It was night in the World That Never Was, or rather, it was always night there, but right now it felt different, Demyx thought. The silence and the stillness and the darkness were all there, but somehow, it felt stiller and darker, the silence being something he was about to start working on.
He was leaning against a wall on the rooftop of the castle, hands at his sides, lightly grasping the textured surface behind him. He was a little afraid of heights, but he wouldn't tell anyone that; not with what they already thought of him. So he endured things like this, trying to seem braver and more capable than he was. Fleetingly, he wondered if anyone bought it. He wondered if those who mattered bought it. Like "Xigbar," he said quietly, trying to keep the trembling out of his voice as he looked down to where the older man was sitting on the edge of the rooftop. It was certainly a long way down, he thought.
"Huh?" Xigbar grunted and turned his head slightly to regard the younger man. "What is it, IX?" Demyx swallowed, drawing his attention away from the ledge and focusing instead on II's scar; how wide it was, and how it moved when he spoke. It was somehow comforting to him now, after all this time, and the ledge suddenly seemed much further away from them.
"I..." he paused, thinking of his question and ways to phrase it, then thought much faster when he noticed the slight impatience in Xigbar's face, eventually blurting out what he wanted to ask. "Why do you do this for me, Xigbar?"
"Huh?" the older man repeated, turning a little more to face Demyx fully. Demyx tried to keep himself from blushing for feeling stupid, but then, he thought, he always felt stupid, so he was fine.
"This," he said, gesturing vaguely with one hand while keeping the other rooted to wall. "Spending time with me... helping me. I'm not completely clueless; I know that I... that I'm... annoying, and kind of useless. The others don't even bother with me. And yet... here you are, sitting with me on a rooftop, letting me talk to you as though we're... as though we're..." he tried to remember the word, "friends. I just want to know why."
Xigbar looked up at him for a few moments, regarding him with his old, scarred face and sighed, patting the ledge next to him. "Siddown, kid," he said gruffly, turning away to look at the eerie heart-shaped moon. Demyx froze for a moment, looking over the edge with childish eyes before looking back over at Xigbar. He took a deep breath and set himself gently beside his mentor, looking at his hands, Xigbar's shoulder, anywhere but the fall. Xigbar sighed again and smirked. "I guess I'd have to say... that the reason I hang out with you is this."
He then poked Demyx a little harder than necessary in the chest, catching the younger man off guard, making him clutch the roof edge and stare at II with wide eyes. After a moment of panicked breathing, Demyx managed to regain himself, and let out a breathless "what do you mean? There's no heart in there."
Xigbar chuckled, smirking, looking again at the moon before continuing. "I know that. I know that better than you, anyway. I meant what was there before you became a Nobody. You had a good heart; I can tell. Before this, you were a good person. Not like Vexen, or Saix, or... the Superior," he said with a slight mocking tone. "You deserve better than this, kid. I'm trying to give that to you." He gave Demyx a lop-sided grin for a moment, then turned away. The younger man didn't know what was said about him when he wasn't around, and Xigbar didn't want him to know, so he would do this; he would help IX learn to fight and be useful to save him from a fate the older man was sure was worse than death.
Demyx fumbled with his hands in his lap for a moment, studying them with unnecessary intensity, before looking up at the older man. "Thanks, Xigbar," he said with a genuine smile, or as close to genuine as Nobodies could get.
"Don't mention it," II said as he stood, then offered his hand to the younger man to help him stand. "In fact, don't mention this to anyone, k? Wouldn't want them thinking I had a soft spot or nothin'."
Demyx smiled again and nodded. "Sure." He released the older man's hand and straightened his cloak, then followed him back inside the castle to what he was sure would be another boring meeting, but maybe, he thought, just maybe, with Xigbar there, things wouldn't be so bad, and the night wouldn't be so dark.