In this chapter: Roxas loses a lot, but gets a job.
xxxXXXxxx
Ballad
Chapter Sixteen
"Better Off This Way"
xxxXXXxxx
Axel sat on his stool, taking a deep breath in and whispering to himself it would all be okay, that everyone would love him, and that he'd get enough tips to fill up the van before they headed on tour. He made two small tweaks to his tuning and turned to the audience, which was a coffee house full of students and young adults who just got off of work sitting and chatting, paying no attention to him whatsoever.
"Hey everybody, my name is Axel Rose, and this should be a love song." With practiced hands producing a melody he knew by heart, he slowly plucked the strings for the first few lines. His voice was giving way, but he had to shake it off. He was a professional, and the show must go on. Eyes closed, he pressed his lips against the microphone and mumbled out a verse.
"Baby I have been here before,
I know this room; I've walked this floor.
I used to live alone before I knew you.
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
Love is not a victory march.
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah…"
He had to finish the song there, unable to finish with words. It felt too cliche and his heart wasn't in the right place for it. He strummed a finishing melody. Sighing, he told himself to pick things up or else the audience would just get depressed. He looked at the small list of songs that he usually played acoustic on the floor and picked one.
After spending a good hour playing music, taking a short break near the end for an espresso shot, on the house from his favorite barista, he decided to cut his losses and finish for the night. Axel dumped his tip money into an old tube sock, rounding out to about twelve dollars. It was better than his usual, but he wasn't in the mood to continue playing that night. As he was packing up his guitar, he heard a sound that he wasn't accustomed to on his Tuesday night shows at the coffee house.
Applause.
At least, it was one person applauding in a very slow, sarcastic way. Axel thought it was all just a joke until he looked over his shoulder to see who was causing it. And it was a sight for sore eyes. The neon blue and pink high-top sneakers, the skinny black jeans, the chains and pointless belts, that stupid pink muffin shirt, the bleached beach-bum hair.
When Axel's jaw dropped, Riku smirked and took a step forward. "It's gonna fall out if you keep doing that." And it was true, Axel wasn't a redhead anymore. Out of all the things Riku had always told him not to do, he had to go and spoil his image the day he returned. "I swear to God, I leave for, like, a second and here you are looking like a little scenester spaz." Axel still kept his place crouched by his guitar case. "…So, little birdie tells me you're going on tour." Axel stood up as his long-time friend kept coming closer. There was a bounce in the young punk's steps that he had missed all this time of never seeing him, not even once. "…Is there room for one more?"
A smile cracked through Axel's stunned features as he rolled his eyes to the side and pretended to look cool. "Actually… there is. Can you play bass?"
Riku's features fell for half a second. "What about Lux?"
"We'll move him to drums."
"Mars?"
"He quit."
Riku looked like he was about to get upset about it, but he changed his mind quickly. "He'll come back. They always do. Wanna TP his house? I've never actually left a burning bag of dog shit on someone's doorstep before. We should give it a shot."
Axel didn't have a response, but instead simply smiled. Riku's hair was clean, there weren't any bags under his eyes, his skin was clear. He still looked slightly frail and gaunt, but he didn't smell like cigarettes, pot, or alcohol, and he wasn't shaking. Axel wondered what made him turn his life around so quickly. For his reply, he wrapped his arms around Riku and pulled him close. The old singer seemed shocked at first, but soon gave in and wrapped his arms around Axel's back.
"You have no idea how much I missed you," Axel said, passing a sniff off as allergies and blinking tears away, because running eyeliner just wasn't manly.
"I know. It's good to be back."
oooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo
Roxas was walking down the grocery store aisles with Hayner at his side. The poor boy had just gotten dumped, again, and now Roxas had to play caretaker for the day. He smiled to himself and found happiness in the fact the some things would never change. He looked at his friend as the aggravated wrinkle in his brow revealed an inner-struggle going on inside his mind.
Frosted Flakes or Frosted Cheerios?
"Hey, Rox, go to the TP aisle and get me something cheap, alright? And not bulk this time?" Hayner muttered, turning the boxes to their sides and reading the nutritional information. Whatever nutrition Hayner was looking for from those cereals, Roxas had doubts he would find it.
He nodded and walked off towards the paper goods aisle. The last time this had happened, when Hayner was left so depressed that he wouldn't even go shopping by himself, Roxas was told to retrieve paper towels, and that's where he met Demyx for the first time. As he walked down the aisle, it was somewhat gloomy to see that nobody was there at all. He sighed and looked at all the different kinds of toilet paper there were.
Hayner specifically said not bulk, and there was a section where six-packs were kept. Roxas wondered what kind he used. There was the brand that made thick two-ply tissue, and then there was the generic brand that would probably dissolve under a drop of water. It was also worth noting that the bulk of the nicer toilet paper was on sale and cheaper than the six-pack. Roxas was starting to feel like Hayner as he stood a good distance away to take in the entire aisle and simply stared at it.
He was almost worried about how his life got to this point where he had to think so hard about toilet paper when a body collided with his. For a moment, he should have been startled, but the person tackle-hugging him was a tiny hundred-ten-pound eighteen-year-old girl. "Fuu?"
Somewhere muffled in his hoodie he thought he heard her say "Thanks."
"No problem," Roxas drawled, waiting a moment for the girl to give one last squeeze before pulling away. The blond had never seen the girl so affectionate before, except maybe when Axel helped wrap her torn-up leg when she got hurt during a mosh earlier. When she looked at Roxas again, she made sure to hide any sort of smile from her face, as if the hug had never happened. "…What did I do?" he added.
In all seriousness, she answered. "Everything right." The deadpan way she said it made Roxas feel like he had been played this entire time. He figured going to Riku's house must have made some sort of impression, or maybe enough for him to talk to his friends and family again.
Roxas grinned and looked down into the basket of snacks Fuu was holding, mostly pretzels and crackers and two large jugs of red Gatorade. "Exams coming up for you too, huh?" Roxas chuckled, picking up that salty snacks probably helped the poor freshman concentrate. She sighed and nodded.
"Biology tomorrow," she muttered, thinking that she needed to start heading home to cram before her final.
"Sucks to be you!" Roxas declared, taking the six-pack of the nicer toilet tissue from the shelf and thinking. "Hey, my buddy Hayner's here," he commented, "the one that you met during one of 13 Hearts' shows." He watched as she looked down at the stained tiled floor of the supermarket and smiled. The gesture made Roxas smile as well. He tossed the package of toilet paper at her. "You'll probably find him in the cereal aisle. Give him that and be sure to make him feel really embarrassed. Let him know I'll be waiting out front." Fuu smirked and nodded, walking back towards the food area of the market.
Roxas walked empty-handed out to the overhang where the shopping carts rested. Ten minutes passed before Fuu came walking out with a large grin on her face and two bags of study snacks in her hands. "Hilarious," she stated, giving the blond a thumbs up. Roxas grinned and waved goodbye as the spunky girl walked out towards her bus stop. A few more minutes passed before the door ringed opened again and Hayner came out with a shopping cart full of bagged groceries.
"You fucking suck," Hayner stated, looking absolutely furious. Roxas just laughed him off loudly as they started walking towards his friend's car. Hayner laughed too and held up his palm so Roxas could soak in those seven digits in all their glory. "Thanks, man."
"No problem," Roxas sighed. "Just try not to screw this one up, too. She has a big brother, you know…"
oooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo
Someway, somehow, they managed to move into a new apartment before the month was out. Right after finals ended, Sora and Roxas signed a lease to a small two-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of campus. There wasn't a coffee house next door, and it wasn't in walking distance to his classes, but it was only five blocks away from the Organization, so Roxas approved.
Now it was December nineteenth, and grades had just been posted. Roxas had passed every course with Cs or higher, which in his case was a miracle. It was a Saturday afternoon, and Sora suggested that they go out to celebrate. Herein laid the problem.
"I don't know what to wear," Roxas stated, standing in the middle of the living room. Surrounding him were dozens of shirts, slacks, socks, and hoodies that came out of a now empty cardboard box that lay forgotten near the front door. Sora, who was leaning through the small window bar area inside the kitchen, looked down at all the clothes with little interest as he crunched down on an apple.
"How about the band tee?" he asked, shoving all the fruit into his cheek like a chipmunk.
Roxas picked up the shirt and threw it with all of his older clothes on the ratty couch, where he was keeping his rejects. "No, I can't wear that. I have to look special today. I'm seeing Axel. I don't want to be wearing Axel's shirt when I see him for the first time in…" Roxas looked up in absolute horror. "Oh my God. It's been over a month since I saw him. Holy shit, he probably hates me!"
Sora raised a brow and checked the digital watch on his wrist. "Well, it's not like you didn't have your own shit to deal with." He rolled his eyes as Roxas started to panic even more as he filtered through his pile of pants to find a pair of jeans. "But c'mon, be serious, aren't you guys like madly in love?"
Roxas grunted. If you call fooling around in his apartment once and leaving him without a word 'madly in love', he thought to himself. He would call it extremely 'in like' before labeling it as love. That was such a strong word anyway. He learned not to just throw it around.
But in order to get his feelings of 'totally in like' presented towards Axel, he had to show him he had changed. He was a new man that was ready for something different. "You know what's awesome?" Sora asked, as if sensing Roxas' train of thought. "Being single. You just got out of this heavy relationship and now you want to dive back into another one?"
"But I've got to at least tell him what happened, he has a right to know." Roxas sighed and picked up a pair of old black slacks and wondered if they were good enough to pass off as hip. He kept telling himself it wasn't like the detailing on his pants really mattered, since they were going to be in the dark anyway. He picked the old slacks and the same black button-up shirt he wore on his birthday.
"You're being such a girl about this," Sora commented, suddenly appearing behind Roxas' back and smacking him upside the head. "The clothes you wear won't really matter by the time the night is over, anyway."
Roxas blushed furiously in spite of himself, hiding his face behind the clothes in his hand. Was his brother really hinting at consummating his relationship already? Roxas was sure that his feelings for Axel were more than a simple work relationship or friendship, but he had never felt this way about anybody other than Namine. Perhaps Sora had a point about trying out the whole staying single thing… He needed more time to get his head centered.
"You should get going," Sora stated.
Roxas looked at the clock and realized it wasn't even seven yet. "So early?"
"Doors are at seven, show's at eight like always, right? If we're walking we have to leave pretty soon if you want time to chat with him, don't you think?" Roxas nodded and gathered his clothes into the bathroom so he could start cleaning up.
The line to get into the Organization was as notoriously long as ever. Sora sighed and watched the stretch of scene kids and street walkers lean against the side of the building that easily stretched a good forty-people deep. "I was hoping we'd get here before a line erupted," Sora sighed, not enjoying the superior looks he was receiving from some of the people who had gotten the earlier spots in line. Roxas paused their little walk of shame for a moment when he noticed who the bouncer was for the night.
"Oh, hey, wait a second. I know that guy…" At the very front of the line, sitting on a stool by the door covered in old, tattered gig posters was Cid, the same bouncer from the very first night he ever visited the Organization. He walked back up to the front of the line and approached the angry man cautiously.
"H-hey, Cid?" Roxas asked, feeling that the attempt would be futile. The man probably saw hundreds of faces everyday. He looked up at Roxas and squinted his eyes.
"Whaddya want?"
"I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Roxas Strife. We met a few times before, I was with 13 Hearts for a while as a stagehand…" he trailed off, hoping that some sort of recognition would breach the man's road-worn features, but no such luck.
"And you were hoping that you could get into the show early?" he said in a sarcastic tone.
Roxas laughed nervously. "It's no big deal. I mean, Axel knows me and I thought that maybe I could-"
"Why the fuck do I care whether you know Mister Rose or not?" Cid asked, looking genuinely confused.
"Well, I need to talk to him. I was hoping I could get in earlier and see him before the show starts." Still there was no recollection on his face at all. "Do you remember me? Roxas Strife? I was the kid that was getting married but you told me not to?" Roxas lifted up his left hand and pointed to his ring finger, where the promise ring used to rest but was now bare. "I'm not getting married anymore. I need to tell Axel this."
"I know who you are, idiot," Cid barked, smacking Roxas' hand away. "I don't give a shit whether or not you know Axel, you're not getting in early."
"Why not?" It seemed like a stupid question, of course he didn't have any will call tickets waiting for him and was used to going in free, but that was when he was working under the band. Now he didn't have any sort of affiliation and he was afraid that he would have to start living the life of a regular fan.
"Because this isn't a 13 Hearts show. The tour kickoff was yesterday, tonight's Never- Never- Wonderland." Roxas recalled that band name as one of the starting bands at a 13 Hearts show, but something didn't make any sense.
"Tour kickoff?" he asked, his brows knit in confusion. 13 Hearts never played a Friday show at the Organization before. From the way Axel spoke about it, he adored his regular early Saturday night slot in such a prestigious venue.
"Yeah, they're leaving this weekend to do an East Coast tour headlining Wayfinder. This is their big break," Cid added, sounding optimistic near the end. "It sucks that they're leaving. They're the best thing Orgy's ever had. Well, to make up for it they said to wait it out the months and they'd come back with a big surprise, but-"
"When are they leaving?" Roxas asked frantically.
The man shrugged and looked around. What did this kid think he was, a calendar? "I don't fuckin' know," Cid laughed. "They're leaving this weekend. They prob'ly already left by now."
Before Cid was finished talking, Roxas had already started sprinting in the opposite direction of the club. "Roxas!" Sora hollered from his spot in line. He tried to catch up, but the blond was always more athletic. "Where're you going? What's wrong?"
It was easy to find Axel's building at nighttime. He turned left at the building with the neon blue parking sign, kept running through three traffic lights, and there's a caution sign that glows in the light of a street lamp, and that was his street. He had lost Sora ages ago. Or maybe it was minutes.
He slowed down once he got close. There were voices coming from the parking lot, but the echoing pounding of his heart after the exercise made everything muddled. There was a dumpster on the outermost edges of the parking lot that Roxas chose to lean against until he caught his breath. He felt like he was going to throw up, but he forced the nausea down. Now wasn't the moment for vomiting, there was a time and a place. He took a deep breath and listened to the voices from his spot.
"Okay, everybody in the van? Is Lux ready? Xigbar, you know where we're going, right? You're riding with me." That was definitely Axel. He had a difficult time making out who he was talking to.
"Why can't I ride with you?"
"Because Lux knows where he's going. In case we get lost on the interstate I wanna know where I'm going. Xig has a map."
"I know how to read maps…"
"You can't find your way out of a paper bag. Get in Lux's car."
Once he felt like he wasn't going to faint from sprinting, Roxas peeked slightly from his where he was hidden. From his angle, he couldn't see any faces, and he was afraid to stick his head out too far in fear of getting caught. At first he was confused, because the person that was barking orders definitely sounded like Axel, and he had Axel's build, but in the tungsten light of the few lamps gathered around the lot, he was missing Axel's trademark red hair. He got a glimpse at that face and realized that he wasn't mistaken, that was definitely the frontman he grew to love.
He heard some doors shut and an engine turn on. Shuffling to the other side of the dumpster so he could see down the street, he saw Luxord's car driving away with someone in the front seat, muffled music blasting through closed windows.
"Okay," Axel sighed. "Let's set out and get gas for the van. We should arrive in Lafayette by two."
Roxas had to move, now. He tried to stand back up, but his legs were exhausted from sprinting three miles. He wanted to shout to him, but his voice wouldn't come. With the support of the dumpster, he was able to stand on his wobbling legs as the passenger side door on the old van slammed shut. "…Axel," Roxas shouted, but it came out as a whisper. He was having difficulty breathing, and thought to himself that this would probably be the end.
He stood in plain sight of Axel, watching him fiddle with the padlock they kept on the outside of the rear door. The front man tugged on it twice and made sure it was sturdy before making his way to the driver's seat.
"Axel."
The black-haired man paused before turning around. He was upset. Choleric. Livid. Furious. Roxas shook his head and reminded himself that now wasn't the time for word games. His mind rapidly twisted and turned, searching endlessly like a rat through a maze with no finish in sight. The wrong turn would end in shock. Word games were useless when he couldn't even think of the right ones to say.
"I… I-I…"
"Rox, what're you doing here?" he sighed, sounding tired. Exhausted. Enervated. Emotionally drained and looking as if Roxas were the very last person he would ever want to see in his entire life. The blond tried desperately to pull his thoughts together to come up with the right response, but they kept getting lost in his throat.
I'm here to see you…
"I don't have time for this," Axel sighed, shaking his head. "Is this about Namine?"
Not anymore. We broke up. Didn't you get my text message?
"Look, don't worry. I didn't tell anybody about…" Axel paused for a moment to look over his shoulder towards the van. He lowered his voice to make sure that Xigbar wasn't listening, but the guitarist had already started the van to turn the heat on and the two men outside could hear the radio playing loudly. "…I didn't tell anyone about what happened."
It doesn't matter. Couples do stuff like that all the time, right?
"God, if the guys ever found out they'd slaughter me. You don't need to go around talkin' about this either, Rox."
Oh… So you haven't told anyone. Funny, because everyone in my world already knows and they've accepted me for who I am.
"Who do you think you are showing up right now anyway?"
I'm madly in like with you.
"C'mon, Roxas, talk!"
He opened his mouth to try speaking once again, but the words didn't come. They were right at the tip of his tongue, but whenever he saw the angry look in Axel's piercing green eyes, he simply couldn't. The black hair didn't suit Axel at all. He looked like some villain from a fairy tale. He had changed.
"Dammit," Axel seethed under his breath. "Roxas, I can't do this right now. I can't have you here right now. There's too much going on in my life to take care of you like this. I can't chauffeur you around town, I can't give you special attention at my shows, and I can't let you spend the night. The band's going places! And I'm the leader, now. I have to make sure there aren't any fuck ups, and Roxas, you're…"
When Axel looked into Roxas' steely clear eyes, he stopped, unable to finish his sentence. Instead, he glowered towards the pavement and fisted his hands.
"You have no right to be here, Roxas. It's getting dark. Go home."
And Axel turned and walked away, turning his back on Roxas and the entire meaning behind him coming to visit. Roxas stood in the middle of the parking lot, feeling the winter's chill biting at his face. He'd cry if he knew his tears wouldn't turn to ice. There wouldn't have been a point, since the only person he would be crying for wouldn't even be there to see them. Axel opened the driver's side to the van, using the step to gracefully slide into his seat, and slammed the door shut. He drove off down the block and around the corner, never looking back.
And Roxas had royally screwed up.
Xigbar yawned from his front seat while sitting the chair up from its reclined state he had kept it in while Axel was finishing up outside. "What took you so long?" he asked, smacking his lips. He took the map off the dashboard and started looking it over.
"Nothing. Minor road bump."
"We're meeting Luxord and Riku at the Denny's off of exit 233. We should get there around eleven…"
When Axel didn't say anything, Xigbar chanced a glance at the band's frontman and frowned. He'd been friends with Axel for so many years that he knew the man's moods better than his own. Right now, the singer looked troubled.
"What's wrong? It's not too late to go back." Axel blinked and looked at the guitarist. "Did you forget something?" he prompted.
Axel shook his head and sighed. "Did you ever have to make those choices that was supposed to feel right but ended up feeling wrong?"
Xigbar's blank expression answered 'no', but at the same time he wore an understanding face and settled in for some nice, long, boy-talk. "Well… If it felt right at the time, who did it feel right for?"
Axel took his eyes off the road for a split second to give him a sideways glance. "Huh?"
"I mean, did it feel right for you and wrong for somebody else, or vice versa?"
The punk behind the wheel gave the question some consideration. Of course, he acted in his own best interest, presumably. But Roxas would also benefit from this split. He'd have to. The kid had too much going for him to let his life be ruined by someone like Axel.
"Like – I did something that was supposed to be good for me, but I feel… really bad about it."
"You're gonna have to help me out here, buddy."
"So… God, it's hard to explain… I either did something really stupid, or…"
"Really smart?"
"I don't know," Axel said, shaking his head. Smart didn't feel like the right word to explain what just happened, but everything Axel had told Roxas was true. There just wasn't any room in his life for a secret that big anymore. He returned his focus back to the road, pulling into a gas station to fill up the van before hitting the highway.
oooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo
Sora found his brother at the bar of the Organization. At first he was worried, but he was thankful to see only two empty shot glasses in front of the blond. He seemed a little unhappy, but not miserable.
"Is everything alright?" Sora asked. "Did you find him?"
"Something like that," Roxas muttered, looking up to try and grab the bartender's attention. It wasn't difficult at an all-ages show. The bar was practically vacated. "Hey! Can I get some pineapple juice?"
The bartender stared blankly at him. "…What for?"
Roxas pointed to his glass. "I asked you to make me a strong drink, not a disgusting one. I need to balance it out." Sora winced a little at his brother's behavior. Maybe he really was upset.
"But that's not a fruit drink, it won't taste-"
"I don't care what they taught you in Mixology for Beginners, just give me the juice, I know what I'm doing."
The bartender looked dismayed, but handed Roxas the small can of pineapple juice he usually reserved for making mixed drinks. "What're you doing?" Sora asked, watching as the blond carefully poured enough juice into the shot glass to fill it almost to the brim. He slid the glass across the heavily polished wooden bar to his brother.
"Here, take it."
"But it's yours," Sora insisted, not really wanting to drink anything with pineapple in it. It was one of those fruits that everybody was just obligated to hate.
"Are you turning down a free round?" Roxas asked, brow raised. If Sora didn't know any better, that sounded like a challenge. He knocked the glass back and swallowed the drink in two large gulps, wincing, and then realizing that it wasn't so bad.
"This is great," Sora stated. "What'd you do to it?"
"Nothing much," Roxas sighed. "You'll need it, though. Let's go."
Never- Never- Wonderland was known for its abnormally violent mosh pits. Roxas was in the mood for a little giving and receiving that night. After the show, they nursed their battle scars with another drink before walking back to their apartment. The bartender asked Roxas if he could make one of the pineapple shots he had before.
"Maybe you have a future as a bartender," Sora laughed on their way out.
"It's not rocket science," Roxas sighed. "Destani Royale's a really bitter drink. Pineapples are really sweet. They market it so it makes people think it's supposed to be a men's drink, but anything can be mixed. There's no point if you don't try."
"Speaking of trying," Sora segued, "did you ever catch up with Axel? What was up with that earlier?"
Roxas frowned and kept his eyes on the scuffed up leather of his steel-toed boots. "I saw him off, no big deal."
There was a short moment where Roxas didn't continue, and Sora was obviously expecting more than that. "And? What did he say? It's not me it's you? Now's just not the right time? Believe me, I've heard it all."
"That was basically the gist of it."
"Wow. Roxas Strife, shot down. How does it feel?"
"Kind of crappy. And you know what isn't helping?"
"I'm helping you by making you see this isn't a big deal."
Roxas slowed for a moment before continuing his brisk pace and catching up with Sora. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm going to come out to you right now and let you know that you have no idea how many guys I went through before I found Kairi. It's like a rite of passage. As soon as you come out, you go around and see what's available before you start picking and choosing."
"Huh."
"A good place to start is the gym. I know a good one with a bunch of cute guys in it." Sora made a happy noise from the back of his throat. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun! I finally know what it's like to have a sister!"
Roxas excused the joke to move the conversation backwards a step. "So, how many guys have you been with, exactly?"
"Why? Do you need suggestions? You're probably still a virgin with guys, right? Well, the first thing you need to tell your partner is that spit is not a good substitute for-"
"No! Not that, I mean… They say having random encounters like that is a good way to spread diseases… I just want to know if you're safe…"
"That's the number one rule, Roxas, you always wear a condom."
"But nobody can get pregnant with-"
"Holy shit, Roxas! Seriously? Do we need some sex ed one-oh-one? You don't even understand the basics!"
"Wait, answer my question, first," Roxas stated as they rounded the corner to their apartment complex.
"I can't remember," Sora sighed.
"Slut."
"Whatever. It's not that bad, trust me." And for some reason, Roxas felt like he should really believe his brother on this one. "I tested recently. I'm clean. And I think I should teach you how everything works before I throw you in with the sharks."
They made it to the front door of their apartment on the ground floor of the complex. Sora dug his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door, walking in and throwing his keys on the coffee table. Roxas narrowly avoided the empty box that had once held his clothes that he had left by the front entrance.
"So let's talk about the birds and the bees. Or the bees and the bees, in this case."
"How do you know the bees are the boys?"
"They have stingers."
Roxas shrugged and sat on the pile of clothes he had left on a chair opposite the couch. Although he didn't quite expect he would ever have this sort of conversation with his brother, it was definitely welcomed. Roxas seriously had no idea what he was doing when it came to guys. His only experience he ever had was with Axel and they were both drunk at the time.
"Okay, first things first, you always wear a condom. It doesn't matter how drunk you are, or how caught up in the moment you are, if you are sticking your thing into anybody, or someone's sticking their thing into you, condoms!"
Roxas shuddered at the thought of someone sticking their thing into him. He wasn't even sure if he really wanted to go out and hook up with guys at all. However, girls didn't really seem like that great of an option after his disastrous long-term relationship.
"You'll get some guys who will try and convince you that if you're both clean then you don't need to wear a condom, but the ones that really want to be with you, or at least the smart ones, will put it on without even asking. Plus, it's an easier clean up. This kind of goes into number two, which is how to tell if a guy is telling the truth or not when he says he's clean. You sort of have to use your better judgment on this one. There's usually this honor code that comes with an STD that you have to tell whoever you're with, but sometimes the guy will be drunk and sometimes he'll just be a jerk and purposely not tell you. It's up to you to know the difference, I won't be there to point out the baddies for you."
Sora continued talking, explaining, mimicking, gesturing, and instructing to almost excruciating detail parts about Roxas' body that he didn't even know existed. The blond's attention tapered off somewhere around Sora's in-depth discussion on enemas, and by the end of the conversation Roxas' face was left very pale. He had to convince himself that even if he never took advantage of such information, this was also his brother's lifestyle, so it was good to be informed.
"…Do you remember any of their names?" Roxas asked, picking at one of the buttons on a shirt that was covering his chair. Sora looked at him with a blank face. "Do you remember the names of everyone you've had sex with?" Sora blinked and turned his eyes down to the carpet, as if he had to seriously think about it. Roxas couldn't imagine having sex with someone and not even knowing their name. He wondered what kind of encounters the brunet had, if they were anything like the movies where he'd wake up in some stranger's bedroom on the opposite side of town, hungover, and had to find his way home, or if it was just a quickie in the gym showers.
"…My first time was with this dude Rider in high school." Roxas didn't remember that name, but high school was a long time ago and if the guy was an upperclassman there was a good chance Roxas never met him. "We did it once and it was awful, and that was pretty much the end of that. It sucked."
"The sex or the breakup?"
Sora's lip quirked as he stared at a spot on the wall. "Both. …And remember Phillip from your choir class?" Sora added with a smile. Roxas almost choked on his spit. Phillip was the senior TA in his choir class, first chair male soloist and Roxas' idol in choir club. He wondered how Sora was able to have two gay relationships in school and not let his secret out. It must have been very difficult, and Roxas didn't even want to think of the pain he must have gone through. Roxas also didn't want to think how naive he must have been to completely miss it.
"Sometimes you don't need a name," Sora concluded. "And sometimes just a name is enough without having to take it further. It was difficult understanding the differences at first. Trying to find the differences between a friend, a lover, and a partner. But along the way I met Kairi and it was different… and then…" His voice went very soft. "…Riku."
oooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo
Riku sat in the booth of the Denny's impatiently, tapping one edge of the paper packet holding artificial sweetener against the table to make a soft clicking sound. Luxord sat across from him and watched with little amusement.
"Are they okay? What's taking them so long?"
"Relax, this isn't the nineties, people have cell phones," Luxord sighed, bringing his own black mobile device to the table as an example. "Xigbar sent me a text saying they set out a little late, and the van isn't as fast as my car. We'll probably have to wait a while longer…" Riku sighed and leaned back in his seat, puffing his hair out of his face. Luxord smiled. "You always were impatient."
"I just want to get this started, you know? I decided that I wanted to make something of myself that was different from what I was this past year. But I can't start until we reach Lafayette!"
"Can I get you something?" the tired waitress asked for the fifth time that evening. After sitting there for an hour with only an appetizer and three cups of coffee under their belts, the evening wasn't looking up to being very fiscal for her.
Luxord smiled apologetically and held up his mug. "We're sorry. Our friends will be here shortly, we're sure. Just one more cup while we wait?" The waitress sighed and held out the pot of coffee to pour Luxord a refill. She chanced a glance at Riku, who simply winked and clicked his tongue.
"Thanks, doll." The waitress blushed softly and turned away quickly to return to the kitchen.
"Still the ladykiller, I see," Luxord said with a sigh. He was just as excited as Axel and Xigbar to hear that Riku was back, and hopefully for good. Marluxia gave their blessings for the tour and explained that it was personal reasons for why he couldn't make it, but wouldn't go into detail. While Luxord would be gone for two months, he assured would hold down the fort at the gallery. The bassist-turned-temporary-drummer was glad that Riku didn't seem to be angry anymore about the bookkeeping or Axel's stupid detour before telling their friend about Sora's secret. He wondered if Riku even remembered that little brunet at all.
"Sorry, guys! Sorry, sorry!" Axel said, almost panicked, as he approached the booth and sidled in next to Riku. "What's this? There aren't any pancakes or French toast waiting for us! What were you guys doing while you were waiting?"
"What were you guys doing that was taking you so long?" Riku spit back. Almost immediately the waitress had returned to their table to take their order. Without having to write anything down, she took their menus and walked off.
"So I'm sure there's an excellent reason why you guys fell behind over an hour," Luxord said, brow raised.
"Yeah, the van's slow, but it's not that slow," Riku said with a pout. He was the one that used to pilot it, after all. It was a surreal moment for Riku last night when he watched his friend's set at the Organization, the venue which he used to dominate. Nobody there recognized him anymore, and he wasn't given any sort of special treatment. He sat in the back of the room with the parents and seasoned hipsters that would watch 13 Hearts for the pure spectacle. The main thing that stunned Riku the most was Axel's voice. The kid had pipes. He always knew Axel was a gifted singer, but he had no idea how much he had taught himself that one year while they were separated. Riku had never even so much as picked up their DIY album they sold during shows. Compared to Axel, Riku was like a third grader with a crayon drawing standing next to Leonard daVinci. The punk felt like his place in the band was knocked down a few pegs to bassist.
"Sorry," Xigbar said, but with less heart than Axel. "We got a snag when we first set out. Roxas stopped by and talked with Axel some."
The reactions from both Luxord and Riku were intrigued.
"Really?" Riku asked, not sure what to think about Roxas. He wouldn't be where he was without him, but at the same time he toyed with his best friend's feelings. Riku knew all too well how that felt, and Axel would always be his best friend no matter what happened between them.
"What was he doing at your apartment?" Luxord asked, munching on a cracker packet that was for his salad he had already finished ages ago.
"Hell if I know," Axel said, rolling his eyes. "The kid didn't even say anything. I told him we were going on tour and he couldn't stop me, and then I left," Axel said with a shrug. He paused for a moment and looked at Riku sitting next to him, wondering why he was so interested in Roxas. "Wait, how do you even know him?"
"He stopped by about a month ago… On a Sunday a week before Thanksgiving," Riku explained. "Somehow, he found my apartment and forced me to tell him all about what had happened between Sora and me." Axel tried to process the information and remember dates. The day Riku described would have been the day after Roxas' birthday. What on earth convinced the kid to go all the way out to the harbor after what had happened? "And, I dunno, I guess he kind of told me what an idiot I was staying at the harbor this whole time when my life has been in Bastion all along…"
It would have been a sweet hallmark moment for the band, if Luxord weren't still confused. "But why was Roxas there?"
Axel shook his head. "He never told me anything. I guess it was to tell me that he visited you or something," he said towards Riku.
"But why would he be have been there tonight?" Luxord pressed again, seeming to ask himself the question more than the others.
"I already told you he wouldn't talk," Axel sighed, starting to grow a little aggravated. "I. Don't. Know."
Luxord looked at Axel in the eyes, realizing the singer really didn't have any idea on what he was thinking. "Are you burnt out on hair fumes? Do you know what today is?" He paused for a moment to check the time on his phone. "Was?"
"I dunno. A Saturday, the nineteenth, first day of touring, um… Sabbath day eve? I don't fuckin' know."
"The wedding, Axel," Luxord stated. "We were supposed to play the reception to Roxas' wedding, which would have been tonight."
The table grew silent as all eyes focused on Axel to witness his moment of realization. His eyes seemed to bug out slightly when everything suddenly dawned on him.
"He came to my apartment."
"Yes," Luxord commented.
"I said lots of bad shit to him."
"Apparently."
"He didn't get married."
"We're assuming."
"He came to visit me at my apartment when he should have been getting married and I said a bunch of shit to him!" Axel nearly screamed, causing attention to drift to their table by nearby weary road travelers. "I gotta call him!" Axel stood up quickly.
"No!" Luxord replied. Axel's shoulder rammed into the tray the waitress was holding up with one hand that their food was resting on. In a climatic display of edible fireworks, every meal went toppling in the air as everyone stared, watching it fall in slow motion all over Axel and the waitress. Onlookers within reach also felt some of the splatter.
Axel stood and looked at the spilt food in horror, as did the waitress, who had fallen on her rear and left with her mouth agape. She looked up at Axel, still absolutely stunned. Not angry, just shocked. "I've never dropped a platter before," she commented, finally. Somewhere in the back of the diner, a table started clapping, and in a resounding wave effect, the entire Denny's was soon filled with applause.
"I'm really sorry about that," Axel said sheepishly, helping the waitress to her feet. The blush on her face was inescapable, although she tried to hide her face behind her hand. All she did was look down at the mess at her feet.
"Boss is gonna kill me," she sighed, instantly crouching back down and using the large platter to pick up the plates and larger scraps of food. Axel balked at her having to work and started helping her. For a moment, their hands touched and they briefly made eye contact. Her soft almond eyes widened and she suddenly looked slightly unsettled. The golden band on her ring finger didn't go unnoticed by him.
Axel looked at the nametag she had pinned to her apron. "Here, Ping, let me do this. You go to the bathroom and clean up, 'kay?"
The waitress grinned, a genuinely thankful smile, and she nodded her head. "Thanks." She stood and wiped her hands on her apron before skittering to the women's bathroom. He made quick work shuffling the rest of the food back on the platter and left it lying on the floor.
"Don't call him."
Axel perked up and looked behind him. Riku sat in his seat and looked at his friend with all seriousness. "Why?" Axel asked. It seemed like it would be common sense to tell Roxas right away that he was sorry for all the things he said and beg like the worthless human being he was for forgiveness.
"This breakup was probably a long time coming. It's probably really hard for him and he doesn't know what he wants," Riku explained. Axel remembered one night not long after Roxas' birthday he thought he saw the blond outside his apartment. The breakup could have happened that long ago, and Axel never even knew. "I'd give it a few days before I try calling him…"
Axel shook his head. Sitting around and waiting wasn't going to solve anything. He knew Roxas, and he knew the kid wasn't the type to sit and stew over a bad situation, but he definitely wasn't the type to just let troubles as big as this go unnoticed. And in Axel's opinion, this was huge. He stepped over the mess on the floor and flipped out his cell phone, starting to sort through the R's.
Roxas wasn't there.
"Crap! I deleted it!" Axel cried. He had forgotten the night when Roxas sent him the garbled text message that he had deleted Roxas' contact information completely. It seemed like a good idea at the time, since he was certain that there would never be a reason for him to see the little brat ever again. He was beginning to regret his mistake. He quickly turned to his friends and panicked. "Do any of the you guys know his number?" Xigbar, Luxord, and Riku all returned with blank stares. "Augh! I'm a fucking idiot!" he cried.
"Please control your language," the waitress sighed, returning with cleaner clothes, but there were still spots on her shirt. "This is a family restaurant."
"I'm sorry, for everything," Axel sighed. She sighed and picked up the platter that Axel had put the spilt food on. "We'll pay for the food and be on our way, we don't want to be any more trouble for you."
"But I'm still hungry," Xigbar stated, but he was promptly put down by Luxord.
"Don't you boys worry, we'll fix you up something fresh really quick. Just warn me before you go jumping up like that," she added with a warm laugh, taking the dirty platter off the floor and carrying it with two hands back to the kitchen.
"Ugh, I didn't want to stay," Axel muttered, sitting back in his seat. "What if we get charged twice? We don't have the money to pay for two meals tonight."
"What if we barter?" Riku asked, raising his brow. He reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a copy of their CD. Axel smiled and shook his head.
"That thing ain't worth shit."
Fifteen minutes passed before their waitress appeared once more with fresh plates of food. With the grace of a woman who had been doing her job well for years, she placed the orders in front of the right person without even having to ask. With all of the band members satisfied, she nodded and went back to help her other tables.
The men suddenly realized how hungry they were after not eating since lunch, and now it was well past midnight. At some point during the meal, the waitress had carefully placed a plastic envelope with their bill inside on the table. She quickly withdrew her arm in fear it might get bitten off. At one point Xigbar reached for the envelope and looked inside. The guitarist was in charge of funds for the first leg of the trip, and he looked inside his wallet and cursed.
"We only have forty bucks," he muttered.
"What's the problem?" Riku asked.
"The bill is thirty-eight, rounding up," he sighed, shoving the two twenties inside and placing the envelope back on the table.
As they left, they were sure to thank the waitress kindly and apologize for her trouble. She simply just smiled and waved them off. As soon as they were out of the restaurant, another waitress approached her.
"Oh my God," she drawled to her friend. "Why do you always get the fine ones? Those boys were too cute!"
The waitress rolled her eyes and walked back to her table. "Well, you know those transient types, always causing a riot. They probably skipped out on the bill and… tip…" She paused for a moment when she picked up the receipt envelope and noticed there was something else inside that wasn't money.
"What is it?" her friend asked. It was probably the most useless tip on the planet for a waitress with bills to pay. On the other hand, it was one that she would treasure forever. She looked out the window as her previous party was outside talking to each other, gathered around a map and pointing blindly towards the east of the interstate. The black-haired man that had bumped into her glanced back into the building and their eyes met again. He smiled and waved at her before walking back to the van he came in. She smiled and waved once, giving a sigh and clutch the CD they gave her in her hand.
"Those guys are something else, huh…"
oooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo
"Dude, no, not cool. Fuck! No! Turn, turn, turn!"
Roxas came into his apartment after another failed afternoon of job searching to find Sora, Demyx, and Kairi in his living room playing a racing game. Sighing, he plopped down on the couch next to his brother. "Who're you?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the colorful screen.
"Green," he replied, sticking his tongue out and leaning towards the left as if it would help him turn better.
"Red!" Kairi shouted, narrowly missing a wall. "Oh my God, go! Go!"
"The final stretch!" Demyx announced. Judging by the only other car left, Roxas assumed the punk must have been the yellow car that was running neck-and-neck with Kairi. The two slowly started to stand up and hold their controllers in front of them like steering wheels. Roxas noticed that Sora was in third place by more than half a lap. "YES!" Demyx shouted, throwing his arms in the air. He turned to Kairi and started waving his hand in her face. "Yeah! Betcha didn't see that coming, loser!"
She rolled her eyes and smacked his hand away. "Whatever, dick. Best two outta three." Meanwhile, Sora fell off a bridge and lost the round without even passing the finish line.
"Aw, man."
"Hey, let me in," Roxas asked as he walked over to the game console and plugged in a fourth controller. He pulled up an options menu and picked a small, speedy blue car.
This was starting to become regular practice at the 'House of Strife.' Without warning or notice, people would randomly show up to hang out, whether it was before a show or just to pass the time. Usually it was Demyx, who was quickly reclaiming his spot as Sora's partner in crime, and Kairi, who insisted she had to get out of her apartment before Namine made her want to 'force a clothes hanger up the mental girl's hoo-hah.' Roxas couldn't really complain about the unannounced visits, because he enjoyed them either way.
The foursome had just started a grand prix when a loud, synthy guitar anthem started blaring from Demyx's pocket. Everyone in the room groaned as the punk paused the game and reached into his pocket to pull out his cell phone. He raised a brow and smiled. "Sorry, gotta take this. Two secs." He jumped over the couch and made his way to the front door. Just as the door was shutting he answered gleefully, "Ch-ello?" Meanwhile, Roxas went into the kitchen to grab himself a beer from the fridge.
"You are in so much shit, brah," Demyx exclaimed from the outside sidewalk, leaning against a tree planted by Roxas' apartment. "Do you have any idea what you did to him? He won't even talk about it, he's…" Demyx paused to listen. "Chyeah, well, tough shit. I'm not giving his number. He needs to learn to be independent and you need to learn to grow a pair. … …I am not being mean, it's called tough love. I'll see you in two months, babe. Feel free to call if you need moral support." Demyx pulled his phone away from his ear as a string of obscenities rolled out from the other end. The punk just laughed and replied, "Love you, too," before hanging up.
Walking back into the apartment, he saw Roxas handing off a brown glass bottle to Kairi, who had somehow picked up how to open those barehanded. "Who was that?" Roxas asked, simply curious but not extremely interested.
"Just a friend," he replied, jumping over the couch and taking his controller back. "So, who's ready to lose?"
oooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo
Roxas meandered down the sidewalk trying to figure out what to do with his life. Everywhere around him he was being assaulted with Christmas decorations ranging from wreaths hanging on the grills of cars to long red ribbons being tied up the length of the streetlights. He was starting to understand Sora's passing amusement with tagging the city streets.
While he was seemingly walking around aimlessly, he did have a clear idea of where he wanted to end up. He was just incredibly nervous about going about this very big step. His parents had always told him not to get a job and focus on his studies. Roxas had held short-term unpaid internships at small places like law firms and accounting offices his first few semesters, which proved nothing but to reaffirm his belief that he hated white collar workers, but now that he felt more independent he wanted to participate in the paid labor force. The only problem was that most employers won't hire unless you have an 'in' with the business. Roxas didn't know very many people, and he couldn't go to his brother, Hayner, or Demyx because they either didn't have jobs, or weren't in a position of power enough to recommend someone. He wasn't particularly close to anyone in class, and when he asked his off-campus friends Pence and Olette they couldn't give him any leads. There was one spectrum of his life that he hadn't thought about asking for help yet, and he was a little worried to take this step. However, he promised himself that he would try hard to help bridge the gap between them. If fate put them in this situation, Roxas felt it was his duty to at least put his best foot forward, so to speak.
Although that best foot almost stepped on a pile of charred dog shit.
Roxas jumped back animatedly and stared wildly at the little turd he almost had seeping into every crevice of his sneaker. What the hell was it doing on the steps of the Radiant Garden Gallery?
Very carefully, the blond walked around it and opened the door to the gallery. He had never been inside before and was surprised by one very interesting detail. There wasn't any art. The walls were painted white, and it seemed like there were easels set up around the studio space to show paintings or photographs, but there weren't any actual works of art in the building at all. Roxas started walking around the studio curiously, noticing loud music coming from the radio in a different room. He walked towards the back of the room to a large sliding glass window that opened to a large garden filled with flowers. The door was open, so he stepped outside and followed the sound of the radio blasting Metallica as he continued down a stone path that led a small circle around the garden. There were spots with bare cement squares that seemed destined for student sculptures once it was all finished.
Near the fence in the back of the garden, Roxas found Marluxia, in all his glory, wearing a knee-length denim skirt and a periwinkle hoodie as he watered a rose bush. Somehow, using a technique Roxas couldn't even fathom, he was tapping to the explicit drumbeats of "Battery" using only two fingers, something that Roxas didn't think he could do even if he used all his fingers and had infinite years of practice.
"Uh… Knock, knock!" Roxas announced loudly.
Marluxia screamed, surprisingly sounding somewhat manly while doing it, and jumped back. "Roxas!" he cried, quickly becoming less terrified and more embarrassed. He tried to hide his leisure clothes behind a long canvas gardening frock that was covered in dirt. "W-What are you doing here?"
"There's shit on your doorstep," Roxas stated, not really caring of Marluxia's attempt to hide the feminine clothes he wore.
"What?"
"There's shit," the blond reiterated, pointing in the direction of the front entrance of the studio, "on your doorstep."
Marluxia's eyes hollowed and he covered his mouth with a gasp. "Oh, shit! I forgot to pick that up." He placed his watering tin on the ground and rushed quickly to the studio. A few moments later he returned with the dog waste on a spade and he flung it onto the dirt under his rose bush. With a grunt he stood back up and wiped his gloved hands on his apron. "I went away for the holidays to visit Larxene and Ian," Marluxia stated. Roxas supposed that Ian was Marluxia's son. "I came back here yesterday to check up on things and I found this charred pile of dog crap on the stoop. I guess it was some kid's prank."
Somewhere in Albany, Georgia, Riku sneezed.
"Anyway, what brings you to Radiant Garden? We aren't exactly open yet."
"You should lock the front door, then," Roxas sighed, a gnawing question starting to eat away at the back of his mind. "…Um… Hey, how's Namine doing?"
Marluxia paused and took off his gardening gloves. "She's doing well, last I saw her, yesterday." He seemed interested for a moment and motioned for Roxas to follow him. The men wiped their feet off before returning to the polished wooden floors of the studio and made their way into the office in the back. In there, dozens upon dozens of paintings were lying against the walls, and small framed photographs and portraits covered every surface of the room. Marluxia stepped over a series of small canvases to reach for a large manila envelope on the desk. Carefully, he took a folder out of the envelope and held its contents in front of Roxas.
"See? There it is…"
Roxas was in absolute awe. Already he could distinctly see a small head and body in the printed image of the ultrasound. There was actually something living and growing inside of Namine. The simple, fuzzy picture made the whole situation that much more real. Roxas was overjoyed when Marluxia flipped through the different pictures to a set of 3D ultrasound images. The baby looked like a little tadpole. In just eight months it was going to be a living, breathing human.
"Do you know what it is yet?"
"We won't really know until around the second trimester. But we've already come up with some names. Namine likes Vincent and Margot."
Roxas smiled. "Those are good names," he sighed. "So things are going well between you."
"Kind of, I guess. I pick her up to go to doctor's appointments, we usually go to Twilight Town Café afterwards, and then I drop her off at home." Marluxia looked absolutely heartbroken at the admission. "Sometimes she'll call and say she wants to see a movie! …Well, actually, that only happened once, but I'm booking that she'll ask again someday." He let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't get it! I told her I loved her and she didn't cut my head off or anything. What more can I do for her?"
Roxas chuckled at his optimism. Hearing him talking about the way Namine was behaving reminded him of their many failed and awkward attempts at dating when they were in high school. "She's courting you," he sighed. "Don't worry, I think it'll pass soon enough. Although usually you have sex after you start dating, and maybe save a kid for later…"
"Yeah, I know she has her hands full with this right now. Even though she accepted your help, she really doesn't want anyone helping her at all. She won't even let me do anything except drive her to the doctor's office, but that's only because her sister's usually at work during the day."
"What about you? Don't you think that raising two children will be tough?" Roxas asked. If memory served, when he compared dates Marluxia and Larxene's baby couldn't be over a year old right now.
Marluxia frowned, taking the ultrasound photos from Roxas and placing them back on the desk. "In all honesty, Larx and I were just fuckbuddies. Do not tell her I said this, but she had mentioned a couple times when we met up that she planned on having kids, but she hated the idea of having a husband. The Skönstedt's make bank and Larx had her own moneymaking schemes so she doesn't have to rely on anybody to support her. And her parents hated me, but loved that she was apparently going to go through with the pregnancy and become a mom. Like, finally their reckless daughter was settling down…"
Marluxia laughed grimly as he walked into the empty studio, followed closely by Roxas. "And… I want to be a dad. I like kids. I just do. I like the idea of taking them to school, and PTA meetings, and preparing lunches. And I mean, at the time I thought, I'm still young. I'll still get my chance. I love Ian, but I knew I could never be the father I want to be around him. Larxene wants to raise him her own way, and he has plenty of men to look up to in that family that I just didn't feel… needed. And it sucked." He sounded miserable with the arrangement.
"That's terrible. Why didn't you try and fight for custody?"
Pink hair swayed as the man slowly shook his head. "I couldn't do that to Larx, or the Skönstedt's. I still see Ian on a regular basis so it's not like they're shutting me out completely. I can't imagine life without Ian, but even though I'm his father, I'm not his dad. What I really wanted, what I really dreamed about, was being a dad with a family, like…" He struggled coming up with the right words, but Roxas could picture it easily. A wife, a white picket fence, a dog.
What he was describing reminded him of his conversation with Namine, right before she walked out of the apartment after their breakup. It suddenly dawned on him. "I think… Namine's a little terrified of the future right now." Marluxia turned to him, his eyes peaked with interest. "What she really needs is to feel like her entire future isn't going to be just about this kid… She wants to know that she has a career and a person she can rely on and take her side when things get really tough."
Namine was still so very young, and while Roxas was sure she could handle anything, there was still a lot she was missing out on. Having a supportive network, letting her still experience her youth, and knowing she could still achieve everything she dreamed about as a child were incredibly important.
"You think you can give her all that?" Roxas asked.
Marluxia glanced at him, still feeling awkward about… all of this. Roxas had no reason to be as chill as he was acting, but the drummer appreciated it so much. He still hadn't exactly told his friends about what happened. Knowing them, they'd be pissed. Axel would call him a hypocrite. Riku would give him a lecture. Xigbar would probably thrash him and Luxord would collect money for a bet he had going against him. It would all be worth it if Namine would look at him the same way she used to, before it got so complicated.
"I'm sure I can," the man responded. There was a moment of companionable silence before Marluxia snapped out of it and glanced down at the blond "Anyway, I'm sure you didn't come all the way down here just to hear me talk about my problems. What's up?"
Roxas' face tinged a slight shade of pink as he tried to gather up the courage to ask what he came there for. "Well, y'see, I'm trying to look for a job… And the market's not doing too hot right now. I was wondering if you knew of anything that was out there for someone like me?"
Marluxia paused for a moment, processing what Roxas just asked him. "Someone like you?" he asked critically. "Well, I know there's an opening at the Juicy Couture store downtown." Roxas knew there was no way he would fit in at a posh place like that. Namine took him into it once and he almost fainted at the price tags. Marluxia looked like he was really wracking his mind trying to think of any openings. "There's a couple restaurants that are looking for servers…" Roxas wasn't sure he could survive in a service job like that.
The man suddenly snapped his fingers and Roxas perked up. "I know! You helped out the band a lot, you know how to deal with people like us. The Organization is looking for a new employee, a floater."
Roxas perked up at this. "Really?"
"A lot of the people who work there are college students who left to go home for winter vacation. With New Years coming up they could really use some new bouncers and security guards. I also heard that the new bartender got canned because they found out he was serving to his girlfriend, who's a minor." Marluxia laughed. "What an idiot. You don't do that at the place you work. She got tanked one night and it turned out she's only seventeen. I guess we all sorta knew he wouldn't last. He didn't even have a bracelet…"
"So you think you can get me a job at the Organization?" Roxas asked hopefully.
Marluxia smiled, seeing how much this meant to the blond. "I'll see what I can do."
oooOOOoooOOOoooOOOooo
"Okay," Cid sighed, looking angrily down on Roxas. "That's the stage. That's the bar. That's the green room. Those are the bathrooms." He started walking away to a door behind the bar. At first Roxas was left standing alone before he caught on that he was probably supposed to be following him. When he got into the back room, which seemed to store all the alcohol and kegs that weren't in use, he found Cid struggling to open up a wooden door near the back. "This is the supplies closet. It gets stuck a lot…" he muttered. "You'll find yer napkins, jello shot molds, plastic cups and the like in here."
He brushed past Roxas back to the main bar, walking towards a large metal door that Roxas had never gone through. The blond followed the large man up a floor of creaky wooden steps to an office on the second floor. There were dusty windows in the office that overlooked the stage, giving the perfect view. All over the office there were photographs of Cid and all the bands that had ever performed at the Organization. Some were faded Polaroids dated all the way back to the eighties, while others looked like they were printed out from an email with a typed message expressing the band's gratitude under it. Roxas honestly had no idea that Cid was the owner of the Organization this entire time.
The gruff man took a seat in a torn up leather chair behind the large oak desk that was kept impeccably clean. He even had two trays labeled 'IN' and 'OUT', and it seemed worth noting that there were more miscellaneous papers in the 'OUT' tray that the other. In fact, there was only one paper in the 'IN' tray, and that was intended for Roxas. Cid took the paper out and read over it briefly.
"Okay, this is just the usual paperwork saying that you're of the legal age to be working in a facility that serves alcohol, goes over all the food and drink rules that you have to be aware of before you can start working behind the counter." Cid lowered the paper for a moment to give Roxas a look. "And you know you won't be allowed to work behind the counter until you get at least some kind of schooling, but we have people who can help you with that. We're not a very big flair bar since we host all-ages shows. I'm sure you've already been told about the last bartender we had…" He trailed off, waiting for some sort of answer from Roxas. The blond nodded head, remembered what Marluxia had said about the man who served to his underage girlfriend. "Right, so none of that or you're getting arrested. The city has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to that kind of shit and I already had them breathing down my back before."
Cid rolled his eyes and mentioned something slanderous about the Turkish people under his breath. "And we don't exactly have any sort of uniform policy here. But dress mature, right? Don't come in wearing some nü rave band tee that makes you look like a fucking fourteen-year-old girl. Dress in a way that gives you authority and sets you apart from our customers. You've been around, you know how they are. Employees wear an Organization crest bracelet that you do not take off ever," Cid stated very clearly. He reached into his drawer and pulled out a used and worn dark brown leather cuff and showed it to Roxas. There was some sort of upside-down heart mixed with a cross burned into the hide of the leather. "But first things first, I'll need two forms of government-issued IDs. This could be your driver's license and something else, like your social or your passport, but I don't need those today. Just be sure to-"
"Oh, I have them right here," Roxas commented, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his driver's license and his social security card. Cid cocked a brow and smiled.
"Prompt. Good man. Lemme make a copy of these right quick." Cid took Roxas' IDs and walked into another small room that looked about the size of closet. There were some beeping sounds and then two bright flashes of light that bounced against the wall before Cid returned and started stapling the copies to the paper he was glancing off from earlier. He handed the paper to Roxas, who picked it up and started glancing over some of the finer print.
"Our hours are from eleven AM for lunch to two in the morning. The afternoons are usually dead unless we have some talent in here or it's a school holiday. Since you're still a student during the day I'll start you off by working evenings Tuesday through Saturdays and-"
"Do you mind if I have Tuesdays off, actually? I can work Mondays instead…"
"Sure, no problem. So we'll start you off working from seven to three, a round eight hour shift everyday. You get there about when doors open and you leave after clean up. You get a one-hour break after your third or fourth hour; it depends on who's around and who claims first break. You got that?"
Roxas nodded. Cid stood up and Roxas followed quickly. The older man held out his hand for Roxas to shake. "Welcome aboard, then." Instead of shaking Roxas' hand when the blond reached forward, the club owner grabbed Roxas' wrist and tied the cuff around it. "Once you're in, you're in for life. Think you can handle it?"
Roxas laughed hesitantly. "Well, I can't really back down now, can I?" he asked, holding up the wrist cuff that was now tied to him in an army-grade knot.
Cid smiled and patted the kid on the shoulder. "Atta boy."
xxxXXXxxxXXXxxx
A lot of stuff happened this chapter! And I have a lot to say so I guess I'll get right to it:
(there was a section here talking about how I needed a beta, but the position has been filled. thanks y'all!)
SO ANYWAY IN GAME NEWS - I'm stuck on dream drop distance! For some reason I have a dilly of a pickle with Riku's side of the game (I have a couple coworkers who've played 3D and they all said they had more problems with Sora's side so idek what's wrong with me…) Sora's dive into the Three Musketeers world was really easy but in Riku's dive you have to fight this squid boss and it just isn't happening for me. I've taken two breaks to try and level up Riku before going back to fight and no dice. Just not happening. Meanwhile I keep stalling Sora in the game because I don't want him to get too far ahead but he's almost done with the world's story and Riku hasn't even started yet T_T; I'll probably just have to level up some more but it's the worst. (jk i love leveling up f me)
Also the Square Enix E3 conference is tomorrow? WHO'S EXCITED BC IM REALLY EXCITED. SO EXCITED. Like- I don't even care what they have to say, as long as they say something about KH. Like they could announce a new line of KH cell phone charms and I'd still be frothing at the mouth.
In Ballad news, the next chapter is the last one before the all-new bonus content! It might take a while finding my beta and getting everything situated, so I don't know when the new material will be uploaded, but the next chapter should be posted on the 29th, per usual! Thanks guys!
And I guess that's about it! Please REVIEW! FOLLOW FAV! Love y'all!