Genos was accustomed to sleeping and waking up in strange places. More than once he'd had no choice but to lie down amidst rubble and go to sleep at his power core's behest. He'd once constructed a pitiful shelter of take-out boxes and gone to sleep with his head on a bag of dry rice. He'd fallen asleep standing up against a wall after locking his robotic joints into position when the only shelter from the torrential rainfall had been a narrow bit of roof that his form barely fit under. While chaos reigned in nearby cities, Genos would lie down to sleep in the fields of the farms that lay just outside.

None of those unusual situations felt comparable to this - lying down on the couch of Saitama, the world destroyer, and waking up gently to rays of sunshine on his face and even a few birds outside..

When Genos's power core reached 100%, he sat up and felt like he was falling into a dream. He felt so detached from the situation, it was as though he wasn't in charge of the motions of his own body as he got up, straightened out the pillows on the couch and folded the blanket.

His mind simply didn't want to be fully aware of his...current circumstances. That would mean having to plan and take some sort of action in regards to it, and that was the last thing Genos wanted to do right now, or ever. Action wasn't taken against Saitama without immediate bloodshed, and Genos had no desire to die.

He couldn't just stay here, though, in Saitama's apartment. At some point, Genos would need to try and plan some sort of escape-

"Breakfast." Genos muttered quietly, interrupting himself before he could start along a train of thought that would put him into a state of anxiety. Until he had a better idea of the parameters of his stay here, or at least a full stomach, there was no sane plan to make.

Well, there was one sane plan. To do as he'd been ordered to do last night, and make breakfast.

Genos closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, exhaled gradually, and then turned on his heel and marched into the kitchen. Focus on present tasks, keep all thoughts practical and relevant to a physical action. That was how he avoided panic and stress. It had helped him through chaotic situations before - aftermaths of demon level threats, panicked evacuations from cities that turned crowds into a deadly stampede, escaping from persistent, hungry monsters.

He could definitely handle the stress of making a simple breakfast for S-...for the occupants of this apartment.

The cyborg checked the time on the microwave - 5:43am. Sai-... his host, likely wouldn't be awake for a bit yet. Hopefully that gave Genos enough time to come up with a good meal. He still knew how to make miso soup, and probably Sa-the person hosti̶n̸g̷ ̵h̸i̶m̵-!

Genos squeezed his eyes shut and clutched his temples, breathing in and out hard through his nose. His chin was trembling and he felt his human eye watering dangerously. He was fighting so hard to ignore it, but the elephant in the room was getting larger and as hard as he tried, Genos felt himself beginning to lose to an anxiety attack.

He was in the apartment of a mass murderer. He was one hallway away from the man that had almost killed him. He'd been kidnapped by the most powerful being in the world, slept on his couch, and had to make breakfast for him. He didn't know if he was going to be alive by lunch time. He didn't know if he was allowed to leave or if he'd be effortlessly chased down and smashed to pieces.

Genos sank to his knees on the kitchen tiles, still stubbornly biting on his lip and tightening his chest to hold back sobs. Against his will, the program in his optic meant for detecting and alerting him of Saitama's proximity, turned back on in response to the cyborg's panic. Seeing the glowing red heat signature of the sleeping figure a few rooms over did not help his panic, and he held a hand over the optic to block out the image with his palm.

A desperate gesture that didn't work, since that hand was metal and his heat detection looked right through it. So instead Genos turned his chin further down to the floor, removing the image from his line of sight entirely. Not that that did anything to change the fact that he was right there and at any moment he could-...

Genos blinked, optic whirring nearly silently and shifting to focus on the plastic cup lying on the floor. He picked it up, and then looked up to see where it came from. Ah. It must have fallen from the counter... absolutely crowded with dirty plates and bowls...Genos wouldn't be able to cook like this.

Drawing his wrist across his human eye without thinking about it, Genos stepped forward and began strategically piling things to free up the sink and the drying rack. Where would the dish soap be..?

Saitama wasn't exactly the type of guy to get roaring drunk and end up in unfamiliar places. So when he emerged from his room, yawning and stretching his arms over his head, he froze in place in the hall and actually had a few seconds of confused panic when he couldn't recognize where he was.

Then the last of his sleep daze faded, and Saitama was able to safely come to the conclusion that this was in fact, his apartment. It was just...freakishly clean.

And it smelled amazing.

He peeked around the corner, blinking and letting out an 'oh' at the sight of the cyborg bent over the stove. "Right, I forgot about y-"

Genos leapt back from the stove, optic whirring loud enough for Saitama to hear, and braced himself against the counter, fixating his gaze on the villain with every muscle tensed.

Saitama had a hand on Genos's shoulder with an unforgiving grip in seconds, his expression abruptly shifting to a serious one. "Not thinking of bolting are you?"

Genos was frozen, but Saitama could feel the slight tremor of his muscles under his hand. He barely kept a smile from twitching up. "Well?"

"N..no. No Saitama sir. You just startled me is all." Genos managed to get out.

"Good." Saitama's expression abruptly went neutral again and he looked at the stove. "Cause that's smelling good. Is it finished?"

"A-almost, Saitama sir."

"Can you not call me sir?"

"Master Saitama!"

"Definitely not that either!" Saitama gave him a weird look. "Geez, you're weird."

"S..s-sorry."

Saitama waved it off with an 'eh', wandering off to the living room and sitting down on the couch. Genos went back to cooking without another word, though he was noticeably tense now.

"...did you clean my windows?"

"Yes!"

The intensity of Genos's voice made Saitama jolt a little in surprise. "...what for? I asked for breakfast not room service."

"I...I needed the kitchen cleared. So I could cook. There wasn't room. And so I...I cleaned. Everything. It-" Genos turned around and found Saitama standing right behind him, eyes narrowed again.

"Hey. You callin' me a slob?"

Genos's pupils contracted.

Saitama snorted and lightly smacked Genos's shoulder, earning a sharp flinch. "Guess it has been a few months since I cleaned up." He leaned to the side to look at the bubbling pot on the stove. "That done now? I'm hungry."

Genos took in a slow breath, swallowing and nodding. "Y-yes."

"Great!" Saitama grabbed a bowl, raising his eyebrows when he saw they were all clean. "Let's eat."

Genos was the physical manifestation of 'uncomfortable' as he knelt across the coffee table from Saitama, who had a hand over his mouth and was staring at the bowl that he'd just taken a bite from. The cyborg's hands were clenched tightly in his lap, and he hadn't taken a breath in the last minute.

Eventually he couldn't tolerate the silence anymore. If he was going to be killed for making an unsatisfactory meal he'd rather get it over with than sit here with this tension for another minute. "Is...i-is there something wrong with the soup…?"

Saitama took in a breath and cleared his throat. "Sorry. I'd...forgotten what not-instant food tasted like." He promptly shoved another spoonful into his mouth.

"...so then, it wasn't so awful you started crying?"

The villain's head snapped up from the bowl. "Hey! I wasn't crying! I was just appreciating...culinary arts!"

"...it..it's only miso soup."

"Shut up!" Saitama sat back against the couch, taking his bowl with him and looking more than a little resentful as he continued eating.

Genos flinched, but felt a little secure in the knowledge that his breakfast was acting as a temporary guard for his life. He carefully began eating from his own bowl, trying not to stare at Saitama but unable to keep from glancing up from time to time.

Saitama gave a satisfied sigh when he finished, putting the empty bowl on the ground next to him. "Alright, that was good. Not good enough to cry over but pretty good."

"...thank you." Genos said quietly, keeping his eyes on his bowl permanently now that Saitama's attention was back on him fully.

The villain put one foot on the coffee table and leaned back against the couch, picking at his teeth with his pinkie and eyeing Genos. "I kinda thought you'd have made a run for it. It was sorta surprising to see you here still."

"...my core was low on energy. I required several hours of sleep mode to restore myself to full power." Genos stirred the spoon around his empty bowl idly. "By the time I woke up, it was late enough in the morning that I knew you would be awake in only a few hours."

Saitama narrowed his eyes. "You saying you would have run otherwise?"

"..." Genos raised his head and made eye contact. "Yes."

The villain raised his eyebrows. "Pretty stupidly honest of you."

"Would you have believed me if I tried to lie and tell you I planned on staying?"

"...fair point I guess." Saitama crossed his arms, tilting his head. "That still doesn't make sense though. Anyone else would have tried to run, or lie to me about it."

"...have you brought anyone else back to your home before?" Genos's brow furrowed deeply at the distressing thought. He knew he certainly wouldn't wish his predicament upon anyone else.

"...uh, well, no." Saitama cleared his throat. "But I'm pretty sure I'm right."

Genos was tempted to ask Saitama what on Earth his point had been either way, but he had a sneaking suspicion that Saitama wouldn't have an answer. This man really had gone a long time without a decent social interaction.

Instead of responding verbally, Genos merely nodded and picked up his bowl, standing up. He hesitated, like he would around a dangerous wild animal, and then picked up Saitama's bowl from next to him as well.

Saitama blinked and watched Genos carry the dishes to the sink and begin to wash them. "...huh. You know…" He stood up, grinning again when he saw Genos immediately grow tense as he approached. "The plan was to take you out back after breakfast, and, you know. 'Put you down'."

Genos swallowed.

"I kinda picked you up on an impulse yesterday. Uh, brought you home I mean." Saitama worked quickly through that poor choice of words. "When you finally showed up yesterday, I thought it through and decided I didn't really want the trouble of dealing with a new pet."

"I...I'll gladly be on my way-" Genos tried.

A strong hand gripped his shoulder, and the next thing Genos knew, he'd been thrown violently onto his back on the kitchen floor. He stared up at the form silhouetted by the bright kitchen lights, core whirring loudly in his chest.

"...don't interrupt me." Saitama said after a moment, leaning against the kitchen counter and looking down at Genos with that emotionless face that terrified the cyborg speechless. "...anyway. Like I said. Killing you was the plan. But." The villain glanced around his spotless apartment. "...I kinda like this situation. Pretty smart of you to make an argument for your life and not just breakfast." He crouched down over Genos and gave a brief pat to his cheek. "Keep it up." He straightened and headed for his room. "...y'know. Or else and whatever."

The door to the bathroom closed, and Genos stayed lying on the ground for a minute longer, holding his chest, before leaping to his feet and scrubbing out the breakfast bowls at a frantic pace.

So much for planning to escape...now he needed to plan for survival.