OUT OF MIND² ━━ Bellamy Blake

𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐈: Brutal out Here

Lyra rolls her eyes. "You're definitely humble."

"Most humble person I know," he agrees cockily. Then his expression turns sour. "Dunno why Kane got all pissy with me. I mean, come on! Sending me back to Arkadia all because I couldn't 'control' Octavia?"

Lyra snorts. "I'd like to see anyone try to control her."

"Exactly!" Noah exclaims loudly, drawing attention from James Crockett, whose cleaning the bar. He waves Crockett's questioning look off quickly. "I mean, what was I supposed to do? Tell Octavia not to kill the Ambassador who was going to challenge King Roan, win, and then destroy Arkadia?"

"Out of the question," says Lyra.

"Completely tactless," he nods. Then he frowns. "Why is half of my food missing?"

"You ate half of it."

"What? No, I didn't — did I really?" Noah looks startled as he stares at his plate and then at Lyra. She nods vehemently and his frown deepens. "Jesus. Why didn't you stop me?"

     She shrugs. He looks annoyed with himself, and she takes more of his food when he isn't looking.

     "OK. Fine," he says. "What happened here while I was gone?"

      "Er. . . " Lyra pauses and chews thoughtfully. "Well, there were no murders, so I guess that's kinda boring. Then there was that whole our people are slaves in Azgeda mess where Bellamy blew up the hydro-generator.  Uh, only one-hundred of us can survive Praimfaya in the Ark. . . oh! Bryan and Nate broke up!"

     Noah's eyes widen. "Really?"

     "I know, right?" Lyra says earnestly. "It's crazy! But they did. Nate says Bryan never really got over all the Pike crap, and then the hydro-generator was the last straw."

     "Wow. . . " he blows air from his mouth in surprise. He shakes his head slowly. "Huh. No wonder Bryan asked me for new patrol hours. Damn. And I kinda liked them together, too."

     "Literally," says Lyra, but her mouth is full, so it comes out as "Lit-rally."

     "What's in your mouth?" Noah asks suspiciously.

     She tries to gulp it down, but there's too much. "Um. . . food?"

     "Oh. I thought it was hydrazine," says Noah. "Yes, obviously food. But you don't even have a plate! Where have you been. . . Christ on a cracker. You've been eating my food!"

     She'd defend herself, but she's still chewing. "Nu-uh!"

      "Yuh-huh!" Noah retorts and he lunges across the table, trying to grab her cheeks. "Give it back!"

      "Izz in my mouf!"

     "I don't care, I worked really hard on stealing that!" He's trying to wrestle her down and Lyra feels like a dog whose been caught eating something it shouldn't have. She tries to push Noah off of her. It doesn't work. "Give it back to me, or I swear I'll give you a detailed explanation of the night your mother and I made you, you bratty demon child — "