XxX
Slight clicking noises could be heard throughout the Castle That Never Was. The noises came from Vexen's lab, where he was working on yet another obsurd experiment in which he was conducting. He worked without rest. As he worked, there was a soft knocking at his lab's entrance. Vexen snarled, hoping the visitor would get the point and leave. But instead, the knocking continued, getting louder, even. Vexen stood from his work and stopped what he was doing, turning to the door. He was very obviously not amused, and walked to the door and opened it sharply. As he opened it, he saw that it was Xemnas, his Superior, so he immediately wiped the displeasure from his face. "Yes, Superior...?"
"There is a meeting in one minute, and I decided to remind you to come since you haven't been showing," Xemnas replied coldly, obviously disgusted from the previous look he received when the door was first opened. Vexen looked down lightly, clearing his throat and walking out of the door, closing it behind him.
Xemnas narrowed his piercing amber eyes, then disappeared in a corridor. Vexen sighed lightly, then began making his way to the meeting room. On the way, however, he was stopped dead in his tracks by a sign in his face. "What...?"
The sign read, "Warning: You cannot go beyond this point if you are old. Turn back now, Vexen!" Vexen steamed and kicked the sign over, dashing to the meeting, for the sign had made him late. When he arrived, Xemnas was already expressing his anger. Vexen quickly sat down and sighed to himself once more. Xemnas then began speaking on about the problems that he was having with the Organization, everyone forced to listen for four and a half hours.
When it was over, everyone dispersed. Demyx slugged his way out, killed from boredom. Axel followed close behind him. "Hey Dem, what are you gonna be up to today?"
"Nothing really. I got no missions." Axel thought to himself for a moment, then cocked his head to the side. Before he took another step, Vexen shoved him over. Axel hit the ground and yelped in surprise, making the others stop and stare. Axel got up and rubbed his head, then began laughing when he noticed that Vexen pushed him and knew the reason why.
"Liked my sign, huh? I thought it was pretty good," Axel said, snickering. Vexen growled at him.
"Why do you always have to fill my life with misery, number VIII?! Why can't you just leave me alone?! I'm tired of dealing with your worthless shinanigins." Axel crossed his arms behind his head as he lay on the floor, and kept the snickering going. Vexen wasn't getting any happier, and he just walked away.
Demyx stood over Axel, chuckling, and helped him up. Some of the more senior members cricked their faces in disgust, but didn't bother to say anything. They merely walked away.
Later that day, Vexen walked in to the kitchen to find something to eat, for he was very hungry. He dug and dug through the refrigerator, but was having trouble finding something that he'd consider eating. He finally found some dried fruit chips that he liked. So, he took them out and closed the refrigerator and turned around. As soon as he did, he wished he didn't. Axel was standing right there in front of him, a wild smirk on his face.
"What do you want, VIII...?" Vexen asked, obviously unamused by whatever Axel was.
"Pyro's get hungry too." Vexen narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but stepped away from the refrigerator and walked over to a table and sat down, continuing to eat. Axel dug through the refrigerator, and as he did, he did something rather unusual. He stuck his butt out as far as he could, and wiggled it lightly. Vexen raised an eyebrow in awkwardness, and turned his head away. Suddenly, the bag of fruit chips was set ablaze. Vexen screeched and threw the bag on the floor, his non-existant heart skipping a few beats. Vexen began pounding the bag with his foot, putting the fire out. He stared at the ashes of his once beloved fruit chips, and he turned crimson. Axel was cracking up with his head still in the refrigerator.
"You are so inappropriate, VIII," Vexen sighed. "Go bother someone who doesn't mind it." And with that, Vexen disappeared through a corridor. Axel closed the door with a pear in hand and continued laughing as he walked out of the kitchen.
In the Room of Relaxation, Vexen sat there, thinking to himself silently. Luxord sat on top of the couch, behind Vexen's head, pushing it forward. Vexen turned and looked up, "May I help you, Luxord?" Luxord looked over to him, then smirked slightly.
"Want to play a few card games with me? I have nothing better to do," Luxord responded, proving the boredom in his voice. Vexen turned, then looked down.
"I'm sorry, Luxord. I'm very busy right now." Luxord nodded, understanding him and got up. He walked back out of the room and Vexen was alone again. Vexen sat there, and sighed. He heard footsteps, and this already made him uneasy. He turned and saw Zexion, and he was instantly put at ease. "Hello there, Zexion."
"Hello, Vexen. Why are you alone in here?" Zexion strolled over and sat down next to his friend, looking at him.
"It's Axel. I'm--."
"Tired of his worthless crap and you want it to stop, so you're trying to figure out a way to stop it," Zexion finished. Vexen nodded. "You are constantly showing your displeasure to him, and that strides him to continue on. If you stop showing that he's affecting you, he will leave you alone."
"That... makes sense. I will give it a try. Thank you, Zexion." With that, Vexen stood up and walked off, Zexion following.
Vexen made his way to his room and once inside, it was trashed. Either a monsoon ran through his room, or Axel was just here. He took the latter. He didn't react however, since he would not let Axel get any more pride from his pain. Vexen set to cleaning up, and when he finished, it was late. He laid down in bed and closed his eyes. But, this was short lived, for there was a tapping noise on his walls. He opened his eyes furiously, and got up, walking to the window. He looked out of it, trying to find the source of the tapping. But, there was no source to be found.
The next morning, Vexen was awakened by the tapping again. Vexen opened his eyes sharply, them red. He sat up groggily, and walked over to the window again. The bright light from the sun blinded him, and he stepped away. The tapping was there again, but this time, it came from the door. He dragged himself over to the door and opened it, findind Xemnas there. "Yes...?"
"You don't look ready. Meeting. One minute." Xemnas disappeared. Vexen paniced. He ran into the bathroom and quickly washed up and got dressed, then dashed down the halls. He got to the meeting about 15 minutes late and sat in his chair, continuing the habit of sighing to himself. Everyone was staring at him, including Xemnas, who was angrier than before. "Why are you late, Vexen. I gave you a whole minute's notice and you're still late."
"Forgive me, Superior. I had a late start." Xemnas turned away and began rambling on. Vexen could barely keep his eyes open as his superior spoke on and on about who-knows-what. Axel looked over at Vexen and took full advantage of Vexen's grogginess and sent a burst of fire his way. It landed next to his face on his chair, and he screamed, nearly falling out of his chair. Xemnas' eyes shot daggers at Vexen as he regained his composure.
"Axel!" Vexen yelled, snarling. He'd totally disregarded what Zexion and he had talked about and just wanted the pyro dead. Zexion's eyes widened in fear of what Vexen was going to do, and he turned to Lexaeus. He tapped him on the shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Lexaeus nodded and turned to Vexen, who was steamed up.
"Vexen, calm down," Lexaeus said calmly. "He's not worth getting worked up over." Vexen turned to him and began to breathe normally again. He looked over at Axel, who was obviously holding back a laugh. Xemnas sighed, holding back his anger, and continued on.
At the end of the meeting, Xemnas grasped Vexen tightly by the arm and held him back. Vexen's breath stopped and his eyes widened. "Stay, IV. We need to talk." Back in Xemnas' room, they sat. "Vexen, what is going on? You've never been so ill-mannered."
"It's Axel, Superior. He's been bothering me nonstop and I haven't been able to get anything done because of it. In a matter-of-fact, I've gone pratically insane from dealing with him so much." Xemnas nodded, then turned his chair around to face the sun.
"Vexen, you need to ignore that man. He's out to get you in plenty of trouble, and you should know that. I want you to pay no mind to him, and he'll stop." Vexen had heard this before, and he sighed.
"Superior... I've tried everything, including that. It doesn't work." Xemnas turned back to look at Vexen, then sighed.
"Well, then. I suggest you just try to stay away from him. There's nothing I can do to help you. You're one of my favorite members, so I wish not to bring any pain to you for this. If I talk to him about it, he'll get worse at it. He's just natured like that. I'm sorry, IV." Xemnas waved his hand, and Vexen disappeared.
Vexen walked back into the Room of Relaxation and sat down in his usual spot on the couch and began thinking again. Axel walked in and sat down next to Vexen. Vexen scowled and turned away, trying not to show his disgust. Axel turned towards him, yet nothing happened. Vexen's face turned crimson again, but he tried his hardest to hide it. Axel held something to him, waiting for him to take it. Vexen sat there, not turning. Axel continued to hold it to him. Vexen turned and looked at the offering. It was a bag of fruit chips. Vexen slapped it out of Axel's hand before he had a chance to do something to it and turned away again.
Axel got up and fetched the bag back and sat down, holding it out to him again. "What was that all about? Just take the damn chips." Vexen looked at Axel, searching for some kind of snug look, but found none. Was Axel seriously offering him a bag of his favorite food, with no tricks, gimmicks, or catches? Unbelievable. Vexen stood and looked down at Axel. Axel stood and looked up, still holding the chips out.
"Axel, go away. I don't have time for your mess right now." Axel pouted oddly, and put the chips in his pocket, then turned and began walking away. Vexen watched him, raising an eyebrow again.
Demyx came strolling in and started hitting Vexen on his back. Vexen turned and towered over Demyx, snarling lightly. "Hey Vexie."
Vexen calmed down and sat down. "What."
"You seen Axel? There was something he wanted to give you, so he went out looking for you. I told him that you'd be in here, but I don't know if he came by yet." Vexen looked at Demyx, then sighed.
"Yes, he came by a moment before you did."
Demyx crooked his head, "Didn't he give you the fruit chips? Me and him went to the store because he wanted to buy you a new bag."
"He did try to give them to me, but I saw right through whatever trick he had up his sleeve and shooed him away."
"Trick? What trick? Axel just wanted to give you a new bag to apologize for setting your old one on fire." Vexen looked rather dumbstruck, and stared at Demyx. "You thought he was gonna pull something off on you again?"
Vexen simply stared again, then stood up. "Why would he do that? He was so obviously trying to pull something off." Demyx shook his head. Vexen began to get angry all of a sudden. "You're in on it with him. There's no way he'd just offer me some fruit chips without some kind of unnecessarity behind it. Go away, IX," Vexen snarled, and walked away, leaving Demyx there to blink.
