(JAN 5.52 PDT / 14.52 CEST)

I LOVED this chapter. It’s for a silly reason, but it made me jump for joy. (Everybody sing a long!!!!)

“Last time you said that, you ripped my shirt,” she said. “And ripped my heart out too.”

Earlier, Anna and I were complaining that this wasn’t really a Romance unless some things happened, one of them being ripped clothes. Heaving bosoms was another one, and lucky for me, both those suggestions got picked. The ripped clothes one was a question that belonged to the Scarlet Lemming however, which the Console had randomly put in for a reason unknown. So the ripped clothes weren’t going to be entered. (The question I entered them for was a way to die, which explains the heart coming out too).

Since the questions didn’t belong to the chapter, MCM couldn’t put it in, but he promised he’d do it later and here we are. And I have to say, he put it in a perfect context. And even though the romance was faked, it was still perfect and slightly cheesy romance.

On to the outline!

Jyi thrown into a back room covered in alien blood.  [bird] argues that she’s cool, she’s not a traitor, she’s just been laying low.  Guard unconvinced.  Asks Jyi why nobody’s seen her for so long.  She says she hopped out into the forest, down to [LAST NAME] colony, been living among the naturalists for a while.  Good thing about it is the mushrooms make you [EUPHORIC STATE], but the bad news is the naturalists don’t want you to eat their entire crop all at once.  She came back to the city a few weeks ago, tried to get by on [OTHER DRUG] but it’s just not the same.  He asks what happened to her face.  Bad breakup with this [GUY/GIRL/OTHER] she owed money to.

Guard not convinced.  [bird] intervenes: why would she come back BEFORE the trial started?  Jyi doesn’t know what trial, but nobody listens to her.  [bird] pays the guard for himself and Jyi to make nice, and they’re let into the lounge and given a small dose.  [bird] takes it at once, but Jyi starts to fake it until she sees the guard is watching her.  Her hand is trembling, and the drug scares her, but she takes it anyway, enjoys her little trip.  The guard, happy, sneaks off.

Jyi takes one of the pills she has left, and her high goes away and gets replaced by a wicked headache.  She stumbles out, makes her way into one of the offices, starts going through things.  Computer is locked.  Sees a pic of a pair of [PET], remembers [cat] had a pair just like this.  Looks for ANYTHING else to tie him to the cartel.  Hears taking in the hall, tries to hide.  Footsteps leave, and she sneaks outside, down the hall, bumps into the guard.  He grabs her by the arm and carries her off, depositing her in front of Tenzo himself.

I love all the different drug stuff. I am slightly confused by all the animal references in the outline though, I don’t remember who the cat is and so on, but I’m sure it’ll all be clear once I am less tired. When I reread the Scarlet Lemming I found a couple of easter eggs that had totally escaped me when I first read it, so I’m sure that will happen with TNR2 too.

In the mean time we’re struggling to act properly awake in the backstage. MCM will be having breakfast soon, Anna and I need to buy supplies for the rest of the weekend, and we’re coordinating a bit. Some time passed since I first started this post, because another chapter was posted, and people rang at the door, and the sun is shining, and I am so very much tired.

So on the chapter 13 outline.

Tenzo greets Jyi, says he heard she came in.  Talks to her about [LIFE PROBLEM].  Jyi carefully treads the line between herself and the junkie.

Tenzo says he’s never met her, doesn’t think she’s a traitor, but he knows she’s Centaurian.  She can amplify emotions.  She stays quiet, lets him speak.  He has [NUMBER] girls on his staff whose job it is to pleasure him, but even with [drug] — which he seldom uses himself — it’s not that great an experience.  He wants more, and he thinks Jyi can help him with it.  [WATCH OR PLAY]  She warns him that when Centaurians mix it up with non-Centaurians like that, sometimes people end up in comas.  He agrees she should keep her clothes on.

Jyi goes into business mode.  She had a hit of [drug] before, but she wants more.  He’s agreeable.  How much?  [NUMBER] kilos.  And an apartment to keep it in, and she can be his booster slave for as long as he likes.  Oh, and money for [ARTICLE OF CLOTHING].  She hates the crap she has on now.  He wants to know what she’d do with # kilos… that’s a lot for one person, and makes him think she’s trying to be her own pusher, not user.  She says she’s been strung along with tiny hits before, and ends up getting screwed in the end.  # gives her stability and will keep her from straying.

Tenzo says nobody has that much [drug], certainly not to give it away.  He’ll give her 1 kilo, and if she does well, he’ll consider finding alternatives.  From what he hears, Centaurian boosting can be worth more than life itself, so it seems a fair trade.  Jyi tries to push for 2 kilos, but he says he could just as easily kill her and deal with never being truly happy.  Her choice.

She agrees, reluctantly, and the girls get led in.  Jyi warns the guard they should get out of the room… as good as it’ll be for Tenzo, the frustration of not being able to do the same will probably drive them mad.  She stands back and does her best to make them have the happiest time of their lives, while keeping an eye on the blaster Tenzo discards on the floor.

I was all excited that Tenzo’s problem was my piercing suggestion, but if he’s sooo covered in piercings he doesn’t have any place left on his body, shouldn’t she at least react to his strange sight when she first walks in? I know Jyi is tough, but jeez, she should at least have blinked. Or have hidden a smile or something. And when the orgy arrives (I still can’t stop laughing MCM threw in an Orgy, it’s soooo not like him. Though maybe his inner pervert is finally coming out. Everybody has an inner pervert after all.) So when the orgy arrives, there should have been some piercing interaction. Just sayin’.