Tim Fortune

Tim Fortune

Presents

Apartment Complex XIII

A/N: I'm very pleased with the responses I received from chapter 1. Not bad for a first chapter. Usually my tales don't build momentum until around the 3rd chapter. The sole exception being the hated "Phantom". Shouldn't worry about that one. It's finished and I think I sufficiently pissed off all the fangirls who loved it. Anyway, I'll follow this pattern. While I like to tell these tales, they are mostly for you the audience. So, why should I eat up time writing something no will respond to? So, I'll only update each chapter when I receive at least 1 review for it. It helps me know that you people are reading. The ratio is 49.9 for me, 50.1 for you. If it was entirely for you, let me tell you, most of my stories would be lacking my special touch. And without further ado, we continue our tale.

(Roxas' POV)

The air smells of depression. It's literally caked on the walls. Well, something's caked on the walls. I really don't want to know.

"Isn't this place great?" Axel said with a massive smile on his face

"Uh, yeah, sure." I responded uneasily. This whole place gave me the creeps. Of course, considering the fact that Axel was a co-owner, I wasn't at all surprised.

Castle Oblivion. A place to go and forget your troubles. Not only that, but you'll pretty much forget everything. Some say it's the best bar in the area. And this is a pretty shitty area.

Meanwhile, the bartender is giving me an odd look with his sole eye.

Wait, what?

One eye? I take a better look at him and, well look at that, one remaining eye, with an eyepatch over the other one.

"Hey Xig!" Axel shouted to him "Get us some shots!"

"Anything in particular?" he responded in an accent that was one part southern, and three parts Californian. What the hell is up with this guy?

(Axel's POV)

Good ol' Xigbar. Dumb as all hell, but damn does he make up some good drinks.

"I dunno. Just some Bacardi Gold for me and, uh, let's see. Something weak for the kid. Uh…oh yeah! Some Quervo for him."

"You sure you want to give him that? Kid looks about twelve."

"Xig," a voice said from behind us "If Axel wants the kid to have some shots; he's probably got a damn good reason."

While I actually don't, I just order shots in bunches, I turn around and see Lux standing there.

"Well hiya Lux!"

"Axel, good to see ya mate." He says in that high prim, yet somehow low end limey accent of his "Who's the kid?"

"Name's Roxas. He just moved into our shithole complex and guess what Lux? He's a drummer!"

(Luxord's POV)

"Really now?" I said scratching at my goatee "He any good?"

"He any good?" Axel said with a laugh as Xigbar handed him his shot "You should have heard him playing as me and Dem stood outside his door. Fuckin' amazing."

"So, where's Dem now?"

"Yeah," he said putting his hand behind his head "You see, without knocking, I got into Roxas' room the usual way."

"You broke the window?"

"No. Other usual way."

"Boot to the door?"

"Bingo."

I laughed. Axel stood with his usual smile that's half stupidity; half insanity and the kid…just stared into his shot.

"Hey kid," I said going up to him "You gotta be more socialable than that. What's your name again?"

"Roxas." He said not even looking up.

"Roxas, eh?" I replied with a smile "Good name. Real good name. I'm Luxord."

He just kept staring down at his drink.

"Hey Roxas!" Axel said "You gonna down that?"

He shook his head and Axel grabbed the glass and downed it in one gulp.

"That's the stuff!" said Axel with a broad grin. Roxas continued to look down.

(Roxas' POV)

This place is really giving me the creeps. Axel weirds me out enough just barely trying. There's that one-eyed guy at the bar. At least this British guy, Luxord? Is that what he said his name was? Seems personable enough.

Then again, it could just be the bar tender. It's really creepy the way that one eye seems to follow you around the room. Plus, it's his movements. He's like a guy you'd expect to walk around on the ceiling. Like solid ground just doesn't do it for him.

Axel snapped his fingers.

"I know how to get Roxas speaking. Hey Xiggy!"

"Yeah?" he responded putting a glass and a rag down.

"Your shift's over! Get your shit and go do whatever the fuck you usually do!"

"Right on!" He said and walked out from behind the bar and disappeared into a door.

"Hey Zexy!" Luxord yelled into the main area and a guy with black hair covering his eyes looked up from washing the table "Xig's gone, you got the bar tonight!"

He said nothing and finished scrubbing the table and went behind the bar.

"That better Roxy?"

"It's Roxas!" I said smiling. Maybe the one eyed guy's leaving cheered me up or maybe it's because Axel attempted to give me one of his stupid nicknames, but I suddenly felt a little better.

"Finally got some sort of response out of the kid." Luxord said with a broad smile "So anyway Axel, where's Dem again?"

"Yeah, he's fixing Roxas' door."

(Demyx's POV)

There! Good as new. Now Xemnas can't give the new guy any crap. Not that he does anyway. He's just always shut off in his office doing paperwork or talking with Saïx, so we can pretty much get away with anything, as no matter how many times Vexen complains to him, Axel remains right here. Right on.

Anyway, I got to go meet those guys at Lux's bar. Normally it doesn't take a half hour to reattach a door to its hinges, but apparently Axel bartered my screwdriver to Marly for something. At least I think that's what happened, as it was Marly who came to my door to give it back to me. I don't know what Marly has that Axel thinks my screwdriver was worth, but then, Axel has no real concept of value. Just remember, he torched his bar at least five times for the insurance money. Not only that, he has numerous fake identities set up that are on welfare so he can live a rich man's life with barely any effort.

I asked him why, if he has all this munny, does he live here? His answer, "I dunno, I like the vibe this place has."

Enigmatic to the end.

Well, lets get going. It's a 15 minute bike ride over there. I just gotta grab my guitar and…

SHE STEPPING OUT!!

RUN! RUN YOUR OUT DATED HAIRSTYLED ASS THE FUCK OVER THERE!

Okay, okay. Catch your breath, catch your breath. She's looking at you. Say something!

"Long…run…"

Smooth. (A/N. Meant to be extremely sarcastic. Just imagine slow hand clapping following it)

She's just staring. Say something else! Something intelligent for God's sake!

"How are you Larxene?"

(Larxene's POV)

This is the moment he decides to take the initiative to talk to me? Bravo Demyx. Bravo.

At least he's trying, instead of what he usually does, pretending that he doesn't notice me until I'm in my room. He's been doing that for two years, you think I'd never notice?

At least it's better than Vexen practically drooling over me every time I walk by. Jesus, for a guy who's supposed to be some sort of genius he should at least have a little tact.

And then there's Axel. What can I say, except that if I catch him staring at my ass one more time, his eyes are going out. Period.

Of course, I shouldn't be surprised that they stare. I'm only the woman willing to live here in what could be called "Rape Alley". Yeah, good idea guys. Place an apartment building in one of the dirtiest, dingiest areas in the city. God. This Ansem guy who owns the building must be some sort of idiot. Then again, I was probably the only girl who was willing to move here. Real smart Larxy, real smart. Stupid cheap rent.

So, I'm pretty much the biggest fucking piece of eye candy around this joint. And everyone gets their fill. I turn a corner and bam! Xemnas looks up from his paperwork. You ever been leered at by one eye? It's happened.

I can make Xaldin trip if I just turn my head. Vexen's little lackey's join him in the perverted movie in his mind. Saïx gives off that fucking evil grin of his.

Of course not all the guys here are bad. Marly's a good guy, even if he is a little…how should I put this? Well, different. Oh, he's not gay or anything. He's just a sensitive guy with a penchant for flowers. I think it was Axel or perhaps Vexen who started the gay rumor. I oughta bash both their skulls together for that. I think I might do it for kicks anyway. Then a good maceing, followed by a swift kick to the balls. Take that perverts!

But back to the one guy who wants me to notice him so badly, he tries to pretend I don't exist. If he's about to enter his room as I'm walking by, he'll just stare at his door until I walk into my room.

Whatever. Might as well talk to him now.

"Not bad Demyx. Not bad."

"That's…good." He said, still completely out of breath. Guy sprints all the way from the opposite end of the building to talk to me. If he wasn't looking right at me, I'd roll my eyes. Not in a sarcastic way, but in an "I can't believe you'd do that" kind of way. It's kinda sweet, in a desperate kind of way.

"What…are…you…up too?" Somehow, I find this completely adorable. I have no clue why.

"I'm just going out. No where in particular."

"Well, why…don't you come to Castle Oblivion? My band is playing there tonight. You should come and see us."

Hmmm. He's actually trying to impress me. Interesting.

"Alright. I'll be there."

"Great! We go on at 8:30, so be there by then!" And he was off. I could swear that he was practically dancing his way over to his room.

This should prove to be a most interesting evening. I probably should change. I've heard of this bar. Evidently, Luxord owns it and its right at the heart of Rape Alley. I gotta put something a little less revealing on.

(Roxas' POV)

I've been here a while, it's not so bad. People have been piling in and out for a while now, and the ones that have stayed are passed out on their barstools.

Like this one guy beside me. He's lying face down on the bar with his long tangle of black hair covering most of his head. He came in about 10 minutes ago and immediately began drinking. He said maybe five words to Luxord and then passed out.

I'm just sitting here. Axel and Luxord are off doing things and the guy behind the bar, Zexy they called him, isn't really that talkative. What is it with these guys hiring bartenders who appear to have one eye? While Xig as they called him actually had only one eye, Zexy wears his hair like he only has one. He's got that emo flip that completely covers his right eye; leaving one pretty much emotionless eye to stare around and look like something is always plotting in there.

Now evidently, I'm going to be the new drummer for their band. It's an impressive line up. Dem's the guitarist and lead singer, Axel's on keyboards and they got Lux on bass. They play here most nights to a mixture of positive and negative reviews. From what I can gather, all the positive goes straight to Demyx and Luxord, with Axel receiving the brunt of the negative. Like he cares. He's too wrapped up in his own fantasy world to actually care about anything.

At least that's the vibe I keep getting from him. He's incredibly hard to read, so who knows what he's thinking?

The guy next to me just woke up.

"Mor' baer Leeux!" he stammered as he struggled to keep his head up.

"Alright Xal," Lux said as he motioned to Zexy to pour him another glass, which he did silently.

The man took the stein, drained it in one gulp and collapsed back on the bar.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Ah, that's just Xaldin." Lux said, taking a seat next to me. Axel had apparently found a pair of girls he was trying to chat up "He lives in Room 3 of the building. Fixes air conditioners. Other than that, he's either drinking or asleep."

Guy must have no life at all.

"Well, what do you think Roxas?"

"Huh?"

"You only move here about 5 hours ago and already you've got three friends, a place in the biggest act to rock this world in years and…" He said with a smile looking at something past me "It seems you've got a little attention."

I turned around and wouldn't you know it? Some blonde girl wearing only a short white dress was looking at me.

I glanced over at Lux and he only nodded.

"Zex, give the boy a little courage!" he shouted and a short while later, Zexy put a shot glass filled with some smoky liquid on the bar. Not knowing what else to do, I picked up the glass and drained in one gulp. Then things grew a little hazy…

(Luxord's POV)

Nothing like a little Oblivion Courage. Special drink invented by Zexy. The alcohol combination does something to the drinker's perception of reality and then…I forget. All I know is that I drank it a total of 5 times and all 5 times I woke up extremely lucky. Especially time number 3. Oh, that was a good one. Of course, Axel took the opportunity at time number 4 to torch the bar for the 2nd time.

I should have never given him that lighter.

Well, the Courage worked and the Kid is over there chatting it up with that perky little blonde.

"Lux! Lux!"

I turn my head around and there's Axel coming towards me.

"Yeah, what do you want?"

He never got a chance to finish, as right that moment; Dem came bursting through the door.

His hair was all a mess and he was sweating profusely.

"Dem," I said going towards him with Axel right behind me "What's going on?"

"We have to play tonight." He said "My sex life depends on it!"

To be continued…

A/N: Thus ends Chapter Two. Pretty good in my opinion. I couldn't believe how it easy it was for me to step into Larxene's head like that. Of course, my main inspiration for doing her was Tex from Red vs. Blue. Also, "Rape Alley" comes from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", another great show.

Anyway, I've got some good plans for what's coming next. Remember, Chapter Three does not go up unless I get one review. And also people, I feel more honored if you put this fic on your alert list rather than the favorites. It lets me know you're interested in finding out what happens next.

Toodles.

Rutonfex, The Dark Artisan (Nobody of the Magnificent Tim Fortune)