there is always us, tag! danny-boy!

[DANIEL BYRNES]

Chez laughed. "Never could pull the wool over your eyes." Especially as a kid. His mother had always known him too well for him to ever fool her. And he did love it. How many people that were his age could boast about having as healthy a relationship with their mothers as he did? Not many. And that was something to be proud of, in his mind. He tipped back his glass, taking a healthy swig of wine. "But you always have and always will," he sighed, still grinning. Chez loved spending time with his mother more than anything. More than anything he liked how they could sit around and have a good time just chatting away. He liked that they were able to be completely honest with each other, although he sometimes glossed over his own love life. "Alright... shall we start, then?" It smelled so good and he was starving.

[ROSALIND BYRNES]

when nothing is left

She laughed and nodded before taking another sip of her wine. It was a good, hearty wine. ”No, but you certainly did try to.” Oh, the times in which he had attempted it had been funny. Of course as a parent, she couldn't openly laugh at things like that, but whenever she was alone, and he had gone off to bed, she had enjoyed a good laugh as she had written in her journal. It had always been a habit of hers. There was a small number of days in which she hadn't recorded all that happened for the pair of them. It had always been the best way of releasing stress. But that was also what her cooking had been for. She nodded some. ”True.” She had always been mannered, and she hoped that it had passed to Danny, but she didn't see him away from her influence but very rarely. She nodded and started to push food onto her fork. ”Tuck in.”

[DANIEL BYRNES]

He smirked. "I was a kid. I was supposed to push boundaries. And when you caught me on it, I learned valuable lessons." It really was uncanny, how attentive she'd been to him. Hell, he knew people with both parents that had less of a clue than his one parent had while he was growing up. He must have just been really lucky. He grinned and stuck his fork in his portion, barely able to stand waiting. He moaned into the first bite. "Don't you ever change. Ever. This is fantastic. Honestly, my mouth is exploding." He started to shovel mouthfuls in as fast and he could chew and swallow. He never was one for taking his time with anything. And it tasted too good to let it just sit there on a plate and get cold. That would be shameful.

[ROSALIND BYRNES]

when nothing is left

With a quick nod and a cheeky grin, she took another bite of the pasta. "One would hope you did... I will say this, you either learned not to do something, or ended up finding a way around it." She grinned at her son, knowing exactly how he worked, and knowing exactly how kids were, she had always expected him to be the sort to learn from his mistakes and not repeat what he'd done in the same way. She couldn't help but laugh at his enjoyment of the food. "So long as that's the only part of you that is deciding to explode, I would have to say that it is a success... I was thinking about making something like this at the cafe. I wasn't sure it would sell though.Do you think people will buy it?" She went to take another sip of her wine as she hoped for the honest answer, nothing held back from her. No, she wanted the truth.

[DANIEL BYRNES]

If he'd been in front of anyone other than his mother, Chez would have been shoveling the food in his mouth, it was that good. But because he actually had manners, he took a few bites, chewed, swallowed, and grinned. "Life's about finding the loopholes that make it worth living." Loopholes were amazing. And honestly, he didn't really like being told what to do, so he tended to find ways around rules whenever he could, but when there was no wiggle room, he tended to accept things as they were. But he did have to look up at his mother, eyes wide at what she'd said. He couldn't have heard that right because that was just... not something that mothers said. "Whut?" His voice was muffled from the food in his mouth and it distorted the word somewhat. He shrugged and swallowed. "Depends what you charge for it. I think people would love to eat something like this. I know I do and my friends are always fighting over any left overs that I have. I can give them a sample and ask them what they think, if you'd like." His friends were always more than happy to help out Mama Byrnes. Especially if it meant they got free food.

[ROSALIND BYRNES]

when nothing is left

She let out yet another laugh at her son. He had the best qualities of both her and her husband. She hadn't thought about Danny's father in some time actually. It was rare that she devoted more than a few moments of thought to him any more. There were those times in which she looked at him, and realized that he had gotten the absolute best physical features from both parents. She grinned at him before she finished up her plate, and watched him eating slowly. That was humorous to her, simply because she knew that he ate quicker than that normally. It may not have mattered much but she grinned at him once more. ” That's true in it's own way. Are you almost done?” She didn't mean to rush him, not at all. But she wanted to get the dishes ready to soak. Instead of hovering over him, she stood up slowly and went to start separating the single portion for herself, and packaged up the rest. ” I don't think I would charge much more than the ingredients necessary, maybe just a ten percent addition to the cost? Not too expensive, especially in comparison to other places' food markups.” She laughed again. Her food was all made from scratch, right down to the pasta. Her mushroom stuffed ravioli was heavenly in it's own right. And tonight she knew she had outdone herself yet again. She set the small sealed container of food on the counter just as she let out a yawn and tilted her head back some. She hadn't expected to get so tired so suddenly, she blamed it on the wine. It sounded good to her at least.

[DANIEL BYRNES]

Chez didn't think about his dad. Anyone who ditched their wife and kid and didn't try to reach out after... they weren't worth the thoughts. He'd probably never get over those issues. It had been too long for any good to come from even thinking about it. Too long without a word and without contact. It was too late for anything to happen, now. He didn't have a father. That's how he thought of things. He had his mother and she was amazing. What good would it do wishing for someone to be there that was no good and wouldn't make anything better? No good. None whatsoever. "Yeah." He shoveled the rest of the food in his mouth quickly. When he finished, he picked up his dirty dishes and followed his mother into the kitchen, setting them down in the sink. "Which is good, because then you get more regulars and better business in general." People didn't like spending extra money if they didn't have to. At least, not most people. And the reasonable prices at his mother's cafe were part of what made people like it there. Plus the food was fantastic, which was always a plus.