Chapter 44 - Found Family

"All right, enough of that. Seriously though, we need to at least come up with a name, if nothing else. I was lookin' at some existing ones, seems the bar for naming is uh... Pretty low." After speaking just a few words, Lucas has already turned and started walking away from the bathroom. He doesn't even remotely bother to check if Jonathan is actually following or not.

Once he makes it to the coffee table, Lucas grabs his laptop and goes over to plop down onto the patched-up sofa. As he settles in, he kicks his feet up onto the coffee table and pats the sofa cushion next to him a few times, encouraging the pup to come up and join him. Instead, he suddenly gains a Jonathan, who ends up picking up the pup to hold on his lap. Once the pupper is in place, he leans over to look at the laptop screen.

'Yeah, one day is definitely not enough time to get used to him zippin' around... Hell, I might never get used to it.'

[I'm sure you will eventually.]

Lucas clears his throat loudly, attempting to cover up the fact that he was briefly startled by Jonathan's sudden appearance. Since Jonathan was already focused on the laptop, he is more or less successful in his attempted deceit.

"Ahem, well. Anyway, as I was sayin', some of the names are fairly ridiculous, so I don't think we need to worry about standing out TOO much no matter what we go with." As Lucas continues speaking, he goes to start scrolling through the lengthy worldwide public listing of supervillain organizations. A few names down, he suddenly thinks of something.

"Oh yeah, can you read buddy? We can say the names out loud if you need us to." As Lucas turns his attention down to the doggo curled up on Jonathan's lap, who is also looking at the laptop screen intently, he gets a short, proud, bark in response.

"Such a smart boy!" As Lucas freely gives praise, he gives the pup a few ear rubs.

Now it is Jonathan's turn to clear his throat loudly to hide a negative emotion, namely in his case, jealousy over a certain dog being praised.

"Um, an-anyway, do you have any ideas? Hey!" After Jonathan stutters for the umpteenth time, Lucas elbows him, pushing him a few inches thanks to the force behind it.

"Seriously, what are you so nervous about? It seems like any time you're either focused or distracted enough you don't stutter, so I'm pretty sure you don't have any sort of disorder, yeah? So what's up?" As Lucas shifts his attention away from putting any more immediate effort towards naming the organization, he crosses his arms and leans back, sinking into the backrest of the sofa a bit.

"Huh? When... When else..?" As Jonathan looks at Lucas in confusion, Lucas uses his eyes to signal in the direction of the studious pup that is diligently reading over the names of supervillain organizations on screen. Jonathan remains confused for a few seconds and then a look of realization takes over his face, with a trace of horror.

"Oh-Ohhh... Well, um, anyway, I don't, I don't know. It's just... I don't know..." As Jonathan's stammering gets even worse, he has started nervously fidgeting and twining his fingers together, his gaze firmly fixed downward.

When the pupper notices Jonathan's anxious behavior, he circles around so as to be directly facing him. He lets out a soft whimper and nudges Jonathan's chin with his narrow snoot briefly, then gives an attempt at a comforting lick.

'...Just how awful were his parents to make him like this?'

[I don't exactly have the means to casually look up who they even are, let alone how they've treated him over the years. I agree that there is a high probability that one if not both of his parents were abusive, though. I do believe I've mentioned before that it is not uncommon for unpowered parents to kick out their children when they show signs of developing powers. However, it generally was an already toxic relationship to begin with when that is the course of action they choose to take.]

'Yeah, no shit. Fuck, I don't think I've ever hated a complete stranger so much before.'

Lucas purses his lips for a moment while he tries balancing out his emotions.

'Honestly, I grew up as an only kid and had a fairly average, ehh, I guess kinda distant, relationship with my folks. I'm frankly at a loss as to what I should do right now? Jon obviously needs a hug or something, yeah?'

[...A hug would probably be a good idea. I'll make no claims about being an expert on interpersonal relationships, but it seems pretty clear he needs comforting.]

Lucas heaves a slightly exaggerated sigh and then reaches out with his left arm. Placing it around Jonathan's shoulders, he pulls him in for an awkward half-hug.

"Seriously kid, you'd have to fuck up pretty bad to make me kick you out. This is your home as long as you want it to be, you can just relax already." As Lucas gives the most tsundere platonic comfort he possibly could, it proves rather successful, though by no means due to any skill on Lucas's part.

Jonathan makes a brief choking sound, and then while he's wrapping his arms around the dog on his lap he gives a small nod. He bites his lower lip for a moment, stays frozen in place for a few seconds more, then slowly begins curling up against Lucas's chest. Once he's reached his final position, the side of his forehead is resting just below Lucas's collarbone while he leans heavily against him.

The pup pulls his head up and gives a very direct stare in Lucas's direction, who takes a moment to try to guess why.

"Eh? Of course, that goes for you too, buddy." When Lucas says this, the fuzzy good boi starts wagging his tail and goes in for maximum cuddles.

The human-shaped good boi makes a sound that could either be a chuckle or a sob, Lucas has no idea which. Jonathan himself probably doesn't know either.

'Is that seriously all it took to make him cry? Shit, don't make fun of him for crying, don't make fun of him for crying, don't make fun of him for crying...'

[Oh? Ah, so remember that... Hmm, what did you call it... Ah yes, quest chain? To incentivize Jonathan away from growing into a cold-blooded murderer? It seems you have triggered another step of it.]

'Oho? Wasn't it a ton of points too?'

[I wouldn't say 'ton' but congratulations on completing your moderate GDV task for a reward of 1.5 GDV, same bonus modifiers as last time of; prompt completion, exceeding requirements, and overwhelming goodwill from the target.]

'Niiice. Wait, why is it still ongoing though? You'd think it should have finished when he became part of the system?'

[...It seems he still is carrying a significant amount of emotional baggage. Or was, no way of saying for sure if this is what it took to clear? I'm skeptical that it was that simple though. It's a bit of a shame that Boss System doesn't have the means to similarly gauge animals, I imagine you would have received similar GDV rewards from your canine friend as well.]

'Yeah, seriously.'

After letting Jonathan have a few minutes of quietly consented cuddles, Lucas eventually feels that time is up. He lightly squeezes Jonathan's left shoulder and shakes him a little bit.

"Feelin' better there kiddo?" With Lucas's nudging, Jonathan realizes what he was just doing and quickly sits bolt upright again, although he is still hugging the dog. Lucas is about seventy percent successful in suppressing his laughter, and he can watch in real-time as the tips of Jonathan's ears turn red. "Heh, it's fine, really. I get it."

'Yeah no, I don't really get it. But I'm pretty damn sure that that's the right thing to say just now.'

[...I concur.]

Jonathan sniffles once and nods his head slightly, still not saying anything while he remains hunched over the mutt. It is extremely likely that his voice would crack if he were to talk right now, and he's already feeling self-conscious about it before it even happens.

"You wanna get some sleep first, or should we look at names for a little while?" While Lucas asks Jonathan what he wants to do, he pushes him gently, making him rock to the side before sitting upright again.

'Hehehe he's like a roly-poly toy.'

[...]

"Oh, um... Now is fine... For thinking of names..." And there it is, Jonathan's voice cracks while he says 'fine'. Lucas even manages to keep quiet without laughing, he really does have a conscience. If only he'd continue using it in regards to poor Jonathan.

Jonathan's shoulders tense up after his throat betrayed him, but after a few moments of not getting teased for it, he finally relaxes. He sniffles one more time and rubs his face with his right hand, getting a few dog hairs stuck in the half-dried tears on his cheeks.

Once he's mostly composed himself, Jonathan clears his throat and then straightens his back, turning slightly so as to be facing Lucas's laptop.

"Yeah, okay. Let's look." Jonathan manages to have the firmest resolve in his voice that he's had all day.

Lucas can't help chuckling a bit as he gently pats Jonathan's back twice, then turns his attention back to the matter of naming their supervillain organization.

[Honestly, I do believe you handled that surprisingly well.]

'Damn right I did, I'm the best.'

[…]

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Lucas kills this chapter: 0

Lucas total kills: 6

Lucas deaths this chapter: 0

Lucas total deaths: 10

Lucas current GDV: 7.27 (+1.5 +.01 = +1.51 net change)

Lucas's fame level: 2* (Mostly just local)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 1* (Only highly paranoid people)

Jonathan kills this chapter: 0

Jonathan total kills: 4

Jonathan deaths this chapter: 0

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 1.71 (+.01 net change)

Jonathan's fame level: 1.5* (Just local)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 1* (Only highly paranoid people)

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Little character theater:

Jonathan, feeling extremely embarrassed yet also thankful, trying his absolute hardest not to show any of it: Should we pick a cool name or a funny name?

Lucas, nearly biting his tongue off while trying not to make fun of Jonathan right now: I dunno, whatcha think would be better?

An equally emotional super-intelligent pup: Bark!

427, currently regretting complimenting Lucas: How can this man be so arrogant?

Author, cheering: Hurrah for found family!

Mr. Quacks, happy for Jonathan but feeling a little left out: Quack...?