In the end, it took Roxas three hours to get everything moved and put away. He'd managed to enlist the help of a guy who lived below them, a short, quiet, tidy man with a fall of slate colored hair and a very soothing voice. Wrestling a mattress and box spring into the elevator with another man under five foot seven was a real pain, but they managed, hauling as much as they could into the elevator and taking it up, then running back and forth moving everything into the apartment. It was a very hot, chaotic, and frustrating way to do it, made worse by Riku sitting near the windows at the other end of the loft with a sketchpad on his knee and a half-frozen waterbottle, ignoring them both.
When the truck was empty, Roxas drove it back to the rental place and got his bike out to head back. It was a slightly uphill ride with almost no shade. Life. Sucked.
Riku was waiting for him when he returned, holding a pair of popsicles in one hand and an unopened water bottle in the other. He offered both hands to Roxas.
"Pick a popsicle. They're good."
Roxas picked the orange one, then took the water, giving Riku a suspicious look. "What are these for?"
"Mostly making sure you don't collapse with heat stroke or something. It doesn't get very cool in here during the day, so popsicles and water are the fastest way to cool off after you've been outside in this godawful heat." Riku unwrapped his green popsicle and snapped a corner off it. "Take it or leave it."
Nothing to do but unwrap the damn thing and try it. It turned out to be eye-stingingly tart, like a fresh tangerine with a little of the peel left on, but it was good, not cloyingly sweet like so many others were. Roxas drained half the water bottle, then set to nursing the cold treat.
"Thanks."
"Mmhm. You met Zexion, I saw."
"Is that his name?"
"You didn't ask?"
"No?"
Riku sighed. "His name's Zexion Hatori. He's a grad student on campus. He lives one floor down with more books than some school libraries and doesn't get out much. But if you're having a problem with the landlord o something needs doing, you talk to him."
"Why? Is he related or something?"
Riku shook his head. "He's just really good with words, and with talking people into doing things. When he talks to the landlord, things get done a hell of a lot faster. Just pop a note under his door if he's not around and you're in a hurry."
"Oh. That's handy, I guess." Roxas nibbled at his popsicle, then looked up at Riku again. "How are we doing this?"
"How are we doing what?"
"This."
"WHICH this?"
"Living together."
"I suppose that depends on how much you still hate me."
"About as much as I did before I hit you."
"Roxas, you didn't just hit me. You tried to cave my entire face in." Riku sighed. "Whatever. I don't care. I like where I live, I agreed to have a roommate, and I don't care if I have to share with someone who doesn't like me so long as there are rules."
Roxas considered this. There had been no rules with their parents, just quiet complacency until someone overstepped, and then there was screaming and accusation and the listing of rules that had never existed. Living wit Cloud, there had been a few rules: don't drink, don't do drugs, be home by 2 in the morning and don't wake him up coming inside. Simple things. When they'd moved in with Tifa, there had been a lot more, about things like when the laundry should be done and who cleaned the bathroom when and why thy could only drink so many sodas in a week even if the only other things left were coffee and iced tea and caffeine was bad for them. Rules could be alright...
"What kind of rules?"
Riku shrugged. "About who's responsible for what, and how we're doing food and stuff, and personal space. I need some special ones for my work. Nothing fancy- I'm not gonna try and give you a curfew and say you can't do things. Just...rules to keep us from trying to kill each other?"
Roxas sighed and nodded.
"Yeah, I guess that would be a good idea. But can we talk about it after I'm unpacked?"
"Sure. That big cabinet over there is all yours- I use one for my clothes, so you might want to do the same. And you can use the shelves on this wall."
"Not the other ones?"
"The other ones are covered in clay and paint and varnish and things I really doubt you want your clothes and textbooks getting too close to. Like I said, special rules for my work stuff."
"Right. I'll let you know when I'm done."
They had a rule-making powwow over pizza- Riku was nowhere near as picky an eater as he had been when they were kids, which Roxas was thankful for- and a huge pad of paper they scribbled on with markers, crossing rules out, making notes and additions, and actually writing rules. Riku drew it all up neatly when it was finished, and he was smiling when he did.
Roxas decided that maybe he wasn't such a dick after all. Not someone he wanted to be buddy-buddy with, but not a bad guy. He could've done a lot worse for a roommate, and...if he was being honest, he knew why Riku had been the way he'd been when they were kids. He just didn't feel like being honest.