We manage to make our way back to the building we were at earlier without any problems, if we don't count Clara constantly tripping and faceplanting into the snow. Somehow, she managed to not spill any of the ingredients she got. After heading inside, I set the Aegis case to the side and sat down. We both took off our masks and began sharing our findings on the floor.
"I found first aid and medicinal supplies. What about you?" I ask.
"Canned food, ingredients, and a few kitchen utensils to make food ourselves," she proudly replies. "Now we won't be starving, at least for the next two weeks." She shows me a cooking pan and opens the bag she was carrying, revealing various herbs, spices, and canned goods.
"Good work, we should be fine for the time being." I say while intently observing her findings. "What will you be making for lunch?"
She stands up angrily and stomps her foot.
"Hey! How can you just assume I'm making lunch! Is it because I'm a girl?!" She pouts angrily as she turns her back at me.
"Alright, alright, I'll make lunch. Just sit back and don't cause trouble." I carefully take Windborne out of my hair and place him in Clara's hands.
I take the bag with the food and go through the ingredients before settling on a recipe that I know. Just some simple noodles will do the trick.
I hold the pan over the fire in the middle of the room, heating it up before grabbing the packet of noodles from the bag.
"Clara, put some water in here."
She takes some water from a water bottle and fills the pan up to a little less than halfway. I follow up by adding spices and the noodles, and mixing it thoroughly with a spatula.
"Surprisingly, nothing seems to be out of date. They're only from 2 months ago."
"I was shocked at first too, but it's fortunate that they aren't."
After a few minutes of stirring and mixing, the noodles were finished.
"Are there no bowls?" I ask her.
"I don't think so." She replies. "I didn't find any when I was looking."
"I guess we will just have to eat out of this."
Windy jumps out from Clara's embrace into mine as I set the pan down. I take a fork and feed him a string of noodles. He happily clings onto my arm as he slurps it up. I hand her a fork as we begin eating.
"These are delicious! Where did you learn to cook like this?" Clara asks while hastily eating the noodles.
"Eat slowly, and I just picked them up as a hobby." I say, lying straight through my teeth. Yeah right, I learned this as a part of training.
We continue eating, me eating slowly to savor the taste and Clara eating as quickly as possible. Suddenly, I feel a tug on the noodle I'm eating. I look up, and see that Clara also has the same reaction, but she continues to eat. The pull gets stronger as I realize something, and a scene from a romance anime where a couple kiss from accidentally sucking up the same noodle strand flashes before me. We're eating the same noodle! Before things get out of hand, I use my own fork to pin it down and split the noodle strand in half. If things had continued, then…
I shake my head violently as I continue eating. Get your head out of the clouds, you fricking idiot!
I look back up and see her happily eating away as if nothing happened before I relax myself. I share a small portion for Windy, and we both finish the bowl of noodles. I begin cleaning up.
"Did you eat your fill?" I ask while cleaning up the pan and spatula with water.
"Yea! It was great!"
Of course, you ate over half of it yourself. I think to myself. I can't say that out loud though.
I finish cleaning up and we pack our stuff again.
"We can't stay in one spot," I say to her. "We need to keep moving and scavenging for food."
"That's a good point, let's get going." She replies while standing up. "Do you have a specific place in mind?"
"Not really, but I did see a range of mountains somewhere in the distance. Maybe we could slowly make our way there while going through places?"
"Why the mountain range?"
"If we gather enough supplies on the way there, we could probably just wait until people kill each other in a cave." Actually, it's more of a gamble, but she doesn't know that. "Gathering enough supplies means we have more for ourselves when it begins to run out."
She ponders for a moment.
"I guess you're right." She walks ahead of me and to the door before swinging it open, the gust of wind blowing our capes. "What are we waiting for? The sooner the better"