No mercy. Tribals don't understand the concept!

Ok you have to get him so worked up with your sensual display of meat handling that he is willing to close up his stall for a bit to have fun with you.

If he is hesitant bring up the fact that if he does not do kinky stuff to you then who will?

Maybe the predator group can help out.

1/4 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)16:32 No. 683591 ID: dd338c
File 144737472308.png - (193.78KB , 800x800 , 165.png )

I manage to get the message across that doing the first part will be fine. He's overly careful, but steady as he pushes the hotdog forward. There's a few audible gasps and several mental ones when things get into and beyond the gag zone, including the salesman himself.

If someone took a picture now, it would get around looking pretty lewd, but I've been called a shameless barbarian in the past, and it's basically true. I'd be just as likely to show a picture like this off as I would be to hide it. I simply don't get the weirdly negative connotations of stuff like this. There's a good collection of more raunchy pictures floating around anyway, both of me, and others with similar mindsets.

After he uses the meat stick to fool around with my mouth, the whole hot dog is cleaned off, and I take a normal bite out of it. I wasn't lying when I said I was still hungry, and it took some willpower not to bite earlier.

"Predator, is it too much if I let him clean me off?"
>"You're putting booze in our livers and thoughts in our minds, new girl, but I'd feel bad if the hot dog man didn't get a taste himself. Go over the counter and get cleaned up. Exchange numbers for another night. The rest of us will just watch."

There's a brief thought to kidnap the poor guy, but the consensus on that leans to various forms of 'nope' and 'nah'.

2/4 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)16:33 No. 683592 ID: dd338c
File 144737482106.png - (124.64KB , 800x800 , 166.png )

I hop into the stand.

oh my god is this happening and is this okay

It's happening, I broadcast, and I let him at me and my bandages on the romantic setting known as the concrete floor.

those are boobs

>"Bark." the predator says as someone enters after a moment. I'm excluded, and wait for them to chase off the potential customer.
>"BAK BAK BAK BAK BAK"
>"ARK ARK ARK ARK ARK"
>"RAK RAK RAK RAK RAK"

Wait a second. The new person isn't leaving.

3/4 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)16:34 No. 683594 ID: dd338c
File 144737486773.png - (80.31KB , 800x800 , 167.png )

>"WOF WOF WOF WOF WOF WOF WOF"
>"BAF BAF BAF BAF BAF BAF BAF"
>"BAK BAK BAK BAK BAK BAK BAK"
>"WOF WOF wof wof wof? wof?"

An insurmountable source of hot dog powered determination is powerwalking closer.

I start to get up, but when the salesman realizes I'm getting up for his sake and not because I actually want him to stop, he pushes me back down.

no no no I'm hurrying up let me finish please

Sheesh, this guy really wanted to get at me.

THIS IS THE HIGH POINT OF MY HOT DOG CAREER

The power walking neumono is realizing something is going on, with the way that salesman is cleaning up my neck and lower, I'm not able to broadcast anything but what it is.

IT'S ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE

>"Raf raf raf -"
>"Stop barking." the predator orders.

4/4 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)16:35 No. 683595 ID: dd338c
File 144737491788.png - (130.83KB , 800x800 , 168.png )

>"I'll have one hot dog. Half pork, quarter leaper, quarter chicken. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, raked through, with easy jauan sauce on the air, with light dogfairy dust." the newcomer says.
>"Never in my life have I seen such intense desire towards retrieving a hot dog." says the predator, while the salesman clambers back off of me. "I like it. Your hot dog's on me. New girl, get back over the counter."

OH <mental expletive> IT'S <person of extreme hot dog importance>

>"HELLO WELCOME to Hot Dog Stand home of hot dog and you got it coming right up." says the hotdog salesman.

ignore any and all impulses to mess with the shopkeeper

>>683595
Get your clothes on and out of his way, this is SERIOUS HOT DOG BUSINESS and you cannot distract him.

That is one fancy hot dog. Well get yourself put back into costume and get out of the way of the guy so he can make a masterpiece.

Cheer him on from the sidelines if need be.

Then see how important hot dog customer rates things.

And give him your number and let him know if he wants to get to the second half of what he was thinking about to track you down after work.

I assume predator didn't mean to literally get back over the counter, because that would mean muscling past these two awkwardly. Grab your bandages, wrap hastily and slip out the actual exit. This guy's extreme focus will only last as long as it takes to receive his hot dog. Also, grab a napkin and scrawl your contact details on it. Let the guy see you did actually still have your loincloth still on, and that what was going on wasn't much more than particularly intense making out.

You could also give him a boost of confidence by empathically commentating on how good your own hot dog was.

Um. Not sure there's much to do but stay out of the stall tender's way. You could try to help, but your inexperience probably isn't a good thing if this is a demanding hot dog expert. And this guy is focused enough you can't really help by being eye candy, either.

Maybe just the leave the unspoken empathy open that if you can help, or he needs you to do anything, you were ordered to let him do what he wants with you.

Talking to the customer probably wouldn't help, and you can't without the predator saying so, anyways.

Yeah, not much to do other than empathize that you can help if wanted.

1/2 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)18:04 No. 683623 ID: dd338c
File 144738027684.png - (153.91KB , 800x800 , 169.png )

The shopkeeper needs the spot I'm in, so I have to get up with a bare minimum of bandages to get out of the way. It's pretty clear that the only help I'd be here is eye candy, and this customer isn't here for that. I write my contact info on a napkin for the shopkeeper, before I forget.

Meanwhile, the customer barely notices my existence over the hotdog, and I bet he wouldn't care if I wasn't wearing my loincloth.

2/2 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)18:04 No. 683624 ID: dd338c
File 144738028326.png - (190.12KB , 800x800 , 170.png )

I hop the counter opposite from the busy end. The shopkeep tries his best to ignore me, and is only partially successful. I'll ask how it went later, since sticking around for longer than necessary is only going to make things worse. Plus, I want to eat that hot dog now.

>"Well, that was fun, if a little weird at the end. Didn't want to back down from teasing him, did you?" the predator asks.
"I didn't, but I didn't expect him to tease back in the first place!"
>"You never know where opponents may lie. But that's half the fun. Now, since you've shown yourself fast to get intimate with each other, I'd like to pry your thoughts. What was on your mind earlier, that you didn't want to bring up?"
"Eh? Oh, just some drama shit. I saw some bitch earlier today, it's no big deal."

I say that, but now half the group is curious.

"Just some belenos with a hate for neumono. Wants to say we're unfit for society or something!"

One girl in the group knows exactly who I'm talking about.
>"That's gotta be Navanna. She's notorious in some parts of the campus, for, well, just being awful to neumono. I don't think her family's much better, either! I see them around sometimes. In fact, I think I saw her brother enter some murder mystery house earlier, probably to pretend to murder as many neumono as he could."

>>683624
Oh, that would be the guy that hated neumono, both in character and out. Say you capped him yourself. ...though, confirm it's who you think it is.

Her brother eh? Remember what his name was or what he looked like?

Cause if its who I think it is then he has Penn's contact info now and we will have to be on the lookout for him.

Might want to text Penn to watch out for him if it turns out that was her brother.

"I took part in that! Maybe I met him. What horn shapes does he have? Anyway, the only reason I even thought of bringing it up is to get the word spread about her, she pulls manipulative stuff to try get neumono riled up and act the way she wants other people to see from us. Would have gotten me with it if it wasn't for a buddy of mine."

Huh, I was in that game, and I didn't notice him making any trouble.

...he's not Milo, is he?

Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)18:24 No. 683634 ID: dd338c
File 144738146915.png - (183.68KB , 800x800 , 171.png )

"Wait a second. I only brought her up since he's manipulative as hell, but I was in a murder mystery house. Know anything about that brother? Name, horns?"
>"Yeah, his name is Milo. Two sets of upper horns."

Fucking hell.

>"Whoa, I can tell why you hid that. Sounds important." says the predator." But we're obviously not into that family either, so you can speak to us. Tell us what you know of the guy, new girl."

He's actually showing some legitimate concern.

"During the murder mystery, he was hitting on my roommate, Penn. She's a belenos as well, she actually stopped me making an idiot of myself with Navanna earlier. Thing is, she's sweet but a super nerd, and it seems like there's a fucking conspiracy or something against her from some people she's been showing up in classes. Had her notes stolen and hidden by someone, and someone stole a disk off her sometime earlier today, too. I don't know if Navanna is in on that, but she's definitely one of the ones with a grudge on Penn, since she started off pestering her when I met her earlier, before switching to me. I might just be paranoid, but it seems pretty damn suspicious now that her brother was trying to get Penn alone. I mean, they were alone during the murder mystery, but then I found out later there were cameras all over in there, and he might have known."

>>683634
He was on his cellphone at the start, giving your roommate a good stare, kept trying to get time alone with her, then asked her out on a date after the game. Explain that your roommate has bad history with Navanna, so you're thinking this is some plot. Milo is likely trying to get close to Penn so he can sabotage her coursework.

Time to text Penn and let her know who Milo really is. Strongly recommend that she try someone else if she still wants to go out on a date with someone. Like, maybe that guy she talked to at the spook house? With the bats?

Or, an alternative is she can go ahead with the date, but make it a trap. Let him steal her "notes" but have a tracker on them so we can prove he stole them. Or hell, just have him stopped at the exit or something so we can catch him red handed.

>Tell us what you know of the guy, new girl.
Not much. Just that he showed waaay too much interest in my belenos buddy. And that the sister sees her as an academic rival or something. If he's got his sister's attitude he hid it, all I got was frustration over not leaving him alone with her.

I was thinking he was just being a skeevy guy, but now I'm hopping he didn't have an ulterior motive. And that even if it was, it doesn't matter since we blew him off.

...I look out for her, you know? She's too big a nerd to always be able to deal with the real world.

>>683637
I'm not sure we should contact Penn and give her anything to worry about this minute unless we can offer anything that will help.

Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)19:05 No. 683641 ID: dd338c
File 144738392731.png - (92.53KB , 800x800 , 172.png )

I'll wait to contact Penn. I know for sure that Penn's not going to be doing anything but studying tonight, so I'll learn more about Milo first.

"I've got a belenos roommate, and she's somehow made an enemy out of Navanno, just because my roomate is way smarter in the same class."
>"Sounds like belenos."
"Anyways, my roommate, Penn, and I were in that murder house, and the whole time, Milo focusing on her. Staring at her while on his cell phone, trying to get her alone, going on dates with her, the whole damn thing."
>"The brother of Navanno, your roommate's enemy."
"Yeah. Didn't think of it till it turned out they were siblings. I brushed him off cause Penn is a huge nerd who studies all the time, and I brushed him off for her.... I think. But now it's way too damn fishy, and Penn's..."
>"How's Penn?"
"Eh? She's a good person. Nerdy, shy, but real... well, when I was assigned to her for uplifting, I thought what any tribal would think. Just, 'hey, I gotta do this for my hive, so I'll tolerate this alien.' But she grew on me, go figure. She's got some weird ideas about neumono, but she also recognizes some bullshit from her own culture, and she insists she'd rather be here than back at belenos IV."
>"You like her that much, huh?"
"Haha, sheesh, I haven't thought about it that much. I mean, I'm in a weird situation, and I'm sort of obligated to help clean up after her, but... I didn't even think about it when I started intercepting creeps going at her or blocking her from social situations that would mess herself up. I'm not obligated to do that at all, but one day, I realized that I like her personality, and it's a personality that I don't think can survive the outside world for long. So I want to preserve it." Geez, that is cheesy to say.
>".... alright, you got me. It was nice having a real tribal let loose in our party," the predator says, which everyone slowly gathered I was a legitimate tribal after awhile, "but I've got a sweet spot for tribals who care about aliens. Which means I care about your roommate's safety. I'm going to have this Milo person looked into."
"What?"
>"Don't get cold feet. Don't worry, I won't do anything extreme, or anything that'll get linked back to you. Remember, this is someone that wants neumono out of the picture. No neumono here is gonna be your enemy about it. Not that you guys are gonna be the ones doing anything. I'll set everything up."

It's true, everyone here is either backing him and me up on this, or at least not wanting to get in our way.

>>683641
Tell him you're grateful for the assist, and you'd like to keep in touch. We gonna keep going with the predator hive thing?

I wonder just how much networking Roxie does? She could turn out to be a powerful neumono in the future.

Thanks a bunch. Will be a load off my mind to not be the only one watching out for her. Will have to exchange contact info and hang out sometime after all of this.

Well I don't want to ruin the mood with all this crap with bullies angry about grade averages. Where are we headed next?

Aw, shucks, thanks. I mean, it's probably blowing some stupid school thing out of proportion, but thanks.

Okay, okay, enough sappy stuff! We're supposed to be having fun. What's next on the agenda, boss-man?

"Well, alright, but I'll owe you a favor for it, or I'll feel bad. So, since you seem to have some experience with this sort of thing, maybe you can tell me what I should be doing to help out. I was just thinking of sending Penn a message telling her about the family connection and to be on her guard, but if there's going to be an investigation, I can be more use than that. I got a lot of detective practice in finding her study notes that some douche stole from her and hid... but, I'm thinking maybe you're talking about something less amateur."

>>683641
Something about that mask and this night.
Something about it seems... wrong.
Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but now I'm scared of this friendly predator masked man. Like he should be out of some legend or horror story.

1/3 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)20:06 No. 683657 ID: dd338c
File 144738756543.png - (297.76KB , 800x800 , 173.png )

"I'd be grateful, actually. We are gonna keep on going with the predator stuff, right?"
>"Of course."
"Good. I'll owe you, even if I'm just paranoid over some dumb school thing. I only have a bit of detective practice finding lost notes, nothing like this."

And so we do. The predator makes a few calls, and we start hopping bars, clubs, parties and so on, terrorizing the poor neumono. We pick up a few more people on the way. I may have let loose a bit too hard, but I haven't drank enough to completely lose myself.

2/3 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)20:06 No. 683658 ID: dd338c
File 144738757468.png - (127.23KB , 800x800 , 174.png )

Especially not when the predator calls me back over.

>"Don't need to explain much. I got an audio clip of him talking on his phone."

He's got more concern, but it's lost in the huge crowd. With this many neumono around, there's going to be someone having a bad time. It takes some getting used to, but it's easy to ignore after awhile when 95% of everyone is having a good time. I think there's some tribal girl getting depressingly homesick in the back, and there's some guy getting real mad at a girl, for example, but without anything anyone can do about it, we usually just ignore the feelings that have nothing to do with us.

3/3 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)20:06 No. 683659 ID: dd338c
File 144738759384.png - (90.36KB , 800x800 , 175.png )

I get pulled off to the side, in a more quiet place.

>"-eah. There's a chance, but that green slut has basically become Penn's fur coat. She have any dirty laundry? Yes, I'm aware she's a tribal, and they have to have a lot of dirty laundry before anything is done... look, if you want to make her disappear, it wouldn't be the first time a tribal went up and missing, but that's a little extreme, don't you think? We can just relocate her. Yeah, yeah, I'll still try to get involved with Penn in the first place, I'm just saying, the neumono is weirdly protective of her, but there's a chance that won't matter. You'll have to be patient though, Penn's the sort of girl that's made herself closed off, but if I can get inside, I can basically get anything from her. Yeah. Okay, I'll try that, you look into Penn and Roxie's history, I'll get involved with the former, you see if we can't remove the latter."

Definitely Milo's voice.

That sounds like they are going to escalate this more than I thought.

I don't want to spend the rest of my college life watching over Penn and worrying about getting stabbed in the back or blackmailed.

Any idea what I should do? I could talk to Penn's patron but he is never around and busy 24/7 anyways.

Most importantly I do not want to have Penn worrying about this stuff. She has enough to deal with trying to ace all her tests.

Shit.

I assume you've got this recorded. Can we link it up firmly, prove he said it? That's some real ominous stuff. First thought is to call the cops, but with what he's alluding to, maybe someone will want this as a lead to a deeper investigation. I'd also want to tell Penn, but, she doesn't need this on her mind for the next few days, and a change in her habits could give it away and impede said investigation. But, we ended up getting this in what might be a shady way, that might not hold up in court. On the other hand, these would be courts in the same government that Az is part of, so...

You've obviously got contacts, predator guy. Are they the kind of contacts that mean this can get to someone official?

So who's likely to care if they die?

Dang, dude. Your friends work fast. (Makes me wonder if he's connected to something official, and got a wiretap).

>eliminate her or relocate
Okay, I think you can officially hate them now. Those are serious threats. Too bad they're unsubstantiated and this evidence comes from an unknown source.

I think at the very least we should later tell Penn who he's related too, and that they're not up to anything nice.

>what do
...I don't think there's anything you can do in this minute, but only an idiot waits till see what an enemy is going to do to them. Now that you know, you have an advantage, and you're gonna have to act on it somehow. Strike first.

Might mean out-maneuvering / pranking them. Might mean getting enough evidence to get them in serious trouble before they can spring any trap. Might mean beating the stuffing out of them.

...thanks, boss-man. This is more serious than I thought.

Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)20:46 No. 683666 ID: dd338c
File 144738997803.png - (118.74KB , 800x800 , 176.png )

>So who's likely to care if they die?
Probably someone. From what I'm gathering now, they're still a pretty important family even if much of their fortune was ruined.

"That's way worse than I thought! Do you have con - I mean, do your contacts have a way of getting this to someone official?"
>"Maybe. Problem is, it's too easy these days to fake a voice, and neumono empathy is only treated as a little bonus in a court. My guy couldn't get anything more than this audio clip. I know that family's got contacts, too, so we shouldn't shoot our hand out till we got more. Yeah, I can tell you want more. I dunno how long it'll take. Think Penn is any good at playing along with fake dates to string him along? No?"
"Not just do I think she'd be bad at it, but she'd have a terrible time doing it too. She's got way more to worry about anyway."
>"Gotcha. That's out, then. Seems like you're thinking you can contact someone?"

I don't know if I want to spill Arza's name, he's always been kind of cagey to me saying I've got contact with him.

But, Arza may be a good choice to get about advice. Since this is all about Penn, I know that he'll be eager to help. Sometimes I wonder if he even reads half of my texts, but I'd bet that he'd respond to important ones.

If you do contact Arza, well, problem is, just, uh, make sure you phrase it in such a way that he knows it's something existing already that you've uncovered, rather than something that was somehow caused by you taking her out for fun today. It's not a lie, even, it's clear that someone was acting against her already, and that Navanna had something up her butt to begin with. That conversation sounded to me like some people have been wanting to start this for some time, so bringing Penn out for halloween just gave them some chances that provoked them.

Still sorta risky.

This sort of thing you've got already can't be used in court, I'd guess, but surely it's persuasive enough to get someone watching or investigating. The people running your uplift program, people wanting neumono/alien relations to run smooth? Maybe even find a proper private investigator, someone who's trained and knows what information they can pick up that'll be admissable, and how to get it.

>>683666
Yes. Contact him, tell him you stumbled across a conspiracy. He will be able to get a whiff of it on his own so he'll probably believe you, and he can do something to help, no doubt.

You could start off the text with "someone is plotting to get me out of the way to get at Penn". That should get his attention.

Arza might be good to go for advice. He is a big shot scientist and you know how belenosians love there scientists. He might be able to point you in the right direction.

That being said it would look impressive if you could go to him having foiled the plot yourself. But that might take awhile and would have to deal with people bothering Penn in the meantime.

Plus you have your own degree to study for. Spending a bunch of time trying to track down some plots could take up a lot of your time.

You don't have to spill his name to pass the info along to Arza. After all, it's not like your faux-predator bud shared the names of his shay contacts.

Arza probably has the influence to lean on school administration or officials to make life unpleasant for these two. And he's totally not gonna turn to his criminal connections and just have them killed for messing with his protegee, or worse. Roxie isn't calling in an inadvertent hit, nope.

Tell Arza you've discovered trouble you're not sure you can shelter Penn from on your own. Some rich brats apparently have a problem with her owning the top of the class stats and/or being a filthy neumono lover, and are plotting something. Attach INCRIMINATING_EVIDENCE.WAV

Contacting Arza seems like a reasonably good idea, but Arza wouldn't like you spreading his involvement around.

Ask if you can get a copy of that audio clip, you can pass it on to Arza yourself. Better to keep things separate.

Get more evidence together before you take it to Arza.

They are not going to pull off anything nasty quick so take a few days to get more info.

Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)21:20 No. 683682 ID: dd338c
File 144739200654.png - (90.56KB , 800x800 , 177.png )

It won't hurt to send a text. Well, it would if he thinks I'm wasting his time, but what a shit if he thinks this is a waste.

I put the subject as something like "I'm looking into a problem." Something that may get his attention. I alert him that there may be some belenos plot against Penn, but I'm looking into it myself, but I may not be able to deal with it.

He responds inside of 30 seconds.

>"Where are you?"
"Out. Penn is studying."
>"Where are you?"
"Flashbang, by the intersection of 14th and Plum."
>"Wait inside of the bar on northeast side of 15th and plum. I'm in town, and will be there shortly."

Tell predator guy that your contact is going to meet you in a bar nearby if he wants to tag along. Turns out he is in town.

>>683682
Huh.

Ask for permission to cross the street.

Party time may be over. Too bad, we never got to get into that hive vs hive fight.

Send a reply that you're on the way, but there's someone you got info from about it, and if Arza is ok with it you could ask them to come along too.

I assume Arza will say no, thought in which case tell predator that you know someone who's also concerned with Penn, and who probably has good advice. You're not sure they'll be down with talking to a stranger in a mask, though, so you'd like a copy of that recording and you'll get back in contact with predator about it if you feel you can, assuming he wants to continue being involved.

If Arza says it's ok, then ask predator if he wants to come with.

Then go meet Arza.

>>683685
Or it may be just getting started! Predator hives are unspeakably awesome at espionage, so even a pretend one might leave those racist academic saboteurs feeling like they brought a knife to a gun fight. Spying is easier with more pairs of eyes.

I mean, really, the whole point of uplift is bringing neumono to the point where they can use their own strengths to cooperate or compete with aliens on equal terms, economically and militarily and whatever else. If a bunch of drunk college kids dressed up as brainwashed tribals can outdo a couple of aristocratic belenos at the cloak-and-dagger thing, or even just give them a serious challenge, that's not just protecting your friend Penn; it's directly proving her enemies wrong. Show them you, and all neumono, can be political animals.

1/4 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)22:10 No. 683693 ID: dd338c
File 144739502541.png - (66.14KB , 800x800 , 178.png )

>Show them you, and all neumono, can be political animals.
Us? Not likely, not tonight.

Well, might've been tempted, but I already got Arza pulling me to some place, so it's too late to back out on that.

"Do you want to see the person who got me a recording of some incriminating cell phone talk?"
>"Yes." Arza responds.

"Predator, may I go to the bar just on the north end of this block? I have to meet my contact."
>"Sure. Be careful."
"Wanna tag along?"
>"Sorry, I gotta stick by my hive. Wait, what kinda part of town is this? You may want an escort."
"Don't worry about it. I might run into some creeps, but this part of town isn't threatening. I mostly just hope I can make it back for the hive fight."
>"Gotcha. Just call if you get into trouble, then."

2/4 Roxie 2015/11/12(Thu)22:11 No. 683694 ID: dd338c
File 144739509222.png - (157.16KB , 800x800 , 179.png )

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
File 144739519250.png - (133.13KB , 800x800 , 180.png )

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
File 144739531506.png - (171.73KB , 800x800 , 181.png )

>"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
File 144746055564.png - (215.38KB , 800x800 , 183.png )

"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
File 144746190319.png - (156.56KB , 800x800 , 184.png )

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
File 144747644786.png - (95.55KB , 800x800 , 187.png )

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
File 144747706543.png - (135.66KB , 800x800 , 191.png )

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
File 144747709088.png - (59.47KB , 800x800 , 193.png )

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
File 144754516840.png - (89.72KB , 800x800 , 195.png )

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.