[Baconwizard]

"Ahhhh, right, I forgot that it's winter." Zane laughed, then dug through his duffel bag, sending more clothes to the floor accidentally. He emerged with an emerald green beanie, which clashed with his hair stupendously and shoved it on his head. "I usually jog to the university, but it's not that long a walk. Plus, the exercise makes me think better." Zane zipped up his jacket, then headed to the door, still talking to Cody over his shoulder. "I'll see you at four. You just carry on with whatever you usually do, okay? No need to give me special treatment or anything. Anyway, bye!"

[zapdragon555]

Cody smiled at that and nodded, settling back on the flats of his feet; he'd risen up on his toes on instinct, not used to talking to such a tall person. He chuckled and nodded, giving a small wave to Zane as he moved towards the door. "Bye! A-and good luck! On... on your exam," he murmured, nodding his head. Once Zane was out the door, Cody let out a little sigh, a hand going to rest on his cheek in thought. He frowned as he felt residual dried paint there, and decided taking a shower himself might be a good idea as well. Afterwards, he'd straighten things up a bit better, see about hanging Zane's other clothes out on the patio to get rid of some of the smoke smell, and then, maybe, get back to that painting.

[Baconwizard]

After about three and a half hours of pure torture, Zane finally dragged himself out of the exam room with a headache and a muted sense of achievement. For better or for worse, that class was finally behind him. Zane sighed, shivering a bit in the breeze, then headed back towards the apartment building. On the way, he tried to think up something that would be good to serve Cody for dinner. He was leaning towards pasta, but that still was too open ended. What kind of pasta? Asian or Italian? If it was too casual, would Cody be offended? But if it was too fancy, it would be awkward to eat. Puzzled by his pasta troubles, Zane found himself at Cody's door in no time. He knocked once, then poked his head inside. "I'm back!" He called, closing the door behind him, slipping off his hat from his mostly dry head.

[zapdragon555]

Cody had given up on starting the painting again, instead getting caught up in cleaning the kitchen for Zane to mess up again with dinner. He blinked as the door opened, and he poked his head out of the kitchen with a grin. "Welcome home!" he called, then caught himself, realizing what he'd said. He didn't really mean anything by it, but he supposed 'welcome back' would have worked a bit better. Putting this thought out of his mind, Cody dried off his hands on his pants and walked into the main room with loose, damp hair from his own shower and a big smile on his face. "How was it? N-not too torturous I hope?" he chuckled sheepishly.

[Baconwizard]

Zane picked up the box of recipes, then moved into the kitchen. He grinned at Cody, letting out a small chuckle. "It was alright. It's over now, so we have to celebrate!" Zane held up the box, then set it down on the counter. He flipped through it, then paused, holding up a dog-eared recipe. Zane frowned, a little confused, because he didn't remember doing that. Still. It looked pretty good. It wasn't pasta, but it was an easy thing to make. "Okay, time to start cooking."

[zapdragon555]

Cody smiled and nodded, moving back into the living room, and he walked over to the patio door. He slid the glass door open with a soft grunt of effort and shivered at the draft that blew in, and went to catch the edge of one of Zane's shirts. He put his face close to it to smell, and found the smoke had almost completely disappeared, thanks to the cold wind blowing. Grinning in triumph, Cody reached up and gathered the clothes from where he'd clothes-pinned them up, and carried them in a small heap over to the couch, where he sat them down and began to fold them into some semblance of neatness again. It didn't occur to him he probably should've asked permission, first, to be folding his new guest's clothes, but it came naturally to Cody; laundry was more of an ingrained activity than a real chore.

[Baconwizard]

From the kitchen there was a clatter of pots and pans as Zane began to prepare the food. He was lucky that Cody had most of the ingredients. Thankfully, the stuff that Cody didn't have wasn't essential. Filling the kitchen with a soft chopping noise, Zane began to hum a song that he had heard once on the radio and didn't know all the words to. Once the vegetables were chopped, he put them in the pot and let them simmer, then turned towards the chicken. Once the chicken was prepared and added to the pot, Zane set the timer, then headed towards the living room, wiping his hands on a towel. He blinked at the pile of clothes on the sofa. "Oh... hey, thanks a bunch. You didn't have to fold my clothes."

[zapdragon555]

Cody blinked and looked up at Zane, then smiled sheepishly, looking a little embarrassed. "I-it was something to do... plus, they smelled like smoke, so I thought hanging them outside for a little while might help. I steered clear of anything that wasn't pants and shirts, though," he added with a slightly self conscious flush, grinning humorously at him. "How goes the food?" he asked, setting the last folded shirt down and moving away with a small stretch, lacing his hands behind his back and stretching his shoulderblades as he padded over towards the kitchen on bare feet, hoping to catch a whiff. He wondered if Zane had found the recipe he'd dog-eared... he wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't, but it would be a nice surprise if he had.

[Baconwizard]

Zane grinned at that, sitting down on the edge of the couch and resting his hands on his knees. "Thanks a lot. I'll take care of the other stuff eventually, haha." Zane leaned back, resting his head against the wall, his smile growing as he continued to look at Cody. The conversation felt so natural, it was almost weird. But Zane just couldn't bring himself to stop smiling. "Food is great. It should take about an hour to cook, unfortunately. So... we can probably snack a bit, if you're hungry."

[zapdragon555]

Cody thought about that for a moment, turning back around to blink at Zane watching him. A strange happiness fluttered up in his chest at that, and he chuckled, shrugging. "Well, I don't mind waiting too much. I'm hungry, but if I start eating something now I-I'm afraid I won't be able to finish the food you made!" he said, then moved over to sit down on the couch beside Zane, separated from him by the stack of Zane's clothes. "And anyway... m-maybe it's a little nosey of me, b-but... I wanted to get to know you a little better. Since you're staying in my house and all. Like... like, w-what are you studying? And where are you from?" he asked, not seeming to realize he was running his mouth, his eyes bright with curiosity.

[Baconwizard]

Zane looked a little flattered by Cody's first words, and he grinned, letting out a small chuckle. When Cody sat down, Zane's expression grew more focused, and he turned slightly to give Cody all of his attention. "Oh, uh... about me." Zane scratched at his hair, thinking, his cheeks turning slightly pink. "Well, I'm studying engineering. But... I'm not quite set on that yet. It's really hard, haha. I could go into industrial management, though, but switching my major at this point isn't easy." Zane let out a breath, then quickly changed the course of the conversation, not wanting to dwell on school anymore. "But I'm originally from Maryland. I lived outside of Baltimore with my parents and grandparents. We have a really big family, so it was busy a lot of the time." Zane chuckled, his face alight. He blinked at Cody, then tilted his head and raised his eyebrows. "What about you?"

[zapdragon555]

Cody listened to Zane intently, smiling at this new information. Engineering, huh... Cody couldn't imagine the pressure of all of the work involved with that. And Maryland was pretty far from Seattle, too... "Oh... huh?" Cody blinked at Zane's question, pausing for a moment, then tugged at a section of hair, which had dried by now. "Well... I never did go to college. If I had, I-I'd be a sophomore now," he admitted with a sheepish smile, shrugging his shoulders. "Mm... o-originally I'm from Wisconsin. I left when I was seventeen, actually... kinda wandered around a little until I ended up here and settled down. Weird stuff..." Cody trailed off, staring at a rip in the knee of his jeans, then smiled a little ruefully, offering a grin to Zane. "G-guess I'm a little cryptic, huh? Whoops..."

[Baconwizard]

Zane's eyebrows lifted slightly at this news, and he stared at Cody for a moment before he realized he was staring. He glanced down at his knees, then back at Cody, and met Cody's smile. "You're full of surprises, aren't you? But it looks like you ended up in a nice place. With all the plants and painting and stuff. It's really awesome, Cody."

[zapdragon555]

Cody let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as Zane stared at him, inwardly relieved at Zane's response. "Y-yeah... I do like Seattle. I wouldn't have minded seeing more of the country, b-but... eh," he murmured, shrugging his shoulders a little. "I'm a hippie nature boy; this city air doesn't quite do it for me some days," he joked, grinning sheepishly at Zane and leaning back against the couch. "But... yeah. I'm glad I ended up somewhere nice. Getting the apartment was another story, but it all worked out..." Cody blushed slightly at Zane's last comment, and he hunched his shoulders, looking pleased and just a little bit rueful at the same time. "Th-thank you..."

[Baconwizard]

"Well... if you're into hippie nature stuff, the Northwest's a pretty ok place to be into that stuff. Have you ever been out to any of the parks? Like Mount Rainier? There's some pretty awesome hiking up in there. A group I'm with goes backpacking out there from time to time, and it's pretty awesome." Zane's face lit up as he began to chat, though after a minute he toned it down, a sheepish smile on his face. "One of the main reasons I came all the way out here was because of all the outdoor stuff that you can do right outside of the city. The city is great, but you really can't beat the great outdoors."