Chapter 45: Fresh Inception

Romaine's POV

After watching Kyle say goodbye to his new girlfriend, the mood was a bit draughty. Looking over at Cas, she was glaring at me with the same desire I have for her, but neither of us are willing to act on it. I know for sure that if Dondre was here, he'd surely lighten the mood with some of his goofiness; or even Donte...

Speaking of...

"Hey Cas?" I called out to her, resulting in her silently turning her head, "Mind if we have a moment?"

"Well after all this time, the great 'hero' decides he finally wants to talk." She mumbled, slowly coming over to me

"Now there's no need to be like that. I just wanted to ask how Donte was doing."

"Oh, well he's doing... not so well. Since you've been gone, his vitals have been slowly deteriorating. And he's showing signs of abnormal brain activity, most likely the induced psychosis."

"That doesn't sound very good." I sighed, "Umm, I also wanted to say thank you.."

"Huh?" She went, visibly confused, "For what?"

"For taking care of him, and the others. I owe you a lot for that."

"Well uhh.." She halted, "There's really no need for that.. I was just doing my part."

"Well thanks anyway." I smiled

Now it was as if the air was cleared, and our bodies were slowly being drawn towards each other; like two weak magnets.

"Cas- I.." I stuttered, as I was now holding her in my arms, "I love~"

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," The Prince interrupted, "But I do believe that my fellow Kyle over there is on the same page with me when I say, we should probably get back to the lab now; No use staying out here any longer."

"You've gotta be kidding me." I mumbled under my breath, turning around to give the Prince a dark glare

"They're right.." Cas agreed, withdrawing from me, "We should probably get going."

"Darn it." I scratched my head, "Wish there were more speedsters available."

~~~~~~~

After taking them back to the lab, I'd planned to pick up where I left off with Cas, but she seemed to be otherwise occupied.

"Hey Cas," I approached, "So where were we?"

"Hold on." She halted me, "I have to check Donte's vitals and change his packs."

When she'd walked off, clearly more interested at the moment intaking care of Donte, I turned to my alternate universe self and let him have a piece of my mind.

"Nice going there, Me." I stung

"Oh come on," He hushed, "I'm sure there'll be many more opportunities such as that."

"You're unbelievable. That was the first time we've made anything remotely close to progress in over a month! How could you do that man?"

"Well forgive me for being able to read the room." he sighed softly

"What? What are you talking about?"

"You're a slow one, aren't you?" He sighed, before ,leaning in closer and whispering, "Your companion over there had just said goodbye to his new love interest, possibly forever. Though he attempted to not seem concerned or as if he didn't notice by turning his back, there's a special negative feeling that one would get in situations like that. So I suggest you wait until you're alone with the maiden to reenact your romantical fantasies with her."

"Hm, I never thought about that.."

"Precisely why someone like me is a value to this team."

"Just wait a minute!" I belted, "What kind of romantical fantasies are you talking about? None of that happens."

"Remember, Romaine, though I may be from a different universe, we still are technically the same person; our thoughts are similar. I know how you think."

"Know-it-all." I huffed

"You guys!" Cas shouted from the medical room

After all exchanging looks, the Prince, Kyle and I reactively ran into the adjacent room.

"What's up?" I questioned, running in on her

Cas was helping Dondre stand, after he had seemingly now regained consciousness.

"Woah," Dondre mumbled, rubbing his head, "Nice welcoming party. Did you guys miss me that much?"

"Shut up." I chuckled, helping him up

"Huh? When did you get here?" he questioned

"Around an hour or so ago. No big deal." I responded

Now standing independently, Dondre scanned the individuals in the room.

"Where'd that hottie Alisa go?" he inquired

"The lass returned to her own universe, and took along the criminals with her." answered the Prince

"And fyi," I leaned in, "she's taken now."

"Huh? By who?" the clear disbelief in his voice was ludicrous

"The man himself." Cas inputted, indicating to Kyle

"You're joking. Kyle??" Dondre went on

"It's... complicated." Kyle stated

"How long have been out?? A month?"

"Approximately 7 more minutes than Romaine's been here."

"Well then I'm not even mad." Dondre relieved, "If you managed to make more progress with a total stranger in roughly 2 hours, that's still way faster than whatever Romaine and Cas have going."

"Somehow, I'm not even surprised that you'd say something like that." I commented

"Well you know me," he chuckled, "good ol' Dondre."

"I'm glad this day's finally over."

"Same here."

"I concur." Stated the Prince, "I believe that you all should rest for now. The sun's already down after all. We can regroup here tomorrow to discuss today's events."

"Sounds good to me." Dondre agreed

"Splendid. Of with the lot of you then."

That was a bit blunt of him, but ok.

~~~~~~~

On my way over to the stairs, I overheard the Prince talking to Cas.

"My Lady Cassandra," he said, "I'll be sharing the lab with you tonight."

"And just why should I let you?" she questioned

"Well it's not like I have anywhere better to go, and I planned on doing some research after the others have departed. Who knows, you might even get to fiddle with Edison's device a bit."

"Hnnn, fine."

"Splendid."

Well I hope they have fun, but if His Highness lays a finger on Cas, I don't care if we're the same person, I'm gonna make him regret touching her.

"What's with the off face, dude?" Dondre asked, as we stepped foot into the elevator

I hadn't even realized that my thoughts were showing on my face.

"What? Nothing, it's nothing." I stuttered

"Come on," he persisted, "a bestfriend always knows when something's up."

"Trust me, it's nothing."

I rapidly searched my field of vision for something to change the subject to.

"Hey Kyle," I beckoned, turning to the silent individual on my left, "You've been awfully silent ever since Alisa left. You ok?"

"Don't worry about me." He responded, "I'm just a bit deep in thought right now."

"He's been through a lot today," Dondre supported, "I'm sure all sorts of things are troubling him."

"Hm. It's crazy what our lives have become." I thought out loud

"I know right." Dondre agreed, "From normal high school students,"

"To super powered heroes," I continued

"To getting involved with a multiversal event and stopping bad guys from another universe." added Kyle

"Never thought we'd come this far." I said

"Hm, me neither."