12:00 PM - LUNCH WITH NYLA
Orion returned home for lunch. Found Nyla in the kitchen. She'd come home between classes.
"Hey," she said, looking up from her sandwich. "You're actually eating at a normal time for once."
"Occasionally." Orion sat down across from her. René brought him a plate.
They ate in comfortable silence for a few minutes.
"You look different," Nyla said suddenly.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it's true. You're... I don't know. Brighter somehow. Like you're more here than you used to be."
Orion smiled. "Enhanced cultivation. My body is improving. That shows externally."
"Mom told me about your strength demonstration. Lifting your desk with one hand."
"You want a demonstration?"
"Maybe later. Right now I want to ask something."
"Go ahead."
Nyla set down her sandwich. Met his eyes. "When are you going to teach me? The cultivation. The enhancement. I want to learn."
Orion had been expecting this question. "Soon. But not yet."
"Why not?"
