Neighbors | PJM [18+]

Chapter Three: Don't Bite the Hand that Feeds You

That's how I imagine Jimin looking over at Cat in the final portion of the chapter... like he likes what he's seeing ;)

"SORRY I ONLY HAVE RAMEN," Hannah apologized for the nth. "I haven't been grocery shopping yet."

"It's cool, Han," Cat affirmed her friend. Hannah cared a lot about being a good host and entertainer when she had people over and Cat wasn't too hard to entertain or please, and she actually liked ramen. It was how she survived college without starving.

Hannah glanced into the pot, noticing the ramen had begun boiling already. Bubbles made a perimeter inside the pot, and movement of them seemed to make the water level rise. She motioned for Cat, who had the seasoning packet, to begin adding it in, and Cat did, tearing into the foil packet easily.

"Where's your salt?" asked Cat, outstretching her hand.

Hannah panicked.

"Uh," the blonde woman went to the nearest cupboard and opened it. Luckily the small salt shaker she'd brought from her previous apartment had been properly unpacked and sat on the shelf. She handed it to Cat, who shook some Salt into the pan and used a fork to mix the seasonings with the boiling ramen. Cat turned it off and grabbed the panhandle.

Hannah led her out of her kitchen over to the small dining room table she had. She'd already laid out white porcelain bowls, and Cat, with expertise, apportioned the ramen and broth into the two bowls before taking the empty pot back into the kitchen. She returned to the table with two bottles of water and an additional fork. She handed Hannah a bottle and a utensil.

"Thanks, sweetie," Hannah smiled. Cat nodded as she slid into her seat and began eating.

Cat was starving.

She'd taken a fat ass nap yesterday afternoon as expected—she woke up at 11 pm, reborn. She'd been so refreshed that she'd attempted—and failed—to rewrite Chapter 12 with the ferocity of sex as portrayed in the porn videos in similar positions she'd referenced. She'd worked well into the night, made multiple versions, and stopped at 6 am only with shitty drafts and the need to nap once more.

She'd only woken up from her second nap to get ready to come here, and she'd failed to eat during that whole process. She didn't realize it until she stepped food into Hannah's loft apartment and her stomach left out almost an animalistic growl. Hannah had been cleaning up, throwing away the last of her moving boxes and such, so she, too, was a bit starved.

"Is it good?" Hannah asked Cat after Cat began eating.

"Yeah," Cat said with a mouthful of noodles. She looked over and noticed Hannah lacked the same fervor with her consumption, and she slowed her pace, sheepish. "Is it not good for you?"

"It is, but I'm not moaning." Hannah teased.

"TUH." Cat ate some more noodles, proving her point with her silence. "I wasn't moaning."

Hannah, with a knowing smile, began eating more of her noodles. "I guess you wouldn't know what I moan sounds like, after all."

Cat choked on her noodles.

"Hannah!" Cat yelled. "I didn't tell you for you to mock me and joke about it."

Cat had informed Hannah of her virginal status and her dilemma with her possible pushed back publication date when Hannah first sat her down in her living room. The intensity and incessantness of her stomach's contributions to the conversation halted Cat before she could inform Hannah of her possible involvement in Cat's expedition.

"I'm sorry." Hannah put her hands up in earnest. "It's just really... new. This information. I'm processing and I process things through jokes."

Cat understood because she understood how Hannah worked. When her childhood dog died the second semester of Freshman year, Hannah got drunk and made jokes about how ugly it was while showing photos to Cat as evidence. It was an odd coping process but it worked, Cat supposed. She didn't cry until the second bottle of wine.