Chapter 4
Zexion sighed as Demyx left his room, with a little bit of bounce in his step that was endearing more than annoying. Strange, that a boy several years younger than him would be able to prance into his life, smile at him cutely, and demand that every rule be broken just because they got in his way. Even stranger that he didn't mind.
But the doctor was no idiot – he realized that he was infatuated with the boy. The blonde seemed to have a talent for sowing the seeds of adoration left and right wherever he went. He wondered vaguely if that would be a problem before shaking his head and moving on – no good to dwell, after all. He took a few steps forward to his desk and began ruffling around in one of the drawers for the papers that would allow Axel to become a permanent, or at least semi-permanent, resident of the Hollow Bastion Correctional Facility. Or rather, as Demyx had come to call it, Castle Oblivion. Zexion somehow doubted that the redhead had a steady job that he would be away from, so no problems there, at least.
But he also wondered if this would be entirely good for Roxas. While being around someone he knew formerly would undoubtedly be good for his memory, at the same time, being confronted suddenly with the level of affection Axel held for him would be disorienting at best. He thought briefly of slowly getting them used to each other, but nixed it when he realized that Demyx would not approve. They hadn't known each other very long, but Zexion could already tell that he was the sort who was impatient, who wanted results quickly and was adept at getting them that way. He would be amazing in the real world – he would succeed at whatever he did, but a trick of fate kept him locked up in here.
His thoughts were interrupted by a quick knock on his door, and before he had a chance to respond, Xemnas had entered his personal sanctuary, violating it in a way that made Zexion frown and cross his arms with frustration. He didn't take well to people invading his space.
"Can I help you?" he asked in a way that it occurred to him afterwards might have sounded distinctly unhelpful. Xemnas didn't seem to notice, as usual.
"Not now. But you are secondary on Saïx's case, and you will be necessary in the future. When that time comes, I will inform you." There was a pause, and Zexion wondered why in hell the other man had disturbed him just for that.
"Is that all, then?"
Another pause.
"No. Also, in order to prevent complications, it will be necessary to inform all the nurses of a change in Saïx's regimen."
Zexion felt a cold shiver at this man's words, in this man's presence, that he could not recall ever having felt before. This man was crazy, he could feel it – and behind it all, a dangerous, dangerous intelligence.
"And you don't want to inform them yourselves."
"That, yes, and also I want to inform you in person," his eyes glinted at those words, "that any insubordination will not be tolerated. It will result in the loss of your job… and your license to practice psychiatry. If you wish to be re-licensed, you may go through medical school again."
Zexion recoiled at these words – this was unnecessarily cruel, horrible, how could he threaten another doctor with the loss of his license? He felt his eyes harden towards the other man slowly, as he lost his respect for the other man, bit by bit.
"Well, what are you doing that would lose me my job if I interfere?" He definitely suspected that whatever this was, it might be illegal.
"I will be taking patient thirty-six off his medicine. You are not to enter Saïx's room without my permission, nor is anyone else. His room is effectively off-limits. That means that no one will be able to sneak medicine in to him, and neither food nor literature will be allowed either. Demyx, also, will be banned – and all food trays will be personally examined by me."
The other doctor's eyes widened in shock and horror – how could a healer, though a man of science he may be, do something like this to a patient? It was unthinkable in Zexion's mind.
"This is breaking so many laws," he said, eyes narrowed.
"I think you will find that technically it is not, actually, though a court of law would probably not support what I am doing. Therefore, you are not to allow anyone to find out. You are to inform the nurses that you will be taking Saïx his medicine personally from now on. Do not under any circumstances allow them in his room. You are to be present, also, every time a food tray is handed through the door. He is not to speak to them," Xemnas said, with a bored sound in his voice that just made Zexion angrier. He not only didn't care that he was handing down evil to another man, but the thought of it actually bored him.
"Then, if there's nothing else," he spat, trying and failing to be subtle with his anger, and glad for once that Xemnas was terrible at recognizing human expression and emotion.
Xemnas shook his head and left without a word of goodbye, for which the other was immensely grateful; he was unsure of his capacity to be civil any longer than he already had been. And in his mind, a plan had begun to form – because though Xemnas was the sort of man who would have eyes everywhere, there must be some way to get word out quietly.
And then he smiled suddenly in realization – because Demyx, albeit unknowingly, had given him all the information he needed to stop this, because what human being could knowingly sit by?
XXX
It had barely been thirty minutes since Roxas's encounter with the man who had apparently been his best friend when said man came barging into his room like a maniac. More like slunk in sheepishly, actually, but it felt like he was barging in. All he wanted was a little breathe time, goddammit.
"Hey, Roxy, is this a bad time?"
Roxy? Where the hell had that come from? Wasn't that some kind of women's designer surf-clothes line or something? He didn't outwardly voice his opinion of the nickname, though.
"No, it's fine." He was on the verge of asking how Axel was as a kind of rhetorical greeting, before realizing that the redhead was probably pretty shitty right about now, and it was kind of his fault, so better not to ask. And anyway, what right did he have to barge in on Roxas's life and then expect to be asked how he felt? Served him right, anyway.
So he sat on his old half-gray bed with his arms self-righteously crossed, waiting for Axel to break the silence, which he did with reluctance.
"Sorry 'bout earlier, man. I kinda… I guess I kinda lost it, y'know? It's just like, bam, and suddenly you were there, when you hadn't been in so long." He gave a sheepish look like he realized he was rambling, took a breath, gave Roxas a grin that warmed him a little despite himself, then changed the subject.
"But anyway. That's all past now. I'd kinda like to get to know you again. Pretend like none of that ever happened and we're meeting right here, right now, and this is the start of everything. Right?"
Roxas couldn't help but give this guy a smile – he might seem kinda crazy but at least, at the very least he was sincere. He was giving Roxas a look like if he said no, he might just die on the spot. It was almost cute, really.
"Fine," he said amicably, unable to hold any real animosity towards the other man despite everything, "My name's Roxas." He paused. "And you are?"
"Axel," he said with a slow smile, realizing that he'd won. Not won, really. He intrigued Roxas, though, and spending time with him would be a whole hell of a lot better than spending time alone. "Got it memorized?"
Roxas heard that and had to choke back a laugh – because that triggered a hazy memory, not anything concrete, but he seemed to recall having heard that same line over, and over again. He responded without thinking.
"You moron, you think that sounds cooler than it really does."
And Axel's eyes brightened suddenly, with a force that made Roxas look away awkwardly.
"What?" the blonde asked.
"You remember?" he asked enthusiastically, but with some small measure of reservation about his face. He was being more careful this time, it seemed.
"No… I'm sorry, did you think I had?"
The redhead's expression only fell a little, but the excitement was there all the same.
"Yeah, you used to say that to me every time I'd use that line."
Roxas chuckled softly at that. He was quite the animated character, was Axel.
"Did I really? Sorry I don't remember any more than that." His posture had been relaxing gently all through the conversation; the other man seemed to have that effect on people.
"Yeah. Which means you're remembering, at least a little." Roxas was kind of proud of him for being smart enough to change the subject at that.
"Well then," Axel continued, "Wanna go raise some hell?"
And even though he knew Naminé would be there in maybe ten minutes to check up on him, he still found himself nodding. The redhead's enthusiasm was contagious, and when he asked you to do something, it was very, very hard to say no.
XXX
Zexion was feeling more than a little awkward approaching the young nurse like this – they had probably never spoken more than two words together before, and those out of necessity. He was a taciturn man by nature, and even Kairi's cheerfulness couldn't assuage that any – but he was grateful for it when, instead of turning to him with confusion, she gave him a bright smile.
"Can I help you, doctor?" she asked, one hand on the tray of medicines she had been arranging, the other on her hip casually.
"Um, actually…" he paused to gather his thoughts, but she seemed to understand. He didn't cross his arms, refused to cross his arms, because he knew that could come off as imperious, and he needed this girl's help. After all, her best friend was one of the toughest cops to have seen a beat in years, according to Demyx. So, his arms hung limply at his sides, unsure of what to do.
"Yes?" she said helpfully.
"Well, Xemnas wanted me to let you know that you are not to deliver trays or anything else to Saïx's room. Patient 36."
There was a pause.
"Patient thirty-six is not my case," she said, brow wrinkled in confusion. Damn, he hoped she got it. He couldn't say anything aloud because he was afraid that he was being watched.
"Yes, I know." He hoped that wasn't too un-subtle. "But," he said for the benefit of anyone else who might have been listening, "I have been asked to inform all of the nurses that nothing is to enter or exit that room." He gave her a meaningful look and she caught it, though apparently didn't realize what it meant.
"But nurses always take care of food and medicines. His nurse should have his nutritional and medicinal charts. I think Naminé has his case. Should I go look them up for you?"
"That won't be necessary," he said, almost pleadingly, hoping.
"…Why won't it be necessary?" she asked. Dammit.
"Xemnas will be taking care of the patient personally. In fact, I'm sure a representative of his will be along shortly to inform you of changes, if they're not already here." He put a special emphasis on the last word of both sentences, and suddenly, the light dawned in her eyes.
"He's not depriving the patient of food again, is he?" she said with shock.
"No. He is not depriving the patient of food," Zexion repeated, and she finally got it. It was easy enough to tell: the flash of fury was hard to miss.
"Oh… I see. Thank you for informing me. I will talk to Xemnas myself about this in the near future," she said, face hardening in anger.
"No, please don't disturb the Superior. He will send someone if he wishes to speak to you."
"I see." She paused. "Well then, have a good afternoon. I really hope that the Superior has the patient's best interest at mind."
"I assure you that he knows exactly what he was doing." The sarcasm in his voice was subtle, but he knew she caught it when he saw her give a small smile.
"I'm sure that he does. Bye, then, I'm off to my break," she said. "It started ten minutes ago and I should be meeting a friend in fifteen. See you around!" she said, and he kind of hoped she meant it.
XXX
Saïx was beyond the point of anger by the time Xemnas told him of the change in his situation. He had reacted in horror too many times, now, to things that the Superior had done: nothing shocked him anymore from that man, quite frankly.
"So you want to see how I react under no medical influences, then?" he said, almost sounding bored to hide the rage that threatened to overcome him at any moment. He would not allow it to.
"Precisely. I am impressed by how well you are taking this, Saïx." The bastard used his name again. That was almost infuriating. He tried to keep in mind what Demyx had said – that the doctor respected him more than possibly anyone else he knew – but found it difficult in the face of this.
"Yeah, well, not much I can do, is there?" He paused. "The full moon's in a week."
"Yes, I realize this."
"You want to observe, then?"
"Very much." And his eyes glinted with a kind of passion that Saïx hadn't seen from the man very often. He really, truly was interested in the results of this; interested enough, perhaps, to forget about his other duties as a human being.
"I see." The patient paused again. "Why are you so interested in me?"
Xemnas seemed shocked for a moment at the impertinence of the question, but he regained his calm demeanor fairly quickly.
"In the name of science, you already should know this."
"Bullshit," Saïx responded with a throaty laugh. He could tell, now that he was looking – the man was very interested on a personal level. More than just "for science."
Xemnas didn't respond for a moment.
"You fascinate me," he said, repeating his words from days ago.
"I know this already. Why?"
Another pause.
"You…" He took another breath, gathering himself. "Your words. Your actions. They are… passionate. Filled with emotion. I do not, understand emotion very well. Watching you helps me to understand."
No shit, were the first words that came to mind, but he carefully steered clear of them. After all, he was trying to make the doctor explain himself, not impose more punishment.
"So you're fascinated with me because I am your polar opposite," he mused, "and yet, more alike to you than possibly anyone else. You wonder why."
Xemnas flinched, and Saïx grinned ferally.
"That's it, isn't it. I'm what you'd be if you weren't a sociopathic bastard. You're trying to figure out what the hell life would be like for you if you were semi-normal."
"That is… one way of putting it."
And then suddenly, Saïx was standing, hair glinting blue in the fluorescent light and yellow eyes gleaming with pride and a vicious sort of understanding. He knew how he could win, now. He was sure of it.
With a flash, he was in front of Xemnas, in front of his doctor, and their presences clashed as their eyes battled for power. His hand twitched once, twice.
"Fuck it," he growled finally, before taking Xemnas's lips in his own, biting slowly, powerfully, in an act of complete dominance rather than passion.
XXX
"So what the hell is there to do around here?" Axel asked casually, hands in his pockets as he strolled with Roxas down another whitewashed hall.
"Well…" The blonde paused. "There's a lab downstairs, I think, in the basement. Some med students take classes there on occasion." Axel smiled as he watched the familiar look of mischief grow on Roxas's face. "Might be worth checking out, you think?"
"Abso-fuckin-lutely, kid. Lead on."
Within fifteen minutes, they had found the basement door, picked the lock thanks to Axel's strange skills – "don't ask" had been his reply – and made themselves at home on a large dissection table. The room was only lit by the greenish lamps illuminating the jars of dissection materials from years gone by. There must have been hundreds – everything from pigs to tapeworms. Axel was rather fond of the pickled brain, himself, and had dumped it out on the counter to prod at it, much to Roxas's evident amusement.
"Y'know, whatever the hell's in that stuff probably isn't good for you."
"If it eats through the gloves we'll know it's toxic," he responded with a grin. "Hey, you got a knife on you?"
Roxas gave him a look that clearly said "What the hell?" despite the lack of definition caused by the poor lighting.
"Do you really expect that they'd let an asylum patient carry around a switchblade or something? Seriously, what the hell goes on in your head sometimes?"
"Eh, not a lot. I find it makes it more difficult to have fun when you're worried about consequences."
He laughed silently at Roxas's bewildered look – obviously the kid didn't have any particular memories of making trouble. But that was quite alright. He'd make him remember, and make new memories of mischief in the meantime.
A cursory search of the drawer in the dissection table revealed an old-seeming scalpel with rust on the handle though thankfully not the blade. Without another thought, he plunged it right into the frontal lobe, although of course he didn't know what it was called. Not like he had paid enough attention in his high school science classes to figure that out.
"Axel, what the hell are you doing?" he asked, trying to sound shocked and reproving but really just sounding amused.
"Eh, it's been a long time since I cut one of these babies up. They're kind of cool on the inside, I've heard. Wonder what kind of brain it is?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.
"…You're cutting up the med students' dissection samples."
"Hell yeah." He said with a grin to melt hearts. He'd know, after all. He'd melted enough hearts, both figuratively and literally, to know how. There was another pause, during which he heard a choked giggle coming from Roxas's side of the half-lit room.
Then a thought struck him.
"Hey, I wonder if this shit burns?" he stated rather than asked, grin transforming into a smirk. Raising hell, step one. And Roxas's eyes met his, and they grinned together, and set to work like they had been working together for years instead of just having met that day. But of course, they had been.
XXX
Xemnas's was more than just surprised when he felt Saïx's lips on his. Shocked would be more of the word, and he had never before been truly shocked by anything. He pulled away in reflex, taking a cautionary step back.
"…What was that?" he asked with a mixture of a careful testing of the waters, a hint of annoyance, and an honest curiosity.
"That is what you call a kiss. And I successfully unsettled you for maybe the first time since we've known each other. I call a victory," he said with a grin that could have been either triumphant or malicious.
"…I realize that it's a kiss. You were trying to unnerve me, then?"
"That, and the feeling of being more powerful than someone like you is… intoxicating," he said, unreserved in a way that Xemnas could not quite understand. The other man's eyes were gleaming and his whole being seemed full of energy. Strange. Was that a result of the kiss or of the dominance? That would be an intriguing experiment.
"Is that so." That was practically an invitation to test it for himself. And so, he did – in the name of science, of course. Saïx's eyes opened wider as their lips clashed yet again – and soon enough, their mouths were open in a searing passion and Xemnas could taste the sharpness of the other man's fangs on his tongue.
But in Xemnas's mind, he saw this as just another extension of their fight for dominance elsewhere – they would battle, tooth and nail, for the power, for the feeling of having won. Because in that way, as in many other ways, they were far too alike.
And with a small smile, a smirk maybe, he pulled away and walked out the door, leaving Xemnas amused, them both unfulfilled, and Saïx wondering just who had won that encounter. The doctor didn't need to wonder. He knew.
XXX
Sora could tell even before she opened the door to the coffee-shop that Kairi was in an especially foul mood that day. He shrunk back a little against Riku in automatic defense, because a mad Kairi still scared him even to this day, and Riku chuckled and tightened the loose arm around his lover's middle.
"Hey Kai, whatcha up to?" Riku asked casually, leaning his chin on the arm that rested on the table. The seats made it easy enough to sit on someone's lap comfortably while still holding a conversation with someone else, which was part of the reason why Riku agreed to waste their breaks here sometimes, for which Sora was immensely grateful.
"Oh, hi Riku! Glad you could make it. But you'd better prepare yourself, because I have a long rant coming."
Riku raised an eyebrow.
"Can you give us the short version? Once again, we have to go back to work at a reasonable hour," he said, amused.
"Fine then. Long story short, my boss is an asshole."
"You and everybody else, babe." Riku responded, to which Sora couldn't help but chuckle.
"No, seriously! He just decided to take one of the patients off his medicine for no apparent reason other than to observe him without."
Sora's eyes shot up and he felt Riku stiffen behind him.
"What, really? Isn't that illegal?"
"Not technically, no," the redhead responded, "I went and looked it up, that's why I was a little late. But any court would support the patient in a case like this. Trouble is, there's no real proof."
"…Kairi, as much as you might hate that guy, that's not enough for us to go on." There was another pause as Kairi sat in front of them with a motion to the waiter for her usual, a chocolate doughnut with sprinkles and a very vanilla latte.
"He starved the same patient in order to make him comply."
There was a long silence, and Riku and Sora looked at each other forebodingly.
"He didn't," Riku said darkly. He had no sympathy for any criminal, nor patience for men of the type that this one seemed to be.
Kairi's countenance gained a new kind of vigor at his words, knowing that she had found a willing audience.
"Yeah. But again, I can't prove it."
"I think I can get a warrant," piped in Sora helpfully. "Cloud on the squad has some leverage with Sephiroth, the state judge. Even though your word is all we have to go on, I bet I can get one soon. If so, I'll have set up surveillance equipment within a week," he said with a cheery smile that was meant to lighten the mood. He had always been good at cheering the mood.
"Really?" she said with the doe-eyes that always worked on him so well. "That would be amazing! I would be so grateful."
He gave her a little grin and put his arm discreetly around Riku.
"Of course. What else are friends for? I can't sit by and watch someone do stuff like that."
And of course, Riku couldn't either. The two of them gave Kairi some absent goodbyes as they stood – had to get back to work, of course, sorry – and left, plans running in both their minds.
XXX
It was almost time for an early dinner by the time Demyx arrived in the mess hall. He had dropped by Roxas's room earlier only to find it unoccupied – a good sign, to be sure – which left him in a good mood. But the good mood was cancelled out when he dropped by Saïx's room only to find that all visitors had been blocked. Quite upsetting, really – he'd had a copy of "A Hundred Years of Solitude" to drop by, courtesy of Zexion, of course.
He picked up a tray and a plate and watched with fascination bordering on revulsion as the hair-netted woman behind the counter poured a rank sauce on what might once have been decently palatable steak before it withered under the woman's stern-lipped glare. He couldn't stop himself from pouting over the loss of decent food as he walked towards a table, any table, and winced as he realized that said meat had been further demonized by the addition of mashed potatoes straight on top that looked more like modeling clay.
Everyone else was here before him, it seemed – most of the patients did not make their own schedule, and ate at precisely the same time each evening. The tall windows in the mess hall admitted more light than anywhere else in the facility, given that they were two stories tall to match with the room's soaring ceiling, though in Demyx's opinion they didn't do much to relieve the doom. But the calm murmur of eating and the bits of disjointed conversation were interrupted by a quiet slamming noise that sounded like it came from outside, despite the fact that they were several stories above the ground. Demyx looked up sharply, only to be distracted when the sound came again from the window down the hall.
Then suddenly, there was a short scream from one of the nurses, and he had to admit that he jumped about a foot himself, as the cause of the noise came into view – staring at him through the window was the face of a cat. A dead cat preserved in formaldehyde, but a cat nonetheless. It hung limply from a rope tied around its waist, and rebounded off the window only to hit again, quieter this time. Then there was another noise from down the hall, until all five of the giant windows were graced with their very own vision of loveliness.
Demyx couldn't help but snigger, quietly at first but allowing it to morph into a chuckle, then a deep, loud laugh that he probably hadn't used in years. Someone had gotten into the med students' dissection samples, and he didn't even need to guess who.
The cats continued to slam pathetically against the windows as general panic erupted in the room below, a panic that thankfully the nurses were ready for, given that they had seen the cats first. Kairi in particular moved with lightning speed to shut the giant drapes that could be closed in the event of necessity.
Once the sight of the cats in the windows was gone, each nurse took the job of calming down their particular patient, and Demyx left his meager little tray on the desk to go find Axel and Roxas, and congratulate them on a job well done.
They were quite the pair, really.
XXX
Zexion had been called up to the mess hall on some kind of emergency, but evidently the call was somewhat belated, because when he arrived everything seemed to be quite calm and normal, except for the drapes. He rather hated those drapes, actually. Ugly color.
As soon as he ascertained that he was no longer needed, he backtracked out as fast as he could without arousing suspicion, only to run into Demyx – thankfully not literally – just outside the door.
"Hey there!" he said with a smile and a casual greeting salute.
"Hey," the doctor responded, not noticing that his arms had migrated back into crossed position again.
"So did you hear about the disaster?" he asked cheerily.
"…Not in full, no. I'm sure you wouldn't mind giving me all the details," he said with a smile in his voice if not on his face. He knew the blonde could tell.
"Well, so Axel and Roxas raided the med students' lab downstairs, right?" By the time Zexion had processed this information – it took more than one go – Demyx was already halfway through the next paragraph. "…so I told him, no big, formaldehyde's really flammable anyway, I'm sure it happens all the time. But at any rate, so what they did was, they took some of the cats that were up to be dissected… and liberated them. They're hanging quite free over the side of the roof," he said with a tone that was halfway between reproach and amusement, with a tinge of appreciation for what he must have seen as a true masterwork in the art.
"…liberated them…" Zexion said faintly, eyes wide and brow furrowed. "Liberated the dissection cats."
"Yeah. Not a big deal though, we had a bunch of surplus. I heard Xigbar talking about it the other day."
"Liberated them over the roof."
"They're back up now. Just pulled the rope back up. They're being returned."
"…Rope."
"Yeah, they were hanging in the windows for a while."
He gave Demyx the lord of all incredulous looks, trying to recover and all the while thinking, sick to his stomach – he'd just finished signing the papers to get Axel in here permanently. Oh God on high, what had he unleashed upon the world?
XXX
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