"Oh, Pyra, that looks amazing!" Rex smiled as he looked over the table, "What's the occasion?"
Rex smiled watching as the fire Aegis giggled, "Don't you remember? Our friends are coming over today."
"Oh right! It's been a while, hasn't it?" Rex crossed his arms thinking of how long it had been since they had come by. He had a hard time placing it, but it seemed like at least two months to him.
"Also, can you make sure that Mythra's up? You know how late she can sleep."
"Right, right, I'll get on it," Rex headed out of the room. Mythra was pretty much the definition of a late riser, and he really did not want a groggy Mythra when the guys came over.
"Mythra?" Rex knocked on the door to her and Pyra's bedroom, "You up yet?"
Rex heard some shuffling from the other side of the door, some of which made him question her safety, but Rex eventually heard a muffled, "Yeah, I'm up."
"Don't forget that they guys are coming over today," Rex reminded through the door.
"Yeah, yeah, just give me some time to get ready."
"How much time are we talking here?"
"Enough!" Rex backed up slightly and heard a thud against the door. He surmised that she had not been up for long. Either way, mission accomplished, Rex went back to help out in the kitchen. He had been trying to learn how to cook, and he was making decent progress if he said so himself. It was over Mythra levels at least, so there was hope for his cooking if nothing else.
He had a fun time working in the kitchen. He was far from great, but he loved any time he could spend with Pyra. She just made everything seem so much better in his eyes. The smile that he saw at the end of the day made his practice completely worth all the effort in his eyes and made him eager to try harder.
Of course, he left the more complicated dishes to Pyra for such a special occasion. Though he did make sure to work on the meal as well. He did love finding ways to lighten Pyra's load after all. Anything to make her smile a little brighter was well worth it in his eyes.
By the time that the others were set to arrive, on the table was what Rex believed to be a pretty nice spread. He looked forward to his friends' expressions. Especially once he revealed that he had worked on it.
Speaking of which, he heard a knock at the door soon after he finished setting the table. Smiling to himself, Rex opened the door and greeted his friends.
"Guys! Welcome!" Rex moved out of the doorway to let them in, "Make yourselves at home."
"Rex, you're looking…better," Nia commented silently evaluating him.
"Thanks!" Rex smiled with hands on his hips triumphantly, "You're all looking pretty good yourselves. Hope everyone's been doing well."
"A little chaotic, but nothing too bad," Zeke replied after a slight moment.
"That's good. Now come on, let's eat!" Rex led them into the dining room where he proudly showed off the spread, "Worked hard on this, hope ya like it. I've been practicing my cooking too."
"Where is-mph!" Tora's mouth was covered by Poppi's hand.
"Thank you for hard work! Masterpon and I will take seats now."
As his friends gathered around, Rex smiled watching Pyra come and join them. He gave a quick peck on the cheek after pulling her chair out for her making her blush. Rex thought that they were almost ready except they were missing–
"Hold up!" Rex watched Mythra run into the room looking as radiant as usual though Rex presumed that there was a battle with bedhead. He proceeded to pull her chair out as well, but of course he left out the kiss.
"Alright, everybody," Rex addressed after taking his own seat, "Dig in!"
One thing Rex noted with some bit of pride was that what he made seemed to go exceptionally well. This made him rather pleased with himself, and even moreso when he saw Pyra shoot him a congratulatory smile in response.
Conversation was not quite as lively as it could get with his friends, but Rex was just happy to have them over. Even if they were being a bit quiet, they were like family to him. That said, Zeke, Pandoria, and even Tora were being exceptionally quiet even if the latter was due to Poppi.
Eventually though, the visit came to an end. Rex wished them all the best and invited them to come again soon. Once they were gone, Rex got to work cleaning up whistling away while he worked.
"I don't like being in there," Pandoria commented as they walked away, "It's feels like almost too much to bear sometimes."
"It can be a hard sight to behold," Dromarch solemnly agreed.
"Is there not something more we can do?" Tora asked with a sad tone.
Morag sighed, "The best we can seemingly do for now is to be there for him. If last month is any indication, he's not ready to face facts yet." Everyone thought back on his outbursts when they had tried to force him to face the truth, "And he doesn't seem ready this month either."
"Bah!" Pandoria jumped at her driver's sudden outburst, "He should be living as Alrest's hero, not living in his own delusions. It isn't fair."
"It's not," Brighid agreed, "But there's little we can do. His heart was shattered that day. What can we do to mend it?"
No one really had an answer. They just gave one last look over to where Rex was happily smiling at his delusions before leaving for the harbor.
A/N: So! I think I may finish New Game Plus as one story.