Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Namine shivered faintly and took a few steps over, looking at the thermostat. Yeah, it had gotten colder because of the open doors. She sighed and bumped up the thermostat by a degree or two, the heater starting immediately. Hopefully the house would become warmer again pretty quickly.

 

Roxas took the rag into the bathroom and rinsed it out before setting it in the sink to dry. He then moved back into the hallway and started toward the living room, but something on the floor caught his eye. He stopped short, looking down on the ground. Sure enough, there was his pocket knife, the one he had given to Namine before he left to protect herself. How unexpected it was that it had been used against her. The thought saddened Roxas as he sighed and picked it up, seeing the blood drying on the blade.

 

Namine wanted to be sure that Roxas was done cleaning up in the living room before she reentered, so she was stalling. She looked at the kitchen and immediately felt as if she could use a drink. After everything...She exhaled a breath, frustrated with herself that she kept coming back to that. She entered the room and grabbed a glass, but she stopped short of filling it when she looked out the kitchen window. It was snowing.

 

Roxas went into the bathroom again and rinsed the blood off the blade, disinfecting it as well. When he was done, he dried it off against his black shirt and stuck the knife in his front pocket of his jeans. Roxas then headed toward the living room, making sure to avoid the wet spot on the floor.

 

Namine just stood there for a few moments, watching the snow falling out of the sky. It was strangely soothing to her. Maybe it was because the snow covered up everything else so that you didn't even know what was underneath it. Sort of like a mask, covering the ugly truth of a situation. In this case, she didn't see covering everything up as a bad thing. For now, not thinking about it would keep her a bit more optimistic, if that were possible. She was feeling down already from everything else, but--she sighed softly. She didn't want to keep thinking about that. She just wanted peace. Really, was that so much to ask?

 

Roxas stopped in the doorway to the living room, looking around but not finding a trace of the girl he was in search for. "Nam?" he called, arching an eyebrow in curiosity. He could feel a difference in the house, which meant Namine closed the doors already.

 

Namine heard the call, which startled her enough to make her lose her train of thought. "Be right out," she called back, looking away from the window so that her voice would project to wherever Roxas was. She saw she was still holding a glass in her hand, so she turned on the sink and filled it halfway before turning off the faucet and heading out of the kitchen.

 

"'Kay," Roxas responded, his voice loud enough to be heard through the house. He stepped into the living room, heading for the piano in one corner of the room. He hadn't forgotten Namine's request, and he had the perfect song to play for her.

 

Namine held the glass of water in her left hand as she took a few steps through the entrance hall, only being in there for a second because of the small distance between the kitchen doorway and the living room doorway. The moment she stepped into the living room, her eyes wandered over to the area Roxas had cleaned. There was no blood, and the knife was gone. She looked away quickly, her gaze landing on the boy right by the piano.

 

Roxas slid his hand along the top of the piano, his eyes on the keys before he took a seat at the bench. He looked up after a second, seeing that he wasn't alone anymore.

 

Namine walked over towards the piano, her legs carrying her in that direction without her really thinking about it. She stopped for a moment and set down her glass on an end-table by a seat and then looked to the piano, not sure if Roxas wanted her to sit down next to him or not.

 

Roxas smiled slightly at Namine and motioned with his head at the bench. He scooted over a little, knowing the general area of where his fingers would need to be in order to play the song.

 

Namine smiled faintly in response to Roxas, seeing that he had just answered the question she had been wondering about in her head. She took a few steps over and then lightly set herself down on the bench next to him, her eyes wandering to the keys without thought.

 

Roxas switched his gaze from Namine to the keys. "I think you're gonna like this one," he told her with a faint smile. He positioned his fingers on the keys and then pressed down, beginning to play a soft melody.

 

Namine's faint smile remained on her lips at Roxas' words, the blond briefly looking over at him before her gaze fell onto the keys again. She had no idea what he was playing, but whatever it was, she was sure she would enjoy it. She enjoyed anything Roxas played musically; he was excellent at that kind of stuff, whether it was vocals, guitar, or piano.

 

Roxas played the song silently, his fingers gliding across the keys and projecting smooth, clean notes. The music was meant to be soft and slow like he had originally thought in his head. His smile dimmed as he concentrated, eyes darting from one hand to the other as he played.

 

Namine watched Roxas' skilled hands run over the keys, the pace of the song slow but not dragging on. The song, it was...peaceful. That was the best way to describe it. It sounded a bit sad, but it also felt like it had a small bit of hopefulness behind it.

 

Roxas continued to play, out of the corner of his eye seeing Namine next to him. He could sense that she was watching him, but it didn't make him feel uneasy. He played in front of her all the time; the first time he had been a nervous wreck, but that was to be expected. Regardless, he was comfortable with playing in front of her now, and that was what mattered.

 

Namine exhaled a silent breath through her nose, her eyes falling shut. The more of the song she heard, she knew that it wasn't one about sadness. It was about rising above the sorrow and holding onto hope anyway. If you kept moving forward in life, moving through the sorrow to get where you needed to go, then you would turn out alright. You couldn't hide from sadness or hurt; you had to find the strength and courage to get through it.

 

Roxas repeated the main chords, though the song was almost over. It wasn't very long, but he didn't think it needed any more to it. He pressed a few light notes before using his left hand to hit a lower one, letting the chords fade out.