I grab a coffee from a vendor near the entrance and make my way to the main exhibition hall. The place is packed, a maze of vendor booths selling everything from handmade jewelry to prop weapons that would definitely get confiscated at airport security.
I stop to admire a collection of dragon figurines, each one rendered in such detail that I can count the scales, and end up buying a small jade one that reminds me of Tovek’s eyes.
Mei
Found something that made me think of you.
I attach a photo of the dragon, tiny enough to fit in my palm, its wings spread in mid-flight.
Tovek
Because I’m scaly and breathe fire?
Mei
Because it’s green and looks grumpy.
Tovek
Accurate.
I’m still smiling at my phone when someone calls my name. I look up to see a familiar face. Lira Santiago, who worked the front desk at my culinary school and who I’ve kept in loose touch with through occasional Instagram comments. Today, she’s dressed as some kind of forest spirit, her dark hair woven with tiny lights that flicker when she moves.
“Mei!” She pulls me into a quick hug, mindful of the coffee in my hand. “I thought that was you. What are you doing here? I thought you’d be buried in your kitchen.”
“Weekend off,” I explain, though “day off” feels like too simple a term for the elaborate schedule Tetris I had to play to make this happen. “My best friend’s entering the costume competition. I’m moral support.”
Lira’s eyebrows rise. “That’s a long way to come for moral support.”
“Actually, not far at all. I live in New Vegas now, so just on the other side of town.”
I give her the highlight reel of what’s been going on, minus the goblin loan sharks and playing up my transition fromthe Pharaoh’s Palace to The Drunken Dragon as a completely intentional bid for my own creative vision.
“Well, I’m glad.” Lira squeezes my arm. “You deserve a win.”
We chat for a few more minutes. She tells me about how she’s gotten into food styling and has a bunch of new clients rolling in that will keep here in the area before she’s pulled away by a friend in an elaborate plague doctor costume.
After a hurried rush of exchanging our updated contact info, I wave her off.
I swipe up to a missed notification and find a new message from Tovek.
Tovek
Greta says hello and also that if you don’t bring her back one of those t-shirts with the dragon smoking a cigarette, she’s putting pickles in everything for a week.
I laugh out loud, drawing looks from a nearby group of what might be pirates or might just be people who really like hats.
Mei
Tell her I’m on it. And that pickles in the mapo tofu would be a crime against humanity.
Tovek
She says “Good. That’s the idea.”
My phone buzzes again, but this time it’s Sunny.
Sunny
