Yes. Yet another installment of Turpentine arrives. I'm sorry I take so long lately, and most of all, I'm sorry it isn't longer. Check my front page for my LJ if you have one because you might get sneak peeks from that... It's friends only, but it's the place where I'll do little contests and whatnot... maybe even take requests.
I'm home from Atlanta, though, so that means I'll be able to get back into the swing of things. Expect new shit from me too! I'll be posting the final chapter of Etude coming soon, and posting a few new fics I've devoted my life to... I'm also writing an original novel that started out as an idea for a fic, so my work may suffer a little from that, but I'm not going to abandon y'all. I promise.
So here it is. Thank Mousewolf for her brilliance in fixing my stupid mistakes and keeping me from killing people prematurely and adding to this thing to make it interesting. I'd be lost without you, my wonderful beta!
Reviews rock my world. Thanks to all of you for devoting so much time to this thing! Turps just broke 10,000 hits last night, all thanks to you!
:: Break Easily ::
Smooth light cascading down onto the balcony, golden and warm.
Demyx was curled like a cat on top of his favorite down comforter, happily cradled in the "bowl chair", only dozing lightly. Axel loved to watch this little ritual. On those odd days when the clouds peeled back like a scroll, there Demyx would be, basking in the warmth, his skin darkening slowly, turning that radiant, lush gold that Axel worshiped so. It always made his hand itch to paint.
"Hey, love," he called softly, pausing from cleaning his brushes, "It's getting towards three… you still want to go out?"
Demyx moaned softly in the back of his throat, stretched and sprawled out into the big plush dish. He ruffled his fading blue-purple hair and yawned.
"Yeah, okay… do I have time for a shower?"
"A quick one."
Demyx nodded and slipped to his feet, padded through the open sliding glass door and placed a kiss on his lover's cheek in passing. Axel actually melted for the first time in quite a while. Even though their relations were still kind of tight and cautious, there was a warmth between each nervous gesture that hadn't been there before.
Leto gave a long yawn from the bedroom, and the tinkle of his vaccination tags announced his arrival in the room. The artist put aside his tools, pristine and neat, and wiped his hands on a dirty old towel sat on the couch and lavished some love on his constant companion. He sighed, scratching the dobe's chin with his over-long fingernails, wondering why exactly he was getting such a strangely ominous feeling. Something was up, but he couldn't quite place it. Theatre curtains again, perhaps, but not as close. More like the vague paranoia that comes of being alone in an empty mansion for years at a time.
No company but paintings and the endless halls of reflections.
"Leto, I don't have any idea what's wrong with me, old man," he mumbled, tucking an ear down and massaging it against the dog's head. Leto made a sound somewhere between a whine and a growl, a crooning noise Axel could only describe as the dog version of purring. "You think I'm going really crazed again? Maybe I'm just freaked out about everything that's happened… do you think I should try to see?"
There was no reply from his companion, of course, but a sickening dread arose in his stomach, making him physically sick to think about it.
"I wonder…" he sighed, starting on the other ear. He did his work gently, then sat back, crossing his arms over his chest. He gathered the regained strength of his psyche into his chest, centered around the heart. His fire still could illuminate. He'd kept it after all.
(old heat light from the gods stolen flame laughing burning careless capricious forever)
"Show me, show me, show me…" he breathed.
Burn, baby, burn!
There was a pull, a sucking forward and he expertly rode it, casting out all his senses to pull in the information floating like ripe fruit, well within his grasp. Even if he hadn't willingly done this in quite a while, at least not consciously, it was like riding a bike. He could never forget how to do it. He tapped the depths of strength, rolled back the lid of the well and his vision opened up, a Grande Cinema for his future to play out within.
"I'm not carrying any cash; I don't own a credit card. The only valuable thing you're going to get off of me is my earrings and they were only sixty bucks each. If you were looking for someone to rob, you really picked the wrong guy," he heard himself say.
There was a man, his hat was tilted down low on his face, a bandana stretched across the lower half. He growled and pointed his gun at Demyx who stood like a stone wall, looking almost dangerous clutching Zipporah's leash. The borzoi was quiet like she usually was, but in this case because Demyx had a hand on her thin muzzle.
"What about you, freak," the gunman barked, "Give me your cash. If your butt-buddy doesn't have it, you must."
"We were at the park," Demyx explained quietly, "We didn't need any. I have nothing worth anything to you on my body."
"What about the ring?" the gunman grated.
Demyx flinched visibly, "You can't have that."
"Demyx," Axel whispered, lacing a hand into his lover's, "Don't be reckless… I know it's important but what has more value: a ring, or your life?"
"It's not just a ring," he said loudly, "it's a promise, and I won't let you take that from me. I'm sick of people taking and taking." He turned his gaze to Axel, softening tenfold, "I appreciate that you think of me first, but this is something I need to stand up for…"
"Demyx," Axel sighed, "Please… I can't lose you!"
"Hurry up and take off the fucking ring!" the man barked angrily, "I'm sick of your stalling."
Axel sighed. This was one thing he'd never wanted to do. He whistled through his teeth, high and loud, and instantly, the clatter of blunt claws on the pavement broke the night. The gunman turned, eyes wide with shock and horror as Leto launched himself into the air, a leap of black and tan and sharp, bared white in the dying light.
Axel had made it a point to release the other dog as soon as they had gotten onto the street and they felt like they were being watched. He'd done exactly what he was trained to do - waited patiently in a nearby alley.
There was a shot just as the big dog was at the top of his jump, but it seemed like nothing had happened as the angry canine instantly tore into the would-be burglar's face. The man cried out in horror, falling back, his gun skittering out of his hand. Axel slammed his foot down on it, picked it up and leveled it on the fallen form.
"Leto, away!" he ordered sternly.
The dog backed off, collapsed panting against a wall. Zipporah pulled her leash out of Demyx's hand and bolted to her mate's side, nudging his muzzle with her own. Leto whimpered softly as Demyx knelt to inspect the damage. The bullet had gone right through his powerful neck, close to the shoulder.
"Oh Leto," the blond whispered, placing a hand on the fallen dobe's head. He tried to get a hand on the wound but both dogs growled at him, Zipporah's mixed with an uneasy whine. Demyx bit back a sob.
"Get out of here or I'll blow your head off," Axel grated, holding the gun expertly. He knew how to shoot and he knew well, even if he hadn't done it in years. You never forget these things.
"My face!" the burglar cried, clutching the mangled lower half. He was lucky his lower jaw wasn't broken, and Axel knew the guy's cheeks were in shreds. He would need reconstructive surgery to fix that kind of damage, at the very least.
"I said get out of town!" Axel barked, brandishing the weapon with frightening skill.
The robber lurched to his feet, took off clumsily down the alleyway, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. Axel instantly thrust the gun into his belt and pulled out his cell phone, dialed 911.
"Axel!" Demyx called in distress, "Axel, come here now!"
The redhead trotted up beside his dog, smiling. "Good boy! You've done a great…" he stopped when he saw the blood, green eyes suddenly wide with surprise.
"911, this is your operator speaking."
"God no…" Axel breathed, dropping the phone. Demyx scrambled to retrieve it.
"Hello? Sir, are you still there?"
"Yes!" Demyx sighed in semi-relief. "We just had a robbery attempt… we're in an alley… I really can't remember where we are but it's somewhere near Georgia Tech."
"We have you pinpointed on GPS. Are there any injuries?"
"Yes…" Demyx said softly, "My… my lover's dog… the guy shot him in the fray. There's a lot of blood. We were able to get the gun, away so I don't think he'll be armed. The guy's hurt bad."
"Alright, I'm sending help. Please stay on the line until it arrives."
"Sure…" he muttered, leaning down next to Axel. The redhead was sobbing quietly, stroking his companion's head lovingly. Leto looked like he did when he was falling asleep, and Axel was whispering soft affirmations. It was something they couldn't stop.
Axel opened his eyes and shook his head violently to clear the image. He wasn't even going to chance that path. The shower was still going, and that meant he had time. He mentally pried the shallow oval leak from its socket and dashed it across the ground.
Break the mirrors – they're only reflections, after all. The future is yours to make, boy.
He patted Leto on the head lovingly as he rose and padded into the bathroom, stripped and slid into the shower behind his surprised lover.
"What are you doing here?" Demyx laughed, his bright eyes suddenly heavy and sultry.
"How about we just stay in today?" Axel suggested, pressing his lithe body against that firm, well-muscled back, nuzzled the candy grape hair plastered to his neck with wet.
"If that's what you want," the purple-haired musician laughed, ducking his head under the shower's miserly stream. He slipped out of Axel's grasp, finished up with what he was doing and then pulled the taller redhead against him, leaning into the cold shower wall. "I don't want to undo this shower…"
"Of course not," Axel laughed, "Our water bill is always pretty low…"
--- ---
November came ushered by falls of golden leaves and the preparations for the quick-coming holidays. Axel couldn't believe it had already been more than a year since he'd fallen in love with this beautiful creature.
In a sudden decision that had shocked both Axel and Saïx quite deeply, the kid had gone out and shorn his hair off entirely, leaving nothing to work with but the roots that had grown out during his time with unnaturally purple locks. Axel hadn't been upset, so to say, just a little shocked. He'd never seen the kid without some wild lengths to play with. It was a shock since his own hair had been mostly untouched for the past few months, losing its natural buoyancy and hanging easily down to the bottoms of his shoulder blades.
"Now I look kind of like I did when I was eighteen," Demyx explained, running a hand over the fuzzy shortness in back, "That was back before I let it grow out."
"You look clean," Saïx commented over his Zombie Survival Guide, bright amber eyes glimmering with amusement.
"So you're saying I looked dirty with long hair?" Demyx accused irritably.
"I never said you said that," he replied simply, the edge of a smirk pulling his thin lips.
Axel brayed with laughter.
"You suck, Saïx," Demyx grumbled, "You suck the cock."
"That would be Axel, actually," he replied just as matter-of-factly, despite the fact he was now almost grinning.
The room went completely silent… until, of course, Demyx started howling with laughter just as his lover had before him.
"Hey!" Axel pouted, "The fuck did I ever do to you?"
"Not recently," the blue haired one deadpanned, and then went back to his reading.
Trounced, Axel retreated to his paintings for the rest of the day while the other two caught up in the living room. It was nice. They were having some slow times, but Axel knew it was time to look forward again. He needed to make sure things were going in the direction he wanted.
--- ---
Axel woke up gasping and cold again.
It was the third time in four nights that he'd woken up from this same dream, and he couldn't quite figure out how to get this lovely round pane of reflections out of its cradle. For some reason, he kept dreaming about Demyx freezing to death. He wouldn't let that happen.
He lay back down and curled up against his lover, pulling the blond head close to his own. Short straw-colored bristles tickled his cheek and Demyx moaned softly, rousing from his slumber.
"Hey you…" he mumbled, the word slurring into a single sound.
"We're going away for the winter. I don't want to see one ounce of snow," Axel said softly, letting his jade eyes fall shut.
"Alright," Demyx agreed, "I'll call my mom… no… Braig. He won't mind if we fuck on his couch."
Axel chuckled softly. It was things like this that just made his day.
The largest of the mirrors popped loose and exploded into skittering, shimmering bright shards, sharp and bright, beautiful and unpredictable.