Guess what it's ranking.
I think your friends think you have money. Why else would they be your friends?
They only say that so you'll lend them money and post bail.
You ask Anton if he's going out to lunch. He is. You ask where. He doesn't know. He asks if you know. You know. You get up and stretch. Anton stares for a second before doing the same. He follows you silently. You two talk a bit sometimes, but most of the time it's like this. There's a lot more to it than it looks. You just get along by being silent and awkward. Because both of you are like that simple things are enough to get the point across. Usually, it's literal pointing. You point at people, you point at cars, you point at signs, etc. In short order, you walk up to a small place near your building. It's called The Place of Adam. Open only during lunch, only open to those who don't use names while in the place, and open only to serve basic sandwiches and beverages. For how selective it seems to be, it's not like people are crowding to get in, it's too much trouble for most people. But you and Anton have been here before and quite like it. It's quiet. You and Anton take the most convenient seats and you... [] Ask for advice on dating. [] Ask for advice on stalking. [] Ask for advice on work. [] Ask for advice on vidyas.
Yeah, and I have friends who like me.
You yawn and glance at the kitchens and at Matt. You and he part ways outside and you catch a train home. By the time you're home it's almost your bedtime. After tooling around a bit online you end up in Concord again. You drop in on your gaming group and see what's what. They're talking about politics (snore). You check in on your strangers group and see what's what. They're talking about people talking about politics (double snore). You try to change the topic in your gaming group. They start talking about Animal Hats (fucking CGI trash). You try to change the topic in your strangers group. They start talking about sugar cookies (fucking sugary trash). You resignedly play Das Panzerfahren with some randos. After losing horribly you head off to bed. The following morning you head to work bright and early. You greet Anton as normal with the addition of a whispered apology for yesterday. He jerks his head forward awkwardly and accepts. He also tells you never to do it again or else he will kill you. You nod and salute with comical fervor. You spend the next 6 hours you two work. And then you work. And then you work some more. And finally it's lunchtime. You both try to take a slightly later lunch since you stay later than other workers for those delicious overtimes. Well, now it's time to... [] Skip lunch and get even more overtimes. [] Go out to lunch alone. [] Go out to lunch with Anton. [] Go out to lunch with someone else.
You manage to steer the conversation in the direction of everything else. That something else was unfortunately the topic of hobbies. You're a person with hobbies and you're proud of being that kind of person. What you're not proud of is what your hobbies are. You spend your time totally legally watching chinese cartoons and playing repetitive stress injury inducing games. You had to go to the doctor for joint pain after playing Gritcorps too much. Just as you try to steer away from the topic he starts. Thank goodness, to have time to bullshit something together. He talks about how he cannot really say he has a hobby other than clothes. He talks about that for a while. He tells you how he got into it because he liked stage plays growing up, his parents wanted him to be classy or something. All he really took from it was fashion. So a lot of people say his work is costumey and kind of unrealistic. He likes to think that he'll make it work but there's no way to know yet. He smiles and says he tries to stay positive. Wow, that was all really inspiration and shit. You can't just make up something to beat that. Why is it even a competition for you? You frown for a second before you start digging in your purse. You withdraw a small magic kit, you recently got back into doing card tricks and stuff. You tell him as much and do some sleight of hand with a string and some metal puzzle pieces. You make it solve itself, or you would if you didn't suck you just spin it around in the air clumsily. He laughs. Not in a mean way, it doesn't seem, just he thinks you're being silly or something. You guess that's fine. Ultimately, you have a nice dinner and manage to avoid Anton even when you pay. Matt says he has to leave a bit early (read 9:30PM) but he says he'd love to hang out again. That's good, right? You... [] Go home. [] Stick around and wait for Anton. [] Spend all night out.
You should use your newly acquired free time to catch up on Thrilling Intent.
You drop. You don't think about it, you just do it. The guy at the counter is looking for you and there are a few other patrons looking at you. You frown and crawl back to your seat and slouch down low. Not that it helps much, what with your bright orange hair. You glance over at the counter. The door is closed now so you can't see much of Anton and the guy at the counter is just eying you with contempt at this point. You flash him a thumbs up. He glares back and flashes you a thumbs down. You wither a little. You spend the rest of the hour largely looking out for Anton and ducking. The rest of the restaurant spends the rest of the hour largely looking at you and chuckling. Finally, your food arrives at the same time as Matt. The fish looks good. Matt looks good. You look stressed and harried. Matt says as much. You tell him that one of your co-workers apparently works part time in the kitchen and you don't want him to catch you. How long have you been here? An hour. Isn't that a little extreme? Yeah, you guess. Are you normally this awkward? Always. It's okay. You and Matt talk a bit while he orders his own food. You learn that he's going to school part time not too far from your own home and he's going to graduate in another year. He lives pretty close to this restaurant with 3 other students in a cramped apartment and so on. His life story is actually pretty boring and you start thinking of other topics. What do you talk about... [] Hobbies. [] Work. [] Weather.
You sit down at a table on a slight slant with mismatched cutlery. You immediately get back up and walk back up to the counter. The man looks at you (unapologetically) like you're insane and asks what it is that you want. You tell him that you're going to order the fish that takes an hour. His jaw drops slightly. Just slightly, and then he rings you up and asks if you want anything else. Nope. Nothing at all. You nod along and finish. You catch a glimpse of something as you turn from the counter. Your neutral expression warps into a combination of a frown and a gape. You recognize the chef walking by the door as it flips open. You'd know that shitter anywhere. Anton, you son of a bitch, what are you doing working here? You should... [] Hide. [] Hi. [] High tail it out of there.
Best country song I ever heard.
You reach the place with about an hour to spare. It's a nice little sit down place, some kind of a Chinese place you assume. You peer in from the street at first to get a gauge on the mood of the place. You know stuff like, can you stay here for an hour without ordering? The door is propped, so you think you seem a little weird staring in. You walk in and survey the landscape, it's kind of empty, you walk slowly. It seems like they don't do carry out or anything, it's just a proper restaurant. Not like a place you'd take someone, but somewhere you'd take your friends. You walk up to the counter and ask about how seating works. The guy there is a little confused at you at first. Then he simply tells you to sit wherever your little heart desires. Condescending or just weird? You smile sheepishly at him and ask if there are any recommendations before you go and what takes the longest to make. Quizzical once more, he pauses (briefly) before answering that there's some fish that takes an hour to make and the best thing to order is some beef dish. You nod along and thank him before sitting down. Now that you're seated, you should... [] Get right back up and order you fool. [] Wait there awkwardly. [] Try to get into the kitchen, you are really concerned about this chef.
When you finally roll out you immediately know what you're going to do. Find another place to sit down and collect yourself. Jeanne mingles out into the crowd of commuters walking from work as you duck back into another cafe. This one's quiet and you're quickly seated. After ordering something at random you lean yourself over, hands before yourself, fingers interlinked like a model parent would. You sigh (heavily). Okay, time to call Matt you decide. Ring. Ring. Ring. R-- Hello, speaking? Whoever you want it to be. Oh, he didn't thinking you'd be calling that fast. You like being prompt and you want to make it up to him. He's willing to listen. As you talk to him more, you realize that you really have no business talking to him. He's not exactly your kind of person and ultimately you don't feel that same... feeling word... um... spark? Either way you're wondering if you were just flustered and got hit by the suspension bridge effect before. Well, either way, you just have just managed to set up a meeting with him without paying attention too much to what he was saying. Nice autopilot. He says he needs to go so you hang up. You have about two hours before the meeting however, so you should... [] Head home and get changed. [] Scout out the place, kill the chef, replace him with your own chef, etc. [] Hang around here and get to know this charming establishment.
You sigh (deeply). You could tell her it's fine, but you know she wouldn't buy it anymore than a book without a shirtless man on the front. You tell her that you've got it. She asks how. You've always been good at knowing things because everyone knows you're not a gossip so they say things around you that they normally treat as secrets. You tell her that you're good at getting info and don't elaborate just because you do want her to keep giving you blackmail material. Not that you'd ever use it, right? Anyhow she seems to like your plan. Maybe you shouldn't have said anything. Either way, you already said it so you have messed yourself up. Oh well. You order a slice of pie and a coffee for her and ask her why she actually thinks her husband is cheating. He's coming home late. He works in tech you ditz. He's coming home drunk. He works in tech you fucking ditz. He's spending a lot of time on the weekends alone. He works in-- actually, that one is a little weird. They were inseparable two years ago. Like Jeanne and Nate were always doing everything together and feeding into each other's flaws in this uniquely terrifying and mutually dependent ways. In some ways some space to be their own people rather than JeanNate is kind of a good idea. With that in mind she added that they're not doing the horizontalized softshoe recently and that he's been more possessive of the ice cream. That seems to be all of the (useful) information you can get out of her. It's getting to be evening now. You tell her not to get home late or whatever just so that you can leave now. She agrees that she doesn't want to seem like SHE'S the one with an infidelity problem. Yes, that's so unlikely. You should... [] Go home and go to sleep. [] Go home and get on your battlestation. [] Call Matt. [] Call someone else. [] Go out on the town.
[x] Go find somewhere to sell this car
When you sit down across from her the very first thing you do is pick up a menu, call over the nearest waitress, and ask if she's ordered yet. As you leaf through the menu she first confused and then when you offhandedly greet her she smiles. She tells you that you always know what to say to calm her down. That is what you intended, yupperino, that's your story and you're sticking to it. You order yourself a sandwich or something and you order her something more expensive. She immediately leaps into telling you how she is doing without either being asked or asking how yesterday was for you. You know, your birthday. You frown (internally) and listen. She tells you all kinds of things you don't particularly care about. First it's how she thinks her husband is cheating. Maybe you should have tried waiting more than six months before marrying him you total-- Then it's something about her being maybe kinda sorta pregnant. Maybe you should have tried using a goddamn condom you total-- Then it's something about how she doesn't like her boss-- Maybe you should have... actually no one really likes their boss. Then it's just more and more. You sigh at her as your food comes. You motion that you're gonna be a minute as you stare awkwardly at her and chew through your sandwich. Some kind of club. She keeps going like nothing's weird about this scene until you're finished. What you've gathered is her life is fine but she's completely paranoid and needs someone to allay her fears. Like always. She likes seeming confident but she's ultimately a neurotic mess on the inside. Show some consideration for people who are a neurotic mess on the outside bitch. The only thing that will make her feel better is venting and then hearing it's fine. After taking a sip of your water you finally tell her... [] That you'll look into her husband's activities for her. [] That she's being ridiculous and needs to be calmer and more reasonable. [] That you're hardly the one to ask about real people problems.
You think to yourself and a(n uncharacteristically) spiteful smirk crawls from one end of your lips to the other. Jeanne has less than 24 hours ago stood you up on your birthday along with her stupid husband (who you don't even like). And it wasn't just yesterday, you were friends more out of inertia than any form of actual interest or compatibility, she always did stuff like this. So kinda like Roommate but not because Roommate actually shows up to stuff and tries to level with you. Either way, you knew her from Gym class in high school... and English, Math, Biology, Chemistry, and History. She was just always around you in particular it seemed. It would have been stupid if you weren't friends at least for that time. Not that you ever really liked her, you just liked the benefits of not being totally alone and outcast like some of those other kids. Looking back you were kind of a selfish little shit and a gutless little worm. But now you're so much better. Talking to boys and getting petty revenge. So much growth. Five minutes pass and Matt walks up to you as expected. You immediately bolt to your feet and greet him (robotically). You should have come up with what you were going to say instead of reveling over how clever you've become. Damn. You lower your head and sigh. You tell him that your second oldest friend just called and told you that there was some emergency. He looks kind of confused you swear it's true and show him your phone like it's going to prove something. He laughs it off and grabs your phone. He hands it back quickly as he took it with a few new pieces of information. His name and number. Not the first male you've had added to your contacts but the first in such a memorable fashion. He waves and tells you to call if you ever don't have a huge emergency to deal with. Well, he's gone and you have places to be. You, lacking a car, have to take the train uptown to meet with her. She said she was at Monk's Cafe. Thinking about it more deeply, it's probably some relationship stuff. When you finally get there you're beginning to wonder why you even bothered and more importantly why she called you and not one of her better friends. She's sitting alone (for once) when you join her. She looks (expectedly) drawn. She doesn't say much at first. Where to begin... [] Ask her what's up? [] Ask her if she's doing fine? [] Ask her if she's ordered yet?
