Hello, lovelies! :) Thanks for the reviews! Got this taken care of, even though school's started, and I'm positively disgusted with that idea... but anywho!
Enjoy!
Ten Reasons Why I'm Screwed:
A list by Riku Tatsu
1. I didn't finish that college assignment that was due today.
2. Said assignment was due on the computer I've been currently using, but because of facebook, I was distracted.
3. I was distracted because Sora kept sending me very, very… well, messages that were never meant to be seen by children.
4. I am now in bed with Sora. Maybe the list should be "was screwed"?
5. I have no incentive to get up and send in that damn assignment.
6. Roxas is downstairs, so if I get up to leave, he'll know what I was doing.
7. Eau de sex is hard to get rid of.
8. I don't want to talk but Sora is in the bed-talk part of his love-making ritual.
9. I'll have to talk. It is not an option. Bed talk is not something you can wriggle out of… I've tried. He'll want me to be deep. They don't call me shallow Riku for nothing…
10. Did I mention that his mother doesn't know we're together?
"… and so I decided that you're not opening up because there's something you keep hiding from me." Sora snuggled closer and ran his fingers through Riku's shiny, silver hair, his eyes troubled.
"What?" Riku gave the most intelligent response he could think of.
"You're hiding something." Sora said softly, kissing Riku's neck and letting his lips glide down his collar bone. Riku shivered and shook his head. This was the last conversation he wanted to have.
"What am I hiding from you, Sora?" Riku asked, feigning confusion. Sora shook his head.
"I don't know what you're hiding! That's why I'm so confused. I can't figure it out. Roxas says I should just ask you if it bothers me so much but-"
"Wait, you told Roxas that I've been hiding things from you?" Riku felt a shiver of fear rush across his abdomen, and it wasn't because Sora thought he was keeping secrets. Roxas was quite a fearsome thing to behold when he was enraged. Riku could hear him banging around the kitchen after another day he'd quit work, angry music blaring from the kitchen radio.
"Well, I said that I was worried something was bothering you, and so it was bothering me." Sora looked down and fumbled with the pillow that lay askew underneath him. Riku knew that he was embarrassed to bring it up, so to make it up to his lover he gently grabbed his chin and lifted his face up slowly, hoping his eyes were clear and honest as he drank in Sora's appearance.
"Sora," He breathed, leaning in and brushing his lips across his face, ghosting over his cheek and caressing his lips. "I would never keep secrets from you. I promise you, love." He carefully kissed his eyelids that had fluttered shut, and then smiled serenely down at him.
"Really?" Sora asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"There is nothing I would hide from you." Riku lied, smiling.
Roxas was working. Again. His apron was tied taut around his waist and he was taking orders, informing Demyx what they wanted as he happily sang along with the music that crooned in the speaker system overhead.
"Two double lattes, one with caramel and one a mocha; add nuts to the mocha and make the caramel an extra large with double shots and whipped crème." Roxas barked as the long line seemed to grow even longer, the lunch rush growing as more people piled in for their coffee goodness. Roxas couldn't stand them, and glared at the crowd, wishing a sharp object in his hand. Right at that moment. Hungrily, he stared at the blades in the blender as he mechanically grabbed munny and kept on his toes.
"YOU HAVE STOOOOOOLEN, MY HEART!" Demyx cried out happily, handing over one of the lattes with a flourish.
"Demyx, you can't sing, love! Make your dad proud and kindly shut up!" Luxord made his way out of the back room, smirking and patting Roxas soundly on the back. "Glad you see you back, Roxas! I knew you'd love working with your dad." Roxas glowered at him as he walked around the counter, greeting a few customers and smiling amiably.
"You made me take the job against my will." Roxas snarled as his dad leaned over the counter and winked.
"That's what your good old dad's for. You knew the odds and acted accordingly. Proud of you!" Luxord grinned broadly and moved through the crowd, his one earring glinting in the fluorescent lights. "I've got me a meeting on the island again boys, I'll be back to the burrow late! Tell your mother I'll bring her some of that paopu fruit she loves so much!" A couple of the customers smiled at that, but Roxas merely flipped his father the finger, earning the audience to frown and boo him, Luxord laughing and walking out of the door, knowing that the people loved him more than they did his son. Ah, the perks of being a coffee shop owner.
"Will you shut up?!" Roxas growled as they audience quieted, Demyx holding up the "silence" sign from behind. Giving a thumbs up, he dropped the sign as Roxas turned and gave him a particularly nasty look that made Demyx imagine someone running a rhinoceros horn through his neck.
"Someone's in a bad mood." Axel slipped through the crowd and reached the front of the line, winking as Roxas face-palmed and blindly reached for the plastic spoon bin, ready to impale himself.
"Whoa, easy there, turbo. No need to be violent." Axel easily grabbed the spoon and put it back, shaking his head. "Medium coffee, str-"
"Straight black, keep the change, got it." Roxas snapped, reaching under the counter to pull out an already prepared cup that had been in the heater box. Axel stared at him for a moment before he raised an eyebrow, handing over the same amount of munny he always gave.
"It's funny how you know my order." He commented brightly, taking a big drink of it and stepping aside, letting another group walk up to order.
"You get it every day, Axel. And you go and sit in that particular booth," Roxas jabbed a thumb to the one that gave Axel a perfect view of him, "and stare at me until I go crazy." A fangirl sighed dreamily at them, but when Roxas turned his death glare on her she quailed under the stare and shrunk away from them.
"Crazy how?" Axel purred, making Demyx laugh brightly and Roxas turn a violent shade of red.
"Crazy enough to commit murder." He bit out, grabbing someone's munny from their hand and taking their order mechanically, hardly thinking.
"Kinky." Axel chirped, ruffling Roxas's hair before turning and making his way to his usual table, laptop bag over his shoulder and coffee in hand. Glowering, Roxas continued working his way through the crowd, slowly draining the shop of its occupants as people happily took their daily dose of drugs and meandered back to work or who knows where.
"Usual chai, Roxas." Zexion moved his slate grey hair from his eyes and blinked rapidly. "Busy day? You generally don't work with Demyx." Roxas glanced back at his brother to see him frozen completely still, mouth open and eyes wide. Rolling his own eyes at his brother's idiocy, he shrugged and turned back to Zexion.
"He works rush days." Roxas said by way of explanation, kicking his left leg into Demyx's shin to get him back to work. Demyx shook his head slowly, dark blue eyes trained on the soft featured emo kid in front of him.
"Is he alright?" Zexion asked, leaning away as Demyx gave a half smile and waved stupidly. Roxas rolled his eyes again and grabbed the cup, fixing Zexion's order by himself and serving it up, taking the munny and pushing his brother over as Zexion gave him another odd glance before thanking Roxas and going to his usual corner seat to read from a book that came out of nowhere.
Whew! Long sentence. Probably a run-on.
Oh, right.
"Roxas," A voice hissed behind him, and a hand clamped onto his shoulder. Demyx whirled him around and leaned down closely, face dark and a little terrifying.
"What do you want?" Roxas asked, exasperated and just a little scared.
"How do you know Zexion like that?" Demyx breathed, looking over to see the person in question sipping his drink and reading, not noticing that he was under close scrutiny.
"He's Leon's brother, dunce." Roxas rolled his eyes. "Look, if you like him so much-"
"SHUSH!" Demyx squealed and dragged Roxas under the counter, clapping a hand over his brother's mouth. "He can't know that I like him, ok?" Demyx pleaded softly.
"Why not?" Roxas demanded.
"Because… because…" Demyx faltered for a second and Roxas felt himself giving in to the hopeless look. "Because he's so much cooler than me, Rox, and he'd turn me down, and he probably thinks I'm ridiculous and I'm sure that he- I'm- I'm not his type, ok? Ok, Rox? So, no spilling the beans?" Demyx looked so crestfallen that if Roxas had to give it a score from 1-10, he'd give it an 11.
"I won't say anything." Roxas promised. Demyx beamed and thanked him, looking up and around the coffee shop happily. "But… can you get off of me, please?" Roxas asked politely. As Demyx scrambled up and pulled Roxas up with him, the weary blonde looked through the shop to see Axel staring at him, something akin to amusement on his face. Glowering, Roxas roved past him and watched the others, their lives so much simpler than Roxas felt that his was. Why did his life have to be difficult? What was so wrong with him that his life was so insane?
"Heads up, Leon's coming." Demyx warned as he began wiping down the counters, humming with the song that was playing. Roxas looked out of the window and died just a little inside as he saw that Leon was indeed making his way towards their shop, fists clenched. As he walked in, the newly replaced bell chimed brightly, offsetting the menacing appearance. It certainly was less daunting to see a big, tall, biker guy with chimes as his background music.
"Hey, Leon…" Roxas said, busying himself with the register. Leon gave him a cold, calculating look before he began making his way to the back office where Cloud generally hid out.
"He's not working today, Leon." Demyx said as he wrung out the rag and kept cleaning. Leon stopped, his face blank but his eyes burning. Turning back to face them he was composed, but the danger lie underneath the intimidating stare that he held.
"Then where is he? Naminé says he's not home, and you say he's not here." Leon folded his arms and shook his head. "One of you is lying." He concluded softly.
"Well, he never came in here, so he might be at the beach-" Demyx said weakly.
"He hates the beach." Leon dismissed that idea.
"Or he could be working at the shop." Demyx suggested.
"Shop's closed." Leon shook his head at that one too.
"He might not want to see you right now." Roxas cut in quietly, watching the way Leon's face broke for just a moment- just enough to show that there was a human underneath. Then the moment was gone and angry, cool kid Leon was back.
"That may be the case, but I need to see him." Leon informed them coolly, stuffing his hands into his jacket pocket. Demyx and Roxas exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison.
"He doesn't want to see you. Can't you leave him alone?" Demyx pleaded. Roxas watched with narrowed eyes as Leon seemed to be fighting some internal battle, his eyes locked with Roxas's as he tried to convey some hidden emotion, something that Roxas had never seen. It was like he was trying to show the hurt and pain he'd been through, the confusion and sorrow that left him broken a little on the inside.
"Look, kid, I don't want to bother him. But, please- please just tell me where he is." Leon took a few steps forward, eyes locked with Roxas's the entire time. Roxas returned the stare, lips pursed, face torn with indecision as he watched.
"So don't bother him; leave him alone." Demyx suggested.
"You don't understand." Leon whispered, staring at Roxas.
"No, you don't-"
"He's at the shop." Roxas spoke softly but it was enough to make Demyx splutter to a stop and Leon's eyes widen.
"Roxas, what are you-"
"The back window slides to the left and makes a door; the rest is up to you." Roxas said by way of reply, turning away to continue cleaning, grabbing the rag from Demyx to do so. Demyx stared, wide-eyed as Leon appraised Roxas for a moment before turning to leave.
"Thanks." He muttered, walking out of the shop. Roxas didn't say anything though, his face blank as he worked.
"Roxas…" Demyx stared wondrously at his brother.
"He needs to fix this." Roxas stated gravely, wiping his brow and turning away, ending the discussion.
"Go Roxas… fight, fight, fight." Axel made his way over to the counter, arms folded and eyes sparkling intently. Demyx winced and made a motion across his throat, but Roxas had had enough. Turning around, he stomped his way past the counter and grabbed a hold of Axel's arm, dragging him easily away from the counter and towards the exit, face twisted in anger.
"You know, I'm usually the one who really takes… control of things, but I kinda like you getting rough with me." Axel chirped behind him, and Roxas kicked the door open, throwing Axel out of it and watching the older, taller, stronger youth stumbled onto the pavement and catch himself before he fell.
"You're not welcome back in this shop!" Roxas snarled dangerously. Axel stared blankly at him for a moment, not quite catching on.
"So, wait… you're kicking me out?" He questioned. Roxas face-palmed and nodded slowly.
"I'm tired of this. Get out." He ground out, shaking his head.
"I'm already out, babe." Axel smiled roguishly, not realizing the imminent danger he was in. Roxas however felt ready to pelt the red head with whatever heavy object that was small enough to lift but big enough to maim.
"Then stay out." He irritably snarled before walking into the shop and slamming the door, locking it behind him. The occupants inside eyed him warily as he stuck his tongue out at Axel and stomped back to his post.
"Are we closed?" Demyx asked, confused. Roxas wasn't listening though; he was watching Axel as the rejected boy dusted himself off and tossed a wink towards Roxas before turning around and walking away.
"After these people are done, let them out and put up the closed sign." Roxas ordered as he yanked his apron off and rolled up his sleeves. "We'll open back up around five thirty for the evening rush, but right now… I need to relax." Roxas shook his head and walked into the back room, running his hands through his hair.
"Three weeks…" He groaned softly. "Three weeks of being followed around by that- that thing." He looked up at the ceiling. "Why me?" He asked.
Nobody answered.
"Well, God's often busy." He mused, grabbing his sister's magazine to see what was so interesting about the pages within.
Zexion liked peace and quiet. He liked reading. He liked them separate. He also liked them together. Peace and quiet while he was reading was heaven on earth. This was why he'd show up to The Strife Coffee House to read; Roxas respected his desire for quiet and tried to keep the place on the down low while he was there reading. Zexion liked Roxas for that fact alone. It was nice for one person to let him find peace and quiet. And it helped that he was just a little cute, too.
The Strife Coffee House's main counter worker made him smile a little on the inside.
Zexion had seen the entire spectacle between Roxas and Axel, and it made him a little annoyed because of all of the noise that it had caused. Roxas had passed him an apologetic look before seeking refuge in the back, and with his innocent blue eyes and messy light blonde hair, Zexion could forgive him. He knew he wouldn't be kicked out when all of the others were kicked out. No, he knew Roxas would let him stay as long as he wanted.
The Strife Coffee House's main counter worker made him smile a little on the outside, too.
He could hear someone singing off key along with the music that played softly for ambience, a soothing acoustic sound that would go with retro city coffee shops. Their voice was happy and light as they sang along, but it grated on Zexion's nerves to hear that voice. It was hard to read about mystical folklore when there was a higher pitched voice carrying over the words on the page. Who the devil was singing?! Zexion looked up darkly to catch the criminal, but the moment he looked up, the singing stopped and the only sound was the light guitar. Suspicious, he looked back down, but the singing didn't pick back up. Maybe the person knew he despised them for distracting him? Good. He ate people like that for breakfast.
He continued reading, hardly noticing the way that Roxas's brother was staring at him. As long as he was quiet, Zexion could care less what the dirty blonde haired college student did.
"Hey." His voice suddenly sounded squeakily nearby, and Zexion frowned, putting his bookmark into his book before looking up to see Demyx watching him nervously. He was shifting around in his brown apron and standard white shirt with black dress pants, his name cheerily scrawled across the front. Demyx. Zexion quite liked that name. It had character.
The boy however, had interrupted his reading.
"Do you need something?" Zexion asked with a barely audible sigh of disappointment. He just wanted to read; was it that hard to see?
"I just… you know, it's… too quiet around here." Demyx shifted around awkwardly for a moment and Zexion felt slight pity. Did he have something important to say? Or maybe he was socially retarded and couldn't spit it out.
"That's unfortunate." Zexion replied sarcastically, resisting the desire the hit his head on the table when Demyx didn't seem to catch on to his tone He nodded eagerly, shifting again and rubbing the back of his neck.
"And… I… you know, I mean, I can see if you don't- it's not too much trouble, I mean, if it's not too much trouble for- for you, then-"
"What do you need?" Zexion asked, slightly exasperated.
"Can I sit here with you?" Demyx asked with shining blue eyes.
"Pardon?" Zexion asked, just a little surprised. The guy ran his hands through his hair and tugged on the longer hair in the back, and it took Zexion a moment to realize that he was nervous talking to him. Why though? He wasn't too terribly scary looking, he liked to think.
"Roxas closed the place but he told me not to kick you out because you were a good customer and the others left already… can I sit here with you?" Demyx looked down at the ground and then back up, catching Zexion's eye and giving a small smile. Zexion raised an eyebrow, slightly unsure. Why should he let him sit there? He just wanted to read, and the chatty kid would probably just ramble on about something wholly unnecessary.
"Take a seat." Wait, what?! Zexion inwardly frowned. Why the hell was he letting him sit there? When had the messages from his brain to his mouth become so addled that he had spit out the exact opposite from what he was thinking? Was his brain fried or something? Maybe he had a concussion from waking up and falling out of bed the day before… concussions could do serious damage to the brain. He was about to correct himself and explain that he hadn't meant what he said, but the large smile that broke over Demyx's face stopped the words in his throat. He could only watch miserably as Demyx slid in next to him, smiling.
"So, how's it going?" Demyx asked excitedly. Zexion sighed, holding up his book as if it wasn't obvious what he was doing.
"I'm reading." He explained when Demyx looked at him blankly. When Demyx merely sat and stared at the book blankly, Zexion shook his head in annoyance and opened it back up. "Not going to say anything, just sitting there and staring…"
"I didn't want… you know, you're reading and all, so I thought I'd let you… read. I can be quiet." Demyx said uncomfortably, looking away. Zexion glanced up a moment, taking in the slightly awkward and hurt boy next to him.
"You were going to be quiet so I could read?" Zexion asked carefully. Demyx nodded slightly, smiling and shrugging at the emo-kid's blank look.
"You didn't seem happy to let me sit here, so I thought I wouldn't be a bother." Demyx said, nodding to himself. Zexion kept staring though, confusion and slight shame at the clearly happy Demyx.
"We can… talk if you'd like." Zexion said slowly, inwardly wincing at the invitation to talk. He almost considered taking it back, but then Demyx gave such a happy smile that went from ear to ear, and Zexion shook his head. He couldn't burst his bubble, not now.
"You're a nice guy, Zexion." Demyx said brightly, and then began chattering away, waving his hands back and forth.
And the dark blonde counter worker at The Strife Coffee House made Zexion smile a little on the inside, too.
Cloud loved his motorcycle. If there was one thing he enjoyed in life, it was fixing up cars and working on his baby, A.K.A his love child, A.K.A fenrir. He would lock himself up in the garage downtown and crank up the music, blasting away the troubles from his mind as he tuned up, upgraded, and just downright toyed around with his baby. It was one of the best things he could do.
He was being interrupted from doing it.
"Cloud, will you talk to me?" Someone had told Leon where he was. That someone was either Demyx or Roxas. They were the only two people who knew where he went when he was upset, therefore one of them had squealed. Oh, they were going to get it. Last time they'd gone against his wishes, he'd washed all of Demyx's clothes with a red shirt, turning everything pink, and Roxas's hair gel had been replaced with mayonnaise.
Divine retribution, he liked to call it.
Leon was standing in the "doorway" with his arms folded and his face set with firm conviction. Cloud didn't know this though; he was studiously avoiding looking over at the "doorway" for that reason. He grabbed the blocks, sliding them evenly across the floor before he lifted up the front part of his baby and set it gently onto the cinderblocks. Moving to the back, he did the same.
"I know you're angry." Cloud rolled his eyes and continued working, unscrewing the oil cap to check that everything was where it needed to be. Seeing that he needed oil, Cloud got up and strolled past Leon, grabbing the oil and moving back to his original spot on the floor next to his love child.
"I… you just made me so angry." Leon muttered, scuffing his shoe and tightening his arms around himself. Cloud didn't respond, adding a little bit of oil and capping it again, grabbing his grease rag and running it down the side and around it to gather up any unwanted oil streaks. Fenrir would go through town in style, just the way he'd built it to. See, that's why he loved his motorcycle. She was everything he'd ever wanted. The only way she acted up was if he treated her wrong, and she repaid in the same way. Give a little, get a little, that's what Luxord had always told him. So why didn't that work with real relationships?
"When you went on that date with Sephiroth… I just got so pissed." Leon sat down and continued staring at Cloud, the object of his scrutiny ignoring him successfully. He was good at ignoring people, he decided. Cloud noticed that one of the hoses for the fluid chambers was loose, so he grabbed the clamps and wrench so that he could prevent it from leaking. It had probably happened when he went mud bogging with Tifa and her younger sister, Yuffie. He set to work on that, not answering anything. So what if he went on a date with Sephiroth? The guy didn't make any wrong moves, and he was nice once you got past the glare he had on.
Unlike Leon, whose glare was permanent and it was uncool to be uncool.
"And you didn't want to talk about it with me because you were so… happy." Leon spat the word, and Cloud flinched, working the clamp around the hose and tightening it when it reached the leak. He could have gotten a more permanent clamp, but that meant he'd have to walk past Leon, and he wasn't sure he could do that just yet. He might be tempted to voice that he'd forgiven him, and then where would he be? Stuck with a guy who couldn't seem to voice those three words that Cloud happily expressed until he realized it would never be reciprocated.
"And I didn't like seeing you happy with someone else." Leon sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Cloud clucked his tongue and chanced a glance back but looked away the moment Leon looked up. Don't give him an opening, he chided himself. And he shouldn't, really. Leon had made it clear that he didn't feel as strongly. So Cloud should move on. Sephiroth would never be able to fill that void, but he could at least give him the chance that Leon never gave Cloud.
"I really… like you, Cloud." Leon said, and Cloud moved around the bike, noticing that mud had wedged itself in the piping, his eyes closing for a moment, scorn rippling through him. Of course Leon liked him. That's all he could do. Like someone. That should be enough though, right? Like can grow to love, right? Leon said he liked him.
So why did those words hurt so much?
"I just- I like you. A lot." He heard some shuffling as he cleaned, but he didn't look up and around his bike, scared that if he saw him, he'd give in. He was Cloud; he had to be strong. Not strong in the way that he'd cried like a baby when they broke up. Not strong like the way his heart had ripped itself to pieces when he saw Leon making out with Marluxia, his hands tangled in pink hair. Not strong like he'd been when he saw Leon calling his phone over and over again, and he'd merely tossed the phone onto the floor, sobs jerking his throat. No, he'd be strong in a different way, from now on.
So why did his heart feel rubbed raw?
"I'm… sorry, Cloud." He heard the glass door/window slide closed, and he let his head slide against the cool metal of his motorcycle, the only thing that never let him down unless he let her down first.
"Me too."
5 Reasons Why Relationships would be Better if they were like Running Motorcycles:
A list by Cloud Strife
1. You receive what you give. Give it gas, it gives you a ride. Give it love and it'll last for years. Give it nothing and it breaks down on you. They bargain.
2. They never try to play the jealousy card, like making out with other motorcycles with pink paint jobs that they once dated for awhile before you came along.
3. They don't come crawling back after you leave because they love you enough that they'd never let you leave in the first place. They need you as much as you need them. The fact that they can love works too. Having a loving motorcycle is a driver's greatest pride.
4. They have a heart of gold… or some sort of metal. Warm hearted when they're turned on…
5. They're nothing like dirty, emotionless, heart breaking brunettes like Leon Heart.
Hit or miss? Ah, that was sad, too. :( But, it will get better! :3 And I like Riku. I dunno why... Axel and Roxas are my favorites... anyway, PLEASE review, and I'll update soon!
Love!
-L.i.a.S.