Opening Panel
The New World of SwapTech
chapter 8
by
deleted_user
Jonas found himself standing in front of a room labeled "Panel Room 4 — The Art of Worldbuilding in Indie RPGs."
He had no idea why he was here. He wasn't particularly interested in indie RPG worldbuilding. But it was a room with chairs, and after the morning he'd had, a chair sounded like heaven.
He slipped through the door and immediately felt every eye in the room slide toward him.
A barefoot woman in yoga pants. At a convention. Walking into a panel.
Of course they're looking. Of course.
Jonas kept his head down and found a seat in the back row, sinking into the cushioned chair with a sigh of relief. The panel hadn't started yet—the speakers were still setting up at the front, adjusting microphones and testing a slideshow.
A guy sitting next to him—early twenties, glasses, a t-shirt that said "I Put The RP In RPG"—leaned over.
"Hey. Cool look."
Jonas glanced at him. "What?"
"The no-shoes thing. Very Miyazaki heroine vibes."
Jonas stared at him. "I'm literally just barefoot because I don't have shoes."
"Oh." The guy's face fell. "Right. Sorry. I thought it was a choice."
Why would anyone choose to be barefoot on a convention center floor?
Jonas turned his attention to the front as the panel began. The speaker—a woman with a shaved head and a warm voice—started talking about building consistent magic systems. Jonas tried to focus, but the room felt strange. The chair was comfortable. The air conditioning was cold on his bare arms. He kept feeling the brush of his own hair against his neck, the weight of his chest when he leaned forward.
He was hyperaware of his body. Of being a body.
And he was hyperaware of the way people kept glancing at him. Not leering. Just... looking. Because he was an anomaly. A barefoot woman in workout clothes at a panel about RPGs.
I stick out. I stick out so bad.
Twenty minutes in, the panel speaker paused for questions, and Jonas saw his chance. He slipped out of his seat and headed for the door, feeling the eyes follow him again.
He needed to find clothes. Now.