Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any related characters.
Well... this is my little fic. I'm certain there will be plenty of people enraged at how I characterize Zexion. If this is you, I ask that you add this to your story alerts. And without further ado...
Being inducted into the Organization was... stressful, to say the least, for Demyx. Training and orders and missions and more training and more orders and some more training, then another mission... He'd only been in the Organization for a month and already thought they were going to suck him dry of every bit of energy he had. And just kind of not showing up when he was supposed to was rather difficult with him being the newest member, and thus the one everyone had their eye on.
And somehow, despite all the hustling and bustling he had to do, or perhaps because of it, he never got to know all the other members really well. He had only spoken directly to Xemnas a few times, and they were never more than timid yes-sirs on the very rare occasions when he was addressed by the Superior. Saïx... the less said about him, the better. Xaldin was absolutely scary. It didn't help that at least 97% of Demyx's interaction with him was during training. Xigbar was okay from what he could tell so far: a little nuts, but in all, the most entertaining at least. Axel was okay too, but in a more you-don't-habitually-injure-me-so-you're-cool type of way. Vexen, ehh. He always had this snooty air about him, but he at least didn't constantly hand Demyx's ass to him on a silver platter with garnish. Demyx didn't know a thing about Lexaeus, except that he was very glad not to receive training from the giant of a man. Zexion was a complete mystery as well. He was considerably young, rarely spoke in groups larger than three or four, and always seemed to be trailing behind Lexaeus.
Actually, Zexion seemed to be the most mysterious of all the other members, and at the same time, Demyx found himself very interested in the boy. He was positively adorable, and his small size only accentuated his cuteness. So, deciding to do something about it, Demyx thought he'd ask the most accessible member about Number VI.
"You wanna know about Zexion?" Xigbar asked, dropping from a tree. He tossed Demyx a fruit recently collected from it. "You sure about that?"
"Yeah, why not?" He inspected the multi-colored fruit and raised a brow at it.
"Hey, I know Paradise Falls like the back of my hand. Trust me, it's safe." He bit into his own fruit and warped to a seated position on a nearby fallen tree. "But anyway, you should stay far, far away from Zexion."
"Why? He seems okay to me."
"Of course he does." Xigbar took another bite out of the fruit for dramatic effect. "At first."
"What do you mean?"
"He always either has this real pissed off look on his face, or he has this smug expression like you're supposed to be scared of him. And someone like you should be."
"Well, what's so scary about him?"
"He's psychotic," was the fruit-muffled reply.
"Are you serious?"
"He gets inside your head, kid. And he has this real creepy way of always being able to wrap people around his finger." He teleported behind Demyx. "And he can smell fear."
"He can smell fear," Demyx echoed with obvious disbelief. "I think you've been here with the dogs a little too much."
Xigbar laughed. "Alright, don't believe me," he said with a shrug. "But remember, you've been officially warned."
"Like the warnings you always give me for Heartless that aren't even there?"
"Just keeping you on your toes, kid. I'm totally serious about little Zexy, though."
"Of course. Totally serious."
"At any rate," Xigbar quickly finished eating, "break's over. Back to the mission."
"What? I didn't even get a bite!"
"That sucks. Maybe if you spent more time eating and less time asking about the resident psycho, you wouldn't still be hungry. Let's go."
At the next meeting, Demyx noticed that Lexaeus was absent. The whole time, he found his eyes sneaking toward Zexion's direction. Number VI kept his hood over his head and sat with his hands clasped in his lap. Demyx wondered if that posture was a sign that Zexion was the shy type. It was positively endearing.
Once the meeting was over, the other members left their thrones via corridor of darkness. Demyx wasn't quite proficient at using them yet, but he figured taking a corridor to the wrong place was better than jumping off the throne to his death, so he chose the less fatal option. He exited into one of the halls, meaning he was likely to spend the next half hour trying to figure out which hall he was in. He sighed and began his quest for a familiar room.
After a few minutes of wandering around and checking rooms, he came into a connected hallway that looked identical to the previous one. He groaned in annoyance. It was like they purposely made the castle hallways a jumbled maze to confuse people.
At the other end of the hallway, a smaller hooded figure entered the hall. Demyx walked toward the Organization member he already knew to be Zexion (because seriously, no one else was that little).
"Hey," he greeted upon stopping.
"Hello, Demyx," Zexion said with a gentle voice.
He smiled. No one else ever called him by his name. Xigbar called him "kid" all the time, which wasn't as bad as reducing him to a number, but still, it was nice to hear himself being addressed as a person for once. "Where are you going, um – can I call you Zexion?"
Only the lower half of his face and a section of silver hair were visible under the hood, but that meant Zexion's small smile wasn't covered. "If you like; I don't mind. I was on my way to the library."
"Oh. So, where's Lexaeus?"
"He's currently away on a mission."
"If you don't mind me asking, are you two, well..." He started gesticulating with his hands as he tried to think of a tactful word.
"Are we together?" Zexion finished for him.
"Yeah."
He gave the cutest laugh in response. "Why are you asking?"
Demyx started waving his hands nervously. "Just curious, that's all. You're always following him around everywhere, so I was just wondering. It's okay if you don't wanna-"
"What would you say if the answer was no?" Zexion interrupted.
"I-... I..."
Zexion giggled again, this time covering his mouth with his hand. "Try not to look silly in front of our visitor."
"Wha-?" He noticed Zexion's head was now turned upward. He looked in the same direction to find Xigbar upside-down on the ceiling. "How long was he there?"
"It's very nice of you to join us, Number II," Zexion said, ignoring the question. "But it is customary for a newcomer to announce his presence with a greeting."
"Yeah, yeah, real precious," Xigbar said. "I'm just wondering how long it's gonna take for the new kid to see what you're really like under that mask."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Number II."
"Dude, you are so full of shit right now."
"Hey," Demyx interrupted, "don't talk to him like that. What did he ever do to you, anyway?" He became aware of Zexion suddenly standing much closer to him, the smaller one just slightly behind him, if he wasn't imagining it. It started to dawn on him that maybe it wasn't a good idea to contradict a superior.
Instead of chewing him out though, Xigbar brought the palm of his hand to his face and laughed. "You've gotta be kidding me."
"Your accusations are a bit unfair," Zexion reasoned. He had such an odd way of talking, kind of like a college professor in a teenager's body, or like the people in those old, boring, "classic" novels.
"As if. I know you're up to something because you're always walking around with your hood up for no reason lately."
He removed his hood to fully reveal himself. Demyx had never seen VI's entire face except from a distance, and now he found himself briefly questioning if Zexion was actually a boy. He had an oddly cherubic visage, with a very slight jawline and curious wide blue eyes.
"Have I proven my innocence now, II?"
"Eh?" Xigbar suddenly seemed genuinely confused. "Dude, what happened to your face?"
Demyx knit his brow, trying to figure out what the hell the Freeshooter was talking about. Zexion looked, well, perfect.
"Xigbar, you hardly seem to be a suitable candidate to evaluate one's face. But perhaps your eyesight is managing to get even worse with your age?"
"As if. I know a rat when I see one."
Demyx spoke up again. "Come on, stop picking on him."
Xigbar shook his head and rolled his eye. "This is too hilarious. Hell, I give up. If you can fall for whatever he's doing that fast, you'll have to see what I mean for yourself." He let himself drop to the floor, landing on his feet with a catlike skill. "I'll catch up with you later, maybe when you've found yourself a little sense." He walked away from the two and disappeared down the hall.
"Please, don't pay him any mind," Zexion said to Demyx. "He just likes to frighten others."
"Yeah, you don't have to tell me. I wish I had just one munny for every time he said 'Look behind you!' and there was nothing there."
Zexion chuckled. "I suppose that's just his way of making sure you're always prepared."
"But it's so annoying. It gets old really fast."
"Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to get to the library." He walked past Demyx and continued on his way.
"Actually, would you mind if I came with you? I'm kinda lost..."
Zexion seemed to pause for a moment. He turned around and smiled so quickly that Demyx decided he must have imagined it. "Of course. Follow me."
Once in the dark library, Zexion navigated through the shelves with impressive ease. If Demyx was lost before, he would simply be gone without Zexion's much better direction.
Every so often, Zexion would grab a book or a notebook down and add it to the stack of materials in his hands. When it seemed to be slowing his small form down, Demyx offered to help.
"Thank you, Demyx. That's very kind of you."
Demyx gloated internally, letting Zexion think he was going far out of his way. The books didn't look terribly heavy. It was probably just because Zexion was so little that they bothered him, he figured, as Number VI came to deposit them in his hands-
Okay, shit.
He almost fell as the stupid books seemed to try to drag him to the floor. What where the pages made of, lead?
"Oh, I'm sorry. If they're too heavy, I can take half."
"No, no, it's fine." He straightened up to show that he could carry them himself. "I can hold it."
"Okay, I just have one more book to get." He once again took on a fast pace of walking, almost leaving the struggling Demyx lost in all the twists and turns of the irregularly-placed bookshelves. The longer they walked, the further back he trailed, which wouldn't have been too much of a problem if it didn't seem like they were just circling the library. Either that, or Zexion took the longest possible route to where he needed to go. As the smaller of the two disappeared, seemingly for good this time, Demyx looked around the shelves for him.
"Zexion?" He took a few turns of faith, and fortune half-smiled on him. While he did find Zexion, he almost crashed into the figure that had made a sudden complete stop in front of a shelf. He was running his fingers across the spines of the books, appearing to be having trouble locating the right one. "What's wrong?" Demyx asked, hoping Zexion would hurry up. He really wanted to set down the books and try to regain some semblance of feeling in his arms.
"It should be right here on this row."
"It's probably nearby. What are you looking for?"
He scanned the entire shelf quickly before turning his attention to the top row of books. "That," he answered, pointing to some kind of textbook bound in black leather. "It's too high up for me to possibly reach it. Someone else must have put it there." He sighed. "Wait here. I'll go get a ladder."
"No, wait!"
"Hm?" He looked up at Demyx.
"You don't have to worry about that. I can reach it," Demyx said. In reality, he was terrified of being left alone in the dark labyrinth library, so standing there as Zexion walked away was the last thing he wanted right now.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it's fine." He freed one hand by holding the stack of books between his other hand and his chin.
"I wonder why the others call you lazy. I don't see it."
Demyx simply smiled in response, trying to concentrate on getting the book down. Even the tall Nobody had to stand on the toes of one foot and reach up as far as he could, and he still couldn't grab it. He had to ease it out from the bottom with one finger before attempting to get the book off the shelf. Unfortunately, as if it was either self-aware or being guided by some ethereal force, it fell from the shelf and brought all its weight down on one corner before coming into contact with Demyx's forehead. This effectively knocked him off balance, sending him along with the impossibly heavy stack of books into a crumpled heap on the floor.
Demyx thought he saw a look of complete amusement on Zexion's face until he glanced back at the Nobody gathering books. He rubbed what was probably going to be a huge embarrassing bruise on his forehead before managing to push himself up to his feet.
"Are you alright?" Zexion asked.
"Yeah, it's fine. Here, let me help you with that." He picked up the remaining scattered books.
"I appreciate your help," Zexion told him with a shy smile.
Demyx beamed and accompanied Number VI to a table. The boy immediately opened a book and began searching for something, his face unreadable behind the fringe of hair that covered it. Demyx sat next to him and figured he'd catch a few glimpses of the mountain of reading material, but it was so dark in the library he gave up on seeing anything beyond a short distance away from his face. Instead, he decided to fill the uncomfortable silence by asking, "So, what are you doing?"
"Looking into some unfinished research. I'm not very good at fighting, but I do a lot of research for the Organization."
"Oh. It must be interesting then."
"Right now I'm doing some preliminary studying so that I can design an experiment on the experience of emotion in lesser Nobodies."
"Like Dusks? Why?"
"Valid research hinges on large samples. As much as I would like to study humanoid Nobodies, there are only nine of us so far. Besides, we're not too different from them. Much less than most members think, at any rate."
"Sounds like it would be boring getting a bunch of Dusks together to experiment on them."
"Oh no, it's very engrossing. You see, right now I'm trying to create an operational definition for emotion, which is a bit tricky. You would know it if you felt it, but it's hard to describe. I'm trying to expand on the Schachter-Singer theory, which states that physical arousal and cognitive interpretation occur simultaneously, resulting in emotion. Of course, this happens all the time in Nobodies, but no emotion results. It is possible that the heart may be the catalyzing agent that allows arousal and interpretation to actually generate emotion."
Demyx had long given up on following what Zexion was explaining, so he settled for a simple "oh."
Zexion turned to look at him. "I'm not boring you, am I?"
"No way. Of course not."
"Are you sure? I can help you get back to the main floors of the castle if you want me to."
"But I want to stay here," Demyx protested, "with you."
Zexion smiled, then quickly turned so that his hair hid his face from view. Demyx solved this by tucking his bangs behind his ear. Even in the dark, Zexion's blush was already apparent. He kept his eyes glued to his reading material, but it was obvious that it no longer had his full attention. It made him all the more adorable, nerding out over his research one moment and blushing like a school girl the next.
Demyx leaned closer so that their faces were level. "You shouldn't try to hide your face so much, you know. Not from me at least."
Zexion raised his hand halfway to his face, then dropped it in observation of the neophyte's advice. "Okay," he said, still with that same bashful smile, still seemingly incapable of bringing himself to look at Demyx.
"Hey." He used a gloved hand to turn Zexion's head up in his direction. Now the boy had nowhere to look but at him, nowhere to try to run for cover. Before he gave Zexion enough time to try to turn away, his lips were pressed against the small Nobody's own soft pair. He pulled away and saw a questioning look in Zexion's bright eyes, as if trying to choose the correct response. Some insight must have given him that correct response, and in an instant, he was craning his neck to reach up for another kiss.
Lexaeus was back from his mission. He looked at Zexion quizzically, his eyes asking instead of his mouth.
"Welcome back. All is well, I presume?"
He gave a grunt-hum of confirmation.
"I am glad to hear it."
They walked together. Lexaeus kept glancing down at Zexion.
"Is something wrong?"
"You look pathetic." It was more than an observation; it was a request for an explanation as well.
"This is just how I look," Zexion told him.
He grunt-hummed again. If that was what Zexion would tell tell him, he did not care enough to ask any further. He wrapped an arm around Zexion's delicate little waist and pulled. The small creature acquiesced, and the two returned to the castle basements.