“Is this…a cloak?” It looks familiar. Black and green, with golden panels. “Loki’s,” I say.

“Yep. Part of my genderbend Loki cosplay. Though arguably, I shouldn’t say genderbend, as Loki is canonically fluid in myths, and even Marvel got that right-ish. So, just Loki,” she concludes.

Bubbly, chatty, lovely.

“Sylvie,” I reply, remembering the name of the variant in the terrible miniseries I suffered through last year. “That’s the name of the series’ other Loki, right?

“Yeah, but she’s lame, and I’m pretending that show doesn’t exist, so just Loki,” she repeats.

I grin, handing it back to her. “It’s very well made.”

“Thanks. I sewed it myself. I’m that kind of geek.”

“Ah. Well, I haven’t crossed over to the world of cosplay yet,” I admit. “So, I guess I lose some geek points. I’ve drawn some fanart though.”

“You have?”

It’s only fair that I show her some of my doodles after she let me see her cloak. I’m not very good, but I enjoy the creative outlet. Besides, it’s a cheap hobby now that I crossed over to digital drawing. It used to be fairly expensive, back when I used pencils and paint.

“Shut up. These are so good! Are you getting an art bachelor?” she asks, wide-eyed.

I wrinkle my nose. “Nah, accounting for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love drawing. But art doesn’t immediately lead to a lucrative career.”

“I get it. I mean, I’d love to study fine art. You know, do something with my passion.” She gestures to the box she’s unpacking. “But I’m in marketing.”

I smile, glad I ended up with someone I can relate to.

“My boyfriend decided to study art. Everyone told us both it was too risky. I wish I were that courageous.”

“Nah.” She shakes her head. “I’d rather be able to afford a comfortable life, independently. Honestly, most people who have that sort of courage tend to come from stable, privileged backgrounds; enough to have a safety net to fall back on if their dream don’t pan out. I don’t. And this college is just too expensive to waste it on a dream.”

I take a minute to think about Noah, and his dad’s house, and the job he’s guaranteed to be able to fall back on at his uncle’s construction company. I mean, he isn’t exactly rich-rich, but he does have fairly good prospects, even if his sculpture ends up not taking off. By contrast, what I have is a grandma with no saving and a bum knee.