Pasta at First Sight

The narrator, who seemed to be stalking the group, said, "Two days later..."

Eri and Lina had been awake for the last hour or so and were playing "I spy" as they looked out the window.

Eri interrupted the flow of the game, "Hey, don't you think downtown is a little too wrecked?"

"What do you mean?" Lina asked.

"Well, some of the damage seems too much for it to be just gorillas. With some of these buildings, the roof seems badly damaged," Eri said.

"Don't you remember? A hurricane was about to hit South Carolina. But then we left before it actually happened," Lina said.

"Oh... now that you mention it, I remember hearing about it on the news," Eri said.

"I guess so much has happened that we hardly had any time to think about South Carolina," Lina said.

"It's sad we haven't had the time to even think about our homes," Eri said.

After the last comment, the girls fell quiet and went back to looking out the window. They gazed silently at the tattered buildings of what used to be a bustling city.

Meanwhile, in another room, Winter was talking in his sleep.

Qibli was rolling around in his sleep. He was no longer in his original sleeping spot.

Winter rolled over on something hard, "Ow!" He sat up and saw he had rolled onto a splintered part of the floorboard.

Ocotillo hadn't fallen asleep on the bed. She had been reading in the corner when she had fallen asleep.

Qibli rolled onto Winter.

"Ow! Again?! Why world?! Why?!" Winter complained and shoved Qibli off of him.

Despite Winter's yelling, Qibli was still asleep, and he was on the roll again.

"Yay..." Winter said, and he fell back asleep.

Qibli's next victim was Ocotillo. He rolled right onto her.

"ACK!" Ocotillo cried out, and shoved Qibli off.

"Ow..." Qibli groaned as he finally woke up.

Ocotillo was still half asleep, "So awkward... this morning's already weird."

Turtle was sleeping like a log.

"I wonder if we could roll him around without waking him," Ocotillo said.

"Why though?" Qibli asked.

"He really resembles a log right now," Ocotillo answered.

"Okay..." Qibli said.

"Yeah," Ocotillo said.

"Soooooo... " Qibli said.

"How are you?" Ocotillo asked.

"Good, I guess. You?" Qibli asked.

"I don't know," Ocotillo said. Then she started talking at a rapid speed, "Just trying to make conversation with the person I won't ask out because this an apocalypse. You only like me as a friend so it would be awkward. It would not work out. Please don't try to understand what I'm saying, because I don't know what I'm saying!"

She slowed down and nervously said, "YOU HEARD NOTHING!" She then calmly opened her book, and she started reading it.

"Uh, you do realize I understood what you said," Qibli said.

Ocotillo ignored him and continued reading.

"You know, if you wanted, we could," Qibli offered.

Ocotillo lowered her book and stared, "What? But that would be weird for you. I would, but not if you didn't like me that way! Also, have you read these books? They're really good!"

Qibli ignored her book comment, "Weird for me how?"

"As far as I know, you have never liked me that way. Therefore, it would be weird for you to date someone you don't like," Ocotillo said, and she raised her book again.

"Well, young creatures are experimental ones," Qibli said, "Since you admitted your love to me more than once, and I don't want to break your heart, why not at least try dating out?"

"Fine, but if you don't like it then you can stop," Ocotillo said.

"Then it's settled," Qibli said, "Maybe we can go out to that Joe Pasta place for lunch."

"MEH!" Winter jerked up as soon as he woke up.

"Morning sleepyhead," Qibli said.

"Don't call me that," Winter scowled.

"But your hair is messed up," Qibli said.

"I don't care," Winter said, but he still tried to comb through his hair anyway.

"Later on..." The narrator said loudly, but nobody noticed him.

"What?! You and Ocotillo are dating?!" Eri gasped, "Ocotillo must move to our room immediately!"

"What exactly do you expect us to do?" Ocotillo asked.

"Kiss in the night, be lovey dovey, and annoy me, the neighbor next door," Eri said.

Lina started laughing when Eri listed what she expected them to do.

Ocotillo blushed, "We would not 'kiss in the night,' but if it makes you feel better, I will move."

"Good," Eri nodded, "By the way, should we all go to Joe Pasta? Unless you don't want a million third wheels on your date."

"It's fine," Ocotillo said, "I don't mind."

"Yay! Pasta!" Lina said.

At noon, the narrator followed the group as they walked to Joe Pasta. He said to nobody in particular, "At noon..."

"Wait, what's this place called again?" Newt asked.

"Joe Pasta," Eri answered.

"That name is weird," Minho said.

"This is America. Of course it is weird," Eri said.

"Haha! So true," Lina said.

When they got to Joe Pasta, Eri said, "Hey, there's not really any ready food here, so let's make our own pasta!"

"Ooh! That sounds great! I love cooking!" Lina said.

The kitchen was not an entirely separate room from where customers would sit. It was attached to the space behind the bar, and the two girls immediately went into the kitchen.

Eri opened up a cabinet, "There's still some bags of flour. So, I guess we're making these noodles from scratch."

"I have never made noodles from scratch before. This should be fun," Lina said.

"Hmm... how do they do this...?" Eri wondered.

"I think we'll need eggs for making the dough," Lina said.

"You got any eggs?" Eri asked.

"No, and frankly I don't think I have enough energy to conjure up some. After all, I used most of it to teleport thirty-something people plus a huge metal dragon two days ago," Lina said.

"Good thing I'm rested up!" Eri said. She used her magical author powers to conjure up a few eggs in each of her hands.

"Yes!" Lina said, "Can you try to find a recipe for noodles? I'll ask if anybody wants to come and help."

"Got it!" Eri said and looked around for a recipe book.

Lina yelled so everyone could hear, "ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO MAKE NOODLES CAN HELP!"

"I do!" Cassie volunteered, and she went to the kitchen.

"Hey! I found a recipe!" Eri said, holding up a slip of paper.

"Great," Lina grinned, "Now, let's get cooking!"