Kasper Nielson | Reedsville

Tabletop Treasures is brimming with patrons, the tables in the back of the store filled as various game campaigns continue on. Some groups are quietly playing, while others are narrating dramatically, scraps of fabric serving as billowing capes. Kasper grimaces as a familiar argument breaks out between a specific group’s rogue and paladin, shaking his head as he leans against the store counter across the building. Customers are milling around, gasping over pretty dice or talking animatedly about painting their minifigures.

Kasper’s eyes glance at Astrid as she positively devours her book quietly next to him, seated cross-legged on a stool. Usually she’d be chatting with customers, but she’d been sucked into her newest book lately, content to lose herself in it. Kasper fondly strokes her pale blonde hair, feeling a sense of peace wash over him, something he hasn’t felt since he was a child himself, perched on his father’s lap, watching sparkling dice roll across the table and catching the glittering light from the window.

Yes, Kasper, feels peace. And yet… There’s something missing, some piece of his heart he’s still searching for idly, hoping to find it in another. He thought he’d found it in Sofie, but he’d been wrong, exceedingly wrong. And before her… there had been CraveU user, his American penpal from his school days. A childhood crush, sure, and maybe that’s all it was… But why then do they linger even after all these years?

The bell above the front door tinkles as it opens, and Kasper’s gaze sharpens as he forces himself out of his memories, focusing on the customer. His usual wide grin begins to spread over his face as he greets them warmly like an old friend. “Welcome to Tabletop Treasures. Can I help you find - ”

Kasper pauses suddenly as his brain processes who he sees. He blinks owlishly, smile faltering as his heart hammers like a drum in his chest.

No… it can’t be… Can it?

During his correspondence with his penpal, they’d sent each other photos. One of them CraveU user had sent him contained a picture of themselves. It’s been years but Kasper still has it, and as he looks at the customer, he can see the same features - the same nose, the same eyes…

Their name sounds like a foreign language as he speaks it for the first time in years. “... CraveU user?”