Burning Road

Legacy- Part II

Cali awoke feeling like her arm had lost a fight with a steamroller.  Her chest hurt, but she was pretty sure nothing was broken.  The apartment was quiet.  Surprisingly she was the last to get up.  Mimi'd found YouTube, and used Cali's headphones to lose herself in videos.  DotPrince sat at his workbench reading his grandfather's book.  The two usually took every opportunity to annoy or insult each other, but that morning something was different.  She blamed the strange atmosphere on the demon attack.

Cali decided to make breakfast for everyone.  She stretched, made a pit stop in the bathroom, and then got to work.  Most people didn't know but Cali was a gourmet chef of sorts, creating elaborate meals for the minions and herself.  Khouri's place lacked in supplies and ingredients, but Cali could use anything.  She liked to experiment, to take risks.  Mimi was drawn out of her internet expedition by the sweet aromas coming from the stove.  DotPrince even walked over to take a look before retreating back to his corner.  Again they both seemed to be actively ignoring one another.  When she was done she set out three plates of bacon, eggs, and Mystery Muffins.

"What's a Mystery Muffin?" DotPrince asked as he examined his fluffy blue tinted pastry.

"I don't know?  That's why it's a mystery."

"How is that possible, you just made them?"

"I mix the batter, then close my eyes and pick a few ingredients at random from the cabinets.  I once made one that was birthday cake, cinnamon, and banana cream mix... on the other hand there was that time I made cat food and clam chowder.  The fun is not knowing until you've had your first bite."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," he grumbled.  He put the muffin down, clearly unsure whether he wanted to try his luck.

"This is good, Cali," Mimi said.  Her face was slathered with bacon grease and chocolate.

"See!" Cali said.  She nudged his blue muffin back onto his plate.

"Why is it blue?" he asked.

"That's the mystery!  C'mon, take a bite.  You won't regret it."

She raised her muffin in salute, and bit a hearty chunk.  She chewed happily at first, but as the flavors filled her mouth her taste buds rose up in revolt.  Cali turned toward the littered counter in a vain attempt to guess what she'd poured into the batter, it was worse than cat food.  She spit the sour contents of her mouth into a napkin and grabbed DotPrince's beer.  Water couldn't banish the foulness that attacked her tongue so she left the job to his bitter brew.  Bitter was definitely better.  Khouri laughed so hard he choked on a mouthful of eggs.  As he coughed and laughed, she realized it was the most genuine display of mirth she'd ever seen from him.

She offered what was left of his beer, but he casually took her glass of water and guzzled it down.  She wondered if he knew how cool she thought he was.  Mimi gestured to Cali's Mystery Muffin and, once it was clear that the goblin didn't care about her warnings, handed the muffin over.  Cali finished the beer to kill the last vestiges of the flavor resistance as Mimi took a few cautious nibbles.  She shook her head violently as the sour taste attacked her senses.  Cali stifled a laugh when Mimi took a few more bites to the same result.  Cali glanced at DotPrince, and noticed he was staring at Mimi.  She'd spent hours studying his mannerisms, learning his body language, but couldn't place the look in his eyes.  It was new.

"What does that look mean?' she asked him, annoyed that she couldn't read him.  He startled as if he'd been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to.

"What happened yesterday?" he countered.  Cali had dreaded having to explain how Wally found them.

"Ummm, we got cleaned up, and went to the mall?  Then Wally attacked us, and chased us here..."  Khouri stood up and walked away.