In Just Seven Days

[starneybinson]

Who: Barney and Roxas
When: Monday evening
Where: Cafeteria. Might move, who knows?
Summary: Barney has a plan. He's going to teach poor amnesiac Roxas how to live in his tranditional Barney style. Will Roxas let him or will the Nobody come back to hit him again once he gets his memories back?! Oh, the suspense~
Rating: PG
Warnings: Barney.

Comments

[shardsofmemory]

Roxas, typically, was not paying attention to anything around him as he walked on autopilot to the cafeteria. It was not a route he should have known as well as he did, having only been walking it for a week or so, but it was as ingrained in his muscles as the odd defensive pose he'd find himself in when startled.

Nothing about this place really made much sense. From the random people telling him they knew him, knew more about him than he did. Telling him that they were friends, had always hung out. Telling him what he liked and what he'd been like.

It would have made Roxas feel... something, he thought, if he could feel anything. As it was, there was only this sort of simmering something in the back of his head when anyone asked about his memories. It was cooled by a few people, Barney not included. Barney made him want to... want to...

Roxas didn't even know. He let the train of thought derail upon entering the cafeteria, waving wordlessly at the blonde man over where the food was stored.

[starneybinson]

"Yo, Roxas!" Barney waved back, hanging out by the microwave as his Spaghetti-O's turned inside. The kid looked the same, but he sure didn't act it. Something about him was off. The quiet nature he was exuding was very unlike him. The normal Roxas was more assertive, less meek.

He smiled a little, contemplating this. The kid reminded him of Ted even more now, just a bit less skeptical. A bit. He was like Ted back before Barney had taught him how to live, or how he had thought Ted had been.

Wait. That was it! He know how to make this week more interesting, experiment or no... Now, just to wait until the right moment--

[shardsofmemory]

"Hey," the blonde responded quietly, making his way over to Barney. He gave the microwave an odd look, then turned to the food only to stare blankly. "What... is this stuff?"

None of it looked edible. All covered in plastic and... and completely nonsensical. And what the hell was that thing Barney was leaning next to?

[starneybinson]

"This, Bro, is the work of several generations of genius inventors in my dead, sweet home country, the United States of America, Freedom's homeland." He gestured around before adjusting his tie with finality at his statement. "These are the fruits of our labor, and a hell of a lot better than the stuff they usually feed us here."

The microwave dinged, Barney pulled out the bowl of deliciously processed noodles, the smell permeating the immediate surroundings.

[shardsofmemory]

Wrinkling his nose, Roxas eyed the noodles with distaste, backing away a little bit from the smell. "That smells disgusting," he informed the man holding them frankly, blue eyes flicking up to give him a skeptical look. Barney was seriously going to eat that?

[starneybinson]

"You're the one who likes weird flavors of ice cream. This is the food I grew up with. Pure and processed." Barney took a bite, reveling in the true taste. Oh, God, taste, how I've missed you.

[shardsofmemory]

"I still don't know what that ice cream is," Roxas reminded Barney sourly, turning away to search through the crates of food for something edible.

He found absolutely nothing, and rose again with a sigh. "Nothing to eat."

[starneybinson]

"Oh, come on!" Barney looked around raptly at the sheer mass of preserved food surrounding them. "All this stuff is edible with a little ingenuity!" He picked up a roll of cookie dough and tossed it to Roxas. "All kids like that stuff. You've got to let go, Roxas. Live a little!"

It was almost time. Almost time to let the kid in on the plan which would change his life...

[shardsofmemory]

He almost didn't catch it, but Roxas inspected the cookie dough tube once it was in his hands, staring at it with raised eyebrows.

"No thanks," he concluded with a shrug, tossing it back into the crate. "That doesn't look good at all."

[starneybinson]

"You're going to starve then?" He took another bite of his delicious concoction, then set it down on the table, clapping him on the shoulder. "You know what, Roxas. I think that there are somethings in this world that you don't yet know, and I think that I know just what you need."

He turned to him, a completely serious look on his face. "Roxas, I'm going to teach you how to live."

[shardsofmemory]

"I'll find something else," the boy shrugged, eyeing the hand on his shoulder.

Then Barney kept talking and ended up with incredulous blue eyes focused intently on him at his decision. "You... what?"

[starneybinson]

"I'm going to teach you how to live." Barney still looked at him sternly, completely convinced by what he was saying. "There are somethings that you just can't learn on your own, or you can, but it's harder. And some of them I can show you."

[shardsofmemory]

"You can?" Roxas asked doubtfully. Barney didn't seem like the guy who knew everything about him. 'Teaching him how to live' didn't sound terribly appealing (or safe, for that matter) either.

[starneybinson]

"Yep," Barney grinned. Teaching Roxas how to live? Well, all he could hope is that Roxas wouldn't get his memories back anytime soon. He might even thank him..? Yeah, he would. Why wouldn't he?!

"I can show you what it means to be awesome, lil' Bro."

[shardsofmemory]

Roxas blinked. "Why do I want to do that?"