Hello, guys!
This fic is actually a parallel story of Hollow Bastion Show House and it happens before the other fic. These plots have been on my mind for years (seriously), and the challenge of writing in a different language from my native one has made me give up on writing many times...
I decided to try again, anyway!
So here it goes!
Yu207
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At Cid's Bar
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It was raining.
It didn't use to rain at Twilight Town.
Twilight Town had an eternally beautiful orange sky and fresh architecture. The city emanated coziness and home. It had a light feeling to it, like the sensation of breathing deeply after a long day of work.
That's what people used to say.
He never felt that though.
So maybe he matched Traverse Town more, with its dark alleyways and cold buildings. Maybe he could belong to that place... He could find a new meaning to his existence and start a new life. Maybe he could leave his past behind and become someone else. He could dye his hair, change his accent and grow a beard.
But he knew he couldn't.
He wouldn't.
So he chose to busy himself with watching the droplets of water run through the window. It was night already and he was glad another day had come to end. As usual, his hands felt cold from holding a can of beer that would never meet his lips, and the loud beating of music allowed him to ignore the unforgettable.
People drinking. Dancing. Laughing.
Cid's bar would seem like an odd choice for a person like himself. It was too loud, too young, too bohemian, and the blond was clearly everything but that... But it appealed to him to just stay there. It felt right for him to rest on those leather seats and just watch.
Unnoticed.
Invisible.
So maybe that was why he was so surprised, and even a bit annoyed, when she appeared that night.
It didn't take long for him to realize what that was all about.
Red target. It was a prank every new attendant had to do: if you're willing to work at Cid's bar, then you have to get a Paopu drink from a customer - the red target. He remembered, two months ago, when Olette's red target was chosen: Old Scrooge, the owner of the item shop at First District. The grumpy man was so ridiculously miserly that poor Olette had to actually offer him money in order to conquer the drink.
He mentally cursed Selphie, the waitress that was currently giggling behind the counter.
So he was the new red target.
"Hello", Roxas was so busy glaring at the bubbly green-eyed brunette it took him a while to actually process her face.
Piercing blue eyes watched him almost disinterestedly behind a cascade of blond fringe. She had silently slid at the seat beside him much like a furtive cat, placing a silver tray at the table with a lovely yellow colored drink upon it.
"My name is Naminé", she announced promptly, " I'm the new waitress here. You've been red targeted by Selphie for me, sir. Can you please buy me this Paopu drink?".
"W-What?".
By the expression of the blonde, he was obviously not looking smart. It actually impressed him how she got to make him regret his question so quickly.
"Red target. A paopu drink", she spoke very slowly, almost writing the syllables in the air with her fingers. And, to add a smoother tone to her comment, she complemented: "Just pay the drink and I'll leave you alone, I promise".
Somehow the whole situation managed to annoy him, which was quite a feat for anyone excepting Axel. What the hell was her problem? Was she honestly expecting to be successful with that attitude?
The absence of a response brought a grunt from her.
"Forget it".
And, just as fast as she appeared, the blonde stood up and left the table. Roxas only watched her, obviously dumbfounded, and just then he became aware that he didn't offer any more elaborated response than a stuttered word coming from a stupid face… And he also recognized the look she darted at him above her shoulders before vanishing behind the kitchen door.
She was mad at him.
"What the hell", he finally managed to say, still incredulous.
And that was how he met her.
It was raining and his beer was left untouched at the table.
She's crazy.
That was the only conclusion he could get to after working on what had happened the night before.
And accompanied by a new determination, he returned to Cid' bar. He would've returned anyway. It was his routine, just as automatic as trying to fix his hair in the morning and ultimately giving up seconds later and forgetting his keys over the drawer. But something was different that night. He was intrigued, and, quite sincerely, very annoyed. Until the day before, he would go to the bar, order a beer and look through the window with faithful sureness that nothing and no one would notice him. He was just as outstanding as the old coffee stain in the wallpaper or the frame hanging at the back of the counter.
And now it was all gone.
For some dark reason, he was rudely treated by the new attendant that seemed to already hate him for no logical reason, and he was also the red target.
His lack of reaction at the former episode with the waitress was also lamentable and tonight he was prepared to demand some satisfaction.
The usual sound of music and laughter filled his ears when he opened the door. Although it wasn't even past eight, Cid´s bar was already crowded by young people. He went directly to the counter.
"I'd like to speak to that new blond attendant".
He knew her name, but of course he mentioned to show all of his neglect toward the girl. Olette made a slight movement of her head and quickly went to the kitchen.
He had prepared his worst speech to throw at the girl.
He was good at it, so would say Axel.
Within seconds, he saw those blond tresses again. Now that he was standing, he noticed she was shorter than he thought. Not even a cue of regret seemed to cross the waitress' features concerning last night. Quite the contrary, she placed a daring hand on her hips and drummed her fingers on the table between them.
"So", she offered her intense look Roxas already knew from last encounter "I sincerely hope you took me off the kitchen to buy me a drink".
What? Again with that absurd attitude. She was unbelievable!
"I'm definitely not getting you a drink, but possibly a demission".
"Then you should've called Cid instead, sir. Now, please, don't waist my time if it's not of any use, we have a lot of work to do".
She was already turning her back to him when he managed to catch her wrist.
"What the hell is wrong with you?", he snapped.
"What the hell is wrong with you", she retorted with extra acid in her voice and taking her wrist back "Now, if you'll excuse me".
"You must have done something very serious for her to act that way", Selphie whispered to him after the blonde had vanished through the kitchen door "Nami is actually a very sweet person".
He directed an annoyed look to the waitress.
"You have a weird definition of sweet. I've never spoken to her until yesterday, how could I have done anything to her?".
"I wonder", Selphie eyed him in a midst of curiosity and humor "'l'll see what I can do, though, BHK".
"What?".
"Beer hater kid", she shrugged "You didn't think you'd escape from Cid's infamous nicknames, did you?".
Ok, so he wasn't specially anonymous at the bar.
"I'm feeling bullied".
"I'll talk to Cid. Maybe he can do something, you know".
Cid did talk to her. He had seen it one hour later as the large man whispered something at the blonde's ear. Her ugly frown was quite a scene and he was very careful to make a good mental shoot of that... Yet she only came to him very late at night, when even the drunk Item Shop duo had left, stumbling through the entrance stairs.
She looked as friendly as always.
"We're already closing the bar, sir", she announced rudely.
"Honestly, Naminé, isn't that your name? Have I done something to you?"
Okay, he'd face things diplomatically. Just as a mature adult.
His incredibly polite tone seemed twist a nerve of hers. She hit her fists on the table, making his untouched beer jump to the left.
"Look at you, looking all miserable at the corner of this bar, spending precious munny with beers you don't drink. You're obviously not a drinker, since you look like you've never gotten drunk in your life. If you're so miserable, honestly buy a drink and do something, but don't come to this bar with that sorrowful face when you've got a full wallet on your pocket. Some people actually have to work hard to get some happy moments in life".
Right, he didn't absorb half of that.
"What?", he blurted his infamous question.
She looked furious.
"I know who you are: beer hater kid Roxas comes to this bar every single night, orders a can of beer and never drinks it, and keeps staring at the window with a pitiful look that lasts for hours. Zeus, you enerve me so much I can't express with words. You have everything, don't you? You're rich. You have a nice place. But I have to fight very hard to have just a splinter of what you earn and yet I'm not whining like you".
...Yeah.
He felt curses forming in his lips. His lungs wanted to scream so many dirty things she would go all her way home regretting being born.
But he didn't.
He didn't say a word.
And he was still silent when she turned her back to him, when they closed the bar and when his feet crossed silently the streets to his apartment.
She knew nothing. She didn't have a clue. She had no right to talk about his life.
She knew nothing about her.
"Hurt has an ugly face, Roxas".
His eyes widened and he cast a look over his shoulder.
There she was. After so long.
"I know that... Xion".