Warmth steals through you at the mix of emotions. For once, there’s barely an ounce of suspicion in you. You’ll have to confirm that later, somehow, but that… That really is a big step, if she’s not lying.
It’s enough that you don’t even hesitate to bend your head down and place a kiss on her forehead.
The night itself proceeds well. Emma seems too embarrassed to get into any more personal discussions with you after the revelation of her therapy sessions, which suits you fine; after your talk with Victoria earlier, you’re not really in any mood to get into deeply personal conversations either. Still, she doesn’t retreat from you once through the whole night, and for the first time in a very long time, the urge to push her away doesn’t rise in you. You do, however, make a note to speak to Emma about this on a day when you’re not already emotionally exhausted.
Dad seems to have a good time, as well—you’re glad you remembered to invite Alan alongside Emma. Your father is clearly exhausted from his work in building a window into the basement, but he’s laughing as merrily as you’ve seen him do in months as Alan tells tales of the politicians and lobbyists he’s been dealing with.
By the point it’s time for Emma to leave, much of the nervousness caused in you by Victoria’s early demeanour and Emma’s arrival has faded. Not all of it, by any means, and you’re pretty sure that most of it is going to come back after you sleep, but… you feel nice, for once.
When you stagger up to bed a little after midnight, still full from the brownies Alan had brought with him, all you can manage is to quickly change into your pajamas and lay there with a contented smile on your face.
Sure, you have a conversation with Victoria that’s leaving you queasy to think about, but beyond that, things are going quite well for you for now. You have several amazing girls that are all happy to be with you, plans to get even more, a paying job, and even several projects you can invest yourself in when things aren’t going so great.
Really, life hasn’t been this good for you since Mom died.
At that thought, you let yourself begin to drift off, still smiling that small contented smile. Vague plans drift through your head as you fall asleep, plans of what to do over the next couple of days.
[Pick three of the following options. Please note that as your GM is still getting back into the swing of things, and is recently depressed after watching a series of horror and tragedy movies, options chosen will likely result in happier outcomes than normal. Taylor currently has two large expenses to her name.]
[] You’re already planning to go into work tomorrow, for just a few hours, but you don’t have a lot of money to hand, and your boss has already offered you additional work through the holidays. Perhaps you could pick up a few extra hours of work in the mornings on either Monday or Tuesday.
— Success chance: Cannot be failed.
— General results: Taylor will spend several additional hours at work over either Monday or Tuesday morning (definitively Monday if the option to spend time with Sophia is picked). Taylor will gain [n]one large expense[/b] and one small expense on top of her usual pay.
[] Shadow Stalker is participating in a PR event for the Wards in the library on Tuesday. You’ve had vague plans to recruit the girl for a while now, even though she’s already a member of the Wards— there are workarounds. It’s best to get on that as soon as possible.
— Success chance: 60%.
— General results: Taylor will head to the library and attempt to recruit Shadow Stalker, learning in the process of Sophia’s identity as the former vigilante. This will result in a substantial shake-up to their relationship, with Taylor now aware of her former tormentor’s status as a public hero—but also of Sophia’s more heroic actions, especially around Winslow.
— On a success: The context in which Taylor realizes Sophia is Shadow Stalker changes, with Sophia expressing regret for some of her past actions when it is brought up during a Q&A session. Taylor’s reaction to the change will be more moderate than usual.
— On a failure: Taylor will leave before the Q&A, leaving her view of the event to be more negative than it otherwise could be.
[] You should invite Aisha over! Well, okay, maybe not over to your place—she’s probably not comfortable enough with you for that yet. But there’s a free showing of an action movie from Earth Aleph at the town’s entertainment centre on Monday night. If you invite her out for that, she’ll probably agree. Hopefully she’ll learn to be a bit more comfortable around you then. Costs one small expense.
— Success chance: 80%.
— General results: Aisha will accept the invitation, conditional upon Taylor buying snacks for the two of them. The movie is entertaining enough that Aisha will have fun, albeit being distracted by Taylor the entire time. Raises Aisha’s Loyalty by 1.
— On a success: The entertainment centre is cold enough that Aisha will regret her decision not to wear a jacket. Fortunately, Taylor will be there to help her warm up a little, as embarrassing as it is to be hugged in public. Acclimatizes Aisha some more towards being touched by Taylor.
— On a failure: The centre’s heating system was restored to full functionality earlier that day, preventing additional progress from being made.
[] After Madison’s obvious approval of your clothing choices now, particularly those of your lingerie, you’re feeling just comfortable enough in your body to consider buying more to show off to her. Ordinarily you’d take her with you, but she’s going to be busy through Monday and Tuesday with her new job at her father’s restaurant, so you’ll have to go alone. Costs one large expense.
— Success chance: 70%
— General results: Taylor’s newfound confidence in her self-image will continue to improve as she buys more lingerie for herself, secure in the approval of at least one of her girls in her appearance in them.
— On a success: Initiates recruitment of Parian as Taylor asks Parian for assistance in choosing suitable lingerie. Minimal initial progress will be made in recruiting Parian, but if followed up on within the week, normal levels of progress can be made. Increases Parian’s Loyalty by 2 and Lust by 1.
— On a failure: Parian is not working at the front desks that day, and thus Taylor will be unable to recruit her.
[] Taylor is feeling particularly stressed after dealing with both Victoria and Emma’s anxieties within a day, even though she largely sidestepped both of their immediate issues. She should spend some time on her own, just relaxing and reading, to help bleed some of the stress off before it builds up too far again.
— Success chance: Cannot be failed.
— General results: Largely a blank scene, with minimal writing involved, helping in a quicker update. Also moderately reduces Taylor’s stress levels, helping to prevent a breakdown from occurring again.
2.16
> Success chance: 60% 75% 85%
> Necessary roll: 15. Rolled: 79. Success.
> Success chance: 70% 90%
> Necessary roll: 10. Rolled: 91. Success.
Spoiler: Winning Votes
[] You’re already planning to go into work tomorrow, for just a few hours, but you don’t have a lot of money to hand, and your boss has already offered you additional work through the holidays. Perhaps you could pick up a few extra hours of work in the mornings on either Monday or Tuesday.
[] Shadow Stalker is participating in a PR event for the Wards in the library on Tuesday. You’ve had vague plans to recruit the girl for a while now, even though she’s already a member of the Wards— there are workarounds. It’s best to get on that as soon as possible.
[] After Madison’s obvious approval of your clothing choices now, particularly those of your lingerie, you’re feeling just comfortable enough in your body to consider buying more to show off to her. Ordinarily you’d take her with you, but she’s going to be busy through Monday and Tuesday with her new job at her father’s restaurant, so you’ll have to go alone. Costs one large expense. It’s difficult to try and motivate yourself to go jogging even during the school holidays. Dragging yourself out of bed at an ungodly hour of the morning is difficult enough when you’re getting paid to do so; as much as you enjoy jogging, it’s much more difficult to try and work up the motivation to wake up before five so you can go jogging.
In the end, you settle for a small compromise; you’ll allow yourself to sleep in until closer to six, so you can still go to work, and go jogging after. It’ll be more uncomfortable, with the sun bearing down on you and everything being generally hotter than you’ve become accustomed to it being while you jog, but it’s still preferable to getting up that early.
It affords you more time to do your morning routine, anyway. It’s always pleasant to have a warm shower when the air is chilly around you— and as unpleasant as it is to make your way out of the shower and be hit by a wall of cool air, you’re able to nearly fool yourself into thinking you have something approaching actual breasts when you glance in the mirror and see your hardened nipples poking out just slightly.
When you’re standing in front of the bus stop, your hair nearly dry and your body bundled nicely in thicker jeans and a warm woollen sweater, you can only congratulate yourself on your fantastic decision-making skills. Pushing jogging off to later was definitely worth it.
Your contentment lasts you through the dull tedium of working at the cinema. Not that it’s all that bad—it’s just, well, tedious, as you’d thought before. You imagine most custodial work would be; all that is involved is sweeping and vacuuming the aisles, and occasionally removing the cover of the cinema’s many seats and replacing it so you could send a sticky cover off to be washed.
Given that, you’re feeling positive enough that when your boss treads his way out of his office to ask you to stay for several hours— apparently, there is a large party coming in to celebrate a dual birthday— you don’t even hesitate to say yes. You do make sure to head to the break room quickly so you could leave a message on your house’s answering machine, though. There is no point in worrying Dad over your extra hours.
In the end, it’s not really all that difficult to cater to the parties. There are enough people that they have booked out a full cinema to show two Disney movies—Toy Story and its sequel—for the gaggle of children that attend. There are certainly a fair amount of people that attend, and you are tasked with preparing the snacks and drinks that were pre-paid for, but it’s Haley who has to deliver them, so you’re okay with it. And yes, it takes you slightly over an hour to tidy the cinema afterwards (children are messy), but aside from a slight ache in your back and heels from standing and bending for so long, you don’t feel all that bad.
Admittedly, the money is a big part of it. You don’t really work all that much, just Monday and Friday mornings most of the time; four or five hours at most, with occasional extra bits of work when they need someone to cover a big event. This morning, you worked far beyond your usual hours, and your paycheque reflects that. You earned as much from your work today as you normally do in a week.
There are a lot of things you could do with this kind of money. Plans flash through your head, a quick, cascading list; you could buy some of the furniture for your new room, you could buy some new books to read, you could presents for some of your girls, you could put the money away and save for a better phone than the one you already own… There are a lot of things you could do with this kind of money.
You’re still thinking it through when another thought strikes you. Madison had quite liked seeing you in your lingerie… and for once, you hadn’t quite felt ashamed of how you’d looked in it. Your ordinary underclothes are plain and boring, not the kind of clothing that bolsters your confidence to wear, but the lingerie had been different.
… And it’s your money. Nobody can tell you not to spend it on a present for yourself if you don’t want to.
You do end up calling Dad again, although this time it’s from your own phone, not from the phone in the theatre’s office. You’d told him earlier that you’ll be home by one, and you’re pretty sure that he’d at least notice if you didn’t come home after that. Not that he’ll send the police after you or anything, not without at least ringing your boss first, but it would be exhausting to come home and have to deal with that.
Once you’ve dealt with that, you hurry off to the staff washroom so you can change back into your regular clothes, then head out to the bus stop, hoping to catch it before it leaves.
You needn’t have worried about that, as it turns out. You end up having to wait a full twenty-five minutes before a bus finally trundles up and opens its doors to invite you in. Technically, you probably could have just walked in by that point, or at least most of the way there, but that would be a lot of effort compared to just taking the bus. (Cheaper, though, a small part of you notes.)
The bus is quite full today, but as far as you can tell, you’re the only teenager on there. There are a few younger kids and their parents, some elderly gentlemen who have crowded the back section of the bus to talk to each other, and a woman with pale skin and bloodshot eyes hugging herself and glaring at everyone around her. Everyone gives her a wide berth.
It’s too many people for you. Nobody makes an attempt to sit next to you, but just in case, you shift over until you’re sitting on the midpoint of the seat before leaning your head against the chair in front of you and turning to stare out the window.
The central business district of Brockton Bay is a bit of an odd place. Brockton Bay didn’t used to rely on technological start-ups and software-based companies to move cash through the city; there used to be a lot of small mom-and-pop stores around selling things like camping equipment, fishing equipment and the like. When the Mayor decided to invest heavily in software and electronics, he did manage to cause an economic shift in the town, but it left most of the smaller stores out of luck.
