Work Text:
The soft patter of feet echoes on the oak flooring as Wild sneaks down the hallway. The inn's doors all shut with only a sliver of light reaching out from one of them. It's not a surprise to find Cel still up and about at every hour of the day, and it's frankly not his business. Wild creeps past their door and heads toward the kitchen. With a quick scan of the room, Wild's posture relaxes, and with a relieved sigh, he walks over to the cabinets, pulling out a package of cookies.
"Wild." Zolf's voice rings out from the doorway, disappointment laced in his voice. Wild startles, dropping the cookies onto the floor and clutching at his chest. Wild spins around quickly with wide eyes.
"Zolf! You need to stop doing that. Please, my poor heart can't take it."
"Your poor heart? Well, maybe if you took care of yourself better, your heart wouldn't be so sickly." Zolf stands, arms crossed in the doorway. Dark bags line his eyes as he looks upon Wild with weary eyes.
"You need to eat actual food. Not snacking on sweets." He sighs and points toward a bar stool. "Go. Sit. I'll whip something up."
Zolf waits for Wild to sit before he shuffles through the kitchen, grabbing ingredients off the counter. "How does vegetable soup sound? Got a few extra veggies I need to use up."
"I don't think this is quite necessary. You really don't need to care about my choleric intake. I was just grabbing a snack."
"Ha! A snack? When was the last time you ate Wild?"
Wild pauses for a second. Then another.
"That's what I thought."
"Zolf, I'm fine."
Zolf hums, ignoring him. He starts up the stove and quickly chops leafy vegetables. Silence hangs over the room as Zolf cooks. Once the soup is left sitting on the stove, Zolf starts grabbing out the necessities for tea.
"It's been different, Oscar, having them here. Feels like we haven't talked since… before." Wild stares at the counter, his clenched hands under the counter.
"Of course, things are different, Zolf. It was to be expected."
"No, Wild. I don't mean that things are different because we have more people now, or that old friends that we thought were dead have returned from the grave, or even that- Sasha's gone. I mean that you're different. We used to do this almost every night, now I never even see you leave your room. I'm serious Oscar, when was the last time you ate?"
"Oh, it seems to have slipped my mind, I'm sure you'll tell me. All you seem to do these days is worry about me. I'm fine," Wild snipes back, his posture tighter than a coil spring.
Zolf looks at Wild while his hands continue to busy themselves. "Oscar, I'm not accusing you. I'm not attacking you. I just want to help, that's all."
"Great, then you can help by listening to me when I tell you that I'm fine. Drop it." Wild stares daggers at Zolf. Zolf closes his eyes and briefly leans on the counter, then slides Wilds's tea across the counter.
"Fine. Drink." Wild grasps onto the cup and takes a tentative sip. His eyes slide shut in temporary euphoria as the sweet drink slides down his throat. Zolf got it right, like usual. Only once has Zolf gotten his tea order wrong, and it was done out of spite, not ignorance. The world starts to slip away as Wild consumes his tea, his exhaustion finally catching up with him. He is only broken out of his reverie when Zolf slides over a bowl of soup.
"Eat that. Gonna take some to Cel. If I'm right, they're going on 37 hours without sleep, and their gonna need some food before I wrestle them to bed. You get some sleep, Wild. Better not find you in your office." And like that, Zolf leaves Wild alone in the kitchen. He picks up his spoon and dips it in the soup, swirling it around.
"I'm sorry, Zolf."