o.O.o

Razorblade Shine
Chapter 13: Several Startling Surprises
Revised on December 28, 2008

o.O.o

On the floor where daylight dances
With the ones who missed their chances
When they couldn't let it go
Lies the land of sweet surrender
Like a dream it could have ended there
But we couldn't let it go.
Now, forever, we shall live as one
Floating in love's atmosphere.
--"Distant Camera" by Neil Young

o.O.o

Leaning in to Demyx's ear, Luxord whispered, "I just so happened to see who beat you up. Though I'm guessing you did as well, Demyx."

Demyx felt the color drain from his face, no doubt leaving him ashen.

Luxord pulled back to look at Demyx levelly, continuing on with his little oration. "Now Demyx, the question is why would you lie. Why would you lie and let those conniving leeches get away with, to put it frankly, beating the shit out of you?"

Demyx's eyes darted down to the ancient gray linoleum floor, studying the cracks with a feigned mild interest. You probably don't need me to inform you that Demyx was immensely uncomfortable with the situation; that much is patent.

See, in Dem's mind, he figured that once Xaldin and Saix had their little bit of fun with him, once he got out of the hospital, it would all be over. For good. Forgettable with time. In his mind, I would remain safe, far away in the town of Oblivion just as long as he didn't tell anyone who it was that had hurt him.

Now, thanks to one blond-haired, blue-eye Brit, his plans came crashing down around him.

Luxord sighed deeply. "Well, I suppose I can take a guess," he began, following Demyx down the hall as he tried to scurry away. "They threatened you, insulted you some but not enough to make you want to fight back." A furrow grew between Luxord's two blond brows, his eyes drawn in concentration. "No," he refuted, stealing a glance at Demyx, "It wasn't you they threatened at all. It had to have been someone close to you because you seem to be one of those people without much of a sense of self-preservation. You put others before yourself, especially those you hold in high regard, am I right?

"Well, I seriously doubt that it was either of your parents they threatened to harm since they are adults. Thugs like them usually stay away from those who are older and stronger than they are, instead praying upon the smaller, the younger, the weaker."

Demyx's uninjured fist clenched in the beginnings of anger that he was trying him damnedest to control. "Zexion isn't weak," he hissed at the Brit, his cerulean eyes narrowed and fierce, I'm sure looking nothing short of a lion about to leap at the enemy to attack.

Luxord's laugh rang through the halls, loud and true. "Ha! I knew it," he alleged. "If it wasn't your younger brother, then it had to be our resident writer, Zexion Schemer."

There is probably something I should explain to you about Demyx that you might not have yet made the connection to. He's a pacifist to the worst degree. He hates fighting, he hates violence, and he hates war, anything that involves other's getting hurt. Sometimes it's so bad that he can't even watch certain movies that wouldn't even faze most of the population.

Yet despite his anti-aggressive nature, he can sometimes be comparable to a ticking time bomb. His anger builds up over time, growing and growing until he's liable to explode at any given moment, furious and irate and incensed. It takes a lot to calm him down when he's in one of these moods and, fortunately, I'd only ever had to witness this fewer times than I have fingers on my right hand. More fortunate still, I'd never been on the receiving end of Time Bomb Demyx.

Luxord found himself slammed against the nearest wall before he even had the time to blink. And Demyx, to give him his credit when it is due, held him there, immovable, with only his one good arm.

"Do. Not. Talk. About. Zexion," he said slowly, quietly, using what little control he had left to keep his voice even and calm.

Luxord, for his part, didn't even try to struggle, simply continued staring down at Demyx through platinum eyelashes. After remaining silent for a long moment, Luxord closed his eyes as if thinking pained him, uttering, "I'll tell Zexion if I have to. I'll tell him that you know perfectly well who it was that beat you up. And he'll believe me to because what I say will make a lot more sense to him than what you told him. Besides, you are a terribly transparent liar."

The hold Demyx had on Luxord slackened considerably until he let go altogether. "Why are you so eager for me to tell the truth? No one will get hurt this way, you know. What if the cops don't believe me and Xaldin and Saix find out? Then they'll go after Zexion for sure. What then?"

"The cops will believe you, Demyx, because they shall have me as a witness also. And as to why I want you to tell the truth, I thought that my answer was rather transparent.

"I have an innate sense of justice, you could say. I hate it when I see the little guy getting pushed around; I hate it when people think they can do whatever they want because they have certain power over you. But most of all, I just plain hate Xaldin and Saix and would truly like to see them get what they deserve.

Dem's cerulean eyes flashed in confusion. "Why?" he asked again.

Luxord gave an awkward chuckle, his hand scratching the back of his head. "That is where the transparency comes in, Demyx. I…Well, I'll put it this way: my feelings for you are comparable to your feelings for your friend Zexion. Why do you think he's always been so weary of me? He's known all along, everyone with eyes has I'm sure."

Demyx's dirty blond eyebrows rose high on his forehead in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?" he asked.

"I am not," Luxord contested. "But that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that today, right after school, you and I are going to pay a little trip to the police station, or I'm calling Zexion. And I am positive that, once he knows the truth, he'll have some way or another of convincing you that you should go with me to the police station. Am I wrong?"

"No," Demyx admitted, knowing full well that he would cave just as soon as I said anything. What he probably didn't know, right then at least, was that if the roles had been reversed, that if I was the one who had gotten beaten up, I would have caved for him just as quickly.

o.O.o

The very day that Luxord confronted Demyx, Roxas and I were scheduled to leave the hospital. We were a rather pathetic lot to see, I imagined, Roxas with his crutches so he could stay off his bad leg, me with my arm sling to keep it immobilized.

And, to confirm my suspicions, Leon told us so when he picked us up from the hospital.

My less than friendly feelings toward the man after our first meeting had dissipated considerably. I now realized, after having so many monotonous hours in the hospital to think, that he was only trying to do his job before, only trying to help make me better.

"Gee, thanks a ton, Leon," Roxas said sarcastically as the brunette man helped him climb into the back seat of the van next to me. I felt relieved that so much of the weight seemed to be lifted off both my and Roxas' shoulders. I felt that the two may now finally have the chance to move on with our lives.

"Anytime," Leon said with a smirk, opening the driver's side door and climbing in. After starting the car and pulling out the driveway, Leon glanced at the two of us in the rearview mirror. "I probably shouldn't tell you this," he began, "but I don't want either of you having a heart attack. It wouldn't look good on the Treatment Center if we were sending you back to the hospital already."

"What?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, we're kind of, sort of having a surprise welcome home party for the two of you."

"Really?" Roxas asked, a small smile creeping upon his lips.

"Mm-hmm," Leon confirmed. "It was actually Axel's idea. He said the two of you would need a little fun after spending so much time in a, and I quote, 'yicky-disgusting hospital.'"

The blond's small smile grew into a larger one. I don't think he even noticed that he was smiling, but the sight made me smile too.

o.O.o

"Now," Leon instructed as Roxas and I followed him to the door, Roxas making astonishing time crutching around, "you guys have to at least act surprised. I told Cloud and Aerith that I'd be telling you guys before hand. Aerith thought it was a really good idea, but Yuffie and Xigbar don't know. I doubt Vexen will be there anyway, so I didn't bother telling him. Your peers put a lot of work into this party, so I'd like to be enjoyable for everyone. Okay?"

"Okay," Roxas agreed, no doubt thinking of Axel. I nodded.

A smile appeared on Leon's face. "Alright, here goes." He pushed the door open and we followed him to the cafeteria.

If Leon hadn't warned us beforehand, it still would have been blatantly obvious what was going on. As we approached the door, I heard several shh, here they come! and everyone in position's.

When we stepped into the cafeteria, the lights snapped on, a deafening Surprise! echoing off the walls. Faces popped our from behind chairs and tables and Xigbar even popped out from behind one of the support poles, a toothy, if not endearing, grin upon his grizzled face.

"Welcome back!" Rikku exclaimed, bouncing towards the door and carefully hugging each of us. "We missed you guys so much!"

"Good to see you, Rikku," Roxas said quietly. She smiled happily, stepping aside for others to make their greetings.

Namine was next, hugging each of us and planting chaste kisses upon our cheeks. "I'm glad you guys are back," she murmured, smiling softly. "It just hasn't been the same."

As way of greeting, Marluxia said a simple, "I'm just glad the two of you got Larxene tossed out. She was really getting on my nerves." It's not like I was expecting a heartfelt salutation from Marluxia or anything, but it was good to know that he was glad Roxas and I got injured if it meant getting Larxene kicked out. Just peachy.

I glanced around at everyone else in the room, many of whom I didn't know. Cloud remained steadfast by the back wall, watching was his boyfriend walked toward him to join him away from the crowd. Sephiroth was sitting moodily in a chair, watching Leon walk to his beloved with distaste. Xigbar disappeared back into the kitchen, no doubt to work on getting us a meal around. Yuffie was just plain bouncing all over the place, Aerith asking her to calm down over and over without success.

It was obvious that they had all gone to a lot of work on the decorum. A huge welcome banner hung ten feet in the air, streamers and balloons dangling off the ends. Some of Namine's artwork festooned the walls; portraits of everyone, sketches of animals and landscapes. Someone had gone overboard on the confetti that littered on the floor, my guess being someone made the mistake of handing the package to Rikku. I worried that one of Roxas' crutches would slip on the confetti.

Axel, however, was way ahead of me. He came forward, unabashedly meeting Roxas' eyes, broom in hand. Roxas' body tensed up at the close contact, but it was obvious that he delighted in the fact that Axel had been thinking of him. Axel quickly swept a path to the nearest chair before fading once again into the crowd. You didn't need to be a mind reader to know that Roxas was confused by it all.

The party lasted a few more hours, followed by a surprisingly excellent dinner provided by Xigbar consisting of fried potatoes, fried chicken, and green beans, which were also fried of course. The crowd dwindled until Axel, Roxas, Namine, and I were the only left remaining in the cafeteria besides Leon and Cloud (and, of course, Sephiroth, who was busy scowling at them). Roxas had hardly said a word all evening, which seemed weird to me, though it probably shouldn't have. He was silent when I met him. It was just strange to see his jaw so clamped shut after all the talking the two of us did in the hospital.

Of course, it was blatantly obvious to me why he was so silent; he had been staring at Axel all night. For his credit, Axel had refrained from making any crude or vulgar comments, which, after rooming with him, I knew was a near impossibility. The only time he actually looked a Roxas was when he said the very few words he had that night. Personally, I called this his playing hard-to-get strategy which, in my opinion, did nothing more than confuse the hell out of the blond, especially when Axel had gone from lavishing affection upon him to fragrantly ignoring him.

Later than night after the party had ended, I sat Axel down when we got back to our room and patently told him that his plan sucked hairy monkey balls, though I like to think I was a bit more eloquent about it when I'd actually told him.

"What do you mean my plan sucks hairy monkey balls?" he asked indignantly. Okay, so maybe I wasn't.

Sighing deeply, knowing without a doubt that I myself was in no position to be giving anyone love advice, knowing that I probably shouldn't butt-in, I explained. "Axel, Roxas was staring at you all night."

A grin broke across his face. "Then I fail to see how my plan is so bad," he said somewhat triumphantly.

I shook my head, willing myself to stay out of their business, but the distinct feeling that it would take them eons to get together on their own weighed on my mind, eventually overpowering the former notion. "Axel," I began again, "the fact that he was staring at you all night is not a good thing. You confused him! And if you continue to confuse him like that, then it will take threefold the time to work his feelings out for you, especially if he thinks you don't care for him anymore after he rejected you. And after you promised you'd wait for him."

"He didn't reject me, not really," Axel muttered resentfully, "he said that he liked me but wouldn't date me until…he got your forgiveness."

I really couldn't help it, I laughed. Even though it was a stupid time to laugh, the puzzled look on Axel's face was wholly worth it. "He already has my forgiveness," I said, controlling my sudden outburst. "But he didn't need it in the first place."

"Then why-"

"Why do you think he was so confused? He wouldn't date you without me forgiving him, and I gave him that. When he was finally ready, you acted completely indifferent toward him. Try again, tell him how you feel again."

"Okay," Axel said, nodding once determinedly. "I will."

o.O.o

This next scene was relayed to me by word of mouth from the two participants. Of course I wasn't right there to see everything, busily chomping down on my food, I felt the need to add this scene because it involves two of my best friends.

The very next morning, Axel asked Roxas if he would have lunch with him. Surprised, but pleased nonetheless, Roxas agreed. Dutifully, Axel carried Roxas' tray and his own to a semi-secluded table in the back of the cafeteria. From across the room, I nodded at Axel before turning back to listen to Rikku's long-winded, one-sided tête-à-tête about the strange dream she had the night before involving Oompa Loopmas enlisting her help in the escape from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Apparently, the Oompa Loompas couldn't agree upon the best plan of escape and had a full-frontal Battle Royale on their hands, leaving Rikku that last man standing.

But I digress…

Axel and Roxas sat in silence for a long time, both concentrating on their food and what exactly they should say to the other. It was strange hearing that Axel had been nervous because I'd never seen him as anything other than his usual brass, if somewhat crude, self. Finally, he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a book, tossing it onto Roxas' tray, the battered copy of The Count of Monte Cristo staring brazenly up at him.

Roxas looked up quickly, blue eyes startled. The redhead shrugged, stating, "I thought you might like that back. I really liked it, by the way, it was a good book."

"Oh," Roxas said, still surprised, "I'd forgotten about it."

Axel grinned wryly. "No you didn't. I saw you staring at me sometimes while I was reading it." A faint blush rose upon Roxas cheeks. He remained silent. "Listen," Axel began again, "there's something I'd like to ask you since I know Zexion has forgiven you by now: Will you go out with me?"

"H-how do you know Zexion forgave me?" Roxas stuttered.

"He told me," Axel said simply.

"So then you know," Roxas said with finality, looking down at his food. "You know."

"Actually, I don't know anything," Axel admitted. "The only thing he told me was that, apparently, my plan sucked hairy monkey balls and that I should try for you again.

"Oh." Roxas sighed, continuing on, "You're his roommate and friend, I was sure he would have told you everything."

Axel shook his head. "Zexion never told me anything that wasn't his to tell."

"I guess I should have known that. He's a good guy."

"He is," Axel said, sitting back in his chair before leaning forward again suddenly, elbow dangerously close to Roxas'. "Look, can I tell you something?"

Roxas nodded.

"I had a pretty fucked up childhood. My dad was a drunk, and eventually my mom left because of it. I never really wanted anything but to have a normal childhood. It didn't take long before I took up smoking. I'm kinda obsessed with fire you know. Well, I started burning myself with the cigarettes to help me forget all the shit at home, if just for a little while.

"It was my gym teacher that found me out, one day while I was changing for class. I wasn't as careful as I usually was. Anyway, he reported the burns and the counselor came and took my down to her office. She thought it was my dad doing the burning. I told her the truth, fucking broke down crying in her little office with all the stupid motivational posters on the walls. And they sent me here. About a week after I showed up here, my dad was arrested for assault. Some guy at the bar grabbed Dad's beer and Dad showed him what he did when people messed with his alcohol.

"But what I'm trying to say is that I always wanted something growing up that would make me feel normal, and when I'm around you, I do, Roxas. You make me feel whole."

By then, Roxas had tears welling up in his baby blues. Without a word, in front of the entire cafeteria, he cupped Axel's face in his hands, pulling the redhead to him, and laid one on him.

o.O.o

And speaking of laying one on someone, I'll rewind my little tale to the previous day, right after school at Twilight Town High. Demyx had already made excuses with Sora, telling him that he had a project to work on with Luxord and would be home later.

Wordlessly, Dem followed Luxord to his car. They weren't at the police station all that long, perhaps an hour and half, delivering their statements. And the police thanked them, glad that they finally had some concrete evidence against two of the local hooligans.

As Luxord and Demyx were walking back out to the car, Luxord looked at my boyfriend with determination, grabbing him by the shoulders and kissing him on the mouth. Demyx was too startled to do anything, at first anyway. He stood there while Luxord tried to eagerly pry his lips apart before regaining his sense. Almost viciously, he pushed Luxord away from him.

"What the hell was that!?" he screamed at the Brit, fiercely wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Just what the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Luxord chuckled. "I thought that part was fairly obvious," he alleged.

Demyx just continued to glare at him with newfound disgust. "I'm with Zexion," he said firmly, "I love him."

"Yes, I know that," Luxord said, now irate. "No need to remind me of that, it's written all over your face. But Zexion isn't here, and I am. Zexion left you to go have his head examined. He left you Demyx."

I can only imagine the sneer Demyx's beautiful, smiling face twisted into. "Fuck you!" he said, turning his back on Luxord and striding to the sidewalk, backpack in hand.

"Where are you going?" Luxord called. "You're house is miles away!"

"I'll walk," Demyx said vehemently.

"Come on, just let me give you a ride. I swear I won't try anything," Luxord said desperately.

"No!" Demyx yelled as he jogged across the street. It wasn't until he saw Luxord drive by, Dem flipping him the bird, that he pulled his cell phone out and quickly dialed a number he had already memorized.

"Hello! Oblivion Treatment Center, this is Yuffie speaking," the wanna-be ninja said enthusiastically.

"Hi, may I please speak to Zexion Schemer?"

"Ooh, are you the boyfriend?" Yuffie asked eagerly.

"Yes," Demyx said, puzzled and slightly worried.

"Yes!" she exclaimed after pulling the phone away from her ear. "Okay, I'll go get him."

A few minutes later, I picked up the phone. "Hello?" I asked. Yuffie hadn't bothered telling me who it was.

"Zexion? Hey, it's me."

"Demyx," I remember saying. I also remember the way my heart began pacing at the sound of his voice, my pulse racing.

"There's something I need to tell you," he said uncertainly, "on Saturday when I come to visit. Don't let me forget to tell you, though it isn't anything I'm likely to forget. Or let me weasel out of telling you."

"Okay," I replied to him quietly, hesitantly. "I won't."

"Good," he said. "I miss you, Zexion."

I smiled. "I miss you, too, Demyx."

o.O.o