After shyly smiling his thanks at the young blonde hair woman who smiled warmly back at him as she handed him a bowl of chicken stew and dumplings, Steve turned and looked uncertainly around the room.
"Hey Bro, why don't you come and sit with me?" Noah smiled, grabbing, and opening two bottles of beer from the lunch bench before he began to lead the young man through the room towards two cushions on the floor against the wall. Glancing back over his shoulder, he could not stop the small, satisfied grin that graced his lips when he saw Sunshine turn around after collecting her meal and begin to pout as she realized that he had hijacked the newest male member of the commune. Returning his attention back to the young man now sitting on the cushion beside him, he slid down the wall, settling himself on the other cushion as he watched Steve take a mouthful of the stew. Grinning as he saw the horrified look on Steve's face as the younger man, stopped chewing after the first bite, and he knew that Steve was desperately trying to decide if he should swallow or spit the stew out. "Sunshine wasn't exaggerating when she warned you about Nancy's famous chicken stew and dumplings. It's famous for a reason!" Handing Steve one of the bottles of beer he held in his hand, Noah chuckled. "Here, this will help wash it down."
"Thanks," Steve managed to cough out after forcing himself to swallow the mouthful of overcooked chicken he had in his mouth as he quickly placed the bowl onto the floor. Lifting the bottle to his lips, he took several, large swigs, trying to wash some of the taste out of his mouth.
Still chuckling, Noah took a sip of his own beer, before he lowered the bottle back down onto his lap as he grinned and looked across at the young blonde woman serving lunch, he added, "Nancy's chicken stew does tend to be an acquired taste, but, Man, her Mexican bean fiesta soup. It's gunna blow your mind!"
Steve nodded his head, unconvinced that anyone who could make chicken stew as inedible as the bowl of stew in front of him was, could really cook at all.
"Just wait and see!" Noah smiled, leaning back against the wall, his stomach rumbling in anticipation just at the thought of Nancy's soup as Steve took another sip of his beer. He froze as he saw Markus enter the room and look around before making a beeline across to where Sunshine was now sitting and sat down beside her, wrapping his arm possessively around her shoulders, pulling her closer as he glared balefully across at Steve. Noah felt a cold shiver run down his spine, the last time he had seen Markus look at somebody like that, it had been at Phoenix, the very same night that Phoenix had suddenly decided to 'leave' the commune in the middle of the night, without telling anyone he was leaving and without taking any of his belongings.
Glancing back at Steve, who appeared totally oblivious to Markus's presence or threatening stare, Noah forced a weak smile, eager to get the young man out of the room and away from Markus as fast as he could "Hey Steve, if you're finished with your lunch, how about we split this joint, and I'll show you around. And I don't mean the type of tour that Sunshine just gave you of the pool and an invitation to go skinny dipping!" He laughed when he saw the look of surprise on Steve's face as he stood up. Turning around, he reached for Steve's outstretched hand and pulled the younger man to his feet. "Sunshine invites everyone to go skinny dipping with her, Bro!" he chuckled as he headed towards the door with Steve following closely behind.
Following Noah out into the bright sunshine, Steve resisted the urge to cast a quick, furtive glance back over his shoulder. There was no real need to, he had seen the way Markus had wrapped his arm around Sunshine and had yanked her closer as the obviously jealous man had glared across the room at him and he could feel Markus's hateful glare burning a hole in his back as he followed Noah outside.
Following Noah across the yard as they headed towards the barn, Steve decided that he was going to need to be extra careful around Markus, who he was sure would be watching him like a hawk.