AN: Well, here we go! Another chapter! This one's a long one.
Naminé sits quietly, the sound of a pencil scratching against white paper the only sound to reverberate the sparsely furnished room. All white. She sits facing away from the large window that makes up an entire wall of her chamber. Today she refuses to even look at it when yesterday she was plastered to the glass, pressing her perfect skin against the cold, glass panes.
"Nice day out." Marluxia comments to no one in particular.
"Hmm." Naminé replies wordlessly, her eyes not once leaving the paper and the delicate curves she outlined in pencil. She can hear Marluxia's black boots tapping the ground as he traverses the room, pretending to be interested in the posted drawings on the walls as he makes his way to her place in the center at her white chair.
"You're awfully quiet today." He comments, moving to peer over the thin blonde's shoulder. Her pictures look like nothing to him. Nothing but hills and blobs, if you ask Marluxia. He had an appreciation for the beauty in life, but that pertained to women and the occasional flower, not shaky pencil scribblings.
"I find nothing worth saying." Naminé replies curtly. At least, not to you, she thinks quietly to herself, focusing even more intently on the notepad in her lap.
She can feel his breath on the back of her neck, her hair swept over one shoulder. She can feel the heat of his breath and imagine him licking his lips. She doesn't even flinch when he leans in to sniff her hair, daring to bury his nose in the blond locks as he hands come to rest on her shoulders.
"Strawberries." He comments cheerily, continuing to make loud sniffs next to the blonde's ear. When she doesn't reply, he nuzzles her ear to get a reaction.
Naminé inwardly curses herself for flinching away from Marluxia's advances, her head twitching away from his persistent nose. "Don't you have to leave for Atlantis soon?" She quips, trying with all her heart to keep the tremors in her voice under wraps. She can feel him looming behind her and she doesn't dare try to get away.
"Mmm, eventually." Marluxia lazily replies. With a smirk in his voice, he rests his chin on Naminé's left shoulder. Over her right, Naminé feels a gloved hand snaking towards her breast, giving it an experimental squeeze.
Naminé bites her lip hard enough to draw blood as her entire body tenses. But she otherwise does nothing as Marluxia nudges aside the hem off her dress and slips beneath the thin white fabric and her white bra. Naminé can picture his smirk in her head and she closes her eyes and clenches her fists, curling in on herself ever so slightly as the hand continues to grope.
Go away. Go away, please.
"I'll miss you while I'm in Atlantis…" Marluxia breaths into her ear, his hand suddenly gripping with brushing force enough to make Naminé squeak in a pained shock.
"Marluxia…" Naminé whimpers quietly, her hands still clenched in her lap and her lip till between her teeth. "Marluxia, you're hurting me!"
He replies with an animalistic grunt and begins squeezing harder, his breath getting deeper and ragged. Naminé hears the sound of a zipper that is not hers and suddenly Marluxia's free hand is unaccounted for.
Hurry, hurry, hurry. Naminé thinks to herself, squeezing her eyes shut and digging her fingernails into her palms as he squeezes harder, obviously looking for a pained reaction. Naminé couldn't help but indulge him as she whined again in pain.
Help me. Anyone. Please.
"Marluxia." A cool voice cuts into the lone sound of ragged breathing, holding the slightest hint of anger, disgust, and shock.
The hands are gone so fast Naminé's head spins to keep up with what's happening. Marluxia is gone from behind her, and the only sound I nthe silent room is that of a zipper.
"Do you need something?" Marluxia questions the intruder in his happiest tone, as if nothing just happened and his raging erection wasn't tenting so obviously against his leather pants. "I didn't hear you come in, Zex."
Naminé breaths a sigh of relief, but doesn't dare to turn towards the door or Marluxia. She knows she's saved when Zexion speaks again; "You'll address me as Zexion, and nothing else, Number Eleven."
"Of course." Marluxia replies with thinly veiled contempt beneath a tight smile. "Number Six. How may I be of service?"
"You do not have permission to be in this room."
"I only came to say farewell to Naminé before my departure." Naminé can feel his disgusting smile aimed towards the back of her head before he turns back to Zexion. "I'm leaving in only an hour."
"I suggest you take your job seriously." Zexion more than suggests, "The Organization has much to gain from a port city like Atlantis."
"Yes, yes," Marluxia drôles, obviously uninterested. "No need to lecture me."
"I have business with Naminé," Zexion brushed a lilac lock of hair from his eyes as he steps into the room and away from the door. "If you'll excuse us. I'm sure you still have preparations to handle."
"Took care of them all this morning." Marluxia waves the matter away like it's nothing, and for a moment Naminé feels fear returning to the pit of her stomach.
"Then allow me to find some for you." Zexion snaps his finger, and his attendant, a low ranking Heartless, jumped to his side, obediently quiet till this moment. "Find Saïx. He would surely like a word with Marluxia before his departure." The Heartless moved to leave, but Zexion was quick to grab his arm. "Oh, and please inform him of Number Eleven's unnecessary presence in Naminé's quarters."
With a wave of his hand, the Heartless scurried down the stairs, leaving the three alone in the tense silence. After a few moments, Zexion is the first to speak, unemotional as before. "You better be going then." He gestures to the door.
Marluxia only chuckles lightly, stretching folding his hands behind his head as he glides merrily from the room. As he leaves the room, Marluxia pauses outside the door, his back to Zexion.
"You'd take care to remember my title as the Graceful Assassin," Marluxia all but spits in pure venom, "dear brother in arms…"
"And you'd care to remember that the Schemer is always one step ahead." Zexion replies, clearly unfazed and uncaring.
The heavy oak doors close behind Marluxia's retreating form, stomping in indignation down several flights of stairs. Naminé remains seated, her head down and her chest throbbing.
Zexion crosses the room from the door to the white dining table in the middle. He sets down a large tome from the library among the array of pencils and notepads. "I suggest you not bed that one. It won't do you any good."
"I held no intention!" Naminé snaps indignantly, rising from her chair. Her pencil and notepad drop to the floor with a clatter, uncared for as the two lock gazes.
"You think the fox would free the chicken from its coop?" Zexion snorts, folding his arms across his black leathered chest.
"Only if his snout didn't fit through the bars." Naminé replies carefully.
A tense moment of silence passes between the two. "How often?" Zexion finally inquires, his voice even.
Naminé bites her already bleeding lip and ponders a moment. "Once or twice a week." She finally admits, a thick coating of shame dripping from her quiet words.
"Have you two…?"
"No!" Naminé replies without a moment's hesitation, "Never!"
Zexion gives the blonde a believing once over, nodding his head gently in her direction. Naminé looks down at herself and shakily adjusts her dress strap, returning it over her shoulder as Zexion returns to the matter at hand.
"I need a section of this text translated." He gently pushes the old tome across the table towards the blonde.
"What language?" Naminé replies, taking it in her small hands and leafing it open to the indicated page.
"Latin to English."
Naminé heaves a light sigh. Turning, she bends over to pick up her fallen notepad. "I'll have it down by tonight." She says, setting it gingerly down on the tabletop. When she looks up, Zexion is no longer at the table, but the window.
Naminé moves quietly to join the cross armed Nobody in watching the gate below. A black limousine was pulling into the gates after being checked by the Heartless Gatekeepers.
"Axel's returned." Zexion observes lightly.
"I wasn't aware he'd been assigned."
"No, he's on leave for the day. He went to Twilight Town to pick up his new pet."
Naminé's head snapped up, her eyes wide. "He's bringing Roxas here?"
"You weren't aware?"
"No…" Naminé reached out, pressing her hands against the thick window pane almost longingly. She watched the limousine in silence as it pulled up to the main doors. Axel and his Assassins quickly stepped out of the car, and the lower Heartless were even quicker to take their bags from the trunk. With a smirk to be seen from miles away, Axel opened the passenger side door and a hunched over blond stepped out.
"It seems he's staying indefinitely." Zexion stepped away from the window, making his way towards the door with a sweep of his cloak. "And I thought you'd be excited for companionship."
Naminé remained pressed against the window, even as Axel and Roxas disappeared into the mansion, she continued to stare at the grounds before her.
"I'll have your dinner sent up in an hour." Zexion says as his goodbye when he receives no answer. He waits another moments of a veiled comment of sarcasm from Naminé and his slightly surprised when he receives none. He gives her a pensive look before stepping out, the heavy oak doors closing behind him.
"I wouldn't wish this fate upon anyone…"
The click of the lock echoes in the room louder than usual.
"You've gotta be shittin' me." Roxas quips. As much as the blond considered himself adult, he wasn't above admitting to himself that he was pouting when he none to gently shrugged away Axel's guiding arm around his shoulders as they ascended the steps to the mansion.
Unperturbed by the rejection, Axel shoved his hands nonchalantly in his black jacket pockets, casting his blonde a sideways smile. "The Old Mansion has been the base of our operations for years Roxy. Everyone in Twilight Town knows that."
"Yeah, whatever." Roxas mumbles, his arms crossed and his head down. He tried his best not to acknowledge Axel. Bitch fit be damned.
The foyer was gigantic and otherwise plain. Roxas assumed that beyond the innumerable doors and up the many staircases there was plenty of business going on.
"You look like a deer caught in headlights, lovely."
The foyer was swarming with Heartless, some as maids, some carrying boxes and books, and some just milling listlessly about, waiting for a higher ranking member to tell them what to do. Axel seemed to be just the person as he snapped his fingers in the direction of two Heartless. They jumped like eager puppies and came scurrying over.
Roxas tried to imagine them with ears and lolling tongues, just to get shits and giggles out of the situation.
"Bring the bags up to the room adjoining mine," Axel instructed. "Don't you fucking enter, got it? Give it to the Assassins outside the room, they'll handle it."
As you wish.
"Well you really got the damn world on a silver platter." Roxas grumbled beneath his breath, still straining his neck to take in the entire view of the foyer. The grand staircases, the millions of doors; everything.
"Did you say something, pet?" Axel asked sweetly, gently snaking an arm around the blonde's waist top tug him close. This time, surrounded by so many enemies, Roxas didn't dare pull away, and the redhead smiled to himself at that.
"I get my own room?" Roxas asked timidly, finally turning to address Axel for the first time since their departure from his house.
"We'll discuss that later." Axel replies, looking around the large foyer in a preoccupied fashion. Standing on his already tall enough tippy toes, Axel put a hand against his forehead as he scanned the crowned. He huffed when he couldn't find what he was looking for. "Where the hell—"
"Ak-u-ser-u!"
"Dem! Zexion!"
Before Roxas realized what was going on, a bouncing teen with- good lord what is that style- sandy blond hair came running through the crowd of Heartless towards Axel. And following behind him at a much slower, calmer pace was a smaller man with lilac hair.
Roxas noted the uniform. Fellow Nobodies.
The one named Demyx turned to Roxas with a bright, chipmunk smile and shining blue eyes. Roxas himself struggled not to shrink away behind Axel at the scrutinizing blonde with a friendly smile. And behind him, the silent one with the giant book. By now, Roxas didn't even register the few Heartless that followed behind the two Nobodies, waiting for Zexion to demand a cup of black coffee or for Demyx to cry holy shit, help me catch that squirrel!
"So." Suddenly, the lilac haired one was speaking, even stepping forward to Roxas a disapproving look. "This is Roxas Strife."
"Pet," Axel cut in before Roxas could say something offensive about Zexion's hair because Roxas was just that bitchy right now, "Say hello to Demyx and Zexion, won't you?"
Barely resisting the urge to grab hold of Axel's testicles and twist, Roxas instead held his chin high and gave them a look of strong denial. "Hello." He ground out through clenched teeth.
"My name's Demyx." The sandy blonde beamed, holding out an ungloved hand. "Number Nine, Melodious Nocturne."
Seems harmless enough, Roxas thought to himself, shaking the blonde's enthusiastic hand.
"Zexion. Number Six, The Cloaked Schemer." This one didn't bother offering a hand, which Roxas was more than fine with.
"Roxas Strife." Roxas introduced himself. "Age eighteen, Really Bitchy."
Demyx almost pissed himself laughing and Zexion only shook his head unhappily. Axel, just as Roxas suspected, only gave the blonde a happy squeeze. "That's my Roxy." He whispered quietly to Roxas.
Who the fuck said I belonged to you?
"I need a favor." Axel said, taking his arm from Roxas' waist to place on his hip. He turned to Demyx in particular. Roxas had never known Axel to willingly give up possession of anything he even remotely wanted. "Can you show Roxas to my room?"
"You're not coming?" Roxas cut in before Demyx could reply, whirling on the redhead. He was just as shocked to hear himself sounding as worried as he was, but in this damned sea of enemies and strangers, Axel was a welcome lesser evil.
"I'm sorry lovely," Axel seemed just as disappointed as Roxas, honestly. "But I have to be getting to a meeting. I'll be around later tonight, I promise." He ruffled the blonde's hair almost affectionately.
Roxas held his tongue. He'd be damned if he begged Axel of all people for help. Damned straight to a fiery hell.
"Sure!" Demyx chirped, forgotten for a moment before he grabbed Roxas' wrist and already began dragging him down the hall. "C'mon, Roxy!"
Axel waited a moment to watch Demyx drag Roxas to the nearest staircase, the lesser Heartless that crowded it smartly moving out of the way and respectfully bowing their heads. He was content that Demyx would take good care of his pet. The redhead was about to turn and leave in the opposite direction towards the meeting room, when a gentle hand on his arm stopped him.
"You're not bringing him yourself?" Zexion asked curiously.
Axel shrugged and grinned like the cat that ate the canary. And got away with it. "I don't want to overwhelm him. Let him settle into his surroundings."
"Axel, this isn't a joke." Zexion hissed quietly, mindful of the Heartless that moved fluidly around them, giving plenty of space but remaining in earshot. "We're as much a danger to Roxas as he is to us.
"Don't worry, I'm aware." Axel replied, his voice just as quiet and suddenly serious. "I'm taking the necessary precautions."
"I don't think you are, Axel. Don't be stupid about this if you want the boy to last the week."
"I'll handle him, Zexion. He's not stupid and neither am I." Axel replied patiently. He'd had this conversation a million times over to himself in his own head, but he'd be damned if he was going to let Zexion ruin a perfectly good day. "I have to get going, check on those two, would you?"
Zexion grudgingly nodded, making sure to give Axel a pointed glare.
"Oh, and take this." Axel reached out, dropping a silver key into Zemyx's outstretched palm. As the Schemer watched his close friend retreating from sight through one of the many doors to a conference room he sighed to himself and headed up the stairs.
This is dangerous, Axel.
Demyx had pulled Roxas up a million stairs, through at least a hundred doors, and finally down the billionth corridor. The blonde's shorter than average legs were starting to ache when finally, Demyx rounded the corner to a hallway that was surprisingly devoid of Heartless.
A hallway with thirteen doors.
"These are the bedrooms." Demyx explained cheerily, surprisingly less secretive than Roxas had expected. "There's one for all of us, but most of them are empty. And some of us tend to stay here more than anywhere else, so some rooms have more stuff, but I dunno, I figure that's all personal preference." Demyx dropped Roxas' hand -finally- and started walking down the hallway, the blond following close behind.
"Which one is Axel's?" Roxas asked quietly, not liking the way his voice echoed through the hallway.
"The eighth one, silly. And each room has its own bathroom, plus a smaller adjoining guest bedroom. You're special, so Axel said you're gonna stay in the room next to his. But to get to your room, you have to go through Axel's, so I guess it's not really all that private, I don't use mine and I don't think anyone else does, so you're basically going to the only one here, and…"
Roxas pointedly decided to shut the blond out at this point and just glance at the doors he walked past, each one adorned with a gold plaque displaying a roman numeral, one to thirteen. He didn't like the way his footsteps echoed in the hallway, even if it was muffled by the carpet. He didn't like the tall height of the ceiling above him, and he didn't like the lack of noise beside himself and Demyx. He wished for the congestion of Heartless he'd experienced earlier in the foyer no matter how much he wished them away before.
"...and did you know that peanuts are used in making dynamite? I didn't either, I don't think anyone really does, but it's true! I'm not sure how though… Here's Axel's room!"
Oh thank god! Roxas didn't dare say that out loud.
It was a heavy oak door, just like the other thirteen Roxas walked past and saw looming ahead of him.
"Demyx," Roxas squeaked embarrassingly, flinching forward at the cool, unexpected voice from behind him. Where the hell did he come from? "Remember the filter we talked about?" Zexion asked, walking past Roxas without any acknowledgement to Axel's door, slipping a key in the lock.
"Oh, right…" Demyx mumbled, pretending to zip his lips shut dejectedly.
Roxas shuffled nervously on the plush red carpet, his hands pulling at the hemline of his favorite jacket as Zexion swung the door open and entered, motioning for Roxas to follow suit. Albeit nervously, Roxas entered, Demyx close behind.
The room was nicely furnished, and Roxas noted first the four poster bed with bright red satin sheets in the middle of the far wall. A fancy desk and a computer were against the right wall near a fireplace, file cabinet, and book case. A mini bar was built into the opposite wall and surrounded by red plush furniture, a couch and a nice armchair with the perfectly matching coffee table. Next Roxas took note of a door to against the left wall and a door against the far wall, not far from the head of the bed. The ceiling was tall and the room spacious
"There's the bathroom," Zexion pointed to the door against the far left wall. "Do you need to go?" When he was met with silence, Zexion pointed out the second door; "That leads to your own room. Come along."
Zexion against used the same small key to unlock the door, holding it open for Roxas. Slowly, the blond stepped inside, the entire time expecting something bad to happen. He wasn't sure what, maybe a trapdoor would open beneath him and swallow him whole and maybe not. Either way, he was obviously on edge.
Demyx pitied the poor kid. Like a deer in headlights.
Roxas' personal room was in great contrast to Axel's. No personal bathroom, just a closet and a bookcase. And his suitcases on the floor by the bed, Roxas duly noted. Of course they'd been searched first.
"This is where you'll stay until Axel returns later in the evening." Zexion said matter of factly. The kind of tone that made Roxas want to turn and just punch the kid in his pretty, feminine face.
"Gee, isn't this fancy…" Roxas grumbled instead, choosing the path of less mindless violence, no matter how tempting.
"Be happy to even have this." Zexion replied curtly. "I don't think you realize that most pets to Organization members don't even have rooms." Zexion gave Roxas another glance, again with disapproval. "Or even clothes for that matter."
Before Demyx could step between the two and hopefully distract the conversation, Roxas had turned to Zexion, his little fists clenched and his eyes full of spit fire. Hell, his hair may even be standing on end like a Super Saiyan or something.
"Is that supposed to mean something?" Roxas bit through clenched teeth. And again, before Demyx could act, he'd closed the distance between himself and Zexion, leaving Demyx to the side, awkwardly pointing out the feng shui of the room as a distraction.
"All I'm saying," Zexion said calmly, hoping to God the small spark of fear in his stomach wasn't escaping in his voice, "is that you are a pet. The lowest of the low. Don't pretend to be more than you are. Insubordination and sass will not be tolerated."
"C'mon guys, don't fight-"
"Insubordination and sass?" Roxas quipped. He placed his hands on his hips in the sassiest way he could imagine. "Alright, I may be a fucking pet, but that doesn't mean you get to step all over me."
"Then I foresee conflict in our future." Zexion said as coldly as before.
"And I foresee my foot up your ass."
"Okay, okay, okay!" Demyx finally managed to get an arm between the two, followed by the rest of his body. Turning his back to Roxas, hesitantly now that he knew what a fighter the kid was, Demyx turned to Zexion, a hand on his shoulder. "Zexion, what're you doing?"
"He's a pet." Zexion said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "He needs ground rules to be laid out or he won't last long here."
"I can handle myself just fine." Roxas snapped.
I really don't need this SHIT right FUCKING now.
"Zexion, cut him some slack." Demyx coaxed once again, trying to block Roxas from the Schemer's point of view when Zexion opened his mouth to argue back. "He's scared, he's surrounded by strangers, he just needs some time, okay? And you gotta stop being an ass right now."
"As I said before," Zexion repeated, slower this time. "He needs the ground rules."
"I said I can fucking handle myself," Stepping quickly, Roxas grabbed Demyx from behind- goddamnit, Demyx knew that was going to happen- and shoved the sandy blond out of his way. "Or did you not hear me?" Roxas asked, using his best Seifer voice.
And Zexion would be damned to ever admit it, but the little thing was definitely intimidating.
"Zexion," Demyx cut protectively in front of the Schemer, holding him by the shoulders and turning him to head out the door. "It's time we were going."
Roxas let the air leave him in an angry huff as Demyx gave him an apologetic look as he steered Zexion out of the room.
But the Schemer always got the last say.
"Watch yourself, Icarus. Fly too close to the sun and your wings will melt."
"Zexion!" Demyx hissed. Finally, he was able to push the Schemer out of the room and close the door behind him, leaving him alone with an angry Roxas.
"Look," Demyx began with a suddenly serious tone. "I'm sorry about Zexion. He doesn't mean to be assy, he's just trying to help you."
"A lot of help he did…" Roxas mumbled, his anger suddenly gone in the face of the bubbly blonde.
Demyx beamed. "He only gives nicknames to people he likes, promise!"
Roxas just rolled his eyes. He'd heard that before.
"Look, I know you're scared." Demyx said quietly, reaching out to give Roxas' shoulder a surprisingly comforting squeeze. And Roxas didn't flinch away. "But Axel will be back soon. And he'll help answer your questions, okay?"
"Yeah sure." The blond said quietly.
"Alright, well," Demyx gave Roxas another squeeze before opening the door again and stepping out. "I'll see you later Roxas."
Roxas remained where he stood, despite his instincts telling him to rush Demyx and escape.
Get out.
"Welcome home, Icarus." Demyx offers as a lame goodbye when the door to Roxas' room closes and, after a few moments, locks.
Yeah, welcome home, Roxas thinks sourly to himself.
AN: Wow, the part with Marluxia and Naminé is freaking disturbing, even to me. Again, reviews are very much asked for. Thanks for reading!
Ezellia