Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Out of My Element ❯ On Either Side ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5: On Either Side

 

With a contented sigh, Axel stretched his lax muscles readying himself for a new day. He'd slept surprisingly well, save the fact he'd woken surprisingly early for a Saturday. It didn't matter though; he had a lot of shopping to do so being up early had some sort of advantage. Not to mention, it gave him extra time to rid himself of those strange thoughts he'd had the other day talking to Roxas about Demyx. Those feelings were best left in the dirt, buried and undiscovered.

Slipping lazily from his room he paused outside Demyx's door. It was ajar and the silence within disturbed him a little. A slow glance around to make sure the coast was clear; he raised a hand and gently pushed the door open with his fingertips. Easily swinging open on the hinges, the door opened two thirds of the way to reveal the dark and empty room. His eyes were already accustomed to the darkness and he could clearly see that Demyx was not in there. Stepping in he peered around the door curiously, but still there was no sign of the teenage boy.

Brows furrowed slightly, he tugged the door to its former position and carefully treaded to the end of the hallway, wearing only his pajama pants. The bathroom too was vacant, so he made his way silently down the stairs. No one was in the Living Room either, the house seemed deserted. However, as he rounded to enter the kitchen he stopped himself short, finally stumbling upon their house guest.

Axel, with the agility and swiftness of a cat, leapt back mutely and his behind the entryway. He waited a moment, and when there was no sign he'd been caught he leaned over and peered into the dimly lit room.

At the counter, Demyx sat at the middle chair, the small light from the microwave on to light the room. On the table before him was a book of some sort, the pages were laminated and the angle of the light made the glare impossible for Axel to see through. However, with his still night sensitive eyes, he could see the minor details of Demyx's features. Streaming down his face, and shimmering like rivers, was tears that dripped off his jaw. He had a hand over his mouth to muffle his quiet sobs, trying to suppress his cries. The strained look on his face told Axel that Demyx was trying hard not to break down and weep.

Taking a deep breath, Demyx closed his eyes tightly and wiped the tears away. His face dried again he tenderly turned the page and smiled sadly at its contents. As he gazed at the book, he ran his fingers affectionately over the pages. On occasion, he'd choke or even sometimes laugh softly giving Axel the impression this was something that reminded Demyx of home.

A soft tone made him jump and he quickly snatched a cell phone from his pocket. Panic flashed across his face as he answered in a hushed voice, “How is she?” His voice was hopeful but as the reply came his head lowered in weary defeat, “I see… No. No it's all right… I'm fine really.” Another pause, “I understand. There… There isn't any chance that she may…?” The answer visibly drained him and he slid out of the chair to stand, “No. Do it now… I can't bear to see her, not like this…” The person on the other end spoke, and Demyx forced a weak smile, “She's going home; she'll finally be happy again... Just… Tell her that I love her, okay?” It hurt Axel to watch, not understanding what was wrong. He wanted to go and comfort him, but he knew it wasn't his place. They barely knew each other, “Yeah, I'll stay on…”

Demyx leaned heavily on the counter, a hand over his mouth as he waited. It wasn't too long until he closed his eyes and gave a slight nod, “Call me when the arrangements are made… Right, I'll talk to you later… Take care of yourself, too.” Turning off the phone he set it on the counter and looked back down at the book on the counter. With a cautious hand he flipped past a few pages before settling on one and taking something out of it. From where Axel stood it appeared to be a photograph, “I guess… That was goodbye.” He murmured before tucking the picture away in his shirt and closing the book.

With another deep breath, Demyx smiled and started for his room. Axel in silent panic quickly slipped into the shadows of the room. The light was turned off in the kitchen and Demyx quietly slipped by, almost brushing right up against the unseen redhead.

The book in one hand and the other running through his hair, Demyx made his way obliviously up the stairs. Only when he'd disappeared back into his room did Axel breath easily. Actually, it seemed he'd been holding his breath for quite some time so when he exhaled then took a deep breath, his skull began to throb and his vision went blurry and black for a moment. His vision returned soon enough but the dizziness and the headache knocked him completely off his feet and he was on the floor before he knew it.

The fall apparently had not been loud because Demyx did not exit his room to investigate. Allowing for some recovery, Axel waited a long while before getting back to his feet. When Roxas had asked if something bad had happened, Axel hadn't really taken the comment seriously but now he was thinking twice about the matter. Of course, the display of sorrow and affection could also have been because of the move and the call had been about someone who had came here for a while but was going back to the coast.

“Still…” Glancing away from the hallway he looked to the kitchen then back. His heart wasn't feeling up to doing anything right now. Sulking over to the couch like a whipped dog, Axel settled down into the cushions, waiting for the early morning to pass.

Only when he heard the shower turn on upstairs did he stir. His brother certainly wouldn't be up so it had to be Demyx. This in mind, he got up and crept up the stairs and came to the cracked open door. Running a hand back through his hair, more to make him look presentable than anything, he knocked lightly on the door.

“Door's open!” Demyx called back before Axel pushed the door open.

“Hey.” Voiced Axel, quite unable to say much else. When he'd seen him earlier he'd been wearing a full nighttime outfit. Now though, he'd gotten rid of most of it and was stripped down to his boxers. He was beginning to regret entering the room, the kid looked too damn good for his age. However, Axel was glad to see Demyx happier than he had been before.

Turning and leaning heavily against the tile wall, “Good morning, Axel!” He greeted happily with a bright smile, “I hope you got a good night's sleep.”

“Yeah, I suppose I did.” Axel hesitated before the sink still a little concerned with how Demyx had been acting earlier, “What about you?” Picking up his toothbrush, he got out the toothpaste.

“Great! I had this really cool dream,” He paused a bit, letting out a soft grunt as he pulled himself up to sit on the sink counter. While he did this Axel commenced brushing his teeth as he did every morning, “where I went back home and everyone was there, even you and Rufus.” He continued, making grandiose hand gestures, “There was a wicked surfing competition and I got to play on my guitar and sing for everyone! I'm always energized when I get dreams like that. Hey, what'd you dream about last night Axel?”

The redhead in question almost choked. Taking out the toothbrush he gave Demyx a scolding wave, “Stop being a girl. You don't ask things like that to a guy… Besides, I don't have dumb dreams like that and I don't remember them either, I've got more important things to think about, got it memorized?” In all reality, he did have dreams and he really did remember them. The fact of the matter was, last night the subject of his dreams had been Demyx. Despite the fact they hadn't been doing anything rated NC-17, it was embarrassing enough that he had to admit that fact to himself.

“Reluctant, huh? I bet you had a dream about me, it's obvious when you refuse to talk about it so bluntly.” Toyed Demyx playfully.

“No! It was a normal dream and you weren't in it!” He denied before quickly changing the subject, “Hurry up in the shower, I want to get an early start. I have some other shopping I need to get done today. All right?”

“Yes, sir!” There was another pause as he slid off the counter and turned to the running shower, “You'll have to leave though.” He said coyly, both his hands were already at the waistband of his boxers, threatening to pull them down.

“I'm going!”

“What are you, some sort of monkey?” Muttered Axel, watching as Demyx rushed by a fifth time. The question wasn't loud enough for the other boy to understand so he dashed by unhindered, just as excited as he could be. This left Axel leaning on one of the clothes racks, holding a few items that he'd been handed. He himself hadn't tried on anything yet; clothes weren't actually top priority on his list today.

Lowering his head, he rested his chin on his arms that were crossed on the rack. When Demyx emerged, again with a flashy display and some sort of dance he raised a brow disinterestedly. This time the boy adorned a pair of dark sapphire blue slacks, suit jacket, and blue tinted white shirt. He'd put them on in a casual manner, pulling off a look only seen in movies and photo shoots. He looked good in them; Axel had to admit the kid had an eye for design. The cut of each outfit he came out with complimented his body type to a T and enhanced the youthful beauty he had and would have for years to come. Of course, just because Axel noted all this it definitely didn't mean he was looking, at least not in that way. No, he'd gotten that out of his system last night and early this morning, after Demyx had bathed, with an unpleasant cold shower to bring him back to his senses.

“What'd'ya think?” Inquired the subject of his current thoughts, bringing him back to real time. His eyes roamed up and down the boy again as Demyx displayed himself again, showing off how the clothes looked from all angles again.

A moment's pause, “Good, you clean up nicely.” Noted Axel. In return Demyx smiled brightly and slipped back into the changing room, “Which reminds me… Reno says I need to get a suit.” Lifting his head he glanced around. Now was as good a time as any to look around. Sometimes Reno took him out to dinner so they could spend some quality time together, not just him of course, Rude came too. It was some sort of bonding thing that Reno absolutely insisted upon. Last time they went, both he and Reno had gotten awfully drunk and Axel woke up with his only outfit of good clothes tattered and dirty beyond the point of restoration. That went double for Reno's, which looked to have been torn off by a bear. Axel could only imagine that Rude had only gotten a little carried away when undressing his older brother.

A shudder ran through Axel's spine, thinking about those together was unpleasant. He really didn't need mental images of his brother doing that in his head.

“Hey, Axel! Are you going to try on anything? It's no fun if you just stand around.” Demyx complained to his right, catching Axel's attention again.

“Yeah, I'm going to be trying something on-“

“Oh! What do you need?! What are you looking for? I can help!” Volunteered the teenager giddily, almost shaking with excitement at the prospect. Despite shying away a little, Axel told him he was looking for a suit and some comfortable pants. Telling Demyx his size was surprisingly an uncomfortable experience. When he said his size, which was rather hard to find a good fit for, Demyx had almost shouted in astonishment, “Holy crap! You're like a freakin' scarecrow! Tall and insanely skinny!” Demyx exaggerated making illustrations with his hands, “Come here, let me see.” And before Axel could escape, Demyx had locked his arms around him, almost like a hug but a tad more awkward and ambiguous. Axel threw his arms up in surprise, trying not to have any more contact with the teenager than he already did. There was a few seconds, long seconds, of silence before Demyx let out a thoughtful hum, “You're really warm…” He murmured, sort of in a dreamy manner.

“Uh… Thanks for noticing?” Axel voiced in uncertainty, looking around and panicking at the strange looks he was receiving. Then he added, “I have a naturally high temperature, about 101.7... I guess you could say I'm hot-blooded.” His comment elicited a smile from Demyx and a soft chuckle.

The realizing he'd been holding on too long, Demyx pulled back and grinned sheepishly, “That's pretty cool.” He voiced before looking Axel up and down, “Um. You're not as boney as I expected…”

“Of course not. I'm not anorexic…” Axel grumbled quietly as he smoothed his ruffled clothes with both hands while subtly confirming the statement for his own sake, “I'm just… lean.”

Demyx laughed a little and stepped away, “All right, let's go find you a suit, hot stuff.” He beckoned with a wave and he headed off over to where he'd retrieved his own suit jacket and slacks.

“Hot stuff?” Repeated Axel, a grin tugging at his lips, and he followed Demyx with sudden interest.

“All right, show me what you'd normally get.” Demyx commanded with superiority as they arrived in the sort of business style section of the store. With a shrug Axel sort of glanced around. He wasn't choosy about it, so he randomly picked out what he probably would buy. He'd only wear it once every month, if that. At his choice Demyx only snickered and gestured for him to go try it on.

“Don't laugh, got it memorized?” Muttered Axel handing over the clothes they'd already picked out and headed into the nearest dressing room. When he emerged he was wearing the suit, which he hated but he hated all suits. They were all so stuffy and uncomfortable; he imagined that this was similar to how a horse felt with a saddle on for the first time… Or at least how a corset might feel. To make things worse, Demyx didn't follow the rule and instantly burst into laughter.

“Shut up!” Axel growled in disdain. With a quick glance in the mirror, his scowl increased. He just didn't look good in a suit, and it made him look an awful lot like his brother. Straightening his tie, Axel closed his eyes. He wanted out of this suit as much as a cat wanted out of water.

“Ah, I'm sorry, you just look so horrendous! I can't help but laugh.” Apologized Demyx as he settled down and regained composure, “You obviously need some help figuring out the whole suit thing.”

“Hey, I'm not stupid. Suits just don't like me.” Objected Axel.

“Whatever.” Demyx rolled his eyes and came up and stood in front of Axel. Taking the front mid-section of the jacket, he pulled it tight, “The cut and hemming for this jacket is all wrong for you. Its midline is too high on your body; it needs to be down here to tuck in around your waist.” Demyx explained, running his free hand along Axel's torso making the older male shiver a little, “The buttons also stop too high, see how you've got the buttons done clear up to near your collarbone? Well it needs to stop halfway on your ribcage; you could pull off a little lower. I'm going to forbid you from getting a black and white suit. You look way too much like your brother with something like this on-“

“What are you? The fashion police?” Sneered Axel with a hint of malice, despite the fact he was pretty impressed with Demyx's natural eye for fashion.

“Cool it; I'm just trying to help you out. Now get out of those god awful clothes and I'll find you something that will look ten times better. I bet I can make you look like you're really something.” Demyx cast him a sheepish grin.

“I already am something.” Voiced Axel, his voice losing its malice and taking on a more fond tone.

“Yeah… I know you are, but why don't we let everyone else see it too?” Axel blushed a little and gave a little nod before he went back into the changing room and put on his normal clothes again.

“All right, so what do you suggest?”

“Over here. I'm not exactly sure on color just yet, but this fit should look a lot nicer on you.” Demyx stated before taking Axel's hand and leading him away. That was really the only thing Axel noticed, the fact he was holding Demyx's hand, but it didn't last very long as they came upon the suit that Demyx had been eying, “Here's the jacket, we'll have to work on the rest in a minute.” Demyx sifted through the sizes and pulled out a fairly normal looking black jacket; Axel really couldn't tell the difference between it and the one he'd just tried on. However, it wouldn't hurt to trust him, “Here hold these.” Demyx handed over his clothes and started off in another direction, “As I said, we don't want black and white, but black and red will do fine.” Demyx noted picking up a red satin shirt in Axel's size, “And for pants, they aren't as important but the black definitely needs to match the jacket so…” His voice faded as he searched through the black slacks before deciding on a pair, “All right, I think this should do, try these on, I'll be in the room next to you. I've got some stuff I need to try on too.” And they switched clothes.

Back at the changing rooms, Axel was fairly distracted now. Almost every ten seconds his mind wandered to the stall next door. He vaguely began to wonder what Demyx was trying on, and more importantly what was beneath the clothing that he was putting on. The latter fact sort of made him groan in disappointment with himself, a college student hung over on a teenager and probably out of sympathy.

“Axel, hurry up in there.” Demyx called from outside, having gotten changed and now waiting.

Buttoning the last button Axel emerged and straightened out the jacket. As he was getting dressed he hadn't noticed how he looked in the outfit, his mind obviously on how someone else looked. However, upon exiting, he was greeted with the reflection of himself in a second mirror, and Demyx standing beside it. His reflection surprised him, unlike the other suit this one looked extraordinarily nice on him and the smile Demyx gave him confirmed that.

“So, suits just don't like you? Funny.” Demyx raised both arms, placing them behind his head. It was about this time Axel's mind actually registered what Demyx was wearing, which carried his eyes away from Demyx's smiling face. His shirt, which was white with a single heart-shaped shell on the chest, was skin tight and only covered his chest. Over that he wore a denim jacket, crafted to look like it had been worn a lot, and then a pair of pants to match. His stomach was completely exposed, and despite the fact Axel had seen it several times, it was all the more appealing when tight clothes accompanied it.

“You… Look good.” Muttered Axel.

“You look pretty good too. I wouldn't mind being seen with you wearing that at a nice restaurant.”

“I suppose I should thank you then. You've got quite the eye.”

“For clothes or people?” But Demyx was gone before Axel could even figure out what it was that had been asked or suggested, back into the changing room.

 

 

So… Hum… I didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted to in this chapter… In fact it was pretty pointless… Y'know, except for the beginning, which was important… Well next chapter, some more shopping, but some groceries are included (which should amuse me some).