Chapter 1
Xigbar's day started as normally as any other day. He woke up, made himself a cup of coffee, brewed it, not that instant crap, and sipped his wake up juice, trying to figure out what he wanted to do for the day. He never ever expected himself to be doing what he was doing, having come back from his studio and completely dumfounded when he saw the creature in front of him. The man had taken his usual long path home, avoiding the roads and walking down the shoreline, absolutely content with the saltwater to wash over his feet. But no, he never expected to be sitting on the nearest rock, sketchbook in his lap and a pencil trying desperately to get the figure that was lying on the beach onto the pad of paper as quickly as possible before this crazy dream escaped his vision. Inspiration had struck him, what with the light and shadows and just the gorgeous sunset, he stared at almost everyday, nothing seemed to make more sense but what was in front of him now and he had to draw-it-now! It never dawned on him to check and see if it was alive, because it shouldn't even be real, though Xigbar hadn't done anything recently to cause any hallucinations, but he didn't care if he was going insane or not. He was drawing a merman, for God's sake!
The merman's eyes flickered open and he tried to lift his head. "Hnn..." it let out a soft groan before collapsing back onto the sand. "Someone... h-help..."
Xigbar's hand stopped and he looked up from the detailed sketch in horror. It -was- alive, and it was asking for help. Help? Xigbar quickly shoved his sketchbook into his satchel and ran a hand through his hair. How the heck was he supposed to help a merman? Push it back in where it came from, or drag it home to oogle at more?
The merman's eyes opened weakly and he shifted his head to look at Xigbar. Green eyes met gold and the merman reached an arm out to him before falling back into unconsciousness.
'What was with that look?' Xigbar thought to himself. Obviously he had no choice but to bring the boy back to his home. The question of how to get him home was the bigger question, even where he could put him baffled him. He shifted his bag so that it wouldn't interfere in him taking the creature home with him and leaned down to pick him up, not caring if he weighed more than he looked. When he finally was able to hold the dirty blond in a comfortable enough position he realized that he weighed even less than what he could have ever accurately presumed. The one-eyed man still had a ways to go until he came to his homes backyard but he didn't mind it. The way he could stare at the boy's body without getting an angry stare back...it was just too inviting for him to pass up.
The blond let out a soft whimper and his head turned to rest on Xigbar's chest.
The noise drove a chill up Xigbar's spine and he had to shake his head. The thoughts that were pouring into his mind was not helping him. He decided that talking to the boy would calm him down. "So uh...you're ah...real?"
The green eyes opened slightly and he looked up at the man. "Who... who are..."
"Oh! Uh...X-Xigbar. Nuh-nice to meet you." He made a face thinking to himself,
"Xig...bar..." he let his head fall back against his chest. "Where... where am I?"
"Uh...the beach? Er...What's your name?" He wasn't sure -what- he was doing now, but he was almost to his house.
"Demyx..." he tried to move his head to look around. "What's a... beach?" he whispered and curled up against the strong, warm chest.
"Uh, well a beach is...uh...where the sea meets land." 'Oh, God, it's the Little Mermaid...' Xigbar bit his lip. 'At least he can talk...'
"Land... I... I don't..." he clung to the man shirt and looked up at him. "What is this place? I'm scared. How... How are we moving?"
"Well, I'm carrying you back to my house." Xigbar was kind of turned on by the boy's clinginess, but he had to remember this just -had- to be some weird dream he was having, but decided to run with because it was a dream, it didn't have to make sense.
"Yes but... there's no water to swim in... I..." he laid his head back on Xigbar's chest and closed his eyes. "I'm scared..." he repeated, tears forming under his eyelids. "I don't know what happened... I don't... I don't know why.. I'm here..." he let out a little hiccup and sniffled.
"No, it's ok, don't be scared. It's ok, I'll take care of you." He spoke in a low reassuring tone and turned towards his house. "A-are you thirsty?"
"I... thirsty... what's thirsty?" he asked and nuzzled the man's chest.
"Never mind." Xigbar opened his door and headed straight for his couch. "Ok, I'm...gonna set you down, right here. Don't touch anything and, uh...I'll start up a bath for you." 'Mermen need water to sit in, right?' Xigbar walked off to his bathroom and turned on the knob for water. "Oh, crap... uh..." He put his head out, so he could be heard more clearly. "Do you prefer, ah...cold, hot or just lukewarm water?" What was he taking care of a goldfish from the fair?'
Demyx bit his lip as his source of warmth left him. "Um... I... I uh... I don't..." he wrapped his arms around himself and looked around the room.
Xigbar decided lukewarm would be safe enough and plugged the drain. He came back out of the bathroom and leaned over his couch. "So uh...Is there anything else I can do to help you?"
"I just... I don't know. I'm..." he shivered and looked up at the man. "You were warm..." he said with a slight blush.
"I can hold you until the bathtub gets full, it shouldn't take long." Xigbar moved around the couch and made room for himself before pulling the boy into his arms. 'This is some whacked up dream, Xigbar...'
Demyx glanced down and looked at the man's legs. "You don't have a tail...?" he put a hand on one of Xigbar's legs and tilted his head to the side.
"Ahh..." Xigbar's hand immediately went to remove the hand. "Ah, no I...I never had a tail."
"But then what..." he glanced at the man's hand holding his own.
"Then what what?" Xigbar scrunched his eyebrows in confusion.
Demyx spread his fingers out comparing them to Xigbar's. "Your hands are so big..."
Xigbar just stared at their hands for a moment before he realized that he had left the bathtub unattended. "Uh, wait right here, I got to turn the water off." He hurried back to the bathroom.
Demyx lowered his hand and watched he man leave him again on the couch alone.
Xigbar came back just as quickly as he had left and picked up the blond. "Ok, I'm going to put you into water, so that you can feel better, ok?"
"I..." he put his arms around the man's neck and pulled himself closer to the human.
"Uh." Xigbar blushed. "What?" He slowly started to head back to the bathtub.
"I... uh... where are we going?" he whispered and looked up into the man's eyes.
"To the bathtub. So you can sit in something...more like what you're used to being in?" Xigbar bit his lip, he honestly had no idea what he was doing.
"Bath... tub...?" he asked and tilted his head to the side.
"Yeah it's a place where you can sit and enjoy water without being tossed around like you do in the ocean..." He stepped carefully into the small bathroom and nodded to the bathtub.
Demyx glanced at the bathtub and clung tightly to the human. "I don't want to..."
"No? But...I made it for you, I don't...I don't know what else I can do for you...I'm sure you'll feel much better in there without me." Xigbar chewed on his lower lip.
Demyx shook his head and pulled himself closer to Xigbar. "It's small... and you won't..."
"Y-you want me in there...with you?" If Xigbar hadn't been blushing he's sure he was now. "I...I can sit by the tub."
"No... don't make me..." he whispered and nuzzled Xigbar's chest. "It's too small..."
"Ok..." Xigbar gulped. "Uh...so...what...uh what can I do for you, then?"
"Can you... tell me about this world...?" he asked and looked up at him. "It makes no sense to me."
"Ah, Demyx. Explaining that would take a lot of time...and it's difficult to just...tell you." Xigbar pulled out of the bathroom and turned to go to the bedroom. "How did you end up on the beach?"
"I..." he put a hand to his head. "I don't know... I don't remember." he said and closed his eyes.
"Are you tired?" Xigbar sat down on the bed, his arms growing tired of holding the boy.
"Hmm..." he looked up at the human and nodded before curling up against the human.
It was obvious that the dirty blond wouldn't let him go so he pushed some bed sheets out of the way and simply leaned back. This had to have been his weirdest dream yet. No action whatsoever but, still having this strange feeling of...something...
Demyx nuzzled Xigbar's chest and yawned. "Thank you..."
Xigbar nodded, mumbling, "Any time..." and pulled a few sheets over top of them and closed his eyes, holding onto a merman. He definitely didn't expect his day to go like this.