Hello, hello, hello! Again. I've missed you all.
Anyways. This is a weird chapter; my Halloween chapter to you all, so enjoy.
Hmm...review number 100 will get a request chapter or fic. My version of Christmas.
It was funny how a person could say one thing and mean another. How they could mean to say one thing, but end up saying something completely different. Thus was the case with Roxas, and he was planning to do something about it. He had forgiven Axel much too easily; even Olette had asked what Axel had done to have such good karma. Roxas wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to that. It frustrated him beyond reason, that when Axel had asked him for his forgiveness, he had so easily given it; manipulative bastard.
In second period, when the class was asked to look at cells in Biology, Roxas waved cheerily to Olette and Pence, before walking to Hayner. "Hey, can I work with you?" He questioned, trying to appear unassuming.
"What?" Hayner asked, caught off guard. "I thought your boyfriend told you to have nothing to do with me." He folded his arms angrily, though, Roxas noted, not without reason.
"Look…can you stop bringing that up?" Roxas grumbled, looking away for an instant.
Hayner watched him for a moment before shrugging and leaning over to examine the cell slide in the microscope. "Hell. Whatever. I don't care. Just don't fuck around."
The blonde glared at him, but dropped him binder and paper down next to his friend ('Old friend? Ex-friend?' Roxas asked himself as he moved, but, unable to come up with an answer, ignored his mind. It was best to play these things by ear, as Axel would say. 'Screw Axel!' His mind protested, as he failed to squash its thinking, 'If he wants to fuck up what he has, I don't care! Let him deal with it!'), ready to take his turn looking through the view piece.
Both were silent for the better part of the class, before:
"Hey. Roxas."
The voice startled Roxas, and he looked up from the microscope, finding himself staring at Hayner. "Yeah?" The thing that made him look up wasn't the words, but the tone. It was more friendly, really, than anything, and he treated this with welcome, although he was suspicious.
"What're you doing for Halloween? I mean, it would be better if all of us could go and do something together. All of us; you, me, Hayner, Pence, Olette…maybe even Seifer and them. Maybe them."
Roxas arched an elegant eyebrow ('That's gay.' His mind retorted, as if it's Axel in his head. While he remained calm, he wanted to hit his Axel-mind against a wall.) "Seifer?"
"Yeah. I've been seeing them around more often since you've been…gone."
Roxas shrugged, "I guess so. Do you all have a theme or anything?"
Hayner grinned, shaking his head, "Nah. But you'll go with us?"
"'Course. It's not like I'm doing anything, otherwise." The blonde scribbled down answers on his sheet before scrawling his name at the top. "Call me if you think of anything, alright?"
"Sure thing, man. It's a promise."
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Demyx sprawled next to a speaker system, his guitar resting over his bare chest. "Well, Axel? Whaddya say?"
The other merely laughed, a game controller in his hands. "Lucky, lucky you, Demyx. I love this game. Halo 2, all the way." Axel jerked his arms back, snarling a curse at the television. "Dammit! You're goin' down, bitch! You do not shoot me! You do not duck!"
"Calm down," Demyx suggested, lazily playing a chord. "It can't help you to play the game if you get so worked up."
Axel snorted at him, locking onto his target in the game. He fired, then continued on to shout elatedly, "Boom, headshot! Told you! Got ya back!" Unsatisfied despite his success, he focused on another man, which he missed. "Oh? You know what? For that, I'm going to get you fucking good!" He took aim at the target's crotch and fired. "Oh, how do you like that, fucker?!"
His friend made a face, scooting towards the couch. "It's just a game…"
"Which I am completely beating."
Pouting, Demyx retorted, "Like it takes any talent to play video games."
"You speak of lies! Sacrilege!"
"…cool off, man."
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The phone began to ring.
Now, Roxas would have ignored the phone, had he not been busy playing Halo 2 (and being slaughtered spectacularly by a character whose player was incessantly shouting, although he did deserve to). But, as it was his cell phone, and it was in his pocket, he twitched, before pulling it out.
"Yeah?" There was no need to introduce himself; it was his number the other person had called, after all.
"Roxas?"
"Yup, that's me." No shit, really?
"Hey, it's Hayner."
"I guessed. Why're you calling?" Roxas began to try and continue his game, although the other player had chosen that moment to shoot him in the...wait…had the other guy shot him in the pants? "The hell?! That's cheap, you bastard! Uncalled for!" The only response the player gave him was laughter.
"Um...Roxas? You alright?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, playing a game, sorry. What'd you want to talk about?"
"Halloween. Olette, Pence, me, you, Sora, Namine, Kairi, Riku, and Seifer and his friends are all going."
"Cool. That's practically everybody."
"Are you planning on some sort of costume? We still don't have a theme or anything."
"Um...hadn't thought about it, actually."
"Well, a couple of them are over here, let me put you on speaker-phone, alright?"
"Oh, sure thing."
"Roxas! We haven't talked in forever! I've missed you."
"Me too, Namine. So, you're coming with us? That's good."
"Hey, anyone want pop tarts…? Wait, who are you all talking to? Who? Oh, Roxas? Hey, Roxas!"
"Sora, 'ey. Namine, are you planning on any sort of theme?"
"The pop tarts are burning," Riku's voice, calm as ever, floated over the phone line, which was then followed by several shrieks and Sora's shout of "I've got it!"
"So, you're really got everybody over, Hayner?"
"Except Seifer and them. But, yeah, pretty much."
"Hey, is Roxas playing Halo? If he's not, tell him to get on. There's some guy shooting everyone in the head….it's psycho, he's a new player, but hell, he's good!"
"Already on, Pence. He got me once. Where are you, anyways?"
"North-east somewhere…"
"Got it, I'm coming."
"I want to play!" Kairi demanded, barely close enough to the phone to be heard.
"God, there's too many of you! I don't know who I'm talking--Oh, hey, Pence, I found you!"
"Maybe we should be sheep."
"What?" Several voices answered Namine's.
"We could be sheep. And maybe there could be a Shepard or Shepardess."
"Is that even a word?" Kairi asked, before the others cut her off.
"…why a sheep? Do we seem like sheep to you?" That time it was Hayner, although his character had showed up onscreen for Halo.
"Sheep? Awesome! Sheeeeep! Baaa! Oh, by the way, I got the pop tarts! They're okay!"
"If you think pop tarts are meant to be black and smell like smoke, yes, they're fine."
"That's mean, Riku! I made the pop tarts for all of you! It's special!"
"Special pop tarts?" Roxas asked, still distracted by his game. "We're pop tarts for Halloween now?"
"What? No, what gave you that idea?" Olette asked, closest to the phone, judging by the volume of the voices. "I think we're sheep, for some reason."
"We should be lions! They're kind of like sheep, but a lot cooler!"
"Sora, how would we be lions?"
"I don't know…"
"God! If he would stop with the whole 'Boom, headshot!' thing, I might not hate him as much."
"Back on track people! We're talking about Halloween costumes!" Hayner shouted over the noise. "It's in a few days, come on."
"Um..pirates?" Roxas suggested absently, watching Pence and Hayner's characters on his screen.
"Ninjas are better than pirates!"
"What? Who said that?! Pirates are so much cooler!" Sora shrieked. "Oh, Seifer's here. Hey, Seifer. He thinks ninjas are better than pirates, Roxas! Tell him that's not true!"
"Huh? What're you talking about, Sora?"
"Halloween costumes. We'll be 'Ninjas Versus Pirates', like that T-shirt I've got."
"Who decided that?" Hayner shouted, and Roxas heard it through both his game and the phone.
"I like it," Kairi stated, in the sort of way that says 'I like it, that's what we're doing, got that?'.
"I'll be a ninja-ess," Namine said clearly.
"Sora, Riku, and Kairi can be pirates, and Olette, Pence, Roxas, Namine, and me can be ninjas. Seifer and them…can pick, I don't know."
"I love pirates!" Sora shouted at the phone, making Roxas' ears ring.
"I'll talk to you later…this guy is really starting to piss me off. Ninjas for us, pirates for you, alright." Roxas disengaged himself from the conversation, before hanging up. He was mildly put out that everyone was at the same place, except for him, but this would hopefully only be a one-time incident.
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"Yeah, who is it now?" Marluxia snapped as he picked up the phone.
"That time of the month again, Marly?" Axel asked, turning off the game. "Anyway, me and Demyx were thinking about Halloween. He thought maybe we should take something and, you know, change it a bit."
"Oh, that's interesting. Did Demyx have any ideas as to what we could change?"
"I'm right here, guys! I was thinking, maybe we could do some kid's tale, but, oh, I don't know, make it gothy or something."
"'Gothy'? Right…but anyway, what do you think, Marluxia?"
"Aside from the fact we would look like a freak show? I like it, actually. What kind of children's tale?"
"Um…Winnie the Pooh? That's what I always read, growing up."
"What kind of childhood did you have, Demyx?" Axel asked cautiously, arching his eyebrows. "But I've got dibs on Tigger! And because this was your idea, Demyx, you can be Pooh."
"Kanga can be Larxene, because they're girls…and Saïx can be Christopher, because he's with Pooh…"
The blonde's reasoning made no sense to Axel, but he shrugged, content to hate Saïx silently.
"Marluxia, you can be Rabbit, and Zexion can be Eeyore, because they're both really quiet."
"And Lexaeus?" Marluxia's voice was edged, making Demyx hesitate before answering.
"I…can you see him dressing up?"
The other over the phone merely made a noncommittal noise, "Never mind. I'll see you later, then," and hung up.
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Axel held his arms out, letting Larxene paint black and orange stripes onto his bare arms and face. "I feel like I can't move," he complained, grinning at her in her costume.
Larxene had been more forced, than anything else, into a black form-fitting T and pants, with a tail attached. "I don't look like a kangaroo."
"So? Are you complaining?" Axel had a formal white starched shirt on, with the sleeves cut off, and black pants to match, although they were in one piece. "I feel gay with the tail and cat ears…can I wear them more often?"
Demyx twirled in a circle, laughing. "I feel so weird!" He wore a red tie over a black shirt and pants, although the other had tried to convince him Pooh ran around pant-less.
"What am I again? Some kid?" Saïx narrowed his eyes. The blue-haired man was wearing relatively normal clothing, in black and white, of course, but was also being made to carry around a stuffed Pooh.
"Christopher Robin," Demyx answered, straightening his tie. "But I think we look more like a weirded-out mafia than the characters. How do I look like Pooh?"
"You don't…just stay with Saïx and try to communicate subliminally," Marluxia's response was dry, although he was enjoying his costume. His was hardly different from the others, but he wore a pair of bunny ears and carried a rake, which he seemed to take to happily.
"You're all so easily amused," Larxene informed them, opening her book.
"What're you reading?" Demyx asked, glancing over her shoulder.
"Justine by the Marquis de Sade."
The boy made a face, backing away hurriedly. "I'm going to pretend I didn't see that….oh, god…"
"Is that…Woah, it is! Look, it's Roxas and his friends!" Axel pointed out, "Let's scare 'em."
"Roxas, you look so cute!" Olette said, pulling a headband on. "We make good ninjas."
Roxas shrugged, popping his neck at her compliment.
The five ninjas all wore black clothing, some with fishnets, some without, and wore headbands. Olette's was about her head, Roxas' about his waist, Hayner's on his right upper arm, Namine's around her neck, and Pence's around his head.
"Arr! I'm a bloody pirate!" Sora shouted, waving a cutlass. "This is so cool!"
Riku, Sora, and Kairi were wearing assorted pirate gear, complete with swords, baggy clothes, and excessive jewelry.
Hayner grinned at Sora, pulling kunai from the pouch at his waist. "I agree."
Seifer, Rai, and Fuu had taken the chance to wear both ninja and pirate gear. "We're 'nirates'," Seifer pointed out.
"Oh-kay, then…" Olette nodded, looking around. "Are we all ready to go?"
When everyone had affirmed as such, Roxas began to lead them up a sidewalk to a house that had left a bucket out on the porch, full of candy.
"Get the bucket!" Sora commanded, pointing his sword at the object in question and charging up the stairs.
When they were all close, a loud and surprising scream was let out, and more than one of them jumped, looking around nervously.
"What the…?" Roxas asked, blue eyes huge, but he was cut off as the scream screamed again.
"Okay, this isn't funny!" Kairi cried out.
Axel stepped out from behind the bushes, doubled over laughing. "Oh…my…fucking…god…! That was hilarious! Did you guys see your faces? You were so freaked out!" The redhead snickered, managing to calm down slowly. "Oh, god, that was just awesome…plain awesome."
"Axel!" Roxas snapped angrily, "What the hell was that?!"
"Calm down, baby, it's fine. I was just messing around. You," he gestured at Kairi, "I didn't scare you too badly, did I?"
But, before she would be able to answer, Roxas glared at the older. "Go away, Axel. I don't want to deal with you right now, alright?"
Axel drew back, eyes flickering from Roxas to Kairi and back again. "Right…got it memorized." He shrugged, turning and walking back to his friends, the majority of which were still laughing, which cheered him immensely.
"He's starting to piss me off," Roxas growled, looking at his own friends. "Immature prick."
Hayner grinned at Roxas, throwing a piece of candy at him. "There ya go, buddy. Good call. Now, let's enjoy the rest of the evening."
Namine nodded, linking her arm with Roxas'. "Let's have fun, alright?" She asked, watching him for an answer.
"Most definitely. We've got to get the most candy this year."
"Let's work it in pairs," Hayner commanded, "Me and Pence, Namine and Roxas, Sora and Riku, and Olette and Kairi."
Seifer folded his arms across his chest, "Me, Fuu, and Rai can all go together."
"Alright…on your mark, get set, and go! The pair back in two hours with the most candy wins!" Sora shouted, grabbing Riku's hand and charging off.
"…that was weird." Roxas noticed.
"I like Sora, he's nice and makes me laugh." Namine smiled, tilting her head to the side slightly. "You're kind of like him."
"Right…" He agreed slowly, not about to argue with her. She was a bit weird, but still extremely sweet.
"Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh, uhh…what goes next?" Demyx asked, stopping mid-skip.
"I've got no clue," Saïx answered, trying to detach his arm from that of the younger's.
"It still rhymes!" Axel shouted, tail in hand. "Pooh and clue! Woohh.. I'm on a sugar high!"
Larxene snapped her book shut. "That's better than half the other stuff you get high off. Stick with the sugar for now, poster child for man-anorexia."
The redhead stuck his tongue out, "I am not. Liar."
"Whatever, it's not my problem."
"I'm tired," Demyx complained, sitting down. "Let's see what we got."
"Why did we go trick-or-treating, instead of having a party or finding one, again?"
"Because Demyx wanted to," Marluxia answered, tilting one of the ears.
"I hate Almond Joys," Axel grumbled, making a small pile of them. "Chocolate-covered coconut and almond…how does that even sound appealing?"
Larxene picked up an apple eyeing it distrustfully. "These things aren't wrapped, number one, and number two, why apples, of all things? Apples are always squishy and nasty." She dug her nails into the green apple, before pulling it into pieces. "See?"
Demyx did see, and his eyes widened as he began to choke on his candy. "The…hell?!"
His friend leaned over to slap him on the back, "Demi-kun, come on, breathe. In and out, in and out. Good, there ya go."
"God, Axel, you really are a whore!" The girl smirked, leaning back.
Wiping tears from his eyes, Demyx answered, horrified, "Larxene, why'd you do that? How'd you do that?"
"With my hands, of course. Were you not paying attention?"
"That's…that's….Larxene, that's sadistic!"
"Thanks for noticing." She rolled her eyes, gesturing to her book. "Not like sadism comes from the Marquis de Sade."
"Got it memorized?!" Axel shouted, laughing as he lay on the grass.
"Shut up, god, Axel," Larxene demanded, throwing Almond Joys at him.
Axel leapt up, flailing his arms. "I'm going to die! Ah! Somebody, save me!"
Demyx watched him mutely, standing up slowly and walking behind Saïx. "He scares me."
"Doesn't he scare us all?" Saïx responded, looking at the boy behind him.
I've got some explaining to do for this, don't I?
Explanations:
The Winnie the Pooh thing has two reasons- One, my friends have gothified Alice in Wonderland before. Two, I let my sister pick what they would do. ...I want Axel's costume.
No, I don't like Almond Joys particularly. Yes, I have destroyed an apple like Larxene. Yes, sadism comes from the Marquis de Sade.
Any more questions?