Marluxia Somerset was an assumed name. He'd gone through a lot of trouble to get a fake identity that could hold up to scrutiny from the American government. That he was actually from abroad was one of the many kept secrets Marluxia held. Still, he hadn't expected the government to call upon him to do his civic duty. Apparently, that meant marrying some single mom and helping her raise her bratty children. He liked children well enough but being forced into a marriage of convenience instead of a match of love was against his principals. There was no way out of it though and it would be the perfect cover. The men looking for him would never find him this way. Lexaeus, Xaldin, Xigbar… He'd never see them again, they wouldn't interfere with his life. No, he would be free and it would all be thanks to the government. It hadn't even been his idea, which was the most brilliant part of this scheme. After two hours of waiting, though, he was beginning to wish that his cover hadn't been so good. Or at least that they'd added some flaws in. Finally, it was his turn and he made his way through the procession, towards the end of the line. There was a pretty, but bored looking woman with a son and a daughter in the front of the line. He could tell right away she was as self-involved as they get as she barely spared a glance for the children she'd handed off. He'd watched through tinted glass as half a dozen other parents do the same thing. What surprised him was the striking man with red hair's reaction to the idea of handing off his son. He missed the first part but the rest of the angry whisper he heard loud and clear.
"…nuts? If he wakes up and I'm gone, he's going to freak! I'm not subjecting my son to that just because you're uncomfortable with the setting. Trust me, both of us have been twice as uncomfortable and we've been here for almost three hours!" He made a good point and Marluxia felt compelled to help him. He should at least be allowed to plead his case on his son's behalf. The man's eyes flickered to him, a shocking and vivid green, before he gave him a dismissive gesture. He felt a spark of annoyance at it, which was quickly squelched by guilt as he noticed the guard making his way toward him. He had no reason to feel guilty. And besides, he was supposed to be keeping a low profile, not drawing attention to himself for a charity case.
"It's a strange world we live in…" Those were Marluxia's thoughts as was brought into the courtroom to meet his new spouse. The first women to enter the courtroom was exactly how he thought her to be and vain to boot. He was glad he wouldn't end up with her. Then the man behind her stormed in and he perked slight.
He learned how wrong it was to think of the man as a charity case when he entered the room.
"State your name for the record please."
"Axel Cambion."
"Very well, we have a few preliminary questions for you, Mr. Cambion. Please answer truthfully to the best of your ability."
He gritted his teeth but Mr. Cambion nodded.
"Do you have children?"
"Yes."
"How many?"
"Just the one."
"Are you, or do you expect to be, expecting any more within the next six months?"
"What?"
"Are you, or do you expect to be, expecting—"
"Lady, speak in plain English. I can't understand what you're trying to get at."
"Is your girlfriend pregnant? Or is there any chance that she might become pregnant within the next six months?"
"I don't have a girlfriend." He stated in a flat tone. Marluxia noted his fist clench. Curious. He wondered absently what brought around that response.
This seemed to surprise the judge more. "Are you currently sexually active?"
"No." His voice had a steely edge to it.
"Do you have, or do you plan on keeping, a mistress after your union."
"I don't plan on a union, period."
Marluxia bit back a smirk. He liked that answer. Cheeky.
"Answer the question asked of you, Mr. Cambion."
"No. Okay? I don't have time to sleep around anymore now that I have a kid."
"Please explain the meaning of that."
"I don't think it's a good idea to have a bunch of lovers when trying to raise a kid. It'll just lead to too many questions and-"
"The part about sleeping around, Mr. Cambion. Please explain."
He slowly unclenched and then clenched his fists a few times. Marluxia got the impression that if he didn't have two guards on either side of him, he might be shaking the judge right now. "When I was younger, I used to sleep around a lot. Hell, I was known for it for a time. Hence, why I have a kid."
"Are you currently in love?"
"What the hell?"
"Mr. Cambion..."
"No! Not that it's any of your gawd damn business but I'm not!"
"Have you ever been in love?"
He didn't respond. The judge repeated the question. "Perhaps you didn't hear me, Mr. Cambion. Have you ever been in love?"
"I heard you just fine."
"Answer the question, please."
He turned fiery glare on the woman. "Whether I have or have not is irrelevant. It has nothing to do with what's going on here." His voice flowed out steadily calm but with a burning edge to it, similar to magma. Marluxia had a feeling that if he exploded, it would be fierce, like that of a volcano. He kind of wanted to see it happen.
The judge seemed to wise up to his attitude toward the line of questioning, sadly. She nodded sharply and continued on a different line.
"What is your current job?"
"Science teacher. High school."
"Who are the beneficiaries should anything happen to you?"
"Just my son." His glare hardened. "Just him. I'm not changing my will. Anything happens to me, no matter what the circumstances, my son will inherit the money set aside for his college fund and my last paycheck. I'm not going to let someone get their grubby little hands on that money and waste it."
"Please answer only the questions asked of you. Do you have any relatives that can help you out?"
"No." He said it shortly, his tone clipped. He was hiding something there, Marluxia noted.
The line of questioning continued on.
"Then what is it you want, Mr. Cambion?" The judge snapped.
That seemed to be what he was waiting for. He finally snapped, a fiery temper exploding to life. It was almost captivating to watch. "What do I want? What do I want? I want you to end this gawddamn farce! Get the fuck off your high horses, all of you! What do you know about raising my kid? He's my son! You expect me to just waltz in here, go thank you very much for fucking up both our lives, and let you do whatever you damn well please? Hell no! You can't just expect me to accept some stranger around my kid without me knowing the particulars about them!"
"Mr. Cambion, we did a very through background check on all the applicants—"
"And what the hell does that matter? So they didn't get caught! You could be sticking me with a violent drunk, a drug addict, a weed enthusiast, a smart pedophile, anyone, and it's supposed to be alright because you did a background check? News flash, lady. People lie! They lie on their taxes, they lie about their coffee, they lie about how they feel about kids!" He chuckled, thinking he had made some very good points there. After all, his own background check revealed nothing true about him. There might be others in the room who had hidden pieces of who they were from that supposedly through check. He glanced casually at those around him, tuning out part of the rant.
"There you go! None of these people are happy about this. I'm not happy about this. You're not happy about this. Why don't you let me go on my merry way and be done with all this? No matter what you say, I'm not going to let some stranger wreck my son's life."
"That's the point, Mr. Cambion. This is about improving your son's life. He obviously needs positive influences in his life," He glances sharply at the judge, feeling she was out of line. Who was she to judge how this man raised his child? She probably didn't even have any of her own! "We intend to give him some, whether you feel he needs them or not. You can't walk away from here without some sort of partnership being formed."
"Why the hell not? I've got rights! My kid's got rights! You are abusing our Constitutional rights not to mention probably endangering my kid-" His rant cut off prematurely, just when Marluxia had begun to root for him, when a child began to cry on the other side of the door. From his reaction, he quickly deduced that it was this man's child. When the boy ran in, he wasn't surprised in the least to see him quickly make his way over to him and scoop up his son. There was a slightly panicked look to his expression, as though he was afraid something had happened to him in the short time they'd been apart. He began murmuring in the boy's ear, no doubt trying to calm him. He made his way over to them both, wanting to assess the situation up close and diffuse it before that social worker pushed him the wrong way. The words made him pause, though, catching his attention.
"Starlight and midnight, chimes of the clock, rock a bye baby, asleep in the stock. Widow in the corner, bread maker in the den, presents for you and me, the clucking of a hen. All the silly songs, and all the whispered words, nonsense in one ear, and courage takes a turn. Remember this song my dear, it will keep you safe. Think of it and sing to me, when your heart begins to break." It was an odd little song, one he'd never heard before. It seemed to have the desired effect on the boy, though, who calmed and cuddle up to his dad. The father in question seemed to relax a great deal now that his son was in his arms. However, his arms tightened around the boy and he glared at the social worker, who seemed inept enough to try to request the boy be handed back to her. Couldn't she see she wasn't doing anything but upsetting the both of them? As the man stalked away, he leaned in close to speak in soft tones to the social worker, threatening her. His honey sweet smile made all watching believe he was simply telling her it was okay to go but the fear in her eyes said she understood the veiled references very well.
He glanced at the judge as he got back in line. She looked bored and stupid to him. When she breathed a sigh of contempt, he felt as though it were an ominous threat. "Are there any volunteers?"
The man didn't seem to like hearing that. Well of course not, he'd just spent the better part of twenty minutes trying to convince her to leave him alone. Still, he looked as though she'd physically hit him. And then, for some reason, he and his son began whispering back and forth. He wanted to get closer, to hear what they were saying. No doubt it would be much more interesting than the murmurings of the idiots next to him. He watched them turn to regard them, two vastly different gazes sweeping over everyone. From the way the boy was reacting, the father was making jokes about the people. Marluxia couldn't help grinning, wishing he was in on those jokes. He has a few of his own he wanted to throw in. He waved at the boy, who shyly waved back. Cute kid. None of this had changed anything in his mind though. He'd try to find some quiet looking women, not to bright, and figure out how to help out without getting directly involved with her kids. He felt bad for the dad and his son, he wanted to help them, but marrying a man was pushing it.
What changed the matter for him was what happened in the next instant. The boy brightened, smiling brighter and that struck his heart. Okay, so maybe for the boy... Then Axel Cambion's expression softened, love making it radiant for an instant as he looked at his son. He glanced up at him, gratitude and relief and just a hint of loneliness in his expression as he nodded to him. He was thanking him for that simple act, which was nothing. Anyone else should have done it. Yet no one did and this man felt the need to thank him for being kind to his son. Suddenly, he decided that if he wasn't going to marry for love and if it was going to be forced anyway, it might as well be this one.
"I volunteer." He cut off the judge and her stupid speech. She just blinked at him like an imbecile. She must be challenged in the head. Another set of eyes bored into him but he decisively kept eye contact with the judge.
When the little voice called out clear across the courtroom, he finally looked at the two. "He doesn't look much like a mama."
He watched the man curiously, expecting another fiery reaction. Instead, he laughed and his expression screwed up, as if he was afraid of loosing it. He wondered vaguely what he was thinking but it was already done. "No," The man said, ruffling the boy's hair and giving him a bleak, surprisingly angry look. "He doesn't look like a mama, Sora. Not at all." He knew then that he wouldn't be thanked for stepping up and volunteering. All the same, he didn't regret doing it and he didn't back down from the black stare.
