Note: I've never ever written Vexen/Marluxia before. But by golly I like it. And I wanted to have a go at writing them in a non-abusive type of relationship. So... here is that go!

Rafflesia

Vexen scowled. He could not remember ever knowing that any of his fellow Organization members had access to such a thing as the large, amply stocked greenhouse before which he now stood. And yet there it was, situated two doors down from nothing in the middle of nowhere, and teeming with an abundance of what looked, to Vexen's mildly trained but non-expert eyes, like plants accustomed to a tropical rainforest type of climate. He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned lightly at the pink-haired man who stood before him with a look of something that could pass for excited happiness written across his face.

"Well?" Marluxia said. "What do you think?"

"I think you probably did not ask Xemnas for permission to have this greenhouse," said Vexen. "Why did you drag me out here?"

Marluxia smiled and fixed his blue eyes on Vexen. "I wanted to show you how hard I've been working."

Vexen felt the strangely familiar rush of heat to his cheeks and told himself for the umpteenth time that there was absolutely no way Marluxia's cool blue gaze could be making him blush. He cleared his throat rather too obviously and said the first thing that came to his mind. "Have you even been here long enough to do all this?"

"I have a way with plants, Vexen," Marluxia replied, and stuck out his tongue. "They just need a little convincing and they'll warm right up to me."

Vexen had never known Marluxia to be quite so bouncy as he was at this moment, and he could only assume that being so surrounded by his element brought out something often hidden inside the younger man. He could not pretend he didn't like what he was seeing. After all, Marluxia had been something of a mystery to Vexen since their first meeting; Vexen had considered him one of the "quiet ones" the old saying warned of watching out for. But those blue eyes were their own special brand of haunting, and Vexen lied to himself every time he mentally insisted those lingering gazes meant nothing to him. And this mood-this giddy happiness-was something new altogether, and Vexen wanted more of it.

"Are you planning to show me into this greenhouse of yours, or am I expected to judge it through its walls alone?" he said after a moment's pause.

Marluxia strode over to him and stood at eye level, smiling mildly. "I didn't really know what to expect when I asked you to come out here," he said, his voice low, his words drawn out perfectly slow. "I didn't know if you would show up, and then if you would scoff..."

As he spoke, Vexen had involuntarily shifted his center of balance slightly forward, leaning closer to Marluxia, who did not seem to notice. He swallowed, hard, and replied, "Surprisingly, Marluxia, I am truly interested in this."

"Wonderful," Marluxia breathed, and took Vexen by the hand. "Come on, then."

Vexen blinked down at the hand holding his as he followed along to the greenhouse door. The hand was telling of its owner; the palm was soft and smooth, but the fingers were etched with tiny, thin cuts, both old and new, and the nails dirty. Vexen liked that hand.

"Oh, wait," Marluxia said, just before pushing open the greenhouse door. "There's just one thing I need to mention."

"Yes?"

"It... stinks."

"Pardon?"

"You'll get used to it after the first few minutes, but, it stinks."

"I'm quite certain I can handle odd aromas," Vexen said.

"Alright, then." Marluxia nudged open the door and led Vexen through to the other side of the glass walls.

As soon as the door was shut behind them, Vexen was assaulted by the most hideous odor he had smelled since... well, since the last time he had exhumed a dead body. He let go of Marluxia's hand in favor of clapping both of his forcefully over his nose and mouth.

"What... is that smell?" he gagged through his fingers.

"That's Betty," Marluxia replied. "My pride and joy." He pointed to the ground nearby, where an enormous plant with a gaping mouth and large, spreading petals sprawled across the dirt. A couple of stray flies buzzed around it. Vexen took an involuntary step backward.

"That thing's name is Betty?" he asked. Though he had no intention of shouting at the blue-eyed man beside him, his voice escalated in pitch far out of his control at the thought of such a disgusting, horrifying thing being treated like some sort of a pet.

Marluxia rolled his eyes. "Yes, Betty. She's a rafflesia."

"It smells like a dead body."

"Precisely."

"You have interesting taste," Vexen conceded after staring at the plant-Betty-a while longer.

Marluxia stepped over next to the rafflesia and knelt down, robed knees in the dirt, to stroke the plant gently. Vexen felt his face flush for teh second time during the greenhouse experience; watching the younger man's fingertips caressing the relatively detestable plant was something of a powerful moment. He breathed in deeply through his nose to calm that odd feeling once again, and found to his surprise that he had, in fact, already grown used to Betty's unique fragrance.

"You can look around if you like," Marluxia told him, though his attention was still focused largely on Betty.

Vexen glanced around the greenhouse, but the flushed, strange feeling that had overcome him was not fading this time, and he found himself drawn more to looking at the pink-haired man murmuring to the monster flower than to anything else. As he blatantly stared, he wondered if Marluxia was even aware of the effect he was producing. He wouldn't have been terribly surprised if the mysterious younger man had done all of this intentionally, but he doubted that was the case; Marluxia seemed entirely lost in whatever he was muttering to Betty. The longer he watched, the more difficulty Vexen had in controlling the bizarre (and not entirely plausible) feelings he was experiencing. And so it was that he found himself hurrying to the rafflesia and kneeling in the dirt, too, and putting his arms around the shoulders of a very shocked Marluxia.

"Vexen?"

"Mm."

"Are you... feeling alright?"

Vexen let go and leaned back away again. "I'm very sorry," he said. "I'm not sure what's come over me."

Marluxia took Vexen's hand again, but this time, he slid their fingers between each other, twining them together. "I'm not sure, either, but I think I like it," he said, and tossed his hair back with a shake of his head.

The sensation of those fingers and the small but beautifully cocky hair tossing were just enough. Vexen took a quick breath and pressed his lips against Marluxia's, and was happy to find them just as firmly willing as he'd hoped. And he had indeed hoped. He would never have admitted that to himself if the younger man had not responded so well to his kiss.

Vexen broke away first, and opened his mouth to comment. Before he could, however, Marluxia was kissing him again, slipping his tongue into the mix-an action which Vexen returned all too happily. He trailed a hand up Marluxia's back to twist a few strands of soft hair around and around his fingers, and was surprised to feel the younger man shiver slightly at the touch. Encouraged by the shuddering body against him, he pressed closer until the two fell together in the dirt, Vexen sprawling atop Marluxia in a manner not unlike that of Betty as she languished on the ground nearby.

"This is unexpected," Marluxia said, suddenly breaking away from the kiss. His voice was ragged with barely concealed panting.

Vexen drew in his own shaky breath. "I apologize," he said, gazing down at those blue eyes once more.

"No; don't. Unexpected and unwanted are two entirely different words."

"Very well, then... shall we continue?"

Marluxia frowned. "At the moment, Vexen, I would like to lie here and let you do whatever you wish to me." (At that, Vexen swallowed.) "However-there is a problem."

"What is that?"

"...Betty."

"What?"

"She's very young. She doesn't need to see anything like that."

Vexen would have liked to ask Marluxia if he was truly serious, but his eyes betrayed the full importance of the situation in his mind, so Vexen sighed and pushed himself back up into a sitting position. "Alright," he said. "I will refrain from touching you in order to spare Betty's innocence."

Marluxia sat up too, and a grin flashed across his face. "I'm glad you understand me, Vexen. Meet me back at the castle, soon?"

"Of course," Vexen replied, and with one final glance in the direction of the large, offending rafflesia, he stood up and strolled out the greenhouse door.

Thanks for reading!