Disclaimer: Let's make a checklist of all the things I don't own: Sexy men? Check. Awesome musical productions? Check. Korean boybands? Check….
For my awesome friend Riisoku. Go read her stuff. It will make you smile big. :P
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"Loathing…unadulterated loathing…for your face."
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It made absolutely no sense.
He'd turned it over in his mind too many times to count, but Roxas still didn't understand how Demyx…
He stopped himself mid-thought. Professor. It was Professor Demyx now. It still felt awkward calling his older brother by that title…Especially considering his brother not only had the attention span of a goldfish, but also the maturity level of a three-year old to match it. Roxas shuddered as he plopped down on the piano bench in front of him. It was probably best to get in the habit of using the absurd name, but it felt so utterly wrong…
Roxas rolled his eyes and began fiddling with the black and white keys before him, wincing at the out of tune notes that emerged. He felt bad for poor musical instrument; it must suck sounding like crap all the time.
And thus, he had proved his own point.
He still understand how Professor Demyx had decided that the drama department-the underfunded, underappreciated by the student body, and (now that the seniors had graduated) largely un-experienced drama department-would be able to pull….this… monstrosity of a musical off.
Wicked.
Demyx wanted to do Wicked as the Spring Musical.
Just thinking the sentence as a cohesive thought was almost enough to make him collapse on the floor in convulsions.
Don't misunderstand; Roxas loved Wicked. Worshiped Wicked, really. The powerhouse vocals, the dramatic set, the makeup and wardrobe. Of course, the fantastic symphonic arrangement was his favorite, he loved them all.
But…
He also, however, had the amount of common sense to realize that at a private school where fine arts took the backseat to the attempted athletics, they had no powerhouse vocals, dramatic set, or make up and wardrobe. And they sure as hell didn't have a symphony. Or room to put one.
In short, this musical was a disaster waiting to happen… And of course, he had been put in charge of musicality. A.K.A- he was responsible for making sure that the "symphony" (more like 3 trumpets, a few flutes, a drummer, a few people who had no idea what they were doing but wanted to play something, and himself on piano) sounded good. Lucky for him, all the instrumentalists could play and play well; they were all close friends, and he was confident that they could play any part he threw at them.
…Unlucky for him, he had to transpose and arrange all the original string parts into the other instruments. It wasn't nearly as fun as it sounded, and had Roxas had a choice in the matter, he wouldn't have even accepted the job. But his older brother had quite a habit of being a manipulative little blackmailing bastard, and well…. Roxas could really do without those pictures from the first grade play shown throughout the school.
Being a "sugar-plum fairy" didn't exactly exude masculinity, and with his scrawny build and squeaky voice, Roxas figured it was best to not give the student body any more reason to think he was a homo.
So, it was with a very, very heavy heart and a large cup of hot tea (he hated coffee; pureed bean had never really appealed to him) that Roxas found himself seated at the auditorium piano. Demyx had insisted that he be there for the casting auditions; apparently "he trusted his younger brother's input on musicality" and "relied on him to make wise decisions based on the musical portion of the play." Demyx had been beaming when he gave Roxas the speech that morning.
"It'll be great!" he had said, stuffing a piece of toast off Roxas's in his mouth. "We'll be like co-directors! We'll do equal amounts of work, and everything will be easier! You'll see!" And with that, he had rushed out the door leaving an annoyed (and breakfast-less) Roxas in his wake
Roxas rolled his eyes and took his seat at the long table in front of the stage. "If we're going to be doing equal amounts of work…. Then where the hell is he?!" he muttered under his breath.
"I'm right here, Roxy-boy! Don't get your thong all twisted!" Demyx sauntered into the auditorium, clutching a large stack of papers and a few pens.
"Say it again, and you die," Roxas grunted back, placing his head in his hands. This was going to be a long, long hour and a half.
The bubbly blonde took his seat next to his brother and playfully smacked him on the arm. "Don't hate me, Roxy. I just speak the truth; I saw that lacy little number in your room… I guess we all have our fetishes."
Roxas resisted the urge to bang his head repeatedly against the table. "We've been through this. Kairi got it for me for my birthday. As a joke. A JOKE."
Demyx opened his mouth to retort, but decided better of it when he noticed the large group of students starting to gather at the corner of the stage. Clearing his throat, he rose from his seat. "Are you guys here for the auditions?"
A few girls nodded, blushing furiously. Roxas groaned; ever since his older brother had arrived at the school about a year ago, he had gained a reputation around the school for being "dreamy" and "ohmigawd, so cute!" What exactly they found attractive about a tall, blonde, self-admitted homosexual, he would never understand. Weren't girls supposed to have a sense for this kind of thing?
Demyx put on his thousand-watt grin and gestured towards the stage. "All righty then, let's get this thing started! Pick a song, any song, and we'll judge accordingly. No need to be nervous…Oh, this is my brother, Roxas," he gestured at the miserable boy sipping his tea at the table. "Don't mind him, he's just angsty all the time. He'll be helping out around here, so just get used to the pessimism now."
The group chuckled.
Roxas felt himself sink lower into his uncomfortable plastic chair. A long, long, LONG hour and a half.
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"Thank god that's over," Roxas sighed, peeling himself out of his chair. The auditions had been longer than expected, and unfortunately, a lot less talented. Was it really that hard to remember the lyrics to the song you're singing? Honestly…
Demyx continued stacking up audition forms. "They weren't that bad."
Roxas groaned. "Oh yes they were. I don't know about you, Professor," he felt his voice seethe with sarcasm, "but I personally have never felt that the song 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star' was the best piece to display my vocal range…"
The older boy laughed. "I was hoping that was a joke… Please god… let that have been a joke…"
Roxas shook his head. "That girl's in my chem class. Believe me…It wasn't a joke."
Exasperated and exhausted, Demyx shook his head. "Well at least there were some standouts… Although…"
The younger boy nodded. " No Fiyero… It figures we wouldn't be able to find a good male lead. Kinda sucks that all the moderate vocal talent we have is female."
"Hey, are the auditions closed?"
The two blondes turned and faced the double-doors, surprised to see a tall, bony looking boy with flaming red hair. His school uniform was worn nonchalantly; the tie fixed loosely around his unbuttoned collar, and a dark emerald stud adorned his left ear.
Roxas's eyes widened. "Aw, hell no…."
Demyx looked at his brother in bewilderment, his eyes the size of small golf balls. Turning back to the teen, he smiled. "Just a moment, please." Grabbing Roxas, he dragged him to the back of the auditorium. "Are you out of your mind?! Look at him!"
He gestured to the boy, now sitting on the edge of the stage playing his GameBoy. "That is acting gold!"
Roxas shook his head furiously. "That," he gestured at the boy again, "is Axel Strife! He's a delinquent! A completely incompetent moron! He's in my English class, the pompous jerk…Everyday he shows up to class late, sauntering in like he's the king of the world… I can't stand that kid!"
Demyx looked at his brother, then at Axel, then back again and raised an eyebrow. "No Roxas, that is one incredibly hot chunk of teenage actor. If he can sing at all, and I do mean at all we're casting him as Fiyero, end of story."
"WHAT?!" Roxas yelled, a bit too loudly. His voice echoed through the auditorium, causing Axel to look up from his game. Blushing, he lowered his voice back to a furious whisper. "You listen to me Demyx, I will not let this musical turn into a tool for you to get your hands on a boy-toy!"
Demyx laughed at his brother's embarrassment. "Let's just go see if he can sing. If he can't, I'll let you deal with him. Deal?" He stuck out his hand in a gesture of peace.
Roxas grimaced. He had a bad feeling about this….gritting his teeth, he took the hand and shook. "…Deal. But whether he can sing or not, promise me you won't have sex with him!"
Demyx just laughed and walked back to the front of the auditorium. "All right Mr. Strife, let's hear you sing. Go."
Roxas plopped down in his chair. "This had better be good. I want to go-"
But he couldn't finish his sentence.
Axel was singing.
It was beautiful; surreal even. His voice had a certain quality to it that made Roxas completely numb. He felt his eyes close, trying to block out all other senses but the sound of the beautiful notes coming from the stage. They were calming, soothing, but they also had an energy… Roxas struggled to find the right word. A few passed through his mind, but one stuck out.
Seductive.
Suddenly, the voice stopped, and Roxas snapped out of his trance. Slowly opening his eyes, he looked bewilderingly at the boy (who appeared to be blushing the tiniest bit) on the stage.
Applause erupted from the seat next to him. "Bravo! Bravo!" Demyx rushed forward to shake Axel's hand. "Axel was it? Congratulations. You've just earned yourself the part of Fiyero in our high school production of Wicked."
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Fervid as a flame... Does it have a name…
Yes…
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Comments: Gah…. This should be interesting my first yaoi fic. bangs head on desk please don't shoot me! I'm trying really hard to be smutty for Rei's Christmas present, and I can feel myself blushing as I'm writing this….XD So be nice to the poorly written fluff/smut.
Hopefully smut.
Oh, and the entire school thing is based off of my school. Except for our drama moderator isn't gay. Or even remotely like Demyx. XD
Read and review, por favor!