I could hear laughter in the break room as many of the employees sipped their coffees and chatted away. Okay, Naminé, here's your chance to make a friend at work. Just get in there and say something. I took a step into the break room, only to find everyone quiet when I entered. No one was saying anything anymore, just drinking their coffee. Quietly, I retreated out of the room, hearing the laughter once more just as I closed the door.
That was a bad idea. Maybe I gave them a weird look. Maybe I have something on my face. I began scratching my neck for the fourth time today, taking out my frustration there. Idiot, idiot, idiot.
I decided to go find Larxene to see if she had something for me to do. Anything was better than standing around while others don't even give you the time of day. I found the blonde laughing with her friend Axel. Axel acted nice to me when we're alone, but once someone else sees, I end up with a hundred papers to file or he acts like I'm not even there.
"U-um, L-larxene, is there anything you want me to do?" I asked softly.
She glared at me. "Geez, I'm on my break too. Do you try to bug me 24/7? Here's what you are to do: make a phone call for me."
"To who?" I questioned, unsure of the answer.
"To anyone, really. Just get the hell out of here," Larxene hissed.
I nodded and began to walk away, catching a part of their resumed conversation.
"Maybe take it down a notch, Larxene. Once Ms. Director comes back from vacation, she'll be all on you about how you're treating the newbie," I could hear Axel utter.
Larxene gagged. "I hate her. I hope she never comes back from her stupid vacation. She's not going to care if she doesn't find out about this, right? Stop being a wuss."
Gosh, I wish this director person comes back soon.
Roxas and Kairi sat in the living room, playing the newest installment of their favorite third-person shooter game. Kairi proved to be more of a gamer than Roxas first pictured. She laughed as Roxas died again. The redhead then lifted her hand into the air and slapped the blond.
"I told you, Kairi, that slap bet is totally unfair when you're playing with a girl. Guy loses and gets slapped, but girls loses and the guy can't slap her. Unfair. This does not count as a slap bet, so can we use actual money or something?" Roxas asked.
"You can slap me if I lose, alright? I'm totally okay with that," Kairi tried to assure him.
Roxas shook his head. "No, Sora will kill me if he knew I slapped you. Don't you remember the whole duel incident two weeks ago?"
"Just slap me! Come on, it's not everyday you get the chance to slap someone in the face for free," she exclaimed. "Just do it!"
Roxas sighed and lightly patted her on the cheek. "Done."
"Wuss. That's not a slap," Kairi muttered.
"Oh my god, you just slapped my girlfriend!"
The two turned to see Sora coming out of the kitchen, clearly seeing that a real slap and obviously pissed. Roxas glared at Kairi with a look saying: "See what you get me into?" Sora marched up the two, giving them the evil eye.
"And you're playing video games together too, me not invited to this either," Sora sighed. "Girlfriend stealer."
"We went over this, Sora. I'm not after Kairi at all," Roxas said as clearly as he could. "Shut up about that, and move on with life."
Kairi nodded. "And you weren't invited because you suck at video games...well, more than Roxas."
Roxas shot a look at Kairi and lightly elbowing her. Sora gasped, appalled that Roxas was "hitting" Kairi once more. "Stop abusing my girlfriend!"
"Stop freaking out to nothing! Nothing is going on, Sora, so get it through your thick head!"
"Stop yelling at me!"
Kairi stood up, taking in a deep breath. "Both of you guys, shut up! Sora, I'm supposed to be the one afraid you're going to leave me, not the other way around. I like being the girl in this relationship, thank you very much."
"So you're saying I'm a girl now?" Sora raised his eyebrow. "Sorry for feeling that we need to be closer than we are right now."
"We're close enough!"
"Not to me!"
"Fine, let's just move in together!" Kairi shouted.
The couple stared at each other for a few moments before Sora mumbled an okay and started making out with Kairi. Roxas, sitting on the couch watching the scene before him, covered his face with both of his hands, wondering how he keeps pushing Sora and Kairi to be closer together. Another thought that occurred to him was how the hell Sora got into the house when he wasn't invited.
I sat on a bench in the park, feeding the birds with seeds I bought from a nearby store. I needed to cool off after work before I could go see Roxas, Sora, and Kairi. I bet nothing really interesting was going on anyway. I dug into the bag next to me and sprinkled the seeds onto the concrete, watching the pigeons gather and peck at the ground. Giving birds something to eat made me feel a bit better and lets me know I didn't disappoint someone that day.
I then saw one pigeon abusing another, pecking at him and trying to push him aside from the group. My heart ached a bit seeing that one pigeon far from the entire group. He looked so sad, dejected, and...lonely.
"Why...why won't you fly? If they're not treating you right, isn't it okay to just leave them and fly on your own? You...you can fly so much higher than than them if you tried and actually spoke out. Don't feel belittled, little pigeon!" I yelled.
Soon, all the pigeons fly away, the excluded one mixing into their group. Once the group of birds disappeared from my view, a blond man appeared. Roxas gave me a look that he always gave me when I was doing something weird. I quickly moved my hair to the front, hoping it would cover my red neck. It must have looked disgusting.
"New level of Naminé craziness: yelling at birds. Have you actually seen the movie cause they might come back and kill you," Roxas chuckled. "And you've gone total old lady mode on me too. Seriously, I don't even need cable anymore."
Right, I was crazy. His crazy friend who was crushing on him and probably will never become his girlfriend in any future at all. I was the crazy woman who nobody likes and should just disappear to make everyone happy.
"Naminé, you're kind of quiet...are you actually upset about that crazy comment?" Roxas scratched his head. "...sorry. I guess I call you crazy and weird and all that stuff because it makes me feel like I'm not the only one who is weird...Sorry, if I offended you."
"Roxas, owning a dragon collection doesn't make you weird," I muttered.
"I'm not talking about that – that makes me cool!" Roxas said, defending his army of dragons. "I...sometimes I just...when I was younger, I..." He seemed to have trouble completing his sentence, having a frustrated expression on his face. "Oh, forget it! Just follow me."
Roxas began walking away toward the nearby stores. The moment he started walking away, I found myself on my feet, chasing after him. It's funny how he gives me the ability to run again. Roxas took me to a DVD rental place, trying to find a good movie. Soon, he was holding five chick flicks in his hands and two screwball comedies.
"You're going to rent those?" I asked.
"Oh no, I'm just holding them because I feel like it and I like the way the plastic feels. What do you think, Naminé?" Roxas said in his sarcastic tone. "Now, hold these while I go find the popcorn."
After he rented the DVDs, I asked Roxas why he was at the park earlier like me. He responded that he was looking for me, and someone from work told him I usually went in the direction of the park.
"That Axel guy is pretty cool, and I think me and him could be good friends," Roxas said thinking back. "Anyway, I knew I needed to see you after Kairi and Sora decided to move in together."
My face lit up. "Really? They're moving in together? I'm so proud of them! Oh, I think I should move out then and give them some space, but I still need to get promoted from being a intern to be able to pay for an apartment...Did you congratulate them?"
"I would have," Roxas began, "but they started making out right after they decided it and Kairi kind of started to take off Sora's shirt...as much as I'd love to watch live porn, I really didn't want to – especially if Sora's involved."
Sora finally unpacked the rest of his boxes, taking out his beloved comic book collection. He would be sharing Kairi's room and put all his stuff in there. Kairi, carrying a plate of orange slices, came inside the room with a grin.
"Sora, I'm so happy you're moving in now," Kairi beamed. "It'll make everything easier, and it can only bring us closer together! Now, how about some oranges?"
"I'm all in," Sora replied, taking one of the orange slices.
Kairi then looked around the room, eying all the new additions. She could see action figures on her counter and comics spread across the floor. Clothes seemed to have been spit out of the closet already. The redhead put on her best smile and turned to her boyfriend.
"Okay, you just moved in Sora, so can you at least try to clean up a bit more? It's not that hard to fit more clothes into my closet."
Sora blinked twice. "Yes, it is, Kairi, because frankly, you have a lot of clothes in your closet, more than I thought a woman could own. Plus, you're kind of a fashion designer so that might affect the number."
"Okay, okay," Kairi repeated, trying to end the discussion. However, another thought came out of her mouth. "Just want to get this out of the way too, but can you put your action figures and comics in somewhere less...in the wide open? I don't want to be staring at The Flicker when I put on my makeup in the morning. Also, if I ever have my girlfriends over, I don't want them to see these either."
"Oh, so you're ashamed I'm a comic geek?" Sora snapped. "You're a anime geek and a gamer, but you have that stuff out in the open!"
Kairi shook her head. "Don't compare me to you, Sora, because my stuff is cute and I only have a few of them. Look at my Cloud plush doll, my Hope wallet, and my Cardcaptor Sakuya poster and tell me it's not freaking adorable! Your stuff...kind of leans to...the 'I might want to hide this' part of being a geek."
"Enough!" Sora groaned, walking out of the room and downstairs toward the kitchen. "I'm going to drink some coffee."
Kairi followed him out the door, crossing her arms. "Don't forget to use a coaster."
"Don't forget to use a coaster," Sora mimicked in a mocking tone.
"Sora!" Kairi yelled, appalled at his behavior. "Stop acting like such a child!"
"Stop acting like my mom first and then we'll talk."
At Roxas's apartment, we sat down on his couch and watched all seven movies that we rented while eating through four bags of popcorn. I didn't think I'd ever stop laughing, even the really stupid stuff made me laugh surprisingly. When I looked at Roxas, I could see him smiling at me, causing a blush to appear on my cheeks.
"You really better?" he asked.
"Yeah," I replied, nodding. "I needed this, you know? Work is just...I really need the job, but I hate the people there, and sometimes it just gets to me."
"Axel seems nice," Roxas commented.
"Only when no one is looking..."
Roxas leaned back, looking at the ceiling. "You know exactly what you're going to do tomorrow at work, right? I heard when you laid some truth on those birds, and I think you were talking to someone else besides those little winged beasts. As expected from a crazy..." He shook his head. "Sorry...I just want to wish you good luck, and I hope you feel better soon. Fly okay, Pigeon?"
"Alright, Mr. Dragon, I'll do my very best to stand up to Larxene," I replied with a smile. "Thank you for this – you know, making me laugh for the last ten hours. I needed it."
Roxas turned to look at me now, smiling with a look in his eyes I couldn't quite place. My cheeks turned pink quickly, me hoping he didn't notice. I could remember when that smile seemed so rare and when his face seemed to always showed boredom or annoyance. When we were both strangers talking to each other in front of a mailbox, I never imagined I would end up here.
"Hm, lately you've helped me get Sora and Kairi together, get me a job, solve Kairi's problem, get Sora and Kairi close enough to move in, and helped me feel better after another bad day at work. What am I doing for you again?" I pouted. "I really feel bad I'm not doing anything for you. When you need me for anything at all, call me and I'll be there in a heartbeat! I'll fly there, run there, teleport – you name it!"
Roxas chuckled and shook his head. "I'm kind of doubtful I'm going to need your help anytime soon, but thanks for the offer. If I ever really need you, I'll say 'apple pie' to have you spring into action."
"I hate apple pie," I retorted, displeased with his choice in words. "Can't it be something like 'the banana king has arrived' and all?"
"That's stupid."
"It's creative."
We both laughed, and Roxas took the empty bowl of popcorn to wash in the sink, taking his usual seven minutes. He was so obsessive with cleaning that I swear there wasn't a single speck of dust in his apartment. It kind of spooked me out.
When Roxas returned, I asked him the first question that came to mind. "What are you thinking about right now? I don't want a vague answer or a lie, so just tell the truth."
"What's with this all of the sudden?"
"Just for funsies."
Roxas shrugged as he sat down next to me, folding his arms. "What do you think I'm thinking about?"
"How Just Like The Afterlife was pretty predictable? How strange it is that you seem to really like chick flicks?"
"Hey, I just watch them for the pretty female leads, and a lot of them are kinda hot," Roxas said defensively. "And no. I'm not thinking about that. It has something to do with you. Care to guess?"
Suddenly, I froze. Me? Oh gosh, I hope it isn't anything bad. Did I say anything wrong? Did I give him a weird look? I found myself standing up abruptly, trying to think of an excuse to leave.
"My cat fell off the ground yesterday, and I need to go check on him."
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
Roxas shrugged and saw me off, telling me to take care of myself and the nonexistent cat. He then told me a creepy story about how scratching your neck a lot can lead to ugly, ugly things, leading me to run as fast as I could to my car. It seemed he noticed my disgusting red neck.
Driving away, I thought about what I was going to say to Larxene tomorrow.
A/N: Well, Nami's "I'm useless" phase will be coming to an end (thank goodness). The Flicker is supposed to be The Flash XD And yes, slap bet was kind of random. Blame HIMYM. I have some progress on chapter 11, so hopefully it doesn't take as long to put out. Seems like I'm following my outline faithfully, so Roxas's story will probably finally be covered three or so chapters from now?
Going back to school is about three weeks. Gah. Watch: by the time I touch Roxas's story, school will slow me down and updates will take forever~ 8O Nah, I'll try to finish this story before I get too busy with school.
See ya next time folks!