Demyx took a deep breath. It was now or never.
"Hey, Zexy? I know this is kinda not on topic, but would yo-"
KABOOM.
All heads - including Zexion's, much to Demyx's frustration - turned toward the noise.
Axel stood in a cloud of ash, face blackened and slightly guilty.
"Uh... oops? I mean- IT WASN'T ME, I SWEAR! THE T-REX DID IT!" smack.
"Ooooowwwww... Rox, what was that for?"
"For being an idiot." came the blonde's icy reply as he searched for something more
substantial than a ruler to throw at Axel.
Xigbar snickered as he subtly took a picture of Axel as he tried to reason with a furious
XIII. It would make good black mail, but - failing that - he had some very nice picture
frames that would go beautifully with the curtains in the Non-Living Room of Eternity
(which were white, like everything else in the castle).
No one noticed Demyx slink quietly out of the room.
Well... almost.
***##***
"LARXENE! THE DVD PLAYER WON'T WORK!"
"SO? WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT IT?"
"FIX IT!"
"HECK NO! DEAL WITH YOUR OWN PROBLEMS!"
"BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW!"
"NOT MY ISSUE."
"Oh, for Kingdom Heart's sake... BOTH OF YOU STOP SHOUTING AT EACH OTHER
FROM ACROSS THE CASTLE AND TALK LIKE CIVILIZED PEOPLE!"
Grumbling, Demyx walked into the kitchen to politely request that Larxene please fix
the dvd player.
Again.
She glared at him setting her toast down on its plate so she could talk to Demyx without
the worrying possibility of soggy toast.
"No. I'm not fixing anything else this week. Just watch whatever you were gonna watch
on vhs."
"On what?"
"Vhs. It's what they used in olden times. Like 10 years ago."
"I AM NOT OLD, DAMMIT."
"LUXORD, YOU CAN'T YELL AT ANYONE, EITHER!"
Larxene rolled her eyes, and shooed Demyx out of the kitchen.
"Yeah, yeah, now go do whatever you were trying to do before you discovered the DVD
player. What happened this time, anyway?"
"No idea. Marshmallow seemed to be oozing out it."
"Great. Just what I wanted to spend my free time fixing. Marshmallow ooze." With one
last eye-roll, she shoved the sitarist out into the hall. "Oh, yeah, and did you ever ask
him?"
"Ask who what?"
"Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I'm talking about."
"..."
"Well?"
"... No."
"Don't expect anything electric to work for you until you do."
And with that, the door was slammed shut.
***##***
Zexion twitched, nearly spilling tea on his book, as he heard more people arguing.
Yes, arguing was practically a sport among them (there were certainly enough
spectators), but did they have to yell?
It didn't help that nothing made any sense. Something about a fox on some world. Who
cared? Why did Vexen and Marluxia have to yell at each other about it anyway?
Sighing, he decided that relocating would be a good idea.
Naminé's room was usually quiet...
***##***
The last person Naminé expected to knock at her door and ask if he could stay for a
while was actually not Zexion. But he was close enough for it to be a shock when she
opened the door to find VI standing there slightly awkwardly.
Still, the blonde girl smiled and opened the door wider, inviting him into the space that
smelled like paper, wax, and paint.
He set down the tea he'd brought with him (the expedition to the kitchen had been a
little unnerving, seeing as Larxene had been sitting at the table eating toast and
snickering at him, but he'd managed to get his tea and get out) on the very white table,
careful not to spill any, and opened his book.
The two of them sat for a while, on opposite ends of the table, the only sounds the
scratching of a pencil and the occasional rustling turn of a page. It was a pleasant - and
honestly probably the only - quiet in the castle. Except possibly the store-room, but you
could never tell...
The peace reigned unbroken for an hour or two, before it was broken by a timid knock.
Both glanced at the door, and after a beat Naminé stood and opened the door halfway.
Zexion's line of vision obscured, but he knew who it was as soon as the newcomer
spoke.
"Um, Naminé, hi... er, have you seen Zexy...? Vexen said he ran off, and everywhere
else is really loud..."
She smiled knowingly up at the taller blonde, "Yeah, he escaped to here."
"Thank you. Um... if you don't mind... would you..."
"Sure, Dem. I need to talk to Larxene anyway." There was a brief series of shuffling
noises, and then Naminé was gone and IX was standing in the doorway looking
awkward.
"So. Um. Zexy?"
Confused, the schemer set down his book, page carefully marked, and walked around
the table to stand in front of Demyx. He would have loved to say eye-to-eye, but alas
was too short for that to happen unless he stood on a chair or the musician stooped.
And he would feel quite silly in either of those scenarios.
"Yes?"
"Would you... I mean, you don't have to, but if you want to, that'd be awesome and all..."
"Just spit it out, Demyx."
"Ah. Right. Okay. Would you help me make a cake for Naminé? Larxene put me in
charge of it, or at least that's what she said, and I don't wanna screw it up, so-"
"Demyx. You're babbling."
"Sorry."
"Don't worry so much about it. Of course I'll help you with the cake. Just as long as
Roxas doesn't end up in the kitchen in the meantime, because that's a disaster waiting
to happen..." As he spoke, Zexion gestured vaguely around the room, glancing away
from Demyx.
So he was taken quite be surprise when the blonde ducked down to touch their lips
together for the briefest of moments before he was skipping out the door, grinning back
at the shocked nobody.
"Thanks Zexy!"
He stared at the door after it had shut behind the taller male for a moment or two, before
a hint of a smile appeared on his lips.
"No problem, dear."