Morally Dubious

Three Months Later

They met up at a little café in town, one of those pretty tea rooms with big sepia photographs hanging on the walls and potted plants in the corners. Vexen seemed to be an entirely different person, now; he had put on weight since Marluxia had last seen him, was dressed smartly in a long sleeved shirt and a knitted jumper that was almost too appropriate. A pair of glasses were perched on his nose. His hair had grown.
“Things have settled down at home how,” He said, stirring his coffee. “I thought a visit was due. You’re still working at the studio?”
Marluxia nodded.
“You wouldn’t believe the number of girls who suddenly think that can convert me to heterosexuality.”
Vexen laughed a little.
“Some of them can be quite attractive.”
“Oh, don’t you start. However you look at it, vaginas are just gross.”
“And penises are that much better, are they?”
“At least they’re familiar.”
Vexen shook his head, long hair swinging, and didn’t bother to argue with this statement.
“You’ve got my things?”
Marluxia had gone back to collect what was left of Vexen’s belongings, mostly heavy or bulky things that couldn’t be thrown into personal luggage - books, crockery and cutlery, bedding - and they’d been living in his front room ever since.
“Yeah, it’s all back at my apartment.”
“Good.”
It was strange, speaking to Vexen again: they’d had the barest of email contact since the Swede had had to return to his home country, mostly just administrative talk concerning Vexen’s property and, most recently, a brief visit to England. Marluxia had wanted to ask for the full story - he’d had plenty of time to speculate, but he wanted to know for certain - but it didn’t seem appropriate on-screen, with Vexen hundreds of miles away.
“So,” He said finally, “What happened, exactly?”
Vexen quietly finished his coffee, then pulled out a bank note to pay for their drinks.
“Walk with me.”
They stepped out into the cool early spring air.
“Naminé - my sister - was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis several years ago,” He said as he walked, his footsteps seeming to calm him. “She was given unemployment benefits, but we wanted her to be cared for properly, which was… expensive.” He paused, glancing up at the sky, where birds were gathering. “My father took care of the costs of her care until his death. In retrospect…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I was working towards my doctorate at the time, so I… But you know the rest, of course.”
Most of his money was sent home. Of course.
They walked in silence for a few minutes.
“I’m sorry,” Marluxia said. For Naminé’s death, but also for running around with such petty issues thinking Vexen was another mindless slut, when actually he was a better human being than Marluxia had ever been.
“She’s in a better place now.”
The branches of the trees in the park were still bare, but the first green shoots of leaves were just beginning to push through. Little flowers were blooming in amongst the grass. Children, still wrapped up in their coats and gloves, ran around their mother’s ankles or fed the ducks swimming out on the pond.
“It seems like a strange thing to do,” Marluxia eventually admitted as they left the park. Vexen glanced at him momentarily, but he didn’t seem to take offence, merely shaking his head again. “The porn, I mean.”
“I’d done it before.”
“You just don’t seem the type, is all.”
“You of all people ought to know not to judge a book by its cover, Marluxia,” Vexen quipped lightly. “So did you take my advice?”
“To get a boyfriend?”
“Hrm.”
They had almost reached Marluxia’s apartment.
“I was waiting, actually.”
“I suspected as much.”
Marluxia scaled the stairs to his home with ease, unlocking the door and ushering Vexen in. Vexen seemed to approve of the changes Marluxia had been making: he’d tidied away most of the junk, letting the shelves fill instead with menial everyday clutter. A few photographs had gone up in the hall. There were no pizza boxes in sight.
Marluxia made his way into the kitchen, fussing with the kettle like he really wanted a cup of tea anyway.
“You know, Vexen, since you’ll be staying for a few days, I was wondering if maybe we could-“
Marluxia happened to turn around.
Vexen was already naked.

—-

Finished.

I’m going to make some minor edits and revisions, and then post this as a complete story on Fanfiction.net and DeviantART (as soon as I have a title, anyway). I seriously considered giving Marluxia a boyfriend, which would probably have tidied up the story much more nicely, but this is e!411, after all, and I wanted them to have sex again.

Also I feel like it is right that the last word of this ridiculous story is “naked”.

Anyway, thank you for reading, and I hope that you enjoyed it!