What I hadn't realised when I was cooking up the feast for my two companions was that a bit of a crowd had been drawn to the common area of the Initiate dorm room. 

Aliens had been drawn in by the strange smells from the oven, and then upon learning what was about to happen had settled down to watch the two brave souls that dared think themselves able to consume the spicy human dish. 

The two aliens took their first bites at the exact same time. Their spoons were full and loaded as Yr'Arl brought his up to his mouth and Akash slotted his own into a groove in the wood of his chest that ran along his abdomen. 

For a moment it seemed as if they were both going to be fine, Yr'Arl was savouring the flavours of the dish, slowly chewing, and Akash was stock still as his body did whatever it did to break down and absorb the nutrients into his system. 

But that all changed within a few moments. Slowly, building like the whine of a turbine engine, a keening yowl ripped itself from Yr'Arl's throat. He started to pant like a dog with his tongue dangling from his mouth, which was not the sort of expression you would expect to see from the face of a cat. 

Expecting at least one of the two aliens to have a bad reaction to the levels of spice in the dish, I had already prepared a glass of a substance that was high in lipids and taste enough like milk that even I couldn't tell the difference. Lipids coated the receptors of the tongue that bound to capsaicin molecules, which was what caused the spicy sensation to run rampant through someone's mouth. 

"Here, Yr'Arl, try this it'll make you feel better, I promise," I said, holding the glass of orange liquid out, the same liquid that I had put on my cereal two days earlier. 

Yr'Arl ripped the glass from my hand and threw the milk substitute down his throat in record time, and then went right back to panting. 

The aliens around us were having a great time, marvelling both at how Akash and I were eating the mixture without freaking out like Yr'Arl had, and at Yr'Arl's extreme reaction to the dish. 

"What in the name of the Goddess was that mixture," Yr'Arl gasped through his pants, tongue still lolled out. 

"It comes from a country on Earth called Mexico, the dish itself is known as Chilli Con Carne, and is a dish that relies on spices and chillies to boost the flavour of the dish by making it nice and spicy," I explained, before taking another huge bite. 

"It was vile, Jacob Lyre, and I shan't be eating any more human dishes from this point onward," He said, holding the bowl out toward me. 

I shrugged, took the bowl back, and rolled my eyes at the alien as he sank into his chair to let the spices burn themselves out. 

I couldn't understand what Yr'Arl was complaining about, I thought that the Chilli was surprisingly good, considering I'd had to rely on substitute ingredients for the entire recipe. 

"You have a weak palate, Yr'Arl," Akash laughed with his now-familiar breezy rasping. "Jacob, I am impressed by your human food, it has taken me quite by surprise. My congratulations to you on a delicious meal." 

With my mouth full I couldn't reply to the alien, but I gave him a nod to signal my appreciation. It had taken a while, but it finally felt like I was starting to get Akash onto my side, and all it had taken was a meal. Maybe there was something to be said about getting through to someone by using their stomach after all. 

There was still a lot of chilli left in the pot, you couldn't really ever make enough chilli for only a couple of people. It was a big thing that went in a pot and simmered for hours while people dipped in and took their pick. 

"If anyone else wants to pick through the leftovers, there's plenty to go around," I announced to the rest of the room. 

An uneasy stillness spread through the surrounding aliens. The few Lyrin in the crowd had their eye colours shift from an amused orange to a fearful green, so I knew for a fact that those members of the crowd were currently quaking in their boots. 

I took another mouthful. Looking at those Lyrin had reminded me of Pax and Fal. I hoped that the two of them were going to be okay after so long being away from one another. I was sure that, if any damage had been done to Pax, the medical teams of the Guard would have been able to sort him out and get him back on his feet. I mean, they'd been able to put Akash back together again, and he had literally been missing huge parts of his body when we had arrived back in Prespian City. 

Either way, it wasn't Pax's physical state that I was worried about, it was his mental state. The entire point of the Lyrin was that they connected on that deeper level, literally becoming a two-person hive mind. There was no doubt that Pax had gone through a truly traumatising event, and that the only reason he was able to come out of the other side of it was probably due to Akash's intervention. 

Would he want to put his partner through all of that?

If he did, then all of those memories and all of that grief would be shared by Fal. She would remember it as if it had happened to her because once their minds combined it technically would have happened to her just as much as it originally happened to Pax.

If I were him I wouldn't want to put the person I loved above anyone else through that sort of torment.