Does he think Tim can run dungeons with a monster?  It's hard to say.  Tim's new at this, which in some ways means that running a dungeon with a monster is less of a disadvantage than you might think.  Everything about running dungeons is new, to Tim, so one more new thing might even not register.  On the other hand, he's a newbie esper and while he's going to be a fantastic dungeoneer in time, he's still learning.  "I think it's possible."  Racehorse on my phone, sort by dungeon monster dungeoneers - aha.  "This is Cricket, correct?"  Hmm....been running dungeons for several years...acerbic personality...Tim wants to be a professional so bad.  This might be workable.

"That's great. I can ask Traceless to mediate an introduction between them over the phone, see if it'll work well enough to last for the duration of a run?"

"Excellent idea, yes.  I'd hate to do an introduction at the portal, only to find that they weren't, ah, interpersonally compatible."

"It's, uh, still possible for Cricket to turn out to object to how he smells, so it might actually make more sense to have them meet at Thursday's 4055 in New York, which Cricket is definitely going to run and the question is whether he needs to wait for Kevin Shields to be available or not."

Bill stares at his phone for a second, then rubs the bridge of his nose.  "How he smells," Bill states, flatly.  How on earth do you even operationalize that?  "Okay.  Is there a known list of triggers?"

"There's not so much a known list of triggers as that he finds something, however petty, to object to about everyone except specifically Traceless, but some people it's a minor enough problem that he can still work with them," says Paula apologetically. "And, uh, some people find it cute when a cat complains about their haircut a lot, and can likewise work with him. Unfortunately Traceless is not much good for protecting Cricket in four dimensions."

"Which is where Aumento comes into play.  I see.  I suspect that Aumento will have some navigational ability in 4d, given the sensory component of his power."  He clicks a stylus a few times, thinking it over.  "Aumento does have, ah - experience with volatile psychological backlashes.  I imagine that if Cricket doesn't object overmuch to him, it should work out well enough for one run."

"Great. Does Thursday's 4055 look like it'll work?"

"Let me check..." He pulls up an interactive calendar and pokes through it.  "Yes, I think we can swing it.  I'll confirm with Aumento first, but I don't imagine he'll object.  Novelty factor, if nothing else."

"It is that! - Is Aumento's power known to work on monsters or at least animals?"

"It's known to work on both, he will very gingerly use it to assess damage on monsters."

"Great. What time works best for him? Cricket's flexible on that."

"Mornings would be preferable.  Let's put it down tentatively at 9 o'clock local time, I'll confirm with Aumento that the unusual circumstances are acceptable and confirm the time as well."

"Excellent. I'll put you as a CC if they manage to clear-and-kill before then."

"I appreciate the consideration.  I'll follow up with Aumento and reach out to you by end of day."

And at 9am Cricket is in New York taking a pre-meeting nap on a pallet of water bottles that is waiting for the rescues. (The other side of the pallet is still accessible, it's fine.)

Awwwwww kittycat. She is looking respectfully but not petting him.

You know, he's a little sad he probably won't be getting an animal.  But if he could, a gorgeous winged dungeon kitty would be on the list.  NORMALLY his checklist for Meeting a New Person would involve a glance at their photo and a reminder on how to pronounce their name before walking in.  However, 'Cricket' is both eminently recognizable and extremely easy to pronounce.  He murmurs in an undertone to Summer, "D'you think it's rude to wake him up?"  It's not quite esper-quiet, there's enough background noise that he can't murmur as quietly as possible.

"It's illegal," says Summer solemnly.

The phone alarm in Cricket's little clutch bag goes off with a chirping birds noise. He paws open the bag and baps the phone. Gives a giant toothy yawn. Looks at Summer, since she's the more obvious esper of the two.

"Hi! I'm Summer, Aumento's partner for when he takes breaks, that's Aumento."

"Why are you named after a season?"

"It's my mom's fault! My sisters are named Winter and Autumn!"

"That's stupid."

"...your name is Cricket."