Maxwell's Log

Sylvan was needed to do a weapons check, so I'll take over from here. You got Obsidia's description, right? Well, looks like I got the rest of the Runaways.

Entering the kitchen, I decided this was going to require some getting used to. All four people were eating, one with grey skin was eating what I hoped was raw fish, instead of some other kind of meat, two were centaurs, and they were eating a salad, and the third was bright red. (By bright red, I mean bright cherry red. Seriously, Lance is redder than a sunburned tomato.)

"Exxa, Exxon, Enigma, Lance, this is Maxwell and Sylvan," Obsidia said.

The four of them turned around, and I noticed blood on Enigma's face that was quickly wiped away. "Hey, they're Omni's, right?" The grey one asked. Obsidia nodded, and the grey one smiled widely, giving me and my brother a nice view of their, many, very sharp teeth. "Most Herb's freak out when Carn's or Omni's smile, but usually other Carn's and Omni's are fine." (Seriously, I wasn't entirely sure what gender Enigma was, and while I know she's female now, I didn't then. Enigma isn't a mammal, so her species's females don't have breasts.)

"Enigma, you have very sharp teeth, maybe keep the grinning to a minimum," Obsidia reminded.

Enigma didn't stop smiling, but the sharp teeth at the front of their mouth slid upwards, leaving the flatter teeth usually found at the front of people's mouths.

"Oh, you can do the same thing that Annmarie and Logan can," Syl said, voicing both our thoughts.

Enigma shrugged. "Yeah, not hard, it's a common trait in water-type species."

"Some of us just don't have any pointy teeth," one of the centaurs, the female one, said. "The name's Exxa, this is my brother Exxon." Exxa and Exxon's fur and hair were both black, their skin a dark brown. Exxon simply waved, then went back to his salad. "We're herbivores," Exxa said, probably noticing my confused look at the salads. "Enigma's a carnivore, and Lance is an omnivore."

"Could so one tell me again why I'm using this infernal utensil?" The one I assumed to be Lance complained. (Lance and Mirale aren't mammals either, so, no hair, if I hadn't mentioned that before.)

"We are trying to teach them how to walk, not just throwing them in with a bunch of zeros and calling it good," Enigma said.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Teaching how to swim instead of tossing them in the deep end." Obsidia translated. "We all use different expressions, you get used to it."

"Or you don't, I'm still working on it," Danny muttered. "I'm also still getting used to the fact that I know aliens."

I frowned, dodging the island in the middle of the kitchen to see what Onyx was mixing. "Blueberries again?" I wondered.

"Yes, but the orange, lemon, and cranberry ones are in the oven."

"How much longer?" Syl wondered, crouching down to look in the oven.

"Can you smell them yet?" Onyx asked.

"No," I replied.

"Then they won't be done for a while."

"Let Mirale pull them out, we're trying to test her uniform, but we haven't been to any volcano-type planets recently," Obsidia said. "She keeps taking off her gloves, and that's not good, so we're trying to get it so the heat or cold isn't repelled by the uniform, and is instead absorbed."

"Your uniforms are heat proof?" Syl wondered.

"Yeah, any one of us could take the pans out of the oven with our gloves, and nothing would happen." Enigma offered. "Even Elance could."

"But she isn't wearing the same thing as you," Danny said, wrinkling his nose.

"It's weird, I can't really explain it," Enigma replied. "And Elance is too sleepy to bother."

"Wait, I'm confused. Is your name Elance, or Lance?"

She shrugged. "I respond to both, Ms. Cinder usually calls me some variant of young lady."

"Mmmm," Syl groaned. "I can smell it now. And it smells yummy."

I sniffed the air and smelled it too. (Nothing can compare to the smell of freshly baked fruit bread. Especially when Onyx is the one that made it.)

Onyx sighed. "Someone go get Mirale, and hurry, if she isn't here in time, I'm not letting these burn."

"I'll get her," Exxa said, running, er, galloping down the hall.

"No galloping in the house!" Onyx shouted after her.

"Sorry!" Exxa shouted back, slowing slightly.

"And no cantering! A trot at most!" Onyx shouted.

"Shh! Colyn's sleeping!" Emma's voice resonated through their heads. "I'd prefer it if he stayed that way. Also, Annmarie says that if you wake up Logan, she'll have your head."

Danny's face made an abrupt switch to terrified, and he quickly put his finger on his lips.

"I'm back," Exxa said, trotting to a stop, a person with green and grey skin sliding off her back.

"What's this about?" Mirale wondered.

"You can pull the bread out of the oven now," Onyx said. "It's ready."

Mirale grinned, opening the oven and grabbing the pans, placing them on the top of the oven.

"They conduct the heat okay?" Obsidia wondered.

Mirale pulled off her gloves, and the slightest hint of darkening was on the skin of her hands. She placed her bare hand on the side of the pan, and it came away even darker. "Yeah, it's good, doesn't lessen the heat at all."

"That's good?" I asked, confused.

"My closest relative on your planet is an extremophile bacteria. While my species is far more advanced, we are still extremophiles, and use chemosynthesis to produce the energy we need to survive." Mirale slid on her gloves, touching the side of the pan again.

"And that darkening of your skin?" Syl wondered.

"Oh, my species has three, um, morphs. I think that would be the best way to describe it to you. We don't shed our skin, but it changes color according to temperature. Cold produces light blues and whites, with frost patterns, and heat produces black with reds, oranges, yellows, and the occasional white or blue."

"And green, we saw green on you on that one planet," Obsidia offered.

"That about never happens," Mirale replied. "That was different."

"Where's Secilia?" Exxon asked.

"Still working, but she made me promise to bring her a slice of the cranberry one."

"How'd she know?" I asked.

"Said something about Exxa bringing the scent with her," Mirale replied. "Though how she caught the scent escapes me."

"She's got even more sensative senses then I do," Danny offered. "Similar power set, but she got all the enhanced senses apparently."

"Honestly, the only time it's good, is when Onyx has cooked something that smells yummy but hasn't told the entire house," Colyn said, walking into the kitchen. He was in pajamas, and his hair was ruffled.

"I thought you were sleeping," I said.

"He was, but apparently, he can smell your food in his sleep and wake up," Emma said, walking into the kitchen.

Colyn simply nodded, passing his hand over the loaves of bread to check their temperature. Apparently, they were cool enough, cause Colyn picked up one of the loaves, taking it out of its pan, and taking a knife to it.

(A/N) Seemed like a good place to stop! Bye!