2 Days Later

— Sundia, Aldredath 28, 8054 —

(Friday, December 23, AD 2129)

“Mm…”

With a stifled moan, followed by a broad yawn, Pierce slowly awoke amidst rays of morning sunlight. He remained lying in his bed, his eyes slowly tracing the shadows in his stone-wreathed dorm room, shrouded as it was in the faint illumination of the light that managed to get around the closed curtains. Normally, he would have readily thrown off the bed covers and began his morning stretches by now, but the sound of rustling sheets to Pierce’s side drew his attention to the reason for his subdued start.

“Mngh…” A young woman with short, dark hair slowly shifted under the bed covers, removing her arm from on top of Pierce’s chest as her eyes fluttered open.

“Hey,” Pierce commented softly, a satisfied smirk upon his face as he looked over at her. “Morning.”

“…Mornin’…” she groggily responded. “…’s early…”

“Sorry if I woke you,” Pierce replied, and then passed a glance at a clock on his desk. “…It’s past ten, though — and on a holiday, too.”

“Could still use sleep…”

“Fair. I guess we did have a long night, didn’t we?”

Pierce exchanged an amused glance with the woman beside him before they both sat up, the woman rubbing her eyes while Pierce finally got out of bed. “…Guess we did,” she commented, her eyes lingering on Pierce’s athletic form, which was easy to see through the v-neck undershirt and boxer briefs he was wearing. “Gotta say… didn’t expect an outsider to be able to keep up with me.”

“I aim to please,” Pierce replied with a wink. “Now… how about—“

Pierce’s sentence was abruptly interrupted by loud knocking on his room’s door, followed shortly by a familiar voice. “Hey, Pierce! Wake up, you lazy asshole, you’re late!”

Phoenix… Pierce reflexively scowled in response to hearing his friend’s voice, but he quickly replaced the scowl with a sheepish smile as he turned back to the woman in his room.

“…Your friend?” she questioned, while getting out of the bed herself and retrieving her clothes from the back of Pierce’s desk chair.

“Ha… sorry. I made some plans with my friends today, but I didn’t think they’d be up so early…”

“’S fine.” She paused to yawn. “…Well, guess it’s time for me to leave.”

“Fair. But, hey, last night was pretty fun. I’d be down for doing this again, if you’re up for it.”

“…Mm. Maybe. See ya.”

A second later, the woman fully disappeared from the room, having teleported away. Now alone, Pierce allowed his expression to collapse into an annoyed scowl as he stepped over to the door and threw it open. “What do you want?” he demanded, glaring down at Phoenix.

“Someone’s irritable, today,” Phoenix retorted, looking up at Pierce — and then down at his attire. A grimace momentarily overcame her face, only for her to sigh and shake her head in resignation. “You were with a girl again, weren’t you.”

“I was, and things were going well, too, until you showed up,” Pierce countered. He then took a moment to look Phoenix over, noting that she was already all put together — her hair done and tied back in her signature high, splayed-out ponytail, while on her body she wore the beige desert robing that was so typical to see in Compound Tresnon, along with the modifications to it that were unique to her: the shirt tied off to expose her toned abs, the cloak folded in half and tied around her waist, and a white jacket to replace the cloak on her upper torso. All-in-all, she was clearly already prepared to face the day — while Pierce had only just rolled out of bed. “…What a fucking day,” Pierce muttered. “To think that you’d be ready to go before me…”

“It’s past ten o’clock,” Phoenix declared. “Even I don’t sleep in this late. We had plans to spend the day with Conrad and Kestrel, anyways, remember? Don’t you tell me you fucking forgot.”

“Me? Forget?” Pierce snorted in derision. “Please. I just expected the three of you to hate mornings as much as you usually do.”

“It’s a holiday!” Phoenix exclaimed incredulously. “You can’t waste away a holiday by sleeping in!”

“Man, I wish I could…”

Pierce and Phoenix both glanced down the hallway, where they spotted Conrad and Kestrel approaching, both wearing the same kind of desert robing as the locals — though Kestrel had replaced the typical cloak with the light gray shawl that she had been gifted the previous week. “…Damn, you guys are ready, too?” Pierce remarked in disbelief. “What kind of fucking bizarro world did I wake up in?”

“Wasn’t my choice,” Conrad countered, his tone deadpan. “Phoenix and Kestrel woke me up…”

“Because we knew you’d try to sleep the whole day away if we didn’t step in,” Phoenix pointed out.

“I mean, it’s a feast-based holiday. There isn’t much to do until, you know, the feast,” Conrad replied. “…Though I guess word on the street is that you’re entitled to more food if you help out with the prep… and I’ll want all the food I can eat at dinner, since no one’s serving lunch today.” Conrad released a resigned sigh, only to then adopt an amused smirk as he eyed Pierce and Phoenix. “Seeing the two of you arguing, though… you two never change, huh.”

“Slept late?” Kestrel questioned, her gaze focused on Pierce, and his disheveled just-out-of-bed appearance.

“Because he was ‘busy’ last night, I’m sure,” Phoenix drawled.

“Oh shut up, like I’m the only one here who fucks,” Pierce retorted. “Or are you just jealous that I scored the night before a big holiday?”

“Me? Jealous of you? Don’t kid yourself.”

“Alright, alright, c’mon, guys,” Conrad interjected. “The ‘never change’ thing was a joke. You better not spend the whole day arguing.”

“That depends entirely on a certain someone,” Pierce declared, while side-eying Phoenix.

“I’d say exactly the same,” Phoenix countered, her arms crossed.

“Oof…” Conrad released a weary sigh before shrugging his shoulders. “Well, can’t really expect any more than that from you two, huh? Anyways, Pierce, go ahead and get ready.”

“You’re weirdly eager to go,” Pierce remarked. “Though, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, if there’s one thing you like more than sleeping, it’s eating, isn’t it?”

“What can I say? I’m a simple guy,” Conrad replied.

“You and Pierce both,” Phoenix said with a resigned sigh, though a slight smile was playing on her face all the same. “Anyways, Conrad’s right, Pierce. Hurry up so we can get going. Today is Hunger’s Bane, after all, and I intend to make the most of it!”

---

*

“Okay, the oven’s set… Danielle, did you take everything out of the fridge?”

“Yup! I got the butter, the turkeys, the broth, and all that other stuff we got.”

“Good, thanks. Looks like we were able to bring enough ingredients from Earth to cook for a couple dozen, but… beyond that, we’ll have to improvise.”

“Whatever you say, captain! I’m ready to follow your orders!”

Mark chuckled in amusement as he passed a glance toward Danielle, who was saluting him with a giant grin on her face. “…Thanks,” he replied with a smile. “…But there’s no need to call me ‘captain’. We aren’t even on a ship, after all.”

“True, we are in a kitchen,” Danielle remarked, rubbing her chin in thought before her expression lightened. “I should call you ‘chef’, then! Master Chef!”

“If you insist,” Mark responded, and then stepped over to the counter in the dorm kitchen that he had so frequently used. Strewn across the counter were several pans, three large uncooked turkeys, a tub of dark golden broth, and a variety of seasonings — most obtained from Earth. Food items filled half of the kitchen’s small table as well, including three pans of cornbread that Mark had prepared the previous evening and a number of ingredients for stuffing. After taking the sight in, Mark grabbed one of the clean towels he had prepared and began patting dry one of the turkeys. “Alright, Danielle, step one: pat dry the turkeys. Once we do that, we can start stuffing them.”

“Alright! I’m on it, Master Chef!” Danielle exclaimed, readily snatching up another towel and getting to work. The next several minutes passed with Mark and Danielle drying off the turkeys, Mark generously seasoning the insides of the turkeys with salt and pepper, and Danielle following up by stuffing the seasoned cavity with chopped onions and a variety of spices — all explicitly laid out by Mark. Once the three turkeys were stuffed, Mark let Danielle tie the legs together while he grabbed a kitchen brush and prepared the butter.

“Oh, now this looks interesting…”

“Hmm?” Mark passed a questioning glance toward one of the two kitchen entrances, where there now stood a woman wrapped in heavy white robes, including an oversized hood that shadowed the top half of her face.

“Hi!” Danielle greeted the newcomer with a pleasant smile. “Can we help you?”

“I was just taking a look around, that’s all,” the woman responded cordially. “There are more people cooking in this dorm than I expected, I must say.”

“Oh, that might just be because of me,” Mark commented sheepishly. “I’m going to need three of these kitchens just to cook all of the food I have prepared, and Karísah and some of the Keys volunteered to go around getting them ready ahead of me.”

“I see. Karísah, helping outsiders like this? How very industrious of her.”

“She is pretty cool,” Danielle remarked, and then cocked her head in confusion. “…I don’t think I’ve seen you around before, though. Who are you?”

“Oh, it’s quite alright if you haven’t seen me. People often seem to miss out on my presence…” The woman smiled, as if amused by something. “Anyways… I suspect you’ll have heard my name, at least. I go by Shade.”

“You’re right, we have heard of you,” Mark replied, casting a wary glance toward Shade as he began brushing butter over the turkeys. “I don’t mean to be rude, but are you not supposed to have a chaperone with you?”

“That was done away with when Davídrius verified the intel my friend and I so graciously presented to him,” Shade declared. “Especially for today, Ind and I are free women.”

“Just in time to enjoy the holiday! Cool!” Danielle flashed a grin before gesturing back at the kitchen. “Hey, maybe you want to help out? Hunger’s Bane is all about cooking and eating, after all, right?”

“That is correct. And I can’t say that I’ve ever seen this manner of food preparation before… not around here, at least.” Shade’s gaze then shifted to the Earth-based seasonings on the counter. “…I don’t recognize most of these things, either.”

“That’s because they’re from Earth,” Mark explained. “When I heard that there was an incoming food-focused holiday, I decided to bring some ingredients over from Earth. I thought it might be nice to give the Tresédians a taste of Earth.”

“I see… how very thoughtful, for an outsider.”

Mark frowned in response to Shade’s comment, though he didn’t stop buttering the turkeys as he questioned, “is there something wrong with my idea…?”

“Oh, no, not at all,” Shade replied airily. “You outsiders really do get hung up on the term ‘outsider’, though, don’t you?”

“I guess the people around here do use that word a lot…” Danielle mused.

“Well, that’s Treséd for you.” Shade made a show of shrugging before glancing between Mark and Danielle. “So the two of you are Earthians, then? Does that make you the new students I’ve heard about?”

“Oh, no, I’m just a chaperone, for lack of a better word,” Mark commented.

“And I’m just here to visit!” Danielle remarked.

“I see…” Shade nodded along, as if in understanding. “Still, for Earthians to be on Nimalia… that isn’t something you often hear about. You must be special, indeed.”

“…You could say that…” Mark responded warily.

“The two of us are nothing compared to Mote and Kate, though!” Danielle exclaimed. “The two of them managed to fight off Telregina, once! That’s pretty amazing, right?!”

“Danielle!” Mark hissed, “that’s supposed to be confidential information…”

“Oh… oops!”

“Heh…” Shade chuckled to herself, a wry smile forming on her face. “Don’t worry, I know how to keep secrets. Telregina, though… as in, the leader of the Telum-faction Drakkars? That Telregina?”

Danielle uneasily glanced back at Mark, as if she was looking for guidance on how to respond. Mark simply gave off an exasperated sigh and shook his head in resignation. “…Well, the cat’s out of the bag, now,” he commented, setting his kitchen brush down as he had just finished buttering the final turkey. After doing so, he turned to look at Shade. “Yes… that Telregina. …Aren’t you a former Bleeder, though? I’m surprised that even Bleeders know about the Drakkar faction leaders…”

“Nimalia first learned about the Drakkars over a thousand years ago,” Shade declared. “Treséd became a lawless wasteland after that point. So of course tales of the Drakkars and their immortal faction leaders would stick around. To think one of them was beaten, though…”

“Well, not quite,” Mark corrected. “We fought her off, but we don’t have any evidence that we killed her, or even slowed her down.”

“Though, I don’t know how she could survive what happened at the—!” Danielle began, only to stop herself as Mark stepped up and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She looked down at his hand, and then back at his stern expression, before adopting a sheepish smile herself. “Oops…!”

Shade chuckled again as she watched the two. “My, this certainly has been interesting…”

“I’m sure…” Mark responded uneasily, and then turned his attention back to the turkeys. “Anyways… there’s still a lot of cooking to be done, so we need to get focused, again.”

“Right!” Danielle remarked. “Shade, do you wanna help? We could really use it!”

“If you’ll have me,” Shade replied with a subdued smirk. “I’m certainly interested in what kind of cuisine Earth has to offer.”

“Right. Well, more hands often makes for easier work,” Mark quipped, already preparing to move the buttered turkeys to the cooking pans. “Anyways, as a quick primer, here’s what we’re doing here…”

---

*

“Oh my god, ahahaha! What the fuck did you do?! Aaaahahahahahaha!!!”

“Wha-what? Hey!” Austin glared indignantly at Sky as the latter grasped at her chest amidst the throes of uproarious laughter. He then shifted his gaze toward Spike and Twy, who were both staring blankly at him. “C’mon, this is cool, right?!”

“Uh… you look very, um…” Twy began, an uneasy smile crossing her face as she searched for the words to finish her sentence.

“I can’t believe you went and actually did it,” Spike deadpanned, and then shook his head in resignation. “Though I guess I really shouldn’t be surprised…”

“Tch…” Austin snorted in annoyance, glancing toward Sky — who was still fraught with laughter — before looking all around himself in frustration, looking for something to take his mind off the embarassment of the current moment. The four friends currently stood within one of the dorm kitchens, working to help prepare the large quantities of food that Mark wanted to cook for the night’s dinner. Sky, Twy, and Spike had been the first down to help, with Austin arriving some time later to show off something that he had recently gained:

A heavily muscled body.

The previous night, Austin had finally made good on his declaration three days ago — while within simulation range of Danielle, he borrowed her Transtechnism to shapeshift his own body and grant himself chiseled abs and massive biceps, among other things. In the end, Austin had achieved exactly what he had been aiming for: a figure not unlike that of Spike’s, that gave him a heavy presence and the impression that he worked out every day with massive weights. His new muscles weren’t even that massive — so he thought, at least — but instead of impressing his friends, he had only managed to provoke laughter and incredulous reactions.

“Hahahaha… ha, ha… …oof…” Sky’s laughter finally subsided as she took a deep breath and returned her attention to Austin, only to reflexively snort in amusement and wipe a tear from her eye. “Man, you really went all-out, huh?” she remarked with a grin.

“What’s so funny about this, huh?” Austin retorted, glancing down at his own body before jerking a thumb toward Spike. “He has tons of muscle and you like him just fine, why’s it weird when I have them?!”

“Probably ‘cause you changed literally overnight,” Spike pointed out. “This kinda shift is… jarring.”

“That’s one way to put it!” Sky exclaimed. “The Austin I know is a lanky shut-in, not a musclehead. But seeing your head on that body is…! Pfft!” She held a hand over her mouth in an obvious attempt to stifle further laughter.

“Alright, even I think you’re bein’ a little mean, now,” Spike said, passing his girlfriend a reproachful glance before turning back to Austin. “This still seems short-sighted to me, though. You have those muscles now, sure, but are you really gonna start doin’ what it takes to keep ‘em around?”

“C’mon, it’ll be fine. I’ll just tag along with you whenever you workout,” Austin replied.

“You never had the motivation to do that before,” Spike countered. “Changin’ your body alone ain’t gonna change your mindset.”

“Ah, it’ll be fine,” Austin insisted, and then glanced over at Twy, who hadn’t spoken a word since her unfinished sentence earlier. “What about you, huh? You gonna make fun of me, too?”

“Uh, n-no, I, uh…” Twy stuttered out, her eyes dropping down and then back to Austin’s head, as though she were looking him over head-to-toe. A tinge of red appeared on her face as she squirmed uncomfortably, her gaze apparently unable to establish eye-contact with Austin. “It, um… it’s a very… unique look…?”

“Ooooohhh?” Sky slyly eyed her sister as she sidled up next to her and threw her right arm around Twy’s shoulders. “Could it be that you actually like him this way?” Sky questioned, her voice just low enough for only Twy to hear.

“S-Sky!!” Twy exclaimed, her face flushing red as she glared at her sister. “Th-that’s not…!”

“Aw, man…” Austin sighed in resignation, his shoulders slumped. “Is muscle-me really that weird…?”

“You just called yourself ‘muscle-me’,” Sky retorted, separating from Twy to place her hands on her hips. “What do you think?”

“If you’re willin’ to put in the work, then I can help you keep this up,” Spike declared, “but I ain’t gonna carry you. You need to have that motivation yourself.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ve only said that, what, a billion times?” Austin rolled his eyes. “Look, I can make this work! This is gonna be the new me!”

“Sure. Personally, though, if you’re doin’ this for appearances’ sake, I don’t think this ‘buff’ look suits you. A runner’s build would give you some athleticism and muscle tone without makin’ you look, uh…”

“Yeah, Spike’s right,” Sky commented. “Like I said, the Austin I know is a tall, lanky guy! A runner’s build would be a good halfway point between that and just big muscles everywhere.” She then shot a smirk and a wink at her sister as she finished, “I’m sure Twy would like that better, too!”

“Uh—!” Twy glared daggers at Sky for a second before turning to give Austin a more sheepish look. “Well… I guess…”

“Alright, alright, I get it, sheesh. Y’all really don’t like the buff me,” Austin replied with a sigh. “A runner’s build, though, huh…”

“It’s different from what I’ve got, but I can still help you make it work,” Spike declared.

“And in the meantime, maybe you should just go back to your regular self,” Sky suggested. “You know, while you still can.”

“Nah, fuck that!” Austin retorted. “I mean, now that I think about it, I think I do agree that a runner’s build would look better on me…” He then made a show of flexing his arms, showing off the bulging biceps that threatened to shred the now-ill-fitting shirt he was wearing. “But that doesn’t mean I’m just gonna get rid of these muscles! I made ‘em, so I’m gonna enjoy ‘em while I have ‘em!”

“God what a weird fucking sentence.”

“M-maybe we should all just, you know, start helping out with the Hunger’s Bane meal prep…?” Twy suggested.

“Yeah, good point.” Spike nodded and turned toward the kitchen countertop. “Let’s get goin’. And Austin, be careful, today. You just got those muscles, so try not to accidentally crush anythin’.”

“Bah, it’ll be fine,” Austin insisted, following the lead of the other three as they spread out across the kitchen to begin working on meal prep. “I bet these muscles will actually be useful sometime soon, anyways. Just you watch!”