Chapter 69: Laugh Now, Cry Later
April looked at him.
David looked back.
’Deny,’ he thought. ’Deny, deny, deny.’
"Me? I didn’t. I’m just helping you out...you forget that?"
"I just—" She stopped. Frowned slightly, like she was doing math in her head. "Actually, maybe I was seeing things."
"Probably," David said.
She watched him for one more second, then bent dropped the box at hand. "Okay. This should be the last one."
"Yeah." He moved his side. "We’re finally done..."
’That was so close. That was genuinely too close. Get it together, David.’
He set the box down and came up straight, and that was when the number blinked into the corner of his eye.
[Time remaining: 00:52 seconds]
He stared at it.
’Fifty-two seconds.’
Thirty seven realistically. Once it hit fifteen the window was gone. He was standing in a bedroom with both hands doing absolutely nothing and he had a few seconds to change that.
April was bent over the box, fixing something inside.
Then, David’s hand went up about five inches as he looked straight at her cheeks.
’...Am I actually doing this right now?’
The timer kept moving.
’Laugh now, cry later. That’s what people say... wise people. And this is technically for the greater good, I don’t personally make the rules here. So I should just...argh! Fucking do it alr—’
April straightened up and rolled her shoulders back.
David’s hand came down.
"Actually, let me just do a quick box check," she said, already moving toward the door.
"Sure," David said, in a completely normal human voice.
She walked out.
[Time remaining: 00: 41 seconds]
He took a sigh and then followed her out slowly, hands in his pockets.
’Naa...I’m not gonna complete this mission. Too bad, honestly. I really wanted that skill.’ He thought about the A-rank skill. About the fact that he was now walking around without it, worse off than he started, trailing behind a woman whose ass had just nearly ended his entire life.
’Well, at the very leaset, I still have my dignity in check.’
It still wasn’t enough.
April was standing in the space in front of the doorway, eyes scanning the empty floor.
"Yep." She nodded once. "That’s all of them."
She turned around, and David pulled up a smile. The smile of a man with no problems.
She raised her hand, a gay expression on her face.
"We did it. High five."
It was just a normal act. But, David paused.
And then something arrived in the back of his mind. Quiet, aristocratic if he did say so himself.
’Hmm... that could work.... All...’
His hand came up, and then, he slapped her palm.
’...For...’
And in the same motion — the same unbroken, celebratory, completely natural arc that footballers do after scoring, arm swinging down after the clap — his hand dropped and landed flat on her ass. The sound rang out sharp and clean through the doorway.
’...One...’
Neither of them moved.
David’s face was still. Calm. The face of a man checking the weather.
April stood with her hand still half-raised, eyes a little wide, staring at the space affront of her.
A full second passed, and as if it couldn’t get any worse, David’s hand squeezed her ass cheek.
The notification bloomed across his vision the moment his hand landed.
[Contact established with target: April Walbury. Maintain contact. Time remaining: 00:15]
’Oh you have got to be kidding me.’
The timer started counting.
Fourteen. Thirteen.
’Count faster. Come on. Count faster, what is wrong with you—’
Twelve. Eleven.
April turned her head.
"David."
Ten.
He didn’t answer.
Nine.
"David."
"Yes," David said.
She turned the rest of the way around to face him, or tried to, and David’s hand was still there.
"What are you doing?"
"What am I doing?"
"That’s what I just said."
Seven seconds.
Still, his palm nested so confidently on her ass, despite her warnings.
"David—" She stepped forward and pulled away, turning fully now, and David raised both hands immediately, palms out, the universal gesture of a completely innocent man.
"That — no. That’s not — I thought we were still doing the high five."
April stared at him.
"The high five."
"It was a continuation."
"A continuation."
"Of the high five. Yes."
[Contact broken. Time remaining: 00:04]
[00:03]
[00:02]
[Quest Failed. Sustained contact not achieved.]
David closed his eyes for exactly one second.
’I didn’t even get a skill. I did all of that and I didn’t even get a skill. I am standing here, in this situation, with no skill, because I couldn’t hold on for fifteen seconds—’
April squinted at him.
"Ecchi."
"I’m not — it genuinely wasn’t like that—" David stopped. "Wait, what did you just call me?"
April folded her arms. "You heard me."
"I heard you, I just want to make sure I—"
"Browse it."
David opened his mouth. Closed it.
’She said browse it. To my face.’
"...Oh."
"Yeah."
He stood there for a second. Then something clicked and he nodded, like a man who had just remembered he had an entire life outside of this hallway.
"Actually — you know what, I just remembered I’ve got a gym thing. I should head out."
April looked at him. "A gym thing."
"Yeah."
A beat.
"...Yeah, okay," she said.
"Alright." He rolled his shoulders back. "I’ll see you around."
"Mhm." She glanced into the room. "I need to finish arranging in here anyway so..."
"Right. Yeah." He took a step back. "I’ll leave you to it then."
"Yeah."
He turned and headed for the door. But as one would expect, the system did not grant him rest.
[Subject Analysis: Target emotional state — confusion. Anger response: absent. Assessment indicates target was unprepared for Player’s directness. Unexpected approach has yielded neutral-to-favourable reception. Current window remains open. Recommend immediate follow-up before target has sufficient time to process and reassess.]
David was already at the front door.
[Player. Did you read the notification?]
[Player]
"Oh, go to hell," David muttered, and stepped out at a pace that was not quite running but was making a strong case for itself.
~~~
April stood in the doorway and watched him go.
She looked at the empty hallway.
"What the hell was that," she said, to absolutely no one.
However, quietly, at the edge of her vision where she couldn’t see it:
[Temptation Level: 15%]