As the evening was coming about, Hops left the pharmacy eagerly. He had only gotten out of the water for twenty minutes, but he was already trying to get it on. Crossing the street, he could see Alice smiling at him, as she attached herself to his waist when he reached her side.
"You got the pack?" she asked him, giggling.
"I sure did. I'm about to show you the one thing I'm better than Jamal at." Hops managed to kiss her briefly, as they began to walk back towards that carr.
"I hope you can deliver. Cause I can show you a thing or two as well." Alice began to attempt to kiss him more seductively.
"I would like that very much." Hops noted that they were only a few minutes away from the carr. Jamal and the others better have a place for him to work with.
.....
Back at the carr, Jamal was staring at the statement Heskins was rereading. Turns out the apartment complex they were looking at, was actually being completely sold and for only 90,000 Youds. The trio eagerly paid for the building, as some quick investigating showed that they still had some work to do. The first floor seemed more for office space and management, while the next two had more residential spacing. Finally, the highest floor actually appeared to be for storage, which they all would use to their advantage. Besides essentially having a base of operations, there were repairs and renovations that sections of the establishment needed, but could relatively be taken care of within the month.
"I see no flaws in the contract. We really do own it." Heskins took a breath of relief.
Jamal grinned with hope, until he heard a young boy calling his name. Turning back, he could see the rest of the group, excluding Hops and Alice, coming back to them, with loads of bags and material.
"Pa!" Laken managed to dash to Jamal, as he grabbed his leg.
"Hey buddy! Did you miss me?" Jamal picked his son up.
"Mama made me walk all day! I tired!" the boy began to yawn.
"Don't worry, you're going to bed soon. Me and everyone else have some things to do. Heskins, put him in the carr for me."
Heskins held the contract in his armpits, before being handed Laken. The boy was struggling to stay awake as the man opened the carr door, and went towards the back. Meanwhile, the rest of the returning group reached Jamal, with him and Leon started to help put all their goods in the bag.
"We have two months' worth of food, as well as three new outfits for everyone. You don't want to know the bill." Fonda began to explain, "You really don't want to."
Jamal didn't even intend to, as Ula finally caught up with them. She was really straggling behind the rest, as Jamal grabbed the several bags she was holding.
"Thanks." she managed to say, before Jamal kissed her briefly.
"Don't worry, I can tell you've been moving all day. Go join Laken, you two are going to be sleeping good tonight."
Ula managed to crack a smile, as she moved a little faster to catch some rest, as Jamal returned to the back of the carr. Where were Hops and Alice? There was no way they were going to be holding them up now.
"We all set now?" Brat asked Jamal, as the man reached the open door.
"Unfortunately, we got to wait for Hops and his girl. I knew it was a bad idea for them to go out and about." Jamal shook his head.
"About that. It seems as if they're doing alright, but something else is about to go down within the next hour." Leon could see in the distance.
Jamal looked in his general direction, before covering his eyes in embarrassment. Everyone began to turn around to see quite the spectacle. Hops was actually holding Alice up, with her legs wrapped around his waist, with them making out in ways Jamal had never even seen before. On all of his powers, did he finally understand what that man had noted when he first went at it with Ula before the battle for the capital city.
"You know Jamal, it took me like three years to finally figure out what Hops meant by loud construction. He was speaking about se-." Brat concluded.
"In other news, we can finally move on from the carr! I'm so ready for some rest, anyone else?" Jamal quickly spat out before the preteen could finish.
He heard a thud and looked back outside. He could see Alice against the carr's side, as Hops was pressed into her. Jamal could even see a growing bulge starting to grow from the man's lower section, as Hops was about to remove the woman's shirt.
"Guys, could you wait like ten more minutes!" Jamal yelled aloud, with everyone looking at the couple.
Hops turned around, as Alice was trying to drag him back towards her, except the man held her hands.
"Alice, let's just get there first." Hops managed to respond.
The woman looked into his eyes, before taking a deep breath and nodded. Hops quickly put his hand up in greeting, as he still carried Alice into the back of the vehicle. Finally, they could actually go now.
"Hoppy? What you doing?" Laken was barely awake, as he looked at the couple.
"Kid, don't worry about it. Just turn around and go to sleep." Hops winked at the kid, before beginning to repress his face into Alice's.
Ula was luckily next to the boy, as she just shook her head and did the task for the boy. Heskins had to contain himself, as he reached the driver's seat and started up the engine. With everyone inside, Jamal quickly closed the door and took a seat next to Ula.
"I think this is why dating within your group doesn't work that well." Leon started to laugh, as everyone in the vehicle was uncomfortable, except for the extremely active couple.
The several-minute drive was painful, as everyone stayed silent besides Hops and Alice, who were making quite a disturbance without even going at it yet. It was a miracle for everyone to just attempt to do their own thing in the situation. Jamal found it hard to not look at them when Alice was moaning in pleasure and Hops coaxing her with words that were turning them on even more. Just before things got even hotter, Heskins finally reached the complex, and Jamal wasted no time getting out.
"Aight, since we want to make love tonight, let's get everything inside first. Let's go!" Jamal got a bit aggressive with irritation.
Not waiting, everyone in the group quickly exited the vehicle, with them coming towards the back to unload their supplies. In a short span of five minutes, they had managed to get all of the goods on the first floor just as Hops and Alice started to join them. At least progress could start happening now with everyone together.
"Real quick guys, before you go do what you wish to do." Jamal briefly turned to the couple, "I just want to let y'all know that residential rooms are on the second and third floor. If you need anything during the night, check back within the large pile of resources or wait until the morning. I rather not get into details at the moment, but just know that we may or may not be noticed in the short-term. That is all."
Before anyone else could say anything, Hops and Alice almost dashed out of the lobby and towards the stairs. They literally couldn't wait a single second to comprehend what was just said, Jamal took a deep breath, before joining the rest of the group following the pair's steps.
....
Sera looked back at the dummy as nightfall finally arrived. The stars in the sky were still visible, even though over the years, modernization began to make it harder to see them. It was still mainly peaceful though, as she looked at the sword in her hand.
Working with Jamal, and killing Youden? Was that something she could really consider? She spent her first years of adulthood trying to kill the man that she believed to have caused her suffering. Years of training and plotting, and it failed. What was going to even happen if she succeeded? Get a job? Start school? Move away?
"Father, what should I do?" the woman held the sword, feeling for any sign.
As if the sword wanted to respond back to her, it temporarily glowed, although its energy felt more soothing. There really was no reason to kill Jamal anymore. She wasn't ever going to get that chance, but maybe, just maybe against Youden. Youden did hurt and kill those people, not Jamal. Sera looked at the sky one last time.
She could really use a journey after all. There wasn't much happening here, and maybe honing her skills would be worth it. Sera planned to just wait until morning before making her way to Jamal. The sword's energy almost pulsed in agreement, as the woman started to smile. There was still hope to be on the right path. Eager for the day to come about, Sera opened back the sliding doors and closed them behind her, with a new chapter bound to happen.
.....
Jamal's eyes were still open, unable to stay asleep. Out of all the rooms, he and Ula ended up in the room right next to Hops and Alice. The "construction" was on a whole new level, as the sex managed to penetrate through the walls.
"We weren't that loud, were we?" Jamal turned to Ula.
But the woman was already knocked out, as well as holding onto their sleeping son. Maybe he should have done some more work before going to sleep. Temporarily yelling into his pillow, he tried covering his ears to little avail. Could he just get up and go?
"Ryannn!" he managed to hear Alice moan in a way he didn't think was possible. "I'm about to bust!"
"I'm finna go full throttle now!"
"And that's enough for me." Jamal didn't even say another word, getting up.
As the sounds continued with more energy, Jamal left the room. With nothing but his pillow and a blanket, he reached the first floor and back into the lobby. Finding a clear corner, he laid his head on the pillow, while the thin blanket covered his skin. And although it wasn't as comfortable, at least he wasn't going to listen to dirty talk for who knew how long. He had a supervillain to kill, and a whole country to reclaim back.