Veeexeeeen?

He just sorta grows on you I guess. I wrote this in a notebook, and it looked much longer in there. Sorreh.

-Edited for characterization issues.-

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Her? I don't think much of her; she's relatively respectful to me, at least. Some of the other members, such as Saix, are less fortunate.

Normally I don't allow others in my lab...rather, they allow themselves in, which, as you can imagine, agitates me greatly. If they can stay quiet, wonderful. However, it still unnerves me- I'm a man of solitude.

She is the only one beyond Xemnas, Xaldin, Lexaeus, Zexion, and Luxord to knock, this being unusual for such a loud girl. I allowed her in cautiously, keeping my eye on her as she looked around.

"What the hell do you do with all this stuff?" she asked, reaching out to dust her fingers over a bottle of clear liquid, bubbling innocently where it sat on a shelf.

I reached out and moved it out of her reach; a simple feat, as I was much taller than her. She looked up at me unhappily.

"Research," I answered curtly, going to my desk to reread over the papers I had been working on before she has interrupted. Work was work, guest present or not. "Sit."

She sat. "Research on what?" she whined.

When I didn't respond: "Come onnnn, Vexen!"

I grit my teeth slightly, but released a breath slowly through my nose to calm down. "Whatever catches my eye."

She leaned back, causing the chair to tip a bit as her brown eyes darted about my lab. Unsatisfied, she pressed, "Examples, please."

"You know what I study."

"No, I really don't." Her tone took on that of a sarcastic teenager- exactly what she was becoming.

I waved my hand dismissively. "The workings of the heart," I growled, trying to shake her off. She had the inquiring mind of a scientist, that was for sure, but she used it in all the wrong ways. "The human mind. Us Nobodies."

The chair came down on all fours with a bang. I winced.

"I don't blame you. Xemnas was all..." Her voice became high-pitched, almost overly feminine. "'Oh, Nobodies are heartless shells and our Organization and blah!'" She shook her head, snatching up a report fresh from the other day. "Gimme a fuckin' break."

I winced again, this time at her shameless cursing. "Let's be careful with the language, young lady," I snapped lamely. Good, Vexen. Be old-fashioned with her. Have her respect for you plummet.

To my surprise, she answered agreeingly, "Ok." She leaned forward and pointed to the paper. "What's that?"

My eyes followed the line her finger presented. "That's...the percentage of positive emotions a person has in an hour, on average."

She continued to return every so often, sometimes with questions, sometimes with new information, sometimes with a desire for more serious company. I taught her new tidbits of knowledge, and her I. We didn't think on our awkward friendship much.

Xigbar had said we should test to see which of us is smarter.

Pathetic.

And impossible.