FRACTAL 2018/11/08(Thu)23:03 No. 910051 ID: 270774
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“Ricardo!”

Ricardo doesn’t wake suddenly — he drags himself from the murk of sleep one movement at a time, clawing at the sheets as if his own exhaustion is a physical thing that he can escape. He blinks a few times, and finds Pascal already out of bed and dressed, folding clothes over a trunk in the center of the room. It’s still light out, and he squints.

“I woke up early!” Pascal informs him cheerfully. “Because I had terrible dreams, ehehe. And then I could not get back to sleep, so I thought maybe I will just pack. I’m just about finished now!”

FRACTAL 2018/11/08(Thu)23:03 No. 910052 ID: 270774
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Despite what Pascal’s said, there’s still shit scattered all over the apartment — apparently, he intends to just abandon a lot of it. Ricardo sits up, slowly, and checks his phone for the time. It’s 5:32 in the evening, and he has two texts.

FROM: KEL
4:50 AM
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU ---------- ~+*MOST VALUABLE RAIDER 804 AD - 1021 AD*+~ ..:: AINT NO BITCH LIKE A GALLOWGLASS BIIIITCH ::..


FROM: MINORU
3:00 PM
wat’s ur sign lol

FRACTAL 2018/11/08(Thu)23:03 No. 910053 ID: 270774
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“We should both feed,” Pascal says, drawing his attention away from his phone. He’s wearing his hair pulled back. “And you need to buy clothes, before we leave, right?” He finished folding a shirt, and he suddenly pauses, glancing over his shoulder. “Oh! I get so caught up in planning that I’m being rude. Did you sleep well?”

Answer Kel and ask what we did?? Also tell Pascal he looks very cute with his hair pulled back. Maybe let's not mention the dream about his sire for now, but we can mention the other one about New York?

get the teddy thing off your chest, asap!!

try to remember what your sign is, ask kel what we did wrong, and ask pascal about dreams and if theyre more significant for vampires than they were when human

talk to pascal while you respond to texts
> tell kell there is a lot wrong with you
> tell minoru your astrological sign

agree with pascal that you need to feed, say that you also had weird dreams, make sure he packed his letters from the bathroom (possibly a good time to come clean about that? guilt feels bad man and he deserves to know)

also ask minoru what he said so you can decide where to get going to

he looks so CUTE with his hair back u gotta compliment him... also answer ur texts b4 anything else, what is kel talkin about? or is this just how she talks over text

(what IS ur sign??)

To Kel: You mean the fight? Or not waking up quick enough? Or just in general.

To Minoru: *lie* I don't know. (Insert birthday) figure it out.

>>910061
this
what IS your sign, ricardo
is it......is it cancer
are u a gentle sensitive soul

answer kel asap tho
'a lot but you need to be more specific, what happened'
shes probably reacting to minorus misinformation


.....ask what pascal dreamt of

oooooooooooo tell pascal about the visions? and yeah packing the letters seems like a good opportunity to tell him about the snooping

Kel: so many things. what specifically.

Minoru: taurus. also what's the rumor so we dont fuck up and die.

Tell Kel not to worry, it's all part of the plan. (She's probably asking bc she heard some of Minoru's gossip, right?)

Ask Minoru what kind of sign. (Maybe he wants to know about street signs or advice on forging signatures.... hmm, cryptic!)

Tell Pascal you can get clothes from a gas station or something on the road, you don't need to look good when your priority is getting out of town. The fact he had bad dreams tho will be a good segue into bringing up your own... visions?

to kel: do you mean in general, or ...
to minmin: (taurus sounds right, i endorse that, but we shouldn’t tell him if we don’t have to. if we can use info as even a TINY bit of a bargaining chip with him, we should - who knows how much he values dumb shit like this. refuse to tell him unless he tells you why he needs to know.)

compliment pascal’s hair and ask him what he dreamt about. all of this is just stalling until we inevitably make things really awkward by telling him we read the letters.

tell pascal about reading the letters before you leave to go feed so he can't accidentally kill you when he gets mad

then tell him his hair looks cute so he feels better when he gets sad

two birds one stone. tell both of them youre a scorpio.

>>910091
As a Scorpio: How dare you







I agree

>>910091
this is wrong and i'll tell you why.

scorpios fuck good.

Ask Pascal about his dreams; tell him about yours. I'm very curious if this is a Thing for vamps.

Also, to Minoru: "Stop."

>>910091
This.

1. Tell Pascal he looks nice.
2. Tell minmin to guess.
3. Tell kel "we won a duel"
4. Kiss Pascal's neck
5. Take a shower and pack, make sure Pascal has the letters while you're at it
6. Mention you should get Pascal a phone, too
7. Explain you read the letters
8. Hope for the best

>>910144
this seems like a good procedure

maybe ask pascal if hes packing the letters to open the door 2 that convo

hhhhey ricardo how's the morning wood situation

FRACTAL 2018/11/11(Sun)07:39 No. 910286 ID: 270774
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>hhhhey ricardo how's the morning wood situation
Ricardo’s undead boner is currently Nonexistent, because the guilt about The Teddy Thing is incapacitating. Unfortunately, Ricardo is an inherently good boy, and the longer he leaves something like this alone, the worse it makes him feel.

FRACTAL 2018/11/11(Sun)07:39 No. 910287 ID: 270774
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“That looks, uh.” Ricardo gestures a little helplessly at his own head, then points vaguely at Pascal. “Your hair. It looks good.”

“Oh!” Pascal bounces a little in place, the piece of clothing he’d grabbed suddenly forgotten as he turns around to look at Ricardo. “Yes! Well! Euuuhhhh, ehehe, probably you only said this because you were drunk, but last night you said I should try to wear it back, so…”

Ricardo doesn’t know what to say to that, so he turns his attention back to his phone while he tries to think of how to change the subject. “Uh…”

TO: KEL
5:37 PM
A lot. Can you be more specific

TO: MINORU
5:37 PM
Guess

Minmin’s response arrives before Ricardo even has a chance to put his phone down.

FROM: MINORU
5:37 PM
well based on when u were turned ur a scorpio and according 2 literally all my research birth charts based on turn dates still work but i still prefer original dates and 4 ur human bday obvs ur sun sign is taurus lol

FROM: MINORU
actually can u get pascal’s sign 2. he’s old as balls so he might’ve forgot his bday but like i said turn date is fine in a pinch. and his blood type. and can u try to get him to take an mbti test but like, be casual abt it

Well…. as far as Ricardo can remember, Taurus is correct, but the rest of this is incomprehensible to him.

FRACTAL 2018/11/11(Sun)07:39 No. 910288 ID: 270774
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“Ricardo?” Pascal has taken a few steps towards the bed, his head cocked to the side, and Ricardo reflexively turns his phone screen away. “Is there something interesting?”

“No. Uh.” Shit. Shit. Conversation. “You said you had bad dreams. What’d you dream about?”

“Oh… I hated it because it was so realistic,” Pascal laughs. He bends over to pick a shirt off the floor, holds it at arm’s length to consider it, and then apparently decides it isn’t worth taking along, tossing it into the corner of the room. “I dreamt my sire was angry at me.”

Okay. That’s definitely weird.

“Some people are just like that,” Pascal continues hastily. He goes through a pile of clutter on a small table near the foot of the bed, though it doesn’t seem like he likes anything there enough to pick them up. “It’s hard for them to be happy.”

Ricardo’s phone buzzes, and he glances down and unlocks it.

FROM: KEL
5:40 PM
DON’T TAKE A FUCKING ATTITUDE WITH ME YOU LITTLE WHELP. NAOTARO HIGUCHI’S NEW BRAT FOUND MY NUMBER SOMEHOW AND HE TOLD ME EVERYTHING BECAUSE HE SAID HE KNEW I WAS HELPING YOU AND HE DIDN’T WANT ME TO FUCK UP WHATEVER COWARDLY LITTLE COUNTERMEASURES HE’S PREPARED FOR YOU TWO ---------- ~+*MOST VALUABLE RAIDER 804 AD - 1021 AD*+~ ..:: AINT NO BITCH LIKE A GALLOWGLASS BIIIITCH ::..

FROM: KEL
OBVIOUSLY HE TOLD ME THAT YOU TWO AREN’T THE ONES WHO TOLD HIM ABOUT ME SO I DON’T KNOW HOW HE FOUND OUT. HIGUCHIS ARE CREEPS ---------- ~+*MOST VALUABLE RAIDER 804 AD - 1021 AD*+~ ..:: AINT NO BITCH LIKE A GALLOWGLASS BIIIITCH ::..

FROM: KEL
AND NAOTARO KEEPS TRYING TO GET ME TO REMARRY. I DON’T WANT ANOTHER WIFE. WAR IS MY WIFE ---------- ~+*MOST VALUABLE RAIDER 804 AD - 1021 AD*+~ ..:: AINT NO BITCH LIKE A GALLOWGLASS BIIIITCH ::..

>>910288
That sucks, Kel. I didn't know Minoru would be that much of an asshole to contact you like that. Drunk shit happened between us and Minoru and Bunji, but we managed to get him to help us in the end. Pascal said his shit was good, but I didn't think about how much asshole-ish an information broker would be. I only know them from movies. I thought a matchmaker would have more tact than this.

Message Minoru to lay off Kel, she's going to kill you later otherwise and you'd like to stay on her good side she seems awesome. Like, actually the the most decent vampire you've met so far, and he's complicating that. You're also grateful for the help and interest, but please be more careful with cool vampires like Kel.

ok why does minoru want to know all that? its not more weird matchmaky stuff, is it? suspicious.

honestly idk what kel wants you to say. its not like you gave minoru her number or even told him you met her. maybe ask her if she thinks you should trust him.

whats that about her wife? did she die, or maybe they split up? if its the latter, that could explain why shes not fond of the higuchis. dont ask her tho.

hmm ask pascal about kels wife, then idk, apologise for the teddy thing. that wouldnt be such a non-sequitur i guess

Tell Minoru that Pascal's blood type is whoever he's gonna eat for breakfast OF COURSE. Minmin I know you are pretty young but come on. Our own blood? In this economy?

uhhh well we can def ASK pascal all the things minoru wants us to.. not sure what to say to kel if anything tho;; should we talk to pascal abt ur dream?

Oh yeah to add on to my last suggestion, talk about how your dreams feel like visions. If we are gonna practice being open about telling each other about things, this is a good place to start instead of dancing around it.

Naotaro probably wants to hook her up just because it'd make his life easier to have someone like her as a part of his dating pool. But Ricardo wouldn't say that. Reply to Kel with "right."
Reply to minmin with "ask him yourself."

To Pascal, ask whether it involved an opera and a ward who looked exactly like him. Also, cuddle him. He had bad dreams :(

>>910301

no cuddling until ricardo comes clean about the Thing

> uhhh well we can def ASK pascal all the things minoru wants us to

Yeah, I figure there's no harm in asking Pascal. He probably won't remember most of it, but regardless you can gift the info to Minmin or use it to bargain later. Depending on what you decide, text Minmin about Pascal ("idk", "why do you want to know", or "maybe another time"?) and ask him not to stress Kel out lol.

After that, describe your dreams to Pascal. It's weird that you both dreamt of Constantin. Remind him that he has the help of both Kel and Minmin, and now he also has you, so Constantin can eat dirt (like Moeche lol).

Then tell him there's something he should know and if he doesn't want to teach you anymore- or rips you apart- you understand. No more hiding having read the letters when you first met.

> No more hiding having read the letters when you first met.

Actually, I take this back, lol. Wouldn't want you to be in the middle of a fight while you run for your lives.

"Umm, we beat Minoru in a duel so now hes helping us by also telling people we went to New York. I think."

Relay Minoru's texts to Pascal verbatim, later. For now ask him, as CASUALLY as you can, if his sire's got long hair, kind of reddish. Rococo-style clothing. Name of Constantin. But don't ask in a suspicious way or anything.

>>910316
I disagree! I think the longer we put this off, the angrier Pascal will be when he finally finds out, so it would be the LEAST disruptive to just get it out of the way now. We should probably get the current conversations done first, though, and when we bring the letters up I think we should stop texting Minoru and Kel back and focus entirely on Pascal.

Tell Minoru he can get all this stuff himself if he wants, but it doesn’t sound important. What IS important is telling him to stop bothering Kel, and asking him to tell you what misinformation he spread around so we know how to work around it. I don’t really know what to say to Kel, honestly, so Ricardo probably doesn’t either. Sorry?

Ask Pascal for more details about his dream. If it sounds like he definitely had the same one as you, tell him about yours, and ask if stuff like this happens often.

>>910323
I agree. At this point we've known him a day and how things were when they first met (intended murder and all) are still fresh in both of their minds, the closer they get the more it will hurt.

confess! confess! confess!
your love for pascal!
but also the whole letter thing...

if pascal needs a minute to cool down after you tell him, then maybe you can finish up your texts? it wont hurt to put the phone down for a second

>>910323
Yup!

Kel: Srry. Didn't know. Won duel. Brb.

Minoru: I'll ask brb.

Put phone down. Talk about the weird dreams. Talk about for the sake of full disclosure that you read those letters thinking maybe it would help you kill him or something. Apologize for being invasive, but you were still big mad about the whole turning thing.

There's probably never going to be a good time to have this conversation but its probably better to have it sooner rather than later. Also, seconding ricardo putting the phone down for this

FRACTAL 2018/11/13(Tue)07:22 No. 910530 ID: 270774
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“Hey, Pascal,” Ricardo mumbles, brow knitted as he taps out a response. “Did Kel have a wife?”

“Mm?” Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Pascal tilt his head thoughtfully. “Oh, yes, but this was so long ago. Centuries before I was born. She told me this story, though!”

“Huh,” says Ricardo.

TO: KEL
That sucks. Sorry. Didn’t know he was going to do that

“She was another Norse-Gael warlord,” Pascal continues. He’s stacking books, now, and Ricardo looks up to try to read the spines — from what he can see, about half of them are Wilde. “And their lands were just next to each other, and it became that they were always fighting constantly. But they were evenly matched, and so it was very stupid — one would steal a little land, and then the other would steal it right back, and so almost a century passed where they were both always spending all their time on war with each other, but nobody ever actually got any more land!”

Ricardo’s phone buzzes.

FROM: KEL
I’M NOT MAD ABOUT THE NEW HIGUCHI TEXTING ME I’M MAD THAT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE LAYING LOW AND YOU GOT INTO A DUEL. AND ON TOP OF THAT A DUEL WITH A MATCHMAKER AND SOMEONE TWICE PASCAL’S AGE ---------- ~+*MOST VALUABLE RAIDER 804 AD - 1021 AD*+~ ..:: AINT NO BITCH LIKE A GALLOWGLASS BIIIITCH ::..

“I think it was Rantaro Higuchi who finally said, ‘Stop this, you are idiots!’” Pascal laughs. “Maybe Rantaro. I don’t know, everyone before Soutaro, I get mixed up. But probably Rantaro, he said, ‘Why don’t you just get married, you fools! Then you will have double the land and double the wards, and finally you will have increased your power and you can make war again against others, because in this one hundred years where you have done nothing but bicker, everyone else has become stronger than you.’ And so they did!”

FROM: KEL
GOOD JOB ON WINNING THOUGH. PROUD OF YOU ---------- ~+*MOST VALUABLE RAIDER 804 AD - 1021 AD*+~ ..:: AINT NO BITCH LIKE A GALLOWGLASS BIIIITCH ::..

FROM: KEL
MORON ---------- ~+*MOST VALUABLE RAIDER 804 AD - 1021 AD*+~ ..:: AINT NO BITCH LIKE A GALLOWGLASS BIIIITCH ::..

“But then she died.” Pascal touches the hairline fractures in the windowpane, from the night before. “In battle, against someone much stronger. It was the only time Kel ever called a retreat in her entire life, because she said she knew if her wife had fallen, they had no chance, and to continue would just be like to throw all their wards into a pit. But all of the wards were very angry, especially her wife’s. They accused her of only retreating for being overcome with grief, and that it was an insult to their mistress, and Kel’s own wards were very angry for the embarrassment too. They were so angry that Kel gave the option for them to leave, it they were really so furious that they could not bear to serve her anymore, and many of them did. Probably Kel would have over a thousand wards by now if this hadn’t happened.”

“Oh.” Ricardo looks up from his phone, frowning. “That’s —“

“Don’t say sad!” Pascal warns him. “When Kel told me this story, I said to her I thought it was so sad, and she got mad at me. She said to die in battle isn’t sad, and that her wards were justified to be angry.”

“Okay, Christ. It’s not sad.”

FRACTAL 2018/11/13(Tue)07:22 No. 910531 ID: 270774
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He sends a pair of texts to Minmin, too, as an afterthought.

TO: MINORU
If you want all that stuff so bad ask him yourself

TO: MINORU
And stop bothering Kel

Then he sets his phone down, running his hand through his hair and mentally regrouping. “Okay, hang on. I got sidetracked. Your dream.”

Pascal scoffs, elbow-deep in the trunk, trying to compress his clothes to one side to make room for the books. “Ricardo, it is not so important—“

“Was it at an opera?”

Pascal stops what he was doing.

“And there was a ward who looked exactly like you—“

“Renard does not look like me!” Pascal exclaims, straightening up immediately. “His hair is so thin! And he has a long nose, and he is like you and always makes terrible faces!”

“Okay, so—“

“Wait, wait,” says Pascal, “and then there were two vampires on a rooftop —“

“Yes.”

Pascal hops onto the bed with him, eyes wide. “And! And the woman, the woman with the guns who I did not recognize, who was so sexy and cool —“

“She was so fucking cool,” Ricardo mutters.

“Wow!” Pascal is sitting on his knees, bouncing softly on the mattress. “Wow! So we have had the exact same dream!”

“Is this, uh. Normal,” asks Ricardo, “for vampires.”

“No!” There’s suddenly a pause, and Pascal hits his fist lightly into the palm of his hand a few times, brow furrows as he thinks. “Well — I mean, I have heard superstitions, but I didn’t think it was real. About sires and wards having this kind of connection, but I thought it was silly and proven to not be true, because I have slept alongside my sire before, and nothing like this ever happened.” His expression draws deeper into thought. “Unless… maybe it happened, but he just never mentioned it… oh, I am having a hard time remembering. I only slept in his chambers a few times, because I would wake up with awful nightmares, and it was a nuisance to him, so he would begin to just send me away — to me, though, those dreams never seemed to be anything to pay attention to. It was all nonsense to me.”

He glances around, at the clutter of the apartment, and suddenly seems flustered. “Oh — oh, Ricardo, this is so interesting, and I want to talk more about it! Especially because probably it is alarming to you. But… I think it is important we finish what we must do, first. There will be plenty of time to think as we travel.”

FRACTAL 2018/11/13(Tue)07:23 No. 910532 ID: 270774
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“Right,” Ricardo says. He checks his phone again, briefly.

FROM: MINORU
he doesn’t have a fucking phone, dipshit

Whatever.

TO: MINORU
Just tell me what misinformation you spread so we can work around it and decide where to go

With that done, he sets his phone back down and looks up at Pascal, who’s hustling around the apartment again doing a last once-over. “Uh. Speaking of that. Before we go, there was something kind of important I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh!” Pascal is digging cheerfully through a drawer. “Of course, Ricardo! Anything you like!”

“Yeah, uh.” God, why is this so hard? “Uh. Were you planning on, uh. Packing that box of letters.”

FRACTAL 2018/11/13(Tue)07:23 No. 910533 ID: 270774
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Pascal stops. His head turns, slowly.

“The box of what?”

Well, thinks Ricardo. I’m in it now.

>>910533
Yeah I was trying to distract myself after you were playing with my dick and I found the letters.

you were angry, you knew nothing about what kind of person pascal was, and you also had no respect for his boundaries because you figured he was some super evil bastard. all of that's on you. tell him what you read, and apologise even if you know he won't accept it

what was i supposed to do while horny, NOT read your personal letters instead of badly beating my meat?

hhhhuuuuu, honesty might be the best policy here—just lay out the facts and don’t go on for too long!! rip off that perverbial bandaid!

mmmmm well you already knew he wouldn't take it well. so all you can do is keep going. short, concise sentences, real earnest.

like, remember yesterday when i was in the bathroom? i went though some of your stuff. i really regret it now, but it happened and i can't take it back. i value honesty in a relationship so i felt like i should tell you. i'm sorry i broke your trust. let me know if i can do anything to make you feel better

I was still in the headset of finding ways to successfully murder you at the time because I was still thinking you were like a really sexy Dracula or whatever. But yeah the box of letters in the bathroom. I read some. Sorry, I shouldn't have snooped. It was shitty of me. Won't do it again. Wanted to tell you now rather than later.

The uh. The box in the bathroom. I only read a few, when I was planning on murdering you, so I didn't. Uh. Sorry.

The uh. The box in the bathroom. I only read a few, when I was planning on murdering you, so I didn't. Uh. Sorry.

The uh. The box in the bathroom. I only read a few, when I was planning on murdering you, so I didn't. Uh. Sorry.

well we're fucking in it now! confess and be VERY APOLOGETIC because we thought he was an enemy then. not that it makes better. but. context

Go with something like: "I read them. I'm sorry. I wouldn't now."

confess and get it over with;; him being angry would be. understandable, and i dont think rly that it being b4 we started getting along makes a diff

"I fucked up. I came in there wanting you dead and didn't give a damn about respect. I wanted to know who you were and I wanted to be a dick and I figured that looking at some letters would let me do both. Sorry. I won't do it again."

Maybe prepare for a hit.

Do NOT mention being horny while reading the letters. The last thing we need is Pascal thinking you whacked off to his personal correspondence.

.........you didn’t, right, Ricardo? You didn’t crank your hog thinking about the content of private letters between Pascal and his ex in the shower, did you?

>>910533
You have a box of letters in your bathroom you left out yesterday. Just all over the place. I thought I could learn more about you or your sire or background, but it turns out they were deeply personal and I feel like dogshit shit for reading some of them.

That paper is so old why is it in the bathroom?

>>910585

this, a good explanation and a good apology. promise not to go through pascals things again, and offer to make it up to him somehow? you dont have any letters to hand over to him, but you could offer to tell him more about your past or something if it would make him feel better/even the playing field?

be sure to add that youre telling him this now because you know it was wrong and you actually sort of care about him now, and you dont want to keep secrets from him

im sorry for what i did when i was horny

Definitely apologise and maybe add that you won't go through his things again (after all, you did do it when you didn't know each other)

Apologize for what you did! You have to tell him that you know about Teddy and that you only read a few - you didn’t realize what they were or the significance they held to him

You’ve been building up trust so be tactful and respectful and open to how he feels!

let's maintain eye contact too - not in a confrontational way if you can manage that, just so he knows you're honest and not taking a cheap shot at him (since we know it's an incredibly tender spot after all these hints we've gotten last night). like everyone's mentioned so far, we really are sorry - the plan having changed doesn't really make the action excusable in the present.

FRACTAL 2018/11/13(Tue)20:44 No. 910629 ID: 270774
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>I read some.
>I only read a few
>you only read a few

Ricardo did not read “some” or “a few” of the letters. Ricardo read all of the letters, and looked at all the photographs, and then he went back and reread all the letters specifically for the sex parts.

He doesn’t think he’s going to be able to bring himself to lie about that.

FRACTAL 2018/11/13(Tue)20:44 No. 910630 ID: 270774
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>The last thing we need is Pascal thinking you whacked off to his personal correspondence.
>.........you didn’t, right, Ricardo?

FRACTAL 2018/11/13(Tue)20:44 No. 910631 ID: 270774
File 154217067679.png - (102.02KB , 800x525 , 255.png )

>You didn’t crank your hog thinking about the content of private letters between Pascal and his ex in the shower, did you?
UUUUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH

FRACTAL 2018/11/13(Tue)20:44 No. 910632 ID: 270774
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Like a band-aid, Ricardo thinks to himself.

“I read them.” There’s nothing he can be but straightforward and blunt. Rambling would only make things worse. “I shouldn’t have done it. I was angry, and I wasn’t thinking about — about us, having to trust each other in the long run. I was just trying to learn more about you, or about your sire, and I wasn’t expecting them to be that personal. I’m sorry.”

“What was it you asked me last night?” Pascal’s shoulders are tight with tension — he’s trying to fold another shirt, as if just to keep his hands occupied, but he can’t manage it and he ends up just throwing it back down into the trunk. “Did he ever get that kiss, you asked me! Right to my face!” He’s tensely stalking an angular little path around the room, trying to find something to do while he talks. “Was this also in anger? Was this because you were not thinking? Or did you laugh in your head, listening to me talk about things you already knew so much about, without me knowing?”

Hhrhreeeeeuugggghhhhh. “If I knew what I knew now,” Ricardo says, slowly, “I wouldn’t have read them. If I had heard about that stuff, or knew that it was important to you. I was still in the headspace of wanting to kill you when I read them. I was thinking about you as some kind of — you know, evil bastard, or sexy mastermind Dracula—“

“I am evil!” Pascal snaps, shrilly. He slaps the endtable, a little burst of frustration. “I am vampire! This comes with the entire package! Of course I am evil! And lots of people try to kill me, but they don’t read my mail!” He points one accusing finger at Ricardo, his voice still high and strained. “And calling me sexy will not get you out of this!”

“I’m not trying to get out of it,” Ricardo protests. “I just mean — ugh.” He drags one hand down his face, trying to relieve the tension already boiling over behind his eyes. He’s not great at putting his thoughts and feelings into words even in the best of circumstances, and doing it under pressure and stress, to a conversation partner who seems extremely willing to extract the worst possible interpretation out of everything, feels impossible. “I just mean that I didn’t know what kind of person you were, when I did it.”

FRACTAL 2018/11/13(Tue)20:45 No. 910633 ID: 270774
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“Oh, and now you are so well-informed!” Pascal laughs that harsh, bitter little laugh of his, his hands tense at his sides. “Now you know me so well, you think? From what! Why! Because you have heard all the edges of the gossip about poor Pascal?”

The windowpanes strain, and Pascal seems to hear it — he pauses and inhales, hard and angry through his nose, then lets it out in a hiss, and the air pressure in the room drops unsteadily. It doesn’t stop him from plowing forward, though. “All the gossip about poor, stupid, helpless, tragic Pascal, from people who wish me ill, or even worse, people who pity and patronize me—“

He slams the trunk shut, fuming, and sits on it. “So! Fine, then! Everything is so different now, from a few hours ago? You know what kind of person I am now?” Pascal glares at him, arms and legs crossed. “Then tell me!”

Tell Pascal that he is the kind of person you care about now, maybe the only person you truly care about now, and that's all there is too it. You're sorry.

"i still don't know a lot about you - i'm not going to take other people's words for definitely true, or personal correspondence, which i am trying to apologize for. i just - needed you to know, because i know i shouldn't have done that even if i didn't see a problem with it given the situation at the time."

>>910634
this!!!

Pascal is someone who didn't turn you to torture you and doesn't see you as a plaything. Even though he left you at first, he is trying to take responsibility now and so are you. Like he didn't want to hurt you, you don't want to hurt him. You regret your actions.

we thought a bunch of things, but now we think you're alright, and we made a mistake, and we're sorry. we don't pity you, pascal

Hang on, what the hell makes him think those letters would make Ricardo pity him? They made him like him. Ricardo asked about Teddie because he looked so happy talking about being happy with him, and he hasn't had a chance to see many people being happy in a while. Ricardo is sorry about the huge breach of privacy, he's an asshole for that part, if he could do it over he wouldn't, but he loved hearing that the reason for the "thanks for giving my head back, it was very nice, blah blah, I'm writing this because my sire made me, wanna have a drink your ass is hot" was because Pascal slapped teddie's head off. And the letters? Talked about how amazing Pascal is. So no, he doesn't think he's pathetic or tragic and pitiable or needs patronizing— they won a duel together, when they'd known each other a day, against a vampire twice Pascal's age and his husband. He thinks Pascal is fucking badass. So if he doesn't want people to pity him he should can the pity party.

we STILL don't know you, not fully, but you're someone we care about, and someone we WANT to know. we're very sorry, and we don't pity you, or anything dumb like that. and also reading other people's mail got super in style the past ten years hadnt you got the memo

....someone who deserves better, but has been strong enough to survive, even as the world gives him worse. just like us.

>>910638

I think this is the best worded reply we could give to him right now, since its grounding the conversation and focuses on why we are doing this/what we are valuing in this relationship from here on out.

Addition: you're not accusing him of being a terrible person. He hasn't done anything wrong except sire and drop you, but he's changing that. You don't think any of those negative things about him. It's not right for either of you to assume.

RICARDO SAY "I'M SORRY"

also you've seen another side of pascal and you want to see more. its only been like ONE DAY and you've changed how you felt about him so much. the last thing you want to do is pity pascal. and pascal shouldn't pity himself either.

i do think you’re stupid, but not in the way everyone else does. and i think you’re spoiled, and melodramatic, and flighty, and self-absorbed.

and none of that has made me want to bail, yet, so chill out. i still like you better than any other vampire i’ve met so far, and that’s why i’m being honest with you right now.

>>910651
Ditto this

>"And lots of people try to kill me, but they don’t read my mail!”

losin it right here

ricardo before u make things worse u gotta genuinely apologize !!!!!!!!!! tell him ur sorry bro!! or blame it on being a taurus lol

>Now you know me so well, you think? From what!

Your actions and the time we've spent together, not to mention that duel.

>>910643

This. this this this, so much this.

You learned that you don't know him. You learned he's so much more than rumors or stories or a couple hours could say. But you've seen bits and pieces of someone you'd really like to get to know well enough to eventually have an answer to that question.

>>910649
tHIS don't asume you know who he is hes clearly got a lot of issues wrapped up with being written off by gossip or by his appearance. just say you want to know more, from him, and back then you didn't know whether you were going to give yourself the chance for getting to know him genuinely. and now you've decided you will.

also just say you're sorry. disaster boy

>>910638
>>910643
Some combo of these. Fuck pity, we actually like you and respect you and shit.

>>910671
>>910677
This, yes. All you've learned is that he's someone you want to learn more about. (Also stop saying "I'm trying to apologize" and actually apologize jfc)

>>910643
yyyeah

ricardo realizes now that pascal is someone he wants to know MORE about, now in an interested feel-good way and not gather-intel-on-the-bastard way :)

also: you are mad cute and i wanna kiss your face

>>910633
I own what I did. I have no further explanation for my actions and don't want to excuse myself or try to get off your bad side. I'm a stupid boy who knows actions better than words and there are no more words that aren't going to be stupid for me to say.

You're someone who's respect I want to earn. That's all.

>>910633
Pascal You're a huge dork and I love you lmao

>>910683
He did say "I'm sorry" at the end of his initial apology. One of those isn't enough or anything, he could say it more, but Ricardo isn't just beating around the bush for the whole update.

Hmmmmm, we need to defuse this. Just apologize, we really don't have an excuse besides being mean and spiteful. Also, no we don't KNOW you. We now know you as in you exist, you are a person with thoughts and feelings. Before you were just a picture and a horrible action. So yea, for lack of a better term we dehumanized you. Now we know that isn't the case. Now we know you are someone we could get to know.

FRACTAL 2018/11/16(Fri)22:18 No. 910948 ID: 270774
File 154243549503.png - (82.18KB , 800x525 , 258.png )

“Would you listen to me?” Ricardo snaps. He knows he’s supposed to be diplomatic right now, but it’s hard. “That’s the whole point. I don’t know you, and I want to.”

Pascal looks a little caught off guard. Ricardo seizes the opportunity, because if he doesn’t, there’s no telling how long Pascal’s next tantrum would be. “I’ve only known you for a day, but yeah, I already have some opinions. And I do think you’re stupid.” Pascal splutters, affronted, and Ricardo continues before he can formulate an actual protest. “And I think you’re a spoiled brat, and you’re melodramatic, and you’re about ten yards up your own ass.”

“You—” Pascal is breathless with outrage, his hands snapping down to claw at the edge of the trunk. “You insolent little—”

“And I want to know more,” Ricardo interrupts, loudly. “You’re all this shit, but you’re not what I thought at first. You’re trying. and you haven’t done anything to fuck with me on purpose. That’s why I don’t want to fuck with you, either. I feel like shit for having gone through that stuff, now. I’m sorry.” He scrubs his hand over his face, irritated. This is more emotional integrity in about five minutes than he’s had to deal with in the past ten years, and it’s exhausting. “I’m sorry,” he repeats, and he wishes it didn’t come out sounding angry. “I want to get to know you more without this hanging over us. That’s all.”

Pascal is still breathing — more lightly, now, but still audibly. Ricardo keeps his forehead settled on his palm because he doesn’t think he can manage any more eye contact right now. “And, Christ, why would you think those letters would make me pity you, anyway?” he mumbles, almost more to himself than to Pascal. “I wasn’t asking you more about him as some kind of fucking conspiracy. I was asking because it was interesting. And because you looked happy talking about him. Yeah, I should have told you I already knew the background, but it just — I wasn’t making fun of you.” The irritation is flaring at the edges again, because Ricardo can’t really understand why Pascal is so fucking eager to assume the worst. “Maybe if you don’t want people to pity you, you should can the pity party. You’re doing it before anyone else does.”

FRACTAL 2018/11/16(Fri)22:18 No. 910949 ID: 270774
File 154243551331.png - (110.37KB , 800x525 , 259.png )

He finally hazards another look up at Pascal, and he’s surprised to find that the other’s expression is actually calmer. He’s got one of his nails in his mouth, staring Ricardo down with the air of someone who’s making a decision. Ricardo is, as always, annoyed that vampires still sweat.

“I’ve earned the right to pity myself,” he finally says. “Other people have not.” He gets up from the trunk, sweeping his displaced hair over his shoulder. “They’re not doing it right.”

Ricardo can’t contain a scoff. He can’t tell if Pascal is making a joke or not.

FRACTAL 2018/11/16(Fri)22:18 No. 910950 ID: 270774
File 154243553261.png - (85.55KB , 800x525 , 260.png )

“Well,” Pascal continues, “it’s stupid to be angry. So I’ll try not to be angry.” He walks over to the edge of the room, and his attempt at looking impassive is undermined somewhat by the unimpressive wobble he does while getting his shoes on. He’s mulling something over, and when he speaks again, his tone is thoughtful — almost hesitant. “Ricardo. Is this why, last night, you did nothing.”

This seems like it would be a great time to say something like I wasn’t even thinking about fucking you, idiot, but unfortunately Ricardo is stuck on honesty mode and that’s not what comes out of his mouth. “Yeah,” he says, too quickly — and then, to salvage it, he adds, “kind of.”

“Hm.” Pascal straightens up again and extends his leg, intently focused on smoothing out the folds around the knee of his boot. “That’s … more gentlemanly than I expect from you.”

FRACTAL 2018/11/16(Fri)22:19 No. 910951 ID: 270774
File 154243554894.png - (82.87KB , 800x525 , 261.png )

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” Ricardo growls, but Pascal is already moving purposefully across the room again, raising his voice to be heard from the bathroom.

“We have to feed,” Pascal reminds him. Ricardo hears the clinking of long-nailed fingers sorting through jewelry. “If you need help to feed today, of course, I can help you.” A pause. “But if you can feed on your own, I would like some time by myself.”

it would be GREAT to give pascal his space and i want to but also the fact that we are not supposed to stay in town very long because other vampires are hunting us down is kind of a pressing issue. remind pascal about the dangers and if he thinks its safe to split up, then give him a little space.

also text minoru back and ask about that misinformation. maybe he can give you some specifics so that you can factor that into your and pascals choice about whether or not to split up to feed?

Yeah, let him have some time. Ricardo can find a well maintained asshole to chow down on well enough on his own.

Make concrete plans for when they're going to meet up again though, just a quick "see you back here at X time?" And one of our stops should be to get Pascal a cellphone for exactly this kind of thing, because the odds of Ricardo staying out of trouble are... low.

Actually, message Minmin and see if he has a phone you could give Pascal, tell him you'll make Pascal answer his questions if he does. Check whether he's messaged back at the same time.

Respect his time by himself for now and go to feed on your own. You both have a lot to think about right now anyway and some time away from each other would probably be good anyway. Despite Pascal being rather weakened right now, he's got hypnosis so he'll be fine.

>>910952
yeah remind him that he could be in trouble if they get separated -- like, he did bring up the whole reason why vampires move in partners. just from a purely bodily harm standpoint. he totally is legit in needing his space but unfortunately needing to keep his head attached to his shoulders trumps that

let's go feed on our own, but try to compromise and be in the same general area. i don't want us all to be separated if something goes wrong or if someone gets in trouble

give him space!! and text minmin again, let’s see if we can get more vamp info..?

This is good, decide on a meetup place and what time. If either is late the other knows to worry. Give each other some time to thini and breath.

>>910965
Yeah good plan.

Also mention that Pascal needs a phone so that you don't have to worry about splitting up so much. But still do so.

Mmm as much as it would be good for us to respect Pascals wishes and give him some space right now, is it really safe to do so? I agree that there are still vampires huntng us in town and it might not be a good idea to split up. (Plus pascals hypnosis/pascal in general will make hunting A Lot Easier)

>>910956
ya this
if we are proving ourselves to be gentlemanly we should respect his space but we're also in kinda a dangerous situation to be apart from one another
also, that admission went better than expected, right? gimme that old ricardo thumbs-up

also isnt it weird that minmin hasnt texted us back, its been over a minute for sure
also also please put on a shirt dude

>>910965
sounds good, satisfies my anxiety

>>910956
I like this plan, combined with setting a meetup time (and reminding Pascal of the danger in the first place just in case he changes his mind.) And do emphasize that you want to give him the space he’s asking for, it’s just a matter of pragmatism.

Can we actually go snag a phone for him together first, then split up within the same area? Just in case.

>>911006
Sounds good; hopefully shouldn't take too long to get a phone taken care of. If it looks like there's going to be a wait, we can split up to feed and meet back like other people are suggesting.

Also, take a sec to be proud of yourself, Ricardo, that was hard and you handled it really well.

from a practical point of view splitting up is a TERRIBLE idea but from a romantic point of view ricardo and pascal need to give each other some fucking space, geez, this has been a whole lot to lay on the both of us very quickly

unfortunately we're gay fools so it's definitely time for some space. plus pascal might even be impressed if we do a good job hunting without him

Oh, to add on to my earlier suggestion (>>910953), mention that it's not stupid for Pascal to be angry. In his position you'd be pissed, too. You're not a kid, you can take it if he's angry at you for fucking up.

don't split up!
people are supposed to be on your tails about now the last thing you need is to be caught alone /especially/ when pascal is low on blood
y'all can get separate hotel rooms where ever you end up if you still need alone time

split up for now. yeah its probably a bad idea for practical reasons, but we also want to give pascal space as well as show that we can hunt on our own. use what we learned last night.

hmm. can we split up and hunt separately and give pascal some space while not being too far away from each other in case the shit hits the fan and we need help? its important to give pascal some space like he asked for but also people are after us and not being murdered is kind of important too.

let's try to do a better job of hiding a body than Cool Jacket Guy.

FRACTAL 2018/11/24(Sat)21:29 No. 911712 ID: 270774
File 154312376090.png - (110.93KB , 800x525 , 262.png )

>that admission went better than expected, right? gimme that old ricardo thumbs-up
>Take a sec to be proud of yourself, Ricardo, that was hard and you handled it really well.

Actually, yeah. It sucked, but now that it’s all out of the way, Ricardo feels pretty damn okay about how that went. It could have gone a hell of a lot worse.

Ricardo is much happier now that this conversation has happened — his Goodboy Guilt has been assuaged.

FRACTAL 2018/11/24(Sat)21:29 No. 911713 ID: 270774
File 154312377554.png - (101.53KB , 800x525 , 263.png )

Ricardo pulls a shirt on and sighs heavily in response to Pascal’s request. “Hey, listen, I really want to, but —”

He practically feels Pascal’s gaze snap up to him, even though he’s not meeting his gaze, but he pushes forward anyway. “Just — is that a good idea? We’re on the run. Splitting up could be a bad idea.”

“Ugh,” Pascal says. He’s pacing again. “Ugh. Ugh! You are right.”

“Listen, how about this,” Ricardo offers. “We stick in the same area. Within earshot, at least, but we’re not hunting side by side. You can have some time to yourself, but if something happens, we can get to each other quickly.”

Pascal rolls his shoulders, and his head cants to the side for a second before he echoes Ricardo’s earlier sigh. “You’re right,” he repeats. “This is a good plan.” There’s a beat, and when he speaks again, he sounds grudging. “You’re smart, Ricardo.”

FRACTAL 2018/11/24(Sat)21:29 No. 911714 ID: 270774
File 154312379282.png - (115.53KB , 800x525 , 264.png )

“Uh.” Ricardo doesn’t know how to respond to that, so he moves on to the next order of business. “I have to see if Minmin texted back. Then we’ll be able to plan where we’re going. I’d like to have that figured out before I do stuff like buying clothes.” He picks his phone up and uses it to gesture briefly at Pascal. “We have to get you one of these, too.”

“Yes, yes.” Pascal waves his hand dismissively, clearly disinterested in anything to do with technology. “Do whatever you must.”

Ricardo finds that during the conversation, Minmin had texted him repeatedly.

FROM: MINORU
5:55 PM
oh duh lol u need to kno what i said to decide what 2 do

FROM:MINORU
here this is probably the easiest way to do it 1. https://bit.ly/2r3oEDV 2. https://bit.ly/2P0Wjrx 3. https://bit.ly/2TG4HA9 4. https://bit.ly/2Ajfqri 5. https://bit.ly/2AmHj1w 6. https://bit.ly/2zoPDOO 7. https://bit.ly/2TIMthf 8. https://bit.ly/2P1ZGOT 9. https://bit.ly/2KxvWZt 10. https://bit.ly/2DYwI12 11. https://bit.ly/2DU1jx1 12. https://bit.ly/2QfmY8y 13. https://bit.ly/2TKa29o

Ricardo opens the links, reads the screencaps, and then continues on to the rest of the message backlog.

FROM:MINORU
oh and let me go over some things bc i KNOW what the hell im doing and otherwise i knooooowww ur gonna bitch at me abt it lol

FROM:MINORU
so first of all ur gonna b like weh weh minmin whyd u tell ppl im alive nobody knew that yet!!! and the answer is bc like obviously the point isnt just to tell the biggest LIES, its 2 slow the cradle down as much as possible, right???? and knowing abt u will slow them DOWN. they’re gonna assume there’s like. something fuckin WRONG w u, u kno. like no offense but u seriously like 100% should not be alive lmao. and now that i’ve fought u i kno its nothing but grit and luck lol which can’t protect u forever but….. theyre gonna b like, shit, what if he’s a specialist, and shit like that u kno. and so like i kno it must sound like bawwwww but now theyre gonna send stronger ppl or w/e but i PROMISE u u have better chances against more ppl after u’ve had time to train than u would if just two ppl came after u now before u have any chance to prepare. buying u time is the most important thing

FROM:MINORU
secondly ur gonna be like minmin wtf why did u tell so many conflicting stories, the cradle is obviously gonna kno somebody was spreading misinfo. which like ok i kno why that looks bad. but again the point is just buying as much time as possible, right??? they’re gonna KNOW not all of this could b true but they wont kno WHICH shit isnt true and they’ll have to check almost all of it. and for what it’s worth this is gonna be hard 2 trace back 2 me. i picked bitches and idiots and bitch idiots, so this shit is absolutely gonna spread — like, it already has lol — and then whats gonna happen is half of them are gonna take credit for the info, bc like, ‘minmin told me’ doesnt get u any street cred bc everybody knos i kno everything lol. and the other half wont tell anybody who told them bc they like, told on “accident” and dont want me to get mad at them.

FROM:MINORU
and frankly just so u kno? if the cradle DOES trace this shit 2 me, two things. 1. im fine dont worry abt me lol like what are they gonna do. im a fucking matchmaker. they kill me they just started wars w everyone who contracts my family and everyone my family has ever married off. theyre not fuckin stupid lol. and 2. yeah im gonna tell them u won a duel against me ok lol im not lying outright to the cradle for your ass. but i’ll at least give u this: im gonna phrase it in a way that obscures timing, which im allowed 2 do bc telling them anything that helps them find u would violate the duel terms and duel terms are sacred duh. and they cant even do anything abt it bc it was under roppongi rules lmfao

FROM:MINORU
if u ask me? everythings coming up roses for u. ur fuckin welcome

every vampire npc in the screencaps used in this update was a contribution by readers! i have complete credits for contributors in the disthread here: https://tgchan.org/kusaba/questdis/res/124805.html#126559

hahahahahaha holy shit minoru's good. try not to be fucked up over the fact that pascal actually? complimented you? after you confessed to violating the fuck out of his privacy? and thank minoru profusely. flatter him a little bit, he's a fuckin weirdo but he probably did just save both your unlives.

then go hunting, steal the victim's wallet and buy the freaky twink a phone. easy! definitely nothing that can go wrong!

thank minoru like 800 times i know its a duel thing but like damn minoru nice

also be in awe of pascal complimenting you. maybe return the compliment when you tell pascal what news minoru spread? but like, the cliffnotes version. where we cant go/where people think we are, and then we can decide where to go before hunting

also ask minmin if theres a good way to go about getting pascal a phone

okay, there’s a lot to parse here. let’s go through all the most important stuff.

1. minmin lies very easily, even to people he apparently has a genuinely good relationship with. that worries me, if we’re going to stay in close contact with him, because it’s only a matter of time before he turns that on us.
2. there are cradle-controlled countries we don’t know about besides the obvious ones like romania. leaving the country at all is probably not an option.
3. a lot of people are openly malicious towards pascal, but some are neutral or even sympathetic. we can’t trust anyone, but we also can’t automatically assume we couldn’t possibly get help from anyone but kel. we should be careful, but keep an open mind.

it sounds like actually staying on the east coast might be our best option, as long as we stay away from new york. we should ask pascal if there’s anyone he thinks might still be willing to give us a hand besides kel, and try to at least vaguely move in their direction, if not go to them right away.

... also, did minmin just lose a duel and make money & a bunch of party invitations off it? not mad about it, just saying that we’re in over our head with this guy.

>>911714
Minoru is some kind of fucking infowar-badass. Winning that duel is gonna help so much... ASSUMING WE DON'T GET SPOTTED IN TOWN. This is now top priority: don't get spotted by any other vampires. If anyone recognizes you and sees you in town, that's an eyewitness account from a potentially reliable source and probably not anyone like these unreliable vamps Minoru pranked on to spread rumors. Or maybe that won't matter anyway? The misinformation is about where you're going, not where you are currently, right?

Tell/show Pascal what Minoru did.
...what's a Specialist?

So......... Hawaii anyone?
But hey seriously, that's a helluva lot of places Minoru has divvied people to! But it also means you got a lot specific places you can definitely hide out for training. Also the amount of people who complain about him talking about Bunji is almost adorable, that's gotta be a bit heartwarming. Oughta send a message to Minoru saying thanks big time, he's bought you a lot of time getting the uh. Ladle all screwed up.

We should hunt first and then maybe make a plan with Pascal once we meet up again? But let him know that you have details. Celebrate a free night! Eat a man!

Lots of choices here. Viable major US cities not mentioned include: St Louis, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Denver, New Orleans, and most of the eastern seaboard if you feel like it, though NYC is kind of in the center of that, and that'll be a hotbed. Notably, the US cities with the highest Brazilian immigrant population that are not ruled out by other rumors are Boston and Miami. You know, if you want a chance to randomly happen across somebody who can tell you what Brazilian rules are.

>>911714
I'm going to be honest now nowhere seems safe, except Brazil and... well I can only think of Detroit as an unnamed city personally. I'm sure there's unlimited, like Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, New Orleans, Miami, Las Vegas, etc.

Then again, we CAN do the dumb thing and be the goodest boy and try and save the New York den from the Bathory's.

Ask Minoru if... there's a job you can do, for vampires, either on the run or not. Something tells me you're going to need real money your going to not be able to get from just pocketing your meals wallets. Pascal was doing fine on his own when the heat was low, but now might be time to think of financials.

Vampire bank heist? Pascal could hypnotize a bank manager to walk out with a vault of cash if he wanted. Or we could have more fun with other methods.

>>911728
Here I go spending so much time thinking of it, and there's almost all of what I suggested there.

So lets go to Miami.

thank and compliment minmin!!

definitely, definitely thank minoru.

why don't we try and hit somewhere in the middle of the east coast, not too close to nyc but close enough that we can get there if we need to? like a tiny town in vermont or something. it seemed like the nyc folks had their shit locked down, but you never know.

Thank minmin and send warm regards/an approving grunt to bunji via him.

As for where to head, we already decided on staying in America, so how about las vegas?

Pros:
— Lots of nowhere for training
— Lots of opportunities for pascal to get the two of you rich/keep you comfortable
— Lots of people who're just passing through to snack on
— Zero issue with being nocturnal

Cons:
— If we get pinned down there by cradle goons there's a whole lot of nowhere all around
— Pascal may coat himself in sequins and/or neon
— Lots of mirrors?

Possibly ask minmin for ideas, putting it forward as "where would make your life easy for keeping the heat off us" because we really don't want to make things harder for him than we have to

>>911727
Thanks for making it so clear. I don't have time to read and double-check all the links right now so this was really useful.
Of those I like Boston a lot better, but it is pretty close to NY so it could be a bad idea. Or a great "hidden in plain sight" idea. I'll lean in that direction for now, though.

Okay, tell Pascal that you two have some direction now, but you'll talk it through later.
Then thank Minoru for not only being good at his job and honoring his end of the deal, which I'm sure are to be expected, but also by being so cool and open about it all. He doesn't have to be so honest and maybe he's just avoiding complaints but it's really nice.
And you're ready to hunt.

GASP......is that a trick of the light or are ricardo’s eyes starting to change color a little bit......my BOY

>>911727 >>911728
might just be cause i’m a huge home territory sap but i really like the idea of going to pittsburgh!! lots of different terrain, places to hide out, tons of feeding grounds in cities, and the rivers will deter the weaker-willed pursuants who are afraid of falling in OR provide an excellent fighting grounds to throw them in to their deaths.....uhuhu
if that doesn’t end up happening then i definitely second Brazil or cities w a large brazilian population. no cradle involvement as far as we know, and it would be really nice for ricardo to get to learn more about what vampire culture is like there, not just for duel rules but in general....

i really like the idea of boston or miami for ricardo to potentially get info on brazilian vamp culture.. of the two id say miami seems safer, but either would b good! also thank minmin!! dont gas him up a ton bc it wont seem genuine n we shld b like.. genuinely thankful for him helping us out!! esp when he went out of his way to explain why he did things the way he did, that was nice! also send ur regards to bunji!!

OK so these are all the places that Minmin lied and said we went:
Canada
“Out of the Us”
NYC
Little town out west
California/LA specifically
Romania
Texas
Chicago
Bahamas
England

So all of those places or anywhere close to them should be a no-go. Staying in the states somewhere is probably our best bet, since we don’t know what the cradle influence is like other places. Maybe somewhere in the northwest?

Ask what minmin thinks of vegas or Baltimore

Makka 2018/11/25(Sun)09:53 No. 911753 ID: 14e641
File 154316839423.png - (1.33MB , 1600x989 , Untitled35-2.png )

Yeah, thank you munmin. Get some food. Get that phone, show Pascal how to take a selfie, he'll love that.
Now to think about where yall are gunna go next. Gotta stay in the country, but not the entire western chunk, Texas, or Illinois. We still want to find out about Brazillian Vampires. We also want to avoid Cradle, probably best to stay out of colonial states. Flordia sucks, but feeding there would be really easy, which means the vampire population is gunna be higher. Same with New Orleans area of Louisiana. Hmmmm. Oklahoma might be okay, but only near the Texan border. What about Colarodo? Or is that to far west? Theres also Minnesota, Iowa, and....Missouri.

I agree that we should give Pascal a summary of everything Minmin’s just relayed to us, but I don’t think we should have him read the messages. Not in a “hiding things from him” way, but in a “many of these conversations are extravagantly cruel where he’s concerned and there’s no reason to shove it in his face” way.

My vote is for Vegas or Miami, but we should ask Pascal his opinions before deciding.

>>911738
Las Vegas seems like a good option. If you stay away from tourist areas it's quite easy to move undetected. Avoiding any of the places that Minmin mentioned also sounds like a good idea.

As much as I want to suggest Boston (home field bias, ahaha), I think my vote is between Vegas and Miami. Boston isn't THAT close to New York, but it's also pretty reasonable to think that someone kicked out of NYC would go there, so the Cradle will probably be looking for you there.

>>911752

you know what my home state pride is forcing me to reconsider vermont. baltimore is a big city where we could make the hide-in-plain sight thing work, easily hunt people, and also they've got vampire larps if we REALLY need to blend in in a pinch. plus it's a 3 hour bus trip/train ride from nyc. fuck it, let's go to baltimore.

my vote is for either alaska or hawaii: they're both technically /in/ the us so we don't have to worry about going to another country that might be cradle-controlled BUT because they're not part of the continental us they'll be harder to get into (and out of, but..)
i know most of the votes are probably for vegas/miami and that's probably better at present because you aren't that strong and don't want to trap yourselves BUT in future; hawaii is an interesting place! oahu has a lot of tourists, so i don't think you guys will stand out too much- the big island has a lot more open space/less people so if you wanted to train it might be easier there- other advantages are because there are so many tourists/so many people that come and go it might be easier to 1) find people that know rules of different places 2) not really get noticed when you come and go 3) not many people would want to cross the Giant Death Ocean to Here so that might be an advantage. although you needing to cross the giant death ocean might be a disadvantage for you if someone were to show up on the flight but y'know.

PLEASE can we go to vegas

I don't have much input when it comes to where to go but lets save talking to Pascal until AFTER we both eat and get blood in our circulatory systems since it is clear he needs his time alone to think for a bit. TAlking to him right now about everything will just leave him exasperated and unwilling to engage (like he is now).

nothing says we *have* to stick to a major city, we could get the fuck out of dodge and go to some small town? less chance of being spotted there by vampires?

If we do need to stick to a major city to blend into the crowd, i second the vote for vegas and also give pascal the tldr of what minmin has said, leave picking somewhere to go until after you both eat and have time to think about.

>>911815
The problem with going to a small town is that while no one's going to think of checking for us there at first, any vampire activity is going to snowball into something ugly and attention grabbing very quickly.

feed first!

and can i veto hawaii? that's WAY too much water for comfort, and any of the few vampires there are bound to be very careful and too wary for our purposes.

vegas sounds amazing, if you feel like you can get into the groove of hiding there- and probably best to only stay there for a while, bounce around if you can.

>>912036
I just always had the impression that Vegas sucks to live in. Am I wrong on that?

>>912037
It probably is. Good thing both Ricardo and Pascal are undead.

I'm still rooting for Brazil because god we need to get our duel rules down, but otherwise Oahu or Vegas.

Brazil is an awful, awful place to live. Vegas... well you probably don't want to live in Paradise where the casinos and most of the Strip actually are in, legally, but I know a few people who do live there and it's not too bad if you know the place well enough to do more than just the tourist traps.

The quality of life where we go doesn’t matter. It’s just a temporary location where we’ll be hiding out and training, and we’ll probably have to move again as the Cradle starts eliminating false leads.

>>912074
Word, we just need to settle on a place. Also human quality of life literally doesn't matter for us anymore, remember? If anything, a shittier place to live will be great, because people going missing will go more unnoticed, and there'll be more people in the isolated-but-healthy range of outcast that's convenient for us to eat.

That said, Vegas seems like a good chance to hit both boxes.

>>912074
Double word. Vegas is sounding great at this point.

>>912207
If that's the standard we are going with, Miami is a pretty shitty place to live too. Lots of poor ethnic neighborhoods with bad police presence, and it has the advantage that the coast of south florida is just one long string of cities that touch eachother.

My understanding of Vegas is that living there means soul crushing menial work in the service industry, but not that there is a ton of violent crime. It has half the murder rate of Miami.

>>912385
I don't think we're worried about having to work there, money will be easy with Pascal's hypnotism + gambling, and there's lots of tourists who come there for a weekend of gambling or whatever for the eating. My understanding of places with high murder rates is a lot of it is tied to drugs which would make for bad quality food, and murders not tied to drugs are investigated as thoroughly as anywhere else.

Not saying Miami is a bad idea, just that this is my thinking for picking Vegas.

We should ask Pascals opinion on the options we have left before we go making any choices.

FRACTAL 2018/12/03(Mon)00:36 No. 912841 ID: 270774
File 154382620361.png - (75.16KB , 800x525 , 265.png )

Ricardo blinks at his phone for a few seconds before finally wrangling his thoughts into some semblance of appreciation.

TO: MINORU
Wow

He frowns. That’s not good enough.

TO: MINORU
This is really something else

Okay. Getting there.

TO: MINORU
Thanks

Ricardo sits back a little in bed, then, as an afterthought, sends one more.

TO: MINORU
What’s a specialist

The replies come as quickly as usual.

FROM: MINORU
i mean u don’t need to thank me lol u liiiiiiterally won it. but ur WELCOME, arent i a fucking peach

FROM: MINORU
also oh my god. u literally don’t know anything. but also u just found ur sire again like less than 24 hrs so i guess i can’t make fun of u TOO bad

FROM: MINORU
so like ur affinity is always either power, like bunji and kel, or some form of psychic shit, like pascal, or shifters like u and me. except when it ISNT. which is specialists. like curses and bloodline abilities and shit.

FROM: MINORU
i kno a psn in miami — greek nobility but got kicked out bc of partying too much and fucking humans lol or at least trying to — with a real weird one, like, real medusa shit. they’re fun but they don’t kno how to use it so it’s like what are u gonna do u kno. it’s always either like that where they’re useless bc they cant control it, or they’re hot commodities who get snapped up as duelists bc like, specialist abilities are almost always like, way abt the violence lol

FROM: MINORU
anyway i hate specialists bc they’re hard to beat even in doubles w bunji and bc they don’t fit into the affinity typing

It seems like he’s finished typing for the moment, so Ricardo taps out a reply.

TO: MINORU
Affinity typing?

Ricardo glances up — Minoru types so quickly that the conversation hasn’t been going on for long, and Pascal still seems lost in thought over on the other side of the room.

FROM: MINORU
ya like blood type personality. works for us too

FROM: MINORU
like power types like bunji and kel are impatient + straightforward + too earnest for their own good lol

FROM: MINORU
shifters like u and me tho are like crazy tenacious + resourceful and like

Ricardo watches his typing bubble pop up and recede, several times, before he seems to finally decide what he wants to say.

FROM: MINORU
lets say it like this. socially we’re like. an acquired taste. HDKSJDKDHKSJDKNS LOL

Ricardo tilts his head, considering, before sending his reply.

TO: MINORU
What about hypnotists like Pascal

This reply, like the last, takes longer than usual.

FROM: MINORU
my sire always told me if u don’t have anything nice to say...

FROM: MINORU
dont say it to someone who hangs out w the person more than u do lol

FRACTAL 2018/12/03(Mon)00:36 No. 912842 ID: 270774
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It seems like Minoru has decided to stop being helpful. Ricardo sighs and moves to round off the conversation.

TO: MINORU
Okay well. Thanks, for real

TO: MINORU
Say hey to Bunji for me

The responses are back to taking half a second.

FROM: MINORU
u have his number lol say it urself

Well, fine. Ricardo texts Bunji one short “Hey” and then pulls his jeans on, slipping the phone into his back pocket.

“Pascal. I heard back from Minmin.”

He crosses the room and summarizes the information to Pascal, who listens attentively. He doesn’t see any reason to relay the tone of the conversations in detail, though remembering them, he finds himself struck with an unfamiliar tension at the back of his neck. When he finishes, he hooks his thumbs into his belt loops, sighing again.

“So if we’re looking for somewhere that’s a big city, a safe distance away from anywhere Minoru mentioned, with good feeding and places to hide and train — I don’t know, I was thinking maybe somewhere like Las Vegas—“

“Vegas!” Pascal interrupts, excitedly. “Wow! I have only been once, and then it was so long ago — when the first casinos were opening… and now it must be so different! Oh, how fun! I want to go!”

“Well, okay,” Ricardo says cautiously, holding one hand up. “Hang on. We’re not going for fun, we’re running for our lives —“

“I want to go!” Pascal insists. “I am taking it serious! It is fun, but also perfect to hunt! And I can make us lots of money there! Money isn’t useless to us, you know, especially with American vampires. They like it. And Kel will be happy with this choice too! You know why?” He bounces in place. “Girls! Girls! Girls!” A beat, and then he speaks again, a little bashful. “Okay, I admit maybe I am excited about that part, too—“

“It’s not a vacation,” Ricardo interrupts. He doesn’t bring up the fact that the concept of Girls! Girls! Girls! is not particularly compelling to him.

“I told you I am taking it serious! Look, the other thing is, Vegas is controlled by a powerful den,” Pascal continues. “Maybe this sounds a little scary, because we will have to be careful not to offend them. But so will the Cradle! They cannot do as they like. How will they bang down doors, saying ‘Where is Pascal?!’ They cannot! Because the Las Vegas den vampires will say, ‘What are you doing? You can’t do that here!’” He crosses his arms, satisfied with his argument. “I think it is a good idea.”

“I’m just saying we don’t have to decide on the very first thing I said,” Ricardo says. “There are other options. Places like Miami, or Boston, or…” He flounders a little. “Pittsburgh?”

FRACTAL 2018/12/03(Mon)00:37 No. 912843 ID: 270774
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Pascal’s face falls immediately.

It seems like any suggestions after the promised glamor of Vegas are doomed to tank.

“Listen,” says Ricardo, “let’s just — let’s get you a phone, and let’s eat, and we can talk about it for real afterwards.”

“Fine by me,” Pascal says. He’s almost pouting, and Ricardo can tell he’s only restraining himself because of the tension they’d already weathered earlier that morning.

FRACTAL 2018/12/03(Mon)00:37 No. 912844 ID: 270774
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Luckily, getting a phone is an easy, focused task. There’s a cell phone store only a few blocks from the apartment, and Pascal’s hypnosis makes the entire process the most painless brush with tech Ricardo’s ever experienced. It feels like only minutes have passed before they’re standing outside again, Pascal squinting at his new smartphone (in the case that Ricardo insisted they add, given his expectations of disaster.)

“Probably I will not ever use this,” Pascal says dismissively. He enters his passcode wrong four times in a row. “I haven’t had one of these things all this time, and I do fine!”

Show him the selfie cam and video function

punch in minbun and kel's numbers to pascal's phone! and send minmin a text from it to give him pascal's number. they're gonna be frieeeeends

oh oh oh!! show him the camera, too!! I'd say take a selfie with him and send that to minmin but we're still in the doghouse for the whole massive breach of privacy thing :(

PLEASE show pascal the camera and video function

>Girls! Girls! Girls!
pascal knows what the fuck is UP lets head to VEGAS and see if we cant befriend some vegas vamps. idk what the vegas dens are like but im willing to bet they like to gamble, and who could resist gambling on the underdogs here? the cradle vs pascal and ricardo, biggest gamble of the century. play your cards right (maybe literally!) and see if you can earn some allies

also help pascal put in minmin/bunji/kels contact numbers and tell the others pascals number. the camera/video/selfie suggestion was super good too.

also make sure all the gps app functions are off? listen i doubt the cradle is tech savvy but like. wildcard

get all the important numbers into pascal's phone, and yeah, definitely turn off the GPS function. just to be certain.

also take a selfie and set it as his lock screen

Do NOT show him how to use the camera and video functions. You're trying to hide, and any background in Vegas is going to be recognizable if any pictures or videos slip out.

>>912852
Pascal isn't an idiot. And he's not going to be on Facebook or anything, so all he really has to be careful about is sending pics to Minmin and Bunji, so they can stay honest about not knowing where Ricardo and Pascal are. He would know well enough not to text old friends landmarks.

I say that showing off the picture function and telling him how fun just being able to chat with people whenever can be.

AW YEAH VEGAS BABEY!!!

But yeah, show him snapchat and how to take selfies n leave it at that, and do the location share thing! Then, to the hunt!

>>912863
I feel u but it has been conclusively established that Pascal is in fact an idiot

take just ONE selfie with him. PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU. it could be beneficial for ricardo too cuz like, when's the last time he looked at himself? i know he has a phone too but i don't think he takes many selfies. anyway i agree with turning off GPS functions, and in addition make sure to turn off GPS functions related to pictures such as the location data in the PNGs!!! dunno if you can do that on iphones but androids have the ability to turn that off. anyway please show pascal how to take selfies and TAKE A SELFIE WITH HIM!!!! i know you TOTALLY DON'T want to but pascal is going to look SO CUTE and so will YOU

Teach Pascal to do selfies!! Teach Pascal to download games with cute animals in them!!

It sounds like Vegas is a nice option, Pascal can keep himself busy while we train, and it is 24/7 chaos there so it'll be easy to lose pursuers. I bet even for hunting specialists, it's hard to get through a throng of casino humans if you toss a million dollars into the air and yell "free money!"

VEGAS!!!! also yes make sure to give pascal minoru, bunji, and kel’s numbers, and drill him on how to use the phone jic. can he take selfies with it?? will a camera phone show a vamp. cute couples selfie.. can we download him a fun game too i want pascal to play idol games fhdjdk

TAKE A SELFIE TOGETHER and maybe suggest him texting kel about vegas? we're gonna be training with her at some point so it'd be good to get her input on where we're planning on going

>>912844
Careful, you're sounding like an old man and not like an ever adapting vampire. That shit today is as important to the youth of today as having a horse when you were turned. That shit right there is your modern day horse. I mean, they're not going to take you anywhere like a car or horse would, but don't ignore their power. It's because of them I'm surprised vampires haven't been publicly outed yet, because you SHOULD be by now, and werewolves, and swamp people, and whatever monster you could think up that's real.

Oh fuck Pascal, I know you said we're supposed to be the top dawg monsters, but are witches and warlocks real? If the were real, would they even reveal themselves to vampire kind? Are they the reason everybody ignores vampires?

If we don't get ourselves killed, maybe we'll be among the first vampires in space. Assuming none have hitched a ride with aliens already.

TAKE A PHOTO WITH PASCAL!!¡!!!!!!!!! and absolutely agree on vegas!

Set Pascal's ringtone to "call me maybe"

Later we can show Pascal youtube and the diffrent make-up tutorials, pet videos, and music stuffs!

petition to take pascal to vegas

I think we maybe have to take Pascal to Vegas now that we've said it. Whoops!

FRACTAL 2018/12/05(Wed)00:06 No. 913069 ID: 270774
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Ricardo watches the other toy with the phone for another moment longer before reaching over his shoulder to input the passcode correctly — he’d been paying attention when the store employee helped set it up, anticipating this, and he murmurs the numbers aloud to help Pascal retain it. “You’ll use it,” he says. He ends up resting his forearm on Pascal’s shoulder as he taps at the screen one-handed, his own phone held up in the other for reference, and navigates to Pascal’s contacts to add in the few numbers that he has. “To talk to people. To tell me what you’re doing if we’re separated.”

“You do not need to know what I am doing,” Pascal grumbles, but he’s perking up a little as Ricardo finishes, his interest slowly stirring.

“For practicality’s sake.” Ricardo pauses for a moment. "This you'll find useful," he adds, recalling the hundreds of photographs on the nightstand. A few swipes of his finger, and he opens up the front camera. “Look.”

FRACTAL 2018/12/05(Wed)00:07 No. 913070 ID: 270774
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“AH!” Immediately, Pascal begins frantically slapping Ricardo’s side, overcome with excitement. “Ricardo! It’s like a mirror!” His hand closes around a bunch of fabric in the side of Ricardo’s shirt as he tilts his face back and forth, observing himself from every possible angle in the camera. “Oh! Oh! I am so much handsomer than I thought! I look better in motion!” His free hand drifts up to pull on a loose ringlet and then release, letting it spring back; then he shakes his entire head, bursting out into delighted laughter at the bounce of his hair. “I am so cute!”

He suddenly springs up on his tiptoes, trying to angle the phone to catch Ricardo in the frame as well. “Here, you look too. You’re also handsome. Agh, I cannot see.” He’s bouncing a little on the balls of his feet, his smile open and breathless. “I have not seen myself moving in - well, I have not. It’s different than photo!”

FRACTAL 2018/12/05(Wed)00:07 No. 913071 ID: 270774
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And Ricardo can’t help it. He cracks a smile, inevitable and odd and uneven, at the other’s enthusiasm.

FRACTAL 2018/12/05(Wed)00:07 No. 913072 ID: 270774
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It disappears the second he sees himself on screen. Ricardo can’t remember the last time he saw his own face. He doesn’t know what he was expecting, so he doesn’t know why what appears on screen is so jarring, why it fills him with so much immediate discomfort — even when it’s exactly what he recalls.

"You can record yourself, too," he says quickly, hoping he can keep the focus on Pascal’s vanity rather than on his own appearance in the frame. For some reason, he’s already capitulating to his sire’s insistence, bending his knees awkwardly to make it easier for Pascal to fit them both in the picture. His free hand moves up to steady Pascal’s wrist, which had formerly been weaving too much with excitement to guarantee a clear photo.

“Record? Oh, like a moving film? I saw some of those, when they started- ah!” He turns to Ricardo abruptly, yanking urgently on his shirt. “You smiled! I saw it! Oh, no, I wish I had known how to take picture.”

He leans in, eyes narrowed, as if expecting the smile to reappear on its own with enough patience. “I didn't think you could! That surprised me. Maybe I imagined it.”

He shrugs and turns back to the phone, plopping his head against Ricardo’s shoulder. “Oh well. We take picture anyway.” He finally seems to figure out the shutter button, and Ricardo tries not to flinch when the sudden sound goes off, grating and too loud.

FRACTAL 2018/12/05(Wed)00:08 No. 913073 ID: 270774
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Pascal doesn’t bother loosening Ricardo’s steadying hand from his, even as he tilts the phone back and forth inquisitively. “It doesn't come out anywhere?”

Ricardo realizes he’s thinking of his polaroid camera, back at the apartment, and weathers an uncomfortable wave of emotion — exasperation mixed with something he doesn’t care to examine. “It — no. It doesn’t.” He reaches to tap at the screen for him again, opening up the photo library. “It keeps them all saved, here.”

“Hmph. If it doesn’t come out, how will I put the picture up on the wall?” Pascal demands. “Maybe I will just put the entire telephone up.” His forehead stays pressed to Ricardo’s shoulder, hair shifting as he readjusts. “Well. Hm. Okay, the phone is good, I think.”

HE'S SO CUTE

tell him he's so cute

also tell him he can look at it any time on the phone, or he can get it printed at a shop, if he really wants.

HE IS SO CUTE can we kiss his hair. pat his head. Something.. we gotta teach him more about the phone later! let’s just show him how to find music, before he wanders off — he said he liked music and that way he’s happy while we both get our space!

You can get them printed when there's enough of them, at a printing place or something. But it's nice to see it made Pascal smile. Alright time to get eating.

Oh, and Ricardo. Maybe double check yourself in photo mode. Your eyes are different.

yeah ricardo you got some eye stuff going on. zoom in on the photo

>>913087
yeah!

also definitely show him how to play music - you bought headphones right?

take a selfie and send it to minmin and bunji so they know you're savvy and hip with the kids

So cute!!!!! I love him. We can show him how to look up music and such on the road. For now lets get some food. It might be better to take a bus to Vegas. Its not as comfortable as flying but its easier to ditch and change directions with.

Pascal is TOO CUTE I love him so much... and that s m i l e from Ricardo..... whose eyes are definitely starting to take on a new hue.

ricardo your eyes!!!! first say under your breath that pascal is cute and then distract him by asking him to have a look at your eyes.

also i think taking a plane would be more efficient but buses could be safer idk, so talk to pascal or maybe ask minmin about it. no one will be able to get you up in the air unless they knew the Exact flight you're on, and anyone can join your bus whenever, so maybe a plane is the best?

>>913108
very good idea. gaze into each other's eyes

ohhh my god oh my god hes so cute. hes so CUTE. im fucking beside myself i dont even have a suggest i'm just in love

I don’t know if we should try to kiss him, even on the head, it’s true that he’s momentarily distracted right now but we may very well still be in the doghouse.

Extended intense eye contact under the pretense of eye-color-checking, however, sounds perfectly good. And after that, we should discuss bus or plane with him briefly, then split up to eat.

THIS IS SO CUUUUUUTE, Ricardo take an hour to think about how cute this is

When was the last time a person made you smile like this?

Oh yeah also we should steal a car and show Pascal how to make a road trip playlist, I bet his selections would be awesome

We should definitely show him more phone stuff later (especially instagram, he's going to lose his fucking mind) but for now I think we should split up and give him that space. Double check that he knows his password and how to call us if it's an emergency, then go monch.

>>913242
Yeah, writing it on something would be a good idea. Maybe even just his hand.

Set the picture as a background.

FRACTAL 2018/12/07(Fri)21:20 No. 913391 ID: 270774
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Ricardo squints a little at the photo that’s still lingering on Pascal’s screen. “Can you send that to me?”

“Oh, you want to have it?” Pascal giggles a little to himself, tapping aimlessly at the screen. “That’s a little cute of you, Ricardo. Hm, how do I do it?”

“Here. Messages, then type in my name. The camera icon to add a photo.” Ricardo gives a few instructive swipes at the screen. “I want to check something.”

His own phone buzzes when he receives the message, and he opens it and pinches in to examine his face. Sure enough, around the rim of his iris, the hue is noticeably deepening.

FRACTAL 2018/12/07(Fri)21:21 No. 913392 ID: 270774
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Pascal has popped up onto his tiptoes to sneak a glance at Ricardo’s screen. “Oh, yes,” he says, “they are finally changing a little, aren’t they? Let me see.”

He reaches up and guides Ricardo’s jaw with both hands, til Ricardo’s looking at him instead of the phone. Ricardo’s finding himself reciprocally staring into Pascal’s eyes, dimmer than they usually are but still a bottomless wine-red, and he needs a distraction. “Why now?” he asks.

“Well, it’s not as if it’s been all at once,” Pascal says. He’s still on tiptoe, his face so close that Ricardo can almost feel his breath against his lips whenever he speaks. “Your pupils already changed, after all. You know, to be like a cat’s! Mine took such a very long time to do that. I think I mentioned it already, that in the beginning I was so troublesome, and had to be forced to feed.”

It occurs to Ricardo that he had simply never realized that his pupils had changed. No reflection, no reason to take photos of himself — and no one there to tell him.

“I was inconsolable, when mine started to go red,” Pascal laughs, his tone light. “I wept and wept. I was such a nuisance. I’m glad that you don’t mind so much!” He pats Ricardo’s cheeks before lowering himself back down onto his heels. “You should take more pictures of yourself, you know. Or you’ll forget what you look like. When I was younger, I would just sit with my covenmates, and we would describe each other — and now you see that’s why my head is so big, because always they would just say ‘beautiful, beautiful, you’re so beautiful!’”

Hm, what effects eye change?

>>913392
Good thing they were right

Tell him they weren't wrong, but you like other things about him more

they WERE right!! tell him that you’d be happy to describe him too, but that you can jsut take pictures together <3

mb ruminate a bit on how close his lips are/were to yours......

>beautiful, beautiful, you’re so beautiful!

I mean, you are. Haven't you seen yourself?

Good thing you have Ricardo, Pascal, to keep quiet about your beauty long enough to appreciate your other features.

(God, this is so sad. Poor Pascal.)

"Well if you like... we could still do that. Describe each other. On top of taking photos." You know, since Ricardo doesn't know what changes to expect when.

>>913395
This, yes. He's so fun and charming that he made Ricardo *smile,* for goodness' sake (though I'm guessing Ric's not ready to admit that part.) We should tell him the rest, though. It'd be good for him to hear.

KISS HIS HEAD? KISS HIS LITTLE HEAD? IT IS RIGHT THERE

also they were right, pascal

FRACTAL 2018/12/08(Sat)22:29 No. 913492 ID: 270774
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“It’s not like they were wrong,” Ricardo says. For once, it’s not something blurted out — he finds that he wants to say it, and he lets himself. Pascal is so close that he could have kissed him, but — his mercurial mood could potentially swing both ways. Ricardo lets the moment pass, and eventually turns his face away. “But if they’d shut up about it for two seconds, maybe they would’ve noticed the other stuff, too.”

“The other stuff?!” Pascal echoes, sounding delighted. Ricardo suddenly feels like he overestimated how prepared he was to have an interaction like this.

“We could do that, too,” he says quickly. It’s still a capitulation, something almost affectionate, but at least it isn’t dealing with the fallout of heartfelt compliments. “Describe each other. If you wanted.” Pascal is still peering at him slyly, looking smug and suspicious. “And I don’t mind taking pictures together.”

“That would be fun,” Pascal admits. He doesn’t seem fully distracted from the earlier comment, but he’s at least placated enough to move on. “Because I will be so bored when we’re traveling! It can be a way to pass the time.”

FRACTAL 2018/12/08(Sat)22:29 No. 913493 ID: 270774
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That’s a perfect segue away from wherever the hell the conversation is currently, and Ricardo jumps on it gratefully. “Yeah, we need to figure that out. How are we going to get there? Plane? I’ve been using Greyhounds, the past few years. Cheap.”

“Well… It depends. Traveling, I know about. There are benefits and risks with each thing, I think.” Pascal is fiddling with the phone as he speaks, though he still seems attentive. “A plane will be the fastest and safest, but only if we can get on without problem. You remember how I said humans will always overlook any of our strangeness? This is only true when it is not their job to look for strangeness.” He finally seems to lose interest and slips the phone into his pocket. “And to be held up by security would be terrible for us. It is not that I think there will already be Cradle wards at the airports — they cannot possibly have some at every airport, America is too large — but they will be waiting, and watching, and listening. If we run into problems, maybe they will hear about it. And so to avoid this, I will have to use quite a lot of hypnosis, and then I will not be well fed if something is to happen. But then, of course, it’s as I said. Once we can get on the plane, we have no problems.”

He starts walking again, back in the direction of the more populated areas they’d stalked the night before, and Ricardo follows. “A bus, though… it is easy to get on, but it will take much longer to get to Las Vegas. Maybe two days, instead of a few hours. That is much more time for something to go wrong, and many more opportunities for us to be spotted.”

“There is third option,” Pascal adds, as they cross the bridge, “but I don’t like it. Still, I will say it anyway. We can get our own car, and drive ourselves.” He’s already making a face just from saying it aloud. “Even though it is the same distance as for a bus, we will not be able to just be sleeping as someone else drives us. We will need to take breaks and get fuel ourselves, and sleep in the daytime because we cannot see so well in the sun, and so maybe it will take four days or so. But it is also very secure, and very unlikely we will be spotted, since we will be in our own vehicle. And if something goes wrong, it is very easy to just change course, rather than to be stranded if we had to abandon the bus, or something like this.” His eyebrows draw together. “But I will be bored! And cramped, and uncomfortable!”

road trip rOAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD

A car could be cool. Maybe even an RV.
Wait....can Pascal even drive?

ROAD TRIP IS NOT SAFE BUT I WANT ONW ANYWAYS??? please let’s get a cool car...

Get a car, teach Pascal about music and video apps on his phone

I mean if you buy your own car you can fuck in it. Can you say the same for the others? No. It also happens to be flexible for whenever we have to escape elsewhere but I mean thats not the priority here.

road trip road trip road trip!

time to make a roadtrip playlist!

i'm voting for road trip mainly because i feel like if you guys were to do a bus it'd be too easy to get stranded and end up in the wilderness needing to fight a bear and i really don't trust the planes to not end up like that one scene in jjba if it ends up that there's another vampire on their plane and i don't think it's a great idea to have a plane go down. that said i'm also thinking about how awesome a plane fight would be and how awesome getting off a burning plane would be so i'm still kind of undecided

Waves a small flag for option number one. I wanna spend as much time in vegas as possible

ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP.... seeing if we can get an RV is a very good idea, since it provides comfort and shelter and pascal will not get so cramped! it would take longer, but i feel like an RV could provide extra safety, though it requires more upkeep, maybe?

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAD TRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!!!!!!!!!!! And if Pascal gets bored then he'll just have to find a way to entertain us both! Plus it'll be useful to have a car in the long run, we're not gonna WALK across Vegas when we get there

Road Trip.

I vote plane, fun as a road trip would be. Pascal having to use up his blood supply might be a problem, but if we're traveling with Kel she should be able to take care of anything that might come up. (Wait, I forget, are we traveling with Kel or is she meeting us there?)

are you kidding me it HAS to be a road trip

Pros of car: it'll be convenient to have one in and around Vegas.

Pros of bus: just the smartest choice. And then you could just get car when you're in Vegas.

Getting an SUV with the right seating, or a truck with a cover over the bed, and load either with extra fuel cans and blacked out windows and curtain dividers, and you'd be pretty set.

That said, bus is probably better, so the car stuff are just ideas if that's what we end on.

I would suggest a car, but there's only three ways to get a car: buy, rent, or steal. I don't think y'all have the money to buy a car, and driving cross country in a rented or stolen car is gonna get you a lot of attention.

Besides, Pascal cannot drive. I just know it.

road trip, with a truck with a sleeper attached! so there's comfy bed space, but also can leave the sleeper somewhere once you're in vegas, and just have a vehicle.

it may take longer, but that's more time to get to know each other, and it'd be safer than the plane option for sure, and more reliable/freedom-having than the bus option. plus... vehicle once you're in vegas!

i vote for taking a greyhound. the faster you get to vegas the better, but with the flexibility to ditch if things go south. you can steal a car halfway along if you need to.

>>913526

ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP

planes are a terrible idea, and while buses have their advantages, being in an enclosed space with a ton of humans while probably hungry (how long can we go between feeding anyways i don't remember) seems like a bad idea, and getting a car will be troublesome now but a big help later

ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP

A road trip is just a FUN idea on its own (Pascal could definitely hypnotize us a car) but on a more practical level, we don't want to be trapped in an enclosed space if an unfriendly vamp somehow manages to follow us. Either plane, bus, or train could leave us in that situation, and we REALLY don't want that.

Road trip is the best possible option on all fronts, but we have to convince Pascal of that. If alluding to car sex achieves that, so be it.

If we leave Pascal in charge of getting the car, though, we have to very firmly tell him to get something inconspicuous, or he’s going to show up with a yellow Lamborghini.

*chanting, banging fists on table* ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP ROAD TRIP

also seconding alluding to car sex to achieve this

>>913533
it's the most secure option! objectively! i dont just want road trip makeouts

>>913537
this. all of this.

>>913493
Can't we bat shift our way out there?

>>913620
Pascal is bad at shifting and will probably tucker out before long.

>>913620
Also there's a hard time limit. Not only in the bat form itself, but in blood used.

>>913694
That's another good point, do we know if we'll be able to get a reliable source of blood while on the road? We'd have to stick to traveling through populated areas for that entire time.

>>913764
If they don't use their powers, I've gotten the impression that they can go for awhile without feeding. Dunno if that means once a week or every other day, but they'll pass at least close to a populated town often enough.

>>913493
>And cramped, and uncomfortable!
WINNEBAGO
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FRACTAL 2018/12/13(Thu)09:17 No. 913906 ID: 270774
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“Pascal.” Ricardo stops walking, and for once Pascal doesn’t seem to be guiding all their movements along in that easy, careless way of his — he stops, too, and turns to listen. “To go by our own car would be the most secure.”

“Ugh—” Pascal starts, but Ricardo presses forward before he can launch into further complaints.

“On a plane, or a bus, or an Amtrak — if we get trapped in one of those with a hostile vampire, we’re fucked.” Ricardo pauses for a second, trying not to wrinkle his nose. ‘A hostile vampire’ is one of those phrases that feels incredibly stupid to say aloud, just like asking about ‘powers.’ He wonders if he’s ever going to get used to talking about shit like this, casually (or even worse, seriously.) “But in a car we can change course if we need to, like you said. If something happens and we have to stop to feed, even though it’s only four days, we can, whenever we want. We’ll have a car in Vegas already, when we would’ve had to find one anyway.”

Pascal doesn’t look particularly impressed. “Ricardo, I wish you would stop being right all the time. It annoys me.”

“If I’m right, why are you being difficult?” Ricardo snaps. “Listen, you don’t even have to be cramped. We’ll get something low-key, an SUV or a truck. An RV, if we can find one. Something spacious we can sleep in, and we can use it after Vegas, too, if we still have to move around—“

Pascal’s attention is drifting off again. And you know, Ricardo thinks, to hell with it. To absolute fucking hell with it. If Pascal is going to bounce his way into leather fucking pants and sleep naked and god knows what else, two can play at that game.

“And if you think you’re going to be bored,” Ricardo says, a little louder than before, “I guess you’ll just have to find a way to keep us both entertained, won’t you?”

FRACTAL 2018/12/13(Thu)09:18 No. 913907 ID: 270774
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Pascal looks up from his nails, eyebrows raised. Ricardo doubles down. “In our own car, we’ll have some privacy, at least.”

Pascal’s eyebrows are practically crawling off his face. He’s visibly fighting a smile. “Well! If you’re going to be insistent.” He turns around again, clasping his hands behind his back. “Though maybe you are a little presumptuous. Maybe I’m still angry with you, you know.” He glances back over his shoulder. “I will find a car. From someone who won’t be missed.”

“Something inconspicuous,” Ricardo calls after him. Pascal makes a dismissive hand gesture, something like half a wave, which Ricardo doesn’t find reassuring. “Inconspicuous! And large! No sports cars!”

He’s gone. Ricardo heaves an exasperated sigh.

FRACTAL 2018/12/13(Thu)09:18 No. 913908 ID: 270774
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Hunting goes easy this time. He’s only been wandering for about ten minutes before a guy storms out onto the sidewalk from a noisy bar, his friends calling after him (“Come on, Steve, this kinda shit is why Rachel broke up with you!”) and he himself turning around to yell back (“This is why I keep saying I’m gonna move to Peru! I’m gonna fucking quit my job and move to Peru and none of you will ever see me again!”)

It kind of feels like a good omen, and it also kind of feels like getting takeout delivered right to your house.

Steve is easily dispatched and a good meal, healthy and not too drunk and with a wallet that’s a little heavier than Ricardo expected. He checks his phone when he’s finished eating, navigating with one hand and wiping the back of his mouth with the other.

FROM: BUNJI
6:36 PM
Hey

FROM: BUNJI
6:36 PM
https://bit.ly/2BgTvl0 Dog

Well, okay. The attached photo looks like it was taken while hiding in some bushes.

Ricardo realizes he needs to check in with Kel, and he decides to do so while he has a moment.

TO: KEL[code] [code]7:00 PM
We decided on Vegas. Will that work for you

His phone almost seems to buzz under his hand with more vigor than usual.

FROM: KEL[code] [code]7:01 PM
GIRLS! GIRLS! GIRLS! ---------- ~+*MOST VALUABLE RAIDER 804 AD - 1021 AD*+~ ..:: AINT NO BITCH LIKE A GALLOWGLASS BIIIITCH ::..

Hm.

TO: KEL
Well, alright. Glad you like the idea. Is getting there going to be a problem? Pascal and I are trying to find a car. Safest option

FROM: KEL
HAHA WHATEVER I HAVE A PLANE ---------- ~+*MOST VALUABLE RAIDER 804 AD - 1021 AD*+~ ..:: AINT NO BITCH LIKE A GALLOWGLASS BIIIITCH ::..

Ricardo frowns.

TO: KEL
What, like a private jet?

FROM: KEL
YEAH ---------- ~+*MOST VALUABLE RAIDER 804 AD - 1021 AD*+~ ..:: AINT NO BITCH LIKE A GALLOWGLASS BIIIITCH ::..

TO: KEL
In that case, Pascal and I should just come with you. It saves time and makes more sense

FROM: KEL
NO ---------- ~+*MOST VALUABLE RAIDER 804 AD - 1021 AD*+~ ..:: AINT NO BITCH LIKE A GALLOWGLASS BIIIITCH ::..

FROM: KEL
BE SELF-SUFFICIENT ---------- ~+*MOST VALUABLE RAIDER 804 AD - 1021 AD*+~ ..:: AINT NO BITCH LIKE A GALLOWGLASS BIIIITCH ::..

FROM: KEL
BITCH ---------- ~+*MOST VALUABLE RAIDER 804 AD - 1021 AD*+~ ..:: AINT NO BITCH LIKE A GALLOWGLASS BIIIITCH ::..

FRACTAL 2018/12/13(Thu)09:18 No. 913909 ID: 270774
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Ricardo has about two seconds to be pissed about that conversation before he’s distracted by another text notification, this time from Pascal. He opens it and immediately groans. The message bubble is too long to read without scrolling down.

FROM: PASCAL
7:05 PM
Dearest Ricardo, Hello! I have found out to send letters with the phone, but not how to stop someone sending you letters, and Minmin Higuchi is annoying me very much. Please tell me how to stop someone sending you letters, because he sends me one every few seconds, and I cannot understand him, and I am worried the noises my telephone makes will scare away my prey. And also speaking of this, I hope hunting is going well for you! You are so talented a boy and you learn very fast so I am sure you are doing fine on your own, and also besides you lived fine for five years so what am I so worried about. I found some prey with a car but when I fed of him something tasted wrong, like maybe he is sick, so I spat it out and I am looking for another meal, except I am going to keep his car. But it might take me a little while! So maybe it would be good for you to do some shopping, like to get clothes because you only have this gross shirt from your prey yesterday and it’s not cute at all, and we will be in Las Vegas which is so exciting. And also you can get anything else you think we will need! If there is something you think will be too expensive for the amount of money you have from your meals, you can tell it to me, and maybe I can get it for free. This takes so much longer than writing by hand, Ricardo, especially because Minmin Higuchi keeps sending me more things while I am trying to write to you. I don’t even like him. Please send me a letter back! Your sire, Pascal Cosovei, sired by the Lord Marquess Constantin Bathory, carrier of the House of Bathory and servant to the throne of Transylvania

Jesus fucking Christ.

PASCAL TEXTS LIKE A GRANDMOTHER AND IT SHOULDN’T BE CUTE BUT IT IS AND I RLY DONT WANNA TEACH HIM HOW YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO??? ok also. while we get what we need around the city, like maybe a cool leather jacket that isn’t gross, and a gift for pascal (comfy sweater?? jewelry???) we have to find a wild animal to take a pic of for bunji!!!!! someone HAS to be walking a dog or smth, and we should be friends (:

minmin annoying pascal is funny as hell tho. tell pascal minoru has been messaging you too and that he’s... tryinf to be helpful in his own way. sympathize with him! even if it IS funny

aww. at least he doesn't text like an old person. that's such a cute message, i don't think he's very angry at you anymore.

to minmin: please stop pestering pascal.
to pascal: hunt went well, going to go look for some clothes, thank you for the suggestion. will show you how to turn off sound notifications etc later.
to kel: yeah ok.

are there any shops, thrift shops, something, nearby? how much money do you have?

>>913909
Well, first it's probably best to explain that phones are more like a personal conversation than a letter as far as etiquette goes. For the trip... luggage, spare clothes, hygiene stuff to keep yourselves clean and wash any stains out stuff, gas money... tempted to go for booze and drugs to make it a party but I don't trust either of them to resist temptation and drive sober

>>913911
also lets find a dog to send a picture of to bunji... or maybe find one of those bookstores with a resident cat and send a picture of a cat.

ricardo, listen. i know you’re going to be embarrassed by this but listen. you have to go buy condoms and lube

PASCAL IS SO SO SO CUTE OH MY GOD
text bunji a 'nice' and if we see any cool animals while shopping make sure to take a picture to send him
tell pascal that hunting went well, and that most people just send little sentence-length notes rather than letters and thats (part of) why minoru is making his phone make so many noises.
and ask why he thinks the new jacket gross lol

seconding buying lube and condoms, PLEASE RICARDO....HE'S PICKING UP WHAT YOU'RE PUTTING DOWN.... ROAD TRIP ROAD HEAD ROAD TRIP ROAD HEAD ROAD TRIP ROAD HEAD
thirding sending bunji back a dog pic. maybe kill two birds with one stone and text minmin to stop texting pascal AND ask him if bunji likes all dogs or just certain dogs. ur gonna have to take a dog pic from like across the street bc dogs dont like vampires but be discreet. say "thanks" or "nice" to bunji when u send back the dog pic. dog pics are important.
UHHH tell pascal you're going shopping and tell him to text you one letter rly fast like "q" if he get into trouble, or just have him call you!
last thing: ask pascal if he knows how to drive.

>>913918
oh yeah also text kel what the importance of "girls girls girls" is

>>913914
those are expensive. send pascal to steal condoms and lube

>>913919
harold she's lesbian

Ask Pascal what would be cute, let minmin know Pascal isn't used to the whole phone thing or the whole people talking to him thing and to maybe ease up a bit. But also tell Pascal it sounds like he's made a friend and he'll have to live with that. Oh and explain how to set the phone to vibrate, he'll probably enjoy that.

Do not explain that people aren't nearly so formal with texts, let him keep being cute.

Do vampires need to brush their fangies? Get a toothbrush and deodorant etc if needed. Get some CDs and alcohol for the trip and ask if there's anything Pascal wants along those lines. Stop by a hardware store and get an axe or a big mallet or something for whatever might need axing or big malletting. Then it's clothes shopping time.

Oh and absolutely send bunji a one word reply and see if you can take a picture of a pigeon or a cat or something.

>I found some prey with a car but when I fed of him something tasted wrong, like maybe he is sick, so I spat it out and I am looking for another meal,

oh, and ask pascal if vampires can get sick from feeding on someone who's sick

i agree if we see any animal at all we have to send a pic back to bunji

text minmin and ask him how to teach pascal how to text because he thinks texting is sending one very long letter and while its very cute you do not even begin to know how to explain to him that it doesnt have to be that way

send pascal a text back saying you hunted already and youll go shopping for clothes and essentials and stuff.

i assume what minmin is doing to pascal is the equivilent of sending carrier pigeon after carrier pigeon but the message is only like one word long (from pascals pov with no texting experience) so i think at best youll just have to tell him that minmin is just Like That

Oh dear sweet Pascal. Lets text Minmin and have him go easy on the old man.
Then we need to get some stuff for the car. No matter what kind, something to cover the windows during the day. Cardboard boxes, ducktape, maybe trashbags
As for clothes...maybe theres a thrift store still open around here.
Also we gotta text Pascal back and DOG!!! I LOVE BUNJI. We could do better and turn into a dog. Something big that could actually scare someone, but Pascal likes dogs and that is totally my main goal here.
In total agreement with above, we need to send and animal pic back.

Find bunji a animal
Give Kel a disapproving emoji
For Pascal: 1. Minmin is a necessary evil, but he can be muted, so you'll still have the texts if he says something important, but won't be annoyed by them. 2. There's a way to make the phone silent in general, too. 3. You'll get clothes, luggage, and sundries at least. 4. Texts work best with brief messages.

And then do so.

"Pascal- think telegrams, not letters. I've already ate and am now going to get stuff for the trip. We probably have divergent ideas on what 'think we will need' means so I'm open to suggestions"

"unless you're down to just steal Kel's private jet I guess"

"XOXO"

uh, can vampires get blood borne illnesses? Anyway tell Pascal how to silence his phone, then get clothes, camping equipment, car chargers, everything you can't pick up along the way on route 66.

>>913909
Ricardo, the following texts will be out of your character but I don't give a fuck I need to express my pet peeves at Pascal right now. Then again, even I write like a fucking grandma

Pascal, swipe your finger down from the tip top and press the vibrate picture when it appears, looks like a speaker with waves coming out of it, should solve most of your problems with annoying sounds.
SEND
I will teach you texting etiquette, if only to help you not being pestered by Minmin about the way you write texts. They're not called letters, but texts. This will be the most important thing I can teach you first.
SEND
Somes sentences involving talking about texts will be like "Text me back, bae" or "Did you get that text I sent you?". Text is both a noun and a verb.
SEND
It takes longer than writing so that's why people write short messages without too much thinking. It's the preferred way of texting. People hate scrolling.
SEND
Think about writing a telegram if you've ever written for one of those. Only you can send as many as you want, anytime you want. Please send only a few sentences at a time, be brief.
SEND
You can BLOCK Minmin, but just in case he has important info to send to you, don't block him. Also I don't think it will matter, he'll spoof a number and text you anyway. You're doomed, "bae".
SEND
Text's have the illusion of conversation on them, so write them like how you speak, not like a letter, so don't leave signatures. Kel can, because she can break us like twigs, and she doesn't call it a signature anyway so don't call it a signature.
SEND
Grammar or spelling is not that important overall, so you don't have to spend that much time proof reading your messages. Again, they're supposed to be short and quick to make. Complaining about Minmin's grammer and using "u" instead of "you" will probably result in a betrayal sooner rather than later.
SEND
Imagine the conversation as permanently ongoing, even when the last text is weeks apart, or even months. Some people will actually not say a sort of farewell when they're done with the texting conversation at the moment, so sometimes you're left hanging for a long fucking time before hearing back. It the culture of the time, get used to it.

(Pascal's text and little text notif face bubble are so cute aaaa)
Yeah we DEF have to send Bunji every cute animal we see. This is the ideal friendship. Tell Pascal that texts are more like a memorandum or a note you would give a servant to deliver, rather than a formal letter. Also link him to a Meyers-Briggs test, since Minmin probably is asking about that. Should keep him busy. In the meantime, let's go shopping!!! Fashion show!!!!

...oh god, can Pascal drive? He has our car, but does he know how to drive it??

Oh and we should probably also mention to Pascal that while we can show him how to turn sound notifs off later, his prey also have phones and will not be startled if they hear one. They're not deer.

i loev bunji so Much. thats all i have to say i like him so, so much. we need to find dogs to send him pictures of can this please be a dog-picture texting quest with bunji. i love that old man so much. SO much. we need to send him all of the dog pictures we can

(i lied i have more to say. "This takes so much longer than writing by hand, Ricardo, especially because Minmin Higuchi keeps sending me more things while I am trying to write to you. I don’t even like him. Please send me a letter back!" this is so cute. please tell pascal how cute he is (or at least ruminate on it for a second) & then maybe gently explain texting to him? or i like the suggestions of passing that along to minmin, although he doesnt *like* minmin so maybe we should handle it?
anyway we should definitely let him know that we're all squared away with feeding and clothing)

(OH AND KEL i think i agree with disapproving/angry emoji response, although id like to say something witty as well. try to score a laugh or a smile out of her even if she wont admit it, because i like her so, so much.)

tell minmin not to bug pascal too much and maybe find out if there's a way for pascal to mute the messages so he can still see them if there's something important but won't be overwhelmed by frequent messages?

teach pascal to send shorter messages or at least put in paragraph breaks and how to turn silent mode on.
how is finding a car going? is pascal feeling ok? does he need any help or should we go find new clothes etc?