Morning dawned.

Ish.

Across Traverston, a sleepy drizzle had drifted in from the south and was determined to slow down everything it fell upon as much as possible.

Last evening had been late to the point of being early with films, video games and long conversations about every and any topic that came to mind. When at last, exhausted, they'd collapsed onto Marluxia's ample bed, neither of them had the energy to even change.

For the second time in his life, Vexen awoke in bed with somebody else. This time, however, he wasn't naked and hung over, and Marluxia wasn't so unfamiliar.

It was quite a pleasing situation to be in.

Marluxia simply snoozed away as Vexen lay awake, thinking. Eventually he got bored, and as he didn't have the heart to wake Marluxia, he carefully rolled out of bed and went to find his bag and a change of clothes, then the bathroom to wash.

Marluxia was still asleep when he returned, mouth open in an almost childlike manner. For a moment Vexen was almost temped to kiss those lips, but instead he pulled out his camera and took a photograph for future reference.

It was much later in the day that Marluxia finally awoke, to find Vexen perched on the bed, playing a muted video game.

He glanced at the clock.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

Vexen paused the game and turned around.

"Oh. Good morning - well, afternoon - to you too,"

Marluxia fell back into the pillows, groaning.

"You really ought to have woken me up earlier! You have to go in a few hours,"

"I didn't have the heart," Vexen explained apologetically. "You looked so cute,"

Marluxia shook his head in amusement.

"Anybody call?"

"Nope. It's been as quiet as a mouse,"

Marluxia relaxed a little. He'd been worried that Xigbar or one of the others might have called to check on him or possibly guilt trip him for not being with them last night, and if Vexen had happened to pick up... He shuddered entirely involuntarily.

"Something the matter?" Vexen asked. Marluxia glanced up.

"Oh, nothing," He quickly plastered on a smile. Vexen gave him a not entirely convinced look, but nodded. "Do you want something to eat?" He asked Vexen after a moment of silence, trying to break the ice.

"That would be good, thanks," Vexen replied. "I made myself a cup of coffee this morning; I hope that's okay,"

"That's fine," Marluxia said, rolling over and off the edge of the bed, pulling the duvet with him. "Ouch!"

Stifling a laugh, Vexen helped him up off the floor. Marluxia rubbed his head a little.

"Yeah. Food," He muttered, taking a few wobbly steps to the door.

"Are you okay?" Vexen asked, a little concerned for Marluxia's safety and the safety of the objects around him.

"I've had worse," Marluxia replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "A cup of tea and I'll be fine,"

---

It was about half an hour later that Kairi called.

"This is Kairi," Marluxia introduced Vexen to the girl he'd opened the door to. "She lives downstairs,"

"Heya," Kairi said with a smile, holding out a hand for Vexen to shake. She was a petite girl, with shoulder-length reddish brunette hair and friendly blue eyes. "It's good to finally meet you. Marluxia's said a lot about you,"

Marluxia shrugged off the accusing glare sent in his direction.

"Anyway," Kairi continued. "I made spaghetti for the boys and there's some left over. Demyx wasn't in, so I thought you might like it,"

She held out a large bowl with cling film stretched over the top. It was gratefully accepted by Marluxia.

"Kairi's the best cook in the block," He said. "Thanks, Kairi. How're Sora and Riku?"

"Frisky as ever," Kairi replied with a light chuckle. "Really, if I weren't there to clean up for them, who knows what kind of state our apartment would be in,"

Presumably she missed the terrible innuendo from the two unconnected sentences. Marluxia didn't, and it made him smirk to himself.

"Sora, Riku and Kairi have been close friends since they were little," Marluxia explained for Vexen's benefit. "I think Sora went out with Kairi for a while before he realised he was gay for Riku. Or perhaps it was the other way around. Who knows?"

Kairi laughed.

"It was Sora, sweetheart. Hey, why don't you come downstairs so Vexen can meet them?"

"That'd be great, if it's okay with you, Vexen,"

Unable to really resist on the grounds of being impolite, Vexen simply nodded and allowed himself to be led downstairs.

"I think Sora and Riku are having a battle on the PS2 at the moment. Come on in anyway," Kairi said as she pushed open the unlocked door to their apartment.

Vexen nearly did a double take at the bright bordering on psychedelic colours splashed on the walls, ceiling and even floor of the lounge. There were two boys there, hunched over controllers and shouting at each other as match figures raced across the screen.

"Marluxia brought a visitor, guys," Kairi motioned to Vexen. Sora paused the game to look up.

"The scientist guy? Vixen?"

"Vexen," Vexen corrected, blushing a little as Marluxia whispered "You're my vixen," in his ear.

"Oh. Sorry," Sora was a goofy looking kid with huge brunette hair, a round slightly chubby face and an endearingly cheeky grin. Riku was older, taller and considerably less friendly. Most of his face and turquoise eyes were covered by long bleached hair.

"Riku hates me," Marluxia quickly established.

"Damn right," Riku grumbled, glaring at the taller man.

"Oh come on, Riku. Be mature. He's not that bad," Kairi sighed.

"He violated my brother!" Riku exclaimed for Vexen's information.

"I never did, Riku. Stop making things up," Marluxia said. "You wouldn't know a real violation if it hit you in the arse,"

"Guys! Calm down!" Kairi quickly interrupted before things could get any worse. "You're scaring Vexen,"

"Don't stop me, Kairi! I had the best insult to say!"

"What, your mum?" Sora joked.

"Your face, Sora." Riku glared back.

"I might like that,"

"Ew." Kairi said. "Riku, you're disgusting. Go to the naughty corner,"

"Not this again," Riku rolled his eyes. "There's no way I'm ever letting you near that chair again,"

"Then behave," Kairi demanded. "Both of you. Sorry, they're always like this," She turned to Vexen. "Can I get you a drink?"

"That would be good," Vexen said, and he followed Kairi out into the kitchen. "So what's the whole thing about Marluxia violating Riku's brother?"

"Oh, they just went out for a while. Riku's still bitter about it," Kairi said. "Tea or coffee?"

"Coffee, please," Vexen said, drawing up a stool to sit on.

"You're worried about Marluxia, aren't you," Kairi observed as the kettle boiled.

"Well... I still don't know him that well,"

"Don't worry, you're safe with him. I've known him three years and sure, he has a weird job, but really, he's the sweetest guy."

"I didn't think his job was that odd," Vexen said, a little confused at the comment.

"Oh? Oh. Ohhh... No, yeah, no. I guess not. No. Sorry. I was getting muddled again. Don't mind me," Kairi collected four cups from the shelf. "Sora!"

"Yeah?" Came the muffled reply from the sitting room.

"Tea?"

"Please!"

Kairi pulled another cup down and laid them all out by the kettle.

"So you're a scientist?"

"Yeah,"

"Cool. I used to love science as a kid, but I'm more into photography now; I'm a photojournalist but I do it for a hobby as well. Sora and Riku make really cool subjects once they actually stay still,"

"Can I see some of your photos?" Vexen took the mug of coffee Kairi offered him gratefully.

"Sure. I have them all in the store room," She juggled the mugs she was holding so Vexen relieved her of a couple of them. She distributed three of them among the men in the lounge; Marluxia had now joined in the battle on the screen and they were laughing and bickering together. "Sora and Riku haven't grown up at all. They're still like little kids. I swear, if I wasn't here cleaning up after all their mess..." She flicked the light on in the storeroom - the room that corresponded to Vexen's bedroom in their apartment. On either side, the room was filled with shelves containing folders, and at the end there was a desk with a computer and printer on.

"I have quite a lot of Marluxia; he makes a good subject too. We did a photo shoot at his place a while back on a jungle theme... Now which folder are they in?" She ran her finger along their spines before finally finding the right one. "Here." She passed it to Vexen, who opened it up. The photos mostly contained a combination of Sora, Riku and Marluxia, but there were a few with Axel in and a couple of other people that Vexen didn't recognise.

"That's Xemnas," Kairi pointed out a tall, dark skinned man with the same colour hair as Riku in the group shot. "And Saïx, and Axel."

"Yeah, I've met Axel, but I don't recognise the others," He admired the photography work. Each shot had been carefully lined up against a wall of plants so it really looked like they were in a jungle. "You look like you had great fun with the costumes," He flicked through each photo in amusement.

"Yeah. I love doing costume design. I do it for Marluxia's group sometimes, for their films,"

"I'm going to have to bug him into letting me see some of the films he's in one day, but he's being so enigmatic about it all," Vexen said. Kairi smiled a little.

"Maybe. Here, look at these ones. They were from a holiday I went on with Sora and Riku,"

----

They stayed with Kairi, Sora and Riku for a long time and even though they were a lot younger than Marluxia and Vexen (Kairi and Sora were nineteen, Riku was twenty), they were friendly and fun to hang around with. Eventually, though, Vexen had to leave since his train back home was coming in an hour or so.

"What did Kairi talk to you about?" Marluxia asked as they went back to his apartment to collect Vexen's things.

"She told me about how she does photography and she showed me some of her stuff. And we talked about you a little bit,"

"What did she say?"

"That I shouldn't be worried about you because you're a really sweet guy,"

"I'm flattered," Marluxia said thoughtfully. "There aren't many people who'll say that,"

"Why not?" Vexen asked as he pushed the last of his clothes into the small bag he'd brought with him. He lifted it up onto his shoulder.

"Well..." Marluxia paused. "I should probably... Oh, I suppose it doesn't matter. A lot of people think I'm a slut,"

"Oh. But you're not... are you?" Vexen wasn't sure why he felt he needed to tag on the question at the end. It obviously upset Marluxia, who frowned a little as he pushed open the front door.

"Not any more," He finally said. "But I've always found it difficult to hold down a steady boyfriend,"

He glanced up at Vexen who simply kept on walking.

"I'm sorry," He finally said as they left the block and began to walk down the road. "I feel like I'm pushing you into a relationship,"

Vexen shook his head, but didn't meet Marluxia's eye.

"No. I want to do this. For once in my life I want to take a risk, do something unexpected. If it does all implode in my face, at least nobody can say I didn't try,"

Marluxia smiled, reaching out with his hand until he brushed the other man's fingertips. Vexen moved too and their hands interlaced as they walked.

"Story of my life, that is," Marluxia remarked.

"I'm sorry?"

" "It all imploded, but you can't say I didn't try" sort of thing,"

"That's kind of sad,"

"Well, you can't do anything but keep on trying, right?"

Vexen glanced up at the horizon where a break in the clouds was just beginning to form.

"No," He said after some consideration. "I suppose not,"

There was something wrong, they both knew that. They were as mismatched as odd socks in the bottom of the drawer.

But that wasn't going to stop either of them from trying.