So Senpai isn't exactly Sick, per se... I'm just not well, again. And this time, it's not JereduLevenin's cute dog. I don't think it's her... I don't know, to be honest. I just know I was exhausted when I dropped into bed, and I wake up around 2 hours later and I'm positively freezing under my blanket. So I get socks, and I go back to bed and wake up and I'm STILL positively freezing. Then I took OFF the socks, because, like Mello (from deathnote, he's my baby) I don't like socks.

Happy Belated Birthday to Roxanne, who is now 12! (I'm actually a bit surprised she's reading this... considering how she's technically not even allowed to buy the T-rated manga at bookstores, if they actually cared... but happy birthday anyway, darling!)

Eh... sharing love.
...Mina The Forgotten Memory: Yay, a review, thankies! -gives sea-salt- Yeah, I bet Larxene would miss him, being his sister and all. I dunno why, but I think this was just to give the fic length. Or extra chapters. W'eva. -shares tissues- Dun cry, there's always the happy rainboy after the emo cloud, right? ...ahaha, Emo Cloud.
...sesshoumaruhasafluffytail: -gives a thankies, a kleenex, and a chocolate bar- Aww, dun cry! Think of the Rainbow after the Emo Cloud, Rainbow after the Emo Cloud!
...Shattered Sanctuary: Am glad you likey, thankies! -gives sea-salt- I get to be inspiration, too? -gives more sea-salt- How great! Yaoi's so much fun, I hope you have as much fun writing as you do reading it!
...Ivan's Kitsune: -gives sea-salt- Yay for the british! And their... British things. "No one cares!" "...My mummy does!" And zomg, yes... -malicious laughter-
...Roxanne: Aww, you're so widdle! -gives sea-salt and a birthday plushie- Yesh, I'm so cruel.
...Dearie: What excellent timing! -gives sea-salt- Teehee... I'm sooo mean. The suspense makes me giggle.
...Ranchdressing: I hear the recipe's online, but I can't do anything... Yesh, let us all hope for help! -giggles and gives sea-salt-
...Metal Chocobo: -gives sea-salt- Ask away, I'll answer so much as I can without giving away too much!
...Lunaa: -gives sea-salt- Teehee, this is one of the worst I've ever done. Hence the warning. Am glad you like, thankies! I had fun with the scents...
...Silva-trees: Eeep, flailing breaks things! -gives more sea-salt- Sit and don't drip on the carpet! I don't know it such a word exists... except maybe the Zexion!BrainWall? Am glad you likey, it makes me happy! ...uh-oh. -runs to save Axel's brain- Well, someone HAS to find a broken car on the streets, but it doesn't exactly mean people DO anything with it...
...ShadowAili: -cowering and offering more sea-salt for good health- Eeep! Sorryz, but, well... -duct-tapes lung to Aili's chest- keep that, will you?! Hopefully chicken broth and spring break are fluffy enough for you. If not, there's my really retarded Easter fic. You can choose! Because you hold the power! To... like... choose things. The make-up sex comment nearly had me rolling on the ground in pained laughter.
...hanakitsunechan7: Answers get answered... -gives sea-salt- Teehee, dictionaries of the brain tend to die. And quickly. Oddly...
...Evil Genius of the COCA: Light Sabers scare me... and the particle disintegrator, EEP! -gives loads of sea-salt and runs for the hills-
...Gentle Kit: Yay! -gives sea-salt-
...Xemagirl: More fresh meat! Um... don't cry! -gives sea-salt-

Jeez... so many tears and shocked expressions! I love you guys... and yeah. If they died, that kinda would limit my options for the next 11 chapters... so...

Here.

Whispered Melody
.xiv.
You Can't Wanna Feel Like Me
..part two..

Monday.

Oxygen...plastic... and faintly, chemicals, many chemicals...

Zexion barely managed to groan when his eyes fluttered open tiredly. He could feel the tight wrapping of bandages holding him together, keeping him bound and stiff as he lay on a soft bed. He couldn't feel much besides the binds, an uncommon pressure surrounding him. Blankets, tubes, chords and bandages... he could feel a contraption around his face, pressing against his nose, air brushing around his face as he found himself forced to commonly breathe.

He didn't bother to move. No use. He wasn't even sure why he woke--there was no use in that, either. He was unlucky, and he was in slight pain, and bothered. Nobody was around him, leaving him three walls and a pale ceiling to stare at, and a shelf, two cabinets, a trash can, a door, and a television set. He was alone, in one of the plain, pale rooms.

They had him in one of these rooms when he was younger. Shortly after his mother's murder when they had him admitted for the night, tested for illegal substances and for a psychiatric evalutation. He couldn't remember the blankets being so tight, or the forced oxygen he found himself breathing. He couldn't remember the constant, rhythmic beeping...

...rhythmic...

But that didn't matter at all. His eyes rolled upward tiredly, staring at the fluorescent light that made his eyes water, and he let the feeling burn. There was no reason to still keep looking at anything--no more night skies, no concerts, no him. Gone, completely, just like that... Zexion could feel water welling in his eyes, and a few blinks later, he could feel them drifting down the sides of his face. He ignored them and continued to stare.

The door clicked and swung open, and a pair of footsteps entered the room. Zexion continued staring towards the ceiling, even as the footsteps moved further in, and a figure moved to stand next to him. Aerith... she was looking at the monitors, taking notes on a small clipboard for a moment. She checked the oxygen level, and made sure all the wires were secure before she finally looked at his face, noticing the dark, pale eyes staring at her.

"Zexion?" she said softly.

He didn't respond. He didn't feel like he needed to.

She sighed softly, reaching a gentle hand to wipe away the liquid at his eye. "At least you're awake," she said softly. She couldn't be sure if he was truly awake, contemplating possible brain injury when he didn't speak, but she could hope, and she could speak to him. "Well... Zexion, your brother's recovering nicely," she informed. "They said it was only an overdose of sleeping pills in an alcoholic beverage, and he's in detox. And your friend, Demyx, he hasn't roused yet, but he's stable."

Zexion blinked and he struggled to pull his hands from the blanket and sit up, and found more of a problem with the bandages not willing to let him move as much. Aerith smiled as she pressed her hands against his shoulders, urging his head back onto the pillow. "It's okay," she said softly.

He stared up at her, his voice sounding raw and airy as he spoke behind the mask. "So he's alive?" he asked her. He struggled to move again, and she sighed.

"Of course he is. He's not in very good condition, but he's alive," she responded. "He's recovering from surgery right now, and he'll probably sleep through another day, but he's alright. Now, you have to stay still, okay?"

"Wanna... see 'im..." Zexion murmured as he fought himself to sit up somewhat, trying his best not to groan. His body ached from being stiff and immobilized for so long. Aerith frowned as he fought her off and leaned on one arm, looking up at her quietly.

"And you will," she spoke, gently patting his shoulder. "You'll get to see him once you can sit up on your own."

"I can..." he murmured.

She sighed and gently eased him to lay down again. "Later. Right now, you need rest. Don't worry, when he wakes, he'll be glad to see you," she assured him. "Sleep, Zexion..."

He glared as she began to drip an unknown liquid into his intravenous bag, and found himself glaring until everything faded from memory. He wasn't sure when he had stopped staring at her, unsure if she was leaving or still looking at his monitors, but when he blinked his eyes open, a new set of people were around his bed, poking or prodding or checking wires or taking his temperature or shining a light into his eyes. He thought nothing could truly get worse in his wait to see Demyx until he woke to find a perky redhead standing beside him with a textbook.

Tuesday.

"Lookie who's awake," Axel greeted him with a smile as he leaned against the bed's metal railing. "Y'know, Zex, you gave us quite a scare."

Zexion coughed feebly, attempting to move through all the layers. He didn't get far, but thankfully, Axel assisted in merely shoving a second fluffy pillow under his head, to alleviate the strain of having to keep himself up for so long. He hated feeling so weak, attached to so much machinery it bothered him. The three intravenous chords, the pulse monitor, the oxygen mask, the constant beeping of his heart rate and the fluctuating sounds when he shifted and hissed in aggravation, the need to wheel around the pole every time he needed to go to the bathroom, and the doctor who insisted he use the bedpans--this was very bothersome.

"I know you're alive and awake in there," Axel said, reaching a hand down to touch a bandage. The smaller one winced out of instinct and he withdrew his hand quickly. "Sorry... didn't know you could feel that."

"I didn't," Zexion murmured, bending his right arm to touch his head carefully. "Just... hard to really feel. 'S the drugs..."

Axel found himself laughing. "Doped up that much?" he asked and grinned. As Zexion gave him a cold look--oddly distant and not all too focused, probably also due to the drugs--Axel smiled and nodded. "That's fine... it's good to be on this stuff. When you're off, it's murder."

All of this side conversation was just fine and dandy, but Zexion didn't care so much about how much pain he would or wouldn't be in once on his own again. He had other things, another person, in mind at the moment, and soon looked away, staring quietly at the ceiling light for a moment. He sniffed. "How's he?" he finally murmured.

The redhead at his bedside almost looked offended when Zexion interrupted him to ask of another's welfare, but he had to smile. "Oh, he looks horrible, but he's okay. He's got stitches above his left eye and his arm's in a splint--that'll just kill him, he can't play for a while--but his surgeries went great."

"Surgeries?" Zexion asked. "What surgeries?"

"Oh... part of the car cut into his right side and upper leg, and then his tissues started swelling and they had to remove a layer, but they fixed him up pretty nicely, if I do say so myself. And lucky you--your scar's gonna be right over the eye you always hide under your hair."

Zexion was fidgeting again, trying to pull himself to his feet. He barely managed to sit up, feeling dizzy and heavy once he had tugged off his oxygen mask, and he was rather disoriented when the building began to spin somewhat. He grabbed onto the railing and looked up at Axel. "Which... room... is his?"

Axel smirked as he leaned against the bar. "See, Zex... right now, Demyx can't mutter a coherent sentence before giggling about something out of the window and going back to sleep, and so the only person who's really talked to him has been Larxene. He was up for, say... a full five minutes and spoke coherently for two. But he asked about you."

Zexion was still moving. Slow, groggy moves, and he continued to shift. "Room, Axel..." he hissed as he wiggled. He finally managed to move to the edge of the bed as he let his legs swing on the ground. His right leg was broken--they said one of the bones snapped almost completely, and he knew he'd be stuck with a cast for a while, and probably a lot of lovely bruises and scars afterward. ...recovery would be hell. But he didn't care, shifting to stand on his left foot.

Axel thankfully moved the wheelchair and the intravenous bag's rack over to him, and Zexion plopped himself in the seat. Walking took too much effort--and he didn't feel like passing out on his way to Demyx's room.

"Oh, he's just down the hall," Axel told him. "Patient one-fourteen. And you're one-forty-seven." He smiled cheerfully, maneuvering the wheelchair with one hand, and the pole with the other as he navigated the hallway. Zexion merely leaned back and stared about as Axel made googly eyes to some of the nurses and greeted others passing the hallway. He really didn't care, so long as he was led in the proper direction.

Thankfully, Axel knew where he was going, and Zexion found himself wheeled into a room occupied by two blondes, both on the bed and easily recognized. Larxene sat next to her brother with a comb in hand, carefully designing her brother's awkward hairstyle.

"Hmm... might need to trim this," she mused, holding a few strands between two fingers.

Demyx made a slight groan and tilted his head. "Nuu," he murmured. "Want long..."

"But you're getting split ends!" she told him. "I'm not gonna cut much, DemDem, stop being a baby."

Axel had to grin at this. "If he wants the split ends, let him have 'em," he said. "Not like he'll be jelling it up every day, anyway..."

Demyx had to crane his neck over his sister's shoulder to see the redhead, and he smiled. "Great, you're back. Manhandle Xena for me, please..." he murmured, and winced, hoping that her suddenly-raised hand was merely a threat. After all, who hit the hospitalized?

Oh, that was right. Larxene did. She smacked him on the shoulder and he yelped in pain, shimmying to the side as he tried to distance himself from her. Axel shifted from the wheelchair to wrap his arms around her waist and tug her from the bed, grinning. Zexion was sure the redhead found all of this highly entertaining, as Demyx reached for one of his pillows to smack her with and Larxene's arms were kept immobilized. Zexion merely leaned on one of his armrests as he watched them continue for a few more seconds, before Demyx dropped his pillow and curled up next to it.

Larxene laughed at him. "DemDem, you're so weird," she murmured, elbowing Axel in the stomach to free herself. She soon approached the bed and leaned in, giving him something along the lines of a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"Really?" Demyx asked her, looking up. Soon, he moved to sit upright and grinned, waving a cast-covered arm. "Zexy, you're up!"

Zexion narrowed his eyes slightly. "I've been sitting in the doorway for the past five minutes," he murmured. "But yes. And you're up..." He turned to look at Axel. "Can't mutter coherent sentences?"

Axel shrugged. "He couldn't last time!"

"Who couldn't do what?" Demyx asked as he glanced between the two.

"That's not very likely," Zexion said to the redhead, his eyes narrowed even more.

"He's probably just got a lot of energy... but I don't have to tell you that, do I?" Axel smirked.

Zexion's cheeks began to pinken, but he ignored them as he shifted to stand. "That's none of your business, Axel, so don't even! At least he's of legal age!"

"Roxas is too! Been eighteen for a few months, so there!"

Demyx decided to intervene once he saw Zexion standing on one foot, a hand in a fist, as if ready to start a fight, and Axel stuck his tongue out at the smaller one, tugging down one eye. "Wait a minute!" he cried out.

They turned to look at him. "What?" they asked in unison.

The blond shrunk back for a second, but blinked and waved his arms. "What are you two talking about?"

A moment of silence paused, as Zexion turned to Axel, and soon Axel began laughing, dropping into a chair next to a snickering Larxene. Zexion glared one last time, then grabbed his pole and hopped towards Demyx's bed. He soon hopped up and sat next to him.

"Never mind that, Demyx... how are you?"

Demyx grinned. "Fine as I'll ever be, I guess." He shrugged. "I mean... can't move much, but... I can do this!" Before Zexion could even question his action, Demyx had grabbed his arms and tugged him closely, pulling him into a deep kiss. It had been very unexpected, but Zexion found himself melting into it, lips pressed securely against Demyx's, tongues touching tenderly.

Chocolate... ocean, medication, and chocolate...

He slowly pulled away and took a calm whiff of Demyx, shifting to lean on him gently, and Demyx looked at him, very confused. Behind him, he could hear Axel laughing, most likely over the blond's expression.

"Oh, don't worry," Axel said, "he does that a lot..."

"Do not," Zexion muttered.

"So you did sniff me!" Demyx said quickly, looking down. "Before the concert..."

Zexion glared over his shoulder at Axel, mentally smiting him and watching him freeze. Unfortunately, he kept laughing until Larxene smacked him and declared that she had proof that Marluxia was male. Perfect time for distraction--she was showing pictures on her camera phone of her friend and Axel was laughing, so Demyx seized Zexion's mouth again.

.xiv. end .xiv.

I have a blanket! And sweet, hot chocolate! C H O C O L A T E makes the world go roooooound!

Zexion: Maybe we should kill it.
Larxene: The Replica?
Zexion: No, the fanfiction writers! Then perhaps they'll never ship us again!
Demyx: But straight pairings are funny to read!
Zexion: ...
Larxene: What fanfic messed YOU up?
Zexion: The one where he's with the Superior...
Larxene: They shipped you with MANSEX?! Damn... my sympathies.
Demyx: Zexion, you said we'd never speak of that one again! -sobs-
Meanwhile, in the back room, Roxas is trying to shove a hose through Axel's ear in the hopes of saving whatever piece of brain wasn't eaten away by the Chlorox. Moral of the story: read the fine print.

And le quote:
"Yey, I'm trying to regain my self-esteem here."
"You don't have self-esteem. You hang out with us."
"Oh yeah."
-Joey and Yugi, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series (by LittleKuriboh)

:Darkness Princess.