Kris padded up to Lily's character, recognizing the username she sent him in messenger. He waved at her with a paw, before curling up in front of her, keeping one gleaming eye open fixated. "I know you have a thing for dogs, so let me know if you need your personal space undisturbed by cat hair," he joked, "I'm quite used to this Avatar, so expect some feline behavior to be exhibited, only for entertainment purposes."

As Kris padded up to her in a animal form, Lily couldn't help but smile. She couldn't resist, and patted him. "I want a cat too, but Moe is too much pup to behave with a kitten. So I guess you'll do for now" Lily replied, with amusement. "If you need to convince yourself for entertainment purposes, then that's fine by me" She added, "I have to say it's a little creepy you know about my liking for dogs. Have you been watching me?"

Kris resisted the urge to facepaw, and keeping his tone light he replied, "Didn't you say something about Angelo walking your dog, back when you nearly fell on me in the cafeteria? Unless you were making that up, but I suppose that's the least of trust issues between us. You should give yourself some credit though, sly as you are." He purred in the only the feline way of laughter.

"Ah, well...I do have to apologize for how I've communicated myself to you recently," Kris began his shift in attitude, tail twitching nervously, "I do regret following Angelo and you around just to exploit your Duel Avatars for BP; I swear blackmail was the least of my concern, and I would never ruin someone's life on purpose except in self-defense, not even revenge. The hacker changed everything, and ironically without it I wouldn't have had a chance to hold conversation with you, and well - uh...you, I mean I really...like how you portray yourself...ah, sorry it's been a while since I've talked with girls on a personal level." He was so glad that his orange fur easily hid his reddening face.

"Anyways...if you don't mind, I want to talk to you about something else that's personal. This maybe a subject I have no say in, but it's about Angelo. I know how dismissive I was this morning (again I'm sorry), and Angelo may have followed my suit, but...I didn't tell him I was going to talk with you tonight. Just a gut feeling, but I feel something else is going on between the two of you, especially from a Guardian/Protoge perspective...if nothing's the matter then I won't pry anymore than I already have."

That whole day just seemed a mess. She didn't recall saying anything about Moe to Kris, but perhaps she had. She tried to cast her mind back to it, but the hacker situation kinda took control. So she let that slide, for now. She let Kris talk. She blinked, he liked how she portrayed herself. What did that mean? Did he like her? How weird was that? And then he continued, saying he hadn't mentioned it to Angelo. Well, she hadn't either.

She stared at him when he suggested there was something going on with her and Angelo. If there was, it was news to her. "What? We are just friends as far as I know! Jeez, I haven't had any sort of relationship with a guy! Nothing's wrong between Angelo and I!" She spluttered, felt like she was babbling and she ran a hand through her hair.

"What makes you think there is?"

"Well, remember when I replied to your email with that weird phrasing? I was being a bit paranoid that the hacker could read our emails, but anyways that's not the point. I had sent an email to Angelo talking to him about getting more info on the hacker, and I specifically asked him not to forward the message to you, for what little help I thought you could bring. Apparently, it may have influenced whatever he decided with you this afternoon, though I can't assume much since you talked privately with him over the cable. And yes, the "boy festival" was just a synonym for excluding you from possibly helping us. But honestly, if Angelo had wanted you to stay, I could have done nothing to stop you two.

I was thinking this over in my head even after you left the tutor center, and when I messaged you today I was still talking with Angelo. So really, I should be apologizing for refusing to cooperate with you, and at least setting aside our differences so we can help each other. The, uh, relationship jokes were just me making fun of you, and in fact I'm sort of jealous of Angelo and you, as a Guardian and Protoge pair; my Guardian left me soon after he gave me the Brain Burst game. Still, I'm just curious as to why Angelo would agree with me and not you when it came to dealing with the hacker; if I were in your position, I'd still try to help Angelo even if he didn't need it."

"Just so you know, if we hadn't been in the school building, there would have been nothing you could have done to stop me anyway, either of you" Lily said softly. "I think Angelo needs me more then I need him. You misunderstand him, greatly, by thinking little of him. Don't say you don't. You think him odd, strange, and he is. But he's kind, and that matters."

Lily sighed, weary. Right then, she didn't even know what she was feeling, and her thoughts were just jumbled. "I want to help, and you do need it." She didn't know what else she could say, and so she fell silent, closing her tired eyes, and waiting for a response.

Yeah, she's right, Kris thought, it still won't stop me from thinking of him as Psycho, but I should give him credit where it's due.

He rose to his feet and started pacing back and forth, whipping his tail side to side. "If you know him this well, then do you think he values you as such? I'm saying that as much as he wants to keep you as a friend and Protoge, his understanding of that may not extend past the status quo. I assume you prefer to respect his distance, but isn't that just being afraid to get closer and risk hurting him? It is worth it though, in my wholehearted opinion, that whatever chip is on his shoulder he should be able to at least communicate to you what it is that causes him to act oddly. And I'm sure bodily harm is the least possible thought on his mind when it comes to you.

I think Angelo needs to learn the value of communicating with someone close to him, and know that someone is willing to help him every step of the way. I may be saying this and not acting upon it myself, but I feel I'm in a different position in Angelo's eyes, not to mention knowing him for only 2 days. But, I'm offering advice that I myself have thought of yet failed to follow before, and even further help, not out of any selfish interest except to improve my own relationship with both of you. If you want to help us with the hacker now, I will let you sidestep Angelo for the time being, as long as you keep this between us. Knowing him, he should be talking with you soon anyways."

Kris looked up at Lily, studying her expression, and curled his ears in response. He couldn't help but feel alone and ignorant of his seniors, both of which had troubling histories he couldn't begin to understand the wisdom derived from them.

@Caits
Lorenzo sighed as he took a bath in his home to unwind from the whole day off planning how to take down a hacker they can't see and can fight them whenever they wanted. Once Lorenzo finished his bath he changed and got ready to get some rest for tomorrow. However he felt he needed to say something to lily, if nothing else he needed to apologize for keeping her at arms length.

The last thing Lorenzo wanted to do was make her feel like she was useless. Lorenzo used his gear and sent her an email 'lily I'm sorry if I made you feel angry at me today. I want you to know that I truly value you and that will never change. Goodnight' Lorenzo finished the message then finally sent it but stayed awake in case she wanted to make a reply...

Lily watched Kris, as he seemed to become agitated, pacing back and forth in a way that was stalking, almost. "I don't give a damn about respecting the distance. I can respect him, without respecting the boundaries he tries to place on me" she said, in a mild tone, "he just doesn't want me to get hurt, but tough luck for him and you, my Aunt didn't raise a meek mild woman. She taught me to not have to rely on any guy" she said

Keep this between us? The fact that they had talked, or that Kris had asked her to come? Either way she just nodded, In agreement. No point making Angelo worried or jealous. She wondered fleetingly if anyone, any protege, has had two guardians looking out for them, not that she knew if Kris was trying to help her or not, or just using her for his own ends.

She pondered that for a moment, "I don't think he has had too many people try to even treat him as a friend. He will learn. I simply won't let him push me away, nor will k let you do the same" she said, still watching Kris as he studied her. She gave him a smile, and noticing the message from Angelo, she crouched to give Kris a hug, somewhat less awkward then it would have been if he'd been in a humanoid form. "Thanks. It's getting late, so I should go. Moe is probably desperate for a walk now" and with that, she logged out

She opened the message, frowning slightly at the words, before sighing, and writing a quick response, "I know. But you can't block me out. You may be, technically, my superior In the game, but that doesn't mean you get to decide how far I can help, how far I can get my butt into trouble, because respectfully, it's my butt, and I won't be pushed to the side lines. Good night, and sleep well"

She sighed again, and taking Moe out for a walk, she was in bed and asleep half an hour later.

@Caits Kris startled slightly when Lily bent down to hug him and then disappeared as she logged out. I wasn't even finished talking..., he thought, ah well I'll send her a message.

Before he finally hit the bunk, he sent it:

Kris - one last thing, are u in PE or a school sport?
Kris - Angelo and I think the hacker is hiding a small tablet computer in their locker
Kris - it would help if u could look around the girl's locker room for something like that
Kris - just message me back what u find, i'll cover for u when i talk to Angelo about it

The next day....

Angelo soon woke up to his alarm to get ready for school. He groaned as he got up and stretched as he begun his morning routine as usual. Today they would be looking for ways to find the hacker and get to them. Whoever it is won't be anonymous for long that much Angelo was certain. Once he got his uniform on and got breakfast he hit the road making sure to take the phones he got yesterday with him as he waited outside lily apartment to walk to school as always...

Lily woke to Kris's message, and she frowned slightly, blinking at it blearily. Sport? She rubbed her eyes,

Lily: I play soccer, have training today. See what I can find out.

It probably didn't sound like a coherent message, but she didn't particularly care right then, as she stumbled out of bed, somehow managing to feed Moe and shower before making breakfast for herself, and then walk Moe.

She was back just in time to dress and be out as Angelo appeared.

Kris decided to wake up even earlier this Wednesday morning, whether unconsciously, or as he reassured himself, for the reason of meeting with Angelo before school to go over their plan. Before his half awake mind caught up to his body, he was out the door and halfway to school. He checked Lily's replies and nodded in approval before deleting the conversation, and finally stood outside the school gates, waiting...

Angelo nodded to lily as they went about on their way to school, Angelo was initially surprised that kris showed up early to greet them at the gate but in reality this just made it easier to give them the new line of communication. Once they were all together Angelo produced 3 old school touch phones to them. "our new line of communication." Angelo said simply handing each on a phone according to their color, lily green, kris grey, and finally Angelo own purple. "at least with these it will make the hacker work to try and understand what were doing. From this point on we only talk with these and try not to drop these I paid most of my allowance to get these things." Angelo said with a sigh thinking that if his own wasn't in danger he wouldn't have bothered to buy these things but Angelo was thinking that it would be like trying to hack a pager with a cell phone as Angelo turned off his neural linker.

Lily took the offered phone and put it in a pocket, listening as Angelo spoke, she nodded, and shifted her pack. "I can pay you back for mine" She said, thinking if she had known about them, she would have given the money for one to begin with. She didn't know how good they would be against the hacker, but figured as long as they didn't get a bug or tracker on them, they should be okay.

Kris took his smartphone with a curious and slightly fascinated expression, and immediately turned it on to examine this technological artifact. He grinned widely as he went through the settings; it appeared at least his had been jailbroken, and the network adapter had been swapped out for one with a built-in WiFi hotspot to connect with other nearby mobile devices. All he needed was to download a mobile VPN for all 3 phones, and communications with Angelo and Lily would be virtually invisible to bugs or hacks. Then he opened up the camera app, and messed around with old-school controls; back then you even had manual sliders for brightness and contrast. On a whim, he tested the results on himself with another old fad: the selfie.

Angelo shook his head to lily "don't worry about it just promise not to break it and think of it as an early birthday present." Angelo said with a shrug smiling a little until he saw Kris do that thing that older people did to think they were cool, the dreaded selfie. "Kris im just going to ask nicely now and hope it sticks. please don't be like those people in the old days that needed to selfie themselves doing everything. you will make more people happier if you don't" he said with a sighed as he patted both their shoulders then left to go to class knowing the bell will ring soon...

"Primping, Kristopher?" Lily said with amusment, really hoping the selfie thing wouldn't catch on again. She shifted her pack, made sure she had the phone,, "The bell will go off soon, and seeing as I'm gonna be hunting up lockers today, I think I should maintain a good record" She said "So I'm gonna head to class" She started to walk to the classroom

Kris couldn't help but sheepishly grin in response; the selfie had only randomly occurred to him anyways. He half nodded at Lily, hoping Angelo wouldn't think too hard on what she may have blurted out. Catching up with Angelo, he threw his arm around his shoulders, and impishly replied, "I hope you're not camera shy then, because it doesn't count as a selfie if I'm taking pics with another person."

He raised the phone camera in front of the two again, and proceeded to fake taking pictures of both of them. It was going to be a dull, monotonous school day ahead anyways, until lunch that is...

Angelo quickly got out his hold getting into a fighting position his heart was beating fast thinking that Kris was going to put him in a headlock or something. Obviously he knew that wouldn't happen but Angelo still hasn't been able to trust people getting to close to his personal space like that. Once Angelo finally calmed down he sighed "sorry kris, im just not comfortable when people get to close like that." Angelo knew he probably gave kris the wrong impression but he still doesn't feel safe when people get close to him the only one he has made progress with was lily and that was only so he could see her touching his arm or something not put an arm around his head like that. "by the way im not camera shy" he said as he went back to walking inside to class