Chapter 2: Startup
Luxord is a very distant cousin of Marluxia's, which means he's also a very distant cousin of Zexion's (More distant? Less distant? I wouldn't know). That night, instead of trying our luck on the slots, we relaxed in a room marked EMPLOYEES ONLY in thick black letters. A whole bunch of colourful furniture lives in there, even though there are only three full time employees. Rox dramatically collapsed onto a cold looking leather sofa, and took a deep breath.
"Hey sunshine," Axel sat down on the end of the sofa, "Why so glum? You tired?"
"A bit," Roxas smiled slightly with his eyes still closed, like he was having a nice dream. "Just the usual. I..It doesn't matter. You probably would want to hear about it."
"Rox, remember what I always say."
"Um...Got it memorised?"
"No. Not that," Axel replied playfully, raising an eyebrow.
"Er...Fire is man's best friend."
"Not that either."
Roxas sighed and opened his eyes just a bit, a tad bit, to squint at Axel. "It always better in than out. Unless it's a veggie burger."
"Congrats! Now, tell me what's up." The redhead rested his hand on Roxas' knee, and I thought I saw him visibly relax. It's crazy when you see- (What? What do you mean, you want to hear about my love life? Well, I was just getting there, actually...)
"Fine..."
Meanwhile, my future husband and I sat ourselves down on a ridiculously silky loveseat against the opposite wall. We have one of those conversations that no one is going to remember afterward. It starts with the recent weather, moving on to school and 'A' levels and blah blah blah. Then why Zexion was there. Then why we were there. And I guess I didn't really care about the abyss anymore when I questioned him about his sexuality.
So sue me, I forget that "Are you gay?" Isn't really suitable small talk for a person you've just met. Zexion was blushing like he wanted out right there and then. And I couldn't say that I wanted him to have that look on his face, but Man, is that cute.
He mumbled something behind his fringe. I wonder what his hair smells like.
"Pardon?"
"I've...uh...never really known. I've never...done anything...with anyone. Not really."
I thought I'm sorry..did he just say he wasn't sure? At this age, I think a boy really should know which team he bats for. (Unless he's a little blond sweetie pie named Roxas. There are no more exceptions to the rule).
"Ever had an identity crisis?" I threw at him.
"What?"
"Amnesia?" There's gotta be a reasonable answer to this.
"I don't...think that this is relevant."
"Who's better looking: Katy Perry or Ewan McGregor?"
"Well, I think Katy Perry is quite pretty..."
Wrong answer! Another question...
"What size are those jeans?" (Not that that's important. I just really wanted to know.)
"A 28, I think." (The Author doesn't know what a small size in dudes' trousers is...)
And then it was time for the ultimate question.
"Do you think Brokeback Mountain was hot?" Yes corresponds to gay (or being a girl).
"Demyx!"
"...Yes or no?"
"I...I-I refuse to answer that question."
So I gave up for a bit.
If you've haven't noticed already, I'm quite the talker. I could talk for Hollow Bastion. Not that it's a big dream of mine, but a guy's gotta have a backup plan or two, right? Professional talker is right above lion tamer and right below working at a music store on my list of preferred professions.
"Guys," Roxas cut into the (probably) awkward silence. "Do you want to get something to eat? It's almost eleven, and I have to be back by twelve." This is Roxas speak for 'I'm practically starving here and I want a veggie burger or two, but if you're too busy for me I can deal with the immense abdominal pain if it would make you happy'. And he smiled that innocent smile at the end like I don't have a Roxas to English translator in my head.
"Who wants burgers?" Axel grinned.
That night, I learnt that sometimes people don't actually tell the truth under a load of pressure. There's this game you can play, where a friend gives you two choices and you have to choose one right away. But I guess, really, they'll just choose a random one, since they aren't allowed to put any thought into it. Zexion actually thought Ewan McGregor was fitter.
That was the penultimate day of our six week summer. Our last decent break before we were supposed to immerse ourselves into education, for the final year that would 'shape our futures'. I don't think so. I don't like to think that what I do this year will affect my entire life. I'm actually planning on taking the hits as they come. Maybe I just need more motivation or something.
This was the last year I'd be living at home with the 'parental units'. I love them through and through, but I've got to escape this place sometime.
On the last day of summer I made a timetable that did not involve stepping out of the house. The last day of summer is forever dedicate to locating school uniform, finishing homework, contemplating life in general and avoiding all forms of social networking (so I'll have things to catch up with on the first day). I managed to finish the majority of my unwritten to do list, but there's always a snag. The knowledge of how to do up a tie had escaped me. This called for an early morning sprint to Marluxia's.
Mars is like the older brother I never had. The ridiculously irresponsible, but caring, older brother. At the front of his house is a surprisingly beautiful garden, filled with flowers I never even heard of before he gave me a lecture on them. I threw pebbles at his bedroom window like they do in the movies, and a crash and a thump or two sounded, accompanied by some profanities, before a frazzled Mars opened the window. "...the fuck?"
"Did you forget about school?"
"You neek. It's only 7! I've got at least an hour left..."
"Mars! Please! I need help with my tie!"
"Oh...fine then. Let yourself in. Just don't make too much noise, I think my cousin is still asleep."
Now is not the time to think about my future with my soul mate. Now is not – Oh, who gives a crap? I've already named our cat.
And it's also kind of hard to not think about your crush when he's standing right in front of you.
Zexion was standing in the doorframe of the front door, squinting at me through heavy lidded eyes. Clad in a blue vest and some plain black PJ bottoms. He didn't look like happiness and rainbows, but honestly I couldn't tell if he was happy to see me or not. His face looked like he was still deep in dreamland.
"Good morning, Demyx," he said as he flicked some of his hair from his face. His voice was impossibly smooth for someone looking like that at 7 in the morning.
"Heh," I smiled sheepishly. "Mornin'. Uh, you think I could come in? It's a bit chilly out here, you know?"
He simply spun on his heel and walked back into the house, which I took as my cue to follow him.
I've always loved Marluxia's house – it's just the right balance between clean and messy to make anyone feel at home once they've taken a few steps in. It's a very organized mess, with random camera parts splayed over the coffee table. It's pretty big as well, for somewhere where he used to live alone. There's a TV room and a games room and he installed a mini gym as well (It beats me where he gets the money from).
I spotted some help unfinished Chemistry homework and a Design Tech folder still in its shiny plastic wrapping. Oh well. At least I'm not the only one Miss Porter's going to kill.
"Demyx! Get your ass upstairs!" he yelled.
Man, don't you just hate it when you have to put effort into life? I skipped up the stairs (Hey, where'd Zexion go?) and stop outside his blue bedroom door.
"Are you decent?" I asked through the door innocently.
"As decent as I'll ever be."
"So...uh..."
"I have clothes on."
Phew. Awkward situation diverted.
Mars' room is almost the same as the rest of the house but it's amazingly different. The walls are exactly the same colour as the rest of the house – at least the walls you can see. He's totally plastered them with photos of every event in his life his deems important. There are lots of his parents, and a few of his other relatives I've met before. There are some of birthday parties and some of recent raves (Most recent: Lychee Rave. ...What? It needed to be done). And there's where he scuffed his knee while I was teaching him to rollerblade. And there's even a picture right about his headboard where Axel and Roxas got caught up in a moment staring into each other's eyes. (A true Kodak moment). Mars takes his camera absolutely everywhere with him - we're pretty sure he's going into Nature photography.
"Tie?"
"Here," I threw the tie over to him whilst I rearranged my collar.
"So, princess, good summer?" (Why he calls me princess is a story for another time...)
"As good as it gets."
"I hear you met Sexy Zexy," he said as he walked to his ensuite.
"Yeah, I met Zexion alright." Sexy Zexy? I wonder if he calls him that to his face...
"So...what do you think?"
I think he's real pretty.
"He seems...nice."
"Oh, come on Demyx! You've got to have something better than that!" Mars calls to me from his bathroom. A whooshing noise starts up so I guess he was brushing his teeth or preparing to put his face of or something, and two minutes later he emerges from the bathroom, looking fresh as a daisy.
"Over here." He motioned to me from the doorway. "Chop chop."
He put the blue material around my neck and begins to do the loop-de-loop thing I can hardly ever remember. My specialties don't exactly fall into this area. I'm a professional slacker. A professional slacker who has been wearing that damn tie for years and still has no clue to how to tie it up.
"Don't think you can get out of the question."
"Huh?"
"Zexion! What d'you think? Has he been nice to you?" he asked interestedly, like a protective sibling.
"Oh yeah, he's...really cool?" (I hate how that came out like more of a question than a statement.)
"Demyx, princess." He tightens my tie, almost menacingly, with a sceptical look on his face. "Come on, straight guy to gay guy here. Do you read me? What do you THINK?"
I scoffed. "Straight my ass."
"Dem."
"Okay! So...I might have a crush on him. Just teensy one. But please please please don't tell him. I've only known him for, what? 2 days? I don't really know yet."
"Oooooh~. Well, I'll just tell you to be careful with him, alright? No one likes to see princess get hurt."
"Once again – straight my ass. And what do you mean?" But before he even got the chance to hear my question he'd disappeared into his bathroom against, leaving me alone. (For future reference, always take Mars' advice. I probably wouldn't be here now if I did.)
While my friend was doing whatever he does in there, I decided to stroll around his house. Maybe find some food. I walked down to the kitchen with my hands stuffed deep into my blazer pockets, where someone was already there, rummaging through the fridge while humming a happy melody (It sounded like that song from that trailer for that movie, you know the one?) By this time, Zexion had changed into his uniform as well. His white dress shirt was rolled up to his elbows and the blue trousers looked a little big on him. Surprise flooded his face when he turned around to find I was watching him.
"Hello...again," he mumbled, clutching something to his chest and stepping back, effectively shutting the fridge door.
The thing he was holding so dearly was a carton of orange juice. (Innocent. My favourite.)
"Awesome! Juice!" I grabbed it from him. Pink covered his nose and he opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but he'd decided against it. "Cat got your tongue?" Yes, I was being a five-year-old. Making fun of my crush. I'm quite obviously gonna go far with this approach.
Once again, he opened his mouth. Reminded me of a fish he did. But something came out in the end. "I suppose you're staying for a while then?"
We spent the rest of the morning making pancakes and toast before the others arrived. It was...the funnest morning I'd had in a while. Just hangin' with my new friend. Just hangin'.
Mmm...yeah...so, if anyone wants to tell me a suitable men's jeans size? I've not got any experience in this specific field of life. Any help would be greatly appreciated :)
Review, pretty please! Love virtually felt through the internet via reviews make my own little world go around...
