Zexion stared blankly at the elaborately decorated pine tree, then at the stack of males trying to put the star on top of it. Roxas was sitting on Demyx's shoulders, who was on Axel's shoulders. The bluenette heard Axel groan.
"Dammit you two, lay off the Banora White Pie!" The redhead grumbled as he tried to get a better grip on Demyx's legs. Demyx pouted.
"Are you calling us fat?" He asked, sounding very much offended.
"No, I'm calling you heavy!" Axel yelled in response as he tried to follow the orders that Roxas was barking.
"No…not there, no- higher! Just a little- good, now to the right- no the left!" Roxas yelled down at the red head, who tried his best to maneuver into a better position. Zexion sighed.
"You're going to fall, but I suppose with your thick skull, you won't have to worry about a concussion." The bluenette muttered before walking out of the Gray Area. Roxas scoffed and continued to tell Axel and Demyx where to move.
Zexion walked through the halls of The Castle That Never Was, which were decorated as well, but not as thoroughly as the Gray Area was. He stopped in front of his own bedroom door, hand on the knob.
"Over there, Axel! No- no the left, THE LEFT! W-whoa, Axel, go right, go righ- aaagh!"
CRASH!
Zexion smirked, and briefly considered returning to the Gray Area to give a well deserved 'I told you so'.
.o.O.o.
Just after one a.m. on a winter night before Christmas, Zexion was awakened by the sound of someone barging into his room, followed by someone pouncing on him.
"Zexy Zexy Zexy~! Look outside, look outside!" Zexion blinked his sleepy eyes open and looked into a pair of sapphire blue gems. Roxas.
"…Wasn't my door locked…?" The bluenette asked, eyeing his door suspiciously. Roxas shrugged.
"Maybe, I don't remember, but that isn't the point!" Zexion felt the urge to cover his face with his hand. Roxas got off of the bluenette and tugged impatiently on his sleeve, pointing to the large window beside Zexion's bed. With a sigh, the taller boy stood and walked to the window, taking his place next to a bouncing Roxas. Gazing out of the frosted pane of glass, he held back a grin as he stared down at a world coated in white purity. Roxas bounced up and down on the balls of his feet and grabbed Zexion's hand. "Come outside with me!" Zexion was silent for a moment. He sighed.
"Impatient one, aren't you." The bluenette said quietly. He went to his closet and pulled out one of his heavier Organization coats. He slipped it on his shoulders and turned, only to see that Roxas was gone. He raised an eyebrow.
THUMP!
Something hit his window. Judging by the splatter of snow, the bluenette assumed a well-aimed snowball. Zexion looked out of it again, and saw Roxas on the ground, waving at him eagerly. Zexion smiled faintly.
"Very impatient indeed." He said before leaving his room and heading out the door to join his friend.
.o.O.o.
Living in The Castle That Never Was is bearable. But the one thing that Zexion couldn't stand was that Xemnas always kept the castle at 65 degrees. Now, normally this didn't pose any problem, but on nights when it was particularly cold, it was nearly insufferable. And the cold had a tendency to prevent Zexion from resting soundly. The bluenette sighed and pulled a blanket around his shoulders, deciding to head to the library. His library was always warmer than most of the rest of the castle. This was mainly due to the fact that the library had a fireplace in it. It also has several comfortable sofas in it, so it was definitely a good place to sleep. Warm, quiet, and comfy.
Zexion was shocked to see that the door to the library was already open. He pushed it open just enough to peek his head inside, and noticed that there was already a fire burning in the white granite fireplace. And a few feet in front of the fireplace, Roxas was sitting Indian style. The bluenette stepped inside and quietly closed the door behind him. He walked behind Roxas, and noticed the blonde was shivering. Zexion took the blanket off of his shoulders and wrapped it around the blonde before taking a seat beside him.
"Oh, um, Zexy… I-I'm sorry, I just got c-cold…" Roxas stuttered, a bit embarrassed that he had been caught here so late. Zexion nodded.
"I understand, I was cold too." He answered. Roxas looked at the blanket wrapped around him and smiled faintly. The blonde shifted closer to his blunette friend and wrapped the blanket around them both. Zexion raised an eyebrow in silent question.
"What? No point in one of us being warm and the other being cold, is there?" Roxas said.
"…I suppose not." The bluenette replied, drawing the blanket in closer. He was comfortable how he was, and definitely warm.
~The Next Morning~
"Dude, where are they?" Axel asked as he wandered around the corridors of the castle, Demyx walking with them. Demyx shrugged and continued walking, before something caught his eye. He stopped in his tracks.
"Axel?"
"I mean, come on, they weren't at breakfast, and they weren't in their rooms," The redhead murnered, still pacing.
"Axel."
"I swear if they went off somewhere without us I'm gonna clock them both…"
"AXEL!" Demyx yelled. Axel finally stopped and looked at the dirty blonde.
"What?" Demyx just pointed at the door he was currently looking through. Axel raised an eyebrow and joined him. When he saw what Demyx was looking at, he grinned and sincerely wished he had a camera on him.
Roxas and Zexion were sound asleep, still upright and wrapped together in the blanket, Roxas resting his head on Zexion's shoulder.
Demyx and Axel smiled and laughed quietly before closing the door silently.
"Let's leave them alone." Axel proposed.
"For once, I agree with you." Demyx replied before walking off, Axel following.
.o.O.o.
"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this." Zexion mumbled.
"I agree completely." Axel said flatly. Demyx and Roxas simply smirked, while Xigbar laughed beside them. Using their wits, and their puppy dog eyes, the blondes had tag teamed their friends into dressing up for Christmas. Xigbar took a deep breath and attempted to compose himself.
"Look on the bright side." He said when he remembered his ability to form words.
"What bright side?" The other two said at the same time.
"...You're right, there is none!" The Freeshooter went into hysterics again. Zexion glared at him and Axel flipped him off.
"Stay still!" Roxas yelled. He was currently trying to tie little bells onto the end of Axel's spikes. Axel let out a defeated sigh and imitated a statue. Zexion rolled his eyes.
"What exactly are you dressing us as?" The bluenette asked, not really curious, but feeling he should know what he had gotten himself into. Damn Roxas and his puppy eyes...
"Axel is Santa!" Demyx said excitedly.
"Cuz I like red? Ha ha frickin' ha. Very cute." Axel said sarcastically. Roxas rolled his eyes and yanked Axel's hair. "Ow! Hey, watch it up there! I happen to like my hair on my scalp!" The smaller blonde simply smiled innocently.
"And Zexion is a reindeer!" Roxas answered. Zexion just blinked.
"So that's why you sprayed my hair brown?" The blondes nodded. "I just have one question."
"What?" The blondes said in unison. Roxas handed Axel his hat and Demyx handed Zexion his hat with antlers on it. They ushered the other two males to a large mirror. They stared at their reflection.
"If I am to be a reindeer and VIII is to be Santa, why are we in suits?" Zexion asked, looking himself over. He was wearing a simple brown suit and a black fedora with antlers on it. Axel was wearing a red suit trimmed with white, and a red fedora to match it. Demyx and Roxas smiled widely.
"Pimps!" Zexion and Axel's eyes widened, and Xigbar fell to the floor with laughter.
"...I don't look too bad, actually." Axel said with a smirk. Zexion facepalmed himself and made a mental note to learn how to resist puppy dog eyes.
.o.O.o.
Out of all the people in Organization XIII, Zexion was always the easiest for Roxas to find. He was always either in his room, in the library, or in the lab. But for some reason, Roxas couldn't find him today. He had searched everywhere. The blonde sighed and took a seat on one of the various sofas in the Gray Area. Xigbar raised an eyebrow and walked to him.
"Why so down, Kiddo?"
"I keep trying to-" He looked at Xigbar in shock. "Are those reindeer antlers?" Xigbar laughed and twiddled one of the 'antlers' on his head. He pulled them off.
"It's just a headband." The freeshooter said, slipping the antlers back on.
"Oh. Well, have you seen Zexion?"
"Zexy? Yeah, he went outside a couple hours ago. To the courtyard."
"Hours? But isn't it snowing?" Xigbar chuckled and ruffled Roxas's spikes.
"Trust me on this, Kiddo, Zexy doesn't care that it's snowing." He said before turning on his heel and walking away. Roxas raised an eyebrow.
"…He's probably freezing by now." The blonde murmured to himself. Hours in snow would make anyone cold, and Roxas wondered why Zexion was out there in the first place. The bluenette didn't show a preference for the white powder, after all… "…Aha!" Remembering something Zexion had told him earlier, Roxas ran into the kitchen, nearly knocking the idly walking Xigbar over in the process.
~30 Minutes Later~
Zexion sat under a tree in the courtyard of The Castle That Never Was and let out a sigh that could be called content. He stared at the world around him. It was amazing how a coat of snow could make such a lifeless place seem so beautiful. All the tree's branches lined with rows of the stuff, along with the ground and roof of the castle. The world was calm and still, aside from the steady stream of flakes falling. Zexion looked towards the sky. The black sky that covered the world in eternal night. It had never shed snow before. The snow brought back good memories, and Zexion found himself sighing contentedly again. He blinked the flakes that had collected on his eyelashes off and rested his back and head against the rough bark of the leafless tree. The bluenette let his eyes slipped closed, and for a moment, he was Ienzo again, back in Radiant Gardens.
He stayed in his own mental world, silent, until he felt something warm being pressed against his forehead. His eyes opened slowly to see Roxas smiling down at him.
"Stay out here and you'll catch a cold." Roxas said, taking a seat next to the bluenette. Zexion now saw that the object Roxas had put on his head had been a mug. The blonde handed it over, and the bluenette stared down at the steaming liquid it contained.
"…Hot chocolate?" He asked, smirking slightly.
"With marshmallows! You said Dilan used to make it when it got cold out, right? So I asked Xaldin to show me how to make it!" Roxas said, obviously proud of himself. Xaldin always had to make things complicated, and his recipes were no exception. But Roxas had tried his best and personally, he thought it turned out very well. Zexion smiled softly and took a drink from his mug, exhaling puffs of white smoke when he was done.
"Thank you, Roxas." Roxas blinked at the use of his real name and grinned widely.
"You're welcome!"
.o.O.o.
A/N- This didnt turn out the way i wanted it to, sadly. I was gonna write 13 short stories at first, but then that got reduced to six for lack of time, and then it got reduced again cuz i caught a cold. T.T
Update on my poll! in first, Roxas, with Zexion in second and Sora in third! lol shocking, isnt it?
Axel: WHAT THE HELL! I thought people loved me. T.T
Sora: (pats Axel's back) People do love you, people just love us more! ^^
Axel: TTATT
Roxas: Um, Sora, I think you made it worse...
Sora: ...I did?
Zexion: Indeed you did.
Sora: Oopsie. Sorry Axel.
Axel: (goes to emo corner)
Zexion: ...Ignore the attention hog. We thank you for voting for us. Isn't that right, XIII.
Roxas: Yup! Now go vote some more so Axel will give Zexy's spot back!
Zexion: Are you implying that I'm emo?
Roxas: Nooooo... (whistles innocently)
Zexion: (sigh) Emo or not, the fans like me.
Sora: Yup, we are all beloved! And cheer up Axel, at least you came in fourth!
Axel: Yeah... (sniff) I guess so. I still have a chance! :D
Roxas and Zexion: whatever you have to tell yourself. -_-'
A/N- lol again a side story on how I think they'd respond. Axel did indeed come in fourth, with Demyx in fifth and Cloud in sixth. Any lower than that and there were ties, so if you wanna know about them, go and look. I was surprised Cloud ranked so high, actually... I personally love him but thats just me. So go take the poll so the results will change! :D Oh, and Happy Holidays. This will be my last story posting until after new years day, so see you all then! ;3