The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 150 - Intermission 10: He’s been acting weird. (Patreon)

“What do you mean ‘weird’?” Mia asks before drinking from her water bottle.

“I don’t know…” Emily groans. “We were about to do it yesterday, but he stopped mid-act, saying he didn’t think he could.”

It’s not every day that these two get together alone. They’re in Mia’s office, having just finished their lunch. They sit across each other at the teacher’s desk. While they used the time to get to know each other a little better, Emily just needed to bring out this topic.

The thing with David in the shower still bothers the blonde, so she came to tell Mia in case she had any idea. Megan went to Emma’s office to ask her, and Sophia is having lunch with David and Katherine at the cafeteria.

“I know he has a really high libido, but of course there’d be times when he doesn’t feel like it.” Mia explains. Emily understands that. It’s obvious. After all, he’s usually doing it with at least one of them. It’s kind of amazing, really. But that’s not the issue here.

“I get that, and it wouldn’t be a problem if he hadn’t said it felt like something he wasn’t supposed to be doing. He looked visibly upset, even more so when he asked us to stop.” Emily recounts.

That makes Mia raise an eyebrow. “Did he say anything else?”

“No! And that’s the problem!” Emily groans. “Any ideas?”

“It’s hard for me to say. You’ve known him longer than I.” She bites the tip of her thumb and thinks of a bit. “Well, for starters, I don’t think he’s hiding anything. I think that, if he didn’t say anything, he truly is confused.”

The younger woman nods. “Yes, that’s what we thought, too.”

Mia bites her lip. “You think… it has anything to do with the new trait?”

“Ah? No… I don’t think so.” Emily scratches her chin, thinking. “You think he might be second guessing himself?”

“It’d be hard to believe, but that’s the only thing that comes to mind.” Mia sighs. “Well, if not even he’s sure, all we can do is wait for him to come to us. For now, all we can do is be there for him. Hopefully this won’t be anything serious.”

“Yeah…” Emily nods.

“But how about you? Are you doing okay?” Mia asks.

“Me? I’m fine. No real changes with me and my mom.”

“That’s good, but I meant regarding David. You seem quite upset that, well, that he seems upset.”

“I guess I am.” She grimaces. “He goes out of his way to help us, but when he’s feeling down, I can’t do anything. I don’t even know why he’s feeling like that, and I’m worried I’m the cause.”

“Why would you be the cause?”

“Because I pushed him to do stuff with us when he didn’t want to. It was as if he felt guilty telling us no.”

“Guilty?”

“Yeah.” Emily nods. “Like he said yes at first out of obligation.” She sighs.

“You know he’d tell you it’s not your fault, right?”

“He already did. But still…”

“Just give him time. He’ll figure it out soon. Let’s keep an eye on him, but let’s not make a big deal out of this. Until we know what’s on his mind, all we can do is watch him. Okay?”

“Okay.” Emily agrees, if reluctantly.

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“You really think we should just let him be?” Megan asks her teacher, wondering if that’s really the best course of action.

“Until he figures it out himself, yeah.” Emma nods confidently, supporting her chin on her hand and her elbow on her desk. She looks at the girl sitting across from her and continues. “I’m sure he wants to tell us, but he’s just not sure. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”

“You think we’re making too big a deal out of this?” Megan asks, unsure of herself.

“Maybe? I agree that him saying no to some quality time is weird, even more so for him to be upset about it, but it’s not like he’s not allowed to feel under the weather every once in a while. Especially since he’s under a lot of pressure.” Emma sighs, leans back on her chair and looks up to the ceiling.

“That’s right. A lot of things have happened lately.” The young woman nods.

“Things are always happening around him. At least, since he came to Hayes. Really, I’ve been thinking about it and it’s nothing short of a blessing that he got that Affection Multiplier.”

“Yeah…”

There’s a sudden knock on the door that carries with it a sense of urgency. An odd thing, which makes Emma curious. Fortunately, neither of the girls here have anything to fear. Be it a teacher or another student, Megan will just excuse herself since their talk was mostly done already.

“Yes. Come in.” Emma says. The door opens quickly, and from it comes Sophia. There are clear hints of weariness in her face, both physical and mental. Her breathing is heavier than normal, though not extreme. She must have jogged her way here. Her eyes look tired, but not from the exercise.

“David fell off the stairs.” She tells them. There’s no urgency in her tone, yet the content of the message itself is enough to make the women rise from their seats.

“What!? What happened!?”

“Is he okay!?”

Both asks almost at the same time.

“It was just an accident. He looked distracted and slipped. He’s at the nurse office now, but it’s nothing terrible. Apparently just a sprained ankle.”

“Oh, thank god.” Emma says as she and Megan sigh in relief. “Would it be too suspicious if I went to see him?”

“Well, I asked Katherine to tell Emily, so if the five of us plus her go it will definitely be suspicious.”

“Dammit.” Emma mutters under her breath.

“He’ll need a ride back to his place, so we’ll be counting on you for that.” Megan tells her.

“Of course!”

“Actually…” Sophia interjects with a wry smile. “I was thinking that if we want to be even more careful, he should try calling his brother first.”

“Oh, right. He’s here.” Megan nods, but that only adds to Emma’s frustration. “Well, let’s settle that issue later. Let’s go.” Megan says, walking up to the door. “I’m still worried.”

“Calm down. He’s a big boy. He can take it.” Sophia tells her.

“You don’t look so calm yourself.” Megan argues back.

“Let me be. I saw him falling. Almost had a heart attack.”

The younger girls leave, talking all the way while their teacher curses that she can’t go see her boyfriend immediately.

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 How’s that injury?