Zexion closed his eyes and leaned back with a soft sigh of relief. His weakness did not making holding his usual emotional mask any easier. And he couldn't let it crack in front of the sensitive water elemental. He needed Demyx, which meant he had to be as calm and supportive as possible, since he'd put such a heavy task on shoulders not really suited for things like secrecy. That was well, Zexion's forte. It was hard though, what he really wanted was to rant, rage, and most of all, destroy those who had turned against him. His revenge would have to wait until he recovered though, and until then… he would wait patiently, recover, and of course, scheme. They would rue the day they had turned their most loyal member against them.
He leaned back against the soft pillows and closed his eyes, munching on the granola bar with restraint, knowing he'd just make himself sick again if he ate too quickly. He wasn't quite sure how long he'd been held in relative stasis inside his Lexicon but he had been in such horrible condition when he'd entered that it would have been impossible to tell. Once inside he ever so slowly gained enough energy to call the one person he knew he could trust to castle oblivion. Demyx. Once again, not his first choice for something like this but he knew of no other that would help him and keep him a secret for sure. He knew Axel, and he knew that someone else was behind the bastard, most likely Xemnas and Saix. That knocked 3 people out immediately. Xigbar may or may not be trustworthy. His other founding companions…well Xaldin was a bit too loyal, and Xigbar, unpredictable. Luxord well…He wasn't even going to start on Luxord. Nor Roxas.
He had to plan carefully; taking on the entire organization was no easy task. Just as well the noisy one was out and not left to fret over him. Absently he grabbed another bar, opened it, and started chewing. With every bite he could feel strength returning to his limbs. He was trying to focus on other things, but for some reason this time the thought of Demyx was persisting on lingering in his mind. Instead of moving its way through complex schemes it seemed determined to examine every detail of the rather…uncomfortable situation he'd ended up in this morning. He knew, logically, that Demyx had…He grimaced. He couldn't even hold a steady train of thought. He gave up on it for the moment and let his mind wander where it would. Free of his restraining hand it just went blank. He was puzzled, but at least he had some peace. Now that the almost painful demanding from his stomach had been sated, he could feel himself starting to drift off once again. He considered resisting, but there was really no point. He was weak and the fastest way to regain his strength was to sleep.
He had no illusions that he would recover quickly as it was, no reason to slow himself down any more. When he awoke again he was aware of the soft sound of breathing next to him, and realized that one side of him was warmer than the other. He let his eyes drift open to rest on the nobody deeply asleep next to him, sprawled half over the edge of the bed in an attempt to not bother Zexion while he was sleeping. Almost before he'd realized it an amused smile slipped its way onto his face, which he quickly turned into a frown. Him, smiling, what was the world coming to? It must be because of his weakness. He jerked his eyes away from Demyx and focused them on the ceiling. Unlike earlier today he was finding it within his power to concentrate. He dropped into brooding in the space of a second. The chains of his weak body would only hold him so long, and once that time came he had to have a plan. His eyes drifted over to the one next to him again and he felt a strange sensation, which he ignored. Though Initially Demyx had been chosen purely on the fact that he was the best tool for the job, Zexion was finding himself hesitating to use the boy in ways he normally wouldn't.
His face creased with a expression of irritation, what was wrong with him? Did he pity the boy? Foolishness, they were nobodies, any feelings he might think he was feeling were lies. With that familiar litany Zexion managed to find some calm once again. He turned his mind to the members of the organization, examining the traits of each in perspective of his eventual plan to take out the organization. He was really only after a specific 3, but eliminating only those would leave him with dangerous enemies waiting in the wings, so he must take care of them all. Another strange sensation passed through him and he felt something correct automatically –not Demyx-. He closed his eyes for a moment, though he couldn't help but still be totally aware of the boy next to him. Without realizing it he nodded his head. Yes, Demyx would be spared. This loyal pawn, the only one he could trust. He reached over the sleeping nobody and grabbed a bag of chips, slowly and carefully opening it so as to not disturb the sleeper. He almost thought he managed it when he heard a sleepy murmur. "Zexy?" Zexion did a double take. Did he just call him Zexy?
Sleepy light blue eyes opened to meet his. "You're awake…do you need anything?.." The question was punctuated with a large yawn.
"I'm fine Demyx." Demyx couldn't have realized what he'd called Zexion or he'd be much more nervous. Zexion didn't feel the need to point it out. "How was your mission?"
Demyx seemed to wake up a bit more and groaned. "It was horrible…they sent me to some ridiculously hot sandbox to do recon…There was this damn talking bird that almost caught me at least 5 times and a big blue thing that was almost as bad and it was so HOT!" He continued on much the same vein for quite so time. Zexion really had to wonder at the logic of sending their water elemental to a desert, but obviously he and Xemnas didn't see eye to eye to begin with. He made all the appropriate sympathetic sounds at the right moments, though he wasn't really paying attention. Demyx just liked to talk, and the relevance of what he said was decreasing by the second. It was only after several minutes of silence did Zexion realized the other had stopped talking just to stare at him. A second later he corrected that statement. Demyx was staring at the ugly burn marks on his throat. "Zexion what…happened to you?"
Zexion pressed his lips together, anger slipping into his eyes despite his attempt to maintain something of a cool mask. "A traitor tried to kill me Demyx." Instantly the other man's face was filled with horror.
"Someone from the organization?! Who?!"
Zexion suppressed a sigh. "I can't tell you that right now Demyx, it's not safe. Just know that this is the reason I must hide. I can only safely return to the organization when this person is eliminated." It was a half truth, but enough to satisfy Demyx perhaps. The others face showed some understanding, but not a lot. Some things still didn't make sense apparently.
"But…Why can't I at least tell Superior and Saix?" Patience, Zexion, patience, you needed Demyx remember?
"Their lives will be in danger if a certain person is not taken care of first." Complete and utter truth practically. He just failed to mention that it would be threatening their lives. Well sort of, Zexion was never one to do his own dirty work. He would stand behind the organization and pull the strings until it collapsed on top of itself. He almost lost himself in plotting again, but a certain expression on Demyx's face caught his attention. "What is it?"
Demyx looked down for a few moments before a slight flush came to his face. "Um…About last night…Er well you see you were just shivering so bad…I thought you were going to freeze to death!" Zexion blinked, Demyx had been fretting over this all day? He tried to stop a chuckle from escaping his lips and failed. Demyx seemed about ready to faint at the sound, pretty much unheard of before now.
"I know Demyx." There was a ghost of a smile on his face. Which died as he realized he was doing it again. He sighed lightly and let himself relax back once more. "You should go back to sleep Demyx."
"uh but…what about you?"
"I plan to do the same." He kept his eyes closed, proof of his intent to follow through with his word, eventually.
"…Alright."
Demyx knew that he had said he would go back to sleep, but after talking with Zexion he was finding it hard to relax enough to do so. All sorts of thoughts were swirling around in his mind, some more random than others. He was relieved that Zexion didn't seem to mind sharing the bed. He'd returned from the mission so tired, and much as he didn't want to wake Zexy up he…well just sort of stumbled over and passed out, probably from heat exhaustion. Now he tried to think less about the one sleeping next to him and more about his words. A traitor in the organization? That would explain the strange wounds but…burns? That suggested Axel, though that didn't really seem to fit either. Axel well…there would be a lot more burns, and Demyx had…here he blushed a bit...had seen most of Zexion's body, and it was free of more than a few cuts and bruises. His head was starting to hurt already. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to force himself to sleep, still failing miserably.
Finally he gave up and eased carefully off the bed, reaching over and grabbing his sitar, running a hand down the strings for a moment before he started to pluck out a soft tune. Playing his sitar always cleared his mind, it was like everything that was bothering him just sort of melted into the music and wasn't a problem anymore. The pain in his head eased, along with his worries. He trusted Zexion, and knew that whatever the schemer said he needed to do was for the best. He continued playing for almost an hour before he felt settled enough to drift off. Setting the instrument down carefully he laid himself out along his side of the bed, guiltily edging closer to the warmth that the other now presented before finally managing to get back to sleep.
He woke again with the strong feeling that he was being stared at. This was strange since he was al- Zexion! Demyx's eyes snapped open to once again meet a certain pair of icy blue ones. Though this morning they didn't seem so icy. "Morning n-Demyx." Demyx gave Zexion a puzzled look, why had he changed what he was going to say? It occurred to Demyx that Zexion had been referring to him by his name rather than number quite a bit since he had rescued him. A smile spread over his face, perhaps this was a good sign? He mentally had a short out, good sign of what? "Are you alright..Demyx?"
He blinked his eyes and flushed a bit nervously. "Er..yeah I'm fine." He chuckled, though it sounded pretty poor to his ears, so he changed the subject quickly. "So uh, how'd you sleep?" Was that a smile on Zexion's face?
"I slept quite well…" Yep, he had most definitely seen a smile…did that mean Zexy had stayed up to listen to him play? A warm feeling started to feel him, it was a sort of indirect compliment, and no one ever complimented Demyx on his music. He pushed himself up, giving Zexion his best cheery smile. "Need anything?" Zexion closed his eyes and seemed to be deciding on something, he struggled to sit up and Demyx hastily moved to help him move to a more upright position. He realized that while Zexion had explained some things, he hadn't said how he had come to be so weak. He had many wounds for sure, but none of them should be causing him such devastating weakness.
"No…no it can wait." There was a fair bit of pain in the other's eyes.
"Er..are you sure?" What was it he had wanted?
Zexion nodded, his eyes drifting shut once more. "Just hand me another couple of granola bars.." Of the things that Demyx had brought, obviously Zexion preferred those, he made a mental note to grab more while he was out today. He snagged several and placed them in Zexion's lap, next to the chips that he had never gotten around to eating.
"Umm…Zexion…are you going to be okay?" Zexion looked over at him, seeming surprised by the concern before another faint smile showed. "I'll be fine Demyx…I just lack a great deal of my power right now." Power? Demyx was even more confused, but didn't press with any more questions.
"Right…" Demyx left Zexion to slowly nibble on the chewy bar and grabbed some clean clothes before heading into the bathroom to shower and get ready for another day of oh so fun recon. Pulling off the clothes he'd failed to take off the night before he stepped into the shower with a content sigh, letting the water just run over his body for several minutes. He was hiding it well, but he was quite stressed out over this and he could feel the tension easing out of him under the gentle caress of his element. He started to drift off and could almost feel another's hands running over him. His eyes snapped open and he almost hit his head on the shower wall as he jerked his head back up. What the hell had he been daydreaming about?! Feeling a bit flustered once again he finished his shower with a fair bit of haste. The basic necessities of the shower taken care of he dried off, got dressed, and set about the most important part of getting ready, gelling his hair into his trademark style that defied all attempts at categorization. Giving his hair an extra looking over he finally nodded in satisfaction and moved back into his room. Zexion had already gone through two granola bars and was almost done with a third; apparently he was quite hungry this morning. This time it was Demyx's turn to smile fondly at the other.
Zexion looked over, a slightly distant look in his eyes that suggested once again he was just pulling himself out of deep thought. "Oh, Demyx, would you try to pick up a book while you're out?" Almost before Demyx could respond he looked away and seemed to sink back into his dark brooding. Demyx found himself pleased at the request, considering how much brooding Zexion was doing he could use a good book or two to distract him.
"Sure!" Demyx smiled and waved, though as he prepared to brave the organization he had to lie to he could feel all the tension returning. He hesitated at the door, only to jump at Zexion's voice behind him.
"Don't worry, there's no one out there. I would have told you if there was." Demyx let himself relax just a tiny bit; grateful once again that Zexion was being so helpful. "Oh and if you could get me something to drink…" Demyx once again felt like smacking himself upside the head, if Zexion wasn't around to remind him how to take care of him he'd end up killing him. He hastily opened the door and headed down the hallway towards the kitchen, this seemed like it was going to be something of a daily occurrence.