Down below things had remained untouched. Zexion dozed in a corner beneath a blanket, whatever tome he'd immersed himself in forgotten in slumber. He smiled, tucking the thick material tighter around the little Schemer and kissing his brow. He was the watchdog for the basement, always protecting and guarding his companions. Little Ienzo had always been his favorite of the apprentices after Even.

Now he charged unto the battlefield, into the confines of the dungeon bedroom where his beloved lay at unrest. Vexen watched his every move, the air in the room snapping frozen instantly. The temperature dropped with every inch closer he grew until ice crystals hung in space, Vexen freezing the very oxygen around them. It was no warning. It was a threat. A very dangerous threat. Lexaeus reached the bed and snatched Vexen's hand into his, lacing their finegrs lovingly. Throughout his body frost raged, freezing the water within. Lexaeus made no move to defend himself. He knew all it would take was time to kill him now, his lips already purple with chill. Vexen frowned and threw a thick blanket around Lexaeus's shoulders, the frost melting away.

"You would have let me kill you without a fight, wouldn't you?" Vexen pulled the blanket tighter around his lover.

"I would." his voice ached with hurt that Vexen would even consider, "If it is what you wanted..."

Vexen leaned close and wrapped his arms around Lexaeus's thick neck, pulling himself as close to the other's body as he could get. He overreacted as Lexaeus had some hours prior. He knew the brunette loved him enough to entrust the scientist with his very life. No, it was more than that... In that instant Vexen had seen something that Lexaeus saw everyday, with every touch and every whisper, every move of that giant body against and within him.

Frailty.

Lexaeus in that instat had been frozen through, the seemingly invincible man rendered completely helpless by the frost within him. If Vexen willed he could have chilled the air from his lungs, clogged his veins with ice and snow and watched him wither and die. Such an easy manuever. He wanted Vexen to understand what he saw. Shake him back into common sense again. Needless to say it worked.

"My love.." Lexaeus drew Vexen closer. "I never meant to hurt you.. I forget my own might.. how frail you are... I never meant to ever bring harm to you.. just as you never meant to bring harm to me but moments ago."

"Lexaeus I-" Any protest was swallowed into the brunette's strong mouth, tongues dancing feeding off sweet passion and adrenaline rumbling deep in their bodies. How easily they were swept away from reality into this realm where only they existed.

"Shh.. be silent, Vexen." Lexaeus pet the soft blonde strands, "There is no need to fear, no concern for words. We are safe here, together and warm in each other's arms. Whole... " He brushed a hand over the cheek where the red mark had faded, "I just wish you forgive me for what I did."

Vexen reached up to lace their fingers, falling back hand in hand to the sheets with his beloved safe by his side. Even the winter needed summer's flame to exist, lest it be permanently frozen and forget what it meant to love in such an empty world.

"My brave fool." Vexen kissed his hand, watching thieir palms with a content smile. "Of course I do."

If he had a heart, this is where it would beat.