With the advent of the discovery of his ability to influence the thoughts and actions of the humans around him, Kai's world changed.
No longer did he need to wait for those around him to become agitated… he could instigate their emotional turmoil himself!! Not to mention Kyle's annoying friends may finally have some use! They wouldn't mind being test subjects to his latest ability if he told them not to, he was sure.
But first, Kai had something more important to worry about. It seemed that all of his exploring had made him a bit peckish. His hunger was not yet all consuming, but a future meal would be worth looking into.
Stealing control of Kyle's eyes for a second, he glanced around the classroom. Bored expressions abounded. Somehow, the eyes of the students appeared more vacant than those of his victims!
With his preferred strategy proving unsuccessful, Kai supposed he would have to brave the cold winds of the in-between.
Taking an imaginary deep breath, he steeled his nerves and left the cloudy comfort of Kyle's mind.
As always, the chill was uncomfortable, but he did wonder if he was getting more accustomed to it. Centering himself did seem easier this time.
Kai hovered above the class, attempting to peer into the minds of those around him. Slowly, he felt the inner turmoil of each student come into focus. Unfortunately, boredom and annoyance were not particularly appetizing. Perhaps a history class taught by a fanatically insane man was not the best place to search for an appetizer.
'Wait- the teacher actually seems to be pretty invested in this whole thing.'
Kai attempted to dive inside his mind, only to slam hard into a shiny metallic wall.
The teacher was wearing a layer of aluminum foil underneath his beanie!
Unwilling to pursue that route further, Kai began to travel back towards Kyle before coming to a stop above his head. The inside of Kyle's mind was quite dull and boring compared to all of the discoveries he was making while exploring the in-between. He wasn't all that eager to return to the empty expanse of clouds just yet.
Kai floated above the class once again, attempting to peer further into each of their minds. As the minutes passed by, he felt himself acclimating to the chill of the emptiness of his plane of existence.
Despite his approval of no longer traveling around as a shivering mess, honing his ability to observe those around him was even more beneficial than adapting to the cold. It was as if his focus could pierce the veil surrounding the minds of the students.
While studying the teenagers, he noticed something quite peculiar. Kyle's mind was missing nearly a third of its mass, the protective outer veil of water nearly completely gone.
'Am I eating away at their minds? How grotesquely amusing.'
After a few more minutes of Kai's continued curiosity, the bell rang.
He re-entered Kyle's mind, which felt much warmer than it had before. Kai was adjusting to his new environment even if he himself did not know it.
Suddenly quite tired, Kai was content to observe the strange human interactions for the next long while.
~~~~
Kyle was excited for lunch. Even if the cafeteria didn't serve chicken pot pie, pizza was close enough… for now. However, if there was one thing Kyle knew, it was that he needed a good chicken pot pie sometime in his near future.
After paying for his lonely slice of pepperoni pizza, (because the school rules were lame and wouldn't let him buy three,) Kyle headed over to his usual seat at the football table. As was typical, flirting was running rampant as the teenagers were overcome by their hormones. What was less typical was his ex sitting in his spot.
Upon reaching his seat, he looked at Becca and asked "Hey, could you scooch over so I could fit, please?"
Kyle was not expecting her to be nearly as offended as she was by his request. Actually, he didn't expect her to be offended at all. Her jaw had dropped, and her eyes were wide open.
In an attempt to appease the remarkable angry female, Kyle turned around and headed out to his car.
He was a little sad to miss lunch with his friends, but he didn't particularly care as much as he used to.
~~~~
Kai remained in the cafeteria, still fascinated by human mating rituals. He was most interested in Becca, as her mind had been going through some noteworthy changes.
Upon Kyle's request, the protective barrier around her mind had turned volatile, unstable, and some of the mass of her inner mind had relocated itself to fill in the gaps.
Tentatively reaching out a finger, Kai poked the mist that was now pouring out of Becca's mind.
Nothing happened.
Or more accurately, literally nothing seemed to happen as the world temporarily froze.
As he sat there, Kai realized he was very capable of consuming this mist, filling his seemingly endless belly. However, he realized he was also capable of something else.
Honing his mind until his focus was as sharp as a knife, he sent some of his own energy into Becca.
Her face flushed as her heart rate increased.
Kai withdrew his influence and chuckled as Becca began to shout.
"That BASTARD! He didn't even KNOW how lucky he was to have me…."
Amused by her trembling fists, Kai was ready to rest with Kyle once more. And once he was done resting, perhaps he and Kyle could… play.