Author's Note: Right, so I originally put this on as a oneshot. Buuutt, I liked so much that I decided to turn it into what you are about to see. It contain yaoi, which means boys liking boys, if ye doesnae like ye doesnae read.
This is also thanks to the genius that is lamatikah. Go read her stories. Because they rule. If you like this, you'll probably like her story "French Kissing" as well ;D
Each chapter/episode name comes from a chapter in a book. Competition to guess where they come from!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters blah blah blah. But I do own this story. It's miiineeee, yum yum. I also own cookies to give to any reviewers. :D
Dutch Courage
Episode One: Now Away We Go
It wasn't a dark, dingy bar room with a few muttering drunks, wiping beer from their stubble with the back of a grubby hand, balancing on rickety bar stools. It wasn't full of dusty corners with off colour paint or wallpaper flaking off the walls. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The walls screamed loud colours, the bar stools were twisted metal contraptions - presumably designed by someone who had too much time on their hands and a lot of metal lying around - the long bar was lit up with vibrant neon lights that matched the dance floor. Personally, it wasn't the kind of scene Demyx would usually go for, but he hadn't been given an option that night.
So, thanks to a very insistent Axel, an easily persuaded Roxas and a Kairi who didn't care where they went as long as she wouldn't see an All-You-Can-Eat buffet, the reluctant Demyx found himself inside Atlantica ("As Hot As Boiling Water" - Demyx guessed that only the really hip 'n' happenin' people could understand that tag line) with his ass plonked onto one of the bizarre metal stools feeling a little sorry for himself.
He stared down at his hands, which were wedged in between his thighs, absentmindedly. He wasn't exactly bored, but he could definitely think of other places he would rather be. The music wasn't exactly to his taste, he could bare the style but he wouldn't choose it over, say, Ars Arcanum or something like that. He raised his eyebrows as a girl wearing rather provocative clothing ran up to the bar and climbed up onto it. She was attracting a lot, mainly male, attention and Demyx felt a little sorry for her.
"Gross, does she have to do that right near us?" Kairi complained, screwing up her face in disgust.
Axel snorted and then smirked. "If you were a lesbian you wouldn't be complaining."
She rolled her eyes at the redhead, picking up her drink from the bar and taking a sip. "Yes, Axel. If I was a lesbian I probably wouldn't be complaining, you're right. But I'm not a lesbian and I am complaining."
"If you were a lesbian you would probably have joined her by now." The redhead decided, somehow managing to keep a straight face. Roxas shot him a hopelessly bewildered look. Demyx snorted and shook his head in amusement; Axel had been making on-going jibes at the subject of Kairi's sexuality since the freshers' party at the beginning of their first year of university but no one except themselves knew why. She sighed irritably and scowled at him.
"Anyway…" Roxas said slowly, still a little confused. "Yeah, um, so. Anyone want another drink?" he offered, hoping to change the topic of conversation.
"Do you have to ask, babe?" Axel grinned, winking at him.
Roxas rolled his eyes. "Urg, don't call me that, it always makes me think of the little kids film about the pig, which isn't exactly what you want, is it?" He poked the redhead's arm and raised an eyebrow in question.
"Every time I call you babe you think of a pig? What the hell?" Axel stared at him in disbelief, clutching his chest; pretending to be hurt.
Kairi rolled her eyes again and looked pleadingly at Demyx who just shrugged. To be honest, he didn't actually care if Axel calling Roxas 'babe' was a total turn off for said blonde or the fact that Axel hadn't realised this until now, even though they had- actually, what had they been doing? Demyx scowled in annoyance, wishing he knew.
Demyx didn't know how two people like Axel and Roxas could even be friends when they had such a weird relationship. It appeared to the world that they were friends with benefits, but no one could ever really tell. Demyx was still jealous of Axel though, he did date a lot of people despite the fact he was a sex-crazed loony that enjoyed burning things in his free time. And Demyx, Demyx was a perfectly normal human being yet he still couldn't hold down a guy. Did that make him a really stupid person? Or was he just really unlucky? It was probably just his lack of confidence or, as Axel liked to say, he was lacking in 'wit and charm,' a comment that kind of hurt, coming from Axel of all people. What he needed was something really cliché to happen like it would if his life was a romantic comedy and everything would be good. But of course, his life wasn't a romantic comedy or any type of film for that matter, not even a really crappy low budget one.
And that was when it happened. Demyx's eyes bulged in their sockets in a way that would make even the most successful cartoon character bubble with envy, his jaw dropped and he just stared. It was a cliché beyond the imagination of the director of Nanny McPhee.
"Hey, Dem, what are you staring at?"
Demyx blinked as Kairi wafted a hand across his eye line. "What?" he asked, glancing at her briefly before returning to gaze to the subject of the most amazing cliché he had ever had the fortune to have.
Kairi raised her eyebrows at Roxas who just shrugged. Axel, however, was following Demyx's line of sight with vague interest. When he realised what Demyx was looking at a massive smirk grew on his face. Oh, this was going to be fun. He nudged Roxas and whispered in his ear.
The blonde jumped slightly and blinked in surprise. "You what? Oh… really?" he asked, doubt written all over his face.
Axel nodded, his smirk still boldly standing out. "Definitely."
Kairi frowned at them, "What are you two whispering about now?" Axel opened his mouth to answer her but she seemed to change her mind. "Actually, I'm not too sure if I want to know." Past experiences of asking Axel what he was doing or thinking/talking about had let her to be more cautious when asking him things like that.
Axel clutched his chest in mock hurt. "Do you really think that low of me?" Roxas rolled his eyes muttering something that sounded like 'for Yevon's sake' and slapped Axel lightly on the arm, inducing an attempted guilt-triggering pout from the redhead.
Kairi clicked her tongue impatiently, arching an eyebrow and prodding Axel's shin with her foot. "Tell me!" she insisted, desperate to know what was going on now.
The redhead leant forward, resting his arms on his thighs. He opened his mouth to speak but Roxas interrupted him. "Axel thinks Demyx has found some - and I quote - 'eye candy'," he said imitating the redhead's voice and pulling a face.
Kairi's eyebrows that had been plucked to precision rose in surprise before she shook her head slightly and grinned broadly. "Where?"
Axel spoke before Roxas could interrupt him again. "Check it out." He pointed over to one of the many tables a few metres away, smirking.
Kairi's jaw dropped and her eyes bulged in shock. For a few seconds she was speechless, only managing to choke out a hoarse 'wow'.
"I know!" Axel exclaimed excitedly. "I'll never have to question Dem's taste again." Both the redhead and Kairi laughed, Roxas chose to scowl and fold his arms crossly instead. Axel laughed again and slung an arm around the blonde's shoulders, pulling him closer and pecking him on the cheek. He whispered something in his ear that made Roxas blush and push Axel indignantly. Kairi knew better than to ask.
"So, Demyx!" Axel boomed, making Demyx jolt slightly in surprise. He blinked a couple of times, muttering a timid 'what?' and blinking. "Are you gonna offer to get him a drink?"
Demyx gulped, then frowned in confusion. He knew exactly what Axel was talking about, but he wasn't going to let him know that. "Who?" His three friends snorted into their laps, causing his eyes to narrow in annoyance. "What are you on about?"
"I think you should buy him a drink, or at least offer him some money if you want to carry on staring at him," Axel decided, trying to keep a serious face but failing. Miserably.
Demyx flushed in embarrassment. "I- I didn't realise I was being that… obvious?" he stammered, looking at them hopefully as if they might say reassuringly 'oh, no, Demyx! It wasn't obvious that you were staring at that random guy. Yes, he is very good looking but he is definitely in your league.' He liked the sound of that.
"You really were." Roxas admitted, pulling an I-Hate-To-Tell-You-This face and trying very hard not to laugh.
'Damn,' Demyx thought, 'I need better friends. Or ones that can lie better, at least.'
"Go on, Dem," Kairi insisted, "Go offer to buy him a drink. Or at least go talk to him."
The blonde pondered over this for a while, casting the subject of their conversation subtle glances, before deciding that it wasn't going to happen.
"Why not?" Kairi asked, pulling a face at him.
"Oh, come on! He's totally out of my league!" Demyx declared, sighing dejectedly.
"True, but you know what they say, 'shoot for the moon and you'll land among the stars'," Axel mused, smirking at his ability to remember that saying.
"Nice, Ax. Real nice," Roxas muttered, glaring at him slightly and shooting Demyx an apologetic look. Demyx just shrugged and took a large gulp of his drink.
"Just go for it, Demyx," Kairi told him. "I'm sure it'll go great. I mean; I managed to get my ex-boyfriend that way. Well, sort of."
Axel snorted. "I don't think you could have called that a boyfriend."
"And what do you mean by that?" she snapped, glaring at him. Demyx could tell that Axel had hit a sore nerve there.
"Well, you didn't exactly do anythi-"
"Oh, shut up, Axel." She maintained her fierce tone, throwing her arms up in exasperation. "At least I don't like guys!"
An awkward, eerie silence bounced between the group. Axel was smirking more than ever, Roxas was giving Kairi a strange look, Demyx was trying his best not to laugh and Kairi herself looked shocked and rather embarrassed. "That came out wrong." She claimed, wincing slightly.
"Sure." Axel grinned. "It's okay, Kairi, we all knew you were a lezza, anyway."
The auburn-haired girl shot him a dark look that would have made fully-grown mighty monsters quake in their boots and head for the hills, but Axel just laughed. After bristling in annoyance then regaining her composure, she started on Demyx again. "I really think you should, Demyx. Look at it this way, if he likes you then that'll be great and if he doesn't we'll come over and rescue you - saying you're on crack or something - and we'll all have a good laugh about it later."
Demyx didn't like the sound of them all laughing about it later. He had a feeling it would be everyone else laughing at what he had done while he sulked in the corner, feeling sorry for himself.
"Just do it, for Yevon's sake!" Roxas interjected, his eye twitching. Axel cocked an eyebrow at the blonde in surprise; he looked as though he was trying not to laugh.
Demyx looked over to the sofa and sighed. The whole group was looking at him but they quickly turned away when they noticed him looking in their direction. There was no way he stood a chance with that guy. His eyes lingered on the two people with the platinum blonde man - another boy and a slightly butch girl. The boy had dirty blonde hair that seemed to defy gravity, though he might have just stuck his finger in an electric socket, it really wouldn't surprise him. The girl was fairly tall will long dark hair that came to her shoulders and a rather impressive bust.
'Damn, I bet she's his girlfriend,' Demyx cursed, realising that he had no evidence that this guy was even gay, except the fact that he had long hair. And not all guys with long hair are gay, so he had no flipping idea where that reason came from.
"Here, drink this." Demyx looked up to see Axel holding out a shot glass full of orange liquid to him. He raised his eyebrows but accepted it and gulped it down anyway. "Right. Now go get him!" The redhead's right arm shot out from his side, pointing over to where the three people were standing. The blonde sighed and looked hopefully at Kairi who just smiled encouragingly, then at Roxas who shrugged and told him that it was his decision. He looked back at Axel who grinned at him like a cat and winked. Demyx laughed slightly and stood up, feeling slightly more confident but not really sure why.
He strode confidently across the room, his head held high. The image of cool, relaxed buoyancy was ruined as he tripped over a person who seemed to have fallen over and rolled off the dance floor. Though, he may well have been kicked by the look of the group of people pointing and laughing at the guy at Demyx's feet. He stared at the giggling mass on the floor incredulously, stepping gingerly over it.
His confidence was knocked and his stride became more of a nervous stagger. He was feeling less gung-ho by the minute. The space between Demyx and his destination seemed to be stretching further and further away as if it was telling him to sod off and give up, but a nudging voice in the back of his mind forced him to carry on.
He approached the blonde man, who was with his 'target', cautiously while the girl was distracting him, showing him something. Demyx took a deep breath and tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, I hope you, err, don't mind me asking but… what's your friend's name?" He blinked in surprise as the blonde slapped his shoulder heartily, knocked back a shot of clear liquid and guffawed at him, stumbling over to the dance floor.
Demyx gave a backwards glance over his left shoulder at his friends. As he expected, they were all watching him with undivided attention and when they saw him looking at them and flailed their arms about, encouraging him to carry on. He rolled his eyes and turned around, taking another deep breath, puffing up his chest macho style, before letting it go back to its normal size and making his way over to the platinum blonde and his friend.
He cleared his throat to get their attention and smiled nervously as they turned to look at him. He couldn't help but notice that the girl's expression changed to a triumphant grin when she saw him. He turned to the man, "Hey, I was wondering if you wanted a drink."
The girl raised her eyebrows at her companion as if to say 'I told you so' then winked at Demyx and walked off. The man rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue, shaking his head after her. He looked back at Demyx and smiled. "I don't have any money on me."
Demyx frowned in mystification, why was he saying that he didn't have any money? Had his brain got confused and he had in fact ended up asking him for money instead of offering him a drink? Perhaps the alcohol was affecting him already. He could feel a sharp buzzing in the back of his head. Then it clicked in his mind and a short laugh escaped his lips. "Let me rephrase that, can I buy you a drink?"
"Sure," he smirked, "but I might not drink it."
The blonde felt a little befuddled, but he went with the man to the bar anyway. He wondered if it really was the alcohol affecting his brain. He was renowned for his terrible drunken state. He did the most ridiculous things… but that's a different story. He really should have asked what Axel had put in the shot he had given him. Knowing his luck, it was probably tequila. Damn. "I'm Demyx, by the way," he stuttered nervously, holding out a hand for him to shake.
The platinum blonde smiled (in amusement? He wasn't laughing at him, was he? Oh Yevon, he was so bloody paranoid). "Nice to meet you, Demyx," he said, taking his hand and shaking it. It was a good handshake. It wasn't too firm, yet his hand didn't flop around like a dead fish. Demyx's Dad had told him that you can tell a lot about a man from his handshake, but, to be honest, Demyx didn't know anymore about this guy than he had before they had shaken hands. "I'm Riku." A snort escaped him and he looked away from Demyx.
He wasn't sure if Riku was laughing at him or just because there was a funny story about his name, he hoped it was the latter. He slipped on to one of the strange bar stools, hiding a shy grin as Riku sat facing him. He knew that meant that he didn't intend to get away as quickly as he could, because he wouldn't have sat down if he did. "What would you like?"
Riku shrugged. "I'd better just have a coke."
"Alright." Demyx signaled to the barman for two. "So, um…" He hesitated, realising that he had no idea what to say. He wasn't exactly an expert on chatting up random strangers, especially really good looking ones. He had only dated people he was friends with before. "You're at university, right?" He mentally slapped himself; of course he was in university! Nearly everyone here was in university, excluding a couple dirty old men and a few High School students who must have somehow sneaked in, and he highly doubted that this guy was still in High School. Would he be classed as a paedophile if he was? Yevon, he hadn't thought about that. He didn't want to get dirty looks on the streets and have all the children be hurried away by their mothers when they saw him. He liked children. Oh Yevon, he better not say that in front of the judges in court; they might take it the wrong way.
"Yeah, I'm in my second year, you?"
Excellent, a one-year age gap definitely didn't make it look like he was cradle snatching. "Third year." He didn't know why his throat suddenly had about the same level of humidity as the Sahara desert, but it was making it very difficult to talk. "Where do you go?"
"RGU." He nodded his head towards the door, indicating that it was in that direction.
"Really? Me too. Funny, I don't think I've seen you before." Demyx mused. How could he have not noticed this guy before? He practically had a spotlight on him! He would have to walk around the campus more instead of just holing up in the music practice rooms.
"Well, I transferred. I was at the community college last year." He pulled a face, and then laughed. "So I've only actually been at RGU for a few days."
Ah, that gave Demyx a bit of an excuse. If he had only been attending the RGU for a few days then the news of him being so… well, being there would not have spread to his ears. He was probably doing a completely different course to Demyx anyway. He looked kind of smart. "Oh right." Demyx grinned. "Enjoying it?"
Riku laughed. "You could say that. That janitor is pretty interesting."
"Had a run in with him already, have you? I crashed his trolley on my first day there." The blonde laughed as he relished the memory.
Riku's eyebrows shot up and he laughed in delight. "Really? Wow, I bet he's fond of you."
"Definitely. We're total bosom buddies."
"I'll bet. How'd it happen?" he asked, intrigued.
"Well, my friend Axel - that guy over there," he pointed over to the redhead, who was drunkenly attempting to balance a full glass on his head. "We found it and I got in it and he started running, pushing it down the corridor and one of the front wheels must have jammed or something because it stopped and I went flying straight into poor old Brian."
Riku burst out laughing and Demyx grinned at him. He didn't know why he was suddenly feeling so much more confident, but he was. He figured that it was because they had gotten over the first hurdle and managed to strike up a decent conversation. He took a sip of his drink and surveyed Riku. He was smiling at him, his eyes shining. Maybe Axel had been right, maybe he did stand a chance with this guy.
A sharp movement just to the right of Riku's head caught his eye. He frowned as he saw a grubby looking man sitting a few seats down the bar from them making an obscene hand gesture at him. "You know what's up with him?" he asked, nodding at the man.
Riku turned around to glance at where Demyx was pointing. When he looked back at Demyx his cheeks were tinged with pink. He shifted uncomfortably. "He, ermm, he asked me if I wanted to shag him earlier."
Demyx choked on his drink. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve, staring at Riku in disbelief. "Really?" He couldn't quite believe that a man that old would try to hit on someone like Riku.
"Yeah," he pulled a face. "I'm not really into that kind of thing though."
"Not into what? Fucking? Are you celibate or something?" Demyx laughed, raising his glass to his lips again. Then his eyes bulged when he realised what he had said and he put his drink down hurriedly, not wishing to choke again. Riku gave him a funny look that made him want to shout 'this isn't me talking! It's Axel! He put that into my head! He's controlling meee!' but, of course, that would make him look even more stupid than he already did.
"Um, no, it's just the whole doing it in the toilets with a total stranger thing," he said, fiddling with his glass so he would have to look at Demyx.
Demyx mentally sighed in relief. Fortunately, Riku didn't seem offended by what he had said. "Oh right. Yeah, I'm not really into that kind of thing either." He didn't say that just to seem like Riku's kind of person; he really wasn't into picking up random strangers in clubs and shagging them. He had never even tried to chat someone up before, not someone he didn't know, anyway. He hoped that didn't show though.
Riku cocked his head to one side and raised an eyebrow at Demyx. "What are you trying to do now then?"
"Being a gentleman and buying you a drink, of course." Demyx claimed, taking off his imaginary hat to Riku who just grinned at him.
"Well, I like your way much better," he decided.
Demyx cocked an eyebrow, almost smirking. "Are you trying to say… rather me than him?" he asked, indicating the old man.
Riku choked on his drink as he laughed. "That wouldn't really be much of a compliment, would it?"
Demyx chuckled. "I don't know, I think he would be quite flattered to find out that we were even talking about you 'getting jiggy' with him."
"Yeah," he agreed, with a slightly shy smile. "I should mention just how much I like grizzly grey beards too."
"Definitely. He would be so- Roxas? What's up?" Demyx cut across himself as the annoyed looking blonde appeared by his side, a quite obviously smashed Axel stumbling next to him, a lazy arm around the blonde's shoulders.
"I think Mr. I'm A Party Man," he jerked his head towards the redhead, "has exceeded his limit and he hit his head pretty hard on Kairi's stool. I'd better take him back."
"You think?" Demyx said sarcastically as Axel tried to kiss Roxas, only to be batted away.
"Very funny," Roxas snorted. "I think he'll have learnt his lesson about, ooh, ten seconds after he wakes up tomorrow." They both laughed. Roxas subtly nodded at Riku, an excited glint in his eyes.
"Oh!" Demyx smiled and gestured at his new friend. (Though, he probably couldn't call him a friend yet)."Roxas, this is Riku, Riku, this is Roxas - he goes to RGU too."
"Hey," Riku smiled, nodding politely as Roxas' hands were busy trying to keep Axel on his feet.
"Nice to meet you, Riku."
"And this is Axel, but I don't think he's really up to saying hello," Demyx said. "Alright there, Ax?"
A lazy grin spread across the redhead's face and he blinked - though it was probably meant to be a wink. "Demyx, you - you're sexy. Very, very, sash- sexy."
"You really think so?" Roxas asked, rolling his eyes wearily.
"Yes," Axel replied firmly. "He told me." He pointed an accusing finger about three inches to the left of Riku's face.
Riku blanched in surprise and looked over at Demyx hesitantly. Demyx just shook his head in amusement and laughed. He hoped that Riku did think what Axel had said, even though he knew that he couldn't actually have told him. "Yeah, you should take him back, Roxas."
"Oh yeah," Roxas sighed dramatically. "Come on, Ax." He took away the arm that had been around Axel's waist and made to leave.
"Demyx! DemDem, have fun with your- with this- s-s-smoking' hot bah- bah… bye?" Axel looked momentarily confused until he noticed Roxas glaring at him. The blonde grabbed his hand and started dragging him off. "Mmm, role play time," Axel said, smacking his lips and winking at Demyx and Riku. A vague cry of 'I tell you off because you've done something stupid! Not because it's role play!' could be heard coming from the blonde.
Demyx laughed as he saw Riku's surprised expression. "Sorry about that."
"Uh, it's fine." Riku shot a nervous glance over his shoulder, almost as if he was half expecting Axel to run back at him with a condom and pull it over his head.
"Yeah, he takes a bit of getting used to." Demyx explained, trying not to laugh.
"I figured…" A small, slightly nervous chuckle escaped the platinum blonde's mouth. He looked Demyx straight in the eyes, he opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but then he looked away. He repeated this action, his eye line ending up on his lap where he was digging at the hangnail on his left thumb.
Demyx wanted to know why he had done that. Something had obviously crossed his mind and he had decided against saying anything. If only Demyx could read minds; if he could tell what Riku was thinking there would be no problem. Mind you, if he could tell what everyone was thinking he would be able to become The Ultimate Ruler of the Universe and everyone would have to give him as much pecan and toffee ice cream as he wanted. But he knew that wouldn't happen. "Do you think it's true that you can find out everything about a person by asking just twenty questions?" He blurted out. He blinked in surprise as he registered what he had said.
Riku looked up at him, a doubtful look written upon his face. He seemed to consider this for a while, until he said, "I suppose you could always try it."
Demyx's eyebrows shot up in surprise; he had half expected to be called a weirdo and the subject to be changed or for Riku to have run away, claiming that Demyx was a psycho, or possibly for Demyx to have excused himself and started hitting his head against the bar. "Really?"
Riku shrugged. "Sure."
Demyx thought for a moment. He wasn't really sure what to ask. I mean, he didn't know anything about this guy, except that he was absolutely gorgeous, had a really nice laugh and thought Axel was a little weird. Though, the aim of this was to get to know more about him and Riku didn't seem to find it weird. He didn't want to ask silly questions like 'what's your favourite colour?' or something like that because it wouldn't really tell him much about this guy. "Uhh…" He struggled to find what he wanted to say. "You go first."
The platinum blonde smiled and raised an eyebrow. "All right then." He paused for a moment, his head titled slightly to one side, contemplating what his question would be. "What do you think of rainbows?" Demyx noticed his words were rather slurred.
Demyx matched his expression. "I like them; it means it's sunny and raining."
Riku smirked in amusement and nodded. "Okay. What was your first word?" he asked, leaning forward and resting his arms on his thighs. Demyx subconsciously noted the positive body language and grinned.
"Well," He laughed slightly, "it was 'goine'."
Riku blinked at him. "'Goine'? Is that even a… word?" he asked hesitantly, as though he was unsure if he might offend Demyx by saying that.
Demyx shrugged. "Apparently it was what I called bananas."
"Wow." Riku laughed shortly and looked at Demyx with a mixture of amusement and interest. There was a strange glint in his eyes that Demyx couldn't quite read, but it made him want to smile and laugh and shout and sing and… generally make an idiot out of himself. "Did you have any other interesting names for things?"
"I thought a telephone was called a 'hello'," he admitted, pulling a face as though he had just realised how weird he had been as a very small child. In fact, he might have been all the way through his childhood. He probably was still now, but he tried not to think about that.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Well, when you pick it up you say 'hello', don't you?"
Riku nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I guess you do. Wow, that's logical. Were you some kind of prodigy?" he inquired, smirking slightly.
Demyx laughed. "Oh, definitely." He rubbed the back of his head and grinned at the platinum blonde. "Any more questions?"
"Hmm…" He tapped his chin, smiling. "True or false: all's fair in love and war."
Demyx cocked an eyebrow; he hadn't really expected a question as deep as that. "True," he answered.
Riku tilted his head to the side, a gentle smile ghosting over his features. He nodded. "Great answer,"he said, leaning forward slightly.
Demyx smiled. "It was a good question." He also leaned forward. He was mere centimetres away from Riku's face. Their noses were almost touching. All he had to do was move forward a tiny bit more and tilt his head slightly to the right and their lips would meet. Just a little bit further and they would be-
"Riku!"
Both men jerked out of the stupor that had been in caused by the closeness of the other. Demyx's eyes landed on the tall dark-haired girl who he recognised as the one Riku had been with earlier. She looked horrified, covering her mouth with her hand. She smacked her forehead with her palm. "Oh Yevon, I am so sorry," she mumbled, biting her lip awkwardly. She was obviously screaming curses at herself in her mind.
Demyx and Riku just stared at her for a few seconds. Then they both spoke at the same time, insisting that it was fine and she hadn't been interrupting anything, nothing at all. Their eyes found each other and they struggled not to laugh.
"Err, right, okay. Riku, we need to go." She said it apologetically. "If we stay any longer Tidus really will get up onto one of the tables so everyone can see his dancing."
"Oh! Right, okay." Riku jumped up off his stool. "I'll come in a minute," he told her, almost as if he was asking her permission.
She nodded, smiling. "We'll meet you by the door," she informed him. Her eyes darted to Demyx, widening excitedly, before she turned on her heel and walked away.
Riku looked back at Demyx and smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, I'd better go…" he said, not looking as if he wanted to leave at all. He looked down at his hands, then back up to Demyx hopefully, waiting for him to say something.
In all honesty, Demyx had no idea what to say. He was a little gobsmacked. He had been so close to kissing this guy and then they had been interrupted. That was just his bloody luck. If it had been someone he hadn't wanted to get off with then they wouldn't have been interrupted and he would have had to put up with it, but when it was someone he really, really wanted to kiss: it didn't happen. Maybe he had bad karma?
"Demyx?"
The blonde snapped out of his thought trail and smiled at Riku. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Well, umm… I'll see you around, I guess." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, mentally telling himself off for not saying something cool and managing to get his number without looking desperate.
Riku opened his mouth to say something, and then bit his lip looking disappointed. "Err, right. Okay. Yeah, I'll see you around." He turned to leave; his shoulders slumped slightly.
Demyx smacked himself over the head. "Wait!" He grabbed the dejected boy's arm, stopping him in his tracks. "I, err…" His body had taken over his brain here. It had reacted instinctively to prevent Riku from leaving and his mind hadn't quite caught up. Consequently, he found himself at a loss of what to say and it wasn't for the first time that night. "Can I have your number?" he asked hopefully. "Please?"
Riku's face lit up and he grinned. "I was hoping you'd ask that," he admitted. He grabbed one of the leaflets from the bar that were advertising some new Alco-pop called 'Blue Rock' that sounded like it was a mixture of seawater, sand and a whole load of alcohol (well, the tag line was A Taste of the Hawaiian Beach). He found a pen from the pile of rather dusty biros next to the empty suggestion box. Demyx wondered why on earth a club even had a suggestion box. "Here." He handed the newly adapted leaflet with his number scrawled across it to the blonde, grinning. "I've still got seventeen questions left and, y'know, I would like to get a chance to ask them."
Demyx nodded. "I'd like to answer then. I'll call you, and that's a promise," he stated. He meant it too. He did wish that they hadn't been interrupted earlier but they would get another chance. He was certain of that.
"You better do," he said, pushing the blonde slightly and grinning. He laughed and winked, waving as he went away.
Demyx waved back at him, perfectly buoyant. He watched until Riku had gone from his sight with his friends, he kept turning back and grinning at Demyx all the way. He took a gulp of his drink and smiled triumphantly to himself.
He read the number, not doubting that it wouldn't be a fake one, he knew it was real. He knew that he was going to call it. He knew that he would end up having a debate with his friends about when he should call. He knew that he would ask Riku on a date. He knew that it would take him several nervous hours to decide what he should wear. He knew he would worry that he had bad breath. He knew that he would have a debate with himself later on about whether he was actually good enough for Riku. But none of that mattered right now. All that mattered was that he had his number and he was going to call it and he was going to go on a date with that amazing guy who had caught his eye.
A funny thought occurred to him as he sat finishing his drink, the bar he was leaning on vibrating with the thud of the heavy beat of the music. He supposed he really had to thank Axel because, if it wasn't for that little burst of confidence that he had given him in that small shot glass, he doubted that he would ever have been able to do this.
What IS the nature of Axel and Roxas's relationship?
Is Kairi REALLY a lesbian?
Will Demyx and Riku get together and STAY together?
Find out in the next instalment of: DUTCH COURAGE!
Author's note: This is kind of like a soap, mainly because this is being made up on the spot, though we do have a general idea where it is going. I hope you like it, I know it's a little different from the other stuff on my account but give it a chance, yeah? thank youuu :)
Read, review, party, and enjoy life.
Nirii and lamie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (le luff)