When they had logged out both just lay in the bed, side by side. Cass still holding his hand. They were both exhausted after playing all day. It was something they were both used to and confused by. Cass believed it was just phantom exhaustion, their minds believing they were exhausted and telling their bodies that they needed to feel that way. It didn't change the fact they felt exhausted. Cass touched a spot on her side where the largest bruise had been. Her skin looked fine but she could still feel the ache of pain. Just greatly reduced like it had healed up a bunch and was rapidly fading.
Jake didn't even notice the pain after logging out anymore. Most of his had gone away before he even logged out. The difference in their recovery speed due to vitality was immense. Even after Cass recovered she still lay there holding his hand.
When she sat up he did too. "You are an idiot." Her tone was back to Cassandra. But her grip on his hand tightened. "I really thought you had died for a moment when you flew into that maelstrom of fire, just like an idiot." She continued before he could respond.
Jake could only give a nervous chuckle, she was so close and her sweet smell made him dizzy. "It's only a game. I would have just respawned. It wasn't like I was in that Permadeath zone." Despite himself, he felt a shiver run down his spine. If the staff's explosion hadn't sent him backwards he would have smashed into the Shaman and gone down the tunnel with it. What if he had died after entering that zone.
Originally, He had been only mildly curious about the game. His mother's love of games like it had been his only reason for playing at first. A way to work through his grief and feel closer to her. But he had quickly grown attached to the game and his Merc persona. Meeting Ella at first had been interesting, her over the top personality had kept him on his back foot so much before he knew it he was logging in to the game just to play.
When he met Cass things had started to change outside the game as well. Only in fantasies had he pictured being in his bed with a girl. Sure, they had involved a lot more than hand holding and a lot fewer clothes. But the reality was that he would never have been even in this position without the game.
Cass shifted her position, her grip on his arm tugging his and breaking him out of his thoughts. When he glanced at her she was close, closer than he expected. This kiss was far less soft, not a brushing of lips. They pressed in hard and Jake's mind went white as he sat frozen.
"Merc is mine." She stated breathlessly. "Jake is too." She added, her voice soft and quivering as she hopped out of the bed suddenly letting go of his hand.
She started gathering up the console. Jake moved robotically to help her. Neither of them speaking. Jake's head was still coming down from cloud nine when he started to sense the tension in the air. She was done packing up and started to leave his room, her posture stiff.
For a moment Jake densely wondered what had happened. Then even his slow brain caught up. She had just confessed to him for the third time. He hadn't said anything. Not a word since.
"Wait, Cass!" She had just opened his bedroom door and stepped into the hall. She froze.
He caught her shoulder and spun her around. "Cass is mine too." For the first time in Jake's life, he kissed a girl. It was only then that he realized he didn't really know how to kiss but he made it work. When they pulled away Cass's eyes were glossy, he hoped that meant he did it right. "Er, I mean. Not like I own you but like you know my girlfriend." He trailed off, the sudden burst of bravado fading.
Cass's eyes focused on him but before she could say anything there was an. "Ahem. I was just about to check on you two before going to work. Seems everything is going well. But maybe we should tone down the hormones before things go any further." Jake's dad was down at the end of the hall, smirking.
Neither had ever seen the other turn so red so fast. Cass suddenly turned and moved past Jake's dad mumbling an embarrassed "goodnight".
Jake's dad shook his head after watching her leave out the front door. "Son, as a man I'm proud of you. But as a father. We need to have a talk." Jake didn't think he could get more embarrassed than he had been just a moment ago. He soon learned having "the talk" with his old man proved that wrong.
Sunday Cass did not come over to log in from Jake's house again. In fact, nothing seemed to change between them when they logged in. Yet, everything changed. The way they talked or looked at one another. How they stood next to each other, sometimes brushing against each other. It didn't go unnoticed either. Gadget wanted all the "juicy" teen romance details. When they didn't provide any she made up her own. They were far… FAR more graphic and explicit than anything that happened.
Seeing the extremely shy embarrassment of the two teens only made her worse. Even Aero, ever grinning joined in. Only Ella didn't. Jake felt bad if he were to admit to himself if to no one else he had kinda had a crush on Ella. Sure they had only spent a week together, but for a teen boy that was long enough. Even if she was flat as a board her fun over the top personality had grown on him. Plus, while he was admitting things to himself, she was the only girl he had touched like that, yet. Even if it was an accident.
That day they started the process of searching for the next big hunt. It started with gathering information from the locals. While they did that Jake was outside with Cass practicing his new ability. Once he had absorbed it, the knowledge of how to use it filled his mind. Like a tickling wave flooded his head. Cass confirmed this was different than how it was for her. She had installed hers into her HUD equipment. While he had injected his directly into his body like the normal Mutagen.
The strange tickling in his head faded just as it was about to drive him insane. After that, it was just a short process of getting used to the new information. He could look at a spot and know if it was in range or not. It took only two tries for the first jump. That was the easy part. The hard part was the sudden disorientation. Not a physical feeling but it was strange suddenly being somewhere else. The first time he had arrived about a foot off the ground and fallen right on his butt.
His limit on jumping without any issues was only two times. When he jumped the third time he found out why the four eyed Grim hadn't used extra jumps even when things got desperate. His vision blurred and he saw triple. His stomach twisted in a knot before shoving itself right into his throat. Most of this was barely noticed compared to the intense piercing pain in his head.
When the pain lowered enough he could see he found Cass holding his head in her lap. Gadget was over him with her three hummingbird drones flitting around him. "See he is fine. I can't heal him if he has no damage." She was saying. Cass was caressing his face or would have been if his mask wasn't on.
"Sounds like the most extreme case of Mind Out. He probably wants to avoid that." Aero looked odd without his ever present grin on his face.
Ella stood several steps further but looked just as worried as the others.
That afternoon they roamed around some looking for signs of any of the bigger grouping monsters. They had a few fights here and there where Jake got some practice with his new ability. He also got a feel for how much it drained him and how much he had recovered. More or less giving him a feel for when he could safely use the next jump. There were only a few times he misjudged and with Mind Out again. With that as motivation, he quickly got a very good grasp on it.
There was tension in the group that grew the entire day. Ella and Cass hadn't said a single word to each other. When they finally returned back to the hub to cash in for the night again things only got more intense. With either school or work tomorrow for everyone they were all in the log out room together. There were a few others in the room talking as happened sometimes.
They were all saying their goodnights when Cass knocked on Jake's mask. "Open up stupid. I can't kiss you with it on." Her face was only slightly flushed.
"Well, we know who wears the pants in that relationship. You go girl!" Gadget grinned, her eyes were bright. Jake did as asked and they shared a kiss. Jake wasn't sure but he thought they were getting better at this, it sure felt like they were.
Ella watched saying nothing. Her look was blank. Cass suddenly turned around to face her. "Ella, I don't want there to be any hard feelings between us. But Merc… Jake is my boyfriend. I know you like him too. Is that going to be a problem?" Her tone was friendly but stern. Jake was impressed, she sounded so mature addressing the problem head on. He would never have done that. That realization made him both embarrassed for himself and proud of his… girlfriend. That last thought washed away the embarrassment, replacing it with a warm glow.
Cass just hoped they all couldn't hear her heart pounding. But she had plenty of experience acting bolder than she felt though.
The response from Ella was not what they were expecting. She suddenly slapped both her cheeks and shook her head before laughing. "Oh man, I must be the best actress of all time. Did you all really think I liked him?" She laughed and shook her head while moving towards the nearest log out door. "I'll see everyone tomorrow. Go have fun with your booooyfriend." She laughed and entered the doorway.
Everyone shared a quick look and then seemed to shrug at once. If that was how she wanted to play it.
While Ella was logging out into her room to roll face down into her pillow and mourn her lost first crush. A set of eyes watched the rest of the group log out. They were talking to someone but their mouth was on auto piolet while their eyes followed two of them closely. One of the male and female tech users.