& Joshamee Cortez {Collaboration between Scarlet Loup and Little Fox} The brother and sister both had equal amounts of kebabs and aluminium foil bowls of stew on their trays as they made their way into the house. They would yell out for everyone to come and get their grub on but such actions could draw unwanted attention. They separated as they got inside, carefully walking about to find anyone that they could serve. Joshamee found Robyn first, smiling bashfully as he offered her some food. “I made it all by myself... With Art and Belle.” The cute child set the tray and forks down to peel open one of the foil bowls, releasing delicious scented hot steam. Carefully, he picked it up by the tips and set it on the small end table next to Robyn with a fork before offering her a kebab to go with it.
Robyn looked up from the maps quickly as she heard Joshamee's voice by her elbow. She quickly capped the highlighter in her hand and met his endearing smile with a smile of her own. It was the same smile she used at work before the world went to shit, but it certainly wasn't insincere. Instead, it was one of those smiles that seemed personal, as if there was only the one smiling and the one receiving the smile. It made you feel special no matter who you were or where you came from. The red-head swiveled on the wooden chair, turning to face the young boy. It smelled wonderful, really, and she was suddenly aware of her hunger.
"It looks great," she replied, pulling her hair up into a more manageable bun as she spoke. She took the kebab from him with a genuine "thank you" and nibbled on it slowly, savoring the taste. "I think this is better than anything I've ever eaten from an actual restaurant!" She set the kebab down on the table and took up the foil bowl, which she brought to her lips after attempting to cool it with a few breaths. "When this all ends, you three should definitely consider opening your own place." She had purposely chosen to use "when" not "if". Word choice was a priority these days.
Joshamee knew he should probably get to serving everyone else but he instead simply ran off to deliver the tray to the kitchen, taking one of the kebabs and stews for himself before rushing back to Robyn, sitting at her feet as he ate the warm, but still a bit hot food. He didn't want to spit out the piece of venison that was burning his tongue so he only held his mouth open making airy "Ahhh ahh ahh" breaths as if to cool off the meat before quickly chewing and swallowing.
Grinning up at the redhead that he had taken to calling "abuelita" every now and again since he viewed Art as a mother and Art viewed Robyn as her mother. “What if we find a small town to clean up? You guys can get rid of the zombies and then we can start uh...” He paused to think of that word that everyone else was always using. “Settle! Yeah! We can help people who don't have a big family like we do! Me an' Art an' Izzy can make food for them. Muy delicioso!” He gave a wide yawn before taking another bite.
“My mom was a cop. But her little brother, mi tio Ignacio, he had his own restaurant. He made really yummy pollo con arroz. That's Spanish for chicken and rice. Have you had it before? What about grilled chicken salad or steak salad? He could make really good steak with parma... Perma... Parmara... Parmesan sauce with cheese and shrimp! Mommy said he didn't pay taxes though so he had to go away.” He gave another yawn accompanied by an innocent and adoring gaze that fell upon Robyn, the young Latino subtly (well, not so subtly) scooting closer to her.
Robyn nodded along as he spoke to her. She didn't do so in the way many adults did, using the slow bobs of the head to absentmindedly acknowledge the ideas of a child. No, she nodded genuinely, listening to him as one might listen to a professor. He was too young to deal with this. He was too sweet, too innocent. Josh didn't deserve this. None of the children did. "I think it's a wonderful idea. Everyone needs a family, right?" She was well aware of the make-shift family dynamic they'd created, and Robyn adored it. For just a moment, she wondered if this would be her only chance at being a grandmother. Would she ever hold Phillipa's child in her arms?
His family story evoked a slight frown. She was familiar with stories of students losing family members for various reasons: drug use, jail time, suicide. She'd met a few children who had dealt with a parent being deported. For some reason, it seemed different as Joshamme told her. It felt closer to her, like she too had lost an uncle. The boy yawned and moved closer. The red head smiled at him like a parent might. She eased herself on to the ground, careful to not crush his small foil bowl. "I'm sure he knew how to cook very well. I'd love to meet him some day." Again, she did not say "would have". Even if he had died, it would be better for all of them if she spoke hopefully. "Hey, why don't you go get ready for bed, sport? We might have a long day tomorrow, and we'll need your help."
Bed? Why did he need to go to bed? The boy yawned while attempting to protest and insist that he wasn't tired. He didn't even finish his food yet. “Will you tell me a story, abuelita? And make sure nobody eats my food?” He looked at her with big brown eyes filled with innocence, clambering into her lap and resting his head of dark curls against her chest as though her breasts were pillows. “I like stories about dragons... But no scary stories.” He gave another yawn and closed his eyes, wrapping his arms around her arm in front of him.
She held him in her arms for a moment, hugging him against her. Maybe if it had all been different, she and Beverly would have had a son, too. Maybe. "Of course I'll tell you a story," she replied, her voice growing softer instinctively, for he was closer now. "No one will touch it." With one arm around him, holding the boy to her chest, she pushed herself up into a crouch so that she could grab the leftover food and place it on the table. Her other arm tightened around him, holding him in a better position. The walk to the kitchen from the dining room was not far, and she was able to place him amongst the piles of blankets without straining any muscles. A child or two were also curled up nearby, but they were fast asleep by now. "Get yourself comfortable, alright?" A story about dragons? Her mind raced to think of something. Beverly was the one who made up stories. Robyn merely read them from story books. Still, it couldn't be too hard, right?
Josh grinned happily and settled in more as he closed his eyes. He loved stories! Isabelle used to tell him stories but she wasn't very good at making new ones. He'd never tell her though because she might get angry or maybe he would hurt her feelings. He was pretty sure Robyn had plenty of good stories to tell that would give him good dreams. He had to have his stories before he went to sleep or he would have bad dreams. He didn't like telling people about his nightmares because then they worried. He didn't want to make anyone worried. Josh knew that they were all already worried. Zombies tended to do that to you.
Besides, he needed to be strong. He wasn't a baby anymore and he needed to take more responsibility. To make himself more useful. He could cook and feed the dogs. He was also very fast and graceful but they'd never let him be a scout or a scavenger. He was too scared and always freaked out and froze when he saw zombies. He saw them and he knew that they used to be people. They used to be someone's mom or dad or brother or sister. He couldn't kill them but he was always too scared to run. She was not ignorant, and she knew that the zombies terrified the young boy. Again, she wished that they had not had to face this at such a young age. Robyn could only hope that life would become easier as time went on, but she knew this wasn’t the case. The entire country had been torn apart, and it might never be fixed effectively. The only they could do was be brave. As a side note, she also hoped Josh would find courage to face this new and terrifying world. A story came quite suddenly to her.
”Once upon a time, there was a castle, and this castle belonged to a Queen and her two children, Princess Belle and Prince Josh. Prince Josh was a curious child, but he found it hard to be brave sometimes. One day, he wandered out into the woods by himself, and he came face to face with a dragon.” Here, she stopped for momentary dramatic effect. ”He was scared, as any person would be. The dragon spoke to him and asked for his name.”
”Josh replied in a scared voice, and he spoke to the large dragon. He was afraid, but he knew that dragons liked to eat people sometimes, so he grabbed the sword at his belt and held it before the dragon. ‘I’m not afraid of you!’ he shouted, waving the sword about. The dragon laughed then, and smoke billowed from his nose and mouth. ‘Eat you?’ he asked. ‘Oh no, I don’t eat humans!’” She stopped once more and looked toward Josh. [color=#006600]”Prince Josh was safe from danger, but he had been brave.” She opened her mouth as if to add something to the train wreck of a story. Instead, she merely leaned forward and kissed Josh on the forehead lightly. [color=#006600]”The end. Good night, Prince Josh.” As his breathing slowed, Robyn stood again and walked out into the kitchen, leaving the sleeping child peacefully curled up on a pile of blankets.
RPG
