Title: Encounters of the Foody Kind

Summary: While Olette is waiting for Kairi to show up at the library, she ends up choking on a sweet and meeting the world's most depressing librarian. Probably.

Pairing: Olette/Zexion.

Theme: Boy (21)

A/N: I was rereading through previous entries in this and laughing at my own jokes. Oh dear, what have I become? XD

Set in the same universe as All Knotted Up. I really want to write more for that now...


Kairi was late to the library again, most likely being taken up by a bunch of boys processing their intense and undying 'love' towards her while Olette hid out in the darkest corner and hoped that the librarian didn't catch her munching on a packet of Hume Hats. The only reason that people liked Kairi was because her hair was natural auburny-red... if such a shade even existed. It was pretty neat, though.

Nibbling on a Fran-flavoured bite, she yanked a book from the shelf at random and flicked it open. Images of bugs in way too much detail was all she could see for pages. She slammed it shut, wincing at the loud sound along the silence. Then, she heard marching.

Towards her.

Olette choked on her sweet as she shoved the book back, gagging still when inky-blue hair peeped around the shelf's corner. She held in a breath, gagged again, and when she'd almost finished coughing the sweet down:

"Can I have one?"

"W-what?" She winced at the high-pitched squeak, thumped her chest, and shook her head. "Um, a-aren't you the librarian?"

His visible eye twitched. "Not usually."

Oh, it was Zexion, who for some bizarre reason, hated his last name, and looked younger than most of the first years. "You're not?"

"History and arts teacher," he droned. "Luxord is 'sick'."

She grinned and ducked her head at his deadpan tone. "Oh, yeah, he is..." How did she forget someone with that many piercings?

"Well?" Olette glanced up to see Zexion wiggle his pale fingers. "I did ask."

"I could say no."

He blinked. "You could, but I could also report you to Xehanort and have you expelled for not obeying a teacher's command." A faint smirk creased his lips. "I think we all know how he gets."

"Fine." She made sure to pick out the worst one; Vossler, which tasted like someone had mixed their earwax and snort together before painting it in a thick layer of goo, according to Hayner. Then again, he hated anything that wasn't sour. "Here ya go."

"The worst flavour." His eyebrows lifted. "What a kind pupil."

"You didn't ask for a flavour, did ya?"

"I could also report you for harassment."

"Pardon?"

He looked ridiculously smug as he sat down cross-legged opposite her. If he wasn't a teacher (somehow!), Olette would have long since given him a good knee in the leg. As it was, he could get her expelled, and Mum was ready annoyed at them having to move in the last year. She bit her lip, and listened. "You know fully well. You and your friend Kairi often watch us swim."

"Well, you've got a good front crawl!"

Zexion started, having clearly been caught. Olette mentally celebrated her small victory. "You stalk us enough to know our strokes?"

"Well, I know everyone's stroke."

"Do you not find that startling?"

"Luxord caught his cold from staying too long in the pool doing butterfly, didn't he?"

"You're aren't-" He swung his head away from her with a huff. "-I could still report you."

"You won't really." She leant back on her hands, grinning when she heard Kairi's humming. She turned the corner and her mouth fell open. Olette winked when Zexion wasn't looking; Kairi, thankfully, grinned back at her and tiptoed away. "I'm sure that Xehanort is a very busy man."

His voice rose. "Not busy enough to-!" He flushed when the library's chatter fell silent. When the noise continued again, he sighed, shaking his head warily. "Give me a sweet, any sweet, and we shall never speak of this again."

Olette handed him another Vossler.

"I hate you." He got up with a huff and stalked away.

Kairi stormed around the corner and flopped down beside a grinning Olette.

"Sorry I'm late! Riku needed help in finding his ballet class since it got moved and he didn't know where the notifications board was and then people tried to hit on him 'cause of the hair and stuff and I had to make a way through and ahhh!" She pulled at her hair. "He drives me batty!" Curiosity entered her eyes as she shifted closer. "But you and Zexion? What happened there?"

Olette handed her a sweet and began, "well, I kinda choked on one of these, and he heard me, and threatened to report me, and... I think I freaked him out with how much I knew about him."

"You mean about his swimming?"

"Yeah, same thing!"

They both laughed, then Olette realised something. "Hey, actually, I've gotta take out a book."

Kairi looked dubious. "Are you sure? You just wanna annoy Zexion more, don't you?"

She chuckled. "Well, maybe, but Miss Hitomi wanted us to get a book for our next Japanese class. Says it helps a lot in understanding how it's wrote."

"Does it now?"

"Kairi!"

She giggled, tilting her head to the side and grinning. "Only kiddin'. I need to get a book out for Lea as well, he'd never read otherwise."

"Kairi, he ain't a kid."

She stuck her tongue out. "Might as well be!"

"One year older." She raised her eyebrow.

Kairi waved her hands, laughing sheepishly. "Right, right, I'll see ya at the door."

"Sure!"

Olette grabbed her book, which happened to be on the other side of the library and behind a duo of boys snoring their sorry butts off. After she got it, she headed up to the counter, grinning when she spotted Zexion stamping dates of return on several books that the girl in front of her had loaned out. When he was finished, he gave the blonde a small smile, and she scuttled off into the sofa to begin reading them. The smile melted as soon as Olette slid her book over to him.

"Yo."

"Good afternoon." He snatched the book off her.

"How was the sweet?"

His fingers paused on the computer's keypad. "Disgusting. As you've most likely already guessed."

"Hmm, well, you did ask for one, Mister Zexion."

"Zexion by itself."

"Okay, Mister."

It was strange, she thought almost smugly as Zexion's eyes bore holes into the desk; she wasn't usually this mean to people, much less teachers. Hayner must have been rubbing off on her. She frowned at the thought. Man, that was the last thing he needed.

"Return it by the twentieth," he said gruffly as he slid it back to her. "Or I will report you to Xehanort."

"No bother!"

She turned around to leave when she heard tapping on the desk. "If you see Demyx, tell him that I'm in the school gardens." A pause. "Actually, make that anyone save Lexeaus and Vexen."

"What, he stalking you or something?"

She meant it as an innocent question, only remembering what happened earlier when he ducked his head behind the computer screen. "You could say that."

"All right, sure. Have a good day, Zexion!"

"...You too."

She opened the library doors, waved her book over the sensors which whined every single time someone brought a book, scanned or not, anywhere near it, and came face-to-face with Kairi talking with the music teacher.

"...So, hey, see Zexy anywhere?"

Kairi frowned. "Zexion?"

Demyx clapped his hands, long mullet flopping over the sides of his face. "Yeah, Zexy! You seen him? I need to talk to him 'bout doing this paperwork for me."

Kairi frowned even more. "No offence, Mister, but you really should do your own work."

"Nah, he doesn't mind! C'mon girl, please, lunch time's nearly over! Vexen'll have my head and shave off the hair!" The next part was a whisper, "anything but the hair!"

"He's in the gardens," Olette interrupted, winking at Kairi when she sighed in resignation.

"Which gardens?"

At this, they both were lost. "Huh?"

"The ones that Marluxia will scythe me open if I go near, or the one that Luxord makes that gigantic mega annoying hedge maze out of, or the one that's actually half normal?"

"Luxord's," Kairi said, trying to hide her grin behind her hand.

"You kiddin' me!?" He let out a wail. "Man, thank BowieI don't have a class first thing! I'd be fired!" He grinned at them, then bolted off in a heavy jog. "Thanks, kids!"

As soon as Demyx had turned the corner, Kairi was fuming. "He tried to get someone else to do his work! A teacher! He's not even a good teacher; I got an ungraded in my music exam last year!" She stomped her foot. "I hope he gets lost in there for a long time!"

"Uh, yeah, me too."

"Ugh! C'mon, we've got lockers to go to!" Kairi didn't stop muttering for the whole journey, and Olette just hoped that she'd get something to make up for helping out a teacher in need.

Who she didn't even like.

She sighed.