Vexen's nose had been in a book when his brother opened the door and revealed a flush, and dare he say, nervous if not scared Zexion. Every emotion that flashed in the other's aqua eyes, or eye, he should say, revealed things the platinum blonde wasn't aware the older man could feel. Zexion was known for keeping that annoyingly cool demeanor and for being quite snarky, for scheming things that favored no one but him and Axel, not looking as if there were a ghost chasing him. He knew he looked just as openly surprised as his brother, but at least he had a book to hide behind and wasn't the one who had to comfort the psychology major.

"You look like shit." Luxord said and Vexen had to try his hardest not to snort from behind his book. The gaunt twin had to agree, but he would have tried to word the other's appearance a little more carefully. Granted, he wasn't that close with the other and had been on the receiving end of more than one prank which instilled a slight fear for the steel-blue haired man and a certain redhead. He'd be lying if he said that that fear wasn't the reason he would chose his words wisely, even if they had all done their fair share of growing up.

"Remind me why I came to you instead of Axel?"

"Because I'm the only one who lives off campus. Why don't we go have a nice cup of coffee and you can tell me all about what's bothering a pretty boy like you?"

The chemistry major felt his eye twitch as Zexion smirked and allowed Luxord to wrap his arm around his shoulder and lead him into the kitchen. Vexen knew that the other blonde meant nothing of it, but he couldn't help the jealousy that flooded his veins. Perhaps it was the taboo of their relationship that made him so protective, or the insecurity that his brother would ditch him for all the more attractive men and women that he surrounded himself with that made him want to rip the book in his hand in two. Luxord was a "touchy-feeling" drunk, too, because he was taught that drinking and gambling go hand in hand. Their relationship began because Luxord had had one too many sips of whiskey while teaching Vexen how to play poker, anyway.

The memory of it all brought a bright blush to Vexen's pale features and he buried his face into the book further. He could still vividly remember the sensation of his brother's soft, warm lips against his neck and how husky his voice sounded as he explained his hand to him. Next thing he knew Luxord had guided his hand down to set the cards down, whispered "You beat me, Vexen" and pressed his lips against his own. If he hadn't set his cards down, Vexen knew they would have ended up in his lap only to then be brushed to the side by Luxord's impatient hand. His hand that... that...

Oh my god.

Vexen closed his bright green eyes and all but tried to disappear into the book's world. What was he, a high school girl? Not even Kairi acted the way he did sometimes.

"So, are you going to tell me what has you so frazzled, Zexion?" Vexen heard Luxord say and turned his head to look at the doorway to the kitchen, thankful that the cause of his thoughts drew him right out of them. However, at the long pause, Vexen feared that he'd start thinking about it all over again and he wasn't sure his face could handle any more heat. He always preferred the cold and had gotten groaned at more times than he could count by Luxord when he would turn the heat down in his older twin's car or in the house.

"I ran into Marluxia, quite literally, while I was on the phone with you." Vexen could feel all the heat in his face and body completely flee from him. "I believe I ran into him another time, too. A few days ago after we left Hatter's."

He cringed a little at his brother's ridiculously loud whistle. "I think your luck has finally run out with him, Zexion. You should just face the music and talk to him." Vexen didn't hear Zexion's reply because as his other half spoke he had set the book down on the table and went outside with his light blue cellphone clenched tightly in his hand. For a moment he just stood outside in the cold evening air before he took a deep breath and dialed Marluxia's numbers. It only rang twice before Marluxia's deep voice resonated in Vexen's skull.

"What do you want, Vexen?"

He sounds really upset. The blonde thought and reached up to run a nervous hand through his hair. Marluxia was naturally intimidating, though he had been scolded more than once for flinching from his jumpiness whenever the pink haired man would raise his hand. Of course, Demyx always found it amusing and tried to make him jump even more, and earn himself another glare, but that was another subject matter.

"I heard Luxord on the phone with Zexion..." Vexen hadn't even been able to ask his question when there was a heavy sigh and suddenly Demyx's unnaturally preppy voice came from the phone.

"He like, really doesn't want to talk about it." Demyx said in a hushed voice, despite the fact that Marluxia was quite obviously near him for his phone to be given to him. He doubted that the blue eyed teenager would willingly leave Demyx alone with his phone. "But do you want to hear what happened from me?"

"That would be why I called, Demyx." Honestly, did he even have to ask? He should have just called the bubbly boy to begin with. Despite how he tried to deny it, Demyx was a sucker for gossip and everyone fully blamed Larxene, the sadistic girl that despite fearing, the dirty blonde played with sometimes because she was 'really funny' according to his friend. But the fact that Marluxia also liked her was enough for Vexen to know to stay away from her.

"Okay, so like, Marluxia ran into Zexy-" Zexy? Vexen's eyebrows drew together at that and could only pray that Demyx wouldn't decide to start calling him Vexy. What was most surprising, really, was that the older man even allowed such a nickname. "-and Zexy like, took off running like he was chicken without a head or something! I think Marluxia scared him off with all the working out he did. I mean, you were like, so much skinnier before, dude."

Vexen sighed heavily while Demyx yelped before laughing in his ear. "Thank you for the information, Demyx. Can I please talk to Marluxia again?" So Zexion really had seen a ghost, of sorts, but to think that Marluxia could still draw such expressions from the man...

"What, you don't want to talk to me, Vexy?" Demyx laughed again and Vexen felt his eye twitch again. Before he could come up with a smart reply, however, he heard Marluxia on the phone again and he had to settle for inwardly cursing Demyx. The young man was as bad as his former tormentors and Vexen felt a little part of him die inside knowing that Demyx was being courted by Axel, though as of yet Axel's attempts to get the blonde's attention had ended in failure.

"You know it's to be expected that he'd flee from you." Vexen said after a long moment of no words between them.

"But I didn't do anything. He's the one who ruined things, Vexen."

"Regardless of that," Vexen stressed, running his fingers through his hair again. If he had a nickel for every time Marluxia said that, he'd over bank. "You know scaring Zexion will not get him to stay in your presence for more than a few seconds."

"But I didn't-"

"You need to put him in a situation where he has no choice but to stay with you." There was a long pause and Vexen rolled his eyes, knowing that there had to be a faint smirk on the other's face, especially since Demyx said, not a moment after the thought crossed his mind, "What are you smirkin' at, dude? It's creepy."

"That, Vexen, is a brilliant idea. I'm surprised." For a third time that night, within thirty minutes even, the scientist felt his eye twitch. "Please, go on."

"Why not transfer into his psychology class, or maybe the sociology class he shares with Demyx? Preferably the latter, really, because you can blame it all on Demyx, and I don't know a single teacher who doesn't love group projects. I hate to sound like my brother, but if you'd had this much luck with him already, I don't see how you couldn't possibly be put in his group, whatever that group may be." Vexen almost felt bad for putting together this perfect plan against Zexion, but he supposed it was a form of revenge for all his tricks and surely Marluxia would have thought to do exactly what he was suggesting. "Even if there isn't a group project, it wouldn't be hard to corner him in the classroom, and if you play dumb, I'm sure he would give in to help you simply because of his intellectual ego."

There was a hum of approval and appreciation and Vexen smiled to himself, his own ego satisfied despite the apparent low expectation from Marluxia. "I have to say, you are rather clever when you want to be, aren't you?"

"Of course I'm clever." Vexen retorted coldly, though there was still a smile pulling at his thin lips. "I have to make up for Luxord's lack thereof." Marluxia actually laughed at that and Vexen relaxed a little, happy that he had lifted his friend's mood. They even chatted some more about everything, from their classes to other things far beyond Demyx's mental capacity which earned the two of them more groans than Vexen could count from the dirty blonde. Eventually, however, the conversation turned to his sociology teacher and Vexen raised an eyebrow at how enthusiastically Demyx spoke about him.

"Like, he's the weirdest looking teacher ever." Demyx said and Vexen relaxed further into the side of the house, near the door. It was always interesting to listen to the boy describe anything, especially a man like Xigbar. He had seen him once or twice in the halls before, and Luxord apparently knew him somehow, so he knew the name well enough. "He's so old, like, he has grey hair and everything already! I'm pretty sure he's totally a pirate too, Vexy. He wears an eye patch and everything, and there's this huge scar on his face, dude. Do you think he got into a fight with a bear or something?"

Vexen snorted at that and shook his head when Demyx continued. The thought of the tall man fighting a bear was quite the amusing picture. "He has these weird eyebrows, too, I'd think he was some cheesy villain in a bad movie. And his ears! I just want to like, touch them once and not get hurt for it. They're all... pointy. I-D-K about you guys, but I think he's an elf."

"Or maybe the bear attacked his ears, too, and that's why they're pointed." Marluxia offered in a bored tone and Vexen tried not to laugh, especially when Demyx gasped as if he was completely right.

"O-M-G, dude. I didn't even think of that!"

"You should ask him." Vexen said with a grin, but he didn't hear the other's reply, as the front door suddenly opened and he let out the most unmanly yelp of surprise and snap his phone shut.

Luxord raised an eyebrow and that alone was to make the blush on Vexen's face darken. "Dinner's ready."

The younger twin let out the breath he had been holding in. Vexen knew he had to have been painfully suspicious, what with being on the phone and then abruptly ending the conversation, even though Luxord didn't question him and simply walked back inside. He was convinced that his face would be red forever, because he couldn't remember a time in the past year that he wasn't blushing sometime or another while with his brother. It was just worse in front of Zexion, because he was the only one who knew about their relationship and he loved watching him blush and squirm just as much as Luxord did.

Dinner, Vexen learned when he stepped inside, was teriyaki beef stir fry and Chinese chicken salad and as he sat down, Vexen wondered where his brother had such ingredients stored but would never dare to ask. Luxord always teased him for his lack of skill in the kitchen, even if he could make the basics, but something like what Zexion made for them, as he assumed the older man did all the cooking, was completely out of the question. Asking Luxord where the ingredients were kept wouldn't serve him any purpose, because even if he wanted to, he could never cook a romantic meal for the two of them to enjoy...

Oh my god.

Vexen brought his napkin up to his face in a desperate attempt to hide his red face. His attempt, however, was futile as Zexion looked up from his plate and Vexen knew he had been caught by the smirk that he wore.

"Is my food so horrible that it's made you go red in the face, or?" Zexion didn't continue on the thought, but Vexen could hear the taunt in his voice that made the blonde go an even darker shade of red. The aqua eyed man was too perceptive for his own good and to his mortification Luxord spoke up before he could.

"Or?"

"I believe your brother is fantasizing about you during dinner, Luxord. Please, satisfy him better next time so I can enjoy my meal properly."

The playful and slightly suggestive banter at his expense continued until dinner ended and Vexen prayed to Kingdom Hearts that Marluxia and Demyx would do nothing short than drive Zexion up a wall. Between the two of them he was certain Zexion would be pulling his hair out by the end of the semester, even if he did get along with Demyx quite well as surprising as it was, but just because they got along didn't mean Demyx's habits and way of life wouldn't eventually rub the OCD psychologist the wrong way.

Zexion left the kitchen to retire to the couch after some shooing on Luxord's part, leaving the two blondes to do the dishes though Vexen hardly minded. Though when he felt Luxord's warm, strong arms encircle his waist, nearly causing the long haired blonde to drop the dish he had been washing, he almost wished the steel-blue haired man was still in the room. Luxord behaved himself for the most part even in front of the other, even if he somewhat doubted that control after the dinner conversation and even if from an outside view most would simply think Luxord was being affection to his brother, not holding him as he was as a lover.

"Was Zexion correct in his assumption that you were thinking inappropriate things about me?"

Vexen blushed again and ignored the way Luxord's goatee tickled his neck as he kissed the expanse of skin. "It was hardly inappropriate. I was just thinking of cooking dinner for you someday." Goosebumps pricked at his skin as Luxord chuckled into his shoulder.

"Someday? How about next week?" Before Vexen could reply to that, such as ask why so soon when he was a horrible cook or what he would even want to feast on, Vexen once more squeaked like Mickey Mouse when Luxord suddenly turned him around. If he hadn't instinctively held the wet, soapy bowl to his chest, he would have surely dropped it though he almost did anyway when Luxord gave him that smile. "Why don't we retire early? Zexion chose the couch for a reason."

The scientist blushed even brighter and turned his gaze away nervously. "Honestly... He's still in our house and he's not even asleep yet..."

"He can always turn the TV up louder." Luxord smiled and brushed his lips against Vexen's cheek. The simple gesture made Vexen's knees weak.

"What about the dishes?"

"I'll finish washing them in the morning."

Large green eyes moved so he could look at Luxord's expression and Vexen sighed a little, finding the look of serious seduction on his brother's face too appealing to refuse. "You're truly a pervert, Luxord."

"You know you wouldn't have me any other way." The gambler smiled, or rather smirked, and took the bowl from the younger twin before capturing his lips in a passionate lip-lock.