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"So now I suppose that hearing that awful story has you all pumped up to go ahead with this plan of yours," Lorelei says, taking her hat back from me and returning it to its rightful place upon her head.
"You mean breaking into those kids' place to get their book?" I ask, unsure if that's what she's actually referring to.
"Yes," she nods. "While I do have misgivings about this, I'll still support you if this is what you really want to do."

I'd be lying if I tried to claim that the idea of sneaking into the house of two Branch holders (and powerful ones at that) wasn't a scary one, but there's still the matter of securing their book before Irene's people can do so.

"I dunno," I say, shrugging. "The only thing I can think of to do aside from that is go visit my Mom, and-"
"And you're nervous about breaking the news to her that you're shacking up with me for the time being?"

With her lips stretched into a too-wide grin, Lorelei trails her index finger down my chest.


>home invasion time
>mama visit time

>>48875439
>Mama visit time

Good to see you back Arch! I've missed this quest

>>48875439
>home invasion time

>>48875439
>Mama visit time

Oh man, FD is back. Nice to see you still alive and well, Arch.

>>48875420
Archelon!

You've caused a change in the timeline! False Dendrite Canon was destroyed!

I'm sure you feel very powerful now, that you've changed the "inevitable" future. But it was kind of a dick move.

>>48875578
>FD is back
Is it tho

>>48875439
>>mama visit time

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>Oh man, FD is back. Nice to see you still alive and well, Arch.
I'd meant to run this a lot sooner, but stuff kept getting in the way.
like my own laziness

>>48875588
Silly anon, I am the sole master of this universe.


>writing

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Ignoring her provocation, I simply fold my arms over my chest and shrug.

"More like I'm nervous about her finding out about you leading me down a path of crime and debauchery," I say to Lorelei. "I mean, I'm already skipping school just so I can be with a girl who's -much- older than me..."

grooming

"Hey now," Lorelei pouts. "I may not have any complexes concerning my age but that doesn't mean that I want you taunting me about it."
"Alright, alright..."

After engraving the sight of her lovely pouty face into my memory, I check my pockets to make sure that I have everything on me and then head for the door.

"Eh?" Lorelei calls out. "Where are you going?"
"Figured that we might as well see how my Mom's doing before I go and risk my life breaking into the psycho brothers' house," I reply. "Unless you're too ashamed to look her in the eyes after so forcefully stealing her son's innocence last ni-GMFH"

Before I know what's even going on, my face is embedded in a couch pillow.
>call the mama beforehand
>surprise visit

>>48876559
>>call the mama beforehand

>>48876559
>surprise visit

>>48876004

I've never been in this quest before, but I saw that pic while scrolling and thought it was super qt.

>>48876559
>surprise visit

Aren't we supposed to be at school?

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>writing

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Once I've recovered from that somewhat provoked pillow attack (why the HELL is she so strong), I reach in my pocket for my phone.

"...crap, that's right," I wince.
"Wha?" Lorelei hurries to my side and strokes my face with the back of her hand. "I didn't throw that at you too hard, did I?"
"No," I shake my head, "I just remembered that calling ahead of time is a -bad- idea when I'm supposed to be in school right now."

After a few seconds of staring at me, Lorelei's shoulders begin to heave with laughter.

"You're concerned with that but you're still going to visit her anyways..." she giggles.
"What?" I say, holding up my hands. "I've learned from experience that she usually caves concerning stuff like this when I'm actually there in person. But when it's over the phone, she can be a total hardass."
"So basically, she's just as weak to you as you are to her," Lorelei nods.

I hate that she's completely right.


>straight to hospital time
>do something else first

>>48877429
>Sappy one-liner to throw Lorelei on the back foot a bit. (Something to the effect of, "But you're much nicer on the phone!")
>Straight to the hospital

Lorelei seems to get embarrassed when you lay it on thick, and I am craving some spaghetti after the drought of threads.

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>>48876711
>I've never been in this quest before, but I saw that pic while scrolling and thought it was super qt.
Thanks, I kind of wish that I'd commissioned another pic from the girl who drew it.


>writing

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"Too bad it's like the opposite with you," I say, shaking my head.
"Hm?" Lorelei furrows her brow. "What do you mean by that?"
"In person you like to mess with me and throw stuff," I say, nudging the pillow that she threw with my foot, "but over the phone you're practically an angel. The only drawback is that phone speakers don't fully convey how pretty your voice is."
"W- wha-"

Even without looking at her, I can tell through the sound of Lorelei's rapidly increased pulse that she's completely flustered right now. It's not quite as pleasant a sound as my Mom's heartbeat, but this is a tempo that I can definitely get used to. Her tendency to go quiet when she's embarrassed is a real shame, though... I bet her voice would harmonize with it really nicely.

But since it doesn't seem like I'm going to get the chance to enjoy that any time soon, I just take her hand and proceed on to the hotel lobby.


>[1/?]

Wooo
Joshua's back

>>48878132

"Let's see..." I mumble to myself as we approach the front entrance of the hotel. "...the 36 comes in fifteen minutes and then we'd need to transfer to the 5..."

I reach into my pocket to pull up the bus schedule since I don't have that particular route memorized.

"Cool, it's only a five-minute wait provided that there's no traffic," I say, snapping my fingers in triumph. "Hey, Lorelei-"

I glance to my side and find that my lovely lady companion is no longer standing next to me. Panic sets in for a splitsecond before I locate her heartbeat down by the curb-

"Joshua, I hailed us a cab," Lorelei calls out.
"Uh... thanks."

I guess she's not a fan of buses.


>[2/?]

>>48878222

Man, I ride public transportation so often that I'd almost forgotten how nice it is to actually be able to take a direct path to somewhere as opposed to being stuck along routes. In all, the taxi gets us to the hospital in maybe a third of the time that we would've spent had we taken the bus. And since Lorelei's kind enough to pay our fare, I now have a few extra dollars as well.

It's not much, but I do try and return the favor by opening the door for her and helping her out of the cab.

patronizing

she can probably bench ten times your body weight


>[3/4]

>>48878368
>she can probably bench ten times your body weight
It’s a good thing this isn’t about being physically stronger then, silly head voice?

>>48878368
>[4/4]

As we walk into the building and past the front desk, I notice that Lorelei's making a face.

"What's wrong?" I ask.
"I've never really been that comfortable in places like this, that's all," Lorelei replies, shaking her head.
"Wha? Then you didn't have to-"
"Don't mind me, it's just my natural paranoia acting up," she says with a weary smile. "You being with me helps to offset it a little."

God damn it, that look in her eyes...

"Oh hey, Joshua!"

Our little moment is cut short by a gruff voice of a man calling out to me. By the low, gravelly timbre that resulted from a heavy smoking habit paired with a strained heartbeat, I recognize it as belonging to one of the doctors who used to be assigned to my Mom's care.

"Hey yourself..."

Turning in his direction, I offer a lifeless handwave.

"Just here to see my Mom as usual," I say.
"Of course," the doctor nods. "Half of the other longterm patients are jealous of how dutiful a son she's got, you know that?" he laughs.
"I can imagine so," Lorelei says, joining in.
"Oh?"

Not having noticed her at first, the doctor's eyes grow wide as he gives her a quick look-over. I'm kind of ashamed to admit that hearing his heartrate begin to speed up evokes a slight feeling of jealousy on my part.

"And who might this young lady be?" he asks. "An acquaintance of yours, Joshua?"


>my future wife
>my girlfriend
>my friend

>>48878702
>my imaginary waifu, you can see her too?!

>>48878733
First this then

>>48878702
>>my girlfriend
(I’d say it’s only future wife if they are engaged. Which could be done in the near future…)

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>writing

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"Wha?" I flinch. "Y- you mean that you can see my imaginary waifu too!?"
"Wai... fu?" Lorelei stares at me, utterly baffled by what I just said.

But judging from how hard the doctor's laughing right now, I'd guess that he definitely got the joke.

"Shit, kid..." he holds up his hands and shakes his head, "I never thought you for the type to be making jokes like that."
"What can I say?" I shrug, "I'm full of surprises."

I then take the still-bewildered Lorelei's hand and give it a little squeeze.

"Seriously though," I say, "this is my girlfriend Lorelei."
"Umm, nice to meet you," Lorelei says, bowing her head.

And then his jaw drops.

"Yoooo, for real!?" he says, way more excited by this than I was expecting him to be. "you're not joking again?"
"He is not," Lorelei shakes her head.
"Nope," I back her up.
"...wow," he laughs. "I mean, most of us here at the hospital were expecting you to be single forever on account of how much time you spend doting on your mother. "And you found yourself a real looker, too."


>graciously accept the compliment
>take this opportunity to tease the lorelei

Ouch, it looks like activity's completely died off.
I guess that's a clear sign that I ought to call it a night here.

Dunno when exactly it'll be, but I do plan on running another thread next week.


and if anyone has any questions, I'll be sticking around for a little while longer.

>>48879023

>graciously accept the compliment
For now, but

>Mentally take note of this situation and opportunities for teasing
and

>take this opportunity to tease the lorelei
later when we're in private.

>>48879276
Well Arch I sort of had assumed you were permanently AFK IRL.

>>48879023
>>take this opportunity to tease the lorelei
Had to be somewhere for a while. I’m here now.

>>48879276
>Arch takes up to 90 minutes in between posts
>doesn't wait even 45 minutes for replies

>>48879287
>Well Arch I sort of had assumed you were permanently AFK IRL.
Hey, I said that I'd be running Joshua threads again. I even posted that I'd be doing this one a day in advance.


>>48879320
>>Arch takes up to 90 minutes in between posts
>>doesn't wait even 45 minutes for replies
a halfhour with no replies is my limit.


And now I sleep. Thanks for playing!

For further questioning:
http://maouzenigame.tumblr.com/

Game production blog:
https://studioarchelon.wordpress.com/

>>48875420
ITTTS BAAAAAACK :D

>>48879532
Thanks for running arch!

>>48879532
Maybe your limit should be a bit more lenient to reflect the reality of neding to regain momentum.

Thank you for the session regardless.

>>48879883
>neding
needing, even

>>48879532
To be fair, you start when most of us are sleeping.

>>48879532
It's not surprising. It was the deadest hour of the day, on a weekday.