Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Namine sat herself upright, only having been able to see the top of Roxas' spiky hair from her former position. She brought her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her blanketed legs and silently gazed at Roxas, seeing him playing the guitar clearly from her new position.

 

The beat picked up slightly, but Roxas had no problem remembering. He strummed the guitar with steady, skilled hands. After a few seconds he began to hear himself humming softly, remembering the words he had written down in a notebook back at his house. Strange... Picking up the guitar suddenly brought back everything Roxas figured he had forgotten.

 

Namine tilted her head and let her cheek rest on her knees, her gaze falling down to the sheets on her bed. Naturally, she recognized the beat of the song; it was one that Roxas had sung for her in the past. She felt a warm pang in her heart, recalling multiple scenarios when Roxas had played guitar or just sung for her. She had always loved his music; it brought her peace.

 

Roxas continued humming softly, unaware that he was being watched. He closed his eyes again as he strummed, just playing. When he played, he forgot all his worries and troubles, which was one of the reasons he picked up the instrument in the first place. It brought him peace.

 

Namine shut her eyes, lightly keeping her arms around her legs. She knew that she would never be able to write music as beautifully as Roxas, but strangely, she was alright with that. Music was his gift; drawing was hers.

 

Roxas let the music fill him, absorbing the notes and strumming like it was all he knew. He guessed, that even if he was different, his music never changed about him. He still loved it, knowing that the passion for it came from his heart.

 

Namine opened her eyes and immediately found Roxas, a small smile appearing on her lips because of the look on his face. She softly changed her position on the bed, folding her legs in front of her. Then she continued to enjoy the music, until another sensation other than the peace she had been feeling impacted her. The urge to sneeze. She fought it off for a brief second and then turned her head to the side, a soft sneeze leaving her lips.

 

The sound entered Roxas's ears and the music stopped abruptly, the boy spinning around quickly in surprise. His wide eyes fell on Namine, his grasp tight on the neck of the guitar. It took him a second, but he finally let out a breath, the fear leaving him that way.

 

Namine blinked, as surprised as Roxas was at the turn things had taken. "Sorry," she said as she blushed, making her cheeks more pink than they already were. "I didn't mean to startle you."

 

Roxas fumbled with his hair with his free hand, shaking his head and looking down at the guitar in his lap at how easily he was put on edge these days. "Don't sweat it," he said softly.

 

Namine bit down lightly on her lip and looked down at her lap, letting her bangs fall down into her eyes. Roxas must have really been into his music, considering the reaction he had when he realized somebody was listening in. She hadn't meant to disrupt, and she felt bad for the sneeze, even if it wasn't something she could have controlled.

 

Roxas finally let his eyes rest on Namine after a brief silence, seeing her expression. "Uh..." he started uncertainly, ruffling the back of his hair again, "do you feel any better? You were sleeping for a while." It didn't seem like that long, since he had kept himself busy. But now he realized it had indeed been a few hours.

 

Namine looked up at the voice, her bangs slightly in her eyes. "I feel a little better," she said softly. "I could have slept more, though. The storm woke me up." Unfortunately for her, she hadn't slept deeply in a while; it was more like just resting for the night. It never really fulfilled her needs, but it was just enough to keep her going for the most part.

 

"You sure it wasn't me?" Roxas asked in response, glancing down at the guitar in his hands. He was trying to play soft, but maybe that hadn't worked out as well as he thought it would.

 

Namine smiled gently, shaking her head. "No, it wasn't you," she assured him. And even if it had woken her, she would have been alright with it. Even if the conversation felt a little...weird now, she was sure things would get better. Things with her and Roxas were hardly ever awkward, and if they were, they normally changed things around fairly quickly.

 

Roxas's eyes met Namine's sky-blue and he nodded, her small smile dragging a faint one out of him as well. That was good; he didn't plan on disturbing her rest, and he was afraid he had. Thankfully that didn't happen, though.

 

Namine folded her hands in her lap, a small smile still present on her lips. Looking into Roxas' eyes now, even if she couldn't see them completely because of her own bangs, she could see a change. It wasn't something that had just changed at that moment, but something that had changed since the day he left with Sora. She couldn't identify the change, but she didn't try to, either. It wasn't her place to invade Roxas' privacy, and she would never treat somebody she loved disrespectfully.

 

After a minute, Roxas looked down at the guitar, patting it gently. "I haven't played in a long time," he said, his smile growing a little sad. "I was afraid I'd forgotten how." Things had changed, a lot. He thought that maybe his ability to play the guitar would have been affected.

 

Namine shook her head softly, coming out of her own deep thoughts. "It didn't sound like you forgot a thing," she said, a smile appearing on her lips. He had beautifully, just like she always remembered he played. That was another thing she had missed about him while he was gone: his music. And it appeared to her that he had missed it as well.

 

Roxas nodded, the same smile still against his lips. He strummed a few quick notes, his fingers darting down the length of the neck of Namine's guitar before he abruptly quit, showing that he indeed hadn't forgotten how to properly play the instrument. "Sounds like it," he agreed, looking up at the girl on the bed and smiling a little more.