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Uhh, wrote this late at night instead of sleeping- any consistency errors and they're all my insomnia's fault. There is a backstory to this, and Zexion's odd behaviour, but... Eh, if this doesn't get decent feedback I won't write it up. This could be cute enough by itself, right?
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It seemed a strange request to come from the cloaked tactician, but the boy was so polite about the whole affair Xigbar handed over the device without a second thought. He wasn't entirely sure how the kid even knew he smoked...
Then his brain caught up with him, and his forefingers tightened around the lighter before Zexion could pull it from his grip.
"Don't play with fire, kiddo. It'll end up burnin' a hole in somethin' or other, the way I see it."
Zexions lips pulled into a sweet smile at this. "I don't play, II. I'm no child. I plan to carry out an experiment, and VIII is..."
The freeshooter quirked an eyebrow at the youngers hesitation here- strangely out of character.
"VIII is unavailable, shall we say."
Xigbar shrugged, weirded out enough to not ask anymore. "Whatever, li'l dude." He let go of the silver zippo, and turned away.
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Roxas was not happy. He was trying his hardest to have emotional, nervous and mental breakdowns- simultaneously. But sensing his sorrows, Xemnas had treated him to a few particularly vicious "sessions", and on his single venture from his chamber Luxord had suggested "drownin' his sorrows in some lager, lad"...
And for some aggravating reason Marluxia was showing up in his room every hour with herbal tea or hot milk or... Well, something unnecessary and stinky in a cup, usually accompanied by a lone jaffa cake placed on a wad of tissues.
That was what got to the blond, made him loath the Graceful Assassin for his attentions. A silly biscuit and KLEENEX? He wanted to drown in his tears, not wipe them away.
And Demyx was fond of jaffa cakes- the only reason they were in the castle at all, Roxas supposed.
The damned plates were placed in a line- about 21 of them, all bedecked with differing levels of filth.
How could they?
How /could he/? He, who had sworn to love him, he who had sworn devotion?!
Why the hell would anyone choose that gangly idiot over him?!
...Why had that gangly idiot gone along with it? He had lied too, held him and whispered sweet lies into Roxas' neck while the redhead mumbled poisonously false promises into his navel.
Roxas still didn't know, and he had spent three days in bed trying to think it through- but all he could do, it seemed, was cry into his pillow and shake pathetically.
Larxene suggested going to slay heartless... Which sounded good, but the blond boy did NOT feel like marching through to the Gummi port crying- and he hadn't been able to stop yet, which was bad.
His face was beyond sticky- his eyelashes needed prying apart about two hours ago, and now he just couldn't be bothered.
He sobbed raw and chestily into his sodden pillow, sick of forcing himself to stay silent and strong... All it did was enhance the pain in his chest.
There was nothing there to hurt!
They'd /known/ they must have hearts, because they loved each other... Well, nuts to that theory.
With a moan like a wounded animal, the blond sat up. His throat hurt, and he hadn't showered in over a week.
But what did it matter? He couldn't see the point in keeping clean and healthy when he'd still /hurt/ like that.
Roxas thought about brushing his teeth. The thought of it seemed far too foreign, too strange, to unnecessary.
But... For some ridiculous reason, he needed to pee.
So he commanded lazy legs to rest on the floor, and with an embarassing amount of leverage with his arms, he stood before his bed.
Right.
Walking felt so /odd/. His ass hurt from being too miserable to plead mercy from Xemnas, his back killed from being twisted around a pillow for 29 straight hours, and his eyes stung as the light in the hallways hit him like a wall.
Realising he was wearing his pyjamas, and wondering with bemusement who had put them on him, he yanked the door to the bathroom open.
The bathroom contained no happy memories at all.
None of this castle did.
Roxas hated it.
Even the handsoap... He shuddered lightly at that reminiscal, trying to forget the slightly greasy feel of slender fingers rubbing between his legs.. Figured his first time with that musical wanker'd be in the shower.
He rubbed his hands dry on the towel miserably, closed his eyes so as to avoid his reflection in the bathroom mirror, and left the cold tiles to the oddly warm stone of the hall.
What was that /smell/?
Slightly musky, yet so sweet... He followed the smell idly, eyes still closed.
His lashes pulled apart painfully slowly as he felt the sudden lack of harsh white light.
He'd wandered into another bathroom...
Someone'd run a pretty nice bath, bubbles and... Candles everywhere? The blond had always thought those a stupid idea, but at least they looked pretty.
And there were joss sticks /everywhere/. In tiny pots, stuck in the semi-melted candles, sticky-tacked to the tiled walls, in ornate holders...
It smelt better than Marluxia's garden, better than a chocolate factory.
Even though the thought of rich, creamy chocolate made Roxas feel sick to his stomach... He could remember all too clearly the oddly squeamish sensation of having it licked off his chest, the sudden biting cold of some idiots tongue piercing through the sticky warmth... He shuddered again.
Then he took in the scene again and realised he'd shut the door behind him.
Well, uh, just to...
"Who is it?"
A voice. it was familiar, of course, but...
Roxas followed it. There was a screen in the left corner of the room, the only place not bedecked with incense heaps. There were candles, however, and as a result and poor manafacturing of said furniture the Key of Destiny found himself with a rather wonderful silhouette of a nude Zexion, obviously stripped down for a bath- clothes hung across the other side of the screen.
How delightfully awkward.
"Oh!!" How old was this guy? He sounded so truly embarrassed...
Roxas spun to stare a hole in the door, not entirely sure why he hadn't scrambled away when he had the chance...
Then three fingers jabbed him lightly on the back.
A quick glance confirmed the silver-haired youth was now considerably more dressed (in a dark green yukata- not so much tied as held in place), so Roxas opened his mouth to begin what would be a coherent and intelligent apology-
But his attention was grabbed by a tub of blue ice next to the tub.
"Is that sea-salt ice-cream?"
Axel hated the stuff. And Demyx always coated his in syrup... ("Every flavour is butterscotch to me, damnit!")
Zexion blinked. And Roxas realised he had his hair pinned up with a few bobby pins. His right eye's sclera was black, the iris invisible. He had a surprisingly young look to him- that knowing smile nowhere near as threatening when it was located on a girlishly heart-shaped face
"It is indeed. Now it is my turn to ask a question. What on earth happened to you?"
Roxas blinked. "I stayed in bed for three days."
"Is it that awful of an occurence?"
The blond cocked his head slightly. "What kind of a question i-"
Zexion shook his head. "You misunderstand. Do you want to talk about it?"
"Of course I don-"
"Don't you want any ice-cream?" He smiled a little at this. Eerily, only his left eye twinkled mysteriously as he spoke.
Roxas pouted. "That's playing dirty. Ice-cream first."
"How about both?" Zexion was tying a white sash around his waist to fasten his robe now, and he sat down on the edge of the bath, dangling his feet into the bubbles.
"...Fine." Roxas didn't want to think of how truly evil his breath must have smelt- he felt like little lord filth at the moment, he would occasionally catch a whiff of something truly evil he supposed was the grease evolving in his hair.
He sat next to the other, crossing his legs rather paddling.
"So tell me all about it."
Roxas sighed. "Axel doesn't care anymore." Hell, the whole castle knew of their relationship by now.
"How do you know that?" Zexion offered Roxas a spoon of aqua ice.
Sucking it clean, Roxas passed it back. "Cause he'd rather do Demyx than me. And Demyx'd rather do Axel than me as well, apparently." Then another wave of sobs struck.
Zexion jammed the spoon into the dessert, but rather than having any himself reached over and wiped Roxas' cheek with his sleeve. "Don't cry, that will be highly ineffectual I think you'll find."
The blond rocked forwards, and then backwards. He choked back a sob, then sighed. "I- I know that. I can't just make myself stop though."
"Get things back into priority, correct?"
"Huh?" Roxas was sick of this, the other wasn't letting him complain!
"You want to feel needed is my assumption- that, and, as we all do, you desire a heart."
"And how the hell am I going to-"
"Listen to Xemnas, and do as your told, and wait, and try not to choke to death on your own impatience." Now the older boy shoved a hefty spoonful between his lips, gazing across the waters surface blankly. "We might find something. Me and Vexen and the others. We could have an answer tomorrow, next week, christmas, never."
Roxas watched the others face. There was something in his tone that hadn't been there before...
"But what use is it if I give up? If I just slam my books down and stop looking and stop trying because-" a slight pause for a scraping more of salty-sugar, "I'm sick to my stomach of it? What do I tell the others? We could be stuck like this forever."
Roxas hiccuped. He grabbed the spoon and dug angrily. "At least you have a purpose." And he swallowed whole, instantly regretting it as brainfreeze only made him want to cry more.
"Yes. And look how ecstatic it's made me. Really." Zexion hung his head. "You know, you're quite talented."
"...What the hell?"
"This has made me quite thoroughly miserable. Generally 500 munny's worth of cheap scents and sweets will make me happier than Demyx on a rainy day, but...You have a very bleak way of looking at things."
"Axel said that. "don't get all emo on me, got it memorised?"" Roxas tried to make his impression of Axel sarcastic, and bitter, but... It was so realistic, sounded so much like the real deal he felt like choking.
"...I didn't mean to-"
"He also said I looked too deep into things, I worried too much, and..." A hiccup, another spoon of ice-cream, "He said I was a greedy little tart."
"Axel is a moron. Worrying is the same as thinking."
"He's thoughtless."
"Exactly. And if I remember correctly, he is about as controlled as a rabbit on heat?"
Roxas blinked. "Yeah."
"So you are all he is not."
Roxas smirked, feeding himself more. "So what does that make me in your eyes?"
Zexion laughed quietly, quietening himself with a hand. There was a metallic glint-
"Do you have braces?" Roxas asked, disbelieving.
"...If I say no, will you not laugh at me?" Zexion smiled more though. "In /this/ eye," he gestured his right, "It'd make you totally visible, because I can't see Axel through it. However, in this," he met Roxas' gaze levelly. "You are wonderfully intelligent, blessed with a flawless body, sane, and beautiful."
Roxas was so gobsmacked by this he didn't even object to the tub being grabbed from his lap.
Still with that amused smile, Zexion raised an eyebrow. "So what about me?"
"Uhh?"
"What do you think of me? Is it too difficult? No need to tread delicately, I've suffered a lot of verbal abuse in my time."
"You. Uhhh..." Blue eyes were wide, and he bit his top lip. "You're too kind to me. You're a sweet talker. You have amazing hair... And I'm pretty sure your smarter than the rest of the organization put together."
The blush was unexpected. The other looked away, hid his smile with his hand. "Those are barely truths... I'm hogging the ice-cream, I never have anything worth hearing to say, it never does what I want it to, and I'm just incredibly good at making educated guesses."
Roxas smiled. "And you're really sweet when you're embarassed."
Zexion spluttered uselessly, cradling his entire face in his slender fingers. "And you said /I'm/ the sweet talker, jeez..."
Roxas smiled, not sure what to say. But he shifted that bit closer, let his legs dangle into the bubbly warm water alongside the others.
"...Why is it still warm?"
"I like my baths rather scalding, is all..." An arm slid lazily around the blonds waist. "Is that okay with you?"
"Hm." The blond tilted his head, pretended to think. "I think that'd be fine." He closed his eyes, inhaling the smoky air. He felt the others breath on his face, heard a small chuckle...
And then fell sideways into warm water and bubbles sputtering.
"You ass!" Roxas screeched angrily, splashing.
Zexion stood back, smiling sweetly. "You need a bath."
"So friggin' what?"
"You wouldn't have said yes if I'd asked. Now stop fussing." Hands were prying his (sodden) blue jammie shirt off, smoothing a handful of water up his back.
"Goddamnit, don't you dare!" Roxas crossed his legs, dreading the hands creeping towards his waistline. But they didn't.
"That's alright with me." And another handful of water extinguished the candles in front of them (spattering across the floor also, but nobody cared), making the mood change all of a sudden.
It wasn't too dark to see Zexion sit opposite him, craning over the side of the bath for bottles of things... It was perfectly dark to swath the others form in shadows, but... Roxas still blushed furiously, because he /knew/ the other was undressed once more. He screwed his eyes shut. "Why not just leave me alone with a bottle of shampoo?"
"This is more fun, I think..." Another laugh, hiccupy and sweet. "And now it's your turn to flush like a fool, I suppose."
A sudsy hand was rubbing soothing circles across his back, as the cloaked schemer shifted to sit behind the blond. "Is this more convenient?"
"...Yeah." A soapy massage was hardly what Roxas was expecting, but he allowed himself to relax into the others touch. Those (childishly small, like his own, he noticed) hands pulled the tension from his shoulders and slowly slid them around his waist.
Zexion rested his chin on the others back, and sighed deeply. "I have a confession."
"Oh?" Roxas laced his fingers slowly through Zexions, eyes closing. Maybe he was getting high on joss smoke?
"I'm very fond of you. I've been observing for quite some time, your behaviour and schedules."
Roxas was VERY weirded out by this, but decided to leave it unsaid. "At least you're nice about it?"
Another hiccupy giggle. "Indeed."
The hands untangled from Roxas', emptied more shower gel into his palms and... Oh gods, rubbed it about his legs. The blond instantly felt bad about feeling dirty for it- he was still wearing sodden shorts, and those fingers even took care to spread the lather between his toes.
"Gosh."
Roxas snorted at the others phrasing. "What?"
"You're almost as tiny as I am."
Once again, the blond cursed his testicles for doing the thinking for him. "I'm fifteen. I'm allowed to be short."
"I beg y- What does that make me?"
Roxas giggled uselessly. "Some kind of freaky midget?" He felt the smile into his back.
"Thanks." Then silence for a few moments, the keyblade-wielder appreciating the gorgeous smells, and... Kisses placed softly along his shoulder blades. Before Roxas could dare complain or word his appreciation, Zexion had sodded off to the other side of the tub to fetch something.
A mint was pressed against his lips. Willingly, he took it into his mouth, taking care to flick his tongue against the others fingertips. Then the hands were gone from his sight, and... Deft fingertips were massaging sweet-smelling bubbles into his scalp.
"You use peaches and cream shampoo." The words were mildly accusing.
"So do you, now."
Roxas fell silent, but smiled. He couldn't remember ever feeling /this/ safe, this comfortable. Then, with some mild bafflement realised he was sitting between Zexions legs, leaning against his chest. His eyes were already closed when a trickle of water ran across his face and into his ears.
Feeling numbly confused, he submitted to a vigourous towelling- and suddenly the arms weren't holding him, the shoulder he'd leant his face on was back a foot. "I'll go to your room and fetch some clothes that aren't soaked, hm?"
"What about me?"
"You can wait here, or... Well, if you want to spend the night alone." Zexion shrugged passively, already having pulled on his pants and a shirt. With a small smile, he wandered off.
...Zexion's room smelt exactly the same as the bathroom. His bedsheets were purple, the blond noted with a small smile.
He wasn't sure what he liked best- the way the other turned to face a wall so he could dress modestly, or the way number 6 had brought the plastic tub with him.
So Roxas lay in the elder's arms, being fed melting dessert. Then, he had the fantastic idea to share their first kiss through a mouthful of blue ice-cream.
Was it two minutes, or twenty they carried on in that vein?
Either way, they fell asleep with their fingers and lips sufficiently sticky.
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Like I said, if this doesn't get enough feedback (like, 8 or something would be a great number!) I won't bother writing any more. XD So if you're eager to find out why Zex was acting so weird, why Axel left him, all the gaping plotholes I left... Or just for more ZekuRoku...
Bother all your friends to leave me reviews.
I might even put some smut in, just for you.
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