Author's note: Thanks for the review.

Okay. So maybe she takes a few liberties with Zane's shopping list. She quickly realizes that he isn't buying things out of pleasure, but simplicity, and preferably as cheap as possible.

She doesn't understand that last part. Whilst her brother, and Aster aren't entirely privy to 100% of the details, they know that Zane isn't poor. He's not got as much disposal cash as he once would have had, but he isn't at a stage where he needs to be skimping on his meals. It's a personal enough issue, that she decides against pushing the matter. Everything is like walking on eggshells around her old friend. One step the wrong way, and she's certain that he'll distance himself all over again.

Today, he's on the fence.

Alexis had been expecting to find him weak when she'd going to pay him a visit. Instead, he's on his feet, and surprisingly alert. In short, he's having, if not a good day, then at least a passable one. So she has to wonder why he didn't cancel.

"I had a dizzy spell." Is is only explanation. "It passed. You can go home now."

She rolls her eyes. He should know it isn't that easy to get rid of her. She assumes that he does know that much, as he doesn't actually try to chase her away any longer. Even that is a step in the right direction.

He yields, and its together that they leave the front door. Zane adapts his pace. The man moves steadily. He moderates his gait, and uses his strength sparingly. Alexis assumes that he must have downed a fair number of pills before leaving. If it's what it takes to keep him going, and apparently not in any significant pain, then that's enough.

She lets Zane choose the shop they go to. She's curious to see just how he lives his life. It doesn't come as much of a surprise that he's managed to find the smallest, least well stocked, cheapest store in the city. At least it isn't all that far from his home. She drifts through the isles, wondering how it is that a place which seems to sell so little can possibly still be open. It's not even as if there are any other customers in here asides from them. That particular realization makes her think that it could easily be the reason why he comes here to begin with.

"You can't just eat bread." Alexis tells him as she stares at the basket he's got for himself.
"It's gotten me this far."
"Ever think about making it just that little bit further?" She can't help but remark.
"Remember you said that you weren't going to try living my life for me?"
"I never said that."

Zane glances at her out of the corner of his eye. She doesn't shy away from. He's always pushing, just to see how easily, if at all, she will back down. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. Right now, she wouldn't back down.

"Would it kill you to give it a go?"
"I'm dead anyway."
"So you want your last meal to be stale bread?"

She realizes that she's won. Zane grumbles, and holds out the basket for her to take it herself. She does so gingerly, deciding not to bask in her victory for too long, or take any excessive glee from it.

"Just put in whatever you want."

She wants to, but she also wants to try and make sure that he's got food that he's both going to like, and more importantly eat. There's little point in buying stuff which is just going to be thrown out at the end of the day. It would be nice for him to take more of an interest in what's going on, but she knows that's asking for a bit much. As it stands, so long as Zane's not actively running for the hills, she'll call it a win.

"Are you always like this?" He asks her.
"Like what?" She questions, not making any attempt to mask her confusion.
"So insistent."
"Only when it's call for, and trust me Zane, you call for it."

He grumbles again. His nose is out of joint, but he doesn't say anything. Alexis makes an effort. She takes some of the simplest, and most innocuous things that she can find. The sort of thing that needs almost no effort to prepare, is simple, but nutritious: pasta, tomatoes, some cans of beans… Maybe she'll look up some recipes and send them to him later on. Of course, it will pose a problem if he's feeling too weak to make the effort, but she reasons that one of his friends will be able to come and help him out, if it ever comes to it.

"Your boyfriend won't be happy at you hanging out with me like this." Zane notes suddenly.
"You know I don't have one." She reminds him.
"Why not?"

It's an odd question for him. She could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times that he's asked her a truly personal question since their reunion. As such, she decides to try and give him an honest answer. Curiously enough, the last person to ask it had been her mother of all people. She feels no awkwardness, answering plainly.

"I haven't met the right person yet. I've dated a few guys, but it didn't really work out."

It's a simple explanation, but the truth. For the most part, the breakups had been amiable, and she was still in contact with a couple of them. The fact remained that nothing had ever really stuck. It would do eventually, Alexis was convinced that she wasn't about to settle down with anyone whom she wasn't 100% convinced that she would be happy with. She frowned after a few seconds, hesitating before asking:

"What about you?"
"What about me?" Zane repeated.
"Don't you have anyone?"
"Do I look like I've got someone?"
"Okay..." She chuckles softly in response. "Have you ever been with anyone?"
"Not really." Comes his simple answer. "Not worth mentioning."
"Well would you like to be?"
"I'm living on borrowed time. It wouldn't be fair."

Alexis lets out a sympathetic sigh. She cuts herself off before making a comment. It's one subject which she feels that she doesn't have the right to question. It doesn't surprise her that much that her old friend would want to cut himself off from affairs of the heart, with or without a failing one himself.

The shop lasts less than an hour. The face that Zane pulls makes it seem far longer.

"There. Wasn't so bad, was it?"

Again, he doesn't answer. The face that he pulls speaks for itself. It takes a fair amount of self control for her to hold off from laughing. She manages, even though a small grin succeeds in sneaking past her defenses.

A few minutes later, they're heading back to Zane's apartment. She knows that he probably doesn't need her to accompany him, but she does so all the same. The bags are heavy, and it's a strain that she would rather he doesn't have to bear all alone. At any rate, to her considerable surprise, he doesn't complain, or even give her any dirty looks. Not even when she takes one of the bags from him to help lighten the load. She'd assume he was unwell, apart from he doesn't look as bad as she's known him to get sometimes.

Maybe it's surprising, but she takes a fair amount of pleasure in stocking Zane's cupboards, and placing a little bowl of fresh fruit out. It's impossible to tell whether or not he appreciates it. That perpetual frown of his makes it difficult to even try imagining just what he might be thinking.

"That should do you for a little while, right?" She can't help but ask him.
"I guess."

It's his only reply. She smiles this time. Zane notices out of the corner of his eye, but doesn't respond any more than that. Alexis finished by putting away one last packet of pasta. She notes that Zane does indeed own some pots, and pans. They haven't been used in a while, but they have been used at some point in the past. So he can cook. That's both a comfort, and a source of confusion for her. She glances back towards her old friend, watching as he catches his breath on the couch:

"Do you want some help? To cook, I mean."
"I'm not utterly helpless Lexi."
"I wasn't suggesting-"
"Yeah you were."

She's surprised to find that he isn't angry. For once in his life, he's surprisingly easy to read, or at least appears to be. The way that he looks at her, causes the woman to come to a stop. He waits a few moments, before letting out a sigh:

"I'm grateful for the help, but I'm not helpless… Not just yet at least."
"Sorry. I'm still- You can say if I'm being too in your face, or…" She thinks about her actions of late. "Sorry."
"You're trying to help." Was all that Zane answered. "I should be grateful."

Should be. Wasn't necessarily. She wishes she knew what he was thinking. Even after all of these years, he's a mystery to her.

He seems gentler all of a sudden, as if he's dropped that guarded edge that he has about him almost all of the time. For a few seconds, it feels like she's with the boy that she had once known. His gaze is softer as it rests upon her. It takes her by surprise to such an extent that she doesn't immediately know how to respond. She just stares back dumbly at him, and feels a little bit guilty for it. Zane can be nice when he wants to be after all. It only lasts a second. Then, Zane pushes himself up from the couch.

He does so surprisingly easily. Alexis had expected him to be weaker. He makes his way over to the cupboards, and to her considerable surprise, actually takes interest in some of the things that she had purchased. It's the closest she's actually seen him to being invested in anything other than putting some distance between the two of them. He pulls out a few ingredients, considering them tiredly. Eventually, he settles on some spaghetti, tomato sauce, and an onion.

"Are you about to cook?" She can't quite believe her eyes.
"Well, I might as well. We didn't get it for me to look at it." Zane seemed to hesitate for a moment, before turning to her. "Are you staying?"
"For dinner?!"
"It's a yes, or no question Lexi."

She must be dreaming, or this is some manner of a trick. She doubts the latter. Outside of duels, where he can pull the odd act of misdirection, Zane is usually a pretty straightforwards guy. She realizes after a few seconds that he's serious, and waiting for her response. What else is there to do but smile?

"I'd like that a lot Zane."