Work Text:
Dustin set several books on the table, all with creepy images on the covers. He pushed one in front of Steve, the title read “Dungeons & Dragons Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry”, and set a bag on the table next to the stack of books.
“This,” Dustin said, slamming his hand on the cover of the book in front of Steve, “is where the Demogorgon is introduced.” He opened the book, flipping past the index and to the list of monsters with ease, as if he memorized where everything was in the handbook. Knowing Dustin, he probably did. “It also introduces the Mindflayer and psionic attacks,” he explained, pointing to the Mindflayer’s name.
Steve looked down at the book, trying to follow along. “You’re telling me this, why?” he asked, looking back up at the kid hovering above his seat.
Dustin dropped his arm back down by his side. He faked nonchalance, but Steve could tell that what he said upset him. “I thought you might want to know where the names came from,” he shrugged. “I was thinking about hosting a one-shot campaign with the monsters we actually fought–” he stopped himself in the middle of his sentence, grabbing the book back from Steve, “but I guess it’s dumb.” He shut the book, moving to put it away, “Sorry.”
He opened his bag, about to put the book away when Steve grabbed the handbook out of his hand. “No,” he said, opening the book again. He found the index to search for the page Dustin was on before, but after a couple tries of guessing which category it was under and getting it wrong, he gave up and pretended he meant to flip to the page on druids. “Tell me about your nerd stuff,” Steve told him.
He got an unsure look from the kid. “Really,” Steve said, answering the question Dustin hadn’t even asked yet.
The biggest smile broke across Dustin’s face and he shot back up from the floor. He flipped to a chart about the monster’s hit points and talked about what setting he wanted for the campaign and what classes he’d limit the players to. Steve agreed to let Dustin make him a character, thinking it would be worth it to make the kid happy.