Rockhopper at the Lonely Lily | Glowfic Constellation

Andrea needs to calm down. She needs to calm down also. No getting boners in a public bar! Think unsexy thoughts, deep breaths.

”I feel like… anything more intimate than that probably needs to be not in public. I’ll probably react super embarrassingly.” Not that she is asking for anything more intimate than that, just… you know. For future reference just in case.

"Sure, sure. Don't want to scandalize anyone, even if it's cute." She smirks.

Compliments are Andrea’s weakness. It’s not like she’s stopped blushing in the past while but this will make her squirm in her seat also. “This feels unfair. That you can just push the dopamine button so easily like that.” She mumbles.

"Oh, well, know why it's like that? Because everyone deserves nice things, including you. Shoulder pat?"

Again waiting for an objection first, she gives a shoulder pat.

"The universe is vast and cold. People are warm and cozy."

“You are pretty cozy….” What does she even mean by that? Stupid brain just blurting things out. “God, I have no idea what to say now. Where does a conversation even go after something like that…”

Seriously how are they supposed to talk about normal things when a forehead has been smooched and Andrea’s heart is racing so fast.

"I asked what games you play a bit ago but I guess you missed it."

“Vr rhythm games. That make you dance or move in some way to hit the notes. Only reason I’m not completely out of shape. Or like… stuff on the more simulation aspect of things. There’s a remake of a power washing sim that’s relaxing. Or social apps, most of my friends are online. You get weirdly used to talking to unrealistic stylised avatars instead of normal humans. It’s sometimes weird when you see I.R.L. pics of them for the first time because mentally you associated them with a floating toy robot or a cartoon fox.”

And of course, terabytes of ASMR VR sims where she gets praised and pampered. It’s the majority of her hard drives. But she will die before admitting to that.

"Any good rhythm ones? I might try to get into 'em again."

“Uh yeah, Opensaber is a community project, you hit notes coming down a track at you with swords. Has beatmaps for most semi popular songs. You have to get real niche before you find a song without a beatmap someone made for it. Dance dance revolution knockoffs are usually fun. Cannonade has you directing artillery to the beat with a drum set. Necrodancer Returns Remake is a Rythm game meets RPG thing. You kill monsters to the beat by stomping in directions you want to go. Different monsters require different patterns. So it’s sorta dancy? But in a tactical way.”

Ah yes, hyperfocus knowledge, this is such safe conversation territory. She needs to not over explain things and seem like too much of a nerd though. People get off put when you go into too much detail or seem too excited about this kinda stuff.

"Ooh, the Necrodancer thing sounds maybe fun!"

“There’s a 2d flatscreen pixel art version of the remake with the same mechanics for relatively cheap if you want to try it, and the original Necrodancer games are free even if it’s super ancient and needs an emulator to play, from before I was even born. In VR it is kinda cooler though, more dancy.”

Andrea has to hold back from stomping her foot under the table in a muscle memory induced pattern as she remembers the first levels music in her head. It’s damn catchy.

"D'you think my phone can run the 2d version? And know where to get it on the station's net? Or is this more a workstation or full VR rig thing."

“It’s a 2d pixel game, my actual fridge UI can run it.” Don’t sound condescending… not everyone is a huge fucking nerd like you Andrea. “Just look up Necrodancer remake in whatever built in store your phone has. No needing to get stuff from alternate repositories or use emulators or anything.” Even someone like her mom could do that. “It’s like the price of a cup of really bad synth coffee. The 2d version I mean. The VR one is more a real game price.”

"Cool cool."

She brings out her phone here and now to try and do this thing!

It is the third result on whatever application store her phone has, after the two obligatory sponsored results. The first thing on its app page is “FULL GAME FOR ONE PRICE. NO MICRO’S!” Literally the first thing. They know who their audience is. The rest is pictures of cute little pixel art dungeon monsters in a dungeon on a checkerboard grid overlay. The trailer video shows the player character and the dungeon monsters alike taking one step on the grid to every bop of the beat, each monster with a different movement or attack pattern. “Now with 35 more songs than the original! Original levels have variant versions you can unlock! 10 more levels than the original w/ Variants! 8 more characters! And best of all a pettable dog!”. The mix of timing inputs to the beat and tactics seems to appeal to other players, the game has good reviews.

She buys it and sets it to downloading. "I'll check it out later! Any non-spoilery tips for the clueless noobie?"

“It’s pretty well tutorialized. Spears are my favourite weapon, can hit from two space away or hit two at once if they are lined up right. There’s a beatless mode where enemies only move when you move that you can practice with, but doing stuff to the music is like half the appeal.” This feels kinda awkward, just being a nerd at people usually puts them off. Andrea is worried that’s happening.