2/4 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)22:11 No. 683694 ID: dd338c
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I go to the bar and text Arza that the pretend predator isn't coming by after all. As soon as I plop myself down on a barstool at the meeting place, sure enough, some drunk creep who can't hold his booze wants against me.

>"Hoh, shit, what's this booty doing all out by itself, unattended? Bartender, get this girl a martini! Me, too."

Some serious feeling neumono just entered the bar too, and he doesn't like this guy. I'm hardly in the mood for a bar fight, even if it's one that I get the bouncer involved in.

3/4 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)22:13 No. 683695 ID: dd338c
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Oh fuck. This is not going to be a fight at all! I get ready to speed dial the predator, but I don't think this monster is interested in me like this guy was.

4/4 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)22:15 No. 683696 ID: dd338c
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>"Hello, Roxie." Arza comes and sits at a barstool, while that neumono tells the creep to get out.
"Goddamn, your bodyguard scared the hell out of me. What does he eat?!"
>"Steroid meat with steroid seasoning. I'm mostly joking, but if Penn already has belenos competition, you can imagine the kind of bodyguards I need to have. Are you drunk?"
"This is serious, Arza."
>"I hope so. Tell me everything you've got."

There's no reason to hold back since he bothered to show up in person, especially not with that intimidating musclefort behind me. I tell him everything.

>"And that's all you know?"
"Yeah."
>"Thanks. And I like that you contacted me. It shows that you know when to get help, instead of trying to solve everything for Penn yourself. Do me a favor and just continue blocking all guys from advancing on Penn, if you will."
"What, is she going to die alone?"
>"Nope, but relationships other than neumono, they take time. Effort. It's different than what you do, and for Penn, it should wait until after her graduation."
"You've given me this lecture, Arza! This isn't about that."
>"Yes yes, you're absolutely right! And as I said, you did well to bring this problem to me. You don't need to worry about it anymore; I'll take care of that. You just take care of keeping Penn's studies going smoothly on a day to day scenario, I'll keep her studies going smoothly on a, well, more involved level like this. I'll spare you the usual lectures since, right now, I'm feeling that I made the right - no, let me reword that - I'm feeling like I'm glad that Penn was able to convince me to let you stay under the same roof as her."

>>683695
So terrifying you lost your stripes.
>>683696
Go see Penn and tell her what happened if you feel she can handle it.

>>683696
Hah, so, Penn liked you early on. Hmm. Ask Azra if he thinks neumono are animals.

With that solved, tell Arza if he wants to meet the guy you mentioned, he's right across the street.

Then maybe we can get back to it without worries.

Since Arza's not going to lecture, you might take the time to deliver a small lecture of your own, instead. That there's clearly been some hostility toward Penn in the past, and her getting out today helped flush it out and get it dealt with. With something this extreme, it wasn't good that it happened by accident, and fortunate that it worked out, but similar problems on the same level are going to happen again. Penn, just through her studies and work, interacts with people and develops relationships whether she tries to or not. Her preference for isolation gets her seen as snooty, increasing the chance of hostile relationships forming, like with her rivals, and those sorts of things need to be dealt with. Penn being a recluse means she isn't dealing with them, so they fester. She needs to socialize more, to learn to recognize when people have ulterior motives and are targeting her, and how to take care of it, as well as all the other reasons you've talked about to him in the past. It was your personal socializing, Roxie, that allowed you to uncover all this, and it's something Penn could never have done as she is now. It makes sense that dating is off the table, but Penn had fun roleplaying and puzzle-solving in a murder mystery attraction earlier, and you were thinking of maybe finding a group of people near the college who do that regularly, for her to hang out with. After her tests, of course. Ask Arza what he thinks.

As for what to do now, tell Arza you intend to wait until Penn's next battery of tests are over, then talk to her about all this. Until then, you'll just tell her Milo is Navanna's brother and that some other neumono let you know he's bad news. Hopefully, by the end of that time, you'll have come up with a way of telling her so she doesn't dwell on it.

I don't suppose there's much chance Arza's going to tell you how he's going to deal with this, is there?

>With that solved, tell Arza if he wants to meet the guy you mentioned, he's right across the street.
I doubt Arza would be willing to reveal himself in public, since he already had Roxie run across a street instead of going straight to where she already was, but even if I'm wrong, Predator's group might have moved or be intimidated by Steroido.

Well, at least Arza seems like less of a jerk in person.

Maybe "Thanks, I think." There are some good points in
>>683702
though I'm not totally sold on it.

Also, I'm unsure whether to tell Penn, or how much. She'd probably worry, and it'd mess up her studying. Maybe just steer her away from Milo, if she seems like she might go out with him, and only tell her "I was given evidence that he's up to bad things" if it seems necessary. Even then, maybe don't tell the details unless you have to.

Thanks. Rich brats with a grudge and more time than sense is more than I think I could fend off on my own.

>die alone
I'll keep fending off the creeps, Arza. If she takes an interest in someone not creepy though, or learning more social skills, I'm not gonna sabotage her. It wouldn't be right, and if she's gonna learn from relationship mistakes, it might as well be in school.

(Calling back to Penn's own impulse to maybe be more social, earlier tonight).

Odds are in your favor she'll keep her nose in her books for the duration, though.

Arza's being unusually helpful, I don't think we need a huge lecture for him.

Consider the possibility of hugging Arza

Show Arza the picture you took of Penn fake murdering Milo, and tell him about how you were proud of her for taking the initiative in social situations, even if it was just in a game.

>>683781
Oh, haha, yes.

She even had me fooled!

>>683784
Penn was pretty literally our first guess for a murderer, though.

>>683786
Yeah, but that's from the advantage of a meta-perspective Roxie herself lacked.

Roxie 2015/11/13(Fri)15:35 No. 683791 ID: dd338c
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>Consider the possibility of hugging Arza
Consideration denied. It would take more than just being cordial in person to get me to hug this guy. Also, that bodyguard behind him isn't helping.

"Well, thanks. I'll keep blocking creeps and stuff, but I'm not gonna sabatoge Penn if she wants to make decisions. She did well tonight, too! Here's a picture of her murdering Miles. I half imagined Penn could've been a murderer right away, but I didn't think it would actually happen!"
>"Ah." he says, completely barren of any surprise or care. "Let me tell you something. Penn has more capability for social events than you think she does. All you see in her is her reluctance towards it, similar to how a strong fighter doesn't like being competitive. You brought some of it out, and that's good on occasion. Let me make myself clear. It's fine if Penn goes out on occasion, even making more friends. It's relationships and excess social events that get in the way of her studies that I want you to prevent."
"Her studies barely let her see sunlight! And you know, it was going out tonight that revealed this plot."
>"Maybe, maybe not. Maybe Milo wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to see Penn if Penn hadn't left, or maybe this would have been a disaster after all."

Arza pauses a moment, thinking.

>"I don't think you could get her out of her studies without prying too hard, anyways. You're going to do what you want to do as you always do, so instead of telling you what to block and what you allow, I'll just ask you to watch out and prevent Penn from getting dragged into social obligations she doesn't want to be in. Do you understand?"
"Yeah."
>"Good."
"I have an odd question. Do you think of neumono as animals?"
>"That is an odd one. I don't think of you all as any more or less animal. But, depending on how you define 'animal', I also believe that kind of widespread categorizations is dubious. Neumono are neumono."
"Well, thanks for dealing with snotty brats. Care to tell me how you're going to deal with them?"
>"Have a talk with them, for starters, and see where that takes us."
"That's it?"
>"If we're lucky, that's all that's needed."
"Fine. By the way, the guy who found that audio clip is just down the street. Want to meet him?"
>"Thanks, but I'll pass. People like me, we shouldn't be seen in places like those."

He's more friendly in person, but something still bugs me about him. I doubt I'd call him out on his uptightness now, but even less now that that guy behind me is scrutinizing my empathy while keeping an eye out for things.

>I doubt I'd call him out on his uptightness now
Maybe we can tease him just a little.

So... nothing for Halloween, huh?

>>683791
You could ask why he wants to help Penn so much...

He is what he is and nothing from you will change that. Discovering this plot got you some points with him so leave it at that.

Let him know that you will keep a eye out and let him know about anything suspicious.

Roxie 2015/11/13(Fri)16:22 No. 683798 ID: dd338c
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"Why do you want to help Penn so much, anyway?"
>"There's a lot of scientific power in a lot of individuals, but the world around them makes it tough to let them bring it out. That, and her goals coincide well with my dreams, for a more selfish reason from an old man."
"Huh. So, nothing for halloween, huh?"
>"Nope."

....

"Well, that's it from me, then."
>"Alright. See you around."

I leave the bar. I guess I should think about what to tell Penn, exactly.

You can just tell her you found out Milo was Navanno's brother, so she should drop him like an old sock.

>I guess I should think about what to tell Penn, exactly.
Uh, just tell her later (not tonight) that you found out Milo is that jerk's brother, and you've heard what he's like. Sorry, but you're pretty sure he was trying to get her alone to be a jerk, not for nicer reasons.

I'd leave the threats against you and the fact you went to Arza out of it, for now. She'd just worry, a lot. And I think you can trust Arza to stop this before it escalates. He won't take chances where she's concerned.

>what do
So... is it time to head home yet, or do we keep playing the predator tribe game a little longer?

Just tell her the truth. Some jealous college kids with a chip on there shoulders are trying to start crap. Probably were responsible for her notes and usb drive going missing. But you let Arza know and he will talk with them.

Roxie 2015/11/13(Fri)16:45 No. 683804 ID: dd338c
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I just text Penn that Milo is Navanna's brother, and she should drop any plans with him.

The response is "ok." If she pries more later, I may spill more, but hopefully by the time I do it'll be past the point where Penn would worry about it.

I head back to the party.

>"Hey. That was quick."
"Meetings with my guy usually are."
>"You seem a little frazzled."
"It's just been an unusual night."
>"No doubt."

My plan is to get back into partying with the predator hive, participate in the fight even if my confidence was shot after that murder fiasco. This weekend, I'll call up Yule and the hot dog salesman. Probably check if the murdergirl is worth hanging out with too. It all comes around and second to making sure Penn's got what she needs anyway.

Barring any forgotten or proposed activities that need involved decision making, this will be the last set of suggestions.

Looks like you got your bases covered. Stay alive, Roxie.

Well, there's one more puzzle: discovering the identity of the mysterious predator mask. Plus, you did say you'd do him a favour for this, and considering what was uncovered, it looks like it'd deserve to be a pretty big one. He kinda might have saved your life, potentially. Let him know how important this was and how grateful you are.

>I'll call up Yule and the hot dog salesman
Prooooobably not at the same time.

>Yule
That's Cris, Kirtar.

>what else do
Maybe the predator hive could crash that nerd party you considered bringing Penn to before? Could be fun to harass them a little before running off.

Oh, and there was your other friend who invited you to get high at her party, and was actually reasonable about you blowing them off, if you can fit that in. Mind be a good wind-down.

(And of course, you're gonna have to tuck Penn into bed when you get home at 3am, and find her passed out at her desk in a pile of books, making up for lost study time).

Make sure you don't forget that hot dog

>>683804
Oh! Don't forget to ask around later, find out who actually killed Trimble (or if he'd faked his death and set a trap) and who won the murder mystery game.

>>683809
Oh and also keep in mind the hot dog guy I can totes see that relationship going places.

And those places are free hot dogs.

Oh, get in touch with that buff hive! They seemed like they could be friendly fun guys. Plus, if they help run that murder house, maybe they know some game nerds Penn could make friends and have fun with!

Man that girl is smashed.

Just make sure to get the contact info of anyone who seems like you would want to hang out with later and go have a blast and relax.

Say, thinking about what Arza said back there... he seems like he has a cynical view of social skill, like it's just something practical. If belenosian science is as competitive as it seems to be, with all this going on, and he's been in that pressure cooker for most of his life, it's likely he's developed a view like that. And that a lot other people that Penn will be interacting with, through her career, will have as well.

Manipulation, deception, alliance towards a profitable purpose, all that political, scientific thinking about interpersonal relationships... it's a useful skill, sure. And I can believe Penn has a handle on it. But, that kind of thinking can be poisonous. Let it go on too long, you become detached, callous, stop caring about things that you should. And you won't be happy, either. It might not be something you'd think of, Roxie, since for neumono, you can always tell what each other's real feelings are. But for other species, it's something to be concerned with.

Arza hasn't concerned himself with it, and I don't think he's happy. Next time you have time for a little heart-to-heart with Penn, maybe you should mention this sort of thing to her. That she needs to keep a space for real feelings in her weird single heart, especially after she's gone out to follow Arza into his field. Make sure she's not going to go down the same road as her predecessor.

1/9 Roxie 2015/11/13(Fri)20:47 No. 683851 ID: dd338c
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The party goes pretty well. I finish the hot dog, even if it got cold. Bringing booze might've been a bad decision, cause once they got a taste, the predator's hive got pretty smashed by the end of it. We'd almost call it a night if the final fight was 15 minutes later than it actually was.

2/9 Roxie 2015/11/13(Fri)20:47 No. 683852 ID: dd338c
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We're not the only ones who show up drunk, though. I'm so out of it that I only barely process the rules. All I know is that before I know it, a giant pile of neumono start grappling one another while drunk and half naked. It doesn't take long for some girl to start 'struggling' to keep a hold on some guy, and some other guy to 'accidentally grab some girl's clothing' before we know that things are going to shift away from fighting pretty quickly.

It was a good thing that we chose a far away location for a fight, but part of me also has a feeling that the predators knew this was going to happen.

3/9 Roxie 2015/11/13(Fri)20:47 No. 683853 ID: dd338c
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The predator fight goes well, but no one is declared a winner. Goodbyes are said, and I make my way home. I look up the murder event, and find out that the winner of the murderhouse was 3 survivors. Two neumono and a pomi of all things. Apparently it was found out that Trimble faked his own death, and was just gathering up everyone to be killed themselves. Sorta like we were finding out up until we got punked out.

>Get high at that one party
Eh, I didn't like how she got all weird about being rejected. Wasn't that bad a blowoff, but it could've been better.

I stop off at home, and Penn is passed out in her room on the shelf. I've got to tuck her in. That's the only time I can touch her.

4/9 Roxie 2015/11/13(Fri)20:47 No. 683854 ID: dd338c
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Penn hits the books hard, and I basically just leave food ready for consumption in the kitchen while I leave her alone.

I call Yule, and he's pretty cool to hang out with.

By the end of the night, I get used to calling him by Cris, his real name.

5/9 Roxie 2015/11/13(Fri)20:56 No. 683861 ID: dd338c
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The next day I spend cleaning up the apartment and calling the hot dog stand salesman in the morning. He's busy with work until 8 PM, but stutters out saying that I can stay at his place to wait, that there's a roommate that he'll call to let me inside.

Then he gasps, apologizes half a dozen times, and hangs up saying he'd like to hang out someday without messing up his words.

So I go to the buffhive house and play some laser tag around noon. I joke around saying I should be able to get prisoners of war.

They joke back.

Then it goes places. Places like the back room.

6/9 Roxie 2015/11/13(Fri)20:57 No. 683862 ID: dd338c
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Around 7:30 and after stopping at the apartment to make dinner for Penn and get cleaned up, I go to the hotdog salesman's place without calling him back.

Hotdogman didn't call his roommate, but I get let in anyways. I wait on the salesman's bed, and I will, for a very long time, remember his feelings of excited fear as he walked closer and closer to me, realizing where I was and what I was thinking until he finally got to open his door and confirm it.

He stammers out some concepts of me making myself at home, while he rushes off and cooks us dinner in bed. And it's damn delicious, and we spent an hour in enough sexual tension to get every neumono in range mentally screaming at the guy to just do me already. He finally loses it and jumps me.

His name turns out to be Cogsvi, but I'm going to have a difficult time not thinking of him as the hot dog man.

I go hard on weekends, but this is still harder than I've gone in awhile. I'm probably going to take it easy on the guys for awhile, now, but I got lucky this time around. Sometimes guys seem less cool to chill with after laying with, but I can see myself having a clean time with every guy I stuck with this weekend.

7/9 Roxie 2015/11/13(Fri)20:57 No. 683863 ID: dd338c
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That's a convenient time as any for classes to come back the next day. Penn tells me that apparently Milo and Navanna both transferred to a new school, only giving a short notice but no final appearance. She asks if I did anything extreme, but I let her know that I didn't.

Arza, though. I don't have the heart to make Penn wonder the same about Arza. I wonder instead. Transferring schools mid semester isn't something that happens easily, and it wasn't even necessary.

Academia is apparently ruthless with belenosians. Once I collect my thoughts on it, I'm going to try to have a talk about Penn about having social skills to be a cool person, not to manipulate people into getting what she wants.

But the more I think about it, the less I think that Penn needs that talk.

8/9 Roxie 2015/11/13(Fri)20:57 No. 683864 ID: dd338c
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I call up the murdergirl, who claims her real name is Vivian. Or at least, Vivian in the same way that mine is Roxie instead of Rak.

She is not as chill to hang out with, but that's not why I called her up. I feel like I've gotten weak in the last few years, and I've still got enough tribal in me to care about it, so I start taking lessons with her hive. It's a mix of modern martial arts mixed with the ancient tribal teachings of beating the shit out of each other until we learn from it.

But now I have a good excuse to give Penn when I come home all beat up. It's a tough course though. Most of the class is made up of redgrass and snow neumono. If these ones were modern, they'd probably tell me to take a lesser class. These neumono aren't modern, though, and they like the excuse to beat me up. Even if jungle and cerulean neumono classes are legit, fighting opponents bigger than me is my weakness.

It's mostly just for my own sake and for home visits that I keep my fighting up, though. I doubt I'd need it for Penn, since the only dangers she gets into are desperate college boys and academic schemes. If Navanna really was planning on getting rid of me, though, then that's a pretty good reason to look out for myself.

Whatever the case, I'd still go way out of my way to help Penn out. It's way too corny to think things like 'I'm almost the entirety of her social life, it's up to me to do my best!' and 'I've got to protect that smile!'

But, I end up making a promise to myself and her, even if I only say it to myself.

Penn & Roxie Halloween Special END Roxie 2015/11/13(Fri)20:58 No. 683865 ID: dd338c
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If Penn ever gets in trouble, I'll come rescue her, no matter what.

Good luck, Roxie.

(And remember that neumono hug doll idea for christmas!)

>>683852
A fight cum orgy.

>Transferring schools mid semester
They're so dead. Or worse.

>>683865
Not ominous at all.

Yaaaaaaaay, good quest

196 images and 33,397 words in like 16 days. Lagotrope, you are crazy, and we love you.

>>683876
>Lagotrope, you are crazy, and we love you.
yes we do

>33,397 words in like 16 days
Huh. That's two thirds of the way to the NaNoWriMo goal, and in only half a month. (Probably over the goal, if we assume some reasonable weighting for images counting as words).

Bonus 1/2 Roxie 2015/11/14(Sat)15:52 No. 683986 ID: dd338c
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5 Days Later

Damnit! I forgot to thank that predator guy! I lost track of him after the big fight, and forgot to call to at least thank him for everything.

Bonus 2/2 Roxie 2015/11/14(Sat)15:52 No. 683987 ID: dd338c
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Ring.

"We're sorry. The number you have called is no longer in service."

..... huh.

dun dun......duuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnnnn!

At least you have Hot Dog Guy's apartment and phone number. Start dating.