Tell him to mind his own business

>>39774004
Tell him your constitution is too weak.

>>39774131
You're unsure what this guy is here for, but you're not interested in hearing smack from him.
"That's my business, not yours. Get out of my room."

He appears to be about as tall as you, with blonde hair, pale, sun-deprived skin, and pointed ears characteristic of the elves around here.
Those clothes of his are a bit nicer than yours, though. His shoes aren't nearly as worn, the fibers of his shirt and trousers are devoid of holes, unlike yours.
"Oh, don't be like that. You know your mother would be able to do more for you if you were bringing in more money. Don't you hate going to sleep knowing that? Or maybe not. An ungrateful kid like you probably doesn't think about things like that." The kid has a rather smug look on his face. You don't quite like this.

This getting is really uncomfortable.
>Tell him to leave now or you'll scream.
>Throw a shoe and swear at him like an adult might.
>Run for the door and don't look back.

>>39774542
>Run for the door and don't look back.

>>39774542

>Throw that shoe. Throw it good.

>>39774542
>Throw a shoe and swear at him like an adult might.

>>39774772
>>39774826
>>39774848
Before he can get another word out of his mouth, you hurl one of your shoes at his head, and shove open the creaky door to your room, and sprint out the front door, not even concerned with whether or not your makeshift weapon did anything of consequence, much less with the fact that you left your door wide open.

A few elves look at you with alarm, but quickly continue walking along, not interested in being late to any of their appointments. Only after you get a decent distance away from your house(about the equivalent of a block or two away?) do you stop.

Your naked foot hurts a little, but you can't see any sign of the kid following you.

>Continue walking down the road to the bread factory. You'll want to warn Mother.
>Wait here. There's no need to disturb Mother at work.
>Blend in with the elves on the road for a while. Can't be too careful.
>Head back to your home and pray he left.

((Since I've only got a few people on this at the moment, it's first-to-vote, then majority))

>>39775035
>Wait here. There's no need to disturb Mother at work.

>>39775035
>>Blend in with the elves on the road for a while. Can't be too careful.

>>39775103

Second. Then go back and get our shoe back.

>>39775088
>>39775103
>>39775136
You're still feeling rather unsafe. Eyes darting back and forth, you quickly merge with the crowd, and begin walking with the crowd, but you don't stray too far from the area you're in, switching directions periodically to stay in the general vicinity.

Nobody cares enough about what you're doing to ask, although one or two of them give you funny looks when they notice you shuffling around. An hour later, you're fairly certain the kid is probably gone.

>Head back home.
>Walk for a bit longer, to be safe.
>Try to find someone who will care about someone raiding your house. You don't want to go back alone.

>>39775375
>Try to find someone who will care about someone raiding your house. You don't want to go back alone.

>>39775375
>Head back home.

>>39775375
>Head back home.

>>39775375

I want my shoe back. Go back and get it. Pray to the shoe gods it is still there.

>>39775375
Head home

>>39775414
>>39775448
>>39775473
>>39775547
You feel safe enough to start walking home. Your foot is sore, you're rather thirsty, but you're confident you can make it home.

By the time you make it back to your street, your foot is aching. Hopefully Mother will allow you to run a hot bath tonight. Walking to the doorstep, however, you're greeted with a surprise. Mother is already sitting there. The large, short-haired woman sits there in her dirty green blouse with an incredibly unpleased look on her face.

"Ilafi, come inside." The menace in her voice is palpable.

>Go inside.
>Explain the situation.
>Turn around and say that you're headed to work.

((Sorry for the delay, something came up, i'll be a lot faster from here on out))

>>39776016
>Go inside.

>>39776016
>Go inside.

>>39776016
>Go inside.

>>39776016

Throw other shoe

>>39776053
>>39776056
>>39776195
Mother sounds unhappy. Best not to go against her wishes. She shuts the door behind you as you walk in, and points to a chair. You sit down without any objections.

"Why was my door left wide open, Ilafi? You can't just leave it open like that. You know unsavory types live around here." She looks you up and down, confused. "Why are you only wearing one shoe?"

"Mother, there was another kid in my room, I didn't know what to do, so I threw my shoe and ran!"

A glare works its way onto her face.

"Like hell! Tell me how anyone could have gotten in, son! The doors were locked! Your window doesn't open up! My room doesn't even *have* a window! You're seeing things again, aren't you!"

She grabs you by the shoulders and gets in your face, clearly angry. You think she's starting to say more, but at this point you're too stressed to make out what's being said.


>Frantically try to explain the whole situation.
>Shout and defend your actions.
>Throw her hands off you and run for your room.
>Stay quiet and wait for her to stop.

>>39776584
>Stay quiet and wait for her to stop

>>39776584
>Frantically try to explain the whole situation.

>>39776584

>Stay quiet and wait for her to stop

>>39776584

Throw your other shoe. Nah, actually:
>Frantically try to explain the whole situation

>>39776584
>Stay quiet and wait for her to stop.
We sound like hormonal teenager

>>39776769
>>39776584
I second throwing the other shoe.

>>39776651
>>39776764
>>39776992
She's still talking, but you're not listening. All you can think about is that you are absolutely certain you saw him. There's no way you didn't.

"Ilafi, are you listening?"
She shakes you, sort of hard, enough to get your attention.
"Listen to me. There was no boy. You were seeing things again. You see things that aren't there. You hear things that aren't there. It happens. You know it happens. Why can't you use some common sense, Ilafi? Think about it! What am I going to do if you do this at work? When the tax collectors come? Huh? Tell me what I'm going to do then! I won't be able to do a thing!"

She finally lets go of you, and your thoughts are racing. She's right. It was another delusion. They happen from time to time. You'll hear things and see people that aren't there, and you land yourself into trouble most of the time it happens. It's not your fault, though. You like to think it isn't.

>Plead your case as best you can.
>Walk to your room silently.
>Run off to the factory.
>Tell her it won't happen again.

>>39777115

>Walk to your room silently.

>>39777115
>Realize that we have dragon blood and burn this mortal wench for daring to touch us

>>39777115
Tell her that it won't happen again, and then make it not happen again.

>>39777141
>>39777225
You tell her that it won't happen again, and quickly walk your ass to your room. Thankfully, she doesn't expect anything extra from you.

Your shoe is exactly where you expected it to be, lying against the wall where you threw it. Another delusion. You don't know why it keeps happening. It just does. Tired, and incredibly stressed, you lie in bed for a while, tense and shaky before finding rest.

When you come to, you prepare for the day and pull a few things to eat out of the pantry before heading directly to work at

>the bread factory
>the lamp factory
>the tool factory
>the clothing factory

where you work each day. Mother is already at work, as she works extra shifts. The delusion you had might not be a bad idea, you think. Mother works very hard, and she can barely feed you both.

>Ask your boss about extra work
>Don't do it. It's not worth it.

>>39777559
>Magic crystal factory

>Ask your boss about extra work

>>39777559
>the clothing factory
>Don't do it. It's not worth it.

>>39777559
>the tool factory
>Ask your boss about extra work

>>39777559
>bread factory
>ask about extra work

>>39777559
>the tool factory
>Ask your boss about extra work

>>39777559

>Tool factory
>Don't do it. You've still got so much to live for.

>>39777559

>the tool factory
>Don't do it.

>>39777559
lamp factory
ask about extra work. I love lamp

File: 4609129583.png (18 KB, 411x293)

18 KB PNG

>>39778362

>I love lamp
Don't you start.

>>39777741
>>39777824
>>39777916
>>39778003
>>39778097
You decide to ask your boss for the extra hours.

Walking into the factory, you can see elves of all ages working assembly lines to put together tools of all kinds. It pays the most of any of the jobs, but it's easily the most demanding.

Your boss doesn't even ask why, he just marks you up for the extra time slot.

You work as usual, not talking to anyone, assembling all manner of tools and devices that come your way, well aware that one slipup will mean dismissal.

Halfway through your day, however, you start to hear a faint clanking noise at your part of the conveyor belt. You don't want to stop working, as you get paid per product complete, not by the hour, but if this breaks, you'll be held accountable.

>Call for the boss.
>Fuck it, keep working.
>Make a quick look to ensure that it's fine.

>>39778726
>Make a quick look to ensure that it's fine.

>>39778726
>Make a quick look to ensure that it's fine.

>>39778726
>Make a quick look to ensure that it's fine.

>>39778726
A good wageslave is one who does exactly as they are told.

>Keep working.

>>39778726

>Make a quick look to ensure that it's fine.

Call boss if it isn't.

>>39778911

>but if this breaks, you'll be held accountable.

>>39778935
If we stop working we will also be held accountable. Damned if we do, damned if we don't.

that's just the life of a wage slave

>>39778793
>>39778856
>>39778870
>>39778935
You're not interested in getting fired, but you know that your boss can terminate you without cause at any given moment. You sneeze in his direction and you're gone.

You stop working for a minute in order to inspect the conveyor. Nothing looks broken, but then again, you're not an expert. You wouldn't know. Maybe you're just getting tired.

As you continue to work, you try to focus hard on Mother, and how not to disappoint her. It'd be a shame to. You enter a kind of zen state until suddenly, you hear the sound of a metallic tapping, or clicking underneath the belt. You want to believe that it's normal, but it really doesn't sound normal. Stress is starting to work its way over you, and it'll affect your work if you don't do something about it.

>Look underneath the belt one more time.
>Keep working. It's just another delusion.
>Call the boss to look at it.
>Somehow make a loud enough noise to pull someone more qualified to the area.

>>39779422

>Ask a fellow wage slave to check it to make sure you're not crazy

>>39779422
>>39779468

>>39779422
>Call the boss to look at it.

File: you're kidding me right.gif (1.51 MB, 1067x720)

1.51 MB GIF

>>39779468
>>39779479
You look over to the woman working the conveyor next to yours. She's not working a particularly dense input, so you decide to get her attention.

"Hey. Hey, miss. Can you check my conveyor, I think something's wrong with it."
She glances over at you for a moment, smiles, and continues assembling what looks like stepladders.

Welp. No luck there. Even more time wasted. You try to make up for the time lost by assembling more products, but your conveyor buffer is still a bit more full than you'd like it to be. You're even more frustrated now, and the earlier clicking noise is still fresh in your mind.

>Quick peek. That's all you need to do.
>Call your boss already, might as well.
>Keep working and pray to Einahva in her infinite grace that this damnable machine doesn't give out on you.

>>39779849
>Call your boss already, might as well.

>>39779849
>>Call your boss already, might as well.

>>39779849
>Keep working and pray to Einahva in her infinite grace that this damnable machine doesn't give out on you.

>>39779849
>back to work

>>39779974
>>39780094
>>39780181
Oh for fucks sake, termite could you roll for a tiebreaker here? We seem to have gotten ourselves stuck.

>>39779849
>Keep working and pray to Einahva in her infinite grace that this damnable machine doesn't give out on you.
It's just another delusion.

>>39780961
((fuckin hell, my bad for making you all wait this long))

>>39780109
>>39780181
>>39781123
You continue to work, and all seems to be well. Perhaps it was just another delusion. You work without error for a few more hours, and you're pleased.

The end of your doubleshift draws near, and you're positively frazzled. Many elves are slowing down, and you're honestly no exception. You're tired. It would almost be a routine day, only longer, until you hear the phrase "tax collectors" echo around the building as your shift concludes.

Oh dear.

[to be continued]

((on that note i'm gonna stop here and continue tomorrow, as i'm tired as shit. this is my first time doing this shit, my pacing could be better and what not but given time i feel i can make this work. i got a solid idea of where this can go, and what Ilafi can get himself into, but of course, none of that matters if y'all aren't down for it. You all up to see this shit continue or not so much?))

>>39781830
I think we need purpose beyond being a crazy elf in fantasy industrial revolution land.

I'd reserve judgement until then.

>>39781830
I'm up to see this continue. I wasn't voting in this thread, just lurking, but I'll vote if it keeps up your interest.

File: good heavens.jpg (95 KB, 635x500)

95 KB JPG

>>39781867
We're on the cusp of that. Next time, things are gonna get interesting.

>>39781983
thx friendo

>>39782014
What time, do you think, and when?

>>39782335
uhh a bit around 2-3pm EST

>>39783028
Looking forward to it