Chapter 2: Settling Back in

The sky was darkened by clouds covering the Sun, and rain pelted down on the car's windshields as the siblings drove to Daubeny's apartment. Raindrops hit the roof, windows, and road in a calming, steady rhythm. Upon reaching the apartment complex, the ground as Daubeny and Aria were driving entered the apartment complex. When she parked the vehicle

"Well, I forgot my umbrella at home, so we should just run," Aria said bashfully. Daubeny nodded as they exited outside, assaulted by rain, and made their way to the stairs. 

They felt it pouring down their backs, their shoes squishing at each step taken, and the rain was coming down so hard that their socks absorbed the water like a sponge would.

Finally, reaching the second landing, the apartment door just a few steps away. Aria made her way in front of Daubeny to knock on the door first.

Stepping into the warmth and dryness of his home, Daubeny saw a strange set of pipes, string, and tiny objects hovering near his kitchen and partly his living room. Asuka and Frederick are wearing short-sleeved shirts. Both turned to see the siblings drenched as they welcomed them and told them to dry themselves off. Daubeny let his sister borrow his clothes and went towards a private area to change. 

Daubeny peeled off his wet clothes and replaced them with green tropical pajamas. Walking out the door, he saw Aria talking to the two but stopped talking when he noticed Daubney.

"Good to see you back on your feet," Frederick said neutrally, as if talking about the weather.

"Thanks, but what's all this?" Daubeny asked, baffled about what was going on.

"I suggested we make this for you. Allow me to explain." Asuka chimed in enthusiastically.

The first step was to gather all the materials they needed. Frederick and Asuka went to a nearby hardware store to buy pipes, gears, pulleys, and other supplies. They also went to the grocery store to buy noodles, sauce, and other ingredients. The second step was to design the machine, and Asuka had an abundance of sketches depicting how each part would work. Both also moved a few pieces of furniture, so the machine would fit inside Daubeny's current housing. 

"I still don't understand; just cook the noodles regularly," Frederick asked loudly to no one in particular, ending Asuka's tale to Daubeny of how this excessive contraption came to be. 

Daubeny gave a light chuckle as he turned around, walked to Frederick, and wrapped his left arm over one of Frederick's massive shoulders, barely reaching. 

"Where's your sense of fun using something like this?" Daubeny clamored out while his free hand waved dramatically in the air.

"Right, you should enjoy what you made." Aria approached Frederick's unoccupied side and hugged him with a wolfish grin.

"Ugh, feel free to spew that crap after spending hours on it." Frederick shrugged his shoulders irritably, nocking Daubeny off him, but Aria clung tightly to his arm, as he walked towards the machine.

Starting the machine by twisting the small handle, which drove one of the circles underneath with small red flames. Placing the pot of water on the stove briefly brought the water to a boiling point. They all watched silently as the machine was set into motion, triggering a series of contraptions: a pendulum swing, dominoes falling, the pulleys turning, and the conveyor belt moving. Each step led to the noodles being cooked and served on a plate, or that's what the plan was supposed to accomplish, but suddenly, something went wrong as a strain of noodles got clogged in a passing pipe, causing the machine to release the sound cracking metal, as the pipe exploded. The noodles were flung everywhere, landing on everyone's faces, clothing, and hair. 

"I think the pipe became clogged, and the pressure built up until it burst," Asuka said, frowning, examining the wreckage, and plucking noodles from his face.

"Well, that was fun to watch," Daubeny said with a chuckle, shaking his head and waist, causing an audible cracking of his bones. 

Frederick was more covered in noodles than the rest and was not amused. "Just as I said, this was a waste of time."

Aria and Daubeny tried to stifle their laughter, but Asuka quickly diffused the situation. "We all will just have to clean this experiment, then we'll try again next weekend." 

"Okay, hold on, before any talk of trying this again, let's order some food." Aria butted in at the speed of light.

"Sure thing; I think I still have a bag of popcorn left," Daubeny stated, walking toward his miniature kitchen and opening a cabinet, taking out a bag of popcorn, heating the stove, and dumping the pellets into the empty noodle pot. Waiting for it to finish being cooked, Daubeny saw everyone placing their orders using magic. He was excited to be able to call people with magic, not holding himself back. A blue circle with runes covered his ear to contact the great Alaska Pizza Company.

"Yes, this APC. I hope you're having a good day; what can we do for you?" An energetic, young voice that cracked spoke. 

"I'd like to order a large pinball pizza to be delivered."

After talking a bit more and giving the directions to the apartment, Daubeny ended the magic call. 'That was fun using magic, though, to everyone else, they've grown used to it.' After thinking that, he helped the others for an hour, cleaning up the mess, until somebody rang the doorbell. Frederick and Asuka go to answer it.

"Alright, let's watch a movie before everyone leaves," Daubeny said, taking the remote to the magically powered TV. While Frederick and Asuka 

Settling on the couch, Daubeny looked out the window and watched the raindrops race down the glass. It was a peaceful and calming scene, and he was grateful for the opportunity to relax and enjoy the moment. But...

"Alright, scooch. Show your older sister some respect," Aria announced while taking up more than enough space on her brother's side, snatching the remote from his hand.

"You scooch louse," Daubeny proclaimed, exasperated. He threw a handful of popcorn at Aria and gave her a side-eye, taking back his lost territory on the sofa. This began a round of bickering among the siblings.

While the brother and sister argued, Frederick and Asuka returned. Frederick was carrying a plastic bag containing everyone's food. In contrast, Asuka held two glass bottles in each hand, placing them in front of where everybody sat, then sitting in between Daubeny and Aria on the sofa.

When Frederick placed the bags on the table, Daubeny started rummaging through both, only taking out a pizza box. Setting it away from the bags, he opened the box and tore off a slice of pineapple pizza. While the red-haired man was devouring his pizza, the others took out their orders with hungry eyes.

For each of their orders close to them, Daubeny mumbled softly while chewing, "This is great food for a theater."

"But Daubeny, this isn't appropriate food for movie theaters," Asuka said, folding his arms and looking confused.

"Oh, so what do you consider good?" Daubeny asked as he sipped his chocolate milk.

"Warm milk and grilled salmon are preferred." He paused while giving it more thought. "But if there is none, anything but popcorn and sandwiches." He nodded, as this was the only right choice.

"Salmon is gross, and they don't even sell those at theaters," Aria exclaimed, looking at her former friend with disgust. Expecting this response, Asuka said confidently, "There's no need to pay. I carry my own, and it's not disgusting."

"It is! It tastes like dirt." Aria overdramatically shouted.

"No/The fish isn't terrible." Daubeny and Frederick said at the same time.

"Really, Daubeny! You're supposed to be on my side! Not theirs!" Aria cried out as she pointed accusingly at Daubeny.

Shrugging his shoulders with a grin and looking away towards the white-haired man, he yelled, "But how can you not think of popcorn as movie food!"

"You should be integrating Frederick for bringing a banana and peanut butter sandwich to a showing," Asuka said calmly, throwing his best friend under the best.

"I stand by that sandwich," Frederick stated, his face as hard and unshakable as stone.

"No way, you're not getting out that easy. Besides, popcorn are like chewy pieces of heaven," Aria said while throwing her hands up.

Despite the mishap, the group had a pleasing time.

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Character images:

Asuka 

Aria 

Daubeny

Frederick