Chapter 174 - Unspoken Rivalry

Lucas slaps his hands against each other a few times to knock any residual dusty bits off of them, then goes to finally start following the patiently waiting bot.

“Heh, anywho, catch ya guys in a bit.” Lucas drops this as he goes to leave, taking one step before Jonathan glances up at him, then the chair he’s leaving behind.

“Um, y-your jacket..?” When Jonathan asks this, Lucas stops and spins in place, bending over to reach out and grab his suit jacket off the back of the chair, then casually draping it over his left arm.

“Right, I should keep the suit together. Totally didn’t just forget about it.” Lucas totally forgot about it, and he didn’t convince anyone of anything otherwise.

Jonathan merely rolls his eyes and pulls out his phone, settling in for a new gaming session to pass the time.

As Miss Masher similarly heads over to follow the guiding service bot, she makes a point of shoulder-checking Lucas, just hard enough to make him stumble a little bit.

“Yer lucky we already trust ya a bit. That was pretty ballsy of ya.” Between how much Miss Masher lowers her voice and the distance they are from the lounge by this point, Lucas is the only one who can hear her.

“Hey! Eh? Whaddya mean?” Lucas shoots her a brief glare as he recovers from the forcibly induced walking fumble, though he also keeps his voice down like she did. After his exclamation, at least.

“Pfft, ya can’t really be that dumb, you know why.” Au contraire Miss Masher, he really didn’t know. He’s finally making some speculations as to why though, at least.

“...This about touchin’ Mary’s hair? It’s not like I tried to cop a feel or anything, sheesh. Hell, I bet Maria would be more cooperative, if that was what I was after, anywho.” As if Lucas wasn’t already blindly wandering in such wildly hazardous territory, he glances over and manages to make things a bit worse. “An’ besides, you’ve got way more, too. Just how much of those are pecs? Like, damn. Yer second only to Nat, sheesh.”

“Yeah, yeah, very funny. Try an’ find out, an’ yer gonna lose that hand. I don’t gotta be strong enough to get through yer endurance, ya know, just strong enough to hold ya in place while one of them cuts ya.” Miss Masher made a derisive snort before saying this, but her tone when making the idle threat is rather amused.

No matter how dumb he is, Lucas does understand that it could happen, with the thought of the prospect sending an ominous chill down his spine.

Meanwhile, back over by the rest of the group, Mark had walked over to claim a not-insignificant portion of a small couch next to the other side of Lucas’s ex-chair, opposite from Jonathan’s side. At least him being conscious of the fact he’s wearing a dress keeps him from outright man-spreading across the majority of it.

23 had watched Lucas leave, then turned its attention over towards Miss Calculated.

“Rather than waiting with the rest of you, shall I go aid in the prep work?” While 23 is pretty clearly asking for Miss Calculated’s approval first and foremost, it does also look over at Jonathan.

Jonathan is, unsurprisingly, fully engaged with his latest gaming venture on his phone. He had at least first dropped the cushion that was resting against the back of his padded armchair onto the ground nearby for Willy before getting started.

Before long, Willy has transformed from a scrawny longboi into a doggy donut on the aforementioned cushion, using his chew toys as a pillow as he drowses lightly.

Miss Calculated’s contemplative look in the direction Lucas left in clears up when she realizes 23 is asking her, specifically, and she turns to look at it.

“Yes, you might as well, as you are far less bothered by prolonged exposure to the excessive airborne particulate matter than we are. I can’t say I’m particularly thrilled about the prospects of Marsha and Lucas exerting themselves in that kind of environment, even with masks… Though, I suppose, even if we made them wait until after it all settles down, most of it will just get kicked up again from them working, anyway. I’ll just have to insist that they don’t work at it for too long, as they can simply finish it later. Ah, is there a keyfob you can use, or..?” Before Miss Calculated even completely finishes asking her question, Jonathan’s keyfob has already suddenly appeared on the armrest of his chair.

“Y-you can use mine, f-for now.” Outwardly, it hadn’t seemed like Jonathan was paying any attention, but clearly, he has been. Shortly after his offer, 23 reaches over and picks up the keyfob, simultaneously reaching over to hand Mark’s phone to Mikah, along with Mark and Miss Calculated’s cloth masks.

“Very well, I shall see you anon.” After saying this, 23 starts heading towards the elevator. It pauses briefly to communicate something with the nearest service bot, which turns and leaves the area, then continues its journey to the 13th floor.

Mikah has had a thoughtful expression for a little while, and then his face lights up as if he suddenly remembered something.

“Oh, right! Mark, I brought Erik up to speed on our various plans from earlier, he’s crunching the numbers as we speak. He even offered to handle coordinating things with Liam once we have the exact figures and a potential timeline laid out. He seemed to have pretty high hopes that we should be able to pool a decent amount of capital together, too. Yes, Mary, it’s fine, it’s not like we’re throwing exact numbers around. And, even if we were, you are technically a part of it all, anyway.” While saying this, Mikah walked over to claim what little remained of the couch that was still un-Marked. He was already more or less settled in place before suddenly turning to address Miss Calculated, turning his attention back towards Mark once he’s done speaking to her.

Miss Calculated has been standing nearby, more or less in the same position as earlier, quietly speaking with Miss Chievous in an argot known only to the sisterhood.

If you hadn’t already assumed that such a prevalent trickster and her genius twin have their own custom secret language so that they can covertly communicate in public, then Willy is disappointed in you. Of course, Miss Masher knows it too, but she is far too… direct to bother using it, most of the time.

Upon Miss Calculated receiving verbal conversational consent from Mikah, her attention shifts over towards the Mark-dominated divan, its decidedly fully occupied state, and then over to the large, empty, plush armchair next to it.

Noticing Miss Calculated’s line of sight, Miss Chievous elbows her while wearing a sly grin, saying something outwardly nonsensical, ultimately gaining a dirty glare from Miss Calculated in return.

Miss Calculated replies with something equally nonsensical, yet even still, it is rather obviously insulting, given her tone and the way Miss Chievous cackles as a response. Afterward, Miss Calculated goes over and sits down, facing Mark and Mikah once she settles in.

Mark has had a thoughtful look ever since Mikah gave him his update. Whilst thinking, he’s been occasionally picking dust bunnies off of his lap, plucking them out from between the sequins of his dress. While Miss Calculated had been making her way over towards her selected seat, he began to speak up.

“Hmm, if Erik already has high hopes… We’re probably going to be able to get everything started rather soon, then. Ah, Liam is probably going to have a grand time with this, I wouldn’t be surprised if he reaches out to every single person whose likeness was used for the existing toy line. It wouldn’t even be surprising if he even goes so far as to actually get permission to use them for our designs while he’s at it, too.” Mark’s usual resting bitch face is a bit softer than usual while he is saying this. Also, over the course of speaking, he’s removed three dust bunnies, rolled them together into a small dense wad, and then flicked it away using his thumb and index finger.

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Lucas total kills: 7

Lucas total deaths: 11

Lucas total assists: 1

Lucas current GDV: 17.35 (-.01 net change)

Lucas's fame level: 5.0* (Already beginning to receive authentic global attention. His local levels are effectively maxed.)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 2.5* (More than just passing suspicion for many paranoid individuals, numerous people have realized he's an impulsive idiot.)

Jonathan total kills: 7

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 6.04 (+.01 net change)

Jonathan's fame level: 2.75* (What fame he does have is predominantly local.)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 3.0* (More than just overly-paranoid people are suspicious at this point.)

Willy's fame level: 1.5* (Anonymous meme fame, local fame primarily as 'Xenoclast's dog', but some strangers know him as William/Willy now.)

Supervillain social circle size: 15

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Little character theater:

Jonathan’s latest game is a falling 3 tile match 3 color game, which is now starting to pick up its pace. Hardly anything necessitating any application of his powers, so far, though.

Willy, busy pupping it up on the plush pillow: Zzz...

Lucas is already unbuttoning his shirt before actually making it to his changing room, starting the process once Miss Masher was guided to her own room by the bot before him: ‘Okay, I can just claim her lead is because she got into her room before I got to mine, I can win this!’

427, replicating a soft sigh once they’re a comfortable distance away from Mikah: [Win what? No one declared any sort of contest, you’re just imagining it!]

Author, openly laughing: Because rivals don’t have to announce the start of an obvious potential competition! Mash is totally racing him to get changed first, too! She knew exactly what Lucas was thinking as soon as she saw that he already undid his tie!

Mr. Quacks, checking and confirming that Miss Masher nearly ripped her tank by yanking it off overhead as fast as possible before the door to her changing room was even 100% shut: Quack...?