KH - Return :: Rewrite Chapter Six, “Hypocrite”
Return :: Rewrite
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Character: Demyx
Genre: Sci-Fi/Romance
Rating: T / PG-13
Chapters: 6/7
Beta: Dystopian Hope
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts rights belong to Square Enix and Disney. This piece of fiction is fan-made and as such I am making no monetary profits off of this.
Zexion stepped along the stone pathway to the Crescent's residence, still struggling to absorb Demyx's words.
We need to talk.
Words like those were ill tidings, leaving one with the impression of hands holding some form or weight above their head just itching to drop it through their skulls. Fingers twisted in his gut as he thought, It was only a matter of time; this couldn't last forever.
That simply emphasized the fact that he wanted it to.
Heaving a sigh, the Hybrid turned his mind to the task at hand. Stone connected with his feet at an even interval as he made his way along the pathway up to the front door, a gentle pitter, clack as with every other step a leaf crackled beneath part of his shoe. The lawn about him was long dead, as was the garden, and a thin layer of ice cloaked everything, leaving the world in sharp detail. Icicles hung from tree branches, clung to gutters, and made the ground just slick enough to be slightly treacherous. Glancing around, though, he was suddenly aware that the only portion of sidewalk that was iced was the front porch. He nearly shrugged the thought aside when an upturned bucket at the base of the Crescent's overhang came into view. As the Hybrid broke into a nervous sweat his eyes turned to the porch, tracing the line between the front door and the frame that revealed part of the living room; slightly ajar, but not quite open.
Backtracking to the car, avoiding as many leaves as was possible, the boy motioned for Demyx to get out of the truck. The blond, confused, simply stared. He did not move from his seat, only fixing Zexion with a look along the lines of yeah, right. The Hybrid motioned again, though with a bit more urgency.
In response, the blond reclined his seat. Racing around the car, Zexion tugged at the door handle, hissing as the cold metal froze the sweat that clung to his paw, fusing it to the car instantly. He tugged at the handle; no go. He stared at the vehicle incredulously, nearly in shock that something like that had actually happened. Pulling out a claw from his other hand, he attempted to chip the ice from his fur, only to come away empty-handed. Laughter met his ears as he gave up being gentle and began wrenching his body from the car in a hope that his hand would follow.
"How did that happen?" the older boy gaped, rolling down the window to lean forward with grim humor as Zexion's messenger bag slipped from the boy's shoulder to weighed down the arm that was connected so unceremoniously to the car. Due to this exclamation he was on the receiving end of a glare. "What?"
"I was sweating."
"Sweat has salt."
"Mako eats salt."
Silence.
Laughter.
"Could you possibly stop laughing, despite how you seem to be enjoying this," the smaller boy deadpanned, breathing deeply in an attempt to calm himself and clenching his eyes shut in futile attempt to block out the noise, "and help me?" Without warning, the door opened, lightly slamming against Zexion's side as his boyfriend stepped from the car. Slapping the door shut, the human leaned forward to breathe at the seam of the Hybrid's hand and the handle.
Blinking, the Hybrid pulled a face. "What are you doing?"
"It's like when you freeze your tongue to a flag pole," the blond explained, focusing his breath into one long stream. "Breath some hot air on it and the ice will melt."
"Are you insinuating that you licked a flag pole?" There was no response to this. Minutes later the Hybrid was freed. Turning to his boyfriend, Zexion slipped the messenger bag's strap from his shoulder and pressed the strap to the taller boy's chest. "I need you to do something for me," the Hybrid whispered slowly, watching Demyx slip the strap over his own shoulder. "Inside this house is Ms. Lucrecia Crescent, and we are here to make cookies; chocolate-chip cookies." Demyx raised his eyebrows at the specification. "Inside that bag are the ingredients, and we're here to make them as a surprise for your mother, who just got over a cold." With this he made his way over to the house.
"Just what's-" Demyx began, racing after the Hybrid and drawing even with him.
Zexion's eyes bugged. "Quiet!" he hissed, covering the blond's mouth with a shaking gloved hand. "We can't let them know we're here, yet."
Nodding, the blond waited until the Hybrid uncovered his mouth to silently gasp, "Who's 'they?'" Following the Hybrid up to the door, the taller boy watched as Zexion paused, hand poised to knock.
Silence.
Zexion faced the older boy, then, arms stretching out to pull him into an embrace. Pressed a gentle kiss along the boy's ear he breathed, "I don't know, yet." The touch lingered, and Demyx could feel a sort of nausea roiling in his stomach at the contact. There were the butterflies in his stomach, yes, but there was something else that came from the touch; something dangerous. When Zexion pulled away he got a good look at an almost unearthly blue glow lighting the back of the Hybrid's eyes.
Something was wrong; very wrong.
Zexion knocked, called in a hello, and a police officer appeared in the doorway within seconds.
Silence followed the appearance of the man, who dominated the frame in a way he shouldn't have. He was tall, very tall, with a bulk that took up a large portion of the doorway, also taking the time to hang over his belt in ways Demyx hadn't known was possible. His uniform was freshly pressed, creases and all, with a heavy-looking badge that proclaimed "Chief of Police" dangling ominously from the breast pocket, clinging to the bulging, over-filled shirt for dear life. What was most disturbing, however, was the greasy hair that hung in clumps around his face that made everything aside from his mouth and eyes a slimy, solid black mass. His eyes were nothing more than dull, ugly black beetles within the abyss, and jutting out from the greasy beard that seemed to be plastered below his mouth was a double chin that nearly formed a third row of flab below his- from what could be seen between clumps of hair- pasty white face that was so ugly it very nearly resembled a dog. To add icing to the cake, the man simply reeked of some kind of dead, diseased animal.
"Officer Pete," Zexion announced in a voice attempting warmth, earning an equally cold nod and an ugly smirk from the man. "What brings you to uptown Rabenastre?"
"Scheduled checkup; got to make sure the civilian homes are safe!" the man announced with haughty self-importance. Giving a guffaw that would put a horse to shame, the man stepped out from the doorway and onto the paved walk, nearly causing Demyx to gag as his bulk readjusted itself with each step. As the sickness inducing jiggling in the police officer's body fat came to a merciful halt, the blond was able to catch the end of a conversation along the lines of making cookies and Pete attending, though he had duties so he couldn't. Reaching into his pocket, Demyx retrieved his camera and snapped a picture of the officer's retreating back before following Zexion through the front door. As it slammed shut, however, he was suddenly aware that coming in with the Hybrid had been a bad idea.
"What is he doing here?" The words were spat, like poison, at the Zexion the moment the door met its frame. Silence reigned as Dr. Crescent stared the blond down, malice in her words and her expression.
A bright cherry, the walls of the living room grinned down upon the three scowling individuals. Pictures, paintings, and trim prettily smiled at them as they hung upon the plaster, setting a relaxed, cultured feel to the room. Wood flooring shined as if nothing were wrong, waxed to perfection, and translucent curtains allowed a look into the somehow beautiful winter-frosted and decidedly dead garden while allowing a gentle pink light to filter into the room. Both Zexion and Demyx stood in a shaft of this rose-tinted light as they stood in the foyer. Lucrecia, who stood in the kitchen just across the way, had no such illumination.
With her back to the kitchen window, not three feet from the door leading to what Demyx assumed was the basement, the woman's face was darkened by shadows. Though she was still beautiful there was something off about the way she clashed with the kitchen, which was perfect in its white-on-white uniform design. She looked to be a housewife, with her purple blouse conservative with its ruffles and embroidery and her no-nonsense pencil skirt ending just below her knees. One inch heels finished the look with a gentle flair, leaving her to appear as if she were a very pretty Elementary school teacher; the kind everyone loved.
And yet the moment was frozen; dangerous.
"He gave me a ride." Sure, concrete- Zexion handled the words as if they were the only form of truth in the world; as if they were the kind of words Demyx could trust.
But that ship had long since flown.
Well... if ships could fly.
Ignoring the Hybrid's words, Lucrecia laughed. Her face was pleasant despite the way it twisted in cruel humor and anger. "You think you can just pop in because you're Zexion's boyfriend?" she ground out, taking a step towards them. "Did you think you could just waltz in here after what you did to Zack?"
"He's not proud of what he did," a new voice interrupted, drawing three gazes to the basement entrance, which stood wide open to accommodate its guest. Red hair fell over blue eyes, which in turn met another pair. Kairi nodded to Demyx, then, before turning to Lucrecia. "Hurry up," she stated simply, looking to the woman, then Zexion before making her way back down the steps and disappearing. The brunette stiffened before following.
Heaving a heavy sigh, the smaller boy turned to his boyfriend. "What the hell did you do, anyway?"
Shocked, the blond looked down at him. "I thought you knew."
"Knew what?"
"Zack," he began, shoulder slumping, eyes narrowing, "I lynched Zack."
"What does that even mean?" Voice taking on a whine to imitate his boyfriend's, Zexion found himself rolling his eyes. Mentally, he scoffed at the immature picture he made. His act ended there, though, when Demyx literally deflated.
"I'll tell you later." As he attempted to follow the others into the basement, a small hand took hold of his elbow.
"You'll tell me now."
Silence.
"Time to face the music, Demyx," the Hybrid hissed, feeling a flair for the ironic flare through him at that moment.
"I killed him."
…
Screaming; that was the first thing that could be heard once the decent into the basement had begun. Rising and falling, it was a familiar female voice; one that Demyx once heard every day. The noise bounced off the concrete walls, only to rebound against the opposite side and come right back at that tenfold. Demyx found himself clamping shaking hands over his ears to save them the agony, but the voice stopped as he made it to the bottom of the stairs. A screeching silence successfully filled the place of agonized wails.
"Look's like she's finally passed out," Kairi mumbled from beside a surgical table set in the center of the room, looking a bit shaken. Bags lined the underside of her eyes, calling attention to her unusually sunken cheeks; something the blond had not noticed during their encounter upstairs. Greasy, limp red hair hung around all of this, trailing across her face in a way that imitated Xion's bangs. Kairi's eyes, however, were bright and tortured, glued to a table in the middle of the room in a disturbing cross between disgust and hope.
The table was a sterile white, its shape solid and promising. In all truth it looked more to be an island, though with the surgical tools that rest atop it, along with a subject, treating it like a table, Demyx was obligated to refer to it as such. Getting a closer look at the subject, the blond bit back a wince. Clothed only in a sheet, Xion lay unmoving in the very center. Needles probed beneath the skin of her arms, turning the usual paleness a bright neon blue that couldn't be healthy. Tubes led from the needles, and the blond traced them to a set of IV bags, sitting in the corner with contents of the same shade as the girl's arm.
He couldn't help but stare at Xion as the other occupants of the room rushed about, prepping syringes, tubes, and cotton balls. Taking in everything from her face to the shape of her body; her skin, the line of the sheet over her, how her hair fell across her face…
Demyx heaved a sigh, suppressing the emotions that rose up within him; emotions that scrambled for his attention, twisting his stomach and curling his toes.
The definite clank of glass brought him from his observations, prompting him to look about until Zexion was in his sight. Pulling glass containers from the lining of his bag, the Hybrid handed them, one by one, to Lucrecia, who placed them into Kairi's arms. The blond tried to get the smaller boy's attention, but when their eyes finally met the other looked away quickly, refusing to look at him. Once the bag looked significantly lighter, Zexion nodded. Then, with quick turn on her heel, Kairi was headed right for him. He quickly leaped back from his spot beside the table, watching as the girl took his place and set the containers against Xion's arm. Once she moved he was able to get a good look at the things inside the glass, but couldn't bring himself to move forward. His entire body was on alert.
The containers themselves were no longer than his hand, and were as thin as his fingers, made entirely of class with pinched corners to keep the swirling something inside. Within, a bright, luminescent green gas twirled dangerously, almost as if it were trying to escape. It leaped behind the glass, throwing its entirety against the glass before bouncing right off. The gas nearly seemed to live as it expanded until it were completely see-through, then shrunk into a small solid-looking bead before turning back into the wisps from before. Slipping his camera from his pocket, Demyx began to catalogue everything he could see.
That's when things got strange.
Faces were formed from lines of mist, moaning, pressing against their glass prisons. Hands reached from the centers, sliding along the inside in an attempt to break their containers. Demyx could only watch in awe as different shapes formed one by one beyond the glass. Unfamiliar faces, shapes, and plants passed before his eyes. Then, just as it seemed to be a carousel of enjoyment to the boy, a familiar face slipped passed the glass, gazing at him with accusing, hollow sockets for eyes.
Slim features, high cheekbones, a solid jaw, and long, spiky hair flashed before his sight before it vanished in the slew of faces.
Turning to Kairi, the one person in the room he knew wouldn't snap at him, Demyx glanced nervously to the containers. "What is that?" he mumbled, nudging his head in the direction of Xion's arm, where Lucrecia now stood, taking the glass into her hands.
"Raw Mako," the redhead replied simply, selecting a syringe from a line of others, "from the Lifestream." She paused, then turned to look at him oddly. "Why? See someone familiar?"
"He saw Zack," Dr. Crescent snipped, eyes tuned to her work despite her harsh words. "I've seen him twice in the last few hours." She paused. "You might want to get him out of here," the woman stated, motioning with her head for Zexion to remove his boyfriend.
"Right," the Hybrid mumbled, not at all enthusiastic. Making his way back towards the stairs, fingers flicking towards the blond in an order to follow, Zexion skipped steps, hurrying up to the doorway at the top. Once arriving there, he turned about, watching the older boy clear the frame. The door slammed shut, and Demyx soon found himself jostled off towards the car. Within seconds they were inside the vehicle, staring at the dashboard.
Silence.
Glancing over the Zexion, the blond cleared his throat. "Where to?"
"We need to talk?" the Hybrid hissed in mocking question, disbelief and mayhem written across his face as his hands shot out to grasp his seat. The definite sound of crackling leather came into being as his claws slid from their hiding place. His tail no longer switched side to side behind him, and his ears pointed straight down. "You have got to be joking." He laughed, drawing a shiver from the taller boy.
"I'm not proud of what I did," the blond defended, eyes sharp.
"Look to your own faults before you accuse others," the smaller boy replied maliciously, a sadistic grin spreading across his features.
Demyx scoffed. "Faults? Right."
Chuckling, Zexion turned to the older boy. "What, pray tell, do you think this is about, then?"
"About what you're doing and what I've done," the human stated simply. "And what the hell was that stuff, anyways? And why did I have to leave?"
"Unprocessed Mako," the smaller boy replied simply, taking his hands from their death-grip on his seat before doing something Demyx never thought he'd ever see; he started to preen. Licking one paw, Zexion brought it around the front of his face, cleaning his cheeks and forehead. "One whiff can kill a human- very painfully, I might add- and the reason the idea of a Hybrid was created." He laughed. "It was all over the place a few decades ago after this stupid company, Shin-Ra, accidentally broke the walls of the Lifestream."
"So…" Demyx paused. "It's poison?"
"From a political point of view, you could look at it that way," the Hybrid admitted, shrugging. "From the view of those who follow Gaia it's nothing more, and nothing less, than condensed, liquefied souls that have yet to be reborn."
Demyx sighed. "Religion; that's one thing I don't understand."
Zexion rolled his eyes. "The majority of you humans are atheists, these days; it's no wonder why." This was said with sarcasm, malice. "With all that hypocrisy you would think you would have a room for a bit more."
"You're one to talk."
Silence met this comment.
Giving the blond an odd look, Zexion stopped preening long enough to gape. "Did you just call me a hypocrite?"
"You're getting on me about killing Zack- which was years ago, I may add, and I'm not proud of it- but whatever you're doing can't be good, from what I've seen." He laughed, a nervous sound. "Heck, for all I know you could filling Xion with Mako to be, like, a bio-weapon, or something!"
The Hybrid turned away. "How do you expect we do that?" he requested, voice shaking despite his conviction.
"Simple," the blond replied, shrugging. "Her bones are hollow."
Zexion rounded on him, then, leaping from his seat to pin Demyx with surprising strength against the door. "How do you know that?" he hissed, hands twisting menacingly in the older boy's coat
"I got her pregnant at one point; you think I don't know her body?" he joked. Silence met this announcement, and Demyx's face softened as he looked upon the smaller boy. "I thought you knew."
Nodding, the smaller boy's face twisted in confusion. "Xion told me," he clarified, his grip on the older
boy's jacket going slack as the words escaped. "I just…" Backing away, the Hybrid settled into his seat. "I thought you didn't know."
Demyx's eyebrows raised in surprise as he shook his jacket out, straightening in his seat to place a key in the ignition. "Didn't know? That's why we broke up," he sighed. "I wanted to keep the baby; take care of it."
Silence.
"Then why do the others hate you?" Zexion inquired, watching as his boyfriend adjusted the rear-view
mirrors.
Scoffing, the blond turned the car out of its spot on the side of the road, taking them into the street at a gentle pace. "Because I killed Zack." The words were stated simply, lacking the weight they should have held. A brief silence passed between them. "So," the blond began, "where are you headed?"
…
"Has it ever occurred to you that you're a murderer?" Photos littered the floor, organized in their own, messy way. Demyx's room was, for lack of a better word, dominated by his photography as he sorted the newest photos, still hot from the printer, and posted them to the wall. Searching about the room for specific photos to hang, the blond nodded. At the boy's reply, the Hybrid gaped. "How do you function?"
Demyx laughed. "How does anyone else function?" he retorted, selecting a specific photo from the mass. "I eat, breath, sleep, and generally move along with my life. One detail doesn't mean I should live any differently than anyone else."
"I still don't understand what's going on," Arpeggio announced from across the room, icon heaving a sigh as she leaned back into her comfy chair. "So you know he killed this Zack person, but you don't hate him?" A quick shake of the head from Zexion earned a roll of the eyes. "Great; this just proves that you're perfect for each other, then," she groaned, sarcasm dripping from her words in torrents.
Ignoring the AI's comment, Zexion turned to the older boy. "Do you think Peggy could work some of her magic on Lexaeus?" he inquired, retrieving the small computer from his messenger bag to show Demyx. "I think he's crashed."
The blond didn't so much as glance over before the aforementioned AI laughed, her screen extension breaking into a big grin. "You have a computer? Plug him in! Plug him in!" she shouted joyously, pointing down to the hard-drive with vigor. Twin looks of surprised amusement pointed at the program that didn't bother to mask her excitement as Zexion walked over and connected Lexaeus via HDMI data cording. Jumping, the program on the screen seemed to freeze.
"Peggy?" Demyx asked, making his way over to the computer with shock as the entire screen seemed to stop moving. "Peggy, what's wrong?"
"I'm going into stand-by mode," she announced, startling them both as the screen remained frozen. "I'll come back on in about three hours; don't disconnect Lexaeus!"
The monitor went black. Glancing over at his boyfriend, who was busy taking in the sight of a black screen, Demyx examined the smaller boy.
Both ears and tail were still without the gentle, nervous twitch that once accompanied them, and the light fur that covered his skin in a gentle gray sheen was more along the lines of a light periwinkle that dusted shadows along the pale softness beneath. A light shadow traced the underside of his eyes, his nose was a bit more pronounced than he had last seen, and his lips were fuller than he'd ever seen them, though they were still rather thin. Big, blue eyes hid beneath periwinkle bangs, which he remembered used to be a subdued lavender, and through it all was an ethereal light that seemed to shine from every bit of him in a way that reminded him of the Mako from the basement, but more subdued, and blue. It fluctuated in his hair, his eyes, and beneath his skin almost in a patter, sending light shadows across the floor. In that moment of observation, the blond came to the conclusion that he had never seen the Hybrid as beautiful as he was then.
Yet through it all, he felt only a trace of the affection he used to have for the boy. Gone were the flutters in his stomach. Missing was the nearly-painful throbbing of his heart against his ribs. Non-existent was the urge to reach for the boy; to touch him, hold him, and kiss him until they were both silly from a lack of oxygen.
Instead, he thought of Xion.
From the way her hair fell into her eyes to the angle in which she used to look at him, he thought of everything. Hair, face, eyes, skin, toes, and stomach- both normal and pregnant. He thought of everything, nearly worshipping them in his mind as he thought back.
He thought back to how she looked when he slapped her; when she'd gotten the abortion.
Shaking the unkind memories from his head, he slowly reached for Zexion, if only to prove his point that he had moved on; that he was happy.
Fingertips traced along the smaller boy's cheek before he cupped it, making his presence known to the Hybrid. Electricity exploded along his palm, sending a jolt into his heart as Zexion turned into his touch with a sharp gasp and a bite of the lip. Eyes clenched shut as a furred face nuzzled his fingers, pressing soft lips against the tips as a hand came up to cup his.
Then Zexion looked up, irises nearly glowing, and fixed Demyx with a look so filled with longing that the blond nearly cried.
"I love you." The words had slipped from Demyx's mouth before he could stop them. Thought they seemed to him to be a lie, they felt, tasted, and sounded like the truth. "I love you," he said again as Zexion's face seemed to collapse in on itself and a tear leaked from the Hybrid's eye. "I love you."
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Zexion smiled. "I love you, too," he whispered as he flung himself into Demyx's chest, throwing his arms around his waist as he pulled the older boy close, "so much."
We just sat there in silence for a bit, taking in each other's presence.
Quick Quiz: Anyone out there have the slightest idea of what's going on?
Chapter 7
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Character: Demyx
Genre: Sci-Fi/Romance
Rating: T / PG-13
Chapters: 6/7
Beta: Dystopian Hope
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts rights belong to Square Enix and Disney. This piece of fiction is fan-made and as such I am making no monetary profits off of this.
Zexion stepped along the stone pathway to the Crescent's residence, still struggling to absorb Demyx's words.
We need to talk.
Words like those were ill tidings, leaving one with the impression of hands holding some form or weight above their head just itching to drop it through their skulls. Fingers twisted in his gut as he thought, It was only a matter of time; this couldn't last forever.
That simply emphasized the fact that he wanted it to.
Heaving a sigh, the Hybrid turned his mind to the task at hand. Stone connected with his feet at an even interval as he made his way along the pathway up to the front door, a gentle pitter, clack as with every other step a leaf crackled beneath part of his shoe. The lawn about him was long dead, as was the garden, and a thin layer of ice cloaked everything, leaving the world in sharp detail. Icicles hung from tree branches, clung to gutters, and made the ground just slick enough to be slightly treacherous. Glancing around, though, he was suddenly aware that the only portion of sidewalk that was iced was the front porch. He nearly shrugged the thought aside when an upturned bucket at the base of the Crescent's overhang came into view. As the Hybrid broke into a nervous sweat his eyes turned to the porch, tracing the line between the front door and the frame that revealed part of the living room; slightly ajar, but not quite open.
Backtracking to the car, avoiding as many leaves as was possible, the boy motioned for Demyx to get out of the truck. The blond, confused, simply stared. He did not move from his seat, only fixing Zexion with a look along the lines of yeah, right. The Hybrid motioned again, though with a bit more urgency.
In response, the blond reclined his seat. Racing around the car, Zexion tugged at the door handle, hissing as the cold metal froze the sweat that clung to his paw, fusing it to the car instantly. He tugged at the handle; no go. He stared at the vehicle incredulously, nearly in shock that something like that had actually happened. Pulling out a claw from his other hand, he attempted to chip the ice from his fur, only to come away empty-handed. Laughter met his ears as he gave up being gentle and began wrenching his body from the car in a hope that his hand would follow.
"How did that happen?" the older boy gaped, rolling down the window to lean forward with grim humor as Zexion's messenger bag slipped from the boy's shoulder to weighed down the arm that was connected so unceremoniously to the car. Due to this exclamation he was on the receiving end of a glare. "What?"
"I was sweating."
"Sweat has salt."
"Mako eats salt."
Silence.
Laughter.
"Could you possibly stop laughing, despite how you seem to be enjoying this," the smaller boy deadpanned, breathing deeply in an attempt to calm himself and clenching his eyes shut in futile attempt to block out the noise, "and help me?" Without warning, the door opened, lightly slamming against Zexion's side as his boyfriend stepped from the car. Slapping the door shut, the human leaned forward to breathe at the seam of the Hybrid's hand and the handle.
Blinking, the Hybrid pulled a face. "What are you doing?"
"It's like when you freeze your tongue to a flag pole," the blond explained, focusing his breath into one long stream. "Breath some hot air on it and the ice will melt."
"Are you insinuating that you licked a flag pole?" There was no response to this. Minutes later the Hybrid was freed. Turning to his boyfriend, Zexion slipped the messenger bag's strap from his shoulder and pressed the strap to the taller boy's chest. "I need you to do something for me," the Hybrid whispered slowly, watching Demyx slip the strap over his own shoulder. "Inside this house is Ms. Lucrecia Crescent, and we are here to make cookies; chocolate-chip cookies." Demyx raised his eyebrows at the specification. "Inside that bag are the ingredients, and we're here to make them as a surprise for your mother, who just got over a cold." With this he made his way over to the house.
"Just what's-" Demyx began, racing after the Hybrid and drawing even with him.
Zexion's eyes bugged. "Quiet!" he hissed, covering the blond's mouth with a shaking gloved hand. "We can't let them know we're here, yet."
Nodding, the blond waited until the Hybrid uncovered his mouth to silently gasp, "Who's 'they?'" Following the Hybrid up to the door, the taller boy watched as Zexion paused, hand poised to knock.
Silence.
Zexion faced the older boy, then, arms stretching out to pull him into an embrace. Pressed a gentle kiss along the boy's ear he breathed, "I don't know, yet." The touch lingered, and Demyx could feel a sort of nausea roiling in his stomach at the contact. There were the butterflies in his stomach, yes, but there was something else that came from the touch; something dangerous. When Zexion pulled away he got a good look at an almost unearthly blue glow lighting the back of the Hybrid's eyes.
Something was wrong; very wrong.
Zexion knocked, called in a hello, and a police officer appeared in the doorway within seconds.
Silence followed the appearance of the man, who dominated the frame in a way he shouldn't have. He was tall, very tall, with a bulk that took up a large portion of the doorway, also taking the time to hang over his belt in ways Demyx hadn't known was possible. His uniform was freshly pressed, creases and all, with a heavy-looking badge that proclaimed "Chief of Police" dangling ominously from the breast pocket, clinging to the bulging, over-filled shirt for dear life. What was most disturbing, however, was the greasy hair that hung in clumps around his face that made everything aside from his mouth and eyes a slimy, solid black mass. His eyes were nothing more than dull, ugly black beetles within the abyss, and jutting out from the greasy beard that seemed to be plastered below his mouth was a double chin that nearly formed a third row of flab below his- from what could be seen between clumps of hair- pasty white face that was so ugly it very nearly resembled a dog. To add icing to the cake, the man simply reeked of some kind of dead, diseased animal.
"Officer Pete," Zexion announced in a voice attempting warmth, earning an equally cold nod and an ugly smirk from the man. "What brings you to uptown Rabenastre?"
"Scheduled checkup; got to make sure the civilian homes are safe!" the man announced with haughty self-importance. Giving a guffaw that would put a horse to shame, the man stepped out from the doorway and onto the paved walk, nearly causing Demyx to gag as his bulk readjusted itself with each step. As the sickness inducing jiggling in the police officer's body fat came to a merciful halt, the blond was able to catch the end of a conversation along the lines of making cookies and Pete attending, though he had duties so he couldn't. Reaching into his pocket, Demyx retrieved his camera and snapped a picture of the officer's retreating back before following Zexion through the front door. As it slammed shut, however, he was suddenly aware that coming in with the Hybrid had been a bad idea.
"What is he doing here?" The words were spat, like poison, at the Zexion the moment the door met its frame. Silence reigned as Dr. Crescent stared the blond down, malice in her words and her expression.
A bright cherry, the walls of the living room grinned down upon the three scowling individuals. Pictures, paintings, and trim prettily smiled at them as they hung upon the plaster, setting a relaxed, cultured feel to the room. Wood flooring shined as if nothing were wrong, waxed to perfection, and translucent curtains allowed a look into the somehow beautiful winter-frosted and decidedly dead garden while allowing a gentle pink light to filter into the room. Both Zexion and Demyx stood in a shaft of this rose-tinted light as they stood in the foyer. Lucrecia, who stood in the kitchen just across the way, had no such illumination.
With her back to the kitchen window, not three feet from the door leading to what Demyx assumed was the basement, the woman's face was darkened by shadows. Though she was still beautiful there was something off about the way she clashed with the kitchen, which was perfect in its white-on-white uniform design. She looked to be a housewife, with her purple blouse conservative with its ruffles and embroidery and her no-nonsense pencil skirt ending just below her knees. One inch heels finished the look with a gentle flair, leaving her to appear as if she were a very pretty Elementary school teacher; the kind everyone loved.
And yet the moment was frozen; dangerous.
"He gave me a ride." Sure, concrete- Zexion handled the words as if they were the only form of truth in the world; as if they were the kind of words Demyx could trust.
But that ship had long since flown.
Well... if ships could fly.
Ignoring the Hybrid's words, Lucrecia laughed. Her face was pleasant despite the way it twisted in cruel humor and anger. "You think you can just pop in because you're Zexion's boyfriend?" she ground out, taking a step towards them. "Did you think you could just waltz in here after what you did to Zack?"
"He's not proud of what he did," a new voice interrupted, drawing three gazes to the basement entrance, which stood wide open to accommodate its guest. Red hair fell over blue eyes, which in turn met another pair. Kairi nodded to Demyx, then, before turning to Lucrecia. "Hurry up," she stated simply, looking to the woman, then Zexion before making her way back down the steps and disappearing. The brunette stiffened before following.
Heaving a heavy sigh, the smaller boy turned to his boyfriend. "What the hell did you do, anyway?"
Shocked, the blond looked down at him. "I thought you knew."
"Knew what?"
"Zack," he began, shoulder slumping, eyes narrowing, "I lynched Zack."
"What does that even mean?" Voice taking on a whine to imitate his boyfriend's, Zexion found himself rolling his eyes. Mentally, he scoffed at the immature picture he made. His act ended there, though, when Demyx literally deflated.
"I'll tell you later." As he attempted to follow the others into the basement, a small hand took hold of his elbow.
"You'll tell me now."
Silence.
"Time to face the music, Demyx," the Hybrid hissed, feeling a flair for the ironic flare through him at that moment.
"I killed him."
…
Screaming; that was the first thing that could be heard once the decent into the basement had begun. Rising and falling, it was a familiar female voice; one that Demyx once heard every day. The noise bounced off the concrete walls, only to rebound against the opposite side and come right back at that tenfold. Demyx found himself clamping shaking hands over his ears to save them the agony, but the voice stopped as he made it to the bottom of the stairs. A screeching silence successfully filled the place of agonized wails.
"Look's like she's finally passed out," Kairi mumbled from beside a surgical table set in the center of the room, looking a bit shaken. Bags lined the underside of her eyes, calling attention to her unusually sunken cheeks; something the blond had not noticed during their encounter upstairs. Greasy, limp red hair hung around all of this, trailing across her face in a way that imitated Xion's bangs. Kairi's eyes, however, were bright and tortured, glued to a table in the middle of the room in a disturbing cross between disgust and hope.
The table was a sterile white, its shape solid and promising. In all truth it looked more to be an island, though with the surgical tools that rest atop it, along with a subject, treating it like a table, Demyx was obligated to refer to it as such. Getting a closer look at the subject, the blond bit back a wince. Clothed only in a sheet, Xion lay unmoving in the very center. Needles probed beneath the skin of her arms, turning the usual paleness a bright neon blue that couldn't be healthy. Tubes led from the needles, and the blond traced them to a set of IV bags, sitting in the corner with contents of the same shade as the girl's arm.
He couldn't help but stare at Xion as the other occupants of the room rushed about, prepping syringes, tubes, and cotton balls. Taking in everything from her face to the shape of her body; her skin, the line of the sheet over her, how her hair fell across her face…
Demyx heaved a sigh, suppressing the emotions that rose up within him; emotions that scrambled for his attention, twisting his stomach and curling his toes.
The definite clank of glass brought him from his observations, prompting him to look about until Zexion was in his sight. Pulling glass containers from the lining of his bag, the Hybrid handed them, one by one, to Lucrecia, who placed them into Kairi's arms. The blond tried to get the smaller boy's attention, but when their eyes finally met the other looked away quickly, refusing to look at him. Once the bag looked significantly lighter, Zexion nodded. Then, with quick turn on her heel, Kairi was headed right for him. He quickly leaped back from his spot beside the table, watching as the girl took his place and set the containers against Xion's arm. Once she moved he was able to get a good look at the things inside the glass, but couldn't bring himself to move forward. His entire body was on alert.
The containers themselves were no longer than his hand, and were as thin as his fingers, made entirely of class with pinched corners to keep the swirling something inside. Within, a bright, luminescent green gas twirled dangerously, almost as if it were trying to escape. It leaped behind the glass, throwing its entirety against the glass before bouncing right off. The gas nearly seemed to live as it expanded until it were completely see-through, then shrunk into a small solid-looking bead before turning back into the wisps from before. Slipping his camera from his pocket, Demyx began to catalogue everything he could see.
That's when things got strange.
Faces were formed from lines of mist, moaning, pressing against their glass prisons. Hands reached from the centers, sliding along the inside in an attempt to break their containers. Demyx could only watch in awe as different shapes formed one by one beyond the glass. Unfamiliar faces, shapes, and plants passed before his eyes. Then, just as it seemed to be a carousel of enjoyment to the boy, a familiar face slipped passed the glass, gazing at him with accusing, hollow sockets for eyes.
Slim features, high cheekbones, a solid jaw, and long, spiky hair flashed before his sight before it vanished in the slew of faces.
Turning to Kairi, the one person in the room he knew wouldn't snap at him, Demyx glanced nervously to the containers. "What is that?" he mumbled, nudging his head in the direction of Xion's arm, where Lucrecia now stood, taking the glass into her hands.
"Raw Mako," the redhead replied simply, selecting a syringe from a line of others, "from the Lifestream." She paused, then turned to look at him oddly. "Why? See someone familiar?"
"He saw Zack," Dr. Crescent snipped, eyes tuned to her work despite her harsh words. "I've seen him twice in the last few hours." She paused. "You might want to get him out of here," the woman stated, motioning with her head for Zexion to remove his boyfriend.
"Right," the Hybrid mumbled, not at all enthusiastic. Making his way back towards the stairs, fingers flicking towards the blond in an order to follow, Zexion skipped steps, hurrying up to the doorway at the top. Once arriving there, he turned about, watching the older boy clear the frame. The door slammed shut, and Demyx soon found himself jostled off towards the car. Within seconds they were inside the vehicle, staring at the dashboard.
Silence.
Glancing over the Zexion, the blond cleared his throat. "Where to?"
"We need to talk?" the Hybrid hissed in mocking question, disbelief and mayhem written across his face as his hands shot out to grasp his seat. The definite sound of crackling leather came into being as his claws slid from their hiding place. His tail no longer switched side to side behind him, and his ears pointed straight down. "You have got to be joking." He laughed, drawing a shiver from the taller boy.
"I'm not proud of what I did," the blond defended, eyes sharp.
"Look to your own faults before you accuse others," the smaller boy replied maliciously, a sadistic grin spreading across his features.
Demyx scoffed. "Faults? Right."
Chuckling, Zexion turned to the older boy. "What, pray tell, do you think this is about, then?"
"About what you're doing and what I've done," the human stated simply. "And what the hell was that stuff, anyways? And why did I have to leave?"
"Unprocessed Mako," the smaller boy replied simply, taking his hands from their death-grip on his seat before doing something Demyx never thought he'd ever see; he started to preen. Licking one paw, Zexion brought it around the front of his face, cleaning his cheeks and forehead. "One whiff can kill a human- very painfully, I might add- and the reason the idea of a Hybrid was created." He laughed. "It was all over the place a few decades ago after this stupid company, Shin-Ra, accidentally broke the walls of the Lifestream."
"So…" Demyx paused. "It's poison?"
"From a political point of view, you could look at it that way," the Hybrid admitted, shrugging. "From the view of those who follow Gaia it's nothing more, and nothing less, than condensed, liquefied souls that have yet to be reborn."
Demyx sighed. "Religion; that's one thing I don't understand."
Zexion rolled his eyes. "The majority of you humans are atheists, these days; it's no wonder why." This was said with sarcasm, malice. "With all that hypocrisy you would think you would have a room for a bit more."
"You're one to talk."
Silence met this comment.
Giving the blond an odd look, Zexion stopped preening long enough to gape. "Did you just call me a hypocrite?"
"You're getting on me about killing Zack- which was years ago, I may add, and I'm not proud of it- but whatever you're doing can't be good, from what I've seen." He laughed, a nervous sound. "Heck, for all I know you could filling Xion with Mako to be, like, a bio-weapon, or something!"
The Hybrid turned away. "How do you expect we do that?" he requested, voice shaking despite his conviction.
"Simple," the blond replied, shrugging. "Her bones are hollow."
Zexion rounded on him, then, leaping from his seat to pin Demyx with surprising strength against the door. "How do you know that?" he hissed, hands twisting menacingly in the older boy's coat
"I got her pregnant at one point; you think I don't know her body?" he joked. Silence met this announcement, and Demyx's face softened as he looked upon the smaller boy. "I thought you knew."
Nodding, the smaller boy's face twisted in confusion. "Xion told me," he clarified, his grip on the older
boy's jacket going slack as the words escaped. "I just…" Backing away, the Hybrid settled into his seat. "I thought you didn't know."
Demyx's eyebrows raised in surprise as he shook his jacket out, straightening in his seat to place a key in the ignition. "Didn't know? That's why we broke up," he sighed. "I wanted to keep the baby; take care of it."
Silence.
"Then why do the others hate you?" Zexion inquired, watching as his boyfriend adjusted the rear-view
mirrors.
Scoffing, the blond turned the car out of its spot on the side of the road, taking them into the street at a gentle pace. "Because I killed Zack." The words were stated simply, lacking the weight they should have held. A brief silence passed between them. "So," the blond began, "where are you headed?"
…
"Has it ever occurred to you that you're a murderer?" Photos littered the floor, organized in their own, messy way. Demyx's room was, for lack of a better word, dominated by his photography as he sorted the newest photos, still hot from the printer, and posted them to the wall. Searching about the room for specific photos to hang, the blond nodded. At the boy's reply, the Hybrid gaped. "How do you function?"
Demyx laughed. "How does anyone else function?" he retorted, selecting a specific photo from the mass. "I eat, breath, sleep, and generally move along with my life. One detail doesn't mean I should live any differently than anyone else."
"I still don't understand what's going on," Arpeggio announced from across the room, icon heaving a sigh as she leaned back into her comfy chair. "So you know he killed this Zack person, but you don't hate him?" A quick shake of the head from Zexion earned a roll of the eyes. "Great; this just proves that you're perfect for each other, then," she groaned, sarcasm dripping from her words in torrents.
Ignoring the AI's comment, Zexion turned to the older boy. "Do you think Peggy could work some of her magic on Lexaeus?" he inquired, retrieving the small computer from his messenger bag to show Demyx. "I think he's crashed."
The blond didn't so much as glance over before the aforementioned AI laughed, her screen extension breaking into a big grin. "You have a computer? Plug him in! Plug him in!" she shouted joyously, pointing down to the hard-drive with vigor. Twin looks of surprised amusement pointed at the program that didn't bother to mask her excitement as Zexion walked over and connected Lexaeus via HDMI data cording. Jumping, the program on the screen seemed to freeze.
"Peggy?" Demyx asked, making his way over to the computer with shock as the entire screen seemed to stop moving. "Peggy, what's wrong?"
"I'm going into stand-by mode," she announced, startling them both as the screen remained frozen. "I'll come back on in about three hours; don't disconnect Lexaeus!"
The monitor went black. Glancing over at his boyfriend, who was busy taking in the sight of a black screen, Demyx examined the smaller boy.
Both ears and tail were still without the gentle, nervous twitch that once accompanied them, and the light fur that covered his skin in a gentle gray sheen was more along the lines of a light periwinkle that dusted shadows along the pale softness beneath. A light shadow traced the underside of his eyes, his nose was a bit more pronounced than he had last seen, and his lips were fuller than he'd ever seen them, though they were still rather thin. Big, blue eyes hid beneath periwinkle bangs, which he remembered used to be a subdued lavender, and through it all was an ethereal light that seemed to shine from every bit of him in a way that reminded him of the Mako from the basement, but more subdued, and blue. It fluctuated in his hair, his eyes, and beneath his skin almost in a patter, sending light shadows across the floor. In that moment of observation, the blond came to the conclusion that he had never seen the Hybrid as beautiful as he was then.
Yet through it all, he felt only a trace of the affection he used to have for the boy. Gone were the flutters in his stomach. Missing was the nearly-painful throbbing of his heart against his ribs. Non-existent was the urge to reach for the boy; to touch him, hold him, and kiss him until they were both silly from a lack of oxygen.
Instead, he thought of Xion.
From the way her hair fell into her eyes to the angle in which she used to look at him, he thought of everything. Hair, face, eyes, skin, toes, and stomach- both normal and pregnant. He thought of everything, nearly worshipping them in his mind as he thought back.
He thought back to how she looked when he slapped her; when she'd gotten the abortion.
Shaking the unkind memories from his head, he slowly reached for Zexion, if only to prove his point that he had moved on; that he was happy.
Fingertips traced along the smaller boy's cheek before he cupped it, making his presence known to the Hybrid. Electricity exploded along his palm, sending a jolt into his heart as Zexion turned into his touch with a sharp gasp and a bite of the lip. Eyes clenched shut as a furred face nuzzled his fingers, pressing soft lips against the tips as a hand came up to cup his.
Then Zexion looked up, irises nearly glowing, and fixed Demyx with a look so filled with longing that the blond nearly cried.
"I love you." The words had slipped from Demyx's mouth before he could stop them. Thought they seemed to him to be a lie, they felt, tasted, and sounded like the truth. "I love you," he said again as Zexion's face seemed to collapse in on itself and a tear leaked from the Hybrid's eye. "I love you."
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Zexion smiled. "I love you, too," he whispered as he flung himself into Demyx's chest, throwing his arms around his waist as he pulled the older boy close, "so much."
We just sat there in silence for a bit, taking in each other's presence.
Quick Quiz: Anyone out there have the slightest idea of what's going on?
Chapter 7