The Anti-Zemyx Day Nine

Title: The Burning of the Room, and What Happened After

Genre: Humour, Friendship

Rating: T

Summary:You're cute. But. The answer's still no. Good night.

A/N: I really should update my other stories, but so much to do, so little time! D: Title didn't fit, so that's why it's different ^^;

Zexion closed his bedroom door quietly as he passed through, furious and exasperated, not to mention exhausted. As much as he wanted to slam his door shut, he would not dare to for two reasons: his door might break, and Larxene was sleeping, and she was just as fed up as he was. Besides, it would be the immature thing to do.

As the slate-haired junior slid onto the large quilt on his bed, he kicked off his shoes and placed them neatly on the wooden floor, before calmly picking up his pillow and pressing it lightly to his face.

Inside, he screamed.

Muffled to the world though it was, his cry of frustration seemed loud enough to awaken even the legendary sleeping Monstro to his own pale ears. Into it he poured all of his grievances, annoyance, and emotion, and finally, when it seemed that he would asphyxiate himself from the combined factors of screaming into a pillow and blocking his oxygen supply, he stopped.

He calmly took the cover off the pillow, and replaced his cushion back down onto his bed, as though the past few minutes had not happened. He then moved his position so that he was sitting cross-legged on the bed, and threw his pillowcase cleanly into the hamper, not even touching the rim as it hit the basket.

"Score."

His dull mutter hung in the air awkwardly as he flopped down again, with his arms outstretched, and breathed a deep sigh.

I really should stop that habit, he thought; but it's such an effective way to cope... and besides, old habits die hard.

He felt much better now, and lay on the bed with emotionless indifference and stared unseeingly at the bottom of the top bunk. It felt nice, almost, to be gracefully splayed on his bed and feel all of the tension flowing out of him, from the tips of his fingertips and the toes of his feet, with no pressing worries, no studying, no cooking, and no Wave Gigs music playing at all.

Perhaps the one thing that could make this nicer was a soft background of a classical CD playing, maybe Mozart or Beethoven.

There was a knock on the door.

Zexion lifted his head tiredly, the tips of the back of his slate hair just resting on the pillow.

"You may enter," he said quietly, and lowered his head back down, watching the door with his peripheral vision.

It was Naminé. She opened the door silently, somehow managing to keep it from creaking, and walked in timidly, hesitantly.

"Are you... alright?" she asked softly, walking over to his bed. Zexion, with some effort, drew himself up and sat cross-legged once again, and stared up into the young blonde's beautiful, clear, worried eyes.

"Of course I'm all right," he said, but his eyes hardened ever-so-slightly. "Nothing's happened, except Axel burned down his bedroom after letting his curtains catch on fire, and us left with a charred, empty space two doors over, and does he have any idea how much munny repairs cost, munny we don't have?" He took a deep breath and calmed himself before he got too far gone, and looked away, shielding his face with his messy, layered bangs. His eyebrows, which were slanted down and usually furrowed naturally, grew even more so, as he redirected his aggravation at the wall, imagining boring holes into the thin barrier.

Naminé looked at him sympathetically and reached over with a pale hand to his shoulder, rubbing it somewhat awkwardly.

"Well, I've got something to add to your list," she said grimly. "You're getting a roommate."

Zexion was floored.

Demyx stood around awkwardly as Zexion paced back and forth, ten steps forward, ten steps backward, not unlike a mental hospital patient, as Axel, Saïx, and Naminé argued somewhat loudly in the living room.

Poor mental patients... their rooms are so small, walk eleven steps and you'd hit the wall...

Zexion quit his pacing and turned to sit down in the purple, overstuffed armchair and leaned his face on his hand, crossing his legs as he stared blankly (with an expression of disgruntlement and irritation on his beautiful face) into nothingness. Suddenly, Demyx's ears tuned in to the argument clearer as the trio's voices rose slightly in volume.

"Axel, we have no choice. D'you think we wanted this to happen?"

"Hey! D'you think I did?"

"Both of you, stop––"

"We have such a small apartment, Axel!" Naminé sighed exasperatedly, lightly resting the back of her palm on her forehead, and briefly closed her eyes. "Saïx and Vanitas sleep downstairs, so there's barely any room for them there! My art studio has tons of paintings, drawings, and supplies up there; I can barely fit in Aqua, let alone Tifa. Kairi and Xion aren't going to share, and Larxene's got Marluxia!"

"Yes, I know, thanks! And I also know that Reno was gonna bunk with Rude, Cloud, and Terra in Sora's room, with the bros and us in our room, but it wasn't on purpose that those damn curtains got on fire!"

"I'm not saying it is, but––"

"Naminé. Just tell the sisters to share."

"Saïx, you came late, so I forgive you, but most everyone knows that Kairi doesn't like to share. Not to mention her godfather is paying half of our bills." Saïx shrugged.

"So drug her. Persuade her. Bribe her. I'm sure they could fit Tifa in their room."

Demyx fidgeted nervously and spoke up before either Axel or Naminé could retaliate.

"If it would help... I could sleep in the den," he said hesitantly. Zexion cast him a sideways, aquamarine glance.

"On what? The sofa? You hate sleeping on that sofa; you'd be up all night," he stated matter-of-factly.

The four stared at Zexion, who had spoken for the first time in hours. He shrugged and shut his mouth again, seemingly brooding on what was to happen.

The others were silent. Naminé tapped her chin, deep in thought, and Axel hugged himself. Saïx sighed and shook his head.

"Here's what we'll do. Zexion, your room has an extra bunk, so Demyx can go sleep there. Tifa will sleep in the Hikaris' room, and Aqua will sleep next to Naminé. Larxene, Marluxia, Terra, and Cloud will sleep in Larxene's room, and we'll string up a curtain to separate the room in half, as well as move her bed to make room. Axel will sleep with Sora and Roxas in their room, and Reno and Rude can sleep in the den. I will sleep on the couch, and Vanitas... well, he will sleep wherever he wants to. Maybe in his car after he's taken out that ludicrous dummy." Saïx sighed again and rubbed his temples.

"Does this work out?" He seemed worn out from all of the discussion, and crossed his arms tiredly.

Zexion stared first at Saïx, then at Demyx, then at the ceiling, and sighed, before standing up and leaving the room.

There would be no arguing the point. And besides, once the six left after the holidays were over, then he could shunt the musician to a different room and regain solitude in his own, personal space once again.

Sora and Roxas peered from the crack between the door and doorframe as Zexion silently, furiously, walked up the stairs with an air of wounded dignity.

"Zexy, are you okay?"

"How are you feeling?" The asked their questions at the same time, slightly starting the slate-haired junior. He stopped and turned around to face them, an expression of resignation on his face.

"Peaches and cream, Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Why?" Sora made a face at the jibe, but Roxas ignored it.

"You seemed pretty ticked about sharing your room with Demyx."

"Everyone heard the argument. I dunno about the girls, though."

You two are the only ones on this floor, Zexion thought with a mental hmph.

"I happen to enjoy my personal space, thank you. At least your new roommate doesn't particularly like Wave Gigs all that much."

"Wait, doesn't he have a crush on y––" Roxas clapped a hand over Sora's mouth.

"Yeah, I heard about that too, but I think Yuna's a year younger than him, and her music's not all that great. He'll choose Wave Gigs over Gullwings any day." He smiled at Zexion, who looked at him strangely, before shaking his head.

"Was there any question of that in the first place?" Roxas kept his hand on Sora's mouth and the smile on his face until Zexion disappeared into his room, down the hall, and closed the door.

As soon as wood met frame, the blond pulled his younger brother into their own room and closed the door.

"Zexion doesn't know," he whispered. "Don't tell him until Demyx does, okay?"

Sora nodded as his brother released his mouth.

"Sure, but... then where's the point?"

Roxas shook his head and crawled underneath his own covers, as though claiming them before they were stolen by the notorious redhead.

Once again, there was a knock upon Zexion's door.

The studious male looked up from his laptop and walked over to the door, and upon opening it, saw Demyx standing in the doorway, with a duffel bag in one hand and his large, blue sitar in the other.

"Hey!" the blond greeted cheerfully, but with a tone of anxiety. He nervously looked around the sparsely decorated room and fidgeted. The slate-haired junior raised an eyebrow.

"You managed to save those?" he asked. The sitar looked quite bulky. Demyx shook his head.

"I left these in the den a while ago. I was playin' the guitar, which got crisped. Can I come in?"

Zexion shrugged and politely opened the door further. The glowing screen of the white laptop immediately caught Demyx's attention, and he walked over to it, glancing at it.

"What's––?" But Zexion was over there in a flash, and quickly shut the lid before Demyx could read what had been written.

The blond gave him a tiny smirk.

"Why was my name in there?" he asked in a teasing tone. Zexion huffed and placed his laptop under his pillow, and pointed at his bed.

"That's my own personal space. Enter it and I'll make you cry. The laptop is not to be touched at all times. Books," he pointed to the shelves next to the desk, "are also for you to read, as long as you don't destroy them. Any questions?"

Demyx shook his head, but then lifted his right index finger.

"Top bunk's mine, right?"

Zexion's glare replied.

What do you think?

Demyx grinned and slung his bag and instrument onto the top mattress, and walked over to the bookcase. After a few minutes of staring at the covers, he picked out Alice in Wonderland and sat against the wall, and began reading the well-worn book.

Zexion watched with surprise, but smiled at the irony.

He didn't know Demyx liked to read.

The slate-haired youth was interrupted in his reading when he heard a strange, unfamiliar sound, one that seemed like plastic, glass, and metal were clinking softly against each other.

He looked up from his bed and saw Demyx installing a night light in his socket.
"What are you doing?" Demyx, startled by the sudden voice jumped.

"Aah! Oh! Um, yeah. Plugging in my... nocturnal, light-up, inanimate companion. I thought you were reading?"

"I was. Emphasis on 'were'. Why?" Demyx shifted uncomfortably.

"I, er... dislike... sleeping in the dark." The blond's voice grew smaller and smaller, until he only managed a bashful smile.

Aren't you a little old for that...?

But Zexion said nothing, and merely bade Demyx goodnight as the clock chimed ten; he reckoned it would most likely not keep him awake at night.

He was wrong.

It was eleven o'clock pm, and no matter what, the bright blue light was interfering with his sleep pattern. His sensitive eyes were irritated, and he contemplated removing the offending light from the socket, but for a moment only.

He acted on it quicker than that.

Demyx did not stir when the light popped from the outlet; Zexion breathed a sigh of relief. He placed the object on his desk gently and crawled back into bed, and drifted to sleep in the complete darkness.

No less than twenty minutes later, Demyx awoke, and, startled and frightened at being in complete darkness, crawled down to Zexion's bunk and sat on the bed.

The slate-haired youth groaned at the sudden indentation on the side of his mattress.

"You're no less than fifty centimeters in my space. Get out."

"Can I cuddle with you?" Zexion's left eyelid cracked open sleepily from shock.

"What?"

Though it was completely dark, years of training and adjustments had given Zexion the ability to see in dense darkness, and Demyx was currently wearing loose, blue pajamas, and the most adorable pleading face he had ever seen.

Not that it worked on him.

Demyx began inching closer, but Zexion groaned again and groped for the second pillow beneath the one he lay on, and smacked the blond with it, knocking him to the close floor.

"You're cute. But no. Good night."

The slatenette then flipped over, curled up into a tight ball under his warm covers, and promptly fell into a deep dreamless sleep, ignoring the stunned boy on the floor, who was shocked not only from the sudden impact, but also that Zexion had just complimented him.

A/N: Sorry WeDidItForTheDead, the answer is NOT Ansem/Xemnas. Anyone else? :D review please! I really do like seeing how well I'm doing.