AUTHOR'S NOTE:
There was an issue with the FF traffic graph that I was waiting to have resolved before posting again, but it seems to be back now! Forgive the changing days as I keep trying to figure out when I can actually set a schedule for.
And yes, there will be strong language in here. My stories always start out really mild and then will inch more towards the rating.
*~* CHAPTER 2 *~*
The chore that Axel had unknowingly tasked Roxas with didn't annoy him that much, really. It wasn't his fault that Roxas was far more dedicated to the building than he ought to be, nor could he be attributed to what Roxas liked to call "good, old-fashioned stubbornness". However, he couldn't help but blame the man for his new hobby, and the valuable time he lost where he could have been spinning around in his desk chair, or mindlessly playing games on his phone.
The worst part of all this was that he wasn't entirely sure what he was doing. At first, his intention had been to lock the door when Axel left his apartment - at least, until he realized that Axel not only kept rather unusual hours, but failed to keep any kind of schedule at all. There was no point to him locking the door if Axel was inside, and so he had been reduced to hanging outside the door, waiting for him to leave. Yet, if it hadn't been for the swish of a long black coat that he saw disappearing into Room 1308 only the other day as he was exiting the stairwell, he might have wondered if the man was even still in the building.
The occupant of Room 1309, on the other hand, was getting to know Roxas quite well, at least by sight. His room was located across from Axel's, and as such, Roxas tended to lounge next to his door. His wary looks became half-hearted smiles within the first week, and those smiles had already turned into friendly waves, which Roxas assumed would stop if he continued to ignore him. Unlike Axel, he seemed to have a regular schedule. He left his apartment every day at 4:02pm exactly, usually returning several minutes later in a rush, most likely as a result of forgetting something inside the apartment. Today was no exception, as thundering footsteps raced through the hallway and to the door of Room 1309. "Come on, come on, work!" the man cried as he attempted to jam his key through the keyhole, pounding the palm of his hand on the door every other attempt.
Most days, Roxas had ignored these antics, not wanting to immerse himself in the drama that likely followed this man around. But today was not most days; the sound of a falling key followed by a cry of "no, no, no, no!" and a thud as the man threw himself hopelessly against the door and slid to the ground making Roxas rethink that decision. If he kept carrying on like this, he was going to shake something loose in the walls, and then he might have actual work to do for once.
He walked up to the man, staring down at him with apprehension. He hated doing this; hated talking to new people when he had nothing to begin a conversation with and no real reason to be talking to them. He could still turn around and leave - he walked rather quietly, and the man had not yet looked up to see him - but before he could really process his thoughts, a hesitant, and rather loud, "ummm" made its way out his mouth. Cursing his idiot brain, he followed up with a quick "is everything okay?"
The man on the floor looked up at Roxas with a shocked expression. His eyes were blue, more ice-like in color than Roxas's own ocean blue eyes. He was sporting a distinctive golden mullet, and was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans with what appeared to be a grey band t-shirt. "Oh, it's you," he said brightly, the tears that had looked to be threatening to fall from his eyes drying up instantly. "Hello!"
"Umm," Roxas said again, and clenched his fist angrily at himself. "Yep, it's me. And...it's you..." He had to find a way out of this awkward conversation. Why hadn't he just walked away while he still had the chance?
"I'm Demyx," the man said, getting to his feet. He was a bit taller than Roxas, and now that he was not slumped over he could clearly see that the t-shirt had "The Melodious Nocturnes" printed on it in a blue script font. "Are you new here?"
"Not really," said Roxas. "Um," he repeated for the third time, "do you need some help getting back in there?"
"Boy, do I ever!" Demyx looked at his apartment door with an almost pained expression. "I can't believe I left for band practice without my sitar..."
Roxas patted his pockets, wondering if by some miracle he had the key for Room 1309 on him. But he already knew he didn't - while he had at one point considered keeping all the keys for a floor on a single keychain, he was always afraid he would misplace it and then be out 12 keys, instead of one. He did, however, always have a cheap lockpicking set in his pocket. Just in case. "It's your lucky day," he said, pulling out two small, silver tools. "Stand back, and I'll get this door open."
He hated to admit it, but the doors to Twilight Towers had some of the most insecure locks he had ever seen. He had been pushing for a new system for years, but the owner didn't seem to like spending money on preventative maintenance, and so his suggestion fell on deaf ears time and time again. It took him less than a minute to find the appropriate catch on the door, and with a satisfying pop the doorknob turned in Roxas's hand.
"Thank you!" Demyx shrieked, running into the room. He grabbed what looked sort of like a guitar case from the back wall of the apartment, unzipping it quickly and checking its contents before leaving again. "I owe you one," he told Roxas as he stepped through the door.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Roxas reminded him, pointing at the key that was still laying on the floor, having slid underneath the door during Demyx's frantic attempts to unlock it.
"Oh, right!" But as Demyx reached for the key, a loud vibration came from Demyx's back pocket, and he pulled out his cell phone. "Shit," he murmured, before answering the phone with a cheery "Hi there!"
Roxas could not hear anything more than a muffled voice on the other end of the line, but Demyx was nodding in time with the pauses in the speech, before finally saying, "I get it, feel better, alright?" The voice said something else, and Demyx purposely held the phone away from him and clicked the "End Call" button. "Practice is cancelled!" he announced once the screen had gone dark again, sounding exasperated. He gently set the sitar on the ground before flopping back down on the floor himself. "Sorry that you bothered to help me out for nothing."
"Nah, not for nothing," Roxas said, deciding to sit down next to him. "I think you would have wanted to get back into your apartment regardless."
"But I could have waited and called maintenance," Demyx said, gesturing to a sign a little ways down the hall. The phone number for Roxas's office was posted on every floor, along with the numbers for the front desk and security. "Then they could have used a real key, instead of picking the lock. I hope it didn't get damaged..."
Roxas couldn't help but chuckle. "I am maintenance," he told him with the smallest of smiles. "And I didn't damage your lock! A good lockpicking set works just like a key, if you know how to use it."
"Oh," Demyx said sheepishly. "Wait, what? You work here? But why have you been up here so much? Is there something wrong?"
"No," Roxas said, scowling. "I'm here because of him." He pointed at the closed door of Room 1308.
"The guy with the red hair?" Demyx seemed confused.
"You've seen him?" Roxas asked, wondering when Axel had decided to make an appearance.
"He's kind of hard to miss," Demyx commented, and Roxas nodded in agreement. "Are you looking for him?"
"Not exactly," Roxas admitted. "I'm more...looking for him to not be here." Demyx stared at him for a second before glancing at the door with a puzzled expression.
"Well he can't be there right now…"
"What?" Roxas sat straight up, staring at him in surprise. "But...how do you know?"
"I saw him outside," Demyx boasted, pleased at the reaction he had gotten. "As I said, he's hard to miss! He was sitting on the stairs. Can't imagine he's too comfortable there, but I guess he's people-watching."
"But...I've been standing here all day..." Roxas pushed himself up from his position on the floor and walked over to examine the door. "How did he get out without me seeing?"
"Dude, have you actually just been standing out here all day?" Demyx asked incredulously.
Roxas had to stop and think about it. He wasn't there in the morning...he didn't eat lunch outside the door...and of course, there was that bathroom break about an hour ago. "I guess not," he amended his previous statement. "You're sure?"
"Positive."
Roxas grinned then, taking out the key for Room 1308. Glancing to either side of the hallway, he leaned over and locked the door, pleased that nearly two weeks of watching that damn door had finally paid off for him. "Thanks for your help," he told Demyx brightly. "I think we're even now."
"Did he run out on his rent or something?' Demyx called after Roxas's retreating figure, confused at what locking a door could accomplish.
"Worse," Roxas called over his shoulder. "He made me fill out paperwork."
Several hours later, inside the safety of his own apartment, Roxas sighed in a combination of relief and exhaustion. He was glad his adventure on Floor 13 was almost over with, and now, he was just waiting for the inevitable call for the key. He felt so sure the fiery redhead would not remember Roxas's distaste for phone calls that he even had taken the trouble to forward the office calls to his cell phone for the evening.
Even though Roxas had been here for seven years now, the inside of his apartment had not accumulated that much clutter. He hadn't really intended to stay here beyond a year or two, just until he made better plans for himself - and yet he was still here. He remembered his first day in town like it was just yesterday. The rain had poured all around him, and the fear and loneliness he had felt at that moment came back to him with more ease than he would have liked.
*~* flashback *~*
"Excuse me..." The figure before him stood perfectly still despite the rainfall, and he was filled with sudden apprehension at his boldness in speaking. "Would you happen to know where a good place for a tourist to dry off is?"
The man's head moved in surprise, and he turned to face the boy who had approached him from behind. He gulped at the proud expression on his face, and wondered if perhaps this had been a mistake after all.
"You look more like you need a good meal and a place to stay," the man said critically. "Where are your parents?"
"Dead," he replied honestly.
The man stared at him in what, perhaps, could have been pity. "What is your name, boy?" he inquired, peering at him through the raindrops, which had begun to fall faster.
"Ro-roxas," he stuttered, preferring to look at the ground rather than at the man. "Roxas Strife."
"Well...Roxas." the man said, testing the name out. "Come inside, out of the rain." He gestured off in the distance, to a large building sitting on top of a hill. "It's a bit of a walk, I'm afraid." Seemingly out of nowhere, the man produced an umbrella. "Take this."
"But..." Roxas protested.
"I am in no danger from the weather." Indeed, the man was wearing a cloak and the hood was flipped up, protecting him from the worst of the storm.
"Thank you," Roxas said with as much grace as he could manage, taking the umbrella and opening it above his head. There was a moment of relief as the rain stopped hitting him, and then the cold and fatigue struck him as his body registered just how wet his hair and clothing were.
"Follow me," the man instructed, and Roxas found himself running just to keep up with the man's long legs. "We are headed to Twilight Towers."
"What's that?" he inquired politely.
"It is new, and it is old. The pillar this town has depended on for years, and now they will come to see it for its full potential." The answer was cryptic and unsatisfying, but Roxas didn't ask for more information. Instead, he looked around town, wondering if he would ever become familiar with these winding roads they were taking. Either there was no one out because of this rain, or the people who lived here simply didn't possess any more advanced modes of transportation than walking, since the streets were clear of passerby. He was so focused on the surrounding area that he almost missed the staircase in front of him, thankfully managing to catch himself before he fell.
"Come inside," the man said, holding open the door to what he assumed to be Twilight Towers for him. The light inside was warm and inviting, and Roxas took the steps two at a time. But when he went inside, where he had been expecting some kind of cozy atmosphere, he saw instead a huge train in front of him, and turned accusingly towards the man. Why had he brought him here? Was it to send him away?
"I know what you must be thinking," the man told him. "But there are wonders here that you have not seen yet. Roxas. I present to you Twilight Towers. Train station, hotel, and apartment complex. If you are truly a tourist as you say, then you belong here, do you not?"
*~* end flashback *~*
Roxas smiled wryly. It had all fallen so neatly, like he was just a piece of this puzzle that was being put together. He stripped off his work clothing, trading it for soft black pajama pants and a white t-shirt with black sleeves. Sighing, he also removed his glasses, tucking them into a holder on his nightstand. The time before sleep felt more real than any other part of his day; the facade of a loyal employee falling off him as he crawled under the covers. He stared up at the ceiling, frowning slightly. Not for the first time, he wondered if he really had just come along at an opportune moment, or if this had been his fate from the start. What if he had not come to Twilight Town? And more importantly: what would have happened had he never left home?
His phone buzzed beside him, and he picked it up eagerly, happy to have even a small distraction from his thoughts. A new notification showed on the screen, and he experienced a flash of excitement before realizing it was just a junk email. He cursed out loud at how pathetic it made him feel. He knew it was only a Thursday night, but shouldn't he have something more to look forward to than fleeting messages from strangers?
He sighed and set his phone down, plugging it into the charger that he kept next to his bed. It was on nights like this that the loneliness really got to him. He knew that he should go out and make some more friends, but he found the concept of people who would actually want him in their lives to be completely foreign. Social anxiety was his only true constant companion, making him shy and standoffish the few times he did try to rectify the situation. He reached over and turned off his light, curling up on his side as he tried to ignore the sadness that was washing over him, and he fell into an uneasy, dreamless sleep that would leave him more exhausted than he already was.
Roxas had already been at work for two hours that morning when his cell phone started ringing, reminding him that he had never switched off the call forwarding from the previous night. He held his phone out in front of him, staring at the unfamiliar number. Typically, if an unknown number called his cell phone, he would let it go to voicemail, but he wasn't supposed to do that at work.
With some trepidation, he held the phone up to his ear and answered with his usual greeting - silence. Unlike the previous time Axel had called, however, no voice responded, and instead the dial tone sounded in his ear, followed by a loud ring as the same unfamiliar number dialed back. Frowning, he decided to answer with another of his favorites. "Your call has been forwarded to an automated voice message system. Please call back later, or leave a message at the tone." Not having any way to replicate the tone, he held his breath, wondering if the caller would just start speaking anyway.
He was rewarded with a muffled cough, and then a confused voice said "Er...hi? I hope this is being recorded..." The rest of their sentence was lost as Roxas held the phone away from him, trying to refrain from swearing. That didn't sound like Axel's voice, which meant it might be a real call. Plastering a fake smile on his face, he brought the phone back up to his ear, and in the most professional tone he could manage said "Thank you for calling! You are now connected with Twilight Towers Maintenance. How can I help?"
"Hiya, this is Demyx from yesterday!" Something clicked in Roxas's head, and he realized that this was the resident of Room 1309 he had met the previous day. He wondered if the man had managed to lock himself out of his apartment again, and held back a laugh. "You...are the guy from yesterday, right?" he asked a bit nervously, not sure if he had the right person on the phone.
"Unfortunately," Roxas confirmed, feeling that Demyx could handle his unusual sense of humor.
"Great! I was hoping you would get the message, but I guess since you're here now you can just delete the message if it got recorded..." While Demyx hadn't seemed too chatty in person, over the phone he seemed to be prone to rambling. "Anyway," he continued, "I know you were up here yesterday and all, and I probably should have asked you then, but are you a fan of music?"
"Depends on the music," Roxas replied, wondering what in the world this had to do with him. If Demyx was about to ask him if he could soundproof his apartment, the answer was no.
"I mean, I figured you would be and all, all considered -" Roxas had no idea what he was talking about, but nodded in agreement, forgetting that Demyx couldn't see him "- but I hope you like punk rock, because that's what my band plays." There was a short pause, and he could hear a deep breath on the other end of the line that probably hadn't been taken during the entire conversation. "My band has a standing gig at The Creepy Steeple. You should check us out!"
"Oh," Roxas said softly. The Creepy Steeple was a bar that had a bit of reputation around town for their unique mixed drinks and equally distinctive atmosphere. The invitation was surprising, and he felt anxious and pleased at the same time. "Um...I might stop by. When is your next show?"
"Tonight!" Demyx said, sounding delighted. "We start at 8. See you then!" A small click and the dial tone told Roxas that Demyx had hung up, and he followed suit, still a bit in shock over the sudden invitation. He had never been invited to anything before. Should he go? He knew where the bar was, but had never gone inside before. What if there were a lot of people there? He wasn't sure he could handle that. He frowned, then pinched himself lightly on the wrist. He was being stupid. Of course he should go! Wasn't he just saying last night how he wished he had friends? That would never happen if he just stayed at home. Looking determinedly at his phone, he made up his mind. He would go. He had to prove to himself that he could do this.
The evening saw him walking over to The Creepy Steeple, despite the half hour of convincing it took him to leave the safety of his apartment for an unfamiliar setting. It wasn't that far from Twilight Towers, really, and despite the small and unremarkable entrance on Market Street, the inside was surprisingly roomy. The bar was full of familiar faces, and Roxas looked around in surprise. There was Wantz who ran the department store, and the man who hosted the neighborhood Struggle battles. He even recognized some of the local miscreants who had a habit of using skateboards in the area outside Twilight Towers, and...
"Roxas!" he looked over to see Pence, the seemingly perpetual college kid who had convinced them that their mail room needed a delivery person to avoid it getting too cluttered with abandoned junk mail. He was standing next to a table over by the far wall of the bar, and waving. Surveying the crowded room, sitting with someone he knew seemed for the best, so he waved back and began winding his way over. When he arrived, Pence sat down, patting the open space next to him. "So you do have a life outside of work. We were starting to wonder!"
"Oh, yeah..." Roxas chuckled nervously, not really sure what to say. Social interactions of any kind were not his favorite situations, and yet he seemed to be getting into a lot of them lately - most of them voluntarily. He sat down and shot Pence a shaky smile, knowing it wasn't his fault that he was uncomfortable.
"First time here?" Pence inquired. Roxas was pretty sure he was turning green, and hoped Pence would think it was just from the colorful lights around the bar. He nodded in response, looking down at the table and trying to calm himself down. "It's not usually this crowded," he comforted the blond. "It's just because of...him." He said the last word with distaste, and pointed towards the stage, at a man sporting long silver hair and wearing a purple cloak.
"Setzer?" Roxas asked, frowning slightly. He knew the man, but not very well. He had a habit of thinking he was better at everything than everyone else, and often skulked around Twilight Towers trying to chat up random women.
"You've met, I see." Pence shook his head. "The girls are all over him. He's the agent for The Melodious Nocturnes. He doesn't usually turn up for their performances, but when he does..." he shook his head again, and took a sip out of a glass filled with amber liquid that Roxas had only just noticed on their table. "Oh!" he said, as if suddenly remembering. "It's also half-price beers today. I guess that has something to do with it." He held out his glass to Roxas, either to offer him a sip or to encourage him to go get his own, but Roxas shook his head. He was not much one for alcohol, which had always seemed to be a social drink to him. "I guess you're not here for the drinks, then," Pence said, looking at him curiously. "So - you're here for the music? Are you a fan?"
"I don't know," Roxas admitted. "I was invited by one of the band members, um...Demyx?"
"Yeah!" Pence's face lit up. "Demyx is great. He drums up a lot of business for The Melodious Nocturnes - no pun intended. He isn't the drummer anyway. He invited me here for the first time a couple months ago, and I make it out every so often." Roxas was about to ask where Pence had even met Demyx, before remembering that Pence delivered the mail to all the residents and employees of Twilight Towers, him included - though he always made sure to get anything that was addressed to his apartment out of the mail room before Pence made it in for his afternoon shift.
"When will they start playing?" Roxas asked curiously.
"They should be starting soon, actually," Pence said, checking his watch. "It's 7:05. They're always just a tad bit late, so they should be..." a large light went on over the stage, and the chatter around them quieted for just a moment in response. "...starting now."
The band was good, Roxas thought, though he would have preferred to see a bit more of their soul in the music instead of the performance. Demyx seemed to have a popular stage persona, he had no shame rocking out on the instrument he had called a sitar and singing the vocals loudly into the microphone over the chattering audience. The girl playing the drums kept a good beat, but she also seemed to put on a show, flipping her drumsticks in the air and even going so far as to conduct the rest of the band when she wasn't actively playing. Only the keyboardist, a girl with pale blond hair, seemed to take the gig seriously. She spent most of her time bent over the keys, hitting switches and pressing buttons that Roxas could not even begin to understand to mix pre-recorded melodies with her live ones. At the end of each song he found himself clapping with everyone else, and decided that all considered, his evening out had been a success.
Perhaps, it hadn't been so terrible being social after all.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
For those who didn't get the reference and wonder why I gave a local bar such a weird name, The Creepy Steeple is a location featured in Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door's own Twilight Town. I'm a huge fan of both Nintendo and Kingdom Hearts, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity.
Also - my apologies on the unusual "flashback" notation. Any lines containing combinations of stars and dashes got removed without text in the same line, and I didn't want to use another divider line. There will be several of those scattered throughout this story, so if anyone has better suggestions, I'm open to it.
Stay tuned for Chapter 3, and thank you for reading / following / favoriting / reviewing!
