Demyx didn't know what to expect from the shoddy apartment with the sign hanging half-off. Axel knocked on the door, five times, before a thick voice was heard from inside. "Who is it?" Demyx coughed, the speaker sounded like their throat was full of sand. He couldn't hear anything that would indicate that this 'Shortcake' person was making a move towards the door. The silence was heavy in the air.
"Cherry pit." Axel responded. Glancing at Demyx, "And guest."
"Cherry pit?" Demyx asked, almost laughing, but Axel seemed rather serious.
"It's my nickname." Axel said, leaning his head back, then forward. "He's very… secretive."
A shuffling noise was heard inside the apartment and a moment passed before the door opened, revealing the most pathetic looking man Demyx had ever seen. He was shirtless, his skin pale and dark purple bags under his eyes. His hair was dark and his dreadlocks were pulling into a ponytail. His jeans were red, with a rainbow belt and red-and-white striped arm socks. "Friends, come in." Stepping back, he revealed a shoddy apartment with a couch in the center facing a broken TV. On the couch sat a black cat, stripes of gray along it's head. Demyx was taken aback, not because of the man or the apartment, but because it's smell. The place smelled so strongly of strawberries, Demyx felt a little nauseous.
"C'mon, Demyx." Axel cooed, inside already. Demyx followed, his nose beginning to adjust to the severe smell. Entering, he shut the door behind him. Axel sat on the ground behind the couch, Demyx stood awkwardly in front of the door. "Sit down." He did so, sitting kitty-corner to Axel. The cat jumped down the couch and rubbed against Axel's leg.
"That cat has an eye patch." Demyx pointed out bluntly. Its left ear had a chuck missing, too, and its body was covered in scratches. He began to lift the plastic patch only the have the cat swat at his hands furiously and jumped back. Demyx recoiled at the animal's sharp claws cutting his skin and immediately clutched the wound. It really didn't hurt, but it surprised the musician.
"She's also got a temper. Her name's Xigbar." Axel laughed at his joke.
"What's under the eye patch?" Demyx asked, who wanted more than anything to leave this strawberry apartment with the mean cats and… Where exactly WAS 'Shortcake,' anyways? "Where's Shortc-… um, cake." The nickname sounded awkward when Demyx said it.
"I'm right here." The voice was coming from the kitchen, on the wall opposite the entry. Demyx looked back, but he couldn't see Shortcake from where he was sitting behind the couch.
"Why are we sitting behind the couch?" Demyx asked. There was a perfectly good couch right in front of them. It was a little worn, the red fabric torn in many places. Duct tape was covered what Demyx assumed were tears.
"Because I like it here." Shortcake was back, with a plate of brownies. He also seemed to have donned a Rasta hat while in the kitchen. He sat a foot and a half away from Axel, leaning back against the wall. Xigbar immediately went to his side and crawled into his lap.
"So… we're eating brownies…?" Demyx didn't understand exactly.
"I had some Spiff, but Ursula came by the other day and we sparked it." Shortcake explained. "The brownies are a few days old, too. Haven't had much time to get any Ganja, I got a few Blunts somewhere though. I think I got some Schwag too."
"…Wha?"
"Weed, Demyx." Axel said, resisting the urge to smack him. Demyx was pretty damn dense if he didn't realize by now that Shortcake was a dealer, they were eating pot brownies and Axel was buying weed. He was making the redhead look bad in front of the dealer.
"What?" Demyx tentatively bit into a brownie, still working out what was being said. The brownies weren't all that good. They had some nuts in it or something, they were kind of crunchy… oh. Demyx felt odd. He felt weightless and dizzy at the same time, like he had been spinning in circles for a few minutes prior. His head rolled back and he has to struggle to keep himself sitting upright. His body tingled awkwardly and he took another bite of the brownie.
"Heh." Axel said, watching Demyx's high. "So, Shortcake, you said you got Blunts?"
"I danno where they are." Shortcake replied, glancing over at Demyx, who had finished his brownie and was clutching to the carpet like he was going to fall off reality. Axel stood up and went into the door near Shortcake, kittycorner to the kitchen door.
Meanwhile Demyx was feeling euphoric. He couldn't feel anything other than a tingling all over his body. The conversation of the other two was nothing more than a dull buzzing and his mind was clouds, lavender and pink and baby blue. Fingers loosening, he allowed himself to fall backwards onto the rather crusty carpet. He didn't feel it, just the tingling and the buzzing and the clouds and the whole universe was inside him now and suddenly it didn't feel good anymore. His head jerked to the side and he felt as if a million people were all trying to crawl out of his throat. A convulsion, and Demyx released the contents of his stomach onto the already filthy brown-red carpet.
Shortcake pulled a spray-bottle out of nowhere and sprayed a thick strawberry-smelling mist at the small pool of vomit. Demyx groaned as he was caught in the blast and rolled his head to the other side. He lifted his sleeve to wipe away what was on his lip and pulled himself back into a sitting position.
"Want another?"
"Hell yes."
It was late. Darkness hung over the city like a blanket, a chill wind sweeping over the city. It had been somewhere around three hours, Demyx wasn't sure, he was feeling numb. Whatever guilt he might have felt from doing drugs were gone, replaced by a steady high. Axel was almost proud of the muscian, he had smoked without much trouble. But one thing bothered him. "Axel?" He asked, his voice raspy, but too high to feel the thirst.
"What?" Axel was more sensible, letting it start to wear off before trying to walk back to Larxene's apartment.
"What's shortcake's real name?"
Axel grinned at that. "Linda."
It was somewhere around 8 when Axel and Demyx walked through the door of Larxene's apartment. She was sitting on the couch, yelling at the TV remote that wasn't working properly. "-IS TO CHANGE THE FUCKING CHANNELS, SO FUCKING DO IT." Demyx sat next to her on the couch, she looked at him and then back at the television. It was stuck on MTV. Axel squatted in front of it and switched it to the Spanish channel. Half a second later, the remote collided with his head. "Discovery channel! It's my TV, damnit! And... why is Demyx here?"
"I'm scared to go home." Demyx answered, feeling awkward after the visit to Shortcake.
"Why?"
"Because I haven't been home in three days..."
"Dont you have a boyfriend or something? Jeez, just break up with him.."
"Huh?"
"Zexion." Larxene said, rolling her eyes. "Break up with Zexion. If you dont want to be around him that's a clear sign you dont have feelings for him anymore. If you force yourself love him- AXEL CHANGE THE FUCKING CHANNEL." Larxene was scary when she was angry, and she seemed high-strung tonight. She turned back to Demyx. "-it'll just be worse for the both of you if you just keep pretending."
"It's not that I'm pretending, It's just that..." Demyx squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "I don't know. It's just different now."
Larxene nodded, thinking to herself. She wasn't really thinking about Demyx. She was watching TV, not really understanding what was going on in the Spanish soap opera that was on. Axel spoke Spanish, but she didn't know anything past uno dos tres. "You can stay here for the night, but tomorrow you're going home."
"All right."
"YAY, SLEEPOVER." Axel mocked in a high-pitched voice, giving a preppy smile. He leaned his head back to look at them before speaking again, threading his fingers together. "Let's invite all our girlfriends and give each other makeovers!"
"Like Marluxia?" Larxene asked with a snort.
"Oh! Yeah!" Demyx said excitedly. "Lets invite Marluxia!"
"Okay!" Axel hopped up and walked over to the phone. Picking it up, he began to dial.
"Hey!" Larxene yelled, shuffling over to Axel and taking the phone from his hand. "I dont want him here! He's obnoxious, egotistical, creepy and... and..." Axel was giving her the eyes. Larxene tried, she tried to resist, but her gaze were drawn to his puppy dog eyes and she couldn't take it anymore. "F-fine! But we're watching Discovery channel."
"You're so boring, Larxene." Axel said, dialing Marluxia's number. He put the phone to his ear. A moment passed. "Marluxia? Oh. No, It's me, Axel. Well... we-. Well, some of us are having a little party thing down here and we were wondering... busy? Oh, um, can I talk to him?" Axel took a few steps away from Larxene, silent. A moment passed. "Marly! What? Yeah, Larxene and Demyx are here. Demyx wanted you to come, stay for the night. Like a sleepover... Heh, Yeah. I know how gay that sounds. I'll wait." More silence.
"Well?" Larxene asked, impatient. Axel shrugged.
"Hm? Oh. Yes. It's fine, Larxene doesn't mind."
"What is he saying?!" Larxene hissed, Axel motioned for her to wait.
"So you're coming? Now is fine. Yeah. Corner of Reno and Rude, third floor, room... yeah. Okay, see ya." Axel pulled the phone away from his ear and handed it to Larxene. "He's bringing Vexen."
"Why?"
"I dunno. He probably thinks Marluxia's coming here to fuck or something." Axel said, shrugging.
Meanwhile, the beat to a familiar song filled the room as Demyx switched the channel to MTV. Larxene winced, knowing exactly what song it was and exactly what was going to happen if nothing was done soon. "Demyx, if you dont turn it back..." Larxene warned, too late. Demyx was grinning from ear to ear as he jumped up and started to sing in true wigger fashion;
"I'M BRINGIN' SEXY BACK, YEA!"
"DEMYX!"
"OTHER BOYS DONT KNOW HOW TO ACT, YEA!"
"DEMYX!"
"YOU THINK YOU'RE SPECIAL-"
"DEMYX."
"Awww, Larxene, why you gotta bring me down?" Demyx asked, shoulders drooped like a beaten dog. Larxene rubbed her temples, wondering why she hadn't killed him yet. Axel was at the counter of the den/dining room/kitchen, looking through the cabinets. They were fairly bare, boxes of poptarts, ramen noodles and dried fruit spread over the space. There were other things too, like the box of microwave popcorn Axel was pulling out. "Popcorn?" Larxene had changed the channel and Demyx needed something else to occupy his time, thus turning to Axel. "If we're gonna have popcorn, we need a movie!" He declared with vigor, getting up from the three-person couch that had come to be known as Axel's bed.
"McGeneric Movies is only a few blocks away." Larxene suggested, paying little attention to the only TV channel she didn't hate. She didn't watch TV often, but sometimes when drunk or when Axel got a movie, but they usually did things other than really watching the movie. "Wait, what am I saying? You'll just pick telletubbies or something. I'm coming with." She stood up and lifted Demyx's elbow to make him do the same. Axel only chuckled to himself, switching it to the Spanish channel.
"Oh Madaleno, you're so silly."
"Welcome to McGeneric Movies, raping your country one out of five billion locations at a time. " A rather homeless looking boy said. His hair was black and wore a blue vest. His name tag read 'Aladdin'. Demyx ignored him and went to look at the humor section with anticipation. A moment passed as the two looked through the racks of movies.
"Hey, Larx! How about Jackass 2?" He waved the DVD box at her spastically as if she wouldn't see it otherwise.
"Of all the stupid, brain-draining, mindwashing-"
"Nevermind." He put the box back. "Oh! Clerks 2!"
"Better." Larxene mused, "But no. We will see this movie." She plucked a box from the bottom shelf and turned it over in her hands. Demyx knew he wasn't going to like what she picked, because she was standing in the horror section. He walked to her side and peeked over her shoulder. Final Destination 3.
"Never heard of it."
"You'll like it."
"You're lying."
"Yes, I am."
"B-but... what if Axel and Marluxia dont want to see it?" Demyx squealed desperately. He may not have heard of it, but reading the back of the box he knew he wasn't going to like it at all.
"Axel's been asking about it." Larxene lied. She just wanted to see Demyx squirm. She almost felt bad about it too, but Demyx deserved it didn't he? He was so childish all the time, maybe a little blood would help him grow up. Well, a lot of blood, but it didn't make much difference. "I'll protect you from all the evil monsters." She added sarcastically. He made a few more whimpering noises, but ultimatedly nothing could change Larxene's mind. She took the movie to the counter where she handed it to 'Aladdin'.
"H-hi, my name is Aladdin." He stuttered.
"I see that." Larxene said boredly.
"Uhhm... Whatsyourname?" He asked quickly, blushing. Larxene handed him some bills and he took them without looking at them, opening the register. Making change, he looked back at her. "Uh, m-miss...?" Larxene's lips turned upwards and she answered slowly, in a deep voice.
"Frank."
"Um..." He didn't say anymore, just looked down and shoved change at her. She took it and shoved it into her pocket, winking at the poor boy. He shoved the DVD into a bag and thrust it at her, not looking at her. She took at and motioned to Demyx.
"Come on, Lisa."
"Ah-!"
Axel heard the door being knocked on, he really did, but he was engrossed in the show that he didn't answer. By the fifth time, he finally responded. "I'm coming! Hold on." He pulled the door open and Marluxia stood on the other side, Vexen was behind him by two feet. Marluxia was smiling, but Vexen had a 'I-will-gnaw-my-leg-off-to-get-out-of-here-if-I-have-to' look. "Hey."
"I was worried we had the wrong address. This is Larxene's apartment?" Axel stepped back to allow Marluxia to enter, which he did. The effeminine man looked around scornfully at the three room apartment. "What a dump." Axel just shrugged, not feeling like arguing.
"I think it's quaint." Vexen said, who apparently did feel like arguing. Marluxia's smile fell. "So." His tony was icy. "Where is... Laxin?"
"Larxene." Axel said. "She and Demyx went to get a movie."
"I see."
A thick silence.
"Why dont you sit down?" Axel asked, motioning to the couch. Marluxia and Vexen sat down on opposite sides of the 3-person couch. They hadn't resolved their conflict apparently. The redhead rubbed the bridge of his nose and stood by Vexen. "That's my seat." He lied, he had been sitting on the floor in front of the TV before. He had to do something to keep these two together. Marluxia and Axel hadn't fucked in a while--that was clue how serious Marluxia was about Vexen. Right? Axel was generally good at reading people.
"Wha?"
"Please, move, I was sitting there." Axel repeated. Vexen looked a bit taken aback, but he scooted over, now sitting next to Marluxia. Said Marluxia looked more intently at the TV, as if trying to pretend Vexen didn't exist. Vexen did the same, stealing ocasional glances at his boyfriend. A few minutes passed and Axel decided to stop meddling for now and watch the show. There would be plenty of time for that when Demyx and Larxene were back.
"I dont speak Spanish." Vexen said bluntly, trying not to look at Marluxia. He wasn't doing very well, as Marluxia started catching his glances and was moving a bit closer to the professor. Not that Vexen didn't want him too--just not in public.
"Saul is the big guy." Axel explained as if it was the absolute most interesting thing in the world, "He is in love with Maria, They're dating but she really doesn't love him. She loves Madaleno, who is the main character."
"Oh."
Silence.
More silence.
"So-"
"WE'RE BACK." Larxene howled, kicking the door open. In her hand was McGeneric movies bag and Demyx was behind her with his hands in the air cheering her on. "Heh, told you I could do it." Demyx's smiled faded into a pout and handed her a five, which she shoved in her pocket.
Vexen groaned inwardly. This was gonna be a long night...
A/N: Shortcake's identity is revealed! And they have a sleepover. :D I don't know why. Sarcasm is lost on Demyx. Axel doesn't understand women. Larxene's personality seems to change every chapter. OH THE WONDERS OF AMATEUR WRITING.