Demyx had to admit that riding in the back of a taxicab, smushed between Axel's bony ass and Larxene's chest that had clearly taken full advantage of all the benefits a push-up bra had to offer, had not been how he'd envisioned spending the night of his senior Prom.
But here he was, heading off to destinations unknown with his verifiable crush and a friend he honest to goodness never thought he'd end up seeing again after the fiasco at his last school. In a way, Demyx mused, he really should've been happier when viewing his current situation in that light. Instead, he couldn't help but continue to feel an increasing sense of dread as the minutes ticked by.
Was it in Axel's general nature to embellish and dramatize information or was there really a genuine concern that Sora might hurt himself? And if it ended up being the latter, why the crap would what Roxas had said have that kind of effect on his cousin in the first place?
All of this was making the sense that so totally didn't.
At least, Demyx conceded, he'd finally figured out the deal with the spy issue. Or, er, utter lack of the same thereof. Fail so hard yet again.
"Are we almost there?" Larxene asked, forcing Demyx out of his thoughts and back into the smothering confines of their current predicament. "I like you guys and all, but I would've preferred to take the front seat." Her tone took on a whiny quality as she shot the cabbie an irritated look. Trying to get into a more comfortable position, she shifted in the cramped space of the compact car. It only served to shove her breasts closer to Demyx's face.
Not. Awkward. At. All…
The cabbie turned to regard the three of them at a stoplight, his long red hair swinging lazily behind him as he moved, expression unconcerned. "Sorry, yo." To Demyx, the guy looked anything but apologetic. "Got too much of my own shit up here. That's what you get when you don't drive yourselves, kiddies. Use your next paycheck and buy your own ride if you've got an issue."
As the light changed, the cabbie twisted back in his seat, returning to a regular driving position. From the rearview mirror, he eyeballed the trio behind him. "Or maybe pool your allowances, come to think." He chuckled at his own joke. The irony? The dude was probably only a year or two out of high school himself, from what Demyx could glean from his partial view.
Out of the corner of his vision, Demyx saw Axel roll his eyes. It occurred to him that his classmate could probably afford to buy all three of them new cars, plus the cabbie to boot, if what he'd heard about Axel's family money held true. A second later, those musings dissolved completely as Demyx felt the red-head sigh, body relaxing noticeably against his left side.
"If I'd known we were going to get this intimate tonight, I'd have brought a condom."
The words were whispered quietly, but in the close confines of the cab, Axel's voice traveled the few inches that separated him from Demyx and Larxene. While Demyx was busy trying control the sudden rush of nervy fluttering that was quickly transitioning to heat in places he didn't particularly want to think about right now, Larxene snickered on the other side of him.
"Behave, boys. We wouldn't want Demyx getting kicked out of another school for inappropriate interactions with my fucking prom date."
Okay, it was official - his face was doing a perfect rendition of Kairi's hair color immediately after a strong dye job right now. He was sure of it.
"Not this close to graduation anyway," Larxene added, voice sing-song. Apparently she was on a roll and happy to play the comedienne schtick to its fullest.
"Remind me to strangle you when my hands aren't pinned to my sides," Demyx half-growled.
He heard Larxene cackle next to him in response. "A bit kinky for my tastes but whatever floats your boat, lover-boy."
The cab made a turn off the main road and into a familiar-looking parking lot before coming to a slow rolling stop. "Thank God," Demyx said, as he felt the pressure lift on both sides of him with Larxene and Axel exiting the car.
The cabbie turned to him. "You're tellin' me. Kids these days talk about the weirdest shit." He turned toward the driver-side window, rolling it down just low enough to take the money Axel was offering up. "Now get out, yo," he called back to Demyx. "I gotta make my money doing more than just blond whores and household chores."
~ o ~ o ~
They were completely across the unlit parking lot and halfway up a grassy embankment when Demyx finally realized where Axel had directed the cabdriver to take them.
"You seriously think Sora got upset and decided this was the place to go to cheer himself up?" Demyx asked, skepticism apparent in his voice.
By his side, Axel remained quiet.
Larxene, not so much.
"Fucking fuck. If I'd known we were going to hike a damn mountain, I would've brought some actual shoes."
"C'mon, Larx," Demyx said, his patience for complaints waning with each passing moment. "It's just a little hill. It's not that bad."
A moment later, he felt a light punch to his shoulder that might've left a pretty nasty bruise, had Larxene not completely lost her balance a second beforehand. She teetered precariously in her spiky heels for a moment, before pitching forward, breaking the fall with her knees and hands.
Most girls would have shrieked or made some other typically feminine noise in response to getting grass stains on their Prom dress. But this was Larxene, and threats to others' physical wellbeing were way more up her alley.
"Tell that to my broken ankle when I shove my foot straight up your ass," she shot back.
Above them, Axel paused, turned to glance over one shoulder. "Give her a hand so we can get going," he ordered Demyx. "I don't know about you, but I personally have better things to do with the remainder of my evening after sorting out this mess."
"Like getting laid, yeah," Demyx called out. Despite his annoyance, he was careful to keep his tone adequately low so it wouldn't carry out into the surrounding vicinity. "I remember."
After all, it was kind of hard to forget a comment like that…
If Axel's expression changed in response, Demyx didn't end up seeing it as he leaned over to follow the red-head's directive to help a scowling Larxene up the last third of the hill.
Once over the hill's final steep embankment, the trio stopped to look up at their ultimate destination.
"You took us back to your high school," Larxene said, her voice deadpan, lips pressing into a thin line. "That's just...ironic as shit to me."
"You don't have to come in," Axel said, brushing a few specks of dirt off the thigh of one pant leg. "In fact, it'd probably be useful to have someone stay here and keep an eye out in case anyone else shows up."
Larxene raised a questioning eyebrow, apparently not following.
"Janitors, teachers, administrators," Axel recited in explanation. "We're not going to want to get caught by any of them," he said. He turned his green gaze toward Demyx. "Or else more than one of us will have to start worrying about not making it to graduation, I suspect."
Demyx felt himself go cold, swallowing hard. Awesome. Just what he needed to be doing at the moment - taking more risks that could get him in trouble with his parents.
And just when it seemed like they were beginning to trust him again…
Larxene hiked up her skirt, unceremoniously kicked off her heels, and, with Demyx gawking by her side, pulled a cigarette out of her…
Oh, geez. Seriously?!
"I don't suppose either of you has a light," she said, ignoring Demyx's shell-shocked expression as she rolled the white cylinder between two fingers.
Demyx shook his head at the same moment he heard Axel say, "I do."
Okay, sure. Of course he freaking would.
"You are both a piece of work," Demyx muttered, watching as Axel slid a shining metallic lighter out of his shirt pocket, thumb pressing against its beveled compressor until it ignited, then allowed Larxene to light up.
Once done, Axel snuffed out the lighter's flame with a definitive click and slid the metal object back into a pocket.
"Come on," he said, beckoning to Demyx with a jerk of his head. "Let's get going."
Demyx hesitated only a moment, shooting a glance at Larxene in all her grass-stained, pastel taffeta pink, barefoot, cigarette puffing glory, before turning heel and sprinting after Axel as both made their way in the direction of Holy Hearts Academy.
And hopefully, Demyx thought, not complete, utter, and total doom in the process.
~ o ~ o ~
They walked together in silence, Axel with his usual self-assured demeanor, Demyx with shoulders rounded, hands shoved into both pockets, mind whirling. He registered none of the by now familiar landmarks en route to his new school, at least not until they crossed the underpass where he'd encountered Axel after his first day of school. The image of his classmate languidly resting, back against the unyielding brick wall, lips savoring one end of a cigarette, was probably destined to be burned into his memory forever at this point.
If Axel was having similar thoughts, he made no outward indication of them as he passed on by, then turned a brick corner toward the school's back wall.
There was something bothering Demyx, although he couldn't put his finger on what initially. When they eventually encountered a door, ominous with its thickly imposing metal frame, it finally came to him.
"Er, something tells me this isn't gonna be unlocked," he said, voice hushed even though he seriously doubted anyone else was close enough to hear.
For his part, Axel merely shrugged, unconcerned. "Obviously."
Before Demyx could ask any other questions about why they'd even bothered to come then, or how Axel thought Sora could manage — or would even want — to break into school property on Prom night, Demyx saw Axel slide a hand into his pants pocket. A moment later, it emerged with a small set of keys. The red-head thumbed through them with discernment, stopping on the second to last one. He scrutinized it for a moment before seeming satisfied with his choice. Reaching up, Axel inserted the key into the door's lock.
A moment later, a click, then the door opened inward, revealing one of the many hallways into the school's interior.
"You have a key…" Demyx spoke slowly, trying to wrap his mind around what he'd just witnessed. "…to the school. Seriously?" Was this another one of those special privileges Axel got to avail himself of due to his family's money, or…
"Actually," Axel said, interrupting his thoughts as he slipped in through the door and indicated Demyx should follow, "Kairi has a key. Because of her admin volunteer work. I just 'borrowed' it and made a few copies."
Another mystery solved, albeit a small one. Considering how candid Axel seemed to be when he was outright asked a question, Demyx was kind of wishing he'd come up with the right ones to ask a whole lot sooner than…well, now, actually.
Too bad it wasn't really an appropriate time to start asking more.
As Axel moved with purposeful steps through the darkened halls, lit only by the faint light emitting from occasional windows in passing, Demyx scrambled to keep up.
"So you do this often," he said, tone a little breathless due to speed-walking. "Breaking and entering?"
Axel shot him an impatient backwards glance. "I'd hardly call it that when nothing's actually been broken."
"You know what I mean!"
Urgh, why did his classmate always have to be so snarky? And annoying.
And, in that well-fitting suit, so incredibly, unrepentantly hot…GAH.
"Anyway," Demyx forged on. "What makes you so sure this is where Sora'd even go?" The further they walked, and the more time he had to take in his surroundings, the more familiar their route seemed to be getting to Demyx.
Wasn't this… the music wing?
Axel didn't respond, just pushed through one more set of double doors, then slowed his pace considerably. Behind him, Demyx followed suit. There was a faint glow coming from this new space, one that hinted at artificial rather than moonlight. It was partially blocked by Axel's silhouette ahead of him, so Demyx found himself craning his neck to get a better view.
"That's the band room, isn't it?"
Axel nodded. "That would be the band room," he confirmed.
A deluge of memories flooded Demyx's mind. Such a simple, inconspicuous little word, but it'd once meant so much to him. Although he had known this place's location practically since day one, Demyx had spent the last few weeks overtly avoiding this area of the school, fearful of what might rise up from his unconsciousness and have the potential to drown him in agonizing whole. He moved forward now, as if in a daze, only vaguely aware that Axel was hanging back, watching him closely. The red-head only resumed his approach once Demyx had passed him by.
Cautiously, almost afraid of what he was about to look into, and half-convinced he was going to have an utter break with reality and start seeing scenes from his past rather than what was occurring in his immediate present, Demyx sidled up to the sliver of open door and peeked into the room.
His breath hitched at what he saw, catching harshly in his throat, even while he wasn't even totally sure what was his eyes were seeing was being processed by his brain into something even remotely comprehensible.
Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him, warm breath tickling the back of his neck.
Axel.
When he next spoke, Axel's voice was smug, lightly teasing. Undoubtedly anything but troubled by what he was witnessing in the next room over.
Well, that made one of them, Demyx thought, as he felt a warm flush enter his cheeks when Axel's whispered words finally reached their intended mark.
"I did say you should've added band last period, didn't I?"