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themandylion · 5 years

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[fic] Questhook (2)

Further adventures in the world of my smol dragon AU! This technically takes place before the last two scenes of Questhook, but I failed at organizing my document correctly, oh well.

In case it wasn’t clear, this AU started as my take on the prompt:

I am a dragon who collects pretty things, you're a kind local game shop owner who always shows me the prettiest dice when I come in and I'm not sure if you're staring at me because you can see through my glamour AU.

—

The bell above the door jingles and Jason has to do a double-take when Mau walks in. "I know you didn't open that," he tells her. "You aren't tall enough to reach the handle."

"Interesting that you use that as your argument and not the fact that she hasn't got opposable thumbs," is Tim's comment as he follows the cat inside.

"Have you seen her paws? She's polydactyl, practically has two paws on each of her forelegs. The way she uses those extra toes, she basically does have opposable thumbs," Jason says, busying himself with straightening the items in the counter's display case and determinedly not looking at Tim.

"Huh. Well, I hope it's not a problem I let her in. She was waiting at the door when I got there, so I figured…" Tim shrugs.

"According to Grace, Mau owns the building and Grace is just on the paperwork for legal reasons. If anyone has free rein of the property, it's her highness here." When he glances up, Tim is standing right in front of the counter, staring down at him. Jason gulps and nearly knocks over a figurine. "Don't feel you have to stick around to let Mau out again. I'm fairly certain she can walk through walls when she feels like it."

"Actually, I'm here as a potential customer. I lost some of my dice in the move to Gotham and I need replacements?" He smiles and Jason bangs his head on the underside of the counter in his hurry to stand up.

Rubbing his sore scalp, Jason fights down a grimace. "Don't tell me you're one of these role-playing types also?"

Tim laughs. "Guilty as charged, sorry."

It would figure that Jason finally meets a nice guy and he's secretly pretending to be an elven warrior or some shit in his free time. Sighing, he gestures to the counter on his right. "The nicer dice and miniatures are over there, if you want to browse. There are cheaper options on that wall," he indicates the corner of the store that's devoted entirely to various game paraphernalia, though Tim is already circling the counter to eye the dice displayed under glass with a critical eye.

"You have a nice selection," Tim says when Jason comes over. "The enameled ones look particularly well-crafted, though the opalite dice are very…" He trails off, a gleam in his eye.

Oh boy, one of those. Well, Jason can't really fault him—the stone dice are nice, though it's rare that anyone realizes what they are. "Are you a geologist or something? Most people assume they must be made out of some fancy plastic."

"I'm an engineer, actually. But rocks and gemstones are something of a hobby. I'll take the opalite."

"Sure, which one do you want?" Jason asks, pulling out the tray.

"Oh, all of them, of course. I couldn't break up such a beautiful set," Tim insists.

Jason raises an eyebrow but keeps his mouth shut as he carefully repackages the dice in the fancy box they originally came in. It's Tim's money, after all; if he wants to blow a big chunk of it on pretty rocks, far be it from Jason to say anything. As he rings up the sale, Tim glances around the store. "Something else you're looking for?" Jason asks.

"No. Well, yes, but not anything to buy. Miss Grace said you run games some nights? I used to play Wizards & Warriors with my friends in college, but they're all back on the west coast and I was hoping to join a new group."

"I run a couple of home-brew games, but I'm not really in charge of those. The groups rent out the back room, I'm just GM to keep down the property damage. You're welcome to try joining one of the groups, but ultimately the other players are the ones who have final say on whether anyone new can play."

"What kind of home-brew? I really liked the way my old group did things."

"Same basic game mechanics for initiative and all that, but one's a sort of noire murder mystery and the other is, uh. Space cops in space. Aliens and shit, I guess." Jason grimaces. He knows he's not the best at describing these things, but then he's not the one who came up with the initial game proposals, that was all the players.

Tim rocks back on his heels, humming thoughtfully. "I really like the high fantasy setting of W&W."

"Yeah, nothing like that at the moment, sorry. Well. Unless you want to join the peewee game, and I don't really…" Jason coughs. "It's a couple of preteen besties who want to play hero. Lots of rescuing villages from evil overlords, slaying dragons, that sort of thing. They only play twice a month since one of the players lives over in Metropolis."

That proposal earns him a violent shudder and Tim actively taking a step back from the counter. "No, I don't think so. I… have to get going. Unpacking left to do, you know," he says, grabbing his purchase and hurrying out the door.

Mau hops up on the counter and gives Jason a pointed look. "What? I already sacrifice enough of my free time to this stupid place. I'm not gonna start a new game just for him." Though maybe it would be worth it, just to have an excuse to stare at Tim for several hours each week.

#JayTim #Jason Todd #Tim Drake #smol dragon au #dragon au #my fic #Jason only does the peewee game because one of the players' dads pays him an obscene amount of money to keep running it #This probably needs another scene included with it but I'm not writing it chronologically so oh well

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