Part 3 of a ? parter!
"Fine. Take your fucking socks back. Take all the fucking socks you want in recompense." Demyx jerked away from him and buried his face in his book. "You can even fucking burn them all if you want."
"Great." Axel started rummaging through the sock drawer, finding a total of six pairs of his socks. "Now quit stealing my socks, okay?"
"Ooh, I dunno, Axy," Demyx said in a retarded-sounding voice. "I'm just dumbass Demyx, I can't understand simple concepts like that. Unless, of course, you beat 'em into me," he added in a normal voice, lowering his book to glare at Axel. His face was still mottled green and yellow from old bruises.
"..." How was Axel supposed to respond to that? Eventually, he took one pair of socks and lightly batted Demyx over the head with it a few times. "Don't. Steal. My. Socks. Have I beaten it into you yet?"
Demyx just stared at him. "...Some days, I can't decide if you're priceless or worthless."
Axel shrugged. "Hey, I'm worth at least a few pair of socks..."
"That's another thing. Your socks are bought and paid for out of the general funds, but the rest of us have to pay for our own out of pocket..."
…
Demyx watched the three year old as he was starting to wake up.
The Nocturne had woken up when he felt the small body next to him begin to squirm slightly. When he looked at the small red head, he had first wondered if the child was having another nightmare, but noticed that he wasn't looking scared so maybe he wasn't.
He was about to find out though.
Axel opened his eyes, blinking a few times. After a moment, he looked up to see his sandy haired friend. "Demmy? How come I'm in youw bed?" the little red head asked, hugging his plushie.
Demyx smiled a little. "You fell asleep in here last night while I was playing my sitar," he explained. "I didn't really want to wake you up just to carry you twenty feet, so I let you sleep here instead." He petted the three year old's hair as Axel wiped away the sleep particles from his eyes. "Did you have another dream?"
Axel nodded. "But…this one wasn't scawy," he said. "It was weiwd…sumfin' 'bout socks…an' that guy asked you not to steaw 'em…"
"Socks?" Demyx asked. He vaguely remembered doing Axel's laundry once with his shortly after Axel had been diagnosed with diabetes. "…was there anything else weird about the dream?"
The red head scrunched up his face, as if he were trying to remember. "…kinda," he eventually answered. "Youw face had gween an' yew wow spots."
Shit.
If there was one thing that Demyx hadn't wanted Axel to remember, it would've been anytime involving a beating from the red head in the past. How am I supposed to explain that one? 'Oh yeah, that was right after we found out you had diabetes and you got mad at me, so I got beaten up.' He would take that SO well.
"Demmy?"
The sandy blonde was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Axel. "What is it?"
"How come you had spots?"
"I got beat up." There, that wasn't a total lie. Demyx just wasn't going to tell a three year old that he had done it when he was closer to his twenties.
"Why?"
Demyx sighed, smiling a little at the curious green eyes that stared at him. "It's not important," he reassured Axel, patting his head. "It's in the past. No use talking about it now."
"…Demmy?"
"Yeah?"
"I gotta go potty."
Demyx laughed a little. "Alright, well you know where it is," he said, gesturing in the direction of the bathroom. "I put a footstool in there so you could use it if you needed too." In reality, he had grabbed the one that Axel usually kept in his room from the days when he hung stuff up on the walls of his bedroom but couldn't quite reach (despite his height), and placed it in the bathroom while the red head was sleeping the night before. "Just tell me when you need help washing your hands."
Axel nodded, then jumped off the bed and headed to the bathroom, leaving Ricky behind on the bed. Demyx smiled when the door slammed shut, slightly amused. He sat back and let his mind wander while he waited for Axel.
How can I find out how he changed into a little kid in the first place? …let's see…the day he came back, he said he had been starting to get a headache…and had been somewhere where they sold jellybeans…and he bought a few boxes of those 'every flavor beans'-
That's when it hit him. The jellybeans! He's been eating them since he got home! Demyx smacked himself. Gods, it's so obvious! Why didn't I think of it before? I guess now all I have to do is keep him from eating them for the next day or so and see if that…whatever just needs to get out of his system or if we need other help.
"Why can't I has any jaybeans Demmy?"
Demyx sighed for the millionth time. "Because you've been eating 'em a lot, and you don't need anymore," he said. "Besides, it's bedtime."
Axel looked like he was about to cry. "But I not s'eepy," he said, a yawn breaking out as soon as those words came out. Demyx smiled. "I think someone's lying."
The little red head just grinned a little, hugging his tiger plushie. Picking up Axel, Demyx took him back to his own room, laid him down on his bed, and covered him up. "Can I has some jaybeans tomowwow Demmy?"
"…we'll see." Demyx turned off the light. "Good night Axel."
A yawn. "Night-night Demmy."
Leaving the door from Axel's room to the bathroom slightly ajar with the light on, Demyx went back to his own room and started changing. Guess I might as well go to bed. Taking care of a three year old Axel is tougher than it looks. After changing from his Organization attire to a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt that said 'If You Want Your Opinion, I'll Beat It Out Of You!', the Nocturne slipped under the covers of his bed, hoping that tomorrow would bring some results.
…
"Demmy?"
No response.
"…Demmy?"
"…Murf…"
Axel didn't try to bother anymore and just crawled under the covers of Demyx's bed, cuddling with both the Nocturne and Ricky the tiger plush while trying to go to sleep. Demyx however, had no idea what had just happened as he felt the small being moving. He opened his eyes and saw chibi Axel in the bed next to him, hugging Ricky. "What are you doing out of bed? Did you get scared?"
Axel shook his head. "…I got wonewy. Can I s'eep here?"
"Well…alright. But just for tonight," Demyx said, petting Axel's hair. "Get to sleep now, ok? It's late."
" 'K." Axel cuddled with Demyx, trying to get comfortable. "Hey Demmy?"
"Yeah?"
"I got wonewy 'cuz I had anudder dweam."
Demyx sat up a little, looking down at Axel. "What was this one about?" he asked.
The chibi smiled. "That guy, you, an' Woxas were in here. You were sad 'bout sumfin', so the guy got this weird lookin' stuff and some cookies. Then you were happy."
Demyx smiled. "I remember that. That was Valentine's Day last year…I was sad because I was lonely myself. After some tea and cookies, I started feeling better enough to even play my sitar again." When he heard Axel yawn again, Demyx laid back down. "Go to sleep. You're not alone anymore."
"M'kay." With that, Axel curled up against Demyx, falling asleep.