TRUE OR FALSE :
While Olette was a smart girl, it didn't mean she didn't get herself into stupid things.
There are plenty of events to prove that fact—one is when she met Yuffie the first time she ever went horseback riding. "This is your first time?" was the first thing she ever said to Olette, brown eyes wide in shock and excitement because Olette was truly doing very well for a rookie. That was when Olette decided that this Yuffie was a nice girl, and she was excited to make a new acquaintance at the most that day, until Yuffie exclaimed rather eagerly with a "you're shitting me!" And there was the whole friendship matter in general—Yuffie wasn't a very good influence on Olette's part, and in her parents view, that is probably the most stupid thing Olette could do. There was the time Yuffie decided to take Olette and their horses off the track, no boundaries and guidelines whatsoever. They didn't get caught at all, but the second time, they decided to not wear their riding gear and Olette fell off her horse, breaking her arm which kept from riding for weeks without end. Not that Yuffie was ever the only one to cause the problems in the first place—although there was the time where the two shared a toilet to throw up in because Yuffie, some how, some way, actually served themselves alcohol instead of soda pop—but really, Yuffie doesn't cause everything bad that happens to Olette. Probably the worst situation Olette ever gotten into was by her own fault. Or maybe it was Demyx. Olette doesn't know who to put the blame on.
Demyx wasn't exactly normal, per say. His fried blond hair was styled into a mullet, and his green eyes that were much greener than her own were glazed over with a look she just couldn't decipher. His attire was inappropriate for the entire horse farm scene, faded jeans littered with holes and a deep blue t-shirt splattered with black, abstract shapes, all matched with black sneakers that weren't made to walk on the dirty wooden floors of a horse stable. So when Olette walked into the stables one morning, just to saddle her horse and maybe feed him a few oats, she was surprised to see a complete stranger hanging around her horse's stall.
"What're you doing to Hayner?" She asked, undeniably suspicious as she eyed the boy's grip on the copper-haired horse's reins.
His eyes shot up to meet hers, eyebrows raised in shock from the sudden intrusion, and Olette can swear to this day that she saw a faint trace of pink brightening his cheeks. "Oh, um," he said rather stupidly, releasing the reins only to rub the back of his neck. Realizing how dumb he probably looked, he cleared his throat and dropped his arms down to his side abruptly, staring into the steed's brown eyes rather than looking into Olette's. "Just feeding him some carrots, y'know," and when Olette didn't say anything in response, he added, "This Hayner horse you're talking about… he's real stubborn, huh?"
Olette only nodded slowly, facial expression completely blank, and that's when Demyx took it as a cue to leave, muttering a small "sorry" as he walked past her and onto the horse trail.
Olette was sure about one thing—she didn't believe a word he said.
From there on, things seemed to have gotten just a little bit more creepy and eerie and awkward and abnormal and a little bit of this and that. "I know him, you know," is what Yuffie says when she catches Olette staring at him from a distance. He's cleaning out the hay from the stalls, all done by pitchfork and Olette still doesn't understand him, because he's doing it in an outfit similar to the one she saw him in the first day she ran into him. "Name's Demyx," she continued, ebony ponytail swinging side to side with her steed's every trot. "He's the new stable boy. And if you don't mind me saying, Miss Gainsborough really chose a looker this year," she chuckled, grin a bit lopsided and entire expression all-knowing. All knowing about what, Olette doesn't bother to find out, because Yuffie was just quirky like that—but if Olette wasn't allowed to believe one thing in the world, then this Demyx being the stable boy is a complete lie. If only Olette could come up with a good enough reason to prove why not.
♪♪
There are times when Olette's wandering around the trails for no reason, just letting Hayner have some exercise before she has to drop him at the stall before night comes along. Those are the times where she sees Demyx the most, usually walking near the stream or sitting in a nearby tree or looking over the scenery high above on cliffs, like he popped out of thin air or something. He's always there when she doesn't expect him to be—Olette thinks of it as just a coincidence; she had gotten used to the fact that Demyx is the stable boy, just another employee on the Gainsborough Horse Farms, until he literally runs into her in one of the stalls while she was trying to bring Hayner back in, and maybe, you know. Maybe Demyx is actually following her. 'Don't be stupid,' Olette scolds herself once she lifts herself from the ground, finally over the initial shock she had felt when his body collided into hers.
"S-Sorry!" He shouts rather awkwardly, struggling to hold onto the box of oats he was carrying in his arms. "Didn't see you there," he says, finally catching a hold of his words that were coming in shallow breaths. He tries to walk past her, obviously in a hurry—for what, only the gods would know—and that's when Olette reaches her hand out, grabbing his forearm and stopping him from moving any further. He looks over his shoulder with a puzzled expression, green eyes filled with enough curiosity to rival her own, and that's when Olette bothers to ask who he is. "A proper introduction, right?" is what she says to him, her hand now resting on his shoulder and her other hand now free of Hayner's reins. Not the smartest thing to do in Demyx's opinion.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," he says, grinning awkwardly and he sticks out his hand right after he shifts the box to rest under his arm. "I'm Demyx," he says, more cheery than he was before. "Y'know, the new 'stable boy'," he says with air quotes, which makes no sense in Olette's view. She opens her mouth to say, "What do you mean new 'stable boy'?" But she's cut off when Demyx stops the introduction short all himself.
"I'd like to keep talking, but I have these boxes to take back to the farm house," he says, his voice a much different tone than when he was talking earlier. Olette wonders how he changes his tone like that, all with a bat of an eyelash. Although, he obviously wasn't done yet, because he swings his hand outward and says, "and well, you know, your horse is sort of, um, trotting away." And Olette only understands when she actually sees it for herself, because Hayner's already half way down the trail and towards the fields. Swearing under her breath, Olette doesn't bother to run after him; she doesn't want to provoke him because he's Hayner of all horses, and besides, Demyx was already jogging towards him, which wasn't the smartest thing to do in Olette's opinion. Maybe it was because Demyx looked like he had no idea what he was doing, or maybe it was because she was simply annoyed he was doing it in the first place, but with little hesitation did she finally chase after him, boots pounding into the ground with every step.
And that's when she heard the swearing, all the phrasings of whoa boy, calm down! and all the tugging on the reins. Olette hasn't seen anything stupider, and she just stands there and stares, side stepping every once in a while because Hayner keeps kicking up dirt everywhere. "What're you just standing there for?!" And she doesn't bother to do anything but start to laugh. It was one of those moments Yuffie would have, like when they're grooming their horses manes, and Yuffie would laugh out loud because Squall, her own steed, would do something not entirely funny, but Yuffie would keep laughing until her abdomen would start to hurt. Maybe her parents are right—maybe Olette is spending too much time with the girl.
"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" She talks between her laughter and gasps for air, grabbing onto the reins herself and soothing Hayner by running her fingers through his dirty blond mane. Demyx blushes a little, protests and blushes just a bit more, until he plainly throws up his hands into the air and starts telling Olette that yes, he is some stable boy fraud, and Olette just chuckles a bit and stares into those bright green eyes. She doesn't mean to sound so harsh when she goes, "I knew it," but she ends up seeing that indignant look in his eyes anyways, and she realizes there's something more to this. So instead of laughing at the situation, she did something Olette would do, not something any other person would. And maybe, just maybe, that's what made everything else end up the way it did.
♪♪
It was much like trying something new, talking to Demyx and all—but actually liking it was another thing. While sitting on one of the cliffs with him, Olette finally came to a realization of how tired she was of the old things—how bored she was with riding every day of every summer and how tired she was of spending every waking moment with Yuffie, even if the girl was filled with surprises that could sweep you off your feet. It might've been because Demyx was new, but he was full of his own surprises himself, like how he makes his own music and how he's torn between staying with the swim team or joining the marching band ("What instrument do you play?" Olette interrupts him, kicking up her feet as she leans forward to look him in the eyes. "Oh, just the drums," he says good heartedly, and with a big grin he says "You know, I do really like to bang things.") And there is his part time 'hobby', coming up with stupid puns that result in having his friends slap him upside the head. (Such as that last one.) She learns how witty Demyx can really be when he's not-so taken off guard, and she hears about how much he doesn't exactly like horses. ("Don't gape at me like that!" he squawks huffily, shutting the brunette's agape mouth close by pushing up her chin with his knuckles.) And more importantly, she realizes why he's stuck on a horse farm when he's not even into horses in the first place.
"No way!" she shouts with amusement, and Demyx chuckles at the scandalized response—it should've been obvious, he thinks, because they look similar with the same green eyes and chestnut hair (or in this case, his chestnut roots), and it was just resting right there under her nose—Demyx is, and always will be, the future owner of the Gainsborough Horse Farms because his aunt is Aerith Gainsborough. Simple as that. "I thought Aerith had actual children to take over though," Olette says, envy dripping off every word that comes out of her mouth. "Well, my cousins weren't exactly fit for the job," Demyx answers back, feeling just a little bit awkward at that. Olette lets it slip for the while, feeling his distress as slight as it was. She just turns her gaze away, choosing to look over the fields and all the trails being ignited by the sun that was starting to set over the horizon—a blazing orange lighting the scenery, and the clear streams were reflecting the pink and orange hues back into the sky. She doesn't understand why anyone wouldn't want this gorgeous place to call their own—it's filled with life and wonder and beautiful animals and everything else in between.
'Maybe,' Olette thinks, switching her gaze between the sunset and Demyx's face that was being lit up with light, 'maybe Demyx does want this place,' but there's really only one true thing that's caught on Olette's mind. If his cousins weren't fit for the job, she wonders how an aspiring musician, or a trained swimmer for that matter, could possibly be the best choice.
♪♪
"So, tell me about yourself, Olette," Demyx says once he comes out of the stables with Hayner grudgingly in tow. With that said, Olette finally sees that after a week of spending time with Demyx, she realizes he doesn't know much about her himself. 'But there isn't anything to know,' she thinks nastily to herself, her nose wrinkling in distaste which only causes Demyx to tease, not bug off. "There's nothing to know," she says out loud, clipping on her helmet and slipping on her gloves. "I'm just a girl who's just like any other—I have a passion for horseback riding, just as any girl would have a secret love for singing in the shower, and I make stupid mistakes." And when Demyx gives her his I'm-not-amused look, she says, "Not mistakes like... like doing drugs because it's the new fad of the century, or some shit like that."
"Mm. Don't forget, you're snarky and awfully 'enigmatic' too. Very important qualities in a young lady," he bites back, rolling those emerald eyes not so subtly. "You particularly have to work on your choice of words, might I add. Do you realize how many people you're offending by your sudden turn in sides of swearing?" Demyx tsks and shakes his head, earning himself a lighthearted smack against his cheek as Olette hoists herself up onto Hayner's saddle. As playful as the assault was, Olette wasn't fond of what the blond had said, choosing to ignore him for a few minutes until he says, "Well, since you're so incomprehensible, why don't you explain these mistakes of yours? Maybe I could, you know, decipher them." And when Olette gives him a look over her shoulder that clearly says, 'are you kidding me?', Demyx quickly says, with a big smile on his face, "I'll tell you anything you want to know."
And with Olette being one to never turn down a good deal, she somewhat unwillingly told him anything she could remember—she told him about the old times, like when she met Yuffie and by doing that, all the trouble she got herself into those past summers they had been together. Yes, she told him about the alcohol incident and the many broken limbs, how she was convinced to dangerously throw a rock at a horse while someone was riding on it—but with most of those things said, Demyx wasn't one bit interested. ("Tell me about yourself, Olette," but Olette doesn't say anything except, "Well, I thought you were supposed to 'decipher' every word that comes out of my mouth.") That ends up changing in a flick of a light switch though, because she ends up telling him about school—how she plays for the Twilight Soccer Team and how she writes articles for her school newspaper ("Just some side hobbies," she explains to him), and she tells him of her real home and why she's always spending time on Aerith's farm so much. ("So wait," Demyx interrupts her, eyebrows furrowed and lips set into a playful pout. "You only spend time here because you like horses and not me?" Olette only laughs and reddens and moves on with her story with difficulty.)
"Well, I told you about myself," she says as she leads Hayner back into the stables, because it wasn't like she was going anywhere with him. "And I'm sure you promised me something, right?" she says teasingly as Hayner protests to go inside (they haven't rode for days!), and Demyx had to assist her into successfully moving the horse out of the way. Demyx shakes his head and laughs, and Olette smirks because now she has him in the palm of her hand. She asks him about his more personal life, and he tells her of a few crushes and a few embarrassing moments and he even tells her of his family, how his mom's the high school teacher in English and how his dad's the hard working crime lawyer. And with every passing answer, Olette questions herself if now is the right time to pull out that question that has been lingering in the back of her mind, just willing to let out and slap him in the face.
"Dem," she says, unaware that she was stopping him in the middle of his explanation, and even more unaware of using his nickname. "Why do you have to take this farm if you don't want to?"
"Who said I never wanted to?" Demyx answers, taken off guard by the question, his hesitation being evidence that he's lying straight to her face. Olette stares at him as he digs his sneakers into the ground, green eyes searching green eyes for something she knows she'll never find.
"Tell me your biggest mistake, Demyx." The question was so simple yet so blunt, but Demyx has no real problem answering. Olette somewhat expects an "I don't know," or maybe an "I can't tell you that," so when Demyx says "sticking around with you," Olette's satisfied with that, even if he does say it timidly with his head tilted down. She can still see his face and she can still tell he's telling the truth. Olette really likes it when Demyx does that, because it's better than lying about something just because you don't want them to know the real answer.
Demyx asks her the same thing, because he truly wants to know her biggest mistake, good or bad—even though he's not supposed to be asking the questions since he had his turn, Olette lets it slip because it's only fair—and she doesn't even pause before she answers. There is no hesitation to see if her answer is acceptable, and there isn't any reconfirmation of any kind. It was all done truthfully and from the heart, exactly the way Demyx answered her.
"Falling for a stable boy fraud," she says, shaking her head with embarrassment—and with that said, Demyx ends up laughing harder than he should, and he ends up kissing her on the cheek—just to keep it safe.
It might've been cliché, and a little bit too mushy with too much whipped cream (and hot fudge and rainbow sprinkles and crushed chocolate chip cookies), but Olette thinks of it as the best way to fall in love. Besides, she thinks, the whole situation was tricky. You have to give her credit for it—not everyone falls for a boy only because he pulled you in.
♪—Olette wouldn't try to get out of it even if she wanted to.
—This is for Ana's crack!tastic contest! ( true )
—This was written by pastels. ( true )
—The author owns all the characters mentioned in this story. ( false )