"So where do you live?" Adam asked.
"Uh, basically inside of the new academy," Nine replied. Him and Adam had walked back to the housing part of New Lorien.
"You're still the professor?"
Nine looked over at Adam and gave them a smile. "Who woulda replaced me?"
"Hm, probably best it's you," Adam said.
Nine chuckled a little before letting the conversation fall silent. All around them were houses, some of them small enough to be called apartments. Some were built with legacies, but others were built by groups that only had telekinesis or no legacies at all. Still, more needed to be made. Some teachers were sleeping in the school because of the shortage.
"Are you and John romantic partners?" Adam asked, pulling Nine out of his thoughts.
"Yeah," Nine said, a little surprised that Adam would ask out of the blue. Then he noticed Adam's body language. They were picking at their nails and looking anywhere but Nine, who was now smiling. "Why?"
"Oh, uh, I was wondering when that happened."
"Well, not that long ago."
"Oh," Adam replied, and they fell into an awkward silence.
They changed directions and walked near the edge of the forest as Nine tried to think of something to talk about.
Nine? Can you hear me? The thoughts were crackly, as if they were caught in static, but came with the message that they were Johns'.
Nine abandoned his thoughts of conversation, looking around in the sky as he replied. Yeah, I hear you. Where are you? Are you okay?
We're almost back to New Lorien. I already updated Malcolm, but we have all the Mogs and sustained only small injuries. John's words started to come through clearer during the second sentence.
"What are you listening for?"
Nine turned his attention away from John's thoughts and back to Adam. They were studying him from a couple feet away; Nine wasn't even aware he had stopped walking.
"John is, y'know," Nine gestured towards his head, "thinking to me."
Adam perked up and walked back to where Nine was. "Is he okay?"
"I'm pretty sure, yeah. He said he has all the Mogs with him, too."
"All of the Mogs?" Adam asked.
"That's what he said."
Nine? Are you still there?
"Uh, yeah." Adam gave him a confused look. "I mean," yeah, I'm still here, sorry. Adam was asking about the Mogs.
Ah, well tell him I'll fill him in when we land, which might be pretty soon, John replied. Meet me in the clearing?
Of course, Nine thought back before feeling the connection severed by John. Nine opened his eyes, which he must have closed on reflex.
"We should head to the clearing." Adam's voice matched the determination on their face as they started at a brisk pace into the forest.
"Hey, wait," Nine said, running over to him. Nine picked Adam up with his telekinesis, Adam making a surprised squeaking noise as he did so.
"What are you doing?" Adam asked, obviously annoyed.
Nine floated him into his arms, holding him bridal style. "I'll be faster than you," he tells them.
"Oh…right."
Nine started jogging before letting his super speed legacy kick in. He dodged trees and bushes, which wasn't easy while holding another person. Adam bunched himself smaller and turned his head into Nine's chest.
Nine slowed down when they got close to the clearing, entering it at a light jog. He set Adam down while trying to level his breathing. Malcolm was the closest person to them, looking up at the sky.
"They were pretty fast," Nine said.
"A little," Malcolm replied, still looking up. "Still took them half the day."
Only then did Nine look at the sun and realized how much it had moved. He figured that he and Adam must've spent more time in the cemetery than he originally thought.
"Huh. Who else is supposed to be here?" Sam was already there, standing nearby, but there was nobody else.
"Some more students, but most of who's supposed to help were already on the mission," Malcolm replied.
"Ah, right."
Adam was looking up at the sky now, too, scanning the clouds for anybody. They pointed up at something. "I think that's somebody." Nine looked up to see a lone figure coming towards New Lorien at a fast speed. They stopped over the clearing and got close enough for Nine to recognize them as John. He landed into the clearing and dusted himself off a little.
Adam hurried over to him. "Where is everyone else?"
"They're close behind, don't worry," John assured them. "I just wanted to go ahead of them to check that everything was ready. Malcolm?" John turned away from Adam as Malcolm walked up to him.
"Everything is ready to go. Beds are ready, and the, uh…" Malcolm trailed off and looked as if he was searching for a word. "I don't want to call it a prison, but the place where the less trusting Mogs will be is ready."
"Good, thank you. And the shifts?"
"I have teachers and students ready to stay up for a couple hours tonight."
John, Adam, and Malcolm had decided that there would be people guarding the Mogs for the first couple nights before they reassessed whether that still needed to be done or not.
"You put me down on the shifts, right?" Adam asked Malcolm.
Malcolm looked away sheepishly. "Uh, well," he said, before glancing at Nine and John.
"We told him not to," John said.
Adam turned and glared at him. "My people are my responsibility, John, I should at least be doing this for them."
John shook his head. "No, you need to get some good sleep, Adam. You know you need it."
"Look who's talking," Nine mumbled.
"You be quiet." John jokingly glared over at him.
"You didn't let me go on the mission, and now I can't watch over my people. John, I need to do something," Adam said.
"Trust me, Adam, you'll have tons to do in the next couple of hours."