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"How'd your new science course go?" asked Lomadia to a grumpy looking Nano at lunch on Monday. Nano was required—like everyone else— to take at least two science classes.
"It was alright, but guess who was in it?" Nano replied.
"Sjin?"
"God no. It's Smiffy."
Lomadia, who sipped on a coffee, nearly burst out laughing. "Smiffy? Damn, what have you done to deserve that karma?"
"I don't know!" Nano replied, exasperated. "Maybe I kicked a puppy in a past life or something."
"So what happened, then?"
"We got showed around the labs, mostly. We'll get to things tomorrow, probably." Nano paused to eat some of her lunch. "Guess what's in lab 3?"
"I'm tired of guessing games." Lomadia snapped.
"Lab 3 is for Project-Red."
"That's not safe, surely." Lomadia had one leg crossed over the other, intrigued. "They keep redstone there, right? Someone's bound to huff it at some point."
"Someone last year combined the plants in the Natura lab with their shoddily-made bong." Nano giggled. "There was tight security around the labs after that."
"Oh god, I remember that." Lomadia replied before dropping her voice to a whisper. "I think it was either Sips or one of Ridge's gang."
Nano laughed more. "God, really? I heard Sips was into drugs, but I didn't think he'd have the guts to break into the lab! It was probably Verbal being pressured by Ridge and Bebop."
The two laughed and gossiped and complained more, until Lomadia realized how late she was for an appointment and dashed.
———
Lomadia had had a Saturday out; she chatted with Minty, helped Nilesy with some Witchery business, and ended the day watching a nice movie. Nano wasn't there to join her; she was out somewhere. Lomadia wasn't worried.
She was only a little concerned when she flicked off the dorm lights at midnight to go to bed.
Bucket O' Lums: Hey Nano, I wanted to make sure you're alright. Going to bed now if you need me.
Lomadia got her reply two hours later as her phone blared the ringtone she set for her short roommate.
"Nano?" Lomadia hissed into the phone. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," Nano's voice was quick, panicky, and just barely above a whisper. "Look, friend, I need your help."
"What happened?" Lomadia was now actually concerned.
"I'm in lab 3... with Smith." She replied. "And we're sort of trapped here."
There was some giggling and then a gross, wet noise in the background, and Lomadia got really concerned. "Nano?" Lom asked slowly. "What's going on?" She asked as she got out of bed and hurried on some clothes.
"We might've... stolen some redstone from the lab for the boys back at the Trash Frat and gotten stuck in the lab, because it locks from the outside. I realize that Smith could goop under the door and open it for me, but he's not really... functioning right now." Nano sounded regular, but Lomadia had known her long enough to know that she was panicking.
"You what— you know what? I'll yell at you after I get you two safely out of there." Dressed in a sweats and a pair of worn-out boots, Lomadia quickly crept out of the dorm and made her way to the sciences building.
"What was that retching noise I heard?" Lomadia whispered as she hid behind the library. She stuck to the shadows in case any administration were around to tell her off about the curfew in affect. She felt a bit like a spy or an assassin from her video games, and the adrenaline rush was amazing in a weird way.
"I think it was Smiffy's version of throwing up." Nano replied, voice nothing more than a small squeak. "Even drugged up, at least he had enough sense to do it in the corner."
The sciences building was in sight! Lomadia just had to make it to the labs wing and sneak into the building. "So let me get this straight: you and your enemy Smith break into the Project-Red lab together to snort the redstone supply, and neither one of his buddies decided to go? Did they send you instead so they wouldn't get in trouble, or what, Nano, because I don't see how you got yourself into this mess."
"Lomadia, please," Nano pleaded. "I promise I'll explain it to you when we get back to the dorm, but for now— oh my god,"
"What's happening?" Lomadia asked desperately as she crossed a large lawn and pressed her back against the lab wing of the sciences building.
"When you say you're an animal healer, do slimes count as animals?" Nano asked, voice slightly higher in apprehension.
"Nano—" Lomadia found a window that wasn't shut completely and shimmied through. It was probably the one Nano and Smith used to get in. They were sloppy robbers, no wonder they were stuck in the lab.
"He's alright, he's alright..." Nano hurried in reassurance. "But he's sort of—"
Lomadia picked the lock on the door marked 'Lab 3 - Project Red' and stared at the scene in front of her.
"Red?" The blonde finished incredulously for her friend, staring at the now-red slime.
"Hey, Mads," Smith managed to send the smallest of waves and a lazy, shit-eating grin her way. Lomadia herself nearly turned as red as him with her anger.
Despite herself, she sat down next to Smith and assessed him. Nano watched nervously from behind the blonde.
"Redstone has a different affect on mobkin, you know." She said sternly to both of them.
Smiffy's grin was quickly replaced by wide eyes and puffy cheeks, and he turned to the corner to throw up again. The bile next to him glowed very very faintly red. Lomadia was about ready to kick a chair.
"Let's go you two." She said before anyone could do anything rash, and held the door open for the two to amble out. Smith was supported by Nano as they made their way down the hallway to the window.
Getting back to the Trash Frat was an absolute hassle. Out of the things Lomadia could be doing at two in the morning on a Saturday, this was not one of them. Not by a long shot.
Lom scribbled some instructions for Smith to follow in order to recover, and shoved him over the threshold of the house and into the suspiciously energetic arms of Trottimus, his face contorting into confusion at the state of his slime friend.
"You," she said crossly to Nano. "I want the whole story."
———
"How did you get yourself into this mess?!" Lomadia hissed once they were back in their dorm, taking her hair out of its bun, and pulling off layers until she was back in her pajamas. "Trott looked pretty awake to me, and he's nearly as short as you, so I take it height isn't the problem here."
"I owed the Boys a favor." Nano said quietly from her seat on her bed, watching Lomadia pace around. She felt very much like she was being lectured by her mother, but Lomadia was just like that. She was the mother of the bunch, and no one dared question her.
"You— how?"
"Well— it's a long story."
"I've got plenty of time, Sounds. I don't have class till two on Monday." They had a short staring match until Nano sighed.
"I was having a real rough day, and didn't show up for class. I had my wallet stolen so I couldn't buy any food or anything. Ross found it. Of course he did, who else would bloody find it? Trott made me pay ransom that I didn't have, so they threw me the wallet and said I owed them. I still think they nicked it in the first place, but—"
"So when they wanted to smuggle some of that redstone and didn't want to get caught, that's why they got you to do it. Oh I'm gonna have words with them, alright." Lomadia said crossly. "Smiffy's supposed to be down at the Magic Shack tomorrow, I'll catch up with him. If I'm lucky, he'll bring Trott with him to help out." She planned. "I'll get Sjin to tell me when his architecture class ends to I can get Ross, and we'll be set."
"What do you plan to do here?" Nano asked worriedly.
"I just want to get the whole story and make sure they covered their tracks. One more strike and I'm sure the school board'll have a fit about Smith staying here. He was a stowaway from the beginning."
Nano, who had changed and was now sitting with the covers pulled over her, yawned. "We'll solve this tomorrow, yeah?"
Lomadia paused. "Yeah." She climbed into her bed as well. "You didn't take any redstone, did you?"
"No." Nano said truthfully. "Smith had an awful lot. At first his eyes changed colors— and not his irises, I mean like the whites of his eyes. That red started at his face and worked it's way around him, and it reminded me too much of my flux accident. It honestly scared me a little."
Lomadia pursed her lips. "We'll figure everything out. Don't worry."