2026.10.31 - A Special Place Among Friends
So, Roxas had something special he wanted to show Sora and Demyx. He even made Sora wear a blindfold, and then led through the streets, before guiding them into a building, and up a long, spiraling stare. When they were outside, and the breeze was on their face, Roxas said "Ok, take the blindfolds off."
Twilight Town spreads out beneath the Clock Tower. In the distance, the trolley goes by, its bell ringing. Roxas sets down a cooler full of ice cream bars, and then he says, "This is my favorite spot in the whole city. When we want some quiet time to hang out and talk, the Twilight Town crew will come up here and relax, look at the sunset, and have some ice cream. Me, and Axel, and Xion, and Isa, and Hayner, Pence, Olette—we just... sit at the edge of the clock tower and look out at the horizon and... talk."
Twilight Town always looks beautiful, but there's a certain something to be said for the view from above. Demyx has seen the city from almost every angle, but he's never really taken it in from the top of the clocktower. He knew that some of the others used to like spending time up here, but that was the Before Times. When they weren't friends. Now that they are, things can be different.
On a side note, Demyx has decided he needs to get a new outfit soon. After the comfort of the swim trunks at the beach, he's realized that shopping needs to be in his near future. The matter of Munny would need to be handled, but he's reasonably sure his new friends can help with that. Maybe he could even get a part-time job. Street sweeping was always an option, after all, right?
For the time being, he's followed Roxas and Sora to this spot. He's eager to experience whatever his new friends want him to experience. He's still not sure how well this will work out, but he's optimistic. "Hmm. Y'know, I knew this was a spot but I've never actually been here. It never really felt like it was my place to... intrude."
Sora had been curious to the point of being a bit bouncy as they made their way up the tower, and when they reached the top he was clearly curious to figure out which area of the city they were in. Happily, once they get to the top, Roxas doesn't keep them waiting too long, so Sora reaches up to pull off the blindfold, not even bothering to untie it first. When he realizes where they area, his jaw drops as if in slow motion, his eyes widen, and his fingers go slack. The blindfold, caught by the breeze, flutters off on some new adventure.
"Roxas," Sora says quietly, "this is...."
He trails off, and at first it might seem that he's just lost his train of thought, taking it all in. At least, that's how it seems right up until he pulls up his forearm, burying the lower half of his face against it, and strangles back a sound that's not quite a sob, more of a rather damp-sounding gasp. He doesn't burst into tears or anything quite so dramatic, but his eyes instantly pick up an extra shine, and droplets of moisture threaten to spill from the corners. His arm drops as quickly as it came up, he turns to face Roxas, glances at Demyx -- back to Roxas. Then, Sora seems to feel compelled to explain...what Roxas has already explained, just in much more basic terms.
His voice a bit choked, Sora directs the next words at Demyx, "This...is a special place."
Demyx watches Sora with a guarded expression as the shorter boy reacts to where they are. He's not sure what is happening at first, but gets the gist of it pretty quickly. He'd heard about the clocktower and he knew where it was. He'd never been. And he didn't really know what experiences the others had there. So his expression is one of faint surprise as Sora reacts so strongly to being here.
Casually leaning against the wall and crossing his arms, Demyx gazes out over everything. "Special? I didn't realize it was that important." His tone isn't dismissive, but a combination of curious and perhaps confused.
He tilts his head to the side. "I was always a little... envious isn't quite the right word... I suppose regretful that I wasn't close to anyone the way you guys seemed to be." Because Organization XIII was about accomplishing a goal, and not a positive one at that. Although Demyx trained with Roxas, it didn't create the camaraderie the shorter Nobody had with his other friends. True, it gave them perspective on each other. But that's not the same thing as friendship.
There's a certain instinct about Demyx to reach out to Sora, but he holds back. Turning his attention to Roxas, he asks plainly, "Talk about what?"
Roxas turns to look at Sora, and his expression softens. "Don't cry, Sora." He looks back at Demyx, and says, "We talk about everything, anything. Sometimes we don't talk at all, we just sit together." He smiles, slightly, and then pats Sora on the back, lightly. "Friends don't necessarily need to talk, it's enough to just be together. To sit and think with someone there who gives you comfort." He opens the cooler, and takes out one of those sea salt ice cream bars that ae his heart's delight, and hands them to each of them, before he gets his own.
"I guess I don't really have words for how this place makes me feel." Roxas sits on the edge of the Clock Tower, legs dangling.
Sora scrubs the back of that arm across his eyes, mostly preventing actual tears, but his eyes are still a bit misty, his face just lightly flushed with emotion, as he accepts the ice cream bar. For a moment, he just holds it near his chest, smiling down at it like it's the nicest thing he's ever seen in the world. Sora, for those who know him, can be pretty sentimental about things. He still has a good luck charm made of seashells that one of his best friends made, and it's one of his greatest personal treasures.
"We had a place, too," Sora says quietly, but the emotion in his voice is fonder, now, less threatening to brim over. "It was this tree. I guess it got bent sideways in the wind or something, but...it was like this perfect bench. We'd sit and watch the sunset...Riku, Kairi, and me. It was our special place." He looks up at Demyx, his expression trying to explain beyond his words how important this is, and then to Roxas, and his expression is a complex mix of old sadness, older happiness, and gratitude. There's no missing the fact that this means quite a lot to him. Then, almost reverentially, he takes a bite of the ice cream.
It's a testament to the gravity of the moment that he manages not to give himself a brain freeze.
Demyx accepts the ice cream bar, looking out over the city again. He takes a seat next to Roxas, legs hanging over the edge, and glances down. "You know, this is pretty high up. Beautiful view, but I'd hate to be up here when it's windy." Not really. A little wind won't bother him, but he's just making an observation.
He begins to enjoy the ice cream much like he did at the beach. Which means taking his time with it. There was no shortage of them, but why rush a good thing? Better to savor it.
Roxas's explanation of friendship sounds so simple and... well, nice. The idea of being around people just for the sake of being around them. Not because you have a reason to be. It's not entirely foreign to Demyx, but it's a concept he has to sit with for a bit to wrap his head around.
He looks at Sora as he talks about a tree where his close friends used to spend time together. A faint frown crosses Demyx's features as he stares at the ice cream. Then he takes a small bite. It seemed like that was the right way to enjoy these, or something. He can appreciate the difference. "I wonder if I'll ever get to have that." Demyx didn't have anything remotely resembling a special place. "It sounds... like a thing worth having. Some place you feel so strongly about. A place that you keep in your... heart."
Roxas's expression is calm. He knows the tree. He's seen it. He was there watching Sora say goodbye to Kairi there before he vanished, and they all had to go find him. Which... is still a mystery they're all trying to figure out. Why there? And did something happen to Sora between him vanishing and him turning up?
Roxas takes a bite of his ice cream bar, seeming to relish the spike of cold before it melts in his mouth. "We usually come up here on days like to day. But if it's hot, the breezes up here are great." He smiles again, leaning back on one hand.
"Those places are best when you share them, I think. Like I'm sharing this with you right now."
Sora savors the bite of ice cream, letting it melt on his tongue, and then steps up to sit down beside Roxas, practically hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder, continuing to hold up the ice cream like it's just a bit sacred. "Yeah," he agrees, a bit lamely, but his smile says far more than the word conveys. Then, as Roxas continues, Sora's smile breaks into a wide, delighted grin. His tongue is a bit blue.
"Yeah!" he agrees brightly, turning to look at Demyx. The expression doesn't dim, so much as the grin softens again into a tender smile, and his eyes are still bright, but now it's in a that cheerful way that's more typical of Sora. "Hey," he says in a low, easy tone, "What d'you think we're doing right now? This is a special place, and now you're part of it, too." He lifts the ice cream and gives it a little nibble, and while his mouth is still slightly full he spouts, "Mmmm! We should do this on Destiny Island, too! You should get to be part of all our special places!"
That's one thing about Sora. When he decides to love someone, he loves them with his whole heart.
Demyx looks over at Roxas and Sora fondly. "Thank you for sharing your special place with me. It... it means a lot." Demyx struggles with the words a bit. Not because it's hard to say them. Because they don't seem to say enough. It doesn't sound like a place Roxas would show just anyone. He's not sure how far along the friendship scale he's gotten with Roxas and Sora, but sharing a place like this has to count pretty high up there. Right?
As Sora mentions Destiny Island, Demyx just nods. "I'd like that. I want to see the places that mean something to you. I want to... I know it's not the same. But I'd like to make memories, too. With you guys." He smiles then, a genuine one, not his trademark smirk. "This isn't what I expected when I went looking for Roxas. I thought, you know, I might get an interesting conversation out of it. So... it's nice to be surprised."
Roxas pats the ledge next to him, encouraging Demyx to sit. "Demyx, we're friends!" Roxas smiles, slightly. "If we weren't before, we can choose to be now. He puts his arm around Sora, and goes back to taking in the view.
"That means you're friends with the Usual Suspects too. I still have to show you two the Usual Spot, that's where we hang out and do Struggle practice. Oh, yeah! You guys need to see me Struggle!" He gestures to himself with a thumb. "Six time unbroken Struggle Champion titleholder. I'm deadlier with a foam bat than I am with a Keyblade." Struggle, of course, isn't really a high impact sport—you wear plastic "armor" with velcro on it, and they attach fuzzy balls to you that your opponent tries to knock off your body with the bat. You're actually penalized for deliberately smacking your opponent with the bat.
Sora is saved by the fact that he's just put his ice cream into his mouth when Roxas describes Struggle, or he'd have definitely made a really stupid joke about smacking balls and ruined the moment. Instead, he just grins to himself as he lets the bite melt in his mouth, and then he finally pipes up, "I wanna play you! You'll definitely kick my butt, but it'll be so fun!" The idea clearly has him tickled, to say nothing of excited, and he drapes his arm around Roxas' shoulders fondly, beaming at him.
"Maybe sometime you should play Riku. Watching him lose would be hilarious, uh...just...don't tell him I said that, 'kay?"
Nibbling a bit on some of the exposed ice cream stick and raising one knee, his foot's perched on the edge of the roof, so he can lean his elbow on the knee, he lets his arm hang a bit and gazes contentedly out over the city, smile deepening some and eyes drifting close when a bit of breeze ruffles his hair. "I'm glad you took us here," he says, voice soft but emphatic, "and I'm really glad Demyx got to see it."
Then, suddenly, he sits up straight, his foot drops back over the side, and his eyes pop open. "Oh!" he enthuses. "And I gotta show you both the Castle! It's...kind of like...Radiant Garden, I guess, only...more ancient. Sometimes we use it as a meeting place."
Demyx takes the spot next to Roxas, nudging him carefully with his shoulder. "Friends sounds like a good position to be in. Is there a membership badge? You know, something I can pin to my coat and show off?" The smirk resurfaces as he takes another bite of his ice cream. It really was better this way, but he had to start off by being a rebel every time.
Roxas's explanation of Struggle brings both of Demyx's eyebrows up. As Sora and Roxas discuss the game, Demyx (unlike Sora) is absolutely not above making jokes about it. "Wow, six times? You should absolutely challenge Riku. He'll get penalized into a negative score. Buuuuuuuut...you'd better not invite Sora to play, then. With his aim, he'd become the new Champion and break your streak. He doesn't even have to try to miss his opponent, it's all natural skill. I'm sure he'd have no problem at all with your fuzzy balls." He can't help but smirk as he makes the double entendre remark. Because of course, Demyx is Demyx.
"Castle? That sounds interesting. Yes, I'd love to see that, too. It sounds like you guys have lots of places to introduce me to." He's smiling again at the thought.
Roxas's cheeks turn slightly pink, but he laughs, which given the smoothness and baritone timbre of his voice is actually quite a pleasant thing. "Come on, Demyx," he says, rubbing the back of his neck, before he smiles at him, his blue eyes bright. He takes another bite of his own ice cream cone and then another, until he's finished it. He looks at the stick to see if it's a winner, and it's not, so he just sets it down.
"...I'm surprised the Guardians don't have a pin or a badge." Roxas muses, rubbing his chin. "Radiant Garden is so beautiful. If you'd been to Hollow Bas-" he pauses. "Wait, those are Sora's memories, not mine."
Sora's blush is maybe mildly more flustered than Roxas's, but he laughs, too, which is maybe a bit more manic, less smooth than his Other's, but he does point vaguely at Demyx with his ice cream stick, declaring, "Don't tease Roxas about Struggle! It's serious business!" Then, biting last bit of ice cream still hanging on to that stick, he too looks down. Not a winner, but that's okay. Sora doesn't set the stick down, though. He tries to slip it into the pocket of his jeans so nobody will notice.
"Y'know," Sora says, inspiration sparkling in his eyes, "we should get a badge! Maybe we can design one and make 'em for everybody. It'd be so cool, like -- official membership badges!" It's exactly the kind of thing that makes Sora go squee, so of course he loves the idea.
Demyx lets out an actual loud laugh as the others react to his comments. "Oh, I couldn't resist teasing you guys a little. Friends do that, right? Make fun of each other when you know it's not malicious." He elbows Roxas softly. "I'm sure it's quite a sight to see you at Struggle. Consider me a spectator at your next match, for sure. Just say when."
Demyx also finishes his ice cream. For a moment, he forgets about the 'Winner' on them. But when he sees everyone checking theirs, he does too. Nope. Not a winner, either. "Wait, really? You're going to get badges? Huh." He rubs his chin thoughtfully. "I'm not much of a creative type, but I'll take one if you'll have me." He arches a brow at them. "Unless there's a test or something I have to take. Or membership dues. Any of that? Cause I'm broke." He's teasing again, naturally. Well except about the being broke part.
Roxas raises his eyebrows at Demyx, and says, "You might have to get a JOB, Demyx." He pauses, and then he puts his other arm around Demyx's shoulders—well, a little lower since Demyx is a few inches taller than they are—so he's got an arm comfortably around each of them. "I think it'd be great to have you. I think Axel's missed arguing with you."
He gives a soft smile, apparently utterly at ease and utterly content. "I'll even donate my Struggle winnings to the 'Feed a homeless Demyx' fund."
"Aw, man!" Sora groans, "Jobs!?" He gives Roxas a look to put the saddest of puppy dogs off his game. "Don't we get a pass on that since we saved the worlds a bunch of times? It's not like we ever sent anyone a bill for rescuing them from the Darkness." He pauses, then, and gets a thoughtful look. "Hey, do you think the owner'd pay us if we found more cool stuff to inspire that chef of his at the Bistro? I'm pretty sure that place is doing great business by now!"
Meanwhile, he's tracing a fingertip on his thigh, just above the fabric of his shorts, as if trying to picture how a symbol or other would come together. Unquestionably, he's still thinking about membership badges. That idea is one he'll probably never let go, now that it's been suggested. Absently, he adds, "Oh, and I wanna come to your next match, too! Maybe you'll win a really big jackpot, and then you'll be so rich you can hire the rest of us to be your, like, cabana boys!"
Demyx frowns at the word 'job' but lets out a shrug. "Yeah, yeah. I know, I probably will have to do something like that. Maybe I can busk in the plaza. I've got Arpeggio, after all. And my dashing good looks and charming smile." He flashes them said smile. He is rather handsome. "And I don't have to be homeless. I do believe a certain Nobody offered to let me crash at his place. And a certain Somebody also offered me a place. So maybe I won't be staying at the hotel for much longer." Particularly since that required funds, which Demyx did not have. And the rental Roxas paid for was almost done.
The mention of the bistro seems to grab Demyx's curiosity. "Oh, I hear they have the most delicious food. Never tried it myself, but there's always a first time for everything. And it sounds like I'm gonna be sticking around for a bit." At least, that was the plan for now. He'd already made up his mind.
As Sora mentions cabana boys, Demyx gives him a look. "And what exactly does being a cabana boy entail? I'll need a job description before I commit, you know." There's a gleam in his eyes as he says it. He'd probably love to be Roxas's cabana boy, if it came with perks.
Roxas gives Sora a 'really?' Look. He admits that the food in the bistro is delicious? But watching the chef get driven around the kitchen like a car by a rat—that's an image Roxas just cannot shake. Not that the rat was ever directly preparing the food, but still.
He decides not to bring it up. What Demyx doesn't know probably won't hurt him.
The mention of cabana boys makes Roxas blush. "Uh, I really don't think I need one of those. Not that -" His ears turn red. "Oh, never mind."
"The food there's great!" Sora insists. Like Roxas, though, he does not care to address rumors of rats in the kitchen, especially not rats with the astonishing (and, thankfully, not-used-for-evil) power to pilot someone like some kind of mecha by dint of hair-pulling. Hypothetically. Then, without a beat, he adds, "Busking in the plaza would be cool, though! I bet you'd make a ton!" As to his offer of a place to crash, he just grins and nods. Naturally, he's very happy to offer up his own space to a friend, any time.
The responses to his cabana boy point lead to Sora blowing a raspberry and shaking his head, saying, "I just mean, y'know! Like a pool boy! Sheesh, you act like I said something weird. Not like I suggested he should be a...maid or something!" The expression on his face, though, as he imagines Demyx dressed as a maid, is fairly priceless, somewhere between astonished, intrigued, and terrified.
Demyx remains blissfully unaware of the shenanigans in the bistro kitchen. Sora's agreement that busking might be a good idea earns the boy a smile. "Well, see, glad you agree it's a good idea. Maybe I can squeeze my way out of getting an actual shudder job." He's not against the idea, he just really has no idea what he'd do.
Demyx lets out another laugh as Roxas blushes. "You know, I might make it a challenge to see how often we can get you to do that." He pauses. "Blushing, I mean. You look so fuckin' cute when you do." There's a grin behind that statement, one that's not entirely just friendly. There's some heat to it, although Demyx keeps it under control.
Until that comment about a maid and Demyx just shoots Sora a flat look. "Wow. A maid? Really? I know I look good in monochrome, but somehow I don't see aprons and short skirts in my future." Reaching back to the cooler, he pops it up and pulls out some more ice cream. "Why don't you two have some more." He passes Roxas another bar to enjoy. Sora's gets held out. Then pulled back. Then held out again. After a short game of keepaway, he finally lets him have the ice cream bar. "That's for the maid comment." He sticks his tongue out at Sora before taking a bite out of his ice cream bar.
When Sora starts talking about dressing up like maids, Roxas smacks him in the arm, lightly. Maybe Sora knows why. Maybe he doesn't. It was an Incident. Roxas doesn't speak of it.
It was a perfect ending to the day. What started with waves and sand ends with a gorgeous view from high above. All of it highlighted by the sea salt ice cream that has come to mean a symbol of friendship. A friendship that Demyx is, apparently, now part of.
Who'd have guessed.