>> Frisk: Prepare for event

[Sans]

The little girl ran through the swamp, the image of Old Mister Habernathy doing… the thing to the butcher’s mother still fresh in her memory. She was glad she had managed to get some water before escaping the scene; she didn’t want to know what would have happened if she had been caught. Maybe nothing bad, just a scolding or two, but she would feel so bad for them. It was rude to eavesdrop.

After a few minutes of running, she got out of the swamp, heading towards her cave. Her clothes were still wet from her accidental dumping of water, and she shivered as a soft breeze blew through the area around her. She kept her water bucket steady as she walked into her cave, seeing relatively little had changed before she had arrived. Her toothpick stickmen people were still standing near her computer, which was closed, and her baking mix box was still on the table near the entryway to the cave. She still couldn’t get the image out of her head no matter how hard she tried. It was maddening, like flowers surrounding you in your dreams and poking you with vines.

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her of why she had set out of the cave in the first place. Without much hesitation, she got to work.

After a few more minutes, she had set up a campfire out of several stones, some twigs, and a fresh bit of flint she had found. She had placed a pot of water above the fire, having dumped the water from the bucket into said pot. The fire provided an orangish glow to the cave, warming up her damp body and giving her a sense of coziness. It was kinda like how warm it felt in the swamp, when she saw the two old people kissing-

She immediately shook her head, sticking out her tongue. She still could hardly believe she had seen Old Man Mister Habernathy kiss someone, let alone someone like the butcher’s mother! Were they dating? Did the butcher know?

She had to get it off of her mind. The food was going to take a while, so she had to find some other means of distraction.

Frisk looked towards her pink laptop, smiling a little bit as she realized she hadn’t actually checked her PesterOmni since she got back. Moving towards it, she reopened her laptop, waiting for it boot up. When it did, she pulled up PesterOmni, seeing she had gotten a total of one message. It was from Paige!

Smiling, she pulled open the message board.

[spoiler]

-- literaryEnthusiast [LE] began pestering freskAbenet [FA] at ∞∞:∞∞ --

FA: "Oh... hi...Paige..."
FA: "Doing...okay...how about, um...you?"

FA: "Oh...your books...caught on fire?"

FA: "I'm sorry... I... I wish I could, um... help..."

FA: "Um...nothing much, really... well... except Old Man Mister, um... Habernathy, but... um..."
FA: "Wait... you... know my birthday is... in a few days?"

FA: "Paige, I..."
FA: "Um..."
FA: "..."
FA: "I, um..."
FA: "Paige..."
FA: "I..."
FA: "What's... a solar sweep...?"

FA: "No, no! I... it's okay..."
FA: "I... I'm sorry, I..."
FA: "I... didn't mean to... um..."
FA: "Make you... think... um..."
FA: "Like... that..."
FA: "Whatever... that... um, is..."
FA: "Oh... okay..."

FA: "Oh... him..."
FA: "Um..."
FA: "..."
FA: "You've, um... read... The Christmas Carol, right?"
FA: "Well... he's a little like, um... Ebaneezer Scrooge... McDuck..."

FA: "Yeah... a bit of a quack and... blasphemny..."

FA: "Well... not blasphemny... that wouldn't... no, not blasphemny..."
FA: "I don't... it's just... no, not blasphemny..."

FA: "No, just... what's the word..."
FA: "...Sting...?"
FA: "Wait... no..."
FA: "Sorry, I... I don't, um... know what to..."
FA: "I... I guess..."

FA: "Sure..."
FA: "Anyways... I was... walking... um... through the woods..."
FA: "Just... playing..."
FA: "And... I came across a, um... pond..."
FA: "It's a... nice pond... good, um... water... anyways...uh..."
FA: "I... was near this, um... pond..."
FA: "Playing..."
FA: "Er, not playing, um..."
FA: "Just... um..."
FA: "Oh... okay..."
FA: "So... I was... getting water... and..."
FA: "I saw... Mister Habernathy!"
FA: "He was, um... in a boat, fishing for... fish in the, um... pond..."
FA: "Then... I saw... the local butcher's mother, Amy!"
FA: "She was... with him... in the boat... watching him fish, um... and, uh... talking..."
FA: "...Yes..."

FA: "Well... I... shouldn't... I don't... think..."
FA: "It... might be, um... rude..."

FA: "I... I don't know..."
FA: "It... it might be... I mean..."
FA: "You might... know these people and..."
FA: "I... I don't... um..."
FA: "Well..."
FA: "I just..."
FA: "Oh...okay..."
FA: "Oh... I don't, um... think I told you, but..."
FA: "Thank you... for, um... remembering..."
FA: "Bye... Paige..."

              -- literaryEnthusiast [LE] ceased pestering freskAbenet [FA] at ∞∞:∞∞ --[/spoiler]


She sat in complete silence at her laptop desk, a feeling of euphoria filling her body. She had never thought that Paige even remembered her birthday, let alone cared enough to log it into her computer. She began to laugh, feeling tears form in her eyes as she moved her hand to her face, cupping her mouth.

That’s when a thought crossed her mind. If Paige knew it was her birthday, what if the others did? Enthusiastic, she quickly pulled up Paul’s message board, beginning to pester him.

[spoiler]

-- freskAbenet [FA] began pestering nocturnalNerd [NN] at 13:13:02 --

FA: "Hi...Paul!"
FA: "Doing... okay... how are, um... you doing, Paul?"
FA: "Well... I hadn't, um..."
FA: "Contacted you in... a while... so..."
FA: "I wanted to, um... say hi."
FA: "If that's... okay... if I said... hi..."
FA: "Osburb?"
FA: "Oh. Who, um... wanted you to... download it?"
FA: "You... want to send me a... file?"
FA: "Please?"
FA: "Thank you."

-- freskAbenet [FA] began pestering nocturnalNerd [NN] at 13:15:35 --[/spoiler]

OSburb? she thought, sliding the file onto her desktop. It appeared to be some kind of icon of a house made out of several rectangular green blocks. She didn’t know what the game could even be about, just that it was maybe a game about a house? Did the game involve cleaning up messes you leave around the house and taught a message about responsibility? She wasn’t entirely sure she liked those kinds of games… not that she hated responsibility or anything. She was responsible; she could clean up her messes.

She was about to ignore it completely when another thought crossed her mind. Paul had sent it to her, right? She couldn’t just delete it or ignore it! It had to have been a gift! Paul was too nice not to send it to her as something special! She quickly dragged the file to a folder for safe-keeping; it would’ve been bad if she had to explain to her friends why she didn’t get the game.

Another notification emerged on her PesterOmni. It was from Ahmed. She didn’t remember contacting Ahmed very much, nor did she remember him contacting her very much. She wondered why he was pestering her all of a sudden.

[spoiler]

-- avidProcrastinator [AP] began pestering freskAbenet [FA] at 13:29 --

FA: "Oh... hi, um... Ahmad."
FA: "I'm, um... doing okay... how are... you?"
FA: "Oh... who is he?"
FA: "A... son?"
FA: "Oh... well..."
FA: "Nothing much, really..."
FA: "Just gone done talking, um... talking with Paul and... uh... Paige..."
FA: "Oh... I know Paul... got it. OSburb... I think..."
FA: "I haven't, um... downloaded it yet."
FA: "I've just... been thinking about, um... doing it. I don't know if, um... I should wait or not..."
FA: "No! I mean..."
FA: "I... don't know if it's a gift... Paul sent me..."
FA: "I can't just... open it... not yet... not until the right day comes... you know?"
FA: "Okay... thank you, Ahmad... for, um... understanding..."
FA: "Sure, Ahmad... see you later..."

-- avidProcrastinator [AP] ceased pestering freskAbenet [FA] at 13:52 --[/spoiler]

No wonder he was so enthusiastic. It was the OSburb game. Apparently, both he and Paul had gotten it, and he was excited to play it. Was all of her online friends playing it? If so, she might have to commit to an early birthday.

What got her attention the most was this “Boss Man.” He saw Ahmed as some kind of… son. She didn’t know why Ahmed thought that was weird; she thought that was fantastic for him! Someone was looking out for him and taking care of him! Who could ask for anything more?

She sighed, glancing down towards the ground before looking around her cave. It was remarkably empty, even with all of the supplies she had procured in her time spent in it. She wondered what it would look like with more money, maybe someone else in it to break the silence.

She shook her head. No. No, it was better this way. Like this, she couldn’t hurt anyone. It didn’t matter if she had to live with only the bare minimum it took to keep going. She would rather live like a leper then put the people around her at risk. She wasn’t going to mind what her friend’s thought or even how they lived, for they probably weren’t living in caves themselves. If they were, though, they weren’t telling. She wished she did, though; it would make living in hers a lot more bearable knowing others were in the same situation.

She glanced towards the boiling pot, sighing as she closed her laptop.

>> Frisk: Prepare food.

Full Pesterlog Links:
Paige and Frisk
Frisk and Paul
Ahmed and Frisk