Late night musings.

Chapter 2 – So it’s real, now what? (continued)

It was late when Jason made it home. Though not nearly as late as it had been the previous night. He switched on the living room light as he entered the door to make certain there would be no surprises awaiting him this time. And when he found the apartment empty and quiet outside of some faint music coming from Heather and Kate’s room, he set his things down and performed the quick warding ritual Heather had interrupted the last time.

When he was done, he doused the incense and moved to the kitchen, just managing to suppress a yawn. He paused on the threshold, and realized suddenly he wasn’t really hungry. The Thai food had been a hit, and he’d eaten plenty already. So he changed course and moved to his laptop. Once again it stood open, facing the room. With a growl he closed the lid, and just sat in his chair without turning it on. Was he leaving it open accidentally or was one of his roommates snooping on his computer?

Just for good measure, he opened his laptop, powered it on, and swiftly changed his password to something he hoped none of them would easily guess.

Then he unlocked his phone and finally checked his Skype notifications.

:Stephani: Hey babe, hope you don’t get home too late.

:Stephani: I’m going to try to stay up, but hopefully I won’t fall asleep on you.

:Stephani: Message me as soon as you get home.

All the messages had been sent while he’d been playing Dungeons & Dragons with his friends. The last one had been sent less than half an hour earlier, probably as they’d been wrapping up.

He took a long moment considering what he wanted to do. And while he thought about that, he switched to the MRE app.

Louisa Dubois

Relationship: Catfisher

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Remorse 40* (+1), Affection 29, Lust 4, Beholden 1

Special Traits: Internal Conflict, Self Doubt

Active Affects: Attitude Amplifier (Remorse)

Another point of remorse. He wondered if he was being cruel. Was this really what he wanted, to make her guilt rise until she couldn’t handle it anymore? Was he driving her to some kind of a breakdown?

No, he decided that was not what he wanted. Louisa’s profile was right at the top, but he had to scroll down past Chloe and his gaming group to find Christine.

Christine Dubois

Relationship: Catfisher

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Remorse 28* (+2), Affection 24, Disdain 2 (+1), Worry 1

Special Traits: Internal Conflict

Active Affects: Attitude Amplifier (Remorse)

Disdain +1. Yeah, that put a damper on the sympathy he was starting to feel for them. But that still left him with a conundrum. What was he going to do. How did he get to the truth without revealing the app? Like they’d believe him even if he brought it up. He’d been thinking about this off and on all day, and he kept coming to the same conclusion, he couldn’t do this alone. That was why he’d scheduled a date with Chloe, afterall.

So what did he do in the meantime? They were supposed to chat tonight. And he wasn’t sure what he trusted himself to say to them.

He swapped back to Skype.

:Jason: You still awake?

He waited a minute, then two.

:Stephani: Yeah I’m up. Really tired though. Can we talk?

:Jason: Okay, let’s talk.

He wasn’t sure what he was going to say, so he figured he’d let her lead the conversation for now.

:Stephani: I’ve missed you. I feel like you’ve been avoiding me today. Did something happen?

Yeah, something happened alright. He’d gotten a magic app on his phone that insisted Stephani was actually two girls, probably sisters, who were catfishing him for… for what? He wasn’t sure. He’d sent her a few gifts, but nothing amazingly expensive. He didn’t have that kind of money, so what was the point? Not that he said any of this to her.

:Jason: Do you think we are going to work out? Do you have any doubts about us? I feel sometimes like maybe the universe is giving me a sign that we aren’t meant to be.

:Stephani: Don’t talk like that babe. I’m sure we can work things out. What signs are you talking about?

What could Jason say that wasn’t reliant on his knowledge from the app?

:Jason: I guess it’s just everything adding up. The whole deal with the webcam I bought you, for instance. And I guess things have been getting me down in general lately, and it’s felt like I just haven’t had time for you.

:Stephani: Yeah, I’m really sorry your webcam got lost in the mail. Though what about that name you called me? You sure it doesn’t have anything to do with that? Where’d you hear that name anyways? What was it, Carly?

Jason frowned. It wasn’t like she couldn’t just scroll up to see the name. It wasn’t that far back was it? Was she deliberately playing dumb? He was suddenly angry, but he had to fight it down. It wouldn’t help him to let her know how he really felt just yet. He had to keep playing along, at least for now.

:Jason: No, it’s like I said, that message was meant for someone else on Skype. Don’t worry about it.

He sat there in silence, vague noises coming through the wall from Heather’s video recording, he imagined. He saw those three dots indicating Louisa was typing a message. Then they stopped. Then started again.

After several minutes of this, he got frustrated.

:Jason: Do you think, maybe we should take a break?

:Stephani: Don’t say that, Jason. You know I love you.

:Jason: Is that enough though?

Was this it? Was he going to break up with her without even figuring out the truth? He was so exhausted by the emotional roller coaster she’d put him through over the last two days since he’d received the app. But maybe he owed her a chance to explain?

He was just about to type a follow up message when she replied.

:Stephani: Can I confess something to you? I’m really embarrassed. Please don’t be mad?

Was she actually going to admit the truth, or was this some new ploy?

:Jason: I don’t know if I can promise that. But I promise to try to be understanding.

Again she took her time responding, typing and retyping between pauses. A glance at his clock showed he’d been home nearly an hour by now.

:Stephani: I lied about the webcam.

She said at last.

:Jason: Why would you lie about that?

:Stephani: It didn’t get lost in the mail. But please let me explain.

:Jason: I’m listening.

:Stephani: I made a silly mistake, and I felt ashamed. When I first sent you my picture, it wasn’t actually me. It was some picture I had been using as a profile pic that I found online. Probably a model or something. I couldn’t come clean about it, and it’s been eating me up. And I didn’t know how I was going to explain it, so I just lied and said the webcam never arrived.

Well, that was a good explanation. But was it the truth? Somehow he doubted it.

:Stephani: Are you mad?

:Stephani: Babe?

He wasn’t sure how to respond, but then the answer came to him.

:Jason: Show me.

:Stephani: Show you what?

Jason was already logging onto Skype on his laptop.

:Jason: Turn the webcam on. Show me your real face.

:Stephani: Right now?

:Stephani: But it’s dark, you can’t see anything.

:Stephani: And I’m in my pajamas.

:Stephani: And I’m not wearing makeup, and my hair is a bit of a mess.

Her responses were coming quite rapidly now, as if she was throwing out each excuse as it occurred to her. Like she was panicking again.

Louisa Dubois

Relationship: Catfisher

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Remorse 41* (+1), Affection 29, Lust 4, Beholden 2 (+1), Fear 1 (+1, Awakened)

Special Traits: Internal Conflict, Self Doubt

Active Affects: Attitude Amplifier (Remorse)

Temporary Traits: Panic

Well that seemed to confirm that theory.

:Jason: I don’t care. I just want to see you. I want to see proof.

There was no response. And Jason thought he’d pushed her too far. Several minutes passed, and he resisted the urge to retract his demand. But then he received a video call request.

He clicked accept.

His own camera built into his laptop just above the screen turned on first, and he saw himself with the light behind him in his apartment. Then a moment later he saw a face that definitely matched one of the Dubois girls, though as she’d mentioned she was ready for bed and sitting in the dark. But, he could still make out her face, and a huge wave of relief washed over him.

:Jason: Hey there. I’m so happy to see you.

Tears actually stung his eyes. The girl on the camera smiled, though her eyes were red, like she’d been crying recently.

:Stephani: I’m sorry I didn’t show you sooner. I was being really stupid, and never meant to hurt you. Can you forgive me?

Jason took a moment, and considered her question seriously.

:Jason: I don’t know. I’m not going to lie, I am feeling hurt, and mad, and a bunch of other things. But I’m also so glad to finally see you.

:Stephani: Yeah I can understand that. I don’t expect you to forgive me right away. I’m willing to earn it. Whatever it takes.

Jason blinked, and she offered a sad but hopeful smile.

:Jason: Do you really mean that?

:Stephani: Of course.

:Jason: So, I can ask you anything, and you’d do it to earn my forgiveness?

She faltered, looking suddenly unsure, and she glanced to one side, as if replying to someone off-camera. But Jason just waited, feeling now like he had infinite patience. He held all the cards.

:Stephani: What do you want to ask me to do?

:Jason: I don’t have anything specific in mind, at least not yet. But I will think of something. Something you can do to prove I can still trust you.

She took a long time again, and looked quite conflicted. Jason had to remind himself that he was on camera too, to resist the urge to check his app.

:Stephani: I’m not going to make a blanket promise, especially when I know you’re feeling hurt, and mad. But I want to prove you can trust me, and that I still love you, so I promise I’ll try to do anything you ask me to within reason, short of harming myself.

:Stephani: Is that enough for you?

Jason sat back. Wow. He was overwhelmed. He hadn’t really expected that to work quite as well as it had.

:Jason: I would never ask you to harm yourself.

He reassured her. He knew it was true. The most he might want to do is spank her, maybe humiliate her a little. But he didn’t want to injure her.

:Stephani: Okay, then whenever you’re ready, just ask.

She offered a smile. Jason wasn’t sure he trusted it. But before he could reply her expression changed. She looked momentarily panicked, then reached to one side and her camera blacked out.

:Jason: Hey what happened?

“Who you chatting with?” Jason jumped nearly out of his chair and turned to see his sister right behind him.

“Shit, Alex!” He gasped, trying desperately to catch his breath.

Alex grinned and chuckled, “Aww, did I scare you, Bear?”

“Yeah, I didn’t hear you coming, and I was right in the middle of a conversation.”

“Is that Stephani?” She asked, leaning over him to gesture at the Skype conversation still open on his laptop. “Tell her I said hi.”

Jason turned back to read a pair of messages that had been sent while he’d been turned away.

:Stephani: Sorry, I got startled. I saw someone behind you.

:Stephani: Tell me when you’re alone again.

“You guys finally have a video call?” Alex asked.

Jason minimized the Skype window before Alex could read anything incriminating in his conversation.

“Yeah, we were…” He wasn’t sure how much to explain. “We’re working through some things, and confessed some things.”

“What kind of things?” Alex took a step back, and Jason was suddenly aware how close she’d been as she leaned over him. “Or is that none of my business?”

“Well, it’s complicated.” Jason began, “But… I guess you’ll find out sooner or later. But in a nutshell, when I first met her she was using a fake profile pic. She finally confessed that she didn’t actually look like that, and was too embarrassed to chat on webcam because of that. But now we’re finally video chatting for the first time.”

“Okay. Yeah that sounds complicated. Well, I guess you want some privacy then. I was just up to get a glass of water. I’ll leave you two alone. But just be aware, Heather should be home soon, so keep an ear out for her coming in.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He promised, and watched her head to the kitchen before turning back to his laptop.

:Stephani: You still there?

:Jason: Yeah I’m here. I had to explain the whole profile pic mixup to Alex.

:Stephani: So that was your sister?

:Jason: Yeah, she got up for a late night drink, and saw us chatting, and got curious. She wasn’t trying to snoop or anything.

:Stephani: Okay, that’s fine. Are you alone again?

Before answering, Jason decided to check the app while he was off camera.

Louisa Dubois

Relationship: Catfisher

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Remorse 41*, Affection 29, Lust 4, Beholden 4 (+2), Worry 1 (+1, Awakened), Fear 0 (-1)

Special Traits: Internal Conflict, Self Doubt

Active Affects: Attitude Amplifier (Remorse)

Christine Dubois

Relationship: Catfisher

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Remorse 29* (+1), Affection 24, Disdain 3 (+1), Worry 1

Special Traits: Internal Conflict

Active Affects: Attitude Amplifier (Remorse)

Temporary Traits: Protective Anger

Right as he backed out of Christine’s profile, it moved to the top, and at the same moment, he received another message on Skype.

:Stephani: It’s getting pretty late, maybe we should pick this up in the morning?

Did that mean they’d swapped places at the computer? He had to take a chance to test this out. He glanced behind him in time to see his sister going back into their room, and quickly typed another new message.

:Jason: I’m alone.

He initiated a video call and waited to see if she would pick up. This time he left his phone open to the app so he could check it at a glance.

His camera turned back on, then after a moment one of the Dubois girl’s faces appeared. Jason looked very closely and noticed that her eyes weren’t red as they’d been earlier. As Louisa’s eyes had been.

:Jason: Alex says hi, btw.

:Stephani: Oh, tell her hi back when you have a chance.

She had a bit of a sour look on her face, like she was trying to be pleasant to him but wasn’t really feeling it. If it really was Christine, he guessed it sorta made sense she wasn’t quite as eager as Louisa, based on their attitudes.

:Jason: I’ll tell her.

He typed after glancing at her profile once more.

:Stephani: Maybe I should go to bed. It’s pretty late here.

:Jason: Wait.

She appeared to sigh, glancing to one side with clear impatience.

:Stephani: What is it?

She asked after a moment.

Jason reminded himself how much they had wronged him. How much he was owed.

:Jason: Show me all of you.

He insisted.

He watched her face as she read his message. Her eyes widened, and she seemed uncertain, glancing to one side several times before typing her response.

:Stephani: Like, all of my body? Do you want me to stand up so you can see more of me?

Jason nodded, but also typed:

:Jason: Yes.

Her reaction was about what he expected. She shook her head, and looked extremely torn. But also embarrassed. She didn’t answer or act right away, continuously glancing to one side, almost as if she didn’t even realize she was doing it.

:Jason: What do you keep looking at?

She made a face, but typed back finally.

:Stephani: It’s nothing, just wishing I could be in bed, and I’m looking at my bedroom door. I’m super tired, but keeping myself awake for you. This is more important than sleep right now.

Now Jason was suddenly feeling a bit of remorse himself. But he pushed that away, and typed a response.

:Jason: Well, be quick then. I want to get a good look at all of you, then I’ll let you go to bed.

:Stephani: We’ll be okay after this? This will settle things between us?

She must have clearly seen the astonished frown on his face because she added another response before he could type one up himself.

:Stephani: No, never mind. I know it’s going to take a lot more than that.

He sighed, and waited for her to decide how she was going to start. She got up, her face going above the camera frame, putting the buttons of her pajama top right in his face for a long moment, before she sat back down, now giving him her undivided attention. Whatever she’d been glancing at was apparently no longer a distraction.

:Stephani: Do you need to see all of me at once, or can I just show you my top half and bottom half separately? It’s pretty cold here.

:Jason: Can’t you just back up enough for me to see all of you at once? Is there enough room for you to get that far from your camera?

:Stephani: There’s enough room, but I don’t want to take off all my clothes at once.

Oh. Jason realized what she was saying, and how what he’d asked her might have sounded. He quickly typed up a clarification.

:Jason: I didn’t mean you needed to get naked, I just wanted to see you from head to foot, or as much of you as you can fit into the camera. You don’t have to take off your clothes, though I wouldn’t object to that.

He could clearly make out her blush as she read his reply, even with the poor quality video and the bad lighting.

:Stephani: Oh, I feel dumb now. But… well, I guess I can show you that.

Jason glanced down at her profile while she was getting up and adjusting the angle of her camera.

Christine Dubois

Relationship: Catfisher

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Remorse 29*, Affection 24, Disdain 3, Beholden 2 (+2, Awakened), Worry 1, Playfulness 1 (+1, Awakened)

Special Traits: Internal Conflict

Active Affects: Attitude Amplifier (Remorse)

Temporary Traits: Shy Embarrassment

Seemed like her new attitudes were slightly more positive, same with her temporary trait.

:Jason: Are you ready, or do you still need more time?

:Stephani: No I’m ready now. Give me a thumbs up if you can see me okay.

As soon as she sent the message, she stood up and moved back, then came forward and adjusted the camera. She repeated the process until she could get almost all of herself in frame by standing a few feet back from wherever her computer was. Now that he could see her better he observed that she was wearing a matching pajama set consisting of a cream colored long-sleeved button up top and pants. She was a little disheveled, but still overall looked very pretty to his eyes.

Jason gave her a thumbs up, and she smiled and returned the gesture. Then she raised one foot, showing one fluffy blue sock to the camera and he smiled at the cute gesture.

He put a finger in the air and turned it in a small circle, and she nodded before slowly turning in place, letting him see her from all sides. At which point he gave her another thumbs up.

Suddenly she moved forward and leaned over the desk.

:Stephani: So what do you think?

:Jason: I think you’re adorable, I like your outfit, it’s cute.

She grinned, and moved off camera for a moment. Jason was just about to ask where she’d gone when she came back into frame, facing away from him now. She moved slowly back to where she’d been standing before, swaying her hips seductively while bringing her hands in front of her where he couldn’t see them, though from his perspective it looked like she might be unbuttoning her pajama top. After a moment she turned just enough to look over her shoulder at him, still smiling. He gave another thumbs up to let her know he could see her just fine, and then gasped when she turned back to face him. Her top was unbuttoned halfway, revealing an unbroken strip of skin from her neck to just below her sternum, right between her pale breasts.

He thought he could detect a bit of redness on her checks and neck, as she continued shifting her weight from one foot to the other, swaying her hips, teasing further glimpses of her breasts as she undid another button, granting him a glimpse of her navel. Then, as if making a decision, she moved closer, so that her torso dominated the frame, and released the final button in the process. She opened her top, exposing herself completely to his eyes for a few seconds before closing it once again, and shivering. He took that moment to scan over her body, taking in every detail. She was thin, with pleasing curves to her waist and hips, but with just a little bit of pudge to round out her stomach. Jason didn’t know anything really about cup sizes, but her breasts were large enough to be noticeable, but small enough that she could cover each with one hand if she’d been so inclined; certainly smaller than Heather’s and larger than either Kate’s or Chloe’s.

She was leaning forward to type, her top falling partially open once again, when he heard keys rattle just outside the door. He clicked the end call button, and quickly typed an explanation.

:Jason: Roommate just got home. Give me a minute, and I’ll let you know when I’m alone again.

Then he minimized the Skype window and opened up a homework document.

Jason turned as Heather came in the door and deposited some of her things on the coffee table. She saw him looking and raised an eyebrow before heading into the kitchen. She was dressed nice. In a backless red dress with very thin straps. Her skirt didn’t quite cover her knees, and her hair was half loose, half in a very fetching braid. Her makeup was, of course, immaculate.

“You have fun at the club?” He asked, remembering what she’d told him about her plans earlier that morning.

“Define fun.” She called out, a bit of annoyance in her voice.

“Uh, entertainment? Social enjoyment? How do you define fun?”

She came back into the room and leaned against the wall with a glass of water in one hand, the other reaching down to pull off first one high heeled shoe, then the other, before wiggling her stockinged toes against the carpet. Then she caught his gaze.

“You perving on me again?!” She asked, though she didn’t sound mad.

“No.” He said quickly. “Just… You look very nice. I don’t normally get to see you dressed up for clubbing.”

She chuckled, “Not a terrible answer. Even if we both know you’re full of shit.”

“Hey, even if I was perving a tiny bit subconsciously, could you really blame me in that outfit?” Jason replied quickly, happy to see she seemed in a pretty relaxed mood.

Heather shook her head, “I guess you have a point, pig.” She said the last part playfully as she disappeared back into the kitchen with her empty glass, only to reappear and move to the couch, raising one foot up on to her lap so she could massage it with both hands.

“Uh!” Jason quickly turned away and stared at his computer screen.

“Oh for fuck’s sake! I just flashed you, didn’t I?” Heather growled out.

“I looked away.” Jason replied. “I didn’t mean to see anything.”

“You’re such a perv.” She admonished. “But yeah, I guess that one was on me. I’ll give you that for free then.”

They were both quiet for a couple minutes then Heather spoke up again, “I’ll make you a deal.” He glanced back, and saw that she’d removed her stockings and was sitting on the couch with her thighs pressed modestly together.

“What kind of deal?” He asked, still suspicious of this seemingly nice version of Heather.

“I know you want to look. And I’ll give you one-time permission, if you’ll do something for me.”

“What if I don’t want one-time permission to look?”

“Then you don’t have to look. I’ll owe you something else. But I’d still like the favor.”

He sighed, “Okay fine, I’ll bite, what’s the favor?” He narrowed his eyes at her.

Instead of answering directly, Heather stood and turned to face away from him. “Can you unzip me? It seems to have gotten a little stuck.” She reached behind her and fiddled with the zipper on her dress, which had been lowered about half an inch from the low scooped back that itself was only a hands width above the very alluring curve of her ass.

“Oh uh… I can do that. But I’ll take the favor, not the permission.”

“If you’re sure. I’m not likely to offer it again anytime soon.” Heather said with a giggle.

Jason approached her, and was assaulted by the scent of her perfume and… the unmistakable smell of ****. Vodka, he thought. Though he was hardly an expert. He had a number of months to go before he turned 21, and so far he hadn’t felt all that much interest to try anything of that nature.

But he put that from his mind, and took a firm hold of the back of her dress with one hand, and the offending zipper with the other, and after a little wiggling, was able to pull it down all the way to the base. He caught a brief glimpse of the hem of lace panties the exact same shade as the dress but turned away almost immediately.

Heather faced him once more and gave him a pat on the arm. “Thanks! We can discuss the favor tomorrow.” And she picked up her heels and stockings from next to the couch and walked away into her room.

When Jason sat back down, he was surprised he wasn’t tenting his slacks. He felt a tingle of arousal, but he couldn’t be sure if it was because of Heather or Christina.

He unminimized Skype.

:Stephani: Okay.

:Stephani: Hey, it’s kinda cold here, and I’m really tired. Hope this was enough for you to begin to forgive me, and I hate to do this while you’re away, but I need to get to bed. We can finish this another time soon. Really really sorry. Sweet dreams! <3 <3 <3

She was showing as offline, leaving Jason alone with his thoughts for a time. He decided to scan through the profiles on his app to see if there were any other new changes.

Christine Dubois

Relationship: Catfisher

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Remorse 29*, Affection 24, Playfulness 3 (+2), Disdain 2 (-1), Beholden 2, Worry 1

Special Traits: Internal Conflict

Active Affects: Attitude Amplifier (Remorse)

He couldn’t be sure, but it looked like maybe he really was starting to get on Christine’s good side, at least her disdain for him was going down.

Heather Chase

Relationship: Rival, Roommate

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Hostility 23 (-1), Affection 20, Resentment 16, Dominance 11, Loyalty 10, Playfulness 4 (+1), Lust 4* (+3)

Special Traits: Cocktease, Drama Queen

Temporary Traits: Drunk Lust

Active Effects: Awaken Attitude (Lust)

If he’d known Heather was like this when she went clubbing and got a little drunk, he would have made more of an effort to be around her at such times. Then again, maybe she wouldn’t have done that sort of thing around him without her awakened lust attitude.

Louisa Dubois

Relationship: Catfisher

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Remorse 43* (+2), Affection 29, Lust 4, Beholden 5 (+1), Worry 1, Fear 0

Special Traits: Internal Conflict, Self Doubt

Active Affects: Attitude Amplifier (Remorse)

Alexandra Kelly

Relationship: Brother

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Affection 90, Friendship 71, Love 70, Playfulness 68, Loyalty 59, Protectiveness 48, Admiration 37, Trust 35, Worry 30, Submissiveness 10, Lust 5 (+1)

Special Traits: Fantasy Crush, Taboo Kink

Temporary Traits: Flash of Jealousy

Huh, was Alex jealous of him having a video call with ‘Stephani’? He couldn’t think of anything else that might have set off that temporary trait. Nothing else too surprising there, though her lust had increased again, and she didn’t even have the amplifier.

Then before heading to bed he decided to take a quick glance at the perks section. Holy hell! He’d somehow accumulated a whopping 158 points! He probably ought to buy something, unless he wanted to just continue to save up. There wasn’t anything immediately in mind that he’d wanted to buy. Though… Now that both the Dubois sisters had the Beholden trait, he decided he wanted to amplify that as well. That was another 42 points, and he didn’t even hesitate to buy them.

Then he scrolled through the list, reading perk names, and checking a few descriptions before landing on one he hadn’t bothered looking at before, but for some reason he felt drawn to it now. He tapped on the perk name, “Warding Masque”.

“This perk will allow the app to passively defend against you revealing its existence either on accident or on purpose, as well as any person you’ve revealed the app to that you have formed a strong enough relationship with, such as having a high attitude total, or creating a magical bond through perks. You can deactivate this perk if you decide you wish to reveal information about the app, but with it active you and others under its protection will be unable to disclose anything regarding the app even through **** or mind control.”

Mind control? That was a scary thought. But if magical apps were real, then he could believe in mind control too. The perk cost 60 energy, but somehow he felt it was probably worth that. So, before he could change his mind, he went ahead and bought it, hoping he wouldn’t ever have to use it. That left him with 56 points, enough for a number of useful perks, but he figured he’d done enough for one night. He closed down the app and shut off his laptop, and got himself ready for bed. Alex was sound asleep when he came in, and it wasn’t long before he was too.