Chapter Text
Training week was so far so good. Zexion learned a surprising amount about camp rules and regulations, as well as more about his “co-workers”. He was a fairly observant person, and thus spoke very little in general. From this habit, he was able to see that there were others working at camp who were not very friendly. For example, Marluxia, the expert on plants who maintained the vegetable garden for the camp, was always giving the group fake smiles. Zexion might have been the only one to see that when no one else was looking, Marluxia would change those smiles into scowls. What was his deal? Then again, he was nicknamed Bumblebee because of his handiness with plants, but the others called him “Queen Bee” most of the time.
Larxene, nicknamed “Lightning Bug”, was the only person who hung around the suspicious character. She practically clung to him, while he gave her attention sparingly. Larxene did hang out with a few of the new friends Zexion had made, but she would occasionally lash out at them, and had an overall very demanding character. He figured it was because she wanted the attention from others that she was not getting from the man she so obviously was infatuated with.
Moving on, there were a few staff members who Zexion decided he liked, as they respected his silence, and he, theirs. One such character was the nurse, Vexen. He was considered by the others, namely Axel, to have a cold personality. Zexion had the chance to meet him when he had the fortune to realize too late that he had left his emergency inhaler at home. So, he was sent to the first aid cabin where he met Vexen, and enjoyed his company and brief medical lectures for the hour rest prescribed to him.
Lexaeus was another quiet figure, and although he was a big, intimidating man, Zexion knew he could do no harm. After all, he worked at a camp. He was in charge of the rock wall and zip line, but was also a wildlife expert. He had been a ranger at the nearby National Park for a while beforehand. Zexion came across him at his secret clearing of solace (where he had first gotten lost). After getting over a few seconds of shock, Zexion realized he had found another quiet companion. They would definitely be a source of refuge when camp started up for the summer, ruining the near-peace that was yet undisturbed.
The rest of training and orientation week went well enough for Zexion, aside from the only source of irritation around. No matter what he did, Zexion could not shake the smirking laughter he heard coming from those bright blue eyes of “Bubbles”. And no one would tell him what Bubble’s real name was, either. He told himself it didn’t matter, anyway, as he tried to avoid the tall blonde at all cost. It’s not that he was uncomfortable in a bad way, but that smile, those eyes… Zexion found himself recalling they were a bright blue.
“Stopit, stop it,” he muttered to himself one night. Roxas had asked him to have a few hours of the cabin they shared alone, before camp started, and Zexion obliged. It would be their last night of true freedom, and Zexion decided to relish the peaceful night as well. Unfortunately, his quiet spot was not too quiet, as he realized it was too close to his campsite for him to get any real peace of mind. So, Zexion decided to take a walk, and had ended up by the lake.
Moon Lake was a beautiful sight in the moonlight, hence its name. Zexion found himself staring into the sparkling, night-filled waters when he caught himself thinking about Bubble’s eyes. Speaking of, hadn’t Roxas said he was the head lifeguard, or something? But it was night, and there was no way he could possibly be there now, could there? Zexion looked around furtively, suddenly aware of any noises that could mean unwanted presences. When he made sure he was definitely alone, he relaxed, and began breathing in the tranquil night air. Not too hot and muggy, not too cold and windy, the last night before camp started couldn’t be better.
Zexion decided to head down to the sandy beach to watch the lake. Glancing at his phone, he noticed he had two hours left before it was safe to head back to sleep. Actually, considering the average male sex drive, it was probably safe to head back even now, but he didn’t want to risk it. Not on a night like this. He settled down in the sands, thankful for the light sweatshirt he brought. The water attracted a cold breeze that set goose bumps off on his bare calves. He hugged his legs closer to him, and after a while he began to notice activity over the waters. Bats were out, hunting mosquitos, forming dark, rippling clouds when they reached above tree level, the clear night sky illuminating them from behind. After a while, Zexion closed his eyes, promising himself that it was just to hear the music of the night better.
An hour passed and Zexion woke with a start. ‘Where am I?’ The waterfront. ‘What woke me up?’ Looking around cautiously, he realized the wind had picked up, causing the dock to shift in a louder fashion. But that wasn’t it before, that just happened. ‘There was another sound before that,’ he recalled. And then it happened again, behind him. The snapping of twigs on the forest floor. Zexion calmed his nerves before slowly standing up, stretching his cramped neck and legs while turning around. He saw the flashlight which symbolized the presence of a human and decided it must be the sheriff, Xaldin, on his nightly round. Looking at his phone again, he confirmed that this must be so as it was 11, 10 minutes before the sheriff usually came by his campsite.
Zexion decided it was time to head back that way anyway, and caught up with the authority figure. This earned him a reprimanding of being out alone in the wilderness with no buddy or flashlight. Zexion apologized, and bid the man good night when they arrived at the now peaceful campsite. It was called “Memory”, and each camp site had its own name. As he crept into the cabin, he saw that Axel would be sleeping over, but luckily he and Roxas were in a deep sleep. This turned out to be lucky indeed for him, as he was startled by a loud noise outside while undressing for bed. It sounded like a child screaming, and caused him to knock his charging phone off his bed. “Just a fox,” he reassured himself after a moment of stunned silence. Then he heard another sound, but this time an all too familiar one.
It was the laugh he heard on the first day, but this time it was muffled. Eyes narrowing, Zexion peered into the moonlit clearing outside the cabin. And then he heard it again, just before he heard another startling sound from nature. Or was it just a prankster? But no, the loud scream and shout came from deeper in the forest, well away from the clearing, whereas the laughter seemed to be nearby. Maybe, perhaps, it was a few pranksters. Zexion shook his head and finished getting ready, tucking himself into his sleeping bag.
Unbeknownst to the slate-haired, quiet guy, the scream and shout were all natural. Demyx laughed once more before heading back to his cabin he shared with Axel. ‘Man, when I went looking for Axe I didn’t expect to get that for a show!’ the tall man smirked. He had been innocently strolling around camp, checking on the waterfront (which showed signs of minor human disturbance) before heading towards the Memory site. What had started out as just checking up on his buddy and seeing if he was coming back or spending the night there turned into quite the show for him. Demyx had almost forgotten that the cute new guy was Roxas’ cabin-mate, that is, until he happened to look through the cabin window.
That was when, in a matter of seconds, he saw Zexion stripping his shirt to jumping in startled fear as a red fox made itself heard throughout the woods. Demyx couldn’t help but laugh, remembering to stifle it a bit. He moved around to get a better look at Zexion without being seen himself, and was treated to another show. As Zexion relaxed and began to take off his pants, an owl’s screech caused him to pause once more. He couldn’t help but laugh again, and took off for his own cabin. Wow, talk about a looker! ‘That kid had a great body to go with his face,’ Demyx thought, ‘and I got an extended look thanks to nature. Thank you, fox and owl!’ He laughed at his luck before he too settled in for the night.
“Welcome!” boomed the voice of Xemnas, the apparently real director of Camp Moon Lake. Zexion had been sure Saix (or Wolf) was the director, but here they were, first day of camp, and this man just appears and gives the official welcome to camp speech. His commanding tone was slightly effective on the children, as they had stopped shouting and talking loudly, but they were still squirming and whispering to each other, as kids are wont to do. Luckily, the real director was good at keeping his speeches short and to the point, and soon Roxas and Zexion found themselves in charge of a small army of boys aged 7-9.
“All right then, lads, once you’ve got your stuff we’ll head to our campsite, Memory!” Roxas shouted, as you herded some wanderers back into line. “We’re going to go over super important, top-secret plans so hurry up!” This caught their attention, and in no time, it seemed to Zexion, they were already at the site. The boys were soon given their tent assignments, and made short work of clearing out tents and spreading their sleeping bags out on the hard mattresses (the tents were on wooden platforms, in case of rain, and each had 6 beds).
Zexion gave them a quick but thorough tour of the site, from where they would meet at morning and night, to where the bathrooms and showers were. Roxas explained to them a few other rules, mainly ones you had both come up with to keep your sanity during the weeks (quiet hours started at 10pm, and they had to be up by 7:30 am for breakfast). Once or twice you had to break up the start of a small fight, but otherwise, the first day had very few problems. ‘Maybe this first week wouldn’t be so bad,’ Zexion thought, with a small glimmer of hope.
And indeed, it turned out to be a great first week. He and Roxas, it appeared, had gotten the best group of boys. The others complained of how they had to deal with brats who wouldn’t listen to girls who kept complaining and screaming whenever they encountered nature. Zexion secretly sympathized with those girls, as he couldn’t help but get creepy-crawlies anytime he saw a bug where only humans (in his mind) were allowed.
His group really was the best. They couldn’t wait to get from one activity to the next, especially with how Roxas led them. He would come up with the coolest sounding names for each station, which appealed to boys their age. Zexion was impressed. He confided in Roxas that he would have never thought of that, having not much of an imagination. “Nonsense, I’m not that special, and I’m sure you have a great imagination. I just remember how boring camp was, and how cool spies were for me that age. But I guess it helps to have some practice,” he admitted. Zexion attempted to gather enthusiasm and charisma to help Roxas out, but quickly found he did not have the same effect on the boys. “It’s ok, really, Zexion,” Roxas laughed, “You’re more of the quiet type anyway. I’m sure they’ll come to you for advice soon enough, even if it’s just to listen to their problems.”
Roxas was correct, and during the next two weeks Zexion found himself listening to a wide range of problems which boys aged 7-11 seemed to have. He didn’t mind, though, as he was used to listening. Plus, Zexion was glad to be of some help to Roxas. He didn’t know how the guy could muster up so much energy every single day. He guessed it had something to do with the promise of spending Saturday nights with Axel, the only free nights they got.