Once out of the shower, Lana went to the kitchen to execute the dish she had in her head and prayed it would come out as tasty as her brain designed it to be. The others had saved some of the earlier meal for her and Blaine, who quickly passed and told the others to eat.
Blaine had a glint in his eyes, "Lana's going to experiment and I insist on sharing in it!"
She chopped vegetables and put them on the stove to get just a little soft. She also created two big rounds of bread and set them in the oven to bake. Soon the veggies were turned off and she was creating a broth for them. The oven timer went off. Lana removed the bread from the oven and finished the thick liquid. She added the veggies then cut the top off the bread, leaving it hollow inside. The top portion would be dipped into the filling, which she promptly added.
She took a good long whiff and smiled. This was what she had been wanting. She and Blaine turned to go to the table to find Dobin, Paul and Jessy peeking over her shoulder at what was creating such a mouth-watering aroma.
She gave them each a taste and had to promise to make that again when they had more room in their stomachs. After she and Blaine finished savoring their meal, she and Dobin tried her armor idea with great success. As she suspected she would be, she was exhausted. Before allowing Blaine to force her to bed, she taught everyone the Qi meditation. By then she was so tired, Blaine made sure she went to bed. She called Sergeant Rage and let him know they were safe and informed him of where the rest of the three teams were so he wouldn't worry.
She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
She woke in the night to find Blaine feeding Kent. She smiled and pet her furry friend.
"You are such an amazing man, Blaine. Thank you for taking such good care of us!" she said through her drowsiness.
She heard Blaine chuckle in the mostly-darkness. There was just a faint glow along the base of the door of the room in case an emergency arose for them to be able to find it.
"You make me this way. I want to deserve you, to be worthy of you."
Lana sighed, contented, "you excel at it. You make me feel safe. I never thought I'd feel this way." Her voice drifted and trailed. He could tell she was already back to sleep.
{Kyle}: She feels safe! We are doing it right! Kyle was elated.
{Blaine sighed}: Wait until she finds out most of this is you. You need to be out more.
{Kyle}: But I'd get discovered…
{Blaine}: Does it matter? If you want to be with her, they will know you, eventually, anyway. You might as well start now. At least with her close friends.
{Kyle}: I guess that does make sense. Okay, I'll take charge in the morning. Let's rest.
Lana's eye fluttered open and she heard a voice she had not heard in a few days.
"Good morning, Beautiful Butterfly," Kyle whispered in her ear.
Lana's face exploded with a brilliant smile. "Good morning, My Love. Did you sleep well?"
"Blaine and I talked last night. We need our friends to know us both so…" he smiled, "I get to spend the day with you."
Lana smiled, "I like the sound of that. We need to get up and get ready. We fight one of the most dangerous beasts on the planet today."
"I'll feed Kent while you cook. Let's get ready, but I have to admit I'm nervous. What if they don't like me!"
Lana stowed the blanket away before even getting up. She climbed over Kyle, "of course, they will like you!" She gave his bag to him so he could get dressed.
"With Kent hanging out on my shoulder now, I'll need reinforced clothing. I'll look into that once we get back."
Kyle chuckled as he watched the kitten's efforts to stay attached to her while she dressed. "He's going to need to get used to being on the ground at some point."
Lana nodded, "We'll work on it, just not yet. Here, he would be a minor snack."
They quickly dressed and this time, they were the first ones up. Lana made a feast of pancakes, French toast, bacon and eggs, sausage and gravy, fresh fruit and bread. Soon, people were following their noses. Dobin set the table just as Kyle finished feeding Kent.
Dobin chuckled watching them, "I think you feed that cat more than she does!"
Kyle smiled, "that's Blaine. I do just sometimes."
Dobin raised an eyebrow, "the others are waking!" he whispered with urgency.
Kyle smiled nervously, "it's okay. I'm traveling with you today. I'm sharing my secret."
"Secret?" Paul said, coming around the corner to take his seat at the table.
Kyle chuckled, "after we eat."
Looking to Lana, Kyle asked, "can I help with anything?"
She nodded, "can you pull the cooler out so Chekof can eat?"
He paused as he learned how to use the bracelet. Soon the cooler was in his hands.
Chekof entered the room just then, "I'll take that from you!" and relieved Kyle of his burden.
Soon everyone was sitting around the table. When Paul added the extra beds and bathroom, he also added more table room. It now accommodated 10 people instead of the previous 6. Soon everyone was done eating. Dobin and Chekof got up to clear the table.
Kyle cleared his throat nervously. "I have a secret I need to reveal to everyone today."
All eyes turned to him and Lana squeezed his hand. He proceeded to explain his story. The information was taken in many ways between full acceptance and blatant laughter. Paul nodded along as if there was going to be a test on this later.
"Is there a way to tell the difference between you?"
After he answered the question, he added on, "so far, only Lana is able to tell us apart flawlessly."
He looked at Lana, "what's your secret?"
"They have different energies. I can see it when they switch, as well as feel it."
Jessy quit laughing, "you mean you're serious? How is such a thing even possible?"
Paul replied with a straight face, "the science is well-established that one twin can absorb another in the womb for various reasons. This is the first time I have heard of a soul insisting on joining with the twin but the logic is sound. He just went to where his body went. It's quite possible it has happened before and it was labeled as multiple personalities."
Jessy was now nodding with a serious expression, "sorry I laughed."
He looked at Lana, "doesn't that impact your relationship with him?"
She shrugged, "a bit. Kyle allows Blaine to run the body for the majority of the time but he has Blaine do things. This makes it heard to know if Blaine does something because he wants to or because Kyle told him to. Either way, they are both nice people and they both care about me."
"Switching to a topic about today's events. We will be fighting ant-like creatures with lion-like heads that breath fire. They live in the desert so I will lose my advantage of having plants around. These things have strong, sharp claws at the end of each foot. Perfect for killing."
"Any questions before we head out?"
Jessy had one, "we all know Blaine was quite capable with multiple abilities. Is Kyle going to be able to keep up with him?"
Lana laughed then smirked while she replied, "I'll let today speak for itself."
Kyle chuckled and was already studying his book. He didn't use it as much as Blaine so it took him a bit longer but he also chose twice as many abilities. While he did that, the others got ready to go.
They followed the established routine and Lana found a pair of socks this time. With the cube stowed away, socks claimed by Jessy, and a smile toward Kyle, within ten minutes, they found themselves leaving grass and trees behind.
There were a few minor beasts along the way that ran in the presence of so many people. About 45 minutes into the desert, they heard screaming. Kyle grabbed Lana, created ice skates on his feet with ice and created a path of ice in front of him. It didn't take long to see what was going on. The very foe they were looking for was attacking one of the few groups from Kyle's class that qualified to come to this planet.
Two were on the ground, not moving. Three had circled around the back and were coming back toward the front. If Lana were to guess, it had just used its breath weapon and the three had just evaded it.
As they approached, the pair were able to observe the claw attack. The two it swiped at were quite dexterous and able to evade the swipes. Since Kyle was the strongest in his class, he was impressed. Still, he knew he needed to take charge.
With legs still moving as quickly as they could, "MOVE!" he bellowed.
His classmates recognized him and followed the order as best they were able. One took a hit on his shoulder as Kyle threw out a blast of ice stronger than anything Lana had ever seen. The beast was soon frozen solid then its outer shell shattered.
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