The hug didn't last long.
Lucian could feel that the girl in his arms had calmed down and her body had softened from the initial stiffness. He gently let go of her and looked at her slightly red cheeks and somewhat evasive eyes, like a cat that had finally let down its guard.
"Let's go for a walk." he whispered.
Cate was stunned for a moment, then nodded slightly, the corners of his mouth raised unconsciously.
The two walked side by side on the tree-lined avenue of Godolkin University. The afternoon sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled light and shadow on the ground. They were surrounded by students coming and going, full of the hustle and bustle of youth, which made the heavy and secretive atmosphere in the gymnasium just now dissipate a lot.
They were like the most ordinary couple, enjoying their rare leisure time.
"So, is it true that you were hunted down by Homelander?" Cate carefully broke the silence, with worry still in his tone.
"Of course it's fake." Lucian laughed and turned his head to look at her, "I just went to participate in an 'internal training' of Vought International. You know, the kind of... um, corporate culture building activities for future superheroes."
He recounted some interesting anecdotes he had seen as experiences.
For example, how he used a little cleverness to make a guy with eyes higher than his head and a "super sense of smell" mistakenly think that what he smelled was a priceless truffle, and he ended up digging in the mud at the training ground for a whole day.
"... In the end he was holding a muddy stone, crying like a three-hundred-pound child, and muttering 'my truffle'."
"Pfft." Cate finally couldn't help but laugh out loud. The corners of his eyes and eyebrows stretched out, blooming with a moving brilliance again, "You are too bad."
"This is the gentlest way to deal with that kind of self-righteous guy." Lucian shrugged, looking at the smile on her face, she felt a little more relaxed.
This feeling was amazing. He knew exactly what he was doing - weaving a cage with warmth and lies while stealing the other person's most precious ability. But seeing her smile because of him, a strange emotion that shouldn't exist quietly grew in his heart.
Perhaps this is the ridiculous and sad contradiction in human nature.
"Speaking of which," Cate's laughter gradually stopped, as if he remembered something, and his tone became a little hesitant, "Principal Shetty... she has talked to me in the past two days."
Lucian was moved in his heart, but his face remained calm. "Oh? What did she say?"
"She said that suppressing my ability all the time is not a solution and is not good for my mental state. She encouraged me... to try to use it and learn to control it instead of blindly escaping." Cate looked down at his toes, "What she said makes sense, but I'm still... a little scared."
Afraid of losing control again, afraid of hurting others again, and even more afraid of... turning back into the person who everyone regards as a monster.
It seems that Shetty's plan is about to begin. Lucian's eyes are slightly colder.
He knows the details of Principal Shetty better than anyone else. This seemingly amiable educator who cares deeply about his students has the deepest hatred for Homelander and even Supe buried deep in his heart.
Her husband and daughter all died not long ago on the Flight 37 that was "abandoned" by Homelander.
Although Homelander perfectly concealed the truth in front of the public, Shetty, as Vought Executives, must have found out the traces of Silk through his own channels.
At this time, she started to encourage Cate to use his abilities, not for any bullshit good intentions. She was building a knife that could stab Homelander and even subvert the entire Supe.
And Cate is the sharpest edge of this knife.
These thoughts flashed through Lucian's mind, but the expression on his face did not change at all, it was still that gentle and focused look.
"It's normal to be afraid, Cate." He stopped and looked into her eyes seriously, "But Principal Shetty is right, running away won't solve the problem. What you need is self-confidence and the belief that you can control everything."
As he spoke, he glanced at the small bag she carried with her as if unintentionally, revealing a small white medicine bottle.
"By the way, what is that thing you always carry in your bag? Is it medicine? You said you were taking medicine before. Do you have some disease?" He asked in a concerned tone.
Mentioning this, a grateful and reassuring smile immediately appeared on Cate's face, as if the bottle of medicine was some kind of amulet.
"What are you talking about?" She took out the small white bottle from her bag and shook it in front of Lucian, "This is the drug specially developed for me by the principal. Let me tell you, she is really the best person to me!"
Her tone was full of trust and dependence on Shetty.
"I used to be able to hear what people around me were thinking. Those noises gave me a headache and I couldn't sleep at all. It was the principal. She knew my pain and specially studied this medicine for me."
Cate opened the bottle cap, poured out a white pill and placed it in the palm of his hand, "These pills can help me stabilize my ability, and I will no longer have headaches and amnesia after using them. And after taking them, I can no longer hear those annoying voices. She also sends messages of concern to me every day, telling me to take the pills on time."
Listening to Cate's innocent words, Lucian even felt a little pity in his heart.
Shetty Is she good? Of course. After all, no one would be willing to break the sharpest weapon in his hand.
These drugs are not "stabilizers" at all, but "inhibitors". It not only suppresses Kate's telepathic ability to unconsciously read other people's thoughts - after all, how could a person full of conspiracies allow a living lie detector to be around him?
More importantly, these drugs are still subtly weakening Cate Mental Manipulation's abilities, especially the depth and breadth of memory manipulation. A weakened and easier-to-control Cate is the perfect tool that Shetty wants.
In a sense, I should probably be grateful to Shetty. If it weren't for these medicines, if I wanted the ability of Copy Cate, I would probably have to bear greater risks.
Lucian was thinking in his mind that when his Ability Copy was completed, maybe... he could help this silly girl and let her see the true face of this "best person".
"Sounds really good." Lucian showed a smile of approval on his face and changed the topic. "Speaking of which, is Godolkin's cafeteria still so bad? I miss the pizza on the corner of Queens a little bit."
"Of course! Especially Tuesday's 'surprise' meatloaf, which I suspect was made from a gym yoga mat..."
The two of them chatted about these insignificant campus matters, and the atmosphere became relaxed and happy again. The sunlight stretched the shadows of the two of them very long, overlapping each other, making them look intimate.
At this moment, Lucian's cell phone suddenly rang.
He took out his phone and looked at it, Professor Brink.
"Sorry, I have to answer the phone." Lucian made a helpless expression to Cate.
He walked aside and pressed the answer button.
"Lucian," Professor Brink's voice came from the other end of the phone, "Are you free? Come to my office."
Lucian put away the phone, turned around, and saw Cate looking at him, with a trace of imperceptible loss in his eyes. The atmosphere that had just heated up was instantly interrupted by this sudden call.
"I have to go." Lucian stepped forward and said apologetically, "The professor is looking for me."
"Yeah." Cate nodded, and didn't ask any more questions in a sensible way, "You go ahead."
Lucian Seeing her pretending to be strong, her heart moved slightly, and she leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"When I'm done, I'll bring you Queens's most delicious pizza."
After saying that, he didn't stop any longer, looked at the progress bar which was still at 1%, turned around and strode towards the Brink office. He left that moment of tenderness and the girl's reluctant gaze behind him.