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Author of 25 Stories |
“Je Te Veux”
By Chocolate Wolfie
Chapter Two
Be Our Fking Guest
Long after the sun had sunken beyond the horizon and the stars peeked out in tiny patches from behind the great blanket of gray in the sky, Sora pushed open his door and slipped out into the hallway. He had intended to stay in the room for his entire ‘visit’ to the mansion, seeing as it had its own private bathroom and there was no reason to leave…
Accept for food.
Maybe he’d be able to sneak into the kitchen and pilfer enough to keep him fed for a month. He wondered if he could find anything that wasn’t perishable… he’d gone for several weeks at a time living off of nothing but ramen and oatmeal when his father was running short on cash, why couldn’t he do that now?
Sora crept down the west wing towards the stairway that led into the foyer. He could hear hushed voices in several of the doors he passed, but chose to ignore them. Once he was downstairs, Sora poked his head into several rooms, finding a Billiards room, a library, and several bathrooms. Once he found the dining room, Sora sighed in relief, knowing that the kitchen couldn’t be far.
He passed a heavy winged chair, brushing his hand along its furry back until it was caught in a strong grip. Sora shouted and twisted around to face a lithe man with hair a loud shade of red and piercing green eyes seated placidly on the fur-backed chair, which had obstructed Sora’s view of him.
“So you’re the brat’s new plaything, huh?” He grinned, forcefully tugging Sora closer to him. The brunette cried out in pain as the redhead pressed razor-sharp claws against the tender skin of his wrist, “Thought he asked for a girl… huh… oh well, more fun for me.”
Before Sora knew it, he had been lifted up onto the dining room table, his hands pinned above his head by one of the man’s abnormally clawed hands. The redhead smirked suggestively as Sora squirmed beneath him, squeaking incomprehensibly. “Well you’re a cute little thing…” He muttered, running a claw down Sora’s sternum, “I usually go for the blondes, though.” He reached the end of the brunette’s hoodie and slid a feverishly warm hand over his stomach.
“STOP! GET OFFA ME!” Shouted the spiky-haired boy, flailing his legs; the man shifted his own, pinning them down as well.
“Axel! WHAT are you doing?!” A startled voice cried and the redhead was suddenly pulled off of Sora, whom skittered away in a state of shock. A young man with sandy blonde hair that was styled in a bizarre mix between a mohawk and a mullet, about a year or two older than Sora, was holding the redhead under the arms, indigo eyes narrowed into jealous slits.
“Thanks so much...” Sora smiled appreciatively at the blonde, whom grinned back briefly before focusing an optic death ray at the redhead.
“Well, I asked you a question!” He huffed. The redhead… Axel, the blonde had called him… smirked and whipped around to face the blonde.
“Awe, Demmi-baby. I was just having a little fun with the new toy.” Axel cooed, attempting to catch the other young man’s lips with his.
“Axel! He’s a human being! Don’t—MMP!” He was silenced by Axel’s mouth and the two slid back into the chair in a tangle of limbs and continued to attempt to eat each other’s faces.
Sora stared on in horror for all of two seconds before getting the hell out of there.
He slid safely into the kitchen, slamming the door behind him with both hands. Sora heaved a sigh of relief, happy to no longer hear the pleasured moans of the clawed man and his friend; he turned to start into the kitchen…
And was face-to-face with a tiny Chinese man wielding a giant frying pan. Sora ducked as the man swung the frying pan Happy Gilmore-style, shrieking out in a foreign language. The brunette rolled away underneath a small table and skittered out backwards as the man chased him, swinging his frying pan ruthlessly.
“AK! No!” Sora shouted as he narrowly missed being swatted with the pan. The man howled at him in Chinese and charged the horrified teen, who found that he was backed into a wall, “Shit!”
The man lurked above him, frying pan held high above his head. His dark eyes were wide with sick bloodlust and his mouth was pulled into a crazed grin, “Bye, bye.” He growled in rough English. Sora squeezed his eyes shut and raised in arm in defense. There was an awful thwack and the sound of dead weight and the metallic clattering on a frying pan falling to the floor.
Sora tenderly peeked over his arm, seeing a slight framed boy standing before him. He was dressed in a black hoodie and flooded jeans and hair a peculiar shade of silver violet cascaded over one of his eyes; two black fox ears twitched slightly upon his head and a bushy black tail waved behind his rump. He folded a heavy black book under his arm and turned to Sora.
“I apologize. He doesn’t like strangers in his kitchen.” The violet-tressed boy stared at Sora expectantly and offered a hand tipped with tiny claws; Sora stared at them incredulously and the young man quirked an eyebrow, “I don’t do this for everyone, you know. I’m just required to treat you kindly.”
Sora grasped the boy’s hand and allowed himself to be pulled up, “Um… I’m Sora.”
“I’m Zexion and I don’t care.” The young man grumbled, turning towards the chef and poking him with a toe, “When he wakes up, I’ll tell him not to kill you.”
“Th-thanks…” Sora awkwardly mumbled, his eyes darted around the kitchen, “So, uh, what do you have to eat around here?”
“Food.” The fox-boy replied matter-of-factly, strutting up to the fridge. He removed a small pack of cheese singles and a tub of butter before setting it on the counter and reaching into a small bread box.
“Grilled cheese?” Then brunette asked, walking up behind the slate-haired youth, whom held a clawed middle finger out straight in Sora’s face.
“Yes—and don’t do that.” He instructed without even turning to face Sora before busying himself with buttering the bread. At first, Sora had expected him to make them sandwiches, which he had dismissed as soon as he’d been flipped off. However, he was pleasantly surprised to find four pieces of bread buttered with cheese as soon as Zexion ducked underneath the counter to dig in the cupboards below.
Sora fidgeted uselessly as the other boy groped through the cupboard, the black fox-tail swishing about cheerfully from where it poked out from the top of his jeans. He stared at it with wide eyes, fighting the insane urge to run up behind the boy and pet it.
Zexion slid out from under the counter, holding a small grill in one hand. He arched an eyebrow at Sora, whose attention had snapped away from him at the first sign of movement and shook his head from a grumpy grumble.
‘Don’t stare, don’t stare, don’t stare…’ Chanted the brunette mentally, forcing his eyes to go anywhere but the ebony triangles twitching in just the most— dare he think it?—the most cute way upon Zexion’s head.
Zexion began to hum a tune from an outdated Fall Out Boy single, tapping the tune onto the top of the grill; his little fox ears twitched along in time with the tapping. Sora’s eyes became trained upon the tiny appendages and his hands twitched at his sides. He had the worst feeling that they’d get bitten off if he even thought of…
Zexion spun around suddenly, staring at Sora expectantly with inquiring indigo eyes, “Is something the matter?” He asked curtly.
“Ah! Um, er—no… just… admiring your…” Cobalt eyes flew rapidly from the ears to the tail to the floor, “Lovely… head.”
“Uh huh.” Zexion rested against the counter, folding one arm across his torso and raising his other hand to his mouth.
“It’s very… I like your hair!” Sora forced a smile, jamming his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, “It’s unique.”
Zexion’s ears twitched and Sora about died. How could something so utterly adorable be connected to someone that damn emo?!
“I really only got that reaction from the girls. But, yeah, they’re real.” Smirked the fox-like boy, turning back to the grill, which he opened and placed the sandwiches upon it with a hiss. Sora stared at him incredulously, his eyes widening.
“How-?” He began, but Zexion shot a venomous glare at him from over his shoulder, setting the top of the grill down on the sandwiches firmly.
“It’s not my story to tell.” He muttered darkly before turning back to the task at hand. Sora shivered uncomfortably and nervously pursed his lips, knowing that they’d be chapped quite soon if that became a habit.
Zexion reached up into the cupboards above him, extracting two plates before pulling open a drawer and lifting out a spatula, which he used to scrape two grilled cheese sandwiches off of the grill.
“You—“ He began as he turned back to Sora, but stopped abruptly as he saw the teenager standing there, hands clenched tightly into fists at his sides. Trails of tears burned down Sora’s flushed cheeks, gathering onto his chin and falling to the floor in pathetic droplets. His mouth was doing odd things that Zexion supposed was the outcome of trying to purse them closed. Sora heaved a tremulous breath and his entire body shook slightly. Zexion glanced away.
“Stop it.” He growled, marching over to a small breakfast nook and slamming the plates down onto it. He glanced back at Sora, whom was wiping his eyes with his sleeves and was now shaking more than ever; he appeared to be making a great effort to stop crying and was failing greatly. Zexion growled, growing irritated, “STOP IT, I SAID!”
Sora sharply sucked in a small amount of air and stood there, shaking slightly as the tears continued to pour from his eyes helplessly. The fox-eared teenager scoffed and glanced away, “Sit down.” He ordered. Sora walked, in a daze, over to the breakfast nook and stared down at his sandwich emotionlessly, still attempting to contain the tears. Zexion sighed irately and glanced from Sora to the unconscious chef on the floor.
“You stay here.” He commanded, Sora nodded numbly and the other boy quickly left the room.
“He’s cute, right? I said he was cute and he was!” A girl with dark brown hair-- two tiny pink ears covered in a light dust of brown poking out it-- just two or so inches shorter than Zexion squealed loudly, poking her face into his. Zexion snarled ferally at her and shoved her out of the way. The girl rebounded, still grinning.
“Yuffie, I’d suggest you’d leave him alone before you loose a limb.” A dark voice commented dryly. A red-clothed man exited a nearby room, extending a clawed hand to the girl.
“But Vinnie! I wanna ask Zexy how he was!” Yuffie squealed, pirouetting around the fox, her long, white tail swishing behind her merrily.
“Fuck off, Yuffie.” Zexion replied, not even bothering to glance at the girl. She huffed with a stomp of her foot, stubbornly poking out her bottom lip.
“Come on, Vinnie; we don’t have time for this!” Snapped the girl before storming over to the man swathed in red and disappearing into the room he’d come out of. He shot a glance at Zexion before draping an arm around the girl’s shoulders and shutting the door.
Zexion traveled in relative silence until he reached the western hallway and a door swung open. A redheaded girl with violet eyes peeked out at him timidly, auburn rabbit ears folded flat on her head, “Zexion…” She began softly. He shot her a glare that said “not now” and her door quickly swung shut.
He promptly continued down the hall, coming to stop at the set of double doors decorated with the ornate floral patters and banged on it several times with a tight fist. His sensitive ears picked up hushed voices within before the door creaked open slowly. A silver-tressed young man glared out of the room, glaring at Zexion with cat-like eyes.
“Yes?” He hissed, two silvery feline ears plastered themselves to his head in annoyance as he gripped the door with clawed hands.
“Where’s your brother?” Zexion growled in reply, indigo meeting cobalt and emerald as an awful static filled the air.
“He’s eating.” The feline youth answered coldly and went to push the door closed. Zexion, however, had other ideas, and stuck his foot in the way, shoving his way past the other boy and into the room.
“What the--?! Get back here, you piece of shit!” The silver-haired boy snapped, lunging for Zexion, whom skillfully dashed out of his way.
“Kadaj, let him be.” An even voice demanded and the taller boy bristled, glaring daggers at Zexion, his ears laid flat on his head in anger as a low, rumbling ‘mrr…’ sounded in the throat. Zexion growled back in reply and Kadaj took a sudden step backwards, wrinkling his face into a hiss before dashing behind a paper screen decorated with a painting of a Sakura tree. Pink petals carefully painted on covered the screen, falling around and below a poem written in elegant Japanese calligraphy. The silhouette of the feline boy as well as another danced upon it in the flickering candlelight. The unknown person sighed, setting down a cup with a dull noise, “Well, what do you want?”
“To be frank, you need to take better care of your shit.” Zexion growled, folding his arms across his chest uncomfortably.
“… what do you mean?”
“You know what I mean! That kid’s been here for only five hours and he bursts into tears if you so much a look at him funny! Not to mention, Demyx said he almost got raped by Axel and the chef nearly killed him!” Zexion shouted, beginning to loose his temper, “You take some random kid away from his family, dump him in this nuthouse, and you don’t even give him so much as a few tips to stay the fuck away from the crazy people!”
“Getting soft, are we?” Kadaj grinned wickedly, poking his head out from behind the screen. Zexion snarled, his hair visibly bristling and canine teeth shooting to the size of fangs in an instant.
“Fuck you, Kadaj! I’ve been in the same situation, so I know how it feels!” Zexion snapped. His hands curled so tightly into fists that they drew blood from his palms. Kadaj raised an eyebrow and slid back behind the screen before Zexion stared at the second silhouette, “At least get him to stop crying, you piece of shi—!”
There was a sudden shuffling and Zexion started, taking a hesitant step backwards. However, he narrowed his eyes, wanting to stick to his guns. There was an unmistakable sigh from behind the screen and a small swik noise of cloth being quickly pulled across a surface.
“Fine.” Sighed the second silhouette, “You win.”
“Eat, eat!” He ordered Sora, placing an open carton of ice cream before him, “Make happy!”
Sora usually would’ve politely refused the offer, but at the moment, he wanted nothing more than to just sit there and be silent. The chef huffed and stabbed the ice cream with a soup spoon, scooping up a large amount, which he held in front of Sora’s face temptingly. Sora shook his head slightly and the chef growled, poking it closer to his face.
Right about when Sora was about to get his face covered in Neapolitan, the kitchen door swung open and Zexion strutted in, saying something to the chef in Chinese. The chef replied, sticking the spoon back into the ice cream and hastily shoving it into the freezer. He glanced at Sora and pointed towards him, saying something to Zexion, whom shook his head and held up a black cloth. The chef nodded and left the kitchen.
Zexion crossed the room, and Sora stared at him imploringly as he reached around the brunette’s head, securing the cloth around him as a blindfold.
“The master’s coming in to see you.” Explained the slate-tressed teen, “You’re not to take this off under ANY circumstances.”
Sora cringed and nodded vaguely, listening to the sounds of Zexion leaving the room. He placed his hands in his lap, wringing them nervously. Something about that man made Sora uncomfortable: it was most likely the strange amber color of his eyes and the way there bore into you mercilessly, attempting to dissect you in a way…
Sora shivered, hearing the door swing open once again. Warm tears continued to roll down his cheeks, causing the damp cloth to stick to his eyes. The teen urged himself not to cry, gripping handfuls of his jeans and squeezing them—
And then a warm, callused hand tenderly brushed Sora’s cheek. A whoosh of air escaped Sora’s lungs and he relaxed his grip, though he was still trembling slightly from the tears.
“Are you okay?” A voice inquired, and Sora was quite surprised that it was not the harsh, deep voice of before. This voice… it was young and soft. It held some sort of edge to it. It was slightly guarded, yet open at the same time, and with it was carried an air of maturity, as if it held a large amount of responsibility.
“I… I thought ‘the master’ was coming in…” Sora mumbled softly, tilting his head towards the voice. There was a light laugh. It was mournful, yet still honestly amused by the naïvety presented to him.
“He can’t hurt you tonight.” The new voice explained. He finally removed his hand from Sora’s face and there was a scraping noise, “Ah… Zexion made grilled cheese, eh? I bet you’re hungry. Here.” The same hand found Sora’s and something soft and warm was placed into it.
Sora sat in silence for several seconds before devouring the sandwich as if it was his last meal on earth. He quickly finished the sandwich, sucking the melted cheese off of his fingers like a pitiful little animal.
“Huh. Guess you were hungry.” The voice commented, slightly shocked, “Do you want this one?”
Another sandwich was hastily pushed into Sora’s hand. The brunette bit his lip, knowing that Zexion had originally made it for himself, but his stomach gave an awful roar and he attacked it. The voice laughed once more, this time more amused than anything else.
“I’ll tell you a secret.” He commented, “Zexion makes better grilled cheese than the chef.”
Sora didn’t reply, seeing as he was currently masticating a large mouthful of cheese and bread. Several minutes later, feeling guiltily gluttonous, he glanced towards the general direction of the voice.
“Thanks…” He mumbled awkwardly.
“Anytime.” The voice replied.
“It’s just… I feel like such a wuss for crying, you know.” Sora confessed to the stranger, glancing down at where he knew his feet where, “I haven’t cried since my mom died two years ago… I’m the only one of my siblings that hasn’t. Which is a surprise, seeing as my twin Roxas is such a hard-ass. But in a way it feels good to finally cry. I was always so busy being strong for my brothers and sisters that I forgot what its like to be alone…” There they were again, stinging at the back of his eyes, pounding ruthlessly at their bases, “I don’t… I forgot…”
Sora didn’t even know what happened by the time he grabbed the owner of the voice and buried his face into his chest. The other emitted a small noise of shock and for a moment, Sora fully expected to be pushed away. But then, strong arms wrapped around him and a chin was placed on his head. Sora heaved his tears out into the stranger’s chest, holding onto his shirt as if his life depended on it. All the memories he’d left behind in California, every fight with his siblings, every missed chance to bawl into his pillow in the dead of night was cried into the stranger’s sweatshirt that night into Sora was just a trembling, exhausted mess and he slipped into soothing darkness.
He looked around the room wildly before recalling the previous day’s event and finally breathed easy.
As easy as someone could breathe with a stranger several feet away from their bed.
Sora cleared his throat once, attempting to wake the man. When this did not work, he cleared it a second time, much louder. The man started and shifted in place. The brunette bit his lip and sat up, reaching out to tap the man on the arm. His eyes fluttered open in a bizarrely graceful way and he rubbed them slightly with gloved hands.
“Good morning.” He greeted Sora calmly.
“Uh…” Sora mumbled, glancing around the room once more, “Where did that guy from last night go?”
“He…” The man cracked open an amber eye and sighed, “He had to leave in the morning, but I expect he’ll be back tonight.”
“Oh, okay.” Nodded the teen, looking down at the tiny lumps in his bed where his feet were.
“Would you like something for breakfast?” The man asked, standing up suddenly.
“Um, sure.” Sora nodded, still avoiding eye contact. He felt a jab of guilt in his side for being so blatantly obvious.
“Do you like anything specific?” Asked the man as he crossed the room to the door, glancing back at Sora.
“Not really.” Shrugged the teen, “I’ll eat anything.”
“Alright.” The man nodded, and finally left the room. Sora heaved a sigh and fell back into the plush bed, staring up at the navy blue ceiling in dim interest. Something about that boy from the night before… a shiver ran down Sora’s spine and he rolled over onto his side, a warm smile spreading onto his face. It felt good to be able to have someone to confide in, even if they were a complete stranger and you were just crying into their shirt for forty-five minutes before passing out.
‘He had such a nice voice… I wonder what he looked like.’ Sora mused for a moment, but no picture he could summon in his mind matched up with that voice, ‘I wonder if…’ Sora flopped over once more, burying his face into the goose down pillow, ‘No, Sora! Just because he let you cry on him doesn’t mean…’ His cheeks burned suddenly, ‘But what if…?’
Sora sighed. He’d never actually dated anyone before. He hadn’t been attracted to girls in Middleschool, and by the time he’d figured things out, he’d been shipped across the country and was playing mom to his six siblings.
‘So you get a crush on the first guy that gives you a hug? Brilliant, Sora.’ He thought sarcastically, ‘You don’t even know what he looks like…’ He looked up, resting his chin on the soft pillow, ‘But does that matter, really? As long as he’s kind… but then again, he did feel ripped, even through his shirt…’ Sora’s face burned bright red as he summoned the image of trailing his tongue down toned abs, those callused hands that had brushed his face raking through his hair.
Sora all but suffocated himself within the pillow, his cheeks scorching hot. Stupid freaking hormones.
“Don’t, Axel.”
A tiny hedgehog with burning red spines bared tiny fangs at the tall, dark man in a miniature grin, dewy green eyes sparkling mischievously.
“I’m sorry, but isn’t that supposed to be Zexion’s thing?” Axel inquired; inching his way towards The Master’s booted feet.
“Someone has to cook during the day.” The Master replied stonily, folding the omlette over with his spatula and sliding it onto the plate, “Zexion and the chef can’t exactly do it at the moment.” He gestured towards the corner of the kitchen where an animal that would’ve been an Arctic fox if it wasn’t for his ebony fur was curled up fast asleep. Next to him was a plump goose snoozing pleasantly.
“Touché.” Axel snorted, rolling his eyes, “In any case… how’s the brat?”
“Still in bed.” Explained the man, opening the refrigerator and extracting a carton of orange juice. The hedgehog seemed to quirk an eyebrow, his grin growing.
“That hard, huh?” He chuckled deviously; the Master glared daggers at him with aureate eyes.
“I did not sleep with him, Axel. Even if I wanted to, that would be—.” He growled, shaking his head to himself before resuming his previous glare at the rodent, “Speaking of, I’ve heard certain things about the interesting way you choose to greet Sora.”
The little animal stared up at the man that was roughly the size of a building compared to him with horrified emerald eyes, “Um…” He mumbled, “Oh! I think I’m being paged.”
He nervously skittered away from the master, darting around the room until he ran into a wall, collected himself, and disappeared out the open door. The master glared at him as he left before sighing and picking up the omlette in one hand and the orange juice in the other.
‘Sex-driven fuckface.’ He thought bitterly, eyes narrowing into slits as he stepped out of the kitchen and into the hallway, ‘He got away with that way too easily… ‘ His grip on the cup he was carrying increased significantly as his mind produced an image of the brunette thrashing in Axel’s grip, their lips smothered forcefully together, ‘Bastard!’ The Master held back a growl as he began up the stairs, ‘How dare he touch my—.”
“You need to take better care of your shit!” Zexion’s voice flashed through his mind. The Master shook himself, a sheet of white hair brushing against his neck as he did so.
‘Sora isn’t… ‘my shit’.’ He decided roughly, traveling down the west hallway, ‘He doesn’t belong to anyone, he’s a human being.’ But where had this sudden possessiveness come from? It couldn’t…
‘No.’ He decided, coming to a stop before Sora’s door. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, ‘It’s like I told Axel. Even if I did care for Sora that way… I would never let myself touch him. He doesn’t deserve a monster like me.’
Placing the orange juice on the plate, he used his free hand to push open the door, where Sora was wiggling around in the many plush covers. Golden eyes widened to the size of saucers and The Master felt the blood rush to his cheeks, ‘Holy shi—.’
Sora’s head suddenly popped up from the covers and he sheepishly stared at the dark man, “Um, can you help me, please?”
“Wh-what?” The Master nearly sputtered, taking a startled step backwards.
“I’m kinda… stuck in the covers.” Sora giggled nervously, “There are so many of ‘em…”
“O-of course.” The Master cleared his throat and crossed the room, setting Sora’s breakfast down on the nightstand next to the brunette’s bed. It was an easy process disentangling the spiky-tressed teen from the blankets with two people and Sora soon was able to throw his feet of off the side of the bed, stretching them out and wiggling his toes pleasantly.
“Mmm, that’s so much better.” He smiled before turning to face The Master, “Thanks for the help and the breakfast and everything.”
“Of course.” The man mumbled, finding nothing else better to say to the teen, “Is there anything else you need?”
“Um…” Sora glanced away, vaguely embarrassed, “No, but… when, exactly will that guy be back?”
The Master, restrained himself from sighing and merely smiled grimly at Sora, “Around five, I’d expect.”
The man couldn’t decide if the sunny smile that was brought to Sora’s face stung or if it filled him with a warm sort of joy. “Thank you so much!” Beamed the teen, picking up the omlette, he used the side of his fork to cut off a sliver and promptly popped it in his mouth, “Mmm… that’s so good! We hardly ever eat out, so I’m only used to eating my own cooking.” He explained.
“I’m sure you’re a suitable chef.” The Master said quietly, heading towards the door, his hand brushing against the frame as he paused, glancing over his shoulder at Sora, whom was happily inhaling his breakfast, “Take care.”
“Oh, you’re leaving?” Sora blinked owlishly at the tall man before smiling and thanking him once again. The Master squeezed the doorframe and nodded, slipping out of his guest’s room.
By the time he was at the foot of the stairs, he was already hopping into his right shoe. He grinned as he approached the front door, sighing as it swung open at his feather-light touch and immersed him in cool, crisp air.
Sora was not one to stay indoors for long, and the grounds of the estate seemed to be quite a good area for some walking and poking around. He wondered around the side of the building, letting his fingers trail along its rough exterior as he absentmindedly hummed a familiar tune. He turned along with the building, eyes widening as he viewed what was behind it.
In the dead of winter, covered in a fine layer of frost, was a rose garden.
Cobblestone paths twisted around the bushes in a little sort of maze, in the center of which was a marble fountain merrily gushing water. Each plant was a brilliant shape of emerald, manicured to look natural instead of blocky and odd, but still tamed as to keep out of the paths. Upon each were dozens of roses, each in full bloom and varying in colors from startling red to icy ivory. Sora jogged over to one of the bushes, lowering his nose to a pearly pink flower and inhaling deeply. He smiled and then started as he heard a small snapping noise.
“Hello?” He inquired, glancing around the garden. The bushes were short enough to see if anyone other than a small child was approaching, and the only abnormal thing that Sora saw was what looked like two sticks bobbing over them.
Raising an eyebrow, he followed the sticks until a small deer rounded the corner, revealing the ‘sticks’ to be its antlers. Its ears flicked and it blinked violet eyes in calm curiosity. Sora stood stock-still, not wanting to shock the creature, but to his surprise, it merely trotted up to him, gesturing to the flowers with its head.
“Do you like them?” He inquired nonchalantly. Sora nearly jumped, glancing from the deer to the bush with wide eyes.
“Uhh… uhh… yeah.” He panicked, forcing a smile at the animal whom stared back at him with all-knowing violet eyes, carrying a hint of mischief.
“You paused.” The deer observed, “Were you afraid you were going to insult me?”
“I… uh…” Sora began to fidget, wringing his hands nervously, “I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting someone of your… erm… stature?” He squeaked, knowing the word sounded completely idiotic on his lips. The deer smirked and chuckled at the brunette before turning back to the bushes, brushing one with its nose lovingly. Sora observed this and reached out to gently brush his fingers against a petal, “I’ve never seen roses in December.” He admitted, “How do you keep them from wilting?”
The deer chuckled once again and looked at Sora, its violet eyes coruscating with mirth, “Magic.”
Sora sighed, a mournful smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he crouched down to the animal’s height, “After what I’ve seen in the past few hours, I won’t doubt that.” He glanced back at the roses, cobalt eyes growing sad, “My mother used to love roses.” He whispered.
“They’re a beautiful flower. My favorite as well.” Agreed the deer, “Which is possibly why I have so many—.” The deer cut off, its ears flapping several times before it swiveled its head towards the back of the mansion, “Oh, hello.” A cruel smirk curled onto its face, “I see you’ve brought a companion.”
Sora followed the deer’s gaze to see a bizarre sight. A handsome wolf a beautiful color of silver with a strange tint of blue to its coat was striding down the path, golden eyes situated upon either side of an x-shaped scar vaguely irate. Upon its head was what looked like a spiky lump as vibrantly red as the roses around them. It lowered its head to the ground, shaking its head a bit more forceful than necessary to remove the red lump, which skidded to the ground with an indignant cry.
“For God’s sake, Axel, I’m not a pack mule.“ He said evenly, glaring down at the spiny creature, which stared up at the wolf with the same kind of loathing.
“Yeah, whatever.” It snapped in a shockingly familiar voice; Sora stared down at the hedgehog in disbelief… that couldn’t be—?!
“Oh, good timing.” Tiny green beads stared up at Sora, whom leaned down closer to the rodent, “You. I’m sorry. Now, if you’ll excuse me...” It smirked with two rows of tiny, sharp teeth, “I’ve got a Demyx to bang.”
“Inter-species sex is never moralistic, Axel.” The deer commented airily, still displaying its cold smile.
“Who the fuck ever said I had morals?” The hedgehog cried as it made its way towards the fountain in the center of the courtyard.
“… I hope he drowns.” The scarred wolf muttered. The deer threw back his head and laughed.
“Blunt, as usual.” He commented, brushing its snout against the wolf’s. The canine smiled gently and lapped at the deer’s neck.
“Ah, but you wouldn’t have me any other way.” He replied softly into the deer’s neck. Sora watched in awe as the creatures began to converse with one another, touching each other’s faces gently and staring into the other’s eyes.
It was amazing to see two animals, which would usually be the hunter and the hunted in the wild regarding each other so… lovingly. A tiny smile formed on Sora’s lips. If something like this was possible, than that gave hope to any sort of relationship.
“GAH! Can’t—breathe…”
“Stop flopping around, Demii!”
Okay, there was an anthropomorphic Hedgehog attempting to molest an equally anthropomorphic fish a dozen yards away. If THAT was possible, Sora was ready to start seeing unicorns.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake!” The deer huffed, shooting a dirty look at Axel, whom had fallen into the fountain and was pitifully crawling over its side, “You do know that Demyx will suffocate without being in the water, correct?”
Axel grunted in reply, turning around to speak to the fish, who was swimming in the fountain, out of sight.
“That damn Axel needs to get his priorities straight.” Continued the deer, glaring at the ground in frustration.
“Just let him be. He’ll be his own undoing.” The wolf soothed, nuzzling the deer’s long neck.
“Um…” Sora began awkwardly, both animals turned to him expectantly, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but… uh; I don’t think I’ve got any of your names. I’m Sora, by the way.”
“So we’ve heard.” The wolf muttered mysteriously, Sora blinked in confusion, but the wolf shook his head, brushing the comment away, “My name is Saïx and this is—“
“Marluxia.” The deer nodded, bowing his head in acknowledgement.
“So, um… who told you about me?” Sora inquired, making himself as comfortable as possible on the cold ground.
“The Master, but that is neither here nor there.” The wolf replied curtly, “I would have to say that its turning out to be quite the experience with a normal human around here.”
“About that…” Sora reached behind him, scratching his neck nervously, “I don’t mean to offend, but… I’m not exactly used to talking with… animal-humans…”
“No offense taken.” Saïx nodded humbly, “But The Master has specifically instructed us to not tell you the entire… predicament, save for the fact that we appear this way below the sun—“
“—and during the night, we retain our human forms.” Marluxia finished, “But, as you’ve noticed, we do retain certain characteristics.”
“Yeah, I have.” Sora nodded, recalling Axel’s claws and Zexion’s ears and tail.
“That in itself is a curse.” Marluxia mumbled, Saïx shot him a cross look and the deer was instantly silenced.
“So, how are you enjoying your stay?” Saïx asked quickly, as to cover up his beau’s statement.
“It’s… been interesting, to say the least.” The brunette replied with a sheepish grin and a shrug, his grin than turned into a gentle smile as his eyes glowed warmly, “I’m just excited to see someone tonight.”
“Oh?” Marluxia’s ears perked up and he arched an eyebrow.
“A boy came to see me in the kitchen last night… he was really nice. He let me cry on him and everything.” Sora blushed at Marluxia and Saïx’s sudden looks of interest and glanced away, “T-the Master said he’d be home around five.”
The deer and the wolf exchanged all-knowing glances before turning back to the boy, “We’re glad you’ve made a friend.” Marluxia offered kindly with a tiny nod of his head.
“Thanks.” Sora grinned and then glanced up towards the sky, “Oh! It’s clear!”
“Hmm… there is a full moon tonight.” The wolf remarked, his voice carrying a slight edge unreadable by Sora, but judging by the slight noise the deer made, Marluxia knew exactly what it meant, “A clear sky will be good for viewing it.”
Muffled voices on the other side of the wall broke Sora’s thoughts. One of the voices was unfamiliar, side and condescending even when Sora couldn’t fully understand what it was saying, and the other—
The brunette’s eyes widened as he rushed over to the wall that his bed was backed up to and pressed his ear there, squeezing his eyes tightly shut, as it close out all other distractions.
“—couldn’t be any more of an idiot!” The unfamiliar voice snapped. There was a slight sigh, and if Sora had the same sort of animalistic ears the other members of the household possessed, they would’ve perked up at that moment.
“I’m not going to repeat myself, Kadaj.” The boy said, sounding slightly irritated, “All we can do is wait it out.”
The other voice, Kadaj, scoffed and the room next door fell silent. The moment Sora was sure that there wouldn’t be any more conversation, fate decided to contradict him once more.
“Riku, don’t forget that you’re not the only one in trouble here—“ Kadaj said darkly, but by this point, Sora wasn’t even listening. His heart squeezed tightly in his chest and then shuttered in a wonderfully torrid way as he back away from the wall, plopping down onto the bed heavily.
“Riku.” He repeated, felling a blush creep onto his cheeks. His father had told him what that name had meant once—land. A small smile formed on the teen’s lips and he raised a hand to his mouth, “Riku.” He whispered once more, memorizing the way his lips brushed against his fingers.
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