Chapter 7: Debug Menu
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"I'm...hi?" Jaune said to the new girl, still somewhat thrown for a loop by her abrupt appearance.
"Sal-u-tations!" the girl said, taking Jaune's hand (slightly forcefully) and shaking it. "My name is Penny, pleasure to meet you!"
"...um, likewise-"
"Were you the one who threw this apple?" the girl, Penny, repeated, the seemingly pasted on smile on her face at odds with her accusation.
Jaune gulped. He knew exactly who was to blame for the apple, but unfortunately, said person had the most perfect alibi, and it was once again a case of him looking crazy if he tried to explain that.
It was at times like these that he wished Kyu wouldn't be so careless in how she affected the world around her; he was starting to get tired of covering for her.
He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, it was me," he admitted, "You're not hurt, are you?"
"Nope!" Penny shook her head, popping the "P" sound when she spoke. "I'm still 100% functional!"
Well, that was good at least. He was worried that she might have been hit in the head, but that apparently that wasn't the case.
"Good to hear," he said, sighing visibly as she placed the apple on the table. "Sorry if I caused you any trouble, is there some way I can make it up to you?"
Penny tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well…," she said, "I just arrived this afternoon and haven't had a chance to do anything yet." She looked at Jaune with an inquisitive expression in her face, "Do you know what people do for 'fun' around here?"
Jaune would have thought more of the slightly odd way she said "fun", but he was too surprised and excited by the sheer fact that someone else was asking him something that wasn't some variation on the phrase "Are you stupid?"! Plus, it sounded like this Penny girl was asking him on a date (he may have been reading between the lines slightly…), so he'd practically been handed the chance to hangout with a cute, quirky girl fir free! He wasn't going to let this opportunity slide!
And he knew just the place to go, too!
"Have you been to the Vytal Festival yet?" he asked, "I don't think they have everything set up yet, but there ought to at least be a couple stalls worth checking out."
"Ooh, sen-sational!" Penny cheered, "I haven't been there yet; this is the perfect opportunity to visit there before the soldiers find me!"
Jaune smiled. There was something about how exuberant this girl was being that just- wait, did she say soldiers?!
"We should hurry!" Penny said, grabbing his arm and leading him off, "There is still an airship and the docks, and its departure time is only nine minutes away!"
Well, Jaune thought as he was once again dragged off by someone smaller than he was, I guess some things never change…
"What Festival activity do you recommend doing first?"
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!"
"I'm not familiar with that one, is it Vacuan?"
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"I do not understand why you are so melancholy," Penny commented as she followed Jaune around the Vytal Festival, the scraggly boy hunched over in dispar. "Physical strength is not the only factor in being an effective Huntsman."
"It's not that…," Jaune moaned. "It's just...you broke the bell! How did you even do that?"
Penny shrugged. "I don't know, I merely applied the proper strength and leverage while swinging the hammer; the contraption must have already been defective to break so easily."
"Yeah, but still…." He really did try his best at the Test Your Strength game, even though his efforts only got him halfway to ringing the bell, which made it all the more emasculating when Penny did as well as she did.
"I do find it strange that we did not receive a prize for winning," the ginger girl commented as they walked, "he did not appear to be out of stock."
"I think that might have had something to do with you breaking his game," Jaune said. "I know I'd be pretty mad if my business got wrecked."
"Oh?" Penny scurried up so she was walking beside the Huntsman in training and asked "What is your profession?"
It took Jaune a second or two to realize she was serious. He quickly backpedaled, "No, I mean I understand why he would be mad." When Penny looked like she still didn't get it, he explained further. "It's a figure of speech."
"Ohhh!" This seemed to get through to get. "As in 'a colloquialism': when a word or phrase is used to mean something specific!"
"Uh, yeah," he nodded, not sure how to respond. She wasn't wrong, it's just that she sounded like she was reading the answer out if a textbook. "Pretty much."
Penny beamed. "I thought that is that it was…." She turned to him, "Let's try another attraction, one that won't break so easily."
Jaune nodded and looked around for something interesting the two of them could try. They were right by the Tunnel of Love, but that seemed a little too forward for what was supposed to be a simple tour. There was a photo booth just ahead as well, and it would make a good memento if Penny's first day here, but the thought of both of them sitting so close to each other made him feel uncomfortable.
However, there was one stall that caught his eye…
"Why don't we give that one a try?" he suggested, pointing at a stall that said "Measure your Aura!"
"O-Kay!" Penny cheered, "I already know how strong my Aura is, but if that is what you recommend, I will heed your suggestion."
OK, now Jaune felt a little stupid for suggesting that.
Fortunately he didn't wallow in that feeling for very long, as he felt his Scroll buzz in his pocket. He took it out and, sure enough, it was another text.
Surprisingly, this one was from Blake.
#I found your comic book,# it read, #Fortunately, it didn't take long to find; it was at the first place I looked.#
As usual, there was a photo attached to it. Comparatively, there wasn't all that much to this one, little more than a selfie that showed Blake holding up the comic in question by her face, a recept sticking out the top. Blake wore a rather pronounced frown, and her cheeks were slightly flushed, most likely from embarrassment.
The Scroll buzzed again as it received another text.
#I'll just leave it under your door when I get back.#
Seeing proof that Blake had actually followed through on her promise sent feelings of guilt surging through his heart. He really wouldn't have made a big deal about her particular taste in literature, even if she hadn't said anything about it. Basically, the whole situation boiled down to him taking advantage of some misunderstanding on Blake's part, and he wanted to rectify that as soon as possible.
Which meant he should probably wrap things up with Penny soon so he could go look for her….
"Friend-Jaune! It is your turn now!" Penny called from the booth, waving at him.
Oh right, the thing he suggested.
Well, what do I have to lose?
"OK," he said once he caught up to his charge, his eyes scanning the setup: there were three stations set up, each with two metal handles and a dial gauge on them. Penny was standing at one of the stations, the needle on the gauge reading just shy of a red area. "So how does this work?"
Penny pointed to the handles. "You grab these with both hands, and the needle will move depending on how strong your Aura is," she explained, "It showed mine as being perfectly within my established parameters, so the machine is accurate."
Jaune stared down at the metal handles in front of him. Was measuring someone's Aura really as simple as this? Apparently, since Penny said it worked, and she seemed like a truthful kind of person. Maybe a little odd and naïve, to be sure, but still honest.
The old man running the stall pushed a few buttons Jaune couldn't see and gestured for him to grab the handles. He glanced over at Penny, who gave an encouraging nod, and grabbed hold of the contraption.
The needle went wild almost immediately, shooting right into the red area at one end. There was some kind of whirring sound, and a second or two later thin plumes of smoke began to emanate from the gauge.
After that the glass broke, and the whir died down, leaving only the odor of hot metal in its place.
For a moment, none of the three said anything, Jaune just staring at the now ruined machine.
"...did I do that?" he wondered aloud, his mouth hanging agape in shock.
"Ah-may-zing!" Penny exclaimed in awe, "...this machine is defective too!"
"Uh, I don't think it was," Jaune said, pointing at the old man running the stall (who was now glaring at him something fierce). "You, uh...don't suppose we can get our prizes now, do you?" he asked the man hesitantly.
One rudely slammed partition later, Jaune and Penny were back to wandering the Vytal Festival.
"That man was quite rude," Penny remarked. "And he is the second person to withhold our winnings from us!"
Jaune wanted to point out that they were also kind of at fault for what happened at both stalls, hence why they were a few Lien shorter than before with nothing to show for it, but before could Penny tapped him on the shoulder, shuffling awkwardly in place.
"I'm afraid I have to leave now, Friend-Jaune," she said, "Thank you for showing me around, though; I enjoyed myself immensely!"
"Wait, you're leaving?" Jaune nearly got whiplash from the sudden shift. "Why?"
Now Penny looked nervous. "I, um...I have a dentist appointment!" she said, "Yeah! I just remembered- *hic!*." She hopped slightly when she hiccuped. "I did not remember before, but I do now! *hic!*" She hurriedly shook Jaune's hand, "I hope we can do this again sometime, Friend *hic!* Jaune! Goodbye! *hic!*" With a final hiccup she ran off, turning around to wave at him. (She hiccuped against as she did.)
Jaune just stood there, his hand slightly moving up and down of its own accord; it happened so suddenly that he didn't quite know how to react, and it took him a second to process it all. He made his way to a nearby bench and sat down, ignoring a pair of soldiers in Atlas grab that ran passed, and mentally ran through what just happened.
Not far away, taking her time to enjoy a corn dog she'd swiped from a vendor, was Kyu.
"Not bad, Playa!" she mused, dipping her fairground treat into some mayonnaise, "I think it might be time to start Phase 2." She pulled out her HunieBee and opened the Internet browser. "Welp, better let my adoring public know what happened."
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Kyu's Naughty Confessions blog })i({
Insert Tab A into Slot B
Hey sexy people, Kyu})i({'s back! =^w^=
So last time we had a little unexpected surprise at the end of Jauney-boy's latest date, one I did not see coming! (Insert "Giggity" here.)
If you'll recall from the end of last time, a new challenger appeared out of the blue; apparently someone chucked an apple at her and she thought the Playa did it. He didn't, but for some reason he took the blame anyway and asked if he could do something to make up for the pain she must have suffered.
So this girl, Penny, took him up on his offer and asked him if he could show her a good time. He said yes, and they raced off to the nearest public transportation. |-)
Unfortunately they didn't go to a hotel or any place where things would have gotten interesting. T_T Instead, they went this 'Vytal Festival' that's apparently going on- from what I could tell, it's like this big fair thing…? I don't know. -and just walked around, going from carnival game to carnival game and utterly destroying them.
And that's not hyperbole either; they literally could not walk away from anything they played without something breaking!
Anyway, this Penny chick (note to self: find out more about her!) was pretty much cleaning house until they got to this "test your Aura" thingy. She continued to do good, though Jauney-boy was lookin' a little dour because he kept losing to a girl, but he heads over to the stall and does the thing anyway, probably just to play the host or whatnot.
And do y'all know what happened then? Well, old Jauney-boy must have had a bunch of this "aura" stuff hidden away, cuz however that contraption worked, he completely overloaded it! \(0o0)/
Yeah, I'm as surprised as you guys are!
So with another busted carnival game under their collective belts they head off, mourning the fact that neither of them had any booty (as in treasure, not the other kind) to show for their efforts.
This lasted all of three minutes before Penny made some BS excuse about having a dentist appointment and scampered off, though not before saying she was open to doing this again at a later date. Win~! (^w^) (Penny = hearts X2) at the rate this kid is going, I think it might be time to step things to a little….
Now let's get on with those delicious, throbbing comments! \(^o^)/
(not that)_blu_gurl says "Way to paint us 'nerds' with the same broad, ignorant brush. #notallnerds." Whoa girl, calm your tits! I was just wondering, don't get your panties in a knot.
Trixie Dinglebells }!{ says "Oh-ho-ho! Are you going into business as a fertilizer sales-fairy, Sugardust? Because the BS in these 'date reports' is truly top quality. 'Subtle suggestions?' 'Stat modification?' The only statistic I saw you address was your hunger, and believe me, there was nothing subtle about what you did to those hotdogs. *shudders* Well, credit where credit is due. Jaune, deary? If you're reading I want you to know your progress has been quite impressive considering your 'coach' has all the insight of a "Dating for Dummies" textbook. If you ever want to work with a REAL fairy, you know where to find me. *wink*" (-_-*) OK, FIRST OF ALL, what those hotdogs and I did was 100% consensual and they were asking for it; they came onto ME, Dinglebells, not the other way around!
Second, Swiper no Swiping! Don't go stealing MY clients just because you're not satisfied with your own! Or are you so strapped for work that this is what you're resorting to? Maybe I'm not the one who should be "making side money"... |-)
THEMistypeaks says "Good job bringing up the flowers, Hon. I can say from experience that it's a sure fire way to turn a woman on." Preach it, sistah! Also, would you say getting flowers makes you little…"misty"? Eh?
BAB_Audrey420SWAG says "Gawd, couldn't that loser take a [word deleted] hint? That Whites bitch clearly doesn't want to associate with you, Jane, [word deleted] get a clue!" Wow, really getting some use out of the automatic censor function, aren't we, Miss 420SWAG? But don't worry about little Miss Albino; I told the Playa this already, but she's probably not as pissy as she seems. Just give it some time.
eDUmecator1337 says "So the God of Mischief is responsible for that massively important service? My souls trembles in fear of this. That aside I am extremely pleased that you shall make your charge ready. Please however do not shown him "first hand". It might cause some unexpected consequences. I wish thee luck." Aw!~ Dude, c'mon! Don't ruin my fun! ("Broke"xie Dinglehopper does that more than enough already…) …whatever, I'll give the Playa the BORING version of the Birds and the Bees when the time comes, just for you. *sigh*, The things I do for my readers….
XBossLadyX says "Is there something I should know about your habits while on the clock, Miss Sugardust?" N-no Ma'am! I'm always on the ball! The Client comes first! Totally on top of things! I would never put my own enjoyment over the the client's wellbeing or happiness! (^~^;) Eh heh heh heh….
Please don't make me be the Disobedient Slave Girl again, Master! (X_X)
Beli_Dancer says "Hmm, I wonder what happened that would make Weiss want to be by herself?" That's a good question, one that I don't know the answer to. With any luck, the Playa can weasel that information out of Weiss next time he sees her.
And that's all for now! If you'll excuse me, there's this corn dog I need to finish off. Giggity. See you sexy people later!
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