There's something about good food {open}

[Fidel Mantangra]

Fidel hummed as he worked, a fantastic aroma emanated from his pot. He grasped the silver handle of the pan and grabbed a wooden spoon from the counter, poking at the cubed beef as it browned.

School was over now, it was the time of day when the kitchens weren't in use. Technically, Fidel wasn't even supposed to be in there, let alone be cooking without teacher supervision. But he didn't care. Neither did his teacher considering he had given him a pass earlier in the year. As long as he wasn't vandalizing of being especially wasteful of the food, he was allowed to do what he wanted. Besides, he would sometimes buy cooking products himself so where was the harm?

He aggravated the pot slightly, enjoying the hissing sound it made as the meat slid over the grease. It looked to be browned sufficiently, so he set down the spoon and picked up the clear cutting board, with a knife he scraped the copped bits of onions, carrots, and garlic. Soon he was rummaging through his teachers "personal" supplies, until his fingers closed around a bottle of fine Cognac. He smiled, "Gotcha"

Popping the cork off he poured about half a cup into the pot with the meat. In went the beef stock, the thyme, bayleaf, and tomato paste. Fidel re-corked the Cognac and put it back in his teacher's stores, making a mental note to re-lock it before he left. Not even he was supposed to be in there, but of course, he broke in. Going to the kitchen staff and student stock he took out a bottle of Burgundy, chiding himself for not getting it earlier. He put a cup of it in with the rest of the ingredients, then a touch more for flavor and good measure. Sighing he closed the top of the pan and reached for a timer nearby. He input the numbers 2:30 and set it next to the pan.

Stretching his arms above his head and giving a yawn he looked at his work and sat down on a nearby metal stool. Reaching behind, he untied his crisp white apron and took it from around his neck. He patted the back of his head, searching for the elastic band he was using to temporarily tie his hair back. He probably looked like a rugged mess without his hat and only one dirty shirt, but he didn't care. Who would find him here anyway? Well if they were, they'd have an entire two hours and thirty minutes to do it. That was the thing about beef bourguingnon. It was very tasty, but it took time to make. In about two hours, Fidel would have to saute the mushrooms, but that was a while away. But now.. what to do?

He sighed and stood, dragging his feet over to his bag. He picked it up and carried it back, setting it on the counter. Rummaging through it, he bypassed all of his "mandatory" homework and found his homework card from Jayden. He felt a warm smile spread across his face. he would've like to see him now. But lately, he had got the feeling that he was being perhaps to clingy with him, possibly even annoying him. That's why he decided not to do that tonight, of course he'd see him in the dorm later, but until then he was going to give him a bit of space. In the meantime, Fidle was going to take his time and do what he did best... what wasn't illegal anyways.

Looking over his card and around the kitchen he wondered seriously if someone might come in. Shrugging and chuckling to Himself he said aloud, "Oh well. Might be nice having company anyway."

[Zoe Aves]

Zoe Aves

Zoe whistled to herself as she roamed the academy's hallways, looking for something to do to make the day count. Her eyes roamed over the courtyard, looking for a diversion. Not seeing one, she began trooping back to the girl's dormitories. She stopped infront of room 108, which she was the sole owner of for the moment, twisted the knob, and let herself in. Everything was exactly how she'd left it. Turning to her bed, Zoe set her laptop case down on it carefully, then threw herself onto it. There she lay for a while, just thinking, until her stomach gurgled. Smiling, she sat up. i seriously need to invest in a mini-fridge. she thought. It had been her goal to find one last year and stuff it with munchies, pop, maybe even some booze.

Zoe was definitely not a hard drinker by any means, but with the stress of high-school and the overall stupidities of her fellow classmates, she needed something to ease her mind. She absolutely refused to smoke any type of weed or plant, which included those found in cigarettes, bongs, and other such useless instruments. she also would never touch a needle filled with any legal or illegal substance unless it was full of medicine prescribed by a doctor. Steroids? No thank you! Cocaine? Nuh-uh. Nope. Nada. Nein.

Pushing her body off the bed, she slipped on a pair of flip-flops, brushed her hair back a bit, then walked out the door. She had no reason to lock her room--who would vandalize any of the dorm rooms, anyway?--so she stuck the key into her right back pocket. The hallway leading away from her room was sort of busy.

A few fellow Juniors bustled by, some of them towing friends or boyfriends behind. Zoe smiled at each, a little wave given to those whose faces she remembered. Names were harder to get, unless she really wanted to get to know a person. It is always weird when someone comes up to you and starts talking and you have no idea who the heck they are or what to call them, which is why Zoe had started training herself to remember everyone she met and had more than a five-second conversation with.

By the time she got to the dorm's double doors, she was feeling a little sick. The acid in her stomach felt like it was boring a hole through her gut. She was still a little shy about shifting in public--it probably looked really weird to a bystander to see her lean forward, throw her arms out, and turn into an eagle. She didn't think that there were other odd-looking shifts for a human to turn into. Like a slug. Or a wolf. The process could be painful, messy, or anything in between.

She chose a spot away from the immediate pathway to shift. Crouching down, she slowly extended her arms, thinking only of the joy of flying and the unbridled freedom that came with winging her way through the skies, not of the twisting, knotting, and crunching that happened inside her body as marrow-filled bones turned hollow and plumage decorated her whole body. When the whole thing was said and done, in Zoe the Human's place stood Zoe the Golden Eagle.

Two, close to three-and-a-half-foot long wings spread themselves out. The outer-most feathers pointed in opposite directions, the appendages' feathers gradually forming a half-moon shape when paired with their sister wing. Two, dirt-brown eagle eyes glared from a golden-buff crown, catching every movement around them. Zoe shook herself, dislodging a few feathers. In some cultures, eagle feathers were sacred, a sign of power and courage. Maybe some lucky person around campus would find them and know that they were blessed to have stumbled on something so esoteric and otherworldly.

Taking to the cloudy blue sky overhead, the eagle screeched a wild, hunting call. But the human wasn't lost in the wonder. She was merely taking a backseat; animal instincts were very much dominant in this form, and they tended to overtake any human emotions for a moment or two when in full-force. Zoe took over, always awe-struck by the height she'd gained in just a few flaps of her wings. Shifter Academy looked like a Monopoly board's game-piece from this new vantage. The Other Island could be seen, too, but it was much harder to distinguish characteristics from here.

Coasting lower, Zoe could begin to spot separate buildings littered across the patchwork quilt of law and sidewalk and rooftop. She was looking for the cafeteria, hoping that the cooks had left tidbits out for hungry students. If not, she'd have to visit the cafe on the Other Island or a restaurant for a bite of food. It was much, much more faster to fly across the island's grounds than to use the paved walkways on foot. In just a few minutes after leaving the girl's dorm, Zoe was at the cafeteria's double glass doors. She perched in a conveniently nearby tree, shifted back into her human form, and hopped down from the limb.

Bare grass touched her palms and tickled her exposed toes. All too soon, though, slick linoleum met the soles of her flippy-floppies and cool glass graced her bark-burned hands. Air conditioning felt good on her hot face, still painted with a smile borne of the exhilaration of flight. Her eyes scanned the empty tables quickly, a little upset to not see anything set out. It was her sense of smell that indicated the presence of another being close by. Someone was cooking something. "Hello?" she called out. Would anyone answer?

Word Count: 974
Tagged: Fidel Mantangra
Notes: Black is Zoe speaking, and Maroon is Zoe speaking.

[Fidel Mantangra]

Fidel looked to the card then over his shoulder at the stove. With a loud sigh he put it down and looked at his hands. hi, my name is.. hi, my name is. How does that one go again? He straightened his fingers and positioned them just above his eyebrow jerking it away so that it looked very much like a salute, it was easy, hand on chest- just below neck, closed pointer and middle fingers, tap, tap. That was the hard part. Then he made the sign for 'Fiddle', easy. Fingerspelling was a bit more difficult, but Fidel at least knew his name.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, checking over his shoulder to make sure that he had re-locked the special stores. He looked back to his pot, there wasn't even steam coming from it yet. He shook his head disapprovingly and stood to indolently walk to the cupboard. Opening the first leaf, he crouched and reached inside, feeling and fumbling around until his fingers closed around a small cardboard box. Drawing it out, he simply plopped on the floor instead of bothering to stand up. He turned the pastel colored box over in his fingertips until he could read the label, 'Celestial Seasonings: Sleepy Time Herbal Tea'.

"Fan-flipping-tastic." The last thing he needed was something to make him more tired than he already felt. But it was the only bagged tea available. The boy would've been content to brew it himself, but he had lost his strainer a while back... what a pain. Spearmint, peppermint, chamomile, maybe even some orange peel or catnip. It wasn't that damn hard, it made him wonder why people spent so much on pre-bagged teas. Sure it took longer to draw the flavors out of the raw herbs, but that's what made it so good.

Taking a shiny white mug, Fidel flipped on the hot water and filled it up most of the way. He placed it in the overhead microwave and punched in 50 sec. when it beeped, he removed it and dropped in the little bag into the steaming liquid. Sitting down with his drink-in-progress he practiced signing some more. His tea was gone in almost no time at all, and just about that fast he was asleep.

He didn't know how long he slept when that voice shook him out of sleep,

"Hello?"

"GAH!" Fidel felt out of his chair, thrashing on the floor for a moment before realizing where he was. It was an awful uncontrollable habit of his, He always slept fitfully, often twitching of kicking. but always woke up like he had had scalding hot water poured all over him."Owowowowow!!" He squeezed his eyes shut and held his head, which had struck the floor when he fell.

Wincing he looked up, "Yeah? Who's there? ahh.. damn." Standing he placed a hand on the table to steady himself. A delicious aroma filled the room. Seriously, how long had he been out" He looked at his timer, there was only twenty minutes left! That was almost no time to get the rest finished! A shock passed through his body, followed by a very colorful chin of curses directed at himself. He dashed to the fridge and grabbed the mushrooms. He looked over his shoulder and shouted, "Sorry!! C'mon in, I'm almost done!"



word count: 590
tags: Zoe Aves
notes:none~

[Candi Cane]

Cece was walking by with one serious thought cemented in her mind: Food. Her shift was a Ferruginous Hawk, and she enjoyed all kinds of prey. Unfortunately, considering that there were other students at Shifter Academy, and some of them happened to be mouse, snake, and fish shifters...well, there would be no luck there.

She bustled into the cafeteria, glad that she knew her way around campus much better than before. She nearly passed a girl who was entering a door, but she was stopped by a heavenly aroma wafting from the room.

The doors were glass, and she walked into the kitchen and smiled at the two kids inside: a guy who was evidently the cook, holding a spatula and pan, and a girl who had just arrived too.

"Hey," she greeted them, judgments immediately forming in her head. Of the girl: Smart looking. Sharpish features that indicated her shift. Hungryish expression that probably mirrored Cece's. The guy: by the looks of his tired eyes, just woke up from a nap. The smell of something heavenly and deliciously good was somewhat subtle, but deliciously warm. Hmm... Cece furrowed her brow. Something baking in the oven?

Well, whatever it was, it made her stomach rumble. Forcibly, she searched for other sources of food, since whatever was cooking clearly wasn't ready yet. The timer indicated 18 minutes. She looked at the guy, who was holding a package of mushrooms, fresh from the fridge. She wondered idly when the guy started cooking. Personally, Cece was no cook, who really only entered the kitchen to mooch food.

She saw a fruit bowl located conveniently at the far end of the room. Success, she thought. The walk here from the dorms hadn't been nearly as efficient as shifting and enjoying a quick snack, after all. Cece hadn't taken two steps when she tripped over her own feet, stumbling slightly. Her ankle rolled, twisting against the ground painfully.

"Ah, sh--" she bit down hard on her bottom lip to keep a string of curses from flowing out. She blushed slightly. Not from the pain, but because she felt embarassed for looking stupid in front of these people she'd never met before. She hated being thought of as the dumb blonde. Nearly everything about her mirrored that stereotype: the blonde hair, the friendly eyes, the charming smile, the stupid name. Candi Cane. Hmph.

"Whoops," she muttered, more to herself. Then, she forced a grin. Her sarcastic humor prevented her from letting a little fall get her down. "Guess my head's still in the air. Ever since I learned to shift, I've been better at flying than, well, walking." Cece slapped her forehead with her palm.

First impressions: definitely not her forte. She tried her ankle. Not too bad. A little nagging from the pressure, but, well, it would survive. Stubbornly, she took an apple and bit into it.

She exhaled. Five seconds in the room and she already felt humiliated. She put a friendly smile on, shoving her negative feelings away. "I'm Cece, by the way. Hawk shifter, clumsy walker. Nice to meet you."