paixaorpg | There will always be someone to care for you, no matter your choices [Completed]

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There will always be someone to care for you, no matter your choices [Completed]

Character(s): Gwen and Roxas.
Content: A last supper while you're still the person you think you are; or, a mother home cooks for a Nobody.
Setting: Vyers' apartment.
Time: Evening, week 34 I think, sometime after a Laharl and Gwen go steak hunting in Spira (not yet posted).
Warnings: Prob a bit of sadness...

Gwen never quite questioned where Paixao’s food came from. It was there, accessible, and she continued to shop at Matinal’s and try to keep some form of stocked cabinets, even despite things happening like, as she denoted “The Waffle Incident.” Although even that hadn’t bothered Gwen, and it did result in her son cleaning it up himself, which seemed like quite the feat, and something to make a mother proud. So, even despite the sometimes-possibly-more-often-than-not misuse of the kitchen and the food kept within, she still stocked it.

But sometimes Matinal’s just didn’t cut it. Roxas needed a home-cooked, warm meal; she was sure that it would help whatever was wearing the boy down, and to make it right she needed to properly know where her main course came from. That probably didn’t mean that she needed to go on an excursion to Spira; nonetheless that’s what Gwen had done, and she may have still been a little bumped and bruised, but the prize of meat from a Behemoth of Mt. Gagazet was worth it in her mind.

Laharl may have been thinking other things about the trip, but he had to get his stubbornness from someone.

She had already finished most of the preparations and was setting everything to cook (having made a few portions for her husband and son as well) and waited, an afterthought in her mind wondering if Simba would prefer his Behemoth raw, but then she did have extras. It was a Behemoth. They didn’t bring home it all, but they certainly brought home enough.

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As Roxas walked to the apartment he used to share with everyone, he couldn't shake the feeling that, somehow, tonight was going to be...goodbye. It must have been what Timon was saying...But what was Timon so worried about, anyway? What about "Hakuna Matata?" Wasn't that Timon's motto, no worries? He'd seemed so...sad. Thanks to that, Roxas wasn't looking forward to meeting Gwen and Simba as much as he had been when they talked on the journals.

The thought of finally calling on the Doctor made his stomach feel like a lead weight. Roxas didn't know what was going to happen...and how could he? Anything that might tell him was gone, and it had been for a long time. And...it scared him. If he got his memories back, was he really going to be that much different?

Before he knew it, the Nobody had arrived. He swallowed a lump in his throat, and knocked on the apartment's door, trying his best not to look as nervous and frightened as he felt. These two were his friends...they would trust that he needed to do this...right?

Gwen opened the door with a cheerful smile, though it faded a fraction when she saw his expression. "Come in, dear," she said, welcoming him through the threshold, then shutting the door softly behind him. This... was going to be difficult on the boy, wasn't it? She would do her best though. He deserved something.

She led him into the kitchen. "I went to see Simba but he was in such a deep sleep." She frowned a bit. "I didn't really want to wake him..."

She watched him for a moment, wondering what he needed, wondering if he would even ask for what he needed. She didn't want to push, but it was hard just leaving him. He wasn't alone in Paixao, she only hoped that he could see that. She turned away to take care of the meal. "I hope you're not a vegetarian, though I did make salad as well."

Roxas tried to smile back, but it was hard. He just...couldn't relax. Walking through the doorway felt like he was trying to push himself through an invisible wall, and when he finally broke through it was like something at the door had a grip on his...well...there wasn't a heart there for that something to grab, was there? That still...didn't make any sense. But he pushed that thought aside, as best he could anyway, and let Gwen take him into the kitchen.

Simba was sleeping...how like him. "Yeah, we should leave him asleep. Maybe I'll talk with him when I come back next time." There would be a next time...he promised himself that.

He forced himself to laugh, at least a little, at Gwen's comment about being a vegetarian. "I've lived here before, you know I'm not."

People can change in such short periods is something she doesn't say while she focuses on the preparations. Instead, she chuckles quietly and says, "I know, I know. Just checking." She looks over her shoulder and gives him a quick wink. "Now! Sit down and let's get you filled up with a good meal, yes?"

The sound of dishes moving follows. Salad meeting deep bowls, Behemoth steak, warm and moist, sliding against plates.

Slowly, and with more care than was even remotely necessary, Roxas sat down at the table. It had been so long since he was here last...What would Timon say if he knew Roxas had come? The meerkat would probably yell about making him worry...

The food smelled really good though. Sora and Ven weren't such bad cooks, but they hadn't been doing it nearly as long as Gwen had. The sights and scents even helped push Roxas's melancholy thoughts a little further toward the back of his mind.

"It looks great," he said, waiting to be told he could go ahead and dig in. If it were with Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa it wouldn't have mattered, but Gwen had always liked something more in the way of manners than the three animals did.

Gwen places her own plate of food to the table. She wasn't very hungry, but she figured Roxas would be more comfortable if he wasn't the only one eating, and it would give her something to do other than worriedly watch after him. He doesn't need that kind of pressure.

"Go on, eat up," she tells him, "you wouldn't want it to get cold!"

She had awhile to think of what she would say when he came over, but now her reassurances were falling away from her. She cuts into her own steak, a frown beginning to show on her face before she quickly smoothed it out.

With a nod, the boy cut into his own steak. But at just the wrong moment, he risked a quick glance up. Gwen hadn't meant for him to see that frown...

His eyes fixated on his plate, immediately, and he glued them there as he ate. He had thought there would be more to talk about, but as it was, he was having trouble even thinking of something to say. So instead, he just kept silent. Even though that really only made everything feel even more awkward.

He said it would take too long to explain. That his time was running out. Gwen... almost felt like she could relate. It felt as though she was on borrowed time here in Paixao. There had been a lot of people disappearing lately - going home, as people put it. She didn't think too much into it because of living with the lions and knowing how they picked up and lost scents. But... if she went home then... how much time did she have here, really?

She stills her hands over the plate, looking down at her meal.

"Roxas..."

Her gaze flits up to his for a moment before shifting away again. She thinks briefly about leftovers and spoils. Wrapping something up nice and tight to save it. She looks back down at her plate. Silence. It almost seems like the pause will go on forever.

She's scared for him.

"... Why is your time running out?"

In an instant, Roxas had forgotten his food was even there. Everything suddenly rushed back, breaking through the wall he'd tried to build up to stem the tide. His heart sank, his breath caught, his eyes squeezed tight shut like somehow he could use his closed eyelids to keep everything inside. He almost shook.

"I...I'm going to get my memories back." To say he sounded nervous would be an understatement. He didn't have any confidence in his words, and he still didn't even know if it was a good idea. Especially after what the Doctor had let him see. What could have been so bad that all Roxas had been able to do was...cry?

His... memories? Ah. Now pieces were fitting more snugly together. She... almost wished she didn't bring it up from how he reacted. But like a warm meal, talking also helped.

Sometimes.

Gwen stands from the table, her own food forgotten, and moved around to where he sat. She says nothing, only kneeling down and enveloping Roxas in her arms in a tight hug.

That hug was only the second one that Roxas could remember. The first had been from the Doctor. If he'd ever gotten one before, that he'd forgotten...who knew. Something seized up inside him when Gwen's arms wrapped around his back. He didn't know how long he just sat there, eyes wide, held in her embrace.

But this time, instead of just crying, like he had with the Doctor...he threw his arms around her neck, and squeezed tight. The tears came anyway, but somehow...like this...they felt better. Like he was getting rid of something that he didn't want.

"I've got you, Roxas," Gwen whispers.

He wasn't alone in his tears. Wetness pricks along her eyelashes and she nibbles at her bottom lip. This boy - why did so much have to be bottled into this one boy? What was weighing down on him? What would be weighing down on him after he regained his memories?

"I've got you," she says again, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm here now, and I'll still be here after you've gotten your memories back. I'll still cook for you." She brings up a hand and rests it on the back of his head, gentle.

For what seemed like ages, all Roxas could do was let Gwen hold him. He'd never had anyone in his life like her that he could remember, someone who could hold him, and say things like that. He flinched when she put her hand on his head, but the feeling of it there was just so...comforting.

"...Thank you..." he said breathlessly, through all his tears.

She said nothing else for a long while, riding out that broken tide of his. But eventually she pulls away to look him in the eyes, her face still wet, but a strong smile on her face. The hand on his head drew down to rest on one of his shoulders.

"You should finish your meal. We wouldn't want you out on an empty stomach, hm?"

"You...were crying too?" Roxas asked as he Gwen looked at him. Why...why was she crying?

He sent a guilty look down at his plate. He'd hardly even started eating yet...

She rubs at an eye, flicking away tears.

"Emotion connects from one person to another. I'm alright, I just wish that I could help you carry your weight more. Will someone be with you? You shouldn't have to go alone."

"No...I won't be by myself. There were...a lot of people who wanted to help." Roxas looked back up at Gwen, still surprised that she'd become so worried about him.

She's a mother. It happens. She worries about everyone who's ever stepped into this apartment, she worries even about people she's met on the street and exchanged conversation with. It comes with the territory.

Gwen sighs in relief. "I'm glad. That's how it should be."

Roxas went back to his food after that, and the rest of the meal wasn't very eventful. They talked a little, and laughed a little, and by the time he was ready to walk out the door, Roxas was finally feeling a little better.

"Thanks, Gwen," he said with a smile as he took the last bite of his steak.

"You're welcome, Roxas," she replies, returning the smile. She then pushes away from the table and begins to wrap up a small bundle of leftovers and hands it to him. "For the road, just in case you get hungry later, or want to share it with your help."

She gives him another hug. "Stay safe. I'll cook for you again. I promise."

No matter what kind of person he is when she sees him again.

"I bet Sora would be happy to have a good meal for once," Roxas answered with a chuckle. He only kind of returned her hug, finding it a little awkward now, but he smiled.

"I'll make sure to come back. Once I remember everything."

"Then I'll cook for him, too."

After he's gone, after she finally let him go, she cleans up. It's a slow process, and half way through she simply stands there with the dishrag in hand, and tears up again.

He'll be back; she knows he will. But...

With a stuttering breath, she dabs the dishrag at her eyes, leaves the dishes to sit, and goes to find comfort in her husband.

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There will always be someone to care for you, no matter your choices [Completed]

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