A/N: Just a little warning. I guess this chapter was meant to be more comical then anything else. We were joking about the concept while we spun off traditional things associated with Christmas time and when this popped out of my mouth, my muse started laughing and told me to go with it. We shall see what kinds of madness can ensue within the confides of Vexen's lab. Enjoy 3
I just make this stuff up, I don't think any of it's actual science.
I do not own the rights to any Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy characters mentioned within this story.
Chapter 5
Fruitcake Fa La La: Marluxia & Vexen
Once they had all stepped into the familiar warmth of the Castle, Saix and Xemnas sighed in agreement as they left to go upstairs and place the recently bought gifts with the rest that they already had hidden within the confines of the Castle.
Marluxia slipped out of his wet boots and placed them next to the door. He wandered towards the kitchen to put away the few groceries that were in his tote. As he walked into the kitchen, his nose was hit with the scents of sweet and he smiled at the sight of Xion and Namine dancing around the kitchen.
"Are you girls still in here baking?" He asked as he placed his tote on the small side table.
Xion nodded with a smile. "Yup, but we're almost done. Did you need the kitchen for something?"
Namine pulled a tray of chocolate truffles from the fridge and began to place them into one of the many containers already filled with sweets and stacked along the countertop. Xion bent into the cupboard and pulled out another lidded container to place on the counter.
"Not at the moment" Marluxia shook his head a few times and the slightly damp quaffs of his hair flew around his face while a few loose strands of the pinkette's hair stuck to his warming cheeks.
"But could you put these away for me? I don't want to be in your way" He pointed to the tote on the table as he asked.
Namine nodded "Not a problem"
"Thanks" Marluxia turned to exit the kitchen and was greeted by a very happy sight.
"You're back!" A cheerful sounding blonde with long hair and light green eyes was smiling as he walked around the corner wearing a white lab coat.
"Yeah. Just got back actually" Marluxia said with a smile as he slowly began to unzip his wet cloak.
Vexen looked into the tote on the table "You got some groceries?"
"A few things" Marluxia nodded his head as he pulled his dark gloves from his hands and unwound his scarf from around his neck. "What have you been up to?"
Vexen turned and looked at Marluxia as he said "Just doing a few experiments is all." He poked around in the bag and saw a mix of fresh vegetables and other small items.
"Oh" Marluxia sighed slightly as he pushed his hair from his face.
"Do…you wanna come into the lab with me?" Vexen lifted his eyes from the tote to look at Marluxia.
"Sure" Marluxia leaned forward and pecked Vexen on the lips quickly. "Just let me hang my snow gear up to dry and make a pit stop. I'll meet you down there, okay?"
Namine shook her head as Xion smiled brightly. She heard as Nam leaned in a whispered close to her ear "Hidden mistletoe, I swear it's all over the kitchen today!" In which Xion just proceeded to giggle.
Vexen smiled fondly at Marluxia as he nodded a few times.
As Marluxia turned to leave the kitchen, he waved a free hand at the girls before disappearing around the corner. Vexen continued to gaze into the tote on the table and noticed a few things needed to be refrigerated. He picked up the tote and carried it over to the fridge before pulling on the handle.
"I could've got that" Xion turned with a smile.
"It's no problem" Vexen had pulled out one of the bottom drawers and began to place the produce in it. "I feel the need to help in some way or another today, I've been down stairs all day after all"
"Well thank you very much" Xion said as she began to load dirty pans and spoons into the dishwasher. "I am so ready to just curl up under a fuzzy blanket and watch a good movie for the night"
Namine nodded as she placed more sweets into the containers "Ditto. My feet are screaming for me to get off them"
"How long have you girls been baking?" Vexen asked as he placed a block of cream cheese on one of the lower shelves.
"Since this morning" Xion replied as she continued to load the dishwasher.
"I see" Vexen dug through the tote and decided everything that needed refrigeration was in its place.
He stood and began to pull open various cupboards that things belonged in, such as granola bars, cookies, a bag of marshmallows & and box of Frosted Flakes. When he pulled out the last item from the tote, he noticed it was rather heavy for it's size. He held the rectangular block in his hand and proceeded to examine it, when he noticed that Xion had turned to grab a bowl from the counter and was staring at him.
"Um, Vexen, what are you doing?" Xion asked a little curiously
He held up the odd brick in front of Xion's face. "Pardon my French, but what the hell is this?"
Xion took the brick-like cake from his hand. "You've never heard of Fruitcake?" She giggled as she handed it back to him. "It's a traditional Christmas sweet comprised of mixed dried fruit and cake ingredients"
"Ah, is that so?" Vexen held the fruitcake in his hand as he handed the tote to Xion.
"Yes, and don't worry…I hear worse 'French' from Axel all the time. They even slip from Roxas on occasion"
Vexen smiled lightly at Xion as she folded the tote bag and placed it into the proper cupboard with the rest of them.
"Do you girls mind if I take this?" He held up the fruitcake.
"Not at all" Namine placed a lid on another container and stacked it with the rest. "I don't think Marluxia will really care either, but you can always ask him"
"Yes. Thank you" Vexen walked through the kitchen and turned to exit "Have a good night girls"
"You too" They both said in unison as Vexen turned the corner and walked through the large dining room.
~xoxoxoxoxoxoxox~
Once he had made his way through a series of large rooms and a few long hallways, Vexen found himself sitting comfortably behind one of his lab desks and unwrapping the plastic from around the 'Fruitcake' He placed it as a whole onto a large plastic tray and proceeded to pick a small piece from a corner to place on a Petri dish. He made a quick note on a notepad sitting to his right of the density of such a small sample.
"It looks nothing like any cake I've ever seen" He said softly as he held the sample close to his face.
"Hmm, it has a strange smell" He sniffed at the sample.
"What does?" Vexen had been so submerged in sniffing the small piece of sweet in front of his nose that he hadn't even heard Marluxia come down the stairs.
"Oh, this" He pointed at the rectangle cake sitting on a tray in front of him.
Marluxia walked over and set two cups of hot cocoa on the edge of the desk and looked at what exactly it was that Vexen was pointing at.
"What are you doing to my fruitcake?" Marluxia asked as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"I am simply conducting a scientific study on the relevance of it's meaning by the process of dissection" Vexen said calmly as he picked up a small scalpel and began to slice down one of the sides slowly.
"So…..you're dissecting my fruitcake for science, is that right?" Marluxia watched the scalpel reach the bottom of the slice as Vexen placed the instrument down a began to pull on a rubber glove.
"Yes, exactly" He was pulling another glove onto his other hand when Marluxia suddenly let out a laugh and bent forward to pick up the cut piece.
"Oh for crying out loud Vex, it's just a cake made from mixed nuts and dried fruits!" Marluxia held the piece in front of Vexen's face "There is nothing to study about it"
Vexen scoffed as he snapped his head back from the block of sugar that Marluxia was holding close to his face.
"Now you have contaminated it with your bare hands" He placed a gloved finger over Marluxia's wrist and pushed his hand away. "I need to get another sample"
Marluxia rolled his eyes as he sighed. "Here's a way to conduct a study," He pushed the piece back towards Vexen's face as his hand was reaching for the scalpel "Take a bite"
Vexen looked at the cake in his face, and then met Marluxia's eyes with a look that reflected slight horror and disgust. "Surely not!"
"Why not Vexy?" Marluxia waved the piece slightly under his nose.
"I know not what all the proper containments for such a dense cake are, and don't call me Vexy"
"Why?"
"You know why" He stared up at Marluxia as the strong scents of cinnamon, nutmeg and dried cherries lingered in his nostrils.
"Cause it makes it hard for you to say no to me" Marluxia pulled the cake from in front of Vexen's nose as he wrinkled it and then proceeded to take a small bite from one of the corners.
"Precisely" Vexen said as his hand picked up the scalpel and moved with precision down the other side of the fruitcake.
After he had felt the hard surface of the plastic the cake sat on hit the tip of his scalpel, he carefully placed the sharp instrument to the side and out of the way. Making sure his rubber glove was securely covering his hand, he used two fingers to pluck the slice from the tray and place it onto a clean surface directly in front of him. All the while, Marluxia had been standing behind him just shaking his head as he nibbled from the small piece he held in his hand.
Vexen pulled open a side table drawer and extracted a small handheld recorder from within it. He pushed a button on the side and proceeded to speak into the small device.
"The specimen I have placed before me seems to be in the category of food, but I have yet to fully determine that. With the conclusion of my experiments I will understand what the contents of such a specimen are."
"Or you could just read the ingredients on the back of the wrapper" Marluxia leaned over his shoulder and whispered rather loudly.
"Shh" Vexen pulled the recorder from his mouth as he turned to scowl at Marluxia. "You're interrupting my dictation!"
Marluxia scoffed with a huff. "Really Vex?" He held up the piece still in his hand. "It's just a friggin' fruitcake! There's nothing scientific about it…except maybe how exactly they get that many different ingredients into one pastry without it exploding"
"I shall be the one to decide that" Vexen reached across from his desk and pulled a pair of clear safety goggles towards him and then over his eyes.
"Unbelievable" Marluxia picked up his mug of hot cocoa from the end of the desk and turned to walk to the other side of the room where a small recliner sat against the wall next to a loveseat and a tall bookshelf.
He walked to the shelf and scanned the titles quickly before plucking 'The Gift of the Magi' from it spot and plopping down onto the loveseat. He glanced up and saw that Vexen had returned to speaking into the recorder and was leaning closer over the fruitcake while he spoke. Marluxia sighed and placed his mug and the piece of fruitcake onto one of the end tables before sitting back and opening his book.
Vexen leaned close over the dense pastry in front of him as he used a pair of tweezers to pull small bits of the 'fruit' from within the bread and place them into another Petri dish. He held the recorder close to his mouth and spoke clearly with each pluck from the poor fruitcake being dissected.
"It appears as if there is a large assortment in a variety of mundane produce combined within the confines of this subject." Vexen pulled a large dried cherry and placed it with the others.
Marluxia huffed from where he was sitting with his face in the book in front of him. "That's the last time I try to buy something new for him to try" he mumbled under his breath as Vexen pulled more pieces from the sample in front of him.
"I have now successfully removed all the colored contents from the subject and separated the soft from the hard into two separate Petri dishes."
He set the tweezers down next to the plain fruitcake and reached for a small plastic bottle that had a tiny spout for pouring liquid. There seemed to be a bright green glow from the chemical inside the bottle.
"For the next part of my experiment, I am going to put a few drops of formula HB5 combined with a small amount of beryllium. I shall document the effects of the formula on the sample." Vexen placed the recorder carefully on the desk next to him.
He used the hand that wasn't holding the chemical formula to extract a small dropper from within a gray basket sitting near the edge of his desk. He carefully put a few drops of the HB5 into a small glass bowl and watched as the bright green liquid seemed to pulse from inside the bowl. After placing the small bottle in it's proper place on the desk, he reached for a small piece of beryllium and held the soft metal just above the bowl.
"I have poured a small amount of formula HB5 into an awaiting vessel, and now will add the sample of beryllium to combine the two." Vexen spoke loud enough for his voice to pick up on the recorder.
As he held the soft metal over the bowl, his eyes glanced quickly towards the back wall where he saw that Marluxia had buried his face into a classic Christmas tale and was reading with a slight scowl on his face. Vexen sighed softly.
"Marluxia, would you like to come see the results of my experiment?"
"No thank you" Marluxia had rather grumpily, never taking his eyes from the story he was reading.
"Are you sure?" Vexen inquired. "It's quite fascinating to watch the effects of combing these two materials"
"So is this part of the story" Marluxia never looked up, but reached a hand out from behind the book and grabbed his mug from the table.
"Well, fine" Vexen mumbled "I've wasted enough time as it is.
He dropped the small piece of beryllium into the green liquid and watched as it began to bubble slightly. The bubbles swirled around in the contents and mixed the colors until the density was slightly gooey and the color looked metallic. Once the bubbles had stopped, Vexen dipped the end of the dropper he held into the small bowl and sucked up a small amount of the concoction.
"I have combined the two substances and extracted a milligram to place upon the sample in the Petri dishes, which I am going to do so now. Starting with dish number one, the harder contents"
"They are usually referred to as a variety of nuts" Marluxia said from behind his book loud enough for Vexen to hear. "Which is how you're acting right now" He flipped a page and continued reading.
"Shhh" Vexen didn't look up from his desk before he continued speaking. "I've decided that a few small drops should produce some kind of result. So here it goes" Vexen spoke loudly as he held the dropper over the top of the dish containing a mix of pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds & pistachios.
As the metallic drops landed on the mixture, Vexen held his breath and watched intently. The liquid seemed to move around the contents and coat it in it's silvery green concoction. But nothing happened.
Vexen tipped his head to the side, and waited a few more moments.
But still nothing happened.
"Huh" Vexen crossed his arms. "Sample one seems to be defective as nothing has happened to the contents."
"That's because they're just plain old mixed nuts" Marluxia walked past Vexen holding an empty mug in one hand and reached for the railing with the other.
"That doesn't seem conclusive though" Vexen turned to see that Marluxia had his hand on the rail and was standing at the base of the steps.
"Where're you going?" He asked as he lowered his safety goggles slightly to look at Marluxia.
"To my room, it's quieter" Marluxia started to pull himself up the stairs and didn't even turn to look at Vexen. "You're cocoa's probably cold by the way" After that was said, he moved his feet quickly up the stairs.
"Oh" Vexen looked over at the festive mug sitting on the edge of his desk that he had left neglected. "Thank…" he heard a quick slam as the door at the top of the stairs slammed shut "…you"
As Vexen stared at the mug and then looked back at the piece of fruitcake still sitting in front of him, he felt a pang of guilt. He had asked Marluxia to come down to the lab, yet ignored him the entire time he'd sat down there. Maybe he should abandon this experiment?
"Just a few more tests" He mumbled to himself as he pulled his safety goggles back over his eyes and reached for the dropper once more.
"For the last part of my experiment, I shall place a significant amount of the mixed solution directly onto the product"
He stuck the dropper into the center of the bowl and squeezed the top so that a large amount of the shimmery chemical sucked into the dropper. He held his breath and moved the dropper directly over the remaining slice of fruitcake set in front of him.
"Here it goes" He said loud enough for the recorder to pick up.
~xoxoxoxoxoxoxox~
Marluxia moved over to the sink to rinse his cocoa mug out and noticed that Namine and Xion finished their baking and cleaned the kitchen already. As he placed the clean mug unto a dish towel, he shook his head with a sigh, before turning to exit the kitchen after turning the lights off.
As he moved quietly through the darkness of the Castle, Marluxia noticed that there seemed to be utter silence throughout the whole of the home. He decided it was best if he just called it a night and went to bed. As he made to walk though the large sitting room in the center of the castle, he noticed that the fire was still crackling happily as it filled the room with it's warmth.
"Ha, at least something in this house can still be happy" He said softly as he passed by the large fireplace.
"Huh? What was that?" Marluxia jumped at the sudden sound of a deep voice from behind one of the large couches placed close around the proximity of the fire place.
"Geez Lexeaus, you scared me!" Marluxia placed his hand on his chest as he watched the tall ginger sit up slightly and look over the back of the couch at him. His blue eyes were lit brightly by the gleam of the firelight.
"Sorry 'bout that" said Lexeaus "Just thought you were talking to us"
"Us?" Marluxia walked around the side of the couch to look at the front of the piece of furniture. "Oh, hi Larxene" he waved a few times.
"Hi Marluxia" The blonde with aqua green eyes responded with a slight smile.
Marluxia ran his hands up the sides of his arms as he turned his attention to the fire.
"Pretty isn't it?" Lexeaus said from behind him.
"Mmm hmm" Marluxia nodded. "And relaxing"
"Yeah, but we still need something to make the room more complete"
Both males turned their heads to look at Larxene as she wove her arms behind Lexeaus and cuddled closer to him on the large plush couch.
"And what would that be, my sweet?" Lexeaus asked with a smile as he looked into Larxene's eyes.
Her gaze shifted around the room a few times. "Think about it. It's Christmas time and we still need something of importance to add to the festivities."
Marluxia crossed his arms and as he looked around the room as well "Which is?"
"A Christmas tree" Larxene said with a smile.
"Right" Lexeaus nodded "We should go out and get one tomorrow"
Lexeaus saw Larxene nod a few times in agreement with a large smile. Marluxia watched as the two moved closer to each other to share a kiss in the warm glow of the firelight.
"Well, I'll leave you two to have some privacy" He said as he turned to head towards the staircase that lead to the upper part of the castle and held a large amount of the bedrooms. "Night guys"
Marluxia dragged his feet slightly as he made his way down the dark and silent hallway to his bedroom. The night had been a bust and not gone at all as he had planned. With a heavy sigh he stopped in front of his door and pushed it open being sure to flick on the light switch on the wall after doing so. He pushed the door closed as he stepped into the space of the sleeping quarters and looked around at his everyday objects that had become comfortable to him.
Deciding that it was best to just get under the covers and sleep off the night, Marluxia walked slowly to the end of his bed and picked up a pair of red flannel pajama pants that he had pulled from his drawer earlier and just left out. After shedding off his other clothing and slipping into the warmth of the soft fabric, he walked over and flipped the light off in his room before walking to stand at the side of his bed.
He reached down and pulled the layers of blankets back, making sure the edges were tucked around the mattress to keep the warmth in before he slowly slid under the many layers and rolled over on his side. As he lie there with his face pressed into the familiar and flowery scent of his pillowcase, a slight sense of sadness began to build in the pit of his stomach.
Shaking his head a few times and pushing all negative thoughts aside, Marluxia closed his eyes and instead tried to focus on the aspects of the upcoming holiday events. His mind began to slowly become blurred with faint images as he was entranced by tiredness and eventually drifted off to sleep.
It had only been a short time when he heard a soft rapping on the outside of his door followed by a quiet voice.
"Mar-Mar? Are you asleep?"
Marluxia groaned slightly as he recognized the voice as Vexen.
"I was" He grumbled towards the door in the darkness. "What do you want Vex?" He plopped his face back onto the pillow.
"Is it alright if I come in?" Vexen asked in a quiet voice once more.
"Nuh, I don't care" Marluxia said loudly into his pillow
The door squeaked softly as Vexen opened it just enough the step though and push it closed behind him once more. He had changed from his lab coat and was instead wearing a pair of light blue pajama pants and a simple white t-shirt with a pair of white socks. Vexen's feet moved with a shuffle across the dark room until they reached the side of the bed where he stopped abruptly and stared in the dark where he knew Marluxia was laying.
After just standing there for a minute, he heard Marluxia sigh.
"Ya know, that's kind of creepy if you just wanna watch me sleep" Marluxia kept his eyes closed as he spoke into the darkness.
"I actually had another purpose for coming up here in this late hour" Vexen was twisting his fingers around as he talked quietly to the man in front of him.
"And what would that be?" Marluxia asked still not opening his eyes "If it's about your stupid experiments, then I don't care"
Vexen sighed before he spoke. "No, of course not"
"Then what?"
He could tell that Marluxia was becoming annoyed as he stood there, so acting more on instinct then anything else, Vexen leaned down close to Marluxia's face and placed a light kiss on one of his cheeks.
As he stood up, Vexen whispered "I'm sorry for ignoring you" and began to turn away from the side of the bed.
He went to take a step forward and heard Marluxia's voice behind him.
"Just where were you planning on going?"
Vexen turned his body so he was once more facing Marluxia and could see though the adjustment of his eyes in the dark that he had sat up slightly and was leaning on one of his elbows while he stared at Vexen.
"To bed I guess" Vexen pointed his thumb towards the door.
"Uh uh" Marluxia shook his head a few times and even in the dark you could see the soft bounce of his familiar hairstyle. "C'mere"
Marluxia lifted up the side of the layers of blankets and watched as Vexen nodded and moved to slide into the warm cocoon of comfort. He scooted over enough to make room for the both of them to lay close but still be comfortable.
"You can't just kiss me and leave" Marluxia said with a slight yawn.
Vexen reached a hand through the darkness and ran it slowly through Marluxia's soft mane of pink hair as he nuzzled his face into the scents of the pillow beneath him. He moved his face closer to Marluxia and watched as his eyes slowly fell shut once more. His lips finally found their target and pressed into the soft warm flesh. He heard a sigh of content as he pulled away and continued to run his hand through Marluxia's hair.
"So, am I forgiven?" Vexen asked quietly as he nose rested mere inches from Marluxia's and he stared towards his face in the darkness.
Marluxia nodded once "It's a start" he responded with another yawn.
"That's a great conclusion to me" Vexen let his hand move slow down the side of Marluxia's face, down his arm and stop to rest on the small of his back where he smiled into the darkness and pulled him in closer, taking note that there was already a heavier rhythm in his breathing.
"Good night Mar" Vexen said softly and placed a quick kiss on the tip of Marluxia's nose before laying his head on the pillow and closing his eyes to become lost in a world of dreams.