Issue 1 Downtime

Kevin had felt the urge to cook and now was in a cooking apron over a hot stove, cooking something that smelled wonderful. And singing...

"Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, nooo!"

He wasn't particularly good either.

Zero clapped softly from the doorway, "Bravo."

Ryan poked his head in the door. "Is everyone okay? It sounded like someone was hurt."

He nearly threw his spatula into the air before turning around.

"Jesus... You scared the crap out of me."

Then he saw Ryan.

"My singing was that bad?"

"It's alright, dear," Zero says to Ryan with a smirk, "That's just the sound of Donna Summers turning over in her grave."

"I couldn't decide if someone was being strangled or had their hand stuck in a drawer," Ryan said as he opened the fridge, looking for a soda.

"Next time I'll just whistle," he replied before going back to the stove.

"Please do," Zero says, walking into the kitchen, "Because that voice of yours is simply torturous."

Zero opens the fridge, gives it a glance and sighs, closing the door.

"Probably good for interrogations, though," Ryan mused, "Just put him in the room with the guy with his headphones on, leave him there until the guy confesses and begs for mercy."

"If you have the need to be particularly crass about it," Zero says, leaning against the fridge.

"Okay, exagerated comments about singing aside, what are you making? Because that smells really good," Ryan said, taking a look at the pan without hovering to irritate the chef (more).

"Mandarin Noodles with Sautéed Tenderloin and Vegetables," he said as he tasted, salted, and tasted again. "Perfect." He removed the meat and vegetables and set them aside. Then he poured some plum wine into the pan, along with some cinnamon, and scraping the pan between sprinklings.

"Nice," Ryan commented, taking another sniff. "Shit, now I'm hungry, better see about dinner soon. Hey, we've got an invite from some people in town to a poker game. You guys interested?"

"Poker huh? Sounds fun."

"Depends on the stakes," Zero says with a grin.

"I've been wondering that, too... not really any way to know until we get there," Ryan said, shrugging.

"When is it?"

"Have to be in Mutant Town by seven," Ryan answered.

"I'll try to be there then."