The one exception proving the rule was a creature blessed with the moniker "Tobacco Boy" by her roommates. Clearly his habit of chewing had endeared him to them. She met him at a gaming tournament - Cara's other passion and happy hunting ground for male company, her having the role of 'token female gamer' down cold. The pity thing being, of course, that she was actually a fair strategist and tactician, so to see her play the female fool to the male gaming court was doubly sad.
So it came to pass that the clan, as usual, was going to a con - that's "Science Fiction Convention" for those not 'in the life' - and MC had a room. Tradition and financial circumstance dictated that as many people as could be should be crammed into the hotel room at such an event, to help defray the cost. MC, being a claustrophobe at heart and a push-over on the surface, had overbooked what she assumed would be a much bigger space, and Cara + Tobacco Boy were part of the package. Ultimately, MC got another room for just her and her squeeze, but that was after one too many people she couldn't say 'no' to asked for space. In the interim, she was collecting people as they showed up at the con.
Being familiar with Cara and her tastes, MC expected yet another bland and tan-colored grunge puppy to accompany her. Cara arrived, however, with a willowy androgyne, dressed head to foot in black. It bore exquisitely painted long nails, thick black hair billowing to its waist, and a multitude of silver jewelry at its ear lobes, neck and fingers. At first, MC assumed this to be simply an acquaintance of indeterminate gender, and looked around for 'Tobacco Boy' to no avail.
Five minutes later, a shared kiss and the announcement he was going outside for a smoke identified the mystery person as Cara's paramour. MC was stunned into immobility to the point she forgot to ask for cash up front for the crash-space - a cardinal mistake, as it turned out, as the couple soon ran out of money for the weekend, and never paid her for the space on the floor they occupied when not down in the Den of the Unwashed.
She never did learn what his real name was, either.