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Will and Halt were getting ready to go on a small mission, they stood outside, getting their packs ready to travel to a neighboring fief. Halt looked up at Will, worried about him. Halt thought of Will like a son, not that he would tell anyone. Will was organizing the rest of his stuff into his pack, double checking his mental checklist.
“Will, are the bows secure?” Halt asked.
“Yup” Will said, pulling on the rope that secured them to double check. This was a common thing with Halt, having him go over the checklist out loud.
“The horses are saddled?” Halt said, not even looking up from his own pack.
“They are saddled.” Will said tugging on the pommels of the saddles to make sure they were secure.
This next thing on his list, was not on Will’s, but needed to be asked anyway. “Did you eat breakfast?” Will looked up from his current task, which was recounting his arrows, with a very confused look on his face.
“That's not on the list.” Will said confused.
“I’m well aware of what's on the list, I made the list. Did you eat breakfast or not?” Halt, doing his signature move, raised a single eyebrow.
“Well, n-no, I didn’t eat breakfast.” Will stuttered out.
“Unacceptable, you get back in that cabin and eat.” Halt said pointing at the cabin.
Will set down his pack hesitantly and started walking back into the cabin. He walked up the steps and turned around to look at Halt, who was staring at him, with his ever-emotionless facial expression.
Halt saw Will walk into the cabin, and turned back to his pack, lost in thought. Ever since Will had come back from Skandia he had been plagued by nightmares and other bad habits, like not eating. Will used to be built by muscles, sure he was lean, but now he was only skin and bone. This, along with the fact that he tended to flinch when abrupt movements and noises were made, worried Halt. He was trying as much as possible to help him recover and making him eat was something that Halt could do, and do well. Setting his pack onto Abelard, he turned and walked into the cabin.
Will was sitting at the table, a bowl of oatmeal sat in front of him, not looking like he had taken a single bite. Halt walked up to him and put a hand on Will’s shoulder. Will looked up at Halt, a pensive look on his face. Halt sighed.
“Will, bud, I know you don’t want to eat, but you need to.” Halt gestured to the untouched bowl of oatmeal, “I could put something in the oatmeal, berries or something, if you want.” Will sat, staring at the bowl, until he just shook his head and sighed.
“I’m good Halt, it's just hard to eat, I guess.” Will sighed again and picked up the spoon. Getting a small bit on the spoon and stared at it.
The sight brought great pain to Halt, “Bud-” Will looked up “Please try to eat it.” Will just looked up, looked back at his spoon, and brought it up to his mouth. Putting the spoon in his mouth, he got a pained look on his face, and swallowed the bite. He looked up at Halt, and he gave Will a small nod, signaling that he had done good. Looking back at the bowl, he grimaced and at a few more bites.
Halt looked at his apprentice, feeling awful that he was forced to go through something like this. Will took every bite slowly, grimacing a little every time the spoon was put in his mouth. He ate about half the bowl and looked up at Halt. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to be able to eat anymore. Halt reached down to pick up the bowl, and scraped what was left into a garbage pot. He set the bowl on a counter to be cleaned later, and turned to face Will. He had gotten up out of the chair and was standing there looking at the table with a sad look on his face.
“I’m sorry Halt, I couldn’t eat anymore, p-please don’t be mad.” Will was still looking at the table, but now he was crying, silent tears slipping down his face. Halt rushed over to where Will was standing and saw him flinch at the sudden movement. He stopped, and then slowly walked over to him. He enveloped Will into a hug and held a hand at the nape of his neck.
“Will, there is nothing you could do to make me mad at you. I am so proud of you for eating that much. You hear me, so proud. You are my son, and you did so good.” Halt held him close, and a single tear rolled down his cheek. Will was not as composed, sobbing into Halts shirt, not that it was a problem. Halt was content to let his son cry all he wanted if it helped him feel better. Halt pulled back his head a little, and looked Will in the eyes, “I’m so proud of you for making it this far, ok son?” Will nodded, tears still streaming down his face. Halt gave him another quick hug and pulled away. “We need to get going. So, are you ready to go?” Will just nodded again. They walked down the steps, hearts a lot fuller than they were when they went into the cabin.