AN: UGH! I HATE IT!
I HATE IT I HATE IT I HATE IT!
I think I found something I hate writing more than backstory! God, did this take forever!
Good news for you, though. You get a packed Chapter.
Also, I don't think I mentioned it, but My Craft cleared 1000 Follows! YEAH! Don't forget to leave a FAV and FOLLOW - if you haven't already - if you like this story and want to read more! Maybe clear the 1000 Favs milestone.
Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. If I did, I'd have the Wardens drop something more useful.
Chapter 242
Chasing Leads
[Lenz]
"Repeaters, what would Professor Lancer think if he saw me now?" I bemoaned.
It was late at night. Still December 8th, but not for much longer. I was in a recently abandoned residence in the Cuore District, my name and face masked by my Dragon Head as I fiddled with redstone and enough explosives to level the two-story home. The repeaters were in place to carry the signal, and I had yet to place the trigger switch since I did not want to blow myself up. That was a cardinal lesson taught at the college regarding TNT usage: Place the trigger switch last.
Oh, but my professors would denounce using it in such a way. Technically, it was demolition, but the public and the cultists would be led to believe it was a grisly murder by dangerous and promising new recruits for the Endward Cult. The Griefer Heads we had on hand would only corroborate the illusion.
And after I told the professor I would not end up like LeShui or Larkspur. I thought unhappily as I maximized the repeaters' delay settings to give me ample time to be clear of the blast radius.
Dwight and Perry had promised nobody would be inside and were even watching the entrances so that no one would enter and to warn me if any nosy citizens showed up. They would be taking all the credit for this, after all. Just to be absolutely sure it was empty, I had checked every nook and cranny in the former residence myself before getting to work.
"Using my curriculum for terror like this..." I grumbled to myself. "This had better get the cult's attention."
The only good thing about it was I was on the mainland. The Cuore District stretched East all the way to the Border. I could even see an ornate stone brick wall marking the fatal border from the second-floor window. This way, I did not even have to look at the ocean. Not until my phobia lessons with Z7.
*gulp*
The only real worry was being spotted. I could not work in the dark, since I could not see (Night Vision was not included in the cocktail of potion buffs) and because Mobs could spawn in the dark. One Creeper was all it took to hoist me by my own petard, even with Resistance, Absorption, and Health Boost. So I worked by torchlight, and I worked fast, hoping nobody would investigate before the kaboom.
I adjusted my flapping dragon mouth after performing the finishing touches on the redstone. Every block of TNT was connected, and the repeaters were properly spaced. The building would be neatly demolished without damaging the surrounding neighborhood.
...
Although, wait, the cultists would not worry about that, would they? They would want more destruction and death. Would the tidy destruction of one building and nothing else seem suspicious?
It was too late to think it over now, and no way I would involve innocent people. Bringing the Griefer Heads was for that sole purpose. Instead, I hurried down the stairs, placed the trigger switch - a lever - and flicked it, hearing the telltale hisses of primed TNT a second later.
"Go, go, GO!" I hissed at Perry and Dwight, who outstripped me in their run for cover despite all of us having Speed II. I really needed to run more considering my Beginner track record. Thankfully, my set up of the explosives allowed us enough time to get to safety before the resounding explosions shook the ground and wiped the home from existence. All that remained was a crater full of littered blocks.
The fallout began in earnest, then. I heard shouting from the neighbors, likely asking what the explosion was. Doors were opened as the citizens of Oak Docks investigated. They did not dare run off to find guards with the curfew in effect and the risk of being stolen away by cultists in the night. Instead, they waited and looked at where a house had been, but now was not.
"That did it. Let's bounce." Dwight jerked his head and the three of us fled the scene before we could be spotted. I took off my Dragon Head as soon as we were clear of those neighborhoods.
"Excellent work, Lenz." Dwight complimented.
"Yeah, no doubt we would have blown ourselves up if we tried it. And wasted a totem." Perry added. "Nicely done, nerd."
The way he called me 'nerd' was as endearing as how Soul did it. I was no longer being ridiculed by Perry for my skills.
"You are welcome, gentlemen." I nodded before glancing back. "But will the cult question why we are only targeting one home at a time? Surely they expect wanton destruction, no?"
"Nah, the cult's as subtle as they are deadly. We would have found them otherwise." Perry pointed out. "We don't want to appear as too loose of a cannon. Contained destruction is right up their alley when seeking out potential recruits. We'll find another bar to boast in during the day and blow-up homes at night."
"...How long do we plan to do this?"
"Until we find a lead, or until the others find a better lead." Perry shrugged. "It's not an exact science, but the fact we encountered that cultist in the first bar we tried is a good sign."
"I still cannot believe how quickly we found one. Was it like this in Zeppil?" I asked.
"No! God, no. Zeppil was so much worse. Curfews were nonexistent - the citizens were just as likely to be killed during the day than they were at night. The capital was split between the kingdom's forces and the cult's forces, and there was warfare in the streets. Jillian could tell you more of what it was like - her having been there as Captain - but it was bad enough that citizens were trying to escape. Here, Oak Docks' tourism is enough to attract more than the Southern Division's reputation can repel, despite still being an issue."
"I see." I nodded at the comparison. "Well, if we intend to keep blasting, I will definitely need more redstone dust, repeaters, levers, and TNT."
"Make a list. Whatever you need, we'll get." Perry assured.
"You mean we'll have the new guys get." Dwight corrected with an evil smirk.
"Yeah, that. Seniority at its finest. Heheheh." Perry smirked back.
That was fine by me. I was strapped for cash, and redstone materials were not cheap. I already spent some emeralds on a treat for Z7.
We took the long way back to the safehouse and concealed ourselves with invisibility just to be especially sure we would not be tailed. Dwight thought it a possibility for the cultists to gather more information about the promising new recruits. It was well after midnight when we arrived, though there were plenty of people still up. Cobbert, Neiro, Heather, Baltic, Luis, Attila, and Alfonso, to name a few.
"Saw you coming." Cobbert held up his linked map. "Any luck?"
"We did our plan and blew up a house. Should be all over tomorrow's morning newsbook." Dwight explained fast before glancing around the room. "We the last back?"
"Nah, Z7 is still out fishing for cultists. I pray she had better luck than me." Attila complained while working at a Crafting Table. Upon closer inspection, I saw she and Baltic were making the same volatile End Crystals that Cobbert employed. The blast-happy woman was stockpiling explosives for the inevitable assault on the Eastern HQ... wherever it was. "I didn't get jumped at all!"
"Maybe you're low priority." Perry antagonized smoothly only to apologize when Attila approached him with the crystals held up. "Whoa, okay! I take it back! Stay away from me!"
"What ever for? C'mon, Perry. Hug me. Hug me like you'd hug a Creeper." Attila wiggled her fingers with a creepy smile.
"Seriously, don't make me burn a totem! You're making me nervous!"
"How's that for low priority?" Attila relented after being satisfied with Perry's appropriate fear of her. "But really, the cult should know me. They're unforgiving towards deserters. I think I just wasn't loitering around the right spots."
"Cobbert." I began. "Did you and Daisy find anything today?"
"The pier was nice. We rode the bumper boats, then propelled ourselves back via trident - it's a great way to get around the shore, let me tell you. And you guys were right, after witnessing them in all their beauty, I'm convinced dolphins are our-"
"So Baltic," I cut Cobbert off after learning he used today as a vacation day. "Were you able to find any leads on the cult's supply lines?"
"Nothing. Though I might have been more thorough if some people hadn't flocked to the beach."
"Hey, the sooner I get the beach out of my system - which I have - the sooner I can do productive work - which I shall." Heather assured. She did look more relaxed, and her skin had definitely gotten some color, as did Luis'. "Tomorrow, I'll knuckle down. You'll see."
It was at that moment that Z7 and the assassins of Team Epsilon arrived. By their disappointed faces, I assumed they had no luck with their respective lead either. Z7 in particular dragged herself across the room and flopped into a chair with an irritated huff.
"(Nothing. Not a thing.)" The Jibberwoman bemoaned with folded arms. "(Not even after appearing extra vulnerable and dressing myself up! The cultists didn't take the bait.)"
"(Dressed up?)" I inquired in her tongue.
"(Don't ask.)" She dismissed with a sigh. "(My feet and scalp radiate pain at the mere thought. I need to wind down, but I can't even enjoy sweets with this buff.)" She sunk deeper into her seat, putting her bare feet up on the nearby table. "(I'm craving something sweet.)"
While Shroud and Doyle relayed much of what Z7 summarized to Attila, Baltic, and Cobbert, I reached into my backpack and withdrew the treat I bought for Z7.
I tossed it to her. "(Heads up.)"
Z7 caught it without opening her eyes, though she parted her curtain of hair to have a better look at the bottle of orange liquid. "(What's this, nerdling?)"
"(It is honey from the latest Bounty Day.)" I explained. "(While most of that Bounty Day gear was useless, bottled honey, like the one in your hand, is quite sweet. It is good at removing poison effects. Plus, it can be consumed even with a full Hunger Meter, so I thought-)"
"(I stopped listening after 'quite sweet'.)" Z7 upended the bottle and chugged the stuff down like a woman dying of thirst would water. I cringed a bit at the undiluted sugar rush consuming such a liquid would surely bring, but Z7 seemed to really like it. As the bottle emptied, she even stuck her tongue in to lap up the final dregs sticking to the glass.
As a rough idea, a pumpkin pie had one serving of sugar, and a cake had two. A bottle of honey was three servings of sugar, without any wheat or egg to dilute it. Her sweet tooth was on another level to drink that concentrated sugar.
She smacked her lips in satisfaction after consuming three pumpkin pies worth of sugar, her body vibrating slightly from the sugar rush jolt. Her mood brightened up immediately after being without sugar for three days.
"(So good.)" She sighed happily before looking down at the bottle. "(Where'd you find this?)"
"(A merchant in the Cuore District.)" I explained, scratching my cheek. "(I, uh, remembered you had a sweet tooth, and you are unable to enjoy sweets with these buffs, so...)"
"(So you thought about me?)" Z7 smiled behind her curtain of hair and leaned forward in her seat, her feet dropping and propelling her around the table towards me. Her Speed buff more so. "(You came to my rescue? How sweet of you, nerdling.)"
"(Ah, it was nothing.)"
"(You're right, though.)" She grabbed me in a one-armed hug. It was a surprising show of intimacy, much like our last phobia session. "(I do enjoy sweet things. All kinds of sweet, little things.)"
I blushed at her tone, surprised, before she pulled me in and delivered a quick peck on the cheek, so fast I might have mistaken it if not for the sticky residue leftover from the honey she guzzled down. She released me shortly after and stepped past me with an easy saunter, my gaze flitting between her retreating form and the Paragons too engrossed to have seen that.
Did anyone just see that!?
Nobody saw that! And nobody but me could understand what she just said either. Was that just flirting...? Did she just...? But it could not be... could it?
"Uh... buh... whuh?" I forgot my Jibberish for a moment in lieu of actual gibberish as I struggled to process what just happened. A hand came up and touched the honey-glazed kiss mark on my cheek before I wiped it off with my sleeve, my ears and face feeling unusually hot.
"Something wrong?" Baltic asked from the side.
"No! No! Everything is fine." My voice cracked a little before I recomposed myself. "Just thinking about... the TNT I will need tomorrow."
"I told you we'd get the new guys to secure it." Dwight repeated.
"Hold on what?" Neiro chimed in. "Oh, hell no. I'm not doing errands looking like this."
"What's the big deal? It's a sick battle scar!" Perry tried to cheer her up. "How many people can say they survived a Hacker-?"
"I'm not going!" Neiro refused vehemently, her blackened, leathery face creasing painfully.
"Who has seniority here, Neiro?" Perry did not back down or read the mood. "Just-"
"That would be me, actually." Baltic interceded with a terse expression. "Perry, you're to handle the TNT. You're the supposed bomber in this plan of yours, not Neiro."
"But I planned it! Why should I have to waste my money-?"
"Quit your complaining." Cobbert jumped in as well. "Neiro has a job to do here. If you want something done, do it yourself. Don't delegate."
"Ngh, fine." Perry relented. "I'll get the damn TNT. Why the hell is everyone jumping down my throat?"
Because you are being tactless towards the disfigured Neiro. I thought to myself. Even I could see that.
Suddenly, a hand gripped my scarf and tugged me towards the door.
"(Don't think I forgot about our phobia lessons. We're going for a late-night dip.)" Z7 made my heart spike with terror. I willed off my scarf in motes of light, but she reached out again and seized me by my arm. How I wished I could gnaw it off like a trapped coyote. "(Come on. No amount of sugar will get you out of it.)"
I whimpered as I was dragged towards the deep water of the canals outside.
[Z7]
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Why did I do that!?
Why did I say that!?
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
While I freaked out internally, externally my half-obscured face was cool and composed. My nickname as the Slumbering Death wasn't just because I moved quietly enough to kill people in their sleep; my face was tranquil enough to appear like I was sleeping. I had a good poker face, which came in handy when my emotions were running rampant, like now.
What's wrong with me!? Gah! Stupid!
I was so swept up in him thinking of me and my blood sugar spiking from that delicious nectar, that I acted impulsively. I should have stopped at the hug, but I was already leaning into his cheek. I don't think anyone saw anything, though. Otherwise they'd have looked at me like I'd grown two heads. But the nerdling certainly saw it. And felt it. While his bewildered expression and loss for words was funny, I felt like I crossed some sort of familiarity line. Previously, the toweling off we did for each other was one level of contact that neither one of us protested, but this went beyond that. Kissing, even on the cheek, was something I had never done with another Crafter.
It was a form of greeting in some places. Right, yeah. If Lenz asked, I could always fall back on that. Save face. And I had done it as a form of gratitude. Nothing to be embarrassed over.
But he wasn't asking. We were doing his phobia sessions in the canals, him with his eyes closed, and he wasn't bringing up the kiss. He was probably just so terrified he couldn't think of anything else but his fear.
...But what if he had easily forgotten it? Banished it from his mind. Did that suit me?
What if he didn't think of the kiss as a reward? Why would he when it was from a scarred Jibberwoman like me?
What if he thought the kiss meant something else? Something intimate he wasn't ready for, like between Luis and Heather. What if it changed our interactions so that he didn't want to talk with me anymore, or listen to my jokes, or teach me common, or train Quickdraw and Quickswap?
That terrified me. I didn't want to ruin the companionable balance we had.
To prevent such a thing, I redoubled my efforts into helping him beat his Thalassophobia. My thought process was that if we moved on, we could forget the lapse in judgement on my part and go back to our friendly dynamic. Same as normal.
We were also swimming fast with our Dolphin's Grace buff. Incredibly fast. Like, banging our sides against the wooden catwalks fast.
I asked him various questions about redstone devices since it helped distract him from his fears, especially when I said something purposefully offensive about redstone to get him angry and launch him into a long-winded diatribe. I could barely fathom any of it, even when he was speaking my language, but it helped him forget about the deep waters he was swimming in.
To keep things fresh, though, I found my jokes could be just as distracting, and I practiced some new material on him, inspired by the honey he got me.
"(When do bees get married? When they've found their honey!)"
"(Aaah, that is an easy one.)"
"(Why did the bee go to the dermatologist? It had hives.)"
"(Low-hanging fruit, Z7.)"
"(You want my Z-Game? Okay, Little Gremlin, try this one on for size! What do unionized bees ask for?)"
Lenz thought for a moment before shaking his head just above the water. "(I do not know. What?)"
I grinned behind my wet curtain of hair. "(More honey and shorter working flowers.)"
"(Pfft! Alright, alright. That one is pretty clever.)" He acknowledged with a laugh.
Damn right it was.
"(What does a bee use to style her hair?)" I continued.
"(I assume... her honey comb?)" He guessed with a raised brow.
"(...Okay, maybe these are gimmes.)" I conceded before racking my brain. "(Okay, uh, how about this. If there's a bee in my hand, what's in my eye?)"
Lenz just shrugged.
"(Beauty. Beauty is in the eye of the bee-holder.)" I finished lamely.
There was a beat of silence before it dawned on Lenz. "(Ooooh, I get it. Beholder is... since you are holding the... I get it, ah, that is clever too.)"
"(It seems a little lame to me.)" I admitted, that being my last joke. "(I was grasping at straws.)"
"(It is fine!)" He assured. "(Actually, I like jokes that make you think. I find them clever, and they inspire your audience to be clever to understand them. It is almost like a teaching experience. It sparks the desire to learn.)"
"(I'm not trying to teach people; I just want to make them laugh.)" I emphasized before checking how low the moon was getting. "(Anyway, that should be enough. We should get out before we catch a cold.)"
Lenz quickly agreed, and I helped pull him to the lower catwalks forming the edge of the canal. I had done a good job distracting him, but it was clear his fear was deep-rooted. If I could've gotten my hands on those bullies that nearly drowned him, I'd tear them limb from limb.
...Because we were friends. Companions who talked to and helped one another out. Nothing more.
We didn't have any wool blocks to pat ourselves dry, so we could only stand there, dripping wet, and in our underclothes. Perhaps some of the Paragons could get a fire going to help us dry off.
As I moved to head back to our safehouse, Lenz piped up.
"(Er, Z7?)" He asked hesitantly.
I felt my heartbeat still. "(Yeah?)"
"(...About what you did back at the safehouse-)" His mouth clicked shut and he looked down at his legs.
"(...What'd I do at the safehouse?)" I played dumb, hoping he wouldn't continue.
There was a moment of silence before he seemed to reconsider. "(Er, never mind. Let us head back before we freeze to death.)"
He used his Speed buff to bolt past me back towards our safehouse. Watching his retreating form, half of me was glad he dropped the topic.
Why only half, though?
[Docks District]
It was a new day, December 9th, and Baltic and his team decided to check out some businesses on the docks.
The Docks District connected mainly to the south side of the peninsula, though it extended upwards, connecting to the Cadboro Bridge at a point. The beach south of the bridge was bordered by the boardwalk and the docks, though there were routes allowing boats to come in and out. Most boats docked on the outside of the docks as opposed to the inside. They were a convenient means of getting around the coastal side of the kingdom.
With fish being a major food staple, Baltic figured the cult would have hands in both small-scale and large-scale fishing businesses. It wasn't easy feeding a private army of killers, after all. Food was the first thing to track.
Unfortunately, with little to go on, Baltic and his group had to shotgun it, checking the inventory ledgers of various places with the permission of cyan-capped guards. The ledgers showed how much fish was brought in and how much was sold off. Then they had to check the business' stores to see that the numbers matched. If they didn't, it meant food was being siphoned elsewhere, likely by cultists. It was all tedious work in which Team Beta was used to.
The same could not be said for Team Alpha.
Heather, Wing, and Luis were bored to tears as they had to painstakingly scan ledgers, add up numbers, then check barrels and chests for the right amount. The ledgers would usually prove true, though a couple were off by three or four fish, which was negligible. They were looking for big numbers. Enough to feed a cult division, which, according to Baltic, could number in the thousands.
Team Alpha wasn't even put there to scan ledgers. Baltic wanted them as an extra measure of security in case something went awry. Despite their totems and buffs, anything could happen while they were poking around.
"Baltic, sir." Gregory raised a hand.
"Yes, Gregory?"
"Concerning the cult's food stores," he pointed to the ocean, "kelp appeared in an abundance along the ocean floor. It's easy to harvest, can be farmed, and can grow into long strands for high yield."
"And it can be dried for food, I know." Baltic sighed. "The cult could effectively live off the ocean thanks to the recent Bounty Days breathing life into it."
"But if they're drying that much kelp, they'll need plenty of fuel." Milton added. "Coal is the easiest, though I suppose if they have access to the Nether, they could just keep recycling lava as fuel."
"They need iron." Witige pointed out. "It's a staple for armor and weapons."
"Testificates have been going missing too, though." Milton countered. "Ever since the Bounty Day remaking the trading system and Testificate occupations. Bet you ten to one the cultists grabbed the important traders early. They probably have a marketplace full of Testificates supplying them with emeralds, food, armor. Might even be breeding them."
"So this whole debacle is nothing more than us wasting our time?" Heather asked with a hint of annoyance. "Screw it, then. If the cultists are this good at covering their tracks-"
"We're not throwing in the towel just yet." Baltic reassured her. "If they truly have all these resources, Testificates, farms, and portals - enough to house thousands of cultists - the one thing they need more than anything is space."
"Space, sir...?" Wing questioned.
"Twenty-five years ago," Baltic suddenly started in with a story, "the cult's Southern Division was operating out of Zeppil's Cloud Castle. That massive castle acted as the control center for the Southern Division and doubled as a tall structure to dock their growing fleet of airships. And two months ago, the Northern Division was found to be a series of underground chambers right under Ringwood's capital. The common denominator in these instances is space. They need space for it to be a proper HQ, and space is in short supply on this peninsula. Oak Docks has gotten too big for its britches."
"So then where else could they be?"
At this, Baltic glanced meaningfully towards the open waters off the docks. His team followed his sight and adopted contemplative looks.
"...In the ocean, sir?"
Baltic hummed thoughtfully. "Could be. Space aplenty down there."
"But... but where in the ocean?"
"That is the question."
[Cuore District]
It was in the afternoon when Attila and Alfonso got jumped by ten black-capped cultists with screams of 'TRAITOROUS SOW!'
The ambush had come without warning on a populated street in the Cuore District. Citizens and Testificates fled in terror while cyan-capped guards fought to get close and apprehend the assailants.
Alfonso beat them to it.
He fired his crossbows at one cultist each before using them as blunt objects to smash in the faces of the nearest cultists. He may not have had his Quick Charge crossbows anymore, but he was still a seasoned archer with a Strength and Speed buff, among others. He performed perfectly as Attila's guard.
Not that the Captain needed it. She was no slouch in a brawl either, and she used her buffs recklessly, diving straight into the thick of cultists and taking all sorts of slashes with her Resistance, Regeneration, Absorption, and Health Boost buffs. She waited until the citizens were safely away before taking out TNT. She set a couple blocks of it down and ignited one before warding off the cultists with slashes and darting away. The TNT hissed and made the cultists panic before it detonated in a chain of controlled explosions that killed a few and injured many.
By the time the Oak Docks guards showed up, the situation was well in hand. Only six of the ten cultists were left alive, and they were staring up from the ground at guards holding them at swordpoint and bowpoint.
"Ha! Told Perry I was high priority." Attila grinned, appearing mollified. "We're Paragons." Attila quickly explained to the amped up guards surrounding the perimeter. "We have this under control, but we need help bringing these guys in for interrogation."
Several guards stopped pointing their weapons at the two. "You don't half leave a mess." He gestured to the craters in the streets. "Was the TNT necessary?"
"Er, sorry. Force of habit from my fighting style - I grew up in Griefer controlled Nitebane." She shrugged. "Nobody minded craters there."
"Next time, try not to involve innocents." Another guard criticized as he robbed a prone cultist of his weapons. "On a packed street like this, playing as bait can-"
He didn't finish his sentence as the cultist he had apprehended started taking damage, with bistre particles swirling around him.
"What the-" The guard backed up as the prone cultist offered a middle finger and a lopsided grin.
"See you in the Next Life..."
And then the damage was too much. The cultist died in a shower of gear, his Head lying in the street with an empty gaze.
"What... what just happened!?" Attila exclaimed.
"I know that effect." Alfonso murmured before he glanced around at the other defeated cultists who also started to take damage and become surrounded by bistre-colored particles. "It's the Wither effect. Hey!" He seized the nearest cultist who dropped a wooden bowl leftover from the suspicious stew he had taken. "What'd you just eat, boy!"
"The time has come. If we remain in this life, we give you something." He offered a crazed grin. "Next Life awaits. I hope to see you there soon, when our Executive avenges us."
And then he withered away, leaving a burst of gear and a Head behind. His fellow cultists burst into showers of gear one after the other as they all took the same fatal foodstuff. Alfonso noticed a bowl of suspicious stew left behind, and he quickly reached down to examine it.
"Poison... doesn't kill like that." One guard whispered breathlessly. He and his fellow guards were unsettled by how fearlessly those cultists faced their end. "What potion effect could've drained their Health so completely?"
"The Wither effect." Alfonso noted as he sniffed at the suspicious stew before taking it as evidence. He wanted to try it, but his Saturation buff made it impossible to consume food. "I think this stew is imbued with the Wither effect. If it's anything like the suspicious stew effects, it'll be a short effect, but it's deadly if you got low Health."
"So they're carrying suicide stew? How morbid." Captain Attila surmised succinctly. She didn't know it could be made for the withering effect. She wondered what type of flower was added to make a stew do that. Something for the Beta-males to figure out. "It makes it tougher to take one alive for interrogation. They fight until they're weak, then take the deep gulp to finish themselves off. We better tell everybody about this, otherwise we'll never find a cultist to interrogate."
"Right." Alfonso nodded, the two about to leave.
"Hang on! Who do you think has to clean this mess up!? Hey, I'm talking to you!" One guard protested only for Attila and Alfonso to rush off with their Speed buffs. "Damn Paragons..."
[Lenz]
It was late at night. Cuore District again. Perry and Dwight had finished bar hopping and boasting of their latest 'kills'. They also got me the TNT and redstone I needed to rig up more buildings for demolition. This time, we were ramping up to four buildings - all multi-story - to ensure we left a noticeable mark. Griefer Heads were placed at random or else packed into available chests and barrels to be found in the ensuing wreckage and inflate our fake kill count.
Under my dragon head mask, however, I worked distractedly, my mind still stuck on Z7's out of nowhere kiss. Setting up the TNT and redstone took me twice as long.
After exploding the third vacant building, Dwight made it a point to ask why I was acting so distracted. Since this was a question I did not think Cobbert would want to hear after Jade, it was a good opportunity for some outside feedback from an unbiased source.
"A kiss on the cheek is a form of gratitude, right?" I asked bluntly.
Dwight blinked with a blank look as he registered the question.
"Uh... sure, but I hope you're not looking for one from me. I mean, you're good at your job, but a simple 'thank you' should-"
"No, no, no! Observers, not from you! It has nothing to do with you or Perry." I clarified, even though I could tell from Dwight's chuckles that he was joking.
"Good, you had me worried."
"Just listen seriously." I begged.
"My bad. Continue."
"...A kiss on the cheek... from a girl to a boy... it does not need to mean something, does it? It can be a form of greeting or gratitude in some cultures. I should pay it no mind if I see it or experience it, right?"
"Who kissed you?"
I fidgeted. "I-I never said it was me."
"Oh boy. Not this, 'I know a friend of mine who got kissed' crap. You're not fooling anybody. I know you're talking about yourself." I shuffled awkwardly at being caught. "So who kissed you? Neiro?"
"No."
"Trenay?"
"No."
"Attila? Daisy?"
"No and no."
"...Heather?"
"No - ugh, she is dating Luis!"
"I'm just making sure." He mollified. "Let me think who's left... not Z7."
I was noticeably quiet.
"...Z7?"
Again, my silence betrayed me.
"Nooooooo..." Dwight's eyes lit up as if it were Christmas. A literal goldmine of gossip had dropped into his lap, making me regret ever entering this conversation. "Z7 kissed you!?"
"Only on the cheek!" I insisted. "And only after I gave her some honey."
"Oh, she got the honey, but you got the sugar."
"Shut up!" I shoved him away in mortification while he roared with laughter.
"What are you two shouting about?" Perry came over with a disgruntled expression. "We have one more building to get to."
"You are not gonna believe this." Dwight could not contain himself as he beckoned Perry over. "Z7 kissed the nerd."
"It was on the cheek!"
"I don't believe it." Perry spoke in clear denial. "Z7 is practically an asexual robot."
"Only because she's had nobody to talk to, but that's what makes the nerd perfect for her! He knows how to speak her language. She's lonely and he's a dweeb! And considering how protective of him she's been-"
"Quit getting ahead of yourself!" I hissed, trying to get Dwight under control. The tops of my ears were heating up again, making me grateful I had the mask on. "It was just in thanks for the honey! It did not mean anything!"
"If you're still thinking about it now, it clearly meant something to you." Dwight noted with a grin. "Z7's never kissed anyone in gratitude from what I recall. And you two have spent a lot of time together. Talking, training, bonding."
"So... you are saying... it does mean something?" I asked uncertainly. I lifted my dragon head, raised my tinted glasses, and started to fret. "Oh, comparators. If I had known a simple gift of honey would have overcomplicated things like this, I never would have gotten it. Should I have said something after all? I did not know what to say or - I have never been kissed before! Is Z7 upset that I did not respond properly to her kiss? What was the appropriate response? Did I screw something up in the social ritual? Did I embarrass her? What is she looking for from me? Should I buy her more honey or mind my boundaries?"
Seeing my hopeless fretting, Dwight cut the ribbing and approached me seriously. "Okay, real talk. All those questions you're asking yourself, you need to direct them at Z7. Answering them is the least she can do for instigating this."
"...I can do that?"
"Of course! If you're confused on the nature of your relationship with her - be it friendly or romantic or otherwise - you're allowed to confirm it with her. She kissed you. Nobody but her knows why she did what she did. It could just be because you're the closest thing to a best friend she's ever had." I conceded his point there. "You'll embarrass yourself asking her, but relationships are all about taking turns embarrassing yourself."
"How would you know? You've never been in one." Perry pointed out.
"I've read short romance stories!" Dwight defended hotly. "Either it meant nothing and you feel stupid, or it meant something she wasn't clear on and she feels stupid. Either way, someone's gonna feel stupid, but you'll never find out if you don't ask. And once you find out, be a pal and share all the juicy details."
"...What juicy details?" I asked with fearful bewilderment. Which of us was becoming juicy, her or me? Her or me!?
Dwight clapped a hand onto my shoulder. "Congratulations. Your life is now my soap opera."
"You are a certified freak, Dwight." Perry shook his head. "Anyway, I gotta see this if it's in fact real. So yeah. Go pop the question when we get back."
"Don't put it like that!" Dwight swatted his arm. "They're not getting married. Unless..." He trailed off suggestively, his brows wiggling my way.
"I am only asking her if the kiss meant anything." I made it clear to him. "After that..." I trailed off, unsure, as even I did not know what it meant or what I wanted it to be. Z7 was a comforting presence. We got along well. We fought well as a team. We were helping each other in various aspects. She told corny, occasionally clever, jokes. Things were fine as they were without having to overcomplicate.
I should know what I want. Why is everything suddenly so complex?
Either way, after finishing with the TNT, I had to ask Z7 what her intentions were with that kiss.
[Z7]
The Canals District again. It was another night, another location where citizens had gone missing.
I was acting bait again, which meant I needed to look vulnerable and don my uncomfortable attire and annoying hairstyle. I would further draw them in if they saw I was a Jibberwoman. They saw killing my kind as a kindness.
Not that I could argue with that. Being an isolated Jibberman or Jibberwoman sucked.
That's why Lenz - why talking with Lenz - meant so much. And here I was, almost having screwed everything up with an impulsive kiss on the cheek. What was wrong with me? Hopefully the gift I got for him in town would make up for it. Make him forget all about it so we could go back to normal.
Putting Lenz aside, I dithered around the ambush site while my assassins were in position watching me. My daggers were out of sight in my backpack. I acted lost, timid, and frail, especially with how shakily I had to walk. It was murder. The balls of my feet burned and ached. Gone was my trademark light-footedness as the Slumbering Death. I clicked and clacked on the wooden catwalks like a train. Barefoot definitely suited me better than the damn stilts I had to-
I stopped as I heard a voice. A rough, arrogant voice. I heard it, but I didn't understand the words. They weren't in my tongue.
Instead, I turned towards the voice and saw five black-capped cultists appear. They had swords and splash potions out.
They started flapping their gums - likely the usual pleasantries expected of cultists - before they pointed their swords at me, then offered the splash potions as a second choice.
Guessing their intent was offering me a choice between being killed and being paralyzed and kidnapped like so many Oak Docks citizens, I did the only sensible thing and shed my annoying clothes, hairstyle, and heels in motes of light before lunging forward with daggers drawn. The sudden change in my attire and demeanor had the cultists reeling before I caught flashes of recognition. I guess the cultists knew of me. They shouted things and prepared to throw potions only for my assassins to drop on them and start hacking away. The ambush was a success.
With my Speed buff, I feinted high, baiting a block, before darting low and lashing out with my daggers, plunging two in the nearest cultist's leg, then Quickdrawing a third and stabbing into their chest. The agonized scream was cut short when my fourth and fifth dagger pierced his throat and eye in quick succession respectively, killing him in a shower of gear. I caught the five discarded daggers with a simple sweep of my arm.
I was allowed to kill one or two as long as we had one left for interrogation.
Shroud, Doyle, and Aurand were making short work of the cultists. Not only were Shroud and Doyle fully buffed, but each of my teammates, on their own, were stronger than the cult's standard grunt fare. It would take three or four cultists fighting them at once to overwhelm them.
I noticed Shroud struggling slightly holding a sword with his blackened right hand, but I was there to help apprehend his opponent. Aurand killed another one with a powerful decapitating slash, and Doyle threw down Splash Potions of Poison to further damage/torture the cultists. By the end, we had three dead cultists and two live ones weak and low on Health.
I had one cultist pressed to the wooden catwalk, my hand gripping and pinning his behind his back. I shoved down ruthlessly, the warning to break his arms clear.
I held out my other hand to my teammates, asking for Splash Potions of Slowness and Weakness. They understood my meaning, even if they couldn't understand my words, and Doyle came over with the prepared potions.
However, the cultist beneath me started rubbing his face into something on the ground. I heard him slurp noisily and messing before I quickly pulled him up and spun him around to face me. A discarded wooden bowl skittered aside, its contents having been eaten.
The cultist spat in my face with a grim smile before inexplicably being surrounded by bistre particles and taking damage. He died in my grip, his Head and gear going everywhere.
I cursed in my tongue before standing straight and flicking my attention to the second captive who died shortly after, an empty wooden bowl falling to the catwalk alongside his fallen Head and gear. Aurand had his hands raised in surprise, showing that he had nothing to do with the fatal damage.
My assassins started speaking to one another in harsh, confused tones, though they picked up and examined the empty wooden bowls before moving onto the full wooden bowls leftover from the cultists' gear. It was full of a stew. Suspicious stew. They took a few cursory sniffs before pocketing samples of the bowls.
I felt a flash of annoyance over the failed ambush. Cultists killing themselves with Splash Potions of Harming was one thing, but now they were eating deadly stew to avoid interrogation. Just one more thing to bear in mind next time we caught any live ones.
Mostly, though, I was annoyed I'd have to play bait again in a new location. I already willed on the attire with a dispassionate snort, gathering my curtain of hair and pulling it behind me to be arranged into its painfully heavy braid.
With all the stress of the night, I was half hoping the Little Gremlin got me more honey.
[Lenz]
I double-checked I had three bottles of honey as I stood outside our temporary safehouse. We just finished blowing up buildings for the night. Dwight gave me a bracing pat on the back while Perry just walked in.
"Now remember, you give her the honey, but you don't wuss out." Dwight advised. "Confront her about the kiss. Get an answer."
"Confront her about the kiss. Get an answer." I repeated to myself so I would not forget.
"Then share the juicy details."
"Then share the - you know what, no, my life is not your soap opera."
"Hmph. Just try and keep me in the dark. I'll be watching. With snacks." Dwight swore before slinking inside, undoubtedly to tell everyone a melodrama was about to unfold. I was under the impression that women gossip more than men, but Dwight turned that preconception on its head.
I steeled myself with another deep breath before crossing the threshold into the safehouse.
Our group was the last to arrive this time, as I already noticed Shroud. I did not immediately see Z7, though. Shroud and Captain Attila were conversing with Trenay, and I overheard them discussing suicidal cultists and holding up bowls of suspicious stew as proof.
Baltic was chatting with Cobbert. I caught a mention of the alchemist's theory that the Eastern HQ was underwater - a terrifying notion - but Cobbert looked to be barely paying attention. Instead, his attention was on a new arrival - a purple-haired female. He looked at her as if she was an extraterrestrial with three heads.
I followed his gaze to the purple-haired woman with her back to me. Her long purple hair was in a thick braid - as thick as my thigh - down her back, reaching the back of her calves in length. She wore a neutral gray high-waist suspender skirt, the straps of which went over her short black t-shirt. Her hair was held up at key points with several neutral gray barrettes. She had knee-high, black, zip-up cuissardes, with a square-toe, stiletto heels, and purple soles. Her belt and backpack were also purple.
There was something... strangely familiar about her appearance and color scheme.
When she turned and saw me, her black empty eyes lighting up, I sucked in a shocked gasp.
It was Z7.
How could I be so stupid to miss the garbled name hanging over her head? I may have missed the name, but the severely scarred face was unmistakable. She often swept her bangs out of her face and displayed it while she was telling jokes. This time, however, she had barrettes clipping her bangs to her temples and out of her face.
I was stunned by how vastly different her appearance was from her usual attire, or that she even had a different wardrobe. Crafters only ever had one set of clothes - the clothes they spawned in. They could will some off at a time but-
And that was when I noticed her black t-shirt was the same I usually saw her in. I realized what I was looking at now - the suspender skirt, the braided hair, the boots - was her full wardrobe. It was the appearance she spawned with. She just had it willed off all the time. She went barefoot, without her skirt, and with her hair undone and sweeping the ground.
No wonder Cobbert looked at her differently. She was like a whole other person.
Z7 approached me at a swift pace, her face eager. I noticed her wobbling on those heels, reinforcing why she had them willed off.
"(Why so slack-jawed, nerdling? I haven't even given you your present yet.)" She greeted when she was close enough, one hand resting on her hip. Her eyes lit up when she saw the three bottles of honey. "(You got something for me?)"
Wordlessly, I held out the bottles. She accepted them and quickly guzzled the first, enjoying the sugar.
"(Hooo, I needed this.)" She smacked her lips. "(I had an awful day. We finally ambushed some cultists only for them to kill themselves. All that time spent wearing that annoying - Oh!)" She suddenly realized she was still in that attire and blushed before quickly willing it off in motes of light. Her hair came undone and dropped to the floor, her bangs and curtain of hair obscured her cool, scarred face, her suspender skirt vanished, and her boots disappeared. It was like a load had been lifted from her, and she wiggled her toes pleasantly. "(That's better. So, as I was saying, we finally catch some cultists, but then they-)"
"(I did not know you looked like that.)"
She faltered slightly at my innocuous comment. "(What? That? That's just my annoying attire.)" She dismissed adversely. "(I only wear it to pretend to be girly and vulnerable. Truthfully, I hate it.)"
"(Why? You look good in it.)"
My comment, spoken aloud while she was mid-chug, made her choke on some honey, and she fought to clear her throat of the thick sweetness. "(A-Ah. Mm. W-Well it gets in the way, you know? The heels hurt my feet and are hard to sneak around in. The skirt is frilly, and the suspender straps dig into my shoulders. And then all the braids and barrettes, they do a lot of tugging on my scalp. That thick braid feels like a wrecking ball attached to my head at times. So, once I realized you could will off clothes and accessories, I gave myself a makeover.)"
"(Was that before or after you were sold into slavery?)" I asked. It was a tad intrusive of me, but Z7 did not mind sharing.
"(After. I found it out from some fellow Jibbermen slaves. Coincidentally, that was also around the time I started practicing my stealth game.)"
I imagined so. The soft padding of her bare feet was undetectable. How many times had she snuck up behind me without my notice? She could move like a shadow without all those burdensome accessories.
Although her original attire enhanced her looks, her barebones attire was more practical, which I understood.
Z7 twirled a finger into strands of her hair in a shy gesture. "(...You meant it when you said I looked good?)"
Why is she - Oh! Right! I thought, realizing what my words sounded like. Complimenting her looks like that was what guys do to express interest in girls, but I did not yet verify if her kiss on the cheek meant anything. Did that mean I prematurely reciprocated something that was not there, or that I properly picked up on her feelings and put the ball back in her court? Comparators, I did not know, and Dwight was standing there just watching with a gleeful expression. He was even hastily whispering to his fellow Paragons, who, after initially showing disbelief, did a double take on our behavior and proceeded to grab front row seats to watch our awkward interactions, mesmerized.
Why did Dwight have to be one of those scum-of-the-earth Boaters?
Also, how long had I gone without answering? Probably a long time. Best to just say something. Anything.
"(Er, could you repeat the question again?)"
And now I wanted to die.
"(I... ah, never mind. Forget I asked.)" She backed down, looking away. Was that good or bad? What even was good or bad here?
I think one of the ogling Paragons just complained about subtitles.
"(...You said you had a gift for me?)" I asked, fighting the hot feeling on my face and hoping to change the subject.
"(Hm? Oh, yeah.)" She recovered and dug into her backpack, withdrawing a book. "(Someone in the Canals District was doing some redstone demonstration, and it... made me think of you. Here.)" She hastily shoved it into my hands. "(They used the new honey blocks, and they wrote down a series of notes they got from testing-)"
"HONEY BLOCKS HAVE REDSTONE APPLICATIONS!? HOOOOAAAAAH!?"
Z7 winced at the sudden exclamation and wiggled a finger in her ear. "(I take it you're excited, Little Gremlin?)"
"(You bet your sweet honey I am excited! Let me see this!)" I tore into the notes like a kid his Christmas presents, scanning the pages for the redstone applications of a block I previously turned my nose up at. My previous embarrassment was forgotten. Cobbert and the Paragons were ruffled by my sudden outburst, but I paid them little mind as I delved into redstone knowledge. The redstone engineer inside me had been stirred from its slumber.
It was very thoughtful of Z7.
"(How fascinating.)" I said aloud after perusing the notes. "(It appears that Honey Blocks behave just like Slime Blocks... except the two do not stick to each other! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT THIS MEANS!?)"
"(...No?)"
"(It means pistons can move larger block segments! Previously, there was a limit to how many blocks a slime block could move. But, by alternating between slime blocks and honey blocks, there is no limit to the size of segments to be moved! Slime block machinations no longer need to be constrained by size! The sky is the limit - I got to tell Ines about this.)"
I took a full step towards Trenay, wishing to relay a map message to Ines and the newly minted Team Zeta in Nitebane, when I felt a familiar tug on my scarf.
"(Oh no. I see what you're trying to do. No weaseling your way out of phobia training.)"
That was not my intention, but it presented me with an opportunity.
"(Are you not tired? Surely we can postpone tonight's session.)"
"(I'm awake enough. You're not skipping out to gush over redstone. Don't forget who got you that book.)"
"(You mean to say, you are willing to make time when it comes to spending it with me?)" I asked bravely.
Again, she faltered. Her expression was unreadable under her hair, but she had to be affected to stop like that.
"(...I'd make time for anyone this scared of swimming in three meters of water.)" She countered before resuming to drag me outside. "(It doesn't mean anything.)"
"(...I see.)"
Well, there was my answer. A shame, but it was clear-
"(...Were you thinking it meant something?)"
Oh, for the love of Honey Blocks, this girl is undecipherable!
"...Should we relocate to observe further?" Trenay asked, having become absorbed in the soap opera unfolding.
"You bet your sweet bippy we should! Come on!" Dwight and the other Paragons picked up their drinks and followed the drama.
We were back to swimming in the canals.
The lingering excitement of the honey block discovery and...
...Z7...
...helped to keep my mind off the terrifying depths of the water. Good thing too, since Z7 was not in a joking mood.
In fact, neither one of us had said a word to each other as we swam in silence. Any time I worked up the courage to look at her, she looked away, and any time she worked up the courage to look at me, I looked away. I was taught to never flinch when staring down an approaching foe, yet here I was looking away. And for what? For fear? Fear of what? What was there to be scared of? Swimming in deep water was what I was supposed to be afraid of - what I was afraid of! Compared to that, the heat in my ears and face was inconsequential!
It was time to bite the arrow.
"(Why did you kiss me on the cheek?)"
Predictably, Z7 stopped.
Unpredictably, she started sinking. She gave up swimming entirely and sunk into the canals. There was little worry, though, as we were still buffed with Water Breathing, but was this her way of escaping the conversation.
"(I thought you hated not talking.)" I called aloud as I swam to the lower catwalks and hauled myself up onto solid wood. I sat and kicked my feet in the water, wondering if she would ever resurface.
Of course, she did. She breached the surface like a whale, her Dolphin's Grace buff giving her enough force to clear the water and land on the same catwalk as me.
"(Why'd you say I look good?)" She asked, clearing some wet strands put of her face.
I raised my tinted glasses. "(Why did you get me a redstone book?)"
She wrung out her wet hair shyly. "(Why did you get me honey?)"
"(Because I knew you liked it.)"
"(And I knew you liked redstone. Made us even.)"
"(I thought that was what the kiss was for.)"
"(Then why did you bother asking why I did it?)"
"(I... wanted to know if it meant anything.)" I confessed.
Silence.
"(I wasn't thinking with the kiss. Or... well I was.)" She remedied. "(But I was thinking you didn't think anything of the kiss.)"
"(Well, you thought wrong. I have been thinking deeply on that kiss.)"
Silence.
"(Thinking what?)"
"(...Thinking what you meant by it.)"
"(Right, but what did you think of it? Did it... mean something to you? Because it doesn't have to.)" She added hastily.
"(What do you mean?)"
"(Aheh. I'm just giving you an out, here.)"
"(Did you not think it meant something?)"
"(I... I don't know...?)"
"(Did you not mean for it to mean something?)" I clarified, feeling more than a little embarrassed. "(Did I make a mistake assuming-?)"
"(No! No, no. You did nothing wrong. If anything, it's my fault for getting swept up in gratitude the way I did.)" She tripped over herself to assure. "(The kiss on the cheek was - I crossed a line. Nobody's ever been this easy to talk to for me. I got... carried away.)"
"(If that is all it was, why all the prevaricating? Why not just say so? I thought you were smitten with me.)"
"(Sorry! I didn't want things to be different between us. I like how things are.)"
"(I like how things are too.)"
"(Good. Great even.)" She grinned in elation. "(So we can go back to business as usual and laugh about how silly we are.)"
I chuckled. "(Well, you do like making people laugh.)"
"(Right?)"
We shared another laugh at how ridiculous we had been before sitting next to each other and drying out.
Though, in a sudden materializing of lights, Z7 donned her original attire. The boots and the suspender skirt. Her hair remained a curtain.
"(You like my outfit, huh?)"
"(I thought wearing it was uncomfortable!)"
"(Or maybe wearing it is making you uncomfortable.)" She teased. "(You looked so bewildered by me. I bet you thought I was some classy beauty.)"
"(...The braid threw me off.)" I conceded, earning a giggle. I willed my own clothes back on as I finally dried off. "(Yes, yes. Laugh it up.)"
"(Can't believe you thought I was smitten with you.)"
"(Well what was I supposed to believe after you kissed me like that? There was not an instruction manual.)"
"(Oh? So my kisses are that effective? Good to know. I can stun my enemies.)"
"(It is not that. It just came out of nowhere. If you were kissed-)"
I stopped.
"(If I was kissed what?)"
"(...Nothing.)"
No way. I was not going down that rabbit hole again.
"(What? If I was kissed what?)"
"(Just... you would not be so haughty if you got kissed like that.)"
"(Oh yeah? Go ahead.)" She pulled her curtain of hair away like the unveiling of a stage, her bare cheek the star. "(Lay one on me.)"
"(...Come again?)"
"(What? This'll make us even. And I can show you it's no big deal.)"
"(Ah, no.)"
"(Come on! I want you to. I'm giving you permission here.)"
She stuck out her cheek and wobbled it invitingly.
Again, I lifted my tinted glasses to get a good look at her. What was even happening today? She was smiling impishly, so sure in her victory, that she clearly did not think anything of it. And, like I said, it was a greeting in some cultures.
"(...Alright, fine.)" I shifted in place so I was facing her, her fingers pointing at her bare cheek. The intended target. "(You asked for it.)" I leaned forward slightly, licking my lips a little. Were kisses supposed to be with wet or dry lips? How was I meant to do it with another person? "(Here I go.)"
"(I'm hearing a lot of blather.)" She grew impatient. "(Sometime tonight, preferably?)"
"(I am going, I am going!)" I reassured before leaning forward, aiming true, and giving her a peck on the cheek. One second. Then two. Then three. Then I was backing off, my heart pounding as if I had just jumped a cliff.
Why was I more affected than her!?
"(See? Nadda.)" She reveled in her victory, her curtain of hair closing and her legs crossing. "(Didn't feel a thing.)" She grinned.
Now she was just rubbing salt in the wound. I could not - would not - leave it at that.
"(Now hang on.)" I stopped her as she made to stand up. "(You... you were expecting it, then. Yes! You were expecting it! That is why you did not feel anything.)"
"(Oh, really?)"
"(Yes. We go again.)"
"(Hey, you kiss me as many times as it takes, nerdling.)" Z7 sat back down and parted her hair. "(You want right cheek this time?)"
"(No, I want you to close your eyes.)" She faltered a little at my request. "(That way I am assured it will be unexpected.)"
"(Psh. Alright.)" This time, she pulled her hair back and willed it into its thick braid by conjuring her barrettes. She made it so she would not have to part her hair for me, the braid trailing down her back. Also, her closed eyes and scarred face were fully on display. "(Go nuts, nerdling.)"
I waved my hand in front of her to ensure she was not peeking before I shifted carefully. I needed to be strategic here. Like an archer, I needed to hit her weak point. If her cheek was not yielding, I would have to go for more tender flesh.
My target chosen, I leaned in and kissed, not her proffered cheek, but the crook of her neck. Her eyes snapped open as her nerves reacted in a nanosecond.
A weird, super silly noise escaped her mouth, and I have no idea if it was common or Jibberish, but it sounded like 'Nyeewauk!' and it will forever be ingrained in my mind.
Despite being a sixth of the duration of my first kiss - a measly half-a-second - she jumped and lost her balance, falling into the water with a splash that left my jeans dripping. She came back up in another impressive breach, but nothing could erase what just happened.
A little heat had crept into the tips of my ears, but her face was burning scarlet.
She willed off her soaked clothes and clambered onto the catwalk with as much dignity as she could muster. Meanwhile, I was cracking up. The look of shock on her face and the sound she made were unforgettable, especially considering how cool she usually acted.
"(See? I am vindicated!)" I cheered after containing my laughter. "(Getting an unexpected kiss would affect anyone. I am not crazy.)"
"(I didn't kiss your neck, you ass!)" Z7 protested hotly while rubbing the spot I pecked. It only set off more giggles considering how red her face had gotten. She was positively blushing! "(It was just sensitive - and forget you heard that sound!)"
"(Why? I thought you adored making people laugh. Well, if you keep making sounds like that -) GigyaAaAaAaAaah!" I broke off with a silly scream of my own, in common, when Z7 lunged forward with her head and nipped the shell of my right ear. I shoved her away and slapped a palm to my ear, now redder than a tulip.
"(Keep making sounds like what? So sorry, but that noise you made didn't appear to be any Jibberish I ever heard of.)" She asked innocently before grinning at my payback.
Did I deserve it? Probably.
Did this mean war? Definitely.
"(Hey, is that Trenay?)" I pointed to the side, using the Cobbert strategy. Z7 spun around, as if caught doing something embarrassing, before squawking at the kiss I laid on the nape of her neck.
I was growing bolder and less hesitant, but so was she. She returned fire by targeting the bridge of my nose, right between the eyes. A deadly shot! I retaliated with a cheap shot on the sensitive scar tissue just above her left eye, earning a low whimper.
I thought I heard a crash off to the side, but I ignored it in favor of this heated battle.
She struck my temple; I got her forehead. She nailed my chin; I scored a blow on her scarred cheek. We gave as good as we got, neither one of us backing down. Our faces were as red and steamed as a pair of freshly boiled lobsters. I did not think things could get any hotter.
I was wrong.
It was when we were even and thinking on the final blow. We were each a little short of breath, but our eyes were fiery with determination to win a battle neither one of us knew the prize for. Deciding on the tip of her nose next, I lunged forward, not realizing she had the same target in mind.
That was when our lips touched skin a different texture than any they had felt before. Softer than any before.
I tasted honey.
Z7's eyes snapped open at the same time as mine. Our eyes stared frozen into each other's as both of us processed what we had just done. All while our lips were still touching. One second. Two seconds. Three.
Then we recoiled. We both backed off, leaning away from each other. You could smelt iron off our faces they were so hot. The rushing of blood made our cheeks light up. How could my face generate so much unbearable heat?
Unconsciously, I licked my lips, tasting the lingering honey. The syrupy sweetness. Z7 touched her lips as well, a frightened but thoughtful expression on her face. She looked at me, her once-empty black eyes shimmering in the moonlight.
A long time ago, when I was at college and saw student couples getting together and engaging in kisses, I wondered why exactly they kissed so frequently. What was the draw? I had to visit a certain library to find a relevant book on it, but the reason was supposedly because of the sensitivity of the lips.
During a kiss, the lip sensitivity causes the brain to create a chemical cocktail that can give people a natural high and bring on feelings of euphoria and pleasure. That same chemical cocktail is made up of three chemicals, all designed to make you feel good and crave more: dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin. And since it was addictive and made you crave more, sometimes you did not want to ever stop locking lips.
So, from an objective, scientific standpoint, it made perfect sense why Z7 and I - starved of such a sensation - leaned forward slowly and reengaged in the locking of lips.
Oh Comparators, what am I doing!?
This might be a biological reaction, but this is way out of line!
But it feels... good... so good...
Z7 and I parted lips to get a quick breath and stare at each other for a shining second before diving back in. Hungrily.
Oh my God! Her lips taste like honey and feel so soft!
I-I feel so happy! Happier than I ever felt - oh, Repeaters, this feeling-!
But I should stop! This is addicting! The chemicals involved... the feel-good chemicals are too good... soooo gooood...
I thought it would be Z7 who broke off first, but, if anything, she was leaning more into me than I her! She was moaning into my mouth as she grabbed my shoulders and I hugged her back for dear life. There was no way I could misinterpret these signals! No way I could misconstrue this as anything other than attraction.
Mutual attraction.
I heard another, louder crash off to the side. Was that my brain jamming? It may have been my brain jamming.
Oh, pistons, I was breathing hard through my nose as the kiss went on and my oxygen grew short. It was the same for her as I heard air whistling in and out of her nose. Regardless, neither of us came back for air. The pair of us were sinking in those chemical cocktails, captivated by them.
Closing my eyes only heightened the sensations as my other senses took over. Her lips parted and a tongue started entwining with mine, the euphoria skyrocketing and making my face burn. I felt faint. Dizzy as she played with my tongue. Okay, she won! She won the kiss-off! SHE WON! I GIVE UP! I could not-! I could not-!
Was this what Heather and Luis felt every day since they got together?
Was this the same happiness Cobbert lost when Jade left?
I was going crazy!
We broke the kiss not a moment too soon, the two of us gasping for air and panting heavily. I fell onto my back, my heart pounding and my face flushed, taking raspy breaths. I looked like I just had my soul sucked out of me.
Z7's face was loose. Her tongue hung out like a dog's as she stared back at me out of her curtain of hair with half-lidded eyes. I noticed the X tattoo on her tongue still leftover from the non-disclosure agreement with the Scouts. A strand of saliva dripped from that X and onto her shirt.
An awkward silence, filled only with our heavy breathing, hung between us as we settled down. After a while, I sat up on shaky muscles and Z7 wiped her mouth clean.
"(...Sorry about that.)" She apologized first, her head hanging.
"(...For what? That felt... really good.)" I could not lie.
"(I got carried away again.)" She lamented.
"(We both got carried away, then.)"
"(No, I forced myself on you.)"
"(What? No! I was kissing back. It was mutual.)"
"(You were just pitying me. With a face like this-)"
"(I want to kiss you again!)" I blurted out, looking to cut off her self-deprecating words. They had the intended effect, making her eyes widen. "(...May I?)"
After a moment of pause, she nodded and held still. I alone initiated the kiss, taking her lips softly in mine. I had gotten enough practice to be moderately decent at this point. It was a short kiss - a tender, reassuring kiss - before I backed off.
"(Did that... feel good?)" I asked nervously.
She nodded slowly before looking away. "(...What does this mean for us? I don't want things to be different.)"
That was a good question. Did this make us boyfriend and girlfriend now? The social norms were lost on me. I knew she liked me, but was that born of attraction or just because we helped each other out? A Jibberwoman loner and a redstone nerd. We had an unusual relationship.
"(Maybe... this is just a new chapter in our unusual relationship.)" I put words to our situation. Z7 seemed to draw comfort from that.
"(I really don't want anything to be different between us.)" She said shyly.
"(Different doesn't have to be bad. Different can be good. I mean, when we first started talking, that was different, and that was good.)"
"(Definitely good.)"
"(And, if I am not mistaken, that kissing felt good.)"
"(Oh, unbelievably good!)" She practically moaned, making me blush fiercely.
"(Th-then... until we figure out what this is...)" I proposed, "(why not continue doing feel-good things... with one another?)"
Z7 blinked at the idea, her face slowly lighting up. "(Yeah. Yeah! Let's just keep feeling good! After all, how can things that feel good be bad, right?)"
"(Exactly!)"
"(Cool, so...)" She rubbed the back of her head. "(Can I kiss you again? It felt pretty good.)"
"(Of course. I feel good kissing you too.)"
"We. Need. SUBTITLES!"
Z7 and I whirled upon the outburst and saw every member of our landing party watching hidden behind various cover. They had drinks in hand and were gawking at us like we were some sensual soap opera, which we may just have become. Now the crashing sounds I had been hearing made sense; it was our audience falling over.
My eyes zeroed in on Cobbert as his face looked eerily empty - devoid of any feeling - before he turned and left first.
Meanwhile, beside me, Z7 pretended to roll up her sleeves as she took her daggers and started marching towards the now-panicking onlookers scrambling to run away from the assassin. Most of them ran inside before the door was slammed into Dwight's face.
He pounded fearfully upon the door. "Lemme in! Lemme in! Lemme in! She sees me!"
"(Our relationship is not your soap.)" Z7 spoke threateningly as she grabbed Dwight by his collar.
"LENZ, WHAT'S THE JIBBERISH WORD FOR 'DON'T KILL ME!'?"
I smiled deviously. "R szev nrxilkvmrh."
"R szev nrxilkvmrh! R SZEV NRXILKVMRH!"
Z7 paused, burst out into laughter, and, grinning, she dunked Dwight into the water, fished him out, folded him like wet laundry, and left him out to dry, hanging from a wall by her daggers.
It felt good to make her laugh.
[Eastern Division HQ]
Abyssmal had his one good eye fixated on the pile of paperwork books before him, hoping he could glare them into being done and getting nowhere fast. All while the clock ticked slowly on by. Could it be December 13th already so he could get out of this?
Fortunately, a distraction came in the form of his bodacious Lieutenant. He'd gladly ogle her instead of his books.
"Staring your paperwork into submission again~?" Teal teased.
"And where are you at with your paperwork?"
"Dunno. Mark hasn't got it back to me yet." Teal answered unashamedly. "Not here for that, though."
"What's up?"
"Cultists from my subdivision never made it back. They were out looking for 'willing' participants for my Survival Games." Teal explained. "Someone out there made a mess of them." She grinned. "Wanna mess 'em up back? Bust some Heads?"
Abyssmal thought the offer over for a moment, his fingers drumming on his desk.
"Yeah, why not. Beats doing paperwork instead of just claiming for it." Abyssmal threw aside his paperwork, grabbed his bows, and called for some 'backpacks'.
"Let's rouse some Heads."
Inventory (Cobb): 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Leather Tunic [Dyed Green, Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection IV, Feather Falling III, Unbreaking III], 18 Obsidian, 7 Ender Chests, 43 Chorus Fruit, 48 Cooked Chicken, 64 Oak Planks, 64 Cobblestone, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 1 Bed, 30 Blocks of Coal, 64 Torches, 1 Lava Bucket, 1 Water Bucket, 1 Milk Bucket, 1 Potion of Invisibility {8:00}, 1 Potion of Invisibility {8:00}, 3 Glass Bottles, 64 Snowballs, 11 End Crystals, 16 Ender Pearls, 1 Fishing Rod {Backlash 2.0} [Knockback II, Luck of the Sea III, Lure II, Unbreaking III], 1 Trident {Awe} [Riptide III, Unbreaking III], 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Mobs of the Bounty Days}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Green Shulker Box {Pocket Box}, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying
Green Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 35 Eyes of Ender, 30 Blocks of Emerald, 6 Emeralds, 1 Diamond Cutlass, 1 Iron Helmet [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Chestplate [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Leggings [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Boots [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV, Depth Strider III], 25 Lapis Lazuli, 64 Books, 64 Glass, 64 Glass, 64 Glass Bottles, 1 Fishing Rod, 1 Fishing Rod, 2 Books, 1 Enchanting Table, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Book {How to Kill Stuff for Numb Nuts}, 1 Book {Advanced Mob-Slaying}, 1 Book {Mobs of the Nether}, 1 Book {Mobs of the Bounty Days}
[EXP: 53]
Inventory (Lenz): 1 Chainmail Helmet [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Dragon Head, 1 Chainmail Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Chainmail Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Chainmail Boots [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Dagger, 16 Ender Pearls, 1 Milk Bucket, 1 Compass, 1 Bow [Power IV, Flame I, Punch II, Unbreaking III], 1 Bow [Infinity], 1 Crossbow [Piercing IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Crossbow [Multishot I, Unbreaking III], 64 Arrows, 64 Arrows, 16 Firework Rockets {Flight Duration: 1, Small Ball x 7, Gray x 7}, 16 Firework Rockets {Flight Duration: 1, Large Ball x 7, Gray x 7}, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 52 Dark Oak Planks, 50 Chorus Fruit, 51 Cooked Salmon, 48 Apples, 9 Emeralds, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Daymonte Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Akasha Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Oak Docks Entry Pass}, 1 Red Shulker Box {Pocket Box}, 1 Gray Shulker Box {Pocket Box}, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying
Red Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 1 Shears, 23 Levers, 10 Dark Oak Buttons, 21 Redstone Torches, 32 Redstone Repeaters, 17 Redstone Comparators, 37 Blocks of Redstone, 10 Hoppers, 13 Pistons, 24 Sticky Pistons, 1 Book {Airship Piloting 101}, 5 Fire Charges, 46 TNT, 36 Charcoal, 4 Torches, 32 Pumpkin Seeds, 1 Book {Redstone Textbook}, 1 Book {Notebook}, 1 Book {Honey Block Notes}, 5 Ender Chests
Gray Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 1 Crossbow [Unbreaking III], 1 Crossbow [Unbreaking III], 1 Crossbow [Unbreaking III], 1 Crossbow [Unbreaking III], 1 Crossbow [Unbreaking III], 1 Crossbow [Unbreaking III], 1 Crossbow [Unbreaking III], 53 Arrows of Poison {0:11}, 64 Arrows of Harming II, 57 Arrows of Harming II, 52 Arrows of Weakness {0:30}, 49 Arrows of Slowness {0:30}, 64 Arrows of Fire Resistance {1:00}, 64 Arrows of Healing II, 64 Arrows of Invisibility {1:00}, 64 Arrows of Leaping {1:00}, 64 Arrows of Slow Falling {0:30}, 64 Arrows of Night Vision {1:00}, 63 Arrows of Strength II {0:12}, 64 Arrows of Swiftness {1:00}, 63 Arrows of Swiftness II {0:11}, 64 Arrows of Water Breathing {1:00}
[EXP: 25]
Inventory (Baltic): 1 Iron Helmet [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Boots [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Sword [Sharpness II, Unbreaking III], 1 Shield, 1 Bow, 1 Diamond Pickaxe [Silk Touch I, Mending I, Unbreaking II], 35 Arrows, 3 Brewing Stands, 1 Water Bucket, 64 Bones, 1 Ender Chest, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}, 20 Emeralds, 64 Cooked Chicken, 37 Cooked Chicken, 1 Lingering Potion of Slowness {1:00}, 1 Lingering Potion of Slowness {1:00}, 1 Lingering Potion of Healing II {0:05}, 1 Lingering Potion of Regeneration II {0:05}, 1 Blue Shulker Box {Pocket Box}, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Map {Paragon Minecraftia}
Blue Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 41 Glass Bottles, 64 Dragon's Breath, 59 Dragon's Breath, 64 Blaze Powder, 64 Nether Warts, 30 Soul Sand, 62 Phantom Membranes, 64 Blaze Rods, 64 Fermented Spider Eyes, 64 Carrots, 64 Melon Slices, 64 Rabbit's Feet, 64 Gold Ingots, 64 Gold Nuggets, 64 Gunpowder, 64 Redstone Dust, 64 Glowstone Dust, 64 Ghast Tears, 64 Sugar
[EXP: 32]
Inventory (Z7): 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Pickaxe, 32 Cobblestone, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 21 Charcoal, 40 Torches, 59 Oak Planks, 1 Honey Bottle, 3 Glass Bottles, 1 Cake, 1 Cake, 1 Cake, 24 Cookies, 40 Baked Potatoes, 1 Milk Bucket, 1 Bucket, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}, 1 Purple Shulker Box {Pocket Box}, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Totem of Undying, 1 Map {Paragon Minecraftia}
Purple Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 1 Iron Helmet [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Chestplate [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Leggings [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Boots [Thorns III, Projectile Protection IV, Depth Strider III]
[EXP: 47]
AN: What is wrong with me?
I'm feeding them. I'm feeding the shippers! I must have a screw loose!
All jokes aside, I've been building this up since they first interacted in Chapter 127 and 128. Lenz and Z7, or, as the shippers have put it, LENZ7.
Doesn't change how writing romance scenes takes forever! I wrote it in parts during bursts of inspiration, but man is it a tough call between backstory and romance which I dread more. Then again, people keep saying my backstory chapters are fire (good) so maybe they'll think similarly of my romance writing. Let me know what you think.
Part of me thinks this may have been too fast, over the course of two days and one Chapter, but then their connection has been established for how long? 112 Chapters? It would be different if it were between two characters you never see interact with each other, but there were signs that the two felt for one another. I don't think it's too farfetched.
Next Time! Nothing Happens!
FAV. FOLLOW. REVIEW. PM. FORUM. DISCORD. HERSHEY KISSES!