To make one thing perfectly clear: Zexion did not like Christmas. Not that Nobodies celebrated it anyway; why would they even take note of the joyous holiday, having no emotions themselves? However, even before losing his heart he wasn't a fan of the festive season. The carolers were nothing but an annoyance, and just the whole premise of gift-giving bothered him. Because of this, he certainly did not expect the surprise that was waiting for him on the night of December the 25th.
He had just come out of the shower, and was preparing to get to bed. While many of the others washed their bodies in the morning, he took it upon himself to be clean right before he slept. The feeling of going to bed unwashed bothered him quite a bit…But that is not the point of this night, now is it? He was only wearing a white towel wrapped around his bony waist, and opened his drawer, searching for some sort of night clothes. Normally he wouldn't bother doing this, but it was cold in the castle.
However, when he opened the drawer he found something quite unusual waiting for him. It was not a soft, silky black shirt or a dark-colored nightgown. Instead, it was…
To be honest, it was absolutely hideous. The strange item that replaced his normal nightly attire was a set of pajamas. The shirt was fuzzy and long-sleeved, and was a garish green color. Not dark green or a spring green; just a boring, ordinary, average green that somehow managed to present itself as horribly ugly. There was a sort of holly pattern reaching from the right side to the front as well, and that was colored with an equally bland green. It wouldn't have been too bad if the rest of the outfit was of the same pattern, but it was completely different. The pants were long, loose, and of a bright white color, with little gold bells dotted all over them. And the slippers on top of this disaster? God-awful things; they were a chocolate-brown with little antlers on the top of them, and a red pom-pom on the end.
Zexion stared at the…the thing with expressionless eyes that soon became filled with anger and the mark of hurt pride. He certainly had not bought the outfit, so the question was…who did? Forgetting to put on some sort of cover, he rushed out of the room, the towel still wrapped around his hips. Why in the world would anyone even think of giving him such a thing? He suspected that it was a cruel prank, most likely in the form of the newer members. He would get to the bottom of this trick, and the one that had caused him so much trouble would pay dearly for what he had done…
His first stop, logically, was Demyx's chambers. If there was any Nobody that filled him with non-existent malice then it was he, the sitar-wielding idiot. He knocked on his door rather forcefully with one hand, and held up the towel in another. He really should have gone back to his room, but it was too late now. The door opened slowly, and Demyx stood right in front of him, wearing normal and silky-looking white pajamas. He yawned a little, but finally seemed to focus his attention on his fellow member. "Zexion? Why are you…?"
"You know why I'm here, Demyx. You, or someone else, left a very strange object in my room." Zexion glanced inside the Nocturne's room momentarily. There appeared to be a small evergreen in the boy's room, which piqued his curiosity. Was this some sort of silly Christmas tradition?
"Oh yeah…" Demyx gained a mischievous look on his face, though his smile seemed to be a bit half-hearted. "Lexaeus should know why the pajamas are in there. By the way…" He looked over Zexion, observing his skinny figure. The Schemer's skeleton seemed to be quite obvious to Demyx, and it was almost as if there was only a thin layer of skin separating the bones from the outside. However, for some reason this wasn't unhealthy for the gray-haired Nobody, and he seemed to be doing just fine. However, sometimes it still caught Demyx by surprise.
"Yes, thank you for your useless concern over my narrow figure, but now that I have no need for you, I must be on my way." Putting special emphasis on the word 'useless', Zexion tugged up the towel, which was beginning to slip, and turned around sharply. He continued to make his way down the hall, not even checking to see if Demyx was still watching him. Comments like that were often very annoying to him, because not only did he get them daily, but it sometimes seemed as if they enjoyed bothering him. Luckily he would be able to get to sleep soon; Lexaeus would explain everything to him.
Zexion did not knock nearly as hard on his companion's door as he had with Demyx, and he was starting to feel a bit wary. What if this was just another trick? He might awaken Lexaeus, which would not bode well for him. However, false relief washed over him as the door was opened, with Lexaeus towering over him in a rather comfortable-looking robe. The Silent Hero stared at Zexion in a surprised manner, and then gestured inside.
"I'm guessing that you have some questions for me?" Lexaeus sat down on the side of his bed, motioning for Zexion to do the same. He hadn't really expected that the boy would actually go to search for clarification, but Zexion always seemed to do things that he did not expect.
"I do. Who gave me that horrendous outfit and why?" Zexion sat down right next to the man, and glanced at his soft robe. He felt a tinge of false envy due to the fact that he was freezing and half-naked while Lexaeus was covered and comfortable, but he pushed that near-feeling out of his mind.
"It's a bit of a long story. You see, I and a few others planned to get a gift for you. In a way, we were trying to get you to see that-"
"Oh dear, another one of those Christmas things, isn't it?" Zexion stood up and began to pace a little, obviously ready to start one of his rants. "Lexaeus, we are Nobodies. We do not feel that sweet little tingly feeling that comes over every sensible man at this time of year, nor should we pretend that we do. Besides, that holiday really wasn't a very good one anyway. There were not enough pros to redeem itself from the sea of annoyances it washed up every year, which include-"
"Zexion…You really don't get it, do you?" This comment caused the Schemer to turn around and look at Lexaeus with a rather confused expression on his face. "The whole reason we got you that gift wasn't because it was tacky or hideous. In fact, it is actually extremely insulated and comfortable."
"It…is?" That shirt did look rather cozy, now that Zexion thought of it.
Lexaeus rolled his eyes. Even though Zexion was one of the smartest members of the Organization, he could be a bit thick-headed at times. "Yes, it is. We would have gotten you something nicer, but that was all they had."
The Schemer nodded his head slowly, and a smirk came across his face. He never smiled, so usually a smirk or grin was often the best he could do. "Alright…" He headed towards the door, but stopped before he went outside. "By the way, why even get a gift in the first place?"
"Well, it might be just because I am trying to relive a foolish tradition. However, I honestly think that I did it because you need a little Christmas spirit. Whether we have hearts or not, we can still give gifts to each other, don't you think?" Zexion chuckled, closing the door behind him. That man was a fool, thinking that Nobodies could still have a bit of 'Christmas spirit'.
However, when he walked back into his room, he stared at the pajamas one more time. They really weren't all that horrible now that he really looked at them. He slowly slipped on the shirt, which almost immediately made him feel much warmer. It even fit him perfectly, not being too tight of falling off of him. The pants were surprisingly soft, and they didn't even fall down when he put them on. He climbed into bed, and as he closed his eyes he could almost hear Lexaeus's voice mocking him.
"I told you so," It said, "Christmas isn't all that bad, is it?"
"Shut up," Replied a half-asleep Zexion, whose eyes were shut. "You're always right…Which isn't…a good thing…" He could have sworn that he heard the voice chuckle, but by then he was slipping off into a peaceful sleep. If one was in his room, watching him, they would see that he even seemed to have the ghost of a smile on his face, but only the ghost of one.