Quiet knocking captured Marluxia's attention and he glanced at his watch without putting down the paper he'd been looking over. It was later than he'd realized—they were right on time.

Standing, the art instructor abandoned his desk and moved to open the door to the classroom; he smiled.

"Hello, girls. Thank you for coming."

From her place at the front of their small group, Kairi smiled up at the teacher. "Of course, Mister Marluxia."

The teacher returned her smile before he let his gaze move onto the other two students who were standing just behind Kairi. One was Ariel, an energetic redhead with a beautiful voice—Marluxia was sure she was destined for fame with that voice. And next to Ariel was one of his favorite students, the pale blonde called Namine. She had her head lowered so he couldn't see that crystalline blue color of her eyes. It disappointed him. She had such lovely eyes and it was a shame that she was too shy to show them off more.

But now wasn't the time to think about that, so Marluxia stepped to the side and gestured for the three students to enter the classroom. "Namine, your artwork is in the storage room next to my office."

With a nod, the blonde silently moved off in the direction of the storage room to get her things. Leaning against the wall where they were safely out of the way were her two pieces from the show during the concert as well as the final project she'd turned in earlier that week. To her delight, Mister Marluxia had loved it, just as she'd hoped he would. Working from memory, she'd painted several of the flowers found on campus in the warmer months, softly lit and sparkling with diamond-like dew drops. Just the way they'd been that morning when she went for a walk with Roxas. Namine thought it had come out rather well.

"I was impressed that you remembered enough detail to paint that so well."

Startled out of her examination of the piece, Namine turned and blushed to see Mister Marluxia standing in the doorway. "Thank you, sir," she replied quietly, looking down at her boots once more.

Marluxia smiled a little. "Please, Namine, we're not in class and this is an informal meeting. You may call me simply Marluxia for the duration of Winter Break."

"Yes…Marluxia…"

It was surprisingly pleasant to hear her say his name without the "Mister" tacked onto it. Even though she wouldn't look at him and sounded unnecessarily nervous about speaking to him so informally, it was nice.

She really was very pretty, and exceptionally talented. From day one he'd known that, and he wouldn't deny that he'd been a bit flattered at her first choice of project. Anyone would have been. Besides, there was nothing wrong with being flattered when a student chose to use him as the focus of a project. It was a great compliment and Namine's skill had only made it better.

Say something to her. This silence has lasted for too long and if you don't then she'll be gone in a few minutes. Talk to her.

Turning, the pink-haired teacher allowed Namine to leave the storage room then followed her, pulling the door shut as he did. Once they left the small hallway in favor of the space of the classroom, he looked at her out of the corner of his eye while she watched Kairi and Ariel looking over several play scripts.

"Do you have plans for after you graduate high school, Namine?"

"What?" The blonde looked up at him in mild surprise then seemed to shrink back slightly as if afraid of making eye contact. "Oh, yes. I want to attend an art institute, though I'm not sure which ones to apply to."

Marluxia smiled a little. "I'm sure whichever school you choose would be glad to have you. You're a wonderful artist."

A blush colored Namine's cheeks and she shuffled her booted feet. "Thank you, Mis—I mean, thank you, Marluxia."

How had he not noticed how shy she was before this very moment? He'd known she was quiet and polite, but seeing her be truly shy was…it made him feel strange. If he was forced to label her, he would have to call her a word similar to "precious" or "endearing." She was definitely both of those words. It would be easy to put this into music, into harmonies and melodies, dynamics swelling to sink into soft flutes just before they broke into full fortissimo. The flutes would be the dominant instrument. And chimes. Or violins, depending. Soft, beautiful, delicate. Like Namine was.

Beautiful? I didn't even use that word to describe Demyx. He was…cute. Loveable. Innocent and naïve to be sure, and he is definitely attractive, but not beautiful. Why is Namine beautiful to me?

This was something he was going to have to investigate further.

X

It wasn't supposed to be possible for business to be this slow. Seriously. How did Yuffie keep this place open year-round if she had so few customers during the winter? Not that Sora was complaining—he liked working for the black-haired woman and was glad to have a job because his next paycheck would mean he'd earned enough money to buy an Ipod without spending every cent to his name. But, on days like today, he couldn't help but think of the multitude of other things he would rather be doing than sitting behind the front counter while it snowed heavily outside, waiting for customers that would never come.

Sighing heavily, the brunet crossed his arms over the counter's surface and rested his chin on them, watching the snow fall. He still had over an hour of his shift left. All the cleaning was done for the day because he'd had no customers to deal with and Yuffie hadn't made an appearance since she'd told him he could take his lunch break. That had been almost three hours ago. What she did in that back room was a mystery to him, but sometimes he thought she was forging new weapons to sell. Occasionally, he would come into the shop and something new would be on display, and he had yet to see any packages being delivered or hear Yuffie mention something about new merchandise coming in, so his theory was plausible. It was hard to imagine the delicate-looking woman wielding the sort of tools it took to make the weapons she sold in her shop, but Sora knew that his boss was a lot tougher than she looked. She was probably tougher than he was.

If something didn't happen soon, Sora was pretty convinced that he might become one with the counter. He'd just sort of melt and be absorbed into it and end up in the shop for the rest of eternity. Desperate, he slipped his phone out of his pocket—even though he wasn't technically supposed to text on the clock—and unlocked it to find a message waiting for him.

What're you doing after work?

The desire to sass the older boy just a little was too strong to resist.

Nothing, why, are you going to tell me you own my Saturdays now, too?

No, but seeing as you're my friend, I figured we could hang out. Aren't you are work? I don't think you're supposed to be texting right now.

You texted me first and you know I'm at work, genius.

I'm not forcing you to text, you know. I just wanted to know if you're busy later.

Roxas and I are having a brothers' night but I'm free tomorrow.

Sora cast a nervous glance towards the back room to make sure that Yuffie wasn't about to appear out of nowhere and bust him for texting on the job even though he had literally nothing to do. Even if she did catch him, he doubted he'd get in trouble for it. Yuffie seemed pretty relaxed so far.

His phone buzzed against his palm and he unlocked it to see a reply from Riku.

Then let's hang out tomorrow.

The thought of spending a whole day in Riku's dorm with him made the brunet smile, mostly because he didn't have to worry about being a slave again, and after the short conversation he'd had with the older boy just before their snowball fight he hadn't gotten uncomfortable even once. It hadn't been that long, but he was still glad to not have to worry about their flirting getting out of hand, and he was smiling when he typed a quick response.

Sounds great.

X

Luxord couldn't believe what he was reading. There was no way she'd gone this far. And yet the proof was staring him in the face, illuminated on the screen of his laptop as the device rested on his stomach. He was stretched out on the couch in his living room, sock-covered feet propped up on one of the armrests. The TV was on but he wasn't paying even the slightest attention to it because all of his focus was locked onto the email he'd just opened. Sure, the subject line read, "Don't be lonely," and he'd recognized the email address of the sender as being that of a student, but he'd figured it was going to be one of those cheerful Christmas forwarded emails that he usually glanced at before deleting.

That had not been even close to what it really was.

This was not a Christmas forward. He hadn't even moved since he'd started reading, first out of shock and now because he was too focused to bother. In reality, this email was yet another story from Kairi, and even though he knew that he should stop reading, knew that he should just delete it and forget about the whole thing, he couldn't tear his gaze away from the words. It was surprisingly well written, though it shouldn't have been surprising that Kairi would write something so…provocative and yet have perfect spelling and grammar throughout the entire thing.

The first one had left him dumb-founded and he hadn't read very much of it. The second one had made him so curious that he couldn't help himself. Now this third one had caught him off-guard and he almost couldn't believe she'd gone through so much trouble.

And he'd been surprised.
He couldn't figure out how on earth Kairi knew how to write this way. Where had she seen this in order to learn? He imagined her sitting at her desk trying to look up how to write this way on the internet. She had probably been nervous at first, and he could easily imagine that she had been embarrassed.

That would have been amusing to see. Just to witness the seemingly unflappable Kairi blush and become flustered would have been priceless. She had been enjoying her game so far and Luxord knew that he hadn't always done a very good job of acting like he wasn't affected by her. Seeing her caught off-guard and unsure would definitely have made him feel better.

Now finished reading the email, the blond professor moved it into his "Personal" folder rather than deleting it; it might come in handy later. That hadn't exactly been the way he thought he was going to spend his afternoon, and he decided that he didn't really mind.

She's taking this more seriously than I expected. Perhaps I ought to find out more about her motives. There has to be something she wants from me if she's willing to go this far.

Closing his laptop, Luxord sat up and placed it on the coffee table. His apartment was unusually clean for a Saturday afternoon, though considering that it was now winter break he supposed some of the other teachers had chosen to travel for the holiday. He was one of the few that decided to remain on campus—why on earth would he want his break to be taken up by traveling and stress? No, he intended to spend the next three weeks holed up in his apartment to watch TV, read, sleep and all-in-all relax. It was how he spent all of his breaks and he didn't see any reason to change it. These emails gave him an idea that was rather enticing, though. Maybe this year, his break would go a just little differently.

X

Half full glass held delicately in one slim-fingered hand, Larxene sipped the wine she had chosen. The lights were off, the room illuminated only by the flatscreen TV as she lounged on her sofa. She enjoyed watching this particular home movie and silently congratulated herself for thinking to make two copies. The first, of course, had gone to the Headmaster as payment, but she had kept this one for herself.

There was nothing quite as gratifying as watching herself show Axel who he belonged to.

Unfortunately, the thought that she didn't have as much control over the senior as she wanted nagged at the back of her mind. He was still interested in the blond kid despite all of her attempts at showing him that she was the only one worth his time.

That little brat. He doesn't know who he's dealing with. And after Axel's brave little show to stand up for him, he's even closer to kid. I'm going to have to try something else to separate them before Roxas decides to ignore what I told him and gets friendlier than I would like.

It was not a favorable situation. She'd seen the two of them sitting together at Marluxia's concert and she didn't like it one bit—Axel had been more excited than she'd seen him in a long time, and that irritated her to no ends. Why couldn't he act like that when she was around, like he had before? What was so special about Roxas?

She took another sip of her wine and smiled slightly at what was playing on her TV. In all honesty, she was proud of how well she'd controlled the senior that afternoon. As defiant as Axel was, she could still get him to obey her every command, and it had been one of the best days of the semester. It was something she definitely planned on doing again, especially since Xemnas seemed to have accepted her payment. Maybe next time she'd make it a bit more exciting for the golden-eyed man to watch. This first time had been satisfactory, of course, but Larxene had never liked to do things the same way twice.

But how to get rid of the brat? He's getting too close to Axel and I want him out of the picture. I still have his file, and his brat brother's. Maybe I'll try stirring up some trouble between them once classes begin in January.

This plan wasn't all that detailed, but she had three weeks to figure out what exactly she wanted to do. Besides, it would be worth it if she managed to claim Axel as her own once again.

X

It was a really good thing that Demyx didn't have a roommate. Currently, he had Zexion on his back on the bed while he straddled the senior's waist. They were both shirtless and Demyx's jeans had come unbuttoned at some point; Zexion's hand had found its way beneath the fabric and was cupping the blond's rear, rubbing and occasionally giving a little squeeze to make the junior squirm. After a particularly teasing squeeze, Demyx broke the deep kiss they'd been sharing and nuzzled his cheek against the older boy's, panting lightly.

"You know I don't like teasing," he mumbled, cheeks flushed, as Zexion's unoccupied hand began stroking up and down his exposed back.

The older boy chuckled quietly. "And you know I like teasing you."

Fingers curling into the blankets, Demyx bit his lip and hesitated. There was something he wanted to ask about, something he wanted to do, but he wasn't sure how to go about it. But he had to. If he didn't, then Zexion might lose interest in him. He might go home for the holidays and meet some sexy guy and fall in love with him and then when he came back he wouldn't want anything to do with Demyx anymore. And the blond didn't think he would be able to handle that, so he had to do this.

"Um…Zexion…?"

"Hm?" Occupied with placing soft kisses on the younger boy's shoulder and his hand still firmly placed on Demyx's backside, Zexion didn't notice the nervous tone his name had been said in.

"Can…can I be on bottom?"

Images similar to his memory of the first time he'd had oral sex with the junior flashed through Zexion's mind and he grinned slightly. "Of course, little lark. Was there something specific you wanted?"

Demyx's face turned an even darker shade of red as he swung his leg off the senior and lay back comfortably. Within moments, Zexion was hovering over him, leaving kisses on his throat and chest.

"W-well…yeah…"

This time, he caught the nervous tone and looked up to meet the younger boy's gaze. "Are you all right, Demyx? You seem uncomfortable."

"F-fine."

That was obviously a lie. Why Demyx was lying to him, Zexion didn't know, but he didn't like it one little bit. Sitting up, he smiled down at the blond reassuringly but still with concern in his expression. "Dem, tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong, I just don't know how to ask." His face was burning up with embarrassment even though the lights were off and Zexion couldn't really see it.

"Ask for what?" the senior pressed, his concern growing stronger. Demyx hadn't been this shy towards him in a long time, if ever.

"Um…" He hesitated before reaching up to wrap his arms around Zexion's neck and pull the older boy down into a kiss. It was all he could think to do, and when Zexion started kissing back, he purposefully arched his body against the senior's.

"Make love to me."

The words were quieter than a whisper and Zexion wouldn't have heard them if he hadn't been so close to the blond. Nevertheless, it caught him so completely by surprise that he didn't respond right away. When the words registered in his mind, he broke this kiss and quickly sat up, staring down at Demyx with astonished blue eyes.

"What?"

His nerves made it difficult to speak up; his throat felt tight. "I…I want to make love with you, Zexion." God, it was the most embarrassing thing he'd ever had to admit and he doubted he would ever say anything more embarrassing in the future.

"Demyx." He resisted the urge to reach out and smooth back those bits of hair that always seemed to fall over the junior's forehead. "Are you sure? We haven't been dating for very long. We only just did oral earlier this week. I don't think we're ready for sex."

It was hard to keep from sounding afraid. "But I want to. I really, really like you, Zexion, and I know you won't hurt me. I promise, I'm ready."

He didn't sound nearly as sure as he was saying and Zexion couldn't shake the feeling that this was way too early in their relationship for such a big step. Yes, he liked Demyx. A lot. And he would certainly never do anything to hurt him, but sex? Already?

"What brought this on, Dem?"

The blond fidgeted nervously, looking away from Zexion as he mumbled, "Well, you're leaving tomorrow, and…and I don't want you to fall for someone else while you're gone…so I thought if we had sex or made love or whatever you want to call it, then I wouldn't have to worry about that."

It was such a ridiculous reason to want to have sex that Zexion almost laughed. Almost.

"Demyx, that's not going to happen. Yes, I'm going home for break, but I'm not going to meet anyone who will catch my eye the way you did, okay?" He smiled and kissed the blond's nose. "I lo—I really, really, really like you. You're my boyfriend. I'm not going to break up with you over some person I barely know, so you don't have to worry."

Lying down, he pulled Demyx into a hug and rubbed the younger boy's back as Demyx nuzzled into his shoulder.

"I like you enough that I want to…make love…with you, Dem. But I don't want it to be because you feel like sex is the only way to keep me interested in you. I like you. If all I wanted was sex, then I'd have let you suck me off in the study room the day I introduced myself."

Demyx's face heated at the reminder of what he'd tried to do that day—it was shameful and embarrassing, but he didn't try to make excuses for himself. He'd been attracted to Zexion and didn't know any better way to show it. "Yeah…I guess you're right…."

A smile tugged at the corner of Zexion's mouth and he hugged the blond a little tighter. "Of course I am. Now, since we've decided that we're not ready for sex, what would you like to do?" Enticingly, he placed a feather-light kiss just behind the junior's ear. Demyx shivered slightly.

"I want to suck you off," he whispered back, doing his best to sound sultry and seductive to replace the seriousness of the conversation they'd just had—judging by the way Zexion pulled him even closer, he'd done a good job.

"I'm not going to complain about that, little lark."

Demyx couldn't help but grin a little—Zexion really wasn't going anywhere over break.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I'm so sorry I missed last week's update! Classes just started on Monday and I was busy with band and moving all of last week so I was too busy and too tired to do much writing. So I hope this chapter is everything you hoped for—I tried to cover as many of them as I could—and that you can forgive me. I will do my absolute very best to have next week's chapter up on time. Thanks for reading!