#or rather
Everyone’s been posting their WIPs/drafts for @kh-worldsconnected, and I wanted to join the bandwagon XD Here’s a sneak peak on what I’m working on!
After a year, three months and fourteen days of uneventful existing, something – someone – happens.
Arlene is walking home from her latest part-time job – store’s clerk at some apparel store at the Fourth District, just as unglamorous and frustrating as it sounds – when she sees a man sitting on the sidewalk under a lamppost. Something about this man seems familiar to her – the blue guitar thing he’s strumming certainly is, so is his stupid-looking mullethawk, and his annoyingly nasal voice, and the jets of water spouting around him every time he plays…
“You!”
He yelps and falls backwards onto the cobblestone at her voice, his sitar fumbling out of his hands. Arlene breaks into giggles at the sight – Demyx’s suffering was always fun to witness, especially when he suffered at her hands. He sits himself up and picks his sitar from the ground, and when his eyes fall on Arlene they widen like saucers.
“You!,” he barks, hugging his sitar close to him. “W-what are you doing here?!”
Arlene smirks and puts a hand on her hip. “I could ask you the same thing, Water Freak.”
“Wow, I sure missed that nickname,” he deadpans, rolling his eyes. “Brings back memories.”
“Of what, the fun times we had?”
“They were fun for you, not me,” he grumbles, standing up and picking up the munny-filled can at his feet. “I still have scars. Anyway, I’m not Demyx anymore, so I guess you don’t need to call me that anymore.”
“I call you whatever I want,” Arlene snorts. “And what do you mean you’re ‘not Demyx’ anymore? You look like the same idiot to me.”
“Gee, thanks,” he mutters. “Anyway, I’m not Demyx anymore, ‘cause I got my heart back!”
Arlene freezes at his words. “You… what?”
“Uh, yeah. I dunno, I just woke up here and next thing I know, my ol’ heart’s thumping in my chest again.” He hits his chest lightly with his fist. “Looks like we didn’t need Kingdom Hearts after all! Heh, and all we had to do was die…”
Not-Demyx’s voice trails off. A lump of unease forms in Arlene’s stomach but she wills herself to shake it off. “Aw, is that so?” She huffs haughtily. “That’s too bad. You could’ve stayed dead.”
Not-Demyx’s eyes narrow at her. “Ugh, seriously? Would it kill you to be even just a little nice, Larxy?”
“How many times have I told you not to call me that?,” Arlene snaps. Sighing sharply, she turns her back to him. “There’s no need to call me that. I’m not Larxene anymore, either.”
“You’re not?”
Instead of answering, she harrumphs and starts to walks away.
“H-Hey! Where are you—who are you now?! C’mon, Larx, don’t leave me hanging!”
Arlene ignores him and keeps walking, until his voice fades away, until she leaves the Fourth District, until she’s back in her apartment.
Reuniting with Demyx was nice, but she hopes never to see him again.
I don’t have a title for this fic yet. I’m tempted to call it something like ‘Arlene, Myde and the Great Traverse Town Exodus of 20xx’ (hooray for musical theatre references!), but I don’t know if that’s really the best title for what I have in mind XD;;
I hope it’s good enough so far! OTL
I realize that I’ve been putting pressure on myself to settle the question of whether I’m gay or bi. But I don’t actually want or need an answer, so I’ve decided to simply un-ask the question. This is not an agnostic stance. I think I coulddetermine an answer; I’m choosing not to.
I think there’s a parallel* here with people who identify primarily as nonbinary - specifically, those enbies whose answer to “Are you a man or a woman?” is just “No.” It seems to me that they have effectively un-asked the question rather than answering it.
I feel like not having an answer might get me shoehorned into the ‘questioning’ category by default, and that’s not really true. I don’t know and I’m not trying to find out. I’m just gonna roll with whoever I’m attracted to and proceed peacefully and unperturbed. no thoughts head empty.
*aparallel, not an exact 1:1 equivalence
me: so tell me, kitty, what are some of your favourite things? what brings you joy?
my cat: oh so many things. for example crinkling and rustling plastic bags
me: fascinating! now let’s go a bit darker. what are your biggest fears?
my cat: oh so many things. for example crinkling and rustling plastic bags
The High Lord and High Lady of the Night Court and Nyx
