All the fuss everyone's been throwing on the Network and it comes down to this: too-sweet cake and Demyx plucking out cliches on a sitar. Not for the first time, Roxas checks for a watch he doesn't actually own and wonders how many points he'd lose for discreetly climbing out the window in the middle of the reception. He's never liked the social things, after all.

But he does owe it to stay, doesn't he?

Absently, Roxas leans an elbow on the table, tuning the music out. A few hours down, several more to go. And only one overplayed song's tempo to keep the time.