Morph trilled happily and floated up off the bed as the doors slid open. He zipped through the air and over to Jim, nuzzling up against him eagerly. It wasn't every day his favorite human came back to hang out again after he'd left for the morning. This was a special treat!
Jim let the crowd into his room. "Hurry, everyone in, shut the door. We can't get caught out of class." They still had just over fifteen minutes to get to their classes, but considering none of them planned on attending physical today, there was no way they wanted to be caught not heading that direction.
The seven boys crowded their way into the room, cramping themselves amongst the overflowing bookshelf, neat desk, and half made bed. Jim pulled open the third drawer in his dresser and removed Sy's pillow. "I have this. It's Sy's."
Matt took the pillow from his hands. "Thank you. This should do."
Braxton crossed his arms and smirked. "I feel like it would be a missed opportunity not to ask why you have Sy's pillow hiding in your dresser drawers."
Jim blushed. "Now's not the time, Braxton."
"Shall I ask you again at dinner?" Braxton gave him a wicked grin. "I'm sure Zephyr would be quite interested in knowing the answer as well."
"You are such a troublemaker!" Successfully distracted from his worrying, at least from the time being, Jim glared at his friend. "If you must know, Sy's been sleeping in my room at night."
"I didn't realize you two eloped," Aladdin looked absolutely shocked.
"We're not married!" Jim was blushing again. "We're just dating."
Hogarth nodded. "I understand. My mom and stepdad had a few things at each other's places for a while as well. I wasn't supposed to tell anyone about it, though. Something about changing their tax status."
The pillow in Matt's hand started glowing a faint blue. "There! I've got a read on Sy!"
"Thank you!" Jim was instantaneously by Matt's side. "Where is he?"
"I don't know."
"Well how's the spell work?" Jim prompted anxiously. "How's it tell us where he is?"
Matt gestured at the pillow. "This will tell us. It's like….a giant game of hot and cold. When we're far away from the owner, the glow is blue. When we get closer to the owner, it'll turn orange. I only really have a range of about a half mile? Might be less. I've never tested exactly how far it goes. But! We know he's got to be in the school somewhere, because the pillow isn't dark blue. If it was dark blue, it would mean he was the maximum distance away. Or further."
"So let me get this straight." Aladdin glanced around the group for clarity. "We're going to have to wander around the school, carrying a glowing pillow, without getting caught by the staff, all while deciphering the different shades of blue or orange, in order to locate Sy?"
Matt nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much it."
"Oh, well, that won't be suspicious at all. Let's do it!"
Varian tilted his head curiously. "It's a shame that you don't have anything else that belongs to Sy, Jim. The more items, the easier it would be to triangulate his position."
As if it would produce more items belonging to their missing companion, Jim, Aladdin, 628, and Matt all glanced about the young man's room.
"Would school work count?" Braxton asked suddenly.
Matt nodded. "Possibly? As long as Sy considered himself to have ownership over it, I don't see why not."
Braxton turned on Aladdin and Hogarth. "You're both in his grade, got anything you two have done together?"
628 plastered his ears and antennae to his head in remorse. "No project."
"No physical projects," Aladdin replied thoughtfully. "But he and Mellow have been working on a report together that has involved a few material assets."
"Then we need to get Mellow involved in this as well." Braxton stated bluntly. "Someone needs to grab him."
Jim could feel himself bristle at the suggestion. He was not a fan of the manticore, and would prefer not to involve him in any capacity. But if Sy's safety hung in the balance, he supposed that they could work together just this once.
He would do anything for Sy.
"I go grab Mel!" 628 volunteered.
"Be careful," Braxton patted his friend on the head. "If the teachers catch you two in the halls, you'll both get in trouble. You might be able to sneak him out of Mr. Parr's class, but whatever you do, make sure you don't get caught.
"Okie-taka, goobaja!"
628 pressed his ear against Jim's door, listening closely for any signs of officers roaming the halls. When he was unable to detect any signs of life, he jumped up and pressed the button so he could exit. Moments later and he was half way down the hall, scampering off on his mission.
AN: alrighty friends, I am so sorry to be off schedule. I know I like posting on Fridays and I'm a few days late, but hopefully I'll be back on track next week! I've got about three more chapters pre-written for y'all, so into next month, but after that I'll be back to trying to write them the week they're due. Unless I suddenly get very good at speed writing again. Also, gotta try and bang out a month's worth of smut by the end of October, though that'll only be posted on my AO3. So we'll see how well I can stay on track.
As always, love y'all, and thanks for sticking with me! Feel free to drop me a line!