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Shortly after, In the Conference Room.
Akari hugged Cindi and then held her breath as they entered into the room. Getting their pre-printed badges, they were greeted kindly by the dozen or so folks in suit... in fur, to be truthful, once inside the bubble it was obvious to them that these people were all exactly what they appeared to be, not in any kind of fake suit here.
Akari shyly introduced herself, then snuck over to the snack table, sneaking a cupcake that she has now nervously picked at for the better part of ten minutes now, sort of watching the crowd as everyone talks while trying not to just watch Cindi like some kind of weird stalker.
Quinn: "Hey there... ooh, yeah, you got the sticker. Just checking."
Suddenly next to Akari is standing a raccoon lady, noticeably shorter than the doe-dragon. She is wearing an apron that's somewhat akin to a mechanic's toolbelt, though noticeably cuter and basically made of pockets. Her hair is long and black, and together with the fur around her eyes, gives her a rather intense look despite her obviously friendly demeanor.
"You okay?"
Akari eeps as she's suddenly pulled out of own her head, "Ah! I mean, y-yes! Yeah! S-sorry! Just... sorta... um... shy... oh gosh... Hi. I'm uh... Akari. I said that already when we came in, but um... hi."
She swallows, already feeling like a fool.
The raccoon smiles: "It's okay. You know it's kinda usual for us furs to not be all that social... fursuiting being an escapism thing and all." She offers her paw: "I'm Quinn."
Akari takes a breath, then reaches her hoof out to grasp Quinn's paw. "H-hi. And, I mean, it is! It's just... usually I have my partner, and she's really outgoing..." She glances over towards Cindi, talking with someone else. "So, you know, I can just play the shy one and hide behind her. Some folks kids kinda relate to that, not wanting to be out in the open... a-and you don't want to hear my whole story, I'm sure."
She glances down at Quinn, "I... really like your apron."
Quinn gives Akari's hand a firm shake, stronger perhaps than her smaller frame would have you think. "Heh. Thank you. Had to make one of my own once I started crafting more in fur than out of it." She looks at the direction Akari glanced: "That canine with the antennae over there your friend, then?"
Akari nods, "That's Cindi, yeah. She's my bestie, and my girlfriend. We've been talking about crafting more too, since... you know, we don't really need to craft a suit anymore, might be fun to sew dresses or outfits to wear."
Quinn smiles, fishing up a small soda bottle from her apron and taking a sip. "Mmm, yeah, that was sorta where I ended up as well." She considers: "You're probably pretty familiar with those in-fur cooling devices and whatnot. Kinda dabbled with those before... well, all this."
Akari slowly relaxes once engaged in conversation, her initial nerves falling to the background as she talks about more familiar topics, "Cindi is really good at that stuff. We even had some little mechanics in the gloves. It's sorta weird to think how all that effort was for nothing... but without all that effort, we probably wouldn't be here in... in the fur, as it were." She giggles, "Still weird to say aloud, especially to someone I just met."
Quinn giggles: "That probably never gets completely not-weird to say, if I'm honest." She hums, shifting from one leg to another: "I give about fifty-fifty odds that some of the stuff I made ended up in there, though we have no way of telling now of course. Not a lot of makers for 'tech inside your fursuit', after all."
Akari giggles, "Could be. We did a lot of it ourselves, but we certainly picked up pieces online. If that's the case... thank you! These suits were our masterpieces. Now they're even more than that. Sorta... beyond escapism in a way."
Quinn nods, flexing her paw: "Yeah, tell me about it. Never thought my passion for this stuff would become so literal." She glances around the room, at the twenty or so very real furs, and smiles: "Though really that's kinda true for everyone in here."
Akari nods, glancing around the room as well, taking in all the various people, "Everyone seems so happy and comfortable like this... I... I sorta... sorta wish I could be like this all the time."
Quinn nods, then pauses as she catches onto something in Akari's tone. "Yeah... sadly not possible, but the good side of pretty much everyone in the community being a creative type, these sort of meets tend to happen at any excuse given, at the drop of a hat."
Akari hums, "Y-yeah... that's good. I'm sure we'll try to find our way to as many as we can." She taps her hooves together awkwardly for a moment, unsure what to say next. The thoughts swirling around in her mind are quite a lot.
"Do... you put the suit on when you're alone? Do you want to be Quinn more than... whoever you were?"
Quinn blinks. "Oh. Um." She blushes, clearly caught off-guard. "...well, yeah. Every time I don't have my tail, I miss it."
Akari frowns, "S-sorry! Sorry, I don't mean to make this awkward! It's still just so new and I'm still trying to figure things out. A-and me too."
Quinn swallows, then raises her paw up: "No no no, I don't mind, just... got me by surprise." She considers: "Sometimes an outside perspective can help. Wanna join me on the patio?"
Akari looks back at Quinn, then a smile returns to her face, "Sure, I'd love to."
Quinn moves to a nearby admittedly overflowing snack table and grabs one of the myriad bag of chips and couple of sodas. "Might as well destroy some of these while at it." Her hands full, she motions with her head towards the considerable quieter patio that faces the forest behind the hotel.
Akari giggles, following on to approach the railing, looking out at the woods. She takes one of the sodas as well, clutching it to her chest as if it were a life preserver. "Thanks, Quinn. I should say... it's all been good experiences, don't get me wrong on that. It's just... confusing sometimes."
Quinn smirks as she leans on the railing, though it's almost up to her chest because of the height difference: "What on Earth could be strange or confusing about having your body become effectively another species?" She gives Akari a wink.
Akari laughs, but her expression grows more thoughtful, "...what about liking it so much? Or... a-and forgive me if I'm getting too personal... another gender on top of it."
Quinn almost opens her mouth, then closes it with an 'oh'. She looks thoughtful for a moment: "...then I definitely understand the confusion even more so."
Akari nods quietly, staring out into the woods as if she could find the answers there. "My girlfriend likes this of course... but maybe not to the same degree I do... I... I do feel a bit guilty about it. She always looks a little concerned when I say things like that..." She swallows, "G-gosh I don't mean to dump all this on you."
Quinn shakes her head. "I don't mind. These meets always bring out feelings, there's something about being in fur that's often one's more genuine self." She winces, catching herself: "Er... if that is the case for you. Sorry."
Akari shakes her head, "N-no no! It's okay... I guess it really does feel that way... that thing we say to remove this... it's bothered me ever since I heard it. True self... is this who I'm really supposed to be? Who I really am? It... often feels like it. In all aspects. I just don't know what to do about that when I can't be myself."
Quinn shrugs: "For me it kinda is. I am at home in fur or out of it, but certainly always circle back to reasons for being in fur again." She looks up at Akari: "As for what to do about it, you just gotta learn to tolerate and accept in some ways. I can't be in fur when I serve customers outside of basically the peeps in this meet, but I've got to keep the shop running."
Akari nods, humming. "I know that... I have a job to keep, and I'm not fooling myself otherwise. I just wish there was a way to make myself feel a little less miserable about myself when I'm out of fur."
Quinn hmm's, then glances at Akari again: "What did you do before, besides fursuiting, on your free time? And as a corollary, after the change, which I'm guessing is pretty recent, have you done anything to try and make yourself feel better when you can't be in fur?"
Akari laughs, "A bit of gaming mostly. Cindi and I would meet up on the weekends to binge crafting and movies. Since these changes, everything has felt like it's moved so fast, and now Cindi and I are a couple, and we've spent nearly all our time together, in fur and out. I... I haven't really had time to try anything. Not really had any clue where to start, save that, I keep thinking I wish I were female, even out of fur..." She trails off, giving voice to that feeling again.
Quinn mm's. "A toughie, I admit, and not exactly an area I have direct experience in..." She hums, then lifts a claw: "Although, hmm." She pauses again.
"...okay, outta my depth here a bit, but I'm gonna ask you anyway. From what I understand, that whole package, transgender stuff and all... hmm... well it's a part of your identity, right?" She finally glances back up: "It's a real thing, and I guess you may have just super-sped into it."
Akari blinks, "Transgender...? I haven't even considered something like that. I... I certainly guess it's true, everything changed so fast..."
Quinn shrugs: "Not my call to say if it is, but admittedly if the shoe fits..." She glances at Akari's hooves. "...figuratively speaking, anyway."
Akari doesn't fully process what Quinn says as she looks down at herself. "I... I might need to read up on that. I don't know... n-not that I can really deny it, I just literally mean, I don't know... I have no frame of reference."
Quinn nods: "Everyone starts somewhere, and if this really is what it is, you got one heck of a jump start." She touches her paw on the back of Akari's hand: "I haven't looked into it myself, but pretty sure there are others in this community you can reach to and talk about. I mean, I find it really hard to believe you would be the only RFC who happened to start as a guy doing a bit of crossplay-in-fur..."
Akari thinks back, "I guess... I mean... gosh, have all my characters been female? W-was that really...? And I..."
She turns to look at Quinn, "Th-this is... a lot. I'm sorry. I just... w-was it all me? All along? Ha..."
Quinn shrugs with a warm smile and offers the bag of chips: "Have a snack. Or seven. May not help you figure this out, but they taste good."
Akari reaches for the chips and takes a hoof-ful, "Y-yeah, snacks are good. I do like snacks..."
Quinn giggles softly. "It's also a pretty common thing among furs from what I know that we just all become like twice as prone to big eating..."
Akari blushes, cramming the chips into her mouth. She takes a moment to swallow, then nods, "We uh, we have noticed that, yes. Double our pizza intake, for sure."
Quinn nods. "I gotta have way more self control about not snacking all the time when I'm crafting. Chips and electronics do not mix." She glances at her paw. "I blame the raccoon thing."
Akari giggles, "Well, I'm half-deer, half-dragon. So I get to kinda make up my own rules about what I can eat. Though making a mess during crafting is always to be avoided."
Quinn chuckles: "Yeah." She eyes Akari up and down: "...and huh, yeah, now that you say it. If you don't mind me saying, I couldn't really place your species before you said it." She lifts up a finger: "...and that is definitely another thing that just never stops sounding weird, but it's what our lives are now."
Akari grins, taking a step back from the balcony to bow, then give Quinn a twirl to show herself off. "Mostly deer... with just a bit of gem dragon in the tail, and to really make me shine~" She lets the smooth scales glow for a moment with a shimmering pink aura, practically posing in a magical girl stance. "I'm really proud of this character, as silly as it all is."
Quinn laughs softly, lightly clapping her paws: "Well, you carry yourself very well. Either you've been suiting a long time, or you neglected to mention your theater career."
Akari laughs, "Mostly the former. Cindi and I have been suiting for years. The theater stuff... just dabbled in High school, really."
Quinn shrugs: "Makes sense. Ever thought about poking at it again?"
Akari steps back up to the railing and settles back down, "I... hadn't, no. Until just now, anyways."
Quinn shrugs again with a smile: "Just an idle thought. Feel free to ignore it."
Akari giggles, "Or to not ignore it too, hm? I don't know... might be fun to dabble in it again. Or more than dabble..."
Quinn hmm's: "Maybe. You wouldn't be the only one picking some other creative pursuit after suddenly fursuit crafting doesn't eat all of one's free time. Myself very much included. Picked up watercolors for when I can't wrap my head around tech anymore."
Akari looks back out into the woods and smiles, "That must be lovely. This whole thing has been a whirlwind, and in the midst of it, it's just been Cindi and I. It.. would probably be good for both of us to find some smaller hobbies to do that don't rely on being in fur and being together."
Quinn nods: "Might be healthy." She pauses, glancing back towards the conference rooms: "...is she...?"
Akari glances back as well, looking to spot Cindi, "I... maybe not my place to say, but... yeah. Same as me. Just... less confused, I think. She's always been stronger than me, though."
Quinn winces: "...yeah, sorry. Didn't mean to prod." She pauses, hesitating: "Not... really my place to say, but... if you got together because of this, it can be easy to fall into thinking that you have to do everything together, even more than new couples normally do."
Akari nods, "Been a lot in a short time... but I think we're both mature enough to know that's not completely how things go. Or at least, not how things stay."
Quinn smiles: "Good. I mean, we just met but I guess there's just this... furry thing, that on some level we just understand, right?" She offers her paw to Akari.
Akari takes Quinn's paw with her hoof and nods, "Yeah. I've not met many others in the group yet, just the two at the convention who gave us the initiation talks. But everyone seems so kind. Suppose we're all at least a little like-minded."
Quinn gives the hand a quick shake, smiling: "Well, everyone in RFC that I've met has a creative kick that won't let go, there's a surprisingly small age spectrum, and of course, we all share this actual furry thing we can't just share with anyone."
Akari nods, "I can see why you all would want to meet up like this more often. Not just an excuse to get into fur, but to have these kinds of talks with others who understand the feelings."
Quinn giggles: "I can't exactly go down at the pub to discuss fur tangles, or cleaning oil from my paws, without getting some really weird looks. Thank goodness for online communications these days."
Akari nods, "We've been so pre-occupied that we've really just not done much in the online group. I... I've been a little too shy to do much at all. I'm just bad at introducing myself into new social groups."
Quinn nods: "It's always a bit scary to start, yeah. But then with this group... there's always a chance, honestly pretty decent one with this community, that if you make friends with someone online, you'll also meet at a, well, meet one day."
Akari giggles, poking at Quinn, "In the fur, so to speak, hm? That is a nice thought, though."
Quinn giggles as well: "You aren't exactly alone in wanting to be in fur, and meet others in fur. I definitely always enjoy these get-togethers, it's so freeing."
Akari smiles, "I can see what you mean. It really does feel good to not have to hold back anything and just be myself. Who I am outside of fur... that question can wait. But here are folks in fur who understand what I am and certainly wouldn't judge."
Quinn sticks her tongue out: "I will judge you if you stay a shut-in and I don't see you again." Pause. "Er, assuming you didn't travel half across the country to get to this meet I guess. Then it's fair."
Akari eeps, "N-no! Just a few hours... I... I'm not that much of a shut-in. I'll be around, if you want to be friends. I promise."
Quinn smirks: "Just kidding, but I appreciate it. I live on the other side of Louisville myself, so this place is pretty easy to get to. Really I could sleep at home, but then I'd miss the collective breakfasting and late night karaoke stupidity with this lot, and I can't have that." She winks at Akari: "The karaoke is optional."
Akari clasps her snout between her hooves. "K-karaoke... That might be a bit much for me... I don't know... Maybe I'll try?"
She swallows, a small spark of desire to try and perform in her. But for the moment, she shakes her head, "Do you know everyone here already then? I guess it's not a huge group..."
Quinn hums: "Most I've seen in previous meets. I think I saw one or two that I'm either not remembering or are new. Will have to figure that out over this weekend, obviously."
Akari glances over her shoulder at everyone in the conference room, "And one new puppy-moth and deer-dragon at least. I do hope we will become regulars."
Quinn smiles: "Well, I certainly am not going to stop you. More the merrier."
Akari laughs, "As long as you don't mind a flood of questions from some newbies... If everyone is as patient as you are, I don't think you'll chase us away."
Quinn giggles softly, then leans a bit closer: "Want to know a secret?"
Akari leans closer in response, "Hmm?"
Quinn sort-of-whispers: "Most of us are dying to have more folks around us to talk this stuff with. There's not that many of us, after all." She smiles, then continues with a more normal voice: "So, therefore, I bid thee welcome."
Akari giggles, feeling her heart soar a bit at the gesture of inclusion, "Okay, first question. Hugs? You do hugs? Cause I think I need to hug you, Quinn."
Quinn laughs: "I'm almost offended you feel the need to ask!" She steps closer to Akari and hugs happily.
Akari hugs happily, "H-hey! I'm new here! But... I'll learn."
Quinn giggles: "I gotta up my fluffiness presentation, obviously. But is all good, Akari."
Akari laughs, "It's the apron. I don't wanna crush anything!" She still does her best to hug tight before releasing the raccoon. "Now... I feel... Just so, so much better already."
Quinn laughs: "Good! Then I can consider my job here done-" She motions at the now-empty bag of chips, contents of which the two have made vanish as they have been talking. "...besides, we're out of chips."
Akari giggles, "Disappearing chips? How mysterious. I suppose we could head back in for more, or if there's someone else you could introduce me too? I... I do like making new friends. It's just hard to get started."
Quinn offers her paw to Akari: "Well, allow me to help you get started, then. We'll get you to having fun here yet." She winks.
Akari takes Quinn's paw once again, and grins, "Sounds good to me!"
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