Profile updates, and dealing with the roommates.

Chapter 2 – So it’s real, now what?

The first thing Jason did when he opened his eyes in the morning was look at his phone on the night stand. His alarm hadn’t gone off yet, and the time read 6:12am, so it was still dark out. He lay awake for a few minutes before getting up, and deliberately putting his phone in his pocket without looking at it further. He didn’t even unlock it. He didn’t work on Saturday, nor did he have any classes. So he figured he ought to spend his morning doing what he’d failed to do the previous night, homework.

His alarm went off while he was in the shower, and he silenced it while drying his hair before putting on a fresh pair of slacks and a polo shirt. Then he grabbed some leftover chicken, heated it up, and sat down at the table to munch on it before finally opening up his phone once more.

As he’d expected, he had new notifications from Skype, as well as text messages from his boss, Ms. Carn. He started with the texts.

:Allison: I’ve got some time today if you’d like to touch base.

:Allison: We could get you started on one or more of those special projects.

:Allison: Let me know.

The time stamps were all within the last fifteen minutes, so while he’d been in the shower.

Then he checked Skype.

:Stephani: You awake yet?

That first one was sent a few minutes before 6am.

:Stephani: Sorry if I freaked out on you last night. I just was a little weirded out by the message you sent me. If you tell me who Chris is, I’m sure we can laugh it off as a misunderstanding. I don’t know why it bothered me so much.

Jason thought about his response. He’d logged into Skype as invisible, so he didn’t have to worry about anyone knowing he was online yet if they checked his profile.

Speaking of profiles.

Christine Dubois

Relationship: Catfisher

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Remorse 25* (-1), Affection 24, Disdain 1, Worry 1 (+1, Awakened)

Special Traits: Internal Conflict

Active Affects: Attitude Amplifier (Remorse)

Louisa Dubois

Relationship: Catfisher

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Remorse 38* (+1), Affection 29, Lust 4, Beholden 1 (+1, Awakened)

Special Traits: Internal Conflict, Self Doubt

Active Affects: Attitude Amplifier (Remorse)

So the temporary traits had gone, and Christine’s remorse actually went down, despite the amplifier. And two new attitudes had awakened on their own, Worry for Christine, and Beholden for Louisa. He could worry about what that meant later, in the meantime, there were still some profiles he hadn’t checked.

Allison Carn

Relationship: Subordinate, Potential Mister

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Lust 47, Admiration 30, Dominance 28, Submissiveness 9, Affection 6, Loyalty 2

Special Traits: Cheating Kink, Loss of Dominance Kink

Jason just groaned. So his boss had the hots for him? That was way more trouble than he wanted on his plate. As if the whole catfish thing wasn’t bad enough.

He continued checking individual profiles, most of whom were for people he had only minimal relationships with. The dark-skinned girl who worked at his favorite fast food restaurant, Summer Rae, had no special traits, and only one attitude, a friendship of 4. And many of his classmates whose names he actually knew had similar attitude scores, and not much else. Michael Cullen was listed as a co-worker, with a friendship attitude of 1. So he guessed Michael didn’t really care one way or the other.

But he couldn’t put off one profile forever, he was a bit nervous about what he’d find there.

Katherine O’Connell

Relationship: Best Friend’s Brother, Roommate

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Loyalty 53, Affection 32, Friendship 28, Trust 20, Nostalgia 18, Protectiveness 18, Worry 10, Admiration 0, Lust -6

Special Traits: Childhood Crush

Jason was floored. There were a lot of positive traits there, but Lust -6? And he had to look at the description for Childhood Crush. “This person had secret romantic feelings for you when they were a child, maybe even sexual fantasies, but they may no longer feel the same way as an adult.” So Kate had crushed on him when they were younger? He wondered when that could have been, and why she’d never said anything. He’d had no idea she felt anything like that. She and his sister had been friends almost as long as Alex and Heather, having met when all of them were still in elementary school and she’d lived just across the street. But since she was almost two years older she’d been in the same grade as Jason, and she’d been separated from the other two girls in middle school, only to reunite for two years of high school. Now she worked as a waitress at one of those fancy steakhouses, and spent most her money on equipment and training for her local hockey club. She was very serious about the sport.

But he was a little surprised, having scanned all the way to the bottom of the profiles list now, that there seemed to be quite a few people missing. He had an older sister, a younger brother, and a much younger sister that were not listed, for instance, his parents, his best friend, even most of his gaming group who were scheduled to meet later that day. In fact, it seemed everyone listed among the profiles were people he’d interacted with in the last 24 hours, give or take.

He heard a noise, and turned to look at the hallway where his sister had just emerged from their bedroom, closing the door as quietly as she could before spotting him sitting in the kitchen with his phone on the table next to his plate of fried chicken.

“Oh, after last night, I thought you’d still be asleep. I didn’t hear you get up.” She was already dressed in her scrubs, ready to head off to her Saturday morning shift as a clerk/receptionist for the local clinic.

“Yeah, I got up a little early. Must have slept well.”

She came over to him and put the back of her hand on his forehead again. “Well you look better, and you’re not warm anymore. Is that a new game?” She gestured to his phone, still open to the profile list on the MRE app.

“Uh yeah, just found it yesterday. Hadn’t even decided if I wanted to install it or not, and it kinda installed itself.” He told only part of the truth, remembering the app’s warning about revealing it, and how it would keep itself hidden. He wondered what she was seeing when she looked at the app. Because it certainly didn’t look much like a game to his eyes.

“Well, you have fun with that. And don’t neglect your homework.” She moved past him to pour herself a bowl of cereal, and brought it back to the table.

“So uh, how bad would it be if I had to look for another job?”

Alex managed not to **** on her spoonful of frosted cereal. “You having trouble at work? Is that why you were so stressed out last night?”

“Not exactly. But you know how I’m not always great at getting in on time? Well my boss wants me to start working extra to do like, extra credit projects or something to make up for it.”

“Which one’s that again? Greg?” She asked.

“Allison.” Jason corrected.

“Oh, I kind of got the impression Allison liked you. Maybe she’s trying to do you a favor?”

“You’ve met her like, twice, and you think you can judge her that well?”

Alex shrugged. “It was three times, actually, and sometimes that’s all you need.”

Somehow, Jason didn’t think he was meant to be the one receiving ‘favors’ in this arrangement, but he couldn’t figure out how he could explain why he would know something about her aspirations to make him a mister without being able to tell his sister about the app, so he didn’t elaborate on it.

“Well, I guess it would depend on how long you were between jobs, and what the pay at your new job is. But it could get bad quickly. You make more than the rest of us, and you not only cover a portion of my rent, but also most the groceries and other essentials. I haven’t told Kate or Heather that, by the way, I should, but I’ve been embarrassed to admit how little I’m making compared to you. If you do need another job, it would be best if you found one that paid more than you’re earning now, and didn’t quit your current job until you had another one ready to go.”

“That’s about what I’d thought.” Jason agreed, not finding any fault with her logic.

“You just wanted me to confirm the conclusion you’d already come to.”

“More or less.” He nodded.

“Well, if there’s anything I can do to help you let me know, okay? Heck, maybe you should just do the extra work. You could use the overtime right?”

Jason frowned. The subject of overtime pay had never come up.

“She is planning to pay you for your extra work hours, right?”

“I don’t know. Plus, it’d only be overtime if I worked an extra ten hours a week, or two hours in a given day.”

“Well, even just the extra money for an hour or two here and there could be useful. So long as you don’t fall behind on your grades.” Alex smiled, encouragingly.

“I’ll think about it.” But could he, knowing what he did about Allison’s intentions for him?

“And don’t agree to anything unless she confirms you’re getting paid. And that includes overtime where appropriate.”

“Yeah, that goes without saying.”

“Maybe… Just don’t be a push over. You used to be much more assertive. It’d be nice to see you get some of that back.”

“Alright, I get it.” Jason was starting to feel a little self-conscious. But maybe his sister was right. Maybe he could just do some extra work, and avoid any unwanted attentions from his boss, and get some extra money in the process.

So after his sister left for work, he sat down at his laptop to spend some time on his homework, all the while considering what to do about the revelations of the app in the back of his mind. Heather was up before 8am, and she started cooking her breakfast of eggs and toast in silence. But Jason wanted to test the new perk he’d bought for her the night before, so he moved to the entryway into the dining room kitchen area.

“You look nice this morning. Did you do something with your hair?” He hoped it would be subtle enough, and not come across as too weird. He already complimented her now and then, so it shouldn’t be out of the ordinary.

“No, just brushed it.” She responded curtly.

“Well, it looks good this way, better than the bun from last night.” He replied.

“The bun is for when I’m wearing a wig.” Heather explained.

“Oh. Didn’t know you were into that…”

“It’s part of the costume, dummy. I told you this last night.”

“Yeah, you mentioned a costume, but I’m not sure I fully understand what you meant by that.”

“Oh my god! I’ve been recording let’s plays on YouTube, and when Mass Effect 2 came out, I decided to dress up as Commander Sheppard while playing through both games, give the audience something fun to look at.”

Jason blinked at her, “Oh.” Then he shook his head and blushed, “I’m going to be completely honest with you, somehow I don’t think I realized before this very moment that you used your computer in there to make let’s plays.”

Heather gaped at him, her eyes wide. “How could you… I’ve only been doing it since junior year. I talk about it all the time. Last night was NOT the first time you’ve seen one of my let’s play costumes either. Are you really that dense?!”

“Um, yeah. I’ve just been super busy, I haven’t been paying attention, I guess.”

That seemed to offend her and leave her speechless in equal measure, so she turned her attention back to the stove in front of her.

“Have any plans for today?” He asked after a drawn out moment of quiet.

“What is this twenty questions shit out of the blue?!” She snapped at him.

“Hey, I’m trying to be nice. Just making conversation.”

“I’m going out to a club later.” She replied, rolling her eyes. “Same thing I do every Saturday.”

“Right.” Jason checked her profile on the app. So far, no change. Maybe a little subtle flirting just wasn’t enough for a measurable change to her new attitude value. Either that or he just sucked at it.

Jason stretched, and thought about her profile as a whole. Her special traits were cocktease, and drama queen. So maybe she wouldn’t be turned on by casual flirting. He didn’t know how he could use the cocktease part to his advantage, but maybe he could create some drama?

He observed her at the stove for a moment longer, before coming to a decision. He opened a cupboard and pulled out a tall glass, then started to move past Heather to get to the refrigerator, waiting until he was directly behind her before speaking, “Excuse me; need some water.”

Heather stiffened, and didn’t turn, but did pull forward away from him to give him room to pass. Then once he was filling his glass with filtered water from the fridge, she turned and glared sidelong at him for a brief moment.

“What?” He asked, nonchalantly.

“You better not be perving on me. I haven’t even showered yet.” She was wearing her typical pajamas, which consisted of flannel pants and a cream colored camisole, but notably, she wasn’t wearing a bra, which meant he could make out her nipples through her top. Were they hard, or was he imagining that?

“I’m minding my own business. If you don’t want me seeing you in your pajamas, then maybe change before you get up for breakfast like Alex and I do.”

“Ew, I don’t put on clean clothes until after I’m showered.” She sneered at him.

“Don’t like that natural musk, eh?” Jason grinned.

Heather narrowed her eyes and worried her lip between her teeth. She was starting to look wary. Jason wasn’t usually this bold around her, but he also was quite enjoying her reactions. “Just saying, it doesn’t bother me that you haven’t showered yet. Some people like that, you know.”

Her eyes widened, and Jason had just enough time to dodge to one side before she swatted at where he’d been with her spatula. “Didn’t I warn you last night about perving on us?” She yelled.

“Sorry, geeze. I didn’t mean it like that!” Jason backed away then waited for her to go back to her cooking before moving past her and back out into the living room with his half-full glass of water.

Once he’d sat down at his desk he checked the MRE app as circumspectly as possible.

Heather Chase

Relationship: Rival, Roommate

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Hostility 22 (+1), Affection 20, Resentment 16, Dominance 10, Loyalty 10, Playfulness 1 (+1, Awakened), Lust 0*

Special Traits: Cocktease, Drama Queen

Temporary Traits: Flirt Fight

Active Effects: Awaken Attitude (Lust)

Oh, a new trait. He checked the definition of that one immediately. “This person is having fun exchanging hostility with you, and may even be a little turned on by your willingness to push back against their verbal sparring.”

Oh wow, that was progress. Maybe he’d given in too easily, but he could still turn it back around, maybe? “Just don’t burn your eggs!” He called out to the next room.

“No shit Sherlock!” Was her response.

“Cause that’s **** to clean off the skillet, you know.”

“Ha, I do the dishes more than you do, nerd.” Was that a smile he heard in her voice?

“Yeah, but if you have to leave, it’ll be me here stuck doing them this morning.” He continued.

She didn’t respond to that one. He had to keep her going somehow. He looked around as if for further ammunition, and that’s when he saw it. A little piece of black lace peeking out from under a throw-pillow on the couch. “Hey um, were you sitting out here when you got off cheer practice last night?” He asked.

“What does that have to do with anything?” She asked, sounding genuinely perplexed.

“Do you normally uh… get comfortable in the living room?” This was it, either he was going to make some solid progress, or get something thrown at him.

Sure enough, she appeared at the corner of the wall that separated the living room from the dining room and kitchen, glowering at him. But she didn’t throw anything just yet, she followed his gaze to the couch. Then her eyes got huge, her face turned completely crimson, and she covered her sizeable breasts with her spatula arm while rushing forward to grab the offending garment.

“You little shit! You trying to get kicked out?!” She shouted.

“Hey, I didn’t even know for sure what that was. It just looked out of place, and I noticed you weren’t…” He paused, not sure how best to phrase the next part.

“Weren’t what, wearing a bra?” Heather scowled. “Why would you be noticing something like that if you aren’t deliberately looking?”

But Jason had a retort for that one, “Heather, I’d have to be blind, or gay, to not notice something like that with you. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re a total bombshell.” Okay, maybe that was a little too far; Heather’s face got even more red, proving it was indeed possible, and she released her ‘assets’ to finally throw her spatula right at his head.

He ducked out of the way unnecessarily as the improvised weapon sailed several feet above him to splatter bits of half-cooked egg against the wall. “Pig!” She cried, looking around for something else to throw his way.

“I’m sorry!” He said quickly, “I meant that as a compliment.”

“Your sister is going to hear about this!” She shouted, giving up on the idea of a second projectile and storming back out of sight into the kitchen.

“Do you want your spatula back?” Jason said after a moment.

“I’m getting a new one!” She shouted back.

Wow, okay, that didn’t go anything how he’d hoped.

Jason quickly checked Heather’s profile once more.

Heather Chase

Relationship: Rival, Roommate

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Hostility 23 (+1), Affection 20, Resentment 16, Dominance 10, Loyalty 10, Playfulness 2 (+1), Lust 1 (+1)*

Special Traits: Cocktease, Drama Queen

Temporary Traits: Flirt Fight

Active Effects: Awaken Attitude (Lust)

Jason heard the bedroom door open again, and turned to spot Kate emerging, still blinking and rubbing her eyes. Her short fiery hair was still a mess, and there wasn’t much to see of her body compared to Heather. Kate’s pajamas were just a long-sleeved t-shirt and draw-string pants, and she had much less curves in both the chest and hips than her blond roommate, though she was noticeably thicker in the arms legs and waist.

“On earth you yellin’ about out here?!” She asked in a raspy sleepy tone, making her way to the dining room table and slumping into a chair.

“Dick-for-brains here is in a nasty mood.” Came Heather’s response. You hear that Jason? You woke up Kate!”

“You were the one shouting, Goldie.” Kate replied.

“Fuck, I’m sorry. Jason’s being a pig and perving on me, unapologetically, I might add. But, I should have kept my voice down. Did you get enough sleep?”

“Wha’d’you think?” Kate asked, appearing to give Heather a sleepy glare from what Jason could see from the living room table.

“I did apologize.” Jason called out. “More than once. I wasn’t trying to offend you, I promise.”

“What can Jason and I do to make it up to you?” Heather asked after a moment, apparently choosing not to acknowledge Jason’s interjection. “Anything you need to help you wake up?”

Jason noticed that the temporary trait on Heather’s profile had disappeared, probably the moment Kate entered the conversation. And he stood up from his laptop to approach the opening where the linoleum of the dining room edged up against the living room carpet.

“I don’t drink coffee.” Kate reminded them, “So, sugar, chocolate, cold shower, or sex.”

Jason’s jaw dropped at that last suggestion from Kate. The redhead took that exact moment to glance at him, and burst out laughing. “Wow, Jason, you should see your face!” She got out between chuckles.

Heather leaned away from the stove far enough that she could see Jason for herself. “What are you looking at? Didn’t get enough earlier?”

“I was just about to apologize to Kate…” Jason insisted. “I may not have woken her directly, but I’m at least partially responsible.”

“More like wholly responsible.” Heather interjected snidely.

“Ease off him, Heather.” Kate retorted. “We get it. You’re mad. That doesn’t mean you get to ignore him apologizing.”

Heather sighed, and turned back to her food, which she took off the stove and put onto a plate before pouring herself a health shake from the fridge.

Kate turned back to Jason. “Sorry for waking you.” He told her, “I’ve been out of sorts, stress is getting to me. I was deliberately pushing Heather’s buttons, and I shouldn’t have. Truce?” He directed the last part at them both.

Kate looked to Heather’s reaction. Heather met her gaze, and then looked at Jason as she carried her breakfast to the table. “Fine, truce.” She said at last. “But I’m still telling Alex what you did.”

“That’s fair.” Jason replied.

“What do you want for breakfast, Kate?” He asked after a brief silence.

“You offering to cook?” She asked him, narrowing her eyes.

“I am.” He replied simply.

That perked her up, “Oh, okay, then uh… do we have tortillas?”

“Let me check.” Jason scanned the interior of the fridge then pulled out half a bag of flour tortillas, brandishing it where Kate could see it.

“Oooh, yeah, then I want a breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese, some of the leftover chicken, and some mixed veggies.”

“Coming right up.” Jason was happy his spontaneous decision to offer breakfast was being received so well. He quickly retrieved Heather’s skillet from the sink, though he did take the time to give the blond girl a look – she had the decency to look embarrassed as he turned to wash it – and also washed both the spatula she’d tossed in the sink, and the one she’d thrown at him that he’d brought with him from the living room, before returning to the stove to get started on Kate’s food. From there he got out several pieces of chicken and started peeling as much of the meat off the bone as he could. Once he was satisfied with that he cracked two eggs into a bowl to scramble them, and got some butter melting in the pan. Throughout it all Kate observed him with a curious look, as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing, but was definitely a fan of it.

And as Jason got the homogenized eggs into the pan Heather stood up to put her now empty dishes into the sink, “I’m gonna shower.” She told Kate. “Keep your eyes on him; he’s apparently grown a spine today.”

Jason wasn’t sure it was meant as a compliment, but he’d take it. When he met Kate’s gaze she raised an eyebrow and he just shrugged, “Yeah, I’m definitely in an unusual mood. Jury’s out if that’s good or bad.”

“Well, Heather seems like she might secretly like it, even if she’s not willing to admit it. She’s uh… well I’m not really supposed to tell you this, but she’s complained to me about you not standing up for yourself more.”

That was useful information, Jason thought. “Well I won’t mention you said anything.” He promised. “What do you have planned for today?”

“Shopping, gym, skating rink, then work, in that order.”

“You don’t talk much about your work. Do you make good tips?”

She shrugged, “Eh, decent tips. I’m good with the orders, but I don’t have the, uh… assets some of the girls do.” Translation: her boobs were small, and big boobs sometimes got better tips even at a regular steakhouse that didn’t have a wide-eyed owl in its logo.

“Well, that… I mean, that kinda comes with the territory, right?” Jason didn’t want to get himself in trouble again, but he did want to be supportive and encouraging.

But Kate gave him a warning look.

“Don’t take it the wrong way; it’s just that if you prioritize losing weight, you don’t get to choose where that weight comes from, right?”

Kate sighed, “Yeah, you’re right. And yeah, as much as I’d like a figure more like Heather’s, I wouldn’t change my priorities just for that.”

A silence fell between them, and Jason tried to think of something to talk about while not losing focus on his meal preparation. He glanced at Kate several times then finally worked up the nerve to ask, “Did something happen between us?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Kate looked confused by this question. She didn’t have the benefit of context, he realized.

“I dunno, it just feels like you and I used to be closer; used to be friends. Maybe not as close as you and Alex, but we used to actually hang out. So I find myself wondering, did something happen to cause us to grow apart?”

Kate seemed to be studying the fake wood grain pattern on the table in front of her. Jason let her think, focusing his attention on finishing her food without burning it. He was rolling everything up into a burrito on a plate for her when she finally answered. “I guess our interests changed. We used to have more in common.”

He walked to the table and set her plate down in front of her, then made his way back toward the fridge. “I guess. Though I’m not sure what specifically changed.”

“You used to be into sports as much as I was. As much as I still am. That’s something we had in common.” She observed before taking her first bite of her burrito.

“Huh, yeah I haven’t thought about that in a while. I had some serious growth spurts which did a number on my body in high school. Never did get back into track. What do you want to drink?” He asked.

She had to swallow before answering, “Just milk is fine.”

He nodded, and poured her a tall glass of milk, “Enjoy!”

She gave him a smile, her cheeks stuffed with burrito.

He knew he wasn’t in as good shape as he’d been then, but it wasn’t as if he’d let himself go. He was still thin for his height, but what he’d said about growth spurts was very true. He’d been average, even short, in middle school, but by the time he’d finished high school he’d topped out at 6’8”, a good head or more over almost everyone he knew. Kate was a little on the tall side, for a girl, and even she barely came up to his collar. He happened to know she was an inch shy of 6’ tall, barefoot, as it was something she had mentioned periodically, since her last growth spurt.

“Well, hope you enjoyed your food. I enjoyed cooking for you.” He told her, after another long silence filled only by the sound of the running water as he washed the dishes from the food he’d prepared for her.

She smiled in thanks, but didn’t reply with her mouth still full.

Once he was finished, he dried his hands, and then left her alone, going back to his laptop. At that point, he really needed to buckle down on his homework. No more distractions.

Though, he supposed one more quick check couldn’t hurt.

Katherine O’Connell

Relationship: Best Friend’s Brother, Roommate

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Loyalty 53, Affection 33 (+1), Friendship 28, Trust 20, Nostalgia 18, Protectiveness 18, Worry 9 (-1), Admiration 0, Lust -6

Special Traits: Childhood Crush

Temporary Traits: Cautiously Hopeful

Heather Chase

Relationship: Rival, Roommate

Prominent Attitudes (out of 100): Hostility 24 (+1), Affection 20, Resentment 16, Dominance 11 (+1), Loyalty 10, Playfulness 3 (+1), Lust 1*

Special Traits: Cocktease, Drama Queen

Active Effects: Awaken Attitude (Lust)