Stepsiblings, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic series by Raberba girl
Eyes Like A Tiger's - The One Valentine's Day (rough draft)
Summary: Saïx really has absolutely no clue about this kind of thing. Luckily for him, his girlfriend is super nice and understanding.
A/N: This was meant to be posted on Valentine's Day 2013, but I didn't finish it in time, so you're getting it almost a month late. *sweatdrop*
AU because I totally forgot that Saïx is supposed to go to college out of state. -.-;;;; And since that bit was AU, I didn't bother to make sure that other stuff matched with the timeline.
o.o.o
Sometimes, I think I am simply not suited to have a girlfriend.
I came to the realization by pure coincidence: I had gone down to take a break and eat something. Axel was in the living room, watching a movie with the children. I went to sit next to him for just the few minutes it would take to peel and eat the banana I'd found.
"Do you think that doggie is cute?" Xion asked me insistently.
"I do not find it particularly unappealing."
"Huh?"
"Saïx doesn't count," Axel said.
"Yes, he does! Me and Saïx think it's cute, so there!"
"But then it's a tie," Roxas protested.
I had no idea what they were talking about, and did not care.
A commercial presently came on. "Every kiss begins with Kay!"
I had been tuning it out, along with my siblings' inane squabbling. Then it registered, and I nearly dropped the last of my banana. "Valentine's Day."
"Yeah?" Axel said, glancing over at me.
"Sacred moon. When is-? Thursday. February 14th is this Thursday."
Axel laughed. "What, you just realized that?"
"I have a girlfriend. I am expected to- Sacred moon. That's what she meant."
Axel stared at me. "Holy cow, Sai. You haven't made any plans yet?"
I stood up. "I need help."
"We'll help you!" Xion said, bouncing to her feet.
"No," I said automatically. Wait. "Yes." She was female. Maybe she would be useful.
"What are we doing?" Roxas asked, getting to his feet as well.
"Helping Saïx get some this Thursday," Axel said.
We all looked at him in confusion. "Get some what?"
He burst into laughter for some reason.
"This is not funny, Axel," I snarled. "I don't know the first thing about- about-" Well, females my age in general, but Jasmine tended to be forgiving. I still had the impression that February 14th was a special case. "-about satisfying a woman's expectations for Valentine's Day."
"Pretty flowers, and lots of candy," Xion said. "The good kind, not the yucky kind. And a pink teddy bear with a heart that sings You are my sunshine. And no Transformers Valentines."
"Xion, she's not nine years old," Axel said. "Come on, Sai, let's go see if we can grab a reservation."
We pored over the directory while on the phone with Axel's uncles, since they seemed to have some useful experience in this area.
"Man, cuttin' it kinda close, aren'tcha... I mean, you can try those restaurants I gave you, but I dunno if they'll have any reservations left."
"What were you thinking of as far as a gift?"
"I have no idea, that is why we are asking you."
By then, it was too late to go shopping, so we would have to do so after school the next day. Accompanied by our younger siblings, since there was no one to baby-sit them at the last minute, and Axel couldn't bear the thought of leaving them in after-school care for so long.
"She'll like this," Roxas said, holding up a skateboard.
"Roxas, put it back," Axel laughed.
"Roxas, that's what boys like!" Xion said, shoving past him to present a 'virtual pet' toy. "She'll like this."
"...If I buy you two ice cream, will you just follow along quietly and not make suggestions?" I said in desperation.
I came close to deciding, in the next half hour, that jewelry counters were my least favorite places on earth. Yet I was trapped there until a decision was made, and after an exasperating exchange of text messages with Ella, I finally made a purchase and hoped I would not have to show Father the receipt any time soon. "I have a feeling I just made a mistake..."
"Dude, do you know how much I'd give to be able to hand my date a Rosetta Lawrence for Valentine's?"
"I just want to go home." Where I tried to soothe my agitation by engaging in one of my favorite activities: research. "Lea."
"What do you want?" she snapped.
"I merely wondered if you would permit me to borrow some of your, er...literature."
"What?"
After much more cajoling than I thought was necessary, I finally walked away with four books sporting black covers.
"Nice knowin' ya, buddy," Axel said almost sadly as he watched me taking them to my room.
"What do you mean by that?"
Less than five pages in, I began to see what he meant. I could not understand how in the world this could have appeal to anyone, much less roughly half the world's population.
Still, I persisted, slogging through hundreds of pages of swill for the sake of a woman I loved. If this could help me in any way, I would willingly endure it, even if it killed me.
...Which, sometimes, I was afraid would happen literally. "What do they see in this? He lay perfectly still in the grass, his shirt open over his sculpted, incandescent chest, his scintillating arms bare. His glistening, pale lavender lids were shut, though of course-"
"Saïx, I never thought I'd have to say this to you, but you are making my ears bleed. Shut up."
"Apologies. I should not have made you suffer needlessly. This is a burden I must bear alone."
"Ah, give it here," Axel said with a sort of affectionate disgust, grabbing the book out of my hands. "Where'd you leave off?"
Later, Jasmine noticed that I was under more stress than usual. "Is Valentine's Day always like this for you?"
"Pardon?"
"I know you get upset because of Halloween and Christmas..."
"...The circumstances are different."
"But you're still miserable. Is it the new semester?"
"No..."
She studied me. I was uncomfortable, and had a hard time maintaining eye contact.
"Saïx...we can just, um, 'stay home and watch a movie' for Valentine's Day. If you want."
Even I could tell that she was as unfamiliar with such a practice as myself - she was accustomed to being treated like a princess, of having the best of everything. Besides, one thing I was gradually beginning to learn was that women sometimes (often?) meant the exact opposite of what they said. Which meant I'd have to enhance my plans. "I- Don't worry, my love. I'll take care of it." Or die trying. I had the strong sense that failure would mean utter catastrophe. 'I can do this. I won't fail, because I am good enough for you, and I will prove it.'
"Belle?" I asked as soon as I could get her alone. "May I speak with you?"
"Of course! What is it?"
I gave her my list. She edited it to a considerable extent - then reached up to brush my hair back over my shoulder in an affectionate way, and said, "Saïx, all she wants is to know that you love her more than anything in the world."
'Anything?' I thought in alarm.
"That you really care about her, and you want her to be happy. That's all. Don't worry about all the fancy plans - as long as she has your undivided attention, she'll be happy."
'...You're a woman. I don't believe you,' I couldn't help thinking.
I wasn't sure where to turn next, though, since I knew that Vexen would be utterly useless in this area, and Adam was struggling nearly as much as myself. He made a good commiseration partner, actually.
"Everyone keeps giving me different advice," he grumbled as we were studying. "Lumiere says roses and candlelight, Cogsworth says expensive gifts, Mrs. Potts says 'Just be yourself,' as if Belle actually likes me when I'm not pretending to be nice..." He gulped down another glass.
"I can certainly relate, but please switch to something non-alcoholic now; I need you fully functional until we've finished the next chapter."
The evening of February 13th, Aladdin caught me as I was heading out to the subway. "Hey...Sai?"
"Yes?"
"..." He finally expelled a long breath. "Never mind." Then he smiled - a little sadly, I thought. "You guys have fun tomorrow, okay?"
"I'll be relieved enough if she enjoys it," I muttered.
Then he said something I couldn't understand.
"What?"
"It means 'I love you,'" he said softly. "In Agrabahti."
He taught me how to pronounce it correctly, so that I could say it to Jasmine the next day. Surprised and grateful, I watched him finally walk away, his hands in his pockets and his shoulders hunched against the cold.
o.o.o.o.o
I suppose it was inevitable that the day would be a disaster. From the jewelry design choice to the nauseating kisses (attempts at kisses) to the terrible movie and the restaurant we were ejected from and the way she could tell the entire time how utterly miserable I was, it was one failure after another. Indeed, she seemed almost amused by it after a while.
"By the way," she said as we were walking home (having no longer any other mode of transportation), "I should have told you this sooner, but Father will kill you - really and truly kill you - if you try to, er...take me to a hotel tonight."
"What does a hotel have to do with anything?" I murmured, too preoccupied to be paying much attention.
"Well...never mind, it looks like that won't be a problem," she chuckled. I roused myself enough to think about it for a while, and finally decided that I did not want my suspicions confirmed.
We reached her doorstep. As I was trying to determine whether there was any possibility I was still expected to kiss her good-night after all this, she suddenly said, "Saïx?"
"Yes?"
"Let me- Let me grab something real quick, and then- Um, would you be too terribly unhappy if we went to your house for a while?"
"What?" I had been desperately looking forward to getting to be alone and try to block out the entire day from my mind. "Why?"
"Oh, it's just...I, um, I just have Valentines for your family, and I...wanted..."
I managed to stop myself before sighing aloud.
"But it's all right, I know it'll bother you, I'll just bring them over another time."
"No, I would be happy to have you at the house for a while."
"No, you wouldn't."
"...I wish to be left alone, but above that, my wish is to please you. If you will be pleased by coming to my house, I would be grateful for the opportunity to host you."
She kissed me, and I was relieved when she avoided my mouth this time. "Thank you, love."
She insisted on driving, since it was her car and she had given her chauffeur the night off. I was surprised by the number of vehicles in the driveway when we reached the house - it looked as if Axel was back home, and a few of our cousins as well.
Sure enough, the living room was crowded when we walked in. "Oooh! Sai-Sai is home!" Xion ran to hug me.
"Hello," I said.
She looked up into my face and frowned. "Did you have a bad Valentine's Day?"
"Jasmine brought something for you."
"She did?!"
Jasmine smiled. "For all of you, since it's Valentine's Day."
"Yaaay! Ooh, Roxas, we gotta go get Jasmine's Valentines and give 'em to her, she's the last one! AXEL! PAUSE THE MOVIE!"
"OKAY!" he shouted back playfully.
The children ran upstairs, and I looked around at all the intruders in bewildered annoyance. "What are you all doing here? Axel, I thought you would be out later."
"Eh, my girlfriend dumped me."
"Oh, no!" Jasmine gasped. "On Valentine's Day? That's terrible!"
He shrugged. "Nah, I already knew she was only dating me to make her ex-boyfriend jealous...they got back together tonight, by the way." He chuckled ruefully. "Just wish they'd waited, like, two more hours."
"You're such a loser," Larxene remarked.
"Says the chick who's been single for two years now," Demyx laughed, then yelped when she casually reached over to smack him in the face.
"Yeah, and who's the loser who got dumped twice tonight?" Van snapped.
Demyx just shrugged. "Hazards of two timing - comes with the territory..."
"Demyx, you are an awful person," Jasmine said mildly, going to sit down at the end of the couch.
"Yes, but so loveable," Demyx said sweetly, going into his act with the wide open, deceptively innocent eyes and the charming smile that far too many women find inexplicably irresistible. "Give me a call when you get tired of McDoomgaze here, 'kay?"
I didn't care that her response was a dry, "I think I'd rather be married off to the highest bidder, but thank you for offering," I was already striding forward and lifting up my girlfriend so that I could seat myself in her place and settle her in my lap. Demyx was a fool. Jasmine knew this. I could send him fleeing with a single glare. Pathetic that I still felt threatened.
Jasmine did not, however, protest the shift - she merely adjusted my arms more comfortably around her waist, rested hers on top of them, and leaned to kiss my cheek.
"GET OUT," Larxene and Van thundered at the same time.
I had been staring at the carpet, but now I turned my glare to them. "I believe it's more appropriate that you get out of MY house."
"Singles only tonight," Larxene said obnoxiously. "That was the deal."
"Uh, actually," Axel put in, "the deal was that you and Darkflood Void over there do whatever you guys do on Thursday nights, not come barging in here to kick out the baby-sitter and make yourselves at home."
"You're lucky we came," Van said, so mildly that I knew it was a blatant lie. "That fail baby-sitter was smoking weed. We did you guys a favor."
"Van," Axel said in exasperation.
Xion and Roxas came running back in again. "Jasmine! We couldn't find the Valentines because Roxas was stupid and lost them, but we made you new ones!"
"I'm not stupid!"
"Ooohh, let me see, dear."
There were Valentines for all six of us, unfortunately. Mine had glitter on it, so I did my best not to touch it, and left Jasmine with the duty of praising the children's work. Jasmine distributed the treats she had brought - there were enough extras for our uninvited guests as well. Though the children did not find the high-end chocolate to their liking, Roxas told Jasmine that he still liked her anyway, even though the chocolate was 'gross,' and my sister embraced and thanked her because Xion is a civilized young lady who, unlike her younger brother, was not raised to have the manners of an ape.
"He's still young," I told Jasmine.
She smoothed her hands over my hot cheeks, startling me into meeting her gaze again, then slipped a chocolate into my mouth. "He means well," she said with a smile.
"I'm gonna puke," Larxene said, and Van threw popcorn at us.
"Jasmiiiine, come sit in my lap, it's my turn now," Demyx whined half-playfully, and was ignored.
Axel resumed playing the movie, which was some odd-looking thing about a girl with a pig's snout.
"The pretty boy's gonna break the spell," Xion said confidently. "You'll see."
"My vote's for the midget detective," Demyx piped up.
"I like the midget detective," Roxas said.
I sighed. "He's a journalist." I'd only watched ten minutes of this movie, yet the character's profession was obvious. My family's lack of attention to detail is abhorrent.
"I think she's beautiful just the way she is," Axel joked, though Larxene's tone was resentful as she said, "She doesn't need some greasy-haired gambling addict to make her a real woman."
"Yeah, but you do," Van said with a grin, "otherwise you wouldn't be spending Valentine's Day here with your ex-boyfriends, trying to forget you're Forever Alone."
"At least I'm not stupid enough to fall in love with someone I can never have," Larxene snapped, earning a painful glare. She weathered it well, though - she's grown used to being around us.
"Everyone, stop talking," Xion ordered, "I can't hear."
Despite having to watch a movie I had little interest in, and being forced to tolerate the company of the worst of my cousins, that evening with my family was actually the part of Valentine's Day that came closest to being enjoyable.
o.o.o
Author's Notes: Ugh, this fic is lame...I have no idea what I'm talking about. *sweatdrop* Also, I didn't want to end it on the usual "FAMILY IS THE ULTIMATE" thing that I usually do, but I couldn't think of what else to do... There was a bit at the end that I cut out, because the flow was so terrible. It was basically Saïx & Jasmine talking on the way home about how Valentine's Day sucked, but they love each other anyway, and Saïx is all "FAAAAIIIILLLLL," and Jasmine's all "IT'S OKAAAAAYYYY," and then a bit of irony about how "next year will be a success." *sweatdrop*
Ftr, I REALLY HATE feminine dishonesty. Say what you freaking mean. So that guys can actually trust you and believe you and not get confused, and so they'll believe me, because I actually do mean what I say, but they don't believe me because the rest of my sex insist on being coy. -.-
Lollllll, "Darkflood Void" is the name Taliax came up with for pony-Vanitas. X3 I think I'd come up with a different one, but I didn't feel like digging through my notes to look for it when this is just a rough draft, so I just used hers for now, since it's cute and works just as well. ^^
Also, the quote is by Stephenie Meyer. XD XD Technically, it should have been a quote from later on in the series, but I couldn't find anything juicer than the meadow scene as I was skimming through, and I didn't want to even touch those books for longer than I had to. *sweatdrop*
Ftr, I LOVE the movie Penelope, it's one of my favorite romances (and Peter Dinklage totally rocks :w00t:), but I do have to keep the characters IC when I'm writing them... I hate offending people when I don't mean to. .
I still haven't really gotten to write the "Vitriolic" part of Van & Larxene's relationship, but they tend to band together against common enemies. Plus...Larxene, and Van at times, are often so dang hard for me to write.
Kay Jewelers is a jewelry company, they have no relation to Saïx's mother in the Stepsiblings universe whatsoever. ^^;
Oh, and if you're getting tired of jerk Demyx, I FINALLY managed to write him as the nicer Demyx I love in the (currently unposted) KH/Divergent fic, yaaaay. ^^;
o.o.o
[Outtake, because I'm ridiculous and accidently switched to Axel's POV for a few lines, without even realizing it 'til I switched back to Saïx's. XD]
"What are we doing?" Roxas asked, getting to his feet as well.
"Helping Saïx get some this Thursday," I said, wondering whether or not I was joking.
They all looked at me in confusion. "Get some what?" All three of them. I couldn't help laughing.
