Life and Times of Roxas Valentine
Chapter Six: Saturday
Your screen was lined with bushes full colorful flowers cutting through the green of them. Roxas's voice was soft when he spoke from behind you, "So it happens to just be us at the moment, Camera. I just got out of class and my next one isn't for an hour, so I'm on my way to the Science department to meet up with Zexion for lunch." There was the sound of crinkling before he lifted his hand in front of you, waving around a take-out bag with some kind of lettering across it. "Chinese, yum."
There was silence for a minute as he walked before he spoke again, "Zexion forgets to eat a lot if someone doesn't bring him something. We switch off on who's going to take it to him because we're always a little afraid he might overwork himself." You came to a halt and tilted to the right for a minute before he straightened you out, "Sorry about that, had to scratch my leg. Ah where was I?"
He hummed, "Oh yeah! Zexion overworks himself a lot, there was this one time in high school were he didn't sleep for three days straight because he was busy fretting over one thing or another. Honestly, I thought there were limitations to how long you could play with a single science kit but apparently not."
In front of you a building came into view. It towered over the garden around it, the reds and browns of the bricks sticking out against the blue of the sky. A blob of pink came storming from the building and as you drew nearer, Roxas shouted out, "Marluxia! What are you doing over here?"
"Oh, hello Roxas," Marluxia answered, a smile dawning on his face as he stopped in front of you. He messed with his shirt, pulling the hem down a little bit and swiping at his bangs before added, "Hey can you see the hickeys on my neck?"
Roxas made a choking sound before coughing out, "No. Christ, guess I know why you're here now."
"Quickie in the office obviously," Marluxia stated, his tone teasing as he wiggled his eyebrows. He shook his head after a moment, laughing to himself, "I actually came over here to report on the results of a new fertilizer I was testing for one of the nerds. You delivering lunch today?"
"Yup. Don't suppose you happened to run into him while you were up there?"
"I saw him through the window of the lab," Marluxia answered as he began to walk again. Roxas did a turn so you were watching the other as he walked backwards, "It didn't look like he was going anywhere. He didn't even look up when I tapped on the glass!"
"He never looks up when someone taps on the glass," Roxas answered. "Hey! Where are we meeting up on Sunday?"
"Larxene wants to do Karaoke! We'll meet you guys at the station?"
"Yeah. See you then."
"Later Roxas!"
Roxas was quiet for a moment as he turned back again, beginning his walk back in the direction of the building. When he reached the door he stopped, humming, "Okay, so I'm going to turn you off while I'm in side. Some of the people working in the labs here are very antsy about cameras, for good reason I suppose, so I'll catch back up with you when I get Zexion out of the building. Something tells me he hasn't seen sunlight all day."
Zexion peered at you, his head tilted, before he spoke, "Okay then."
"Ah, sorry. It's become a habit now," Roxas stated. "I can turn it off if you want."
"It's fine." There was a pause as Zexion pushed some food around with his fork before bringing it to his mouth. "How is the project going?"
Roxas shrugged, "I haven't looked at the footage yet honestly. It's going to be a bitch to edit down once I do, but I'm sure there's a clip or two we can use for my E! Special in twenty years."
"Is that so?" Zexion chuckled.
"Yup. Twenty year plan remember – by the end of which I direct all the Block Buster's and you cure cancer."
"Curing Cancer may be a little bit more then sixteen years away, Rox."
"Shit has it been four years already?" Roxas let out a low whistle when Zexion nodded. "Thanks for being there for all that shit, Zex. I don't know that I would still talk to Sora without you. Especially after him having to bail me out of jail, you were the only person who could convince me not to run off with Axel."
"Thank you for being there for me as well." After a moment he added, "I wonder what it would be like if you had actually eloped with Axel that summer."
"I'm pretty sure Axel wouldn't be alive," Roxas admitted. "There was a lot going on back then. Moving in then without a buffer between us would be ridiculous."
Zexion hummed, "Do you think you could do it now? Live alone with him that is."
"Yeah, I think so. I've known him a lot longer than three months now and it's not...so emotionally charged you know?" Roxas answered. He paused before adding, "We're not loving each other just for the purpose of having something anymore."
He hummed, pausing before saying, "Roxas there's something I have to tell you."
"Mhm?"
"Demyx and I were thinking of getting an apartment together when this semester ends," he stated. "I wanted to tell you myself since-"
"Zex that's great!" Roxas exclaimed. You were set down, capturing it as Roxas leaned over to hug him. When he pulled away it was with a wide grin on his face. He didn't pick you up immediately, instead running a hand through his hair, "Wow, so Demyx is gonna be moving out and with Riku proposing I suppose him and Sora will be too."
"Riku's proposing?"
Roxas waved a hand, "Yeah, yeah I'm going with him to dinner with my family tonight but that's not important! What's important is this huge step in your relationship! God, I'm really happy for you, Zexy."
"Yeah..." He stood up, throwing the tray into a nearby trashcan. "I should get back to work. What are you doing today?"
"I've got two more classes then I'm going to head up to my parents before Riku. I haven't really spent much time with Hayner, Namine, and Shelke outside of occasionally picking them up from school for mom."
Zexion hummed, "Tell your mom I said hi."
"Will do." Roxas gave Zexion a salute, watching him walk away before squatting in front of you. He stared at you quietly for a moment before saying, "I guess Axel and I are the only ones not moving forward. I'm not sure how I feel about that, honestly."
You were seated on some kind of cushion, the edge of which was seen at the bottom of your screen. Roxas was sprawled along the floor in front of you with a handful of cards with a black heart on the back while Shelke sat across from him with a similar hand. Namine rushed in from behind you, tucking strands of blonde hair behind her ear before taking a spot facing you and grabbing another hand from the floor.
"Okay, so I turned the camera on," Namine declared with a smile in Roxas' direction.
Roxas looked over at you before turning back, "Okay then. So my parents just went to the store together and Hayner is-" He paused before looking up at the girls, "Where is Hay? He wasn't here when I got here."
"Hayner went to the Clock Tower with Olette and Pence several hours ago," Shelke declared. "I believe that, given Pence and Olette had a date today, he must have ran into Seifer along the way. They are probably making the bruised lips they gave each other worse by kissing as we speak."
Namine made a face and there was a choked noise from Roxas. After several coughs Roxas managed, "Fuck, Shelke keep the freaky bedroom statistics to yourself please. Oh god – Hayner and Seifer." There was another choked noise.
Shelke shrugged before looking at you with calm eyes, "Namine, Roxas, and I are playing a game called Heartless."
Namine coughed before nodding, "Yes. So in Heartless you use small minons-" she held up a card with a light brown monkey shape on it, except the face was black with two bright yellow eyes and there was a hot pink bow in its hair, there was blue lettering on the top reading Bouncywild, "to protect your boss." She switched the monkey out for a large neon green and yellow lizard with golden lettering reading Stealth Sneak. "My deck is mostly based off things that remind me of real life animals."
"However, Roxas uses a flight deck with his boss being Ruler of the Sky and I use a Embelm Deck with Crimson Prankster as my boss," Shelke declared.
They were silent for a while afterwards, playing the game with nothing more than glances and giggles. After a while, Roxas spoke, "So, Hayner's finally got his shit together. What about you two? Any new developments?"
Shelke shrugged as she set down a Sapphire Elegy, "Things are the same. People are still trying to pay for me to write their papers and boys who don't even know the square root of sixty-four still think I'll go on a date with them."
"Harsh," Roxas laughed.
"Attacking your Wyvern with my Scarlet Tango," she answered. Then added, "Papa always told me not to settle for someone who wasn't as smart as we were. I figured the fact that Roxas did it, meant I should at least live up to the saying."
"Axel is going to be so upset when he heard you said that about him," Roxas laughed as he stripped the pink dragon from the carpet in front of him. "Sixty points from Ruler of the Sky's HP." Namine nodded as she reached over to scribble on a piece of paper. "What about you Namine? Turning down all of the boys as well?"
Namine chuckled as she shook her head, tucking a strand of her behind her ear, "No. I spend most of my time in the art room putting together my portfolio for my college applications now."
"Dad still arguing with you about going to art school?" Roxas questioned. "Attacking your Sniper Wild with Air Viking."
"Yes. He thinks I should be majoring in something I can," her voice dropped, imitating a deep voice, "'make a real career out of.'" She let out a sigh as she pulled the card in question out of play and her voice returned to normal. "He just doesn't understand and I don't know how to make him."
"So don't," Roxas answered. He set his cards down as Namine drew one from her deck. "Nami, Dad didn't want me to study film either. He doesn't understand why I do it, and honestly probably never would, but he wants me to be happy so he pays for my classes and only makes me save half of the money for the ridiculously expensive equipment I need."
Namine chewed on her lip as she set down two cards reading Hook Bat on the top, "I don't know, Roxas. I just want him to support me."
"He will. He's been there for every film festival and seen me get any awards I've won. Trust me; he will be there for every art show and gallery opening you're a part of."
They went quiet after Roxas' words. Shelke took her turn, knocking sixty more points from Roxas' boss and taking out both of Namine's Hook Bats to damage thirty points to Stealth Sneak. As Roxas was laying down an Avalanche and two Wavecrests, Shelke spoke softly, "And you, Roxas? Has anything happened to you since the last time we spoke?"
Roxas shrugged and waved a hand in your direction, "The project but I told you about that on Thursday when I picked you up from school. Other than that it's been the usual – going to class, hanging out with my friends, keeping Sora out of trouble, things with Axel."
Namine hummed as though she wanted to say something but somewhere in the distance a door slammed. A voice called out, "I'm home!"
"In the living room!" the three of them shouted.
A few moments later Cloud walked into the doorway behind Namine wearing a wide grin on his face and torn denim jeans with a black tee-shirt under a leather jacket. Trailing behind him was a, slightly, taller brunette in jeans slung low on his hips, two brown belts criss-crossing on his waist, and a white shirt covering his chest. Over his shoulders was a denim jacket with fur on the collar.
"Hey twerps," Cloud greeted as he entered the room with a grin. He dropped kisses on the girls head and mused Roxas' hair before flopping his body onto the couch. "Where are mom and dad?"
"Went to get food for dinner. Mom didn't except four other people to show up."
The other man glanced around, "I only see three who don't live here."
"Riku is coming over later, Squall," Roxas declared. "He wants to talk to mom and dad about something."
"Uh huh," Cloud drawled. After a moment he looked down, "You guys playing Heartless? Who's winning?"
"Shelke," Namine stated.
Roxas huffed, his cheeks puffing out as he stood up, "Only because she's a cheater. She bought a whole pack of nothing but level three minions last week." There was laughter behind him as he picked you up.
Looking right into your lens he stated, "Put that on record. Shelke Valentine is a dirty fucking cheater and no one should ever play Heartless with her."
When you were next turned on, there was noise roaring around you.
You were turned to the left. Sitting farthest away from you was a dark haired man in all red, cutting into a steak with a large knife. Hayner sat on the man's left while Cloud was on his right. The younger blonde was smacking Cloud's hand with a fork as he reached for the last biscuit. Squall sat next to Cloud, a look of exasperation on his face as he tried to tell Cloud to stop being ridiculous, only for his husband to each over with his free hand and smack him.
You were moved right, stopping momentarily to see Riku sitting across from you poking at a pile of green beans nervously, to find Namine sitting next to you speaking animated with her mother, who sat on the other side of the table next to a silent Shelke. Yuffie was listening to her daughter speak with a wide smile on her face.
You were centered again just in time to see Riku jerk forward as if he had been kicked. He glared up at you before clearing his throat, "Um...Mr. Valentine, Mrs. Valentine, if I could talk to you about the reason I came up today..."
"Oh yeah!" Yuffie chirped. "Is everything okay, Riku? Sora hasn't been too much a pain has he?"
"No!" Riku objected with a shake of his head. "Things with Sora are fantastic. That's actually why I came by." He paused for a second, taking a deep breath, before saying, "I wanted to ask you for your permission to propose to Sora. I know it might seem like we're young but I can't imagine being with anyone other than Sora in my life and I know he feels the same way. My brother, Kadaj, has offered me a position at my father's company when the rights to it transfer to him and Yazoo next month so I know we'll be able to support ourselves and -"
"Oh Riku, hush," Yuffie interrupted. Riku's mouth shut with an audible clack of his teeth before you were moved to view the women. Her smile had widened as she reached across the table to take one of his hands. "I just want him to be happy and I know you make him happy, of course you may." She glanced farther up the table, "Vincent?"
You were moved up to focus on the man at the head of the table. Cloud and Hayner had gone quiet, both of them turned towards him as Squall grabbed the last biscuit quickly. He set his steak knife and fork down, looking at Riku with red eyes. Nothing was said for a long moment before nodding, "I approve. Yuffie is right, Sora is happy with you and there's nothing more I could ask for my children. Besides, the last time I didn't approve of a marriage I had to pick my son up from the Pride Lands because he had stranded himself on a crashed motorcycle trying to get to Notre Dame so he could elope."
Squall's face turned red with an embarrassment and he dropped the half of the stolen biscuit he hadn't eaten. He opened his mouth to say something only to be interrupted by Cloud reaching over to take his hand. Cloud was grinning widely, twining his fingers with Squall's, as he said, "I don't regret it. I was – am still – in love and I was going to marry him regardless of what you said."
"I am glad you were right on the particular matter," Vincent sighed, "however, there is no doubt in my mind your younger brother would not do the same."
Recovering from his embarrassment, Squall coughed and looked at Riku, "You should be prepared. Being married to a Valentine is tough. They'll never let you have your way because their too stubborn."
"That's not the Valentine side of them," Vincent deadpanned, "that's the Kisaragi blood in them."
There was laughter around the table before Yuffie said, "Maybe soon we'll have another engagement to celebrate, Roxas?"
There was a choked sound before Roxas coughed out from behind you, "I don't think so mom. Even if we were ready for that, Dad would never give Axel permission."
"As if Axel would even bother asking," Hayner joked.
Roxas didn't join in the laughter.
Upon noticing this, Riku coughed and pulled his lips into a forced smile, "I think I can handle it, Squall. I already live with two after all."
"Roxas," Axel's voice was soft as he walked into the bedroom. The sky had already gone down and Roxas was lying face down on his bed, a position he'd been in for quite a while since he'd turned you on and flopped down without a word. "Baby is everything okay? Demyx said you hadn't been out of the room since you and Riku got home."
"No," Roxas groaned.
Axel bit his lip as he lowered onto the bed. He put his hand on Roxas's back, rubbing circles on his back. "What's wrong? I thought you were happy for Sora."
"I am!" Roxas exclaimed. Axel fell back onto the bed as Roxas jerked up suddenly. "I am happy for him and the little shit is gonna be ecstatic when Riku does it."
"But?" Axel questioned. The redhead reached up, grabbing Roxas's wrists and pulling the blonde towards him. Roxas fell onto him with a sigh. His head hitting Axel's chest as his legs tangled with his.
"But I'm jealous," Roxas admitted. "Sora is getting married and Demyx and Zexion are going to move in together. They're all moving forward and we aren't."
"Who cares if we're not doing new things," Axel answered. He tangled his hands in Roxas' hair as he spoke. "I don't believe in marriage, probably comes from being raised by Reno and Rude who were happier without a piece of paper then most of my friends parents were with one, but if I did I would give you one in a heartbeat. I would go out and buy one right now if I thought you actually thought it was that important either."
Roxas muttered against Axel's tee-shirt, "How do you know I don't?"
"Because I almost married you once remember?" There was a low groan from Roxas, like he wanted to pretend that had never happened, but Axel kept going. "I know you, Roxs. All you want is to be together and be happy. Which we are, aren't we? Because you love having silly Sunday nights with our friends and you smile every time I make you bacon because you think it's the only thing that should ever be had for breakfast and we still kiss like desperate teenagers who can't get enough of each other."
Roxas was quiet for a minute before sighing, "I don't like it when you see through me like that, dickface."
Axel laughed, "Shut up, Rocks ass."
"I swear, that nickname is not following us into our fifties."
"It'll stop being a thing when your name stops being Roxas. Now go sleep, silly boy."
"I have to turn the camera off. I meant to get up before now and say something."
"I'll do it once you fall asleep. Just sleep for a bit, I can tell you're exhausted." Axel tilted his head down, kissing the top of Roxas's head, "I love you, Roxas."
"I love you too," Roxas answered.
