Part One of Part One of my gift for Salem, who rocks my socks and makes me jealous of her skills. Merry Christmas, hun! : 3 I'll try and finish the second half before its deadline of New Years.... XD
A Not So Lonely Christmas
Zexion walked out of the coffee shop, holding his scalding hot beverage between his gloved hands. A hint of his breath escaped the confines of his scarf, creating a white puff of air that didn't linger. It was cold this Christmas, colder than the last few years'. If he were to venture a guess at the temperature, it would be about two degrees below zero. He had bundled himself up in defense against the strong wind, and had to admit he looked foolish with his big scarf wrapped around his head and large goofy coat. He had warranted a couple of less than kind stares in the shop, but he didn't care. His outfit served its function.
He turned a corner and walked down an alleyway; his shortcut. Zexion liked to have routine. He wasn't a very active person, so instead of spending 100 munny to take the us to get his morning coffee, he walked. It was only two miles away anyways. When he first decided to start this ritual, he only just made it to the shop. He was so out of breath by the time he got there that he didn't bother with the coffee, bought a bottle of water, and took the bus home. But he was persistent. After five more trips, he could walk there and back. It took him another three treks to actually get his coffee. Therefore, to celebrate this accomplishment, he always walked back with a smile. Inwardly, of course. He wouldn't want to look out of character.
As he neared the apartment complex he called home, he saw something that made him pause. There was a car he didn't recognise in the parking lot. Instead of going to greet the new neighbor whose back-side was sticking out of the passenger door, he walked briskly past, hoping they wouldn't notice him. He was almost to the stairs when a familiar face climbed down them.
"Zexion! Back from your morning coffee walk, I see. Exactly on time! 8:30 on the dot. Funny how you keep that up even on Christmas!"
He closed his eyes for a moment to keep his face calm, then used on gloved hand to move his scarf enough to respond to his neighbor. "Hello, Sora." And since his mouth was free, he sipped his coffee. Nice and black.
"Have you met the newbie?" Sora asked, obviously excited by the tone in his voice.
"No." He started to walk forward. "I was just going inside." He narrowed his eyes as he got close to the boy, as if daring Sora to drag him over for introductions.
But Sora's happy-go-lucky attitude couldn't be punctured by Zexion's prickly one. "C'mon, Negative Nancy. Time to be social!" He reached out and linked his arm through the blue-haired man's, upsetting his drink. He groaned. Now he had to interact with another idiot joining the complex and send his coat back to the cleaner's.
The bright blue eyed boy led them to stop by the unfamiliar car. "Hey there!" Sora chirped, beaming at the person's derriere.
There came a yelp from inside the car, and the person hit their head on the interior roof, cursing. They turned, facing the two men waiting for a response. (Though that's questionable, since Zexion could not have cared less.) He rubbed his back of his head with one hand, wincing with an apologetic smile as he used the other hand to wave. "Hey. Sorry. You kinda surprised me there!" His aqua eyes smiled along with his mouth, and he held out the free hand to shake Sora's.
Sora unlinked his arm from Zexion's, grabbing the hand enthusiastically and shaking it. "I'm Sora."
"Demyx. Nice to meet you and..." He trailed of, offering his hand in Zexion's direction.
He just glanced at the hand and held his coffee. "Zexion."
"Ah." Demyx took his hand back and stuck it in his pocket. "So I take it he doesn't like people?" He looked to Sora.
"Not really. But that's almost my favorite thing to tease him about! The other is-" The brunette grinned evilly.
Zexion glared. "Finish that sentence, Sora, and I'll be gracing Riku with a phone call about a certain drunk phone call from last week."
Sora paled, but kept a smile on his face. "Eh heh heh. Anyways, what brings you to this place, moving in on Christmas, no less?"
Demyx scratched his head. "Well, my family all live in Atlantica, by the sea and all that. I didn't have the money to go visit them this year, what with buying the apartment, so to take my mind off of that, I decided to just move in today." He sighed.
Sora looked confused. "So what are you doing to celebrate Christmas?"
"Nothing, really. Move my boxes in, watch a movie." At Sora's look of devastation, he rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it!"
"I'll take you with me to my family!" Sora wailed, going into his fix-it mode.
"No, that's perfectly alright, I-"
"Sora, you forget that he has things to unpack. Also, you are supposed to leave exactly..." Zexion pulled back his glove and glanced at his watch. "Twenty-three minutes from now. That's hardly enough time for him to get all his belongings in the complex. You have also forgotten the fact that it's most likely going to be your grandfather's last Christmas, and you're already taking Riku, there are only two seats in your run-down car, it's a long drive, you just met him, and-"
"Fine, you GRINCH." Sora pouted. He tugged at Demyx's sleeve. "We'll do something on New Years', though, okay? As your new friend and neighbor, I cannot allow you to be lonely." He smiled, giving him a thumbs-up.
"Alright, alright." Demyx laughed. "New Years."
Sora waved, then bounded off to the stairs. The two watched him until he was no longer visible, then Demyx turned to Zexion.
"So..." Demyx shuffled his boots in the slushy snow of the parking lot. "You have any plans for Christmas?"
Zexion faced him, glancing at the crash-and-burn accident of a mohawk and mullet that Demyx apparently called a hairstyle. "Yes. I will be spending the day reading a nice book." Zexion threw his head back in a manner that displaced his hair from over his eye.
Demyx snorted. "That sounds real fun. You have a nice time with that book, Mr. Anti-Social."
He glared at the dirty blond, disliking how he had to look up to make eye contact. Curse his genes and their height deficiency. He turned on his heel and walked to the stairs, not bothering to take a glance back.
---
It wasn't Zexion's fault that he was by himself this Christmas. If you really looked at it, it was Roxas' fault. Every year at Christmas, Axel threw a party. But, since Roxas' grandfather, (also Sora's, since they are brothers,) was getting on in years, Roxas wasn't going to attend said party in the current year. Axel, being attached at Roxas' hip, what with them being best friends and all, cancelled the shindig and scheduled himself to go with the pouty blond.
And that is why Zexion was stuck in his apartment, reading a book he didn't want to read, eating instant noodles and wishing he had remembered to pick up his novel from the library. He tried to get comfy on his couch, but he couldn't seem to settle. He had been actually looking forward to seeing all those idiots he called friends today. But when they heard that Axel's party wasn't going to happen, they all decided to visit their families. Too bad Zexion's family didn't want to see him.
He finished his noodles and threw away his garbage, he opened the refrigerator and reached for the milk. He had never met that carton, though, because there was a knock at his door.
Alright, so it was less of a knock and more of a frantic pounding. Zexion's eye twitched as he stalked through the hall to the door, opening it to a desperate-looking Demyx. He smiled sheepishly.
"What do you want?" Zexion's hand still held the door, and Demyx glanced at it, as if afraid he was suddenly going to slam the door in his face.
"Well, you see..." Demyx clasped his hands together in front of himself, twiddling his thumbs. "I just happened to lock myself out of my apartment... And my car..."
Zexion's face was devoid of emotion. "And?"
Demyx looked up at the ceiling, sighing. "IwaswonderingifIcouldstayhere." He winced when he was finished, looking anywhere but the shorter man.
"...What?" Zexion looked surprised, before he coughed lightly and put one hand on his hip. "Why?"
Demyx leaned forward, holding his clasped hands in what might be called a prayer. "Please?! You're the only one I know around here besides Sora, and I would have asked him, because you don't seem to like people, and really, you scare me just a little bit, but he already left, and I don't want to sit outside in the cold, or in the hallway, because I don't know these people, and what if one of them tries to molest me while I'm sleeping in front of my door?"
Zexion shook his head. "There are so many things wrong with that run-on sentence." When Demyx used his puppy-eyes, Zexion relented. "Come in. I wouldn't want you dying out there. I might actually feel bad for you."
Demyx smiled, bounded in and hugged Zexion. After a very long moment, he let go and bounded into the kitchen, asking him what he had to eat, because he hadn't had anything in his stomach since yesterday's dinner.
Huh. Well, Zexion hadn't expected that. He followed Demyx into the kitchen, going into the cupboard and pulling out his last cup-o-noodles and shoving it at him.
He and Demyx sat down at watched a movie while the guest ate. Rather, Demyx watched a movie and Zexion read his book. When the movie was over, Demyx flipped through the channels, but didn't find anything he liked. He left it on for background noise, and watched a man open a door with a screwdriver that had a blue blinking light on the end. Honestly, the shows people came up with these days.
Demyx curled his legs underneath himself, sitting cross-legged and facing Zexion. "What'cha reading?" He asked.
Zexion looked up from the book, looking to the television before back at the other man. "A book about a stupid girl that falls in love with two men, and chooses the wrong one to stay with."
The blond cocked his head to the side. "If it's so horrible, then why are you reading it?"
Zexion put his bookmark in to save his page, getting the feeling that he wasn't going to get much reading done with Demyx there. "It's for my column. I write book reviews." Demyx opened his mouth to speak, but Zexion cut him off. "Lately they've been forcing me to write them on books that have recently become popular. Those quite often tend to be books I dislike. But if they just hired a new person to write for the general idiots that read the paper, then I could go back to writing reviews on books that actually don't suck."
Demyx laughed. "I didn't think that word was in your vocabulary."
Zexion scoffed. "I have a very wide range of words I use. Don't underestimate me."
"I don't."
Zexion was caught off guard for the third time that day at the sincerity of his statement. He decided the best way to get rid of that uneasiness was to ask Demyx about himself. "What about you? What brings you here to Radiant Garden?"
"I dunno." Demyx waved his hand in the air as if waving away the question. "There's this really nice orchestra that plays in the theatre, and I happen to play sitar, so..."
"You play the sitar?" Zexion raised an eyebrow.
Demyx smirked and leaned forward, invading Zexion's personal bubble. "What? Think I'm more the type to play the flute?"
Zexion scooted back into his corner of the couch. "No, I just have never met someone that plays it before."
He smiled. "Anyways, my boyfriend broke up with me, so I figured a fresh start was in order."
Zexion coughed. "Boyfriend?"
Demyx waved his hand again. "Yeah. He just up and decided that we weren't going anywhere, and said everything was physical. So he left me for some chick." He opened his mouth to say more, but paused at the look on Zexion's face. "Are you alright?"
"Yes. Fine."
"Kay. So... What movies do you have besides documentaries?" Demyx teased.
---
Zexion was having difficulty on concentrating on writing his first draft of his column. He couldn't focus. He looked at Demyx, who was laughing at something the main character said in the movie.
You see, Zexion had a problem. He was a very anti-social person. We know this. It could have something to do with the fact that his family hated him for being smarter than them. Or maybe that he had a complex about people calling him short. Or it might have all been because he was jilted in a very meaningful relationship five years ago, and didn't want to ever feel the pain that it caused him ever again. That might be it.
But Zexion had another problem. He was gay. Yes, he knew from back in middle school. He didn't go through that awkward phase of "Who am I, what's happening to me?" He just knew. And he accepted it. Other people, though, were not quite as accepting. Take, for instance, the man he fell in love with five years ago. His best friend. Or, had been. When Zexion confessed his affections, he dropped him like a rock. It seemed ever since then, all the men he was inclined to were straight too. Therefore, Zexion didn't let himself like people. He stayed away from them to protect himself.
So imagine the problem that Zexion might have when there was a man in his apartment that just said he was gay. And single. And not bad-looking at all.
Demyx didn't seem to notice the change in Zexion's attitude. Or the way that Zexion was now staring at his lips. Those cute little pink lips that were begging Zexion to lean forward and-
No. Zexion was a mature adult. Just because there was a gay man in his apartment, that didn't mean he should automatically lust after him.
So he told himself.
---
But he was finding it harder to listen to himself when Demyx fell asleep, falling sideways into Zexion's lap, making said man jump, throwing his book across the room.
Zexion didn't know what to do. Demyx was sleeping peacefully, nuzzling his face into Zexion's stomach. He full out flushed, face turning pink as he tried to keep himself calm, breathing slowly.
And then Demyx nuzzled closer, right over the hem of Zexion's pants, and he knew he had to get up and get away. He lifted himself up, intending to shift Demyx to sleep on the couch.
"Don't."
Zexion froze, then looked down, but saw Demyx's eyes were still closed. The tone of his voice made a throb of pain lace through Zexion's chest. He knew what that kind of voice was reserved for. Lost Love. Maybe Demyx wasn't as fine as he seemed. He sure could hide it with that grin of his.
He ruffled Demyx's hair when the man sighed, and rolled his eyes. Alright. Zexion wasn't completely cold-hearted. It was Christmas, after all. Maybe he'd just let Demyx sleep there. Yeah. That was a good... plan...
Zexion drifted off to sleep with that thought in mind, feeling more at ease than he had in a long time.