Blaine quickly grabbed the body and threw it in the furnace. He told her to wither her armor and he checked her clothing. She had been wearing a new outfit he bought her, having changed out of her uniform in her tree after setting up the kitchen. He told her to remove it and throw it in. She refused.
"You bought me this!"
"I'll buy you another now, get rid of it!"
She complied. He quickly grabbed some rags, cleaned up the blood on the floor, and tossed the rags in the furnace. She put her armor on just as Bonol came back in. Blaine waived and wrapped his arm around Lana. They found themselves in her room.
He let go of her, "where are your keys? You need a clean outfit."
"In my clothes we just burnt…"
"Figures." He changed his ability and broke the lock. "We'll stop and get you a new one. Go get in the shower, I'll be there in a sec."
Lana nodded and withered her armor on the way. She already had the water going by the time he arrived with clean clothes. Kent didn't like being away from her, so he encircled her wrist with the roots around his feet. She kept that hand out of the water, keeping him dry.
Meanwhile, in Paul's room, the oomlauts had already reported to him what had happened. His fingers were dancing across the keyboard. So far, he had moved the GPS tracking data of Lana's and Blaine's watches to have never left the tree. They were in her room, but he kept moving each ping to her tree. He was hoping they'd be quick, but he couldn't send a message to tell them to hurry… Or could he…
Blaine climbed in the shower with Lana to help her get the blood off. Speed was necessary so they wouldn't get caught.
"Hurry up guys and get back to the tree." Lana's watch said. They realized it was the oomlaut under the watch.
They scrubbed faster. They soon got out, dried off as quickly, and dressed. Blaine had to teleport twice to get back to the tree since it was further away than the forge. Once under the tree, he changed his ability and started drying their hair.
Dobin looked at the curious sight then realized they both had wet hair. "Blaine! Did you deflower my sister and take a shower?!?! You were supposed to be protecting her from Pucket!"
Blaine whispered, "we'll explain in a minute," as he continued making sure there was no evidence they had just showered. Though they couldn't do anything about the smell of soap.
As they approached their friends, Lana started trembling. The full weight of understanding she had killed someone was crashing down on her. Blaine picked her up and carried her to the table. He looked at the group of friends who were all between curious and concerned, "all I'm going to say is Pucket is no longer a concern."
He gave a firm look to all those seated there, "Kattie, do you want to cook or do we go back to the dorms and order dinner?"
Lana curled up and enjoyed his warmth and scent, breathing slowly and deeply. Blaine looked down at her, "oh shit! We forgot your shoes…"
Meanwhile, Paul was also exhaling slowly. He hoped he was able to cover the tracks well enough. He sat back and watched as dots showed the military was responding to the forge, the last known location of Pucket's watch. According to their data, there had been no one in the room with him when he vanished.
As they entered the forge, they saw a short, stocky boy working on a bladed weapon. "Did you see anyone leave this room as you approached it?"
"Um, no Sergeant. I only just got here after dinner."
The sergeants looked around, seeing if the watch was broken on the floor. "This would be so much easier if they allowed cameras everywhere!" one muttered.
"Hmph," the other sergeant said, "you know those damned originals don't care about anyone but themselves…"
"Alright kid," the first sergeant turned to Bonol, "we're sorry for disturbing you. Nice work by the way!" nodding to the weapon on the work bench.
Bonol smiled at the praise.
Back at the tree, Lana got up to cook. Kattie offered to go get her some shoes. When Kattie asked her for the key to her locker, Lana and Blaine both exchanged a look.
"She misplaced her key, so I had to break her lock. We'll get her a new one on the way back tonight."
Kattie nodded and headed back to get shoes, truly wondering what the two were up to.
Paul watched the dots of the sergeants leave the forge and head back to the headquarters building. That told him they didn't find any clues as to where Pucket went from there or they would have followed the clue. He put his own watch on the other wrist and typed in a really long code. It was soon answered on the other end. The face pulsed red before finally going to a steady green.
[New skill point granted: Hacking +1]
[Error: Skill Hacking cannot be higher than parent skill, Cybersecurity]
"Pucket is dead. I don't know the ramifications, but he attacked her tonight."
"Understood," came his mother's voice at the other end and the light on the watch went out. He returned it to its storage place in his system.
As Lana moved into the kitchen, Dobin followed her, trying to get close. He wanted to discreetly ask her what happened. Blaine intercepted him.
"Don't." Blaine's voice was firm, unyielding.
"Damnit Blaine, she is my sister! I need to know what's wrong. What happened?"
Blaine growled, "the less you know the better! What if you get questioned?"
Blaine looked around at everyone, "excuse us."
He touched Dobin and teleported them into her room.
"I can't protect her if I don't know what's going on, Blaine! I need to know she's safe!"
"I understand you feel that way but right now she's safer if you don't know. I'm sorry Dobin, but you need to drop this for her sake." Blaine locked eyes with Dobin, "you are not the only one who loves her. I will die if I need to so she will be safe. Why do you think I transferred to her Agriculture Club? Do you think I'm good with plants?"
Dobin was a little deflated, but he was still miffed, Blaine seemed to be edging him out. He understood Blaine told him he's got a brother in him, but Dobin didn't know how to think on that topic. His brain got all muddled just with the concept of a sibling other than Lana. They literally grew up alone. Sharing her now, could he find it within himself?
"Look, I know this is hard for you. For right now, you need to trust. If they interrogate you with that pretty girl with the truth ability," Blaine sighed, "the consequences could be catastrophic. Once there's no potential for danger, we'll tell you but not until then. Okay?"
"I hate these secrets and I hate being shut out." Dobin growled softly.
"I understand that. But understand, that sharing secrets can cause danger as well. It's a secret for a reason."
Dobin sighed and nodded. Blaine grabbed him and teleported them back to the ground. Lana had rushed through her prep work because she knew everyone was waiting on her for dinner. She also had her combat class this evening. She was still trembling a small bit from the incident just bit ago. Soon she served a meal, just after Kattie returned with some shoes for her. Lana nodded her thanks with a small smile.
Sitting at the table, Lana didn't really want to eat. She looked at the plate and sighed. Blaine pulled her in his lap and put something in her mouth which made her chew. She kept her eyes downcast. After he placed the third bite in her mouth, Lana noticed some writing on the bracelet she got on that last beast planet, the one she got off the corpse.
She took it off her wrist to read it as Blaine put something in her mouth, not even paying attention to his actions. She pronounced the word in her mind. Suddenly, her mind was filled with items. There were books, armor, clothes, all kinds of things. She grinned then started looking at the books. Anything to help her with plants was beneficial. Suddenly, she was giggling like a child and stomping her feet on her chair like a schoolgirl who just got a present they wanted for years.
Still giggling, "Blaine, how much do you love me?"
He looked confused, "more than the world, why?"
She started laughing, "you'll see tomorrow… in the meantime," she started putting armor pieces on the table that had been stored in the bracelet.
Everyone was in shock and awe, "where did these come from?"
"My bracelet. Apparently, it has a dimensional pocket. Take what you want. I'll put the rest back in after you pick through."
Blaine whispered in her ear, "what's in there for me?"
She leaned to his ear and whispered, "you'll see tomorrow!"
Before she could react, he picked her up and moved her position. She found herself straddling his lap and tickling her. She started laughing and squealed a few times, "okay, okay!" moving herself close so no one else could see and he could see just the top, she showed him a book with a glint in her eyes.
"Wait a minute….. Is that?!?! And it's level 8?!?!"
The book vanished. Blaine locked his gaze on hers. He stared into her pretty blues dumbfounded at the girl's luck. He reached up and pulled her close, locking her in a passionate kiss which soon turned to crying. Blaine put his head on her shoulder and held her close.
"I love you so much," he said haltingly through his tears.