"Better check those messages, hun. I've taken up enough of your time." Robin gave him a sexy smile as she tied up her orange hair and put her armor back on.
Any further conversation was interrupted by a knock on QJ's workshop door. Since she was already standing up, Robin answered it.
"Oh... Good evening, Robin." Morgan stepped into the doorway, her dark eyes taking in everything. "Is this a bad time?"
Robin laughed at the innuendo. "Ten minutes ago, it would have been. We're done now."
Morgan fiddled with the end of one dark braid. "Thirty thousand drachma for [Secret Lover]."
Robin shook her head. "Not for thirty million drachma..."
The gypsy turned her gaze onto QJ. "I'll buy the blueprint off you for five thousand drachma."
QJ ignored the obvious underbid and leaned back on the couch. "I don't think I've ever seen a more comfortable piece of furniture."
Morgan wrinkled her nose at QJ. "Ten thousand drachma!"
"Deal," QJ replied. "I'll send it to you when I'm done here."
Morgan nodded. "Thank you. Good night to you both."
"Night, Morgan," QJ answered.
Robin walked toward her office, stopping in the doorway.
"I'll be gone till the morning. My sisters are going to be so jealous."
QJ laughed at her expression. "No matter what, I won't make them one."
"Just hold out a few days at least; they can be very persuasive."
"Okay, Robs."
QJ left the shop a few minutes later. "I might as well peek at the stats."
[Kingslayer QJ]
Wrangler: Level 42
Agility 57
Perception 57
Stamina 44
Wisdom 31
Strength 42
Command 27
Total BR: 12
Skills
[Phoenix Bullets]
Pistol V 11/100 Level 2
Shotgun IV 23/100 Level 2
Grand Master Gunsmith: Magnum Opus: 1 [+3 to all Stats]
Indomitable Will
+5 All stats, immune
to curses.
QJ whistled softly as he descended the stairs, "That little derringer made my stats skyrocket."
He passed through the kitchen and accessed the Instances. He chose the [Defend the Keep] Instance and ported directly onto the Keep wall. Cleo was standing still for once, staring at the sky.
She smiled without looking at him. "I thought you may have forgotten about us, QJ."
QJ shook his head, returning her smile when her warm thoughts washed over him. "Not really possible right? Aren't we a family?"
"That's right! Are you here to take more measurements?"
QJ had decided that since Cleo was technically part of his character, she would attend the Star Crossed Ball as his guard. "No. I came to see your progress."
She grabbed his hand. "You will be pleased, QJ."
"Hmmm?" QJ picked up her hand and touched it with his other hand.
"QJ?"
"Going to touch your arm, Cleo." He ran his hand from her elbow to her wrist.
Cleo's pretty golden face smiled sweetly. "That feels nice."
QJ had thought her skin was golden, but that wasn't the case. Instead, she had the finest yellow fuzz covering her arms. It felt like smooth velvet to the touch.
Cleo's head cocked to one side, and she stroked his arm. "Oh, I see... we're different."
"Yep... but just between us, I like yours better."
Cleo's wings fluttered slightly, making her feet leave the ground momentarily. "You say such nice things, thank you."
"Show me your progress."
Cleo nodded and summoned a drone.
[Drone]
Killer-Bee
Level 46
HP: 15,750
Strength 45
Agility
60
Stamina 48
BR: 9
"We've achieved a flawless victory on the Arduous Setting, but we've only progressed to the second stage on the Deadly Setting."
"Wow... that's really impressive. Remember, tomorrow is the Star Crossed Ball. Aji will have your outfit."
"I will protect you, QJ."
QJ sighed, "I'm scared to ask, but show me your individual progress."
Cleo gave him a slight nod. "Of course."
[Cleo]
Spider-Bee [Royalty]
Level 56
HP 29,950/29,950
Strength 52
Agility 81
Stamina 50
BR:12
"As expected, Cleo is the best." QJ patted her head, "Keep working on this instance. Once you can achieve victory on the Deadly setting, your job here will be finished."
Cleo clapped her hands together excitedly, her gold eyes brightening. "Then I will fight next to you again!"
QJ nodded and focused on warm thoughts. "I look forward to it. Don't forget to pick up your outfit tomorrow afternoon."
QJ slipped on the cowboy hat he won in the Doubler Canyon raid.
[Your features are now obscured.]
[Character settings have been set to anonymous]
QJ laughed at the result. "Damn, I love this hat." Even his voice was modified despite not being mentioned in the item description.
QJ nonchalantly walked into the Keep's kitchen.
"Hey! Who are you? What do you want?" A beautiful woman with dark hair shook a large metal spoon in a hand covered with soapsuds. She had a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. "No one comes into this kitchen without my permission."
QJ clucked his tongue at Leah's younger sister. "How dare you speak to me like that? Do you know who my aunt is?"
Felicia narrowed her eyes briefly before a smile pulled at her lips. "Of course! Your aunt is me..."
QJ pulled off the hat and accepted a hug from the woman. "How'd you know?"
When QJ rolled his sleeves and grabbed a scrub brush, Felicia raised an eyebrow. "You had me scared until you mentioned your aunt."
"Sorry," QJ's grin admitted that he wasn't, but Felicia accepted his help anyway.
They cleaned the rest of the pots and then enjoyed some leftover pastries from the morning roll call.
"Thanks, QJ." Felicia smiled warmly and joined him as he walked toward the Keep's exit.
"Have you heard about my pool and hot tub?" QJ asked.
Felicia's brown eyes widened. "The one Leah tried out?"
QJ nodded. "It has been upgraded a bit. We can run the process for two hours a day. Any more than that, and we risk damaging the components."
"I just need log-on privileges." Felicia was one of the younger LAIs; she jumped into Exodus and even attended TAP Academy; her awareness of the hero world was complete.
"I'll add you to the list when I log off and send you the deets." QJ walked her to the Exodus platform, where he accepted another hug. "Night, Felicia."
After leaving the Keep, QJ summoned Scorch and started toward Briar Rose at a very leisurely pace. "Better return some calls."
A pretty woman with light blue hair popped up on QJ's screen. A dark bow hung from one shoulder; even through the hud, it radiated power. "Hey QJ, just wanted to let you know that Nix is ready to go."
Blaze had nicknamed the Phoenix, Nix. Apparently, it was male and very smart. The ranger was confident that it would develop speech once it was older.
QJ gave her a nervous look; the beautiful ranger was known as an eternal optimist. "Will it be okay?"
She smiled at him through the hud. "Have I ever let you down, QJ? Even one time?"
"Fine, fine. Showtime is tomorrow. I'll have everything sent to you. I owe you one, Blaze."
"Babysit for us one Friday night, and we'll be square!" Blaze narrowed her eyes when he frowned. "Come on, QJ, that last time was an accident!"
QJ laughed at her expression. "Fine, we'll figure it out." Blaze and Onion had a ten-year-old daughter named Josie. As hellions go, she was the cream of the crop. In two hours, she had set QJ's hair on fire, started the truck, drove it through the garage door, and set loose a horned toad in Anna's bathroom.
Blaze signed off, quickly leaving before QJ could take his words back. He shook his head, and another face popped up on his hud: a beautiful Chinese woman with short, dark hair. "Hey, Yu."
The woman smiled at the nickname. Only Q and his son still called her that. Daiyu Ling had worked with Fora for twenty years. She no longer did commentary but ran a small media corporation that sponsored gamers. She still owned a private studio and retained everything she needed to return to broadcasting. QJ had asked her to install cameras and listening devices in his casino. "Everything is set up and ready to go."
QJ raised an eyebrow. "Did I catch you working out?"
Daiyu nodded. "Doing some yoga. Can I ask you for a favor, QJ?"
"Of course." Daiyu had flatly refused to charge him anything; although a savvy businesswoman, she valued friendship above everything else.
"My nephew Wu is a GnG nut. The only problem is that his gaming skills are complete crap." Daiyu sighed, "he lives in my basement and seems to enjoy doing things that drive me crazy."
"Hmm... want me to beat him up?"
Yu laughed. "Yes, please!!" She paused momentarily. "Someone will have to go through all the data from the casino cameras and mics. I think this might be something he could be good at. He's a tech-head and a GnG encyclopedia."
"You want to assign him to us?" QJ pretended to give it some thought. He had planned on doing it himself. But he also knew how long that would take. "I'm going to make you so happy; you'll want to propose."
Yu picked up a towel and wiped her forehead. Even slightly sweaty and without make-up, her pretty face could stop traffic. "Having Wu work with you will make me happy, but it probably falls short of matrimony."
QJ cringed at her expression, silently kicking himself for bringing up a sore subject. Yu had been engaged once, and the groom had left her at the altar. "My friends and I just moved into the house next door to Mom & Dad. There is one empty bedroom. Would you like to reclaim your basement?"
Yu made her living at keeping a straight face under pressure, but she couldn't contain the smile that seeped out. "You're inviting Wu to live with you and your friends from GnG?"
QJ nodded. "Yep, that will make things easier all around."
Daiyu moved to Seattle after her failed engagement and visited Quinn's parents several times over the years. "I'll run it by him... Her smile widened considerably. "You've just made my top five favorite people list, QJ."
"Only the top five?" QJ frowned. "I'll have to work harder then!"
Yu nodded in agreement. "Depends on what your goal is. Do your best, QJ." She flashed him the million-dollar smile and then closed her hud.
[OP: Breeze] Answer your hud, QJ!
[OP: QJ] Cut me some slack. I have like 14 messages to reply to.
[OP: Lotte: So popular!
[OP: Ringo] Impressive work, QJ. Keep it up!
[OP: Sato] How many of those were from women?
[OP: QJ] I can't hear you. You're breaking up.
QJ clicked the latest notice on his hud, and an unfamiliar face popped up a moment later. The person was an Aborigine NPC.
She was dressed in dark colors and wore her hair in a braided bun.
"Permit me to introduce myself. I'm Sierra Sandhealer, a daughter of the Dunjai Nomadic Tribes."
QJ bowed his head slightly. "Nice to meet you. I'm QJ, Vice Commander of the One Problem Guild."
"I have heard of your exploits and require someone with your qualifications." Sierra's dark eyes stared at him through the hud. She was sitting in a well-lit tent; there was no sign of anyone else.
"No promises, Sierra. I'm somewhat busy at the moment." QJ brought up his world map. He had never heard of the Dunjai tribes. He frowned as he studied the map; the Dunjai Desert was on the Basara Continent, on the other side of the Khabi Ocean.
"This will only take one evening of your time. I have the ability to transport you to my side and return you home when finished." Sierra leaned closer; her dark skin was the color of coffee beans.
[Test of Strength]
Quest Type: Major Event/Foreign Land
Defend Sierra throughout the night. Quest is
successful if she survives.
Do you accept this Quest Y/N?
[OP: QJ] Out of touch for a while.
QJ used his hud to turn off guild notifications. "Yes, I accept."