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2024-10-29 19:42:56Being predominantly unfazed by the projectile truck parts, Mind Flare and Josephine are both standing nearby. They're busy chuckling at the driver shoved down into the street, serving as a cushion for Lucas. An equally amused Jonathan is also nearby, although he is busy trying to think of a reason to go looking for Wraith Hunter.
"An acquaintance of yours?" Mind Flare can't help asking Lucas in a voice full of good humor.
"Nah, but I saw the way he was driving this way. I mean come on, think of the puppies. The nerve, seriously." Lucas shifts his position so he's now sitting cross-legged and tilts his head a bit. While bearing a raised brow, he looks up at Mind Flare. "Think he's got something against Black Ash Snow?"
The driver yells something incoherent into the crushed-up pavement, earning a smack on the back of the head from Lucas.
"Hmm... I doubt it. With how often I drag him out to have a meal with us, I imagine he'd mention something juicy like that." Mind Flare has a thoughtful expression as he taps his chin.
'Oh? I mean, they obviously interact, but uhh..? Is he..?'
[No. Mind Flare is in a relationship with Josephine. He and Black Ash Snow are childhood friends. One of the rare few that survived his powers developing.]
'Oh snap. Girl, you've got heavy tastes.'
Lucas can't help glancing up at Josephine, although this action goes unnoticed by anyone else.
"Um, maybe I should, um, go take a look where he came from? In case there's uhh, some sort of clue?" Successfully coming up with a good reason with the given opportunity, Jonathan offers to scout the area.
"Hmm? Yeah, go for it. Just let us know if you find anything, don't go chasing off on your own." Giving a thumbs-up as he gives his verbal approval, Lucas then turns his attention over to look at Faunahorde. He catches sight of Black Ash Snow through the big front window, walking up to the door in pursuit of finding out what happened.
Jonathan gives a nod and darts off in the direction the truck came from, intercepting Wraith Hunter in short order. He talks with him a bit to slow him down from approaching the scene, effectively giving Black Ash Snow a chance to actually interact with those who are still present.
Without the covering sound from exploding glass, Black Ash Snow's entrance is discovered by the small gathering. He frowns a bit as he looks at the pug-nosed truck, but lets out a stifled laugh when he notices Lucas sitting on the driver half-buried in the pavement.
Framing their scene, traffic flow has resumed mostly as normal, some rubberneckers sneaking a glance at the gathering in passing.
Since he isn't trying at all to sneak this time, the pace of Black Ash Snow's approach seems to appease the cheerful bird. As a reward, he receives a short jovial tune. Before he's come to a complete stop at a comfortable speaking distance, Mind Flare shoots him a slightly accusatory glare.
"You don't know him, right? You're not holding out on me, are you Daniel? You know how much I love gossip!" As Mind Flare makes his priorities known, Black Ash Snow just glances at him before turning his attention to the two on the ground. His gaze lingers on Lucas for a few moments before looking down at the driver beneath him.
'He really seems to know something about me though? You really have no idea what it could be, 427? Like, what the hell?'
[I'm at as much of a loss on this as you are. Adding fuel to the fire, you just got another .01 GDV from him, though I'm pretty sure it's related to having taken the offending party hostage.]
'Whyyy..?'
After looking at the captive driver briefly, Black Ash Snow turns his attention back up to Mind Flare. With a slight smile, he attempts to feign ignorance.
"Oh? Which one would you happen to be talking about, Mark?"
(My laziness has taken over, I'm just gonna call Mind Flare > Mark and Black Ash Snow > Dan from now on, you know who they are.)
Lucas struggles to control his laughter, with only limited success.
"Yeah MARK, which one of us?" Lucas is far too happy to have found an opportunity to say it out loud. Both Josephine and Dan chuckle as Mark purses his lips.
[...You are way too pleased with yourself. You do understand that most people would be dead right now, correct?]
'That's what makes it so great! If he doesn't try to stop me now, I'm taking it as consent!'
[You seriously have issues.]
Mark just sighs lightly and crosses his arms over his chest, his attention on Dan. "Clearly the captive! Wait, no, both!" He starts tapping his right index finger against his left upper arm in impatience as he gives his response.
'Permission granted! Hah!'
[...As long as you're happy.]
Lucas is grinning so broadly that his eyes are halfway narrowed into contented slits. While he gives a mischievous chuckle, Josephine has a hard time holding back laughter while looking at him. Dan has his own full smile at this point, though he does manage to not laugh.
"Hmm, no idea who the loser is. Though, I've heard a little bit about the apparent victor?" As Dan gives his response, Lucas can't hold back his curiosity any further.
"Oh, and what have you heard about me, DAN?" Now it's Dan's turn to purse his lips. Meanwhile, Mark and Josephine have a round of soft laughter.
Finally leisurely walking their way over, the as-awkward-as-ever Jonathan is trapped in a conversation with a particularly verbose Wraith Hunter.
Serving to further reinforce Dan's menacing aura is the small brightly colored bird now nestled upon the top of his head. It had fearlessly navigated the jungle of his braid with the help of its trusty beak, reaching the coveted summit. It fluffs its wings a few times as it settles down on its rightful perch, comfortable in its knowledge that all is as it should be.
Lucas lets out a small snerk when looking at the cozy bird, causing the corner of Dan's mouth to twitch a bit.
"Well, let's say a little birdie told me about your initial meeting with your recently arrived companion. Ah, not Sylph though, she doesn't get out much." Silently giving implicit consent for the nickname, Dan reaches up and scritches the top of Sylph's head with the tip of his right index finger.
'Ehehe, permission granted once again. Truly, he's the most intimidating of all supervillains.'
[Strange, I could swear you sound jealous.]
'...I want a bird friend too, okay!'
"Oh, um, h-here we are." Jonathan musters some words in an order akin to informative to Wraith Hunter, then promptly dashes over to stand near Lucas.
When Wraith Hunter gets a good look at the captive driver with Lucas lazily sitting on his back, he breaks out in raucous laughter. The captive freezes for a moment from his ineffective struggles, then after a few moments, he resumes with increased fervor. He even manages to raise his head long enough to squeeze out a "Fuck" before Lucas smacks it back down again.
"Oh my god! I truly wish I had my cellphone with me right now, could one of you PLEASE take a picture so I may show it to his brother?" As Wraith Hunter makes his request, Mark reaches into a pocket inside his suit jacket to oblige him.
The captive's current increased struggling looks exactly like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
Lucas scoots his position a bit in order to turn to face Mark directly, flashing a huge grin and a peace sign. With varying degrees of outward intensity, everyone apart from the prisoner burst out laughing once the photo is taken.
After a bit of an initial delay, introductions are made and Wraith Hunter gives his number to Mark to send the image over for later. While most of the others are distracted, Lucas holds up a hand from his seated position for a high five with Jonathan, who delivers.
-----
Lucas kills this chapter: 0
Lucas total kills: 6
Lucas deaths this chapter: 0
Lucas total deaths: 10
Lucas current GDV: 5.56 (+.01 net change)
Jonathan kills this chapter: 0
Jonathan total kills: 4
Jonathan deaths this chapter: 0
Jonathan total deaths: 2
Jonathan current GDV: 1.49 (+.01 net change)
-----
Little character theater:
Jonathan is a bit overwhelmed between everything going on and then needing to tank Wraith Hunter for a while.
Lucas, yawning and stretching a bit before crossing his arms and legs again to settle back into his position on the driver's back: Mmm, busy day.
427, deadpan: [Well, I guess no one can accuse you of being too heroic.]
Author, smiling and holding back laughter: Lucas may not be the hero we need, but he is DEFINITELY the hero we deserve.
Mr. Quacks, envious of Sylph's beautiful plumage: Quack...
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"Okay fine, we'll clean the place up soon! Ugh, most of the stuff in the front room is probably junk anyway, we should be able to clear it out enough that you can have your own bedroom... Don't look at me like that! I'm not some hoarder or anything like that!" As Lucas caves under Jonathan's judgmental stare, he even feels like the dog is judging him too. Which he is."If that's not a hoarder, then what else do you call someone that keeps a room full of junk for no good reason?!" As Jonathan subconsciously channels the wrath of his mother that disowned him, Lucas can't help but sputter a bit."I'm just a... Lazy... Pack-rat... That really doesn't sound much better, does it..." As Lucas achieves enlightenment with this rare bout of introspection, he exhales a deep sigh.
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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
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“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
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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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Vol 2 Ch 5 - The Worst Part of Waking Up Is Almost Endless Tasks
After the harrowing--see also; totally normal--experience of getting his hair professionally cut, Jonathan blinks a few times as he looks himself over in the mirror. ‘Oh, wow. That’s way better.’ He’s now sporting a long-top, backswept, tapered hairstyle with a rounded back. Given how clearly tense he was throughout the entire cutting process, a trendy skin fade would have fairly obviously been too much for his liking. After giving Jonathan a few moments to make his mental evaluations, one of the hairdresser’s dreadlocks uses a soft-bristle brush to clear away the loose hair clippings around the collar of the barber cape. A few other coils of his hair organize the various tools he used, setting them aside for cleaning. Meanwhile, he quickly sweeps aside the bulk of the rogue tufts of hair on the ground in a much more conventional hands-on-broom method as he uses the mirror to make eye contact with Jonathan again. “Lookin’ good, mon. Well? Whaddya tink?” His question pulls Jonath
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Vol 2 Ch 4 - Coiffure Conundrum
Once Jonathan is finally en route to the hairdresser...[Safe distance from Mikah’s power detected. Alert; you have exceeded 10 GDV. You have one enhancement available.]‘Oh! Um, you said before that rank three vision should be good enough to see through Maria’s powers, right?’[Correct, rank three should be sufficient as long as her target is in motion. Rank four would be necessary to see anything stationary, given the current strength of her powers. Please be aware that going beyond rank three for any individual enhancement has additional requirements.]‘Three should be good enough to avoid most of her pranks... Use my upgrade on vision.’[Please confirm that you would like rank two vision.]‘Yeah.’[Understood. Please close your eyes during calibrations to avoid nausea.]Jonathan slows from running at enhanced speed into a normal-paced jog for a few steps, then stops and shuts his eyes.[Bzzt... Calibrations complete.]He opens his eyes and looks around, blinking several times.‘Wo
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Vol 2 Ch 3 - Chaos in the Streets, Asleep in the Sheets
The duo’s fiery funnel further forces the growing multi-car pile-up towards the middle of the street for a few seconds longer. Finally, the flames falter and fade. After a short delay, the wind wanes as well.‘Oh, I shouldn’t give them any extra reasons to think I’m a threat.’Jonathan swiftly shuts and pockets his switchblade as he follows the sidewalk. While doing so, his attention flicks between the ongoing chaos in the street and the front door of Howling Cartographer’s HQ lobby.Ashley steps through the door with Jason right behind her. They both take a moment to appreciate their destructive handiwork with smug expressions. Considering that Jonathan is conspicuously the only person still in the immediate vicinity, they quickly focus on him.Before either of them manage anything beyond a glare, Jonathan raises both hands in a submissive gesture, showing that he isn't wielding a weapon. "I-I just wanted his gun!"Ashley's exposed eye squints with amusement, the not hair-hidden cor
