School had come to an end and the hallways were buzzing with students on their way to the elevator or TelePad, returning back home.

Jak had planned to hide within the crowd and slip into an empty classroom or other abandoned section of the DPG building, from there he could have found a hiding spot for the night. Sadly, however, he had underestimated Vee’s tenacity. And her ability to slip through crowds unimpeded.

So it came that she had easily intercepted him shortly after their class had ended. Unable to escape her this time around, Jak was forced to accompany her on her way out. Rehn was also there. And with that he lost his chance to stay hidden in school for the night.

“Look, I had promised my little sis to show her around the festival on the first day. No way I’m breaking that.” He explained with a groaned sigh. “And did you have to bombard me with paper pellets…?” Exasperated he stared at her, snipping another one off of his shoulders.

“Definitely.” Vee grinned satisfied, noting the small paper balls that still bounced alongside his ears, hair and tail. Then she blew out some air at the actual important part of his explanation.

“Little sis, huh? Ah, fine… I can play ball.” She rolled her eyes with a rising twinkle. “But that means our date’s getting expanded for the entire day~ Otherwise it’s just us looking after a brat.”

“I think it’s wonderful you’re taking care of your sister.” Rehn chimed in with a smile from the side. “And maybe Vee here will learn what’s it like to take care of something that doesn’t want to carry around mini rocket launchers.”

“Jenny definitely would love to.” Jak deadpanned at the same time as Vee puffed out her chest proudly.

“And I would so teach her!”

“Well, I hope you manage to babysit two kids…” Rehn sweatdropped and gave him an encouraging look, fingers crossed.

The trio continued to chat for the rest of the way. It circled around from Vee poking at Rehn about her date to a tangent about pets. Rehn, living within the Dampf Tower, sadly wasn’t allowed to keep one. And from there they made plans about the festival, what places to visit and when.

“Meeting at the Central Fountain by the Dampfhaus, right at 11. Don’t be late.” Vee declared with a dangerous smile. “I can find out where you live~”

“I doubt it.” Jak snorted before flashing her a smirking thumbs up. “But sure.”

“Her aunt’s part of the City Guards, don’t think she won’t be able to find you.” Rehn warned him amused.

“Speaking off, did you ask your dad for a favour…? Aunt Leora’s poked me about that last evening.” Vee threw her a look. The cat blinked completely bewildered by that idea.

“Wha? No, I didn’t. I don’t think he would even entertain the idea of playing favourites.”

“Eh, was a long shot anyways. She would have been much more vocal about it otherwise.” Vee shrugged carelessly.

Jak felt like he was completely out of his element here. He normally made sure to keep as far away from the City Guards as possible. This type of talk was so alien to him he just felt lost. Was this talk normal? Sweatdropping he just walked awkwardly along.

Their paths split by the time they reached the transport. Rehn was able to just use to the TelePad, porting right to the Dampf Tower, while Jak and Vee had to use the elevator.

“See ya both tomorrow!” Rehn waved with a warm smile and then vanished with many other students in a blue and white whirl of flowing light.

Jak wondered when he had actually started to become part of this little group but decided to just go with it. And then realised that Vee had already taken the lead to the elevator, sticking her tongue at him with a mocking smirk. Taken aback he squawked and raced right after. Soon enough they were both inside, waiting for the elevator to leave. It was a strange feeling, he hadn’t used it in what felt like years since he had first found his way into the DPG.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

The elevator was a larger platform with numerous lounges and tables, at the centre even stood a small tree. And right now the elevator was stuffed with students, sitting around, chatting or even playing games as they waited for it to start moving.

“Heh, not so fast this time, eh?” Vee smirked as she greeted Jak, leaning against the side of a couch. Her victory faltered somewhat in that she was heavily panting and that Jak had literally seen her pose just seconds ahead of him. Meanwhile he wasn’t even out of breath.

“Taking a headstart is being faster now, huh?” He replied instead, an amused smile on his lips. Her eyes sharpened lightly, unnoticed by him, only to brighten satisfied as he chuckled. “Haha, well, can’t say it didn’t work.” It reminded him of Jenny. Which he wasn’t sure was a good or bad thing.

“Glad to agree.” Vee preened smugly. Definitely a bad thing, Jak sweatdropped.

Any retort or further talk, however, was buried under the loud whistling howl of the elevator as it set into motion. It was probably one of the loudest applications of the Steam System and all conversation was instantly halted. No sense trying to talk when you couldn’t understand the other anyways. Most games continued on, they didn’t need words.

Vex, the little slime, had been hiding away in Jak’s school bag since the end of break as pets weren’t normally allowed at school. And Jak had very much hammered that into the slime’s head before entering the classroom. He had popped his head out just as the elevator had started moving and was now promptly back in the deepest depth of the bag to hide from that infernal noise. What terrifying thing could that come from?!

Jak and Vee waited side by side for the elevator to reach the bottom. The air was filled with noise and yet there began a bit of an awkward silence to fill between them.

Until now Jak hadn’t really looked too much at Vee, really looked at her. Now that there were no lessons or other distractions, he actually began to subtly take note of her appearance. Lithe, thin and agile. A purple, curve hugging shirt. Ripped, skintight jeans of black. Short, wild hair ending a bit above her shoulders. Getting a date with her? It was definitely worth the problems. And he had to admit it had been fun exchanging barbs with her.

Vee did much the same in turn. At first Jak had just been the annoying guy that she had ask out because of Rehn, then he was the perfect target for her to let off some steam. He still was just the new guy to her, even as he had been pretty fun to mess with. But he was also a cute guy. And now that she had a moment to look at him in more detail, she definitely liked what she saw. A bit shorter than her, maybe, but with a lean and fit body that was visible even through his rather baggy clothes. He even had a pet! Vex was definitely a plus for him, in her mind.

Neither of them noticed the other staring.

“Hope to see you tomorrow, otherwise I will know you decided to chicken out on our date.” Vee smirked as she and Jak stepped out of the elevator to got to their respective homes.

“As if.” Jak rolled his eyes. “Hope you don’t get arrested by your own aunt for dating a slum kid!” He smirked back.

Her eyes flashed amused.

“Heh, I have been wandering around the slums for years now~ That won’t be a problem.” And with a playful flutter of her eyes she waved goodbye, joining the other students by climbing into the overhead tram. A smug smile flitted over her lips as she noticed his surprised look at that sudden revelation. Then the tram started moving and the two lost each other out of sight.

“What the heck? Well, I can certainly see her climbing around the slums with those clothes.” Jak shook his head bemused and hoisted his bag up. “You can get out now, the noise is over.”

At his words Vex poked his head out of the bag, peeking through the small slit of the flap. Then his face brightened happily as no deafening noise hammered into him and he bounced out of the bag and onto Jak’s shoulder. He was completely oblivious to Jak’s hard frown.

“Don’t get used to this. When we’re back home I’m gonna make sure you’re not repeating this little misadventure.”

Then Jak sighed and wandered away from the elevator. Getting off of here without the tram or some other way the richer kids had available to them had been an adventure the first time around, now it was just tedious.

More importantly, since he was back in the slums for the night maybe he could do some investigating. Jenny’s recounting of Haggard and his goonies echoed through his mind again and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. What the Abyss had they been doing sneak outside late enough they had to climb in through the windows? And they seemed to have gotten access to the roof. It had definitely something to do with that small box Jenny had seen and Jak was pretty sure it couldn’t be anything good.

“Well, great… I hope I get enough sleep tonight then.” Jak stretched himself wide.

Vex happily bounced on his shoulder, entirely oblivious to the plans his carrier was scheming. He would have probably tried to join even if he had known or cared. Vex was a loyal slime!

Jak slipped into a side alley for maintenance and then arduously began climbing along the walls, pipes and vents as they lead along the plateau. Where he was right now, no path lead back to the top. But after only a few minutes he had reached the bottom and was flitting through the streets of Dampfstadt, soon enough he had returned to the Vent Slums.

First stop, his home. Then it was time to stake out the Maisen Orphanage for Haggard. He better made sure to get some snacks for the waiting time, maybe something to read, too. As the plan took form in his mind, the next day and the date the day after was pushed further into the back of his mind. It wouldn’t do for that to distract him right now.