THE MOMENT
"No, sorry...," Simon shook his head at the two teenagers. They might have been sisters. But, they also might have just been friends; it was difficult to tell. The younger-looking one was a monk. She had tan skin and golden blonde curls while the taller one, a knight, had lighter, straight dusty blonde hair. "...I don't play roller derby," he said.
"You don't? At all?" the taller one scoffed even as the shorter one nodded in understanding. "You're literally standing on an Earth dedicated to it; how can you not play??"
"He said 'no'. It's none of our business, Sandy," the younger one said. She turned to walk away. It was a common question that Simon heard at least once a day, whenever he was at the park. Roller derby was so prevalent that it was common enough to ask strangers to join a game. Usually, he ignored the question when it was asked with obvious snark. But, it was the first time someone had accepted his answer without pressing for details or muttering under their breath. Even if Sandy had an attitude about it, he wanted to encourage the younger girl's behavior.
"Hey, wait," he called out and the girl with curls stopped walking to turn around. "My name's Simon, what's yours?" he asked. He cast a side glance at the other girl. "I already know your name's Sandy," he said. The older girl shifted her weight onto one leg and crossed her arms in response to him.
"I'm Honey," the girl replied. She smiled as she answered; she had a friendly warmth about her that Sandy didn't seem to have.
"So, you called her back to tell us your deal, right?" Sandy asked. "The only reason people come to this Earth is to play Roller Derby, why aren't you interested?" Then, she followed up with a sudden, unrelated question. "What's your favorite number?" she asked.
"47," Simon answered with a chuckle. "I'm not an NPC," he said.
"So, what're you doing here?" Sandy asked.
"Aren't you curious?" Simon asked Honey directly. She shrugged and shook her head.
"Not really," she answered. "You probably have your reasons, and I don't even know you. I'm not going to waste energy trying to figure it out; it's not that important to me."
"You're not curious??" Sandy asked with notable disbelief. "EVERYONE here plays roller derby. What's he doing here...," Sandy gestured at him with her hand. "...if he's not going to play?"
"What difference does it make if he's not going to play with us?" Honey replied.
"If he has no reason to be here, he should leave and let someone else in. He's why we had to queue up to get in," Sandy replied.
"Yeah," Honey nodded with a smirk. "One guy is the reason we had 40 people in front of us; it wasn't even that long of a wait." Despite their arguing, Simon couldn't help but chuckle. They reminded him of his younger days with an older, argumentative sister.
"Are you two related?" he asked. He assumed they were sisters; but, he asked a broader question just in case he was wrong. They might've been cousins.
"No," Honey answered.
"Not even," Sandy shook her head at the same time.
"We just met earlier today...," Honey continued her explanation. "...when we were put on the same roller derby team."
"Oh," Simon nodded. But, then, he tilted his head. "..so, why aren't you practicing with the team?" he asked.
"They're all busy today," Honey shrugged. "But we weren't; and, we're both Calaveras. So, we kind of have to start spending more time together." Her voice sounded normal to him; but, Sandy half-rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm not thrilled about it either," she replied. Simon noticed Honey glance at Sandy. She seemed to want to correct the older girl; but, in the end, she decided it wasn't worth addressing.
"So, are you going to tell us why you're not playing? Or are you just going to waste even more of our time?" Sandy asked.
"You're wasting time wanting an answer," Honey told her. "It's really not that important."
The truth was Simon did want to give someone an answer. He enjoyed discussing the topic. But, it was a different matter when strangers forced the issue and demanded an answer. As it was, a large part of him wanted to separate the two and talk to Honey only. However, he assumed Sandy would take more offense to that than he meant. And, the last thing he wanted was a Calavera upset at him. But, his situation was further complicated while he debated how to answer.
"Finally! I hate queues," a voice spoke up next to them as a trio of teens walked out of a black portal. The group consisted of a golden-blonde druid girl with double-plaited braids, a neon-blue-haired necromancer boy, and a ninja girl with a streak of hot pink running through her chestnut hair. It was the druid that seemed happiest to be admitted.
"Hey, Surge!" Honey called out. "You guys looking for two more?" she gestured at herself and Sandy.
"Who's Surge?" Sandy asked as the trio turned and approached them.
"The blue-haired necromancer; he's a Calavera," Honey answered quietly.
"Hi, Honey. We're looking for three more," Surge answered once they were close enough. "This is Alis," he introduced the ninja. "And Crystal," he gestured at the druid. Each of them waved with their introduction.
"HE doesn't play roller derby," Sandy answered. "My name's Sandy,"
"Oh," Surge nodded with his answer. The ninja girl nodded in understanding; but, the Druid was inquisitive.
"You don't? Why not?" Simon was quite surprised. He'd heard the question hundreds if not thousands of times. But, to his ears, Crystal sounded sincerely interested. Everyone else wanted to know why he was on that Earth if he didn't play roller derby; but, she seemed more interested in why he didn't play in general. Simon decided he liked this new group, as well as Honey. Two of them didn't care much either way and the third one came across as genuinely curious.
"It's too fast-paced for me," Simon finally gave an answer. "I find it difficult to keep up with all the action on the track and the HUD and everything."
"Oh yeah, I can see that," Crystal answered as everyone else nodded.
"But why are you here then??" Sandy asked. "It sounds problematic to be the only person on Earth not playing roller derby."
"Why?" Simon asked her. "There's no rule that says everyone HAS to play; that's just what most people come here for."
"But why are you here if you're not playing!?" Sandy asked. Her voice pitched up just a tiny bit in annoyance.
"Because everyone else is," Simon chuckled. "I just said I don't play it, not that I don't like it. It's a hell of a game; I can still enjoy watching others play."