Chapter 14 - New Record

Lucas 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.'

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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

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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.