Someone who looks this needy and bedraggled definitely has a bullying problem. In the chalkboard jungle of primary school, the strongest eat and the weak are meat. So it went with you and Chiaki, so it goes here.
You see her eyes light up. She smiles in a way you can tell she doesn't smile much. "Someone watching my back would be Sophia-sent! Especially with those golden locks."
You realize she's buttering you up and thinks you're an idiot, but you also realize that she is in some danger you can help her in. Which means you were the best kind of correct: technically correct!
You pat your drills, the hair caressing your fingers at the touch. "Flattery will get you everywhere."
"I heard horror stories about you from my attendants, lesser nobles all." Her hands creep towards the most dangerous looking of her vials. "That you were a tyrant and a bully, sadism incarnate. And you're offering to beat up my bullies?"
There's a lols factor to this.
[ ] I'm atoning for my past sins by helping as many people I can.
[ ] Does it really matter? You have a Claudius offering friendship; you'd be a fool to turn it down.
"Putting that aside," you say, putting aside an invisible box. "You should give me your name. It's only proper since I gave you mine."
"Schwartzwald," the girl says. "Tanya Schwartzwald."
I hear German and Tanya, that's already a reason to be worried.
By the time Fall from Grace ends, Tanya developed modern firearms using a combination of her knowhow and Valentine's spirit arts...Firearms she would use to go school shooter on Grace, her friends, and her family. You vividly remember the CG of her lighting a cigar with the flames from your family's estate.
While I want to give her a hug, not sure it's well advised.
[x] Does it really matter? You have a Claudius offering friendship; you'd be a fool to turn it down.
[X] (Write-In) So, I've heard you make things that go boom. That seems fun!
As amusing as being blunt and direct is, I do not like the implications of this one. It means that our loyalties and allegiances could change at a drop of a hat. Or a drop on the head. Easy come, easy go.
This is not a firm foundation for long-term alliances.
[x] Does it really matter? You have a Claudius offering friendship; you'd be a fool to turn it down.
Now, being an arbitrary, arrogant and vaguely menacing benefactor? Totally within expectations of a noble, and could be worked with.
At least it sets a proper framework for settling disagreements in place of "hit her on the head and hope she reconsiders; if it fails, hit harder."
By the time Fall from Grace ends, Tanya developed modern firearms using a combination of her knowhow and Valentine's spirit arts... Firearms she would use to go school shooter on Grace, her friends, and her family.
...unsuccessfully, if the ending we got in the prologue is of any indication. Well, they say if you are fated to be hanged you won't drown, so let's get dangerous.
[x] (Write-In) So, I've heard you make things that go boom. That seems fun!
Our exploits together will be legendary! We will finally be able to upgrade our shoes from Thrown Weapons to Heavy Artillery!
[X] Does it really matter? You have a Claudius offering friendship; you'd be a fool to turn it down.
[X] (Write-In) So, I've heard you make things that go boom. That seems fun!
[X] Does it really matter? You have a Claudius offering friendship; you'd be a fool to turn it down.
[X] (Write-In) So, I've heard you make things that go boom. That seems fun!
"Funny story," you say, rapping yourself lightly on the head. "I did hit my head! Knocked the jerk right out of me."
Tanya stares at you in abject, Brainy-having-an-aneurysm shock. You know Grace's reputation preceded her in game, but you didn't expect it to be this big of a problem this young.
You can almost see the loading bar behind Tanya's eyes until she barks out a mad laugh. "Of course you're sick in the head. It's the only way someone like you would be this persistent to befriend someone like me."
<Emo> "I like this one. She understands..."
<Sensible> "Quiet, you."
You shrug. "However you wanna take it, as long as you don't do anything stupid with those vials. I heard you're good at making stuff go boom, but maybe we can skip the part you use me as a guinea pig?"
Tanya's hands spasm, an inch away from her vials. "...What do you know about me?"
"I know you're a genius and landed gentry, plus glowy vials usually go boom. Especially if they're red like those ones."
"Hoh?" Tanya makes an intrigued noise. "The oh-so-lofty Claudius line deigns to look underfoot to a jumped up commoner?"
"Noble's noble," you say, shrugging again. You pull up your skirts and sit on the table beside Tanya. "And I like people who do cool stuff. The Claudius family appreciates talent, no matter where it came from, too."
"Maybe I should take you up on your offer," Tanya says. "If head trauma turned you into someone who can appreciate talent, it should work for the others, right?"
There's a dangerous glint in her eye, but she's definitely relaxing around you. And she's not reaching for the vials anymore.
You chuckle nervously. "I can't really say, but the Crown Prince's sister took getting knocked on her butt by me pretty well."
"You did what?!" Tanya shouts.
You buff your knuckles on your dress. "I punched her out. She wanted to get satisfaction after I accidentally kicked my shoes into the Crown Prince's face, so I punched her out."
Tanya pulls out a pair of goggles from her work coat and looks you over with them. "Abnormal magical readings in the hair, but otherwise human standard." She slides them off her head with a snap. "You're not a shapeshifter or changeling..."
<Emo> "Heh, that's what you think..."
<Sporty> "We're not a shapeshifter, we're a swoleomancer!"
<Brainy> "Using technology to detect superstition feels so dirty..."
"You're a fool," Tanya says. "A dangerous fool."
You take offense to that. "Hey! I'm not dangerous. Give me a couple years more martial arts training, then I'll be dangerous!"
Tanya gives you a smile that makes it clear she doesn't smile often. "Of course. If you haven't been executed by now, your family name must truly be bulletproof. Do you have a house Physiker?"
You wince at School Shooter-tan referencing bullets. "I'm more of an Eva girl, myself."
You cover your mouth, realizing Neon Genesis Evangelion (probably) doesn't exist here.
Tanya mutters something you can't catch. It sounds kinda snide, but you'll let it slide.
"Soooo, are you cool with me beating up your bullies?"
She sighs. "I can't really refuse, can I? It's clear you're going to ingratiate yourself to me regardless of what I do, short of aggravated assault." She looks to your fists and her vials. "And starting an incident with the soon-to-be Crown Princess in her own estate is essentially committing suicide."
You give her hopeful puppy eyes, your hair wiggles in anticipation. "Which means?"
She looks up at you with gallows trepidation. "You're my friend by default..."
You tackle-hug her. "Score!"
"Ack! Watch out for the vials, you fool! They're highly volatile!"
You lift her up and away from explosive death. She's tiny, so it's not very hard for you to do so.
She pouts and glares at you, blushing to the tips of her ears. "W-Who said you could be so touchy-feely?!"
You grin broadly. "Me."
"Geh!" She struggles futilely in your grasp. "And you said you were no longer a bully..."
You literally hold her at arm's length. "Sorry, you just look like you need a hug. Or twenty."
"You're a real charmer, aren't you?" Tanya grumbles. She's not struggling anymore, so you'll take that as a victory.
You giggle. "I'm trying to be."
You give her a quick hug she fights more out of pride, then set her down.
She gives you a flustered look, harrumphs, and goes back to her books. You head back to your table to finish up your own studies.
You can hear her humming happily now. Every once in a while, you catch her sneaking furtive glances at you to check if you're making fun of her. You look right into her eyes one time and smile; she meeps and hides behind her book.
<Sensible> "Oh dear, she's tsundere..."
***
[Weekend Activity: Actualization gains on successes are doubled!]
[ ] Magic Lessons (Brainy and Artsy++, Sensible-)
[ ] Ballet Lessons (Artsy and Sporty++, Flashy-)
[ ] Fencing Lessons (Sporty and Flashy++, Brainy-)
[ ] Oratory Lessons (Flashy and Sensible++, Artsy-)
[ ] Cooking Lessons (Sensible and Brainy++, Sporty-)
(NEW!) [ ] Hang Out (Stress-)
-[ ] With Prince Alteisen (Sensible+)
-[ ] With Bridgette (Flashy+)
-[ ] With Camille (Sporty+)
-[ ] With Tanya (Brainy+) [ ] Do Nothing (Stress--, all others-)
Tanya stares at you in abject, Brainy-having-an-aneurysm shock. You know Grace's reputation preceded her in game, but you didn't expect it to be this big of a problem this young.
You shrug. "However you wanna take it, as long as you don't do anything stupid with those vials. I heard you're good at making stuff go boom, but maybe we can skip the part you use me as a guinea pig?"
Tanya's hands spasm, an inch away from her vials. "...What do you know about me?"
"I know you're a genius and landed gentry, plus glowy vials usually go boom. Especially if they're red like those ones."
"Hoh?" Tanya makes an intrigued noise. "The oh-so-lofty Claudius line deigns to look underfoot to a jumped up commoner?"
"Noble's noble," you say, shrugging again. You pull up your skirts and sit on the table beside Tanya. "And I like people who do cool stuff. The Claudius family appreciates talent, no matter where it came from, too."
"Maybe I should take you up on your offer," Tanya says. "If head trauma turned you into someone who can appreciate talent, it should work for the others, right?"
There's a dangerous glint in her eye, but she's definitely relaxing around you. And she's not reaching for the vials anymore.
You chuckle nervously. "I can't really say, but the Crown Prince's sister took getting knocked on her butt by me pretty well."
"You did what?!" Tanya shouts.
You buff your knuckles on your dress. "I punched her out. She wanted to get satisfaction after I accidentally kicked my shoes into the Crown Prince's face, so I punched her out."
Tanya pulls out a pair of goggles from her work coat and looks you over with them. "Abnormal magical readings in the hair, but otherwise human standard." She slides them off her head with a snap. "You're not a shapeshifter or changeling..."
Tanya gives you a smile that makes it clear she doesn't smile often. "Of course. If you haven't been executed by now, your family name must truly be bulletproof. Do you have a house Physiker?"
You wince at School Shooter-tan referencing bullets. "I'm more of an Eva girl, myself."
You cover your mouth, realizing Neon Genesis Evangelion (probably) doesn't exist here.
I suspect a physical affectionate friend will wear her down!
You can hear her humming happily now. Every once in a while, you catch her sneaking furtive glances at you to check if you're making fun of her. You look right into her eyes one time and smile; she meeps and hides behind her book.
[Weekend Activity: Actualization gains on successes are doubled!]
[ ] Magic Lessons (Brainy and Artsy++, Sensible-)
[ ] Ballet Lessons (Artsy and Sporty++, Flashy-) Boring if practical.
[ ] Fencing Lessons (Sporty and Flashy++, Brainy-) This I like! Let's level Sporty up to the next threshold
[ ] Oratory Lessons (Flashy and Sensible++, Artsy-) I want to lower Sensible, but it has flashy which is nice...
[ ] Cooking Lessons (Sensible and Brainy++, Sporty-) Ehhh, we can hire a chef.
(NEW!) [ ] Hang Out (Stress-)
-[ ] With Prince Alteisen (Sensible+) Sensible up, which means it's to be avoided.
-[ ] With Bridgette (Flashy+) ...Interesting. I want to do this one!
-[ ] With Camille (Sporty+) I guess we can followup
-[ ] With Tanya (Brainy+) I think we should give her time to get used to us. [ ] Do Nothing (Stress--, all others-)
One of these two.
[] Fencing Lessons (Sporty and Flashy++, Brainy-)
[ ] Hang Out (Stress-)
-[ ] With Bridgette (Flashy+)
I'll go with Bridgette socially since it's new.
[X] Hang Out (Stress-)
-[X] With Bridgette (Flashy+)
[X] Fencing Lessons (Sporty and Flashy++, Brainy-)
I still want to get Sporty to 100 just to see what will happen, so either this or Ballet. Leaning towards this at the moment so that Flashy is less at risk of getting knocked down a rank, but I'm willing to switch if this doesn't get momentum and it looks like something else might win.
"We are indeed a Claudius. And that means that noble blood isn't anything special to us. We could snap our fingers and have scions of three ancient bloodlines competing to ingratiate themselves.
But talent? Talent enough to get into the academy as a commoner? Now that's something worth cultivating."
(Basically turn the canon Grace on its head and consider Tanya's lack of ancestry to make her more important and interesting)
Hmm. Hanging out is straight up better than attending lessons, because it results in a net similar gain, and a social link on top of that.
And those people are cool.
[x] Hang Out (Stress-)
-[x] With Bridgette (Flashy+)
Maybe we could sneak out together for a spar. We know our parents don't approve, but we kinda offered, and the girl was really excited about the possibility. If we can get our secret training with Camille with none the wiser, who's to say we can't do something for the Royal Princess?
She sighs. "I can't really refuse, can I? It's clear you're going to ingratiate yourself to me regardless of what I do, short of aggravated assault." She looks to your fists and her vials. "And starting an incident with the soon-to-be Crown Princess in her own estate is essentially committing suicide."
It's new too, so I'd like to hang out with Bridgette a bit. Plus having just spent a lot of time with a noble of commoner stock, it's good politically to spend time with Royalty to counterbalance that. We're in a difficult political position so such issues need careful consideration.
[x] Hang Out (Stress-)
-[x] With Bridgette (Flashy+)
Maybe we could sneak out together for a spar. We know our parents don't approve, but we kinda offered, and the girl was really excited about the possibility. If we can get our secret training with Camille with none the wiser, who's to say we can't do something for the Royal Princess?