Misinterpreting Jonathan's shy awkwardness as being polite, Natalie gives him a brilliant smile before typing away on her tablet, going through what little remaining work is left for her to do after Miss Calculated did the vast majority of it for her already.
If Lucas had noticed the slight hitch in Jonathan's breath or the fact his heart practically skipped a beat, there would have been a 0% chance of him resisting the urge to mock him right then and there, so Jonathan's lucky in that regard, at least.
Shortly after Natalie shifts her attention to a drawer she just pulled open and began rummaging around in, a different employee-only door than service bot #18 had originally left through noisily creaks open.
Now wielding a tall rectangular four-legged end table, it duti
'Uhhh, that didn't sound so good.'[I fear this table isn't long for this world. If you are going to insist that the positioning at the moment it breaks determines the victor, you should do what you can.]'Oh, good idea. Let's go!'Realizing that this match will be decided by an inch and is going to be getting cut off very shortly, Lucas musters up all of the strength he can possibly bring to bear, offsetting Miss Masher's advantage and even claiming a tiny bit of his own.As she had been caught off guard at first by this sudden burst of vigor, her elbow almost lifts when she shifts slightly to attempt to reclaim her lead. Legitimately wanting an accurate result from the contest, she directs so
'...Okay, gimme just a small clue.'[You only saw him for a short moment, and you were paying attention to other things at the time, but you were definitely looking in his direction.]'...The fuck kind of clue is that?'[So what you're saying is, you want a bigger clue?]Lucas tries to hide the fact that he's staring at Timothy by just so happening to put his suit jacket back on while conveniently facing in his direction, chewing on his lips and squinting while deep in thought.'...Yes please.'[He was in costume at the time.] After a few clicks, whirs, and time spent pretending to be reading, the machine finishes with its testing and its screen declares the chip suitable for use.Natalie hits a button, gets no response, and therefore hits the button again much harder, two more times. Finally, there is a brief buzz and a small compartment spits out a fresh small anti-static case surrounding the chip, which she casually grabs and then stands up."Considering it's uhh, a bit of a challenge for a dog to pick their own location, if one of you could bring him to surgery room C with me to make the selection, unless you want me to pick somewhere at random." As Natalie starts heading over to open a locked door nearby to lead the way, Jonathan and Lucas both start speaking up at almost the same time.I'd Like to Change My Reincarnation Subscription, Please Ch79 - Stressful Small Talk
Withdrawing her hand from Jonathan's shoulder, Miss Masher slowly draws in and exhales a deep breath, a vacant expression on her face as she stares at the ceiling. Leaning back against the wall again, she's quiet for a few seconds longer before sighing softly."Yeah... Uh, Chi is way better at telling stories than I am, but I guess I could try a little? Uhh, so it was actually back while the supe war was still going on... No, first things first, I said our folks kicked us out, but that's not entirely fair to say, there's more to it than that. It wasn't just gettin' our powers that made 'em drive us out, it might have just been an excuse even, still shitty either way though. They were just fosters, to begin with, our real mom and pops were offed fairly early during the war. You know the usual ol' tryin' to but can't have a kid of your own, adopt, lose interest in them the moment you
Meanwhile, in the back section of the building, in surgery room C...Willy is busily being extremely vocal about his displeasure about being forced to wear a cone of shame. Up until Natalie snuck it around him and velcroed it shut, he had been happily exploring the parts of the automated surgical equipment which are exposed in accessible locations for him, all brought abruptly to a halt by this cruel act of betrayal.Lucas's sympathy is expressed in the direct opposite fashion of what Willy would have wanted, via him pulling his phone out to take pictures while laughing so hard he's started crying, all while poor Willy keeps pitifully double-barking at him.Dan's assistance isn't needed for translation, the intent behind his "HOW DARE YOU!?" pairings of barks proves to
As 427 successfully diverts Lucas's attention away from where his wandering gaze insisted on landing, Lucas had quickly become quite invested in his retelling of the sisterhood's stories.'GodDAMN. I feel like I can barely survive if the fridge happens to be empty. Three pre-teen girls survived being homeless through a superpower-fueled war? Fuckin' ridiculous. There had to have been a ton of real awful shit she didn't bring up...'[I would assume so. Even if they had still been with their family, there would have been no small number of horrid events as the war raged on around them. I must admit though, there was something amusing about hearing an external source mentioning Maynard, and in such a positive light in this day and age to boot.] Maintaining a slightly awkward silence for the walk back to the front lobby, Lucas is absentmindedly fiddling with the phone in his pocket while he's lost in thought.'...While it would be kinda funny to troll Jon, it feels too weird to suddenly bring it up.'[Hmm? What's that?]'Eh? Ah right, you don't hear absolutely everything. Uhh, I was thinking it would be kinda funny to taunt Jon if I got Nat's number, but once I considered actually asking it felt way too... Off.'[...There's no way she'd interpret it as anything other than flirting.]'Exactly. And trying to explain would probably just sound weirdly desperate?'I'd Like to Change My Reincarnation Subscription, Please Ch83 - What About The Pants Though?
Even though her target is unmistakable, the bearer of the cursed purse hesitates and stays where she is, waiting for the group to fully enter the Department of Villainous Organizations before calling out to them.At first, her attention is fixed on Lucas's face, but after a few moments, she belatedly realizes what he's wearing, as well as the fact that Jonathan beside him is equally suited up. Her eyes widen as she gasps, bringing a hand up to cover her smile.'This is so awkward... Now I kinda feel guilty about the uhh, occasional look I made at Nat, how the hell is this so uncomfortable?'[...Occasionally every chance you had.]'Hey!'