21 and invincible (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} i_got_spunk) wrote in ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} paintxpen,@ 2007-01-26 18:12:00 |
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[story update + art]
Chapter seven, containing 3 pieces of art and a lot of scraps. OMG YAY.
Title: Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota (chapter 7)
Spoilers: for the Org, sort of.
Rating: R for now
Warnings: Language, alcohol and drug use, sex, violence, and slash.
Comments: Basically, the Roman numerals X and I also have Greek names as well as English names. Greek-wise, X is the symbol ‘chi’, and I is the symbol ‘iota’. Since I am translating this from Org. XIII, I found it appropriate to name the fraternity ‘Chi Iota Iota’, leaving it at XII for the obvious absence of Larxene (I was going to gender-switch her, but decided against it). Everything else will be explained in the story. (There is also a fanfic.net link if you are so inclined)
Special thanks to my new beta,lindskaba
You will like this story if you like college AU, long stories, characters who remain IC, thought-out plot, and some good old fashioned fun with the Organization members.
You will not like this story if you despise AU fics, don't want to read about some of the nastier things that can happen inside a frat, and have a bad sense of humor >:D
The previous chapter can be found HERE.
Zexion was mildly intimidated. Really, he had no reason to be. He was a Brother of Chi Iota Iota and could enjoy all the privileges that accompanied such a status. But in reality, he stood at five feet seven inches to his Little Brother’s five feet ten. And Demyx was using all three inches to his advantage, arms crossed in front of his chest while he puffed up like a blowfish. Thus, Zexion was rightfully intimidated.
“Explain.”
“You cannot talk to me like that.”
“I’ve been sharing the floor with Axel and Roxas.”
“Demyx, do not push me. I will not accept that tone.”
“You could have told me!”
“No, I couldn’t have. You were supposed to suffer out there, it’s part of pledging,” Zexion scowled. “And don’t talk to me like I owe you something. I don’t.”
“B-but-“
“Save it. I’m your Big Brother, not some, some in man for you to leech off of.” The second he finished speaking, Zexion regretted being so harsh. Demyx’s arms went sort of limp by his sides and he looked hurt. I’ve kicked a puppy, he thought briefly. I’ve kicked a puppy and I’m a terrible person.
“I’m not leeching,” Demyx said quietly, though his gaze remained somewhat still. “I just thought you would tell me because we’re… well, we’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Don’t ask stupid things like that.”
“So we’re not.”
“No, Dem… we obviously are, which is why the question was so unnecessary.”
“Oh.”
“And I thought it would thusly be just as obvious that I didn’t tell you about the rooms because I couldn’t. It would have compromised my position,” Zexion explained smoothly, his aggravation level lowering somewhat. “I’m still surprised Luxord said that…”
“Don’t tell, I didn’t think he’d get in trouble. He just wanted to help-“
“I don’t think he wanted to, actually. He probably wanted to torture you.” The blond looked vaguely confused, so he continued. “Now, even though you know about the rooms, you still cannot move into them. We weren’t planning on that for awhile longer, you see?”
Demyx slumped. “He’s mean.”
“It’s kind of funny,” Zexion said, smiling apologetically. “But listen, we can speak about this later. If I don’t get dressed now, I’ll be late for class.”
Demyx rolled his eyes, muttering something about microbiology being boring, and leaving the room. He walked out into the hallway of the second floor, past what he now knew to be an empty bedroom, and into the area he shared with Axel and Roxas. The two were currently in the closet-room (Axel nursing a head ache and wincing every time Roxas made a noise), going through their things and getting ready to face the day.
“What’s wrong, Demyx?” Roxas asked suddenly, looking up from his pile of shirts.
“Uh…” The tall blond faltered under the gaze of his comrades, realizing he had been staring off into space. He supposed he could tell them about the empty rooms. But chances were that would only lead to unfortunate consequences and bad tempers all around. They were going to get their rooms eventually, whether they knew about them or not. Why make them suffer in the meantime? “Nothing,” he said finally. “Just tired, I guess.”
Roxas shrugged and pulled out a shirt, sniffing it cautiously before nodding in approval and swinging it over his shoulder. Axel dropped his shoes and pulled a face when they hit the ground with a loud smack. Demyx smiled because really, he was growing terribly fond of his friends and the thought of them living in separate rooms was almost disappointing. Almost.
-------
“Psst,” Xaldin hissed out. He was ignored, of course. Honestly, he couldn’t see what Xemnas what writing notes about; the professor was going off on a tangent and Xaldin had lost interest about 13 minutes prior. “Psst,” he tried again.
Xemnas turned to glare briefly at his friend, flicking him off under the desk. Xaldin rolled his eyes and tore a piece of notebook paper to scribble on. When he was done, he passed it in a very non-discreet manner.
The President looked down at the paper and scowled, scribbling a response.
Xaldin re-wrote his note four times before Xemnas read it. For the record, he bounced the third one off of the President’s head and nearly got kicked out of lecture for laughing.
---------------
Being undeclared wasn’t that bad, Roxas thought as he turned another page of his book. He had to complete the core courses anyway, and they were a good way to fill up his credits while he decided what the hell he wanted to do with his life. So what if Demyx and Axel had already chosen majors, it didn’t make him nervous. At least that’s what he told himself while flipping through Plato’s Symposium, back to the wall. Across the hallway from him was the cot, where Demyx had perched himself and was strumming some chords on his guitar. It was a slow, steady rhythm and Roxas found it to be calming. Axel was nowhere to be found despite the fact that his classes had let out an hour ago.
“Ugh,” Demyx proclaimed after messing up the fingering on a chord. He took a pencil from behind his ear, circled something on the book he was referencing, and played the chord again. Correctly this time. Roxas snickered. “Quiet, you.”
“Hmmm,” Roxas hummed, smiling to himself. “I like your music.”
“Oh? Do you play anything?” Demyx asked, plucking out some notes as he turned slightly to regard his friend.
“Hahah, no way,” the other laughed, as if the idea were completely ludicrous. “I, uh. Sing, though. Used to.”
“No shit?”
“No shit.”
“Interesting. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“As will I,” Axel said from the top of the stairs, having just arrived. He grinned like an idiot, approaching the shared hallway and dropping his backpack onto the floor at Roxas’ feet. The blond groaned. “Cheer up. Xaldin said he has a surprise for us.”
“We should be worried,” Roxas snapped. He had been spending more time with Xaldin recently during combat practice, and the man could be utterly ruthless. Of course he was nice, but could turn exceedingly sour (read: into a raving lunatic) when practice was not going his way.
“Nonsense,” Axel quickly retorted, flopping down on the cot next to Demyx. The musician glared, having been dislodged from his otherwise perfectly flowing song.
“Let me guess,” Roxas continued, lowering his book. “He was grinning with only one half of his mouth, and licked his lips after each sentence.”
“…Roxas, how did you know-?”
“We’re fucked.”
“Shhhh!” Demyx hissed, head tilting up at the sound of heavy footsteps on the move. They walked down the parallel hallway directly above the pledges, and soon they could be heard marching down the stairs. The three freshmen froze where they sat, watching helplessly as Xaldin descended the stairs.
“I,” the upperclassman stated, gesturing to himself, “am your savior.” Xaldin approached the trio, who seemed unsure of what emotion to express. “Thanks to me, this is happening now. You may kiss my boots later. Follow me.” He turned and walked towards the staircase leading to the first floor. The pledges dropped what they were doing and bounded off behind the Brother.
“Told you,” Axel whispered as Xaldin led them through the first floor.
“Hey, I hope you’re right,” Roxas hissed back, but knew it couldn’t be possible if they were now heading into the basement. A few days ago they had been rounded into it for some ‘pin the tail on the freshman’. And a few days before that, they were forced to wrestle each other into the ground before they were allowed dinner. Even then, their meals had been drugged and they woke up the next morning in their underwear, with strange sharpie markings all over their bodies.
The Brothers were having altogether too much fun at their expense. But… nothing could really be done about that at the moment, he supposed.
Upon reaching the basement, a large table with countless solo cups came into view. A few of the stray Brothers were perched around the main room, including a grumpy President. Saix sat next to him, an eerie smirk on his face as he whispered things into the elder’s ear. Eventually, Xemnas seemed to perk up just as the pledges were lined up in front of the table.
“Alright,” Xaldin announced, pacing on the other side of the table. “We filled all these cups about one third with some dark beer, in case you couldn’t tell. There are about 40 or so cups, give or take a few. Now, at the bottom of three of them,” he held up three fingers to emphasize this, “lies a room key. Each one corresponds to a bedroom on the second floor.”
Demyx smiled and looked around for Zexion. His Big Brother was not downstairs, and he sulked for a fraction of a second before catching the beaming smiles of his comrades. Rooms. Their own rooms! No more fighting over the stupid cot, no more piling their things in the tiny closet! Four walls and a door, all to themselves.
“The rules about this are as follows: any cup you touch, you must empty before searching another,” Xaldin continued. “If you find a key, you can keep looking for another and then have a choice of rooms. Every man for himself. Speed is key. No vomiting.”
The three freshmen threw their glances over the rows of cups, seemingly trying to decide where they thought keys would be hidden. Each one seemed as likely as the next, and if one listened hard enough, they could probably hear three separate sighs of ‘oh shit, this is not going to end well.’
And, of course, things like this rarely do.
“Oh. Wear these. You’ll need them,” the upperclassman finished, producing three baby bibs and distributing them. “Ready?” The trio quickly tied the bibs around their necks, earning some amused remarks from the surrounding Brothers. “Set?” hands were in front of them, ready to strike at the first cup. Worried expressions were gone; it was game time. “Go!”
In the first instant, Axel, Demyx, and Roxas had grabbed a cup from random positions on the table. Each gave a little shake to feel for a key before realizing they were not so lucky as to score on their first cup, and gulping down the carbonated beverage as fast as they could. As a whole, they were generally neat about it, and soon they were off to their second cup with as much determination as one could have. Room. Their own room.
“If I remember correctly,” Luxord said with his eyes still fixed on the rushees, “You choked rather magnificently on a key when we rushed.”
“Please do not remind me,” Lexaeus said, but a grin spread his lips anyway. If he remembered correctly, he had also found two keys while Luxord had found none. Thusly, he had chosen a slightly bigger room that year. One point, of many, to him.
Demyx was on cup number four. Axel was on cup number four. Roxas was, impressively, on cup number five. All of their bibs and shirts were sprayed with wanton beer as they desperately searched for their keys.
“There are…. Keys in here…. Right?” Roxas huffed after his fifth was done.
“Of course there are,” Xemnas, who was now watching closely over the proceedings, replied. “Why in the world would we try and trick you?”
“Cause… pig fuckers…” Demyx heaved and took another cup. Axel choked a little, spitting beer on himself.
“Okay, I’m here!” Zexion announced as he barreled down the stairs. He still had a pair of laboratory goggles strapped to his head, pushing his hair back from his face for once. “They still going?”
“Yes,” Xaldin said calmly, and the other let out a sigh of relief.
“Good. Ten dollars on Demyx.”
This time, it was Demyx who choked on his drink.
“You can’t be serious,” Saix called over. “My pledge is faster than yours and you know it.”
“Your pledge pukes easily and is way too thin to carry his liquor properly,” Zexion quickly countered. “But if you’re willing to put your money on him…?”
“You’re damn right I’m willing to put my money on him! Twenty dollars on the redhead!”
“Thirty.”
“Fine, thirty.”
“Gentlemen,” Vexen interrupted, rising from his seat and fishing out his wallet. “May I point out that it is, in fact, my pledge who has downed the most beer thusfar? Thirty on Roxas.”
“I’ll second that,” Xemnas called, ushering Vexen towards him.
“Oh no, not you too!” Saix mourned with a strange smirk.
“Another thirty on Demyx,” Lexaeus said, walking to the group now forming around the table.
“And another,” Luxord chirped.
“Hah,” Zexion said.
“Forty on Axel!” Marluxia cheered, raising the stakes. Saix pulled him into a strange half-hug and glared at the competition.
“Forty for Roxas,” Xaldin added.
“I’m broke,” Xigbar finally remarked as the others started throwing money on the beer-soaked table. “But all my would-be money is on Demyx, hands down.” And for good measure, he threw some pocket lint on the table.
“Told you, Saix. My pledge will win this.”
“Half of it is luck, my friend.” He snapped his head to Axel, who was still gulping ferociously. “You’d better get lucky, bitchface.”
The pledges, who had been ignored until now, were giving their Brothers weary glances over their beer cups. They were growing full and slowing down, and the added pressure of loads of money on their shoulders did nothing to steady their nerves. They thought this was just a stupid test to get their keys, not an all out competition. The Brothers were now surrounding their table, shouting out cheers to the three and slamming their fists on the tabletop in beat with their chants.
“Go! Chug!”
“C’mon, faster!”
“Look, half of it is on him instead of in him! Disqualified!”
“He’s not disqualified, you desperate loser.”
“Is too!”
“Ahhh!” Roxas garbled into his cup. Which one it was, he’d lost count. But as soon as he had tipped it back, something heavy had slid forward and hit him in the teeth. He removed the cup from his mouth and, without thinking, stuck his hand into it to retrieve what he revealed to be a silver key. Bingo.
“Roxas found one!” Xemnas boomed, slapping Vexen and Xaldin loud, smacking high fives.
“I found one!” Roxas slurred, half of his face still shimmering from the liquid.
“Ughhh, nooooo,” Saix cried out and watched as the three winning Brothers began peeling their cash off of the sticky table.
“C’mon, we’ll still beat Demyx,” Marluxia cheered. “Come on, Axel! Chug it!”
“You know, Roxas… you can keep looking for another key,” Vexen yelled out above the resumed chanting.
“No way!” Roxas said and burped loudly, laughing despite himself and fingering his key. His key, all his. He took a moment to glance at his two friends, who were paying him no attention at all and seemed to have grown more desperate in their search. Not that he was exactly expecting a congratulations from them in the middle of the event, especially when he was their competition. But still, now that his personal frenzy was over, he took to slurring cheers for the both of them.
Demyx was the next to find a key, and Zexion whooped in a very un-Zexion-like manner. Chants of ‘take that, Saix!’ were hurled across the table, and Demyx stared at his key dumbly for what had to be two minutes straight. Saix and Marluxia comforted each other and began arguing that their pledge would have won if it were based on speed. Poor Axel took a break from his drinking and groaned loudly, having counted and knew he had consumed more beer than Demyx. It really was luck.
“Go Axel!” Roxas called again, swinging his arm in the air. “You can do it!”
“It’s over already,” Axel said, speech disconnected somewhat.
“Find your key, Axel,” Xaldin said darkly, pointing to a cup.
“Y-yeah. Find it before I do,” Demyx slurred, grabbing for another cup.
“Hah, or me!” Roxas joined in, still having consumed the least amount of beer, and reaching for a cup. This caused Axel to scramble forward and reach for the one Xaldin had pointed to, taking it greedily and shaking it next to his ear. It made a pleasant clunking noise.
“Not a chance,” He said, accidentally spitting before he downed the cup in one go. He resurfaced with his room key safely between his teeth.
“At least he got one,” Luxord tried to joke despite the fact that he had just lost his money.
“Of course he got one, he’s my pledge!” Saix called out. “You all would have been dead if it were purely on consumption and you know it!”
“Yes, sure thing. Loser,” Lexaeus teased.
“Hey-“
“Can we go see our rooms?” Roxas asked loudly, trying to make himself heard. Unfortunately for him, arguments and insults were still being hurtled across the table, and a few of the Brothers had picked up some of the leftover beer cups for themselves. “Hey!” he garbled out again, but was ignored.
“C’mon, lessgo have a lookie,” Demyx said to him, lengthening his consonants. Before the shorter could reply, he was being dragged away from the quarrelling Brothers. Which was a good thing, because beer was starting to fly. Honestly, couldn’t they solve anything without spilling/throwing/expelling things on each other?
Axel led the way out of the basement and to the second floor, where the pledges found themselves acting very foolish while trying to match up their keys to the proper doors. It took a lot of trial and error before any of them correctly unlocked anything, and by the time they had stumbled into their rooms, the consumed beer had taken full effect.
“How’rewegonnamoveourstuff?” Axel slurred all at once, swaying slightly in front of his room. It had a bed, a dresser, a small closet, and even a desk with bookshelves. He had bragged about it until seeing that Roxas and Demyx’ rooms were equipped with the exact same amenities.
“Juss… toss it in?” Demyx suggested. He seemed mostly sober, damn him. He must have super powers, Axel thought. That was obviously the only logical explanation.
And thusly began the most ridiculous, drawn out, drunken, lazy, sloppy, clumsy, noisy, stupid, shoddy, bizarre, and overall over-dramatic move of the century.
---------------
Despite how awesome he was trying to feel, Roxas could not fall asleep. His room was nice, yes, and certainly comfortable for one person. But he continued to toss and turn, head swimming and stomach uncomfortably full of beer. And shit, he had to take a leak, again, and he groaned as he forced himself out of bed. His clock said 2:41 AM.
He padded through the littered floor, stepping on many of his own belongings that had been unceremoniously dumped there a few hours before. It was a miracle he didn’t trip and break his neck, and he safely made it out the door. At first he went the wrong way, still unused to his new location, but he found the toilet and released more toxins from his body. After sipping down some water from the sink, he went back into the hallway and stopped.
“Demyx?” he asked, squinting in the dark. “What are you doing out here?
“Er, hey…” Demyx said, turning to face his friend. “I couldn’t really sleep. It’s uh-- heh-- sorta quiet.” He was standing by the cot, which had been abandoned in the hallway.
“I couldn’t sleep either,” Roxas added, sensing a sort of embarrassment in the other’s voice. He sighed and approached the cot. “Guess it’s sort of weird not listening to Axel snore after being around it for a month.
“I don’t snore,” Axel piped in, leaning out of his door. His demeanor indicated that he had been awake as well. “And what are you doing out here?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Roxas replied, sitting on the cot with a loud creak. Demyx nodded solemnly and sat down as well. Axel sighed and walked to join them, plopping himself down on the other side of Roxas. The cot groaned loudly, unable to handle the weight otherwise.
“So uhm. This may sound weird,” Demyx started after a long pause of silence. “But. Do you guys want to come sleep in my room tonight?”
“That’s pretty gay, Dem,” Axel teased.
“I know,” the dirty blond replied.
“I’ll do it,” Roxas volunteered.
“Wait. Why his room? Why not my room?”
“Your room has already managed to smell like cheese,” Roxas shot back.
“That’s because I have a cheese air freshener.”
“…What?”
“My room is the biggest, by a little,” said Demyx. “And it’s kinda clean.”
“Fine,” Axel sighed, grinning and standing from the cot.
“Yeah?” Demyx said hopefully, matching the grin and rising as well.
“Yeah. Why not? One more night on the floor won’t kill me. And then I get to use Roxas for a pillow.”
“Fat chance,” the said blond scoffed.
“Is that a challenge? Because I will cuddle your little face so hard that your head explodes.”
“Don’t call him little,” Demyx warned.
“I’m not little!” Roxas shot, standing off the cot to (dis)prove his point. “And I’m bringing the cot with me, so you can sleep on the floor alone!”
“Hey, now that’s harsh,” the redhead said, fighting back a fit of laughter.
“I’ll help, Rox,” Dem said, picking up the tail end of the cot and helping the other to move it into his bedroom, Axel trailing half-dejectedly behind.
When the lights were off and the doors were closed, the three pledges drifted off to sleep in Demyx’s room. At some point after falling asleep, Roxas felt a heavy body move onto the cot with him, draping a lanky arm around his torso. The blond mumbled something incoherent, tossed the arm away, and promptly fell back asleep before he could argue further.
------------
Please leave a comment if you enjoyed <3
Chapter seven, containing 3 pieces of art and a lot of scraps. OMG YAY.
Title: Brotherhood: Chi Iota Iota (chapter 7)
Spoilers: for the Org, sort of.
Rating: R for now
Warnings: Language, alcohol and drug use, sex, violence, and slash.
Comments: Basically, the Roman numerals X and I also have Greek names as well as English names. Greek-wise, X is the symbol ‘chi’, and I is the symbol ‘iota’. Since I am translating this from Org. XIII, I found it appropriate to name the fraternity ‘Chi Iota Iota’, leaving it at XII for the obvious absence of Larxene (I was going to gender-switch her, but decided against it). Everything else will be explained in the story. (There is also a fanfic.net link if you are so inclined)
Special thanks to my new beta,
lindskabaYou will like this story if you like college AU, long stories, characters who remain IC, thought-out plot, and some good old fashioned fun with the Organization members.
You will not like this story if you despise AU fics, don't want to read about some of the nastier things that can happen inside a frat, and have a bad sense of humor >:D
The previous chapter can be found HERE.
Zexion was mildly intimidated. Really, he had no reason to be. He was a Brother of Chi Iota Iota and could enjoy all the privileges that accompanied such a status. But in reality, he stood at five feet seven inches to his Little Brother’s five feet ten. And Demyx was using all three inches to his advantage, arms crossed in front of his chest while he puffed up like a blowfish. Thus, Zexion was rightfully intimidated.
“Explain.”
“You cannot talk to me like that.”
“I’ve been sharing the floor with Axel and Roxas.”
“Demyx, do not push me. I will not accept that tone.”
“You could have told me!”
“No, I couldn’t have. You were supposed to suffer out there, it’s part of pledging,” Zexion scowled. “And don’t talk to me like I owe you something. I don’t.”
“B-but-“
“Save it. I’m your Big Brother, not some, some in man for you to leech off of.” The second he finished speaking, Zexion regretted being so harsh. Demyx’s arms went sort of limp by his sides and he looked hurt. I’ve kicked a puppy, he thought briefly. I’ve kicked a puppy and I’m a terrible person.
“I’m not leeching,” Demyx said quietly, though his gaze remained somewhat still. “I just thought you would tell me because we’re… well, we’re friends, aren’t we?”
“Don’t ask stupid things like that.”“So we’re not.”
“No, Dem… we obviously are, which is why the question was so unnecessary.”
“Oh.”
“And I thought it would thusly be just as obvious that I didn’t tell you about the rooms because I couldn’t. It would have compromised my position,” Zexion explained smoothly, his aggravation level lowering somewhat. “I’m still surprised Luxord said that…”
“Don’t tell, I didn’t think he’d get in trouble. He just wanted to help-“
“I don’t think he wanted to, actually. He probably wanted to torture you.” The blond looked vaguely confused, so he continued. “Now, even though you know about the rooms, you still cannot move into them. We weren’t planning on that for awhile longer, you see?”
Demyx slumped. “He’s mean.”
“It’s kind of funny,” Zexion said, smiling apologetically. “But listen, we can speak about this later. If I don’t get dressed now, I’ll be late for class.”
Demyx rolled his eyes, muttering something about microbiology being boring, and leaving the room. He walked out into the hallway of the second floor, past what he now knew to be an empty bedroom, and into the area he shared with Axel and Roxas. The two were currently in the closet-room (Axel nursing a head ache and wincing every time Roxas made a noise), going through their things and getting ready to face the day.
“What’s wrong, Demyx?” Roxas asked suddenly, looking up from his pile of shirts.
“Uh…” The tall blond faltered under the gaze of his comrades, realizing he had been staring off into space. He supposed he could tell them about the empty rooms. But chances were that would only lead to unfortunate consequences and bad tempers all around. They were going to get their rooms eventually, whether they knew about them or not. Why make them suffer in the meantime? “Nothing,” he said finally. “Just tired, I guess.”
Roxas shrugged and pulled out a shirt, sniffing it cautiously before nodding in approval and swinging it over his shoulder. Axel dropped his shoes and pulled a face when they hit the ground with a loud smack. Demyx smiled because really, he was growing terribly fond of his friends and the thought of them living in separate rooms was almost disappointing. Almost.
-------
“Psst,” Xaldin hissed out. He was ignored, of course. Honestly, he couldn’t see what Xemnas what writing notes about; the professor was going off on a tangent and Xaldin had lost interest about 13 minutes prior. “Psst,” he tried again.
Xemnas turned to glare briefly at his friend, flicking him off under the desk. Xaldin rolled his eyes and tore a piece of notebook paper to scribble on. When he was done, he passed it in a very non-discreet manner.
The President looked down at the paper and scowled, scribbling a response.
Xaldin re-wrote his note four times before Xemnas read it. For the record, he bounced the third one off of the President’s head and nearly got kicked out of lecture for laughing.
---------------
Being undeclared wasn’t that bad, Roxas thought as he turned another page of his book. He had to complete the core courses anyway, and they were a good way to fill up his credits while he decided what the hell he wanted to do with his life. So what if Demyx and Axel had already chosen majors, it didn’t make him nervous. At least that’s what he told himself while flipping through Plato’s Symposium, back to the wall. Across the hallway from him was the cot, where Demyx had perched himself and was strumming some chords on his guitar. It was a slow, steady rhythm and Roxas found it to be calming. Axel was nowhere to be found despite the fact that his classes had let out an hour ago.
“Ugh,” Demyx proclaimed after messing up the fingering on a chord. He took a pencil from behind his ear, circled something on the book he was referencing, and played the chord again. Correctly this time. Roxas snickered. “Quiet, you.”
“Hmmm,” Roxas hummed, smiling to himself. “I like your music.”
“Oh? Do you play anything?” Demyx asked, plucking out some notes as he turned slightly to regard his friend.
“Hahah, no way,” the other laughed, as if the idea were completely ludicrous. “I, uh. Sing, though. Used to.”
“No shit?”
“No shit.”
“Interesting. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“As will I,” Axel said from the top of the stairs, having just arrived. He grinned like an idiot, approaching the shared hallway and dropping his backpack onto the floor at Roxas’ feet. The blond groaned. “Cheer up. Xaldin said he has a surprise for us.”
“We should be worried,” Roxas snapped. He had been spending more time with Xaldin recently during combat practice, and the man could be utterly ruthless. Of course he was nice, but could turn exceedingly sour (read: into a raving lunatic) when practice was not going his way.
“Nonsense,” Axel quickly retorted, flopping down on the cot next to Demyx. The musician glared, having been dislodged from his otherwise perfectly flowing song.
“Let me guess,” Roxas continued, lowering his book. “He was grinning with only one half of his mouth, and licked his lips after each sentence.”
“…Roxas, how did you know-?”
“We’re fucked.”
“Shhhh!” Demyx hissed, head tilting up at the sound of heavy footsteps on the move. They walked down the parallel hallway directly above the pledges, and soon they could be heard marching down the stairs. The three freshmen froze where they sat, watching helplessly as Xaldin descended the stairs.
“I,” the upperclassman stated, gesturing to himself, “am your savior.” Xaldin approached the trio, who seemed unsure of what emotion to express. “Thanks to me, this is happening now. You may kiss my boots later. Follow me.” He turned and walked towards the staircase leading to the first floor. The pledges dropped what they were doing and bounded off behind the Brother.
“Told you,” Axel whispered as Xaldin led them through the first floor.
“Hey, I hope you’re right,” Roxas hissed back, but knew it couldn’t be possible if they were now heading into the basement. A few days ago they had been rounded into it for some ‘pin the tail on the freshman’. And a few days before that, they were forced to wrestle each other into the ground before they were allowed dinner. Even then, their meals had been drugged and they woke up the next morning in their underwear, with strange sharpie markings all over their bodies.
The Brothers were having altogether too much fun at their expense. But… nothing could really be done about that at the moment, he supposed.
Upon reaching the basement, a large table with countless solo cups came into view. A few of the stray Brothers were perched around the main room, including a grumpy President. Saix sat next to him, an eerie smirk on his face as he whispered things into the elder’s ear. Eventually, Xemnas seemed to perk up just as the pledges were lined up in front of the table.
“Alright,” Xaldin announced, pacing on the other side of the table. “We filled all these cups about one third with some dark beer, in case you couldn’t tell. There are about 40 or so cups, give or take a few. Now, at the bottom of three of them,” he held up three fingers to emphasize this, “lies a room key. Each one corresponds to a bedroom on the second floor.”
Demyx smiled and looked around for Zexion. His Big Brother was not downstairs, and he sulked for a fraction of a second before catching the beaming smiles of his comrades. Rooms. Their own rooms! No more fighting over the stupid cot, no more piling their things in the tiny closet! Four walls and a door, all to themselves.
“The rules about this are as follows: any cup you touch, you must empty before searching another,” Xaldin continued. “If you find a key, you can keep looking for another and then have a choice of rooms. Every man for himself. Speed is key. No vomiting.”
The three freshmen threw their glances over the rows of cups, seemingly trying to decide where they thought keys would be hidden. Each one seemed as likely as the next, and if one listened hard enough, they could probably hear three separate sighs of ‘oh shit, this is not going to end well.’
And, of course, things like this rarely do.
“Oh. Wear these. You’ll need them,” the upperclassman finished, producing three baby bibs and distributing them. “Ready?” The trio quickly tied the bibs around their necks, earning some amused remarks from the surrounding Brothers. “Set?” hands were in front of them, ready to strike at the first cup. Worried expressions were gone; it was game time. “Go!”
In the first instant, Axel, Demyx, and Roxas had grabbed a cup from random positions on the table. Each gave a little shake to feel for a key before realizing they were not so lucky as to score on their first cup, and gulping down the carbonated beverage as fast as they could. As a whole, they were generally neat about it, and soon they were off to their second cup with as much determination as one could have. Room. Their own room.
“If I remember correctly,” Luxord said with his eyes still fixed on the rushees, “You choked rather magnificently on a key when we rushed.”
“Please do not remind me,” Lexaeus said, but a grin spread his lips anyway. If he remembered correctly, he had also found two keys while Luxord had found none. Thusly, he had chosen a slightly bigger room that year. One point, of many, to him.
Demyx was on cup number four. Axel was on cup number four. Roxas was, impressively, on cup number five. All of their bibs and shirts were sprayed with wanton beer as they desperately searched for their keys.
“There are…. Keys in here…. Right?” Roxas huffed after his fifth was done.
“Of course there are,” Xemnas, who was now watching closely over the proceedings, replied. “Why in the world would we try and trick you?”
“Cause… pig fuckers…” Demyx heaved and took another cup. Axel choked a little, spitting beer on himself.
“Okay, I’m here!” Zexion announced as he barreled down the stairs. He still had a pair of laboratory goggles strapped to his head, pushing his hair back from his face for once. “They still going?”
“Yes,” Xaldin said calmly, and the other let out a sigh of relief.
“Good. Ten dollars on Demyx.”
This time, it was Demyx who choked on his drink.
“You can’t be serious,” Saix called over. “My pledge is faster than yours and you know it.”
“Your pledge pukes easily and is way too thin to carry his liquor properly,” Zexion quickly countered. “But if you’re willing to put your money on him…?”
“You’re damn right I’m willing to put my money on him! Twenty dollars on the redhead!”
“Thirty.”
“Fine, thirty.”
“Gentlemen,” Vexen interrupted, rising from his seat and fishing out his wallet. “May I point out that it is, in fact, my pledge who has downed the most beer thusfar? Thirty on Roxas.”
“I’ll second that,” Xemnas called, ushering Vexen towards him.
“Oh no, not you too!” Saix mourned with a strange smirk.“Another thirty on Demyx,” Lexaeus said, walking to the group now forming around the table.
“And another,” Luxord chirped.
“Hah,” Zexion said.
“Forty on Axel!” Marluxia cheered, raising the stakes. Saix pulled him into a strange half-hug and glared at the competition.
“Forty for Roxas,” Xaldin added.
“I’m broke,” Xigbar finally remarked as the others started throwing money on the beer-soaked table. “But all my would-be money is on Demyx, hands down.” And for good measure, he threw some pocket lint on the table.
“Told you, Saix. My pledge will win this.”
“Half of it is luck, my friend.” He snapped his head to Axel, who was still gulping ferociously. “You’d better get lucky, bitchface.”
The pledges, who had been ignored until now, were giving their Brothers weary glances over their beer cups. They were growing full and slowing down, and the added pressure of loads of money on their shoulders did nothing to steady their nerves. They thought this was just a stupid test to get their keys, not an all out competition. The Brothers were now surrounding their table, shouting out cheers to the three and slamming their fists on the tabletop in beat with their chants.
“Go! Chug!”
“C’mon, faster!”
“Look, half of it is on him instead of in him! Disqualified!”
“He’s not disqualified, you desperate loser.”
“Is too!”
“Ahhh!” Roxas garbled into his cup. Which one it was, he’d lost count. But as soon as he had tipped it back, something heavy had slid forward and hit him in the teeth. He removed the cup from his mouth and, without thinking, stuck his hand into it to retrieve what he revealed to be a silver key. Bingo.
“Roxas found one!” Xemnas boomed, slapping Vexen and Xaldin loud, smacking high fives.
“I found one!” Roxas slurred, half of his face still shimmering from the liquid.
“Ughhh, nooooo,” Saix cried out and watched as the three winning Brothers began peeling their cash off of the sticky table.
“C’mon, we’ll still beat Demyx,” Marluxia cheered. “Come on, Axel! Chug it!”
“You know, Roxas… you can keep looking for another key,” Vexen yelled out above the resumed chanting.
“No way!” Roxas said and burped loudly, laughing despite himself and fingering his key. His key, all his. He took a moment to glance at his two friends, who were paying him no attention at all and seemed to have grown more desperate in their search. Not that he was exactly expecting a congratulations from them in the middle of the event, especially when he was their competition. But still, now that his personal frenzy was over, he took to slurring cheers for the both of them.
Demyx was the next to find a key, and Zexion whooped in a very un-Zexion-like manner. Chants of ‘take that, Saix!’ were hurled across the table, and Demyx stared at his key dumbly for what had to be two minutes straight. Saix and Marluxia comforted each other and began arguing that their pledge would have won if it were based on speed. Poor Axel took a break from his drinking and groaned loudly, having counted and knew he had consumed more beer than Demyx. It really was luck.
“Go Axel!” Roxas called again, swinging his arm in the air. “You can do it!”
“It’s over already,” Axel said, speech disconnected somewhat.
“Find your key, Axel,” Xaldin said darkly, pointing to a cup.
“Y-yeah. Find it before I do,” Demyx slurred, grabbing for another cup.
“Hah, or me!” Roxas joined in, still having consumed the least amount of beer, and reaching for a cup. This caused Axel to scramble forward and reach for the one Xaldin had pointed to, taking it greedily and shaking it next to his ear. It made a pleasant clunking noise.
“Not a chance,” He said, accidentally spitting before he downed the cup in one go. He resurfaced with his room key safely between his teeth.
“At least he got one,” Luxord tried to joke despite the fact that he had just lost his money.
“Of course he got one, he’s my pledge!” Saix called out. “You all would have been dead if it were purely on consumption and you know it!”
“Yes, sure thing. Loser,” Lexaeus teased.
“Hey-“
“Can we go see our rooms?” Roxas asked loudly, trying to make himself heard. Unfortunately for him, arguments and insults were still being hurtled across the table, and a few of the Brothers had picked up some of the leftover beer cups for themselves. “Hey!” he garbled out again, but was ignored.
“C’mon, lessgo have a lookie,” Demyx said to him, lengthening his consonants. Before the shorter could reply, he was being dragged away from the quarrelling Brothers. Which was a good thing, because beer was starting to fly. Honestly, couldn’t they solve anything without spilling/throwing/expelling things on each other?
Axel led the way out of the basement and to the second floor, where the pledges found themselves acting very foolish while trying to match up their keys to the proper doors. It took a lot of trial and error before any of them correctly unlocked anything, and by the time they had stumbled into their rooms, the consumed beer had taken full effect.
“How’rewegonnamoveourstuff?” Axel slurred all at once, swaying slightly in front of his room. It had a bed, a dresser, a small closet, and even a desk with bookshelves. He had bragged about it until seeing that Roxas and Demyx’ rooms were equipped with the exact same amenities.
“Juss… toss it in?” Demyx suggested. He seemed mostly sober, damn him. He must have super powers, Axel thought. That was obviously the only logical explanation.
And thusly began the most ridiculous, drawn out, drunken, lazy, sloppy, clumsy, noisy, stupid, shoddy, bizarre, and overall over-dramatic move of the century.
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Despite how awesome he was trying to feel, Roxas could not fall asleep. His room was nice, yes, and certainly comfortable for one person. But he continued to toss and turn, head swimming and stomach uncomfortably full of beer. And shit, he had to take a leak, again, and he groaned as he forced himself out of bed. His clock said 2:41 AM.
He padded through the littered floor, stepping on many of his own belongings that had been unceremoniously dumped there a few hours before. It was a miracle he didn’t trip and break his neck, and he safely made it out the door. At first he went the wrong way, still unused to his new location, but he found the toilet and released more toxins from his body. After sipping down some water from the sink, he went back into the hallway and stopped.
“Demyx?” he asked, squinting in the dark. “What are you doing out here?
“Er, hey…” Demyx said, turning to face his friend. “I couldn’t really sleep. It’s uh-- heh-- sorta quiet.” He was standing by the cot, which had been abandoned in the hallway.
“I couldn’t sleep either,” Roxas added, sensing a sort of embarrassment in the other’s voice. He sighed and approached the cot. “Guess it’s sort of weird not listening to Axel snore after being around it for a month.
“I don’t snore,” Axel piped in, leaning out of his door. His demeanor indicated that he had been awake as well. “And what are you doing out here?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” Roxas replied, sitting on the cot with a loud creak. Demyx nodded solemnly and sat down as well. Axel sighed and walked to join them, plopping himself down on the other side of Roxas. The cot groaned loudly, unable to handle the weight otherwise.
“So uhm. This may sound weird,” Demyx started after a long pause of silence. “But. Do you guys want to come sleep in my room tonight?”
“That’s pretty gay, Dem,” Axel teased.
“I know,” the dirty blond replied.
“I’ll do it,” Roxas volunteered.
“Wait. Why his room? Why not my room?”
“Your room has already managed to smell like cheese,” Roxas shot back.
“That’s because I have a cheese air freshener.”
“…What?”
“My room is the biggest, by a little,” said Demyx. “And it’s kinda clean.”
“Fine,” Axel sighed, grinning and standing from the cot.
“Yeah?” Demyx said hopefully, matching the grin and rising as well.
“Yeah. Why not? One more night on the floor won’t kill me. And then I get to use Roxas for a pillow.”
“Fat chance,” the said blond scoffed.
“Is that a challenge? Because I will cuddle your little face so hard that your head explodes.”
“Don’t call him little,” Demyx warned.
“I’m not little!” Roxas shot, standing off the cot to (dis)prove his point. “And I’m bringing the cot with me, so you can sleep on the floor alone!”
“Hey, now that’s harsh,” the redhead said, fighting back a fit of laughter.
“I’ll help, Rox,” Dem said, picking up the tail end of the cot and helping the other to move it into his bedroom, Axel trailing half-dejectedly behind.
When the lights were off and the doors were closed, the three pledges drifted off to sleep in Demyx’s room. At some point after falling asleep, Roxas felt a heavy body move onto the cot with him, draping a lanky arm around his torso. The blond mumbled something incoherent, tossed the arm away, and promptly fell back asleep before he could argue further.
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