Morgan sighed. Actually she would prefer a real dish, but with her new friend... To contribute to the atmosphere she took a spoon, too and started eating her can. "I don't mind whether it's warm or not. Know what? It might sound silly, but I imagine it would be nice having us sitting around a campfire like this.", she giggled.

Echo stared off into the distance for a second, imagining him, the Boss, Morgan, and maybe the other nice dragon-lady the Boss was talking to, all gathered around a campfire. His eyes refocused on Morgan, and he cracked a smile. "Yeah, that would be great. Y'know, Boss was planning on taking me hunting for my birthday. He's gonna show me his true form so we can hunt together. Maybe once we're done with that, we can have a campfire. Would you like to come?"

"Ah, but you do look good enough to eat..." Echo began, then stopped, blushing. Did that really come out of his mouth? And how would he have a relationship if he didn't have a body to call his own? He shook himself out of that train of thought, then continued, "I don't know. Boss said we'd shift on campus, then take off for somewhere."

Ceraba raised a brow as she grabbed a clear, glass bowl. "You cook?" She asked, carefully measuring the flour and than dumping it into the bowl.

"A little bit," Kaidus told her. "Used to be all I could make was glorified ramen with beanless chili thrown in. Echo's definitely picked up on the beanless chili cravings. So, what exactly are we making?"

Echo's smile froze, his eyes giving away that his smile was fake. He couldn't believe it... Was she just being nice because he was new? Maybe all she was looking for was a friend. At this rate, though, Echo would never find a mate, of any species or gender. At that thought, he could no longer hold even the fake smile, and looked down at the ground.

(Feel so bad for Echo.)

"Ramen with beanless chili?" She paused for a moment and finally looked up at him, all traces of previous shyness gone. "That's odd." She commented and continued on mixing in the other ingredients into the bowl. "Oh, not much. Probably just some bread. There's an array of balsamic vinaigrette in the pantry that I'd like to try." Ceraba looked at the bottle of olive oil, a thoughtful look on her face. "And maybe pasta too, if we have time."

(hey! it is NOT faked! I'm nice to everyone! And if you want me that badly you could fight with Matthew for me! I wouldn't mind that xD - I opened a dating agency, but I guess it's rather... empty so dunno if you have any chance in finding someone there)

Morgan noticed that Echo was feeling uncomfortable, but she didn't know why. Did she say anything wrong? Maybe... he was offended that she had a boyfriend? "What's the matter Echo?", she asked worriedly. "Did I... did I do anything wrong?"

Landyvin walked into the Kitchen, feeling hungry "Anyone here? He called out.

(That's just the angst talking. You, I, and Morgan know that, but Echo doesn't.)

Kaidus smiled when she looked back up at him. He nodded when she mentioned the balsamic vinaigrette. He turned to the cabinet, saying, "I'll go ahead and grab that." While he was looking for the vinaigrette, he allowed himself a puzzled look. Why was he feeling so strange? Not to say it was a bad feeling. Just unknown. He ran through his known emotions. When that failed, he compared his situation to others he had seen before. That's when it hit him.

Am I seriously having a crush right now, at my age? he thought to himself. Shrugging, he grabbed the vinaigrette and brought it back to the counter.

Echo sighed. "It's, um, it's not your fault. Just my stupid problems. Nothing you need to worry about. I'll live." He looked back up with a weak smile, but as soon as his eyes made contact with hers, he dropped his gaze again. He whirled around, quickly changing forms to a bat, and took off through the halls.

Morgan still worried about Echo, but as she couldn't fly after him there was nothing she could do. Then she noticed - "Oh! Matthew! Where have you been?", she asked while hugging her boyfriend.

The Teen had effectually shifted away from the group despite remaining standing exactly where he had been, as he was using one of the burners and cooking at that station. He moved aside for a moment, happily working and glad to have been forgotten by the clearly hectic group to his left.

Now that Echo was gone Morgan could finally make his chocolate. She went from one closet to another to search for the ingredients and when she got everything on a table she took out one of her notice books to look for the recipe. Which one would he like? Actually it seemed as if he liked any of the random chocolates she gave him recently...

"Seems like you make freinds wherever you go...." The boy said, though he was still facing his counter, and then bent down and put his trays into the oven. "Like everyone likes you." he chuckled, turning around slightly.

Kaidus excused himself from Ceraba's side and walked over to Morgan. "Echo is a big fan of dark chocolate. He doesn't like it to be overly sweet." He paused, looking thoughtful, then continued, "You'll have to forgive him. He's actually very depressed at the fact that he doesn't have a true body and is forced to copy other forms. He's also... very lonely, and he's looking for a mate. I assume he had that in mind when he spoke to you. Unfortunately, he doubts that he'll ever get one. He's also afraid to fight for a mate. He doesn't want to be disruptive." He paused again. "He's not adverse to an open relationship, but it's kind of obvious that you are. He's probably working out his frustration at the dojo."

He turned to walk back to Ceraba. "Just something to think about," he called over his shoulder as he began walking.

Morgan hadn't noticed the other person as she was too occupied with her work. She looked up when someone talked to her. Who was it again? Was it the boy from the library? "Uhm, yes. Seems so... Not that I do anything intentionally. It's just - I like being around others and I try to be kind to everybody."

Kaidus shrugged. He had spoken his piece and did not desire to interfere with his familiar's life any more than that.

He nodded, "See? That person you apparently just met seems majorly disappointed he can't 'get to know you better'..." he shook his head, "or so it seems." he shrugged, "You must have a very magnetic personality...' he mused.

Ceraba kneaded the dough a little before pulling a damp piece of paper towel over top and letting it sit for a while. She turned around and washed her flour-covered hands under the tap before shifting her attention to the vinaigrette. Leaning her elbows on the counter, she picked up one bottle and read it carefully, swishing it around to test it's quality. Ceraba allowed herself to look over at Kaidus, under her lashes, when he had went to chat with the people from the library.

She found herself flushing and quickly looked away when he turned around to walk back. She put down the bottle she was holding and picked up another one, forcing her attentions on the labels.

(so many posts! aww... I've got to hurry)

So that was why Echo seemed to be disappointed... Morgan was sad she couldn't help him. Then she wondered about her feelings. She liked Echo, she liked Matthew, she liked anybody! Was it really love? While her thoughts went from one direction to another her hands continued to make thr pralines - with dark chocolate - and she kept on talking with the other guy. "Well, I've been around many places so I'm quite open to anything... Uhm 'magnetic' - I suddenly have the image of a black hole sucking in everything next to it..."

Landyvin backed away from this girl that just hugged him "I'm not Matthew"

"You don't seem pleased..." he said slowly. He suddenly sighed, and spoke through the sigh, "Well, you'll always have people around you that way. For what it's worth." he turned, "You're probably used to people being around and the confusion they bring. Like that's a state of existance, the way things always are - confused because of others." he went on, "But... then again..."

Kaidus paused for a moment when he heard the voice of the teen talking to Morgan. Something tweaked at his perception when he heard that voice. Clearly, that boy was not what he seemed. Kaidus decided to look into that at a later date as he reached Ceraba's side. He took in the sight of her as he searched for something to say.

He finally decided on saying, "Well, if we divide our efforts, we should be able to make both the bread and the pasta. What kind of pasta would you like? Personally, I'm a fan of penne pasta." He turned to a cabinet and grabbed a pot, filled it with water, and set it on an oven to boil. He stood there, seemingly watching the water, but secretly glancing over at Ceraba. He had to admit, her human form was quite attractive. He briefly Fade Stepped, just to see if he could see her dragon form. He was not disappointed.

Wow, she is beautiful. Gods above, I think I'm in love.

"Penne's good." Ceraba agreed, putting down the bottle and turning around just in time to see Kaidus disappear. She raised a brow but said nothing as she went about looking for the stuff. She brought out a pre-made pack of said noodles and frowned slightly. Yes, no?

Kaidus reappeared with a blazing blush on his face. He looked at the box of noodles in Ceraba's hand, then said, "Yeah, those'll do. Thank you, m'dear." The blush dialed up quite a few notches as he realized what he had just said. He grabbed the box, his hands brushing against hers. She was quite warm.

He cleared his throat and gently pulled the box from her hands, then poured the noodles in the pot, followed by a good dose of olive oil. As he did so, he wondered, Did I just fuck that up completely?

"Oh! I'm sorry! Really... Uhm... I didn't notice... I'm really really sorry! Eh... I hope you don't mind...", she mumbled flushing. "My name is Morgan Ravensburg. I mistook you for my boyfriend, so... Uhm - want some chocolate?", she offered one of the boxes from her bag.

Landyvin looked at the 2 that where making pasta and walked up to the male "You like her, don't you? he whispered into his ear.

Landyvin looked over at Morgan "And what would your boyfriends name be?

Her eyes were on his face as he worked, one eyebrow was raised. She failed to hear what the other man, who had simply walked up said. She also decided that since Kaidus spoke in such a formal matter that 'm'dear' was nothing more than a formal dressing.

"What's up?" She asked, "You're face is all red. Do you have a fever?" Automatically, she reached up and pressed a hand on his forehead, than just below his jaw. "Though, I've never met a dragon who has fevers." She added with a puzzled frown.

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