A/N: So what was the explosion? I guess you will have to read to find out. Here's a hint, it goes along with something that started in an earlier chapter. Anyways, I am halfway through writing this story and am highly determined to finish it ASAP. I will make it my top priority, which sometimes is difficult for me considering I story hop. I will literally have like 6 stories up at once and work from chapter to chapter.

I am so thankful to the people that are following this story, so a quick shout-out:

WanderingSilverrose

Tavialover14

X13kissmegoodbye

CheckeredScars

Rosialette001

FirstOfTheDying

You guys all Rock! I was seriously doing a happy dance when I got the notification of having followers and people favoriting me. I'm sorry if I forgot anyone, my mailbox tends to do stupid things like delete files I have yet to read, but I really appreciate all the support. It makes writing so much more enjoyable to know that people are liking my work.

Anywho…who doesn't like a good old family game night? My friends and I try and have one every weekend. One of the games we play is a board game called 'Quelf' and let me tell you, if you're not ashamed of being stupid around your friends, it is a total blast to play! We spend most of the time laughing so hard that it's hard to concentrate on the game at times.

So once more, I do not any rights to these characters, but it would awesome to spend the holidays with these wonderful people! Thanks again and Enjoy 3

Chapter 8: Reindeer Games

Luxord + Group

The blast was so sudden, yet so undeniably loud, that by now the entire Castle was awake.

"What was that?" Demyx came skidding into the kitchen, holding tight to Zexion's hand as they nearly collided with Xigbar who had stopped upon entering the kitchen.

"I heard a noise!" Namine and Xion were both yelling as they ran into the kitchen each wearing very festive pajamas.

"What happened? Who's hurt?" Xemnas was next on the scene.

"I don't know, but look!" Xaldin was standing next to Xigbar, and after nearly tripping over his boot laces was now pointing at the base of the basement door.

There was a thick cloud of smoke that seemed to be slipping from under the small crack of the door. Xion gasped as her eyes caught sight of the smoke.

"What's going on?" Marluxia ran into the entrance of the kitchen and stood behind the group that was staring at the smoke coming from under the door. As he watched the fingers direct to the commotion, Marluxia felt panic start to rise in his throat.

"Vexen!" Marluxia shouted as he pushed through the staring crowd and ran towards the door.

Upon reaching the large wooden door, Marluxia felt his body collide with the hard mass as he grabbed the knob hurriedly. He twisted the round brass and yanked the door open as fast as he could. As soon as the door was opened, the smoke cloud seemed to engulf the kitchen, everyone was waving their arms around in an attempt to clear the space.

"Vex?" Marluxia called into the smoke cloud.

"Yeah?" came a voice in the form of a croak followed by a few coughs.

Marluxia took a few steps into the basement as he waved his hands in front of him. After a few seconds, his eyes caught sight of a hand flailing around in his direction. Without any hesitation, he grabbed a hold of Vexen's wrist and pulled him towards the top of the stairs. Once they had both stepped out of the basement, everyone became aware that the smoke alarm was going off.

"I'll take care of it" Xigbar yelled and disappeared around the corner towards the blaring sound.

To everyone's relief, Vexen seemed to be alright aside from a bit of coughing. The blaring alarm was silenced and the group started to move around a bit. By now, Roxas, Axel and Luxord had poked their heads into the kitchen area.

"What's all the commotion?" Luxord asked over the group in a very thick English accent.

"Are you okay Vexen?" Xion was standing next to him and wiping bits of some kind of debris from the side of his lab coat.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Vexen nodded and coughed a few times as he wiped down the front of his coat.

"What the hell happened?" Marluxia was standing in front of him and giving him a stern yet concerned look. "I went to change, and you tried to blow the place up?" he asked.

"Well no. You see, what had happened," Vexen raised one hand as he watched all the eyes in the kitchen fix on him in interest of knowing the situation. Almost at a loss for words all of a sudden, Vexen shrugged his shoulders once before replying "Apparently, fruitcake can blow up"

The room was full of strange glances as everyone looked around at each other for exactly what was going on.

"Oh, well" Vexen clapped his hands together once and walked through the dissipating crowd. "Mark that as a failed experiment"

Marluxia walked forward to follow behind Vexen, a slight look of shock on his face.

The kitchen area became deathly quiet as everyone continued to look around at each other.

"Well that was weird" Luxord was first to break the silence. He ran a hand quickly through his short blonde hair as he watched everyone nod in a agreement.

"But at least no one got hurt" Namine said as she turned to exit the kitchen.

"I guess that's one way to wake a house up in the morning" Xion said as she shook her head and followed Namine out.

"So, now what?" Demyx looked around at the remaining people in the kitchen which happened to be Xigbar, Xaldin, Roxas, Axel, Zexion and Luxord. Xemnas had silently snuck out unnoticed as soon as the smoke had cleared.

"I am soaking wet, and ready to be off my feet" Xigbar said with a sigh.

"Same here" Xaldin said and turned to reach for Xigbar's hand. "Still up for that movie?"

Xaldin smiled as Xigbar reached forward and laced his fingers through his. They waved at the group in the kitchen before disappearing around the corner.

"Well" Luxord asked as he turned to face the remainder of the group. "What were your plans for today?"

"We were all just gonna hang out and play some video games" Roxas said as he grabbed Axel's hand. "Wanna join?"

"Nah" Luxord shook his head. "I'm not very good at video games, but I have a better idea. C'mon" he motioned with his hand for the group to follow him. As they all looked around and shrugged their shoulders, Demyx grabbed Zexion's hand and they followed in the direction Luxord had just left.

As they past through the main living room, the smell of pine was heavy in the air.

"Hey guys"

The group waved at Rinoa as they passed and saw that Leon, Larxene and Lexaeus were making sure the large tree was sturdy enough to stand on it's own.

They wandered towards the back of the Castle where a large room with a few tables and chairs sat in near one of the walls. This was generally used as a craft room or a place to have quick group meetings.

"So, what're we doing exactly?" Axel asked as he stopped near one of the tables and pulled Roxas to stand in front of him so he could wrap his arms around him.

"Let's play some real games" Luxord said with a laugh as he walked across the room and towards a large white cabinet.

"What'ya mean 'real games'?" Zexion asked as he fingered quoted the words.

Luxord reached his hands up and pulled on one of the large doors revealing a series of shelves stacked with various board games. "Ya know, like before everything revolved around electronics"

"You mean the games you played as a kid?!" Axel said with a snort.

"Ha ha, very funny" Luxord looked back and rolled his eyes.

"I didn't even know we had all of these" Demyx said as he walked up and stood next to Luxord. He ran a hand down one of the shelves and started to read off some of the names.

"I kind of found it one night when I was awake and just wandering around" Luxord said as he crossed his arms and stepped back.

"Looking for more rum?" Axel asked as he quipped an eyebrow up and poked him lightly in the arm.

"That's for me to know" Luxord grinned.

Roxas knelt down next to Demyx and started skimming over the many different types of games. There were several board games, along with a basket full of decks of cards and a tin of plastic poker chips. They spotted what looked like paint pens of some sort and were pretty sure they were used for Bingo.

"Hey, let's play this one!" Demyx said loudly as he pulled a game from the bottom shelf and held up it up with a big smile.

"What's 'Twister'?" Zexion asked as he looked at the box Demyx was holding.

Demyx stared wide eyed at his boyfriend as he asked "You've never played Twister?"

Zexion shook his head a few times as Axel and Roxas started to chuckle.

"This should be fun" Axel said with a grin as he winked at Roxas.

Demyx watched as Roxas rolled his eyes while he lifted the lid off of the box. "It's really not that complicated Zex, you just do whatever the spinner tells you based on body parts and colors"

"What body parts, exactly?" Zexion asked with a raised eyebrow as Demyx pulled the large plastic sheet from the box and walked towards the center of the room.

"Hands and feet mostly" Axel said and then smiled "Though sometimes your ass ends up on a color if you twist just right"

"Don't you mean wrong?" Roxas asked. "If your butt is on a circle it means you fell and you lose"

"It all depends on who you're playing with" Axel grinned as he quirked an eyebrow and rubbed under his chin.

"I don't wanna know!" Roxas held up his hands as he walked over to where Demyx had laid the mat on the floor.

"Okay" Demyx said with a smile "Who wants to be Caller?" he held up the square board with a spinner in the center and four basic colors around it.

"I will" Luxord said as he walked towards Demyx with his hand outstretched.

"So…now what?" Zexion asked as he approached the group.

He watched as Axel, Demyx and Roxas all stood on one of the four sides of the mat.

"Stand right here Zex" Demyx pointed to the remaining corner that was close to him, putting Zexion between himself and Roxas.

Luxord reached next to one of the tables and pulled a chair out as Zexion stopped at his appointed spot. "Quick question first guys" Luxord watched as four sets of eyes were directed towards him as he sat down.

"Don't tell me you can't remember what the colors are, Lux?" Axel pointed his finger towards the blonde and laughed.

"Again, ha ha Axel" Luxord rolled his eyes as he finger flicked at the spinner. "No, do you all want the same call, or individual calls?"

"Huh?" Zexion asked and looked towards Demyx.

"We'll all do the same moves" Demyx said with a smile "That way it won't confuse anyone."

"Plus it's more fun that way" Roxas grinned.

"Alright then. Here we go. You guys ready?" Luxord asked as he held the spinner in his hands. After everyone nodded, he placed his finger on the black arrow in the center and gave it a good turn letting it spin fast around the square a few times before stopping.

"First move is…Right Hand Red" Luxord called out loudly.

Axel and Roxas bent and placed their hand on one of the circles. Axel had to lean over, because he was further from the red dots.

"See Zex?" Demyx knelt and placed his hand on one of the circles. "Like this"

"Ah. Okay" Zexion knelt next to Demyx and placed his hand on a dot.

"Next is…" Luxord gave the spinner another flick. "Right Foot Green"

"Easy" Demyx said with a smile.

"Got it" Roxas said as he and Axel both placed their foot on a dot.

"Um," Zexion looked at Demyx and then at the mat.

"What?" Demyx asked looking down.

"Well," Zexion made to lift his foot. "I kinda gotta stick my butt in your face if I put my foot over there" he pointed to the spot with his other hand.

Zexion heard as everyone around him started to laugh. "That's the whole point of the game!" Demyx grinned at him.

"To put your butt in people's faces?" Zexion asked as he turned his body.

"If it happens" Roxas shrugged his shoulders from where he was squatting on the floor.

"Alright then" Zexion said as he placed his foot on the dot opposite of his hand.

"I like where this is going already" Demyx laughed as he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Hey" Zexion tried looking between his legs as he spoke to Demyx kneeling behind him "Don't get any ideas!"

Everyone started laughing again as Luxord spun the spinner once more.

"Okay guys, now it's…" the spinner stopped "Left Hand Blue"

After a few turns there was no need to explain where to place your body parts and whether or not you crossed paths with another. Luxord proceeded to call out colors and watched as the group wound themselves into pretzels around the mat.

"Right Foot Yellow" Luxord called out.

"I'm gonna fall!" Zexion yelled as he reached his toes towards the nearest yellow dot.

"My hand is slipping!" Demyx shouted as his hand started to slide from the green dot it was on.

"Ahhh!" Demyx and Zexion both fell and landed on each other, nearly avoiding the odd shaped pretzel ball that was Axel and Roxas combined as they were twisted around each other.

"How are you two bending like that?" heads turned to see Namine and Xion walking into the room.

"Let's just say" Axel grinned from over top of Roxas "That we've learned to be very flexible"

"Eww, did not need to know that" Namine said as Xion started to giggle.

Demyx helped Zexion stand up as he rolled to the side to get off the mat. "So, we lost?" Zexion asked as he glanced down at Roxas and Axel.

"Yeah, until one of them falls, then the game starts over"

"Can I play next turn?" Xion asked excitedly.

"Sure, if one of them ever falls!" Demyx said loudly as another color was called and both of them began to turn their bodies.

"Axel!" Luxord called . "I said Left Hand Blue, not Roxas' arse!"

"Sorry" Axel reached up and pinched one of Roxas' butt cheeks as the blonde squeaked and tried his best to not move "Couldn't resist. It's right there!" he pinched him once more.

"Stop it!" Roxas yelled "You're gonna make me fall!"

"Ooh, pinch him again then" Xion said with a smile.

"Cheater!" Roxas tried to turn his head to where Xion was standing.

"Hmm" Axel grinned as he lifted one of his hands from the mat.

"What?" Roxas asked trying to see what Axel was up to. "What are you doing?"

"Making up my own move" Axel said as he slid one of his feet to the side. "How about Red Head on top of Cute Blonde?"

"Axel, don't you dare" But before Roxas could move from his awkward position, Axel had wrapped both his arms around him and flipped him over so that his back landed on the mat.

Axel grabbed both of Roxas' wrists and pinned them behind his head to keep him from wiggling around too much. He grinned at him before he bent down and placed his lips over his. Roxas stopped moving as soon as he felt the softness of Axel's mouth press onto his. He relaxed his body and closed his eyes as Axels kissed around his mouth.

"Um guys?" Demyx asked.

"Hmm?" Axel didn't lift his head.

"Can you get off the Twister mat if you wanna make-out?" Namine asked a little bitterly.

"Oh, sure." Axel lifted his face and watched as Roxas blinked up at him a few times. He let go of Roxas' wrists and pushed himself up off the mat, then held a hand out. "C'mon Rox"

Roxas grabbed Axel's hand and let him pull him to his feet. They walked over to where Luxord was sitting and Axel pulled out a chair and placed it next to Luxord's. He waited for Roxas to sit on his lap, then wrapped his arms around him.

"Happy now?" Axel asked with a smirk towards where the group stood around the Twister mat.

Xion and Namine stood at the spots that had been Roxas and Axel's, as Demyx and Zexion stepped back into the spots they'd had before.

"Ready?" Luxord asked.

"Yup!" Xion said excited as the other three nodded.

"Okay" Luxord spun the arrow in the center, then held the board over for Axel and Roxas to see.

"Right Foot Yellow" Roxas called as he leaned back into Axel.

The game went pretty much as before. Xion would laugh every time someone ended up placing their butts in each other's faces and Namine was somehow doing a weird type of backbend. Roxas, Axel and Luxord were taking turns calling out the moves.

"Now who's the flexible one?" Roxas called out as Namine turned and placed her hand on a far dot behind her.

"Six years of gymnastics!" Namine called out from her bend.

"Demyx, you're stepping on my hand" Xion said as she tried to wiggle her fingers under the arch of Demyx's foot.

"Opps, sorry" Demyx said as he lifted his foot.

"Wait, don't put your foot…!" Zexion tried to say, but it was too late.

As Demyx stepped back, he stepped onto one of Zexion's feet making him twist and slide across the mat knocking into Xion who squealed as she toppled over onto Namine. There were a few screams, then everyone was laughing as they lay in a big ball of limbs in the center of the plastic mat.

"That was fun!" Xion laughed. "Are you okay Nami?"

"Yeah" Namine gave a thumbs up as she nodded her head a few times.

"Ow, I hurt my elbow" Zexion laughed as he held his arm at an angle.

"Then why are you laughing Zex?" Demyx asked with a chuckle.

"I don't know" Zexion shrugged "I guess I hit my funny bone"

The whole room burst into laughter at this comment.

"So, what do we wanna play now?" Roxas asked from where he was sitting on Axel's lap.

"I don't care. You pick" Demyx said as he scooted back from the ball on the floor and pushed himself to and standing position. He reached down and helped Zexion stand up, then held a hand out to Xion as Zexion helped Namine stand up.

"Alright" Roxas smiled as he stood up and pulled Axel over to the cabinet with him. Luxord placed the spinner back in the box as Demyx and Zexion folded the mat up.

"How about we play strip poker?" Axel said with a grin.

"NO!" the word was unanimous and a slight echo rang off the walls of the large room.

"Just joking" Axel said holding his hands up as mercy.

"Guys, we've got a whole closet of games to choose from" Roxas said as he ran a finger down several familiar titles.

"And all day to play them" Luxord said from behind the group as he watched with a smile while they all talked excitedly about the various types of games.