Disclaimer: I don't own starocean, there, i said it again, happy?

The first rays of the sun pierced through the curtains, hitting Fayt in the eye. He first swatted at the light, turning to the other side. After about five minutes of futile turning and tossing, Fayt finally got up. He scratched his head as he tried to adjust his vision. Looking around the room, he did not notice anything out of the ordinary, besides that Maria was sleeping on his bed.

He got up and took a while to get used to the morning. He also took awhile to look at Maria. His coat was crumpled and her undergarments were exposed. He admired her legs and her figure for only a couple of seconds, before he mentally punched himself. His mind now resorted to punching, since slapping did not work. He took the blanket and covered her, before heading down the stairs to make some breakfeast. He rubbed his eyes as he was thinking on what to cook.

"Ramen..."

His mouth watered. It was decided then. He took out a packet of noodles he was saving from a trip he made last month to a nearby space port. He started to boil the water as he heard a murmer from the bedroom. Maria must be getting up.

He added another packet of noodles to the pile, calculating that one packet was most likely not enough for them, especially with Adray around. Adray was still snoring away on the couch though Fayt did not know about Adray's reaction to food. He may be a wild beast and devour everything when hungry, but Fayt did not know that, only thought. Maria came down the steps groggily, half asleep. She nearly missed a step, but Fayt saw it before hand and grabbed her before she hit the floor.

"You alright?"

He asked. Maria blinked her eyes a couple of times, only to realize that she was in the arms of Fayt. Her face burned red. She pushed him away, only to fall onto the floor.

"Ouch!"

She rubbed her head though her back was more sore than her head. Fayt offered his hand.

"Sorry if i frightened you, here."

Maria took his hand and got up. Her face was too red.

"Are you alright? Do you have a fever?"

He asked, placing his forehead against hers. Her face colour was off the charts.

"This is bad, you're burning up. Here, rest on the chair while i get you a cold towel."

Fayt pulled her by her hand to the chair and 'forced' her to sit down.

"Be right back."

He winked and headed for the kitchen. Maria knew that she did not have a fever, but it was the fact that she was in close proximity to Fayt that caused her to burn up. Fayt returned with a basin of cold water, a towel, a small box and a cup of warm tea.

"Here take these."

He offered the box. It read 'cold tablets'.

"Er, i'm fine, you know. There's nothing wrong with me."

Maria protested, but Fayt would not listen. He took out two pills and offered them to Maria.

"I'm fine! I don't need any pills!"

Maria said quite stubbornly.

"Look, it's closing to winter and you've got a cold, now take it."

Fayt did not wait for Maria to protest a second time, shoving the pills down her throat, he poured the warm tea in after. Maria choke and coughed but the pills went down.

"What did you do that for!"

She yelled.

"It's for your own good, now sit down and rest."

Fayt forced her down again. He turned back to the basin and drenched the towel in the cold water. He drained the excess and drapped it onto her forehead.

"I'll have to take a look at your wounds later."

Fayt casually said. That, however, did not sit well with Maria. She sat up, sending the towel onto the floor.

"You are not doing anything to me, you hear me?"

"I hear you alright, but if i don't, then who knows what may happen?"

Fayt picked up the towel and drapped it back onto her forehead.

"Stay like this till breakfeast is done."

He told her, walking off to check on the ramen. Maria, took the towel from her forehead and stared at it for awhile. She had never seen someone so worried about her besides Lieber. Lieber was just plain annoying, but Fayt, it seemed like it was his nature to be caring. For someone who respect life and health greatly, it seemed pretty ironic for him to be given the symbol of destruction. Maria kept a tight lip on that topic though, for it wasn't his father's intention to do these experiments on his own son, not to mention that his father had died to protect his son.

She felt envious of Fayt, having a family of his own when she had lost hers early in her life. Worse still that the people she loved as her parents were never her real parents. Would she ever find her missing parents? In the video, it seemed that Dr. Leingod had known Maria to be Traydor's daughter. Still, Traydor wasn't her real name. Was it possible that her real parents had died as well? It did not hurt to try searching, though if that possibility became true, she would not know what to do. Fayt came back with two bowls in hand. Maria took a sniff at the food and it smelt great.

"What is this?"

She asked, never seeing ramen before.

"Ramen, Miso flavoured. It's a kind of food from Earth."

Fayt sat down and took his chopsticks and began to eat. Maria studied the way he ate, mainly the way he held his chopsticks. She studied her own in great detail, but could not get the idea of how to use them.

"You actually use two sticks to eat?"

She asked in wonder. Fayt looked up with a puzzled face.

"Sure, don't you use them?"

"I'm more accustomed to using forks and spoons. That's what they have in the Klaus system."

"Well, that won't do, you have to learn something new. Here, i'll show you."

Fayt took Maria's hand, to her surprise and her face turning red, and made her hold her chopsticks. He repositioned her fingers so that her thumb would be on the side of the chopsticks that faced her.

"Use your index and middle finger to control the movements, like this."

Fayt demonstrated for her to see and Maria tried it. It took her a total of five times to spread the chopsticks apart and not drop them.

"Good, now try to close them."

Another five tries later and she managed to grip onto her noodles.

"See? You could do it."

Fayt smiled, sitting back down and continuing with his noodles. Maria smiled and muttered a thanks, though it was too soft for Fayt to hear. She took a mouth full of noodle and was surprised at how good it tasted.

"It's actually good!"

She exclaimed.

"What were you expecting?"

Fayt asked, feeling sort of insulted by that comment.

"Wha-? Oh sorry, i didn't mean to-"

"That's alright, as long as you like it."

Fayt smiled. He drained his bowl before Adray roared to life. Literally.

"Sleeping beast is finally awake."

Fayt muttered sarcastically. The lumbering behemoth made his way to the table. Hunger was spelt all over his face.

"Food... now."

He rumbled. Fayt was amazed at how small the vocabulary was for a drunken, hungry behemoth would have first thing in the morning. Luckily, Fayt had cooked extra as he had a hunch that something big may want food.

Speaking of hunches, Cliff had never called to check on them yet. Maybe he was too busy with work, but knowing Cliff, he somehow always manages to get time off from anything. Fayt took another bowl of ramen and served it to Adray.

Adray did not bother with the chopsticks and just swallowed the entire contents of the bowl. Maria sighed as she found the scene somewhat, uncivilized, but she was glad that she managed to spend some time with Fayt alone, that is till Mr. Drunken-wake-me-up-for-big-breakfeast came along. Fayt got up, taking empty bowl and bringing it to the kitchen.

Maria took this opportunity to get alone with Fayt and brought her near empty bowl to the kitchen. She set her bowl into the sink and watched as Fayt washed the dishes.

"Fayt..."

"Yeah?"

He did not stop, nor did he look at her.

"Er... well, you see..."

Maria was having problems with getting the words out of her mouth. She just imply hated these times.

"What is it?"

"Er... well..."

Maria started to draw incoherent shapes in midair. Fayt finally stopped washing and looked at her directly in the eye, which cause Maria to nearly squeek. Her face, however, was already red. Fayt did not expect staring straight her either, and his face was like the colour of strawberries, the ripe ones.

"Er.. look, if there is something you need, just ask away."

Fayt managed to catch himself and bring it back to reality. Maria managed to shake off her stupor as well.

"Well, i... Can i come with you later?"

She blurted out. It wasn't what she intended, but it was better than nothing.

"Later? Oh, you mean to meet the Queen? Sure, didn't i say that WE were going?"

"You did?"

"What, did you think i would leave you here after what happened yesturday? No way. We're leaving in five minutes."

Fayt nodded, leaving the kitchen. Maria exhaled the air she had kept up in her lungs, leaning against the counter. That was harder than she imagined. His stare was just so... arresting. Outside, Fayt was having the same problems. He sighed as he slapped himself mentally once again.

'Get a grip.'

He scolded himself. Adray had fallen asleep once again, but on the table. Fayt sighed as he headed to his bedroom and got changed. He was ready in two minutes with his laser weapon in his pocket. He would pick up his mithril sword later. As he picked up his spare coat, a black one but same design, Maria came up. The two of them looked at each other in silence for only about two seconds before turning the other way, both forgetting something that seemed important at that time, though it may never seem important at all.

Maria got into the bathroom and locked the door to change while Fayt headed back down to get ready. The winds were really picking up. He hoped Maria had brought some extra clothing with her. Speaking of which, her luggage had not been opened yet. Still, he cursed himself for not remembering to fix it. Anger filled his veins as he kicked at the lock. With a click, it opened.

"What the..."

He stared at amazement at how simple it could be to fix it. A rather crude way, but after testing it a couple of times, he found that kicking actually fixes it.

"It's amazing how simple barbaric ways can fix such high technology."

Fayt muttered to himself. Somehow, it seemed familiar, that phrase, as though he had used it before. Maybe not saying it, but maybe applying it. Sudden steps cut him in the middle of his thoughts. He turned around to see Maria coming down the stairs with a black long sleeved shirt and black pants. She was slotting in another magazine for her gravity gun when Fayt asked.

"Do you want to wear my coat?"

"I'm not that cold, Fayt, i'll be fine."

Maria holstered her gun as Fayt shrugged.

"Alright, if you think so."

He said, heading out with Maria behind him.

AN: This is quite a short one, but who cares. In the comic, Fayt's outfit is way cooler than the one in the game, if you can, try to find it. As i said before, i suck at description, so live with it. Not that this is only one of the many connections to Asian culture. I'm asian, chinese and i love Japanese food and Japanese culture, but i still love my own culture and food, so there may be a mix, slightly.