You don't want to see this, if you did you'd surely disbelieve it.

[gotitmemorised]

The days that followed Axel, Saix and Aerith's return to Rabanastre had been sombre ones.

The news of what had befallen Midgar had spread throughout the world via news channels, both visual and radio, and by here-say and would-be accounts, like wildfire.

The death toll was being counted in untold thousands and, according to most broadcasts, there were no survivors. It was being readily compared to the tragedy of Nabudis that had taken place nearly a decade ago. Aerial photographs and video showed what Midgar looked like in the wake of the disaster in comparison to the earlier pictures of it finally nearing completion.

The damage to the city was extensive. The iconic Plate had collapsed almost completely and fires raged across great portions of what was left. An entire district was still alight, even days after. The telltale pale green glow of burst Mako pipes was visible in some areas and Mist obscured some of the visuals to such an extent that entire sectors were hard to make out. Teams were struggling to get inside the city in order to fully assess the damage. Bancour's division of the Gotei 13, Squad Seven, had been drafted in as an emergency measure and the surrounding areas were on high alert regarding its potential to turn onto a Necrohol. Reports assured viewers and listeners that such a thing had not yet occurred, and may not, but tensions ran high.

Travellers were being advised to steer clear of the entire Centra area as a precaution.

Officials had not yet managed to ascertain the cause or motive behind the attack, if it even was one. Theories regarding the method used for the wiping out of an entire capital city varied almost widely as the reasons. Some theorised that it was accidental -- a chain reaction of Reactor malfunctions. Others were convinced that it was down to eco-terrorism from anti-Mako power groups. That it could possibly be an enemy nation that was responsible was not an uncommon suggestion, either. This last one had thrown the entire political state of Ivalice into turmoil.

As a result, political debates made up a heavy portion of the current programming.

The ambience of even Rabanastre, Dalmasca's usually bright and bustling capital, had been considerably more subdued than it was prior to their departure. Numbers were down in the East End and in the Muthru Bazaar. People were still shopping, but the carefree spark had been, if only temporarily, doused by numb shock.

Comments

[notjustanyolddude]

Xigbar nearly choked on his beer for a second before he looked over at Aerith, and then at Demyx.

"You're in there, squirt," he said, in a harsh, choked undertone, while he forced himself to swallow properly.

[gotitmemorised]

"Only partly!" Axel maintained, nevertheless shutting up when Saix continued and proceeded to agree to help.

He gave him a flat look regarding his plan for Timcanpy. He then took a moment to give Timcanpy himself a sympathetic one as he pressed his little hands to the side of the glass again. With his lower lip jutting out in a jib, Axel petted the side of the glass closest to Tim and received a prison-nuzzle in return.

He turned his attention back to Saix.

"Yeah well, that's never going to happen, is it?" Axel said brightly. "I bet I sell way more than you without even trying. Your face could scare a Chocobo from its Greens, so I don't think you're in any danger of winning."

[princeofawesome]

Demyx opened his mouth to respond to Aerith, but shut it again when Xigbar spoke first.

He threw a damp bar-cloth at him and tried very hard to ignore both the awkward blush creeping onto his cheeks at the comment, and Xigbar in his entirety. He kept his attention on Aerith.

"What's that?" He asked, his mind shuffling over a number of equally improbable things that she might need his 'help' for.

That didn't help his slowly pinkening face at all.

[innatelunacy]

Saix looked amused, "If we were selling to Chocobos, perhaps you'd have a point," he replied. "Since we're selling flowers to people, you shouldn't get complacent, or you risk losing your annoying little friend."

He cast a glance towards Timcanpy then, and flicked the glass with his nail.

"Don't forget who had the better success with girls when we were younger," he added, with a smirk, as he turned his attention back to Axel.

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith put her hands on her hips at Xigbar's comment, but she refrained from scolding him as she turned back to Demyx and gave him her sweetest smile. "I need someone with a pretty face and a bit of free time to help me sell flowers," she said. "I'm making Saix help," she explained, "but he might scare customers away, so I want someone who can make up for it, too."

She grinned, brightly and briefly, at Demyx, and then fixed Xigbar with a look, adding, "I'd ask someone else who's always propping up the bar, but I want someone with a face you might actually buy something off," as she turned back to Demyx again.

[notjustanyolddude]

Xigbar chuckled, meanly, as he removed the soaked rag from his face. Demyx was fun to torment; the kid reacted easily.

He held up both his hands as Aerith explained why she wouldn't ask him, though. "Wouldn't do it anyway," he said, "I'm too busy to be selling posies; there's beer to be drunk."

[gotitmemorised]

Axel looked at Saix with an expression of pure indignation. He spluttered for a moment, hardly able to speak, or at least affecting such, and then shook his head.

"You may have had more luck then, Isa, but I bet I have more luck now." He said, refusing to believe that he could lose. "It is on, got it memorised?"

[princeofawesome]

Demyx blinked at the job description. Flower selling..? He ... might be able to do that. He usually spent his days off doing boring day-to-day things, like food shopping, or playing music in the square, but he was halfway sure that he might be okay with selling flowers... maybe.

"Flower selling..?" He looked thoughtful, but shrugged and nodded. "All right," he said, smiling. Well, she did call him pretty. Even so... "But what do I get out of it?"

He wasn't that daft, despite all appearances.

[innatelunacy]

Saix laughed, the sound low and quiet, and extremely rare. Lea had always been fun to wind up. Axel was no different. They'd always had a competitive streak.

"What's the penalty if I lose to you?" He asked, still looking terrifically entertained by the whole thing. "Not that I will, you understand?"

Perhaps selling flowers wouldn't be such a chore after all.

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith feigned surprise as Demyx asked what was in it for him. "Seeing Saix carrying a basket of flowers isn't enough?" She asked, as if she was genuine about that.

"Hmm," she continued, putting her elbow in one hand and looking thoughtful, "I suppose you could keep a share of the profits. Would that be all right?"

[gotitmemorised]

Axel paused for a moment to feign thoughtfulness. He didn't need to hesitate to give his conditions -- he had just the thing in mind -- but he figured that putting on a show of consideration couldn't hurt. He wasn't going to lose to Saix in a million years, after all.

"You form a Clan with me," he said after his theatrical moment of thought. "We're as good as one anyway, and now we have Aerith. Three's enough to start a Clan and get registered. You can be in more than one at once, I looked it up."

He looked at him, green eyes glowing in the dim light of the pub. He had an amused look on his face, but there was something serious about his expression too. He wasn't kidding.

"I sell more flowers than you, and you officially become my partner in crime." Pause. "Well, monster hunting, or whatever. What do you say, do we have a deal?"

[princeofawesome]

Demyx gave Aerith a sceptical look at her 'basket of flowers' comment. He wouldn't stand out in the heat of Rabanastre's streets selling flowers for no return for anything less than seeing Saix juggle Moogles while wearing a Viera battle-bra.

"Depends how much of the profits I get to keep," he said thoughtfully. "I mean, it is really hot out there. And I could be making money playing music in the square..."

[innatelunacy]

Saix looked, just for a moment, taken aback. He'd expected embarrassment, mocking, some tedious chore that Axel hadn't wanted to do...

He hadn't expected that. He was already Axel's partner in crime, as far as he was concerned, but forming a clan....

"You realise that if I do that Vexen won't speak to me for a year, don't you?" He said, conversationally. "And that's another year on top of however long he's not speaking to me for right now," he added.

Vexen... Oh, Vexen would loathe the idea.

"You're on," he said, after another moment.

Vexen would come around, in time, Saix hoped. There were a lot of things wrong with their marriage, but cutting Axel out of his life would fix none of them. Axel was a symbol, but he wasn't the cause.

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith gave Demyx a canny look. "I can only let you keep a share of what you pull in," she said, her tone slightly warning. "I'm not going to give someone money to stand around looking pretty and not actually do any work."

She tapped her finger to her lips, thoughtfully, "But you can set your own prices," she added, "so how much would it take to make it worth your time?"

[gotitmemorised]

"Looks like I'm doing you a favour then," Axel said devilishly.

He couldn't think of a single scenario where not having to hear Vexen's whining, nasal voice could ever be considered a bad thing. He knew that it wouldn't do their marriage any favours, and he wasn't going to interfere directly, but it looked to him that if it got any further onto the rocks, seagulls would start nesting in it.

"Oh, and one more thing," he added, grinning brightly. "I get to name the Clan. You get no say."

[princeofawesome]

Demyx hardly expected to be paid if he didn't manage to sell anything. But, if he did...

"Fifty percent," he said, looking at her evenly. "Clean break down the middle."

[innatelunacy]

Saix looked mildly displeased with that particular stipulation. He was unsure if he'd trust Lea to name a dog, let alone a clan Saix would be a member of, and as such, a name Saix would be associated with. He murmured, wordlessly, frowning at Axel.

"I'm not sure I trust you with that," he said.

He trusted Axel with his life, but a clan name may be going too far.

[hearstheplanet]

Aerith made a thoughtful noise, holding her chin. "I suppose that's fair," she said, warily, eyeing Demyx before she held out her hand for him to shake. "But only from the ones you sell," she told him, making sure the point came across and there was going to be no quibbling about it later.

"Do we have a deal?"

[gotitmemorised]

Axel arched an eyebrow, but shook his head. Finally, he shrugged and picked his drink up for a sip.

"Hey, I'll think of something cool," he sad, not letting on that he had a pretty good idea of what to call a Clan already. "You think I would let myself be a member of a Clan with a lame name?"

[princeofawesome]

Demyx nodded hastily as she repeated that particular part of the deal once again. He only gets a halfway cut of what he makes, all right, all right. It sounded fair to him, and would give him some incentive to work at all. He only sells one flower for two gil, he only gets one out of it. If he sold a bunch, he'd get more.

That might, if he played his cards right, help him on his way to saving up for a new Sitar from Duster.

"We have a deal," he said, grinning.

[innatelunacy]

Saix regarded Axel with the flattest expression he'd ever worn. "You're forgetting how long I've known you," he said, in leaden tones, "Lea." The name came with just a tiny hint of emphasis.

Then he shrugged one shoulder, slightly, shrugging off any further reluctance with it. "Of course, I've also known you long enough to know that I can't stop you once you have some fool idea in your head," he explained, as if he'd never been in any way a part of Axel, or Lea's, fool ideas, and had only ever gone along with them to save arguing.

[hearstheplanet]

"Good," Aerith said, with a firm nod, before breaking into a bright smile at Demyx. "So," she said, turning that smile into a slightly flirty one, "when's your next day off?"

[gotitmemorised]

Axel grinned and looked satisfied ... despite the insults that Saix didn't even waste time or energy bothering to draw a veil over. Now, he was absolutely determined to win.

"Nope," he said, looking pleased as he took a sip from his glass. "Your fate is sealed, because I'm going to win, got it memorised?"

[princeofawesome]

"Friday," Demyx replied. "I might get called in for the evening," he said fairly, "but during the daytime, I'm free to sell as many flowers as I like."

The flirty look didn't fail to make him flush slightly, though he did ignore it.

[innatelunacy]

The corner of Saix's mouth twitched in a faint smirk. "We shall see," he replied, taking another drink and eyeing the trapped Timcanpy out of the corner of his vision as he did. "Don't underestimate how much I want that thing gone," he added, warning Axel that he'd be in for a fight.