Okay, here it is! Theme number 2 - Quirk. This is an idea I've been formulating for a while, wanting to incorporate the weird quirks (because SERIOUSLY every single KH character is twice as weird in the manga XD) of Roxas and Aerith and making the end suitably angsty. Mwa-ha. This is kind of a sequel to Quarrel and...well, I thought it was fairly good. But then, I wrote it in the middle of the night.

I really need to stop doing that.

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Exhaustion for Aerith had a new definition – shopping with Roxas. Honestly, the guy was like a shopping machine (as long as they were seeking out video games, t-shirts and the pursuit of crappy souvenirs), going from shop to shop in a meticulous, careful manner that made Aerith start to suspect he'd mapped all this out last night in his hotel room.

For the first hour or so, she kept up with him, occasionally commenting on the quality (or lack thereof) of the pencil holder emblazoned with 'Traverse Town Rocks' in seventeen different colors. As time went on, though, she found comments harder to bring up, due to exhaustion and due to the fact that his choice of merchandise was getting progressively weirder. Aerith weighed the matter carefully in her mind, and came to the conclusion that it was really better to keep her mouth closed when Roxas picked up a moogle-shaped pencil sharpener made of garishly painted ceramic in the eighth shop.

But now, with a bag in each hand and her feet aching, Aerith was hardly registering where they went or what he bought. He could be stocking up on anything from alligator eggs to zebra steak (she was hungry too, and anything food-related made her stomach growl) and she wouldn't notice.

But, finally, after everything started to blend into a continuous blur made of cheap plastic and with price tags plastered all over it, she heard those blessed words – "Hey, Aerith, you want to stop for lunch?" She didn't even have it in her to voice her agreement, just nodded emphatically.

Actually, it wasn't until she was seated in a comfortable chair, deep in her mug of green tea sweetened to perfection – had she had enough willpower left to do that, or did Roxas just know by now what she liked? – that Aerith's mind cleared enough to let her know where she was. When she looked slowly around and realized it though, her heart immediately sank and she gave a soft, depressed sigh, hoping against hope that Roxas hadn't been TOO efficient and had ordered anything.

"Um, excuse me, Roxas?" the young woman ventured, setting down her mug and folding her hands on the table.

"Hmm?" Roxas replied vaguely, distracted by trying to figure out how his latest purchase – a piggy bank shaped like an excruciatingly ugly man with furry legs, horns, a tail, and a look that spoke of murderous thoughts – opened.

"I was just wondering..." Aerith inquired, trying to appear nonchalant, her eyes downcast as she slowly traced the scalloped design on the paper tablecloth. "What made you pick this place?"

Roxas was prevented from answering for a moment as the ugly-goat-man's head came off in his hands. He gaped at the two pieces of plastic for a moment before realizing it was supposed to do that, then breathed a sigh of relief and began trying to reattach the dismembered head. "It has curry." he said matter-of-factly, scowling back at the fierce little head in his hand. "You like curry."

That was admittedly true, and it was very sweet that he'd remembered that and planned accordingly. Aerith really didn't want to say anything and possibly offend him, but there was this glaring problem... "Uh, have you ordered yet?" she asked, nervously twirling one strand of her cinnamon-colored hair around her finger.

Goat-man-head made contact with goat-man-neck at that exact moment, and Roxas took a moment to look triumphant before carefully and reverently setting the hideous thing aside. "Yeah, I just went ahead and got two specials. You seemed a little out of it." he half-teased, blue eyes dancing mischievously at her. "I understand. Inhaling all those commemorative Traverse Town candles had my head spinning too."

Aerith managed a hesitant half-smile, realizing that this was the first time she'd seen him like this – happy, teasing, almost playful. Well, it really wasn't that big of a deal, was it? She could just remedy the situation on her own and hope he didn't notice. "Well, thank you." she said softly, looking down at the table again, then hiding her lingering anxiety by sipping her tea again.

Roxas grinned, reaching for his own drink of choice – coffee, black. She didn't understand how he managed to be so sedate and calm, with all that caffeine running through him. They made conversation for a while, and Aerith noted with contentment that it wasn't awkward and stilted. That was certainly progress.

However, the comfortable atmosphere vanished – at least for Aerith – when the food arrived. Two large bowls of steaming, fragrant curry were set in front of the pair, accompanied by a fresh refill of coffee and tea for each of them.

Roxas thanked the server brightly, arching his eyebrows in that same gleeful way that made him seem half his age. "Well, enjoy." he said cordially, picking up his spoon and digging in.

Aerith managed a small smile, eyeing the curry as if it would rear up and bite her. It was actually a well-cooked, appealing bowl of curry, heavy on the sauce with various vegetables and bits of chicken swimming in it. It wasn't any of that which disturbed the flower girl so much. It was what was no doubt hiding underneath the savory broth.

Well, there's no way around it. Aerith thought with a resigned sigh. She swallowed hard, then carefully selected her fork, with all the precision and thoughtfulness a surgeon might use while choosing a scalpel. Then, very surreptitiously, she began searching in her bowl for the offending item that had given her a night of violent sickness the last time she had entered the Yellow Duck restaurant – shiitake mushrooms.

Yes, the thing Aerith so dreaded about this particular restaurant was the fact that it made its signature, special curry with bits of shiitake mushroom. For some reason, ever since she was a child, Aerith had avoided mushrooms. It wasn't that she was allergic or anything, she just didn't like them.

And, considering that the last time she'd gone to the Yellow Duck (with Leon and Yuffie, about three months ago) she'd been sick all night, Aerith's loathing of all mushrooms (especially shiitake) had increased dramatically. Yuffie and Leon had tried in vain to convince the young woman that it could've been a bad potato, or maybe some spoiled chicken that had done this to her, but Aerith didn't listen. Shiitake mushrooms were now on her list of most avoided things.

And now, here she was, having lunch with a young teenager who (though she'd never speak this to anyone) was unbelievably charming and interesting and fascinating, even sweet in his own way – and she had no way to tell him she hated the food he'd ordered.

So Aerith just tried to quickly and quietly scoop the bits of mushroom out of her curry and hide them in her napkin, praying that Roxas's food would keep him so involved that he wouldn't notice. And, of course, her desperate, silent pleadings didn't work.

"Aerith..." Roxas said in a puzzled voice, making the young woman cringe slightly, freezing in the action of dropping another sliver of browned mushroom into her napkin. She silently cursed all things fungus, then slowly glanced up to meet the teenager's vaguely perplexed bright blue eyes. "You...don't like it?" he asked, blinking several times.

He didn't sound particularly crestfallen, but she still felt awful almost immediately, swallowing hard and starting to formulate an explanation. The waiter chose that exact second to return for the bill, leaving it on the edge of the table with a slight bow.

Roxas, still frowning, turned to set the required munny balls on top of it, and sign for it. Feeling utterly miserable, Aerith watched him scribble his name. He had nice handwriting, she noticed gloomily, some part of her mind admiring the way he'd signed the 'Roxas' with a flourish after the 'S'. Roxas.

Just Roxas.

It was the girl's turn to frown now, staring at the simple, one-word signature as Roxas pushed it to one side of the table and continued. "Are you allergic to mushrooms or do you just not like them or...?" he trailed off, arching his eyebrows questioningly.

"You didn't sign your last name." Aerith replied slowly, lifting her head to stare at him intently.

Roxas looked taken aback, glancing back at the bill to confirm that, yes; he had only signed his first name, nothing else. "Oh." he said, half-frowning at the signature as if he'd never seen it before. "Yeah."

Aerith waited patiently for an explanation, but all Roxas did was frown a little deeper, then turn to examine his goat-man. "Um...if you don't mind me asking...why not?" the flower girl pressed after a moment. Roxas shrugged, adjusting the position of the detachable scowling head by a fraction of an inch. "Do you...not have one?" Aerith asked, taking a wild stab into the dark.

To her intense surprise, Roxas nodded once, then grabbed his coffee and took a long drink.

Aerith straightened, eyes widening as she took this in. "You don't?" she almost demanded, not sure why this seemed like a big deal, only certain that there was something...amiss with that.

"No." Roxas said, a little briskly, swallowing his coffee and setting down the mug a little too hard. "I do not." He met her eyes, lifting his chin slightly in challenge. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Aerith considered for a moment. Well, no, there wasn't anything particularly WRONG with not having a last name. It was just...well, everyone she'd ever met had last names. It was just...unusual. But then, most things about Roxas WERE unusual. That didn't make them wrong, just different. Just unique. Like him.

A serene smile taking the place of her surprised look, Aerith delicately speared a piece of potato on her fork, saying in her gentle voice, "No, there's nothing wrong with that. It's…quirky." Then she bit into the potato with some relish – after all, she hadn't eaten in nearly two hours.

Roxas seemed surprised that they'd avoided a fight, taking a moment to let his brain catch up with this turn of events. "Oh." he said, half-frowning, then shrugging and embarking on his own search for potato. "All right." They ate in silence for a moment, then Roxas remarked, more to himself than her, "I don't have a last name, you don't like shiitake mushrooms. Those're both weird."

"I wouldn't say they're weird." Aerith said with a laugh.

Roxas arched one eyebrow at her, an almost-smirk on his face. "Quirky then." he amended in a dry voice, licking curry sauce off his spoon to punctuate the sentence.

"That works." Aerith laughed, noticing that he'd managed to get sauce on his nose. Rather than seeming sloppy, it just made him endearing…as in, more endearing than he already was. "And...you shop." she suggested, wanting to perpetuate this conversation about quirky traits.

"Yeah, I shop." Roxas said, giving her a defiant look, which was thoroughly spoiled by the sauce on his nose. Aerith hid a smile, gesturing at her own slightly pointed nose to alert him of the problem. Roxas blinked at her for a moment, not understanding, then he scowled even more fiercly and grabbed his napkin. "I shop." he repeated, swiping at his nose with the napkin. "What about it?"

"Nothing." Aerith said with a little laugh, reaching out and taking the napkin gently from his hand and remedying the sauce situation herself. "It's quirky. Not many boys I know go shopping for faun-shaped piggy banks." She winked at him, letting him know she wasn't mocking him by any means.

Roxas, surprisingly, didn't get the least bit irritated, just sat there and let her carefully dab curry sauce off his nose. "He's a satyr." was his only comment, said in a very soft voice.

Aerith just smiled, examining his nose for a moment, then deciding it passed examination and setting the napkin back on the table. Roxas proceeded to gulp down half his glass of water, which Aerith thought was a wise idea. It was a little warm in the restaurant and he looked rather red.

He seemed a little better after his drink, waving the glass at her as he swallowed. "You put milk in soda." he said, once he could speak normally.

"Yes..." Aerith said slowly, searching for another piece of carrot. "That's not quirky." she continued, giving up and settling for a piece of chicken. She grimaced as she reached out and slowly flicked a piece of mushroom off the piece of meat, adding, "Soda tastes good with milk."

Roxas rolled his eyes when he thought she couldn't see, but all he said was, "Whatever you say." Aerith nodded self-righteously, begin rather proud of her drink concoctions, which included, but weren't limited to soda with milk and lemonade with a pinch of salt.

The blond smiled at her pouty uppity face, slurping down some more sauce – carefully, because he obviously didn't want her to have to minister to his nose again. "But it is quirky." he added with a wicked grin.

Aerith sighed, giving him a patient look that said 'Now, was that really necessary?' Roxas just grinned wider and wiggled his eyebrows, challenging her to top that. "All right..." Aerith replied to his wordless dare, setting down her fork so he would know she meant business. She thought for a moment, scouring every memory she had with Roxas, trying to find something 'quirky' about him.

Finally she found it. "You have a strangely hard to locate pulse!" she said triumphantly, practically beaming.

She expected Roxas to scoff and reply with something even more quirky about her. But all he did was stiffen, ever so slightly and stare at her. "W-what?" he said, blue eyes rather wide.

A little puzzled, Aerith frowned and said slowly, "Well, actually, before I officially met you...I saw you once, after dark. You were...napping or something, on a bench. I was concerned because..." Aerith faltered slightly, finding it strangely hard to tell him she'd been worried about him. She looked down at her lap, shredding her paper napkin into several pieces. "Because, well, sometimes people sleeping on park benches are...drunk or in trouble or...I don't know, I was just worried. You were sleeping so soundly. So, I felt for your pulse."

Roxas flinched. He literally flinched; a look of horror flickering across his face so fast she almost missed it. Aerith blushed slightly, hurrying to reassure him, "I just grabbed your wrist, that's all. I'm a sort of healer, so I know how to find a pulse. But..." she trailed off, frowning even deeper at the memory. "But, try as I might, I couldn't find your heartbeat."

There was dead silence for a moment. Then, in a slightly hoarse voice, Roxas asked, "What did you do?"

Aerith blinked, brought back from the memory of that night, where she'd almost panicked at the pulseless boy, lying on a bench in the middle of the night, wondering why even then she'd cared about him so much. "Well, I was worried for a moment. Then I noticed you were snoring, a little."

Roxas looked taken aback, then a sheepish grin slowly crept across his face. Feeling reassured by that familiar crooked smile, Aerith laughed, hands ceasing their nervous napkin-ripping. "I figured that meant you were alive, so I went home." she concluded.

There was another silence, but this one was more comfortable, relaxed, with both of them thinking quietly. Then Roxas cleared his throat and said, in a cordial voice, "Well, shall we continue with my quirky shopping?"

Aerith smiled, standing and carefully gathering the shopping bags in her hands. "Yes, lets." she said warmly.

And, later that day, when Aerith hugs him goodbye, briefly, the first time she's ever done such a thing, Roxas tries to enjoy it and tries not to worry about her not feeling his heart pounding like it should, not feeling his heart at all, not ready to let her know about this dark, secret quirk of his...

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All right, to explain: We've already established Roxas is a shopaholic, right? And there's this very bizarre subplot in the KH 1 manga that Aerith makes her lemonade with salt (Leon refuses to drink it, while Sora, Goofy and Donald love it) and puts milk in soda because 'It tastes great'. Also, while it never exactly SAYS Aerith dislikes shiitake mushrooms, she does find the idea of them in curry absolutely ridiculous.

As for the no last name thing...well, haven't you ever found it weird that all the Squeenix characters up until KH had last names? But Sora, Kairi and Riku are denied them! Therefore, Roxas doesn't have one either. And yes, he signs his checks with a flourish. Cause he's cool like that. XD.

And I'm playing off the idea that the fact that Nobodies don't have hearts means they don't have pulses or anything. 'Hearts' seems to mean something else in the KH world, though. Well, for the sake of a plot device, Roxas has no heart, no heartbeat, no nothing.

Read/review/whatever. :)