"Vexen, we have a new member."

Zexion was standing on the steps, crossing his arms as he shivered from the cold. "Xemnas is insisting we all meet him this time. He was apparently disappointed when we didn't go up to meet Axel."

"I wouldn't have greeted Axel if Saïx himself asked me."

"Don't be like that. Xigbar said that the neophyte's a nice one this time. When he and Axel picked him up…"

"It's another boy?"

Vexen looked up, taking off his goggles as he stared at the Schemer. "Are there no more women with strong hearts out there? It's a rather disappointing outcome, you must agree."

"Anyway…When Axel and Xigbar recruited him, the new member was apparently a very nice child. Well behaved, quiet…"

"I must have a look at this….Has he been named yet?"

"No, Xemnas is waiting for us to go up and see him."

"To be expected. When the new members come, he tries to enforce the team spirit to make them stay until they know they cannot leave. Fine, I shall come, if not only to protect him from whatever schemes Axel may already have cooked up."

He left behind the rack of test tubes he'd been pouring chemicals into and followed Zexion upstairs.

"I see you made it."

As Zexion and Vexen walked into the common room quietly, Lexaeus moved over to them and smiled. "I like this new one. He seems quite pleasant, when you can detach Axel from him. As it is, our Flurry friend keeps him quite occupied."

"Really?"

"How so?"

"He just won't leave him alone long enough to properly talk to anyone else. But this boy always has a smile on his face, and when he laughs it's beautiful."

Huffing, Zexion raised an eyebrow at the obviously-enchanted Hero, who was smiling.

"Let me see this boy."

"Not now…Xemnas is about to name him and give him his weapon."

All three Nobodies stood still as their Superior waved his hand, making four transparent letters shimmer in front of the newest member of their Organisation.

"Myde…What a name," sneered the shortest out of the three as he glared at the bewildered, smiling blond in the middle of the room.

"I think it's poetic," retorted Lexaeus, smiling once more when Zexion turned his glare upwards.

And Vexen was silent, his violently green eyes still locked on the blond whose name was spinning around him at terrifying speeds. Suddenly, Xemnas stuck his hand out, stopping the letters and sticking an 'x' into their new arrangement.

"Our newest member…Demyx the Melodious Nocturne!"

True to what Lexaeus had said before, Axel was constantly in Demyx's company and Vexen found himself intrigued by the mysterious newbie.

He finally decided to go to the boy's room and introduce himself properly, whether Axel was there or not.

But he didn't have to go far. As he passed the common room, he noticed it was strangely empty bar one Nobody; Demyx. Slipping in quietly, the Academic watched as the boy tuned a large, blue sitar and hummed beneath his breath.

"Excuse me…"

"Oh, was I being too loud? You must be Vexen, Axel's told me about you…" stammered the Nocturne, blushing as he stopped strumming the instrument and hugged it to his chest protectively. "I hope I wasn't interrupting your experiments or anything."

"No, no…I was enjoying your music. And, about Axel's opinion of me…It's probably all lies. We just don't…Get along. In fact, if we were human we'd hate each other. So naturally he's going to exaggerate or lie to you about me."

"Oh…Why do you hate Axel?"

Those eyes…Vexen could see how Lexaeus had become captivated by the boy. There was such honesty, such…Emotion in them.

"I dislike him because he does not respect me, his superior. In fact, there is blatant disregard of rank. And he has just taken a special hatred towards me as well. But I will not be your enemy if you give me no reason to hate you…"

"Well, I'll be your friend. You like my music after all. Take a seat! I was just about to play some music I found in my old clothing…I didn't know I could even write music."

"Must've been your Other…"

"Other?"

"Before you lost your heart. That's what we call who we used to be. Our Others. Your's was called Myde and that's all I know."

"Axel said he knew me. Maybe he knew my Other?" hummed Demyx, strumming the sitar to create a beautifully mellow tune. "Oh well."

"What was it called, do you know? There was no name on the sheet music?"

"It was called 'Sonata de Ael'."

"That's a lovely name. Your Other must've been talented to write such beautiful music and give it such a lovely name."

"Thank you, Vexen."

"Well, what are you going to do now? Continue playing? Or would you like me to show you around the grounds?"

"Oh, but Xigbar already did."

"So? I can show you the gardens properly. Xigbar absolutely hates flowers, so there was no chance of you getting in there when he was showing you around. They're quite lovely."

"Would you? Thank you! I love gardens. Maybe I can persuade Xemnas to put in a water feature or something like that. I've always loved water features in gardens."

As the two blonds got up and walked out into the gardens, Demyx smiled and leant his head on Vexen's broad shoulder. "I like you, Vexen. You're so nice, just like Axel and that really tall man with the lovely eyes who keeps smiling at me."

"That would be Lexaeus. He's besotted with you because of your smile and the way that you laugh. I've never seen anything like it, really…" mused the Academic, before smiling too. "Have you been assigned an element?"

"No, Xemnas said that I'd find out what element I was most attracted to in time."

"Have you got any ideas yet?"

"Well, I'm not sure. I've got an instrument for a weapon, and my name denotes music so I thought maybe it was sound. But I don't think that's it."

"Mm, that could be it…But we haven't gone through the more basic elements yet. There's Nothing, then Space, then Wind, then Ice which is myself, then Earth, then Shadow, then the Moon, and then Fire. So…"

"I hope I'm something cool. Oh, wait, that's your element."

The younger Nobody began giggling, and when Vexen realised the joke he let out a chuckle too.

"Very funny, Demyx."

Despite his wry grin, the Academic unknowingly hung onto the younger boy a little tighter.

"I think he's wonderful."

"Not you too…Lexaeus hasn't shut up about that little blond. He says that, after you talked to the child, that he came over and began chatting out of nowhere."

"I told him how Lexaeus saw him, and he probably wanted to talk to the man who was so captured by his laugh."

"Well, I don't like him. He's not serious enough, and he's an outright ditz. I saw him and Axel being very cosy in the gardens today, and he wouldn't stop that irritating giggling when Axel started tickling him like an idiot with a heart."

"Well, Demyx did say that they were friends…"

"I heard Saïx saying that their Others were lovers. And I think that Axel's just striking you where it hurts. He probably knows that you're friends with this blond child and wants to keep you from him."

"Hello Vexen, Zexion…"

"Hello Lexaeus. Have I told you about what I saw Demyx doing with Axel today?"

"No you haven't. I do not wish to hear it, either."

"Oh, but you know you do!"

"Tell me if you must, then. I don't really care anymore."

"I saw him and Axel all over each in the gardens today. Axel has him charmed."

Vexen sighed, tapping his forehead irritably.

"How is tickling someone, a friendly and somewhat stupid gesture, being all over someone?"

"Well, they're around each other's age, and pretty much the only two that haven't been near absorbed into our original group. It is to be expected that they would become 'friends', really. Actually, I heard from Xigbar…"

Would the gossiping never end? Vexen sighed as he watched Lexaeus tell his story, before pursing his lips.

"Wait…Repeat that, please."

"…Axel and Xigbar went out to find Demyx's Other for Axel, who made him become a Nobody. Apparently it was of the boy's own free will, that he said he'd do anything to be with his lover again, but still…That's selfish, even for Axel."

"Axel made Demyx become a Nobody?"

The next time that Vexen saw Demyx, the blond was playing with the water in a fountain out in the gardens.

"You got your water feature then?"

"Yeah, Axel asked for me. He's so good to me…"

Watching the boy's hand trailing through the water, Vexen raised an eyebrow when he noticed the fluid's unusual reaction.

"Your element. Have you figured it out yet?"

"No, not yet…"

"Hm…"

"Thank you for showing me the gardens the other day," he said quietly, and the Academic forgot the water, smiling as he sat down beside the boy.

"It was no trouble. So…I hear you and Axel are especially close."

"I guess."

This time the younger boy went silent as his cheeks flared. "You could call it that."

"I won't mock you for it. You're my friend too, as you yourself have said."

"Oh, 'kay. Well, yeah. I feel like I've known him all my life. He makes me go all warm and fuzzy inside."

Hugging himself as his blush returned, the Nocturne smiled up at Vexen. "Kinda like how I feel when you're around."

"Hm?"

That was news.

"Yeah, because you're my best friend apart from Axel! I mean, everyone here seems really nice and they've all looked out for me, but…You and Axel are my family now."

"Oh? Well, that…Thank you, Demyx."

The boy wriggled shyly, smiling.

"Well…It's no problem, I guess. So, whaddya wanna do now?"

"I have an experiment or two to finish off, so you can come help me if you'd like…"

Demyx was unusually delicate and careful with the test tubes, and as he placed the last batch into a rack, Vexen hummed thoughtfully.

"You're very good at helping me out…I didn't think you were so careful. Would you like to become my assistant?"

"I…Really? I've always been kinda clumsy…"

"Not today you weren't. Nobody's that careful, not even Zexion or Lexaeus."

"Oh…Well I'd love to help out! Anything for you, Vexen!"

That one statement…That meant more than the thinly veiled insults Zexion sometimes threw at him, or Saïx's icy glares, or Axel's bitter spite, or Xigbar's perverted taunting…

That was respect, and the Academic could feel a smile growing on his face.

"Vexen?"

"Demyx, you remember that I'm always here for you. For anything, and forever and always."

The confused Nocturne was crushed in a spontaneous embrace, and his expression slowly brightened as he realised what exactly was happening to him.

"I love you too, Vexy."