"...What are these?" Noel poked the oddly colored bread-like thing on the table. There were twelve of them, all stacked neatly together in a pink box.

"Doughnuts." Hope glanced up at the papers he was currently reviewing. Serah must've left him some food after seeing the pitiful state of his dinner last night, most of what consisted of energy bars and vitamins. He wasn't very surprised they didn't have the unhealthy, highly processed luxury food in Noel's time. "Have you ever heard of them?"

"No. Are they any good?" Noel stares fixedly at the treats.

"Try one." Hope almost laughs as Noel warily picks out the least colorful doughnut, a plain chocolate one, and tears into it. He does laugh when Noel gags and almost spits it back out, coughing and scowling. "Too sweet for you?"

"You set me up." Noel gingerly set the bitten pastry down, glaring accusedly at Hope.

"Maybe," Hope shuffled his papers and stood up. Now that he was done with these, he needed to attend a meeting. Couldn't the Academy get anything done without him? "Stay here, will you? Don't get lost."

"Where are you going?"

"To gauge the efficiency of traditionally powered non aerodynamic engine versus the prototype manadrive one."

"...Which means...?"

"To see which engine is better. It'll only take around thirty minutes, so you should stay in my office."

"Frunph." Noel spat out crumbs as he tried to speak, pulling another face as he registered the taste. Hope sighed as Noel gagged again.

.

"I'm ba- Noel?"

"Ughhhhhh." Noel was curled up in a corner of the room, rocking back in forth in a fetal position. The pink doughnut box lay on its side, contents empty, save for one bright-yellow sprinkle-covered survivor.

"Did you really?"

"Mrphhhh."

"Serves you right for eating all of them." Hope picked up the remaining doughnut and took a bite out of it. Hope suddenly grinned as an idea struck him.

"Why are you-owww-smiling?"

"You'll see." Pulling out his cell phone, he quickly dialed a number.

"Serah? Noel really likes those doughnuts. You should bring him another box tomorrow. Yeah, I'm sure. He loved the bright-yellow one the most."

"No...Hope..stop..."

"The more sugar, the better. In fact, why don't you just bring him the custard-filled ones?"

"Ngghhh."

"Just listen to him moan as he eats them. That's how much he likes them. Ok, that would be great. Thanks Serah!"

"Hope...What did you just do...ow..."

"Called in a favor. Now can you still walk or do I have to get some painkillers?"

"I'll be fine... In a couple days."

"Good, cause I'm not cleaning up these crumbs."

"..."

.

Hope knocked on Noel's door, and invited himself in with his all-access Class A priority pass.

"Noel? Are you there?" Opening the bathroom door, Hope winced at the sight. Noel lay in the bathtub, fully clothed, with twelve empty pink boxes scattered around the (very) smelly room.

"You know you didn't have to, right?" He got a pained groan in response. Sighing, Hope picked up a few pink boxes and threw them into the trash. Turning on the bathroom fan, he smiled and addressed Noel.

"Have you ever heard of ice cream? You should try it some time, I know you'd love it."

"Hope...go away."