Broken Knowledge

Chapter 37

Mara woke up feeling a dull ache. It was an ache that she knew anyone of the male gender would never understand. But, in a way, she felt happy that she could feel that pain because it let her know what happened last night was real, and not a fantasy.

She sat up, shivering as the cold air hit her naked chest. Mara looked over at Alan. He was still asleep. Mara watched Alan sleep for a few minutes, watching his bare chest rise and fall with his breaths and staring at his relaxed face.

But Mara wasn't able to admire him for long.

Alan stirred. He looked up at Mara.

"Morning," he said sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"Morning!" Mara responded.

Alan sat up and stretched. He looked around, looking confused, the said,"Did we actually.... Or was I dreaming?"

Mara shook her head."It wasn't a dream."

Alan nodded, then kinda stared off into space, then he looked over at Mara, looking her up and down.

Mara blushed, even though she knew that Alan had memorized every line and curve of her body.

Alan noticed her expression and changed the subject.

"Today we're going to go to Inkopolis and stay there from a few weeks."

Mara's eyes widened in excitement.

"Really!?" She exclaimed.

Alan smiled."Really, so we better get packing."

While Alan woke himself up, Mara got out of bed and picked her clothes off the floor and put them on.

"Hey Alan." She said as she pulled her shorts up.

"Yeah?"

"Was last night your first time too or..."

Alan blushed at the sudden and blunt question.

"U-um no." He stuttered.

Mara nodded then went back to getting dressed, then she started packing a suitcase for the weeks that they would be staying in Inkopolis.

Alan blushed again. She asks an awkward question then acts like it never happened. Odd.

I wonder if my house is still empty. Or if the Council, (Inkopolis's leader's. They ran off a government system where the city was ran by a Council,  not a president or mayor.),allowed someone else to move in.

After Alan finally got his lazy tail out of bed and got dressed, he started helping Mara pack.

"Is Melody gonna come with us?" Mara asked.

"Oh," Alan exclaimed."That's something else I meant to talk to you about. She can come if you want, but if you don't, Sandy offered to let her stay with her."

Mara thought hard about this for a moment. Then she said,"Let's let her come with. I want her to see the beauty of Inkopolis."

Alan nodded."I'll let her know to start packing when she wakes up."

Mara nodded, happy. She was very excited to finally be able to return to Inkopolis after months of being separated from it.

"Why are we going to Inkopolis?" Mara asked."I mean, as odviously aren't going on vacation during this troubling time."

Alan sighed and said,"I'm afraid this isn't a vacation. The Patron's spies inthe Dictator's system are saying that the Dictator is planning to attack Inkopolis at some point between now and a month. The Patron wants us there, along with my Regiment of soldiers."

(a Squad is 10 soldiers, a Regiment is 50, a Garrison is 100, a Legion is 500, and a Squadron is 1000. Alan is the leader of 1 Regiment[It's name is the K9-01 Regiment] of foot Soldiers, specially trained in being on the defensive. They could easily hold Inkopolis on their own if it was attacked)

"So we're there to act as Defenders if Inkopolis is attacked?"

"Precisely. But we need to make it appear like we're just going to there for vacation because Inkopolis made it clear that they don't want our help in this war."

Mara nodded and continued packing, processing this information. If they were going to defend, would that mean she wouldn't be able to wander in her city? Or would she have to be on guard all the time?

She wasn't able to think long before Alan had woken Melody up and told her to pack. About an hour later they were packed and waiting on the curb for the bus with everyone going to Inkopolis to join them.

"Sup gay boi," Logan said when Alan got on the bus.

"What are you doing here?" Alan said, surprised that the Inkling was joining them.

"There's allot of volunteers coming too!" Logan said."Did you think you and your Regiment were going to be the only ones going?"

Mara was amused by Alan's surprise and stifled a giggle. Melody however, didn't hesitate to let Alan know of her amusement through a loud giggle.

Alan ignored the girl and sat down. Mara sat down beside him and put her head on his shoulder, resulting in mocking jabs from everyone else.

They would really be mocking us if they knew what we did last night. Mara thought, hiding a blush.

Melody plopped down beside Zeek and started loading him with questions.

Bridgett narrowed her eyes at Alan, then looked at Mara. Then she gave her a, You can't hide anything from me, look and turned away smirking when Mara blushed.

The real adventure was about to begin, and Mara was so excited. She couldn't wait to see her precious city again.