Connotations

Finally noticing the awkward atmosphere, Lucas develops a bit of a confused expression, then scratches the back of his head a few times. Jonathan is tensely locked up next to him, at a loss as to how to diffuse what he assumes is a misunderstanding, but isn't confident enough to act on that guess.

"Wh-what? The three of you combined probably can't eat as much as Jonathan alone, it's not like it's a big deal." Although Lucas is off-target, it at least breaks the strange tension in the air when Miss Chievous starts giggling.

Miss Masher looks thoughtful for a moment, then starts sizing up Jonathan, seeming to have accepted the interpreted challenge.

Miss Calculated finally thaws, gently pats Willy twice, then stands up to walk over toward Lucas with her tablet after setting the clipboard on the coffee table. She taps a few times on the screen during her short travel, clearing her throat while doing so.

"Well, even still, there's no real need to, you don't have to go out of your way for us." Once she stops in front of Lucas and holds the tablet out to him, Miss Calculated continues speaking further. "The ID scanner is the little sensor on the bottom left, after that your thumbprint in the box like before, please."

Between the two side couches, there are two different expressions of the same dissatisfaction. Miss Chievous whines directly into the couch cushion her face is plastered against, whereas Miss Masher frowns with a slight pout, crossing her arms.

Going through the requested motions, Lucas furrows his brows for a moment, then looks up at Miss Calculated's face once he's done.

"We're goin' to the same place afterward anyway though? Besides, it's not like Willy can do it himself, an' we gotta thank you somehow for how much you just helped 'im out." While Lucas still struggles with figuring out what could possibly be strange about the offer in the first place, Miss Calculated looks mildly surprised for a moment.

"Oh, well, when you put it that way... There's certainly no reason to refuse a gesture of gratitude on Willy's behalf. It was no problem, though I suppose you feel similarly about the cost of a meal, now that I think about it." Visibly relaxing while she responds, Miss Calculated even starts smiling a bit, showing just how much she had tensed up after Lucas originally made the offer.

Miss Masher's face lights right back up again, and Miss Chievous makes a muffled cheer, doing a horizontally aligned fist-pump with her free arm.

Jonathan has also relaxed significantly, leaning back against the support of the couch in relief, barely suppressing a sigh.

'For real though, why was it such a problem... Yet it is totally fine now?'

[...The breadth of your offer was so large that it had connotations behind it.]

'Woah, wait, what? It's not like I was propositioning them or anything! Goddamn, all three at once, with Jon and Willy there too, the hell!?'

[Goodness, that wasn't even what I was going for, but at least you're more in the right direction now. Miss Calculated had just demonstrated the extent of her influence here within the Municipal Clerk's Administrative Center, even reaching out to the adjacent buildings as well. If you had made a more specific offer such as a dining location that wasn't anything too notable, they could have interpreted it as a convenience on your behalf. However, as you had made the offer so open, the connotation was if they chose something that wasn't blatantly low end, they were accepting a bribe for a favor at your request. But if the bribe were turned down by going for something cheap, it would have made the rest of the afternoon quite awkward.]

'Wha... Oh. Ohhh. That... Okay, yeah, that makes total sense. The hell did she think I was tryin' to get her to do though?'

[She hasn't exactly known you long enough to necessarily be able to make that guess, but the fact that you waited until after her... Hmm, authority flex, I suppose I could phrase it. Anyway, since you waited until after then to make it, she may have assumed it was something... Sizable.]

'...Yeah. Huh, but if I was just bribing her, why would I invite everyone?'

[Well, it increased both the size of the potential bribe, as well as the appeal of it. Besides, it's no secret how close the three of them are, so it's not like making your request would have been any more of a secret if the two of you were alone.]

'...Okay, okay, I get it. Sheesh, I know bein' nice is unusual, but you'd think just lunch shouldn't be too strange.'

[...One of your little assumptions is going to get you into serious trouble one of these days. It's not like you should stop and ask me before every single thing you're going to do, but you should at least put a little more thought into what you do and say around other people if you aren't completely sure. I hope this served to reinforce that some things you consider inconsequential may actually be much more than you realized. Doubly so, now that you're the head of a villain organization, since it is going to be largely expected that you're trying to expand your influence every chance you get.]

'Guh...'

"Yeah, uh, sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. If anything, I feel like it's still not enough, so I didn't really think to clarify... Eheh." Now that he actually understands the situation, Lucas chuckles awkwardly while smiling a bit sheepishly at Miss Calculated, trying to lighten things further. Her own smile grows a bit, and she chuckles as well.

"No, no. You already mentioned the kind of sum you were willing to throw around earlier, and it would be silly to think you were implying some sort of black-tie meal as a light lunch on our way to mutual plans, I was overthinking things. I fear that so many people have tried pulling for favors, that I just keep assuming that's what everyone's after, I'm sorry. Ahem, well, Willy's all set, unless you wanted to file his prints..?" At first, Miss Calculated shakes her head while beginning her response. Once she's finished apologizing, she looks at Lucas with a raised eyebrow, gauging his interest in the additional documentation.

"It's all good, let's just say we're even, heh. And I don't think the prints 're necessary, the blood-work has gotta' be more than enough." Once Lucas says his piece, Miss Calculated nods once.

"As everything is already scanned, you can have the folder with everything you filled out by hand. We're good to go, the moment I say he can leave early, James will get everything ready to close up in under a minute, so we can just go straight out the front door." Once she's done speaking, Miss Calculated deftly closes out of everything on the tablet and shuts it off, tucking it under her left arm. She heads over to get the clipboard, removing the folder and directly handing it to Jonathan, as she had previously noticed he's already in charge of the paperwork from the DVO.

'Oh man, I gotta see this, nothin' is as effective as someone able to ditch work the moment they're done.'

-----

Lucas kills this chapter: 0

Lucas total kills: 7

Lucas deaths this chapter: 0

Lucas total deaths: 10

Lucas current GDV: 10.46 (+.01 net change)

Lucas's fame level: 3.5* (Beyond just local, viral meme tier)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 2.5* (More than just passing suspicion for a few paranoid individuals)

Jonathan kills this chapter: 0

Jonathan total kills: 5

Jonathan deaths this chapter: 0

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 2.19

Jonathan's fame level: 2* (Mostly just local)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 1* (Only highly paranoid people)

Willy's fame level: 1* (anonymous meme fame, local fame as 'Xenoclast's dog')

Supervillain social circle size: 11

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Little character theater:

Jonathan, mind now on the important thing; trying to decide what he wants to eat: Oh, oh since you're gonna be so busy, we should have lots of carbs right? We just had pizza, but-but we could go for someplace with good pasta?

Willy, happy with the plan now that he understands (not really) Lucas's thoughts on the matter: Bark!

Lucas, nodding along with Jonathan: Oh, but to be fair, I could probably eat pizza every day. Wait, the idea was to let them choose!

427, sighing heavily: [You're lucky that Miss Calculated was so cooperative in that recovery.]

Author, chuckling: You may have said not to do the MOST expensive thing, but Miss Chievous still wants to try and get seafood out of you, fair warning. It just won't have edible gold flakes on it, that's about the only concession she's made.

Mr. Quacks, now intrigued by the gold flakes, contemplating booking a reservation there for himself at a later date: Quack...