her hair had gotten. It was now a thick, glowing mass that hung halfway down her back. Knowing she'd have to figure out later how to deal with it, she went to her clothing area and pulled out a caftan. While it was loose and free-flowing, it completely covered her from ankle to shoulder, showing only a hint of cleavage. Her mother had given it to her, and it was something she enjoyed wearing when she could just be herself.
Pulling the towel from her head, she ran her fingers through her still slightly damp hair. She hadn't given the towel enough time to completely dry it, but she wanted to get this over.
Entering her living area, she raised a glowing eyebrow at Xanto. It seemed he'd made himself right at home, rearranging the furniture, so the couches were now separated only by a low table filled with covered plates.
"I knew you'd need to eat after being in the tank for so long. I ordered some of everything."
She wanted to be upset with him; after all, these were her quarters, but Cali knew he was right and sat down. "Thank you, Xanto."
"You're welcome. Also, you need to contact Mae," he told her, sitting down across from her. "She's been beside herself because you haven't been answering your link."
"Ruk!" she swore. "I never even gave that a thought. I haven't been out of contact with her for this long. Well, except when I went to Vavis Prime to sign The Brink's ownership papers."
"I already informed her that the reason you hadn't answered was that you were resting and had silenced your link."
Cali looked at her timekeeper. She'd disturb Mae's rest if she linked her now. "I'll contact her once she wakes, although I don't know how I'm going to explain my new look."
"May I make a suggestion?" he asked, removing the covers from the plates.
"Of course," Cali said as she picked up her utensils, humming her enjoyment as the thick, flavorful stew hit her tongue. It was as if every taste bud in her mouth had become super-charged, letting her experience every individual nuance in the stew.
"Mae believes you to be an Earthan. Tell her you've come down with an Earthan illness, that while not life-ending or contagious, you didn't want to take any chances with her so close to delivering her offspring and will remain in your quarters until completely recovered."
Cali thought about that as she finished her stew. It was plausible and would calm Mae's concerns. Unfortunately, Cali was going to need more than the few days having a cold gave her before she could show her face in The Brink. "That'll work for the short term, but I'm still going to need a way to conceal all this extra energy."
"Morph for a few days," Xanto said as he finished his stew.
"What?" Cali asked, frowning at him.
"Morph," he repeated, then seeing her confusion questioned. "You do know that the form Triz maintained while he was here wasn't his true one?"
"Of course, I do. I know what my brother looks like."
"Then what aren't you understanding?"
"How morphing will help deplete my excess energy!"
"You've never morphed before?" Xanto found that hard to believe.
"Of course, I have."
"But you never maintained it during one of your 'life spans'?"
"No, I don't need to. Triz morphs to hide his natural features because they are strongly Zagreus, and he prefers to appear to be a being with a shorter life span. I don't have that problem."
"So, you're not familiar with the amount of energy required to maintain a different form."
Cali gave him a confused look. "You're saying the reason Triz spent so much time in his tank was to maintain his form?"
"Yes." Xanto gave her a considering look. "Why did you think he did it?"
"He said it was so he could satisfy a female multiple times."
Xanto coughed into his hand to cover his surprise. He knew Triz was nearly twice Cali's age, but still to discuss something like that with his sestra. The Paramount would take Triz to task if he knew.
"While that is a side benefit, the real reason Triz did so was that it gave him access to the volume of energy he needed to maintain his morph for several days at a time. Less-gifted Zagreus aren't able to store that much energy and are quickly drained, leaving them defenseless. As you were after healing the Commanders."
Cali ignored his last comment. "So, you're saying if I morph into a huge and complex being, it will drain