Since they had yet to switch over to a nocturnal schedule themselves, most of them fell asleep shortly after arriving in their new home. Sanders worked through the night to get the needed furnishings for the new house, then disappeared as he usually did in the early morning hours.

Howard woke around sunrise as he usually did and explored the house further to see what sorts of food and supplies they had and noticed the table and chairs Sanders had procured right away, as well as enough food for two or three meals for the lot of them.

The food had a note written by Sanders that claimed a poison-free guarantee, but it looked… The wheat was pink, and there were a couple of iridescent mushrooms included. There were also a handful of different fruits and vegetables included. Something like grapes, something that looked like an apple, but orange and so on. Everything here was certainly colorful.

“Howard?” Natalie asked, stepping into the room as she did her black hair up into its usual bun, “Did you find that?”

“No. Sanders did,” Howard told her, showing her the note.

“He is always up to something,” she noted, “You any good at cooking and preparing fresh ingredients?”

“I think so, but I have never cooked for anyone but myself,” Howard told her.

Natalie nodded and looked around. “This floor reminds me of my old favorite cafe. I would often go there on my breaks.”

“I don’t think I can do restaurant quality,” he warned her.

“Almost anything is better than over preserved food at this point,” she sighed, “No one else is up yet so we should get started before they cause a ruckus.”

A few hours of silently preparing passed. Howard noted that there were a working gas stove and oven, as well as a sink complete with faucet. He doubted that kind of thing existed here, but he decided it was best not to question it.

With the ingredients there, they had managed to make some pink bread, a colorful fruit salad, and grilled vegetables with some suspicious mushrooms. Sanders had included some dried leaves that seemed to be similar to basil, oregano, and chives, and there was some salt that was definitely from Earth.

“Is that freshly cooked food?” Leon yawned as he descended the stairs.

“Smells good and forestry,” Selina noted as she followed him down, “Did Howard cook it?”

“Part of it,” Howard told her, deciding that it was best if he kept to himself that he did the grilled vegetables and Natalie did the bread. They both cut fruit for the fruit salad.

“Sanders is mysteriously missing again,” James reported, fully dressed, once he entered the room.

Miranda and Jonathan joined them soon after. Jonathan made a beeline for the pink bread. “How interesting,” he commented happily, then stared into the fruit salad and its many colors.

“Yay food!” Miranda shouted and looked around, “We don’t have much in the way of dishes, huh…”

“No, but Sanders was thoughtful enough to provide silverware and cookware,” Natalie said, a sarcastic hint in her tone.

“We’ll have to put that on the retrieval list,” James noted, taking a fork and stabbing a potato-like vegetable.

“Sanders really is mysterious,” Selina mused, “and when I ask him about alien things he mysteriously clams up. He won’t talk about his planet at all, and only says it is absolutely forbidden to take us there.”

“I tried too, but he is an accomplished telepath,” Leon admitted, “He didn’t even wait for me to finish before cutting me off.”

“He gives off a sort of unreal feeling,” Miranda agreed, “Like it is impossible for him to get hurt. His confidence is pretty high too, and he moves like someone who has some serious flexibility.”

“He can definitely fight,” James said.

The flaps of the entrance were pushed open and Sanders stumbled in just then. His skin was bright red everywhere and he did not look okay. He went straight to the sink and gulped down water before finally acknowledging their presence.

“Sanders?” Miranda asked in shock, “What happened to you?”

“Sunburn,” he replied with a sheepish smile, “I was looking around to see what things were like under the sunlight and before I knew it I’m red all over and my skin feels like it is on fire.”

Natalie frowned. “That is a pretty serious sunburn,” she muttered, “The natives are probably all asleep by now but we should try to contact a doctor.”

“Calling one now,” Sanders hummed.

They ate their breakfast while they waited, and when the doctor came, they came in heavy protective gear to combat the sun.

{Kids always try to play in the sun at least once,} a disapproving tone played in their minds, {Hopefully this will help teach you that the daylight is dangerous. Luckily you weren’t out there for long so I can sure it but you might not be so lucky next time. Not only that but outside the colony, most of the predators prowl in the daytime.}

It quickly turned into a lecture as the grandfatherly doctor treated Sanders with a black salve that started glowing as if it was sucking up all the energy from the sunburn.

{If you need to go into the sun, you need to protect yourself like this. You are young so you might not need as much as I do, but the sun is not an opponent people like us can take on.}

He left after finishing his lecture and Sanders’ treatment. Sanders looked a lot better but his skin was still mildly red. It would likely turn into a tan rather than peeling, which was good, but Sanders looked unusually exhausted.

“I’m leaving,” he mumbled, “Bye.”

Without even trying to hide it this time, he fell through some sort of hole in the floor which closed right after him before they could really see what was beyond it.

“So,” Leon said, “I think we found out why they have a nocturnal lifestyle.”

“No kidding,” Miranda agreed, “I am glad we haven’t gone out much. My skin would have been a terrible mess in no time.”

“Wasn’t Sanders out during the day before when we first arrived?” James asked, shooting a glance at Howard.

Howard nodded. “We were in a forest then, and we don’t know how long it takes to get a sunburn. It could be that the trees filtered it.”

James did not seem convinced but nodded. Howard was not honestly convinced either. Perhaps Sanders really was tougher than them and only got the sunburn this time because he had been out since dawn. It was hard to say for sure, though.