Chapter 24

Elaina threw together a platter of appetizers while Dawn and Rob put away the laundry, and had it ready for when they came out.

"Now, before you eat," Rob advised, "Try to concentrate on your body. Feel your hunger and where it's centered."

"What am I supposed to be feeling?" Dawn asked.

"I'm not sure. I'm just trying to get you to know how you feel right now," he replied. "When you're done eating, you'll be checking again. You might try concentrating while you eat, too. I know you don't know what I mean; it's all subjective and you might not feel it the same way I do. Just keep it in mind, all right?"

Dawn shrugged, twisting her lips. "Okay, I'll try, but I don't get what you're looking for."

What she was feeling was that she was hungrier than she thought she ought to be. She picked over the platter, taking what appealed to her, and soon found that it all appealed to her. Her distress increased as her selections became less discriminating. The platter was soon finished, and she looked at the crumbs, upset that she'd eaten that much on top of dinner, even if Rob had helped.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Elaina asked solicitously. She could see Dawn's distress plainly on her face.

"How can I eat that much and still be hungry?" she complained. "If I eat like this all the time, I'll be as big as a house." She rubbed her flat tummy and frowned harder when she noticed it wasn't tight despite the amount she'd eaten.

"Dawn, right now," Rob said hurriedly, "What part of you feels emptiest?"

"My stomach, of course," she replied crossly.

"But that's not what you're rubbing, is it?" he pointed out.

Dawn scowled and looked down. She was startled to find he was right. She was rubbing just below her sternum, above where her stomach would be. She thought it might be where her liver was located, and she shouldn't be feeling hunger pangs there. Even as she rubbed, she felt the pangs fade. Now she just felt comfortably full.

"What was that?" she asked wonderingly. "It feels like I've got another stomach, and now it's full, too."

"I call that 'the well, ' and I would say you've filled it up," Rob said proudly. "That's a good description, too. I first thought of it as a gas tank when I discovered it."

"What's it do?" she asked.

"It's what you use when you access your abilities," Elaina stated. "Like when you faded in Doug's apartment, and when you calmed Liz and Martha. They all take energy, and not the type your body's used to using."

"I wonder if that's the 'qi' you hear people talking about," Rob mused.

"Ooo, I learned about that in a feng shui course I took in college," Dawn said, excited at being able to add to the conversation. "It's supposed to be the life force surrounding us and centering on our beings."

"Hmm, sounds like they might have gotten it right in Star Wars after all," Rob reflected. His eyes glittered as he thought of something. "'Use the Force, Luke, '" he intoned sonorously.

"Quit messing around, Rob," Elaina chided. "This is serious."

"I am serious," he replied. "It's the most current cultural reference that makes sense. Everybody knows 'The Force.'" Elaina looked down abashedly. "You have got to be kidding me," Rob said in disbelief. "I feel a Star Wars marathon coming on."

After kibitzing for a few minutes over the advisability of a twenty-hour marathon, they got back to cases.

"We need to figure out what triggered it," Elaina noted. "In Rob's case, it turned out to be a need to protect me from harm. What were you feeling at the table when I ... ahem ... lost it?"

"I, I'm not sure," Dawn replied. "I could see Liz and Martha getting upset at the sound you were making, and I was trying to think of a way to calm you ... down..." Her voice trailed off and her eyes got big as she realized what she was saying.

"You were trying to protect me," Elaina said with a tight smile. "You're doing it right now, as a matter of fact. Try to think about what you're feeling right now."

"I feel like I'm sweating," she answered, nearly lost in thought. "But I'm not hot." She held her hand before her face and saw the blue light reflected from her skin. Even as she watched, the glow faded, the feeling of sweating fading with it.

"Wow," Rob said, blinking sleepily and shaking his head. "She packs a punch."

"Yes, she does," Elaina replied evenly. "Even I felt that, and I'm a vampire. I should be immune to it."

"I thought I was, too," Rob complained. "Maybe it takes time to get used to it."

Elaina nodded thoughtfully, then she asked Rob to fetch her mirror from the bedroom. She handed the mirror to Dawn, saying, "I saw the way you used your hand for feedback from your eyes. This should help." Dawn took the mirror and held it in her lap, staring at her reflection, trying to find something different in her face. Even as she watched, her irises flared. She thought they were the most beautiful blue she had ever seen.

"Dawn?" She slowly raised her head to Elaina's plaintive call. "What are you thinking?" She shrugged.

"Oh, man," Rob moaned. "If I didn't know she was sitting there right next to me, I would say there was no one there. It's like the light is bending around her."

"Yes," Elaina hissed. "It's just like that. I always wondered what it looked like when I would blend with the night. Look, you can see rainbows around the edges."

Dawn held up a hand, but she didn't see anything different about it. She looked down and saw her eyes glittering back. She frowned as she felt a subtle exhaustion begin creeping up on her.

"Dawn, honey?" Elaina said. "You need to stop now. I can smell your exhaustion building. Stop before you pass out."

Keeping her eyes on the mirror, she willed her eyes to go dark, and they did, slowly, as if reluctant to fade. She nearly dropped the mirror when she slumped. Rob caught her and eased her to the couch, laying her head on the arm cushion. She was asleep in moments.

"Let her sleep for now," Elaina advised. "She's going to be upset when she sees how much I'm going to feed her when she wakes up. She doesn't need to be tired on top of it."

Rob dragged a quilt from his closet and covered her with it, tucking her in. He brushed her cheek with his fingers then bent down and kissed her forehead.

"Well," Rob commented, "It looks like we've managed to throw our little lover into the deep end after all." Elaina shook her head.

"She's handling it well enough," she replied. "It's a good thing she's here with us now, instead of at home trying to deal with this alone." She led him to kitchen and had him sit down while she cooked up something better for Dawn than appetizers.

"Now, tell me about this Star Wars you and Dawn seem to know so much about..."

Several hours later, Rob was considering moving Dawn to the bed when she woke up on her own. She sat up, stretching and yawning, the quilt puddling at her waist. She looked down in surprise, realizing she was on the couch and not in bed.

"Feel better?" Rob asked quietly.

"I fell asleep?" she asked querulously. "And you left me here?"

"You've only been asleep a couple of hours," Elaina stated as she came over with the food she'd prepared. Dawn perked up as her nose and stomach both told her something delicious was approaching. This time, she didn't need Rob's help finishing everything on the plate. They all went to the kitchen when she asked for seconds. Elaina watched in bemusement as Dawn polished off everything she'd cooked without compliant.

"I thought you'd be upset with me when you saw how much I'd made for you," Elaina said ruefully.

"Are you kidding?" Dawn replied. "I see how much Rob eats, and he's not getting fat. Now that I know I do the same thing, I'm not worried about it. If I do gain weight, I can get Rob to show me how to use that Bowflex thing he's got in the bedroom."

"That reminds me," Rob said. He put his elbow on the table in the classic arm-wrestling pose. "We need to test your strength." Both ladies protested but Rob insisted, nearly resorting to making it an order before Dawn acquiesced. Dawn put her arm up next to his, her skin pale and delicate next to his. They had to get a book to put under her elbow before their hands would fit together.

"Now, I need you to try, Dawn, I mean really try, okay?" Rob said. "This isn't a contest. If it were, I would probably win, but I need to gauge your strength to see if you're stronger along with everything else." She nodded her head with determination and adjusted her grip. "All right then. Let's start."

Dawn slammed his hand over, nearly reaching the table before Rob could catch himself. He struggled back, taking more time than expected, and felt the afterburners kicking in more than once. They were both sweating by the time their arms were vertical again.

"Rob, enough. She's fading," Elaina called out. Rather than just letting go, Rob pulled his arm in and away from her. Dawn let go, surprised by his move, then she slumped briefly before shaking her head and sitting up straight.

"You are substantially stronger," Rob commented, "Although, to be honest, you may have always been strong, but I think you're stronger than normal now. You're going to have to be careful hugging people."

"Well," Dawn replied, shaking her head. "I was a gymnast in high school, but that was years ago. Once I got these..." she hefted her breasts, " ... I kind of gave up on it. I'm nowhere near in the shape I was then."

"Then you are stronger," Rob said decisively. "Nowhere near as strong as me, but stronger than average. I should probably teach you some moves to go with it, just so we won't have to worry about you when we're not around."

Elaina prepared another snack for Dawn when she complained she was hungry ... again. This time, instead of being energized by the food, she became sleepy. They bundled her off to bed, stripping her like a child despite her protests, but she stopped her whining when Rob swiped her bare mons with his tongue. He laid her back on the bed and licked her to a gentle orgasm, and she fell asleep in Elaina's arms once the aftershocks faded.