That Afternoon

Marcus's family came that night, as he promised, and you had spent a substantial amount of time coming up with a plan for how to be invited to the planning, as well as potentially the wedding. Stretch goals. For now, let's just see about getting Sarah, Marcus's sister, on board.

You hadn't noticed it immediately when Jennifer let Marcus's family in the front door. You were lounged on the couch, looking at the latest text that Jennifer sent you. She had sent you a picture of herself, presumably in the bathroom, without any pants on. She must be feeling pent up, you think to yourself before mentally committing to relieve her stress later tonight. Fortunately, the daggers that they were staring at you had caught your attention before you started feeling the urge to touch yourself through your clothes. You hoped.

You leapt to your feet, arms spread wide in welcome! "Good to see you all!" You exclaim. "Marcus is in the back yard, getting the grill going."

Jennifer added in. "Thank you, Dustin. Here. It's this way." She guided them into a door beside the kitchen cabinet, which actually split off into a small hallway, with the laundry room and a small utility closet inside, but more importantly, had a door on the far side that led to the back yard.

Jennifer was being such a great host, you couldn't help but admire her as she walked past. Perhaps too much, as Sarah was further behind the group than you thought and called you out for it. As the group continued on, she stopped to snark at you. "I see you grew out of your perversion. Do you have no shame? Ogling someone's wife like that?" She commented, dry and accusatory.

You looked her up and down, now that the group had moved on. She was quite fetching, a small blue summer dress and a matching handbag, her hair up high in a ponytail, showing off her excellent neckline. "Everyone's a pervert." You snap back, "You can't judge a man for what he's thinking."

"Even if it's true that everyone's a pervert, of course I can! Everyone does!" Her rebuttal shook you. Did she just shrug off one of your suggestions? You should have bonuses against her, right? Something like that should have been child's play to get through. Whatever. You can roll with it, you lied to yourself. In truth, the thought reeled you hard enough that you didn't even hear the next few sentences that came out of her mouth. "Besides." Good. Apparently, she was still ranting. "I'm not just "judging you for what you're thinking.""

You interrupt her, you need to regain the initiative. "Is this about the water-balloon incident? I told you, the glitter wasn't mine!"

"The glitter wasn't the problem! If it was just the glitter, I would have forgotten by now! My god! The way that the wrapped pulled! Everyone could see my -"

"Look, I didn't mean to! Maybe you shouldn't wear such short dresses!" _Fuck. _You remembered too late, now she's gonna take that to heart.

"Maybe you're right! It'll do double duty, and keep me from being stared at by creeps like you! That's what I was mad about anyway!"

Okay. Dustin. You can salvage this. Just remember the plan. Maybe some slight changes. "Staring isn't that bad!" Fuck! You think to yourself. Why do I keep saying things? "Look." You said, forcefully calming yourself down with a deep breath. "You know I'm sorry. But I know that's not enough. So please, let me help you guys out tonight."

"What? No!" She exclaims. "Why would I let a degenerate like you help us out?"

"Because you know that I think you and Michael are great together. I won't do anything to detract from your perfect day."

She sat there for a moment. It was clear that this was a tall ask, even with the app helping you out. But eventually, she caved. "Fine. Join us. But if you pull anything funny, I'm giving you the boot."

"Of course. Thank you. You won't regret it. Now, if you don't mind, I've got a cooler of ciders to bring to bring down."

As she waved you off and trotted off, you checked the app. She should have a profile, now that you've given her a suggestion.

Achievements:

Stolen Creampie (Sister):

For knowing the target of a stolen creampie as (Brother), grants the following effects.

1. Accepts suggestions about Jennifer more readily.
2. Accepts suggestions about sexual activity more readily.
3. Grants +1 Accumulated Vitality upon conquest.

There's that term "Accumulated Vitality" again. Damn. You knew you should have read the legalese more closely. Unfortunately, regardless of where you look, you can't find it again. Fucking bullshit is what it is. but what was found below was even more alarming.

1 word, 2 boosts

1. Michael is cute (Boost : on : off)
2. Everyone can and should judge people for how they think. (Boost : on : off)
3. Michael and I would make a great couple. (Boost : on : off)
4. I should make the first move. (Boost : on : off)
5. It's disgusting to think of sex before marriage. (Boost : on : off)
6. I should get married soon. (Boost : on : off)
7. Just about everybody wants to make my marriage work. (Boost : on : off)
8. I should cause a fuss. (Boost : on : off)
9. Everyone's a pervert. (Boost : on : off)
10. I shouldn't wear short dresses. (Boost : on : off)
11. Staring isn't bad. (Boost : on : off)
12. Dustin is sorry. (Boost : on : off)
13. Sorry isn't good enough. (Boost : on : off)
14. I should let Dustin make up for the incident. (Boost : on : off)

Shit. It was clear that Michael had an app too. He had clearly been giving her suggestions since just before they were dating. Oh well, easy enough fix. Just delete the suggestions and take the loss. You don't want to risk someone finding out you have it.

Oh god! You realized. All Michael has to do to find out about you and Jennifer is give her a suggestion. No. You can't back down now. Michael could ruin everything. You have to beat him. Can you give suggestions to other app users? You don't see why not. Again! Not reading has thrown every wrench into your plans. Okay. Dustin. Just calm down and think of a way out of this.

On the one hand. It's clear Michael doesn't use the app often. Dating for a year and only 8 suggestions? He's clearly holding back. Also, he doesn't have any achievements. Or can you just not see his achievements? Presumably getting engaged should be an achievement. Or the devs have a one-track mind. Okay. This is probably manageable. I just need to suggest to Michael that he should leave Jennifer alone, and everything will be hunky dory.

Wait. Does he already know?! You need to check on Jennifer!

(Edit: Changed name of Sarah's Fiancee)