Xemnas lied in his cell, staring at the concrete ceiling above his head. This confine had been his home for over three years. While all of his Organization Thirteen accomplices had weaseled out of long jail sentences, Xemnas would be forced to wait three more years before he could even dream of open air. "Half way there," he murmured with a chuckle, and began to close his eyes.
There was a slam on the compound doors, and footsteps thumped towards his cell, reverberating. As Xemnas peered out from between the bars of his enclosement he noticed that the walking guards were creeping towards him. He stepped back as his door was unlocked and he was cuffed. "You have someone here who wants to speak with you," growled one as they hauled Xemnas out of his cell and towards the door. He was brought into a long hallway that led to the visitation room overlooking the prison's courtyard and gated entrance. As they entered the room, Xemnas' eyes drifted from the windows to the various prisoners that spoke with their guests at open green tables lining the walls. Xemnas' gaze was attracted to a bald headed man seated at the far end of the room near the entrance, and his shoulders bristled as the elderly man glanced at him and narrowed his eyes. It was his father.
The man was tan, like Xemnas, with piercing dark rimmed yellow eyes, but his facial hair and clothing were meticulously tailored. The dust that settled over everything in the room glanced off his person and floated aimlessly, reflected in the sun's rays. Xemnas' father watched as his son was led towards him by the police, who seated him, uncuffed him, and departed to the other side of the room to deal with another inmate. The old man in front of Xemnas grimaced, as his grip tightened on the end of his cane. "You should have greeted me before you sat down and waited for me to tell you to be seated," He murmured, "You have still failed to learn respect." The voice that had haunted Xemnas all his life, that sound of gravel rolling back and forth in a cushioned box, still made Xemnas afraid. "I apologize," tried the prisoner, standing up, but his father shook his head. "This is no lesson, boy. Sit down." Xemnas did so, and his father watched him.
"Xemnas, why do you think I have come here?" he continued.
"I cannot fathom it, sir," Xemnas replied, and his father cleared his throat, the gravel rolling again. "I came to help you," he murmured. Xemnas furrowed his brows in confusion. Three years ago, before he had been sent to jail, his father had spat upon him, telling him he was no longer his son. But now, here he was, willing to help.
"After the mess you made of things, after I paid for the beginning of your operation and you threw it back in my face, I was enraged," explained the old man, "I did not see it fit to associate myself with such a traitor. And to think, you would inherit my empire!" he added, chuckling. "But, I cannot let my only son rot in jail, that would make me a bad father. So I am willing to help you."
Xemnas smiled in spite of himself and wove his fingers together. "How do you intend to do that, father?" he murmured, "My case is iron shut." His father chortled and folded a hand over his chest, indicating with the other. "But are all of your cohorts?" asked the old man, then murmured, "it seems as though the eighth member, Axel, has a tainted history that we can use to our advantage."
"But he turned us in, father," Xemnas replied in a sigh, "they would not condemn their only witness."
"He is not their witness any longer," growled his father, gripping his cane and leaning forward, his eyes piercing into Xemnas' as he spoke. "We have hunted for loose ends the state failed to mention in the case concerning the red head. He was a good friend of the first convicted, Xion. He was friendly with the Castle Oblivion employees and yourself and Saix, yet he turned on you all in the blink of an eye," hissed the man, his eyes shining. "How can the state afford to continue supporting such filth if I go up against him? They do not need him anymore."
"But they would not abandon him," replied Xemnas. His father chuckled, rubbing his bald scalp. "Xemnas, you know little of the bureau," muttered the old man. "They will use anything to catch their victims, and fling away those used just as fast."
Xemnas pondered it, adding, "He did know a lot of personal information pertaining to the company."
His father smiled, but Xemnas shook his head, his strange respect for Axel hindering his decision to cheat him. It did not seem correct to turn him in. Axel had always been uncatchable. Though, Axel had himself cheated countless times to slip out of blame. Xemnas glanced out the wide window that lined the adjacent wall, staring towards the entrance of the prison and wondering how it felt to walk free. His father scrutinized his movements in silence, but spoke as Xemnas sighed. "Do you want my help?" asked his father. Xemnas hesitated before nodding, standing up, and bowing. "Yes, of course," he murmured, "Thank you father." The warden lumbered over to tap him on the shoulder and Xemnas nodded, bowing once more to his father before stepping away from his chair and following the warden back to his cell. As his son left, Xemnas' father lingered, glancing at the painted green walls surrounding him before standing and exiting the building with his eyes held forward.
Once he pushed through the front double doors out of the prison, he pulled his coat about him to escape the chill that penetrated despite the ensuing summer. Forsaken lifeless trees littered the area around the correctional facility, flaccid with exhaustion and dehydration, but a few held tightly to the mangy little buds dotting their limbs. The old man tutted as he passed, tapping his cane on the ground in irritation as he searched for his car. The sound of a revving engine caught his attention, and as the old man peered out over the landscape he saw a black car swerving out from the car park towards him. It turned in front of the building and stopped before his outstretched cane, the chauffer throwing the book he had been reading to the passenger seat as he jumped out from the driver's side. The young man trotted around the car, opened the back passenger door, and let the old man inside before returning to his own seat and starting the engine.
"What book distracted you from meeting me on time?" murmured the old man and his chauffer bristled, before cooling. "The Stranger," he replied, causing the old man to chuckle and sigh, "Interesting," before rubbing his eyes. The chauffer scanned the road through dark red-rimmed sunglasses, waiting for the barbed wire gates ahead to slide away so that their car could exit the compound. The steel frames heaved to the sides as the officer manning the entrance pressed the green button that pulled them apart. Until there was ample space to escape between the metal barbed doors, the old man's car inched forward in earnest. But when the space cleared, the engine revved again and the car sped forward, out onto the main road leading down the mountain. The peaks of the building blurred behind the car, and as they disappeared the chauffer let out a sigh of relief and loosened his hold on the wheel, relaxing his shoulders. His master snapped his fingers behind to facilitate his memory and sighed when his thought came to him. "I have grown tired of our companionship with Shinra and of Hojo," he explained, "He is weak and stubborn. If he slips again and directs attention from the bureau, he will take blame for our operation," added the old man, furrowing his brows and touching his forefinger to his chin. "The cogs are in place to insert Sephiroth as head of Shinra, and our plan will fit nicely with his plight for revenge. Our target will be in Midgar this week. We strike then."
His chauffer gripped the wheel and nodded, peering in the rearview mirror and then back onto the road. "How is your son?" he chanced, but his master snorted. "He has not changed," murmured the bald man, chuckling and leaning back in his seat. But he sighed, "I will use him in any way I can," adding, "And I must be good to my remaining offspring. I will soon prove sonless if I do not forgive him."
The chauffer's head snapped up at this. "Who is your son now, if he is not?" The old man pursed his lips at this and grinned at the chauffer, patting the young man's shoulder. "That is not a problem for your mind to think on. You have a job to carry out and you shall see to it that it is done right."
The chauffer's nostrils flared and he nodded, gripping the wheel again. But this time, he did not relax. He exited the road and merged with the highway that would lead them closer to the Land That Never Was, wondering if the old man had meant him.
…
Reno sat at his desk, taking his office in with pride. He had been promoted to Chief Inspector of the Midgar and Surrounding Cities Criminal Investigative Division of the Investigation Bureau over half a year ago, but by no means had he stopped gloating. Reno's branch of the Division had its own building stationed on the outskirts of Midgar. According to Shinra, the ruling organization in the city, Reno's division did not have the 'credentials' to get a building in Midgar, but Reno and most of the other employees knew the true reason for the company's concern.
Shinra Electric was getting nervous.
Four years ago, under the direction of King Mickey, the Investigation Bureau had perfected its plan to create a 'special unit' of the Division that would concentrate on the criminal affairs within and around Midgar. But all cases led back to the same place. Shinra Electric. It seemed as if every one of Midgar's top crooks had some affiliation with the syndicate. Shinra's security and 'crime' unit, The Turks, had opposed the installment of the new Bureau building, but when the Bureau proposed an alliance between the two organizations, Shinra Electric fell silent.
The main headquarters for the Bureau was in The Land of Departure, represented in King Mickey's monthly meetings with the other mayors of each city within their region's borders. King Mickey originally created the Investigation Bureau for Disney City. Then, surrounding cities began using it. After the trouble with the Land of Departure University ten years before, the Bureau became the official investigational unit for the whole region. Their new headquarters was built in the ruins of The Land of Departure and their old headquarters in Disney Castle became a library. But, excluding the Land That Never Was, Mickey's region had a very low crime rate. The mayor of the Land That Never Was, who had hindered the Bureau's creation of a unit within the city for years, had been thwarted, and Reno estimated that within twelve months a unit would be stationed in the building opposite the mayoral office in the center of the city.
Reno knew the crime in the Land That Never Was and in his region was connected in some way. The Land That Never Was directly bordered the region that Reno lived in, and it seemed that one elusive figure controlled all of it. An Investigation unit as close to Shinra Electric as possible was vital. And Reno had now been placed the lead of a seminal case, a case the Investigation Bureau hoped would change the course of crime culture.
The change in habitat was a relief to him. Reno had joined the Bureau after his father died, feeling it was the best way to repent for killing so many civilians as a Turk. When he applied to the Turk's head office for permanent leave it was granted through the support of Hojo, who reasoned with President Shinra. Reno did not know the exact words exchanged between them but he had a feeling it had something to do with an outside affiliation of the organization. Perhaps Hojo had convinced the president to let Reno leave to prove to the world that Shinra had nothing to hide. But Shinra didhave something to hide, and now the person that they had let go was trying to expose their secret.
Reno chuckled at the thought; not letting the fact that he was incredibly lucky sink in. He had applied for this higher position not expecting to get it. But he got it, though he was on thin ice because of his previous employment. He had been working on the Hojo case since he joined the Bureau as a mere detective, but now that he was a chief investigator he'd acquired more power than he ever could have dreamed. And now he held his own case in the palm of his hand.
Reno noticed a flicker of movement through the window blinds that peeked onto the area outside of his office. Then there was a knock on the door and one of the junior investigators shuffled in.
"So, Kid," drawled Reno, swiveling his chair around and setting the tips of his fingers against each other before adding, "What's up? Are they here yet?" to which the young man sighed and nodded. Reno frowned. "And?" he asked, encouraging Kid to elaborate.
"She's beautiful," sighed Kid in response while Reno held back a laugh and mumbled, "Well then, bring her in."
Kid nodded and opened the door, murmuring that the Chief Inspector was ready to see her. The woman standing outside returned a curt 'thank you' and marched inside the office, standing in front of Reno's desk and looking around. Reno tried not to gape, but Kid's description wasn't far off the mark.
The woman before him had striking pink hair that framed her face and curled around her left shoulder, with light rosy skin contrasting her cold eyes. Her outfit was military. Reno sat gob struck, until he was able to pull himself together. "Excuse me," he muttered, lowering his head, and coughed to break the silence. Then he stood up and shook the woman's hand. "Hello I'm Reno, Chief Inspector-"
"I read your files on the way here," interjected the woman, avoiding the hand Reno had just coughed into. "You were a former Turk?" she inquired. Reno shrugged, attempting a mysterious air. "Yeah, but, that's between Shinra and me," He murmured, setting his foot on his swivel chair and his elbow atop his thigh. As he did so, the wheeled chair veered to the right and Reno teetered. But he tried to play it off as if he was surfing with one foot in the water and the other on the chair, holding his hands out to affect balance. The woman before him raised an eyebrow, perplexed in a non-amused way. "So you are voluntarily withholding information?" she snapped in response to Reno's previous comment, making Reno narrow his eyes at her before hopping off his chair and shuffling through the data on his desk.
"I'm impressed in your studies," he drawled, picking up a file and turning it the right side up. It turned out to be his shopping list, but he pretended to read through it. Lightning nodded, continuing to examine the office as she corrected, "You mean in Bodhum?" Her eyes fell against a picture of Reno and his old friend Rude, another Turk, and her lips curled in suspicion as every bug in the room harmonized while Reno searched his mind for an answer to her question. "The light brand?" He tried. The woman pursed her lips.
"No. Bodhum, as in my hometown."
"Ah," Reno snapped his fingers, chuckling in affirmation. "Ah of course, that Bodhum. The one in?"
"It's in Pulse," replied the woman. Reno had never been good at geography. "Pulse," he mumbled, tapping his finger to the area between his upper lip and nose. He decided to make a joke, and began to beat his hand on his chest in a heartbeat rhythm. "It is on the Northeast border of Planet, your region," the woman elaborated, pointing in its direction relative to Midgar.
"Yes, I know what region I live in," snapped Reno in return. As the woman cleared her throat and prepared to introduce herself, Reno decided she had unattractive lines on the sides of her mouth.
"My Name is Lightning Faron," she began. "I was born in Bodhum and attended the military institute in…then I began to seek…after this award I…"
Reno nodded, attempting to act attentive. Then, he remembered that Kid was supposed to have gotten him her file before she came in. He began to hunt around for the paperwork as she continued speaking, but Lightning stopped her spiel, seething, "what are you doing?" as Reno shrugged and punched the intercom button on his desk. "Kid, the file," He shouted into the device, but his voice blared back at him through the speaker in his office. Reno yelped and Lightning jumped.
"Fu-!" began Reno, but he sucked in a deep breath before he could finish the word and ripped the intercom cord out of the wall, carrying the device with him into the open office. He trudged over to Kid and slammed the intercom down on his desk, causing all of the other detectives to look up at him in curiosity. Lightning leaned against his office door, watching as Reno jabbed his finger onto the machine's metal frame. "What the hell is wrong with this thing?" announced the chief investigator, glaring from one detective to the next with narrowed eyes. Kid stared at him and shrugged, so Reno grabbed the young man's thermos and shoved him out of his chair. Then, Reno stood on the chair and used the intercom to tap the thermos and get everyone's attention.
"Excuse me, excuse me," he shouted, making everyone glance up at him. Reno held up the intercom. "At approximately three o'clock in the afternoon, I pressed the intercom button to get Kid's attention. The intercom blared back at me, and it almost made me go deaf. Can someone please tell me what the hell happened?" One of the men in the back raised his hand and Reno pointed to him. "Yes, Max, report," barked the red head, standing up straight.
"Is your intercom hooked up to the speaker in your room? It's supposed to be hooked up to the speaker out here," The man drawled. There was silence. Reno looked around before throwing his arms up in the air.
"I'm trying to save chord!" he cried, "We can't just go around throwing money left right and center! It's wasteful! It's littering the ground with wires and plugs, and before we know it we'll be swamped in electric bills!" wailed the chief inspector. Lightning looked on as Reno ranted about all the electric appliances in the room, before he returned to the speaker, trailing off. Then he scratched his head in confusion. "So... why did I try to use the intercom?" asked Reno.
"You were looking for a file," Lighting responded.
"Yes, yes, of course I was, of course I was!" Reno bellowed in response, and then paused before clapping his hands and shouting, "Back to work everyone, we're catching crooks down here, not flies!" The investigators bent back towards their computers unfazed and Reno chuckled, pointing towards them as he turned back to Lightning with rolled eyes. "Incompetency at its finest, huh?" He chuckled, but Lightning did not respond. Seconds later Kid brought in Lightning's file and set it on Reno's desk. Reno began to read it as Lightning sat down in front of him. "You fought in a war?" mumbled the red head. Lightning nodded, sighing, "An epilogue to the War of Transgression, or perhaps the War of Transgression was the prologue. Pulse and Cocoon tricked into battling one another."
"Cocoon?" murmured Reno in response, and Lighting nodded again. "Our region's official name is Pulse. Cocoon is an independent city within. The area outside of Cocoon is officially called Gran Pulse."
Reno recalled hearing about the War of Transgression in his high school history class. There was a group of people called fal'Cie that the inhabitants of Pulse worshipped as gods. Then the inhabitants of Gran Pulse attacked the people of Cocoon, and something else. Reno scanned further down the page and stopped on a few words, raising his eyebrows. "Your real name is Claire Farron?" he asked, making Lightning cringe. "I didn't know they still put my birth name on my files. That is irritating."
Reno looked up at her. "Why'd you change it?"
"That is none of your business," snapped Lightning in reply, and Reno chuckled and shook his head, setting the file in front of him. At times, he couldn't understand women. Four or five tiny little words, one little sentence, could cause a catastrophic turn back, and a whole quarter of an hour of conversational progress was thrown in the trash. Reno thought he had been doing well up until this point. He closed Lightning's paperwork and stood up as she did, smiling at her and folding his hands behind his back.
"I think you and me should go out for a drink," blurted out Reno, "Get to know each other before we start into this nasty corruption case," he added with a wink, but Lightning pursed her lips. She closed her eyes, waited, and then cleared her throat.
"Thank you, but no thank you," She finally responded. "We are professional partners, not drinking buddies. I am eager to begin working on the case. The longer we waste time attempting to be friends the more time we lose figuring out what Shinra Electric is up to."
"What experience do you have with government corruption?" sulked Reno in response.
"I exposed centuries of corruption through the fal'Cie and the corrupt government of Cocoon, the Sanctum," Lightning snipped back, "I made sacrifices, I was forced to abandon my family, and I survived. Is that appropriate experience or should I have joined the Sanctum and then decided to switch sides when things turned out of my favor?"
Reno snorted, chortling, "Alright, slow down there, missy," worried at where Lightning was going with her speech.
"I wonder at the reason you were appointed to this case, sir," derided Lightning in reply. "Someone so uncouth entrusted with so much. I really wonder."
"What the hell are you getting at?" Reno exclaimed. Lightning's face was stone.
"You worked for the people this company is investigating. The fact that this unit did not allow their Chief Investigator to handle this case alone and the fact that they brought in a person like me to assist means that they do not trust you. Why would they, seeing as you are the only Turk that has ever escaped Shinra alive? You may be an expensive witness but I do not trust you. Even your 'stupid' act is blatantly obvious," she added with disdain. Reno's mouth fell open and he touched his chest in response to the wound, finally spitting, "I don't trust you, either!" causing Lightning to narrow her eyes and murmur, "If you ever feel the need to switch sides, just hand the case to me."
Reno panted, gaping for lack of words. "What makes you so sure that you won't slip up?" He leered.
"I have learned from my mistakes," shouted Lightning in response. Then, she closed her eyes. "We start the investigation tomorrow. My research is done. If we are cooperating we will compile individual findings tomorrow," Lightning finished as she filed out of the room.
"I hope you help me solve this case," snapped Reno in return, jumping up, but Lightning ignored him as she strode past the desks outside Reno's office and out the door. His colleagues stared after her as she left, and then at Reno. Kid shook his head. "The air's intense, Reno. What happened in there?"
"Listen up," Reno barked, pointing at everyone in the workplace. "I want all the research we've got on Shinra Electric. I'll compile everything I know, and then we'll organize the best way to write this out in order to show our lovely lady tomorrow."
"Does this mean we're in for an all-nighter?" complained a voice from the back.
"You bet your ass we are," replied Reno with a wide grin. "I'm not gonna have this pink haired floozy show me up! And I would stress the same for all of you, too! Take pride in your manliness, your honor, your pride!" Reno preached, feeling empowered. The men around him looked on dully, and a hand rose in the back of the room.
"Yes, Max. What almighty knowledge will you impart on us this time?" sighed the Chief inspector, and Max lowered his hand. "If I don't care about this pride stuff can I go home?"
Reno punched his fist onto Kid's desk, pointing at Max with an intense glare. "Hell, no! If you have no pride I'll have pride for you. Let's begin!"
Everyone groaned but got to work, and Reno ran back to his office, searching files on his computer and pulling up old Shinra programs that he had forgotten to erase. Most of them were useless things like recipes and music, and other 'recreational' files he had created at Shinra to avoid work. He'd delete it all before Lightning could see it, of course. He wanted to appear as professional as possible, to make her trust him. After failing to find any useful files he started to type down names and programs from Shinra that he remembered, codes and the like.
Reno had a great memory, so it was set to be a long night.
…
Demyx and Kairi sat on the floor laughing together and listening to music. It was one of the few free afternoons they had together after first getting their record deal. They had a month before they started their next album. Kairi looked at Demyx with fondness, humming the words to her favorite song. Then, Demyx put his hand around Kairi's shoulder and kissed her cheek.
"Well," He murmured. Kairi smiled. "Well, what?"
Demyx shrugged. He began to kiss her on the neck, and Kairi pushed him down on the ground and lay beside him, playing with the buttons on his shirt. Demyx shrugged. "I was just thinking about how pretty you are," He sighed as Kairi undid his shirt. "Are you trying to butter me up?" laughed Kairi in response.
Demyx smiled and picked her up, carrying her into the bedroom and laying her down over the covers. She put her arms up over her head and raised her chin. Then she giggled. "You look like a Cheshire cat," Kairi cooed, running her fingers along the outline of Demyx' face, which was crinkled with a huge grin. Demyx laughed. Then he became quiet as he reached his fingers under the hem of her shirt, pulling it up over her chest as he leaned towards her bare breasts. But Kairi snorted and folded her hands in front of her, thwarting him. "Hey, now," she mumbled, suddenly self- conscious. Demyx raised an eyebrow, before chuckling and lifting her hands away from her front, wrapping them around his neck instead. Then he rested his head on Kairi's breasts and kissed one of her nipples, smiling up at her. She blushed and looked away.
"You're pretty." He whispered, running his lips down her neck and over her collarbone. Kairi chuckled. "Don't be predictable," she muttered, biting her lip. Demyx grinned at her. Then he bounded up until he was standing about a foot away from the bed, and ripped his pants and underwear off, flinging them to the side. Kairi yelped, dodging to the left when he tried to pounce on her.
As Demyx wrestled with the mountain of pillows that had fallen over him in his failed attack, Kairi barked, "What the hell?" covering herself again. Demyx looked puzzled. "I'm being sexy," He barked, scratching his thigh and flinging a pillow to the floor. Kairi rolled her eyes.
Demyx stared at her, before sighing and rolling over onto his stomach, using his elbows to prop himself up. "What do you want to do?" He muttered, and Kairi glanced over his chest and blushed, making Demyx grin again. "Oh, so you want to check me out?" He snickered, spreading his legs out. Kairi gaped and threw a pillow at him, but he caught it easily and lied down again, folding his hands behind his head and closing his eyes. Kairi followed with her eyes the way his chest moved when he breathed. Then, her eyes trailed down to his stomach, and the line of hair that led from his belly button to his groin. Demyx' eyelashes fluttered as he snuck a peek at Kairi. When he noticed where she was looking, though, he blushed, mouthing 'oh'. Kairi examined his expression with curiosity, before clearing her throat.
"Being an only child, having a maid to wash me and clean me and feed me when I was tiny made me kind of oblivious," murmured the girl. Then her face brightened with memories. "I remember I wasn't allowed sit at the same dinner table as my parents till I was twelve, and I couldn't talk."
Demyx looked around the room. Their apartmentwas in Port Royale, a centuries old seaport that transformed into the new center for the film and music industry in the region. This was the base of Kairi and Demyx's band. "You know you're still living in a port town, still by the ocean," explained the man; "We couldn't separate you completely from your home." He smiled at her, and Kairi nodded.
"You're right. Oh, and there was something else," She added. Demyx glanced over at her again, inquiring, "What would that be?" Kairi shrugged before grinning. "I'd never seen a penis till yours."
Demyx stared at her a moment, but then he laughed, rolling over onto his stomach and wrapping his arms around Kairi's waist. "You're cute." He snickered. Kairi snuggled in beside him and blew in his ear, making him laugh harder. Then he lied down with his hands folded behind his head and closed his eyes, spreading his legs out again. When he peeked again, he caught Kairi as she stole a sideways glance at him. His eyes shone as he grinned wider and held up his hand. "We're on the brink. I've been joking around up until now but I don't like being pushed far. Either we go through with it or not," he added, indicating his hand for Kairi to take. Kairi felt uncomfortable, raising her eyebrows. Then, she cooed, "Make me feel like a princess," to which Demyx snorted. "Alright, alright," he murmured.
Kairi smiled and slipped her hand into Demyx's palm. Then, he grinned at her and kissed her again, slipping his arms behind her back and holding her close to him. Kairi sighed as he began to run his lips over her collarbone. He glanced his fingers up and down her back, stroking her hips, but Kairi's hands balled into fists from indecision. Demyx looked down at them, before returning his gaze to Kairi's face. "I'm gonna eat you," he whispered, moving his eyebrows up and down and nibbling Kairi's nipples through a crooked grin. Kairi giggled and rested her hands on the back of his head. "You're such a creep," she murmured. Demyx moved his hand down to her belly button, trailing circles around it while he kissed her neck.
"Is it alright if I touch you?" He breathed, as his fingers went down between her thighs. Kairi's head swam, but she nodded. Demyx let his fingers trail between her legs, but then he massaged her gently. "Could you kiss me now?" gulped Kairi, and Demyx nodded, letting his nose touch hers before his lips met her own.
A strange sound escaped her throat, and she put her hand over her mouth, her eyes widening in embarrassment. But in reply Demyx laughed and shook his head, whispering, "It's okay, Kairi. It's alright." Kairi closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing while Demyx massaged her. Then she leaned into his ear and breathed, "I'm ready."
Demyx glanced at her with raised brows, and then nodded, leaning over the side of the bed and pulling a condom out of his pants pocket. Then he hunted around under the bed for lubricant. Kairi rolled her eyes. "Couldn't you have thought of this before?" she muttered, but Demyx ignored her and hummed until he located it and snuggled back beside her, hugging her close to him. "I'm going to go in," he whispered, looking into her eyes, and Kairi shut hers tight and blushed. Then, Demyx took a deep breath, and Kairi heard a ringtone.
"Your phone," she muttered, but Demyx ignored it. "YOUR PHONE!" she whined, and Demyx cursed as she kicked him off her and answered it.
"Hello?" She croaked.
"Hello, darling!" their manager drawled. "I'm jacking off," Demyx barked and Kairi covered the phone as he trudged to the bathroom.
"Demyx isn't here right now," she mumbled.
"Oh, pity, pity… have any good sex lately?"
"Uh..." faltered Kairi, playing with the tips of her hair.
"Back to what you were gesticulator-ing to... the fact that you are sharing an apartment with a man that you say you love- has nothing to do with whom you are sleeping with… and quite frankly you can sleep with who-so-ever you please, and still have this so-called 'boyfriend' so long as you don't get caught…"
"What?" responded Kairi flatly.
"Lovey, I'm not tryin' to argue, I'm just stating a fact of the matter."
"Demyx is out of the shower. You can talk to him now." Kairi interjected, and their manager snorted. "Oh, so the jacker in the backer was the man in question."
Kairi brought the phone out to Demyx, muttering that it was Jack. With a replying scowl he swiped the phone from her hands and trudged over to their office space, muttering as he set the phone to his ear and spoke into it. After a few minutes he returned and put the device on the bedside table, drumming his fingers on its surface. "What was he saying?" Kairi ventured, but Demyx shrugged.
"Oh, just the party to celebrate our new single. Lots of people to impress."
Kairi nodded and rubbed her temple. But Demyx smiled, kissing her on the forehead. "Sometimes I forget that you're still a baby," he sulked, throwing a shirt on. Kairi gaped at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not a baby!"
"You're a scaredy cat," sang Demyx, still sulking. Kairi blushed, replying in defense that she was answering an important call. "Oh, so we can do it now?" Demyx shot back, grinning widely. There was a moment of pause before Kairi ran for her clothes as Demyx lunged at her. She screamed with delight as she bounded into the living room and threw her dress over her head and pulled the door open, almost closing it when Demyx caught her by the face and kissed her. "You forgot your underwear," he whispered, twirling them on his forefinger, but Kairi snatched them from him and slipped them on before he could relinquish them. Cursing, he whined, "come on Kairi, we were so close. Don't leave me like this!" but the girl laughed, replying that they were out of milk.
"Get it later!" groaned Demyx. Kairi kissed him on the nose, but broke out of his grasp, running down the pathway.
"I'll be twice as dangerous when you get back now that you'll have left me waiting!" Demyx called after her, but Kairi blew a kiss at him as she strolled down the lane to their local grocer's. Her hands still shook by the time she reached the supermarket, and she held them out in front of her and examined them trembling as she went for the door. A bell rang inside when she opened it, but she skipped straight to the dairy section in her hunt for milk. When she located it she stood in line for the register.
As she waited, a couple of young girls came over and asked for her autograph. She beamed as she signed them. "Whom may I make these out to?" cooed Kairi, and the girls giggled. "Mary and Daniela," one of them gushed, and Kairi signed their autograph and they left in a fit of excited laughter. Only then did Kairi notice an older woman clad in green standing nearby, staring at her. For a minute Kairi ignored the elderly lady in discomfort, but when the stare continued to bore into her Kairi took initiative and turned. The two met eyes, but as Kairi waved in defiance, the woman began to walk towards her, holding her gaze. It made Kairi anxious. When they were mere inches apart from each other, the lady in green smiled, and Kairi smiled back, chirping, "Hey, granny," before she added, "I don't suppose you want an autograph," with a smile. The old woman's hand reached out and settled against the crook of Kairi's arm, holding it with a firm grip as Kairi's nervousness mounted to an inexplicable level. Just as the lady was about to speak, a middle-aged woman in blue rounded the aisle at their side and gasped, hurrying over and prying the green clad lady away from Kairi. "She's a character," snapped the blue clad woman with a defensive smile, "such interest shocks a lot of people."
"She's fine!" exclaimed Kairi in exaggerated response, adding, "She seems very sweet," with gentle care. To this, the woman in blue softened and held her green dressed companion's shoulders, leading her out of the store. "Come on, Fauny, let's go."
As the woman passed by Kairi, she touched her hand and whispered, "You have such a strong light about you." Then she stopped, before adding, "Protect it." With finality her blue dressed companion pried the woman away from Kairi, and the bell that signaled the exit and entrance of customers rang as Kairi continued towards the register in a daze, her milk clutched in her arms.