Chapter 4: Food Games Secrets

The warm morning sun through her window greeted Aeris well, relaxing the feline even more as she stirred in her covers. Her eyes sluggishly opened and closed as she drifted in and out of a sleeping state. Giving a quick glance to her clock, she quickly concluded that she could spare another hour or two to rest, recharging her systems to allow playing her 360 without exhaustion. A faint sound of something sizzling along with the aroma of food caught her senses as she returned to a sleeping form.

"Leo must be making himself breakfast," Aeris thought, just as her eyes closed and her brain began to rest. But it took only a moment for the realization to finally dawn on her as her eyes cracked fully open. The horrible memories of Leo's last attempt at cooking flooding into her mind, with the apartment almost turning into a den of flames.

With the fear waking her body fully, Aeris rushed out of bed and into the kitchen.

"Leo!" she shouted, getting ready to stop whatever nonsense he was doing. But she was stopped in her tracks as she saw, not Leo, but their company standing before the stove, a spatula in hand.

"Good morning," Alex greeted with a smile, breaking an egg into the pan he had before him. "Hope you don't mind that I raided your fridge, woke up with my stomach growling and had to fix something." Aeris spotted Leo sitting at the table, a generous supply of flapjacks sitting before him as he cut into them. "Don't worry, I've got something here for you too."

"All right...," Aeris said in confusion as she sat down. No one had ever made breakfast for her before, save for when she was back at her parents' home. With Leo's inability to cook anything without setting the surrounding area on fire, she did all of the cooking herself. Aeris noticed how well Alex cooked as well, three pans going off at once, two holding eggs and the other with strips of bacon. He gave each the attention they needed as he worked them over to make a meal.

And to Aeris annoyance, even when cooking, he still wore his trench coat. Not even the sleeves were rolled up as he completely ignored the hazard they could be. But she didn't have to wait very long before a plate was set in front of her.

"Leo mentioned you liked them scrambled," he said, returning back to the stove to finish up his own breakfast. Leo was still silent, the only sound coming from him was grotesque slurping as he engulfed the syrupy pancakes. After adding the needed flavoring of salt and pepper, Aeris dug into her own. The eggs themselves were all right, she was sure she could do it better, but the added bacon he set with it was divine.

"Not bad," she said, taking another bite into the strips of pork. Alex laughed as he watched her try it.

"I'll admit that I'm not very good with eggs, never been my forte, but I know my expertise in meat hasn't gone rusty." Not long after, Alex turned off the stove and sat down with the two cats. His own breakfast was an egg, cheese, and bacon sandwich. "Delicious," he said right before taking a large bite.

"I must ask," Aeris began, "where did you learn to cook so efficiently?" For a moment, Alex didn't answer, staring off into space as he thought on the question.

"Well, I'm used to multitasking in front of an oven. Worked in a small restaurant for a short while as a teenager. Had to learn to cook things in the shortest amount of time." Aeris nodded her head in understanding, beginning to piece together what she knew about the fox. They ate for a few minutes in silence, each enjoying their food to the fullest. After some time, they got to the point where they were just picking at the scraps. The silence remained until a loud belch burst from Leo's gaping maw, having just finished his pancakes.

"God dammit Leo," Aeris said angrily, "there's no reason for that sick behavior." Leo hardly paid any attention to her as he was laughing over his own bodily function. Aeris then rethought what she had said and looked apologetically toward Alex, who was taking the last bite from his sandwich. "Oh, I'm sorry for that God comment." The fox just looked at her quizzically for a moment, his lips began to twitch and he matched Leo's laugh, behaving like she had just told a joke.

"What," he said through his laugh, "you take me for some religious nut?"

"Well, I remember your gaming name being IronCross, I only thought that you..." Aeris was stopped by an even harder burst of laughter from Alex. "What the hell is so funny?" She was becoming angry at this point.

"Heh, oh God sorry. I just couldn't help but find amusement in your assumption that I'm the religious type. Based off of the Cross in my name no less, ha. But no, though I suppose you aren't the first to make that mistake. Cross in any form doesn't necessarily tie into crucifix, there are other meanings as well as symbols. And no, I'm not into the whole higher power, obey us or take hellfire thing. To be honest, the church and me don't see eye to eye.

"How so?"

"It's... it's a long story," he muttered before taking a sip from the glass of milk he had. Aeris was about to press the question further but their fox friend got up from his chair as he looked at the clock. "Oh my, is it that late already? Sorry guys, I really need to get to my apartment while I can, get that spare key and all that." He put his plate in the sink and went for the door. "Hate to leave you guys with clean up, but I cooked you guys clean, that's how it works right? Thanks once again for putting up with me, see you in the store sometime."

"Wait," Leo said, just as Alex was about to leave, "why don't you come back sometime and we can hangout?" The fox looked uncertain about it, acting nervous about the question.

"I wouldn't mind that either," Aeris added in, "would be a nice change of pace to see a new face around here."

"Oh," Alex mumbled, "well... yeah... I suppose so, maybe tomorrow?" Leo nodded ecstatically, giving Alex a small smile. "Okay then, I'll see you guys then." He then left, leaving the two cats with a mess of pans and plates to clean up.

"See Aeris," Leo said as they gathered everything, "you be nice to people and you can make new friends."

"I suppose," she muttered, appearing sidetracked with something, "but he seems rather... odd."

"Seems normal to me."

"Of course you wouldn't think so," Aeris said, the general company he usually associated with came to mind.


The next day, the two cats were visited by a red fox. Happy to see him, Leo immediately pulled him into a gaming battle as Aeris watched. They switched turns between each other, Aeris beginning to see his skills in video games didn't just exist among snipers in shooters.

It was a good time had by all, as the hours passed, Alex looked to the clock and realized he had to leave. Though Leo was disappointed, he was reassured that he would return.

Days went on like this, with Alex visiting Leo and Aeris at their apartment, and a round of games being played between them. Each time Aeris grew more and more annoyed by one glaring fact. The damned trench coat he always wore. His attire changed underneath of it, with his coat always worn open, it was clear he changed shirts. But Aeris was continuously brought under the suspicion that something about him was more then it seemed.

At one point, the pink feline was tempted to just pin the fox down and rip the coat to shreds. Of course it was quickly pushed aside, with the slight possibility that it could just be a fashion statement by the fox, the awkward embarrassment alone would be enough to kill her.

They didn't learn much about the fox during his stays however, their conversations consisted of games and little else. Though they picked up on his enjoyment of bubble gum as he got into his games, blowing large pink bubbles as he chomped down on the rubbery candy.

It was an unchanging cycle that lasted for days, until it was broken by his latest visit to the apartment.

"Ready to get taken down again Leo," Alex said with high confidence.

"Ha, like the last game we played? You couldn't stay spawned for more then a few minutes before you were taken out again."

"I just need to keep my mind steady, I got just enough gum to handle it too." The fox reached into his coat pockets and took a moment as he rifled through them. "Ah, here it is." He pulled out the packet of gum. But when he did it, the rest of the pocket's contents came out with it. Though he didn't seem to notice as he took a spot next to Leo in their challenge to one another.

Aeris however did notice, picking up what he had dropped. Just a few bills, loose change and a crumpled up piece of paper. Curiosity getting the best of her, she opened up the paper to see what it said. While scanning the paper, a look of concern crossed her.

"Alex..." she said, her eyes not leaving the paper.

"Yeah," he replied, hardly giving her any attention, like a child to his mother.

"What is this?" Alex looked toward her for a moment, preparing to quickly look back to the game. But when his gaze caught the paper in her hands, his face locked to the spot while a shocked expression took over. Immediately, his hand shot into his coat pocket, looking for a piece of paper that wasn't there.

"Oh, that... that's nothing, just nothing." He paused the game and got up, reaching out for the paper. "Just give it here." As his hand was about to grab it, she yanked away.

"How is this nothing," she said, her anger starting to go up from being so obviously lied to.

"Look, it doesn't concern you, that's how it's nothing." Alex's own voice was beginning to rise.

"What is it?" Leo asked, finally gaining a bit of interest into the spectacle. Aeris handed him the paper, Leo scanned over the words, reading aloud as he did. "Notice of eviction. To Alex Kage, room number 10. Due to unsatisfactory condition of room and key. Deadline of three days to vacate all belongings from premises." Alex was able to snatch the paper from Leo just as he finished it, tearing it to pieces in a fit of frustration.

"All right," he said with an angered sigh, "yes, I was kicked out of the apartment yesterday. Didn't want to worry you guys over it."

"And it was because you lost your key?" Aeris asked, unable to fight the feeling that it was somewhat her fault.

"Nah, that was just the excuse she used to kick me out."

"Excuse?"

"She couldn't very well get rid of me due to the real reason." He said once again, his ears dropping down. "Didn't think she hated my kind that bad... ah well."

"Your landlady hates foxes?" Alex's ears perked up in surprise at the question.

"Uh... yeah, that she does. Like I said, it's nothing, I'm sure I can find a place in time."

"Didn't you say that place was all you could find?" Leo asked, remembering what he had said before.

"Yeah, but I'll make due. Even if I have to look farther into the city." Just then, Leo clapped his hands together as he realized something.

"I know," he exclaimed, "you can stay here with us. We have a spare room that's just used for space. We can clean it up and let you live in it." A look of complete shock appeared on Alex's face at the idea. He looked over to Aeris, sure that she would be against it, but she merely nodded her head as she thought on it.

"For once he is right. The apartment was made for at least four people, and we keep getting hounded about not having anyone else living here. And I'd rather have you here then the freaks Leo keeps trying to get to move in." The look on the fox's face was only increased by her answer.

"No no," he said, "I'm appreciative for the offer, but I'd rather not take advantage of your hospitality anymore then I have. Besides, I'm not the best of roommates." As quick as a flash, Aeris charged into the fox, bending his arm behind his back and pushing him against the nearest wall, pressing his face against the flat surface.

"I'm not normally this generous," she growled threateningly. "And you are not making me very happy by just saying no to our offer when you so clearly need it. Why don't you tell us what's going on, and don't you dare lie to me!"

"Ow, dammit, all right all right," Alex said, before Aeris finally let him go. "Believe me when I tell you it has nothing to do with either of you. It's just that... well,we all have our secrets... I just wanted to keep them from you guys as not to ruin anything between us."

"What could be so bad that it would change how we think of you?" Alex sighed again, becoming regretful for what he was about to do.

"I suppose I couldn't keep it a secret for long. So, before you think about actually having me here, you should know something about me. But for you to understand better, I guess I need to show you first."


A/N: So chapter 4 is a go. Not as long as the last one, but I figured here would be a good stopping point, suspense and all that. We've seen a bit more of Alex, or lack thereof.

Next chapter we will see who he really is. The long lost brother of Leo... (cough) I don't know, I mean this is a fanfic, so that could totally happen...

And yes, I have been enjoying the hell out of Skyrim so far. Fantastic game, vast improvement to Oblivion. And so far I haven't encountered any game breaking glitches, so that's a plus for a Bethesda game. But regardless of my growing addiction to this game, I'm trying to give myself time to work on these chapters. Which is going to be even harder because AC:R comes out this Tuesday (drool)