Chapter 49 - Murder Weapon

Once the majority of the contents of the bag have been demolished, Lucas is still slowly eating the last of the extra-crispy home fries with his bare hands.

The pup is sprawled out on his stomach, his long spindly front legs awkwardly holding a plain bagel in place as he slowly gnaws on it, more for the sheer sake of chewing on it and not because he has any lingering hunger at this point.

Jonathan has already finished eating and has washed his hands free of any lingering bacon grease, though he had notably eaten the most out of the three of them, and by no small margin either.

As should be no surprise to anyone, no small amount of home fry crumbs have landed on the cursed patch of carpet. However, with the power of snoot, the dog resolved that issue quickly enough. Jonathan didn't even have a chance to get mad about it.

After coming up empty-handed twice in a row when blindly trying to grab the last bits of fried crispy potato, Lucas finally looks down and realizes the styrofoam container they were in is empty.

As he closes it, he considers tossing it at the garbage can like a Frisbee, but just before he makes good on that thought he remembers the fact that Jonathan just vacuumed.

'Hmm... He'd probably stab me if I made a mess right now?'

[Like you haven't already? ...Ahem, no point in antagonizing him either way. We both know you would miss.]

'Rude! Right, but rude!'

Managing to hide his stymied intentions, Lucas gathers up the food-related garbage that is still in the area and brings it to the garbage can in the kitchenette.

He even realizes he'd rather have clean hands before using his laptop while he's still in the vicinity of the sink.

Lucas lets his gaze idly wander while he's absentmindedly washing his hands. After a few seconds, he freezes his movements for a few heartbeats as his vision focuses on the serrated knife peacefully resting in the dish-drying rack.

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva while staring for a moment longer, he forces himself to look away.

'I had managed to forget about it... Wow, that feels like ages ago, but it hasn't really been all that long, has it?'

[It has only been roughly a day and a half at this point, not counting any time that was repeated via rollbacks. It really does seem much longer than that though, doesn't it?]

'Wait, I definitely didn't wash it and put it there, I guess Jon did?'

[You seem to be actively ignoring the other washed dishes next to it that were previously in the sink as well.]

'You could have just said yes.'

[…]

'Okay fine, it was a stupid question.'

[You said it, not me.]

Lucas heaves a sigh while drying his hands, pausing for a moment once again as he realizes he isn't anywhere near as bothered as he would have expected.

'Should I... Put it away somewhere?'

[Don't force yourself to touch it before you're ready.]

'...Yeah, you're right.'

He can't help glancing over at the blade once again, letting his gaze linger for a second longer before finally turning to head back to the living room. Once he turns around, however, he notices Jonathan standing in the doorway, watching him. He can't help jumping from being startled at the sudden discovery of an audience.

Once Lucas gets his bearings, he realizes Jonathan's expression is a soft mix of worry and contemplation.

"Um... Should I um, have left it..?" Before Jonathan is even done timidly asking this, Lucas has already started shaking his head no.

"No, no. It's fine. Thank you." While Lucas answers, he looks around to see if the pup is also watching, however, he seems to still be occupied with the bagel in the living room.

Seeing that the dog is distracted, Lucas makes eye contact with Jonathan for a moment and then looks down at his own stomach. He uses his thumb to mimic a jabbing motion into where the knife was inserted and then makes a dragging motion for the path it had been sliced across his abdomen.

Jonathan drags in a particularly large harsh breath, his eyes widening briefly before his face takes on a clear note of anger.

Lucas clears his throat to bring Jonathan's attention back upward and then winks once he has his attention.

"You should have seen the guy I got it from, though." Lucas has switched to a mischievous grin while saying this, Jonathan follows suit as he processes the implication.

[...Just because you completed the quest chain doesn't mean you should now encourage him back onto that path.]

'Yeah, yeah. But he deserves to know after seeing me like that. You know it wouldn't do me any good to try and lie about it.'

Trying to pull the subject back away from past bloodshed, Lucas clears his throat again as he goes to step past Jonathan towards the living room.

"Anyway, we should figure out what name we're going with before bothering to head over to register. Though uh, there's another name we should agree on even before that." As Lucas changes the subject, Jonathan cooperates immediately, his curiosity getting the best of him.

"Oh? Um, for what?" As Jonathan asks, Lucas has taken the few steps over and crouched down to gently scratch the top of the pupper's head with his fingertips.

"Hey buddy, is there a particular name you want us to call you that you'll tell Black Ash Snow to tell us?" As Lucas begins addressing the doggo, Jonathan puts two and two together before he had even finished asking.

Pausing in his bagel destruction, the pup looks up at Lucas while wagging his tail, thinking for a moment before barking twice.

"Ah, so should we come up with one ourselves?" Lucas can't help smiling at the prospect, and the mutt doesn't disappoint, barking once without any further hesitation.

'Heheh...'

[...I'm not used to imagery from you, even briefly like that was, what in the world was that?]

'Oh, you were able to see it? Was thinking of a cartoon I watched as a kid. A coyote that regularly tried to use his smarts to catch a really fast bird...'

[...Your previous world had strange entertainment.]

'Oh please, there has to be weirder stuff here than that. Hmm, I can't explain the thought process though so...'

"How about... Willy?" Lucas puts on a show of trying to look like he was thinking longer than he actually was, and he even seems to be largely successful.

Jonathan pauses a moment and nods, both humans now turning their attention down to the lounging pup.

His tail has noticeably intensified its pace, he lifts his head to point his snout upwards and gives a single, happy bark.

Lucas's satisfaction with the hearty approval received makes his joy override his amusement at the true source of the name he came up with.

[...As long as you're happy. If only you'd name the organization so easily.]

'You really couldn't just let me have a moment, could you?'

[Do you really need me to remind you how busy your itinerary is for the next several days?]

'Ugh, no...'

Dragging his feet for a few steps, Lucas collapses onto the patched-up sofa and pulls the laptop towards himself.

"All right, with that settled, back to work..." Lucas's reluctance is all too apparent while he slowly types in his PIN. Jonathan plops down next to him, groaning slightly as well.

At least Willy is still in high spirits as he climbs back up onto Jonathan's lap, abandoning the soggy half-eaten bagel in the middle of the living room floor.

-----

Lucas kills this chapter: 0

Lucas total kills: 6

Lucas deaths this chapter: 0

Lucas total deaths: 10

Lucas current GDV: 8.77 (-.01 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: 5

Jonathan deaths this chapter: 0

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 1.78

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, attention lingering on the bagel on the floor for several seconds before he can bring himself back to the task at hand: Right, uhh, where were we?

Even with how sluggish he is about it, Lucas is laughing at the list in short order.

Willy's high spirits from receiving a name from his new good friends completely outshine the reluctance of the others from needing to wrack their brains for a name for the organization.

427 is now researching children's cartoons, discovering that they aren't any more sensible than what Lucas described.

Author, chuckling to themself: Now I low-key want to figure out ridiculous cartoons with underdog villains overcoming the mean ol' heroes.

Mr. Quacks, thinking his name is far superior to a mere 'Willy': Quack!