A/N: Ta-daaaa!

Encounter 8. Excuses
Perhaps he should have expected it.

Marluxia still savored the honey-taste of Zexion's lips long after he departed. He hadn't expected to feel this way, at first…

Feel? Marluxia scoffed at his own foolishness. Nobodies couldn't feel. Any reaction he had to Zexion's… surprising behavior was purely a chemical one; Vexen could prove that in a metaphorical heartbeat. It was the logical explanation. And yet, and yet… He wasn't sure whether he had the memories to draw upon for this pretended emotion. Would it be awkward, now, to ask Zexion to search for any romantic relationships that Aramuil had had?

But no, they were Nobodies. Awkwardness didn't exist for them, nor embarrassment, not romance. Marluxia was sure Zexion would see it as just another part of the experiment, more results to bring to the Superior-for-just-a-little-while-longer.

With Sora drawing closer and closer, the sense of tension within Castle Oblivion was growing. Larxene was restless, often popping in and out of his chambers with bored inquiries. Axel was all grins and sharp edges, flitting around the halls. Of the members underground, he knew little. They were doing their part—or more, he reasoned with a smirk. He had dumped most of the extra work on them… less on Zexion, since his present research was proving so beneficial. It was more than worth it. Seeing the two most senior members of their happy little team handling the boring chores gave him the most satisfaction a Nobody could get.

Marluxia chose to wait a while before going back to Zexion's workroom, to alleviate most of the memory of embarrassment. When he stepped out of the portal, however, the room was dim and deserted. He glanced at the clock, confused. He hadn't mistaken the time.

He portaled straight to the cramped common room of the basement levels, looking around. Only Lexaeus was there, and this time it wasn't an illusion. There was a different… feel to him than there was to Zexion.

"Number Eleven," Lexaeus greeted, his seldom-used voice rasping in his throat. "How might I serve you?"

Although the large man's voice showed little of his inner thoughts, Marluxia caught the briefest of hesitations before the word "serve," but he let it slide.

"Where is Number Six?" he demanded. Lexaeus showed no reaction to his tone.

"Away," he responded. "The Superior requires him. He shall be back eventually."

"I require him," Marluxia snapped.

"Do you believe your need is greater than the Superior's?" Lexaeus asked, and Marluxia said nothing. The Silent Hero studied him with unreadable eyes. Marluxia grew uncomfortable under that all-too-knowing gaze and half-opened a portal back to Naminé's room, but Lexaeus spoke again.

"He didn't think you would return," he said. "He was going to resort to using Larxene."

"I'm not satisfied with the results thus far," Marluxia answered. "Kindly tell Number Six that I expect him to come to me the moment he returns."

Lexaeus nodded, but there was a trace of skepticism in his face.

"I doubt he will do as you expect," the giant Nobody said. "I shall tell him, regardless."

Marluxia snorted and exited.

He wiled away the hours overseeing the castle's preparations and Naminé's condition. He spared a few minutes to bother Vexen, then returned to his rooms to write up his most recent report to the Superior-for-not-much-longer. He didn't look up until he heard the sound of a dark corridor opening and closing, and even then he stalled for a moment while he finished a sentence before looking up. He blinked.

"You look terrible," he said.

Zexion's eyes glittered with something almost like amusement as he took a brief glance at himself.

"You did say to come the moment I returned," he retorted, tucking sodden bangs behind one ear. Marluxia wrinkled his nose as mud dripped onto the white floor. He summoned a pair of Dusks.

"Clean up first," he ordered. Zexion shamelessly shrugged out of his torn and filthy coat, and one of the Dusks relieved him of it. The other bobbed around with a towel, dabbing slime and blood and Darkness knows what else away. Marluxia frowned as he saw that some of the blood was Zexion's. VI saw the look and smiled humorlessly.

"Xemnas required my talents," he said. "However, it was a rough mission."

"I… I'm pleased that you've returned… relatively safely," Marluxia said. Zexion accepted a fresh coat and pulled it on, hiding pale skin once more. Marluxia felt a slight pang of disappointment. The Schemer stepped out of the puddle that had formed beneath him, letting the Dusks attend to it.

"What was it you wanted, XI?" he asked, as businesslike as ever. Marluxia stood and rounded the desk, leaning against it despite, or perhaps because of, the flicker of annoyance that crossed Zexion's face.

"I wanted to speak with you about the other day's… experiment," he said. Zexion flinched visibly, as though Marluxia had just re-opened a fresh wound.

"What is there to talk about?" the Schemer replied in monotone, his eyes becoming chips of ice.

"I saw your memories," Marluxia reminded him. "Ienzo's memories. And you…" He purposefully trailed off. Zexion's face was horribly blank, and the Assassin was again reminded of how long the elder six had been without hearts.

"What did you expect, Marluxia?" the small Nobody asked. "Did you think I would pledge my soul to you forever? Did you think I wouldn't be able to ignore you? Did you think I would invite you into my bed?! We're Nobodies, Marluxia. We can't feel. You would do well to remember that. I've put what happened behind me… you should, too."

He turned away, the beginnings of a portal shimmering in the air around him, but Marluxia lunged forward, seizing his forearm before he could escape.

"Let go," Zexion hissed, turning furious blue eyes on him.

"No," Marluxia growled. "Not until you tell me the truth."

"I already have," the smaller man argued, trying to pull away, but Marluxia's fingers tightened to bruising strength.

"Don't give me that," he said, grinning. "I know better. You're still calling me 'Marluxia,' aren't you? Not always just my number. You aren't really mad at me."

"Because I can't be," Zexion retorted, glaring at him. "I have no heart. No emotions. I cant possibmmph—!"

Satisfied that he had silenced Zexion's protests for a few moments, at least, Marluxia pulled away, licking his lips. Zexion, after a moment of shock, twisted and struck him with his free hand. The angle was so poor that the blow had little force, and Marluxia easily shrugged it off.

"How… how dare you," Zexion spat, although he sounded somewhat breathless. "You…"

"You're not fooling anyone, Zexion," Marluxia said, rolling the name around on his tongue, savoring how it felt. "It isn't so terrible, is it? If you really didn't want this, I would be on the other side of the room by now… unconscious."

"I could still do that, you know," Zexion said, but his struggles were subsiding. Marluxia was no psychologist, but he could read people well enough to recognize the excitement in Zexion's eyes, the tenseness in his body.

"You wouldn't," he purred, moving just a bit closer and feeling Zexion's arm tremble. He leaned down, but Zexion's hand slid perfectly between their faces, blocking him.

"Let's talk about this," he said, and Marluxia chuckled.

"'What is there to talk about?'" he parroted, and one corner of Zexion's lips curled slightly.

"Emotions, or lack thereof," he said dryly. "The fact that even if something… attempts to happen between us, none of it will be real. Only imagines, remembered…"

"Do I look like I care?" Marluxia murmured back, nudging those annoying fingers aside.

"Well, these things do… take time…" Zexion answered, drawing slightly away.

"You're just stalling, now," Marluxia laughed. "Let's make a deal, shall we? Call it… diplomatic relations between upstairs and downstairs?"

"I might need to… think about it," Zexion whispered, before Marluxia kissed him.

"Mm," Zexion hummed as Marluxia lat him go, a positively mischievous gleam in his cool blue eyes. "It's a deal."

A/N: Hmm. Number of reviews in each chapter: 1, 2, 3, 4, 3 ,11, 3. Hmm... 11 reviews in one chapter? That was the one I didn't continue on for a month. Maybe I should do that every time...? Oh, you wouldn't like that? Better REVIEW.