Shay blinked slowly as Vanessa slowly rose, making sure to give the other woman a gentle hand up. Something was off though... Something more than just her being on the floor. When Vanessa spoke something felt even further awry, the voice was higher than normal, as if a little strained? Shay helped Vanessa gently all the way to her feet and then took her in properly. She... She was different, physically.

Younger perhaps? "W-wha-" What the fuck? This is why you don't go to social events, Shay.

"V-vanessa? You don't remember me? Y-you look-" Gulp. "Do-ar-ah-" Words. Use em. Clearing her throat thoroughly. "Sorry. What's the last thing you remember?" Internal screaming was off the charts on this one. Oh yup.

The spike in anxiety kept stabbing through her chest. The more she took in the world around her, the more everything felt wrong. She wanted to be suspicious of this cosplayer because she was a stranger, but… well, she knew Nessa. That was the only tether she had to this place and she was desperate.

What was the last thing Nessa remembered? ”I mean… I vaguely remember going to sleep last night. I don’t think I went out,” she muttered. ”Winnie? Is my roommate Winnie here? She always jokes about getting so drunk something like this would happen, but... “ Well, who thought those things would actually happen in real life?

Nessa dug around her purse, which was new. Everything in it looked new. Even her phone was unfamiliar and holy hell, it was really nice. What model was this? She opened the lock, glad the pattern was the same one she always used. As she scrolled through contacts, she looked back up at the woman looking at her with concern. ”Um… I don’t mean to sound rude. It’s something I do a lot. But… what’s your name, Miss? And… well, how do you know me?” She shuddered, thinking of worst-case scenarios in her head. ”Having someone find me in a bathroom and start calling my name raises flags, you know?”

Gears slowly shifted into place in Shay's brain, she looked younger. She didn't know where she was, she was referencing old roommates, something horrible had happened. Shay had let something horrible happen to a new friend, not even an hour after meeting them. Why did they ever even go outside?

"You-I-" Trying to find the words to explain what exactly had happened was much harder than Shay could manage easily. "I-I don't think your roommate is here no."

The confused comments made Shay feel even more lost and scared in the situation. "I-sorry- I'm Shay." Shay took a moment to exhale and try to piece thoughts together without screaming. "This-I don't..." What the fuck, how did you even explain this? "This sounds uhm, well weird, but I met you earlier. You-"

Shay felt like they were floundering and pulled out their own phone, pulling up a calendar "It's 2020, something has happened. You are y-younger than you were." it sounded so crazy.

Vanessa was panicking. Shay was also panicking. Somehow, that made the young trans girl trust the cosplayer a little more. If someone was doing something nefarious to her, they would be more put together and confident about what to do next. Trying to hold herself together despite not knowing what was going on? That sounded like someone Nessa would have in her life.

That was great, because the idea that it was Twenty-Twenty was impossible, and it was easily enough to break her brain. "It's... no way. Like. Twenty-Twenty, and I was..." Nessa counted on her fingers, because age math always eluded her. "Fuck, I guess twenty-seven or twenty-eight? This... holy hell, this doesn't feel real." How was she supposed to deal with this news?

Thankfully, there was one familiar name in her phone that Nessa gravitated to, hoping even in Twenty-Twenty she had the kind of brother she could run to in a crisis. "Okay. Thank you for finding me. I... I do appreciate it. But I think... I need to talk to my brother." Assuming he was still in her life in Twenty-Twenty. "You seem nice, Shay. Do you think, maybe, you can help me get to my brother?" Realizing she was in a strange place with nothing to hang onto, even an anxious girl like Nessa was happy to take a chance to trust the one person who was here for her.

Shay was trying hard not to out panic the person with much more legitimate reason to freak out, and failing. Shay tried for a moment to imagine how they would feel in Vanessa's shoes, and awkward came to mind, but that was nothing new. But also they wouldn't know who or what to trust. Luckily, Vanessa had a really useful power for verifying whether or not people were trust worthy.

"I-uh. Look." Shay took a breath. "I assume you know how your power works? Use it on me, you'll know I'm telling the truth, and you can trust me." Shay stammered quickly, forcing themselves to look Vanessa in the eyes.

After a few moments Shay nodded. "o-of course I'll help you." Shay would have tons of time to feel guilty about this whole thing later, the priority was making sure that Vanessa was safe and secure first.

It threw Vanessa off that Shay even knew about her powers. No one knew about her powers. Was she really good friends with Shay? Was she telling good friends about her powers? Or was there another reason? Her anxiety flared, but she clutched her phone tightly to keep it under control.

A quick look into Shay's eyes revealed a jumble of nervous thoughts, but they sounded genuine. She was avoidant so she did not linger, still worried about someone knowing about her power. "Okay," she muttered, getting back to her feet. She needed to get some answers and a sense of familiarity. She already fired off a text. "Thank you, I just... I need my brother. If you can get me to Booker... that'd make you the best."

Shay's knowledge made her nervous, but Shay was willing to help her, and maybe with that help, she could get to the bottom of this and understand what, where, and who she was.