A/N: Arguably the best chapter for a title ever. Or the worst. XD Anyway, the eggs don't come until later in the chapter. I think you guys will like this one the best, hopefully, for various reasons.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 4: Eggs

Two days later, Zexion debuted his new style after completing a mission with Lexaeus, luckily at Wonderland where the Heartless count wasn't too overwhelming. Following Ienzo's earlier examples, he merely threw his discarded robe on the floor before proudly showing off his look. He just wanted to garner some interesting reactions out of the other members. And he could hardly believe how much...fun he was having. Pretending that nothing was different from his every day routine (though he hadn't been to the library in forty-eight hours, a record), he casually walked to the cafeteria. He even dared to shove his hands into his baggy jeans pockets.

"Oh yeah, you show 'em!" Ienzo encouraged as he took a glance at the reactions. "Hm, look at Vexen! Poor dude's looking like he'll have a heart attack. Not like anyone will miss him."

An amused smirk upturned Zexion's lips, for it was so true that Vexen was one of the least popular members. No one would miss him when he faded to black. So, due to the irrepressible lack of respect for the man, Zexion decided to speak with him.

"Is there something shocking you observe, Vexen? Your facial expression suggests that."

Vexen grimaced. "Your...your clothes!"

"What of them?"

"You usually wear regulation clothing all the time. Never such trashy clothes as those."

Shrugging as though there was nothing to rant about, Zexion replied, "I wanted some change."

Once the bewildered Number Four numbly started walking away, he told Ienzo, "He's such a crackpot, honestly. I fail to comprehend why he fusses over such trifles."

Ienzo's jaw was slack briefly. "Uh...can you speak English?"

"Fine, for the benefit of your puny mi—oh, very well. Vexen worries over every little thing."

"Say 'dude'."

Tight-lipped, Zexion outright refused. "No."

"Come on! Say it at least once to prove you aren't as boring as you were."

"All right..." Zexion winced. "Dude."

"Yeah! Too bad I can't talk to Demyx and tell him what happened. It's a miracle."

"I'd rather you didn't."

Once they arrived at the cafeteria, Demyx grinned immediately at him out of recognition as he dished him out a plate of spaghetti. Zexion found himself impressed at how brilliant a cook he was. He made it look like an art just like his music. And the alluring, borderline sensual scent the spaghetti gave off attracted him to lunch even more. He sat down faster than he thought necessary. Elbowing him in the ribs, Ienzo gave him a wink.

"He's starting to grow on you. Admit it. Not to mention he's a heck of a cook, too. Hey, maybe he's seducing you with food."

Muttering out of the corner of his mouth, Zexion responded with, "Don't make me laugh," yet he sensed a rather foreign quirk to his lips. Was he...? Could he be...smiling?

It was a strange sensation, and he was sure he had never smiled before. Smirked, yes, (vile as he was) but never smiled. Unfortunately, both Ienzo and, worse, Demyx noticed this tiny yet miraculous thing.

Ienzo proclaimed, "The sour dude smiles. That's front page news," at the same time Demyx, after gaping, asked, "Are you really smiling, Zexion?"

"Oh, it's nothing worth gawking over," he flatly told both of them as he tasted the spaghetti. It tasted enticingly delicious, especially with traditional Italian sauce with a sprinkle of rosemary as an ingredient. There was even some parmesan cheese on top of the whole dish.

Folding his hands under his chin, Demyx grinned broadly. "So, how's my spaghetti? Do you like it? I hope you do, because it was hard work, you know."

He was in danger of smiling again but this time repressed it. "I think it tastes perfect."

Perching on the edge of the table, Ienzo whispered, "Now you're getting the hang of it."

With the spaghetti and the cafeteria empty other than the two of them, Zexion couldn't quite shake the feeling that this could be...a date. Sure, he slowly befriended Demyx, but he couldn't imagine going with him after all he'd done. Could that be redeemed or forgiven in any way possible? Just as he practically lost himself within his self-deprecating thoughts, Demyx removed a bottle of wine from the refrigerator. Along with that, he took out a couple of goblets. If this hadn't seemed like a date before, it was definitely that now.

When he noticed the wine, Zexion stared at him unsurely while he grinned back easily. Still...why drink alcoholic grape juice?

"Because he's seducing you," Ienzo murmured lowly in a somewhat evil way.

"Shut up," Zexion snapped back in his trademark hiss.

Luckily, Demyx was blissfully unaware that he spoke to anyone else in the room. He poured each of them a glass of wine. But, Zexion was still skeptical.

"Are you sure wine is a good idea...for midday?" he asked unsurely.

Demyx chuckled yet again. "Hey, it's not like we're at a bar. Besides, back in the old days, it was perfectly OK for teenagers to drink wine."

Deciding to grant him that as a valid excuse, Zexion gnawed on a meatball off his fork. "You mean the Middle Ages? Sure, and look what happened to them. They couldn't even survive rats."

Surely, Demyx was in a good mood, because his laughter echoed throughout the cafeteria this time. The two boys soon got to sharing a full-fledged conversation between them. Occasionally, Ienzo would suggest topics for his Other to bring up, to keep their exchange of words fresh. At one point, Demyx asked Zexion about what each member smelled like, considering the power of sharp scent the latter had.

"...Saix, oddly enough, smells like a dog. I'm afraid it's more of a rabid dog, could explain his insanity. And Axel carries off the scent of—what else?—burning firewood."

"And me? What about me?" Demyx inquired eagerly, blue-green eyes shining.

Frankly, it almost seemed as though he wasn't aware of his own attractiveness, that pure charisma he radiated. Zexion couldn't help but be drawn to those qualities.

Not trying overly hard to suppress his smile, he told him, "Your scent is nothing like the others. For one thing, it's not repulsive. And another, it's not oppressive. It's just the scent of the ocean and a hint of vanilla ice cream."

"Ice cream? Cool! Though I just think vanilla's OK."

The naïveté and innocence of Demyx had inevitably, wholly captivated Zexion beyond being saved from them. He found he didn't mind in the least. As they finished off the spectacular spaghetti and their glasses of red wine that made for their lunch to be authentic Italian, Ienzo sneaked some of the food. Demyx noticed.

"Yeesh, since when do noodles float?" he pondered half to himself, a crinkle forming on the bridge of his nose while he watched. If Zexion hadn't sensed this abrupt plunge of panic in his stomach, he would have thought this was cute. It was a good thing, though, that Ienzo wasn't a total idiot, for the noodles disappeared.

Shrugging, Demyx ate the last of the noodles. "Must have been my eyes playing tricks on me."

"More than likely, I'm sure, Demyx. It must have been the alcohol in your system," Zexion pretended to agree, but when Demyx wasn't looking, he punched Ienzo's shoulder hard. He almost shouted in pain but winced instead. Zexion smirked out of evil delight. He got up and pushed in his chair before taking a final glance at the blond musician he once detested. Was he getting too close?

"Uh, no, buddy. If anything, you're too far from being close. I mean, I would have made out with the guy ages ago, personally. But, nooo, you have to have caution."

Shortly after the comment, Ienzo was soon silenced by a withering glare from Zexion.

Just as the two halves were about to leave, Demyx grabbed Zexion's arm on impulse to turn him around. What the shorter teen saw surprised him. It almost seemed as though Demyx pleaded with him. For what, he did not know.

"Zexion...I thought it'd never come to this. I thought you hated me."

"What?" he whispered.

Demyx scratched the back of his head. "Well, yeah. And this lunch was supposed to get you to open up to me. I...I like you. I just never expected to find out how much. You know, you avoiding me and all that."

Zexion blinked several times, very much in shock. "I think...I..."

But, he couldn't say what he wanted to say and proceeded to flee the cafeteria.

"Chicken! Coward! Why could you just say you like him? You've been gay since you were thirteen, dang it! And why not go for the musician. I've always wanted a musician boyfriend, but Myde is all right for someone into history and stuff. But, dude, you could have at least given him something! What was that back there?"

Zexion settled on skimming through a book about grass while Ienzo finished up his ten-minute long rant on the former's shortcomings. He admittedly was ashamed of how he reacted. Hm, who knew grass could be that tall?

Meantime, his Other kicked a bookshelf in frustration. "Man, I hope you're listening to me. 'Cause this is serious. It's about love...not like you'd know anything about that."

However, despite the grass that could survive the dry season in Africa, Zexion couldn't really abandon thinking about Demyx. Especially those eyes that looked nearly hurt when he left him. One of those so-called palpitations gave him that odd pang in his chest again. It seemed like those came whenever he remotely thought about the blond musician. He sighed, trying to ignore Ienzo with renewed enthusiasm.

"Well, I don't have heart to love him with. With him, it's more believable."

"That," Ienzo seemed to agree with him for a few seconds, "has got to be...the biggest load of crap that ever came out of your mouth!"

Losing whatever remnant if temper he must have had left, Zexion threw the book carelessly at him. This seemed to brighten his target's mood completely.

With a mean grin, he remarked slyly, "You abused a book. You never do that."

"So?"

"Do it again! Make this lame visit here worthwhile."

Zexion sighed as he got up from his chair, resolving to head to the bookshelves. Why not? It might leave him considerably relieved after all the messing-up he had done. Taking a random book out, he threw it a few feet. Pleased to see it land awkwardly, he smirked. This was therapeutic to the point he could keep doing it. Sure enough, he was in a book throwing frenzy with Ienzo cheering him on.

At one point, he scrambled up one of the wheeled ladders to take out books as he cruised along. The speed made his hair stand on end, definitely quite a rush yet again. He hoped never to be interrupted, he thought, while Ienzo threw his fair share of books as well. It could go on forever.

That was true until Saix entered the library, too calmly closing the door behind him. And his eyes would see floating books because of Ienzo, Zexion thought dourly. How in the world could he explain that away? Doing so with Demyx was one thing, but with Saix, it was an entirely different matter. Number Seven could be far too wise for his own good, always aware of things. That quality annoyed almost all the other members.

"It appears as though you have decided to be immature by tossing books around like toys," he began coldly. "I thought you found them valuable more than anyone else here, Six. How...out-of-character for you."

Dismounting from the ladder carefully, Zexion stood where he was, glaring at Saix from across the room. There was exceptionally icy fury simmering between them. Even Ienzo felt the tension, judging by how he flinched. Zexion cleared his throat, staring Saix in the eye. He clenched his fists and set his jaw.

"I was bored. This was...fun for me. Do you have a problem with that?"

Ienzo whooped joyfully, clapping his hands while pointing and laughing at Number Seven. At least Saix couldn't hear that racket, but he most certainly saw the seemingly floating books. So, Zexion had not the inclination for celebrating just yet. For, he knew this dangerous enemy well and could predict what he would bring up next.

Saix coolly smirked out of sadistic amusement. "Yes. You must have enjoyed yourself so thoroughly that you could magically make books float in mid-air. Tell me, was that your doing? Do you possess any powers the rest of us know nothing about?"

There was nothing he could say to logically respond to that. Zexion could recognize just when he'd been caught in a corner. It was rare, but Saix knew precisely what to mention. He despised him for it, such a typical watchdog manner of how he went about this.

Reluctantly, Zexion was prepared to come up with a regretfully weak response, when Ienzo hurled a book that hit Saix right in his X-shaped scar.

"Run!" he shouted, rushing past the bewildered Number Seven.

Zexion didn't need telling twice as he gave a brief nod before following his other half's lead. There was heavy running involved after that, it was safe to say. Once he recovered from that initial first reaction of shock, Saix went practically berserker on the two boys. Luckily, they soon teleported to outside the castle.

Ienzo then turned to Zexion. "Man, I haven't had a rush like that in a while. Anyway...that Saix guy is a jerk, no?"

Pushing the usual obstructing strands of hair back from his light blue eyes, Zexion muttered irritably, "You have no idea."

"I got an idea."

"Does it involve eggs? Because, for some reason I cannot even explain to you, I have the sudden urge to use them."

Face flushed with thrilled excitement, Ienzo laughed out loud. "I think you're taking cues from my own mind, Zex, my man."

Shocked that he thought in a prankster's mindset, Zexion sighed, "Let's just go back to the castle."

The plan they had made would be initiated without hardly any words exchanged at all. It just proved Zexion's developing theory that they could read each other's minds, not only with Ienzo reading his but in reverse, too. Theories? All right, he needed to focus on this practical joke instead of thinking up theories. It was dull. For now, he would do whatever it took to fulfill his little vendetta against Saix. That freak of nature had pushed the wrong buttons for too long.

Playing with his red baseball cap, Ienzo commented lightly, "I could see him covered in egg yolk and egg white, can't you?"

"Definitely, more so with each passing second we get to the cafeteria."

"You won't regret it, dude. I'm confident about that."

Feeling as though he finally obtained a purpose in making himself interesting, Zexion opened the refrigerator as soon as they got to the cafeteria. There was a full carton of eggs inside, which he took out. He carried the carton with Ienzo trailing on his heels, grinning like a moron. For once, Zexion didn't object to his Other's devious grin. If anything, he thought he was going to smirk, too. He could see it now: Saix covered in sticky egg yolk. He was having thoughts through someone else's mind, or so it seemed. Roxas or Axel (definitely the latter) would have come up with this idea. But, it was him, all him. True to someone with testosterone, he had that urge to brag about the prank even before he pulled it.

Hurrying over toward Saix's room, he stopped in front of the door as he opened up the carton. He almost laughed for some reason. That made hi glare at Ienzo.

"What? Laughing is good for you. It actually means you're healthy."

Dryly, Zexion told him, "Laughing too hard can kill you."

"Yeesh, Mr. Sunshine. Look, don't make this hard on yourself. Bombs away."

"I agree," he said curtly before wasting no more time and flung two eggs at Saix's door. This brought Number Seven out in a jiffy, and he was thoroughly displeased.

Clearing his throat sternly, he started to ask, "Number Six, what are you doi—?"

Ienzo contributed to the eggs that hit Saix in the face, and the sticky substance dribbled onto his robes. Zexion threw three eggs at Saix before hurling the rest of his carton into the room. That ought to do for revenge, however childish. Briefly, he stared at the berserker to inspect the damage he caused. Egg yolk had even managed to get caught in his long blue hair. Perhaps that served as high-class conditioner or shampoo. Zexion couldn't stop the intense quirk playing at his lips.

"Six!"

That angry shout was his cue to disappear to outside Demyx's door. Despite the potentially hurtful thing he had done by leaving the musician in the cafeteria earlier, he hoped to make it up by telling him this story. Nodding eagerly, Ienzo appeared to agree.

Frantically, he knocked on the door, since Demyx's room was only down the hall from Saix's room. He could not afford to be murdered in cold blood so soon, considering how young he was. Demyx promptly opened the door but almost shut it again when he glimpsed who it was. Just in time, Zexion forced it back open, glancing over his shoulder to see Saix run toward him, claymore at the ready. Once the musician noticed this, his teal eyes got unbelievably big.

"You don't have to explain. Get in!"

Zexion had barely smiled out of gratitude before Demyx pulled him inside. Ienzo followed behind him as usual. Meantime, Saix hammered at the door, trying to break it down.

Surprisingly, Demyx swore under his breath as he shouted to Number Seven, "It was just one of his illusions, Saix! He went to the library!"

Saix let out an animalistic growl of rage, and soon, Zexion could hear his footsteps pound away on the marble floor until their sound faded. He closed his eyes, breathing a sigh of relief. That had been a close call. However, how was he going to talk to Demyx? What could he possibly say to alleviate his obvious anger? That expression he doubted would fade from his memory any time soon. Demyx stood across from him, arms folded across his chest, but he miraculously chuckled. "I'm usually a bad liar. I can't believe he bought that."

Zexion smiled yet again, this time even more relieved before his musician friend told him, "But, you're not out of the woods yet."

"I know, Demyx, and...I'm sorry. About the prank—well, I egged Saix and his room."

Demyx decided to let him off with that apology for now, for his eyes sparkled amusedly from hearing this development. "Really? You, of all people, egged him?"

Zexion shrugged. "I'm trying to change my behavioral patterns."

Sneering at him, Ienzo hissed, "Yeah, now apologize to him. Explain why. And try not to look too much like an idiot."

He had to tell him that, didn't he? This was a classic example of reverse psychology. For, now that Ienzo told him to say something, Zexion was unable to come up with the words.

Before he could burst from being so inconveniently reticent, Zexion confessed, "I became frightened, I suppose, in a sense. I was idiotic enough to believe I couldn't return you, ah, feelings. Not because I wouldn't, but because I hadn't the capability—but, clearly, this seems to have injured you worse. I truly apologize, Demyx."

Demyx looked surprised, not expecting him to reveal this much. "So...it was all because of us not having hearts, wasn't it?"

"Precisely." Zexion worried about his face turning red. "However, I enjoyed the lunch earlier. And, if given the choice, I...I would most certainly like you, too. I do already, I presume."

Ienzo punched the air while Demyx smiled a slow smile that meant all was forgiven.

Still, something bothered Zexion to the point he glanced toward one of the blue painted walls. How could Demyx forgive him for his horrible shortcomings again and again? Anyone else would have given up on him by now. The musician was the only exception.

Leaning toward him, Ienzo told him, "Maybe it's because he genuinely cares about you. And don't say it's crap, because it's not. It's the truth."

With a heavy sigh, Zexion looked back at Demyx, whose face wore concern.

"Another question. Why do you always keep forgiving me?"

Demyx shrugged and couldn't hide his grin. "Because I'm a sucker for blue eyes."

That was rather clever of him to reply with such a cute response. Maybe that was also why Zexion had never really lashed out at Demyx back when he used to be a pest: the color of the musician's eyes. That shade of aqua was the exact color of the ocean. He could drown in those depths.

Almost lost in Demyx's eyes, he barely heard him ask, "So, what was it like egging Saix?"

He smirked. "Exhilarating."

"Did he get covered pretty good?"

"You saw him," Zexion and Ienzo both said at the same time, which was an odd occurrence.

"Too bad I missed seeing it, though. I bet he went full werewolf on you."

For the first time ever, Zexion discovered that he was really laughing at a particularly lame joke.

A/N: I hope you liked Saix getting covered in messy egg substance. Well, here's my update. Sorry that I kept forgetting. My life's been busy.