A Midnight Snack-2

The interior of the room, lit with the light of many candles, is almost blinding compared to the previous hallway. Waiting for my eyes to adjust to the light, I hear the door close behind me and a miffed Bode complain to Kati.

"Why did I have to do all of that? You would know if it was me if I shouted through the door." [Bode]

"C'mon, this is our stronghold. We have to take proper security measures." [Kati]

"And a secret knock and a password in another language are your "proper" security measures? What are you 12?" [Bode]

"You're just lacking the aesthetic. A command center has to have a secret password and knock. It's common sense." [Kati]

Bode looks at her incredulously then places his head in his hands, visibly embarrassed of her "common sense".

Interrupting this comedy act, Laura's voice comes for the door in the back of the room.

"Shin? What are you doing here?" [Laura]

Before long, the back door opens, and Laura enters the room and walks over to me. Not sure what she was doing but cobwebs are stuck in her hair. When she gets close to me, I say,

"You have something in your hair. Let me get that for you." [Shin]

When I reach out to pluck out the cobweb, Laura steps back with a flustered expression. Picking out the cobwebs herself, Laura scolds me.

"Shin, I can get it myself. Now what are you here for?" [Laura]

"Y-Yeah right. I was wondering if you were hungry. I have some food here if you want some. Figured you haven't eaten yet. That goes for you two as well, you want some?" [Shin]

"If you don't mind sharing your food, then I wouldn't mind something to eat, sir." [Bode]

"Food is always on your mind. How are you not obese by now? And thanks, but no thanks, sir. I'm good." [Kati]

"I'll have you know that I often work out and I'm always moving so the calories get burned quick." [Bode]

*GROWL*

Interrupting their banter is one of the loudest stomach growls I've ever heard. Looking at each other and realizing it wasn't us, we simultaneously turn our heads to look at the culprit. Met with our stares, Laura's face gets incredibly red, and she looks at the floor, completely embarrassed.

"Hahaha, I guess I was hungry." [Laura]

"That's not the sound of "I guess I was hungry," that's the sound a tiger makes before devouring a dying goat." [Kati]

"KATI! You're exaggerating, right guys?" [Laura]

Her eyes leave Kati and turn towards Bode and I. When she looks at us for confirmation, we both look to the side and look elsewhere, unable to back her up.

"See, I thought a monster broke in through the gate." [Kati]

Seeing Laura flustered, although cute, made me feel sorry for her so I decided to end the conversation there.

"I'm also hungry so I brought some meals." [Shin]

Taking off my backpack, I sift through the compartments until I find the MRE's at the bottom of the pack. Picking out 3, I place everything back in order and hand out the meals.

"Here, Bode. You have the crisp bread one since you wanted a snack." [Shin]

"Sounds good to me, and I won't be sharing, Kati so stop eying my food." [Bode]

"Hey, give me a piece. C'mon we're best friends, You can spare one piece." [Kati]

"No way, ask him for one if you want some." [Bode]

"Just give me one, and I promise I won't tell them that embarrassing thing that happened last Thursday." [Kati]

"You're resorting to blackmail for a cracker? Why am I friends with a person like you again?" [Bode]

"Because our parents are friends and we've known each other since we were 2? You should consider yourself lucky to be even able to talk to a beautiful woman like me every day." [Kati]

Snorting at her remark, he takes a cracker out of the packaging and hands it to Kati.

"Here, this is payment for that joke you just told." [Bode]

Offended by his quip, Kati pouts and snatches the cracker out of his hand, stuffing it in her mouth and chewing loudly. Turning to Laura, I say,

"And here you are Laura, you and I have the spaghetti one. Is that fine?" [Shin]

"You have spaghetti?!? Of course, I'm fine with that!" [Laura]

"Hahaha, although the packaging says its spaghetti, it is far from what you are used to. Also, I'm going to need some water. You wouldn't have any here, would you?" [Shin]

"Oh, there's a well in the back room that was in earlier, I'll go get you two some water. I don't know if its drinkable though…" [Kati]

"Don't worry about that. It won't be a problem." [Shin]

While Kati leaves to prepare the water, I begin taking apart the packaging on the MRE and taking out all of the items. This version of MRE contains: a spaghetti pack, a toaster pastry, raisins, a piece of bread (with peanut butter and strawberry jam), a chocolate drink mix, a raspberry drink mix and a bag of toiletries. When both mine and Laura's are all placed out on the table, Kati returns with the water.

"I'm back and like I said, I don't know if this is safe to drink." [Kati]

"Here, give it to me, I have a way to test it." [Shin]

Receiving the pail from Kati, I bring it up to my lips and take a sip of the water.

"SHIN? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" [Laura]

"I thought you had a way of testing it?!" [Kati]

{How else am I going to test it other than drinking it?}

After swishing it around my tongue for a bit, I swallow the water and speak.

"Although it is never really safe to drink stagnant water, you said that it came from a well. No sane person would make a well with poisonous water so I figured that it wouldn't instantly kill me. Therefore, all I had to worry about was about earthen pollutants like sulfur, iron, phosphates, and feces. I tasted the water, and I didn't notice any strange tastes. In fact, I actually think it tastes as good as my well water back home." [Shin]

"You could have at least used these cups I brought..." says Kati as she places 4 wooden cups on the table.

After offering my explanation, the rest of the group doesn't seem to be any less assured of the water's safety. Sighing in resignation, I fish through a pocket in my backpack and take out one of the water purification straws and place it on the table.

"Here if you really want to be safe, use this." [Shin]

Laura gazes at the straw, then me and finally eying my backpack.

"Um, Shin. Why do you have all of these things in your school backpack? Were you supposed to go camping or something before we got summoned here?" [Laura]

{Hmm…I guess preparing this much isn't normal. My dad always told me to pack everything I needed to survive for a week no matter the occasion. I guess I better lie here if I want to appear normal.}

"Yeah, I was planning on using the back woods of the school as my campsite." [Shin]

"Ok. OK. We get it. Can you start preparing the meal now?" [Kati]

All three of us turn to look at a visibly impatient Kati. Perplexed, Laura and I look at each other.

"Why are you saying that like you're the one that is going to be eating it?" [Laura]

"No reason. I'm just looking forward to sharing that chocolate drink with you." [Kati]

"What do you mean share? It's my meal. If you wanted some you should have asked for one." [Laura]

"I said I wasn't hungry which is true…but I am a little thirsty." [Kati]

…

While they bicker about sharing the drinks, I grab the heating element and bend the metal plate inside. While older standard issue MRE's often came with heating elements that utilize a water/saltwater solution for the reaction. The newer generation came with a powerful chemical pack which can heat up to 150˚ Celsius (302˚ Fahrenheit) and is capable of sustaining that temperature for 5 minutes.

Pouring 2 glasses of water, I then pour the fruit mixture in and mix it, creating the raspberry beverage. After those beverages are complete, I activate the chemical pack and place it in the bucket. While I wait for the water to heat up, I put my backpack down, looking for a pen and paper. Finding it in my top pocket, I take them out and place them on the table. When I do so, people seem to have a confused expression on their faces. Noticing that they are about to ask a question, I place my finger to my lips, signaling them to keep quiet. I begin to write down an explanation for this.

/\ People are listening in on us. Two people from Parker's group were on the walls watching me earlier. When Bode opened the outside door, I sensed magic go through and it seemed to be wind magic. That's why I think they are listening on us./\

After being notified that we were being spied on, their faces flash with confusion, then surprise and then finally anger.

I pass over the pen and paper before turning back to the pot of water which has started to boil.

"Oh, the water is boiling now, here Laura give me your spaghetti packet." [Shin]

Grabbing her meal pack, I place it in the pail. Now that the water is hot, I fill up the 2 remaining cups with the hot water and pour the cocoa mix in them.

"Here Laura, your cocoa drink is ready, Kati can have mine." [Shin]

"A-Ah thank you, Shin."[Laura]

"Thanks, you're the best." [Kati]

They both seemed to have lost most of their energy from before while nervously looking around the room. As for Bode, well he doesn't seem to be bothered by being spied on and is quietly enjoying his bread.

Suddenly, the pad of paper gets pushed across the table towards me. Looking at it, I see a lot of question marks.

/\ What do you mean are spying on us? Why are they watching you? Are they dangerous? Who's Parker?/\

The last question was undoubtably written by either Kati or Bode who haven't' had the pleasure of seeing that zealot yet. I quickly answer their questions before turning back to the cooking spaghetti.

/\ Parker is the guy who kneeled in front of the Goddess before she left wanting to worship her or something. Parker's group have around 12 people who worship that Goddess and are very quick to anger and attack people. Stay away from them. The two people who were watching me were the Sorcerer and Scout. When I left the gate to come here, they stared at me the entire time meaning that they are watching me. I'm not sure why they are monitoring me, but they can be dangerous, so I came here to let you know to be careful./\

"Your spaghetti is ready, Laura." [Shin]

"Okay thank you very much." [Laura]

Taking out the warmed-up packets, Everyone finally sits down and enjoys the meal. Although Kati made some comments on its flavor, everyone else gladly ate the food. Still seeing that the listening magic is active, I decide to talk about trivial things while enjoying the meal. After around 10 minutes and our bellies are full, the spell finally fades.

{Finally, about time…}

Before I can tell everyone that the spell is no longer active, Laura and Kati's ears perk up. Kati is the first to speak.

"Someone is running to the building. Their hurried footsteps mean that they are panicked.

{Damn. Why does stuff keep happening? Can't a man enjoy some peace and quiet for at least 10 minutes (without being spied on that is).}