Clothes shopping was awful – but they managed to get a few outfits, and more school shirts. They stuck them in a locker at the train station, and then ate cheap sandwiches while they waited for their friends.
Sora didn't enjoy the day at all. The wind on the beach was cold, especially when the clouds passed over. Hayner and Roxas were playing struggle the whole time and Pence and Olette were busy talking to each other. The subject of the Winter Ball came up often – Sora wondered if Riku was going.
He and Roxas hinted, but none of them seemed to be able to let them sleep over. Not looking forward to a freezing cold night on the back deck, Sora gloomily followed his other up to the tram.
"We'll get a hotel, Sora," Roxas reassured him.
"That's fine for the weekend," he said, "But what about school? We'll never make it in time."
Roxas sighed. "Come on. You're just grumpy because you're hungry. Let's go to Axel's for dinner and then talk about it, okay?"
It was busy when they reached the Flamin' cart, Riku was busy taking orders, and Lea never moved further from the flame grill than the storage fridge.
The twins waited at the back of the line, but the longer they waited, the more irritable Roxas became. Riku began dusting the chalkboard, taking off items as they sold out.
"Maybe we should go somewhere else," Sora said quietly.
Roxas grunted, but neither of them moved from the line. Both of them knew the contents of Roxas' wallet. Lea's cart was the cheapest, and they'd struggle even to feed themselves here.
Lea leaned over to say something to Riku, who nodded. He paid out the order he was taking, then announced to the rest of the line that they'd sold out of product and wouldn't be taking any more orders.
As the crowd grumbled in displeasure, Roxas muttered to Sora: "we might as well say hi."
The crowd cleared, except for the people waiting for their orders, and the twins headed up to the counter. The heat rolling off the cart was heavenly – Sora could understand why Riku's muscular arms, bared by his black vest, were covered in a light sheen of sweat.
"Evening Sora. Roxas." He leaned on the counter and smiled down at them. "Done with the beach already?"
"Got dark," Roxas replied.
"We're almost done for the night." He smiled down at Sora . "Want a s'more? My treat."
"Yes please," he said tiredly. At the least, he and his other can spit it and they'd have something to tide them over until they could sort everything out.
"Take a seat," Riku encouraged.
They did, and Sora was glad to be so close to the warmth.
He closed his eyes, leaning against his other. He fell into a light doze, waking up when Roxas nudged him in the side.
Riku was standing in front of them, holding a carton of skewers out for them to take.
He sat up, taking it carefully. "I thought you were all sold out?"
"We lied," Lea said, cleaning up inside the cart.
"Figured you'd be hungry and didn't want to run out." Riku sat next to Sora on the bench. He gasped in surprise when his arm brushed Sora's. "You're freezing!"
"It's cold," the brunet replied, hungrily eating the meat and vegetables from the skewers.
Riku unzipped his jacket. It was white and yellow, with zips to detach the sleeves from the shoulders. Sora sighed in relief as Riku settled it over his shoulders. It was blissfully warm, and soft inside.
"Thank you," he said gently.
"You're welcome." He leaned back on the bench. "So, am I taking you home tonight?"
"I don't know," Sora admitted quietly. "Cloud's gone. Mom wants us to get a hotel in the city."
"Most of them close this time of year," Lea said from inside the cart. "Wayfinder will probably have a room." Kairi and Naminé's parents own it."
Sora shivered at that. Naminé again?
"Where is it?" Roxas asked, handing Sora the last skewer.
"Just down from Castle Oblivion."
Roxas stiffened. "…Is there anywhere else?"
"Nah. Not really." Lea unplugged the power and climbed out of the cart to close it up.
Sora turned to Roxas. So, they both had their reasons for not wanting to go. Sora looked at his other – did they have to go home to the cold deck?
In reply, Roxas' brows drew together in a frown, and he gave Sora a look that said: don't make me do this.
He sighed. No, he couldn't make his brother stay near the castle. Not without time to talk himself up to it. His eyes darted briefly to his other's pocket – where his wallet was kept – and then back up to his face. Did they have enough munny for food?
Roxas gave a slight shrug with one shoulder. It wouldn't be much, but they could get some. They'd have to ask Mom after the weekend for more munny – for school lunches or groceries.
Sora nodded, and turned to Riku saying: "we have to get groceries first, but can you drive us home?"
Riku was giving him a bewildered look – and so was Lea over his shoulder. "What?" Roxas demanded defensively.
"Nothing," Riku said quickly.
"It's that twin telepathy thing," Lea answered. "You two just had a whole conversation without saying a word!"
Roxas gave Sora a look, and he spluttered: "I'm not calling him that!"
Lea laughed. "Don't worry, Sora. I recognise the 'you're a dick' look by now."
Riku shook his head in amusement. "Come on. Let's go buy your stuff."
Sora was sitting on the outdoor couch, huddled under a blanket and eating half a peanut butter sandwich he was splitting with his other. He'd given Roxas the warm blanket, since he still had Riku's jacket.
It was dark, not even the moon shone, its heart-shaped glow concealed behind clouds.
"Ven?" Sora said, eating the last of the sandwich.
"Yeah, Sora?
"It's really cold."
"I know."
"I'm miserable."
"I know. I'm sorry, Sora."
"It's not your fault, Ven."
They were silent for a while.
"Hey, Sora?"
"Yeah, Ven?"
"I don't know why I'm afraid of Castle Oblivion."
Sora turned to look back at him. "Naminé makes me scared." And then he told his other about all she'd said to him in the art shop, about seeing her today in the game shop, and the odd feeling he'd got about why she was doing this.
"…Shit, Sora. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't tell anyone. What would I say?"
His twin sighed, and sat up to look at him. "Sora… Since we've moved here. Have you noticed things are a bit stra—"
He didn't finish. Movement caught their eyes. Lea rounded the corner, followed a few steps behind by Riku. They were wearing their Club Thirteen jackets, and had blended into the night until Lea had removed his hood.
"You guys are locked out," Lea said. It wasn't a question.
"Shut up!" Roxas snarled, glaring at him furiously. "Maybe we're just enjoying the night."
"Your lips are blue."
Riku, ignoring the impending argument, came to kneel by Sora. His voice was gentle. "Sora? Cloud locked you out, didn't he?"
He crumbled, leaning against Riku and trying to warm up. "It's so cold…" He was soon enfolded in his friend's comforting arms.
"We came by to pick up Riku's spare controllers," Lea was saying to Roxas. "The new Keyblade Masters has a quartet mode and we were going to ask you two if you wanted to come over and play. Your lights were off."
"Maybe we were asleep!" He snapped.
"At seven thirty?" Lea waved a hand, dismissing the idea entirely. "Riku heard you on the deck. We only came by to check." The two of them glared at each other silently for a long moment. "It's gonna hit freezing point tonight. There's no way either of us are going to let you stay out here."
"No, we're not," Riku agreed, holding Sora close.
"Fine," Roxas said stubbornly. "What then?"
"We've got three options," Lea announced, holding a finger up. "I can break into this place, but judging by the security light that DIDN'T blast us in the face, Sephiroth cut the power lines – and it's not going to be much warmer inside." He held up another finger. "Two, you can stay in Riku's place – But if Sephiroth catches you there, you'll be in big trouble."
"So option three, then," Roxas said sourly.
Lea gave an odd smirk. "You'll hate it."
"More than freezing to death or getting impaled by our neighbour?"
His smirk only widened. "You can come stay with me."
