Writer: Beckychan

Zexion looked impassively at the young queen as only someone without a heart could. He stared her down, his eyes boring into hers. Then finally, with a controlled air, he said, "You know I do not like games, Your Majesty. If you have something to say, say it."

The Queen of Hearts (how she looked like Namine, but not. Namine's Other... what was her name again? It didn't seem to matter much) glared daggers at him. The White Rabbit made a move towards him, but she stopped him with a delicate raise of her hand.

"If you do not like games, as you claim, Zexion, then why do you insist upon playing them?"

"You're going to have to stop speaking in riddles," he drawled, and he could tell by the way that Demyx flinched that this had been the wrong thing to say.

The Queen's face turned nearly as scarlet as her hair, which bristled madly in its high-swept bun, causing her indigo-blue eyes to stand out. "Riddles?" she said, through grit teeth and a mad, mad grin. "Riddles?! I am nothing if not straightforward!"

"Then you are nothing," Zexion replied with the maddening cool he'd been speaking with since the beginning of the meeting. "And I do hope you remember that, my dear. There is room for only one. Or," and here he smirked, the first sign of any kind of emotion so far, "perhaps I should say there is room for only thirteen."

That had been it, the final word. The King drew his weapon, and it seemed a keyblade, but made of cards and hearts and roses which were half white and half red. Xemnas met with equal anger, his Aerial Blades flashing in the harsh florescent lighting of the room. Zexion raised his hand, the signal for Xemnas to back off. The Queen seemed less inclined to restrain the King, but after a moment, did as well.

"Forgive my impudence, majesty," Zexion said with a slight bow, and though it was overly polite, it was also somehow mocking. "Let us try this again, shall we? What exactly is it that I have done which has made you not happy and which is different from how I've done everything else I've done?"

This seemed to mollify her, though she was still on guard and angry. "Last night's croquet game," she said. "I know you fixed it."

Was it above this world's Zexion to fix a sporting event? Perhaps if there was money riding on it. He kept himself from pursing his lips in his consternation. "I assure you, my dear, that I haven't any idea what you're talking about."

And that, it could be said, was the complete truth.

"Yes, well, we shall see on that," she replied, not at all trying to hide her consternation. "The Cat says differently."

The Cat? Zexion filed that away for future reference of things to ask Demyx about. He watched the young Queen, and a flicker – just a flicker - of her eyes gave her away.

"And who are you more willing to believe?" he gambled. "Me, or someone known to be playing both sides?"

The Queen pursed her ruby lips into a pert heart shape (appropriately enough). "I trust my own eyes and ears," she replied at last, and Zexion knew he had once again guessed right. "And my eyes and ears tell me not to trust you, Number One." He could almost hear that she'd said "One" and not "I," and it seemed a very odd distinction.

"When have we ever trusted one another, majesty?" he asked with a disarming smile. "It is simply a part of the dance."

This clearly didn't make her any happier, but she seemed to let the supposed croquet incident slide. "Just remember," she said, rising, "that if you're ever caught..." And she drew a line across her neck with her index finger. The King and Rabbit smirked at him as they rose as well. It was unsettling to Zexion to see such expressions on their faces - well, not Riku's, to be honest, but the other two - but he didn't let it show. Instead, he rose as well and bowed, and stayed on his feet until they had swept from the room, tails of their coats flapping dramatically.

"The Cheshire Cat," Demyx answered his question. It was the first thing he'd asked once they were alone again. "He's leader of the Church of Wonderland, but is just as corrupt as the Queen and the Organization."

This earned him a sharp look from Zexion, who had never thought of Organization XIII as corrupt, except in the most obvious sense.

"The Cheshire Cat plays both sides, as you astutely pointed out, handing out tidbits of information to whomever it will enrage the most. My personal theory is that he means to let us take each other out, then fill the void with the Church's presence."

Religion. Bah. Politics were bad enough, but throw religion into the mix and you had a recipe for disaster. Zexion sighed and closed his eyes, head leaning forward in concentration.

And then, just for a moment, the world was a rolling mass of tension caused by the fact that Demyx's hands were on his shoulders, his nimble fingers massaging away that very tension.

"Don't fret, Superior." His voice was musical, almost sing-songy, but not intentionally so. "We've held the Cat and the Queen at bay this long, we can do it longer."

"But who shall hold off the other eleven in the meantime?"

"They shall each hold each other off, for now. Don't fret," he said again, and Zexion felt soft, hot lips on his neck. He wanted to pull away, but he also realized that this had to be taking all of Demyx's courage. Clearly, he wasn't normally in a position to take the initiative, yet here he was. Here they were.

"It's not even noon," Zexion chastised softly.

"Then we have plenty of time before tea."

"I'm not sure this is wise."

"Live by your heart instead of your wisdom."

"I have no heart."

This was enough to stop the advances. Demyx practically retreated to the other side of the room, looking something like a kicked puppy that had just watched another dog get hit by a car.

Zexion wanted to apologize, but also felt he had nothing to apologize for. He was a stranger in a strange land which was masquerading as his home, and Demyx knew it. He knew the usurper of the much desired Number I was unsettled, and wasn't about to relax and dive into guilty pleasures of the flesh.

Zexion opened and closed his mouth several times as if he had something to say, but whatever the words were, they wouldn't come.

"I'll just be getting to... I have... There are things to be done," Demyx said, and left him alone.

Damn.