Blood & Books

"You're in a band too? You are just full of surprises." Lilah said. She looked at the timer on the stove and kept a close watch on the roast. Soon enough, the room was filled with the smell of balsamic sauce.

"Yeah, we made a band before I was 'suggested' to go to university." he said, "But we still planned to play together no matter what happened anyway."

Kaidan played a another short music pice while they continued to wait for their meal to cook.

The over timer started to go off toward the end of his next song signaling that dinner was ready. "Oh! I'll get it." Delilah put her tea down and shuffled quickly into the kitchen to check on the roast and see if it was done.

Kaidan placed the guitar away and he got to to help the other prep the table and got some drinks out of the fridge as well.

"Need me to carve it?" he asked Delilah.

"That's ok...I've got it." She took out a knife and began to cut through the thick roast surprised to find it was tougher than she thought. She struggled trying to move the knife deeper but with no luck.

He watched her and cringed a little, "Uhh.....should I take over?"

Delilah giggled, "Probably. Grandfather always prepared the meal, he never told me the meat was this tough to cut."

"Its about the technique." he chuckled. He looked at the knife, "You're using a bread knife." he got a better knife and a long iron stick with a handle and he got sharpening the knife. "My father always told me that a good carving knife is to be sharp."

Delilah moved aside and watched him, "Care to show me how for next time?" She smiled.

"Sure thing." he smiled, and he got a form and stabbed the roast to keep it in place as he began carving pieces off of the meat, "Let the knife do the work and should come off a treat."

Delilah watched him carefully. Her eyes wandered a bit looking over his bulging muscles as he held the roast in place and carved it delicately. The smell of the roast filled her nose and reminded her to focus on watching the meat, not his rippling muscles. "Mhm..."

He glanced at her for a moment and saw she was staring into space, "You okay?" he chuckled.

"Oh! Um, yes sorry." Delilah's face started to turn red from embarrassment. Natsuki noticed poor Delilah struggling and came over to help.

"Come on girlie, lets set the table up." She pulled her away from Kaidan and over to the small table beside the kitchen.

"You are so easy to read. You have fallen for Kaidan haven't you?" Natsuki whispered while she handed Delilah two plates to set out.

"No! I haven't...I was just...watching him cut the meat that's all." She whispered back. "That is the worst lie I have ever heard. It's ok. He is a nice guy and he seems to like you too."

Lilah's face got even redder as she placed the last plate down on the table. "Knock it off already. I do not like him like that. He is just a friend. I'm going to the bathroom. I'll be right back." She walked away quickly and hid in the bathroom to settle herself down.

"This is really starting to get out of hand...I don't like him like that..." She started to talk to herself trying to rationalize the situation.

Kaidan blinked when Natsuki suddenly pulled Delilah away, 'Girls are odd...' he shook his head and kept on cutting the roast into good sized slices.

After finishing up the carving, Kaidan brought the meat platter out to the table, Roku chuckled, "Seems like you got Miss Delilah all flustered. What were you two talking about?"

"...not much. I was carving meat and she was....staring?" he shrugged.

Once she got herself together, she flushed the toilet and pretended to wash her hands. Once she emerged, everyone was surrounding the table getting ready to eat.

Narsuki was putting the rice and vegetables on the table. "Come on Delilah. Everything is ready."

Once she joined them they all sat down, "Thank you for the meal." smiled ROku as he thanked Delilah and they got tucking into the food.

Kaidan got a good couple slabs of the meat and some potatoes on his plate first.

Lilah sat down next to Natsuki who was seated beside Roku. "It looks delicious Delilah. I can't wait to dig in." Natsuki scooped some meat and veggies onto her plate along with some rice. Lilah waited for everyone to get a plate full and try it before she ate.

"You're welcome. I feel like its the least I can do after what happened last night." She took some of the meat and some veggies onto her plate and tasted the meat. "Mm, not as good as grandfathers but still pretty good."

"Tastes great to me." said Kaidan as he took another bite. Both boys were keen to the meat, well being vampires they wanted more protein than anything. "Hey you need to take some too." Kaidan said to Delilah, Getting some meat on her plate, seeing she was waiting.

Delilah smiled brightly at everyone approval. "I'm so glad you all like it." Natsuki was cutting into her meat and swallowed her first bite. "It is delicious! You two make a great team." She said to Delilah and Kaidan.

Lilah felt her cheeks going red, but didn't look over at Kaidan. She took another bite and really savored the taste. It was her best attempt yet. "Save room for dessert." She said to everyone. She had made a cherry cobbler for dessert. She was best at making sweets and quite enjoyed it.

"You went all out." Roku chuckled, as he kept eating the roast. They continued with dinner and they all took a small break from eating, Kaidan played another music piece on his guitar while the digested and waited for the cobbler.

"Yes well, dessert is my specialty. So be sure to save room." She chuckled feeling quite relaxed with her new friends.

Natsuki and Lilah cleared the table while they listened to Kaidan play more tunes on his guitar. Lilah hummed along with the ones she recognized. Natsuki went to sit and snuggle up next to Roku while Kaidan played. Lilah was in the kitchen warming up the cobbler and preparing some coffee for everyone.

Kaidan got playing 'Scarborough Fair' as they waited, playing simple pieces to pass the time. He listened, hearing Delilah humming to the tune, giving a grin to that little bit, playing with a bit more into the music.

The soft melody lulled Natsuki into a gentle sleep. She was snuggled up to Roku with her head lying on his shoulder. She was exhausted after a long first day of classes.

Lilah was in the kitchen and took out the cobbler from the oven. The scent of sweet cherries filled the entire dorm room. The coffee was almost ready and she took out some milk in case someone wanted that instead. She cut a piece for everyone and put them on plates. Kaidan's playing made her feel calm and reminded her of home. Her grandfather loved the acoustic guitar. A small tear passed her eye as her grandfather came to mind.

Once he finished playing, he saw the cobbler before him, "Oh? I got so into it I didn't notice-" he paused seeing Delilah was tearing up, "You alright Delilah?"

Lilah gasped suddenly and didn't notice Kaidan come into the kitchen. A few visible tears ran down her cheeks and the knife in her hand slipped cutting open her finger. "Ahh! Kaidan...you startled me. I'm sorry..." The pain in her finger didn't even register until she felt a bit of blood trickle down her finger.