2022-01-30 06:47:41"Oho, what do we have here?" As Lucas approaches, both the hooligan and Jonathan have expressions mixed with both confusion and surprise. The older teen starts to straighten up, however, before he has a chance to start acting like a tough guy Lucas has already reached out for the duffel bag. "Good good, I was just thinking I could use some fun. Thanks."
Without any pomp and circumstance, Lucas simply grabs the straps of the duffel bag and turns back around to leave the way he came. Both teens are shocked at this brazen behavior, frozen in place for a few moments. Once the would-be-vandal fully realizes the situation, he goes to catch up to Lucas.
"Fuck you, give that back." Spitting this out, he gets cut off by Lucas suddenly spinning around and swinging the duffel bag at him. His eyes widen as far as they can in the brief moment before impact. Lucas has a shit-eating grin on his face, reaching up with his left arm to cover his face with his elbow just in time.
With a sudden violent hiss, the duffel bag explodes from the force of all the aerosol cans bursting near-simultaneously. Both people involved are thrown away from the explosion, however, the hooligan also gets the additional pleasure of the force of momentum from Lucas's swing as well, causing him to move diagonally away instead of in a straight line out. Thankfully, the duffel bag was made of a fairly sturdy material, so it mitigated a significant portion of the force released.
The immediate area is instantly misted with a sudden wet rainbow-colored firework, covering the forward-facing sides of both people involved, leaving a clear outline on the ground behind them where their bodies blocked the instantaneous detonation of paint.
Since Lucas was mostly prepared for the sudden burst he only staggered back a few steps and was briefly winded. He successfully blocked his eyes, nose, and mouth, however, the right side of his face did not escape the surprise assault of modern art.
On the other hand, the hooligan was much less fortunate. He is knocked on his ass a few feet out, eyes tearing up with burning pain. The only small blessing is the physical impact from the bag started forcing him to exhale as the paint covered him, so at least only his outsides are coated in paint. To say he is winded would be a bit of an understatement. But hey, at least he's alive, that's an accomplishment when facing Lucas's strength, really.
[…Congratulations on completing your minor GDV task for a total reward of .11 GDV. While you technically disarmed him, I'm not entirely sure how you got full credit since you vandalized the area in his place. Boss System certainly seems to have double standards.]
'Hah! You said it too!'
"That… Was… FUCKING SICK!" Having regained his breath, Lucas can't help celebrating his accomplishments. Casually releasing the straps from the late duffel bag, like that litter would make any difference at this point, he staggers a few steps over to lean against a nearby wall. He erupts with jovial laughter, which doesn't help with leveling out his breathing.
Still in his original position facing into the alley, Jonathan stays silently in place with wide eyes for a few moments more. Taking a longer time to process what just happened than the time it took to occur, his face slowly breaks into as huge of a grin as Lucas has.
"That was crazy! Holy shit! Wait, are you okay?" Finally giving a vocal response, Jonathan heads over to check on Lucas, who turns to face him. "...BWAHAHA LOOK AT YOUR FACE!"
Lucas bursts out uncontrollably laughing again upon seeing Jonathan's reaction. Once he calms down a bit he pulls off his hoodie to mostly wipe clean his head and hands with its inner lining before they dry off too much. He simply puts it back on when he's done since his clothes are already covered in paint anyway.
The overlooked hooligan mostly has control over his breathing by now, although he hasn't bothered getting up off the ground yet. Heavily irritated by the paint, his eyes are tearing up so much that there are now clean streaks in the paint running down his face. Peeling off his vibrantly colored denim jacket, he also pulls off his tank to try and wipe his face off with the back of it.
"Fuck…" The unsuccessful vandal starts to raise his voice and immediately coughs a few times. "Fuck you asshole!"
"Yeah yeah, fuck me. If I catch you about to do something like that again, I won't be as nice next time, heheh." Satisfied with his results, Lucas leaves to continue back in the direction of the subway with an energetic Jonathan in tow.
Once they're a bit of a distance away from the alleyway, Jonathan can't help speaking up after glancing at Lucas a few times.
"Um, while I have a bunch of questions I p-probably shouldn't ask… I still, um, how did you know..? No, never mind. Uh, anyway, you still want to go to the store... Like that? Not that I mind… It's pretty funny." Jonathan can't help the smile on his face as he keeps suppressing his laughter at the riot of smudged streaks of color still left on Lucas's hair and face.
"Eh, whether I go back now or later it'll be just as hard to clean anywho. Figure there's not much point in wasting the time walking back just to go out again. Besides, if anyone tries to mess with me, I'll just mess up their face!" Lucas cracks another grin while saying this, after he's done with his declaration he rolls up the right sleeve of his hoodie and flexes his arm, doing a perfect 'Rosie the Riveter' pose. Not that anyone other than him catches the reference.
[Ah, intentionally working on your public image I see. A very… Creative approach.]
'Eheh, might as well right? Man, I can't get over how awesome that was. ...I'm fucking high off the fumes aren't I?'
[Ahem, a bit.]
Lowering his sleeve, Lucas continues towards the subway station while outwardly seeming to be randomly chuckling to himself, an amused and slightly confused Jonathan dutifully following half of a step behind him to his left.
-----
Lucas kills this chapter: 0
Lucas total kills: 4
Lucas deaths this chapter: 0
Lucas total deaths: 4
Lucas current GDV: 4.33 (+.1 +.01 = +.11 net change)
Jonathan current GDV: .64
-----
Little character theater:
Jonathan, vibrating with excitement: That was so cool!
Lucas, smug AF: Hehehe, even better than I hoped.
427, incredibly confused: [No but really, how did you get full credit? I don't…]
(Windows error tone) SYS427.exe has stopped responding. [OK]
Author, rebooting 427: Try not to think about it too much, 427.
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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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