~Chapter One~

(I own nothing)

"Zexxy!" Dear God, what now? I turned, just in time to be bowled down by an overly enthusiastic Demyx.

"What do you want?" He stuck his lip out at me, pouting like the immature moron he is.

"Aww, c'mon, Zexxy. Have a little fun with me."

"Stop calling me that!" I snapped, finally losing my patience. The look on his face would have made me feel slightly guilty- except that I knew that it wasn't sincere. He was just pretending to be hurt. I had fallen for his tricks too many times before. "And stop trying to make me feel bad. Surely by now you know that I am incapable of feeling remorse." Sure enough, his injured look gave way to a more playful one.

"Eh, it doesn't hurt to try, does it?"

"I dunno, Demyx. Looks like he might end up hurting you in a minute here," Axel piped up. Damn that roommate of mine... I gave him a glare as well, which he ignored. It was his fault, after all, that I had to deal with this fool Demyx. Well, partially his fault. He and his boyfriend, Roxas, had gotten the brilliant idea to try to set me up with Roxas's roommate. Now, I like Roxas well enough, I guess. He's nice, not too loud or obnoxious like Axel, and seems to be halfway intelligent. So foolishly, I agreed to meet this guy. He was totally different from whatever I had expected. He was like... well, he's hard to describe, but he's got that irritating streak of Axel's that drives me crazy and enough energy to rival a squirrel (or any rodent, for that matter). He wouldn't shut up- especially when it came to anything that had to do with music. Apparently, this guy played every instrument imaginable. Even with those that he'd never played or even heard of, he had an uncanny talent for picking them up, spending a few hours with them, and ending up sounding like a professional. This aspect of him was one that I could admire- it's obvious that he's extremely intelligent and talented. That's not really the only thing that drew me to him, though. No, as much as I complain about him, I don't hate him. Quite the opposite, actually. He drives me crazy, but I do enjoy spending time with him, and we usually get along pretty well. What really kept me interested in him was the absolute earnestness with which he faces life. Everything he does, he faces with complete sincerity. If he doesn't like something, he'll tell you that he doesn't like it. When he likes something, on the other hand, he makes it damn clear to everyone he meets. Which was why he was, at the moment, trying to hold my hand. Well, I guess I could let him, just for right now, because there was no one around except for Axel and Roxas, and they don't actually count. As soon as I stopped trying to wrench my hand away from his eager grasp, his expression turned into a wide smile, although he said nothing (for once). Alright, so maybe I did like Demyx quite a bit, but there was no way that anyone would hear me admit it. No way. Okay, maybe.

"Oooh, Zexion! Guess what?" I sighed, not missing the sly look that passed between Axel and Roxas. They found it absolutely hilarious that I would put up with his antics, and they enjoyed laughing about how angry I was about the whole thing. Haha, guys. Really funny.

"What, Demyx?"

"So I found this sheet music online, and it's the theme to the new Zelda game, for the piano. I ordered a copy of it this morning!" He smiled at me brightly, clearly ecstatic about said music.

"Cool," I muttered, giving his hand a quick squeeze. His eyes widened slightly, and I must say that it was a very amusing sight. "You'll have to play it for us when you get it." He beamed at me, obviously thrilled that I was showing an interest in what he was talking about. Yeah, he was rather soothing to be around, despite what I might say sometimes.

"Zex," Demyx whispered quietly. I looked at him questioningly, and he nodded toward my red-headed roommate.

"Axel, put that out this instant!" I shouted when I noticed exactly what he was doing. He rolled his eyes, crumpling the burning piece of paper he held, not even wincing as his hands smothered the flames.

"You're no fun, Zexxy."

"Don't you dare start calling me by those ridiculous nicknames," I warned him. He crossed his arms, glaring at me.

"Oh? And why is Demyx allowed to call you that?" He winked at Roxas, and I knew that my cheeks were flushing bright red.

"For one thing, he's not allowed to, he just does it anyway. For another thing, he's less of a jerk than you are." Beside me, Demyx "eeped" happily. Coming from me, that was practically a compliment.

"So... you like him then?" Roxas asked. I could tell that he was trying to take this conversation somewhere...

"Yeah... why is this of consequence?" So I said that no one would hear me admit it? Well, once again, Axel and Roxas don't really count.

"Well, considering that you don't like anyone that well... Just wondered if you liked him more than you like us," he said, a little too innocently to be believable. Axel nodded in agreement. Yes, I realized that they were baiting me, but I couldn't help myself from correcting him.

"Actually, I am far more attached to him than I am to either of you. Especially you, Axel." This time, Demyx shrieked (yes, he shrieks like a bloody twelve-year-old girl) and squeezed my hand to the point that I couldn't feel my fingers. "Demyx, please stop destroying my hand." He smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, Zexxy," he whispered.

"B-But Zexxy-poo," Axel whimpered, putting his hand to his heart in mock heartbreak. "I thought- I thought that we had something special... if you know what I mean." I glared at him.

"Axel, your attempts at humor do nothing to amuse me." Axel laughed.

"Hey, c'mon, Zexion. I'm just messing with you, man. Not that I don't love you dearly, Zexxy... which just happens to rhyme with sexy." He winked and blew a kiss at me.

"Stay the fuck away from me," I told him, with as much seriousness as I could manage.

"Shit, Demyx, good luck with him," He said, laughing. "And quit glaring at me. Trust me, he's all yours." How dare he-

"Good," Demyx and Roxas said forcefully at the exact same time. Even I had to join in the laughter at their overly possessive attitudes.

"He's no fun, anyway." I had every intention of killing Axel as soon as Demyx and Roxas left.

"Aww, be nice, Axel," Demyx whined. He's very good at whining- believe me. "He's not that bad." I wasn't exactly sure if I should be offended or flattered... Knowing Demyx, though, he meant it in the nicest way possible, so I decided to consider it a compliment. "I like him a lot." Aww... that was pretty cute, I have to say. As much as I seem like an overly stoic jerk, I like cute things, such as animals. And Demyx. I cannot help it; observing things that are perceived as "cute" releases endorphins, creating pleasurable feelings toward cute things. It is why teddy bears and other sorts of stuffed animals are designed the way they are: their proportions mimic those of human babies (short, stubby limbs, small, centered nose, and a very wide forehead), which we instinctively find cute. We are programmed to feel affection towards human babies so that we feel the urge to protect and care for them, thus ensuring the survival of the species. But, I digress... Axel was still provoking Demyx, poking fun at me and my cold personality.

"Alright, you two," I sighed in defeat. "Enough already." Demyx threw his arms around my shoulders. I resisted the urge to shake him off.

"Sorry, Zexion... he was being mean about you." He glared at Axel, obviously still teasing.

"Well, Demyx, thank you for defending my honor," I said sarcastically. He laughed, ruffling my hair.

"Any time, Zexxy!" He kissed my cheek as I muttered angry obscenities, frantically trying to fix my hair. It had looked so good before. Damn him...

A/N: Hey everyone, how's it going? Thank you very much for reading my newest story! I'm having a lot of fun writing it, so I really hope you enjoy it!

I chose the title, because that's the name of Zexion's weapon, his book, in the games, not to mention like a dictionary.

Let me know what you think of it! thank you!

*many thanks to soundofmadness223*

~alex~