Author's Notes:
Okay, I know there really isn't night time in Twilight Town, but in this story, there is. Don't like it? Tough. Here's Chapter 2...
Roxas stared up at the ceiling. He had just finished unpacking and was now lying across his bed in the room he would be sharing with another resident. Roxas had yet to meet him, as well as the other residents of Twilight Sanctuary. So far he had only met Vincent and Aeris. He wondered who the other three caregivers were.
His room was much nicer than he expected. A few Monet paintings hung in ornamental wooden frames on the lavender walls, and jade green curtains at the large window were pulled back to reveal a view of the front yard and street beyond the porch. There was a small walk-in closet, a writing desk and chair, a bookshelf, and a nightstand that separated two twin-size beds.
The difference in the appearance of the two beds is what interested Roxas the most. The bed on which he lay was neatly made. The down comforter was flawlessly smooth and turned down to reveal crisp ivory sheets, and two plump pillows were standing against the headboard. The bed opposite him, however, was a different story.
The first time Roxas had seen his roommate's bed, he thought some kind of natural disaster, like an earthquake, had only affected one side of the room. The comforter was pushed all the way down at the end of the bed and the blankets, half on the floor, were a tangled mess of different-colored fabrics. One of the pillows was standing against the headboard and looked to be in fairly good condition, while the other looked like it had been pulverized; the pillowcase was slipping off and some of the feathers were coming out of the end. A few brightly illustrated comic books were strewn across the sheets and a plate with a half-eaten muffin was balanced precariously on the edge of the nightstand. Roxas thought that his absent roommate either had a bad temper, nightmares, or poor organization skills, or all three.
He was entertaining himself by imagining what his room mate looked like when he heard a deep, guttural, roaring sound coming up the street outside. He sat up, listening, as the roar came closer, and when it had reached a pitch so intense that the room nearly shook from it, he dashed to the window in a slight panic.
A large motorcycle rolled up in front of the house on the street outside. The roaring came to an abrupt stop as two tall figures got off the bike, which was leaning slightly as it rested on its kickstand. Beneath the pallid glow of the moon, Roxas could see that one was muscular and blond, and the other was lanky with long hair. He could also see that they were carrying a few plastic grocery bags. As they made their way up the brick walk, Roxas could hear Aeris call from somewhere close by and her quick footsteps in the hallway.
"Tifa! Cloud and Riku are back from the store! Do you mind giving a hand?"
Roxas stepped away from the window in time to see Aeris pass outside his open door. Anxiety was rising in his chest again as he heard new voices accompanied by two pairs of footsteps in the foyer. He wrung his hands as he stood in the middle of the room, torn between wanting to help Aeris with the groceries and wanting to stay away from meeting anyone new. Helping out seemed the logical thing to do, but he was so nervous! Leaving the safety and newfound comfort in his new room meant becoming the center of attention of everyone in the house. They would all want to know his name, when he arrived, why he was here…Roxas bit his lip as he wondered if they would ask what was wrong with him. Then what would he say? He himself didn't even know!
He was immediately distracted from his worried daze when a tall boy about his age seemingly materialized in the doorway. Roxas swallowed his panic and studied the newcomer with narrowed eyes. The boy was wearing a gray tank and baggy jeans and was leaning against the door frame. His silvery hair was cut in a long shag style, the unkempt bangs almost hiding his turquoise eyes. The corners of his mouth were pulled slightly upward in a smirk.
"Yo," the boy said. "So, you must be the new kid Aeris just told me about."
Roxas didn't know what to say. He just stood there as the seconds ticked by, an awkward silence rising between them.
"Don't talk much, huh?" the boy continued, sauntering passed him. "Good, at least it'll be quiet…"
Roxas watched mutely as the boy flung himself down on the bed, tossing one of the comic books that was in his way on the floor. He had a cynical air about him and his voice held a permanent sarcasm.
"I'm Riku, by the way," the boy spoke to the ceiling. "Don't worry, you don't gotta tell me your name if you don't want to."
Roxas was shocked. He had expected every person he met to pry as much as possible. But this boy, Riku, it's like he actually understood how Roxas felt before he even said anything.
"I…I'm Roxas."
"So you do talk," Riku said in surprise as he propped himself up on his elbows. "I was beginning to think you'd be a hopeless case like Namine."
"Who's Namine?" Roxas asked, sitting down on the edge of his bed.
"Oh, so you haven't met her yet. Namine's the only girl here, besides Aeris and Tifa," Riku explained. "So that makes her the only girl patient. She's real quiet, only talks when she has to. And she doesn't go anywhere without Zexion-"
"Who?" Roxas said, interested.
"Zexion. He's a complete psycho," Riku said impatiently, waving his hand as if this detail was unimportant. Roxas raised his eyebrows. "Don't worry, he's harmless," Riku added, seeing the look on Roxas's face.
"He's…a psycho?"
"Well, only I call him that," Riku rationalized. "But, yes, he's got psychotic depression."
Roxas stared.
"Come on, not everyone's perfect," Riku huffed exasperatedly. "Look, we're all pretty screwed up in here, even you. Why are you here?"
"I…really don't know," Roxas said, surprised at his own bravery. "I just came here because I don't have anywhere else to go. I'm supposed to see Vincent tomorrow morning."
"Huh, he'll have fun with you, that's for sure," Riku said. Then he threw his head back and laughed at the horrified look Roxas was giving him. "It's a joke, Roxas. Everyone who comes here for the first time gets examined by Vincent. It's nothing scary, I promise. I made Namine cry on her first night here. I told her it was really painful."
"So, what are you here for?" Roxas asked, relieved. Talking to Riku was easier than he had thought it would be.
"Antisocial personality disorder," Riku declared, almost looking proud of himself.
"Antisocial?" Roxas said, confused. "But, then why are you talking to me?"
"Man, you must really be knew to this whole thing," Riku said, his voice picking up a slightly annoyed tone. "Having an antisocial personality means you violate rules and people's rights and stuff. I came here two months ago because the police were after me for, what is it? 'Disorderly conduct' or some other nonsense." He rolled his eyes. "If the police wanted to be that picky, over half this town would be arrested for disorderly conduct."
"What happened?" Roxas asked.
"Well, they had already wanted me for vandalism but when one of those fat ass officers cornered me one night I beat his face black and blue and took off. Cloud almost hit me with his motorcycle when I ran across the road, but he protected me from the police. I had already been diagnosed with antisocial personality, and he asked me if I wanted somewhere safe to stay, and I said sure, why not, and now I'm here."
"Oh…" Roxas said. He didn't know what else to say. He was beginning to understand that Riku wasn't a criminal; he was just a person who had a medical condition that caused him to behave in ways he normally wouldn't.
"I read about this place in the newspaper last year."
"Yeah, Vincent was pretty disgusted by the mainstream psychiatric care system," Riku explained, stretching out so that his back rested on the bed and his feet were on the floor. "He became a psychiatrist in an attempt to reform the system, even if it was just locally. He's been good friends with Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, and Leon since they were teenagers. You can tell they really care about us. For them, it's not about money."
"How do they support this place, anyway?" Roxas asked, voicing something he had been wondering since he arrived.
"Vincent splits his time between a private clinic and here. Over half of his salary goes to this place and he pays Cloud and the others for helping out. The first time he tried to pay them, they refused. Vincent insisted that they wouldn't have any income unless they went out and got other jobs, but they were needed here, so they finally accepted payment. They're really great people."
"So, Vincent doesn't live here then?"
"Nah, he lives in central Twilight Town. But he comes here everyday, even if no one has an appointment. Vincent is the psychiatrist for all the patients here."
"How many people live here, then?" Roxas asked.
"I'm pretty sure you're the sixth resident patient, so that makes ten people in all," Riku said, counting on his fingers.
"How did they ever find a house big enough?" Roxas exclaimed.
"It was actually an excellent find of Aeris's," Riku exclaimed with a chuckle at Roxas's lack of knowledge. "This used to be a finishing school for young women over a hundred years ago. It was abandoned for a while, and in pretty bad shape. It was all dilapidated and stuff. Tifa's parents had just died in a freak accident and she inherited a lot of money from them, and so Tifa decided to use it to repair this place until it was decent enough to live in. Vincent was finishing up in medical school and Tifa and the others had already graduated with masters degrees in clinical psychology. By the time they had fixed this place up, Vincent had his PhD and they established Twilight Sanctuary."
Roxas looked around the room, trying to imagine it as an old decrepit building. From what he had seen of it, the house was beautiful.
"So, there are six of, you know, us," Roxas said awkwardly. He really didn't know what to call them and he didn't want to sound offensive.
"Yeah, there's six of 'us'," Riku said with a laugh. "We have a ton of room, though. Generally, there's two to a bedroom, except Namine, cause she's a girl," he added. Then, with a smirk, "She wanted to room with Zexion, but Aeris wouldn't allow it. So Namine's got her own room, Zexion rooms with Demyx, and now you're in here with me. Axel's got the garret cause he likes his privacy, and Cloud and Leon have the spare bedroom upstairs. Aeris and Tifa are in another room down here."
Riku stood up then.
"Anyway," he said, glancing at the brass alarm clock on the nightstand. "Dinner should be ready. It's almost seven o'clock."
Roxas followed Riku out of their room and down the hall. It was much louder than it had been when Roxas talked with Aeris and Vincent in the office. There were lights on in other rooms off the hall, he could hear the low rumble of people talking, and a television was on nearby. Roxas could smell the delicious aroma of cooking food.
Riku led Roxas through a large open doorway and Roxas found himself in a spacious kitchen. A curvy woman with long dark hair was stirring a large pot on the stove at the far end of the kitchen, the contents of which bubbled happily. Riku elbowed Roxas lightly in the ribs, indicating Roxas to follow him, and swaggered over to the woman at the stove.
"Yo, Tifa," Riku said, leaning against the counter next to her. Tifa turned with a long wooden spoon in her hand. "You met Roxas yet?"
"Oh, hey there!" Tifa exclaimed, holding out her hand for Roxas to take. Roxas shook her hand, blushing slightly. "Aeris told me we had someone new. Nice to meet you, Roxas."
"Um…" Roxas began, eyeing the large pot on the stove. "Tifa?"
"Yep, that's me!" Tifa said happily. "Have you met everyone already? Have you met Vincent? Well, of course you have, Aeris already told me-"
"Tifa, the pot's boiling over," Riku said loudly, taking a few steps away from the stove.
"Huh? Oh, shit!" Tifa turned the stove off and plunged the spoon back into the pot, stirring feverishly. "I don't know why that always happens to me…"
Roxas glanced at Riku to see him biting his lip to keep from laughing and Roxas had a strong suspicion that Riku distracted her when she was cooking quite often.
"Well, good thing they're done," Tifa said conversationally. "You guys want to get some plates for everyone?"
Riku showed Roxas where the plates were and they both grabbed a stack each. Roxas was about to set his stack down on the kitchen table but Riku stopped him.
"Everyone just eats wherever they want," Riku explained. "No one ever really eats at the table," he added, setting the plates down on the counter near the stove.
Tifa left the kitchen then to let everyone know that dinner was ready and Riku let Roxas fix his plate first. There were soba noodles, stir-fried vegetable, and rice. Roxas filled his plate with a little of everything just as there was a small commotion in the doorway.
"Hey, Riku, aren't you gonna introduce me to your new friend?"
"Oh, hey Dem," Riku said, opening the refrigerator and extracting two cans of soda pop. "Roxas, this is Demyx."
Demyx was about Riku's height and the first thing Roxas noticed about him was that everything he did seemed to be done in fast-forward. He even talked fast. He was very friendly, however, and Roxas immediately took a liking to him.
When they had all fixed their plates, Demyx led the way out of the kitchen and into a large, cozy family room. There were several leather armchairs and a large couch arranged around a wooden coffee table. A pair of French doors led into a small formal sitting room, and a television sat on top of a large, low cabinet. Riku and Roxas took seats on the couch while Demyx occupied the floor, his back resting against the coffee table.
Roxas took a bite of the home cooked soba noodles. They were delicious. He had never thought he would be eating something so wonderful in a place that treated mental patients. However, since he had arrived earlier that day, he was beginning to notice that it was far from any treatment facility he had ever heard of.
Shortly after Roxas had finished his dinner, a man with brown hair and a scar across the bridge of his nose entered the living room. He introduced himself to Roxas as Leon, then looked at Riku and Demyx.
"All right, who's up for some Halo?"
Riku and Demyx agreed enthusiastically, and Riku swore he would take Leon down as Demyx collected the empty dishes and took them to the kitchen.
"You ever played Halo, Roxas?" Leon asked, opening the cabinet door underneath the television and pulling out an Xbox and four controllers.
Truthfully, Roxas hadn't ever played Xbox in his life. He told Leon so, staring at his shoes.
"That's fine, you can be on my team," Leon said. Roxas couldn't get over the idea that he and two other patients were about to play a video game with one of their caretakers. He watched as Leon untangled the wires and Demyx bounded back into the room, announcing that Aeris was making a pot of tea.
It was after he had been beaten for the third time by Riku's man, despite Leon's efforts to help him out, did Roxas understand something. As he listened to the casual banter among Riku, Demyx, and Leon, Roxas realized that there was no real difference between patient and caretaker. Vincent and the others had established Twilight Sanctuary not as a place that kept people with mental conditions away from mainstream society, but as a home for those who had been shunned from it. Leon, as well as the other caretakers, were simply people who had a deep understanding of psychology, but possessed and even deeper love for those they took care of.
Roxas almost smiled, sipping the hot chamomile tea that Aeris had brought a few minutes ago. It was like they were a family.
Author's Notes:
GAH! You have no idea how difficult that ending was to write. I actually re-wrote it a few times until I was satisfied with it. I was planning on introducing Zexion and Namine, but that didn't work out too well. Also, as I look back over it, Roxas never officially met Cloud. Oh well, that gives me something to work with in the next chapter.
