"(y/n), can I talk to you privately for a minute?"

"what's up?" you looked up at Jason. Right... he's super fucking tall.

"I just wanted to see if you were ok. Quince told me you had a nightmare," Jason's dark blue eyes were soft as they looked into yours.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It just seemed so real," you shivered.

"They don't last forever. Time is mostly disregarded but in general our sleeping schedules kind of align, so if you're resting later and you get scared, just knock on my door, ok? I can help you."

You smiled brightly, "Thanks, Jason. I'll keep that in mind." A part of you wanted to hug him and hold him tightly, but you stopped yourself. Suki and Jason were both really sweet. Why didn't Jenna trust these guys? Dianna and Ryo still make me nervous, but They definitely don't seem all bad. You were a little lost in thought when you realized Jason's arms were around you. It seems like you both had the same idea. You giggled and returned the gesture. His hold tightened a little and he rested his head on yours.

"I know it's really scary at first, but I promise you're not alone in this, (y/n). I'm here."

"I know. Thank you, Jason. Maybe we should head back?" you suggested as you pulled away.

"Maybe it would be better to cook something for everyone?" Jason suggested.

"Oh yeah! I haven't had breakfast!" You exclaimed. The queasiness in your stomach made much more sense now.

"What are we waiting for then?" He placed a hand on your back and led you to the kitchen, "How do you feel about waffles?" You cheered in agreement. Waffles sounded perfect right now. You forgot all about the three people you left in the room as you followed Jason to the kitchen.

"What made you like to cook?" You asked as the two of you flipped through a cookbook.

"I didn't cook as much while I was alive, to be honest, but when I got here I needed something to take my mind off of... the situation," he responded with a shrug. "I made a lot of bread."

"Can I ask a weird question?"

"If you get the flour out of the cabinet, yes," He smiled. You got the flour and the sugar for good measure. You turned around to him being much closer to you than he was just a moment ago. Your breath got caught in your throat and your cheeks flushed. "(y/n)?" He seemed to lean closer.

"Yes?"

He softly took the flour and sugar from your hands, "You had a question?" He walked away from you and continued to gather ingredients. You shook your head what was that about?

"Yeah, uh. Is any of this real?"

He looked at you for a moment, "Hm?"

"Like. This food, the beds, the cards? If I fell and scraped my knee would it be real? Is the pain real?"

"Would it matter either way?" He turned to you completely. "If you scraped your knee and it hurt you, it's real enough to you. Isn't it?"

"I suppose that's true. Are you real?" You asked, feeling a bit bold.

"Descartes would suggest that you cannot trust the existence of anything but yourself," was all he said.

"Why did he think that?"

Jason shrugged, "When I was alive, my philosophy teacher said it was because Descartes had fevers when he was young. Like, crazy high fevers that made you hallucinate. It was then that Descartes realized that he couldn't truly trust any of his senses; it could really all just be a hallucination. I don't remember everything he said, but I do remember that Descartes said that even though you can doubt literally everything you see, hear, smell, touch, or taste, you can't doubt your own existence. So, from my perspective, you could be a hallucination," He paused and smirked, "it would explain why you're so perfect."

"Hey!" you playfully punched his arm, "not relevant! Let's just make these waffles."

"Did I hear someone mention Descartes, the father of modern philosophy?" Quince walked in. Jason rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, just chatting about the very sad version of Captain Hook."

"He does kind of look like a depressed captain Hook," Quince nodded intently. "How'd he come up though?" He looked at you, "Are you seeing things?'

"That's not it," you started, but you immediately thought of your horrible dream. "I was just having some trouble wrapping my head around all of this. I mean it could be a terrible dream, and maybe I'm not dead at all..."

Quince nodded, "Could be. But terrible? Are we bad hosts, (y/n)?" He put his hand over his heart and jokingly sobbed. You laughed at his antics.

"Not terrible. Poor choice of words, I'm sorry," you smiled.

"You're doing a bad job of 'helping' (y/n)!" Jason reminded you and stuck his tongue out.

"Oh! Sorry! I'll start mixing the liquid ingredients," you scrambled to the fridge and pulled out some eggs. "What have you been reading, Quince?" you called over your shoulder.

"Nothing much, really. I picked up one of those novelty Wizard Spellbooks that people sell to weirdos. It's full of beautiful illustrations and shitty advice."

"Sounds fun," you nodded. "So, we're just here for eternity to... chill out and read books and shit?"

"That and melting a cup of butter please," Jason spoke while pulling out the waffle iron.

"I mean, basically," Quince shrugged. "Your mind will be more durable than you realize. And, although we can't 'leave' the house, there is probably more rooms than you realize, including a garden area."

"A garden? How? With, the whole lack of sun situation?"

"Same way anything around here works," Quince pointed upward. "The higherups take care of it."

"I don't understand," you breathed out while slowly pouring the melted butter over the rest of the liquid ingredients. "What was the point of anything? I mean, why did anything bad on earth happen if the Higherups can do this?"

"Does there have to be a reason?" Jason asked before taking your bowl and pouring it into his dry ingredients and mixing.

"I, I don't know," You paused. "I just hate to think that all the suffering on earth happens for nothing."

Quince shook his head, "Most things happen for no reason at all. Terrible things happen to good people, and it's just a coincidence in the grand scheme of things. Really, I think it's a good thing. "He paused. "No one was born to suffer. Trauma is not a destiny. Pain is not proof that someone deserves it. Do you see what I mean?"

You nodded slowly, "I haven't thought of it like that before. "

"I just get tired of people saying that you get hurt because it's in 'God's plan.' I can't accept the idea that the higherups wrote a story for me and that story was for me to die before I had lived on the earth for even three decades. I prefer to believe that life is just unfair. That our misfortunes don't have to reflect anyone's inner worth."

"Waffles are ready," Jason announced.

Suki skipped in, "What smells good!" she half yelled while bouncing her way to you, "Must be you, angel!" You laughed as she casually threw an arm around your shoulder. "No wait, hmmm. (y/n) you smell like abandonment and betrayal. I can't believe you left me for Jason!" She playfully pouted.

"I'm sorry!" you laughed, "I just wanted to make breakfast!"

"You didn't make shit (y/n)!" Jason shouted dramatically, "You chatted with Quince about philosophy!"

"So, the real criminal was all along Quince! You're the one keeping (y/n) away from her precious lovers!" Suki pointed accusingly at the man.

Quince held up his hands defensively, "It's not like we're on a time crunch here! I just heard people discussing Descartes and knew I had to get in on the conversation."

"Even if (y/n) is here for an eternity, I want to savor every moment of it! Jason, please pass me a waffle!" Suki's antics made you laugh. On earth, this interaction would probably make you uncomfortable, but something about Suki's demeanor made this ok to you.

"You'll get your waffles if you go tell everyone else there's some food ready," Jason bargained.

"Whaaaat! That's not fair!" Suki pouted. "Actually, Deal. But (y/n) is coming with me!" She lifted you off the ground and carried you out of the room. Jason's yells and Quince's laughter could be heard even after Suki slammed the door shut. She placed you on the ground and grabbed your hand. Suki's very touchy, but I guess I already knew that. "I have gotten, like, no alone time with you! Jason really likes you," she whined.

"He does?"

"I do, too! But yeah, isn't it obvious? Jason and I are pals, and the Jason I know certainly does not ask people to help him cook all the time."

"We've only cooked together twice!" you retaliated.

"Yeah, and that's two more times than he's cooked with literally anyone else!" Suki said before opening the door to the living room. He doesn't usually cook with people? That's not really the impression I get. I guess... I'm different? You blushed at the thought.

"My two favorite kittens," Dianna said from the couch without looking up.

"I am not a kitten!" Suki refused. "Come on you two, there's waffles!"

"Pass," Came Ryo's simple reply. Dianna, however, closed her book and stood up.

"Did you make them?" she asked while tilting your chin upward. Too close Too close Too close your brain panicked and froze. Suki pulled you away before laughing.

"Oh my god, Dianna, you just scare her. Give her a break!" Suki held you close, "You have no concept of personal space!" Dianna said nothing about the hypocrisy of Suki's words and instead chose to keep her steady gaze on you as a slight smile formed on her lips.

Suki led the small group out of the room, "Neither of you would know where Jenna and Don are, would you? I haven't seen them all day."

"I saw Don in the TV room earlier," Dianna offered. "Jenna has escaped me today as well, though."

"Maybe she's in the library? She seems like the type," you spoke.

"Sounds good," Suki Agreed. "Let's grab Don first, though." I didn't know there was a TV room. Maybe we could do a movie night?

"Also, I only helped make the waffles, Dianna. It was mostly Jason," you smiled.

"Jason is a good cook. It's... Interesting that he would ask you to cook with you a second time," Dianna nodded. So I've heard, you mentally agreed. The three of you made it to a large room with couches sitting around a television. This also seemed like a living room. As the group hoped, Don was sitting on the couch and watching the credits of a movie.

"Hi, Don!" you waved, "Jason and I made waffles, would you like some?"

"I'm not very hungry," Don shook his head. "But thank you for the offer." He smiled at you and you tried to return the gesture. What a bummer. Two members missing out on some delicious waffles and group bonding time.

"Your loss. Do you know where Jenna is?" Suki questioned.

"She was still in her room last I checked," Don scratched his chin. "She had a big pile of books in her arms, so I imagine she's still in there reading all of them."

"Makes sense. We'll be in the kitchen If you want to join!" Suki yelled out before pulling you and Dianna out into the hallway again. "We should see if Quince can get us phones. Or at least walkie-talkies, this is exhausting." You agreed with her there.

"At least it gives us more time to walk together!" you smiled. It seemed silly, but you wanted Suki to smile, too.

"You're right!" She clapped a hand on your shoulder and beamed. "Let's get Jenna!" Dianna didn't comment, you noticed. She took very even steps as if everything was calculated. Suki's and your own steps were jittery and excited as you half skipped, half jogged to Jenna's room, desperate to get the final member and eat the waffles. You arrived at her door soon.

"Jenna! Open up sugarcakes!" Suki pounded on the door.

"Jason and I made some breakfast," you contributed. The door opened, and Jenna came out. Her hair was down this time in long, soft waves, and Her glasses were folded into the breast pocket of her shirt.

"Breakfast? What is it?"

"Waffles! Would you like to join us? Don and Ryo decided not to partake," you informed her. Jenna nodded as she processed the information.

"Sounds good, are we heading there now?"

"Yes, of course," Suki said impatiently. The snarkiness left Suki in an instant, though, as she lifted a lock of Jenna's hair, "Your hair is really long and pretty. You should wear it down more often!"

It was gone in a flash, but you could see the anger in Jenna's eyes as she removed the hair from Suki's hands. A soft and very fake smile fell on Jenna's face, "Thank you. I'll follow you guys to the kitchen."

"Finally," Suki groaned. "I thought we'd be gathering people for forever. I hope all the food is still warm."