King of Hearts
Luxord/Roxas, because something new is just what the world needs.
Disclaimer: Not at all.
"Luxord, why don't you ever play cards with me?"
The blond man looked up to vivid blue eyes that stared at him defiantly, demanding he skirt around the question.
"Well Roxas, you never ask." Luxord said. Roxas still stared and Luxord smirked, his lips stretching his goatee. Roxas then cleared his throat and sat in front of Luxord, at the small coffee table.
"I'd like to play a game of cards with you." Roxas stated. Luxord shook his head and the younger blond.
"That wasn't a question Roxas."
"And that wasn't an answer."
"Ah, touché." And Luxord laughed. Roxas, who couldn't find anything funny about the situation, just blinked at him and Luxord's chuckles died down.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were purposely killing the mood." Luxord commented as he shuffled the cards like one with years and years of experience. Roxas sneered and leaned over to pick up his cards that were being placed in front of him precisely.
"What game are we playing?" Roxas asked. Luxord cocked an eyebrow in question.
"You didn't specify, so we're playing poker." He said. Roxas shrugged and picked up his cards, looking at them for the first time.
He gasped.
"Is this some sort of sick joke?" Roxas finally asked after putting his cards face-down on the table. Luxord smirked and picked Roxas's cards back up, putting them back into the deck where they were shuffled once more.
"No sick joke, my friend! Just look at the ace!" Luxord said, placing the card on the table. Roxas shuddered as a creepily accurate picture of the Superior stared back at him, golden-eyes glinting in the dim light from the room of Number X.
"Do you have one for everybody?" Roxas questioned, tearing his eyes away from the picture. Luxord chuckled and placed several cards on the table, facing Roxas.
"This is Xigbar, the Two of Spades." Luxord said, pointing at the dark-haired gunman. "This is Xaldin, the Three of Diamonds, and Vexen, the Four of Clubs."
Roxas watched amazed as the pictures seemed to stared at him from their two dimensional prison. Luxord shuffled once more and placed other cards in front of Roxas. Roxas looked oddly at the burly Organization member that the older blond was pointing at with his pale finger.
"Lexaeus, Five of Hearts, Zexion the Six of Spades." Luxord smiled as Roxas stared at the pictures in an almost child-like quality. Placing more cards in front of his companion, Luxord watched carefully as Roxas looked at the cards once more, waiting for Luxord to continue in his gentle explanation.
"Saїx, the Seven of Diamonds, and Axel, the Eight of Clubs." Luxord said. Roxas seemed to brighten up at the sound of Axel, and for some reason…
Luxord felt almost hurt.
Ignoring the pang of emotion that never was, Luxord continued from where he left off.
"Demyx, the Nine of Hearts." He said with a smile, and this time Roxas got the joke, as his lips twitched at the ends to express his amusement.
"Luxord, Ten of Spades, Marluxia, the Jack of Diamonds," Luxord said, a slight note of disapproval coming through his tone. "Larxene, the Queen of Clubs." Now Luxord looked at Roxas with a smirk.
"Say, would you like to know something interesting?" The older blond asked. Roxas nodded uncertainly and Luxord grinned, his goatee close to his squinted eyes.
"Well, in most card games, the Ace carries the most power. Like poker, blackjack, and solitaire, whatever. Yet, there are few games that disregard the Ace as just another card." Luxord said, waving the Xemnas Card with his fingers limply as he leaned back in his seat. Roxas narrowed his eyes, not understanding where he was going with this.
"But, there is one game that thinks of the ace as just another card, and uses another card as the most powerful. Do you know which card this may be?" Luxord asked. When Roxas didn't answer, Luxord showed him his own desolate reflection in his card.
"The King." Luxord said, smiling gently at the younger man. Roxas blinked as his own picture stared back at him, an almost empty look on his face. Luxord twirled the card in his fingers, the Nobody emblem flashing at him. Stopping the card, he then put it next to the Larxene's card.
"In a game of Clock Solitaire, the King makes or breaks you. There is a time limit, but all you have is luck. The moment all the Kings are gather before you have every card in its correct place, you're out of luck. So, why do you think the Superior keeps you around?" Luxord asked. Roxas frowned at him and shrugged.
"My keyblade?"
"That, and the fact that you can easily overthrow him."
"Do you usually compare life to card games?"
"If I had one, I would."
And Roxas laughed aloud. Luxord blinked before realizing the stoic teenager was actually laughing. So he began to laugh along as well. After a while, the joy died down and Luxord gave himself a mental pat on the back for making Roxas smile.
"So Roxas, do you know what your card is?" Luxord asked finally. Roxas, who couldn't wipe the smile off his face because of the recent laughter, cocked an eyebrow in challenge.
"Indulge me." Was all he said.
"I shall do so then," Luxord said, picking up the Roxas card and holding it in front of Roxas.
"Roxas, the King of Hearts."
End
Woo-hoo for shouen-ai hints! Appreciate the crack pairing of time, Luxord/Roxas, because it will attempt to own you.