y'know what, fuck it, i'm in. but, to be absolutely clear, I will betray you the instant I find out one word of what you said was a lie. I don't like liars.

Legit! When and where do you wanna meet? Is there any proof of our capabilities I should bring?

Well, since I'm effectively being recruited for an adventuring party, Dragon's Lair feels thematically appropriate. Your username implies you're a witch, bring whatever the hell you do magic with. And uuuh, whatever weapons you guys use on your dungeon crawls, if that won't get interpreted by normies as a regular mundane weapon and get you kicked out.

Holy crap, there's a Labyrinth entrance right into there! 2 PM tomorrow work? And no, our weapons wouldn't be perceived by mortals, rare silver lining of the Mist.

Yeah, that works for me.

When Katie arrives at Dragon's Lair the next day, there are five people waiting outside:

a woman standing straight and still in combat boots and camo faux-tactical gear, with a hip flask that occasionally emits sparks,

a woman dancing around a little in a black dress and pointy witch hat, recognizable as Raven by her face though her hair is different from the profile pic,

a woman fidgeting and bouncing her leg in nitrile gloves and a lab coat with a few rust-colored flecks on the sleeves,

a woman slouching against the wall in a Dallas Cowboys hoodie and grey sweatpants, smoking a cigarette,

and a nervous-looking man in khakis and a blue and white striped shirt with a little bumblebee plush in the front pocket, with his hand balled up in a fist with keys between the fingers.

Holy shit, they're all fat? Katie's p:honeytrap is spiking. She steps forward awkwardly. "Hey. It's me. The girl from the internet. So this is your, like, squad or whatever?"

Raven steps forward to meet Katie and extends a hand to shake.

"Lovely to meet you in person! This is my team, yeah. Gwen, Hope, Lauren, and William."

Each person gives a little wave as their name is called.

"What name should we call you, do you want to go by your username or—"

Katie is very clearly not used to shaking people's hands. "Katie."

"You wanted demonstrations of my magic and our weapons, right? Which would you like to see first?"

"Up to you."

"I say we start with weapons, then. Gwen, care to go first?"

Gwen extends the screwdriver attachment of her knife and pulls out the toothpick, and it morphs into a giant golden spear with a wickedly sharp point. She looks noticeably more comfortable with it in her hand.

"Pretty sick, right?"

"Indeed!"

"Hell yeah."

Gwen sticks out her arm for a fist bump.

She bumps Gwen's fist and looks at the blond guy. "So is this guy gonna be, like, put down if I take the job?"

"Nah, I'll work for Delphi."

"Oh. Okay. Sorry for taking your job. Hope you have fun." She turns back to the rest of them. "Guys, word of advice, maybe don't make your prospective new hires meet the person whose job they're taking. I feel awkward now."

"Noted. My bad."

^{"it's literally fine..."}