Down with Love
Description: Sequel to "Dance with Me". Roxas has arrived at college to find romance literally everywhere he turns, and somehow he always ends up playing matchmaker. Cupid has never been so unwilling or so downright grumpy. AU, Amazing Grace crossover.
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all the Final Fantasy games belong to Square-Enix. Amazing Grace and its characters belong to me.
A/N: O-kay. I'm going to try very hard to throw myself back into this story and get some regular updates going. Lack of inspiration be damned, I say. On another note, you may notice that I've changed the description for the story. After mulling it about in my head for a while, I'm going to take it in a slightly different direction. Considering I hadn't gotten very far yet, I figured no one would mind.
4. Come Go With Me
The Del-Vikings
A couple of days passed in which I did my utmost best to avoid all of the traditional freshman activities, including the screening of The Graduate and the infamous sex-ed/date-rape video that had traumatized my brother so badly. Demyx whined at me every time I said no to something, but I stood my ground. And K'nsolear was exempt from everything if he wanted, since he was "special" and all, so I used that to my advantage as well. All I had to do was mention that Soli was looking forward to my company, and Demyx would back off immediately. Thankfully, my roommate played along without complaint. It helped that the two of us got along so well.
Even with our pseudo-rocky start thanks to Riku, K'nsolear and I had become pretty comfortable with each other rather quickly. I wouldn't have called us friends, though, not at that point. I was still spending time with my brother and anxiously waiting for the upperclassmen to return, and K'nsolear spent all of his time with his cousin. We talked a bit, usually at night, but only about inconsequential things. I avoided outright prying about his lineage, which parent was which, and how they came to have a child, but I did ask him some general questions about his family a few times. Whether he had siblings, how many cousins he had, stuff like that. Even so he never seemed willing to reveal much. All I learned those first few days was that he was an only child. When he told me that, I joked that he could have Sora if he wanted him, but he didn't seem to appreciate it much so I dropped it. Eventually, Vindeflei revealed that she had two younger sisters and dozens of cousins on her father's side, but she didn't offer any more information and I didn't ask.
Those first few days were pretty laid-back for me since I pretty much refused to do anything, but I swear I didn't sleep a wink the night before Max was scheduled to come back. His plane was due in late in the morning, so we had agreed to meet for dinner to give him time to arrive and settle in. I think I spent the whole day chewing my fingernails off with nervousness. Like I said, when it comes to Max, I'm a total dork. To the point where I actually worried about my outfit for a few minutes before I remembered that Max is a geek like me and wouldn't give a damn about what I was wearing. Well, unless I wore Sora's old "Kirk x Spock 4-ever" T-shirt, but I wouldn't be caught dead in that thing anyway.
Finally, after a long, stressful day where I alternated between ecstatic joy at being near my hero again and utter terror that I would somehow be found lacking and rejected, I left my room and headed across the beach to Sharples. Max, like Riku, preferred to live slightly off-campus, although this year he had chosen a room in the tri-building PPR complex rather than Mary Lyons which was a good fifteen minute walk away from the sports' fields and twenty or twenty-five minutes from any actual classrooms. Because of this, we met at the lower floor entrance rather than on the front patio, and because of that, I was able to see Max several minutes before I was close enough to talk to him. I suppose that was good because it gave me time to compose myself and get the surprise off of my face. Surprise that he beat me there, considering that I had been counting down the seconds since dawn, and even more surprise that he had company. The woman he was talking to was slightly taller than he was, which of course made her seriously taller than me, and was rather pretty with long, dark blonde hair framing a striking, if slightly severe-looking, face.
Max waved a little when he spotted me and gave me a half-smile. "Roxas," he said when I was close enough to hear, "it's so good to see you again." Those words were enough to bring a grin to my face because, you know, I'm a dork. Gesturing to the woman next to him, he continued, "This is my friend Natasha Ivanova. Tasha, this is Roxas Skyhawke, the freshman I told you about."
Natasha gave me a shy smile very similar to Max's, and that, plus the fact that Max had just admitted to telling her about me, made me like her immediately. "Hello," she greeted in a quiet voice. "Max tells me you're going to help him fill all of SWIL's orders this year." Her smile widened a bit, and her gray eyes sparkled slightly. "I wish you both luck. I've heard Xemnas wants quite a lot this year."
I was of course thrilled that my hero and teacher was already planning on bringing me in on his projects, but the bizarre name confused me and dampened my excitement a bit. "SWIL?" I asked, looking between my two elders.
"The science-fiction club," Max answered with a shrug. "It stands for something -"
"Swarthmore Warders of Imaginative Literature," Natasha supplied.
"- but that's not really the point," Max finished. Giving me another half-smile, he admitted, "I invited Xemnas to join us, actually, so we could talk about what he wants. I hope you don't mind, Roxas?"
I did mind a little, but only a little. While I didn't like the thought of sharing Max - and God, wouldn't Sora be all over me for thinking that? - the earlier we could start working together, the better. "Nah, it's fine," I told him, and then, because I was feeling especially magnanimous, I turned to Natasha and asked, "Are you joining us as well?"
"Ah, no," she replied shyly. Her eyes flicked to Max, and I thought she flushed slightly although it might have been my imagination. "I have plans to eat with friends already, but thank you." Turning her smile to Max, she said, "I'll see you in class, then."
"See you," he responded warmly. His dark eyes watched her as she left, but then they turned to me and he asked, "Ready?"
I grinned at him. Dumb question, but there was no way I was going to tell him that. "You bet!"
Sharples has three main rooms where the students eat called, unimaginatively, the big room, the middle room, and the small room. Sora and his friends tend to eat in the middle room, so that's where I had been eating since arriving on campus. Max, however, led me straight to the small room and picked out one of the small four-top tables pushed up against the inner wall. Once we had both gotten food and settled in, he started the conversation by asking how my first week had been, if I liked my roommate, had I thought about my classes yet, etc. I responded with questions about his flight, how his little brother was doing, and if his dad had made a decision on whether to buy a shuttle or not yet, because seriously, whether he had a good relationship with his dad or not, that would be fricking cool! Somewhere along the line, he started telling me some of his ideas for his senior project - which was a whole year away, but still, it was good to think about it now - at which point I just sat there, captivated, and absorbed.
Eventually, the small part of my mind that wasn't busy being in awe of the genius in front of me began to realize that there were definite similarities between Max and my reserved roommate. Like K'nsolear, Max was extremely quiet and anti-social around most people. Riku liked to say that Max was the perfect roommate because, even when he was there, it was like he wasn't. Something about me, though, encouraged him to open up and be himself in a way he never did with any of his other friends. Maybe it was my wide-eyed wonder or maybe the fact that my passion for knowledge was as fiery and all-consuming as his. Whatever it was, it brought down his walls and unleashed his smile and, dammit!, the urge to help people come out of their shells must be genetic or something because that smile made me feel ten feet tall. And I found myself wondering what I could do to bring K'nsolear's out as well. What connection I could make with him like I had made with Max to make him feel comfortable and understood and happy.
Damn shy people are going to be the death of me, I swear.
When we had first entered the cafeteria, the room had been fairly empty, but as time went by, more and more students began to come in and fill it up. One table in particular had a large number of people at it, all chatting and laughing, and more people kept adding on at the ends or squeezing in between others. Natasha, I had noted early on, was one of them. Another was my RA who, halfway through my story of a chemistry class disaster, walked into the small room with a dark-haired friend only to be tackled by a skinny girl with long brown hair and more earrings than I could count. Several minutes of excited babbling passed, along the lines of "I'm so glad to see you! I missed you so much!" while the friend kept on walking, his nose in a book, seemingly unaware that his companion had nearly been flattened.
"That's SWIL," Max said with a little smirk when I stopped talking and instead followed the oblivious bookworm with my eyes.
"Oh," I replied, unable to think of anything else to say. My mind drifted back to the previous February and the staged shooting, and I scanned the table to see if I could recognize anyone. I quickly spotted the blond with the mustache, his arm around one girl while he seemed to be chatting up another, but I didn't see the red-head. Idly, I wondered if he had graduated last year or if he simply hadn't shown up on campus yet. If Max and I were going to be dealing with the club on a regular basis, I supposed I'd find out eventually.
With my thoughts occupied on these things, I didn't notice the newcomer approaching our table until he was towering over me, blocking my vision and a good deal of the overhead light. Startled, I looked up into an extremely cold and stony expression, framed by light blue hair that flowed down to the man's shoulders. Pale eyes stared unblinkingly at me, and even though they were blank and lifeless, I could still somehow sense disapproval in them. "Who," the man asked in a soft, yet undeniably threatening voice, "are you?"
Now, I'm no coward, and I've dealt with my fair share of bullies and other idiots who try to intimidate people, but this guy made me freeze down to my toes. I just stared at him, mouth slightly open, unable to do or say anything in reply. I was the classic deer in headlights, the rabbit hypnotized by the rattlesnake, and I just knew that in a matter of seconds there were going to be lots of sharp, pointy teeth coming my way to devour my soul and there was absolutely nothing that I could do to stop it.
And then Max spoke, solidifying himself as my complete and total hero in every sense of the word. "This is Roxas. He's a freshman and my apprentice. He is not to be bothered, or Xemnas can figure out how to get his toys himself. Is that clear, Saïx?"
Instantly, the cold, unavoidable death that had been bearing down on me evaporated, and the blue-haired man calmly pulled out the seat next to me and seated himself with a graceful elegance. "I will inform the others," he stated evenly, the threatening tone to his voice replaced with something more like refined boredom.
"Especially Larxene."
"Of course." Turning to me, he held out a hand in a friendly manner although he did not smile. "I am Saïx," he introduced himself, "co-president of SWIL along with Xemnas. Pleased to meet you, Roxas." I just stared at that hand for a long moment, but Saïx waited patiently and eventually I took it. Once I had released it again, he turned his attention to his dinner as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. "Xemnas will be here in a moment," he informed Max and then proceeded to eat.
With something close to desperation, I glanced over at Max who smiled encouragingly at me. Truth be told, I would have liked something a little more substantial to deal with the fact that an apparent psychopath had just sat down next to me. Something along the lines of a gun or a taser stick. But as the seconds passed and neither Saïx nor Max did or said anything further, something began to niggle at the back of my brain until it wormed its way past the unease and nervousness into the front of my mind: Max had called me his apprentice. His apprentice! Holy illegal substances, Batman, I was high after that, even if there was a potential chainsaw-murderer sitting next to me eating chicken pot pie.
A minute or two later, a second unsmiling stranger approached our table, although this one didn't attempt to turn me into a quivering mass of fight-or-flight instinct the way the first one had. Instead, he simply slid into the only remaining unoccupied seat without really looking at any of us. "Max," he greeted shortly in a deep, almost melodic voice.
"Xemnas," Max returned just as briefly.
This second man looked substantially older than any of the rest of us, prompting me to conclude that he was a senior. He had hair similar to my brother's boyfriend's, although I would call Riku's color a little more metallic than his duller gray. His eyes were sharp and clear, giving the impression that, even though he wasn't looking at you, he was more than aware of every little detail about you and everyone else around him. In fact, they were unnerving enough when they weren't looking at me that I kind of hoped they never did.
Max had produced a small notebook and a pencil from somewhere, and now he flipped the book open to a blank page. I noticed that his face had shut down again although there was a spark of anticipation in his dark eyes. "Let's hear it," he said without any preamble.
Apparently, this was the way Xemnas operated, for he immediately launched into his requests. "Pterodactyl Hunt. I want my birds to shoot venom. Something that will show up brightly against the fighters' armor so they can't pretend it didn't hit them or that it was already there, but of course it can't stain clothes or people will complain."
"Okay, so basically you want both custom armor and a fluid for the squirt guns so that when they come into contact with each other, the fluid turns a bright color. I can do that. Next."
"Some more of those blood capsules for the Black Knight, and I need another pair of those glowing contact lenses you made me last year for the Oracle."
"What happened to the last pair?"
"Lost."
Max sighed and jotted the request down. "I hope you got a bigger budget this year," he commented, "because those things weren't cheap."
"I'm fully prepared to use my own funds to cover any extra expenses," Xemnas replied easily.
The discussion went on like this for a fair while longer, with Xemnas listing things he wanted, Max taking notes and occasionally asking questions, and me just listening. Saïx didn't appear to do even that; he simply ate his meal in complete silence. I suppose to an outside observer, the whole thing would have been extremely boring, but I found it very interesting. Like Natasha had warned us, the list was long, but nothing on it seemed particularly difficult, although a few things sounded pretty intricate. About halfway through, I found myself agreeing with Max and wondering just how much money Xemnas was willing to contribute to make sure he got all his so-called "toys". From the sound of it, it would probably end up being a lot. The possibilities certainly were intriguing, though, and by the time Xemnas stopped talking and he and Saïx gathered up their trays, I was totally psyched. I had no clue why the two of them wanted all this stuff, but I could tell that it was going to be fun trying to figure out how to make it all.
After thanking us, Xemnas immediately moved away, but Saïx lingered and turned his pale eyes to me once more. In that same even, bland tone he had used before, he asked, "What is your surname, Roxas?"
I blinked at him once, surprised and mildly confused, before answering, "Skyhawke."
"S-k-y-h-a-w-k?"
"Add an 'e' on the end, but yeah."
"I shall add you to our email list," he proclaimed with a mild nod and then turned, apparently satisfied.
The announcement didn't bother me in the slightest - what's a few more emails, after all? - but Max's eyes narrowed at him with a sudden irritation that left me speechless. "Remember what I said, Saïx," he warned, subdued anger clear in his tone.
"Of course," Saïx replied soothingly. "We shall treat your apprentice with the utmost respect." Finally, the man smiled, and I immediately understood why he didn't do it very often. It was creepy.
Once Max and I were by ourselves again, I leaned over the table and demanded of him, "Are they really that bad?"
He looked up from his notes at my question and smiled at me, the expression once again open and unguarded. "Who, SWIL?" he asked, then continued without waiting for my answer, "No, they're not bad. It's just that a few of them like to have fun with the freshmen by scaring them a bit." He inclined his head gently at the other table and commented, "You've already experienced Saïx, and then there's Larxene who has the tendency to leer at a new person, lick her lips, and purr something along the lines of 'Mmm, fresh meat… .' I just wanted to spare you from the traditional initiation ceremonies."
"Oh, I see." Relieved, I sat back in my chair and nodded my gratitude. "Thanks." To be honest, his multiple warnings had worried me a bit, and I was glad that it wasn't something serious. True, Saïx had pretty much scared the crap out of me, but the rest of SWIL looked to be relatively harmless. Natasha had seemed quite nice, Demyx was okay if slightly airheaded, and Xemnas just looked to be super focused to the point of ignoring all else. No one seemed quite worthy of Max's anger or my brother's fear. In fact, they looked like a fairly fun group, if loud and a bit bizarre.
Until I got my first email from them. It was the following evening, and I had just gotten off of the phone with my parents when I decided to check my mail. Something called a 'SWILnews' was in my inbox from someone called xstpete1. Curious, I opened it to find what looked like minutes from a meeting. There were notes about this Pterodactyl Hunt thing, which Max had explained was a campus-wide live-action role-playing game that SWIL hosted annually, and other upcoming events like movie showings and the Activities Fair. Every so often, someone had inserted a snarky comment in parentheses and added either the tag "- L" or "- S", but other than that it seemed fairly normal. Then I got to the bottom and read the following:
ATTENDANCE (9/5/XX - aka "The Meeting of Eternal Darkness"):
India "All right then...WAR!" Todd
Bristol "bwa … not awake yet" Reeves
Zexion "(insert some long chemical equation here) (Seriously, Zex, stop doing that or we will scoop out your eyes with a rusty spork. - L) (Sporks are plastic. How can they be rusty? - S) (Shut up. - L)" Corazza
Vexen "microbiotic" Prince
Kris "Slightly late, but still the grand muckamuck of pancakes and orange juice" Chase
CeCe "Not early, not late, and DEFINITELY not a tribble" Hunter
Marluxia "More sentient than a pancake" Ferguson (A matter for debate. - L)
Xigbar "Attacked, captured, looted, pillaged, and had impolite references to my ancestry made by a marauding pack of teddy bears" Stuart
Natasha "surrounded by lunatics" Ivanova
Suki-Toki "I'm back! Who missed me?" (We did! - S&L) Mishima
Lexaeus "..." Boat
Xaldin "Crusader of the Lost Wombat" Fisher
Shelby "got two more piercings over the summer" Smith
Larxene "I said, PUT IT IN THE HAPPY BOX!" Workman
Lenamax "There's Klingons on the starboard bow! Scrape 'em off, Jim!" Shiroyama
Demyx "It's worse than that, it's physics, Jim!" O'Donohue (I cannae change the script, Jim! - L)
Axel was here. Really, he was. Don't you see the scorchmarks? (Very artistic. - S)
Luxord "SPOON!" Downes
Until next time. Your devoted co-presidents,
Saïx "Sweetness" Thornton and Xemnas "Light" St. Peter
And at that point, I had to take a moment and ask myself just what the hell I had gotten myself into this time.
A/N: Natasha Ivanova and Kris Chase belong to Little Pearl. Bristol Reeves belongs to Celestial Secrets. Suki-Toki Mishima belongs to Myuo Matsuro. Lenamax Shiroyama belongs to Dancing-Melody-69. Shelby Smith belongs to nothing-special-010. If your character didn't show up in the list, don't worry; she's a frosh and will show up later. Many, many thanks for all these fantastic girls!
Some notes: I have to say that this story has taken AU to the next level because SWIL no longer exists. It was renamed Psi Phi a few years back. I, however, do not care. To me, it was, is, and always will be SWIL. So there. :P Also, I said before that credit for the last names does not belong to me. Instead, it goes to LoquitorLatinae who was the first writer I came across to use the last names of the voice actors as the character last names. Brilliant idea, imo.