Scene: regroup in the woods

> [Altered] Mary-Lou waiting at Tavern

> Description of town: loudly military

> Do Artemis and the deer meet now? YES

> Description of the deer: combatively delightful, coolly delicate -> attention loving

> Do Artemis' rations include deer-appropriate food? NO

It turns out that Mary-Lou did not run into the forest with you. But the deer did: you can see it standing in the shade of trees. It's looking at you curiously. You feel like its expression carries a certain teasing superiority, but you remind yourself that deer do not emote like humans do and that you are probably imagining it. You look through your pack, but find no suitable food to offer to attract it. It doesn't seem to need attracting though. It lets you come close and touch its nose. "I'm goin to call you Derby", you say. "I have to go to the town now, I think my friend might be injured. Do you want to come with me?" It looks uninterested. "Alright, see you later then."

> Move: Artemis: discern realities [failed]

> Does he see anything suspicious? YES

Back in the town, you keep up your hood, just in case somebody recognizes you. Maybe setting a bear loose on a crowd as a "prank" will have some consequences? Guilt is setting in. You stop in a cobbled alley plaza that has a little fountain. You look around and try to find out what the atmosphere of the city is like, if any guards are looking for you, or where Mary-Lou might have run off to. But no luck. You're feeling a little dizzy so you rummage in your pack for some food. Huh, the sausages you had put at the top of the pack have now vanished. Maybe a pickpocket? You look around you again even though the thief is probably long gone. Instead, you spot Vicar, coming towards you.

# Event: NPC negative, activity emotions. NPC: Vicar

> Change focus to Mary-Lou in the tavern.

> Is there anyone interesting? YES

> Vicar? YES

> Vicar's mood? withdrawn, distrustful

> Is Vicar doing rehab now? YES, AND -> they're putting him to work at the tavern.

> Does he still want to blackmail? NO, AND -> he says the whole thing was stupid.

> Is Vicar an Alien? YES

> Vicars motivation? lovingly implore

You're Mary-Lou and you're in a tavern. The bear-tackle had knocked the air out of you quite badly and even left you feeling like you'll get some nasty bruises as a souvenir, if you're lucky even an injured rib or two. And when you'd recovered enough to stand up and look around, Artemis was nowhere to be seen. The most logical meetup place was obviously a tavern, and you'd probably be able to rest a bit too. So now you're here, and with your locale-appropriate wooden pipe and tobacco no less. You are inexperienced with pipe smoking but how hard can it be? You lean against the nearest wall and stuff tobacco into the big opening until it looks about full. You get out your period-appropriate matches and light it easily. You normally smoke cigarettes so you have some idea of how quickly you want the tobacco to burn, so it's quite easy. The smoke tastes better than any you've ever had. You didn't know that smoke could taste this good!

The lowkey rush of nicotine makes you feel more at ease, and you take some time to take in the room and the people in it. You spot Vicar and decide to greet him.

"Heyy, so you work here now?" you say and sit down at the table that the man is currently wiping. He stops wiping and sighs in response. "Yeah, community service is part of the 'rehab concept'." He makes mocking air quotes.

Remembering the earlier argument with Artemis, you ask: "So do you want us to help bail you out of here?" Vicar sits down across from you and drops the rag and the pretense of working. He shrugs dismissively. "Eh, whatever, it's not that bad. Might even be good for me. Make me a worthy member of society and all that." You snort at his sarcasm. ...It was sarcasm, right? You do understand the guilt of an addict, and the scorn of society, and the feelings of resignation about it all. "So what, you don't want my 20,000 gold?" you tease. Vicar rolls his eyes and half-scoffs, half-laughs. "No, no, you're fine. I'm not interested in the galactic council, et-cetera. Let's leave that in the past."

A thought occurs to you. "You're not from here, are you? The way you operated that transcom..." He laughs and looks down. "You caught me. I already know aaall about the galactic council." He pronounces galactic council with the irony of someone who not only knows that there isn't one, but who also was around for the memes about it a couple of years ago. Ha, those were funny, you smile to yourself and try to blow a smoke ring. It fails.

Vicar suddenly leans in closely and looks at you intensely. "Enough about me, I want to know about you."

"Oh, uhh," you stammer in response. "I don't know if you're flirting, but you should know that i don't do.. love." The local people probably don't have words like aromantic, you muse, forgetting already that the human in front of you is, by local standards, an alien.

The short man raises his eyebrows in response. "Are you.. more of a physical type?" He still seems too interested.

"No, nothing of the kind, I, uh. Looking at people is nice but that's about it" you lie. The attention is making you uncomfortable like it always does, so you'd rather pretend that you're asexual too. That's usually easier to grasp anyway. You're just married to ... your pipe? You deliberately exhale a lot of smoke all at once to create a bit of a cloud between Vicar and yourself. Sure, why not, it makes for a worthy companion, and you do not have anything else going on in your life. You are painfully aware of this for a second or two.

Vicar meanwhile is looking at you with the usual amounts of allo confusion and doubt, but then he shifts to disappointment and you can breathe out a sigh of relief. He seems to have gotten the overall message.

> FQ: does he storm out? Extreme NO

> FQ: Vicar mad about the thing with the bear? YES

> FQ: did the bear hurt anyone else? YES

> FQ: badly? NO

> NPC: Saya

> Chaos factor rises to 6

For a moment you think that he might actually storm out, dramatically trailing glittering tears behind him in slow motion like girls in anime do sometimes, but seems to compose himself. "Where's your... friend?" Oh, right, Artemis. You had planned on being mad for a bit and then forgiving him for the whole bear-tackle-incident, but now you're worried that he hasn't shown up yet. "I don't know. I thought we'd meet here, but I should probably go looking for him." Vicar is quick to offer his help.

You find him soon after in a little alleyway with a fountain in it. He comes running over and tackle-hugs you, causing you to groan in pain. "Owww... that bear did quite a number on me, you know?" He freezes up and starts to apologize profusely. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it was a stupid idea, I didn't mean for the bear to get out, I shouldn't have run away, but I saved the deer, his name is Derby, I'm so sorry I hurt you and left you,-" Vicar interrupts him, suddenly angry. You're starting to think that the guy has frequent mood swings. "It was you? You let that bear lose? Do you know what you've done? People got hurt! Saya from the Amola family got her face clawed off!" Oh why? Why must he make it worse? You hold up a hand to stop him. "We'll go apologize, just give us directions."