Potion Craft. In all fairness, Agnes would have never thought of this place as a possible date location. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Had she been the one to plan the date, the name of this may have eventually come up because she knew video games was something that Nessa enjoyed and made a career out of it. Agnes, on the other hand, had very little experience with the medium. Growing up in the household she did, such things had little chance of ever making it across her path.

But, now she was dating and in a healthy relationship with someone made this a regular part of their lives. She wouldn’t be a good girlfriend if she didn’t at least make the attempt to try and understand. Besides, while her exposure to the subject was limited, she had to admit that it looked fun. Plus, it was important to Nessa.

The bar was pretty interesting. After they had entered and had their hands stamped “1-Ups”, the duo stepped into the bar/club and were immediately swept away by the steady and catchy music from a variety of video game soundtracks, both original and remixed. Agnes found herself nodding her head along to the music as she followed Nessa into the club and attempted to survey the land.

The club itself was fairly standard at a glance but the video game themed knick-knacks were absolutely everywhere. Triforces, mushrooms, weapons, and etc., all pixelated were hung on walls, or used as light sources all around the interior. To one side lay a dance floor of multi-colored lights and to the other were booths and tables where people laughed and drank. Along another wall, Agnes could see a bank of flat TVs, each with couches and chairs situated around them where people played one of multitudes of video game systems that were out and available to play for all paying customers.

It was almost as if Nessa designed the place herself and the thought of that made Agnes smile as she turned to look at her.

Agnes herself had dressed for the occasion, but not without some help. When Nessa told her where they were going, she wanted to surprise her girlfriend by looking the part. More recently she had been hired as a sales associate for a trendy hat shoppe called Put a Lid On It. A new friend she made, Dan, agreed to help her foster a nerd girl aesthetic. It was only a couple of simple suggestions before Agnes found an outfit she truly liked.

Now, she wore the fruits of her labor: a nerdy graphic tee, electric yellow jeans, pink Converse shoes, and a light gray beanie over her hair. Dan tried to insist on her buying a fake set of glasses but that hardly seemed appropriate. She didn’t want to carry the aesthetic too far.

Her fingers curled around Nessa as she gave her a warm smile, her red lips curled upward as she tilted her head and eyed the young woman up and down.

”You look like you are in your element,” she beamed and squeezed her hand a little tighter. She then slumped and gestured to herself. ”I just hope I don’t look like a poser.”

Stepping away from The POW Block Party was not an easy choice, but Nessa was ultimately glad to get back to her roots and create her own identity. No one would forget about the woman she grew up to be once upon a time, and some people openly lamented the changes in who she was and the content she offered, but people were still supporting her. She was creating her own online personality and she was doubling down on her art. It was a modest following, but she was happy.

Big changes like that were easier to handle with a gorgeous, sweet, supportive girlfriend by your side. Lucky Vanessa, she found one of those in Europe! Rather, she brought a friend to Europe and returned with a girl she would eventually make her girlfriend. The did not want to rush things when their bond started as a way to share the struggle of adapting to a world they were not a part of, so they didn't make things official right away. Eventually, they realized they were just delaying the inevitable, changed the MyFace statuses, and had not looked back.

Agnes was not a gamer girl, but she was absolutely ride or die when it came to being by Nessa's side. Nessa was on a small hiatus after her Gender Reassignment Surgery, which her girlfriend was wonderful about during the recovery time when Nessa felt particularly needy and whiney. Now that she was feeling better and like her true self, someone encouraged her to come out to Potioncraft to celebrate. She could check out the nerd culture scene in New York, which had developed in big ways since her original teenage years. Making a public appearance and posting about it on her socials would help tie her in with the community.

Nessa was rebuilding her wardrobe, but she had plenty of options she had no qualms stealing from her older self. There was a cute Guiseppe Siblings dress that she felt more confident in now that her surgery was sorted out. Paired with a jacket and some heels, she was ready to make a statement.

Agnes was making her statement too, and Nessa gave the casual hipster nerd chic her seal of approval. The yellow pants worked on a girl like Agnes, and with the sexy haircut she had been maintaining since Europe, the beanie was a nice touch. "You totally look like a regular. Everything a nerdy hipster fuckboy wishes he could be," she teased. "Though I was almost surprised your aesthetic revamp didn't make them question your old ID." They were not twenty-one yet, but the government did not confiscate their original age IDs. They did not hold up to scrutiny in a database, but the bouncer did not question them.

"I know it's lame, but before we get started, I definitely have to Chirp out that I'm here. Care to indulge in a nerdy couple selfie?" Nessa grabbed her phone and positioned it in front of them, looking to plant a kiss on Agnes's cheek if she was willing to broadcast their night out to the world.

The complement was nicely received. Agnes grinned from ear to ear, doing a little twirl for Nessa to show off her outfit. It wasn’t all that far from her usually outfits, but there was definitely more thought in how it was pieced together. It seems that Dan knew what he was talking about. When Agnes had asked him for advice on what to wear to a gamer club, she seemed wary at first but the looks she was getting, especially from Nessa, really made her feel as if she were fitting in with the crowd.

Dismissively she waved her hand with a scoff at Nessa’s concern at being carded. ”Please,” Agnes said with a laugh. ”The guy checking us in was too concerned with ogling my tits and your ass to care. Besides, we were in Europe just a year ago; clearly we’re more sophisticated and give off an aura of responsibility.”

There was an air of confidence in her that Agnes had steadily learned to get comfortable with. When she first discovered she had been deaged from someone in their late twenties, she noted things about her personality that didn’t seem the same as she remembered. Thankfully Ms. Grey, err, Mrs. Morris had been kind enough to inform her that in the time she lost, the personality was consistent. Now that she had been able to roll around in her recaptured youth, it was an aspect about herself that she finally accepted and reveled in.

She liked bold Agnes. She often wondered how else her older self had changed but it seemed she didn’t leave a very active footprint on social media. Even Nessa couldn’t find anything. That was probably all for the best. That Agnes wasn’t her anymore; as Nessa would say, they needed to find their own paths.

Speaking of...she couldn’t help but crack a small smile as she watched Nessa pull up her phone. The moment allowed the winged bug mutant to smile in appreciation. Nessa was a knockout and the dress only served to accentuate that fact. It was heartwarming to see because Nessa had gone through so much to be the person she truly felt she was. She was glad the recovery went so well and seemed to fill Nessa with much added confidence. That was all that mattered.

At the behest of her girlfriend, Agnes nodded as she approached her and quickly wrapped her arm around her waist. She snuggled in close and looked up at the camera lens in Nessa’s phone. Jokingly she stuck her tongue out for one picture but behaved (for the most part) with any following. It was in the last shot, however, that she turned and planted a kiss on the corner of Nessa’s lips and smirked.

”There,” she said after she pulled her lips back and smirked at the lipstick left behind. ”I have appropriately marked you as ‘mine’. Should you get lost, people will know to return you to this lip shape and color.”

After a stressful experience with her brother at a card game tournament, Vanessa was finally tempting the fates with another public appearance. If she was going to be around strangers, putting herself out there, it gave her peace of mind having her girlfriend with her. Agnes was not a social butterfly—regardless of her wings—but she was confident in herself and in Vanessa. She would take that emotional support anywhere.

Nessa was going through a rebrand, but beyond her time with the Philharmonic, Agnes was making her internet footprint anew. Whoever she was after her musical work, she kept her online presence lowkey or anonymous. Agnes was a naturally private person, so Nessa appreciated her willingness to stand by her side in what was a limelight of her own making.

It also never hurt to have a girlfriend who was a proper knockout in every selfie. The little kiss in the last shot was absolutely making it online. Nessa wanted people to see how lucky she was. If she was going to be marked, so be it. ”They won’t believe it. They’ll see the color matching and think, ‘There’s no freaking way. This spaz is not with a goddess like her.’”

The interior of the club was busy, with most of the action coalescing around the bar and game stations. Gamers came to gamer bars for a reason, though some people were starting to get their bearings on the dance floor. Nessa was ready for some good dancing soon, but she had some people she wanted to say hi to first. ”I hope you don’t mind, but some old co-workers, er, old Vanessa’s co-workers encouraged me to come out tonight. I know I’m not with the team anymore, but I think they still want to get to know the new me.” She scanned the groups having fun, looking for familiar faces. Even if she never worked with them officially, the POW Block Party guys were like heroes to her when she was an amateur streamer starting out. ”I figure we can grab seats near them to settle our stuff down and we can hop onto the dance floor from there? We haven’t had a really good night of dancing since Venice and now that I’m recovered, I’m feeling antsy.”

She liked the picture. It was sweet and a perfect representation of the two of them at this moment in their lives. Agnes wanted nothing more than to freeze this in place in hopes of it lasting a lifetime. But that wasn’t fair. From the few stories that Ms. Grey was willing to part with, heartache and maturity were just a natural part of relationships. As much as they wanted their summer in Europe to last forever Agnes and Nessa wanted to see what else the future had in store for them. Now wasn’t the time to be cautious; there was a life to live.

The squeeze to Nessa butt was warranted. After her self-deprecating comment, Agnes took it upon herself to correct the gamer girl. With a mischievous wink she didn’t say anything more, but after-glow of the pinch should serve as a reminder of further punishment should such behavior continue.

Already the crowd was swelling to the point that Agnes had to flutter her wings to keep others at bay. She wasn’t as tense about crowds as she used to be but even now and again it was easy to slip back into old habits. Still, with a smile on her lips and a iridescent glare on her wings, she followed quietly next to her girlfriend.

”Hmm?” she hummed dreamily. ”Oh definitely,” Agnes replied. ”I’d love to meet them for the first time!” They continued to move through the crowd, Nessa scanning for faces while Agnes distractedly glanced at various screens offering a plethora of gaming eye candy. ”Ah Venice,” she said in reply. ”Yeah that was a fun time.” She grinned as she hooked an arm around the gamer girl’s waist. ”You were such a tease on that dance floor. Fair warning though, you plan on doing that here, you’re going to pay in full later.”

Against her better judgement, Nessa sometimes wondered what the lost version of her would think of her new life. Choosing to be young, dumb, and reckless, making a name for herself with Agnes by her side. Even Miss Grey said they had both deserved better than what she gave them, and Nessa was willing to believe Agnes was her better. There was a lot of life left to live, and they both knew things changed. She was not going to let that scare her; they were doing the best with what they were handed, and hopefully more changed for the better than not.

For now, having a sweet and sexy girlfriend squeezing her butt in public. That was pretty fucking great. Nessa said nothing her grin wasn't already saying, instead just leading Agnes to their place.

"Oh no, we're barely in our twenties and already reminiscing about the past," she joked, going back to Venice in her own mind. It was not their fault they started their relationship on such a high note. "At least now when we dance, I know for sure you're gonna deliver on that promise." It was true; Agnes had more libido than Nessa would have assumed when they first met. The more comfortable they grew together, the more insatiable her girlfriend. There was no complaints on Nessa's part.

"Promise what?"

Nessa turned to the voice, noticing Gian, the leader of The POW Block Party. The tattooed middle-aged streamer who she always said she would trade her own father in for smiled politely. It was still hard to wrap her head around the reality that they were everyday coworkers at one point. Instead, he was just one of her former heroes asking about the sex jokes Nessa made with her girlfriend. She blushed, shrugging to give herself a second to make up an excuse. "She's promising to dominate me in Ultra Fight Siblings." There was the most micro of micropauses between "me" and "in" in her sentence. "Lots of bragging for a girl who barely gamed before meeting me."

Gian bought the excuse because he was too kind and pure to know Nessa was a degenerate. "Well far be it for me to get involved in a lover's quarrel. Anyway, Dave, Vince, Leslie, and Dori have claimed our couches and we've ordered, like, a buttload of appetizers." A thought clearly occurred to him. "Oh, we do have fried mushrooms and a few other vegetarian options for you."

"Vegetarian?" Nessa blinked in confusion, wondering when she became a vegetarian.

"Huh. Well then, enjoy the honey barbeque tendies then!" Rolling with the changes, Gian led them to some cozy couches, a collection of New York's most prominent Let's Players, and a table that was indeed holding a buttload of appetizers.