The last few days have been... hectic, but this is the first time that there isn't a new abnormality coming to make life harder for me, so that's pretty good.

The team swore about my denial of the party had come to my room early today to ask (guilt trip) me to bake some food.

Which in turn got the kitchen staff pumped up... which in turn got the employees pumped up as well.

Right now I was preparing a big amount of sauce, which included tomato, herbs, salt and a bit of pepper there. The pork meat that the staff won't tell me where they got it from and salty 'birote' which was probably the biggest pain in the ass to make since I kind of forgot the ingredients. Had to try twice before it came back to me... also, I don't think there is production for that one.

This was Mexican food, nothing too fancy really since that country is all about strong taste that isn't for everyone, yet the guys in the kitchen seem to believe it's next-gen shit, I'm starting to think these people ate dirt.

This very simple plate is known as 'Torta Ahogada' open up the piece of salty bread, fill it with the meat, and drown it in sauce, like I said all about strong taste, not complexity.

"While I personally think the sauce is too strong, this... 'Turte' thing is very interesting." That was the head of the kitchen who I shit you not is named Ravioli, he wears the very generic head-chef look but if there is one thing about him that stands out is his complete and utter lack of ANY kind of hair, which was just a little bit disturbing for me.

I gave him a shrug, "I like to think that cooking has to have a punch of taste somewhere, to make people know it's serious stuff." Hard to forget what you ate, it feels like it punched you in the face, in a good way, of course.

He patted my back while laughing heartily, "That is true, they have to know that food is what keeps those poor bastards going... although they would probably ask for seconds." he said the last one nervously.

I gave him a smile, "I'm not a miracle worker." my statement was met with a knowing smile, looks like that image isn't leaving any time soon... then again, I have been doing a lot of suppressing stuff in my stay here.

Sighing to myself I took one last look at the sauce, "Another... three minutes, and it will be ready, I have to go meet my team after all." Since they would drag my ass out of here anyway.

Ravioli shrugged his shoulders, "I can definitely see the pros of hoarding you." I gave him a flat stare while he laughed lightly, I left the kitchen giving waves and high-fives through the whole way, this is how celebrities feel? No wonder, they get full of themselves a good chunk of the time.

The moment I left the kitchen, I could feel the stares of hunger coming from everywhere, God why, "Keep it in your pants everyone it's almost done!" I shouted while sighing at their reaction, I'm NOT that good at cooking.

My eyes moved towards the table of my team and took a seat between Dakota and Rober... for obvious reasons, "Dakota, I heard you are ready to tackle HE stuff, must be feeling pretty good about yourself." I noticed the very condescending stare she threw at Rober and how Rober flipped her the bird.

"That's right! Sooner or later I'll be around pulling bullshit out of my ass like you do!" Well that confidence is at least being used in a productive manner, Rober did not think the same.

He rolled his eyes at her, "Keep at it, and your head will look even more like a wall painted with a face." It took Dakota a second to get what he meant, and she put a palm on her forehead with a frown on her face, she is very self-conscious about that.

BongBong laughed... a little too jovially at that, while throwing slaps at Rober's back. Oh, those two got really close in a short amount of time, I wonder why? Well, I know why, but I don't want to make any assumptions, yet.

Gonzales has a big, dumb smile on his face while chugging down a can of beer. After he finished, he rose it to the air and crushed it with his forehead, "This is indeed a worthy adventure! With great companions and chemistry... also LOVE!" Seems he doesn't care about making assumptions.

Rober now looked very uncomfortable, while BongBong was looking the same. She just had not so subtlety stopped paying any kind of attention to Rober, I'm trying not to think about it, but these two just make it hard at times.

Dakota smelled blood in the water, "Oh~? Is that the creaking I heard from your bedroom last night?" Rober threw her a small glare that just didn't work with the big blush on his face, not that BongBong was doing any better, since it seemed like she had given up on life.

Yeah, I guess I have to step in before this goes out of hand, "Just because BongBong is stealing your boy toy from you, isn't a good reason to act like that." By diverting her attention to me.

Rober threw me a small smile while Dakota went through the 5 stages of grief in less than a second... before just going back to angry, "Oh you motherfu-" A big slap on the back from a laughing Gonzales halted her words.

"He got you there, little one!" Dakota grumbled to herself like an angry kitten, one that was capable of gutting you like a fish but still a kitten.

I smiled at this scene, ah the little things in life...

The food came in and while the taste was strong no one complained, I mean the guys that came from the Nests didn't enjoy the fact that this could be eaten without utensils, but that's pretty minor all around.

Dakota spoke of the Backstreets like they were a hellhole, and from what she said, that was a fair comparison.

Gonzales talked about his time as a Grade 7 fixer and the random bullshit he had to deal with, one guy that attached a sword to his pelvis for... maximum thrusting, not sure about believing that one...

Rober was an everyday desk lover, didn't have a lot to say, but he did mention W corp here and there... something about teleporting trains, ain't that a crazy thing to hear?

BongBong had... apparently meet spider people? Not sure about what to make of that one, she did mention something about them eating people to make clothes, which is both a mood and a 'how does that work?' moment for me.

All the while just talking amongst ourselves, to be honest, this was the most fun I had in a while since I'm such a worrywart. It kinda has been hard to find moments like these since I came here.

But this is very much welcomed.

And then Malkuth came inside the dining room, people didn't stop speaking, but I could feel a small drop in the mood, seems like she isn't on good terms with the staff... then she stopped right at our table and I knew that my free time was over bummer.

"Trigger, do you have a minute? I'd like to discuss some ideas I had with you." Oh yeah, she is lying through her non-existing teeth there, she HATES my ideas after all.

But something about her seems a lot more... calm, unlike yesterday where she seemed one word away from imploding on the spot. I also had no reason to say no, "Sure, good thing you came when I was done with my food." which was most likely on purpose.

My team didn't seem very happy with this, but knew that I both wouldn't say no to her and that Malkuth was their superior. I gave them all a small smile, "Calm down guys, it isn't like I'm going to explode by talking to her." But the reverse could be said for her.

I followed the Sephirah out of the dining room, into what I'm guessing is going to be a very awkward conversation...