Sang the Stray (Completed)

27. Black and Blueberries

This morning I decided to make use of the kitchen.  I had spent some time at dinner describing pancakes to the guys and Kota asked the staff in the dining hall to borrow the most approximate ingredients.  They even had the berries I had found on Muina.  I learned that an entire level of KOTIS housed a hydroponics garden. 

Waking up early, I slipped out of the bed, careful to not disturb Victor.  I even kept the lights on a low setting in the main room, just enough to illuminate the kitchen.  Nathan had put away the supplies we brought back.  Unfortunately, he placed the 'flour' substitute on a shelf too high for me to reach.  I climbed up onto the counter, too busy to notice the main door opening behind me.

"What are you doing?" boomed a deep voice, startling me and causing me to slip.

"Eep!" I cried out, tipping backwards.  I braced for the fall, but only impacted firm muscles.  How did I keep landing in boys' arms lately?  This kind of thing never happened to me back on Earth.  I blinked rapidly and looked into fierce, dark eyes shadowed in the low light. His brows were thick, and his jaw broad. His skin was tan, almost as dark as Silas's skin tone. His face had coarse hair from a day or two of not shaving.

"Are you hurt?" he asked. His booming voice radiated the same power as his intense brown eyes on me. He was sure to wake the others.  I shook my head rapidly. I was too paralyzed by shock to feel if anything did hurt. He started to let go of me and moved until we were both standing beside each other.

"I be....I am Sang." I said quietly.

His face softened, and he said, "I know, Sang Sorenson, I saw the demonstration yesterday.  I am North Taylor. What were you doing up there?"

"I make breakfast.  Flour too high to reach," I explained pointing.  He grabbed the container easily and placed it on the counter.  I moved around collecting bowls and cooking utensils. 

"What are you making?" he asked skeptically, holding up the sugar box.

"Pancakes," I answered using the English word.

"Is there any protein in these 'pancakes'?" He grunted when I poured the blueberries into the batter.

After watching me make a few, North pulled out another cooking pan and started imitating me.  Though, he also cooked up several of the protein strips that I pretended were bacon.

Movement and noises filled the apartment as the boys trickled onto the main room, including Silas from across the hall.  Nathan stepped in behind me, peering over my shoulder as I started plating the last batch. 

"She cooks!" he exclaimed. "That's it we're keeping her."

He handed the platter to Victor, then grasped my hand, pulling me to sit down beside him at the table.

"Oy! You fuckers gonna eat without us," Gabriel accused loudly as he and the boy with shoulder-length blonde hair from yesterday came in the door.  Gabriel walked over and served himself a plate of food. Meanwhile, the blonde watched us all from a distance for a moment with a dreamy sort of gaze.

Suddenly, he teleported directly to the empty seat on my other side.  I jumped in surprise, but he just smiled, brown eyes twinkling, and said, "Hi, I'm Lucian, but you can call me Luke." My mouth was full, so I just nodded.  "These smell amazing," he said, grabbing a nearby eating utensil and spearing a bite from my plate.  He popped it into his mouth and sighed, closing his eyes.

"Luke, don't eat Sang's food," Nathan said reaching around me and giving him a chop to the shoulder.

"Here, take your own," ordered North shoving a plate in front of Luke.  I noticed it had more protein strips than pancakes, but Luke rectified that by floating more of the pancakes over with telekinesis.

I kept looking back and forth between North and Luke.  They were half-brothers with the same father, right?  Is that what Silas had said?  I didn't think they could look more different.  Maybe I had misunderstood.

"We will complete a few tests in the training rooms, but some abilities are only used in the Ena or certain Spaces," Kota mentioned.  "We will go into near-space to try enhancement for those talents."

I ask, "What do...does Ena look like?"

"It's incredibly varied, but the nearest space looks just like Tare, except without the people.  It's a shadow of this world," Kota answered.

As we finished breakfast and the boys cleaned up, I wondered about the animosity between Fifth Squad and Nathan yesterday.   Tsee Blackbourne also said the two squads had a history.  What had happened when they were Kalrani? I considered scenarios that might potentially cause a rift between groups.  Was there competition between the Setari? 

I was curious and asked, "Do squads compete?" My question was sort of random, and the boys paused, some giving me odd looks.

"The Setari don't compete directly," Kota said eventually.  "But how we perform affects privileges, which assignments we are given, and even whether we remain on active duty."

Victor added, "Fighting in the Ena is greatly preferred to the more basic duty which is usual on Tare because being in the Ena makes us feel..."

"...twice as fucking alive!" Gabriel emphatically interjected.  He and Luke grinned at each other, making some sort of hand sign.

"Mostly fight in Ena, not on planet?" I asked, trying understand, but grasping for the right words.

"The whole concept of the Setari is to prevent anything from the Ena reaching this world.  And to find a way to fix the fractures which have made it so easy for the walls around this world to be crossed," said North. The mood of the room dropped and now all the boys were looking very serious. North continued, "The numbers increase every year and the fractures are widening.  Working on Tare, it's just clean-up unless there's a major outbreak.  The war is beyond this world."