THE MOMENT
"...it's very organized; there was no chance of seeing anything we weren't supposed to," The athletic, blue-haired teenager said. The conversation caught Marcus' attention because he was sitting in a coffee shop when the three teenagers came in. Every other conversation in the shop revolved around coffee, but not this one. The blue-haired teen boy wearing black was followed to a nearby table by two girls. One with golden double-plaited braids and the other with a streak of violet-pink in her chestnut hair.
Even if their conversation didn't attract Marcus' attention, their outfits would have. The boy wore a black robe with neon green detailing, the blonde girl wore an earthy green and brown robe, and the last girl wore a dark pink ninja armor. You would think it wasn't every day that a necromancer, a druid, and a ninja walked into a coffee shop; but, it was a regular occurrence for Marcus. Not necessarily in that configuration; but, he'd seen paladins, mages, spellslingers, and more over the years. Not that anyone else noticed.
Marcus discreetly tuned in his seat to pay them closer attention. It was useful to know if he should leave; somehow, destruction often followed the costumed players he ran across. He was surprised when the blonde druid with rainbow hair woven into her braids stood up immediately after sitting down.
"We HAVE to continue this later!" she said. "Turbo needs to talk to me about some things; but, you have to tell me everything you saw at Sharp Development!"
That was a name Marcus heard often. It was a corporation that no one but the strangers ever heard about. Anytime Marcus asked any of his acquaintances, they shook their head and shrugged.
"There wasn't much...," the ninja girl shook her head.
"But, we'll tell you everything we can, later," the blue-haired boy agreed.
The druid dropped a black card at her feet and began to sink into it like an elevator as she waved goodbye to her friends. Marcus relaxed. If one of them was leaving, then whatever destruction they had planned might be put off; he'd seen it happen before.
"Well, since something came up, I'm going to go find a game; wanna come?" The blue-haired teen asked as he stood from the booth too. He dropped a card at his feet as the ninja shook her head.
"I still want a snack," she said.
"See ya," he waved as he disappeared too. Marcus let out a sigh; he could at least enjoy his morning now.
"Hey, you okay?" The ninja girl asked in Marcus' direction. But, he knew better than to respond. No one ever actually noticed him before and he wasn't going to give that away now.
"I can see your aura, you looked kind of scared there for a moment." The teen stood from the booth and walked to Marcus' table. She looked directly at him with golden stars in her eyes. "And, you keep looking at our table."
"Do you like coffee? I like coffee." Marcus asked. He'd spent who knows how long trying to avoid getting the attention he had now. It was time for desperate measures. He threw out some of the conversation he regularly heard around him, along with a term he didn't know the meaning of. But, all the outsiders used if frequently. "Coffee is good; I'm just a coffee-drinking NPC, don't mind me." he said. He forced himself to look at the table; but, the ninja laughed.
"You're actually wrong about that," she said. She sat across from him and smiled. "My name's Alis; what's yours?"
"Dark roast is my favorite kind of coffee," he said. Alis laughed again and shook her head.
"I can see your feelings, you know," she said. Golden stars flashed in her eyes again for effect.
"I like donuts with my coffee," he replied. He wasn't going to let himself get dragged into whatever complicated, scary thing was going on behind the scenes. He liked his quiet life.
"Well, I won't force you," Alis nodded at him with a reassuring smile. She stood up again; but, she pulled a transparent glass card from somewhere and placed it on the table in front of him.
"This is called a node; it's yours if you want it," she said. "It'll explain everything."
"Sometimes I have two cups; three cups is too much coffee," he said. Unlike the other two, she wiggled her fingers at the air and opened a vertical portal next to her. She stepped in but glanced back at him one more time.
"By the way," she said. "I'm going to ask you a question, I want you to think about your answer; check the node for advice once you have that." Marcus loaded all coffee-related conversation to the forefront of his mind to be ready. She was about to leave him alone and that was great news. Alis smiled at him as the portal began to close. The last thing he saw was her face as she asked, "What's your favorite number?"
"47!" Marcus blurted the answer out as Alis disappeared.
"Huh...," Marcus wondered where that answer came from and why it wasn't about coffee. He glanced down at the streak of light where the transparent node rested. He thought about it for a moment. But, there were too many questions; and, too many questions with the possibility of horrible answers. He liked his life and didn't see the need to complicate it.
"Come to think of it...," he said as he stood from the table. He left the node there and walked away. "...coffee sounds good."