In the Gym, Courser nodded and held the uniform he was still holding onto towards Twig with a reassuring grin. Of course, she'd still have to take it from him if she wanted to get dressed, and that would mean using her hands.
"Sure. Coach just said that Hall herself has nicked off, so there no danger you putting them back on now." While he played considerate ally to Twig, just behind Wandy his second clone slipped out again, standing right behind her and close enough for his bare chest to brush against her back. It placed comforting hands gently over the outsides of her shoulders in a soft brush.
"Pity though," it whispered with a small wink in case she turned her head to look at him. "You're gorgeous enough without..." It didn't stay for long, swiftly vanishing again and leaving Wand to also get dressed again, if Damascus actually gave her the uniform. The real Courser was looking to Twig with a serious expression, focusing mainly on her face and eyes. When he had her attention properly he winked to her, then held one hand in a closed fist in front of him, as though her were holding an interviewer's microphone.
"So, in your own words, how would you describe the relationship between miss Hall, and CoachMan? Would you say that he usually follows her requests without questioning them?" He moved his imaginary microphone out towards Twig so she could give what would hopefully be a suitably affronted and offended student response for their case. He gave her as long as she needed, and whatever time it would take the girls to get dressed again if they chose to, but before long another development was speeding them along. A small frown creased CourseMan's face and he gestured across his body with one hand, off to the side. Over on the bench, his coat dissolved into water just as Courser's hand drew a localised sheet of water over his form and extended the arm out to the other side. When it stopped, the sheet of water resolved into his coat and Courser himself was fully dressed again. With a small, neat flourish he slipped the coat over his shoulders and tousled his hair once.
"Dress quick, girls, seems that with Hall out of the picture, CoachMan is pulling rank and wants to talk to us all. Don't worry, this is perfect. Remember, when we talk to him, you weren't comfortable about having to get naked for Hall to see, but you felt pressured. You felt like you couldn't refuse, or she'd just fail you out of hand. Keep that in mind if he asks you anything, and we'll handle the rest. You ready?" A moment later, he put his hands behind his back and turned from the girls.
"Jenny? Can you start up your video software? I need to do some quick editing." There was no answer. "Jenny?" He only had so long to get the video together, but between what they had each recorded variously, he was pretty sure he could cobble together something suitably incriminating, if had had a few minutes. It would, at least, be enough to cause a very big smear on Hall, even if it ended up getting debunked later — such was the way of flash media and trending videos... but Jenny needed to start the tools he had to use from her side... they were in her private folders. Where had she gone?
Outside, Courser's lead clone was trying to gently Guide the angered coach to the right conclusion, doing his best to find the right blend of sympathy, indignation and mutual surprise. First came the show of mostly concealed indignation, CoachMan queried him on his reasons for being naked. He led him finish before trying to answer though, giving a show of only mostly managing to school himself to calmness. Eventually, he got around to addressing most of Courser's own questions, but before the fake coach could respond to the real one, his ally in misbehaviour arrived and pushed CoachMan that much closer to bursting something In his head, Courser was beginning to suspect that MeleeMan had that effect on a lot of people. Either way, he needed a quick defuse before the shouting drew more attention. He turned to MeleeMan, reaching out to gently lay one hand on his chest, high and to one side, and spoke quietly, deliberately lowing his voice as much as CoachMan raised his own.
"Easy... It doesn't look like CoachMan, here, was a part of it at all. He's as much a victim as anyone, so don't hurt him, ok? I know you're... riled... but please... just, be calm, and we'll get this sorted out, alright?" Of course the borderline affectionate and soothing tone of his voice sounded like it was clearly just meant for MeleeMan, but there was no way that CoachMan wasn't going to hear it as well; false privacy was a very useful tool for implicit honesty. Even so, the decoy removed its hand before any harm could come to it, hopefully, and turned its gaze back to CoachMan, still speaking softly.
"We will all talk shortly, CoachMan. If you'll give the girls a couple of minutes to get dressed after we let them know what's going on. Please understand that they are both very upset right now as a result of your intrusion, even if you weren't aware of what you'd been told to walk in on. If you could please refrain from talking about them in such an obviously biased way, as calling them 'No-gooders', that would also be appreciated. It would be nice if your mind was open to the possibility that the two young ladies that have just been exposed to you, and who are now quite distressed about this, might not actually be the ones making unfair 'schemes'. Just maybe? Now, if you'll keep your voices down, perhaps you can calmly show us where your office is, while they get themselves presentable." as if to punctuate the toning down of the scene, the decoy made a small gesture which recalled the rest of his outfit, leaving him properly dressed once more and he waited to see how the coach, and equally, how MeleeMan would respond to his efforts at damage control. Hopefully the girls would be ready quickly.
Elec East High Auditorium
last edited by
If the situation had been a little different, MeleeMan probably would have shoved CourseMan at least halfway down the hallway when the hand was placed on his chest. That one action had put CourseMan in a great deal more danger than Coachman's accusations and ranting. On this occasion, however, MeleeMan had a vested interest in not becoming any more hated than he already was around this school... "Boyfriend, she called me... ridiculous... but she'd have a worse name for me if I pulverize this half-buggy bastard into blood, guts, and wood. Or the seaman, for that matter," he figured. "I get you, seaman, but I can't keep my mouth shut either when he's griping at me," MeleeMan shrugged, then turned to Coach.
"Old man, you said it yourself: overpowering her wouldn't have been easy, even if I'd wanted to. Look, I'd at least have some bruises or scratches or something," the big man reminded the coach-man. He stopped to pull away one torn spot at the bicep of his skinsuit, where the spears had torn it. "I mean, despite the way it looks, I wasn't injured at all. What Hall and I got up to is none of your business, actually. But if you want, just ask her! She'll tell you I didn't do a damn thing to her," he insisted, tilting his chin up. "Well, maybe it's gonna bother you, thinking about what we got up to. Wouldn't blame you. But uh, you've seen her before, right? She's... old enough to make her own decisions, put it that way. Besides that, it wasn't anything that ought to mean a thing to you, right?"
Truth be told, MeleeMan didn't want to march with CoachMan to the office at all. He'd be much happier to put the whole thing to bed right there in the hallway. Still, CourseMan was resisting so little that cooperation was clearly part of some plan of his... so he'd go along with it, begrudgingly. "Listen jackass, we've wasted a lot of time already... The seaman and I came here to coach girls and help them pass a test, and here we are, being told the whole stupid thing's called off! Not only that, but with what they went through and you barging in on them and everything? The way I see it, you actually owe it to them to either let them on the stupid squad. So you better think carefully before you piss me off any more with this little talk," he complained, pointing one finger towards the only real coach amongst the three of them.
------------------------
Inside the gym, Damascus could only hand off the uniforms to the girls, keeping a sour frown plastered to her face. "A swordfight is much more straight forward... whatever happened to swordfights?" she thought to herself ruefully. Even now, CourseMan was still flirting with the girls, which made her scowl harder. "What foolishness... if anything, hopefully this teaches the girls a lesson of some kind. But I doubt that it will." All she could do now was continue to nurse a continually diminishing hope that CourseMan's craftiness could pull through on this... not because they faced any real threat from the school system, or likely even Hall, but more because she hated to think this whole day of nonsense had been for nothing.
As the girls dressed, Damascus watched CourseMan through narrow eyes. Only once they were all nearly dressed back did she realize she was still garbed in only her circling sheath-cape. Quickly, she summoned back on her skinsuit, which was only slightly more modest than going nude, truth be told. Her cape ceased circling and went back to his heavy cape form. "We should do this quickly. Every second you leave my master out there running his mouth is another second you risk your entire plan coming apart," she warned her ally.
"Old man, you said it yourself: overpowering her wouldn't have been easy, even if I'd wanted to. Look, I'd at least have some bruises or scratches or something," the big man reminded the coach-man. He stopped to pull away one torn spot at the bicep of his skinsuit, where the spears had torn it. "I mean, despite the way it looks, I wasn't injured at all. What Hall and I got up to is none of your business, actually. But if you want, just ask her! She'll tell you I didn't do a damn thing to her," he insisted, tilting his chin up. "Well, maybe it's gonna bother you, thinking about what we got up to. Wouldn't blame you. But uh, you've seen her before, right? She's... old enough to make her own decisions, put it that way. Besides that, it wasn't anything that ought to mean a thing to you, right?"
Truth be told, MeleeMan didn't want to march with CoachMan to the office at all. He'd be much happier to put the whole thing to bed right there in the hallway. Still, CourseMan was resisting so little that cooperation was clearly part of some plan of his... so he'd go along with it, begrudgingly. "Listen jackass, we've wasted a lot of time already... The seaman and I came here to coach girls and help them pass a test, and here we are, being told the whole stupid thing's called off! Not only that, but with what they went through and you barging in on them and everything? The way I see it, you actually owe it to them to either let them on the stupid squad. So you better think carefully before you piss me off any more with this little talk," he complained, pointing one finger towards the only real coach amongst the three of them.
------------------------
Inside the gym, Damascus could only hand off the uniforms to the girls, keeping a sour frown plastered to her face. "A swordfight is much more straight forward... whatever happened to swordfights?" she thought to herself ruefully. Even now, CourseMan was still flirting with the girls, which made her scowl harder. "What foolishness... if anything, hopefully this teaches the girls a lesson of some kind. But I doubt that it will." All she could do now was continue to nurse a continually diminishing hope that CourseMan's craftiness could pull through on this... not because they faced any real threat from the school system, or likely even Hall, but more because she hated to think this whole day of nonsense had been for nothing.
As the girls dressed, Damascus watched CourseMan through narrow eyes. Only once they were all nearly dressed back did she realize she was still garbed in only her circling sheath-cape. Quickly, she summoned back on her skinsuit, which was only slightly more modest than going nude, truth be told. Her cape ceased circling and went back to his heavy cape form. "We should do this quickly. Every second you leave my master out there running his mouth is another second you risk your entire plan coming apart," she warned her ally.
last edited by
Twig returned CourseMan's grin with a roll of her eyes, but an amused smile, regardless. Blushing brightly, she used her upper hand to swipe the uniform from CourseMan, giving a brief glimpse of the small breasts CourseMan had already gotten a glimpse of before she pulled the uniform to her chest. "No further statement for now, all right, Chief? Coach will fall in line like we want, but we're gonna have a hard time making our case with me and Wandy still in the buff."
Wand, herself, didn't join in the reprimand, seeming helpless to do much of anything as she felt the shadow of CourseMan against her naked back. When he vanished, she gave a quick nod, then began putting on the soapy uniform with no further hesitation.
Twig, on the other hand, still had enough for both of them. If CourseMan hadn't yet looked away, she'd make a shooing motion with the hand at the end of the left arm covering her chest. If he, instead, cast his eyes anywhere near her sister's directions, she'd snap her fingers to get his attention, then point her index finger at an empty wall with a less amused expression on her face. Regardless, she wouldn't actually start dressing until she thought CourseMan wasn't looking... and even then, she wasn't moving with the speed her coaches would likely prefer. This was probably due to the reluctance anyone has to put on clothes that are already wet and slick, nonetheless one of the sheltered disposition of the two sisters... also, the fact that she hadn't paid any attention to Damascus's menacing gaze, unlike her sister, probably contributed.
Wand had already dressed all the way to her bloomers and undershirt, but appeared to be having some trouble with the skirt. "Ugh, this stupid thing feels a little big. Probably stretched by that big-" she began, before trailing off and gulping. "Whatevs. No reason I can't just say this one's a little big for me, if he asks." With the skirt hung on her hips, loose though it was, she pulled the shell over her head.
Though they'd reached different stages of getting ready, both girls let out a frustrated groan when CourseMan updated them on the situation. "Ohmigod, I so totally don't feel like that," Twig muttered. "Can't we just be friggin' cheerleaders already? Why've we gotta-"
"Ohmigod, Twiggy, just shut up and put your skirt on," Wandy interrupted her, tying the bow in her hair (it looks like this superficial aspect, at least, was one part of being a cheerleader the two had practiced).
Letting their body language, eye rolling, and occasional irritated sighs speak for them, the girls hurried to get the rest of their outfits on. Wand, having finished first, made her way over to CourseMan. "So Twiggy and I are just gonna say Hall put us up to changing into those outfits, and we're basically gonna tell it like Hall was trying to make us look inappropriate so we wouldn't make the squad...? And Coach walking in on us was part of her scheme. Well, soon as Twiggy ever finishes putting her stupid shoes on!" she segued, raising her voice intentionally, "I guess we'll take care of it. Coach always has a stick up his butt, but I don't think he'll be hard for you to outsmart..."
---
While the girls were still just getting dressed, CourseMan's clone was dealing with the other trouble factor in his plan, his unruly partner. "Sure's Shelby I'm sorry for bargin' in on the girls, but ya will have to forgive me if I don't give 'em the benefit of the doubt, man. Hall is a model student in every sense of the word. She participates in the student government, and she pushes both herself and all the other students to give their all. Those girls... only thing I ever hear come outta their mouths is a whine, a gossip, a scoff at authority! And not to my face, either, cause ya understand they've been punished enough times by me to know better. When they think you're not listening, man. Ey, I'm not saying their malicious, but I am saying it's a heck of a lot easier to imagine the two of them pullin' some shenanigans than the Elec East High Administrator's own code and data. Anyway, your friend with the cape looks dangerous, but she looks like Eve, at least. She can get 'em dressing back while ya two Adams come to my office."
MeleeMan had a bit more to say before they got moving, though, so CoachMan stayed still and heard him out. "Aye, man. Nothing I need to worry about, if she's with the Administrator. I'm sure the two of 'em will be talking about whatever the two of ya have been up to, and if you've got something comin' to ya, ya'd better be sure we're both going to hear of it sooner rather than later." He continued listening, crossing his arms and breathing heavily, and remained silent a while after MeleeMan finished. "Uh huh," he finally piped up. "Ya know, that's an interesting point. Ey, man? Ya two were hired to help those two... train for that test, or whatever. Do ya dispute it? And now, it feels suspiciously like ya two are slightly... biased parties? I mean, ya are taking their money. This whole unbelievable situation, it'll take a while to get it untangled... but the result, what ya are recommendin' to me, is to pass the two of 'em without all their tests done."
The Navi wheeled closer to MeleeMan, not seeming overly concerned by his threats not to push him. "Now I don't know what ya were doing with Ms. Hall, Sonny boy, but I can't imagine it had the slightest thing to do with coaching those girls. A lot of fishy business, none of it addin' up, but all of it addin' up to those two girls passin' a test they didn't finish. Man... I think I have a better idea. The test isn't finishing today, so there's no reason for ya two coaches to hang around, right? And I sure don't care to see any more of ya, so why don't ya go ahead and hail for Murphy, make your way out of here? If everything ya have said is true, all I need to do is question the two girls. I'm sure they can convince me as well as the two of ya. The innocent have nothing to hide, right, man? They'll clear there own names."
The coach leaned back, casting his eyes at MeleeMan's face directly. "Aye! Good idea, ey, man? The two girls go to my office, the three of ya are free to enjoy the rest of your day. I'm sure once their names are cleared, the twins will get back in touch with ya. But since the two of ya don't really have any more business here, I'm gonna ask ya. To. Kindly. Leave." The Navi breathed the words at MeleeMan specifically, seeming eager to challenge him and see where he'd be pushed.
Wand, herself, didn't join in the reprimand, seeming helpless to do much of anything as she felt the shadow of CourseMan against her naked back. When he vanished, she gave a quick nod, then began putting on the soapy uniform with no further hesitation.
Twig, on the other hand, still had enough for both of them. If CourseMan hadn't yet looked away, she'd make a shooing motion with the hand at the end of the left arm covering her chest. If he, instead, cast his eyes anywhere near her sister's directions, she'd snap her fingers to get his attention, then point her index finger at an empty wall with a less amused expression on her face. Regardless, she wouldn't actually start dressing until she thought CourseMan wasn't looking... and even then, she wasn't moving with the speed her coaches would likely prefer. This was probably due to the reluctance anyone has to put on clothes that are already wet and slick, nonetheless one of the sheltered disposition of the two sisters... also, the fact that she hadn't paid any attention to Damascus's menacing gaze, unlike her sister, probably contributed.
Wand had already dressed all the way to her bloomers and undershirt, but appeared to be having some trouble with the skirt. "Ugh, this stupid thing feels a little big. Probably stretched by that big-" she began, before trailing off and gulping. "Whatevs. No reason I can't just say this one's a little big for me, if he asks." With the skirt hung on her hips, loose though it was, she pulled the shell over her head.
Though they'd reached different stages of getting ready, both girls let out a frustrated groan when CourseMan updated them on the situation. "Ohmigod, I so totally don't feel like that," Twig muttered. "Can't we just be friggin' cheerleaders already? Why've we gotta-"
"Ohmigod, Twiggy, just shut up and put your skirt on," Wandy interrupted her, tying the bow in her hair (it looks like this superficial aspect, at least, was one part of being a cheerleader the two had practiced).
Letting their body language, eye rolling, and occasional irritated sighs speak for them, the girls hurried to get the rest of their outfits on. Wand, having finished first, made her way over to CourseMan. "So Twiggy and I are just gonna say Hall put us up to changing into those outfits, and we're basically gonna tell it like Hall was trying to make us look inappropriate so we wouldn't make the squad...? And Coach walking in on us was part of her scheme. Well, soon as Twiggy ever finishes putting her stupid shoes on!" she segued, raising her voice intentionally, "I guess we'll take care of it. Coach always has a stick up his butt, but I don't think he'll be hard for you to outsmart..."
---
While the girls were still just getting dressed, CourseMan's clone was dealing with the other trouble factor in his plan, his unruly partner. "Sure's Shelby I'm sorry for bargin' in on the girls, but ya will have to forgive me if I don't give 'em the benefit of the doubt, man. Hall is a model student in every sense of the word. She participates in the student government, and she pushes both herself and all the other students to give their all. Those girls... only thing I ever hear come outta their mouths is a whine, a gossip, a scoff at authority! And not to my face, either, cause ya understand they've been punished enough times by me to know better. When they think you're not listening, man. Ey, I'm not saying their malicious, but I am saying it's a heck of a lot easier to imagine the two of them pullin' some shenanigans than the Elec East High Administrator's own code and data. Anyway, your friend with the cape looks dangerous, but she looks like Eve, at least. She can get 'em dressing back while ya two Adams come to my office."
MeleeMan had a bit more to say before they got moving, though, so CoachMan stayed still and heard him out. "Aye, man. Nothing I need to worry about, if she's with the Administrator. I'm sure the two of 'em will be talking about whatever the two of ya have been up to, and if you've got something comin' to ya, ya'd better be sure we're both going to hear of it sooner rather than later." He continued listening, crossing his arms and breathing heavily, and remained silent a while after MeleeMan finished. "Uh huh," he finally piped up. "Ya know, that's an interesting point. Ey, man? Ya two were hired to help those two... train for that test, or whatever. Do ya dispute it? And now, it feels suspiciously like ya two are slightly... biased parties? I mean, ya are taking their money. This whole unbelievable situation, it'll take a while to get it untangled... but the result, what ya are recommendin' to me, is to pass the two of 'em without all their tests done."
The Navi wheeled closer to MeleeMan, not seeming overly concerned by his threats not to push him. "Now I don't know what ya were doing with Ms. Hall, Sonny boy, but I can't imagine it had the slightest thing to do with coaching those girls. A lot of fishy business, none of it addin' up, but all of it addin' up to those two girls passin' a test they didn't finish. Man... I think I have a better idea. The test isn't finishing today, so there's no reason for ya two coaches to hang around, right? And I sure don't care to see any more of ya, so why don't ya go ahead and hail for Murphy, make your way out of here? If everything ya have said is true, all I need to do is question the two girls. I'm sure they can convince me as well as the two of ya. The innocent have nothing to hide, right, man? They'll clear there own names."
The coach leaned back, casting his eyes at MeleeMan's face directly. "Aye! Good idea, ey, man? The two girls go to my office, the three of ya are free to enjoy the rest of your day. I'm sure once their names are cleared, the twins will get back in touch with ya. But since the two of ya don't really have any more business here, I'm gonna ask ya. To. Kindly. Leave." The Navi breathed the words at MeleeMan specifically, seeming eager to challenge him and see where he'd be pushed.
last edited by
Inside the gym, Courser did his best to offer a reassuring nod and wink to Damascus; he could tell that his partner in this was not particularly enjoying the social fencing nearly as much as she would have probably enjoyed the more physical variety, but for now he had his hands full, and couldn't really offer her any more support than that. In particular, Jenny had finally responded to his message. To Courser's surprise, though, she hadn't just cleared the permissions for him to use the applications in her private folders, but unlocked the whole folders to him. Knowing Jenny, she probably hadn't meant to do that, he caught himself thinking, but even so he set aside the urge to peek and see what else she had hidden and focused on his actual task at hand. For one thing, she wouldn't want him to see, and for another, there was just no time.
"Damascus, can you pass me whatever footage MeleeMan has gathered from his... liason... with Hall? I'm putting together the video now." Provided she was able to give it to him, he could begin to get to work.
Now, to make a good video that could create a convincing level of mass-spreading slander... He drew together the bits and pieces of footage and recorded dialogue he had so far and began cutting and splicing them. While he was busy, the girls began to dress, each exhibiting their own brand of shy-not-shy. He took as much of a glance as they seemed to want him to, but no more — when Twig gestured his flirtatious self towards the wall he grinned and inclined his head, then lifted the fingers on each hand to his temples, drawing them across his eyes. As his clone had displayed before, this drew a broad, blue fabric blindfold over his eyes that looked to be of convincing thickness.
"Let me know when you're decent again, alright, and we'll get this finished with. I'm just sorting out the video now, but I'll give it to you both when we're done, and you can decide if you want to release it or not, how does that sound?" Because he had the blindfold on, of course, he didn't turn away from the girls, merely standing in a clam, neutral pose while he waited for them, casually buffing the knuckles of one hand on his chest as he did. He didn't really need to tell either Twig or Want that, like his decoy before him, the blindfold didn't actually obscure his vision at all, as much as it seemed to.
Eventually the girls were ready and the video was done as well. Courser, of course, wouldn't dispel his blindfold until one or the other of them gave the word; truth be told he was focused enough on putting together his little film that he barely had the concentration spare to direct his clone outside at the same time. When everyone was ready to go though, Courser moved in close to the girls again, standing between them and close enough that he could have put an arm around both if he'd been so inclined.
"Ok, here we are. Leak this to the school subtly, and I guarantee you'll see Hall disgraced, even if only half the people who see it believe it." As he spoke, a screen lit up in front of his eyes, then shifted back far enough for everyone to get a good look.
The first shot that came up showed Hall and MeleeMan in the club room, with a recorder-eye view that showed both participants in a very clear state of being dressed down considerably. It looked rather like Hall was toying with the idea of cutting the remainder of MeleeMan's clothes off. Even so, it seemed obvious they weren't hostile towards each other in any way. Just as the figures began to move, the view transitioned and jumped, to the point where Hall and MeleeMan were down on the mats now, in each other's arms. Hall was making a gesture for quiet to her supposed lover, finger to her lips before speaking, but when she did her voice was clear in the audio, leaving no doubt to her words:
"Oh, CoachMan! I'm so sorry to have to put this unnecessary duty on you, but something has come up in my schedule. An emergency. Would you please enter the auditorium and let the twins know we'll have to reschedule their test for another day?" The two of them exchanged a few more words, but the audio didn't come through clearly, until Hall deigned to share a kiss with her 'emergency', then, after another moment, a further phrase came through. "I suppose this is going to have to go in my disciplinary action report as well. You're quite the passionate... l-lover!" The video footage cut away again after that.
This time, there was a shot of the two girls, only just recently taken, dressed in their sudsy and damp uniforms, looking frayed and worried. it was heavily censored for their anonymity, of course, and switched over almost right away to the conversation Courser himself had had with Hall, via video link. It picked up while Hall was mid answer, her words coming out crisp and clearly this time.
"...state of dress, it is of little consequence. We will all be girls in the final trial." There was a slight pause before her voice continued. "I would happily run it bare!" There was another pause before she continued in a slightly calmer voice, though Hall's penchant for announcing everything had made running her words together almost too easy. "I believe I will be showing the girls plenty of due courtesy by making my way there in my current garb." The view returned to Courser, interview-style, speaking with disdain and reprimand in his voice.
"I had been going to ask you to hurry back, since the girls are both warmed up and ready to go, and now it is you alone who are keeping us all waiting with your tardiness..."
"Rest assured, I shall be there post-haste."
The next shot was a wider view of the gym area, angled to show only one fully dressed Courser, and the two girls, though they had been heavily obscured, and all that any message-board viewer might be able to tell was that it was two student girls. their voice,s when they spoke, had also been disguised, in the same manner of old-style witness protection.
"S-so we've gotta strip down too, after all?"
"Well... there's nothing else we can do, right?"
"All right," a nervous delay, "We'll do what we have to." The censored figures got to stripping down, gradually.
"Hope nobody else has to come in here," One of them was heard to murmur. The next cut was another wider, security-footage style shot, showing only the two naked girls, obviously bare behind their pixels, and then the door bursting open as CoachMan blundered in The scene played out, shouting and all, then jumped away to another interview-style shot. This one came from Courser's clone as he had spoken to CoachMan. Courser's voice came first, trying to calm Coachman down, before confirming that the coach hadn't been prepared for what happened. The response came naturally:
"Swear by the shepherd, I had no idea. I've been out here asleep."
"We were waiting for Hall. She was supposed to come and deliver the final test." Opposite CourseMan's calming tones, CoachMan's anger and confusion only really served to play into the tone of scene that the careful mixing of visual and audio was creating.
"Hall had other business. No surprise, she's a busy woman, man. She told me to come just to tell the girlies the test was off and they'd need to reschedule. You're saying Hall told ya all to get naked, then told me to come in?" The interview-style account switched back to one of the girls, still protected visually and vocally as she spoke.
"I mean, Coach's a straight-arrow guy, he's like, one of those stuffy old guys, or whatevs. I can't imagine him lying..." With that, the video faded out completely, then shut off. Courser looked between Wand and twig then raised an eyebrow.
"What do you think? Even if it comes out as faked a week later, Hall's name will still be dragged through the mud long before they can clean it up, and mud sticks, even to the innocent." He flourished his hands once, then turned them outward to offer two small data packets, one each to twig and Wand, but held them back a moment before handing them over.
"I'm putting these in your hands, and you can decide if you want to leak them or not, and where. Be certain, ok girls? If these go out, Hall could end up in some very real, very serious trouble. It's your choice what to do with them." Having said that, he wasn't going to prevent either Twig or Wand from taking the packages if they wanted to.
----
Out in the hallway, Courser's main clone was trying to diffuse the situation be diverting it into another questionable direction. When his first affectionate touch on MeleeMan's chest didn't get him immediately punched from the net, the decoy moved to phase two, grinning broadly, like he was as pleased as could be for MeleeMan upon hearing the implication that he had gotten up to hijinks with Hall. his attention diverted to facing his ally completely and bringing the palms of his hands together in front of his own chest.
"So it went well!? Oh, I'm so happy for you both!! Oh you must tell me everything later, oh, well, if you think she wouldn't mind, of course!" He even put a very slight bounce into his toes as he enthused over the revelation. "I know how you feel about her, dear, so I'm glad that that's one thing at least that has gone well today!" This outburst done with, Courser 'recovered' from the bubbly enthusiasm of his voice and made a visible effort to straighten his features to seriousness again.
"Well, I feel much better now. Hopefully we can all calm down at bit." He steadfastly ignored MeleeMan's threatening words to the real coach in the room and instead focused on him as well. "Listen, you might have your misgivings about Wand and Twig, but if you're going to judge them in advance, over things that you've heard they said about you, and not even things you've directly heard them saying themselves... then I can't in good conscience leave them in your hands alone. Yes, we may be biased parties since they asked us to come her, but I'll be hones,t it was never about the money for me. I'm not even really interested in accepting it now. I do feel like you are an equally biased party, though, so I think we have to stay." All the time that he spoke this time around, he kept his voice light and pleasant instead of his previous reprimanding.
"Now, unlike my partner here, I'm not going to say that I feel the girls should be passed through the test that Hall decided to call off. I will say, however, that I've watched them do the other tests in order, and I am very confident that they have all the attributes necessary to be cheerleaders." Clone or not, he made one last brave gamble, standing in between MeleeMan and CoachMan.
"Now, if the two of you lovely males could stop measuring your testosterone against each other, the girls are about to come out, so, let's get this finished up without any petty violence, alright?" He was, of course, gambling entirely on the two navis being susceptible to appeals of decent, mature behaviour; the first of them to throw a punch was likely going to end up knocking the shadow decoy out of the park before it could saying anything more.
"Damascus, can you pass me whatever footage MeleeMan has gathered from his... liason... with Hall? I'm putting together the video now." Provided she was able to give it to him, he could begin to get to work.
Now, to make a good video that could create a convincing level of mass-spreading slander... He drew together the bits and pieces of footage and recorded dialogue he had so far and began cutting and splicing them. While he was busy, the girls began to dress, each exhibiting their own brand of shy-not-shy. He took as much of a glance as they seemed to want him to, but no more — when Twig gestured his flirtatious self towards the wall he grinned and inclined his head, then lifted the fingers on each hand to his temples, drawing them across his eyes. As his clone had displayed before, this drew a broad, blue fabric blindfold over his eyes that looked to be of convincing thickness.
"Let me know when you're decent again, alright, and we'll get this finished with. I'm just sorting out the video now, but I'll give it to you both when we're done, and you can decide if you want to release it or not, how does that sound?" Because he had the blindfold on, of course, he didn't turn away from the girls, merely standing in a clam, neutral pose while he waited for them, casually buffing the knuckles of one hand on his chest as he did. He didn't really need to tell either Twig or Want that, like his decoy before him, the blindfold didn't actually obscure his vision at all, as much as it seemed to.
Eventually the girls were ready and the video was done as well. Courser, of course, wouldn't dispel his blindfold until one or the other of them gave the word; truth be told he was focused enough on putting together his little film that he barely had the concentration spare to direct his clone outside at the same time. When everyone was ready to go though, Courser moved in close to the girls again, standing between them and close enough that he could have put an arm around both if he'd been so inclined.
"Ok, here we are. Leak this to the school subtly, and I guarantee you'll see Hall disgraced, even if only half the people who see it believe it." As he spoke, a screen lit up in front of his eyes, then shifted back far enough for everyone to get a good look.
The first shot that came up showed Hall and MeleeMan in the club room, with a recorder-eye view that showed both participants in a very clear state of being dressed down considerably. It looked rather like Hall was toying with the idea of cutting the remainder of MeleeMan's clothes off. Even so, it seemed obvious they weren't hostile towards each other in any way. Just as the figures began to move, the view transitioned and jumped, to the point where Hall and MeleeMan were down on the mats now, in each other's arms. Hall was making a gesture for quiet to her supposed lover, finger to her lips before speaking, but when she did her voice was clear in the audio, leaving no doubt to her words:
"Oh, CoachMan! I'm so sorry to have to put this unnecessary duty on you, but something has come up in my schedule. An emergency. Would you please enter the auditorium and let the twins know we'll have to reschedule their test for another day?" The two of them exchanged a few more words, but the audio didn't come through clearly, until Hall deigned to share a kiss with her 'emergency', then, after another moment, a further phrase came through. "I suppose this is going to have to go in my disciplinary action report as well. You're quite the passionate... l-lover!" The video footage cut away again after that.
This time, there was a shot of the two girls, only just recently taken, dressed in their sudsy and damp uniforms, looking frayed and worried. it was heavily censored for their anonymity, of course, and switched over almost right away to the conversation Courser himself had had with Hall, via video link. It picked up while Hall was mid answer, her words coming out crisp and clearly this time.
"...state of dress, it is of little consequence. We will all be girls in the final trial." There was a slight pause before her voice continued. "I would happily run it bare!" There was another pause before she continued in a slightly calmer voice, though Hall's penchant for announcing everything had made running her words together almost too easy. "I believe I will be showing the girls plenty of due courtesy by making my way there in my current garb." The view returned to Courser, interview-style, speaking with disdain and reprimand in his voice.
"I had been going to ask you to hurry back, since the girls are both warmed up and ready to go, and now it is you alone who are keeping us all waiting with your tardiness..."
"Rest assured, I shall be there post-haste."
The next shot was a wider view of the gym area, angled to show only one fully dressed Courser, and the two girls, though they had been heavily obscured, and all that any message-board viewer might be able to tell was that it was two student girls. their voice,s when they spoke, had also been disguised, in the same manner of old-style witness protection.
"S-so we've gotta strip down too, after all?"
"Well... there's nothing else we can do, right?"
"All right," a nervous delay, "We'll do what we have to." The censored figures got to stripping down, gradually.
"Hope nobody else has to come in here," One of them was heard to murmur. The next cut was another wider, security-footage style shot, showing only the two naked girls, obviously bare behind their pixels, and then the door bursting open as CoachMan blundered in The scene played out, shouting and all, then jumped away to another interview-style shot. This one came from Courser's clone as he had spoken to CoachMan. Courser's voice came first, trying to calm Coachman down, before confirming that the coach hadn't been prepared for what happened. The response came naturally:
"Swear by the shepherd, I had no idea. I've been out here asleep."
"We were waiting for Hall. She was supposed to come and deliver the final test." Opposite CourseMan's calming tones, CoachMan's anger and confusion only really served to play into the tone of scene that the careful mixing of visual and audio was creating.
"Hall had other business. No surprise, she's a busy woman, man. She told me to come just to tell the girlies the test was off and they'd need to reschedule. You're saying Hall told ya all to get naked, then told me to come in?" The interview-style account switched back to one of the girls, still protected visually and vocally as she spoke.
"I mean, Coach's a straight-arrow guy, he's like, one of those stuffy old guys, or whatevs. I can't imagine him lying..." With that, the video faded out completely, then shut off. Courser looked between Wand and twig then raised an eyebrow.
"What do you think? Even if it comes out as faked a week later, Hall's name will still be dragged through the mud long before they can clean it up, and mud sticks, even to the innocent." He flourished his hands once, then turned them outward to offer two small data packets, one each to twig and Wand, but held them back a moment before handing them over.
"I'm putting these in your hands, and you can decide if you want to leak them or not, and where. Be certain, ok girls? If these go out, Hall could end up in some very real, very serious trouble. It's your choice what to do with them." Having said that, he wasn't going to prevent either Twig or Wand from taking the packages if they wanted to.
----
Out in the hallway, Courser's main clone was trying to diffuse the situation be diverting it into another questionable direction. When his first affectionate touch on MeleeMan's chest didn't get him immediately punched from the net, the decoy moved to phase two, grinning broadly, like he was as pleased as could be for MeleeMan upon hearing the implication that he had gotten up to hijinks with Hall. his attention diverted to facing his ally completely and bringing the palms of his hands together in front of his own chest.
"So it went well!? Oh, I'm so happy for you both!! Oh you must tell me everything later, oh, well, if you think she wouldn't mind, of course!" He even put a very slight bounce into his toes as he enthused over the revelation. "I know how you feel about her, dear, so I'm glad that that's one thing at least that has gone well today!" This outburst done with, Courser 'recovered' from the bubbly enthusiasm of his voice and made a visible effort to straighten his features to seriousness again.
"Well, I feel much better now. Hopefully we can all calm down at bit." He steadfastly ignored MeleeMan's threatening words to the real coach in the room and instead focused on him as well. "Listen, you might have your misgivings about Wand and Twig, but if you're going to judge them in advance, over things that you've heard they said about you, and not even things you've directly heard them saying themselves... then I can't in good conscience leave them in your hands alone. Yes, we may be biased parties since they asked us to come her, but I'll be hones,t it was never about the money for me. I'm not even really interested in accepting it now. I do feel like you are an equally biased party, though, so I think we have to stay." All the time that he spoke this time around, he kept his voice light and pleasant instead of his previous reprimanding.
"Now, unlike my partner here, I'm not going to say that I feel the girls should be passed through the test that Hall decided to call off. I will say, however, that I've watched them do the other tests in order, and I am very confident that they have all the attributes necessary to be cheerleaders." Clone or not, he made one last brave gamble, standing in between MeleeMan and CoachMan.
"Now, if the two of you lovely males could stop measuring your testosterone against each other, the girls are about to come out, so, let's get this finished up without any petty violence, alright?" He was, of course, gambling entirely on the two navis being susceptible to appeals of decent, mature behaviour; the first of them to throw a punch was likely going to end up knocking the shadow decoy out of the park before it could saying anything more.
last edited by
"Yes... hopefully he gave us something usable, I haven't viewed it yet. You will need all of your skill if you're going to edit this in a way that makes her look bad next to him," Damascus complied, handing over a data packet to CourseMan, then crossing her arms tightly. While CourseMan played around with the girls, presumably working on the video at the same time, she closed her eyes and meditated. Somewhere in that calm, a thought occurred to her, ruining her focus and causing her to slowly flicker open her eyelids. "Wait. Couldn't we have just taken some photos of the girls in the test uniforms in front of the wall that Hall had rigged with spears meant to stab the competitors? Surely she's not allowed to do that, or at least it's not normal practice," she thought to herself, her mouth tensing up into a tighter frown. Well... too late to go down that road.
What mattered was what the girls thought about the video, of course. Damascus, for her part, looked perturbed. "The portion with Hall and MeleeMan is convincing, because we can see her in frame and it's clearly shocking for her to be involved in that sort of behavior. I'm less confident of what we've taken in the gym. With no one but the girls and you in the shot until CoachMan bursts in, it looks questionable," she criticized. "What I'd worry about mostly is whether you girls will be ready to answer questions that come your way. I'm sure Hall won't submit without a fight, and that's going to mean intense scrutiny of your behavior. Just as you're capable of recording this footage and splicing it together, we live in an age where everyone knows these things can be edited and spliced together. You'll have to go the extra mile if you're going to convince whatever powers that be... assuming there is any, other than Hall herself."
She squinted her eyes again as another unwanted thought came into her head. "And will they even want to show this off? It makes them look degraded and abused... I'm not sure that utilizing this footage results in becoming 'popular cheerleaders' regardless," she griped internally. Still, CourseMan had done all the work. She hadn't contributed much more than a body to the whole scheme, so she'd be making a fool of herself if she spoke all of that openly. "At this rate, maybe both parties, the girls and Hall, would be best off if they just forgot about it... But I hardly imagine we can make the girls pay us for revealing the wisdom in that."
---------------------------------------
MeleeMan shrugged and tilted his chin up defiantly. "Yeah, Coach, maybe I am a little biased. After all, those girls got through their stupid tests, most of em, anyway. Why shouldn't I want them to go ahead and pass?" he retorted, barely moving his lips as he talked through his teeth. CoachMan wasn't backing down, which made MeleeMan snarl harder, as if his territory was being invaded. "You idiot, what do you mean with all that innocent and guilty crap? What are you even accusing them of? I went off with Hall to talk about coaching stuff, just ask her! She can also attest to the fact that the girls in there did most of the damn tests! You're trying to start something when all that happened here was those girls doing some tests and not getting to do the last one cause me and Hall, uh, got a little carried away with sharing our coach tricks."
CoachMan got even closer now, which caused MeleeMan's sneer to turn into an uncomfortable frown. "Woah buddy, reign it in there. Still got an elevated situation going on, don't make this weird," he murmured under his breath, casting his eyes downward.
Unfortunately for MeleeMan, things only got weirder, as CourseMan began bouncing on his toes like a giddy schoolgirl. "Hey hey, jackass, how I feel about her is respect, and it's mutual, okay? We bonded over wr...err... coaching," he defended. "I'll tell you about it or you can get the whole damn scoop from Hall herself, whenever she decides to show her pretty face again." The talk about not accepting money seemed just as crazy, but MeleeMan held a tight frown and nodded silently on that point. After all, he'd gotten something nicer than money... and if this whole thing went away without followup, that would be all the better for him. He might have to kiss any further meet-ups with the administrator's sexy navi goodbye if this blackmail thing went to its conclusion.
Being told not to measure his testosterone was only making his anger boil up, though at his partner rather than the coach. "Spoken like a pu-"
Rania coughed into her PET, having briefly rejoined the scene in progress.
"... Perfect jackass," he "corrected" to something only slightly less offensive, crossing his arms and casting his eyes to the side. His frown looked uncomfortable again, likely because he knew Rania had started watching again. "Butt out for now, dammit, Rania... That's for your own good," he grumbled, knowing that she would have shut down the whole cheating angle before it even started.
What mattered was what the girls thought about the video, of course. Damascus, for her part, looked perturbed. "The portion with Hall and MeleeMan is convincing, because we can see her in frame and it's clearly shocking for her to be involved in that sort of behavior. I'm less confident of what we've taken in the gym. With no one but the girls and you in the shot until CoachMan bursts in, it looks questionable," she criticized. "What I'd worry about mostly is whether you girls will be ready to answer questions that come your way. I'm sure Hall won't submit without a fight, and that's going to mean intense scrutiny of your behavior. Just as you're capable of recording this footage and splicing it together, we live in an age where everyone knows these things can be edited and spliced together. You'll have to go the extra mile if you're going to convince whatever powers that be... assuming there is any, other than Hall herself."
She squinted her eyes again as another unwanted thought came into her head. "And will they even want to show this off? It makes them look degraded and abused... I'm not sure that utilizing this footage results in becoming 'popular cheerleaders' regardless," she griped internally. Still, CourseMan had done all the work. She hadn't contributed much more than a body to the whole scheme, so she'd be making a fool of herself if she spoke all of that openly. "At this rate, maybe both parties, the girls and Hall, would be best off if they just forgot about it... But I hardly imagine we can make the girls pay us for revealing the wisdom in that."
---------------------------------------
MeleeMan shrugged and tilted his chin up defiantly. "Yeah, Coach, maybe I am a little biased. After all, those girls got through their stupid tests, most of em, anyway. Why shouldn't I want them to go ahead and pass?" he retorted, barely moving his lips as he talked through his teeth. CoachMan wasn't backing down, which made MeleeMan snarl harder, as if his territory was being invaded. "You idiot, what do you mean with all that innocent and guilty crap? What are you even accusing them of? I went off with Hall to talk about coaching stuff, just ask her! She can also attest to the fact that the girls in there did most of the damn tests! You're trying to start something when all that happened here was those girls doing some tests and not getting to do the last one cause me and Hall, uh, got a little carried away with sharing our coach tricks."
CoachMan got even closer now, which caused MeleeMan's sneer to turn into an uncomfortable frown. "Woah buddy, reign it in there. Still got an elevated situation going on, don't make this weird," he murmured under his breath, casting his eyes downward.
Unfortunately for MeleeMan, things only got weirder, as CourseMan began bouncing on his toes like a giddy schoolgirl. "Hey hey, jackass, how I feel about her is respect, and it's mutual, okay? We bonded over wr...err... coaching," he defended. "I'll tell you about it or you can get the whole damn scoop from Hall herself, whenever she decides to show her pretty face again." The talk about not accepting money seemed just as crazy, but MeleeMan held a tight frown and nodded silently on that point. After all, he'd gotten something nicer than money... and if this whole thing went away without followup, that would be all the better for him. He might have to kiss any further meet-ups with the administrator's sexy navi goodbye if this blackmail thing went to its conclusion.
Being told not to measure his testosterone was only making his anger boil up, though at his partner rather than the coach. "Spoken like a pu-"
Rania coughed into her PET, having briefly rejoined the scene in progress.
"... Perfect jackass," he "corrected" to something only slightly less offensive, crossing his arms and casting his eyes to the side. His frown looked uncomfortable again, likely because he knew Rania had started watching again. "Butt out for now, dammit, Rania... That's for your own good," he grumbled, knowing that she would have shut down the whole cheating angle before it even started.
last edited by
Twig and Wand had finished reapplying their uniforms, with the exception of Twig's hairband. Grimacing at the suds on her duds, she hurriedly worked on tying her bow with practiced hands as the two sisters gathered to see what CourseMan had come up with. They crowded on either side of him, gluing their eyes to the screen for the duration of the video. Neither commented as the video ran, only rolling their eyes, clicking their teeth, or sighing at various points, gestures so second-nature to them they might not have even been intended to convey a message. At the end of the video, Twig stood up and gave an exaggerated clap, tightening her lower lip. "Uh-huh! Hall's in for it now. That screwball's gonna regret ever messing with us. Eye for an eye!"
"Nice editing! Wish I had time to, like, get some pointers," Wand approved, grinning. Both of the girls looked pretty worked up now, but it might be hard to tell if that was from genuine confidence in CourseMan's video, or their eagerness to see their tormentor get hers after watching an account of the events played over. "Once we get this out, Hall's good as done." Neither of the two seemed overly concerned about Damascus's worries. In all likelihood, they'd talked themselves into it to the point that they had a concrete image of what their final success would look like: them as cheerleaders, Hall at a different school or, at least, a different lunch table. For girls so clearly used to things going their way, they probably had no conception that the risky maneuver could backfire on them at this point.
The girls readily accepted the videos, whisking the data packets off to their own private stores. In spite of CourseMan's ominous final statement, which might as well have been "be careful what you wish for," it was pretty clear the girls had no hesitation.
---
Meanwhile, in the hall, CoachMan was still trying to deal with the disparate pair that wouldn't cave to his demands. As much as he was still giving MeleeMan the evil eye, he was pretty clearly thrown off by the act of CourseMan's clone. It was probably safe to say he didn't have to deal with that sort of personality often, and he didn't seem to know what to make of it. At the very least, it kept him from moving any closer to MeleeMan and actually coming to blows. "Listen, lads," he spoke up, wearily, putting his hands in front of him. "I'm not asking ya to explain what ya are talking about anymore, and I'm gonna overlook the part where ya tell me how to handle my business with this alone: ya have been dealing with those girls for, what, a few hours, and as paid employees of 'em. I, on the other hand, have been trying to help 'em on the straight and narrow for a school year. Ey? Get my point, man?"
The coach crossed his arms, planting his feet metaphorically. "Look, I'm sure not trying to come between ya two and getting paid. End of the day, though, one of us is school staff, and two of us are guests at this school. I've told ya I'm gonna do things my way, and by Bethel that's what I intend to do. If the girls are innocent, they'll prove their innocence. If Ms. Hall has no funny business to report, she won't report any. Ya two being here for my conversation with those two is gonna do nothing but raise my data pressure."
The doors of the gym swung open as Wand and Twig made their way out in appropriately sudsy uniforms. "Coach! What's the deal?" Wand shouted, picking up her walk to a storm.
"Yeah, what were you thinking?" Twig joined her, advancing as well.
"Girls, please, calm a second, would ya? I didn't get a look at near anything but-" he started, before shifting awkwardly and coughing. "Well. I didn't get more than a general idea, is what I meant to say. And I left, didn't I? Anyway, call me CoachMan and don't try and change a subject to get out of this! You two are coming to my office for a spell. Say goodbye to your coaches for now."
"What?!" Wand shouted. "Now wait a minute-"
Twig grabbed her hand, shaking her head in a way that was not half as subtle as she probably thought. Stopping just short of a literal wink-wink nudge-nudge to her sister, Twig turned to CoachMan. "That's all right, Coach. I think after we get a chance-"
"CoachMan!" the coach man interrupted them again, testily.
"... Coach, Man," Twig replied, a smirk on her face joining a blink that was clearly a repressed rolling of eyes. "Once we explained, I think you'll understand that we're just victims here, and we, like, reallly just totally wanna be the best cheerleaders we can, kay?"
"We'll see," CoachMan responded, still suspicious. "Well? Ey? Ya two comfortable leaving now, or am I gonna have to give ya the bum rush, man?" The coach finally noticed Damascus, who had either followed them or, presumably, would still be in the gymnasium. "Er, you too, ma'am."
"Oh, and don't worry, Coaches," Twig said, turning back to CourseMan and MeleeMan, giving CourseMan a subtle wink. "Squad or no squad, my sister and I are Navis of our word. Go back to the .GNA, and we'll post up what we owe you. I'll be sure to give you my contact info in case you ever... wanna get in touch again." The last part was not-at-all subtly directed firmly at CourseMan. The young Navi made a point not to look at MeleeMan any more than she could help.
"Nice editing! Wish I had time to, like, get some pointers," Wand approved, grinning. Both of the girls looked pretty worked up now, but it might be hard to tell if that was from genuine confidence in CourseMan's video, or their eagerness to see their tormentor get hers after watching an account of the events played over. "Once we get this out, Hall's good as done." Neither of the two seemed overly concerned about Damascus's worries. In all likelihood, they'd talked themselves into it to the point that they had a concrete image of what their final success would look like: them as cheerleaders, Hall at a different school or, at least, a different lunch table. For girls so clearly used to things going their way, they probably had no conception that the risky maneuver could backfire on them at this point.
The girls readily accepted the videos, whisking the data packets off to their own private stores. In spite of CourseMan's ominous final statement, which might as well have been "be careful what you wish for," it was pretty clear the girls had no hesitation.
---
Meanwhile, in the hall, CoachMan was still trying to deal with the disparate pair that wouldn't cave to his demands. As much as he was still giving MeleeMan the evil eye, he was pretty clearly thrown off by the act of CourseMan's clone. It was probably safe to say he didn't have to deal with that sort of personality often, and he didn't seem to know what to make of it. At the very least, it kept him from moving any closer to MeleeMan and actually coming to blows. "Listen, lads," he spoke up, wearily, putting his hands in front of him. "I'm not asking ya to explain what ya are talking about anymore, and I'm gonna overlook the part where ya tell me how to handle my business with this alone: ya have been dealing with those girls for, what, a few hours, and as paid employees of 'em. I, on the other hand, have been trying to help 'em on the straight and narrow for a school year. Ey? Get my point, man?"
The coach crossed his arms, planting his feet metaphorically. "Look, I'm sure not trying to come between ya two and getting paid. End of the day, though, one of us is school staff, and two of us are guests at this school. I've told ya I'm gonna do things my way, and by Bethel that's what I intend to do. If the girls are innocent, they'll prove their innocence. If Ms. Hall has no funny business to report, she won't report any. Ya two being here for my conversation with those two is gonna do nothing but raise my data pressure."
The doors of the gym swung open as Wand and Twig made their way out in appropriately sudsy uniforms. "Coach! What's the deal?" Wand shouted, picking up her walk to a storm.
"Yeah, what were you thinking?" Twig joined her, advancing as well.
"Girls, please, calm a second, would ya? I didn't get a look at near anything but-" he started, before shifting awkwardly and coughing. "Well. I didn't get more than a general idea, is what I meant to say. And I left, didn't I? Anyway, call me CoachMan and don't try and change a subject to get out of this! You two are coming to my office for a spell. Say goodbye to your coaches for now."
"What?!" Wand shouted. "Now wait a minute-"
Twig grabbed her hand, shaking her head in a way that was not half as subtle as she probably thought. Stopping just short of a literal wink-wink nudge-nudge to her sister, Twig turned to CoachMan. "That's all right, Coach. I think after we get a chance-"
"CoachMan!" the coach man interrupted them again, testily.
"... Coach, Man," Twig replied, a smirk on her face joining a blink that was clearly a repressed rolling of eyes. "Once we explained, I think you'll understand that we're just victims here, and we, like, reallly just totally wanna be the best cheerleaders we can, kay?"
"We'll see," CoachMan responded, still suspicious. "Well? Ey? Ya two comfortable leaving now, or am I gonna have to give ya the bum rush, man?" The coach finally noticed Damascus, who had either followed them or, presumably, would still be in the gymnasium. "Er, you too, ma'am."
"Oh, and don't worry, Coaches," Twig said, turning back to CourseMan and MeleeMan, giving CourseMan a subtle wink. "Squad or no squad, my sister and I are Navis of our word. Go back to the .GNA, and we'll post up what we owe you. I'll be sure to give you my contact info in case you ever... wanna get in touch again." The last part was not-at-all subtly directed firmly at CourseMan. The young Navi made a point not to look at MeleeMan any more than she could help.
last edited by
Courser allowed the girls to take the copies of his handiwork without nay further warning; it was in their own hands to use as they pleased, and if they used them poorly, or dug their own graves, he could honestly say that they had been warned. A part of him felt passingly sorry for Hall, in case the girls did manage to ruin her reputation, but it wasn't as though he had actually doctored anything, so it really was her own fault. He just offered another cheeky grin for each of them as they made for the door. Out in the hall, as MeleeMan offered the expected insult and lash back towards CourseClone's uncomfortable affection, he pouted softly and cast him a side eye.
"There's no need to be like that." Then, for extra effect, he added the words that most relationship-bound males dreaded hearing. "We will talk about this later." Saying no more he turned back to CoachMan, in time for the girls to make their own entrance.
While the other two were distracted by the sudden shift in the conversation, the clone stepped subtly back from the cluster, letting MeleeMan and CoachMan turn towards Wand and Twig directly, before fading away into shadow once all eyes were off him. The real Courser followed the girls out a few moments later, accompanying Damascus. He kept quiet while the twins had their own exchange with the coach, though Wand's initial reaction made him smile; it sounded like she was distressed at the thought of him being sent away before she could 'reward' him. When it was done, and the questions levied towards himself and Damascus, he simply inclined his head.
"We understand. My concerns before were simply because I was unsettled to hear you talk about these girls as though you had already judged and found them guilty of something, regardless of the situation. Whether you know them or not, that is not how anyone with a duty of care should speak about their wards." He paused, then drew a longer breath. "Still, we understand, and we'll leave the situation in the hands of the school from here. I'm sure my partner, however, would appreciate Hall's school contact details, in case any need to follow up presents itself."
He waited behind with Damascus while the twins said their goodbyes, and smiled again for each of them, inclining his head while, behind him, and in a moment that CoachMan wasn't watching, if one occurred, two decoys winked back and blew each girl girl a subtle kiss with the tips of two fingers.
"Good fortune to you, ladies. I'll look forward to coaching both of you again. Don't worry, there's more than enough of me to go around." The two clones glanced at each other behind courser's back, shaking their heads at the old joke, and the brief flick of his eyes along with the half-grinned smirk that he sent back to Twig told her he was very much expecting a roll of her eyes for the poor calibre of it. "Be sure to write, and tell me how you fare. We can practice the truest of cheer-leading pursuits in future sessions." A part of him still wondered if the girls were aware that, within his own understanding of the world, the truest and most constant activity of cheer-leaders wasn't something they did in front of crowds. Oh well.
"There's no need to be like that." Then, for extra effect, he added the words that most relationship-bound males dreaded hearing. "We will talk about this later." Saying no more he turned back to CoachMan, in time for the girls to make their own entrance.
While the other two were distracted by the sudden shift in the conversation, the clone stepped subtly back from the cluster, letting MeleeMan and CoachMan turn towards Wand and Twig directly, before fading away into shadow once all eyes were off him. The real Courser followed the girls out a few moments later, accompanying Damascus. He kept quiet while the twins had their own exchange with the coach, though Wand's initial reaction made him smile; it sounded like she was distressed at the thought of him being sent away before she could 'reward' him. When it was done, and the questions levied towards himself and Damascus, he simply inclined his head.
"We understand. My concerns before were simply because I was unsettled to hear you talk about these girls as though you had already judged and found them guilty of something, regardless of the situation. Whether you know them or not, that is not how anyone with a duty of care should speak about their wards." He paused, then drew a longer breath. "Still, we understand, and we'll leave the situation in the hands of the school from here. I'm sure my partner, however, would appreciate Hall's school contact details, in case any need to follow up presents itself."
He waited behind with Damascus while the twins said their goodbyes, and smiled again for each of them, inclining his head while, behind him, and in a moment that CoachMan wasn't watching, if one occurred, two decoys winked back and blew each girl girl a subtle kiss with the tips of two fingers.
"Good fortune to you, ladies. I'll look forward to coaching both of you again. Don't worry, there's more than enough of me to go around." The two clones glanced at each other behind courser's back, shaking their heads at the old joke, and the brief flick of his eyes along with the half-grinned smirk that he sent back to Twig told her he was very much expecting a roll of her eyes for the poor calibre of it. "Be sure to write, and tell me how you fare. We can practice the truest of cheer-leading pursuits in future sessions." A part of him still wondered if the girls were aware that, within his own understanding of the world, the truest and most constant activity of cheer-leaders wasn't something they did in front of crowds. Oh well.
last edited by
Damascus was forced to concede as the girls set aside her advice in favor of CourseMan's fix. That was likely for the best; no point trying to learn from mistakes now. The girls seemed like the type who would probably make a mistake or two more they'd come to regret before leaving school. As she thought about it a little harder, she realized she ought to be more thankful to CourseMan than she honestly felt... if it weren't for him, this mission probably wouldn't have even gotten started; MeleeMan would have killed it right at the cheerleader skirts part. Then again, she had to consider whether she was happy for this mission at all, given that she'd degraded herself a few times and MeleeMan had probably made things considerably awkward for other parties.
She decided it might be a good idea to wait a bit while things sorted themselves out with the others. After all, if MeleeMan didn't look like a coach, she looked even less like one, with her semi-metallic sheen, blood-thirsty eyes, and transforming cape. Then again, CoarseMan didn't look like one either... but did look like the sort of person the girls would hire, at least.
Then she recalled that CoachMan had probably already seen her regardless, when he'd barged in earlier. "Great," she sighed to herself, then went out to join the others.
-----
Outside, MeleeMan was about to lay into CoachMan again, tired of the old bastard's self-righteous attitude, but the cheerleaders came out and did it for him.
Damascus gave CoachMan a polite half-bow as she was asked to leave. A part of her began to wonder if this might have gone a bit smoother had she been given the responsibility of leading CoachMan astray while MeleeMan performed the tests in the skirt... but that never would have happened regardless. Whatever the case, CoachMan seemed to have a healthy courtesy towards most women, just not the uppity cheerleaders he was charged with handling.
As CoachMan talked to the girls and the girls talked to him, while giving CoachMan the flirty winks, MeleeMan frowned and tapped his finger against his bicep, with his arms crossed tightly. "Yeah, sure. You girls seem like you could use some more coaching, I'll agree there," MeleeMan responded, although the contact information hadn't really been offered to him. He realized that, things as they were, any future plans with Hall were off the table. Time was already helping him cope with that, along with a generous supply of ego. "So what... there's other fish in the sea for a guy like me. The perfect man doesn't worry about losing one little catch," he reminded himself. "Just another girl left wet and wanting in my wake." That part was certainly an embellishment.
To his surprise, CourseMan came up with an excuse to get Hall's digits for him, just as he'd written her off (and he'd written CourseMan off a long time ago). He let his mouth hang stupidly for a moment, before fixing his jaw and nodding. "Right, we might need to go over techniques again in the future," he agreed. "Professional to prodigy, you get it." The fact that his manhood was starting to react again, after finally having started to settle, was probably a bad tip off to why he might want to meet the young lady again. "Sea-man... maybe you're alright after all," he thought to himself, then remembered the behavior from earlier and shook his head. "Nah, I guess not," he resolved.
MeleeMan was ready to leave, but Damascus put a hand upon his shoulder to signal he ought to stay. The two needed to wrap up with CourseMan, she figured. He was the one doing all the planning and there might be a bit more to it yet. They at least owed it to him to say farewell... well, Damascus wouldn't go that far. She was mostly just interested in making sure MeleeMan didn't find some way to screw this up in the last stretch.
She decided it might be a good idea to wait a bit while things sorted themselves out with the others. After all, if MeleeMan didn't look like a coach, she looked even less like one, with her semi-metallic sheen, blood-thirsty eyes, and transforming cape. Then again, CoarseMan didn't look like one either... but did look like the sort of person the girls would hire, at least.
Then she recalled that CoachMan had probably already seen her regardless, when he'd barged in earlier. "Great," she sighed to herself, then went out to join the others.
-----
Outside, MeleeMan was about to lay into CoachMan again, tired of the old bastard's self-righteous attitude, but the cheerleaders came out and did it for him.
Damascus gave CoachMan a polite half-bow as she was asked to leave. A part of her began to wonder if this might have gone a bit smoother had she been given the responsibility of leading CoachMan astray while MeleeMan performed the tests in the skirt... but that never would have happened regardless. Whatever the case, CoachMan seemed to have a healthy courtesy towards most women, just not the uppity cheerleaders he was charged with handling.
As CoachMan talked to the girls and the girls talked to him, while giving CoachMan the flirty winks, MeleeMan frowned and tapped his finger against his bicep, with his arms crossed tightly. "Yeah, sure. You girls seem like you could use some more coaching, I'll agree there," MeleeMan responded, although the contact information hadn't really been offered to him. He realized that, things as they were, any future plans with Hall were off the table. Time was already helping him cope with that, along with a generous supply of ego. "So what... there's other fish in the sea for a guy like me. The perfect man doesn't worry about losing one little catch," he reminded himself. "Just another girl left wet and wanting in my wake." That part was certainly an embellishment.
To his surprise, CourseMan came up with an excuse to get Hall's digits for him, just as he'd written her off (and he'd written CourseMan off a long time ago). He let his mouth hang stupidly for a moment, before fixing his jaw and nodding. "Right, we might need to go over techniques again in the future," he agreed. "Professional to prodigy, you get it." The fact that his manhood was starting to react again, after finally having started to settle, was probably a bad tip off to why he might want to meet the young lady again. "Sea-man... maybe you're alright after all," he thought to himself, then remembered the behavior from earlier and shook his head. "Nah, I guess not," he resolved.
MeleeMan was ready to leave, but Damascus put a hand upon his shoulder to signal he ought to stay. The two needed to wrap up with CourseMan, she figured. He was the one doing all the planning and there might be a bit more to it yet. They at least owed it to him to say farewell... well, Damascus wouldn't go that far. She was mostly just interested in making sure MeleeMan didn't find some way to screw this up in the last stretch.
last edited by
CoachMan stood impassive as CourseMan gave him his final thoughts, but it was hard to imagine the coach wasn't at least a little relieved he'd finally gotten some agreement. He remained mostly silent. "Ey, I'm sure he would, man," CoachMan finally agreed with CourseMan in a sarcastic tone. "Luckily, I'm sure a gentleman like him remembered to get it in whatever flight of fancy he had with the good ma'am."
In the meantime, the girls were respectively rolling their eyes as hard as possible at MeleeMan, not seeming to know or care how this would affect their image as squeaky-clean prospective cheerleaders giving it their all. Twig mouthed "give it to you later" out of the side of her mouth, likely hoping that would be enough to keep him from starting a fight with CoachMan when they were finally in the home stretch.
Wand coughed, trying to put them back on track. "All right, later, coaches! Er, except Coach. Man, I mean. We'll see you later, Courser," Wand said, flashing him a small smile and not doing too much to cover her familiarity.
"Next time," Twig agreed. "We'll see if there's enough of you to keep me entertained..." Twig smirked and flipped her hair, clearly picking that as her exit line as she began walking down the hall.
CoachMan still didn't look pleased, but neither did he look like he wanted to drag this out any longer. The girls evidently knew the way to his office (not a big surprise), so he allowed them to lead as he followed. "Don't ya two linger around and don't wander off! I'll have your tails, by Tully!" he swore to the would-be coaches, not turning to address them.
The three (plus however many CourseMen) would be free to wrap up, although they'd likely want to hurry if they didn't want to bump into any other students. From the noise elsewhere in the hallway, it seemed it was just luck they hadn't already run across one of the twins' classmates.
In the meantime, the girls were respectively rolling their eyes as hard as possible at MeleeMan, not seeming to know or care how this would affect their image as squeaky-clean prospective cheerleaders giving it their all. Twig mouthed "give it to you later" out of the side of her mouth, likely hoping that would be enough to keep him from starting a fight with CoachMan when they were finally in the home stretch.
Wand coughed, trying to put them back on track. "All right, later, coaches! Er, except Coach. Man, I mean. We'll see you later, Courser," Wand said, flashing him a small smile and not doing too much to cover her familiarity.
"Next time," Twig agreed. "We'll see if there's enough of you to keep me entertained..." Twig smirked and flipped her hair, clearly picking that as her exit line as she began walking down the hall.
CoachMan still didn't look pleased, but neither did he look like he wanted to drag this out any longer. The girls evidently knew the way to his office (not a big surprise), so he allowed them to lead as he followed. "Don't ya two linger around and don't wander off! I'll have your tails, by Tully!" he swore to the would-be coaches, not turning to address them.
The three (plus however many CourseMen) would be free to wrap up, although they'd likely want to hurry if they didn't want to bump into any other students. From the noise elsewhere in the hallway, it seemed it was just luck they hadn't already run across one of the twins' classmates.
last edited by Rogan
As he watched them go, Courser folded his arms and grinned, buffing one set of knuckles against his chest. He turned to MeleeMan and raised an eyebrow, tilting his head slightly.
"Well, that was a bit of fun, wasn't it? I did my best for you, champ, maybe you'll get her coming back for more sooner than you think, hmm?" Dressed back in his more sensible clothes, he was still no match or danger to the larger man's, well, manliness, but what he lacked in build and strength, he was clearly trying to make up for with suave charms and a friendly attitude. He cast eyes towards Damascus, then stood properly and stepped up to her, putting one foot forward and making a formal bow, left hand over his chest and right down and back behind him
"Damascus, it's been a pleasure working with you today. I know you don't care over-much for the frills and the frivolity, but you've been a solid companion, and I'd look forward to working with you again some day." If she let him, he reached out to take one of her hands and kiss the back of it, while still bowed, then looked up at her with a broad smirk. "It's been fun, no?" He stepped back then, so that he could look at both of them and raised his hands to the sides in a small shrug.
"Well my friends, I think it's time we all headed away from here, before anything else interesting happens. Unless either of you would like... debrief further?" He gave a small wink, though it could just as easily have been for either of them. If neither of his companions had anything else they wanted to discuss, Courser would take it has his cue to depart the high-school and return to see how Jenny was getting on, but on the off chance that either of them had other plans, he was happy to wait around.
----
((If MeleeMan and Damascus want to do anything else, Courser will hang with them, but if not, then he'll jack out, and return to -> Dentech Spots Day))
"Well, that was a bit of fun, wasn't it? I did my best for you, champ, maybe you'll get her coming back for more sooner than you think, hmm?" Dressed back in his more sensible clothes, he was still no match or danger to the larger man's, well, manliness, but what he lacked in build and strength, he was clearly trying to make up for with suave charms and a friendly attitude. He cast eyes towards Damascus, then stood properly and stepped up to her, putting one foot forward and making a formal bow, left hand over his chest and right down and back behind him
"Damascus, it's been a pleasure working with you today. I know you don't care over-much for the frills and the frivolity, but you've been a solid companion, and I'd look forward to working with you again some day." If she let him, he reached out to take one of her hands and kiss the back of it, while still bowed, then looked up at her with a broad smirk. "It's been fun, no?" He stepped back then, so that he could look at both of them and raised his hands to the sides in a small shrug.
"Well my friends, I think it's time we all headed away from here, before anything else interesting happens. Unless either of you would like... debrief further?" He gave a small wink, though it could just as easily have been for either of them. If neither of his companions had anything else they wanted to discuss, Courser would take it has his cue to depart the high-school and return to see how Jenny was getting on, but on the off chance that either of them had other plans, he was happy to wait around.
----
((If MeleeMan and Damascus want to do anything else, Courser will hang with them, but if not, then he'll jack out, and return to -> Dentech Spots Day))
last edited by
MeleeMan found himself wondering if he'd ruined Hall a bit in Coach's eyes... not cause there was anything wrong with her standards, of course, but more because he'd given her a taste of a real man. Once they were gone, he turned his head slightly, as if not looking CourseMan in the eyes, but rather just acknowledging him. "Hmph. For women, all roads lead back to MeleeMan. I appreciate what you did, but you gotta accept that it was bound to happen regardless. You ought to just be thankful you got some scraps," he grinned; it was hard to tell whether he thought he was being genuinely generous to CourseMan or if that was him being aggravating on purpose. "As for Hall, that ship might be sunk either way you look at it. I doubt another hookup with me is going to happen, unless she liked the 'bad girl' thing enough to crawl back to me after all this blackmail crap. That said... I am irresistible." He smirked and rubbed his chin with one hand.
The word hung in the air ridiculously, before Damascus resumed the conversation, returning CourseMan's bow. "You have my gratitude. I may not have properly expressed that during this mission... but yes, without your input, I feel confident we would have received no payment on this mission. So for that, I thank you," she finished, straightening back up. She wasn't so much for the kissing of hands, so it remained a mutual bow instead. "It has not been fun. No." It was clear that despite her courtesy and, apparently, her gratitude, no smile had shown up on her face. He'd probably have to bleed a little or otherwise find a good use for a sword if he wanted to get that out of her.
"No, keep the briefs on. Not interested in any debriefing," MeleeMan grumbled, waving one hand dismissively at CourseMan. Again, it was hard to tell if he was joking or if he'd actually interpreted CourseMan to say he was going to get naked again. At this late juncture, it still seemed unlikely that either MeleeMan or Damascus were going to call him a friend, but at least he'd earned some words of thanks from both of them, albeit begrudging ones. "Well, if there's no more student council girls who want to learn what it's like to be student council women, I'm outta here. See you when I see you, sea-man." Thus finished, he jacked out. Damascus followed wordlessly.
((Jacking out))
The word hung in the air ridiculously, before Damascus resumed the conversation, returning CourseMan's bow. "You have my gratitude. I may not have properly expressed that during this mission... but yes, without your input, I feel confident we would have received no payment on this mission. So for that, I thank you," she finished, straightening back up. She wasn't so much for the kissing of hands, so it remained a mutual bow instead. "It has not been fun. No." It was clear that despite her courtesy and, apparently, her gratitude, no smile had shown up on her face. He'd probably have to bleed a little or otherwise find a good use for a sword if he wanted to get that out of her.
"No, keep the briefs on. Not interested in any debriefing," MeleeMan grumbled, waving one hand dismissively at CourseMan. Again, it was hard to tell if he was joking or if he'd actually interpreted CourseMan to say he was going to get naked again. At this late juncture, it still seemed unlikely that either MeleeMan or Damascus were going to call him a friend, but at least he'd earned some words of thanks from both of them, albeit begrudging ones. "Well, if there's no more student council girls who want to learn what it's like to be student council women, I'm outta here. See you when I see you, sea-man." Thus finished, he jacked out. Damascus followed wordlessly.
((Jacking out))
last edited by
((SUPER LATE FXP MOD:
CourseMan/MeleeMan: 19
CourseMan/Hall: A LOT - JUST KIDDING
CourseMan/CoachMan: FRAID NOT
CourseMan/Twig: 37
CourseMan/Wand: 41
MeleeMan/CourseMan: 19
MeleeMan/Hall: 28
MeleeMan/CoachMan: GRUFF MALE POSTURING
MeleeMan/Twig: 4
MeleeMan/Wand: 6
Don't put my jokes in your FXP tally.))
CourseMan/MeleeMan: 19
CourseMan/Hall: A LOT - JUST KIDDING
CourseMan/CoachMan: FRAID NOT
CourseMan/Twig: 37
CourseMan/Wand: 41
MeleeMan/CourseMan: 19
MeleeMan/Hall: 28
MeleeMan/CoachMan: GRUFF MALE POSTURING
MeleeMan/Twig: 4
MeleeMan/Wand: 6
Don't put my jokes in your FXP tally.))