"I would say it's... getting to be soft. The three year program is a lot of breathing space, and I wasn't in such a good situation on earth... I was trans, so..." She shrugs. "Being able to relax and just... be myself is so good."

Hailey sighs tiredly. "Ugh, yes. We — especially Sable — were approaching some serious burnout before the summon grabbed us. Three years is enough time to put ourselves back together."

"Yeah. And the pleat stuff is welcome too. I'd have been way too embarrassed to wear my princess clothes where anyone could see me on Earth."

She nods. "Yeah, I definitely get that. And same, for some of ours. Not as familiar with princess stuff, but wouldn't mind hearing more."

"I, um." Audrey looks down at her lap. "I'm still kind of embarrassed to talk about it, honestly. Maybe once we know each other better."

She arches an eyebrow curiously, then nods and shrugs. "Valid. Embarrassment instincts don't listen even when you know you've found someone who won't judge, let alone when you've just met."

She shakes her head with a laugh. "S'not like we've got a leg to stand on when it comes to kinkshaming, but meh."

"Thanks a lot. Now, um, shall we play? We've got the market all set up for a new game now."

Rose looks over at Hailey too, seemingly a bit impatient to get started.

She nods. "Definitely."

And they play! Audrey explains the rules as they go along, and play proceeds more or less smoothly around the table. Rose is pretty quiet, but Audrey talks a little about things she's seen in town, like how shocked she was to see a mall with a food court that was half beds being used for sex.

Eventually the game winds down.

"So yeah," Audrey says. "It's a whole new world out there. It's definitely a whole big culture shock to see people, um, in flagrante delicto in public. I saw another girl walking I think a boy on a leash... He was wearing a skirt, too..."

Hailey laughs. "I bet. It's pretty wild. A lot freer, in some ways, though. Got a lot of shit to learn — like I'm sure they have better safety practices for painplay here than they did back on Earth, and I'd better learn all 'bout those before I try to find anyone to cut, or let any cuties cut me." She gives Rose a mischievous look at the last bit.

"But I've got a shiny new local phone, so I can look that shit up tonight."

"Yeah! Good luck with that, I hope it goes well. Do you want to play another round, or?"

"I might be interested," Rose says. "Eventually. Still adjusting, yeah?"

"Yeah, no point rushing," she replies to Rose, before turning to Audrey. "And I wouldn't say no to another round, sure."

Then they can go back to cards! 

"So where did you live before this?" Audrey asks. "I was from Vancouver."

"Toronto."

"Tacoma. What were y'all doing or studying?"

"I was working a pretty dead-end job as a delivery driver." Rose shrugs. "There was a decent kink scene though so I'd been able to flog a couple people."

"Comp sci degree program. I wasn't doing so hot at it though because of the whole trans thing."

"Yeah, I get that, not having cracked our eggshell f- ruined uni for us too," she replies to Audrey with a nod. To Rose, "Pretty similar. Dead-end tech support, was trying to switch into programming full-time but stuck doing garbage until then."

"Solidarity." Rose offers a hand to clasp. 

"Yeah, it can really be a mess being trans and all."

Audrey leans back in her chair and runs a hand through her pink ponytail. 

"Solidarity," she replies. She looks down at Rose's hand for a moment, takes a steadying breath, and reaches out to clasp her hand.

She doesn't last long before she has to let go, digging fingernails into her palm to calm her racing heart and the chills running across her skin.

"Sorry," she mutters, looking down. "Touch trauma. The others don't have this problem."

"It's cool. I get that, uh, stuff has happened to pretty much everyone here. Audrey told me a story a little while back about... the circumstances that led to her being summoned. They weren't great."

Audrey winces slightly, but nods. "Yeah. Save that for later though."