The water is big and blue and wet. The beach, in addition to the usual skimpily dressed beachgoers, contains... a young woman in an inordinately lacy black dress, holding a parasol.

She's got horns, red-orange-yellow and pointy. Also her skin is grey. Also she's looking at them in bemusement, and Eadmund is squinting back at her.

Wow, maybe she really can fit in here! She waves hopefully.

"I really like your outfit."

This is true - it looks like something she'd like to buy if she had more money.

"Thank you, it was honestly quite rushed but I am proud of the bustle. Did you go swimming. What on earth made that seem like a good idea and what brand of sealer are you wearing that can tank the Pacific ocean, I want a crate of it."

"Why... do you have horns," Eadmund asks cautiously. "I know why she has horns but I don't think you're supposed to."

"Just because I'm cosplaying a Gothic Lolita version of Kanaya doesn't mean I can't put on the facepaint and horns like anyone else," she says mysteriously. "Is she Damara? Those horns are fantastic too, now that I look at them - did you buy them online or make them yourself, are they 3d-printed or something -"

That's a lot of words that she's unfamiliar with! But maybe she can be equally mysterious. She adopts a smile that she hopes is Mysterious Enough.

"Thank you," she says of the horns compliment and ignoring everything else, "they're actually… organic."

(Oh god why did she say that. Now she probably sounds like she skins animals for fun.)

"Whatever that means, it sounds badass," the young woman says approvingly. "Mine are just clay and modpodge like anybody else's."

She glances down at Eadmund. "Are you cosplaying or just a fancy lad, I can't quite tell."

"I am the fanciest lad," Eadmund says gravely. "What is a cosplay."

"It's a hobby where you dress up like a gay alien. We're at a convention where lots of people gather to do that. Well actually we're at a beach a few blocks away from the convention, but."

At the sentence it's a hobby where you dress up like a gay alien Su-Yeong has to suppress a giggle, but at least she suddenly feels like she understands a lot more! Like that they're at a costume party, and that "Gothic Lolita" and "Kanaya" and "Damara" are some of the kinds of available costumes.

… She actually kind of wants to see some more of the kinds. Apparently being out in the sun with other people around has reawakened her sense of curiosity and fun, as opposed to skulking in the woods with only forest creatures for company.

She opens her mouth to say something like "that sounds fun" or "do you want to go in" but doesn't really want to invite more questions from Gothic Lolita Version Of Kanaya that she isn't totally sure would be a good idea to answer honestly.

Wait, there's totally a solution to this.

"Uh, one moment please!" she says to the girl, and then whispers at Eadmund:

"Will anything bad happen if we say that we're not from around here? I think you mentioned it was important that they think magic doesn't exist, but I don't want to sound confident about something and then have zero idea what I'm talking about, y'know?"

"I think she already knows something odd is going on, and it's only important they don't know about magic on a population-wide level. Also I don't care about the laws that decree the World Prosaic not find out about magic, because they also decree that I shouldn't exist - which is, you know, true but hurtful. Say what you like."

She can sympathize with that! She doesn't particularly want to spill everything, but:

"Okay, apparently it's okay to come clean. We're not from around here, and actually we came here because of all the people dressing up as a gay alien - it makes it easier for us to blend in, I think?"

Glance over at Eadmund.

"She's more alien but I think I'm more gay," Edmund contributes helpfully.

"Oh," the girl says, with muted delight. "This is a Galaxy Quest situation, okay. I can potentially serve as a native guide, although you should be warned that most people find me abrasive and off-putting because I casually disregard social norms. But it's much less of a problem at Comic-Con because like sixty percent of the other people here are also autistic."

"I'll keep that in mind!" laughs Su-Yeong. "It probably shouldn't be too much of a problem, though, 'cause I don't think we're trying to move here long term and if we change our minds about that we'll be able to pick up stuff on our own."

She scratches an itch on her shoulder.

"My real name's Su-Yeong, by the way. What about you?"

"Anya. I don't think I had a fake name for you except 'unnervingly good Damara cosplayer'... I'm going to assume you're not actually a troll, because the idea that Andrew Hussie had insight into the fundamental workings of the universe and chose to use it to make Homestuck is just distressing."

She starts walking along the beach towards the city, leaving high-heeled prints in the sand. "How about you, fancy gay twelve-year-old?"

"I'm Eadmund. And I'm not twelve, I'm immortal."

"...those aren't contradicting statements. You can be immortal and twelve."

"Yes, but the immortal part's more important."

Eadmund's immortal twelve-year-old-ness, or twelve-year-old immortal-ness, is charming! Su-Yeong is charmed.

"Yeah, I was born human and the word for me now is 'husk,' not 'troll.' I don't think trolls exist, at least back home. Just stories about monsters that eat people and turn into stone during the day. Or when exposed to sunlight? One of those."

"We've got similar stories, but the one I'm talking about is one where they're gay aliens." She gestures at herself. "Hence the skin and the horns, I'm dressed as one. The story they come from is very engaging but if it was based on real events I'd be very concerned and probably want to find the author so I could shake him down for details. If you're a husk then that doesn't pattern-match to anything except Mass Effect, and I really very strongly doubt you're one of those husks, you'd be eating me."

Nervous laugh!

"No, I don't really feel any people-eating urges. Um… where I'm from, most people have magic. I didn't used to, but then something that—"

Her breath catches but she presses on.

"That made me really mad and embarrassed happened, and… I guess that turns regular people into husks sometimes! I never knew anything about the how, before, because they're supposed to be super rare? Something that can happen in real life, technically, but mostly they're just… the monster in a novel."

Glum glum glum.

"Sorry that happened, I guess. I have had some Days but few or none of them have turned me into a monstergirl."

"Speaking as a monsterboy I can't recommend it."

"I thought you were just fancy."