Chuckling, Alexis followed Noel into the kitchen. He could imagine a wall of cans here and as ridiculous as the image was, he loved the idea of it. A person could be ready for anything that way. "Ah, I admit I normally just eat soup or a sandwich from the school cafeteria unless friends as me out. I usually skimp out of meaty things, you see. I'm a regular weekend vegetarian." He laughed outright at that. He called himself that because he was like an person with a weekend hobby--no real commitment to it. If he felt like eating bacon one morning, he felt no guilt for doing so. He moved around as he talked, poking his head into things with no real concern to censuring his curiosity. "Wow, this is like a grocery store!"

Noel laughed and nodded. "Yeah? I think I could do something without meat..." He shrugged, searching through the cupboards. "Egg whites, maybe, on a bagel? I don't usually make bagels because I prefer just about anything else, and the store stuff is so... tough." He pulled a face and found what he was looking for: A cloth bag he stored breads and bagels in, made of a mix of burlap and cotton to keep things inside fresh for up to a week. "I got fruits and vegetables in the large pantry over there." He nodded to the sliding door near the fridge and set the bag on the counter. Then he was hit with a thought; this felt routine. A good routine. Like he'd done this before with the same person. Sometimes he and Jeanie would spend an hour or so in the kitchen, but they wouldn't talk much. And that saddened him, because he was a talker. Normally he had his e-cig with him, but this time Noel didn't even think about it, even as it sat on the shelf above the oven.

"This place is so impressive. I live in the college apartments. A little place hardly bigger than a dorm. I never even bothered with the kitchenette because it looked so banged up," Alexis said. Not that he lamented this in the least. The lack of being able to make his own food drove him out to find it. He still remembered perfectly the day he decided to show his face in Noel's bakery, in his first week of college. Back then it wasn't anything. He showed up only when in a hungry rush. It took his a while to work his way into the state he currently was in. More than a year in fact to the point where he got noticed for showing up more often than the average regular. It's not like he was some kind of insane, fall in instant love sort of guy. Turning a little pink at his own memories, he peered into the pantry with an ooohing noise.

Noel was unknotting the bag in his hands, and glanced up with a knitted brow. "Really? Wow, I don't think I'd survive without a full kitchen..." He grimaced, pulling a couple soft bagels out of the bag and knotting it again. "You should come by anytime you like, Alex, y'know, I wouldn't mind." It might make the house a little more lively, too. He couldn't handle the silence when he felt that Jeanie wasn't coming back. It felt isolated. Like he'd never have someone to take that edge off the loneliness again. Of course he had to call himself stupid---that wasn't the case, obviously, because he could always start dating again. But wouldn't that cast a negative light on him? Getting rid of Jeanie so he could play around on her, and not even with women. What ugly rumors would start then? He shook his head and put the bag up.

"Find anything you like?" Noel asked Alexis as he put the bag back on a shelf. "I've got just about anything in there, and cold vegetables in the crisper here." He opened the door of the fridge and pulled a small carton of eggs out.

"Thanks. I can survive because I can always find some other place to eat," Alexis said, glancing sidelong at Noel. He let himself get irrationally happy again. Or maybe it wasn't so irrational when Noel said he could come over when he liked. One step closer, Alexis could almost see the future laid out before him like a storybook. The two of them really were perfect for each other. That woman didn't belong like he did. And Alexis did feel like he already belonged in this kitchen. Smiling brightly to himself, he finally turned his attention to the pantry and its variety. After a couple seconds he selected some vegetables he liked and brought them out to the counter by Noel. "Here you go! I'm really enjoying being here with you like this. You know, now that you've invited me, you'll never be rid of me again." He'd probably said it before, but it just kept ringing more true.

Noel used his hands to separate egg whites from yolks, tossing the yellow down the sink drain and whipping them together with a bit of salt and pepper as Alexis moved around in search of his preferences. "You're like a pest, then?" Noel asked, but his smile proved he didn't mean it. "I don't mind pests unless they're in my shop. Especially when the pest can hold a really good conversation." He paused to put a pan on the stovetop and turn the heat on, oiling the pan lightly and turning to Alexis. "I wouldn't mind having you over every day at this point... Lest you survive solely on heavy, bready foods half the time and random restaurants the rest of the time." He couldn't imagine that, really. Pausing to retrieve two circular molds, he oiled them and set them in the pan to create perfectly round finished eggwhites and poured half of the bowl into each one.

"If anything I can make extra when I cook for myself and have it ready for you to pick up. It'd give me more to do, too..." That meant less time to dwell. Question. Worry.

"A pest huh? I suppose I wouldn't mind being your pest since it amuses you," he said with a chuckle. Alexis' smile grew more, his blue eyes sparkling with emotion, he avoided looking directly at Noel because he knew his expression must have said clear as day that he was in love. Not a terrible thing, but not a good thing either. Alexis turned just a little pink. "You're really just too kind. If you keep being like this, I feel like I'll take advantage of you too much. You're really..." he ducked his head away and stopped himself from saying too much. He pulled a lock of hair in front of his face and started bustling about to cover up his feelings. "Never mind," he chimed as he looked through the stuff on Noel's counter. Anything to keep his hands busy.