Hey guys. I'll try to update Keeping Up the Pace tonight, but it'll probably be tomorrow. Sorry for the wait :/

Might be OOC

Disclaimer: This wasn't meant to be Zemyx, so read it in what way you will, and I also don't own Kingdom Hearts. I wish I owned a Zexion replica, though ;)

Zexion sighed heavily. It was summer, and their boss, Xemnas, simply insisted that the office go to the beach for a party, and had not taken 'no' for an answer.

The slate-haired man had tried his hardest to worm out of the situation, but Xemnas was adamant in his decision and had threatened to fire the sixth member if he did not attend.

"Besides, it's one day. Surely that wouldn't kill you?" he had said. Zexion couldn't find a good enough argument to counter his boss, and thus ended up sitting in the back seat of Luxord's van, driving to Destiny Islands with the rest of his co-workers. He drummed his fingers impatiently on his thigh: he was bored, and wanted to get the party over with as quickly as possible.

He had not brought anything to amuse himself with, as he reckoned a book would get ruined quickly and anything technical would quickly get lost, stolen, or damaged; he was starting to regret his decision.

It's one day. Less than twenty-four hours. With the whole office.

Xemnas expects me to enjoy this?

To his right, Demyx was chattering away idly, mostly to Roxas or Axel, but a couple times politely tried to make conversation with the Cloaked Schemer, and succeeded for a short while, getting small responses in return.

In all honestly, he almost felt bad for Demyx. He was young, had the potential to be hardworking, and was enthusiastic about many things, but was usually ignored because of his tendency to be a little haywire and random.

He sighed.

"Luxord, how much longer until we reach the beach?" he called out to the front. Luxord shrugged.

"Might be ten minutes? Aye, but you can wait." He winked at the mirror, aiming it at Zexion, and resumed driving as though nothing happened. Zexion sat back with a sigh and closed his eyes, feigning sleep, hoping that he would, actually, fall asleep and be forgotten until they returned.

No such luck.

Demyx laughed quietly.

"You made a rhyme," he commented. Zexion shrugged.

"It was unintentional." He cracked a grin and began talking again, but the slate-haired man couldn't follow his words as the topic changed randomly every few minutes. Then, a question directed at him caught his attention.

"Hey, Zexion? Why do you think the Superior made my code name 'Melodious Nocturne'?" The innocence and curiosity of Demyx's voice surprised the quiet man, and he shrugged.

"Don't you play the sitar, as well as the piano, guitar, and violin? I would surmise that is what prompted Xemnas to name you that."

"Yes, but what about the Nocturne part?"

"You happen to frequently pull all-nighters, which would make you nocturnal, or active at night; however, Nocturne means a dreamy musical composition that suggest a tranquil mood, which would allude to the Melodious part of your codename. There are two ways of interpreting it; which you choose, I do not care." Zexion looked out of the window after explaining to Demyx his name, and sighed, bored again, when suddenly the mullethawked man squeezed him tightly in a unexpected hug.

"Wow! Thanks, Zexion!" he said, smiling. The bus screeched to a stop, causing everyone to crash into the seat in front of them, as Luxord looked behind him at the passengers.

"Well… we're here!"

Zexion had gone down to the beach with the rest of them, but stayed in his day-clothes, loath to enter the water. He felt a little bit excluded, but the feeling was familiar and did not bother him; however, seeing even Lexaeus, Vexen (who was wearing an ancient, striped, one-piece bathing suit with legs and sleeves), and Saix venture into the water slightly unnerved the quiet man as he sat down on the hot sand underneath one of the group's large umbrellas.

Wait… where is Number IX?

He searched the water and shoreline for the mullethawked young man, but did not catch any sight of him.

Perhaps he returned to the bus…? Or maybe he's at the ice-cream stand. Someone would have noticed if he drowned.

He began dozing off underneath the umbrella, trying to ignore the shrieks of Larxene and the laughter of the others, when suddenly someone tapped his shoulder.

"Zexion?"

He groaned and opened his eyes. Demyx, wearing nothing but blue swim shorts, was crouched next to him holding two sea-salt ice creams.

"Can I sit next to you?" Zexion stretched and looked up at the blond blankly.

"If you wanted to…" Demyx grinned widely and thanked him, and offered one of the ice-creams to him.

Zexion glanced at it with disinterest.

"No, thank you."

"But I bought it for you!"

"Will they let you return it?"

"I don't think so…"

"Then give it to Axel."

"No. It's for you," insisted Demyx, and, once Zexion opened his mouth to reply, gently inserted the ice candy into his coworker's mouth.

The slate-haired man nearly gagged in surprise. That Demyx had the nerve to stuff one of his ice-creams into his mouth! His teeth tingled at the sudden cold, and he quickly pulled it out of his mouth.

"How dare—"

"Gotta eat it now, Zex: your spit's on it!" Zexion glared at the cheerful blond, who was busy slurping his own ice-cream to notice, and reluctantly inserted the ice-cream in his mouth once more.

It was an unusual taste, but not unpleasant: it tasted like vanilla, but had a slight hint of salt in it as well. Biting off a chunk of the ice-candy, Zexion sucked and crushed the sweet in his mouth as he stared out into the ocean.

"Demyx?"

"Wow, you know my name! It's surprising you know, since you usually call me by my number… what is it?"

"Why would you buy me an ice-cream?" Demyx's face fell.

"You… don't you like it?"

"No… I don't not like it… It's just new… and why would you buy it for me? What have I done to warrant this action from you?" Demyx looked confused for a moment before bursting into a short bout laughter.

"Zex, I don't need a reason to buy something for a friend!" he exclaimed.

His words surprised the slate-haired man.

"A…. friend?"

"Yeah! We're friends now! Starting with when you explained my name to me!"

"This is how you decide to repay that little explanation?" asked Zexion incredulously. Demyx chuckled lightly and shrugged.

"If you want to take it that way, then sure! Hey, after we finish, let's go into the water! It's not as cold as you'd think!"

"I beg to differ," cut in the high voice of their only female colleague. "That water's freezing, and I would know: Firecrotch dunked me in it." She shivered and grabbed a towel, which happened to be the pyro's. Larxene either didn't notice or didn't care. Zexion raised an eyebrow as she sat down beside him.

"So… what are you two doing?" she asked, with a hint of suggestiveness in her voice. There was a rumour that Demyx swung both ways, and Larxene evidently believed it. Zexion's eyebrows furrowed.

"Nothing. We're doing nothing. Just breathing, eating ice-cream, and watching the water, as well as enjoying a private conversation that you so blatantly cut in to," he said in a bored tone. Larxene raised her eyebrows.

"What kind of private conversation, hmm?" she asked, but never got an answer: Axel chose that moment to sneak up behind her and empty a bucket of ice-cold water onto her head, accidently splashing some on Zexion as well. Larxene shrieked (Zexion could have sworn he went temporarily deaf) and swore harshly, threatening to castrate Axel if she ever caught up to him, as well as other violent things. Axel merely laughed and took off, finding the whole thing very hilarious, and not seeming to take Larxene's threats serious at all.

The two watched them run until they were lost amongst the crowd.

"Do you think Axel realizes that he soaked his only towel?"

"I dunno… hahaha, but I wonder if Larxene actually would… y'know… castrate him. Her threats aren't usually empty…" mused Demyx, rubbing his neck. "I know from experience." His wry smile earned a small grin on Zexion's face, and he bit into his ice-candy thoughtfully.

"Is the water really that cold?" Demyx shrugged.

"It wasn't to me, but I guess you get used to it. Then again, you're always in Vexen's freezing lab, so… you might find it lukewarm?"

Zexion thought about this for a full two minutes before finishing off his ice-cream and tossing the stick away in the trash bin.

"Alright…" he said, to the joy of his 'friend', a choice he was soon to regret.

True to Larxene's words, the water was, indeed, freezing.

"So? Didn't you enjoy yourself?" asked Xemnas with a smug face, standing in front of his colleague's bed. Zexion glared at the Superior with a look that clearly wished him a painful death, which was slightly ruined by a sneeze and subsequent shivers from the hypothermic-ridden male.

"No. I'm sick now and it is your fault. If you hadn't forced me to go to your stupid party, and if you hadn't allowed Axel to douse me with the ice-water while I was wrapped in a towel, we wouldn't be in this situation, and I wouldn't be sick."Xemnas chuckled, his amber eyes mocking his sixth underling.

"Cheer up. You have a new boyfriend to take care of you." Demyx, who was sitting by Zexion's bed, blushed, as did the sick man.

"I am not his boyfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend!"

Their synchronized responses earned a disbelieving smirk from their boss as he shook his head, muttered 'Whatever', and left the room, taking care to close the door behind him.