Muzaka lounged comfortably in his seat, staring thoughtfully down at his empty plate without really seeing it.
Arien's closing statement about her origins had made everyone tense up, including himself. None of them liked the idea of anyone being experimented on, as they had all experienced it, directly or indirectly, themselves.
He could almost see Frankenstein's Mother Hen instincts rearing up at the mere thought of this woman in a lab tank.
Despite the sympathy and empathy that the group felt towards her, no one spoke. To ask for any kind of detail or further explanation would no doubt bring up personal and horrendous memories. Muzaka, for one, had certainly noticed how she had said 'we,' not just 'I,' and the finality with which she had said they were 'failures.' And he doubted that he was the only one who noticed. It was hard to ask questions or even provide comfort when doing so was just a reminder of the traumatic experiences both sides had experienced.
He himself had felt the least qualified to offer comfort. Though he was acutely aware of the pain that came from losing someone, he was also the only one who had ever undergone experiments for his own personal gain. Not that he was still undergoing them, but he had more-or-less known what he was in store for when he met Crombell and he had accepted it anyway.
Being friends with Raizel for so long had taught him a good deal about how to break the ice, but he kept silent this time. He was sure the others would be able to provide much better consolation if and when the occasion arose.
But before anyone could say anything, Raizel's phone had starting going off and Raizel had stood up, informing everyone that it was time for breakfast. Frankenstein had reacted then, apologizing deeply for not keeping an eye on the time and delaying his precious Master's breakfast, as well as herding everyone out of the school and back to the house. Arien had seemed bemused by the whole scene, especially how they all insisted on her joining them.
Muzaka smiled at the memory. He was curious how much of that was Frankenstein being genuinely upset or if it had been his way of diffusing the situation. Probably a little of both. But it had worked out perfectly, helping everyone in the room to stop dwelling on their past for a minute and instead fret over relatively meaningless things like making breakfast.
When they had gotten to the house the three modified humans had moved the couches and little table out of the way to make room for a long table, complete with tasteful and matching chairs. Muzaka had briefly wondered if Frankenstein owned anything that didn't match at least one other thing before picking a seat and sitting down.
Most of the household either began preparing breakfast or stood around without anything to do, though a few did sit down, like Raizel. He had figured that Raizel would sit at the head of the table and was not disappointed. Muzaka had decided to sit in the middle of the table as opposed to by Raizel, mostly just to see if anyone besides his family would deign to sit next to him. His plan was quickly cut short, though, as the few warriors who had come with him seemed to have taken it upon themselves to ensure that he was never alone. Garda and Lunark sat down on either side of him while Kentas sat almost directly across from him. He found their commitment heart-warming if a bit exasperating.
Though in all honesty, perhaps they just stuck to him so closely because they felt out of place. He could definitely understand that. He was the guy that had almost killed Raizel, and Lunark and Kentas had been direct enemies of the household until a few days ago.
It was one of the reasons why he kept making it a point to look as relaxed and comfortable as he possibly could so that maybe they would relax a bit themselves. They probably assumed that he really felt right at home, but that was not the case. He was just better at hiding it than they were.
Oh he certainly didn't feel in danger physically, he just knew he was not truly welcome here. He didn't mind. He did not expect any of them to forgive him; in fact, it was almost a relief to know that they despised what he had done, and by extension despised him. It was a quiet bit of symmetry to how he felt about himself.
The delicious smell of cooked meat finally dragged him from his reverie, and he looked up to see Arien, Seira, and Frankenstein all in pink aprons serving food. The rest of the household had sat down while he had been lost in thought, he noted, and there was already a large plate full of bacon, eggs, and bread in front of him.
Arien and Seira took the last two places at the table when it became clear that Frankenstein was going to remain standing respectfully behind Raizel instead of joining them. Muzaka felt his stomach growl and realized how hungry he was – the food that Arien had made them seemed like days ago. He was just about to dig in when he noticed that no one else had even picked up their chopsticks.
He paused, sending a questioning glance towards Frankenstein. Who smirked ever so slightly and ignored him. He considered the thought that Frankenstein was doing this purely to mess with him – he hadn't forgotten the exploding drink – but quickly disregarded that notion. Though Frankenstein was clearly not above messing with him, Muzaka didn't think he could get everyone, including Raizel, in on a prank without any time to plan.
Speaking of Raizel.
Muzaka glanced over at him, noticing that he wasn't eating either, just staring intently into his bowl of food. Why Raizel had a bowl instead of a plate was beyond Muzaka, but maybe that was why no one was eating. If Raizel wanted to wait, than he bet no one was gonna say a damn thing about it, and eating before him would be rude.
He turned back to his food, catching Kentas's eye as he did. Muzaka just smiled a little and shook his head at Kentas's confused expression, hoping that Kentas would understand that nothing was wrong or anything. The confused expression did not leave Kentas's face, and he could tell that the unknown and unexplained situation was making Lunark and Garda a little tense as well.
It looked like it was once again up to him to break the ice.
He was surprised when Arien broke it first, though.
"Is there a specific reason why everyone is letting their food get cold?" Her tone was mild and polite, but her raised eyebrow indicated that the reason had better be a damn good one.
Everyone relaxed a fraction at her question, as if they had all wanted to explain their behavior but hadn't dared break the silence. Muzaka grinned a little. It was nice not having to be the one to always break the ice.
It was Raizel who answered, without looking away from his bowl.
"I am waiting for the serving to grow," he said, his voice very serious.
What? Muzaka felt his eyebrows contract a little in confusion, and he wasn't the only one. Arien was actually looking genuinely upset, and Muzaka decided that he'd take Round 2 of ice-breaking. He didn't want her to say something that would upset Raizel. Or, more accurately, something that would upset Frankenstein and the other Nobles for daring to question Raizel.
"What the hell do you mean, waiting for the serving to grow?" he asked a little loudly, smiling a little at Raizel. He really was a weird, interesting guy.
It was Frankenstein who answered.
"Master enjoys watching the noodles in the ramen absorb the soup around it. When this happens the amount of noodles appears to increase."
Huh. Well, he didn't really know what that meant, but whatever. He was used to Raizel's weirdness. Instead of commenting, he glanced at Arien.
Arien's expression was somewhere between confusion and pouting as she said, "So, you deliberately wait for the noodles to taste bad before eating it?"
Raizel just nodded as he finally picked up his chopsticks and began eating, prompting everyone else to follow suit.
Arien looked around the room like she was watching a play put on by lunatics. Muzaka chuckled as he took his first few bites of the now-lukewarm food.
"Don't worry about it Arien, you get used to it after a while." She looked at him with a slightly lost expression before shrugging and eating her breakfast.
-xxxxxxx-
A/N: So I was able to write this one really quickly and wanted to go ahead and post it to make up for the super long previous chapters. I know they might seem tedious but since I had to describe an entire Universe I couldn't think of a good way to do it piece-meal that would be in-character for both the Noblesse characters and my OC, as well as fit with my overall story outline.
So here, have some ramen for bearing with me :)
Review and all that jazz! ^.^