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Kingdom Hearts, "With Dignity" (Roxas+Demyx+Axel)
Warnings: Nobodies have no hearts and no emotions, but they might fool you. This piece is partly because Roxas is awesome, partly because Axel is awesome, and partly because Demyx is awesome. Idea totally partly lifted from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
madfnorder's rambling.
.with dignity.
Demyx yelped indignantly as he was slammed to the ground and froze all at once as the tip of the keyblade came to a halt a fraction of an inch from his face. His eyes were wide open and his pulse stuttered visibly in his throat. "Um!" was all he managed to squeak out.
At least die with dignity.
After a sufficient pause, Roxas shifted posture, taking a step back and relaxing his right arm so that Demyx could move without smacking his face into the weapon. "That was clumsy," he said. "Don't you even know how to defend yourself?"
"Not really!" the taller blond said, looking torn between indignation and sheepishness.
Roxas quirked an eyebrow. "What is it you DO around here?"
There was a snicker from the corner that distracted his opponent from the question -- or maybe he wanted a distraction. Either way, Demyx flushed and complained, "I don't remember anyone inviting YOU to come along, Axel!"
"Shame I was never one for asking permission," drawled the redhead. A twitch threatened to stretch Roxas's lips into a smile.
"Why are you here anyway?" Demyx hunched over, making no effort to get off the floor. Roxas wondered if he was going to have to force his reluctant partner to resume practice. "Just to make fun of me, I bet. I'm trying!"
Bright green eyes darted to Roxas, and then narrowed to slits as Axel glanced away again. He also ignored the question, instead saying, "Only because Saix insisted. If you had your way you'd be in the castle all day pretending to be a rock star..."
There's not an honest one of you in this place, is there? Roxas thought, sighing. The sound was drowned out by Demyx's wheedling protest, which he in turn cut short by pointedly observing, "Your sitar is over there."
Demyx withered slightly, sighed, and pushed himself to his feet. "Can't you make him go away?" he asked, plaintive.
Roxas turned a speculative look on Axel, who this time met his gaze squarely. There was no emotion to read in his face -- although of course, even if there had been, he couldn't have trusted it. He told Demyx, "He'll be quiet."
"Who says?" the blond said, obviously skeptical.
"I do." Roxas glanced at Axel again, and instructed, "You'll be quiet."
It was ridiculous and there was no reason the notoriously uncooperative Nobody should have listened to him. But Axel only shrugged and turned to stare out the window, not even bothering to sneer at the bossy tone.
Demyx blinked. "How did you DO that?" he demanded.
"It's a special skill called commanding respect," Roxas said. "You learn it when you can keep yourself alive for more than a minute against a decent enemy. Get ready to attack me."
"Axel doesn't respect anybody," the musician said, sounding very upbeat about it, but at least he settled into a wary pose, hand poised above his sitar's strings.
The truth was that Roxas hadn't the faintest idea why Axel listened to him. I suppose that makes me dishonest also. He had only been one of the members of Organization XIII for three days and for some reason the redhead had taken to following him around.
They had only spoken privately once so far. It had been a tense encounter, hostile, Axel his smug self and Roxas uncertain enough in his new environment to have been edgy. To the best of his knowledge it had ended poorly: instead of summoning his weapon he had forced calm, simply turned and walked away without a word, leaving the redhead to stare after him.
Since then, Roxas had noticed that Axel kept finding reasons to follow him around.
It was getting to be annoying. He wondered if Axel would continue stalking him until Roxas finished their argument from the first day by attacking him. Perhaps Axel wanted to test his strength, but Roxas, at least, was grimly certain of who would be the victor in any battle between them.
He lunged at Demyx suddenly and the tall blond stumbled back a step before he reached for the strings of his instrument, his weapon. A thin column of water spun out to attack him and Roxas broke through it in a single swing and then a watery reflection of Demyx appeared and was also batted aside unflinching.
His opponent backstepped quickly and tripped over his trenchcoat and landed unceremoniously on his ass. Roxas had to force himself to a sudden halt just to avoid stepping on him. Demyx winced and rubbed himself discreetly, apparently done for the moment... again.
"How did someone like you become a Nobody anyway?" he asked. Roxas ran gloved fingers through his hair, a reflexive impatient gesture. He was getting annoyed at the perennial ineptitude that was holding them both back in this lesson.
"Hey!" Demyx said, looking and sounding so utterly wounded that it was hard to believe that it was only a memory. "Just because I'm not good at fighting doesn't mean I'm a weak person!"
"You're not good at fighting -- or persisting at anything -- or standing up to people," Roxas listed, and Axel started snickering again behind him. Apparently he liked it when Roxas sank to his level.
With a much put-upon sigh, the tall blond folded in on himself, and then almost absently his arms fit around the body of his sitar. As if inflated, he slowly began to sit upright again. "You know what I do here?" Demyx asked, quiet. He ran his fingers over the strings of his instrument, and his eyes were soft and his lips smiling. It made Roxas uneasy. Let it go. We all know it's not real.
Axel was watching Roxas with his unreadable eyes; the blond said patiently, "What?"
"I keep the Heartless from attacking the castle." A discordant note twanged off the strings and Roxas's hand tightened on his keyblade, but there was no power behind the playing. He forced himself to relax. Demyx continued obliviously, "A little music, a little magic, and they all just slink away. I think they like to listen sometimes... They're the best audience I have in this stupid place."
"He's the pied fricking piper," muttered Axel.
Demyx said under his breath to no one in particular, "Just because you couldn't carry a tune in a bucket--"
"You want me to sing?" Axel said. It sounded like a threat, and from the way Demyx winced, it probably was. "I'll sing."
"Please don't!"
Just when Roxas was starting to feel slightly out of place again -- it wasn't hard to fit in with Axel around, because nobody knew him and he knew everyone, but this kind of banter was almost friendly, like it had story behind it -- Demyx turned to him with a bright grin.
"I was a musician-- you know. Before. I was kinda famous. Lots of fans, some big hits... It wasn't enough for me, though. I wanted more. I wanted to be able to... do something with the music. Make it really change things. And... and now I can."
Axel was watching Roxas again and the blond kept his face detached, but inside something was twisting. You remember before? I don't remember anything. Maybe the memories would come back to him in time. He'd only been conscious for a few days, after all...
"But you know," Demyx said, even quieter than before. "Since I did this... Since I got here... I haven't written a single new song. I just... don't feel like it."
The three of them stood there, Axel watching Roxas watching Demyx who looked only at his motionless fingers, tense on the sitar strings but still. Slowly Roxas turned his attention to the redhead.
Do you remember what it was like? he wondered. He didn't say it out loud, but almost as if he'd heard and didn't want to answer, Axel glanced out the window again, breaking eye contact first.
Everyone remembers except me, Roxas thought suddenly.
There was an abrupt swell of black in the air. "Hey, Axel," said Larxene, stepping out of the darkness. Her hood was up around her face but her lips, just visible beneath the brow, were curled in a vicious smile. "Someone's paying us a visit at Castle Oblivion, I heard."
"Gotta go," Axel said blithely, and they both vanished.
Roxas stared at the blond Nobody curled up on the floor, moving his hands now but only ghosting over the instrument, not really touching them, no sound coming forth.
"Hey, Roxas," murmured Demyx, still looking at nothing. "Do you think I'm broken?"
I think we all are.
madfnorder's rambling..with dignity.
Demyx yelped indignantly as he was slammed to the ground and froze all at once as the tip of the keyblade came to a halt a fraction of an inch from his face. His eyes were wide open and his pulse stuttered visibly in his throat. "Um!" was all he managed to squeak out.
At least die with dignity.
After a sufficient pause, Roxas shifted posture, taking a step back and relaxing his right arm so that Demyx could move without smacking his face into the weapon. "That was clumsy," he said. "Don't you even know how to defend yourself?"
"Not really!" the taller blond said, looking torn between indignation and sheepishness.
Roxas quirked an eyebrow. "What is it you DO around here?"
There was a snicker from the corner that distracted his opponent from the question -- or maybe he wanted a distraction. Either way, Demyx flushed and complained, "I don't remember anyone inviting YOU to come along, Axel!"
"Shame I was never one for asking permission," drawled the redhead. A twitch threatened to stretch Roxas's lips into a smile.
"Why are you here anyway?" Demyx hunched over, making no effort to get off the floor. Roxas wondered if he was going to have to force his reluctant partner to resume practice. "Just to make fun of me, I bet. I'm trying!"
Bright green eyes darted to Roxas, and then narrowed to slits as Axel glanced away again. He also ignored the question, instead saying, "Only because Saix insisted. If you had your way you'd be in the castle all day pretending to be a rock star..."
There's not an honest one of you in this place, is there? Roxas thought, sighing. The sound was drowned out by Demyx's wheedling protest, which he in turn cut short by pointedly observing, "Your sitar is over there."
Demyx withered slightly, sighed, and pushed himself to his feet. "Can't you make him go away?" he asked, plaintive.
Roxas turned a speculative look on Axel, who this time met his gaze squarely. There was no emotion to read in his face -- although of course, even if there had been, he couldn't have trusted it. He told Demyx, "He'll be quiet."
"Who says?" the blond said, obviously skeptical.
"I do." Roxas glanced at Axel again, and instructed, "You'll be quiet."
It was ridiculous and there was no reason the notoriously uncooperative Nobody should have listened to him. But Axel only shrugged and turned to stare out the window, not even bothering to sneer at the bossy tone.
Demyx blinked. "How did you DO that?" he demanded.
"It's a special skill called commanding respect," Roxas said. "You learn it when you can keep yourself alive for more than a minute against a decent enemy. Get ready to attack me."
"Axel doesn't respect anybody," the musician said, sounding very upbeat about it, but at least he settled into a wary pose, hand poised above his sitar's strings.
The truth was that Roxas hadn't the faintest idea why Axel listened to him. I suppose that makes me dishonest also. He had only been one of the members of Organization XIII for three days and for some reason the redhead had taken to following him around.
They had only spoken privately once so far. It had been a tense encounter, hostile, Axel his smug self and Roxas uncertain enough in his new environment to have been edgy. To the best of his knowledge it had ended poorly: instead of summoning his weapon he had forced calm, simply turned and walked away without a word, leaving the redhead to stare after him.
Since then, Roxas had noticed that Axel kept finding reasons to follow him around.
It was getting to be annoying. He wondered if Axel would continue stalking him until Roxas finished their argument from the first day by attacking him. Perhaps Axel wanted to test his strength, but Roxas, at least, was grimly certain of who would be the victor in any battle between them.
He lunged at Demyx suddenly and the tall blond stumbled back a step before he reached for the strings of his instrument, his weapon. A thin column of water spun out to attack him and Roxas broke through it in a single swing and then a watery reflection of Demyx appeared and was also batted aside unflinching.
His opponent backstepped quickly and tripped over his trenchcoat and landed unceremoniously on his ass. Roxas had to force himself to a sudden halt just to avoid stepping on him. Demyx winced and rubbed himself discreetly, apparently done for the moment... again.
"How did someone like you become a Nobody anyway?" he asked. Roxas ran gloved fingers through his hair, a reflexive impatient gesture. He was getting annoyed at the perennial ineptitude that was holding them both back in this lesson.
"Hey!" Demyx said, looking and sounding so utterly wounded that it was hard to believe that it was only a memory. "Just because I'm not good at fighting doesn't mean I'm a weak person!"
"You're not good at fighting -- or persisting at anything -- or standing up to people," Roxas listed, and Axel started snickering again behind him. Apparently he liked it when Roxas sank to his level.
With a much put-upon sigh, the tall blond folded in on himself, and then almost absently his arms fit around the body of his sitar. As if inflated, he slowly began to sit upright again. "You know what I do here?" Demyx asked, quiet. He ran his fingers over the strings of his instrument, and his eyes were soft and his lips smiling. It made Roxas uneasy. Let it go. We all know it's not real.
Axel was watching Roxas with his unreadable eyes; the blond said patiently, "What?"
"I keep the Heartless from attacking the castle." A discordant note twanged off the strings and Roxas's hand tightened on his keyblade, but there was no power behind the playing. He forced himself to relax. Demyx continued obliviously, "A little music, a little magic, and they all just slink away. I think they like to listen sometimes... They're the best audience I have in this stupid place."
"He's the pied fricking piper," muttered Axel.
Demyx said under his breath to no one in particular, "Just because you couldn't carry a tune in a bucket--"
"You want me to sing?" Axel said. It sounded like a threat, and from the way Demyx winced, it probably was. "I'll sing."
"Please don't!"
Just when Roxas was starting to feel slightly out of place again -- it wasn't hard to fit in with Axel around, because nobody knew him and he knew everyone, but this kind of banter was almost friendly, like it had story behind it -- Demyx turned to him with a bright grin.
"I was a musician-- you know. Before. I was kinda famous. Lots of fans, some big hits... It wasn't enough for me, though. I wanted more. I wanted to be able to... do something with the music. Make it really change things. And... and now I can."
Axel was watching Roxas again and the blond kept his face detached, but inside something was twisting. You remember before? I don't remember anything. Maybe the memories would come back to him in time. He'd only been conscious for a few days, after all...
"But you know," Demyx said, even quieter than before. "Since I did this... Since I got here... I haven't written a single new song. I just... don't feel like it."
The three of them stood there, Axel watching Roxas watching Demyx who looked only at his motionless fingers, tense on the sitar strings but still. Slowly Roxas turned his attention to the redhead.
Do you remember what it was like? he wondered. He didn't say it out loud, but almost as if he'd heard and didn't want to answer, Axel glanced out the window again, breaking eye contact first.
Everyone remembers except me, Roxas thought suddenly.
There was an abrupt swell of black in the air. "Hey, Axel," said Larxene, stepping out of the darkness. Her hood was up around her face but her lips, just visible beneath the brow, were curled in a vicious smile. "Someone's paying us a visit at Castle Oblivion, I heard."
"Gotta go," Axel said blithely, and they both vanished.
Roxas stared at the blond Nobody curled up on the floor, moving his hands now but only ghosting over the instrument, not really touching them, no sound coming forth.
"Hey, Roxas," murmured Demyx, still looking at nothing. "Do you think I'm broken?"
I think we all are.