>>41259501 >Aaaaaaaand done. Masterfully disarmed and balanced, with this, Max was actually left with a negative balance rather than an overwhelming positive meaning that the righting the world would be doing would be minor and on the upswing for him. That white cat would be proud.
Oh hey thanks.
I owe you for taking the Piap of those cookies but its kind of you to offer as a freebie.
>Grabbing the soda and plopping it down in her own weely basket, Janet smiled brightly at the boy and readied herself to leave. Soon enough she'd have a talking to with that big cookie salesman and get him to call things off on the kid but for now she'd let things sit as they were.
Max Bolzen / (Baff) 16 Feb 2016 11:19:14 AM No.41260174>>41260646
File: 1455639554628.jpg (187.46 KB, 826x866, all these pieces.jpg)
>>41259518 Yeah... seeya, Janet.
>And she still called him 'stranger' at the end, what a complete and total loss. Shuffling his way back through the market, the weight of his own emptiness was all that dragged him forward. Sure, it wasn't as if his life was over or anything, this whole thing wasn't nearly that dramatic a problem, but after all the emotional and physical effort he had put into being noticed and giving her a run for her money, in the end it amounted to nothing other than one less soda and an apology that he didn't even let through.
>No doubt the burden of his wounds and his efforts were lifted, of course, but so was his sense of direction, his drive towards a goal. His feet fell heavily on the ground and he had the sinking feeling that he didn't belong here, with the rest of them. As far as he'd gathered he just wasn't cut out for fighting, and if a Merc couldn't fight then they weren't good for anything, even if his D-rank meant the only thing he was supposed to battle were rising bills and a lack of income.
Maybe I should never have left Olstone... I could always catch the soleil Blitz tourney in Kantarus.
>Yet there was the ever-present feeling that he'd forgotten something important - something beyond his old vendetta, hidden at the back of his mind.
>Without it, however, he simply moved onwards with his basket, away from the market he could no longer use and into the dirty streets of a town that didn't seem to want him, wherever he went.
>>41260174 >As Max wanders around in a slump, a familiar woman in a red sweater and black thigh-high stockings walks in the opposite direction in a world all to herself as well.
Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Haaaa...
>She was... laughing? If you could call that dull, flat, emotionless, robotic sound a laugh. Perhaps she realized it too because she pauses and has a vague expression of thought.
No... it doesn't sound like that... Ha. HA. HA. Ha. HA ha HAAAAA.... No, not that either. Hmmm...?
>Just like the moment he left her, Hikage was still being a strange woman. And the strange snake-like lady noticed him walking towards her and he looked rather down... maybe she should see what's up? As expressionless as a reptile, the girl waves to Max as she things about what one of her friends would say.
>Roll 1d2 = 2 >1 Channel Yomi. >Spoken in emotionless monotone where joy and bubbly excitement should be. Max, it is good to see you again! How are you doing, have you been eating your bean sprouts to grow healthy and strong?
>2 Channel Imogen >Spoken in emotionless monotone where sexiness and charming seduction should be.
Oh dear oh dear, such a sad look on your face won't complement your youthful charm! What's troubling you sweetie~?
>>41260646 >Wha? Was someone crying? No, it was too emotionless for that. It was more like repeated dying sighs in a vain attempt to leave the mortal world behi- Oh, it was Hikage. That made a lot more sense, though it was still completely unnerving to watch. What was she even doing?
>Ah well, it didn't matter. Right now he just wanted to go back to his room and rethink his life choices, though perhaps he was being too melodramatic about the whole thing for his own good. Maybe he could try to chill and relax a little first, build something new out of spare parts or think about that pair of sweet bouncy roundness that was only a few feet from him- wait, was she coming over to him!?
<"Oh dear oh dear, such a sad look on your face won't complement your youthful charm! What's troubling you sweetie~?"
Um...
>*What?* ... What?
>It was so incredibly horrifying that he spoke his thoughts aloud, entirely and utterly confused as to whether she actually just said what he thought she said.
>>41261233 >There was a long moment of silence as the girl watches his reaction. And it was nothing like she expected. When Imogen said something like that to someone, they got all red in the face and tripped over their words. Max here seemed flat out confused.
Hmm, not the reaction I expected. Must have done something wrong.
>Well she'll try it another time then. For now, Hikage did want to know what was up with her friend. >And as if she never said those words a moment ago.
Hi Max. You look glum, what's up?
>That, while still her normal way of talking, felt more natural at least.
>>41261244 No no, go back a step for a second, here... youthful charm?
>Did he really have that? Was that a thing? Was it something girls were into? Oh man, if that was a thing he might still have a chance with someone, like that shrine maiden or somet- WAIT, no, no no, not after seeing that expression of hers, but SOMEONE- wait. If it was youthful charm, didn't that mean it'd just run out once he hit 18 and they'd up and leave for someone else..?
>Sighing deeply, his thoughts once again turned into the sour heap of worthlessness that they had been only a few moments ago, and he was entirely uncertain that Hikage, of all people, who most of the time sounded like she couldn't care less about most things, was the right person to talk to about any of it. Such was his impression, at least.
I don't know... have you ever kind of like, wanted to get somewhere so much that you just keep going and going, and when you get there the thing you wanted wasn't there, and then you didn't really know where to go...?
>Ah, teenagers and their ways of expressing emotion. Good attempt, Max.
>>41261249 It's something my friend always says when boys stare at her... don't know why. Thought it's just how you greet people so I copied her.
>Mind you, Imogen always had her own way of greeting people that seemed to make it hard for them to talk... maybe it's not a good idea to copy her to help interact with people. >As Max describes his feelings to her, Hikage listens intently.
Yeah, I've feel sometimes when I'm hungry and Roberta's Raspberry Cream Sunday Pancakes are sold out...
>Sometimes there was just nothing else that would cut it when it came to that perfect meal.
>No actual youthful charm, then, which meant he returned to having none at all. At least it felt familiar, unlike this conversation - until she brought up the pancakes, which both confused and irritated him for two different reasons. The first;
Wait, you walk into the Wolves Guildhall just to get some pancakes...? What?
>Wasn't that like, taboo or something? Or maybe merc guilds weren't really like the secret clubs he'd always seen them as. People tended to come and go as they liked all the time. Still, it was odd to think of a mercenary from one guild wandering over to another to get food. That said, it did mean the wolves were making more money... but that was beside all of the points. All of them.
But.. no, that doesn't happen to me.
>Roberta's Raspberry Cream Sunday Pancakes were the food of the enemy, or at least they had been for the last few months. Janet often raved about them and traded them for all sorts of weird paper drawings, and now that the subject in his mind had shifted back to Janet, the full weight of his motivation loss came back to hit him once again, causing him to slump down and look generally pathetic.
I just don't know what to do with myself, is all...
>It was set up in an inn after all. And it was nice and clean for a guildhall, not like the old place her guild was in, on the manor they lived in now wouldn't be kept very well if Boss didn't shout at people to keep it tidy in there... That, and it seemed every now and again they'd do renovations to the place. There'd be holes in the floors or walls or construction work going on...
...
>Now that she thought about it, the same sort of thing happened in her own guildhall.
Yeah, I guess it is a guildhall.
>Well it shouldn't matter. Money is money after all, it's not like she was there to steal secrets or something. >Though Max further explains his problem the girl tilts her head. Didn't know what to do...? Was he bored or something? Or was it something more that she was missing? Then she remembered the weight in her left hand and looked at the bag she was holding. Oh yeah, she had some of those.
Wanna talk about it while we eat ice cream on a hill?
>>41261965 >She really couldn't tell, huh? Despite all the emblems and the sign on the door? Jeez, this girl... it kind of looked like a hotel, he supposed, but when he'd arrived he'd been looking for the place so maybe it was more obvious to him than it was to other people.
>And then she went silent for a bit. A little too long, really, and it started to become a little awkward, Max shuffling his feet and not really knowing what to say. Maybe it'd be better just to go to his room at the guild and have some comfort food.
Listen, I'm gonna just, um..- <"Wanna talk about it while we eat ice cream on a hill?" -Huh?
>Eat it on a hill? They were kind of in the middle of town so if she meant a grassy hill - well, there were some small fields nearby... and then the park, too. It didn't sound like such a crazy idea when he thought about it, and after making a scene in this kind of heat an ice cream sounded really good.
... mk. But where?
>Max didn't want to admit that he was letting someone help him through these bitter feelings, this was purely for the ice cream. Totally.
>>41266995 >A small hill on the outskirts..? That sounded a little weird, and wouldn't it take longer than the quick trip to the nearby park? Well, if that's what she wanted to do, hell, maybe the distraction would serve as something to numb the thoughts.
As long as you're sure they won't all melt by the time we get there, 'cause that'd suck for you.
>A bag full of liquidy goop wouldn't nearly be as refreshing as something ice cold on the tongue. Still, he followed. It wasn't as if he had anything better to do anymore, aside from menial D-rank jobs, but he wasn't even sure if he was going to keep up with those...
So why go this far...? Were you gonna do this anyway, by yourself?
>>41267866 They won't melt, I have some ice packs in there with them.
>She learned to do that after the first few times they've melted just as he said.
I have a few times already. The city's too noisy sometimes. Being out there and away from it makes good place to think or just mellow out and not think at all.
>Which, when she wasn't spending time with her friends and trying to figure out the finer points of socializing, is how she liked to spend her time. Relaxing in silence and letting her mind wander a bit. Seemed Max needed the either one of those, so that's why she was taking him there.
>>41268676 >Well, that was.. a novel idea, to say the least. A bit weird, but if you were going on an ice cream run it'd make sense. The question, then, was how many ice creams she actually bought if she needed to put some ice packs in there with them, because that was quite the effort to go to if you were only bringing back one or two.
I guess that wouldn't be too bad... but don't take us through weird, shady shortcuts, okay? I don't think I could handle trying to avoid the hardened thug type right now or the eyes that stare at you like you don't belong.
>He had enough on his mind as it was, he didn't need his life in danger too.
>After a 15 minute walk in relative silence due to his untalkative travel partner, the boy and woman end up at the hill send intended to bring him.
Here we are.
>Just as she said, it was a peaceful location that offered enough space to be along aside from the few couples that seemed to be walking about or sitting under trees together. Why was it only couples here? Just where did Hikage take poor Max??