Chapter 131 Apartment Break
3 hours later, inside Alex" apartment.
"What did you just say?" Alina"s voice, which was several octaves higher than usual, blasted right in front of Alex as Alina pounder her left hand on the table.
Alex flinched upon seeing this, as it was rare for him to see Alina this angry.
Heck, this was the first time that Alex saw Alina being this angry.
"Well, I just told you about the alliance offer of the mad scientist, and the fact that Tetra could be possibly your Uncle Clint…" Alex then scooted backwards from his chair as Alina"s glared threatened to stab him.
"I understand you action regarding the alliance offer… What I could not understand was the fact that you did not tell me about Tetra earlier at the party!" Alina said as she gave Alex a tired look. "Do you not like me seeing my relatives, Alex?"
Alex did not dare to say anything in reply, as his FED Manipulation felt Alina"s somewhat saddened feeling.
At this point, Alex realized that Alina was actually getting homesick too.
Even if Alina"s intent to join Alex was to revive her older sister, it was still inevitable for Alina to miss her relatives, especially Clint, who basically was Alina"s closest ally in her last days in the Esper World.
"I…..m sorry. I thought that we can just talk about the issue about Tetra after the party…" Alex said as he felt guilty about what he did. "I thought that maybe you will not be angry with my decision… It seems like I am mistaken."
"Just don"t do it again next time." Alina replied as her irritation faded away. "Ok, since its already dark, then maybe we should end this meeting and just talk about our discoveries tomorrow."
"Your wish is my command." Alex replied as he did his best to placate Alina.
Alina did not show if she was impressed by it, as she continued talking to Alex. "For now, why don"t you buy some ingredients and raw food materials? We have a lot of people in the apartment anyway."
"Oh right, there"s a lot of us here right now. How could I not notice that? "Alex sarcastically said as he realized that Alina was basically telling him to cook some food for her bottomless appet.i.te.
Well, Alina"s a glutton, so appeasing her with food was something that Alex was willing to do if that will make her anger fade away.
"What are you waiting for? Go now!" Alina said as she failed to hide the rumbling sounds in her stomach. Alina blushed a little upon hearing this, but nonetheless, she continued on urging Alex to go out already.
"Ok, ok, I"m going now." Alex replied as he bolted away from the apartment, making sure that he brought enough money with him.
"Maybe I should try a seafood special. Yeah, that might work…"
***********************
"…" Alina could only let out a sigh as she watched Alex"s departing body from the window of their apartment.
The revelations that Alex told Alina about Tetra was something that rattled her even now.
After all, who would not be shocked to know that their relative could possibly be here in this world?
Alina definitely was shocked by this revelation.
"Is he really Uncle Clint?" Alina muttered to herself as she had the urge to just look for Tetra right now and ask him personally.
Of course Alina knew that this approach will not work, since Tetra seems to be wary of Alex now.
"Well, I just have to ask him once we see each other again." Alina thought to herself as she wished that this would actually happen.
"Sis Alina, are you really a hero like what my Big Sis says?" Alina"s musings were cut off as a tender little voice intruded her mind.
She looked down at the source of the voice, finding herself face to face with Lara, who was Lauren"s younger sister.
Alina failed to hide a smile on her face as she saw the adorable munchkin giving her an excited look.
Even if Alina was not actually that good with children, she still could recognize that Lara is really one of a kind.
"....."
Behind Lara was her sister Lauren, who was giving Alina an apologetic look. It seems like she was trying to make Alina not feel that irritated with Lara bothering her.
Alina gave Lauren a small shake of her head, as she meant to tell Lauren that she was not bothered by Lara at all.
Lauren"s reply to that was another apologetic look as she watched them from the sidelines.
"….."
After seeing Lara and Lauren talking to her, Alina"s mind wandered a little as she remembered the actions that Lauren did earlier.
*************
Once they left the party earlier, Lauren headed straight to her unconscious sister and aunt, with her waking them up with the help of Queen Mother.
Lauren then told them about the truth of her being a Hero, with her specifically telling them about the danger that she could possibly be in right now.
Lauren"s aunt did not take that well, as she started to scold Lauren for her so-called reckless actions.
Lauren took these scoldings in stride as hugged her sister tightly.
Once the talks were done, Lauren adopted a pleading expression on her face as she requested Alex to let them three stay on his apartment.
With the advent of the enemy Travelers hanging on Lauren"s neck, her family will be in danger everyday.
Lauren must have decided to bring her family to a safe place, and the place that she chose was Alex"s apartment.
Of course Lauren said that they will not be freeloaders there.
Lauren will continue working with Alex"s team, while her aunt could work as their housekeeper. As for her little sister, she can just help them out when they are needed.
Fortunately, Alex agreed to Lauren"s request.
Well, even if Alex disagreed, Alina will use her iron fist to ensure that Alex will let them in.
Alex was fortunate that he agreed.
*****************
Alina shook her head a little as she refocused herself on the present time.
She looked at Lara, who was still excitedly waiting for Alina"s answer.
Alina gave the eager Lara a kind smile as she replied,
"Of course I am a Hero. Do you want some demonstration?"
"Yes, please!" Lara replied as her small head bobbed up and down excitedly. "I want to see some magic please!"
"Good girl, you should always say please when you request something." Alina replied as she used her spatial manipulation on Lara.
"Iya!" Lara squealed as she felt herself floating in the air, with nothing visible holding her.
"There, I just used a magic on you." Alina kindly said as she watched Lara clearly enjoying her floating experience. "Is that enough evidence for you?"
"Un!" Lara replied as she gave Alina a dimpled smile. "Sis Alina is so cool!"
"Well, I-I-I am really cool." Alina stutteringly replied, as she chastised herself for feeling happy from being praised by a child.
"So cool~"
Alina then continued talking with Lara, with most of the conversation about Alina answering most of Lara"s questions.
Lara seemed to have enjoyed the conversation greatly, making Alina feeling pleased with herself.
At the end of the conversation, Alina gave Lara an encouraging look as she said,
"Well, do you know that my partner Alex can summon 7 cute Doll-like creatures? You will like them a lot!"
"Really?" If a person"s eyes could sparkle, then Lara"s eyes could have been sparkling right now. "Are they really cute?"
"Yes, they are extremely cute." Alina replied as she resisted the urge to pinch Lara"s cheeks. "Tell you what, I will convince Alex to show them to you later."
"Thank you Sis Alina!" Lara said as she practically leapt up from her spot. Both Lara and Alina smiled fondly at what they were seeing, as if their eyes were being purified.
"Sis Alina, can I make some clothes for them?" Lara suddenly said after she finished her mini-celebration. "I can make really good clothes! I am sure they will like it!"
Before Alina could give her reply, she saw the panicked expression on Lauren"s face, as if she was telling Alina to just say no.
Alina obviously ignored Lauren as she said,
"Of course you can make some clothes. But if I were you, I will make it now…"
"Roger!" Lara hastily replied as she rushed towards the nearby table, with her sewing tools strewn on top of it.
"I"m a tailor, I"m a tailor, I"m a tailor~" Lara sang out as she wasted no time at all.
"…Alina, please do not criticize my sister"s resulting work later." This was all that Lauren could say as she placed a palm on her forehead. "Just… don"t say that it is ugly, ok?"
"It"s that bad?" Alina muttered as she saw the serious expression on Lauren"s face. "…Ok, I will keep that in mind."
"......."
The two women then spent the remaining time in silence, as they waited for Alex the Goffer to come back.
Naturally, the silence felt uncomfortable for the both of them.
"..."
"..."
It was Alina who broke the silence as she asked Lauren,
"So, what do you and Queen Mother plan to do right now?"
"Erm, well, I plan to bring her out to some of the good places here in the Grand Point City." Lauren replied as she averted her gaze shyly. "She said she wanted to see the best places in the city with me, so that"s what I plan to do. Well, I hope that will be enough to make her happy…"
"Don"t worry about what Queen Mother will think. At least you were quick on asking her out." Alina replied as she remembered the fact that Alex took months before he asked Alina out. "You were not like that guy who dilly-dallied on me."
"Men." Lauren replied as she let out a snort. "If you don"t give them a hint, they won"t see the obvious thing."
"Exactly." Alina said as both she and Lauren sighed, as if they were sharing the same woes.
The two then continued talking with each other, exchanging information that are only reserved for girl to girl interaction
Their conversation became so engrossing that they failed to notice the time ticking by them.
Before they could notice it, an hour had already pa.s.sed by.
Both of them had to stop talking at this point, as they felt that Alex was about to come back.
"…It was fun talking with you." Lauren said as she rose from her seat. "…If you want, you can hang out with me and Queen Mother too."
"Well, as long as that"s not a date, then I will be fine on joining." Alina replied as her stomach rumbled once more.
"..."
"…..."
To Alina"s utter embarra.s.sment, Alex, who just entered through the front door carrying his groceries, let out one wide smirk after hearing her stomach.
"Just cook dammit!" Both Alina and Lauren said as they threw their sofa pillows at Alex.
The defenseless Alex took both the pillows in his face, which made the dumb fairy Asteria guffaw at what happened.
Alina did not like that laugh at all, prompting her to throw a pillow at Asteria"s direction too.