Warnings: Bit of language.
Pairing: Reno/Demyx
Sassy's Note: Okay, I admit, I cheated a little bit on this one, but I promise I stuck within my self-imposed rules! No matter how much I was pushing it…
Rose
"Oh? Hey! Axel, you're back!"
"Yeah…"
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing.Uh… Let's get out of here for a bit, yeah?"
"Okay…"
It wasn't raining. Usually, when one feels like crap, it rains. Nope, not today. The sun was shining, and the birds were singing.
Demyx wished it would rain. The rain made him feel better. All this sunshine was almost depressing - though not for the people around him. He glanced around.
Kids were happily bouncing around and eating icecream. Parents were equally as lighthearted. Young couples were sitting close together, sipping from the same over-sized glass. His eyes lingered for a moment on one such couple. Then, dejectedly, he looked away and took a gulp of his cream soda.
"Axel?"
"What?"
"Why is Roxas so pissed off at you?"
"I have no idea. He's just being a bitch today."
"Didn't you two have a mission tonight?"
"Yeah, like that's happening…"
"Oh. Sorry."
It wasn't like Demyx was unhappy. He was content. This place was nice, and the people were friendly. He had made a nice little life for himself here.
But he wasn't happy either. This place… it was too boring. The people were too normal. Nothing exciting ever happened.
Twilight Town had to be the dullest world there was.
Why did he have to end up here? He really wanted to go to Radiant Garden. There was always something going on there.
Or, there had been…
"Superior ever send you to Radiant Garden?"
"Where?"
"Radiant Garden."
"Never heard of it."
"Oh. Well, it's nice there. I'd like to live there after I get my heart back. Always something interesting going on."
"Wait, are you talking about Hollow Bastion?"
"What?"
"Hollow Bastion is Radiant Garden, dumbass."
He couldn't travel. He'd tried. He couldn't use the dark paths, and he didn't have a gummi ship. He was stuck in this world.
It kinda sucked.
"This sucks."
"What?"
"Superior's got me on a long mission to the Collesium."
"How long?"
"Until the tournament's over."
"… When are you leaving?"
"Tonight."
"…"
"Axel? What's wrong?"
"…Be careful."
He gulped from his drink again. He'd almost kill to get a gummi or access to his pathways again. They were so easy and convenient, and he had never thought twice about them when he was in the Organization. He guessed it was true. You didn't miss something until it was gone.
"Axel! I'm back!"
"I'd thought you'd gotten killed by a stray thunderbolt or something."
"Heh No, the fights were just a bit intense this time around."
"…"
"…"
"Hey, Demyx?"
"Yeah?"
Demyx sighed and leaned back in his chair, looking skyward. He should be out doing something instead of sitting here. He should be out being productive. He was restless. He needed something to channel his energy into.
The young couple caught his eye again. They were smiling and holding hands and exchanging small kisses when they thought no one was looking. He snorted softly and pointedly looked away. He made sure not to look at them when the young man tucked a thorn-less rose into the girl's hair.
A rose…
"Have you ever kissed a guy before?"
"What?"
"PsshNevermind."
"Uhm, what do—"
"…"
"…"
"Well, now you have."
"A-A-Axel…"
"Here…"
"What – that's…"
"A rose. Now shut the fuck up."
Almost angrily, Demyx rose from his seat to get another cream soda. Stupid teenagers. Couldn't they take that somewhere else? The lady behind the counter seemed offended when he slammed the munny down on the counter and snatched his drink away.
He made sure to sit with his back to the couple when he returned to the sitting area outside.
"Dem? You awake?"
"Nngghh… Eh Axel. Mm… welcome back."
"Scoot over and make some room."
"Too comfy…"
"Dumbass.Here."
"Marluxia's going to get pissed if you keep stealing his roses."
"Like I care."
Public indecency. He should report it. He took a deep breath.
No… he shouldn't. They were young and in love. They were doing nothing wrong.
He stared down at his drink. He used to know how they felt.
"He's late… damnit…"
Not too long ago, but long enough for the fine details to have faded from his memory, he had been just like them.
Well, not just like them. His blatant lack-of-heart prevented him from having true emotions.
But Demyx had been right on one count. Sure, the Nobodies' hearts weren't complete, but they weren't gone. After all, he had his back now.
He wished he could at least thank Sora for that.
"It's been almost an hour… maybe I should just go back to the Castle."
But, here he was, stuck in this stupid, boring world with no access to his former non-life or his former collegues.
Demyx really couldn't decide if regaining his heart was worth all that he had lost.
"If he's not here in five minutes, I'm going back. Bastard…"
And if feeling lousy all the time was what having a heart meant, he didn't want it. He couldn't regain what his Somebody had lost anyway… His Other was long gone.
Demyx didn't return to being Dyme. He simply became Demyx with a heart.
But this couldn't have been the case for all of them. Roxas returned to Sora. He wondered what did happen to the others…
"That's it. I'm leav-"
He wondered what happened to Axel…
"Demyx! Wait!"
"Axel?"
"Dem, sorry I'm late. Superior was being a bastard, and I tried to leave, but he kept me and…"
"For an hour, Axel?"
"Yeah, and I knew I was late, and… here, I got this for you before I left."
"Another rose…"
"Mm hmm."
"Why do you keep giving me roses? Do you consider me a girl?"
"If I thought of you as a girl, I'd buy you dresses, dumbass."
"And the roses?"
"You remind me of a rose."
He didn't know if Axel ever returned to his Other. He'd never heard the other Nobody speak of his Other. Axel had always preferred to talk about the future rather than the past. He'd said he'd find a way to travel from world to world until he found a place he'd deem suitable for him to live. Yeah, and Demyx would be with him. Always.
See how well that turned out.
"… I'm a rose?"
"Yeah."
"How?"
If Demyx was perfectly honest with himself, he had never been so hurt than when Axel left after Roxas. He understood that Roxas and Axel shared a connection, but he was Axel's rose, not Roxas.
"You've got all these little layers, and the further in, the softer and more gentle you are, but you've got thorns and can be dangerous when you need to be."
"I…"
"And you're beautiful."
"Axel."
"You're myrose, understand?"
"Hey." Demyx started, looked up, and almost choked. There was a redhead standing by his table. For a moment, he was close to screaming, but at another scan with his eyes… it couldn't be. The stranger's eyes were blue, and the little marks around his eyes he had thought were teardrops weren't.
"Oh, hello," he said politely, attempting a friendly grin.
"This seat taken?" He indicated the chair across from Demyx.
"Oh, no, go ahead." Demyx grinned at him, though it was pained. He just looked so much like Axel…
"Name's Reno, yo."
"Demyx."
"Heh…"
"What?"
"Nothing." Demyx raised an eyebrow at Reno.
"Sorry I'm late, Dem."
"Live around here?" asked Reno.
"Yeah. Close by." Demyx shyly tapped on the rim of his glass
"Native of Twilight Town?"
"Nah. Moved here recently."
"I got this for you before I left."
"Like it here?"
"It's… alright."
"Seen better?"
"Yeah."
"You remind me of a rose."
"Me too." Reno grinned. This made Demyx all the more uncomfortable. Quickly, he drained the rest of his soda and stood up.
"Uh… it was nice to meet you, but I have to go."
"Wait…"
"Demyx, wait…"
"Demyx, wait…"
"Huh?" Demyx shook his head. Reno was standing, serious expression on his face, hand outstretched and holding tight to Demyx's sleave.
"Wait."
"Wait."
"What?" Demyx half shouted.
"Sorry I'm late, Dem…"
Reno handed him a single red rose.
-end-
Sassy: Choking on the fluff yet? This one made even me happy.
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