(I own nothing)

~Chapter Seven~

**drugs in this chapter**

Don't get me wrong; I love puppies, but... I do not love finding dog feces on my kitchen floor (although at least he'd had the decency to use the tile, where it would be easier to clean up). How had he gotten away from me so quickly? I'd been watching whim while I tidied up the house (I always get a little OCD about the place whenever we have company coming), and then he just disappeared when I turned my back for two seconds! When I found him, he was wagging his tail, apology written all over his face. I sighed. It doesn't do any good to yell at them after the fact, though, so I just gave him a very firm "No," and then took care of his mess. He seemed to understand that he'd done something wrong. I took him out into our small yard and sat him on the ground. "Good puppy," I gushed, playing it up like I'd seen done by other people who were potty-training babies or puppies (same thing, really). He sniffed around, and then... marked his territory (yes, that's euphemism). I praised him even more, and he "rewarded" me with a rather wet, disgusting kiss. "Oh, thank you. Are you done? Let's go back inside." He whined when I opened the door, his ears and tail drooping. "No, don't give me that sad look... how about a treat?" Apparently, he hadn't yet learned that word. I picked him up (portable pets are convenient) and took him inside. "Treat?" I repeated, giving him a small piece of bologna. He stared at me mournfully. Was he still hungry? I never knew how much you were supposed to give to animals, especially baby ones. So I gave him some more bologna, just in case (wouldn't want him wasting away on me). Axel walked in the door as he was licking his chops, again staring at me expectantly.

"Are you feeding him?" He demanded, kicking the door open and immediately making a mess, depositing (and spilling) grocery bags everywhere.

"Yes, what's wrong with that?" I snapped.

"I fed him while you were in the shower; don't let him fool you." But he looked so sad, and so hungry... and so goddamn adorable. "He knows how cute he is, and he will use it to his advantage," Axel told me seriously. "Just like me. We know we can get anything we want, just by looking our best." He smoothed his hair back.

"Bullshit," I coughed. "Do you actually intend to consume all of that in a single sitting?" I asked, once I realized just how much food he'd gotten. Axel shrugged.

"Don't shake your head at me, Zexxy; it's for everyone to share!"

"Even so... How many people are coming? Not everyone you know again, right?"

"Chill out, just a few people. I told Larxene to bring Namine; you know how much she likes animals." Namine is Larxene's younger sister. She's pretty cool, but there was one problem...

"I won't have a minor around this." I gestured to the vaporizer. Obviously, there would be smoking. Axel laughed.

"Zexion, my friend, you've got a lot to learn about the world. You know sweet, little, innocent Namine? She can totally outsmoke her sister." What?

"That's impossible."

"Not so," Axel tsked, shaking his head. "I've seen it with my own eyes. Many times. You'll see." But still...

"But... we shouldn't be exposing her to illegal things," I protested weakly. He shook his head again.

"I'm telling you, don't worry. You'll see."

Fortunately, it really was only a few people (with Axel, "a few" more often than not meant about twenty). Demyx and Roxas, obviously, Larxene and Namine, as well as our rather insane friend, Vexen, and Marluxia, who is even more gay than any of us (and all of us combined). Roxas's slightly-younger brother (I think there are like, ten minutes between them), Sora, and his "friend," Riku, showed up later (just because they're not out doesn't mean that they're not totally obvious), although Sora was a bit apprehensive about smoking.

"I've never done anything like it before, you know?"

"Well, you don't have to," I reassured him. "Don't do anything you're not comfortable doing." I didn't want to pressure him, after all...

"Nah, I'm gonna at least try it, but- Oh my god, puppy!" He shouted, showing just as much enthusiasm as the puppy, as the two ran towards each other, and he fell to his knees, hugging him immediately. "I love him!" he declared as the dog "cleaned" his face thoroughly. Riku politely introduced himself to me. He seemed nice enough...

"Isn't he wonderful?" Demyx piped up, appearing from somewhere random, and standing over Sora and the dog, who were still showering each other with attention. "I love him!"

"Me too!" Shrieked Sora, smiling widely. "He's so cute!"

"And so is Zexion!" Demyx added, jumping up and spinning in a full circle, coming to stand with his arms around my waist. I blushed, swatting him away half-heartedly.

"Stop it," I chastised him. "There are people around!"

"Ooooh," Axel chimed in. "Then what do you do when there aren't people around?" I would kill him.

"Oh, as if we don't already know," Marluxia retorted. Since when had he been in the conversation? I guess he just automatically assumed that if we were talking about anything gay, he was included.

"So, Axel," Larxene called out, arms folded over her chest. "Where's this vaporizer you keep talking about?" With a flourish, Axel yanked off the sheet that was covering the machine.

"Ta-dah! Here it is. Isn't it beautiful?" Larxene stared at it for a moment in silence.

"Yeah, it is. I can find nothing to insult..." Axel threw his arms in the air in victory.

"The queen has spoken! It is indeed suitable for her 'high' court!" She punched Axel, and fairly hard (I could hear it from where I was standing).

"Shut the fuck up; you're making a fool of yourself, and we haven't even started smoking yet." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Maybe you haven't started, but that doesn't mean that some of us didn't get an early start." Indeed, Axel had been smoking joints for the last two hours, and Roxas had gotten a bottle of strawberry flavored vodka from somewhere, and was rather drunk.

"Arf!" I looked over at the puppy, who was very blatantly sitting at Namine, panting and looking expectant.

"What?" She asked softly, kneeling down to scratch his head. "What do you want?" He yipped again, his long tongue snaking out and hitting her cheek. She giggled, kissing him on the nose. "Aww, he's really cute, you guys," she told Axel and me, blushing. She was so adorable; I still didn't believe what Axel had said about her. "Do you have any ideas for names yet?"

"Ein!" Roxas shouted. "NAME HIM EIN!" He stumbled towards the dog, bumping into Namine in the process.

"What the fuck, Roxas?" Larxene snapped, launching into attack mode instantly. "Learn how to walk!"

"Like you're any better once you've had a few!" Axel appeared to defend his beloved's honor. "Chill out." Her eyes flashed dangerously.

"Don't tell me to chill out; why the fuck is he already that drunk?"

"Larx, it's okay," Namine muttered. "I'm fine; it wasn't his fault."

"But he-"

"No! It's okay, really. Don't fight, please," she implored, her voice wavering slightly. Although it was clearly an act, that was all it took to get Larxene to back down.

"Sorry, Namine," She cooed, like she was talking to a small child. "I didn't mean to upset you..."

" It's okay." The younger girl smiled at her sister. "You know what would be more okay, though?" She rifled around in her bag, and pulled out the biggest plastic bag of weed I'd ever seen- effectively shattering all of my preconceptions about her. "If we got started." A cheer went around the room, and Axel punched me in the arm.

"See? What did I tell you?" I sighed.

"Whatever..." I hated admitting defeat to Axel- who was already over by Namine, opening the bag and practically inhaling her weed.

" Damn!" He shouted, draping a muscular arm around her tiny shoulders. "I don't know how you do it, but you get the best shit ever. Roxxy, come smell this!" Roxas stuck his head halfway in the bag- and then he really did inhale the poor girl's weed.

"Agh, i's in my nose!" Larxene had one hand on her forehead, and she was clearly struggling to keep her cool.

"Damn, he's such a moron," she fumed, watching with contempt as Axel helped Roxas get the green flakes out of his face.

"Just let me handle it, honey," Axel told him kindly, patting him on the head like a puppy. Roxas nodded mutely, standing off to the side as he gently brushed off shake.

"Why don't you just grind it?" He asked, gesturing wildly in the air, and then giggling when he accidentally hit Demyx. Who didn't even seem to notice, as he was trying his best to annoy me (a phrase which here means nibbling on my ears, cheeks, etc. with just his lips, like... a cow, or giraffe, or something...).

" Because, my love, this is quality chronic. You can't be so rough with this sort of thing... if you're gentle with it, you don't lose all of these lovely crystals," he explained, holding a bud up to the light, squinting at, apparently, crystals. Roxas nodded seriously, as if he actually understood what Axel was talking about (not in this condition)- and that he was following the conversation (decidedly not).

"Would you stop talking about it and just get on with it?" Vexen suggested.

" Oh, I'm getting there. Just chill," Axel rolled his eyes, but he did hurry up. Generally, it's safest to take what few "suggestions" Vexen makes. A few moments later, Axel cleared his throat. "Alright, everyone. Gather 'round and make yourselves comfortable, because you're not going to want to miss out on this." The puppy, still anonymous, plopped down right in front of the vaporizer- effectively putting himself at the center of our still-forming circle. Sora laughed.

"Don't worry, we didn't forget you!" The dog wagged his tail, rolling onto his back and looking meaningfully at Sora. "Come here! Puppy, come see me!" He called, and although the dog wagged his tail madly at Sora's voice, he refused to budge. "Why won't you come closer?" He lamented, scooting toward the dog, throwing his arms around him when he reached him. As Sora and the nameless puppy wrestled, Axel turned the vaporizer on, and the first bag began slowly inflating.

"Okay, Sora, watch really closely," Axel instructed, "because the person who gets the first hit is a pro."

"By which you mean you?" Marluxia scoffed.

"No, you idiot. Namine, of course." Axel passed the now-full bag to a blushing Namine.

"Oh, are you sure? It's your house and vaporizer, and you-"

"Namine," Axel interrupted. "Namine. Really? We've been through this. It's your weed, and besides-ladies first, and you're the only lady here."

"B'Larxene is 'ere," Roxas reminded him.

"I know, but she hardly qualifies as being 'ladylike.' Which is beside the point! Namine, just hit that already, before this bag is full."

"Oh! Right, sorry." She inhaled deeply, and then passed the bag to Axel, who passed it to Roxas, and then me, and so on. I kept waiting for Namine to exhale, but it wasn't until the bag reached Demyx that she blew out her lungful. "Woah." She smiled dreamily, and then lay back onto the pillow she'd set next to her. Instantly, the puppy was in her face, making sure she was alright. "You're so cute! I love you!" She told him happily as they smiled at each other.

"'E looks like y'r keychainnnn," Roxas drawled after he'd had a hit. Namine giggled.

"You're right, and they're so cute!" She held up said keychain(nnnn).

"What is it?" Vexen asked, tilting his head sideways to look at it. "Aside from... strange." As if he had room to talk!

"It's a moogle!" Roxas told him, as if that cleared up everything.

"It's just one of those cute things that people will spend money on. You know, like Hello Kitty, and stuff like that. Hot Topic has about a million... um, things, you know. With moogles. Moogle things." Marluxia explained, getting lost at the end.

"Really, Mar, they've got a million things?" Vexen mocked, grinning widely. Axel was right; this was fucking amazing weed. "Moogle things?" The puppy arfed, wagging his tail.

"His name is Moogle! " Roxas shouted, as loudly as he possibly could. When the dog barked again, we all agreed that he liked the name (even though he was probably just responding to Roxas yelling), and it was decided.

"C'mere, Moo," Larxene piped up from her spot on the couch- she, like myself, had been merely observing up until now. She (gasp!) smiled when Moogle waddled over to her, standing on his hind legs and whining when he couldn't jump high enough. "Yeah, you're kinda like a cow." She picked him up and set him on her lap, where he sat for a whole minute or so, randomly licking her face and then jumping down, making his rounds to everyone else. All of us knew better than to say anything about it to Larxene- we value our limbs, and I for one prefer to have them in working condition.

"So, Sora," Riku murmured to the smaller boy, holding out a new bag when it was his turn. "You ready?" Sora nodded. "Okay, then just put this in your mouth, and suck until you've gotten enough." I'm not making this up, he actually said it like that, all with a straight (hah!) face, and while being very smooth and touching him suggestively to 'help' him. After breathing in, Sora looked around for a minute, until turning to Riku, who nodded. "You can let go now."

"Did I do it right?" Sora asked eagerly as he exhaled. "Ohhhh... n-never mind..." everyone in the circle laughed, Sora included. "I liiike this," he muttered as he leaned heavily against Riku, giggling. Riku cleared his throat nervously, blushing. He looked slightly panicked, like he wasn't sure how to react to Sora being all over him, but then Sora passed him the bag, and he hit it, passing it back to Namine. A moment later, his shoulders relaxed, and he put a tentative arm around Sora, who was now draped across his lap. Across the room, Roxas snickered quietly. Sora flashed him a dazzlingly innocent-looking smile, flipped him the bird, and then proceeded to ignore him, snuggling against Riku's chest.

"Look at them," Marluxia muttered, sounding rather put-out. "They're all snuggly."

"No," Vexen declared, crossing his arms over his chest. Marluxia sniffed, jutting his lip out and frowning.

"Why don't we ever snuggle?" He whined, fixing Vexen with his saddest, most intense look, twirling a strand of his pinkish hair. Vexen shifted uncomfortably, and then broke eye-contact, sighing heavily. Marluxia's face broke into a grin, and he threw his arms around the blond.

"Yay! Snuggles!" He chimed. "Everyone's snuggling!" And it was true. There was Demyx and myself, Riku and Sora, Axel and Roxas, and he and Vexen, and then Larxene, Namine, and Moogle were all curled up together, looking content.

"Yay snuggles," Roxas repeated, yawning hugely.

"Jesus, you guys," Axel shook his head. "Don't you all fall asleep before we get to the food..." Well, that shook everyone out of their sleepiness- although not their laziness.

"Axel!" Demyx moaned, hugging me tightly. "Help! Toss me... those." He gestured vaguely toward the food pile, so Axel pushed an entire grocery bag toward us. "Thank you so much; you're such a good friend, Axel," He gushed, tearing up slightly. "Everyone is such good friends... I love you guys." Larxene, who was gently stroking Namine's hair, laughed aloud

"You're so high," She told him, although her voice held no malice. "We're all totally blown." None of us could really dispute that. She smiled at us- yes, Larxene smiled- at all of us! "And you know what? There's absolutely nothing wrong with that."

The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.
~Samuel Butler

I never even thought about even having Vexen in this fic, but somehow he ended up here- and paired with Marluxia, of all people! Well, you know how these things go.

The last bit, where Demyx is all emotional, is how I get when I'm drunk. I switch between being really happy ("I love everyone! I love you! Can I have a hug? I love hugs!"), and feeling like I've done something wrong and being all apologetic ("I'm sorry I'm so annoying... I'm an awful person! I'm so sorry!"). Mostly, though, I just really like everyone.

we had a huge ice storm last sunday night (yay michigan!), and our internet and phones JUST came back on this sunday (fuck you, comcast!). so I figured it was time to post.

I'm sick... :( oh well. I feel a little better. of course, fanfiction ALWAYS makes things better. :D

OOH! I got a tattoo! it's of my rat, Phoebe, who's about 4, and I don't think she's going to last too much longer. :( she's got tumors all over, and one of them is on her spine, so her back legs don't work. :( she's such a beast, though, and I love her. she was my first rat ever, and I've been in love with them ever since. many people have met phoebe, and totally changed their mind about rats, because she's so sweet and awesome. :)

I thought Moogle was an appropriate name for a corgi. :)

ALRIGHT, then, I guess I'm done rambling. let me know what you think! I love all of your reviews.