Khan found Jenna staring at him when he opened his eyes. The room was dark, and a glance at the wall told him that the dawn had yet to arrive. He had slept a lot, but the faint worry in Jenna's expression made him disregard that thought.
"[What is it]?" Khan asked while caressing Jenna's cheek.
Jenna closed her eyes as she immersed herself in the caress. She snuggled in Khan's palm, but she eventually took his hand to hold it firmly on her face.
"[What is it]?" Khan repeated.
"[You have seen your monsters]," Jenna whispered as she opened her eyes and reached for Khan's scar with her free hand. "[How often does that happen]?"
"[Every time I fall asleep]," Khan admitted without even considering lying.
"[I see]," Jenna sighed as she traced the scar's edges with her fingers. "[Maybe that's why you prefer Martha. It reminds you of what you can no longer be]."
Jenna pushed on Khan's chest and kept him down as she changed her position. The sheets slid away as Jenna climbed on Khan to sit on his abdomen. She completely exposed herself, and the faint darkness of the room didn't hinder Khan's vision.
That position would normally push Khan to his mental limits. Jenna's most intimate spot was pressing on his skin, and he could experience part of its captivating warmth. Still, the serious topic allowed him to divert his attention from that tempting sensation.
"[Maybe]," Khan uttered as he reviewed his past relationships. He had tried his best every time, but there was a lot of selflessness in his actions. He couldn't confirm that his intentions had always been pure.
"[I thought my curse was awful]," Jenna stated as she let go of Khan's hand to reach his face with both palms, "[But yours is worse. I'm sorry for not noticing this until now]."
"[It's fine]," Khan revealed a reassuring but sad smile. "[I've gotten used to it. It's part of me now]."
"[Your dark parts]," Jenna whispered as she lowered her head without getting too close to Khan's face, "[They were forced on you. No, you developed them to cope with your curse]."
"[Maybe I've always been twisted]," Khan wondered. "[I don't care anymore. I can't find answers anyway. I only know that I can't stop]."
"[I can see it now]," Jenna whispered again.
Khan still had one hand on Jenna's face, and the other had instinctively gone on her waist. Jenna didn't get too close, but her long hair created a soft curtain that filled Khan's vision.
The room seemed to disappear. Jenna's green hair prevented Khan from looking elsewhere and almost forced him to stare at her beautiful purple eyes. They were so deep that Khan felt naked under their firm inspection. His whole mind was for Jenna to study.
"[I want to comfort you]," Jenna eventually stated.
"[You are already doing that]," Khan reassured.
"[I want to do more]," Jenna said as her thumbs caressed Khan's cheeks.
"[No]," Khan firmly refused.
"[I wouldn't mind it]," Jenna continued. "[I think I would even like it]."
"[Jenna]," Khan called before heaving a sigh. "[Don't throw away your values]."
"[I'm not throwing them away]," Jenna responded. "[Lesser men and women had their way with my ancestors. My customs are a result of that abuse, not an unbreakable law. I'm sure Caja would also understand]."
Khan saw the same selflessness that had afflicted his actions in Jenna's expression. Still, her face carried much more than that. Her arousal was impossible to miss, and Khan obviously shared that feeling.
Khan held Jenna's waist firmly as he straightened his back to sit on the bed. Jenna ended up on his lap, and a suppressed moan left her mouth when her most intimate spot touched his groin.
Jenna seemed to lose herself. Her palms grew warmer, and her mouth opened as she brought it closer to Khan's face. Yet, he put strength on the hand on her cheek to stop her when she was about to kiss him.
Khan moved his thumb over Jenna's lips. At first, she let him experience their softness, but she soon closed them to leave a kiss on his finger. The gesture almost made Khan lose control of his actions, but an intense emotion allowed him to remain lucid.
"[Do you remember what you told me the first time I almost kissed you]?" Khan asked while using the affection he felt for Jenna to suppress his urges.
"[Will your feelings be okay afterward]?" Jenna recalled.
Khan let go of Jenna's face to wrap both arms around her waist. He pulled her closer to put some distance between their crotches and make their foreheads touch.
"[I wouldn't hesitate to take you now if I knew I could keep you happy for my entire life and more]," Khan declared. "[Yet, you said it yourself. I've already found my one]."
Jenna's eyes widened in surprise. Khan had always found it hard to talk about that topic, but he had openly admitted it now. That revelation allowed her to snap out of her strange trance and calm down.
"[Oh, Khan]," Jenna called as she wrapped her arms around Khan's neck to rest her head on his shoulder. "[I'm so happy we met]."
Jenna seemed to have every intention to suffocate Khan, but he saw nothing more than honest affection in her tight hug. He couldn't refrain from diving into her neck to get a better taste of that emotion, and the two silently decided to remain in that position for a few minutes.
Khan understood that Jenna had gone back to her usual self when she started leaving deep kisses on his shoulder. He voiced a faint laugh as he lay back on the bed and seeped a hand into her hair. That wasn't enough to stop Jenna, but it made her giggle softly.
"[Enough, enough]," Khan half-joked. "[I will really take you if you keep this up]."
Jenna finally stopped kissing Khan's shoulder but only to approach his ear and whisper something far more tempting. "[You can use me however you please]."
Khan's head instinctively turned to glance at Jenna's smiling face. She had been serious. Her previous mood had not been something temporary. Jenna had decided that Khan could use her if that could bring him some peace.
"[You will make me go crazy]," Khan cursed as he dived into Jenna's chest and closed his eyes.
"[That sounds exciting]," Jenna laughed as she hugged Khan's head and played with his hair. "[Don't worry. I'll lower the bar for your future woman so you can vent sooner]."
"[I don't need to vent]," Khan complained.
"[It was about to explode before]," Jenna whispered as her knee went dangerously close to Khan's groin.
"[You are getting lewder with each passing day]," Khan stated while leaving Jenna's chest to face her. "[I don't want a woman only to vent. I'm not like that]."
"[I know]," Jenna reassured. "[You would have already taken me otherwise]."
"[Exactly]," Khan agreed.
"[Sadly, I don't know many women outside my species]," Jenna revealed before pushing Khan down and turning to lay the back of her head on his chest. "[I want to know Monica better. I'll give my approval if I like her]."
"[Why would I even need you to get a girlfriend]?" Khan laughed as he pinched Jenna's cheek.
"[Because you can't refuse my whims]," Jenna claimed.
"[You are impossible]," Khan cursed as he covered Jenna's eyes with his hand and made her explode into a cute giggle.
"[Well, what now]?" Jenna asked as she seized Khan's arm.
"[I don't know]," Khan admitted. "[Moving too much isn't ideal due to the spies. It's also impossible to remain unnoticed with you around. I guess we can only wait for Luke to open a path to the dock]."
"[What do you want to do in the meantime]?" Jenna asked.
"[Except retaining my mental sanity]?" Khan joked. "[Training sounds nice]."
"[Right, let me show you the trick for the hair again]," Jenna exclaimed. "[I should be able to teach you a few things since we are among synthetic mana now]."
The two proceeded to do just that. The synthetic mana in the room allowed Khan to achieve some results in the Nele's arts. He learnt the trick for lowering the hair, but he also focused on the fundamentals behind establishing conversations with the mana.
Jenna never let Khan alone. She guided him through every exercise and performed examples whenever he failed to grasp the theory behind the technique.
The room wasn't the lake, and the synthetic mana was far easier to affect, but Khan managed to develop the correct habits thanks to Jenna. He still had a long way to go, but he was slowly getting there.
Breakfast time went by quickly. Khan and Jenna didn't even realize they had skipped it as they remained immersed in their training. Khan even interrupted the Nele's exercises to perform his usual schedule, and Jenna either watched him or meditated in the meantime.
Khan learnt how the Nele increased their attunement with mana during that training. Those aliens were born with mana, so they used a type of trance that forced their specific organs to expand and improve.
Jenna actually let Khan feel how she moved the mana inside her body to improve her organ. She didn't know if humans could use the same methods, but a few tests revealed that Khan couldn't benefit from it.
Khan didn't know if that went for all humans, but he had no interest in researching the matter any further.
Jenna had the chance to get a general idea of Khan's knowledge while she watched him go through his various exercises. The two didn't hold back from discussing them afterward in the hope of finding something that the Nele could use.
It turned out that the Niqols had many theories that the Nele could study to develop better exercises. Khan had already shown something about the control field, but, according to Jenna, the manipulation also had potential.
The theory was simple. The Nele had to talk with the mana around them, but they still needed to use their energy to send messages. Changing the nature of their mana according to the environment could improve part of the conversation.
Of course, Jenna alone couldn't come up with proper answers. She was one of the most talented members of her species, but she remained young, with limited knowledge. Caja or other leaders had to go through Khan's techniques to decide if they could help them.
Lunchtime also arrived and went by, but Khan and Jenna recalled asking for food at that time. Waiters left carts with impeccable plates that the two enjoyed in the privacy of their room.
Luke didn't remain completely silent. He never suggested meetings or similar events, but he sent reports to Khan's phone as the other team members went on with the investigation.
Those reports mostly involved mere patrols, or questions asked to known criminal figures, and they all led nowhere. Khan's view of Milia 222 grew slightly clearer, but that was it.
The training, the review of the various reports, and the playful interactions with Jenna kept Khan busy most of the time. He couldn't care about the world outside the room when he had so much to do, but a few worries inevitably appeared in his mind.
Those worries obviously involved Martha. Khan knew that she was relatively safe and that she could use her mana correctly. However, he didn't like how he had left things with her. They didn't even talk at all after the events with the soldier.
'What should I even do with her?' Khan found himself thinking during the afternoon while resting on Jenna's lap.
Jenna was still deciding whether to fall asleep or not while she played with Khan's hair. Her free hand stood in front of her as she used the synthetic mana to create small structures on her fingers that could keep Khan entertained.
Initially, Jenna limited herself to flowers, humanoid figures, or trees with multicolored air to highlight details. Yet, as Khan lost himself in worries, she started to create explicit images that forced him to pinch her leg.
"[You always stop me at the best part]," Jenna complained.
"[I was thinking about serious stuff for once]," Khan replied.
"[Was it about Monica]?" Jenna announced as her eyes lit up.
"[What Monica]?" Khan grunted. "[I was thinking about Martha. I need to talk to her to explain the situation]."
"[What situation]?" Jenna whispered as she lowered her head to get closer to Khan's face. "[Do you need to explain to her how we spend entire days naked on each other]?"
"[Something like that]," Khan sighed while grabbing Jenna's nose and gently squeezing it.
"[Doesn't she know you enough to understand what's going on]?" Jenna asked after Khan let her go.
"[She is very human]," Khan explained. "[She would misunderstand this as long as I don't explain it]."
"[Did you ever consider that she might be unable to understand this]?" Jenna wondered. "[You are atypical. You can't expect every human to see the world through your eyes]."
"[I need to try]," Khan stated, "[At least with her. She is important to me]."
"[Sure]," Jenna exclaimed. "[I'll avoid teasing her]."
"[Who told you that you could come]?" Khan sneered.
"[I want to know the people important to you]," Jenna revealed. "[They must have something special since they managed to get close to you. Besides, how would I learn about Monica if I remain in this room]?"
"[What is it with you and wanting to find me a girlfriend]?" Khan asked.
"[I'll probably get harder to bear as we grow closer]," Jenna admitted. "[I want to do something for you]."
"[Jenna]," Khan sighed as he straightened his position to sit on the bed and face Jenna, "[I've just come out of a relationship. I don't want to jump into another one only to avoid using you. It wouldn't be fair on many levels]."
"[Oh]!" Jenna gasped as her face lit up with curiosity. "[How was she? Was she lewd like me]?"
"[No]," Khan firmly stated as he lay down again. "[She probably was the best woman on Earth]."
"[Is it a good thing to be prudish]?" Jenna wondered.
"[I wasn't talking about that]," Khan laughed as he reviewed his time with Cora. "[She was good, really good. She loved me deeply]."
"[But you didn't]," Jenna commented as she put an arm around Khan's head to hug him.
"[I think part of me did]," Khan revealed, "[The part of me that she could see]."
"[Khan]," Jenna called in her serious tone, "[Don't get the wrong idea. When I talk about finding you a partner, I mean someone who can make all of you happy, not only part of you. Also, yes, she needs to be naughty, at least a bit]."
"[Isn't that a description of the one]?" Khan asked.
"[Humans work differently]," Jenna sighed. "[I've seen enough of you to know that you did your best with your one. Maybe you'll meet her again. Maybe you won't. I only want to make sure that your curse doesn't eat you up in the meantime]."
"[So, I should use someone to feel better]?" Khan wondered without hiding his disdain for that plan. He had already tried something similar. It had only hurt him.
"[Do you think I'll propose something similar]?" Jenna almost scolded. "[Your species can enjoy certain freedom. I want to redirect yours in the right direction]."
Jenna's words reassured Khan and allowed him to crack a joke. "[I'm sure most of those potential partners wouldn't like us to spend so long together, especially with no clothes involved]."
"[They won't end in the list then]," Jenna scoffed.
"[Would you like me to do this with someone else]?" Khan teased.
Jenna rolled her eyes without answering. She limited herself to tightening her hug, which made Khan explode into a laugh.
"[I don't like this idea anymore]," Jenna complained. "[Are you sure you don't want me]?"
Khan continued to laugh, but his phone suddenly rang and forced him to drag Jenna for a bit so that he could reach the wall. The two ended up showing different faces when the contents of the message expanded on the metal surface.
"[Are you sure that your species can't alter the future]?" Khan asked as he skimmed through the short lines on the wall.
"[That's perfect, isn't it]?" Jenna questioned.
"[I want to remind you that my priority is keeping you safe]," Khan declared.
"[Do you think she'll try to hurt me]?" Jenna asked.
"[No]," Khan stated. "[I don't want you to face risks]."
"[Khan]," Jenna called as she made their faces draw closer, "[I live among five other species that can't resist the natural scent of my skin. Every day is dangerous for me]."
"[I still don't like it]," Khan uttered.
"[It will improve your position among humans to be with me during this event]," Jenna teased.
"[Don't try to make this about me when you have far different plans]," Khan scolded.
"[I can make this about anything I want]," Jenna replied. "[You have already given in anyway]."
"[You are impossible]," Khan cursed as he reviewed the message again.
Monica had sent a formal invitation to dinner in one of Milia 222's exclusive restaurants. She had also mentioned in her message that Martha would join her.
