles, he explained. "'Dungeons and Dragons' is what they call a role-playing game. Basically, as one person put it, it's like 'Let's Pretend,' but with rules. You create a character concept, like a sorcerer, a fighter, a thief, or something similar. Each has skills that makes them tailored to your likes. You act as part of a group, to go on adventures, gathering loot and riches or going on quests to right wrongs, stop evil forces, and the like."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "Oh," Susan says. What had she gotten herself into? "Well, at least it's not spin the bottle?" she tries. She lets him lead her back through to where the D&D group is meeting, but she looks like the leading lady when she drops into the secret fantasy world for the first time: Absolutely out of her depth.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter chuckles and points to a nearby table. He waves to one portly fellow, who smiled and waved them over.
Peter chuckled. "Hey, Ned..." He looked to the others. "Quan...Alfrida...Steve-O...Gemma."
The other people at the table waved back. "Jumping in? We're kinda in the middle of something."
"Actually, I am early cause I wanted to scope the group and see what was going on. Also, wanted you all to meet Susan, my girlfriend. She's never played RPGs, so I wanted to show her what was going on."
Gemma, a Hispanic woman, grinned. "Hey, we don't mind. Pull up some chairs."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan wasn't sure what she was expecting, but this didn't look like a board game. She looks around at the people with what looks like homework in front of them. Unless Peter pulls out a chair for her, she does so herself and sits with him between herself and the others. She does, however, give a slight smile and a half-hearted wave. "Hello," she says, trying and immediately failing to remember everyone's names.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter gets two chairs for him and Susan, sitting down after she does. "Okay. See Ned? He's the Dungeon Master. He's the group's window to the world. He tells them what they experience, who or what they see. If they want to do something, he tells them what happens as a result."
Ned grins. "These guys just got ambushed by some trolls. We just started combat."
Peter nodded. "You can see how the game plays. This is a combat situation, and they go in turns. Fastest ones act first."
Gemma nods, then growls, "My female barbarian, Darna, is going to go into Berserk mode, and she's going for the troll on the left, swinging her battleaxe!"
Ned nods. "Roll it."
As Gemma rolls, Peter explains, "Dice comprise the random factor. The better you are at a skill, the better chance you have of succeeding."
"30, with the bonuses!" Gemma crows.
Ned nods, rolling his own dice. "Darna buries the battleaxe in the troll's chest. He's gone to his knees, but he's not out of the action."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "That poor Troll," Susan says. She looks at Ned. "I assume the group already tried a canary."

Peter Parker has posed:
Steve-O looked wounded. "I NEED my friend!"
"Steve-O is playing Burlen, the druid. He has a small bird, but he can transform it into an eagle. And he loves all of nature, so he's not putting any animals at risk."
"Except for Darna." Alfrida, an elderly Muslim woman (the hajib gives it away) cackles. "I'm amazed she can walk upright sometimes."
"Har-de-har harr, you're SLAYING me." Gemma looked at Susan with a Can-You-BELIEVE-These-People? Eyeroll. "Who's next?"
"That would be me." Steve-O smiled. "I have been prepping this, and want to let loose with Ivy Trap!"
"Roll." A clatter of dice. "Wow. You get two of three ensnared, including the wounded one."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan looks around at the group, quite seriously. "Why didn't your sorcerer use his sling ring?" she asks. She looks at Peter. "You said they've got sorcerers, right?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Ned holds up a finger before Peter can answer. "Alfrida is a sorceress, but she won't get to act until after the trolls do. She's slower than the others."
Alfrida shrugs. "Don't worry. That's why I have meat shields like Darna and Sir Hector."
Quan raises a hand. "That's me, the paladin. Darna and I are the front-line defenders. Although we COULD use an archer of some kind..."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan looks at Peter pleading in her eyes. She suddenly looks frustrated and stands, the backs of her knees kicking the chair out from under her which topples over. She stretches out her hand. The plastic dice don't budge, nor do the mechanical pencils, but wooden pencils and all the character sheets gather together in a ball while the players feel a tugging toward the center of the table. The softball-sized wad of paper lands gently in Susan's hand before compressing itself to the size of a baseball. Susan tosses it at the trash can without looking. It bounces off the pencil erasers sticking out of it before falling into the bin.
    She makes serious eye contact with Ned. "Tell your trolls to go home." She looks around at the shocked players, then at Peter. "This is a bad game," she says before walking out of the room, rather briskly.

Peter Parker has posed:
The players looked at the departing Susan, then at Peter. "Geez, Pete..." Ned said wonderingly. "...did you know she could do that?"
Peter frowned. "No...listen, everyone, I'm sorry. I didn't know that would happen, really."
Ned nods. "Right...dang. Glad I have those on the Cloud." He looked at the others. "Uhm, snack break?"

One minute later, Peter stepped out of the comic shop, looking around for Susan. He looks concerned, but not angry.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan was walking fairly briskly away from the comic book store, but she's not far enough away that Peter can't find her. Her head is down, and her body language doesn't speak of anger, but rather embarrassment.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter didn't take long catching up with Susan, grasping her hand. "Hey...Suze, why did you do that?" He's not quite cross with her, but it might go that way. Then again, it might not. Susan wasn't your typical girl.

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan wipes tears from her cheek with her free hand. She turns and looks at Peter. "You're not mad at me?" she asks. "I ruined your friends' violent game."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter looked at her. "Yeah, I saw that. Not permanently, but I'm pretty sure you closed the game for the night. What I want to know is WHY. Why did you do that? I need to know what you were thinking."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan huffs out a sigh. She turns to face Peter. "They're training themselves to think with violence," she says. "I met a fairy this year. And a spider who talks. I study under a real sorcerer, Peter. Doctor Strange defends himself, but he's a doctor. He took a vow. I didn't take that vow, but I know trolls are real, and I need to be able to disarm disagreements with diplomacy or at least by running away."
    Susan runs her fingers through her short hair and closes her eyes. "I'm sorry," she says. "I've spent ten years in a cave squashing every thought of hurting people, and that was to quench my starving pains."

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter rubs his face, looking suddenly tired.

"What they are training to do is solve problems in a FICTIONAL setting with FICTIONAL enemies. To work as a group. To have different skillsets to be able to solve any problem they run up against. Yes, conflict is inevitable. But in the final analysis, they were having a good time in a mutual goal together...even if it is IMAGINARY."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan looks at Peter intensely and furrows her brow. There's some regret in her features, but also conflict. "Have you ever watched Spider-Man fight?" she asks. "I've only seen what's on YouTube, but I've seen it. He ties people up and lets the police take them into custody. That's his first goal. I'm willing to go back and apologize, with the assumption they'd tried all that first. We did just barge in in the middle without context." She tries a smile. "I left because I realized I made a mistake, okay? I'm sorry, Peter. That was the wrong decision." She's making herself take a step back, rather than running away more. "I'm scared," she confesses. Holding out her hand to him, she asks, "Will you go with me so I can apologize to your friends?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter sighed and smiled. "I'd never let you go alone, Susan." He reached out to grasp her head. "Mistakes were made, but your heart's in the right place. Of course I'll go with you."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan grips Peter's hand tightly, knowing he can handle her physical strength. She's only as strong as a strong human, afterall. She starts walking back toward the game store. "Would you think it improper of me if I invited you over to the apartment I'm watching after this? Maybe you could help me set up a NetFlix?"

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter chuckled. "I don't think it would be improper. It wouldn't be the first time I was called upon to do IT support."

By the time they get back, the group is adapting admirably, setting up a game of SETTLERS OF CATAN.
Ned spots them first, then stage-whispers, "They're back."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    Susan clears her throat. "Ned," she says. "Everyone." She looks around, making eye contact with everyone who will. "I'm sorry I ruined your game. I wish I could have seen you trying something less violent, but I had no context, and I acted rashly." She lets go of Peter's hand and moves behind him. "Meat shield," she quotes.

Peter Parker has posed:
The group look at each other, and Ned cracks, "...not much of a meat shield."
Peter gave Ned a look of fond exasperation. "Ha. Ha. Courtesy Laugh."
Ned chuckles and looks to the others, and Gemma offers a smile. "Well, you came back. And I see where it could have looked bad."
The others nod. Ned says, "Apology accepted, Susan. But seriously...that WAS kinda cool."

Susan Sullivan has posed:
    "It is," Susan agrees. She stands next to Peter and takes his hand. "But I'll leave you to your new game. I need Peter to help me with something on my computer, anyway." She looks at Peter. "Are you ready?" she asks, quietly.

Peter Parker has posed:
Peter nods. "I'll be here for the SHADOWRUN game night, promise."
Ned and the others wave as they head for the front door. Peter waves to Steve. "Sorry about the commotion?"