2022-01-30 06:36:37Lucas stares down at the switchblade peacefully resting on his coffee table in front of him, uncertain as to whether he should laugh or cry. Still not directly responding to Jonathan yet, he grabs the knife and hits the button to spring it open, manually closing it and repeating this action a few more times before tossing it back to Jonathan in a closed state. Before finally starting to speak up, Lucas can't help giving a small sigh.
"Why give it to me? It doesn't do me any good, you need it more than me. And you're welcome, brat." Sinking back into the sofa again, Lucas re-crosses his arms and can't help sighing yet again before continuing. "Yes, I'm a strength supe, you're one of a very short list of people that are aware of the fact. Before you even ask, I've only recently gotten my powers and as you may have guessed I don't have complete control over it yet, though it seems I've at least got better control than you little Mr. twitch-a-lot."
Awkwardly catching the switchblade, Jonathan starts to open his mouth. After hearing his new nickname he then flinches for the umpteenth time, shutting his mouth again as he pockets the switchblade. Shifting his gaze away he starts abusing his hat again with both hands.
[While I would have thought giving him back the weapon would have lost the .01 GDV gained from it… Instead, you gained another .01 GDV? Frustrations aside, this kid seems worth keeping around if for no other reason than the fact he seems to be a GDV mint. I just got the results on a GDV scan on him as well, seems he is at a .63, that's rather good…]
Realizing he's fidgeting again, Jonathan places the hat down at the edge of the coffee table at a normal human speed, clasping his hands together in front of himself. Looking down at his interlaced fingers for a few moments, he collects himself enough that he manages to look directly up at Lucas again. He opens and closes his mouth hesitantly a few times before Lucas can't stand it anymore.
"Really, nothing? Anyway, out with it kid. You obviously didn't come here just to chat." While making this declaration, Lucas tries to put a stern look on his face, but he can't hide every last trace of amusement from his expression.
"Ah, um, sorry. It's just that… It's just that since my parents kicked me out… Um, since I got kicked out I'm not sure where to go. Um, are you in a v-villain organization, and uh, is there some sort of tr-training program?" Once Jonathan is done stammering this out, his gaze at Lucas gains some degree of determination. His earnest look is offset a bit by how much he is nervously chewing on his chapped lips.
'Ahhh, there it is. Bah.'
[Well, that helps explain things. We should probably be careful what we joke about in the future, seems it may come true. It's not uncommon for unenhanced parents to be so frightened by supe children that they drive them away. It wasn't as bad when there were hero organizations, there were no small amount of orphanages dedicated entirely to abandoned enhanced children. Obviously, that isn't the case any longer.]
"What kind of fucking asshole…" With his eyes narrowing into angered slits, Lucas abruptly stands up while grumbling, startling Jonathan so much that he takes half of a step back during his tremors. Realizing Jonathan doesn't seem to understand where his anger is directed, Lucas decides to clarify.
"You didn't actually do anything that deserves getting kicked out over, right? It's just because they got spooked from you being a supe? Tch, your power isn't even one that would endanger them, bastards. Ah right, no I'm not in an organization, if there is any sort of training program out there I wouldn't know." While Lucas is saying this, Jonathan lowers his head and stares down at his own feet, trying his best not to fidget. Before losing line of sight, Lucas can see that Jonathan seems to be on the brink of tears.
[Oh! Alert; a new moderate GDV task has been assigned. Please incentivize Jonathan away from growing into a cold-blooded murderer. It seems this has the potential to be a continuing series of tasks.]
'Woah what? Moderate? And that sounds like a quest chain? Shit, where's the adoption paperwork!?'
Giving Jonathan a once-over while stepping up to him, Lucas gently grabs one of his shoulders and turns to face him towards the bathroom.
"Before anything else, you're filthy and you stink. There's the bathroom, go take a shower kid. The linen closet is near it, around the corner, I broke the folding door on it a while ago, you can't miss it. I'll go pick out a change of clothes for you and leave 'em outside the door. Just leave your old clothes on the floor in the bathroom, if they're worth cleaning we can worry about it later. Is there anything you can't eat? Let's get some food in ya." While Lucas says this he starts pushing Jonathan forward, shooing him in the direction of the bathroom.
In a dazed state, Jonathan stumbles twice before looking at Lucas with large reddened eyes before giving a brief "O-okay, um, no." in response.
Seeming to teleport forward a few feet, Jonathan slows back down to a normal speed as he goes around the corner in pursuit of a towel. A moment later, he glances at Lucas from around the corner before the sound of the bathroom door quickly shutting echos throughout the apartment.
[...Congratulations on completing your moderate GDV task for a reward of 1.5 GDV. A bonus was applied for prompt completion, exceeding requirements, and overwhelming goodwill from the target. Goodness.]
'HOLY SHIT SO MUCH!? Wait, overwhelming goodwill? I have insulted him repeatedly?'
[He probably just thinks you're a tsundere at this point.]
Staring wide-eyed at the bathroom door for a moment, Lucas runs a hand through his hair before following through on trying to find some old clothes that should at least vaguely fit the young teen.
'Oh… Thinking back on our interactions, that's probably a safe bet? Oops.'
-----
Lucas kills this chapter: 0
Lucas total kills: 3
Lucas deaths this chapter: 0
Lucas total deaths: 3
Lucas current GDV: 4.18 (+.01 +1.5 = +1.51 net change)
Jonathan current GDV: .63
-----
Little character theater:
Jonathan, speed fluctuating wildly from strong emotions and giggling happily for the first time in weeks: Hehe, yay!
Lucas, rubbing his hands together: Shit, if he's gonna keep being worth so much GDV he can have the bed, I'm willing to sleep on the couch!
427, a little upset that there have been no further insights into eye lasers: [...It's more important you get a good night's rest so you can keep working...]
Author, suppressing a grin: Hey Lucas, good luck pretending to be a villain while farming GDV with an easily influenced and excitable kid watching your every move.
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Vol 2 Ch 11 - System Updates
Lucas and Jonathan—dressed decently but nowhere near as fancy as yesterday—are most of the way to Cat’s Paw Cafe, pointedly not utilizing the stinky subway station to get there.‘Ya know, it’s been surprisingly peaceful, yeah? Though, not havin’ people gawk as much as yesterday is kinda nice. All that attention was gettin’ old fast.’[Ahem, well, fortunately, Boss System approved my long-term task priority filtering proposal.]‘Oh? Whassat?’[Compared to before, now it requires an opt-in before being bombarded with every single task in range. Before receiving alerts—and therefore penalties for ignoring them—we’ll run the calculations of the tasks’ estimated impact vs. potential unwanted attention. This effectively weeds out a majority of minor tasks—plus some moderate ones—by accounting for how suspicious it would be for you to know the event was taking place, let alone be believably compelled to interfere. I knew there was no need to ask if you were interested in activating it immedi
Vol 2 Ch 10 - Chosen Chores
Once the allotted thirty minutes have passed—precisely down to the second—427 tentatively undeafens Lucas. At first, all he can hear is a booklet’s pages being flipped through, followed by Lucas grumbling.Hesitantly removing the remaining sensory suppressions one at a time, 427 nearly sighs with relief upon discovering that Lucas is standing in the kitchenette by the new automatic drip coffee maker—thankfully dressed—in the midst of poorly attempting to demystify its instruction manual.‘How the hell is this so complicated?’[Ah, making good on your promise to Jonathan?]‘Oh, thank fuck; yer back. Took ya long enough.’[…Hello, again, to you, too.]‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. Welcome back. So, anywho, can ya scan through this or somethin’ and tell me how to use it?’[…I already looked up the instructions from everything’s model numbers earlier. First, measure out—]427 guides Lucas through measuring and grinding a serving’s worth of coffee beans and setting it up in the machine with such in-d
Vol 2 Ch 9 - Solitary Request
For a few peaceful minutes, Lucas delights in demolishing the delicious delicatessen delivery. As Jonathan reaches for his coffee cup to gauge if it’s cool enough for a sane person to drink, he ends up cutting himself off with a yawn, earning a side-eye from Lucas.“Hey, ya barely got any sleep, yeah? Instead of havin’ caffeine, shouldn’t ya go take a nap?” Upon Lucas’s question, Jonathan pauses, looking at the contents of his mug with an obvious longing. “I’ll make ya a fresh one in like half an hour; I’m sure 427 can figure out howta use whatever newfangled machine ya got,” Lucas continues, his eyes also fixed on the beverage.[…I suppose I appreciate your vote of confidence.]Jonathan’s gaze lingers on the coveted coffee for a moment before he sets it back on the table. As soon as he lets go of it, Lucas lays his claim upon it.“Um, o-okay, yeah. I just, um, sh-should take a shower first,” Jonathan stammers as he stands.Lucas hums an agreement around a mouthful of coffee.[Did y
Vol 2 Ch 8 - Good Un-Morning
Thankfully, there are no further interruptions during the rest of this round of deliveries. Or even during the next one, either.Once Jonathan finally has the fourth and final load of freight, he makes a detour to a delicatessen. More specifically, the one where he previously purchased yesterday’s breakfast.After equally uneventfully acquiring milk, third breakfast for himself, and first breakfast for Lucas—since he’d totally only eat sugary baked goods if real food wasn’t conveniently available—he makes his way home.With his back to the recently re-locked front door, Jonathan reclaims the last armload of supplies as he looks at Lucas’s still-shut bedroom door.‘…Our food will still be too hot to eat for a little while; I’ll make some coffee first.’Jonathan may or may not be making up excuses to keep putting off waking up Lucas in the hopes that he’ll do so on his own, knowing full well that he probably won’t.While taking longer than necessary to decide which appliance to christen
Vol 2 Ch 7 - Ongoing Onerous Obligations
“Ah! Um…” Jonathan’s face scrunches up a bit as he looks over his pending purchases.‘Can we at least turn off tasks while my hands are full? I really don’t want to drop everything and have it get broken or stolen by the time I get back to it… It will be annoying enough having to run back and forth a bunch.’[Requesting temporary task suppression… Permission granted; disregarding minor tasks for one hour at no penalty, effective immediately.]Jonathan barely represses his urge to sigh with relief.Before Ji Soo works up the nerve to express concern over Jonathan’s vacant stare at the wall behind the service bot, Jonathan’s attention returns to reality and redirects to said bot.“Um, c-could you hold some of it for a few minutes once I’m done paying? I-I won’t take long… Like, five minutes?” Before fidgety Jonathan even finishes asking his question, the bot is already nodding.“Certainly. Do you wish to use a private scanning kiosk to complete your order?”‘I’m surprised it’s even an
Vol 2 Ch 6 - Whole Latte Shopping
Jonathan, however, doesn’t hear the utterance of recognition. Unaware, he continues his quest for a coffee maker.A short time later, Jonathan stands--while quietly grumbling--before a row of two-in-one coffee/espresso machines.Behind him is a sea of drip coffee machines, with cold press equipment further off to the side. Alongside the arrangement of two-in-ones sits a selection of espresso machines, both automatic and semi-automatic.‘How are there so many!? What even are the differences? Wait, no, don’t answer that. The technical details will probably just be even more confusing.’[Understood.]Although Jonathan notices movement in his peripheral vision, he doesn’t outwardly react to the recent arrival at the end of the aisle. Instead, he pulls out one of the two-in-one machines set at eye level, rotating it so he can read the back of the box.“Ah! Don’t get one of those! That entire line is overpriced trash,” the newcomer blurts out, muffled by the layers of carbon-filter fabric f
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