Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Namine tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and reached for her smoothie, taking a few mores sips. She really didn't have anything to say at this point of the conversation, since she only knew a small bit about Roxas' musical abilities.

Sora heard some clapping around him and his eyes wandered around the room and then to the stage, seeing the man who had been performing before give a small bow before he walked off the stage. Open mic? he wondered, though he didn't say anything aloud.

 

Kairi thought for a moment before finally saying what she thought. "You know, Roxas," she started, fiddling with the straw of her drink, "you should really think about performing in front of crowds. Your music is too good to just leave within the walls of your home." She looked up at him, only to see him raise his eyebrows.

"You mean...perform in front of critics?" Roxas wondered aloud. He looked across from him and toward the redhead. He wasn't one for judgement, so he didn't make harsh critiques about anyone. But with people doing that to him...and about his music? He just didn't know...

 

Sora shrugged slightly. "Yeah, why not?" he started. He motioned to the stage with his head. "Looks like an open mic right now, and the crowd seems pretty relaxed. Why not give it a shot?" He realized this was pretty sudden, but he knew that Roxas wasn't one to get extremely nervous when it came to his music.

Namine took another sip from her drink, casually listening into the conversation. Each time somebody spoke, she would turn her eyes and look at them, so at that moment, her eyes rested on Sora. Open mic, huh? That would be interesting...from what she had heard, the last guy was pretty good. But she hadn't heard too much of that, since she and her friends had been having a good time with their conversation.

 

Kairi looked at Sora when he spoke and nodded, smiling when she turned her gaze back to Roxas. "Yeah, go for it, Roxas," she encouraged. "These people aren't going to be harsh on you," she added lightly, remembering what he had said. She motioned toward them. "See? They're all comfortable and polite."

Roxas looked at the stage a moment, his eyebrows furrowing. He guessed he could give it a shot. It wasn't like he was scared or anything--stagefright never occured to him. "Alright. Why not?" he said, shrugging. Roxas offered his friends a smile as he pushed himself away from the table. He'd never really performed in front of a crowd before, mostly just his friends. But he knew that his music took him to a whole new world, where he could just play and do what he loved.

 

Namine put her drink on the table, a small smile on her lips. She was glad Roxas' had given in to Sora and Kairi; from what she had heard, he really was a great singer, and the people here would probably enjoy some of his music. She knew that she had enjoyed it in the past.

Sora nodded, giving his friend an encouraging smile. "Good luck," he said, though he knew Roxas didn't need the sentiment. Roxas was confident in his musical abilities, which was a good thing, because their was no reason to be insecure when he was so naturally talented with it.

 

Roxas offered them all a grin as he walked away. He made his way around the tables toward the stage. He noticed the guy that had been up there before was standing nearby. He appeared pretty relaxed and confident now that he was done, but Roxas was like that now--before he went on.

Kairi looked after the blond boy with a smile on her face, happy to see him finally get ready to perform in public. "I wonder what he wrote..." she said aloud. "I haven't heard much of his music for a while."

 

Sora shrugged slightly. "Yeah, it's been a while since we talked about his music," he stated, partially for Namine's sake. "Guess we'll have to wait and be surprised," he said with a smile. Whatever it was, he was sure that it was good.

Namine brought her cup up again, taking a drink through the straw. Again, she really didn't have anything to say. It wasn't awkward, she was perfectly comfortable listening to a conversation instead of verbally being a part of it.

 

Roxas made his way around to the side of the stage. He saw that there was a guitar sitting onstage, resting on a stand. He stepped up to the stage, immediately feeling the heat of the lights hit him. He went over and grabbed the guitar, looping it over his shoulders and adjusting the strap. There was a stool from before, where the guy before him had been sitting in front of the microphone. Roxas approached it, tuning the guitar once he sat down.

Kairi nodded. Her eyes were on Roxas again, watching him up onstage. The place grew quieter at the sight of the boy on the stage, the guests ready to listen to the music the boy had to offer.

 

Namine turned her seat slightly, facing more toward the stage than she had been before. She noticed Roxas tuning the guitar, but even more than that, she noticed his confidence. He didn't seem nervous about this at all, but in a way, that wasn't surprising. When she heard him singing the previous night, when he had thought he had been alone, she could just tell how confident he was.

 

Once the guitar was finally tuned, Roxas strummed a few notes to make sure it was right. He realized that it was and turned his attention to the audience before him. There weren't very many people, but enough to actually be a crowd. "Hey, guys," he greeted into the mic. "My name's Roxas and I'll be playing an original. Hope you enjoy." He glanced over at his friends, sending them a smile.

Kairi could tell that Roxas was comfortable onstage once he spoke into the mic. It wasn't surprising, mostly because he was always playing his music. Though she hadn't heard it in a while, she was sure it was still the same. Kairi smiled at his gesture, nodding in encouragement. She was sure he was going to do great.

 

Namine sent Roxas an encouraging smile, noticing even more how comfortable he appeared up there. She didn't think he had ever performed in public; after all, that's the way things had sounded in their conversation a few minutes ago.

Sora nodded slightly, a smile appearing on his lips. You're gonna do great, he thought, though he realized Roxas couldn't hear him. Sora had this strange habit of thinking that way, probably because he could communicate his thoughts to Kairi through his heart. Sometimes he forgot he couldn't do that with anyone but her.

 

Roxas got that tingling feeling again, his smile fading slightly from when it had grown when he had received smiles back. He shook it off, knowing that he could do this. Why was he comfortable? It was simple--he loved to play his music, and music made him feel free. He felt like he was in another world, which was why the stares from the audience weren't making him nervous at all.

Kairi was lucky enough to have a good view from where she sat, the boy within plain sight. She leaned back in her seat, folding her hands in her lap.

 

Sora kept a hand on Kairi's knee, the teen facing the stage but still pretty much next to Kairi. He patiently sat there, the cafe around him pretty quiet as well as they waited for Roxas to start his song.

 

Roxas looked down at the guitar in his hands before he softly began to strum. The notes echoed through the cafe as the boy closed his eyes, playing for a few seconds. His voice then carried through the microphone.

"Hmm, la da da da da ah..." He played a few more notes before continuing:

"Under the silver stars
right where he broke your heart
Girl, you know I'd give you everything"

Kairi felt herself smile immediately. Just the first few words were enough to tell that Roxas was confident.

 

Namine kept a light grip on her smoothie, her eyes wandering from the cup to the boy on stage. Surprisingly, she didn't recognize the song at all. Before, she had been under the impression that Roxas sang a lot of his songs to her, but this one was completely new to her. Unless her memory was worse than she thought...

 

"I wanna hold your hand
And say the words he never said
I'll make you promises you can believe," Roxas sang. He strummed his guitar more, opening his eyes.

"Let me be the one
Tellin' you it's alright
Sharin' the smiles and tears you cry
Let me be the one
Lovin' you when you're weak
For all of the strength you need..."

Roxas's eyes found the blonde girl in the corner.

"...You can come to me."

 

Namine met Roxas' eyes, emotions flooding to her heart. She felt herself blush, shyness forcing her to look down at the beverage she gripped. Her cheeks turned pink as she blinked her eyes twice, silently exhaling a breath. She suddenly didn't feel right...she felt, dizzy, in a way. But not dizzy at the same time. But something didn't feel right, and it wasn't just her shyness.

 

Kairi smiled a little more, the song's dedication apparent now.

"When you're down and you feel so lonely
Turn around, you can come to me
When you're down baby, I will be the only
Come to me..."

Roxas looked down at the guitar as he strummed more chords, singing into the microphone. He lifted his head to the audience, closing his eyes once more.

"You can just be yourself,
'Cause I don't want nobody else
All of your secrets are safe with me, yeah...
Oh! For the kind of love you can trust,
For more than just a crush,
Baby, why don't you just come to me?"

 

Namine bit down on her lip lightly, looking down at her lap. But she wasn't seeing the fabric of her jeans...she was seeing something else entirely.

As if she were seeing things from a bird's eye view, Namine saw herself on Roxas' couch, clearly upset. No, not just upset...she looked physically ill. But then Roxas came, and he knelt in front of her. And then...much to her surprise, he started to sing quietly. The words were from a song he had sung before, and it warmed her heart, both in the memory and at the current moment.

Once he was finished, Namine smiled, some words escaping her. "You always know what I need, don't you?" she asked softly, a small smile still on her lips.

Then Roxas smiled. "It's my job," he said quietly.

 

"Let me be the one
Telling you it's alright
Sharing the smiles and tears you cry
Let me be the one
Loving you when you're weak
For all of the strength you need,
You can come to me..."

Roxas strummed his guitar, furrowing his eyebrows as he hit notes.

"When I've got you in my arms,
got you in my arms
Say it's where you wanna be,
where you wanna be, yeah
'Cause girl I'm down on my knees
Promising my heart, oh my heart...

"Let me be the one, yeah
Tellin' you it's alright
Sharin' the smiles and tears you cry
Let me be the one, let me be the one
Lovin' you when you're weak
For all of the strength you need..." Roxas hit the high note with tightly closed eyes, strumming his guitar in rhythm.