When Nikolai got to the counter, Angelo was already there, the cashier scanning the items he had bought.
"I don’t think we can finish that many noodles," Angelo said wryly, but he didn’t try to make him return it.
It got even colder as they made their way back to the apartment complex. It was cloudy, the smell of rain in the air as the wind picked up.
They picked up the pace even though they didn’t have to be in a hurry, it wasn’t much fun being in the cold outside when they could be in the toasty warmth of the living room, eating spicy noodles.
Angelo headed straight to the kitchen, pleasantly surprised to find that Nikolai had cooking utensils.
"Of course I have a pan," Nikolai defended himself, hovering over Angelo as the assassin washed the pan at the sink.
Angelo humored him, "Yes, yes, get me a cooking spoon," He directed, busying himself with washing up the precut veggies he bought.
Nikolai was quick to regret posing like he knew what went on in the kitchen, looking around. A cooking spoon... clearly, it was a spoon for cooking. He grabbed a wooden spoon off a rack and made his way over tentatively. "Here."
"Thanks," Angelo took it off him casually to wash it as well.
Nikolai heaved a sigh of relief, he had been certain that he had grabbed the wrong thing.
Cooking noodles was pretty simple, Angelo dumping in some of the spicy packets. In a short time, he had whipped up two steaming bowls of noodles, two sunny-side-up eggs in each bowl.
Nikolai had done nothing but tail Angelo while he cooked so he was quick to take the bowls from him, leading the way to the living room.
Angelo grabbed several bottles of water, his hand might have slipped and put in too much spice in the noodles, they were going to be needing it.
"Have you ever had cup noodles before?" Angelo asked as they got comfortable on the couch, fiddling with the remote.
"No," Nikolai admitted, "My expectations are nonexistent." He added reassuringly.
Angelo shot him a look, he had even gone through the trouble of properly cooking the noodles instead of just microwaving them and handing them over to Nikolai, and this was the thanks he got.
"Careful then, it’s pretty spicy..."
Just like the noodles, Angelo would soon come to eat his words. Nikolai was frankly immune to everything because while he had to take off his hoodie, sweating despite the cold, his face red, the Mafia King ate it like it was no big deal.
Nikolai had a trace of amusement and concern on his face as he looked at Angelo struggling beside him, "Are you okay?"
Angelo wasn’t at all in the mood to hold a proper conversation, the noodles were so tasty but it felt like he was slurping up straight lava. His response was to turn down the heater, all of the cold he had felt from when they went shopping long gone.
Nikolai didn’t even seem to notice that he hadn’t gotten a response, cool blue eyes fixed on Angelo’s red splashed chest. The assassin’s scars remained the same, but his painfully thin physique had started to fill out, his ribs slightly less visible.
There was a cartoon playing on the television but neither of them was paying attention. It took a lot for Nikolai to wrench his gaze away, drinking down the soupy noodles like a shot of liquor.
Angelo paused with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth, staring at Nikolai in disbelief. He had cooked up a generous portion, so there was enough for seconds. "If you want more, there’s more." He said slowly.
Angelo doubted he would be able to finish his first bowl, he had already drunk so much water that he could hear it swishing whenever he moved.
To his surprise, Nikolai rose to his feet and started for the kitchen. "Thanks. Do you need anything from the kitchen?"
"Yes," Angelo muttered with watering eyes, his lips plumped by the spice. "More water."
Nikolai processed his request slowly, distracted by the assassin’s lips. "Sure thing," He wrenched himself away for the second time, hot-footing it to the kitchen.
Angelo seemed content with their odd cohabitation, but Nikolai was slowly losing his sanity. He planned to do something about it, but before then, he needed Luis Caddel dead.
It wouldn’t be very long now...
Jael was frightened awake by a serene face peering right at him from the edge of his bed. It was Patty, the Beta had spent the night in the mansion, taking another nearby room.
It was barely dawn, his dim bedside lamp illuminating her patient face that was deeply unsettlingly.
"Patty?" He murmured, his voice thick with sleep.
It was about time for him to wake up anyway, so all it took to rouse him was Patty hovering over him menacingly.
"Don’t you want to be awake before Rosie wakes up?" Patty said like it was the most obvious thing.
Jael was instantly wide awake, "You actually did it?"
Patty held up her hands that had been scrubbed pink, nodding. "It comes off pretty easily too."
"I’m awake now," Jael muttered, feeling like an accessory to a crime. "Shouldn’t you return to your room so we’re not suspicious?"
Patty nodded quietly, slipping out of his room as soundlessly as she came.
Jael laid back down and stared at the ceiling, since he moved stations to being Rosie’s bodyguard, he didn’t have to get up as early as usual, but his internal clock still woke him up on time.
As he laid there, he was sorely tempted to peek in on Rosie to see if Patty had really done as she said she had.
The sun slowly got brighter and he couldn’t keep lying down, curiosity eating away at his skin. So he decided to clean up, if Rosie hadn’t gotten up by now, then she wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon.
Staying up late the night before to watch movies might have had a lot to do with that, Jael wasn’t too surprised that she had overslept.