Blaine chuckled, "that's for her alone. I can ask her if she wants to do that to you so you can see what it feels like, if you want? One-time offer, though. She's mine and I'm not into sharing."
Kattie nodded. She watched Blaine speak, hearing nothing. Lana sat up and used a finger to beckon her over. No words were said as Kattie lay down. Lana then gave a demonstration to her which soon had her own legs shaking.
Blaine watched the whole thing, keeping his hands and eyes on Lana. When she was done, he gestured with his thumb to tell Kattie to return to her side of the room which she did with trembling legs and a huge smile. She decided she needed a boyfriend.
Lana moved up, putting her head on her pillow. Blaine climbed in next to her and covered them both in blankets. He didn't normally sleep with so many clothes on, but the roommate was there. Tonight, he intended to stay all night. If another nightmare happened, he would be there for her.
She scooted close to him and looked him in the eyes. "I know you guys want to have separate bodies but… I've realized I love you both and if you separate, I'll have to choose between you."
Blaine's eyes sharpened, "or you could keep us both? We don't know what the future holds. We only have right now."
She nodded and unbuckled his pants, "you know you can't sleep like this. Take them off with the blanket covering you."
"Wait, you know I intend to stay?"
"Your watch is missing and you let yourself in."
Blaine chuckled and removed his pants, folded them and placed them under his pillow. It was a Saturday after all. No need to get up in the morning. He then removed his shirt, placing it in the same spot.
Lana pressed herself close to Blaine, afraid to go to sleep, afraid the nightmare would return.
"There's nothing to fear. I'm right here with you."
She nodded and kissed him. He tasted someone else on her tongue, and he let out a small growl. He rolled her to her back, intensifying the kiss. His hands travelled lower and she let out a soft moan. He broke off the kiss and looked her in the eyes with a question. She nodded and soon she was shaking again. He pulled his shorts back up and lay next to her. She rolled to her side with a sleepy yet satisfied smile and was asleep seconds after she felt Blaine's arms wrap around her.
Kent had eaten when she woke from her nightmare. Safe in her bra, soothed by her heartbeat, he was oblivious to anything but contentedness and love.
The next morning, Lana bought Almin and Alto each a level-6 ability book. "Think you can learn these in a week?" she grinned as she handed the boys their books at lunch.
They stared at their books dumbfounded. Then they grinned at each other. "Challenge accepted!" Alto replied.
That afternoon, as Blaine was told, Cece Techno arrived at the school to give the twins their identification cards which doubled as money cards. She refrained from telling them about the family feud. Instead, she focused on asking how they were, especially after the previous day's events. She hugged both with a feeling of warmth never experienced from an adult.
Before departing, she kissed them both on the forehead, "no matter what happens, I promised we will get through this as a family."
She hugged and kissed Paul and was gone.
At breakfast on Monday, Blaine informed Lana she had a new classmate in Agriculture. He was transferring to be her research assistant for the second half of her class. She was shocked then giggled, "okay."
As soon as the first half of Agriculture class was over, she and Blaine went to her tree. This month they were discussing fruit trees. She thought about how Pucket was still out there and fruit trees just didn't cut it for her at the moment. She thought back to recent events during the last outing. The scimmia attacks were interesting….
"I don't want to go up to the lab just yet," she said hesitatingly.
"Whatever you need. I'm here."
Though… Those thorns coming out of my foot was very interesting. How did I do that? Would that be more beneficial to explore? Four-inch spikes could really be painful. She decided to sit on the ground under her tree and explore what she was feeling when that happened. Blaine sat there watching while engaging super hearing again.
Lana built up her armor, thorny vines covering everything but her head, and brought her mind back to that moment. She was struggling for a moment. She was injured, in a lot of pain. The pain led to an intense anger. I feel anger a lot. How was this anger different? Wait… I had a thought… The kidnapped students…. The baby panteri… Then she felt…
The spikes came out. She felt the extra weight even though it wasn't that much. She smiled. Come get me, Pucket.
Blaine chuckled. "I guess if you don't want me to touch you, you can enforce it!"
She chuckled, "I don't see that ever happening."
Lana put up the Super Kitchen so they could test it out. This kitchen was also hexagon-shaped. This time, it was only missing one side, like a 3-D oomlaut. It had all the kitchen gadgets a person could need to make what their heart desired. It still had the limitation of no organic material.
It had an optional umbrella that could be raised with the touch of a button to keep rain off when in use. There were two settings. Rain was down low, just high enough they could stand under it. Lights would glow under the cabinets during this mode. The sun mode was higher, providing shade and natural light.
This bag had a spice pocket on the bottom with a grid to store the individual jars which prevented them from clanking together. The top part was similar to her other bag. It was still insulated so cold or hot items could be stored in there for a few days. Once again, she was allowed to keep the prototype.
She sat there thinking about the previous encounters and she had an idea. Pucket seems to be teleporting only to areas he can easily access, places he's already been. He's never been under this tree. I keep it locked down when I'm not here. It's not like he can walk in any time he wants. So...
"What are you thinking?" Blaine wrapped his arms around her.
"Can you teleport to a place you've never been before?"
"No."
She nodded and smiled.
The tree sent Lana a message. She then moved closer to Blaine and relayed the message.
In the open, she decided to kill two birds with one stone. A certain sexy blond liked her apple cider and apple pies so apple trees it was. She made it look like she was practicing the month's topic. She made really nice apple trees because she needed the fruit. The school's apple orchard was out of season so she couldn't liberate some from them. She pretended to suck at others, making it look like she needed to practice, implying why she was not under her willow.
She was informed someone was approaching and provided a description. She didn't look up, just continued to grow crooked and deformed orange trees. She heard the crisp sound of an apple being picked then it being bit into.
"You really are good at making apples," Pucket said. "What is that wretched thing you are trying to grow?"
"Oranges."
She still refused to look at him. She didn't need to. She had her overlay in front of her again. There were two red dots, not one. This meant the trees could sense another presence. There was a green dot standing quite near, more approaching as it was close to dinner time. She needed to stall.
"How much is she paying you?"
"You are the payment. Your body. Your screams. Your pain."
"What makes you think I'm such easy prey?"
He smirked, dark and hateful, "Oh, you'll behave for me. We've played this little cat and mouse game long enough. I found a special place for us. This is going to be exciting, you'll see."
She could hear his steps approaching slowly as if he was savoring the moment. She could also see that green dot almost there. Just a few more seconds…
"Is the place an endless void like your heart? I remember a time…." she scoffed, "you helped me learn to tie my shoes. You were kind. You would push me on the swings, and I'd grow extra food and sneak some to you when you were punished. How could you …. Did that mean nothing to you? Is that why you let them corrupt you so easily?"
"Easily, EASILY???? Is that how you describe the hours of pain I endured? You don't know what they did to me!" he screamed in her face.
Green dot was next to Pucket. Then she felt arms around her waist while a hand grabbed her shoulder, and she was no longer in the grove.
They found themselves in a burning hot forge, one Lana recognized. It was Bonol's favorite forge. He always had it scheduled. He wasn't there so he must have gone to dinner to get his food to go because the furnace was still running. Lana felt the arm leave her waist.
She quickly put on her vine armor as Pucket grinned evilly at her and punched her in the stomach. He then cupped her chin and slammed the back of her head into the wall. He went in to force a kiss from her. Biting her tongue through the pain, Lana pulled him in close. She extended her spikes as she felt him almost touching her. Her vision was fuzzy. Blaine had punched Pucket when he got closer making as much of his body impact Lana's spikes as possible.
When the spikes impaled him, Pucket's blood flowed down Lana's front and back. She screamed when the warm liquid flowed, realizing she just killed someone.