The Convention

Level Two: The Visitor

AN: I do have an idea as to where this is going...I think. Everyone who has added this to their favorites or followed, you rock! Also, a big thanks for the first two reviews for my new story, JollyBigSis, and Cerulean Twin! I'm very glad that you like it and that you are excited. I hope you will enjoy this chapter, the ones that are to follow, and that it will meet your expectations, even if just in a small way!

PART ONE- (Server-name: CLOUD) A Mysterious Visitor...or not so mysterious.

I claimed the master bedroom when we had first moved into our house(Duh, I'm the oldest. It's a rule), the twins took the bedrooms upstairs and we have one extra bedroom. Soon, I realized that maybe picking the bedroom on ground level was not the wisest of decisions I could have made. I could hear everything that went on, be it stomping from upstairs, or loud conversations from the kitchen and living room. Was it all really worth having my own bathroom? For instance, right now, I cringed in annoyance as laughter echoed from down the hallway making me confused as to who would even be at our house at this time, or in general. My brothers typically didn't invite their friends over because they said I was too embarrassing and that I scare them all away. I haven't the slightest idea why they would think that.

The laughing isn't the only thing that had woken me up, it was the overpowering and delicious smell of a well cooked breakfast, the smell of pancakes, bacon, and possibly coffee. That couldn't be right, as my brothers didn't cook anything, I did. I blinked a few times at the ceiling before kicking the blankets to my feet so that I could sit up. I shivered from the cold air conditioning and scratched my belly, stretched, and yawned. Last day of sleeping in before work. Wait...pancakes, that's right.

I walked out of my room and down the hallway with all the grace of a zombie. I was still incredibly sleepy and I could feel my hair sticking up more than it usually did. More laughing. Was that a girl?

I peeked my head into the kitchen, blinking slightly at the bright light coming from the window, and was stunned. Not only was the kitchen spotless, but a neatly arranged breakfast, fit for a king, was sprawled across the table. My brothers were laughing and stuffing their faces. How surprising. Sixteen years old and still no manners. The most surprising thing was who sat across from them. Our cousin Namine, my black apron around her waist, and blonde hair in a bun. I should have known.

As if she could hear my thoughts, she looked up at me and grinned.

"Morning there, sunshine."

The twins twisted around in their seats to say,"Morning."

"Morning," I replied groggily as I sauntered to the table to fall into a seat next to Namine. I pulled the plate in front of me that I assumed was for me and began piling on some pancakes, yawning once again.

"We weren't expecting you." I tipped the bottle of syrup over my plate, completely drowning my pancakes. This is obviously the only and right way to eat pancakes, if you didn't know that already.

Namine leaned her left elbow onto the table, smiling still. Namine always smiles. If she didn't that meant something was almost certainly wrong. I'm not sure how she can be so happy all the time, or maybe that's normal and I'm just depressing. I figured it was the latter.

"What a warm welcome. I thought I'd surprise you guys."

"Certainly did." I took a bite of the pancakes. Heaven in my mouth. Namine was a damn good cook.

"Yeah! She got here at seven."

"I don't want to even think about waking up at seven...What brings you all the way to Bastion?"

"OH OH! I'll tell you!" Ventus waved his hand in the air frantically.

"I was asking Namine, not-"

"Okay, so Namine took the time off of work for ELDR-Con and decided to come early to help us make our own costumes for next weekend! Isn't that awesome?!"

"That's right. Who else could make two detailed costumes in under a week?! Namine is a pro." Roxas and Ventus high-fived before stuffing their faces yet again.

The transition of pancake to mouth was stopped by the words ELDR-Con. Ugh, not Namine too.

"You got sucked into that stupid game everyone plays?" I turned my eyes to Namine.

The three looked at each-other as if thinking the same thing.

"It isn't dumb, you are." Roxas said after swallowing a mouth-full of food. I glared at him from across the table and took another bite of my pancakes.

"No, I said it was stupid, but dumb is also fine."

"Cloud has no idea does he?" Namine asked and the twins shook their heads.

"He doesn't understand our world Namine. It's a shame."

"I don't care about it. It's nice of you to come help them Namine, and to do all of this for us. You're always welcome and it's nice to have some help around the house."

"You don't know what you're missing out on Cloudy, but I'm always glad to help my favorite cousins!"

"She means me and Ventus, not you."

"Oh hush. Roxas, I meant all three of you! I already took over the guest room by the way. Hope it's alright."

"You know it's fine." The only person who ever used the extra bedroom was Namine anyways.

Namine's two years older than me and went to college for clothing and costume design, as well as cosmetology. She now does a mix of both for a living. She's absolutely amazing at it, there's no doubt about it and I'm pretty sure she could do anything. She's also the only family we are close to, the only one who cares about us, and she worries all too much about me. She tries to visit every couple of months when she has time off of work and I look forward to it even if she is always nagging me when she's here. As if on queue, I could feel her worrying gaze as I chewed on a piece of bacon. Maybe she just wants to steal my bacon...but I doubt that.

The twins got up and thanked Namine for breakfast before putting their plates in the sink and running off to do who knows what. Teenager stuff I guess. Now I was alone with Namine who was burning a hole right through me with her big blue eyes.

I slowly set my half eaten piece of bacon onto my plate and turned to her.

"What?"

"You seem-"

"Exhausted? Mentally drained? Lonely and girlfriend-less? Nothing new Nami, so don't worry about it."

"You know I will worry more if you tell me not to, right?"

I sighed, "Yeah, I know."

"You have a lot of responsibility, but that doesn't mean you can't go out occasionally and meet some new friends or maybe even get a girlfriend...I call it socializing. Act your age once in a while. If you played Eldermore, that's way more of a social life than you have now too. I've met a few really cool people on there myself."

I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not playing it, period. I don't care if it's the coolest game ever... and you know I don't care about having a ton of friends or anything like that. It would be nice, but I really don't have the time to spare. I'm picking up more shifts at work and might try to find a second part-time job. I've been putting money in savings to hopefully get Roxas and Ventus to college. I can't count on Mom for that seeing as she couldn't even help me get in. All in all, I don't see myself getting a girlfriend any time in the foreseeable future."

"Not even old enough to drink and you sound like some old man."

"I have two sixteen-year-old twins to raise, the only important thing to me right now is to make sure that they are happy and taken care of."

"And they are. You're too nice for your own good sometimes. If I were you, I'd be making them get jobs and pitch in. Stop acting like a mom and more like an older brother." She looked down to examine her nails that were painted a pearly pink color.

"Speaking of your mom, when was the last time you talked to her?"

I frowned at the mention of my mother. She hadn't called at all lately, but she at least put money into my bank account for rent and other bills.

"Maybe two weeks."I pushed my bacon around my plate with my fork, not really hungry anymore.

"Jesus Cloud. You know this relationship with her isn't good!"

"Well what do you expect me to do?! It's been like this for as long as I can remember! It's not going to get any better now. It just doesn't work like that." I ran a hand over my face and leaned my elbows on the table. "Look...all I want to do is to make sure that Roxas and Ven have a better life than I did when I was their age."

Namine leaned back in her seat, the ceiling seemed to have caught her interest.

"I know, but you don't deserve to be alone all the time. It makes me sad to see you like this Cloud. It's not fair that-"

"Our mother hates us for no reason? Yes, I know it's not fair, and a lot of things aren't. " She nodded and sat up in her seat.

"That, among plenty of other things too."

She slapped the table with both hands suddenly, making me jump in my seat.

"Okay! You don't work today so how about you and I take the evening to ourselves and let the twins do their own thing?"

"I don't know, I shouldn't leave them alone."

"They aren't babies Cloud, they will be fine. Plus I know you always let them go out with their friends whenever they ask. You're such a pushover. It will be good for you to get out of the house, you know it's true."

"I'm not a pushover," I mumbled.

I thought about it for a moment. I knew she was right, I just hated to admit it. I couldn't treat the twins like little kids all the time and I needed to get out once in a while or else I'd become a total recluse. It was embarrassing how outgoing the twins were compared to me.

"Well...I guess we could. But I work tomorrow so I don't want to be out forever." She ruffled my already messy hair and I pouted at her.

"That's the spirit! I'll let the twins know and clean up breakfast. Go take a shower, your hair is a mess. We can catch up and leave later on."

She got up and began cleaning up the rest of the plates on the table.

"Okay miss bossy pants."

Namine definitely changes the atmosphere around this place when she visits, but maybe that's not always a good thing because I had a strange feeling in the bottom of my stomach as I got up from the table to go to my room to shower. Was I nervous just by the idea of going out for fun? I can't even remember the last time I went out just because. I sighed as I realized that Namine was right like always.

PART TWO- (Server-name: LEON) The Leonhart Zoo

"Why wont you work at the cafe with me? Dad already said you could. An opportunity like this is too good to pass up. Sora's thinking about it too you know."

"Because I don't want to work with you or Sora. I think I'd rather die."

Eyes not unlike mine narrowed at me as I stood with my arms crossed, leaning against the wall rather annoyed.

"How is it, that I am younger than you, yet am more responsible?"

"You're aren't?"

"No, I am and I'll tell you why. You can't hold a job."

"If you didn't work at Dads' place you wouldn't be able to hold a job either."

"Yes I could."

"No you couldn't."

"I'm going to hit you."

"Try it, see what happens." I narrowed my eyes at him as he slumped back in his chair.

"I was joking! Sheesh!"

"You're wrong by the way. I can hold a job better than you ever could. People just suck and you know I have the habit of talking back to annoying people. People like you for instance."

"Really? I doubt that coming from someone who says, 'People just suck."

"You know what, I'll prove it to you."

"Fine, prove it then."

"I will."

-One Week Later

I was kind of distracted by the kids mo-hawk/mullet hairstyle...thing... as he went over the rules and regulations for the store. How was he a manager with hair like that? I guessed small businesses didn't care as much and took what they could get. My long hair wasn't an issue, but I'd never cut it even for a job anyways. I had certain limits.

I only got this job to prove my brother wrong, even if I did need a new job after quitting in the middle of my shift at my last one. Saying I can't keep a job, who does that brat think he is? I'm just incredibly picky and have high standards, there's nothing wrong with that.

"...And here's your pager. You'll have to come up to help as a cashier when we get a rush, but I'll train you on that tomorrow so don't worry about it today. You've got a good resume and have a lot of experience with working in different situations, so I think you'll do just fine here. S'not so bad working here, it's easy and everyone is nice enough...well Zexy is kind of moody, but he's still cool...uhm don't ever call him Zexy by the way."

"You know you just did, right?"

"Crap, uh, well...we'll just not mention this to him, okay?"

"Mention what?"

Demyx jumped a foot into the air before slowly turning around with terror written all over his face.

"Oh Zexy-on...didn't see you there!" A guy with strange purple-ey hair that covered half of his face walked up behind the blond. His black work-shirt was tucked into a pair of skinny jeans with a studded belt.

"Hey! I've told you already, you can't wear studded belts!"

"Yeah, and?"

"And...and...This is Leon, please be nice to him."

I nodded in acknowledgment to Zexion and he nodded back. I like this guy, I can feel us bonding already.

"Someone set the lobsters loose again, thought I'd let you know." He turned and walked away without another word.

"Not again! Uhm...uh...I really gotta go take care of this!"

"Lobsters?" I raised my brow quizzically, it was a habit I've had for a long time and quite possibly the only expression that has ever had the pleasure of gracing my face.

"Someone keeps taking them out of their tank and putting them all around the store."

"That's...really weird."

"Believe me I know! It's already the second time this week! I'm swear I will catch who's doing it! Think you can handle being on your own for a bit?"

I nodded," Yeah I've got it."

"Sorry to leave you so soon! If you have any questions, just ask Zexy-I mean Zexion!" He took off down the aisle in a sprint yelling into his pager, "We've gotta code red, I repeat we've gotta code red."

I think I'll like working here.

-Present

I knocked on the door, not waiting for a reply before opening it.

"I won the bet you know." My brother looked up at me from his desk before turning in his spinny chair to face me as I stood in the doorway to his room.

"I don't remember making a bet on anything."

"Twenty bucks." I held my hand out as my brother groaned, getting up and pulling out his wallet to slap a twenty dollar bill into my open palm.

"You know, I'm only giving this to you because you found a job in under a week and it's been almost two weeks since you started. I must admit I'm impressed."He said as he sat back down at his desk.

"So quick to doubt me, what a nice little brother you are."

"I know, I know. Sorry, how's the new job treating you?"

"It's actually not that bad, my manager is a little odd, but it's whatever."

"Odd? Coming from you?"

"Fuck off. You're one to talk...'sides, Sora's the weird one."

"You're right about that."

I looked over to his desk as his laptop lit up and beeped with a message.

"Shouldn't you be studying and not playing Eldermore?" I nodded towards his laptop and he shut it hastily.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was only playing for a little bit before work. You wanna come to the cafe tonight? There's an acoustic show and I'll give you free drinks, just don't tell Dad. Sora said he's going later too."

"It's gonna be too busy on a Friday."

"Oh come on Leon. It's not that bad. Just come."

"Why? Because you can't play Eldermore tonight and don't want me to level up before you?"

"Uh...of course not."

"A-huh, sure. You know what, alright. I'll come hang out but I'm bringing my laptop to play while you work."

"You fucking suck."

"Level thirty-two, here I come."

PART THREE-(Server-name: CLOUD) Downtown Bastion

Namine is a neat-freak and she spent well over an hour cleaning up the house. To normal people our house would look clean, but not to Namine. I took a shower and managed to put on pajama pants (I'm sure Namine didn't want to see me in my boxers all day) while she went around the house invading our privacy...which I was way too used to.

We talked a little more before I helped her get the rest of her things out of her car. Knowing her, I bet she brought her entire apartment with her. I was correct about that assumption as I dragged a heavy pink trunk up the stairs before coming back for the sewing machine and multiple suitcases full of clothing, make-up, hair products, and of course fabric and sewing equipment to make the twins costumes. Speaking of twins...why the hell didn't they come help me?

I sighed before falling onto the couch, my back hitting the soft cushions, and dramatically throwing my arm over my face. I liked being dramatic sometimes, it made my life seem a little more interesting. Namine went to unpack her things for her stay and take a nap. I wanted a nap too but I decided on watching some TV instead.

I was incredibly bored as I flipped through the channels, one leg slung over the arm of the couch. Roxas and Ventus were upstairs playing Eldermore, I could hear them shouting across from each-others rooms. Namine would kill them if they woke her up, but that's what they'd get for not helping unpack her car earlier.

I turned off the TV after watching some science show about space, that was actually kind of interesting, and decided to get ready for our evening out.

After spending a half an hour in front of the mirror trying to fix my spiky hair to no prevail, I sat on my floor next to a pile of clothes for another hour. I contemplated what to wear as I picked up random shirts only to shake my head and throw them back onto the pile. That is, before Namine barged into my room impatiently and picked out a thin blue shirt and tight-fitting, dark, jeans for me to wear. How did she do that so easily?

She said I had to look good so girls would hit on me. I guessed I looked alright and I examined myself in the full-length mirror that was attached to the inside of my closet door. I don't think any girls would hit on me though.

I didn't go out often enough to know about this stuff. I wasn't sure I wanted to go out now either.

Namine had let her hair down from her bun and changed into a white v-neck, with a long golden necklace around her neck, and also chose to wear dark jeans.

Roxas wore shorts like he always did, and Ventus wore pants like he preferred. I guess that was an easy way to tell them apart if you couldn't already. They both wore the same shirt, just in different colors. Vens' being white and Roxas' being grey.

It was hot out as usual, but Namine drove us in her car which had an operable AC and was overall much nicer than mine. The twins were going to meet up with some friends downtown, and even though they had their phones on them, I was still worried every time they went out. Can't help it, okay, thank you.

We dropped them off by the movie theater and said goodbye after making sure they had their phones, and would stay together, and not talk to strangers, and- okay you get the point.

Parking was hard to find. We ended up paying to park in the parking garage and walked a few blocks to where all the stores were located.

Namine dragged me unwillingly into a clothes store which had an overpowering smell of perfume and pink walls. I sat awkwardly on a pink cushioned stool as Namine tried on clothes and asked me which looked better. How should I know? She's the designer, not me. I looked around. There were a few women staring at me, including the creepy old lady store clerk. She's the only one who'd want to date me anyways. This is great, I'm the only dude in here and these ladies probably think I'm gay. Off to a great start.

Namine ended up not buying anything and she led us to a few other places, one being a video-game store where she got into a long discussion about Eldermore with some random person. That stupid, stupid, game everyone likes way too much. I browsed the games on the shelves uninterested and ended up sitting outside on a bench for fifteen minutes before she even realized I was gone. I was beginning to feel like this was more for her and not me, well that is until she redeemed herself by buying delicious tacos for us from a food truck. I do love tacos.

We sat on the side of a fountain as we ate and talked about little random things. Things like how her job was going, what the twins and I have been up to since the last time we saw her, my mom who sucks, how I'm so lame. Okay, so we didn't talk about that last one but it is true.

We finished eating, threw our trash away, and walked along aimlessly, passing the lake and the park, and checking out random stores that we found interesting. We went into a used bookstore and we sat at the back of the store on the dusty floor. Namine handed me a manga, insisting that I would like it, and we sat reading for over an hour with our backs against the shelves. I will admit that they were pretty interesting and I occasionally read Roxas and Vens' manga on the bookshelves at home. We left without buying anything at the bookstore, as we didn't feel like carrying anything around or walking all the way back to the car. It was a little less hot out now, with the sun not as high in the sky, and it was more enjoyable walking around outside even with the suffocating smell of gasoline and stagnant city air.

I looked up at the fluffy clouds in the sky. I had a weird fascination with clouds and always wondered why Mom and Dad chose to name me after them. I'd never know now.

"I wonder if Roxas and Ven are doing alright."

Namine rolled her eyes assuring me they were doing fine, and pushed me along the sidewalk past a group of friends who looked way too young to be smoking the cigarettes that were in their hands. I wanted to say something, but Namine grabbed my wrist and pulled me to look in the window of another shop.

I forgot what it was like to be out on a Friday, and downtown was apparently the place to be. More and more people seemed to flock downtown the later it got. Older people being replaced by the young.

I usually worked Fridays and spent the entire night driving orders to peoples houses. If I wasn't working on a Friday, I was at home doing-what the hell did I do exactly? Pay bills? Sleep? Run errands? Watch TV alone? Fret over every little thing? Wow I am so fucking boring. No wonder I don't have a girlfriend. I'm not sure I could be any lamer. I am the king of lame. Lame lame lame.

We passed countless groups of people, a few guys even hollering at Namine making her wave and sashay on. I rolled my eyes as I followed behind her. I didn't understand the appeal of going out when it was this busy, only for people to stare at each-other like wide-eyed fish and act like a bunch of miscreants.

Namine elbowed me in the side suddenly and pointed over to a group of girls who were whispering to each-other and smiling...at..me? That couldn't be right. I looked at Namine who raised her brows and then to the group of girls, smiling and waving shyly before speeding past them, Namine at my heels.

"Cloudddd, what the hell was that? Where are you going?"She asked, waving her hands in frustration.

"What, I waved back."

"Smooth Cloud, real smooth. When was the last time you had a girlfriend?"

"Well...junior year I dated-"

"Junior year? You're joking."

I shook my head,"No."

"Wow, you need a lot more work than I thought." She tapped a finger on her chin.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing you needn't worry about dear cousin."

"You know I will worry more if you tell me not to, right?"

She put her hands on her hips, you know that one thing I do too often and the thing that is really girly. Yeah, that thing.

"Don't start using my lines Cloud." She pushed me onwards playfully, making me stumble and smile a little bit. I guess today hasn't been totally bad. Mostly, but not totally.

It was around seven when I checked the time on my cellphone, the sun was low and dull in the sky and would probably set in about an hour. I texted both Roxas and Ventus to check up on them. They said they were doing fine and we agreed to meet up in a few more hours, at the same movie theater we had dropped them off at.

We stopped as we came upon a large group of young people standing outside of a tall, brownish-red, brick building with blacked out windows covered in stickers. A few people turned to look at Namine and I nonchalantly as we approached, before turning back to converse with their friends. Everyone was talking loudly and laughing together, the smell of coffee, cigarette smoke, and something sweet filled the air around the building as the strumming of an acoustic guitar could be heard playing from inside.

"What's this place, wanna check it out?" Namine asked, trying to look past the people congregated by the front of the door. I looked up at the red and blue sign attached to the building which read, 'HARTSCafe.' Another smaller sign below it read, 'Coffee, WiFi, Live Music(Weekends).'

"Actually, that doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"Wow! Cloud agreeing to something I suggest. This has to be a first."

"Oh, shut up!" I laughed and walked ahead of her through the crowd with some new found bravery that I didn't know I possessed. The soft sound of a bell chimed as I pushed the door open.

AN: SO?! SO?! What did ya think? Chapter three is on its wayyyyyy! I promise it will be a tad bit more interesting too! Leon has two younger brothers, we know one, but who's the other? Anyone know yet?!

Thanks for reading everyone!