Arron and Trexx

Chapter 38

Third person pov

Their food came, and oddly enough, the waitress had gotten Trexx's order spot on. All his requested items were on a large platter that clearly wasn't mean to be used as a plate, but that they'd sacrificed anyway. Asuma profusely thanked her. He didn't know how she'd gotten these thing so fast, and he wasn't sure he wanted to either. Trexx was clearly happy, so he didn't question it.

"This looks great." Ino clapped her hands together exultantly. Even Arron seemed to perk up upon her food arriving. Everyone dug in, save for her. She seemed happy that her food was here, sure, but she didn't touch it. She just stared down at it, patiently watching the steam as everyone else began to talk.

"Arron, aren't you gonna eat?" Choji noticed her lack of food consumption first, his mouth full of buffalo wing. "It's gonna get cold."

Everyone's gazes snapped to her. Shikamaru dropped his chopsticks. How could he have forgotten?! If she wouldn't eat food she'd watched someone cook at his house without him tasting it, there was absolutely no way she was touching anything that came from a restaurant. Shikamaru would honestly be surprised if she ate at all.

"Sorry, Arron. I forgot." He took her glass first, and his teammates were surprised to see him tip it back and take a big gulp. He set it back down, parting her chopsticks next. They watched in awkward silent as he managed to wrangle a couple of the fat noodles in his mouth as fast as he could. Arron seemed to relax slightly as he swallowed.

"What was that for?" Ino asked as Arron grabbed for her cup, beginning to sip at the water. Shikamaru looked embarrassed. Asuma, on the other hand, looked quite suspicious for some odd reason. Choji wasn't surprised. Shikamaru had mentioned this plenty of times. Arron wouldn't eat anything because she thought it was poisoned.

"In case it's drugged. She won't eat it unless I can prove its safe. It's an agreement we have going." Shikamaru explained as Arron picked up her chopsticks carefully, keeping her gaze lowered. Ino frowned, and Asuma felt his whole body tense. Arron... had been drugged before. As in they'd put things in her food. Things nobody should ever be tricked into consuming.

"That's so sad..." Ino trailed off, her frown deepening. Choji nodded, swallowing thickly.

"Yeah, but it's not so bad. Shikamaru's lucky he got her to eat at all. He said she'd only eat bread if he halfed it with her when she first got here, and she'd only taken water from him because of how dehydrated she was in the first place." Choji said, taking another bite of his wings. Shikamaru nodded in confirmation. He felt a little happy. Arron had come a long way! 

"You don't have to worry about being drugged with us around, Arron. I promise." Asuma swore. Arron flinched, her eyes flickering up. They had a sad and distant look to them that made him frown. Ino winced. That's the look she'd gotten earlier.

"I've heard that before." She whispered, and then she lowered her head again, continuing to eat. It fell silent after that.

They were almost finished eating when the waitress bounced over. She all but slammed a bowl of chocolate ice cream down in front of Arron. The girl jumped, her knees hitting the bottom of the table hard as she shoved herself back and into Shikamaru. Kimi just smiled a delightful smile.

"Ah... we didn't order this." Asuma said as Arron stared up at her, eyes wide.

"That young man over there did. It's for the young lady with the black ponytail!" The waitress smiled. "Enjoy!"

Everyone seemed to turn. Arron's eyes landed on the boy who'd been studying when they came in. His cheeks flared red upon being spotted, and he lowered his head, hiding behind his book. Ino let out a little squeal as Arron looked down at the ice cream. Shikamaru watched her eyes glint slightly as she leaned forward to investigate the substance, sniffing at it.

"That's so cute! He thinks you're cute!" Ino squealed. Arron looked very alarmed.

"He will take me." She whispered, her shoulders tensing.

"No, he's just trying to be nice. He thinks you're pretty! Like how Shikamaru thinks you're pretty. It's the same thing." Choji said. Shikamaru shot Choji a dirty look, his cheeks dusting pink. Arron looked curiously down at the ice cream.

"Hafen ia." She blinked, tilting her head slightly. 

"Ie." Asuma confirmed. Shikamaru had nearly forgotten that Asuma knew Arron's other language, whatever that was. Arron's eyes raised again, and she spotted the boy hesitantly watching her from his seat. His cheeks turned bright red, and he averted his light blue eyes upon seeing her gaze. Arron blinked curiously.

She knew that people were supposed to be nice in general. While many of the people in Arron's life had been bad, she'd known people who were good. They were in the same situation as her, and they'd told her the same thing; there are good people in the world. Not everyone wants to hurt you. Some people are just nice, like Shikamaru or Choji.

She contemplated eating it. Ice cream was always something she'd loved, even before she was taken. If she was drugged, the worst that could really happen is she'd die. Shikamaru wouldn't let her be taken. Trexx wouldn't either. It smelled like normal ice cream, and Trexx had raised no alarms, a sign that he hadn't sensed any hostility in the air.

Arron hesitantly picked up the spoon. Shikamaru, who felt overwhelming annoyance towards the boy gazing at Arron with red cheeks, froze as Arron brought up a small bite. Everyone watched as she hesitantly put it in her mouth, tasting it carefully as though waiting for some sort of poisonous tang. She waited a few seconds before bringing up another spoonful.

"Siocled." She looked up. Shikamaru felt his heart skip a couple of beats to see a small smile on her face. Asuma felt himself smile too, and Ino and Choji exchanged excited expressions. Arron's first day out of the house and she was already making incredible progress! 

The boy seemed to sink further into his seat as Arron looked at him once more. For the first time ever, Arron's voice raised above a soft statement or word. It was smooth and melodic, and it made Shikamaru's heart nearly stop when he heard it. "Thank you." She said, not loudly, but not quietly either. The boy studying seemed to melt, burying his face in his book once again. He offered a weak thumbs up as he did so.

As much annoyance and irritation as Shikamaru felt towards the studying boy, he also felt thankful, because this was the first time he'd ever really heard the voice Arron liked to hide underneath everything that weighed her down. Not only that, but she'd talked to someone else. A stranger whom she'd never met.

And she'd done with with a smile on her face.