Tag: Krixwell liveblogs

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

“Okay.  But you have other guys, right?”

Doesn’t really sound like it, but we did see the research team and the guy who gave Taylor directions to Works-here-Lisa, so I guess she does.

“Pritt and Dimitri.  Dimitri’s second in charge of the group, and he’s the only one other than Minor who I trust to run the shelter and everything that goes on in the background.  Our stuff.

Which means Dimitri has to stay back.

I got the impression that Pritt was a woman from the way they were brought up earlier, but maybe not.

Pritt’s good, she’s capable, but she’s a hardass in a way you see with some women in a job dominated by men.  CEOs, high-end lawyers, police officers…”

Oh, okay, she is.

Which in its own right is an issue, as explained earlier.

“And soldiers.  Right.”

“Right.  Compensating for something.  She’d do more harm than good if I left her behind without someone else to supervise, and I already said why I didn’t want her along in our group.

So long as our guys outnumber the girls, we’ll look less like potential victims.”

Yeah. Just gotta keep it looking that way to the guys within the team as well.

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

Lisa and I let the others walk a bit ahead.

“Doesn’t look like things are perfect here,” I muttered.

Yeah, no.

I guess it’s gonna take a while before everyone accepts their new leader, or refrains from being creepy, etc.

“I might have made a move for my territory sooner, if I wasn’t trying to wrangle this.”

That’s fair.

“Why’d you stick me with Senegal?”

She frowned.  The others had gotten far enough ahead of us that she felt ok to start walking.  I joined her.

Lisa explained, “Logistics.  I needed Minor around so I could have words with him about our long-term plans, and because I want to build a rapport.”

How about Jaw, then? He seems alright.

I nodded.  I wasn’t going to argue that point.

“The problems are Senegal and Brooks.  They’ve become friends, and Brooks is the kind of guy that’s influenced easily by his peers.  He’s good, he’s useful, but he wants to be in Senegal’s camp, and he’s not smooth enough to pull off what Senegal does, even if he’s smart enough to see what Senegal’s all about, so all you get is a dick who could be dangerous if things go the wrong way.

Ahh.

I wanted to keep them separated, so I couldn’t pair them together, and things would be worse if I stuck you with Brooks, on a lot of levels.”

Yeah, I can see that going wrong.

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

Coil’s guys were supposedly all ex-military.  My gut was telling me that Senegal hadn’t finished his tour or whatever the terminology was.  I couldn’t picture it any other way, having seen what I had.  He’d been relieved of duty.

Quite likely, yeah.

“The rest of you walk ahead,” Lisa instructed, “I want a few words in private with her.”

Yes, please.

“Who is she, anyways?” Brooks challenged her.  “Far as I can tell, she is dead weight.”

Well, I mean, Lisa did say your main specialty hopefully wouldn’t be needed on this mission. Who’s really dead weight here?

You might want to shut your mouth and respect the boss and her friend before she decides you’re not worth the hassle.

“I’m saying there’s a reason she’s here,” Lisa spoke, her voice firm.  “That’s good enough for you.”

It really should be.

“But-”

“Brooks,” Minor cut him off.  “Come.”

Unlike Brooks, Minor knows when to shut up.

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

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.

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

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.

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

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!

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

“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!

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

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.

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

“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.”

Krixwell JaceLeave a comment

“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?