Welcome to Gaia! ::

As much as Billy was loathe to admit it, he knew where the cheap grocery stores were. As much as he tried to look and present himself as above middle class, the reality of the matter was that...he grew up below middle class. He'd grown u in a home that he and his egg and sperm donors had only because it had been willed to the former, and they'd scraped by on meager groceries due to a one-person income...

Billy was making use of that knowledge now, hitting up a discount grocery store. The kind that looked sorta unkept on the inside, and you REALLY wouldn't want to buy meat from, but had aisle upon aisle of canned goods that regular grocery stores couldn't sell because the 'sell by' date was out. Silly uneducated people didn't seem to know that that didn't mean the stuff wasn't still GOOD for...maybe a month to come. Hurrhurr. Billy knew better.

In the rickety buggy that wanted to pull to the left and not make right turns he'd placed many cans of veggies - corn, green beans, mixed veggies, carrots, and peas. He'd gotten a couple boxes of boil-in-bag rice, some cereal, crackers, some canned soups. Ravioli and spaghetti-o's... A box of ramen noodle packages, and a couple bags of chips. He scrounged through the milk, looking for the one with the longest date, and grabbed some orange juice as well. And bread, although he had to stop by somewhere else to get a decent loaf that was just your variety sandwich bread.

It was all payed for, and now Billy was trudging it all home. Having stolen the store's buggy, because like hell was he carrying all those bags (well, he'd carry them up the steps to the apartment, but that was it...) And teleporting had never entered his mind. He just wanted to get back. And hoped his selection met approval.

Soon enough, the groceries and he were coming through that door. Mission complete.

Ladon had been watching, half falling asleep, and while he noticed she was making WAY too much soup, she had already went through the work of cutting it all up. Not to mention the small apartment was now warm and smelled like rich chicken broth. For once, it was cozy in his apartment and he felt like throwing the blanket over his head to form a warm cocoon.

Cocoon...... He wondered about Aree, and wondered if he should contact her. Then again, last he saw her, she was perfectly fine. Better than fine. Upgraded and looking as if she hadn't spent 2 weeks getting her body torn to shreds. He still remembered her bones sticking out of her body and -

Ladon clamped his eyes shut, waiting a moment as he forced down thoughts before the door opened and caused him to stand up. Billy was back, alive, unharmed, not captured, and looking very weighed down with bags. It was automatic for him to start to help, but before he took a step, Ashley made a dash to help him and there was that shared look that said if he so much as moved to pick up a bag, they would tied him to his chair.

Frowning, Ladon eased back into his chair, feeling downright worthless.

You are worthless.

"I hope you didn't rush." Ladon said, as if Ladon wasn't waiting for him like a puppy watching the door for it's owner.

Ashley helped carry the bags, through she didn't put things away proper - after all, there was invading, and then there was Invading. She hoped to at least stick to the former.

Then Billy strutted (seriously) off to the bathroom, and the purple-haired girl went back to tend to her two pots of soup. There was no timer, no nothing, to tell her how far along the cooking she might or might not be. That was perfectly fine. She never relied on that, anyway. The carrots were still a little on the hard side, but it wouldn't be too long now - so she reached for her bag of noodles and split it in between pots.

Perhaps he could, but it didn't mean Ashley didn't keep watch, just in case. Just in case what, that he'd fall into pieces now ? But given what had happened to the dark haired boy... Well, it brought out the protectiveness out of her.

She stirred her pots, one after the other, and started humming quietly to herself, some song she had heard on the radio earlier. It wouldn't be too long now.

Ashley tensed when she felt an hand grap her arm. Don't ? Don't what ?

All she did was...

Oh.

..Oh.

She'd been told about it. The song. What else could it be ? "Ah... Im sorry. I didn't... think." She whispered back. His grip was hurting her, but she didn't move.

This was a very awkward situation for the both of them, really. She hadn't thought something so simple... Well, she hadn't thought at all. There was the problem. She had no idea what Ladon had truly went though, and now she had to predict what might upset him and what would put him at ease.

Her arm throbbed, and she did her best to ignore it. "If you want to." She managed to smile. "Im fine like this, through. The soup's almost done."

Hopefully Billy would be out by then. Jeez, she could swear he'd been in there just as long as it took her to get ready in the morning !

He settled again, sitting in the chair beside the kitchen, watching Ashely cook without just STARING at her the entire time, and drinking the juice he at least managed to pour himself. The apartment was soon filling up with the smell of chicken soup, something that did better than the mingling smells of various foreign neighbors that sometimes wafted into the apartment. Perfumes from the ones who did "business" in their rooms, one guy several rooms down who loves incense and kept them burning at all hours, and a others who cooked dishes that he had no idea what they were but left the lingering smell of vinegar. The smell of the soup brought ideas of comfort food, get-well-soon food, and he briefly wondered what his mother was doing right now.

Just then, the door to the bathroom open and looking over, Billy strutted his way over, looking back to the smooth-faced boy he was before. Certainly less rough around the edges now that he was sleeping regularly as well. "You look better." He said, glad he wouldn't have to deal with stubble.