Two fold, a follow-up and a prize.

(Robin's POV)
I had a great day with Pieter except for those two bummers. Nothing goes the way you want; fate plays its tricks always. Soon after I set foot inside, I received a notification.

Advanced quest completed. Quest outside the expected range reward adjusted. [+15xp]
Reward:

• Follow-up quest. (Does not count towards active quests)
• Perk: Bargain shopper I.

Wait a second. Why would there be a follow-up quest? I click it.

Follow-up quest:

• Live full-time as a woman
• Be out to all friends, co-workers and family.
• Be in a relationship. (Examples: boyfriend & girlfriend, Dom & Sub.) (Check)
• Level 10
• Have a class.

Reward: 'Knowledge as to who the QuestMaster is behind it all.'

It is a weird quest, and the reward is the solution to my nagging feeling. Some of these I can't get without help, but I think they are time-based. Wait, I am in a relationship? Does it count, Pieter, being my keyholder as a relationship? It would count for dom sub, I suppose. Would I mind Pieter being my boyfriend? No, that wouldn't be so bad.

Should I stream? Last time I did, I got two quests, so yeah, it will help with levelling.

I stream myself playing a new roguelike made by another content creator. Simple pixel graphics, but it plays really tight and punishing. After 3 runs, I realise I did stream for 3 hours. Well, for the reward, it will pick the best hour anyway. Wait, why didn't it work for the last quest?

I look at the reward after closing the stream. Wait, it didn't adjust, it just gave me more followers. I am now at the follower threshold to get partner cool. But how does the adjustment work? Here, it said min time surpassing doesn't matter unless I do something exceptional. Work for 4 hours is strict, but it picks the best 4. Do something fun is so vague that the minimum scope is to play a game, but the maximum scope is also huge. I went on a date that lasted 8 hours with Pieter. So I picked close to max scope and adjusted to that.

Piecing these clues together, I figure out some rules. Vague quests can be expanded and give better rewards if you do, and narrow quests that take quality into account prefer higher quality results over lower quality but earlier. If there is a minimum duration, it adjusts for duration.

I see a new quest has arrived whilst I was streaming. Model the clothes for mom. Yeah, that will have to wait. Let's go to bed early and grind out the next daily quest before doing that one.

I wake up early to see the usual work quest there. I push through, get only slightly more than minimum wage, but that's fine; I was phoning it in anyway.

Around 10, I head down with my haul. Mom and Dad are having brunch. "Mom, I went shopping with Pieter and want to show you what I got. Also, some need to be adjusted, can Pieter and I can use your sewing supplies for that."

Mom smiles. "Sure, show me. Can Pieter even sew?" A sigh follows. "But if you think he can, it is fine."

I put on a small show for mom and dad. I tell them about the alterations Pieter proposed. Mom is impressed. "Where did Pieter learn all that?"

I pouting say: "He learned from Roos her mom. Apparently, he spent his teens practically at their place."

"What is Roos her last name?"

"Jansen. I know gives you no clue." I think about the message he received. What was the contact? "Antoinette was her name in his phone, I believe."

"No, I know an Antoinette Jansen in Nuenen whose daughter Roos has a crush on Pieter. And you said Pieter grew up there? If he learned from Antoinette, he is likely better than I am; she is super critical."

Around 12, Pieter wanders in with three large boxes, and I had received a new quest. 'Adjust one piece of clothing yourself with help.' Reward: 'perk: Sewing I'. Another thing I figured out is that most quests that require a skill have a chance to give you a perk that helps with that skill. "Hey, Pieter. Want a boshe bol and some tea or coffee before we get started? And put away the food in the fridge." Pieter answers in the affirmative. On top of that, I received the notification 'NEW class assigned: Boss Babe.'

Mom asks over tea. "Is it true that you learned how to sew from Antoinette Jansen from the sewing atelier 'Pins & Needles'?"

Pieter responds: "Yep. Man, she is a hard-ass on her stitching. But never had issues with clothing I made myself. And anything I modified never seemed to have an issue."

Mom smiles knowingly. "Any experience modifying women's clothes?"

"Mostly Robin's clothes during high school. Sometimes she still asks. But she has the money to pay a seamstress and plenty of chances to learn from her mom. If she asks, I say 50 an hour for work and any additional material costs. She immediately stops asking."

"And you are doing it for Robin for free? Why would you?"

"One, it isn't free, it is two boshe bollen. Two, she grew up in a situation where learning wasn't expected, I assume, and she had no access to a great teacher as I did. On top of that, there is only one dress that needs a major overhaul. The others are pretty easy changes, less than 20 minutes' work if someone removes the stitches for me." He says, looking at me.

I glare and say: "You were always planning on teaching me how to do the minor alterations, weren't you?" He nods, smiling, grabbing another bite.

Afterwards, we start sewing. He starts by explaining to me how to remove stitching. He does the complex piece, and I do one of the simpler ones. He is happy with how it goes. After freeing the panels, he places them back and draws a few lines, places pins on them and asks me to try it. I put it on. It seems to fit, and the disturbance of the pattern seems deliberate, artsy even. He looks, nods and starts actually sewing. I finish removing the stitching on one, in the meantime that he finishes the complex one.

I try it on and see he kept most of the old panels, just connected them smartly to the inside of the dress. I ask why? He responds with needles in his mouth, looking away from the new pattern. "Do you expect or want to grow boobs?" I blush and nod. "This way, you can restore the original shape or tailor it to fit those." He goes back to making patterns, putting in the needles, having me put them on, and sewing them together for two of the dresses.

The last time he sat me down for. He hands me the other dress he just sewed. "Okay, now you are going to do it. You are going to trace this pattern with chalk. You can follow the seams from the dress I made. Once you are done, you can put it together with needles and test-fit it. Lastly, we will sew it together." I do as I am told. Pattern, needles. "Safer to put the pins on the outside of the line, my pattern is very form-fitting." I continue, and I fit it. Indeed, his pattern was tighter than mine, but this looks great, too. He sets me on a chair before he sewing machine and helps guide my hands as I determine the speed at which we go. And afterwards, it fits as tightly as the rest.

We do a second fashion show for mom. She is amazed at how professional it looks and asks: "Pieter, do you do custom orders?"

He smiles and says: "Maria, normally I say 100 an hour plus material costs. But for you, 75 an hour."

Mom glares but understands sewing isn’t his job. "Thanks, but I think I will have to skip it."

He smiles. "Robin, can you help me cook dinner?" I nod, and we head to the kitchen.

He whispers in my ear: "Are you visiting tonight for the keys, or do you want to wait until Wednesday and then visit after eight?" He smiles and pulls back, clearly enjoying the tease.

We can quickly whip up an entire Indo-Dutch-style rice table. Complete with fresh kroepoek, fried banana and a bunch of dishes I can't remember the name of, only know they taste great.

My mom looks at Pieter like he is some sort of mage as he starts to bring out the dishes. "How, how can two people make this much food in so little time?"

He bluntly responds: "I expected to have guests today. They cancelled. I had this prepared, and it is a bother not to cook and share it with people." He says in between bites. Some of the dishes are too spicy for my parents, but Pieter enjoys them. "I am the head chef for a catering company. If I have someone to man the pans. While I do the last-minute things. I can make miracles happen."

I smile, ohh god, if I could justify marrying a man, it would have to be him. A great cook, can sew, is empathic and supportive. What is not to love? Okay, the minor issue of him being blind to his emotions, but we can work together to find solutions for that. The things he has a passion for, he does all out.