Eating Souls, Act One: The Beginning

19: I never lied: What are we?

"Class dismissed."

The dull roar of students gathering their belongings filled the room, and faded as they began to leave in their usual small groups. Leila and Stein were the last to leave.

"So, what are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"Hmm...food, first of all," Leila replied. "I think I'll make...wait, damn." She grimaced. "I promised myself I wouldn't make anything until all the leftovers were gone. I always make too much food, now that I only have one person to feed..." Her voice trailed off sadly. Two weeks had passed since Rivin had left, but Leila still made enough food for the both of them. Now she had a refrigerator full of leftovers that would most likely never be eaten. She hated leftovers.

Stein frowned. "A culinary genius like you, keeping delicious food all to herself, just to let it expire in the refrigerator and be thrown away?" He shook his head and smiled. "That doesn't seem fair."

Leila chuckled, blushing. "I don't know if I would use the word 'genius,' but it was pretty good food...when it was warm, at least."

Stein's smile became a grin. "Good, warm food. There's something I haven't had in my house for a while." He glanced at her. "It's a shame, really."

"You don't cook for yourself?"

He shook his head. "Cooking is a science that I never managed to master, unfortunately. I rarely remember to buy groceries, so I usually end up going to a restaurant for a quick meal, or, if I'm busy, forgetting to eat altogether."

"Well, that's no good..." Leila replied. She looked at her feet shyly. "I should come over and cook for you sometime."

"You're welcome to my home anytime," he smiled. He had been hoping she would say that.

So Leila went home with Stein, intending to make lunch, eat with him, and go back to her empty, rundown duplex. After lunch, however, they sat on his surprisingly comfortable stitch-y couch, talking and laughing. They eventually became hungry again, so they went out for more groceries, and Leila cooked a delicious dinner. The pleasant conversation continued. Her Meister had no shortage of fascinating and detailed stories about his various previous missions and experiments. When she finally looked at the clock on the wall, it was nearly midnight.

"I guess I should go home..." she sighed. "But I don't want to. It's dark." Leila loved the dark. The dark had nothing to do with it.

"You don't have to," Stein responded, then cleared his throat, looking slightly embarrassed. "If it's too dark, you could sleep here."

"I could..." Leila said distractedly. Her active imagination had been sparked by his offer, and she was struggling to make it behave. "Your couch is probably more comfortable than the beds that came with that old place." Her voice held a playful tone. "Any reason you'd want me to stay?" She couldn't help but giggle as he blushed and twisted his screw.

"Not particularly, it was just an offer." He managed to maintain his casual and detached demeanor.

Leila rolled her eyes. He'd more or less invited her to his house, but now that he had her there, he was suddenly acting like she was just a friend again. As funny as it was, it was also rather frustrating. She stood up with a sigh and shoved her hands into her pockets. "Alright, I guess I'll go home. I'll see you tomorrow, Professor." She walked toward the door.

"Leila, I-"

She turned and looked at him. "Hm?"

He couldn't finish the sentence, and he still didn't know why. When they'd resonated, the morning after the party, it had been effortless, and natural...and true. He definitely felt it, as far as he could tell. Why, then, under normal circumstances, couldn't he say it? "I...enjoyed lunch and dinner, thank you," he finished lamely. "If you have no plans for tomorrow, would you like to come over again?" Idiot, he thought. I'm an idiot.