At fourteen, Sora feels like he's reached a dead end. Another year of bad grades means the possibility of repeating a hellish year of middle school. Dealing with the fallout from his classmates and cold, strict mother only makes matters worse.
So, w...
'𝒞𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝐼'𝓂 𝒶𝓁𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝑒~The Princess and The Frog - Almost There
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The second walk they all the get to the cafeteria it is quiet and comfortable. Sora finally gets his new friend's name, Ray, although he gives it to Sora with too much thought, like that may not be his real name. But the brunette does understand. But it doesn't stop Sora from giving Ray his real name without worry. The brunette feels safe here, and if there was anyone Sora had to be wary about, it wouldn't be Ray. There's an instant connection between them. I wonder if he feels it, too? Sora means, it's not as electric as what he felt when he first met Roxas but... it's definitely nice. And honestly, not feeling so intense, like Sora is just gonna die if he doesn't get to touch him, is a relief for sure. He's comfortable to be around, even if he looks like he's gonna crawl out of his skin any second.
Sora smiles at Ray as he heads into the dining area, a large, cafeteria-style spread with a large open space set up in the center with tables and chairs spread around. They must be some of the first ones here, because the line is short and only one of the tables is occupied, by two very small-looking girls who have their heads nearly together while they talk, their food sitting untouched in front of them. The idea of seeing food in front of Sora and not cramming it into his mouth seems bizarre. He wonders if he'll ever feel like he is in the clear, or if He is gonna worry about starving for the rest of his life.
Ray and Sora queue up behind a group of four boys a little younger than them, all chattering about what's for lunch. They grab some trays, resting their elbows on the small metal counter until employees start bringing out food from the kitchen. That sends Sora's stomach into overdrive--with all the excitement today, it never even occurred to him that he hasn't eaten yet... and the smells alone are enough to make him crazy. Reflexively, Sora turns his head to tell Roxas how happy he'll be to have some food in his stomach, especially if it tastes as incredible as it smells.
Oh--right.
Roxas's absence makes his stomach hurt too.... but in a different way.
If Sora doesn't get him to something eat now, he won't eat at all. And Sora knows no one's gonna get Roxas to eat but him. So there goes his plan to bring Roxas his leftovers... He should probably stay and eat with Ray, just to be sure. Abandoning the little kid like this makes Sora feel kind of crummy, but he'll be happy to give him a rain check and join him as soon as he can. Right now...he just doesn't want Roxas to be alone.
So Sora grabs a second tray from the stack behind them and maneuvers his arm a little painfully to avoid hitting the girl next in line.
☁️Ray,☁️ Sora said, raising his voice to be heard over the sudden racket of twenty more teens piling in and lining up. Ray turns to look at the brunette, eyes deer-in-the-headlights wide.☁️I'm going to bring food back to my friend so we can eat together, is that okay?☁️ It might just be Sora's imagination, but he could swear Sora was able to catch his face fall a little. Against Sora's better judgment, he invites him along. Roxas will not be happy about this...
Ray flushes an ugly blotchy sort of color, up from his neck to his ears.
"We're not allowed to eat in the rooms," is his version of 'no thanks', At least Sora thinks. And so the brunette simply shrugs.
☁️Well... I'm gonna give it a shot. Cover for me.☁️ Sora grins, hoping it'll help him realize that the brunette is teasing because he looks suddenly terrified. It takes a moment, but his wide-eyed gape melts into a small smile. Sora thinks he was this close to giving him an all-out panic attack for a second.
Behind them, the line continues to build. Man... I can't believe how many kids are here. It makes Sora headache... they should all be home. Not in a home.
☁️Is it always this busy?☁️ Sora asks, maybe a little rhetorically. ☁️ There are so many of us...☁️
"I guess they must get a lot of runaways from the city," Ray responds, his voice high and nervous-sounding. Every so often Sora can notice him shaking a little. Wonder if he's getting over a cold or something, or if he's really just that jittery. "I guess sleeping on the beach gets old after a while."
The beach?
Sora swallows hard, nodding. They really are close to the coast, then! Oh man, I could just hug Ray right now, except Sora thinks he'd have a heart attack if he did. Man, he feels like he's going to have a heart attack. They might actually be close. If his gut feeling about where to find his dad is right, which Sora really, really thinks it is... at the very least, they might be on the right track, on the right side of the country. It could just be a matter of going north or south a bit...
Wait, do I keep saying "we"? Roxas ... we aren't going together anymore. Sora almost forgot they decided that. After everything, he'll be going at it alone...
...Maybe he should just focus on the food for now, especially now that it's so close. The line finally starts to move as the chefs finish bringing out massive pans of food, soups and salads, meat and vegetables, and an array of sauces and dressings of every color. Sora is almost bouncing in place. He can't help but just want to dig into it all.
"Hungry?" One of the chefs, a huge man with tons of teeth whose name tag reads Louis, asks loudly. He has a mean face--for some reason, he reminds Sora of a very well-fed alligator-- but it all melts when he starts laughing heartily at the sight of Sora. The brunette even finds himself laughing, even though his face is red hot. Luckily Sora only gets a few stares.
He serves Sora two plates of some sort of spicy-smelling stew and sends the brunette on his way. Sora doesn't even realize that his stomach was in a knot until the next chef serves him two servings of salad, mostly iceberg lettuce with some shredded carrots thrown in. And Sora thought he was in trouble for a second.
Sora passes through the rest of the line without incident, ending up with two very heavy, very full trays by the end of it all. Ray and the brunette separate as Sora makes a beeline for the door. Ray takes a table by himself, which sends a pang of guilt through the brunette, but he has his own loner to worry about. Besides, Ray can always join them if he wants. Sora thinks he made that clear. Or he hopes that he did, anyway.
The further Sora walks down the hall, his wrists and elbows aching from the strain, the more he soon finds himself regretting this decision. It has him thinking about how the golden blond would watch as Sora literally hand delivered Roxas an incredible lunch only for him to not eat a single bite.
