The red-haired man smiled like a knife. He was full of sharp edges and discord, nothing gentle about him.
"Hey, new kid."
The newborn Nobody was soft and pale as unmolded clay, no expression stamped on his features. Not like the other, who was almost always smiling like there was some private joke he was always hearing and no one else could. The new boy's eyes were empty as he gazed dumbly at the sharp man.
"The thing you say now is 'yes, sir' or even better, 'yes, Lord Axel.'"
The new Nobody's voice was unpracticed, like he knew he should talk but hadn't quite got the basic principle down. It was hardly more than a whisper.
"I'm not supposed to listen to Axel," he said. Axel snorted.
"Xigbar tell you that? Fine, I can deal."
He crossed his thin arms, tangling long limbs into a voluntary knot.
"They say your power is water," Axel said. "That's just pathetic. Even worse than ice, 'cause at least that's pointy. We don't need wimps in this Organization. People like you don't belong here. Water can't stand against darkness. Now, fire… fire kills things. It destroys things. Eats everything in its path… alive."
"But water puts out fire," the newcomer said softly. "Water wears away everything, even stone. Water gives power to others."
"Weakling," Axel snorted. He snapped his fingers and the resulting flame lit both of their faces. The angles of the older Nobody's face made the stark contrast between highlight and shadow all the more pronounced. The new boy's rounder face had more gradual shifts, subtler changes.
Then the newborn Nobody reached out a gloveless hand and plunged his fingers into the flame. His ocean-deep eyes held Axel's defiantly for a few seconds, and then the fire went out with a hiss.
"See?" the new boy said, ignoring his burnt and blistered fingers. "What now, Axel?"
Axel grinned again and flung out his arms, summoning his chakrams in twin fireballs.
"Think you're hot stuff, do you?" he asked. "Let's see how you fight.
Right back at him, Demyx smiled like a knife.
3. Demyx/Burned