So I was hoping for 49 reviews before I posted this. Why 49? You guys, do the math! (seriously), but since I didn't (48 isn't bad!) I decided I might as well. Goal is 60. I'd say 64, but I'm skeptical. I'm happy with what I get, though, I write for the fans!
Random Facts
This fic now has the highest amounts of Reviews (by 8), Chapters (by 1), Hits (by 2359), favs (by 2), and alerts (by 20--WOW)! This makes me happy, thank you guys!
And
the fans...
...Anonymous
Saru: Aww, poor little Monkey-chan. Stick your lung back in, and
thanks for the review! (For all those who didn't get it--her
grandparents went to some Old People Concert and came back after
midnight and she got sick.) Thanks for dragging your sickly little
self to school then to review!
...ShadowAili:
Great searching. It makes me happy--and you know what? I totally
forgot about the pancake part, and I have to thank you uber much
extra for reminding me! Yep, Demykins sure did make Zexy pancakes!
Teehee, I love your word "Abso-flippin'-lutely", very cute!
Teehee, you know how to function semi-normally in the goo-puddle
stage? Teach me!
...Mina
The Forgotten Memory: Zanks, and teehee, sad usually is... sad.
So is Zexion--you'd think that he'd get a clue if he understands
math, but, well... maybe he's just being a bit slow. Love for music!
...Ranchdressing:
Zankyuu! I haven't heard Skillet... any good? And w00t for
color-betrayal! We're PWNing. Teehee, let's hope he doesn't--or
learns how to swim!
...B.J.
Sanders: Yay! Thankies! Angst and Music, it's Hot Topic in a
Fanfic! XD Teehee, just kidding. I started on Zemyx with her, she's
great. Ja, update here! Am trying to write more so I can post at
least 2 a week, but am failing... your peace sign is very cute,
though!
...Ivan's
Kitsune: Yay for emo-ness? Teehee. Zanks for le review.
...Hanakitsunechan7:
I get applause!? YAY! Thank you! And ya think so? Well, everyone
would fall in love with the brooding emo boy on the park bench,
wouldn't they? -giggle- I know I would!
...Rubix-Complex: Yay, thank you! I tried, and I think I sympathize since I haven't smelled the outdoors since yesterday evening. -snork-
...benji's lover iz a cowfree: Welcome back to the internet! And thanks for the review!
Thanks to all my reviewers, and alert-ers, and favorite-rs! And now the ficcy.
Whispered
Melody
.viii.
Drowning
Underwater
Tuesday.
Empty, except for the faint scent of the ocean.
He could remember this shade of blue. Soft and pleasant, soothing to his eyes as he found himself staring. He felt as if he were floating on a nice, soft cloud, the comforting blue drifting around like a nice summer afternoon. It was sweet, warm on this cloud, the layers bundled about him. A significant change from the rain water. He knew this feeling, the familiarity of safety within the fluffy cloud that reminded him of floating across a warm summer pool, those many years ago... calm and warm...
"Zexy?"
He blinked. He knew this shade of blue because he had been here before, had slept in this same cloud a few days earlier. The blond who had spoken leaned forward and looked at him with a frown, and Zexion recognized the familiar summer sky as Demyx's bedroom. The cloud's fluff was due to the three or four large comforters draped over him and the two pillows beneath his head.
He didn't want to move, but seeing the worried look on Demyx's face and he wanted to immediately shift and apologize. His failed attempt had him shivering within a moment of moving, a pain in his chest making him groan as he shuddered and tried to find his warmth again. Demyx seemed perfectly at home and comfortable in his white tank top, and Zexion almost envied him for not being as cold. He couldn't even remember why he felt so cold, and this bothered him.
"Ssh... it's okay," Demyx's gentle voice floated to him. Soft, hot lips placed a kiss on his cold forehead, and the blond frowned. "You want more blankets, Zexy? You're still so cold... Larxy's making some hot cocoa, it should help..."
"H...he--help?" His straining whisper had him coughing within seconds, and he struggled to bundle himself further down.
Demyx sighed softly. "You're sick, man..." He dropped to sit on the bed and straightened the covers, readjusting the layered burrow so Zexion only had a small hole. It was comforting in the extra layer of warmth around him, but it obscured Demyx's face from him and he wanted to climb away quickly. He couldn't, and just let his fingers tighten around the edge of the pillow, staring up at the blond, who merely explained his situation. "You were out at the park in the rain and you weren't really breathing. I'm so glad I took those lifeguard lessons. 'Cause, Zexy, I got to use CPR and I probably would've broken ya or something..."
"G-get... to a point... Demyx..." Zexion mumbled.
He grinned sheepishly, leaning down to peek into the small hole. "Okay, Zexy. Well, Larxy called a doc and we found out you got hypothermia. But they didn't want you out in the cold weather again, so we're keeping you in here until you're warmer, then it's straight to Doctor Gainsborough!"
"Doc...wha...?"
"Here's your hot cocoa, bitches." Zexion knew this wasn't good. Demyx pushed the blankets down a bit, and he could see Larxene walking into the room with a tray. Though her words seemed harsh, they were said with a bit of tenderness, and she set the tray down, then leaned forward and peered into the bed. "Damn, Zex... you look like shit."
"Gee... thanks..."
"No problem. Anyway. Drink the cocoa, I used loads of sugar, and sugar makes a crazy Gay-Boy over there." She beckoned to her brother, who merely stuck his tongue out at her and waved an arm dismissively.
"Don't get mad at me because he liked me more!"
Larxene smirked. "I'm not. Totally knew he was gay. Little dumbshit tried to tell me he wasn't... like sticking his hand up my skirt made him more of a man. Do that again and I'll kill you."
"I'm not gay..." Zexion murmured, struggling to sit up. "It's... the music..."
The blonde girl laughed and merely waved and left the room. Demyx rolled his eyes and turned around, leaning forward so his face was merely an inch from Zexion's, whispering with a slight smile, "I'm glad you like the music, Zexion. It makes me happy." His hands reached down and carefully tugged Zexion from the burrow, helping the smaller one to sit up against the pillows. Soon, the covers were surrounding him again--Demyx seemed to insist on leaving him in a fluffy cloud up to his shoulders--and he was holding a straw to his lips.
Zexion didn't like being babied. It bothered him, knowing he was too weak to move on his own. The need to depend on others, against his own will, bothered him. He wasn't in control, wasn't independent, wasn't strong and willful when feeling so frail. The control was needed; it built walls around his soul and kept him sane and down-to-earth, and without it, he was vulnerable. Emotional, even.
He actually wanted to cry.
Thankfully, Demyx was being gentle, first taste-testing the drink to make sure it wasn't scalding before holding the cup to Zexion's lips, helping him sip the warm liquid. Chocolatey...
Faint, but there... slightly chocolately.
Zexion sniffed and felt an uncomfortable clogging feeling. Congestion... he hated it. It had him sneezing within a few seconds, and soon Demyx was holding a kleenex to his nose and instructing him to blow. This was embarrassing, and if he weren't so cold, he was sure he'd be blushing. But he did as instructed, allowing Demyx to baby him and wipe away his boogers and clean his mouth when the chocolate milk almost spilled.
Hours had gone by, with Zexion mainly sleeping underneath a fifth comforter, and he woke next to Demyx, who had been so bored waiting for him to wake that he took a nap. For around an hour, it seemed, when Zexion woke again and noticed his blond comrade missing, until he had come skidding into the room, singing something Zexion soon recognized from the radio.
"It's just past eight and I'm feeling young and reckless..." he sang, spinning around on his carpeted floor. A hand gracefully lifted into the air and he spun again, a gleeful grin on his face. "The ribbon on my wrist says 'do not open before Christmas'."
Zexion blinked. "Fall out boy?" he asked.
Demyx almost fell--almost, as he placed a foot down to brake himself--but tripped as he took his first step towards the bed. A small collection of laughter came from the boy, as he peered up, now kneeling beside the bed, concern and joy oddly mixed on his face. "You feeling any better, Zexy?"
Zexion just stared for a moment. Demyx did, indeed, have a dark blue ribbon tied around his wrist in a neat bow. Though no sign said to wait until Christmas, the symbolism remained, and it confused Zexion. "Your ribbon... why?"
"Oh, this?" The taller one looked down and then grinned. "Swiped from Larxene, that's all." Smiling, he leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Zexion's forehead, smoothing down his hair, and his smile widened. "You're feeling warmer already!"
"Good."
Unfortunately, not good enough, for in ten minutes, soup was being shoveled down his throat--"It's supposed to warm your insides, Zexy! So eat up!"--and he had to fight for the usage of the spoon. He hadn't even noticed the gloves on his hands, which were a tad too big, until he tried to hold the spoon in them and had a bit of difficulty. He gave up shortly after and let Demyx have fun playing Mother to his Baby Zexi-poo--"But Zexi-poo, you gotta eat!"--without any verbalized complaints.
An hour after that, when Demyx helped him to the bathroom--Zexion insisted on being alone once inside--the blond knocked on the door and told Zexion that he was going to the doctor that afternoon. It took Demyx twenty minutes to coax him out of the bathroom.
.vi...ix.
"So you already know her?"
Demyx seemed very confused, but Zexion merely nodded and told him that he'd explain later. It seemed like quite a small world, running into so many familiar people from the small area. He truly thought the town was much larger, or at least that Demyx didn't live so close to this specific hospital. Twilight Town Medical, where he had his old therapy sessions; it was close to the park, and after his meetings, he'd often drive near the park and settle on the bench. Almost too far to walk... too out of the way from his apartment.
He was surprised he had done so. Ran, in the rain, so far. Demyx just happened to live in the neighborhood.
Faint chemicals.
The doctor, a tall brunette by the name of Aerith Gainsborough, pulled the thermometer from his lips and frowned slightly. They were in her office, and he sat on a bench unhappily, clad in more layers than he could ever remember wearing. Short-sleeved shirt, long-sleeved shirt, sweatshirt, jacket, boxers, jeans, two pairs of socks, and a ski-cap and gloves. He had been peeled of the jacket and gloves, but he wanted to keep the hat.
"Demyx, Zexion's one of my... special patients..." she said with a grim look. "Zexion, your temperature's still below average. There's not much we can do except give you heated intravenous liquids and some blankets."
Zexion sighed. "Can't I just go home?"
She shook her head. "I think it would be best to admit you overnight to make sure you stabilize," she declared.
It bothered him how easily Demyx was able to help him shed half his layers and then hold his hand--as if he needed his hand held in some situation like this, he had been given these things before--while one of the attendees cleaned the vein at his wrist and slid in a needle on something Zexion remembered being nicknamed a "butterfly". It was soon taped onto his wrist, and the blankets were tugged around him again, and she was gone. Zexion sighed.
"Demyx, go home," he said softly.
"I don't wanna..." the blond mumbled in response. "Zexy, I can't leave you..."
"Call Axel. Then go home."
Needless to say, Demyx refused to leave, and within the hour, both were sleeping under the layers of Zexion's hospital bed.
.vi...ix.
Glade. Artificial flowers, cleaning supplies, fabric freshener.
"Zexion, what's going on with you these days?"
Her voice was sweet and melodic as usual as they spoke. They were in his hospital room, Demyx on the phone with Axel and out of the way, and Aerith had cornered him. His temperature had improved and he only had a few more hours on the IV, but there were certain matters she had to inquire on. Like how he had ended himself in this situation to begin with.
He knew her motives. She made sure to never scare her patients out of trusting her, and he could always figure out what she was asking. Sometimes, her motives had hidden meanings, and on rare occasions, he wouldn't catch them. But he knew these questions and exactly what she was aiming at: why'd you go and get yourself sick and when in the world did you get a boyfriend?
"I don't know what happened," he told her. There was a vague memory of Demyx running to him with an umbrella in hand, and of incoherent questions floating by him in that familiar, melodic voice. And he remembered fading through some blue-tinted abyss. He had passed it off as a dream, but as he looked at Dr. Gainsborough, he began to question it.
"You know something," she said in response.
"I know I don't want to talk to you," he answered, his voice spitting feeble venom.
She couldn't help but smile. "Zexion, it's okay to talk once in a while. You and I had such pleasant conversations, don't you remember?" At his dull glare, she continued. "Is this about your new friend?"
Zexion looked down. He never looked her in the eye when he answered the truth; it was habit by now, staring away, anywhere away, as he mumbled a response. "I'm addicted."
"To... him?"
"Yes. His singing's... amazing. And... uh... he's good... at... but I'm not gay!" Demyx reminded him of an old day when he was five and truly happy. The sunlight, mist, breeze, sand between his toes... ocean. Demyx was like an ocean and it was driving him crazy.
Aerith could only smile slightly, letting out a soft sigh. "Zexion... that's called love," she explained. "But you need to realize, even though it'll make you do crazy things, you can't let yourself get hurt over things like this."
He sat up quickly. "No, you don't get it... it can't be love! I'm a guy... he is too!"
"Yes, it can."
"B-but... after all the things... my father..." He slowly sunk back onto the pillows, tugging the blankets around him again.
She sighed again as he brought up his old conversations, and she pat his shoulder gently. "It's okay... your father can't control you. It doesn't matter what he said in the past, this is the present, it's what you want to do with it..."
Zexion sighed. "Moralistic bullshit."
"But this moralistic bullshit has a point, and you should probably listen to it. Just do what you think is best, but be careful. Though Demyx is lively, he might not be too keen on you driving him crazy and dashing his hopes. He cares for you."
Zexion looked up at her with a grim expression, and fell silent. After patting his shoulder again, she moved to the door and opened it, to find Demyx jumping back, staring up at her. Zexion blinked and frowned--Demyx had heard the conversation?
"Whoa, you scared me!" he started. "I totally thought you were still talking with him... is he gonna be okay?"
"He'll be fine, I'm sure," Aerith answered. "He's a trooper." As she left and Demyx bounced in with more hot cocoa, Zexion couldn't help but scowl at the fact that she was, once again, right in this situation.
So not only was he bedridden, but he also just lost an argument about his sexual preference while the guy he had sex with helped him drink hot cocoa. If it didn't seem in the least bit romantic, Zexion would've definitely been considering suicide.
Again. Damn.
"Come on, Zexy, swallow, you're spilling it all over your face!"
"Then let me hold the cup!"
"Noooo... I do it, okay?"
"No, it's not ok--" Burble.
Steamy, rich, chocolate. And the ocean that was Demyx.
.viii. end .viii.
Alrighty, ladies and gents, that was indeed chappy eight! I like how it ends better than how it starts, but I got my happy points in. The Fall Out Boy mentioned is Our Lawyer Made us Change The Name of this Song So We Wouldn't Get Sued. I love it, to be honest. And it's not mine, I'm only a pirate.
Thanks, all!
"Gangway,
women and shemales first!"
-
Bakura, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series (by LittleKuriboh)
:Darkness Princess.
