Lord... this chapter... There's drug and alcohol use as well as a vast amount of language in this chapter... as well as a failed attempt to... heehee... well... you know...
I really don't know what to say... um... right now I'm not getting your e-mails... I think it's an FF problem, so I'm not going to bother with it... if you do want to talk to me though, is my e-mail, and you can also AIM me at XragXdollXloverX which is the name I use most often. I live online and I love talking, so feel free to hit me up whenever you want.
Of course, Demyx didn't forget his Axel.
He and Xigbar took Axel to a local tea-brewer and the two caught up while the redhead enjoyed an orange-clove cigarette and a good cup of hand-made masala chai. Their discussions were pretty funny, the chatter about childhood friends and what they were doing now. It didn't take long before Demyx insisted that he needed to know who Xigbar's current significant other happened to be, and ironically enough, the guy was a sculptural artist with a green thumb that Axel had actually met before.
Marluxia Rousse was kind, if not rather fruity. He lavished all kinds of attention on Axel as soon as he arrived speaking a language the other two couldn't make heads of tails of, but Axel seemed to speak it just as fluently.
"So, I was thinking that maybe if I pushed the envelope, I could put out some more avant-garde pieces that will make those peons at Savannah just drool."
"I've been thinking of it too. A few groundlings from Chicago took a look at a few of your pieces at my last showing at the Trade Wind, and I think they were pretty blown out of the water."
"Speak English, you two?" Demyx asked pitifully, staring up at Axel with the "what the fuck are you saying" eyes.
"Sorry… I just told him some idiots who don't know their heads from their asses saw one of his pieces and practically did back flips."
Marluxia laughed, a strangely malicious sound coming from a man with pink hair and an eye for begonias and orchids. He was interesting to say the least. Axel wouldn't have even given the guy's work the time of day if he hadn't met the mind behind it.
"So, I was wondering, darling," Marluxia said softly, violently blue eyes pinning Demyx with a sultry gaze, "I was wondering if you and your lover might drop by my place. I just have to escape my studio and get in some good social time."
"Sounds pretty good to me," Demyx replied casually, casting a glance to Axel, "How about you, love?"
"I'm interested enough," Axel replied, just as suavely as he could manage, "When and where?"
--- ---
Marluxia's place was a typical Keys styled house, relatively small, but situated on a huge waterfront lot. He had apparently lived in it all of his life and adamantly refused to sell it because of its great worth and sentimental value.
"Welcome to my world," he said dramatically as Axel and Demyx hopped out of the car. Xigbar arrived soon thereafter and they all got the big tour.
The house had a big, low-lying studio in back with a forge and a few kilns for whatever he would need to make in the future, and among other things, he kept an extensive selection of hand-made swords, axes, and other such strange weaponry. If it were anyone else, they probably would have thought he was insane. He hefted a big battle-scythe like it was nothing, showing it off for the other three men, but Axel seemed to be lost in a set of razor-sharp hoops.
"They're called chakram," Marluxia explained, "They originated in India, like the katars."
He pointed to a strange item that looked like a mix between a dagger and a sword, but quickly returned his attention to the chakram on their rack. He picked one up by the inner rim and placed it in Axel's hand.
"Please resist the urge to touch the outer rim," he laughed, indicating the razor edge, "Now, these are primarily throwing weapons, but you can use them at close range… I could show you, if you like."
"That's alright… but they are beautiful," Axel acknowledged, admiring the awesome craftsmanship. Demyx seemed a little jealous; he was not really interested in weapons and violence, as it were.
After a few offhanded comments by Xigbar, they were able to move into the house.
Despite a relatively humble living, Marluxia had a talent for gardening, decoration, and almost everything he needed to keep the place just plain enchanting. Vines, flowers, and all manner of green things were living in and around the house.
Xigbar ushered them into the living room and at Marluxia's hand, they were all mostly drunk within an hour, laughing at anything and everything that happened to pop up. A few messy kisses between Axel and Marluxia were shared, and more alcohol was thrown into the mix. Xigbar and Demyx egged the spectacle on, and at some point, Axel was stripped of his shirt and Marluxia had lost his coat and his shirt as well. They were well on the way to stripping the rest of the way when Xigbar vanished into a back room and emerged a few minutes later with a generously sized baggie of greens and a bong.
As much as Axel drank, he wasn't too big on smoking anything other than tobacco. At this point, he really didn't give a shit, though, as he was already pretty plastered.
Before he knew it, Demyx was teaching him how to inhale properly.
"Hold it! Hold it, loff," he cried, his words only slightly slurred thanks to a newly bolstered alcohol tolerance, "'S not like a cigarette. You gotta hold it."
"Shit," Axel mumbled, "It tastes like pine-sol."
"Fuck that! Just smoke it!" Xigbar laughed, "It's not the taste, it's the high, man!"
"This is the good shit, Braig," Marluxia laughed, "Did we grow this?"
"Yep," Xigbar replied, "'N' don't call me Braig. Xigbar. Xiggy for short!"
"Riiiight," Marluxia mumbled, packing his pipe.
Axel smoked his joint, trying not to displease Demyx most of the time, but he still added a few comments in, and when Axel started worrying about burning his fingers, the blond casually snipped it and carefully ground it out in an ashtray. Axel was horrified when Demyx then popped the roach in his mouth and swallowed. Xigbar instantly burst into raucous laughter.
"I didn't teach you that!" he roared.
"What the fuck was that?" Marluxia inquired.
"Never let good bud go to waste," Demyx explained with a shrug.
The night continued on as they just got more and more fucked up, and Axel lay in Demyx's lap, slipping into comfortable oblivion as the blond's hands searched every part of his anatomy. He couldn't possibly be more happy. The room was very, very quiet now, Marluxia content just to watch the light and noise the TV created, but not actually following what was really happening. Xigbar was leaving a monster of a love-bite on the pink-haired man's collar bones.
"You guys…" Marluxia mumbled, "You guys can have the spare room tonight."
"Yeah?" Demyx replied, more for the sake of making a noise than anything else. He was gone.
"Black door."
"Alright," the blond said softly, shaking Axel a little.
The redhead moaned, but he rose at Demyx's insistence, and they wandered back down the hall to a black door, slipped into the room. Axel fell back on the queen-size bed, and didn't complain when Demyx was instantly on top of him, his mouth latched on to the redhead's thin neck, one hand bracing him while the other slid down Axel's pants.
The redhead moaned, suddenly uncomfortable in his tight pants. He reached up and closed a hand half around Demyx's neck tight enough to hinder his breathing, slung a leg over the blond's hips and grasped the solid lump forming in the younger man's pants. The blond gasped and followed up with a gravelly moan when the redhead's hands slipped away again.
He paused a moment and then stood, pulling Axel roughly up with him, latching onto and dominating the redhead's mouth mercilessly. He drove his tongue into Axel's mouth, grinding his gorgeous hips hard against Axel's boney ones, elicited a hot moan from the redhead. He pulled back gasping.
"Bend over," Demyx ordered, turning Axel roughly, "For Sparta!"
And then, Axel knew they should never have gone to see 300.
--- ---
After long, agonizing moments of confusion and a general lack of knowledge of exactly how to put what was wanted where it was needed and Axel's desperate bids for freedom, they finally gave up, and "Sparta" conquered nothing.
Demyx passed out, and Axel, as always, was left awake and unsure of what to do next. He watched his lover's chest rise and fall in the little slivers of moonlight that managed to press through the curtains. Silently, gently, he crept up beside and clung close to the blond, laying his head on that lovely, strong chest. He was finally starting to see past the haze of the alcohol and the weed, and now he could enjoy this. He smiled and counted his lover's heartbeats until he finally drifted off.