"So, what do you usually like for breakfast, Susie?"

The monster girl barely heard him, sweeping her eyes over the kitchen laid out before her as her nose observed just as closely (whether subconscious or not). After seeing his living room, Susie figured she would be ready for whatever the rest of Ralsei's home looked like, and for the most part, that theory held up. The fridge, like she guessed, was more modern than usual, having that fancy-pantsy ice-dispenser on the front. Even had the accompanying water dispenser, too, but Susie figured it couldn't be that much better than tap water. There was a wide island in the middle of the kitchen, only occupied by a neat-looking cutting board and some of the usual utensils found in a kitchen. Behind the island was an elongated "L" shape of cabinets and drawers with enough vertical space between them for Ralsei to sit comfortably. Fittingly, the next thing Susie could see was a short step ladder tucked away at the far end of the cabinets. And finally, Susie's eyes completed their journey at the wide sink in the middle of the cabinets, bordered on one side by a bottle of washing liquid and the other by a green sponge. Not a single dirty dish could be found.

Ralsei watched his friend, curious. Susie wasn't as enamored with the unfamiliarity of the room like she had been with the living room, but the overall cleanliness was still new to her. Even newer was the array of scents that her nose was picking up; having a more sensitive snout than most meant that a well-stocked kitchen might as well have been a hurricane's flood for how much it drowned Susie's sense of smell. Some seconds of grandeur later, Ralsei cleared his throat, breaking Susie from her silence.

"Hm?" she hummed, shaking her head. Ralsei waited expectantly, not moving further into the kitchen. Right, he asked what she usually liked for breakfast. Susie's jaw unhinged itself like a metal trash can (not unlike the one next to that stepladder, actually). "Uhh… I dunno. The usual, I guess…?"

Susie raised her claws to her neck, scratching at her scales anxiously. There was an awkward unfamiliarity that didn't seem to be passing anytime soon; the candor with Ralsei earlier assuaged most of it, but being thrown back into the unknowns of Ralsei's home had replaced a hefty portion. The smell of his kitchen didn't help either. Susie's answer didn't do much to displace the confused look on Ralsei's features; if anything, her answer intensified his befuddlement.

"Um," he started, taking an uncertain step towards the kitchen. The tiles looked just as spotless, too, a bright white dotted with the occasional green square. "Right, but… what is your usual, Susie?"

Susie was quiet, her boots frozen on the tiles. Technically, saying nothing was the correct answer, but of course Ralsei didn't know that. Nor did Susie really want him to. After learning about his home life (or rather, a sort of lack of one), Susie was even more hesitant to say much about her own. There were plenty of reasons to keep that under wraps in the first place. Though, making something up was as equally undesirable, leading to a stark silence as Susie feigned an internal hum of contemplation.

While Ralsei was patient, he also seemed able enough to tell something was bothering Susie, which wasn't a good option, either. The easy conversation they just shared made any awkwardness even more obvious than it already was. He spoke again, offering some examples to the girl. "Do you like eggs? I have some cereal, but I prefer warm meals. I could make a sandwich, too…"

He thought for a few seconds, mentally checking his repertoire of recipes. "Maybe pancakes?"

Like a switch was flipped, Susie's head whipped towards Ralsei's curious countenance. "Pancakes?" she repeated, like it was the meaning of life. The doubts and anxieties of having a morning meal were bulldozed over, or at the very least, pushed to the side. Ralsei nearly recoiled, suppressing a laugh at how automatic Susie's reaction was. He nodded, the uncomfortable silence from before draining from his features. "Yes, I do like making pancakes especially. They're a kind of cake, after all!"

His head lowered for a moment, as if trying to hide his words. "But, I can make more than cakes and… cake-related things, if you want."

"Yeah, no," Susie replied, an eager energy pulling her posture up to a nearly uncomfortable degree. The prospect of pancakes didn't entirely discard her nervousness, though it helped to have something so readily focused on. "Let's do pancakes. Definitely."

That answer satisfied Ralsei. His grin widened, hands sweeping together to clap together at his cheek in that dramatic way Susie figured people only did in movies. "Great! It's been a while since I cooked for someone! It's been… forever, actually."

A few moments passed. Those distinctly sweet scents wafted around Susie's snout as she waited for him to move. Then, Ralsei's ears bounded about as he shook off the melancholy, looking back to Susie. He stepped further into the kitchen with a small collection of *clops* as he continued, already reaching down into some unforeseen compartment in the kitchen's island. "What kind of pancakes do you like? Chocolate chip? Or maybe plain? I prefer strawberry, myself..."

Susie watched him, one hand unconsciously moving to her empty stomach, the other tensing into a fist. The prospect of actually having breakfast for once was good enough; having a warm, prepared breakfast, even better; having someone else make her that breakfast… there was such a thing as too much. Plus, well, she didn't want Ralsei thinking she couldn't cook for herself. Less about pride, more about capability. It was still hard for her to move much.

Susie continued watching Ralsei's horns move about from behind the island, a collection of unrecognizable ingredients being placed one after another on the island's counter. Her smile faded as her eyes shifted back to the tiles underfoot, unfamiliarity seeping back in once more to counter the usual eagerness Susie had with food. It felt like one of those cartoon laser-beam battles her teacher had shown the class in some strange educational allegory. Or maybe Susie's teacher just felt like watching cartoons during class. Susie couldn't blame her.

Ralsei eventually picked up on Susie's second lack of an answer, green glasses peeking back up over the edge of the counter. Those glasses dropped an inch at Susie's guilt-ridden expression. Seeing his reaction in her peripheral, Susie looked back up, forcing the usual overconfident arrogance back into her muscles.

"Here," she said gruffly, taking a wide stride towards Ralsei. The hodge-podge of culinary fragrances intensified with each of her steps. "I'll… help ya, I guess. Don't want you to mess it up or anything, heh."

The girl's volunteering was as abrupt as it was unconvincing, at least to her. Ralsei only looked surprised by the notion, blinking a few times as Susie made her way to him in a manner that gave off the impression of his imminent thrashing. Confidence told him otherwise. Whatever he could've said about Susie's strange behavior, he kept to himself. That much didn't bother Susie; definitely didn't bother her as much as unwarranted kindness tended to. She pushed herself next to Ralsei, only keeping her eyes forward out of professional courtesy as she crouched down. Hopefully her spiked armlets hadn't poked too much into him. By the time she actually took note of how well-stocked Ralsei's kitchen was, he stood back up.

"That sounds lovely, Susie!" he granted, assessing the collection of ingredients. After a delay, Susie followed him back to a standing position. Or, she would have, if the island wasn't in the way. Her head banged into the countertop's edge, making a loud *THUNK* alongside an even louder swear. Ralsei jumped similarly, recoiling from the noise like a piston. Susie groaned, already feeling a minor bump form under her hair. Ralsei stepped back next to her, leaning in close again. "Are you al-"

"Fine," Susie cut off, pretending to stretch her neck. She never did find out how well her scales could hide an embarrassed blush, and only now was her lack of research being regretted. "I'm fine."

Ralsei kept his eyes on her for another couple moments that she didn't quite appreciate. Still, he shrugged it off eventually, adjusting his glasses as he motioned to the various boxes in front of him.

"This should be most of it," he told Susie. She couldn't make much sense of what was laid before her. None of the boxes had any words; just colorful imagery with the usual marketing iconography, but no words. Not even their smells could be identified, too intertwined with each other to pick out any one scent. The few words she did see on the packages were either brand-names, or interesting takes on how to arrange the alphabet. Ralsei spoke again, evidently missing the confusion on Susie's features. "I'll get the rest out. So, what kind of pancakes do you prefer, Susie?"

Shrugging off the bizarre way packaging apparently worked in the Dark World, Susie glanced at her shorter friend. Standing next to him really made her realize how many inches she had over him. "Uh, I ain't picky," she told him quietly. His horns barely made it up to her snout. "Chocolate, I guess. If you got it."

Ralsei let out his quiet version of a cocky laugh, which was barely any lower in pitch than his usual laughs. "Of course!" he replied, moving a white hand around the refrigerator's handle. He waved his snout back towards the island Susie stood at before turning to face the fridge's contents. "I have plenty of chocolate chips. They should be down there, near the left side."

Susie's eyes drifted back down to the island's doors, hesitant. "Left side," she muttered. "Got it." A few seconds passed. Another glance at Ralsei told Susie he was too busy looking inside the fridge to notice her. The monstrous size of the fridge was made even larger as an effect of the goat's small stature. After the obligatory double-check, Susie crouched back down towards the island's height, her boots making a subtle *squeak* as the leather slid against the smooth tiles underfoot.

"Aw, hell," Susie thought to herself as she opened the wooden door back up. Her earlier half-baked assessment of what Ralsei kept in the island hadn't been some trick of the light; he really did stock his kitchen well. So well, in fact, that Susie had no clue where to look for something as simple as chocolate chips. The rest of the boxes and bags seemed allergic to the English language, only covered in bright unhelpful colors and equally unhelpful names and symbols. The few times Susie could see something vaguely recognizable, she still doubted it was a word. What the hell was "Hytraludney" supposed to be? Some foreign country?

Unsure, Susie tilted her head just enough to see Ralsei still sorting through his fridge. The size of the thing probably made his own search a tad more difficult. Susie returned to the random assortment of items, eyes darting from one box to the next like a sugar-hyped fruit fly. Maybe she could… search in her own way? The idea didn't feel very appealing. The alternative of just asking Ralsei was even less appealing. Swallowing her pride, Susie leaned in towards the variety of spices and ingredients, and inhaled.

A wave of scents and smells slammed into her nostrils like jet-powered freight trains, nearly propelling Susie backwards. She guessed that was to be expected, considering Ralsei had more cooking supplies than the average grocery store tucked away in the island's confines. Most of them Susie couldn't even recognize. A few of them weren't the sort of things people used as food, but then the Dark World had a streak of breaking her expectations. Focusing, Susie sifted through the smells, closing her eyes to pick apart each edible aroma one by one.

Not that she liked making a note of it, but Susie figured she had a more sensitive nose than most. Rarely was it something she took pride in; there weren't exactly a whole lot of agreeable scents she could associate with herself, and even less did she find a use for having such freakishly acute nostrils. Yet another "blessing" of being the draconic monster she was. Though, if the Dark World wanted to give her another chance to actually feel good about one of her more unorthodox qualities, then she wasn't going to pass it up. Finally, she found the ingredient she was looking for, its sweet scent tickling her nose in that usually pleasurable way. Satisfied, Susie opened her eyes, then saw the green of Ralsei's robe next to her.

"Uh, Susie?" Ralsei questioned, holding a carton of milk in his hand. He looked at her with a strange smile, obviously confused, but not to the point of discomfort. "Do you… like the smell?"

Susie blinked, feeling her cheeks heat up. Her hands tightened on the door for the island's counter, nearly cracking into-

*crack*

Instantly, Susie's eyes broadened, and she whipped her head towards the noise. This made Ralsei's exclamation a tad quieter, but it was heard all the same. "Susie!?"

Susie's hand was so tightly wrapped around the door's edge that her thumb had cracked it, a few token splinters poking out from the rest of the smooth surface. The sharp breaks didn't even feel painful, though Susie was too busy panicking to notice. A second later, Susie unlatched her hand from the door, stumbling away from it and nearly falling to the tiles in the process.

"S-sorry!" Susie nearly yelled. The small of her back finally met the opposing end of the kitchen, forcing her to halt, if a little awkwardly. Her wide eyes locked onto Ralsei's, heart beating in that all-too-familiar form of panic. That panic seized itself in her chest when she noticed Ralsei didn't seem upset; surprised, by all means, but not angry or frustrated at her. The most awkward seconds of Susie's life passed by over the course of hours. Then, Ralsei opened his mouth again.

"...is something wrong, Susie?" he asked, placing the carton of milk on the countertop along with a mysterious looking carton. The boy's eyebrows fell like a pair of stones, obviously sensing something amiss. "You seem… tense."

Susie simply kept her eyes on him, trying desperately to fight back against the usual alarm that had come to accompany mistakes in the household. The fact that it was Ralsei's household rather than her own was something her instinctive panic had glossed over. It took far more time than she wanted to admit for the feeling to die down enough to allow her to speak.

"Sorry," Susie squeaked out. After the mandatory mountain of self-chastising, Susie tried again, reminding herself that it was just the two of them there. "I-I mean… sorry."

Susie held her breath like it was a life preserver in a hurricane, waiting for Ralsei to move, or do something, or say anything. Whatever he did was probably better than what Susie's imagination was filling the blanks with. A mistake like hers didn't tend to go unpunished, but Ralsei wasn't exactly the punishing type. He did eventually show some kind of consciousness, turning back to the new scar in the island's door.

"It's okay, Susie," he granted, taking a closer look at the damage. His tone was hard to pin down, mostly because Susie's paranoia didn't let her listen very closely to it. "But, um… what's the matter? Is something bothering you?"

Even a blind five-year-old wouldn't need Susie to say anything for an answer to Ralsei's question. Still, she wasn't sure how to word any kind of answer. Between the embarrassment of cracking the island's door, the embarrassment of her own instinctive reaction, and the embarrassment of using her nose over her eyes that caused the cascade in the first place, the resulting cocktail of apprehension was more shameful than anything else.

"Uh..." Susie stalled. Slowly but surely, she untensed herself, risking a tentative step back to Ralsei. There was a contradiction between the newness of her environment and the expectation of Ralsei's reaction that her subconscious just didn't seem to understand. Her brain seemed pretty selective about what was and wasn't "supposed" to be familiar to her, whether it was Ralsei's concern or Susie's personal life. No amount of candor or hunger could keep her life's worth of lessons at bay. Seeing all the ingredients Ralsei had taken out, Susie forced herself to breathe, trying to hold onto the difference in homes that she and Ralsei shared.

"...nah," she ended up saying. "Just, y'know… nothing in particular, I mean. Little nervous, I guess."

Susie cleared her throat, then congratulated herself on her acting ability. Hopefully Ralsei couldn't tell exactly why she reacted the way she did; paranoia felt more persuasive than common sense right about now. "Sorry about your door, though. My bad."

Unsurprisingly, Ralsei just shook his head, that unique caliber of cheeriness flooding his features. "Don't worry about it," he waved off. "I'm sure it was fairly old, anyways. Most of the things in the castle are."

An unamused smirk pulled Susie's lips to the side, and she looked over at the shiny imposing refrigerator to Ralsei's right. "Old, huh?" she questioned.

Ralsei coughed. "I replaced that part myself."

"I'll bet," Susie grunted, trying to shake off her lingering doubts. She feigned a shrug, walking back over the island's surface past Ralsei. Everything required for pancakes seemed to be present. At least, that was Susie's guess. She wasn't exactly the culinary type. Ralsei spoke again after looking over the collection of ingredients himself. "Did you find the chocolate, Susie?"

If Susie still wasn't trying to discard her own instinctive panic, she probably would've imprinted her palm onto the scales of her forehead. "Yeah, uh..." She scrambled for some desperate attempt to salvage her reputation (whatever that was by now). "I… did. Technically."

Ralsei laughed again. The noise was strangely calming to Susie, if only for what it pointed towards. A far cry from what she was used to hearing. Part of her wanted to get used to it. "It's alright," he assured her. "You're still new to the Dark World and all."

Susie snorted, crossing her arms in that slightly uncomfortable fashion that was only slightly less uncomfortable than stabbing her spiked bracers into her chest. "Yeah, got that right," she agreed. "The hell kinda stores you got down here?"

Ralsei shrugged. He stepped a little towards Susie, and taking the hint, she moved aside to give him room. "I admit," he started, crouching down to fill the space Susie had been in. The prince reached into the island's doorframe, moving some of those ambiguous bags of ingredients around. Their scents shifted in tandem. "Some parts of the Dark World can seem a little… unorthodox. I suppose I'm just used to it, since I've lived here all my life… I think."

Susie hummed, watching the back of Ralsei's head to distract from the constant awkward hole she kept putting herself in. He really was a fluffy boy, that was for sure. The short white of his tail swayed back and forth in tandem with his movements, poking out from his robe like a small animal of its own. The sight was almost… hypnotic. It certainly distracted from how awkward Susie was (or wasn't?) supposed to be feeling. A dissatisfied huff of air broke the spell before Susie could get too entranced. After a few more seconds of shuffling and moving things around, Ralsei hummed. "I thought it was right here…"

Ralsei visibly paused for a second, then reached further into the island. Susie craned her neck around to get a better look at his search. "Having some trouble there, Rals?"

"Uh… somewhat," Ralsei replied. His voice was ever-so-slightly muffled by the wood of the island. His body visibly paused for a second at some kind of recognition, and he leaned back out to give Susie a wide smile. No words left his lips.

"What?" Susie questioned. She found herself hoping she didn't look too suspicious despite likely not having reason to, which effectively contradicted the fact itself. Ralsei merely smiled at her for a few more seconds, which was a pleasant enough sight, though not the clearest.

"Haha, nothing…" the boy waved off. Ralsei delved back into the island's depths, resuming his search. "It's just… nice, to hear you call me that."

Susie's eyebrows stayed elevated. She was about to ask what "that" was before replaying what she just said in her mind.

"Oh, yeah," she realized. "Well, y'know, rolls off the tongue easier. And the whole 'friend' thing. Obviously."

A loud "ahem" echoed through the kitchen as the girl cleared her throat. Some chuckles accompanied the noise. Soon, though, Ralsei's flattered tone left his voice, replaced by an irked one that most people probably wouldn't be able to pick up on. "I know I have some in here… did you see a white bag, Susie?"

Thinking for a moment, Susie scratched at her neck, trying to recall what she saw. She had a better idea of what she smelled, and besides, she wasn't the best at remembering things. Her report card could attest to that. "I dunno," she told him. "But I did, um…"

Her voice died out before she could completely out herself. Among many other things, her weirdly potent nose wasn't something about herself Susie was so ready to publicize. Thank God, Ralsei couldn't see how embarrassed she probably looked with his head still shoved halfway into the island's depths. Susie forced herself to move before the silence could get too suspicious. "Here, think I saw it on this side."

Susie crouched to the other side of the island, taking extra care to swing the opposing door out carefully. The wood didn't crack this time. Ralsei continued his perusal, shuffling bags around and becoming increasingly perturbed at the lack of organization he apparently had. Susie moved her eyes back to the bags and boxes on her side of the island. Still as colorful and unrecognizable as ever. Susie did keep an eye out for the white bag Ralsei mentioned, but seeing a dozen different shades of gray didn't fill her with confidence.

For a brief moment, Susie snuck a peek at Ralsei, finding him absorbed in his search. That probably meant she was in the clear. Still, Susie wasn't all that eager to try and use her more "gifted" senses. Maybe she could be subtle about it. At the very least, the sooner they found that supposed bag of chocolate, the sooner Susie could snack on some homemade pancakes and forget about how unfamiliar it was to actually enjoy someone's presence in a homely place. Her stomach took that as a good enough motivator to get Susie to close her eyes again for just a second, drawing in a deeper breath through her nose.

Now that she knew what to look for, she was much quicker to recognize the sweet, candy-like aroma dominating her nostrils. Pleasant; not all that familiar, but more than agreeable. Comforting. Almost flowery? Must've just been what Dark World chocolate was like. Satisfied, Susie tilted her head towards the scent as if to point with her snout, and opened her eyes.

"Aha, there it is!"

Ralsei nodded to himself, relieved at the white bag hiding in the corner. Given that it was hidden behind two layers of similar-looking bags of ingredients, Susie probably wasn't all that at fault for being unable to find it. The girl didn't give it the smallest hint of a glance as she stared straight ahead at Ralsei, confused by the mere sight of him. He adjusted a few other colorful bags of ingredients to clear the way, hoisting the bag from its hidden confines and into the light of the kitchen. Susie stood up before her staring could get too suspicious.

"'Left side,' my ass," she tried joking. It wasn't often her nose was wrong, but the couple seconds of recognition let her know that it definitely wasn't chocolate she was smelling. Still, she had found the smell so agreeable and sweet… was that smell coming from Ralsei? The prince laughed at her remark.

"Haha, sorry, Susie," Ralsei spoke as he moved. The rest of the bowls and utensils seemed to materialize from the air as Ralsei placed them on the counter. Though, Susie was still staring dumbstruck at Ralsei too much to notice where the bowls were coming from either way. "I suppose I lost track of where everything was. I certainly didn't remember having so many ingredients!"

The breeziness of his voice lifted the corners of Susie's lips. She tried to ignore her nose's discrepancy, shouldering past it like an annoying bystander. Besides, with how scattered her brain had been, it wasn't the worst idea to try and actually focus on feeding herself (for once). Ralsei placed the last of the utensils onto the island, now accompanied by an array of shiny clean bowls. About a half dozen or so ingredients sat like a glitched rainbow of bags and boxes, next to a strange black carton. The only thing Susie could really recognize was the milk jug.

"Alright!" he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. The soft "pomf" they created was too distinct for Susie not to notice. "I'll just set the stove and we'll be ready to go!"

His enthusiasm was infectious, Susie had to admit. She watched as he glided across the tiles, moving towards one of the lower cabinets and procuring an impossibly heavy saucepan. There was a visible shake in his arms as he placed it onto the stove. Something about the sight was endearing enough for Susie to relax, already forgetting about whatever her nose had tried to tell her. Satisfied with the heat applied, Ralsei turned back to his friend.

"Ready, Susie?"

For a moment, Susie hesitated, looking over the collection of supplies.

"Makin' pancakes," she reminded herself. "You're making pancakes with Ralsei, in his house. Not your place. No weird smells, no shitty parents, no 'asshole bully' schtick, nothin' like that. You're good."

"Yep," Susie eventually answered. She shook off the rest of her worries, letting herself match Ralsei's pointed grin with a similarly pointy smirk. "Let's do it."