“Hey, Rowan?” Ikara said.

“Hmm?” He glanced back.

She walked behind him, kicking her feet, hands clasped behind her. At his glance, she looked up, ponytails bouncing. “Should we cook tonight? Something more than eggs or soup, I mean.”

“Oh, right!” Rowan said, remembering. We said we were going to cook, but that was a week ago, and we never did it. “Yeah, let’s.”

Kaidu glanced over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow.

Rowan cleared his throat. “We’ll pay for the food ourselves, of course. A single meal shouldn’t cost more than fifty credits, right?”

Kaidu nodded.

“For three people? If we eat hot dogs and beans, maybe. Have you seen prices in this city?” Ikara said.

Rowan glanced at his feet and sighed. “Yeah…”

“Penniless. Leeches.” Kaidu shook his head disapprovingly.

“So you’ll pay? That means you’ll pay, right?” Ikara beamed, bouncing up to Kaidu.

Scowling, Kaidu stalked away. Rowan and Ikara hurried after him, neither wanting to be left behind.

Cold air rushed over them, welcoming them into the grocery store. Ikara bounded for the baked goods, eyes sparkling. Rowan paused at the door to grab a basket and followed her, Kaidu following after, aloof. Pressed up against the display case, Ikara licked her lips, practically drooling over the glass encasement.

“Hey, cool it. You’ll scare the bakery workers,” Rowan joked.

Ikara darted from side to side, up and down, peeking in to examine each baked good individually. “Look! Look, look, look. Are they all edible? But that one’s blue! And that one’s purple! Oooh, and the petals, the vines, look at the detail work on that one! Oh, goodness, I’m going to die, they’re too cute.”

“Should we get a cake?” Rowan offered.

Ikara looked up at him, puppy eyes wobbling. “Please?”

Kaidu scoffed and walked away. They both stared after him. After a moment, Rowan sighed. “Guess that’s a no.”

Ikara pouted. “Sucks.”

“Not a fan of sweets?” Rowan asked Kaidu.

Kaidu shrugged.

Rowan glanced back at Ikara, who trudged after them, dragging her feet. “Not even for Ikara?”

“It’s my money,” he replied.

Can’t argue that. Rowan shrugged. “So what’re you feeling, then? Chicken? Pork? Beef?”

“Whatever.” Kaidu turned away.

Rowan frowned at his back. What’s bothering you? Are you still hung up over us calling in Katy a week ago? We made a mistake, we admitted it. Let it go, dude.

Shaking his head at Kaidu, he wandered into the meat section. What am I confident in cooking? Ikara’s never offered to help, and Kaidu… well, anyways, it looks like this support class has to support the team’s stomach. He browsed the section lazily, mindful of the price. Selecting his choice, he grabbed some onions and peppers, added a quarter of watermelon, then searched out some chips to match.

Kaidu wandered back. He peered over Rowan’s overfull basket. “Do we need all that?”

“Even if it’s a Scenario, we’ll still struggle to feed ourselves, right? Might as well feast before we go.”

Kaidu grunted and started to wander away again.

“Wait, wait. I’m ready to check out. Ikara!”

“Here, here.” She bobbled over, holding a tray of eclairs with her fingertips. Not looking at Kaidu, she set them gently in the tray, then backed away.

Kaidu’s lips twisted. Rowan braced himself, expecting a scoff, but Kaidu just turned away.

Ikara beamed at his back. She grinned at Rowan and shot him a thumbs-up. Chuckling, Rowan returned the gesture. He peeked at Kaidu’s back, amused. Guess he’s got a heart in there, after all.

“Hurry up,” Kaidu snapped, already halfway to the line.

“Coming, coming,” Ikara said, pushing Rowan on.

Shaking his head, Rowan joined Kaidu in line.

--

The delicious smell of cooking pork filled the air. Rowan flipped the pork chops and nudged the onions and peppers, mindful to keep them from burning. The scraps of the watermelon he’d cut and an empty bag of chips sat on the countertop, and Ikara sat beside them, bouncing in her chair. “Smells so good!”

“Yeah, yeah. They’re almost ready.” Rowan gave the pan a shake. For someone who doesn’t cook, Kaidu’s got nice implements.

Beside Ikara, Kaidu sharpened his straight razors, the picture of disinterest. Rowan looked up and caught him eyeing the pork chops. He smiled. Even he can’t resist, huh?

Kaidu snorted and turned his attention back to the razor.

“Chops are up!” Rowan announced, sliding the steaming-hot meat onto plates. With a set of tongs, he placed the onions and peppers alongside them.

“Gimme!” Ikara snatched her plate up and dug in.

“Whoa, whoa.” He chuckled and set a plate before Kaidu.

Elegantly, Kaidu flicked the razors away and tossed his ponytail over his shoulder, then waited, an eye on Rowan.

Rowan came around the corner and sat beside Kaidu, and only then did his party member begin to eat. How fancy, Rowan noted. Not that I mind. He could’ve started eating immediately like Ikara did.

He glanced at his plate and took a deep breath. This could be my last meal ever. I could die in the Tower tomorrow, and—

Rowan shook his head. No. We’ll do it. We’re going to defeat the whole Tower. I can’t be scared of the second floor, for goodness’ sake!

“Good luck,” Ikara said abruptly.

Rowan and Kaidu both stared at her. After a moment, Rowan nodded. “We’re going to need it.”

He took a bite of the pork. The meat melted on his tongue, but he barely tasted it. He swallowed past the lump in his throat. Images flashed through his head: graduation, Terry beating him in the square, his mother in the garage, his father in front of the Tower. He closed his eyes.

Tomorrow, I take the next step to showing them all.