A/N: I was so ashamed of myself when I noticed that, holy hell, this story has over a hundred alerts and the next chapter of this story was nowhere to be seen! It was supposed to be longer, but then the words stopped making sensible sentences and I thought it would be better to stop there, rather than write something that doesn’t make sense at all.

Chapter Ten

“Fuck!”

Roxas jumped awake, looking around in his room. It was still fairly dark, and because of that he knew he shouldn’t be awake yet. What had woken him up? He glanced at the clock, but when he realized it was actually so dark he couldn’t see the pointers clearly, he groped around for the switch of his bedside lamp and flicked it on. Narrowing his eyes at the bright light, he noticed it wasn’t even six thirty yet. He still had an hour and thirty minutes before he had to get up!

He was about to pull the fallen blanket over himself again, but a sound from behind his door made him stop in mid-movement. “What the hell?” he whispered aloud and sat up on his bed. He glanced at the clock again and his stomach made an unpleasant somersault at the realization that there shouldn’t be anyone else in the apartment at that time – Axel left for work well before six, and that left only Roxas.

He stood up and cautiously walked to the door. He could still hear something, rustling and clinking... He was sure he wasn’t alone in the apartment! Maybe it was a burglar...! He opened the door slightly and peeked into the living room. There were lights on in the kitchen. Hastily, he grabbed the first thing that hit his hand – a ceramic vase he’d gotten from one of his female friends for his birthday – and slowly, quietly walked towards the kitchen.

He could hear his heartbeat in his ears when he got closer to the kitchen, raising the vase... and nearly dropping it when Axel emerged from the kitchen, giving him an odd look.

A while of utter silence passed between the two friends, until Axel decided to voice the question he had been trying to find an answer for. “Roxas,” he started calmly, not sure if he was supposed to feel intimidated at the sight of his best friend, in baby-blue pajamas, a ceramic vase in hand poised as if it would soon come crashing down on Axel's head. Or up, since Roxas was a whole lot shorter than him. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I, uh...” Roxas quickly put the vase aside, on the floor next to the wall so that he wouldn't trip over it later, while he desperately tried to think about what to say. “I was, just, uh... well you're supposed to be at work!”

Axel sighed deeply, resisting the urge to roll his eyes as he walked past Roxas to put his shoes on. “I know, I know... And I'm fucking late already, even without you trying to smash my head into pieces with a freaking flower vase.”

Roxas sputtered out a series of words that seemed to have the intention of saying, “I wasn't going to do that”, but sounded like, “You—I—just—'cause—not—was—mean—damn, just forget it.”

Axel chuckled at Roxas’s behaviour and then opened the door, calling over his shoulder, “You can explain the murder attempt later, I’ve really gotta run now. See ya.”

When Axel arrived at the Sea Paradise and rushed up to the quarantine hall, excited to see Demyx again, he sure as hell hadn’t expected to get one of the biggest scares of his life. He stared at Demyx’s quarantine pool for a silent while, moving his eyes from one side to the other, not believing what he saw.

Nothing. The pool was empty.

“Demyx?” he called when he finally managed to get his voice back. “D-Demyx!”

“He’s not here.”

Axel whirled around to face Vexen, who was staring at the pool much like he was. Axel stayed quiet, waiting for an explanation, but when the man said nothing, he asked impatiently, “Well where the hell is he!?”

“Truthfully saying?”

“Yes, please.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know.”

Axel stared at Vexen for a short moment before yelling, “What!?”

Vexen nodded, sighing deeply. “It’s true. I have no idea where the merman is. I was waiting for you to get here so that we might search together.”

“Well what the hell are we waiting for, then!?”

“You to calm down!” Vexen exclaimed, and Axel fell silent. Vexen cleared his throat and continued, “I have already checked all the quarantine pools, but not much besides them, since I arrived just a short while ago as well.”

Axel nodded a few times, taking a deep breath, releasing it slowly. “Okay... so, where should we look?” he asked. Vexen hesitated. “Oh c’mon, you’ve been working here way longer than I have!” he groaned impatiently. “Okay, Dem’s been quarantined for a while now, right? So where will he be taken after quarantine?”

Vexen would have wanted to hit himself, but didn’t do it, simply because that would make him look unprofessional and downright stupid. “Of course!”

“Of course what?” Axel asked when the vet suddenly took a seemingly random direction and started walking. “H-hey! Dr. Sneeze!”

Vexen stopped walking just as quickly as he had started, almost making Axel bump into him. “What... did you just call me?” he asked in an icy voice.

Axel rubbed the back of his neck, clearing his throat. “Ahh, um, seems you didn’t like that name, huh...” he laughed sheepishly. “Maybe you were bullied about your last name in school or...” Another icy glare from Vexen and Axel fell silent, raising his hands up defensively. “Jeez...” he mumbled under his breath as he started to follow Vexen to wherever he was going.

Only a short while later, Vexen opened another door that led to a corridor with so many aquariums that Axel lost count, and he realized that they were where all the visitors would be when the place was open, which would again be in three hours.

“He should be here, somewhere...” Vexen mumbled, more to himself than Axel as he started to scan the tanks one by one. He stopped in front of one that was rather large and isolated, and seemed empty. “This one... perhaps...”

“Hey, uh, what are you doing?”

“I believe this is the tank that was meant for Demyx, once he was let out of quarantine.”

“So he’s in here?” Axel asked, eyeing the seemingly empty tank suspiciously.

“I think so, yes.”

“Well how can we make sure?”

“I... suppose we could go to the upper level, and... Where are young going?”

“To the freaking upper level, of course!”

Vexen stared after the redhead, shaking his head at him in disbelief. “Do you even know where it is?”

Axel paused to think. “Nah,” he waved a hand dismissively, “But I’ll find it sooner or later.”

“How about I just tell you where the upper level is?” Vexen suggested with some amusement. This redhead really was something... Not necessarily something pleasant, but Vexen supposed it would spare him from suffering a headache if he just directed the new worker to where he was going.

Axel thought about the suggestion for a short while, shrugged and said, “Well. If you insist.”

Demyx hated the feeling when it felt like he was drowning, even though he was able to breathe underwater just fine, like he had been able to do for his whole life. But this was one of those moments when such a feeling of panic overflowed his senses that he found it hard to breathe, his mind was in a complete chaos and his body wouldn't listen to him. He wanted to rush to the surface and take a deep breath of air into his lungs, but he couldn't. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't.

This was the result of waking up from a nightmare in which he had had to witness the deaths of his whole family – even Luxord, and his father, whose face he couldn’t even remember – in the hands of Xigbar, Xaldin, Lexaeus and... Axel. He couldn't get the reality-like feeling of the dream out of his mind, the way Axel had grinned at him seconds before he had grabbed Naminé, and how Demyx had tried to swim to his sister but his injured tail wouldn’t work properly...

On top of the dream, he had once again woken up in completely foreign surroundings.

He was still in water, yes, but where only light blue tiles and floor had framed his living area before, there now were various aquatic plants, and even some small colourful fish swimming around. The first thing he had done after waking up was cautiously moving himself up from the sandy floor – yes, it was sand, not tile, he realized – and starting to explore his surroundings.

To his dismay, he found that the space he now had wasn't as big as it first had seemed, in fact, it was even smaller, but he supposed that all the plants and fish, all of which were actually real, were supposed to make up to it.

He knew that he was still in one of the many fish tanks of Sea Paradise, simply by bumping into glass while he’d been distracted watching the fish swimming hurriedly away from his path. After a few curses, he had carefully looked past the reflection that showed himself and the inside of the aquarium, and saw some kind of corridor, doors, and a green and white sigh that said ‛EXIT’.

Demyx had no idea what had suddenly clicked in his head, but the next second he found himself frantically searching for the darkest corner of the aquarium where he could hide to the end of the world. Luckily, he had soon found a small cavern where he barely fit and, in spite of his uncomfortable position, decided to stay there no matter what happened.

And that was where he was now, huddled in a tight ball in the very back of the cavern, having a panic attack. His eyes were burning with unshed tears, but for some reason, he couldn’t bring himself to cry.

Demyx opened his tightly shut eyes when he suddenly heard a dull sound in his ears, blinking a few times, which caused fresh tears glide down his cheeks and dissolve into the water. At first, he thought he was just hearing things, but then he heard the sound again, pulsating through him, and he had to cover his ears as it started to get louder.

His rather determined decision to stay in the cavern to the very end of the world was ruined as he decided to investigate, curious as he was, despite having been utterly confused and panicked just a short while ago. He again held his hands to his ears once he had managed to twist himself out of the too small cavern, and looked around. He saw nothing out of the ordinary in the tank, but cringed when the horrible sound reached his ears again. He turned to look to his right, where he thought he could see a flash of bright red...

“Axel!” he exclaimed and swam to the glass, slowing down so that he wouldn’t hit the deceptive material again. He reached a hand out and touched the glass, to know where it began, and flattened his palm against it. He saw Axel smile very slightly as the human, too, put his hand against the glass, against his own. Demyx stared at their hands, separated only by the layers glass, feeling another wave of sadness hit him.

It hadn’t been a very long time when he had last seen Axel, but now, in his confused state, he would have liked to get some answers from the redhead... to be comforted by him. Gods, he just wanted to hug Axel at that moment, to know he was still there, and know he wouldn't be left alone.

To think there was only such a small distance between them...

On the other side of the glass, Axel was having similar thoughts. He could only wish there was no glass between them, that he could take Demyx into his arms and make the confused expression on his features go away. He tried a weak smile, but found that the action seemed too forced. He was relieved to see Demyx, but he couldn’t stand the helpless look in his eyes as he gazed at Axel in confusion.

Axel wished he himself would know what was going on.

“I found it.”

Axel glanced at Vexen who was holding a bunch of keys – they had found that the doors to the upper level had been locked – and nodded, turning back to Demyx. “Don’t worry,” he said aloud, even though he knew very well that Demyx couldn’t hear him. “We’ll get you out of there, and then find out what’s going on.”

“I’m surprised they took him off quarantine this soon,” said Vexen, who had walked next to Axel, giving the confused merman a reassuring smile that he returned somewhat hesitantly. “Try to tell him to come up to the surface.”

Axel nodded, watching Vexen disappear around a corner before he turned to face Demyx again. He pointed up, and Demyx glanced to the direction briefly before understanding what he was trying to say and gave a small nod. Axel gave him a thumbs-up and hurried after Vexen, while Demyx swam up to wait for them.

When Axel caught up to Vexen, he found the vet struggling with the many keys he held in his hands, mumbling something incoherent until he found the one that opened the door to the upper lever and got the door open.

Axel was inside in a flash, not caring whether or not he knocked Vexen over as he pushed past the vet into the room. He stopped dead in his tracks, seeing how many surfaces of aquariums he could actually see and turned to Vexen helplessly. “Which one?”

“This is why we asked him to come to the surface,” Vexen explained, walking past Axel to scan the glass-covered surfaces. Once he saw the merman, floating near the surface of one of the many aquariums, he checked the number of the aquarium and found the matching key in order to open the hatch that was atop every aquarium for safety reasons .

Axel couldn’t keep a stupid grin off his face when Vexen finally opened the hatch and extended a hand to the merman who immediately took it, eager to get out of the tank. Axel hurried to help Vexen, and together they pulled Demyx up and onto the floor. To Axel’s surprise, he found the merman’s arms around him the second he was out of the tank, hugging him tightly while Demyx nearly sobbed with relief. “H-hey, now...” Axel sat onto the floor so that he could hold Demyx better, running a hand through the merman's hair soothingly. “It’s okay now, I... I’m here, don’t be scared...”

“I...” Demyx sniffled and raised himself a little so that he could wipe his eyes from the tears that had finally fallen, out of sheer relief at seeing the red-haired human. “I woke up there, all alone, and I... I had no idea what was going on...”

Axel quietly shushed Demyx, holding him more tightly while his eyes met Vexen’s, who gave him a nod and then turned away.

“Well, as things are, it seems we must put him back in quarantine,” Vexen said in his professional-veterinary- tone.

“And why would that be?”

Vexen and Axel turned to look towards the entrance to the upper level – Demyx merely buried his face into Axel’s arm – only to see their boss glaring at them suspiciously. Axel had no idea what to say, but luckily, the vet seemed to have an answer.

“Well, simply because...” Vexen cleared his throat, staring at the merman as he hoped to find an answer that Ms. Savage would accept. He couldn’t say that he, too, had gotten rather fond of the merman, and couldn’t bear seeing him in such a state of panic. But he had a feeling that if he told Ms. Savage that the merman was simply scared of being left alone, he would lose his job, and he couldn’t afford that. “B-because...” he repeated, feeling beads of sweat forming on his skin as he desperately struggled to find a reason to why they would have to put the merman back into the quarantine hall. Then his eyes fell on the merman’s tail. “The—the tail’s infected,” he managed to choke out, and immediately everyone’s attention was on the merman’s somewhat shredded, reddened tail. Regaining his confidence, Vexen continued, “We—Mr. Flurry and myself, that is—noticed this as we were... checking, the tanks, and were, right now, taking the merman out of the tank to avoid the tail getting worse, and other fish getting the infection, too.”

Axel stared at the rambling vet with an expression of disbelief and then shook his head slightly. He wasn’t sure where the hell Vexen had suddenly managed to find a reason to why they were dragging Demyx out of the tank he had just been moved into, but he was glad he had. He made a note to himself to thank Vexen when their boss, who at that moment was throwing a fit about her precious fish dying because of Demyx, would be out of sight... and tell the man not to ever, ever again call him ‛Mr. Flurry’.

“Fine,” Larxene huffed and turned to go out of the upper level. “I want you to take it back to quarantine, and then check all the living things that were in the same tank with it, understand?”

Vexen could only nod as their boss exited the room, and then turned to Axel and Demyx with a relieved sigh. “So... let’s go then, shall we?”

Axel nodded and prepared to lift Demyx up into his arms, but Demyx held him away as he glared at the vet. “I’m not a fish, you know.”

Vexen turned to look at him in confusion. “Excuse me?”

“I said, ‛I’m not a fish’. You just told the lady about ‛other fish’ getting some infection, which means that you think I’m a fish, too. Well I’m not.”

Axel turned his head in order to hide the grin on his face – Vexen’s expression was priceless as he tried to explain himself to the childish merman, that he didn’t think he was a fish, not at all. He snorted aloud when it was Demyx’s turn to stutter when Vexen mentioned that he was still wondering about the reproduction of the merpeople, a good topic to approach if you wanted to embarrass Demyx. Axel had a feeling that Vexen did it on purpose, as he seemed to know asking something ‛embarrassing’ like that would make the merman quiet down.

“Actually,” Axel then started, intending to tease Demyx a little. “I’ve heard it’s kind of the same like with dolphins... you know?”

Vexen nodded slowly, giving ah “Oh” of understanding. That would indeed explain some of his questions...

“And while I did some research...” Axel turned to Demyx, grinning widely as he patted his head teasingly. “I found out that dolphins tend to have homosexual relationships... meaning they do it just for fun sometimes, eh?”

Vexen cleared his throat and turned to face the door, while Demyx blushed crimson and pushed Axel away. “Trust you to look up something like that...” the merman mumbled in embarrassment and then moved a little towards Vexen so that he could tug on his pant leg. The vet turned to look at him with an expression of surprise as he gave him a pout you’d expect to see on the face of a six-year-old. “Lift me up.”

Vexen glanced at Axel helplessly – the redhead looked as surprised as Vexen felt. “Uh...”

“I don’t trust Axel to pick me up right now,” Demyx explained, turning to shoot a glare at the redhead before reaching one arm up while his other was keeping him up on the floor, staring at Vexen with puppy-dog eyes. “Please?”

“Oh fine,” Vexen sighed and knelt down to pick the merman up – though he wasn’t very light, as Vexen soon noticed, the tail had to add a lot to his weight. He was glad that the merman held onto him, otherwise he was sure he would have dropped him. “Well, let’s go then,” he said once he had the merman securely in his arms, turning to look at Axel who didn’t look very happy.

“Right, whatever,” Axel mumbled and followed after Vexen.

“Well, that was one of a freaking episode,” mumbled Axel, once he was alone with Demyx, once again in the quarantine hall.

“I’m just glad I’m out of there...” Demyx whispered, leaning his head against Axel’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure if the redhead was angry at him for wanting Vexen to carry him to the quarantine hall – he’d done it just to tease the man anyway – but at least Axel let him snuggle against him, of which he was glad.

“I would have thought you’d like the other tank better, since there’s lots more...” Axel shrugged. “Well, stuff in there.”

Demyx shook his head. “No... I mean, it sounds stupid, but somehow, in that other tank I felt... so lonely, because I couldn’t, you know... get up from the water at all, and see you.”

“Oh...” Axel frowned deeply. “Sorry.”

“What?” Demyx asked, turning to look at Axel who seemed uncomfortable. “Why are you apologizing?”

“I should be here more often, I really should...” Axel sighed.

“What, no!” Demyx exclaimed and then quickly explained himself, “I mean, you’ve actually got a life in this town, I don’t want you to—”

“Demyx,” Axel interrupted him, moving so that he could look at the merman in the eyes. “Don’t think I’m here just because I’d feel like I have to,” he said in all seriousness, “I’m working here, making sure you’ll be alright because I...” He kept an awkward pause at that point, but continued soon when he noticed that Demyx was looking at him a little oddly, “Uh, because I-I want to, and... because I care about... you.”

Demyx concerned expression turned into a relieved, maybe a bit amused smile once Axel had managed to stammer out what he had wanted to say. He had almost been sure that Axel had suddenly realized that there was no reason for him to stay at the Sea Paradise, other than the money he got from it.

Axel noticed the faint smile and frowned. “What are you smiling about?” he asked, irritated that his confession hadn’t really come out like he had wanted it to.

Demyx’s smile died when he heard the tone in Axel’s voice and hurried to explain himself, “Uh, it’s nothing, I was just so relieved!”

“Relieved?”

“Well, because I thought that you, you know, might get bored of babysitting me,” Demyx grinned sheepishly. “’Cause... you know... you already spend most of your time here, and, well, you’ve got friends and... stuff, so... I don’t wanna be a burden... you know?”

“A burden,” Axel mumbled, shaking his head at Demyx. “No, you could never be a burden to me.”

“O-oh...” Demyx gave a hesitant smile and said, “Well, that’s good to hear...”

“I’m not finished yet,” Axel said sharply, making Demyx cringe. “I-I mean... I’ve gotta say this, I’ve chickened out too many times...”

“A-Axel? Are you... alright?” Demyx asked, noticing that he redhead was talking more to himself than to Demyx. Axel turned to look at him with a serious expression that made Demyx close his mouth instantly – this couldn’t be anything good.

“No. I won’t be alright until I’ve told you how I really feel.”

“How you... really feel...?” Demyx repeated meekly. Maybe Axel had changed his mind, after all, and decided that Demyx wasn't worth his time... What would he do then? Axel was the only one he trusted... well, maybe he trusted Vexen as well, but not nearly as much as Axel, who had been with him from the moment he had gotten into the human world. What would he do if the only person who actually gave a shit about him suddenly left him? He wouldn’t stay sane in the human world alone, he knew he wouldn’t.

“I think I’m in love with you.”

Demyx blinked, once, twice, staring at Axel like he had suddenly grown a tail in place of his legs. He turned to look over his shoulder – no one there – and then back to Axel, who was looking at him with an expression he couldn’t quite read. He blinked again, realizing there was no one else in the room with them.

Which meant that Axel was talking to him.

“Okay so I admit, that was a bit sudden,” Axel sighed and averted his eyes, not wanting to look at the confused Demyx anymore. “I, uh... Well, I guess I’ve been... having these weird feelings, like, butterflies in my stomach or something corny like that, for a while now,” he said, feeling like he had to explain his sudden confession. “But I didn’t want to say anything, ‛cause I didn’t really understand what I was feeling myself... so, uh...”

Demyx was at a loss of words. What was this, Axel confessing his love to him while he sat there, looking like a moron? Yes, that was it. Demyx had never thought things could go like this, that he was the one someone was confessing their love to. Demyx had never been very popular among his peers, mostly because he was so energetic and loud, and he didn’t think he was very good-looking, either, so he had only dreamed that someone might, someday, feel that way about him. He had had a few crushes in the past, but had never done anything about them, because of the reasons above.

But now, Axel was telling him he was in love with him, looking at him rather expectantly.

Oh, right, he was supposed to say something in return.

“I, umm...” Not a very good beginning. “I... I seriously don’t know what to say...”

Axel chuckled slightly, running a hand through his wild hair. “Well, can’t really blame you. I guess you weren’t really expecting anything like that.”

“Um, not... really...” Demyx admitted, still looking stunned. Axel seemed very sincere with his confession... but did Demyx feel the same way about Axel? He admitted that he cared a lot about the redhead, looked up to him even, but love? As in the romantic way? He wasn’t so sure.

“I don’t expect you to feel the same way, you know,” Axel then said and stood up with a barely audible sigh.

“Axel, you know I care about you,” Demyx told him just as quietly, not facing the redhead. “But, I...” He took a deep, somewhat shaky breath and released it slowly before mumbling, “I’m not sure what I feel...”

Axel smiled slightly at the sight of Demyx biting on his lower lip in thought, having an inner debate with himself. “Hey, don’t force yourself,” he said and bent to give Demyx a kiss on the cheek before turning to the door. “I'll go ask the boss if she has something for me to do. I think it’s best I left you alone for a while, eh?”

Demyx nodded slightly, swinging his tail lazily in the water as he leaned backwards on his elbows. He heard Axel’s footsteps as he walked to the doors and opened them, but missed the sad smile directed at him just before the redhead left the quarantine hall.

Once the heavy doors had clicked shut Demyx lay back on the wet floor and groaned, covering his face with his palms. He had to think about the situation, that was for sure, but what was he supposed to think about it? Axel had just confessed his love to him, and he didn’t know what to think, at all. But the way Axel had said it – the sincerity that left no place for argument – made him feel horrible for not saying those words back to him, but he couldn’t lie either, could he?

Yes, he cared about Axel a lot, and yes, he wanted to spend as much time with him as possible, but he wasn’t sure if he even wanted anything romantic between him and the human. Even though there was a chance that if Axel realized that Demyx didn’t return his feelings, he would want nothing to do with him anymore, and that wasn’t something Demyx wanted.

Why did it have to be so complicated?

“Okay, Demyx,” he said aloud to himself, “Try it. Try to imagine yourself and Axel in a romantic relationship.”

It was harder than he had thought, now that he actually tried it. He wasn’t sure what to imagine, for he had never been in a romantic relationship and didn’t know what to expect from it.

“Uhh... O...k... Try to imagine... kissing... Axel...”

Hmm... Axel’s smiling lips over his, Axel’s tongue in his mouth, Axel’s hands on his body... Now that wasn’t very hard to imagine, and not hard at all to get carried away with the thought.

Demyx blushed crimson and sat upright. “Gods, what are you thinking!?”

“What are you thinking?”

Demyx jumped at the unexpected voice from the doors, where he saw Vexen smiling at him in amusement. “Uh, Vexie, hi... Didn’t notice you there...”

Vexen didn’t comment on the burning blush on the merman’s face as he approached Demyx and knelt down next to him. “I have to check that tail of yours, infected as it is.”

Demyx immediately lifted his tail from the water, looking at it in confusion. “Infected? I thought it was just a quick white lie.” He allowed Vexen to pull him back so that he was fully resting on the tiles and then turned onto his stomach, since he didn’t like to lie on his back when there were other people around.

“Well, every cloud has a silver lining, I guess,” Vexen chuckled as he started to inspect Demyx’s tail. That was right, without the infection he’d probably be jobless. “I’m surprised you haven’t noticed. Or rather, that I haven’t noticed, I’m supposed to be the vet here.”

“Oh, I just thought it was like that because i’'s so torn...” Demyx said, his voice trembling slightly. Even though the space was rather limited, he had tried his tail in speeding up, doing circles and so on, and realized that his tail would never be the same again – it was shredded too badly. He had a feeling that if a shark was to chase him around in the ocean, he would end up as a snack for the beast. It just... wasn’t what it had used to be.

“You seem to have a lot on your mind,” Vexen commented after a while of silence.

Demyx only hummed softly as an answer.

Another silence stretched between them, until, “That Axel...” Vexen started again. “He seems to have taken quite a liking to you.”

Demyx flushed at the comment, burying his face in his arms to hide it. He mumbled a ‘yeah’ but otherwise didn’t say anything in fear of showing the vet just how embarrassed he was.

“You know, your ears turn red when you’re embarrassed.”

Before he could stop himself, Demyx gasped and lifted himself up on one arm as he unconsciously reached to touch one ear. He then turned to look at Vexen, whom he found smiling slightly while treating his infected tail. “S-shut up!” he exclaimed and looked down again, shielding his head with his arms, no matter how childish it made him look.

Vexen chuckled, shaking his head at the merman. He couldn’t be more obvious if he tried... Deciding not to tease Demyx anymore, Vexen stood and brushed some imaginary dust off his pants. “Well, it seems I have to put you on antibiotics now.”

Demyx merely blinked at him.

“Because of the infection, you see.”

Demyx nodded slowly. “I... guess, yeah.” At least he thought that Vexen meant what he thought he meant... Some sort of medicine, probably, hopefully. He watched as the vet walked to the doors and then turned to him once more.

“Consider carefully what you’re going to do with Axel. Getting seriously involved could cause a lot of trouble.”

In spite of the lecturing tone Vexen had, Demyx smiled to him and said, “I thought you were a vet and not a psychologist.”

Vexen laughed slightly. “I’ve been many things in my life, Demyx. Veterinary is only one of them,” he said with a barely-there smile and then left Demyx to wonder his words, as he often liked to do.

Demyx pouted when the doors clicked shut heavily and then sighed, turning his eyes to his shredded tail, the pout being replaced with a sad frown. He could only hope that whatever Vexen planned to do to his tail worked and he could swim properly again... though he had a feeling that a miracle was needed to cure his tail completely – but what did he know about human medicines? Maybe they were different from theirs, and would be able to make his tail better...?

Shaking his head, Demyx decided it was no use getting his hopes up, only to have them crushed when he realized that no medicine from either world could cure his tail.

In the meantime, he should focus on what to do with Axel. The redhead claimed to be in love with him, but he had to sort out his own feelings before talking to the human again.

Sighing, Demyx lay down and covered his face with his hands. What the hell was he going to do?

tbc...