Tag: 11.4p1

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He wore a polite smile and wasn’t doing anything more offensive than holding me, but something in his demeanor told me that Senegal wasn’t bothered in the slightest to be a thirty-ish guy with a teenage girl in one arm.  Just the opposite.

I actually had to go back to Interlude 8b after that last paragraph and check whether the guy Coil was talking about at the start of that was called Senegal. He wasn’t, that was Creep, but I do think there’s a good chance Senegal is receiving a similar form of payment.

“Hands off,” I told him.  I didn’t want to remove his arm because I knew that if I failed, if he resisted me, it would only reinforce his position over me.

Might as well be upfront about being aware of this, I guess.

He didn’t budge.  “Your friend there is the one calling the shots, and she said we’re a couple.  Until I hear different-”

Yeeah, I’m not convinced even that would dissuade him in the long run.

“Knock it off, Senegal,” Lisa ordered him.

Thank you, though.

The soldier backed off, raising his hands in an ‘I’m innocent’ gesture.

Yeah right.

That fake smile was still plastered on his face.  Would I even know it was fake, if I hadn’t spent the time around Bitch?  Or would I just think he was a slightly awkward guy with poor sense of boundaries? 

This… hits close to home, having dealt with a pedophile on Discord who for over a year just came across to everyone as a sweet, slightly awkward guy with a poor sense of boundaries.

I wasn’t one of the victims, I was one of the mods involved in dealing with that situation once we found out about it. Still was a stressful and upsetting situation that lasted a while.

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As I was saying about Lisa taking risks on others’ behalf… the escorts might actually be more danger in their own right than they’re worth, particularly Senegal. Eesh. Let’s hope he doesn’t lean into the role of “Taylor’s boyfriend” too much.

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Uncomfortable, I looked up at him to see his expression, and I didn’t like what I saw.  It reminded me of a look I’d seen on Bitch’s face from time to time.  That look where I could see that animal that had been at the core of any of us since before we walked upright.

Yikes.

Let’s, uh, hope he’s just a good actor.

Let’s really hope that.

Just like Bitch, the animal at Senegal’s core was vicious.  The difference was that he was much better at pretending to be normal, and his animal wasn’t angry.

Maybe it’s a bit of both, in a bad way.

It was hungry.

Lisaaaaa!

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“I could have brought Pritt,” Lisa admitted, “But I’m more comfortable with there being more guys in our group.  Chances are good we’ll get in a minor scuffle somewhere along the way, and way the Merchants operate, they’re going to respect guys more.  Ready to head out?”

Yeah, I do think this logic is sound. A group like the Merchants is going to be rife with sexists.

She looked at her cell phone’s display.  “Party starts soon, and we’ve got to walk.”

Wouldn’t want to be late!

Lisa removed the orange vest and name tag and then walked around to her desk to retrieve a series of colorful elastic bands.  She snapped one around her left wrist, then handed two to Minor.  She wore one yellow.  He wore one yellow and one black.

Oh, yeah, nice thinking. I figured they’d just go as new recruits, but since you already have bands, why not use them to make things go a little smoother.

That done, she led the way out of the shelter, giving a sloppy salute to her ‘boss’ at the front desk.  Together, we walked as a crowd.

Except she only gave herself and Minor bands, so I guess the narrative is that that Minor went to one of the arrangements, then brought his girlfriend to the next, and now the couple of them are bringing the rest of their friends along for a third.

We were a block away from the shelter when Senegal put one hand on my shoulder and pulled me closer.

DATING START!

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Brooks spoke, and his voice had a hard sing-song accent I had a hard time placing, “Couples?  Four guys and only two girls?”

Newfoundlander, perhaps? 😉

Also obviously two of the guys will go as a gay couple, what did you expect? Won’t that make for a nice triple date, going to the Merchant party together?

…though considering how many shitty people they’re gathering in one place, there are bound to be a bunch of homophobes. I guess that’s a good reason to have it be the buff guys.

“Minor escorts me.  Senegal escorts my friend.  And…” she took Jaw’s hand and placed it on Brooks’s shoulder.  “You have your date.”

Alright, that’s the opposite of the arrangement I just suggested, but fair enough. I guess the muscle is more here to keep the girls safe anyway.

Jaw laughed, and Brooks turned red, anger etching his face.

What can I say, dude. Should’ve seen that coming!

“The fuck?” Brooks growled.

Calm down, please. It’s not that bad.

“Watch it,” Minor spoke.  He didn’t raise his voice or add any inflection, but I could see Brooks react as if he’d been slapped.

Right, you don’t question the boss’ decisions, especially that rudely.

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“Hey, Danny, you know how I said I wanted to attend a Merchant meeting just to see what they’re like? I actually did it, but here’s the thing – I ran into that girl you were talking to the other day, your… daughter, was it? Anyway, she was there with her six-foot ex-soldier boyfriend… seriously, the dude looked like a grizzly bear.”

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“No comment,” Jaw rumbled.

Maybe Tattle does Know, but knows Jaw doesn’t like to talk about it and likes to tease him about it by bringing up how she’s “waiting to hear” it.

That left only the smaller guy.  “Brooks,” she told me, “Our field medic, though I’m hoping we won’t be needing his services there, and ex-airforce.  Handy with radios and computers.  Also pretty good with a gun.”

Ah, neat. That would be the ways he makes up for his size. 🙂

Jaw nodded assent to that.

“These four will be our lookouts, bodyguards and helping hands on our little errand.  We can pose as couples.”  She grinned at that.

Hehe, got some fake dating in here. Might be fun. Did you have some pairings in mind, Lisa?

Although let’s be real, it sounds like there’s quite a bit of age disparity. You sure it wouldn’t be more believable to do fathers and daughters?

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These guys were soldiers.  Coil’s, and now Tattletale’s.

Indeed.

Lisa pointed at one of the taller men, a blond guy with a long face.  Not long in terms of being sad, but in terms of how genetics had put it together.  “Minor.  Team captain.”

Ah, alright, I guess Minor got his nickname for ironic reasons. And here I was about to say this was probably Jaw.

The next guy, darker haired, with unshaved scruff on his cheeks and chin, she identified as Senegal.

Which means either the grizzly guy or the small guy is Jaw, and the other is Brooks.

I’m gonna guess grizzly guy is Jaw, then. Unless the small guy is called that because he’s got a way with words to weigh up for his lack of intimidating size.

She smiled as she turned to the burly, overweight man.  “Jaw.  I’m still waiting to hear where he got the nickname.”

Heh, alright. 😛

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“Come in!” Lisa called out, then she told me, quickly, “We’ll get into this later.”

Sounds good.

Seeing the first three men come into the room, I was left with the distinct impression that Lisa had picked out the biggest, meanest looking men in her retinue.  Then I saw the fourth guy.  Where the first three were in the neighborhood of six feet in height, physically powerful, the fourth was an inch or so shorter than I was, though he was still in good shape.

Better shape than me, for sure, but not someone imposing, like the rest.

Hm. I guess what he lacks in size and intimidation, he makes up for in some other way. Also, I imagine there are no points for guessing which one of these guys is “Minor”.

Of the four, I noted the guy who was wearing the most wrinkled clothes, with the thick beard and the broad gut.  He wasn’t imposing because he’d packed on muscle like the others, but because he was big, looking like a grizzly bear that was dressed up like a person.

Niice.

What caught my eye, though, was the ironic fact that this same guy was having the hardest time at shrugging off that stiff-backed, square-shouldered military bearing that had been hammered into him at some point during his onetime career.

Hehe.

I’m guessing this is… Senegal. Or Brooks. I doubt it’s Jaw, at least, since that’s a nickname you’d think would be given to a guy with a noteworthy jaw.