Andrew wasn't intending to be rude, but the sensations from her breasts were even weirder like this, and the gorgon was hugging her pretty tight, so she attempted to wriggle out of her embrace. The other girl let go in surprise, then looked down and chuckled, embarrassed. "Oh, sorry," she said. "Um, do you normally go around topless?"
Andrew shrugged. "Well, no," she said. "It's just that I got here without anything on, and the townspeople didn't sell anything that would fit me."
The girl nodded, coiling into a sitting position. "That must suck. At least I can wear a top. The name's Laurel, by the way."
Andrew groaned. "Tell me about it. And I'm Andrew."
Laurel's eyes went wide. "'Andrew?' You didn't by any chance..."
Andrew sighed. "Yeah. I just picked a female character. Seeing as how I wasn't expecting to become my character." She was fully expecting to be mocked, but there was nothing but sympathy in Laurel's expression. "Oh, wow. That must be awkward. How long have you been like this?"
"Just since this morning. I woke up in the mountains, came down to the town for lunch, and then I came out here to try flying and met you."
Laurel nodded and smiled. "Well, I'm glad you did," she said, forked tongue flicking between her teeth as she spoke. "I haven't had anybody to talk to in...two or three years, I think."
"Can't you talk to the townspeople?" Andrew asked. "I mean, they don't know about video games or anything, but they seem pretty nice otherwise."
Laurel shook her head sadly, sending her snake-hair rippling around her head; Andrew was fascinated by how the many snakes' tails moved and draped so much like real hair. "Nope," she said. "They don't trust me. Considering I could make their whole town a marble garden, I guess I don't blame them, but it's still awfully lonely out here."
"So you can turn things into stone?"
She nodded. "A lot of things, anyway. I've never tried it on people, though; I make it a point to save limit it to hunting and self-defense. And it's harder the more powerful the target is, so I can't, you know, turn a dragon into a statue or anything. But yeah, I can do it on pretty much anything I need to."
Andrew whistled. "That's something. Can you change things back?"
Laurel shrugged. "I can un-petrify things, yes. But like I said, I don't really petrify things much in the first place, so I don't know whether they live or not. I've pretty much just used it to make sure the animal parts I don't use get cleaned up by scavengers, and for food preservation. Which reminds me, it's getting close to suppertime."
Rising up to what amounted to a standing position, she slithered off towards the back of the cave. Andrew watched her go, noting how the black-lined patterns on her skin ran down her back and the full length of her tail. Now that her initial fear was fading, Andrew found that Laurel was no more monstrous than she was, and was in fact quite pretty in her own way. Andrew almost thought she felt a twinge of jealousy, but she cleared that thought out of her head quite hurriedly.
In a couple minutes, Laurel returned, carrying a piece of granite shaped a leg of...something. She put it down on the table and rolled it over, exposing a flat area that had apparently had chunks taken out of it. Andrew marvelled at the detail on the leg; she could see little markings in the stone that looked like muscle striations, of all things.
She was wondering what the point of this was when Laurel placed a hand on the flank. To Andrew's amazement, the stone quickly dissolved into flesh, which the gorgon girl lifted neatly off the rest of the leg, which was still stone. She speared it on a nearby stick and grinned a fangy grin at Andrew. "Is that going to be enough venison for you?" she asked. "I'm afraid it's all I have to offer right now; none of the wild fruit is ripe yet."
Not long afterward, the two girls were hungrily munching roast venison and talking in between bites. "So tell me," Laurel said, "have you made any plans for what you're going to do here?"
Andrew nodded. "I'm going to the bigger cities to see if I can find a way to get back home. You're more than welcome to come with, if you want."
The gorgon looked thoughtful. "I dunno," she said. "I'm not sure I'll be much more welcome in a city than I am in a village. I'd probably just get in your way."
"Nah," Andrew replied. "It'd be worth any amount of trouble. For one thing, your abilities should make any unavoidable combat much easier until I get the hang of fighting like this. And for another, who else could I turn to if I start having trouble with girl stuff?"
Laurel smiled. "I suppose so. And oh God, do I want to get home. I haven't seen my family or friends in almost three years. And," she laughed, "there's got to be like half a dozen Duran Duran albums I'll have to buy."
Andrew frowned. "Duran Duran?" she said. "Isn't that that band from the '80s?"
Laurel giggled. "Whaddya mean 'the '80s?'" she laughed. "It's not even 1990 yet!"
Andrew stared at her. "Um, it's 2008, actually."
Laurel gasped. "What? You can't be serious!"
Andrew nodded silently. Laurel stared at her, then turned to the table. "How can it be 2008!?" she shrieked. "I counted!" She pulled out a tattered book and opened it to the last page written. "See? Nine hundred and seventeen days! That's not even close to...to twenty-three years!"
She burst into tears, and Andrew put a wing around her shoulder. Was she right? The game was dated 1985, but if Laurel was right, that meant there was some sort of time dilation between this place and the real world. And if that were true...well, if it took her even a year to find a way back, she'd be arriving in...what, late 2017? This was by far the most serious discovery of the day.