“Wake up.”

Nina groaned as the dull banging on the door brought her to her senses. Wiping the mess of hair from her face, she rolled onto her back as her eyes squinted in reaction to the light which now filled the room.

“Wake up.”

As Svanda’s muffled voice called out from the other side of the door, Nina yawned before pushing herself out of bed. Crossing the bedroom in a manner which Reina would have described as ‘like a zombie,’ she opened the door and tried to focus on the figure that was standing on the other side of the door.

“Morning,” Svanda smiled as her gaze flicked over Nina’s loose white shirt and lack of pants. “Reina has called for a group breakfast. We’re eating in an hour.”

“Oh, OK,” Nina mumbled as she moved to close the door. “Wake me up in an hou-”

“Sorry, but we need you right away.” Sticking her arm in the door before Nina could close it, Svanda laughed. “You’re cooking it, after all.”

Nina paused as she looked at Svanda’s arm in a daze. As her mind began to work, she thought about what Svanda had said and her eyes widened when her thoughts settled. “I’m supposed to cook breakfast for everyone?”

“That’s it, miss chef.” Thoroughly enjoying the situation, Svanda gave her a wink. “Let me know what ingredients you need and I’ll go and get them while you have a shower and get ready. There’s almost nothing here right now.”

“I… I can’t cook anything though.”

“What did you usually eat for breakfast?”

“Leftover takeaway.”

“How are you not fat then?” Svanda asked as a finger shot out to poke her stomach.

“...”

“Ignore that question,” Svanda chuckled before she pat Nina on the shoulder “We can start with something easy like bacon and eggs then, right?” Seeing Nina nod after pausing, she breathed a sigh of relief. Reina had asked her to convince Nina, but she hadn’t been sure that she could do it. “Most of the stuff here is the same as up there, do you need anything else?”

“Tomato and green onion,” Nina replied after thinking for a second before turning her attention to Svanda’s arm that was still holding the door open. Seeing the unimpressed gaze that was fixed on her arm, Svanda withdrew before setting off down the hall.

“I’ll be back with it in twenty.”

Closing her door with a sigh, Nina walked back to her bed before falling face first in the middle of the blanket. Stifling a yawn, she closed her eyes while silently complaining to herself about the predicament she was currently facing. She hadn’t cooked anything in years, usually eating takeaway or oven-ready meals that didn’t involve any preparation. Cooking for a group of eight was something she had never done before.

As for her request for tomatoes and green onions, it was something that she had seen on a TV program once. As the side for the bacon, she would just have to chop everything up and throw it together while hoping that she didn’t manage to poison anyone.

Should have asked for cheese, she thought as she stripped off before jumping in the shower. Standing motionlessly there as the water washed over her face, her thoughts drifted to her short conversation with Saela from the night before. How was she supposed to handle that? She wanted to be proactive in resolving whatever issue there was, but she felt that pushing the issue might result in a bad reaction.

Pushing it to the back of her mind, she finished showering before changing into a loose blue t-shirt and a pair of baggy white pants. Opting to keep her feet bare in order to enjoy the soft carpet, she made her way up the hallway to the kitchen to be met by a very pleased-looking Reina. Wearing a casual white dress with green stripes, she waved as Nina approached.

“Maybe you won’t be smiling once breakfast has been served,” Nina grumbled as she walked into the kitchen. Like most of the interior at The Cloud Orchestra, the kitchen was mainly white. Regretting her choice of footwear as her bare feet stepped onto the large grey tiles, she tried to familiarize herself with the layout. She didn’t know if she was annoyed, nervous, or even both, but she was certainly tired.

“I’m sure it will be great!” Reina said as she sat upon the island benchtop, the black granite with streaks of white running through appearing glossy in the light. On the other side of the kitchen, against the wall, the matching benchtops featured a frosted glass splashback sitting above it with a wide steel sink. An assortment of white cupboards with steel handles sat both above and below the benchtops.

As her dangling feet bounced off a large drawer that was set in the island below her, Reina smiled. “Pots and pans are in here.”

“Thanks,” Nina replied as she waited for Reina to lift her legs before removing the largest pan she could find once she opened the drawer. Assuming that she was also going to be responsible for cleaning up, she wanted to keep what she used to a minimum. Setting the pan down on what seemed to be an induction stovetop, she then began to open the cupboards and drawers in a methodic fashion.

“What are you looking for?”

“Cutting board,” Nina mumbled as she pulled a knife from a drawer. “Oh, do we have any cheese?”

“I dunno, look in the fridge,” Reina said as she watched on with interest.

Nina opened the large stainless steel fridge to find more or less what she had been expecting. Three of the five shelves were full of an assortment of bottle and cans which she correctly assumed were alcoholic. Under that sat a few half eaten boxes of chocolate biscuits on an otherwise empty shelf, while the bottom shelf contained a wilted vegetable that would have probably been unfit for consumption as far back as last month. The door of the fridge contained a single shelf full of wine bottles, the sticker placed above them letting her know that this was ‘Reina’s Shelf’.

“Nothing?”

“No,” Nina sighed. She wasn’t surprised, but at least some sauce would have been nice. Thinking that she should have asked Svanda to buy some, her head turned as the woman in question appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Yo.” Dressed in a black tank top and olive cargo pants, Svanda dropped a paper bag of shopping on the bench next to Reina before hauling herself up onto the island. “Stuff’s here.”

Nina watched as she pat the bag which now sat between Svanda and Reina. Deciding to instead continue her search for a wooden spatula, she stopped when she heard the rustling of the bag.

“Oh, you asked for these?” Reina asked as she fished a bunch of green onions from the bag. “Are you really an amateur?”

“…” Nina decided to ignore the comment, chalking it up to Reina attempting to poke fun at her. That being said, she wasn’t sure if Reina herself could cook either judging by her question, and she certainly seemed like the type to get others to cook for her. Regardless, she resumed the search for a spatula.

“What are you looking for?” Svanda asked.

“Spatula.”

“Down to the left.”

“Thanks,” Nina smiled as she found what she needed. Now that everything was together, she took the onions from Reina’s hand along with the bag before setting it next to the cutting board. Emptying the bag one ingredient at a time, she pulled out a few tomatoes, a box of eggs, what she assumed was bacon wrapped in some white paper, and finally some stubby mushrooms.

“Thought you might want some,” Svanda said as she nodded her head in the direction of the mushrooms.

“Yeah.” Nina didn’t like mushrooms, but she could always add them to everyone else’s food. She thought that the texture wasn’t right, and she didn’t particularly like the taste either.

“No mushrooms for me,” Reina said as she looked at the assortment of ingredients next to the cutting board. “Saela doesn’t like them either.”

Nina took note of the comment as she washed the vegetables in the sink before slowly dicing the onion, tomato, and mushroom into semi-evenly sized pieces. “When are we starting?”

“In about ten minutes,” Reina said as she pointed to a black clock on the wall, Nina following her finger to see that it was twenty past eight in the morning.

Surprised that it actually wasn’t that early, she leant against the cupboards as her prep was essentially complete. “We do have salt and pepper, right?”

“Good question. We do…” Reina laughed as she looked over to Svanda. “Right?”

“In the cupboard above the extractor,” Svanda replied as she pushed herself off the benchtop. Walking over to one of the couches that sat across from the kitchen area, she sat down before putting her black boots on the coffee table. Waiting until Nina had pulled the two shakers from the cupboard and set them down, she smiled. “Show me your 022 while we wait!”

“I’d like to see it too,” Reina said after she saw a trace of hesitation cross Nina’s face. She knew that while Nina could reject Svanda’s request, rejecting her own was difficult.

“Alright,” Nina nodded before heading to her room, reappearing a moment later not only carrying the T&TERM case, but also wearing a pair of white socks. Sitting down next to Svanda, Nina shuffled a little when Reina also came to join them, opting to sit on the other side of Nina instead of sitting on one of the other two empty couches.

“Nice,” Svanda exclaimed as Nina popped the case open. She wanted to reach for it, but instead waited for Reina to pick it up first. She was the one who had ended up footing the rather massive bill for it after all.

“It suits you,” Reina said as she took the pistol from the case. After stroking the etching down the side in the same manner that Nina had done, she raised it to examine the sight. Seemingly satisfied, she swung it lightly up and down as though she was gauging the weight before nodding. “Very nice,” she said as she passed it over Svanda.

“Can I shoot it?” She asked with a grin as she examined the more intricate parts of the weapon. After seeing Reina’s unimpressed expression, she shrugged. “What? Just let me shoot at one of the walls downstairs or something.”

“You are not firing anything in the office,” Reina said as she took the pistol from Svanda’s hand. Nina, who was sitting in between the pair, leaned back to avoid the confrontation as she watched Reina place the weapon back inside the case before shutting it. “Take Nina to the range later today and make sure she gets a few shots in.”

“If you say so,” Svanda replied as she stood up. She tried to feign reluctance, but neither Nina nor Reina were buying it. “Anyway, isn’t it about time to start cooking?”

“I think it is,” Reina smiled as she pushed herself off the couch. Walking to the head of the dining table that sat on the other side, she sat down. “Svanda, wake everyone up. It’s time for Nina to get some practice in.”