"Well, that should cover everything, yeah? How should we go about payment? Honestly, I think it'd be pretty funny if ya just slapped it on the bill for the meal. Oh, but there's gotta be a contract or somethin' as proof, yeah?" Since Lucas is satisfied with the agreements that have been made, his mind has already begun to drift towards thoughts regarding the brownie sundae that he can only, correctly, assume is being consumed at an alarming rate.

"Ah, right. Drumming up a deed for its title of ownership shouldn't be an issue, the problem is having it notarized… Oh! Heheh, Miss Calculated is who we would ideally want to be the notary anyway. I doubt she carries the stamp around, but her signature after serving as the witness is better than a stamp from an official bot, I'd think. What kind of down payment and timespan were you thinking for the payment plan? I'll run the numbers and see what sort of interest rate we can offer in just a moment." Lorelei's level of self-satisfaction has only grown further after finding yet another excuse to throw some money at Miss Calculated for her services.

Lucas locks up briefly, caught off guard from her mentioning a payment plan.

'Oh, right, dur. It's already weird enough that I'm just casually buying a service bot from them, is it too fishy if I just pay everything up front?'

[...At this point, you've already established yourself as sufficiently eccentric. You might as well just pay in full and avoid unnecessary interest.]

'Works for me!'

"Ah, actually, I'll spare you the homework. I can just pay it all, save both time and money, yeah?" When Lucas makes this offer, it becomes Lorelei's turn to freeze briefly due to surprise.

"Oh my… Ahem, of course, why, you're being so generous, it's only fair that I comp your meal as well!" Lorelei somehow manages to find one last excuse to save Lucas even more money. She smoothly stands up once more, then takes a few steps in the direction of the door for her office.

"Ha, I hardly can turn that down. You might regret it when you see the bill, though." Lucas can't resist teasing with a good-humored smile, as if she hadn't already shaved off far, far more money than the cost of their, although admittedly large, meal.

"Well, in that case, I'll go ask Miss Calculated about my requests, and you can take your time enjoying your dessert. Shall we?" When Lorelei asks this, Lucas stands up as well, nodding with a smile. He makes an open-palmed gesture with his right hand, indicating she should go ahead of him.

Lorelei smiles back, then takes the lead.

While Lucas most likely would have done similarly even if it were just the two of them, there is the added bonus of giving Miss Chievous time to quietly stand up and walk out ahead of him as well, without alerting Lorelei to her presence.

Once all three of them are out in the hallway, Lorelei starts to lead the way back towards the dining area. After a few steps, Lucas stops.

After two more steps on Lorelei's part, she notices that Lucas has stopped in his tracks. Pausing in her travels as well, Lorelei turns around to look at Lucas curiously.

"Ah, actually, I'm gonna go hit the restroom while I'm already here, I know the way back, you can go on ahead." Once Lucas says this, Lorelei nods and continues walking to the dining area.

Once Lucas reaches the door to the men's room, he abruptly stops just outside of it.

'Did Chi follow me?'

[...Yes.]

Lucas snorts and then quickly turns around.

"I'm not sure if I should be flattered or concerned." When Lucas says this, he does lower his voice a bit, so it doesn't carry too far down the hallway from their position.

Miss Chievous gasps loudly from only a short distance in front of his newly-oriented direction.

"I knew it, you had some way of telling! I was definitely quiet that time!" Miss Chievous similarly lowers her voice, but still maintains her accusatory inflections.

'...Oh, whoops.'

[...I should have known better than to answer your question without asking why.]

'Errr… Oh, I got it!'

"Ha! I didn't know, it was just a guess! Since I'm otherwise completely alone, no one else would have noticed me acting weird if you weren't there! Seriously though, why follow me to the bathroom? Weirdo." After Lucas makes a decent enough recovery in a reasonable time span, Miss Chievous snorts in response.

[Well, I suppose she bought it, her expression is far less suspicious now, at least.]

"You're the weirdo. I was just making sure you weren't using it as an excuse before sneaking off to do something fun. I wasn't going to actually follow you in, hmph. If I was gonna be some sleazy peeping tom, it would at least be over someone cuter." Miss Chievous skillfully defends her honor while turning it into an attack against Lucas's fragile ego in one fell swoop. She is, of course, grinning the whole time, not that he can see that detail.

427's laughter isn't soothing Lucas's mood any.

'Rude! That was totally unnecessary!'

[...I think it was hilarious, and given the way she's smiling, I do believe she does too.]

'Screw you!'

Lucas sputters briefly, then reaches back to start opening the bathroom door.

"Damn right you weren't! Why would you even specify that!? That's totally a guilty admission that you've definitely thought about it!" Lucas lands barely enough of a counterattack to slightly smooth his ruffled feathers, then storms into the restroom.

Once he's inside he rapidly slams the door shut behind him, making the door cry out with an alarmingly loud bang.

Miss Chievous is, of course, hysterically laughing the whole time.

After half of a second, Lucas quickly tugs the door back open again by about a foot, and then leans out of the created gap.

"And! Given the way you and Mash were drooling over him, apparently, I need to warn Mikah to be careful around you! Weirdo!" After Lucas makes this parting shot, he backs into the restroom again, quickly yanking the door shut, without giving her a chance to respond.

Both 427 and Miss Chievous only laugh harder.

Before walking away from the men's room entrance, Miss Chievous softly calls out to the door in a taunting voice "Take your time in there, I'm gonna go steal some of your brownie~!"

Barely two seconds after, Lucas pulls the door open once again with soapy hands.

"You have your own cheesecake, eat that instead, you thief!" Lucas's attempts at defending what little likely remains of his dessert is met with more laughter on Miss Chievous's part.

"But that's for later! Hehe, see ya!" With this parting, Miss Chievous doesn't even bother trying to hide the sound of her footsteps as she clearly runs in the direction of the dining area.

-----

Lucas total kills: 7

Lucas total deaths: 11

Lucas total assists: 1

Lucas current GDV: 12.40 (+.01 +.01 = +.02 net change)

Lucas's fame level: 4.50* (Beyond just local, viral meme tier. Local levels are extremely high.)

Lucas's hero suspicion level: 2.5* (More than just passing suspicion for some paranoid individuals, people are realizing he's an impulsive idiot)

Jonathan total kills: 6

Jonathan total deaths: 2

Jonathan current GDV: 3.99 (+.01 net change)

Jonathan's fame level: 2.75* (Mostly just local)

Jonathan's hero suspicion level: 2.75* (A few paranoid individuals are suspicious)

Willy's fame level: 1.5* (Anonymous meme fame, local fame primarily as 'Xenoclast's dog', but some strangers know him as William/Willy now)

Supervillain social circle size: 11

-----

Little character theater:

Jonathan had to make a conscious effort to stop eating after consuming about two-thirds of the poor dessert. It's a good thing Lucas only really wanted a little bit, having only a small amount of room left in his stomach, since he had already overeaten as it is.

Willy is, unsurprisingly, still sound asleep. It's not like all that much time has passed.

Lucas is sulkily fuming as he goes back to the sink to properly wash his hands until they're completely free of residual lobster lotion.

427 continues to be amused by the interaction between the two mildly intoxicated fools: [You know, it's rather refreshing to see someone else successfully antagonize you to the same extent that you normally direct my way.]

Author, hiding their smile behind a raised hand: Oh, but Lucas, Mikah is the one person she can't manage to do it to, even if she really tried!

Mr. Quacks is suspiciously sitting much closer to the brownie sundae, now with a few chocolatey crumbs stuck in the incriminating chocolate sauce on his beak: Quack!?