A/N: Hello, everybody! We are officially on the countdown to Christmas Day itself, just six days away. I'm personally happy for it, because maybe I'll get The Phantom of the Opera on DVD. I'm so psyched this year! I've been listening to Christmas music at least once a day. ANYWAY, if you thought the chapters before were random, oh, this one beats them all. Not only did I inadvertantly give Zexion the best lines, mall cops are involved...and so are Segways, bullies, and all sorts of random stuff. Read more to find out what exactly I speak of.

Disclaimer: I own no major corporations, TV shows, movies, or anything of that nature. I'm a writer not a mogul.


Chapter 8: Demyx and Zexion's Excellent Christmas Adventure

"It's official," Zexion proclaimed bitterly, wrinkling his nose at a bag of Sun Chips he had to stock on an empty shelf. "We have sold our souls to Wal-Mart."

Chuckling at the dark remark, Demyx walked over to the aisle that his friend crouched in to try to provide some cheerful rebuttal. It was almost as though he disregarded the cynicism and made the best of things. This exemplified why they contrasted in a positive way.

"Well, look at it this way, Zex. It's only three more hours, and we're out of here. In the mean time...are you up for playing that sample video game over at electronics?"

Flatly, Zexion pointed out, "We'll get caught, and I can't afford to get fired right now. Besides, those who hang out at that oversized machine are hyperactive little kids and pale geeks."

This simply caused Demyx to laugh harder, aware of the irony of that statement. He quickly darted to the aisle nearby to place boxes of Cheeze-Its on the shelves so as to look like he was working. After all, the manager who oversaw the activities around the store from time to time was an overbearingly strict man. He had zero tolerance for anything that he noticed not involving working. He was also known to fire clerks right in front of waiting customers. Since Demyx couldn't risk that happening to him, he pretended to do his job before returning to his brooding best friend.

"Last time I checked, you are one of those 'pale geeks' with a 4.0 average to add to that resume."

He added as he assisted with putting the chip bags on the shelves, "So, I'm guessing you sold your soul to both Wal-Mart and the school. Just remember to keep some of it for yourself."

Even though he assumed this came off as a joke, Zexion stood to his feet while coolly smoothing down the blue trademark vest of the store. "I prefer to forget about those painful facts, but it's a good start to bring them up like that, you moron!"

"Ooooh," Demyx raised his hands defensively, "there's no need to snap like that, dude. What's up?"

"A weekend with Father Knows Best—that's what's up," Zexion countered sarcastically, stealing a coupon from one of the mechanisms. "He thinks he's vegan now, so he has all this organic crap around his house. Yesterday, he even had me sample one of his recipes: tofu topped with guacamole with a side of slow cooked spinach. Nasty stuff...I'm starting to see why Mom broke up with him."

Thinking that Zexion thought too extremely in his reasoning, Demyx shook his head while laughing yet again. "Don't go that far. Your dad's just creative, that's all. It's not a crime or anything."

Zexion replied sourly, "It's a crime to me: a crime of embarrassment to a child, namely me."

"Oh, quit acting so melodramatic about it. Let's just finish our shift."

And the teen with the strangely colored hair resigned to that piece of advice by continuing stocking random foods and, at one point, bathroom supplies. Once it was one o' clock, though, the manager generously set them free. The two boys proceeded to execute their dutiful Christmas shopping for their friends and family at the mall, the exact one that Namine and Kairi went to the other day.

Of course, the two boys had no awareness of the girls ever being there, and they wandered from section to section to buy the gifts. Nothing much else happened, which quickly bored Demyx as they stopped at the books section. On the other hand, Zexion fingered through some of the pages of these volumes, looking painstakingly through them. Upon noticing a heavy fantasy book, his eyes dilated out of excitement. Dully, Demyx yawned while leaning against one of the cheap shelves. "Come on, dude, I don't feel like reading."

"No, you just prefer to play Rock Band all day," Zexion retaliated stoically, glaring at him. "But, I suppose you want to do something that's on one of those 'what to do in Wal-Mart' lists."

Aqua eyes looking at him with a previously bored glaze brightened. "Now you're talking my language."

While Zexion groaned loudly to himself, Demyx dragged him to the escalators, which they ascended to rush toward the electronics section. Televisions of all sizes blared very audible channels with shelves of video games and DVDs surrounding them. People peered through the items, considering which ones to purchase for the holiday season. However, the aspiring musician had something completely different in mind that he thought amusing. TVs in front of him inspired him to execute his next action.

"Wait here," he ordered of his friend before walking fast to a store next to this one. Luckily for the musician, it was a furniture section where he pulled out two recliners. Upon seeing these leather armchairs, Zexion nearly stumbled from a combination of disbelief and shock.

"Are you out of your mind, Demyx? We will surely get caught by security."

Demyx rolled his eyes as he grabbed a remote that rested on top of one of the TVs.

As he examined the various buttons on the device, he said off-handedly, "Come on, it's like number forty-five on those Internet lists or something like that. What's your favorite channel?"

"Um...," Zexion muttered awkwardly, "I guess Cartoon Network is cool occasionally."

Demyx boldly switched the political discussions on a channel with 24/7 news broadcasts, leaning back against the chair. He used the lever on it to put up the foot rest once he switched channels. Sure enough, an esteemed show that both boys liked played.

"Teen Titans, cool! I haven't seen this show in forever," Demyx exclaimed before adding in a questioning tone, "Should I get potato chips from the food section of the mall?"

"Don't push your luck," Zexion warned in an extremely low, threatening voice.

Unfortunately, it was already too late by the time disgruntled, very rotund mall cops showed up and lazily rode on their Segways toward the troublemaking boys. Demyx suppressed the urge to laugh at this comical image, whereas his shorter friend paled eight shades. Their impending doom was coming in the form of security guards ready to enforce justice within the mall. To him, that was a chilling thought, for he worried that they would ban him for life. His older brother Yazoo managed to do that once by breaking and entering with the aid of his pathetic friends. Sure, that crime amounted to a ridiculous extent, but he could just as easily as wind up the same way, too. His mother would ground him to eternity while his dad would come over with cabbage noodle casserole...

Half-enraged that he would get busted for something as trivial as watching television in a simple mall, he hissed reproachfully, "Now look where we're getting at, Dem: trouble with the law!"

"Yeah, mall law," Demyx snickered, which happened to rouse the attention of the mall cops.

"Hey, you two aren't supposed to do that!" one of them shouted, sweat seeming to drip off his voice. Immediately, the two teenagers leapt off their recliners, abandoning the TV to show the Teen Titans engaged in battle with, ironically enough, Control Freak. Funny, how programs could read the mind like that. Aside from this tidbit, the security men focused on their rightful duties, determined to try their hardest to catch these miscreant boys. They would do the unthinkable.

Courageously, they sped up their Segways to an astonishing three miles per hour.

Stupidly and with the truest display of incompetence, the men had miscalculated the speed of the teens.

Meanwhile, during mid-flight from the slowly moving police, Zexion managed to stumble to a complete stop. How could they possibly forget what they came here for? He felt embarrassed.

"What about the presents?"

"What—oh!" Demyx groaned, hitting himself in the forehead. "Well, go get them."

Cursing meanly under his breath, the gray-purplish haired teenager turned around to rescue the gifts. Skillfully, like a major league baseball player, he slid past the mall cops who went in the opposite direction. Saving the bags just in the nick of time, he darted past them again as they awkwardly turned their cumbersome Segways around. To the check-out aisle the two boys proceeded, though Demyx rubbed it in by walking slowly yet faster than the cops.

Relieved, the friends escaped the mall without receiving a single citation from the frustrated security guards with their slow "vehicles" as their mobility. They toted their shopping bags along, which they would conceal in their respective houses until big Christmas Day arrived. Tiny snowflakes scattered down upon them, though they didn't fall enthusiastically, only languidly and haphazardly.

"Yeesh, I actually thought we'd get caught that time, didn't you, Zex? I think your negativity about the whole situation got to me."

Zexion rolled his iridescently colored eyes. "Oh, shut up!"

As they peacefully walked steadily closer toward the suburbs portion of the city, they gradually placed their skateboards on the sidewalk to get home in a faster way. Expertly, they balanced the bags since they were used to carrying homework and other things while boarding. Not only that, but the activity provided them with an ideal chance to escape, to relax and enjoy the adrenaline rush. Nothing felt so good to them apart from this sensational thrill. Unfortunately, a few bullies from their high school decided to stride out of a darkened alley to block their way. This caused Demyx and Zexion to stop their boarding and place their bags down, off to the side.

The head bully confronted them first. "Well, look who it is? It's Stinky and the Brain!"

"How long did it take you to come up with that one?" Zexion asked flatly, deadpan regarding the whole situation. Who cared what these idiots thought?

Seifer snorted disdainfully, pushing the resident smart boy aside to approach the shopping bags. He towered over them and appeared as though he wanted to peer inside them. Free merchandise, he assumed, Christmas just came early this year. What an awesome surprise! Demyx, the more aggressive one of the two, shoved the beanie capped hoodlum practically to the ground.

"Dirty," Fuu accused, true to her customary one word name calls. She was only the female back-up of the trio, whereas Rai was the more obnoxious blabbermouth. In fact, he joined in with the defense of his leader, "Hey, y'know that really was low, man!"

"Let's skip to the part where I punch you chummy chum-chum in the face!" Demyx confidently declared and ensured to add a clever grin.

Not one to bluff, he lifted Seifer slightly by the collar, proceeding to deliver a massive blow to the jaw. Incensed, the bully pounced upon the musician, causing a full-out brawl.

"No one kicks me around and gets away with it, you moron!"

In the mean time, Zexion retrieved his gifts and sped off, though called out to his friend as he boarded, "Hurry up! These simple minded poser gangsters aren't worth it!"

Demyx beamed upon his quick victory that occurred once Seifer dizzily collapsed, following his pal's suit by saving his own gifts. Though Fuu and Rai made a valiant attempt to catch him, it was all in vain. The two boys eluded yet another scrape.

By the time Demyx managed to catch up with Zexion's speed, he mentioned, "Man, we don't even face this crap on a daily basis. Heh, as they like to say, tis the season!"

"Tis the season indeed," Zexion sighed wearily, wondering when this long day would end. After all, he figured, they had endured enough with a Wal-Mart shift, close call at the mall, and the bullies of course. It's always the bullies who kept pestering them. Why must Demyx have to easily pick fights with other people? Otherwise, this day would have gone by devoid of any major events. Then again, maybe it didn't hurt to have a random person such as his best friend bring some spice into a boring city. Zexion inwardly confessed to himself that he himself was a rather uptight individual at times. And he guessed he did have fun.

"All in all, I suppose the events of today did not ruin it. I admit it," he admitted aloud.

Demyx gave him a bragging smirk that displayed how accurately he predicted he would say that. Normally, Zexion eventually spilled his true opinion in the end instead of keeping up his lie. It was almost as though he knew he would he exposed, so that he would always have to end up abandoning his precious pride. Demyx thought he used his pride as a shield too much.

"I figured you would say that, Zex. You need a little more excitement in your life, which is mostly boring. Seriously, do you have a life?"

Reproachfully, Zexion glowered darkly at his friend. "You know, it was difficult for me to say that my day wasn't a total disaster. Don't push your luck by asking me that, or I will be forced to become violent."

Demyx jokingly pretended he was scared by this comment, though pursued the topic no further.

Together, they boarded toward Demyx's house, where they had planned to crash for the rest of the afternoon as well as to pig out on various snacks. Once at that destination, they wearily trudged inside the respectable looking house, tired from their painfully long day. About to hide the presents in one of the many closets, Demyx's little sister (a year younger than him) Selphie interrupted them by abruptly shouting, "Hi! What's up, you two?"

Zexion stumbled slightly out of surprise, toppling ungracefully onto the floor. His friend did the same thing, but he had learned to deal with his sister's annoyances.

"Selphie," he groaned, "we had a tiring day at work! Don't bother us, especially not Zexion."

Selphie, the sly dark blonde, had flirted constantly with the purplish-gray haired teen for three years now. Zexion had yet to decide if he wanted to return her cute albeit crazy affections or not. What other girl would take him, after all? Still, she could be totally insincere in her flirting style. He had been the victim of such crimes of false love before, no thanks to sadistic girls. If he remembered correctly, Larxene was one of them.

Turning toward Demyx, he asked, "Should we watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles now, Dem?"

"Of course, buddy. And Selphie, you're not watching it!"

Wearing an obviously disappointed expression, Selphie opened her mouth to protest. "But—"

"Nope."

And with that, Demyx dragged Zexion to the rec room, where the family "theater" was located.


A/N: Toward the end, I know what you are thinking. And yes, there is Zexion/Selphie only if you squint. I don't why I randomly got into this pairing; I just think that they'd be cute together.

Please drop in review. Yes, yes, I'm begging more than usual, but it's what keeps me driven. Well, that, and chocolate....but mostly reviews. XD