One of the benefits of taking a vacation in a little cabin like this was getting a real chance to be alone, Demyx decided, not for the first time. Of course, the first time he'd decided that, he'd been enjoying a good meal and a good storm and the lack of other distractions. This morning, he was lying in a bed that seemed like the one and only warm spot in the building, with an aching head left over from yesterday's fall and an endless number of bruises from the snowball fight afterward. Had he still been at the castle, it would have been a matter of time before either Axel or Roxas came looking for him, even if he'd still been guaranteed the day off. Here at this little cottage, he could lie in bed as long as he wanted, and drag himself out and around in his own good time. He could dedicate the entire day to being a lazy bum, and no one would know or care. Right then, it sounded glorious, he decided as he pulled the blankets back over his head to spend the next three hours sleeping in.

Sleeping in. For three hours. A luxury only available at the castle to those on the DL. The last time Demyx had slept so blissfully late, he'd been too sick to do much else besides sleep. And no one would be around to razz him or pester him about sleeping so late - he was here alone. Even when he dragged himself out of bed at long last, head still aching, that thought had him smiling - he could laze around all day if he wanted, answerable to no one but himself. Buoyed by the idea, he turned the thermostat up, shrugged on a bathrobe over his pajamas - royal blue satin pajamas he would never have worn around the castle, that made him feel like a rich playboy and encouraged him to pretend that his hot model girlfriend (who only existed in his imagination) was waiting for him in the living room, wearing just enough and not very much - and stumbled into the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. A cup of tea he could enjoy without Axel hassling him for not being man enough to drink coffee or Luxord giving him grief for not doing it the right way, as if Luxord's way was any more right than his. After the first few sips, he felt much more human, and his headache had even started to die down a little. Smiling a little more, he headed into the living room, already picturing how his imaginary model girlfriend would look, sitting on the couch, waiting for him to come join her...

"Dammit, Roxas! What the fuck are you doing here?!"

Roxas only blinked innocently at him, as if totally clueless as to why his presence in general and his having the balls to show up wide awake and fully dressed when Demyx wanted to lounge around in his pajamas in particular were less than desirable right now. "Well...Axel and I were going to go into Twilight Town today, but Luxord came back at 4:00 this morning with a broken collarbone and Axel got sent to finish his mission, so, um...I thought I might stop by and bum around here for a while...I mean, this is a nice place you have here..." His tone became more and more uncertain as he spoke, as if he was starting to realize that this wasn't the best idea he'd ever had.

Demyx nodded slowly to all this, restraining himself from simply snapping at Roxas again. "Roxas, I just got out of bed," he said in a flat tone when Roxas was done talking.

"Yeah, I figured that out...slowly, but I did figure it out," Roxas said, looking a little embarrassed.

Demyx kept staring at him for a moment, then sighed heavily and sank down on the couch next to him, taking a long drink of tea before saying anything. "Roxas," he started slowly, "I hate to have to break it to you, but the entire reason I twisted Xigbar's arm into a pretzel to get this vacation is because I really wanted a few days completely to myself." Roxas stared blankly at him. "As in, completely by myself. Which is hard to come by in the castle." Same blank stare in response. "...I mean alone."

"I did get that part," Roxas said, sounding a touch miffed. "All right, you don't have to get snippy about it. I'll leave if you want me to. By the way, nice pajamas. Are you actually alone here, or were you expecting someone other than me to drop by? Or were they only here for the night?"

Demyx remained silent for a moment as he fought back the impulse to pour hot tea on Roxas's lap, which he only resisted because the thought was enough to make him cringe. "Congratulations, Roxas, you are officially too big of a smart-ass for your own good. Besides, since Axel has no concept of 'too much information' or 'things better kept to yourself', you must know that I have the sex life of an eighty-year-old nun. I'm wearing these pajamas because they're really, really comfortable and let me pretend for a few moments of my pathetic life that I'm a rich playboy."

Roxas reached over and punched him lightly in the arm. "Actually, no, I didn't know that your sex life is nonexistent. Whenever Axel starts sharing too much of that kind of information, he mostly starts talking about himself. Maybe he just isn't aware that you never get any action."

"Oh, trust me, he is," Demyx said dryly, leaning back against the couch. "He's always trying to encourage me to hook up with someone when we're out with the guys, and often accuses me of having no sex drive. Of course, I suppose I should be grateful to him for not sharing that outside of boys' night out, except I just sabotaged myself."

Roxas stuck his tongue out at him. "Your fault. Don't try to pin it on me. So if the action is available, why don't you get any?"

"First, I do get some. Second, Axel's idea of how much action a healthy man needs is rather skewed. Third, I'm not really that interested in sex for the hell of it; I would prefer sex in the context of a serious relationship, not a one-night stand, and since I'm not in or likely to be in a serious relationship any time soon, I'm just as happy doing without. Do you have any more intimately personal questions to ask as long as you're intruding on my privacy anyway?"

"I didn't make you answer. You could have told me where to go with my questions."

"...You are too big of a smart-ass. For anyone's good. And I did tell you where to go - back to the castle." Demyx shifted around on the couch so that he had his back to Roxas, as his head started to ache in earnest. "Now let me go back to nursing this day-old headache I have going and daydreaming that my rich, gorgeous supermodel girlfriend is in the next room and will be coming to join me in a moment. You're in her seat, so if I turn around and see you still there, I'm going to be sorely disappointed."

"How disappointed?"

"Disappointed enough to dump hot tea on your crotch."

There was a long pause. "...You know, I believe you mean that. I think I'll get going now. Is there sometime I can visit in the near future without risking my reproductive health?"

"I don't know off the top of my head," Demyx growled, feeling slightly guilty about chasing Roxas out like this but justifying himself with his headache and desire for solitude and Roxas's insistence on being a smart-ass. "Try tomorrow; maybe my head will hurt less then. After 10:00. Castle time."

"Right. Tomorrow. After 10:00. Promise not to kill me if I show up. Or do anything else painful."

"Promise not to be a smart-ass."

"If that's what it will take for you to not dump hot tea on my crotch, then, deal." The couch cushions shifted as Roxas stood up. "All right, I'll leave you alone to enjoy your headache and your imaginary girlfriend."

"Roxas, hot or cold, tea is mostly water. Standing up will not save a smart-ass from getting a sudden hot bath in a very uncomfortable place."

"...See you tomorrow. I think I'll shut up now." Demyx didn't even look up until he heard a portal open and close, and then only looked to confirm that Roxas had actually left. Once he was certain he was alone at last, he lay back on the couch, sighing and closing his eyes, and took a calming drink of tea; imaginary girlfriend be damned, this felt like an excellent time to just flake out and dream up some music. His headache felt better already.

AN: Number 63, Do Not Disturb. I don't know why, but Roxas just insisted on being a jerk this chapter. Since Demyx was already crabby, he was obviously just going to be a jerk right back. I'm not even sure why they had the conversation they did.

Yes, Axel is totally a player, and Demyx is not.