Dragon World: Passions of a Geek Paradise (IC)

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

“God dammit...” said a muffled voice as Largo’s alarm went off. He was nice and comfortable, with his face buried in his pillows and the blanket over his head. Reluctantly lifting his head, he saw the alarm was flashing 6:30. It was his first day of work at Dragon World, and since the only opening Jim had was a janitor, Largo was not looking forward to work.

After smacking the alarm a few times to shut the damn thing off, Largo threw back his covers and sat up, placing his bare feet on the polished wood floor. The floor was cold, and felt nice on his feet, as Florida summers can be very hot. After retrieving his glasses from the nightstand, Largo pulled himself to a stand, stretched, yawned, scratched his head and chest, then proceeded to walk through the room towards the bathroom.

The room Jim had let him use was fairly big, with it’s own private bathroom. It had a queen size California bed, two nightstands, a dresser, a wardrobe, a large walk-in closet, a desk and chair, and off in one corner, a bookcase, small round table, and comfortable recliner. Largo had decorated the room to suit him, and the walls were covered with posters of Star Wars, various Anime titles, Lord of the Rings, D&D, etc. He didn’t have a TV in here, because he could go down to the Game Room to watch or play video games. He did, however, have a powerful Toshiba laptop with a 17.5 inch screen.

After shaving what little stubble he had and jumping in the shower, Largo pulled on boxers and a white t-shirt, then the dark blue pants and light blue jean shirt that was part of the janitor’s uniform. The shirt was short-sleeved, and he tucked it in, put on a belt, then say down in his computer chair to slip on his socks and shoes. One side of the shirt said Maintenance, since that was the department janitors were under. The other side of the chest said Largo Drake.

After applying deodorant and cologne and grabbing a quick bowl of oatmeal. Largo headed out to the main road, headed down a few blocks, then caught a city bus to Dragon World.

The bus. The transport for the public. The carrier of the middle class. The cheap wheels of inter-city communication.

And the best possible route to take to Dragon World that combined comfort, carrying one´s luggage, the possibility of reading a book, and being able to listen to one´s own MP3 player all at a cheap fare if you took advantage of the transportation card deals. It was the ideal way for Emma to get to her workplace while carrying her army case with her (a black suitcase with a golden double-headed eagle on the side, filled with foam and models), as well as be able to read one of the books of Ciaphas Cain´s saga. All that while listening to Ten Wo Tsuke.

She was wearing jeans, a red t-shirt, and a brown jacket. And of course, her glasses. Nothing ostentatious or particularly girly, as she had noticed that where she worked, women were not the norm. Not that Emma cared that much what people thought about her, but she did care not to spook people off. And to be honest, she had read one story too many about the kind of weird people that showed up at Games Workshop stores.

It was like they were a focal point for the nerdiest of the nerdy. But the job paid well enough, and she got to indulge in her hobby, so it was well worth it.

The bus was not full at this time of the morning, but because she was sitting in one of the front rows, as soon as she saw the next group of people board it, she tucked the suitcase neatly under her legs to make space for everyone, with only a quick glance spared at the door of the bus. She was too submerged in her book to stop just because of some people moving around...

Largo waited at the bustop along with a group of other people. He had his laptop in a bag strapped over his shoulder, along with his sketch pad, a few pens and mechanical pencils, his iPod, and the newest issues of Popular Science, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and Shonen Jump.

Finally, the bus came, and Largo boarded. He began scoping for a good place to sit, when suddenly his eyes fell upon a lovely girl with (uh... picture's got no color... Dunno what color her hair is, lol) [insert color] hair, [insert color] eyes that looked intelligent and full of life, and a wonderful figure from what Largo could see while she was sitting. She had glasses, which made her even hotter to him (and me), and she was focused on a book. Compelled by some deep desire, despite his shyness, Largo approached her and forced himself to ask to sit, albeit a tad nervously.

"Um, hi. Mind if I sit here?" he asked, scratching his cheek with his index finger and smiling.

Emma´s green eyes left her book briefly, before moving closer to the window fast like a scared mouse. That actually was a good way of describing her reaction.

"Yes, of course!" She replied, even before her blonde hair had settled down. She squeezed herself against the window, pulling her suitcase between her legs. She threw another glance at the boy at her side, and noticed the glasses, and the magazines in his hands. Mostly the gaming one and Jump, not knowing much about actual science as to know about Popular Science. Those caught her attention for a couple of seconds, before she returned to her book.

But, now her concentration had been broken, she suddenly found the book rather uninteresting. Maybe the fact that Cain´s adventures usually followed the same pattern also had something to do with that. She closed it, and stuffed it into one of her jacket´s inner pockets.

Before looking out of the window, Emma threw the boy a last glance. She wondered who he was, and where he was going, but she was not the kind of person to intrude in others´ lives.

"Thanks!" Largo said with a smile, sitting down next to her. He slipped his magazines into his bag, then turned to her. "My name's Largo. Nice to meet you." He smiled, but inside was screaming because he normally would never speak to a hot girl like her for fear of making himself look retarded or something. But, damn, she was hot, and Largo caught a geek-vibe off her. He didn't know much about her yet, but he knew he definitely wanted to get to know her.

"Oh...!" Emma fumbled with her MP3, embarrassed. Her hand went into the inside pocket of her jacket, fumbling around to reach the off button on it. As she did that, her other hand went up to pull the earphones out. As a result, her arms were in a kinda awkward position. "Excuse me, one sec...!"

She managed to turn the music player off and stuff it into its place, as she smiled at the guy at her side. "I´m Emma, nice to meet you too..."

That was roughly where the awkward silence that often descended on her when she ran out of topics made itself present. She didn´t know much about science, and Jump was not one of her favourite magazines. As for videogames, that was a kinda weird topic to start a conversation with. She readjusted her glasses, and smiled again at him, a little bit more forcefully. "So... uhm... oh, going to Dragon World, by any chance?"

Yes, that would do, she thought...

Largo smiled. "Actually, yeah, I am." He pointed at his uniform shirt. "My uncle owns it, and he's letting me work there for the summer to help me save some money before college. I'm only a janitor now, but hopefully that will change."

Largo sat silent for a moment, then turned back to her. "So, I assume you're heading to Dragon World too? I hear it's a pretty big geek hang out. Today's my first day -- I just flew in yesterday, and haven't actually been to Dragon World in several years, not since we last visited Uncle Jim."

Tom sighed as he pulled his crumbling sedan into the staff parking lot at Dragon World.

As he got out of the car and made his way to the large building he checked his watch 6-45. Good, Harry, the guard working the nightshift, would be happy to get off work early.

He entered quickly through the staff entrance, and quickly let Harry head off for home.

Minutes later, He began his rounds of the large complex.

"Actually, yeah, I am. My uncle owns it, and he's letting me work there for the summer to help me save some money before college. I'm only a janitor now, but hopefully that will change."

"Ah..." Largo´s uncle was the owner of Dragon World? She didn´t quite believe that, but then, why bother telling her if it was a lie? Besides, it wasn´t like being the son of the owner of the geekiest place on Earth would really make him King Midas all of a sudden.

"So, I assume you're heading to Dragon World too? I hear it's a pretty big geek hang out. Today's my first day -- I just flew in yesterday, and haven't actually been to Dragon World in several years, not since we last visited Uncle Jim."

"Yeah, I work at Dragon World too. Games Workshop store manager." Emma spared a glance out of the window, noticing the bus was reaching the stop. Already the unmistakable facade of the Dragon World building was obvious a few streets away. "So you came here just yesterday? Then, I guess you want to see your uncle first thing? Or did you do that already?"

Emma asked, looking at the clothes Largo wore. Yes, they certainly looked like a janitor´s uniform, but she didn´t imagine janitors went to their jobs dressed as such...

"Actually, he picked me up from the airport," Largo replied. "I'm staying with him while I'm down here." Somehow, he felt that she might not necessarily believe him. He knew Jim was fairly popular in Miami, and saying he was related to him was like professing to be the long lost son of Elvis or something. Still, it was the truth, so he stuck to it.

"So, you're the manager of a Games Workshop?", he asked. "I thought they only made those in Europe -- I can tell you're from there. You know, the accent," Then, realizing he may have offended her, his face grew red and he stumbled over his words before saying, "I mean, it's lovely, I didn't mean it wasn't or anything. Not that I'm saying It's.. I mean... Ahh... Sorry. I tend to get diarrhea of the mouth..."

Oh great. That will DEFINITELY win her over. Way to go, Captain Dork. You may as well cut your dick off now and sell it on eBay for another action figure.... he thought to himself savagely.

Emma kind of grimaced at that particular moment when a very unpleasant image reached her mind. Still, after an awkward silence, she figured she might as well try to save the situation a little bit.

"I don´t mind people commenting on my accent... so, as long as you refrain from ever using another metaphor like that, I´ll let you say whatever you want about it, Ok?"

Emma started wondering if Largo wasn´t one of those awkward nerds. But, it didn´t take her long to decide that as a matter of fact, he was. She just hoped he wasn´t any worse than he´d already showed his nerdiness to be. The stories about the kind of dorks that went into Games Workshop stores to wreak havoc returned with a vivid sense of reality to them.

"And this is our stop, by the way." She said, desperate to change the conversation topic. The bus stopped, and she stood up, picked up the black army case, and waited for Largo to move first.

She'll never date you now...

Idiot...

She probably thinks you're the biggest dork in the world...

Idiot...

You may as well become a celebate monk now...

FUCKING IDIOT!!! -- "Huh? Oh! I'm sorry!" Realizing they were at their stop and he was too busy wallowing in self-pity to notice, he quickly jumped to his feet and stepped off the bus. "Sorry, didn't realize we were here already..." he said to Emma as they walked towards the employee entrance.

Idiot...

It was one of those days that needed to be left behind as the noisy sounds from outside the shop began to invade her silence. Kryss stretched her arms towards the ceiling. "Good morning."

Thankfully the shop has a shower and Kryss has learned to managed the seven minute time limit before the water turns to icy cold with complete accuracy. She lifted the black silk skirt from the drying rack and smoothed over the length. "Have to look our best today and make some sales."

Kryss' statement went unanswered as it always did but it gave her confidence to make her do her best. Standing before the mirror Kryss quickly braided her long black flaxen hair then slipped on the teal blouse that gave her that arcanic appearence.

After a few minutes she could hear her neighbor raising the doorway gate and entered the shop and unlocked the main door, opening it and setting the small basket with golden orbs that glimmered in the morning light from the openness above.

"Glimmer well so we can keep up with everyone else." Kryss whispered softly as she wriggled the spanish moss that was the nesting grounds for the unusual objects.

Kryss returned to the small table on the left and picked up the tools for engraving crystal and started to etch out the small brownie she was certain was hiding somewhere inside.