Seeing the look on Belana's face as Akash, Yr'Arl and I walked out of the room in unison was probably one of the greatest highlights of my time in Prespian city so far, you know right after gaining magical abilities and being given a second chance after death. 

<Should I be offended that I don't even rank in your top three best moments?> BB asked, the pout was clear in his tone. 

The AI in my head was delusional if he thought I was going to rank gaining a sassy mental voice that I couldn't shut up was going to rank in my top three, who did he think I was?

Top 5 though? Maybe. 

"Jacob lyre, I have a request if you do not mind my asking," Yr'Arl said, when we were clear of the room. 

"Of course, Yr'Arl, what can I do for you?" I replied, if there was anything I could do for the alien I would. He had saved us from almost certain death, after all.

"I would appreciate the chance to spar with you once again. It seems your improvement has been exponential, whereas I feel as though I am stagnant, unmoving," He said, his head bowed. 

"Your manna construct was able to hold up against a Null Space Hybrid, that's no easy thing to do. I would be proud of that," I said. 

"That may be true, but you were able to dispatch the beast with such ease. I do not know how your power has improved so quickly, yet it has," The alien sighed, "I wish to spar with you once again if only to see how I stand against you." 

I mulled his words over. If I refused him this spar then there was a good chance that Yr'Arl wouldn't forgive me for it, it sounded like this was a pretty big deal. Not only that, he was right. I had improved in leaps and bounds thanks to BB's assistance, but I had no real way to measure how much I had actually improved.

Fighting against Yr'Arl again would give me an opportunity to actually chart my progress. 

"Okay, okay fine," I relented. "But before any of that I want to eat some solid food and have a shower, not necessarily in that order, or I simply won't be able to think straight." 

That would get rid of two parts of my Debuff, the third part would have to be done over time as part of the spar. I'd need to try and survive for an hour against the feline alien, but I was sure I could do that. Yr'Arl wouldn't be trying to kill me… I hoped. 

"That is most understandable, I myself was quite frazzled before consuming solid nutrition," Yr'Arl agreed. 

"Well, perhaps I can cook you something this time. I enjoyed your food, the last time we sparred, I wouldn't mind returning the favour." 

"Eating human food?" Akash grumbled, "I would never lower myself to such standards. It is all brown mush, in any case." 

I rolled my eyes, of course, Akash would have something to say about human food. If it was human he hated it as a rule. Besides, most human foods were made of meat. Could something that was made out of wood even consume meat? Wouldn't that put him in the same kind of area as a venus flytrap? I shuddered and tried to dismiss the thought. 

"I would be honoured to eat the food of Jacob Lyre's homeworld," Yr'Arl said proudly, puffing his chest out like a house cat looking to be stroked. 

"Well, if we still had a homeworld," I joked. 

The devastation across Yr'Arl's face was instant. He bowed his head and let his chest fall, the pride dripping away in an instant. 

"My apologies, Jacob Lyre, I had forgotten for a moment what the rest of the human race had done. Perhaps, one day, we will be able to restore your world to its former glory," He said, unable to keep the shame from his voice. 

"Oh come on, I was joking," I gave his shoulder a light tap, "I'm going to cook you something delicious, and if you can stomach it Akash, you're going to eat it too." 

xXx

<You're going to cook an alien tree and an alien cat a spicy Chilli con Carne, are you sure that's the wisest thing to do?> BB asked as I ground some salt into the bubbling combination of meat and sauce. 

None of the ingredients were what they would have been back on Earth, but they were close enough that the difference shouldn't be noticeable to the aliens, though I'd probably notice the difference straight away. 

I thought it was going to be funny. BB had already told me that a lot of species out here had no tolerance for spice at all, and while he hadn't deigned to tell me whether either Yr'Arl or Akash's species could handle their chillies, I had decided to make the chilli to my own tastes. That meant it was practically molten in flavour, and if these two aliens had never tasted a chilli in their lives I was probably going to blow their heads off. 

"So Akash, I see you're willing to at least talk to me now," I said as I ladled out three bowls worth of the chilli. 

"You have saved my life, human, and that means I am indebted to you, as much as I dislike the concept of owing anything to a lowly creature such as yourself," He replied from his position lounging in a chair that looked suspiciously like a bean bag. 

"Well, if you start calling me by my name and if you stop with all the human insults I might just be able to forgive that debt," I said and walked the bowls over to my companions. 

Akash laughed that now-familiar breezy sound and took one of the bowls with his vine-like hands. 

"I am afraid, human, that is something I will never be able to do. Now, let us eat this… Chilli," he said, looking at the bowl distrustfully. 

This was going to be hilarious.