212 °F (Xemnas)

[Vexen]

For most elements, the freezing point and the melting point is exactly the same.

For Vexen, the melting point was anything above 60 °F, and any days which crossed that point were days where one could find the scientist clinging tightly to the nearest air conditioner as if he would become a puddle on the floor the instant he detached himself from it. The Chemistry lab's A/C always seemed to be cranked down as low as it could go, and now that it was summer, its professor seemed to have taken a great liking to tying his long hair back in a ponytail. How very hip.

One might wonder, then, why it was that Vexen saw fit to continue wearing his Organization cloak even on the days where it spiked up towards the nineties. Perhaps it had some sort of value to him -- a constant reminder of what used to be, what could have been, what was, and what wasn't. A reminder of past mistakes. A reminder of future hopes. Whatever the case, he simply refused to give it up, and if that meant enduring the unbearable summer heat, that was fine with him.

Something less easily explained was what in the hell Vexen was doing in the hot springs, of all places. Usually stripping oneself completely naked resulted in feeling less warm, which seemed to be the scientist's ultimate goal -- and really, subjecting himself to axellian temperatures was not his idea of relaxation. In addition, he must have looked positively silly sitting submerged and clinging to a small, continuously-freezing-and-melting block of ice like it was a lifesaver keeping him afloat, but there was no one else around and he absolutely wouldn't be able to care less even if he did have a heart.

He was alone. He could think. And eventually, if he allowed himself to relax, it almost became...enjoyable. Almost. At least his muscles, tense from a day full of idiot students doing idiotic things in the most idiotic of manners possible, were finally beginning to unwind, aches melting away.

Seriously, though -- he was beginning to rethink this whole teaching gig. Too much stress, not nearly enough reward, and considering his resume, he seriously should have been given a higher paycheck. He made a mental note to have a chat with the principal about that later -- whoever the principal was -- and already started to contemplate exactly how he should present that case. Maybe if he could win at least a small victory there, the rest would be worth it somehow.

But if he had one more stressor to add to the list...

[Xemnas]

Being unable to convert Sora to his side had been frustrating. Having Roxas and Axel both turn their backs on the Organization had been infuriating. Dying at Sora's hands had been humiliating. Failing Kingdom Hearts had been devastating.

How did none of that measure up to the unbearable physical need to turn one snotty teenager after another into a Dusk?

Xemnas was beginning to reevaluate his entire situation and explore the idea that there were now emotions simmering below the surface where there had once been cold logic. The connection to Kingdom Hearts certainly hadn't left him untouched, and if nothing else he must have recovered enough memories of human emotions to be capable of simulating them again. All in all, it wasn't a bad outcome...and he was more fascinated with them than with anything else, even when he had the inclination to apply for the position of a principal. That had been nothing more than the result of seeing Roxas among the students--so he told himself, but in truth there was a strange warmth to the idea of taking charge again. If any more vestiges of nothingness had returned to this world, perhaps they would convene under his power again.

His power, though, was the issue. He didn't seem to have very much of it, or maybe it was just the comparison between the glorious limitlessness of being bound to Kingdom Hearts and his own individual control.

At any rate, it was a matter that required thinking, and Xemnas had taken to rare periods at the hot springs to do just that. It was also, of course, habit. A body without emotion sought pleasures of the flesh, and sinking into the scalding embrace of water and rock was satisfying in a way he hadn't previously investigated.

Xemnas picked odd times on purpose in order to ensure that he was alone, so when he stepped out onto the rock with nothing but a white towel over one deep bronze shoulder, the last person he expected to see in the water was Vexen. He stopped, blinking once, and tried to analyze the suddenness of having the world jolt in front of his eyes. What was this...starkness? This must be...surprise, he realized finally, and his eyes came back into focus on the reason for that pseudo emotion. It had to be purely a reaction to encountering him in this particular place, and not seeing him alive. After all, he'd seen Vexen's name on the list of teachers under his employ and had meant to meet with him--but after a nightmare that had left him shaking and breathless, Xemnas had been doggedly studying dreams in his free time and the fact that Vexen existed (or didn't) slipped his mind.

"...Number Four," he said simply.

Modesty didn't occur to him.

[Vexen]

He was getting lost in his memories again. The scenes that played out behind closed eyes weren't particularly cherished ones, but they were important nonetheless. He had to remind himself why he was here. Memories were all he had left to cling to, after all, even if they weren't pleasant ones -- and if analyzing them more closely meant avoiding a horrible fiery death a second time around, well...

"...Number Four."

His brow furrowed in confusion for a moment, not fully realizing what he'd just heard until he opened his eyes and looked to s--

"ARHGGGGGFKJFLJF?!!"

Xemnas.

Naked.

The image of Xemnas in of itself was enough to cause the following reaction: an effeminate scream dying into a muffled gargling as Vexen jolted back, flailing to grip something to keep himself upright but failing miserably, thus becoming completely submerged. The iceblock he had been holding onto very quickly melted once he let go of it, leaving nothing but the steam and the water's refraction of light to uphold any sense of modesty, and the scientist proceeded to splash around for a few seconds as he attempted to figure out which way was up.

"Sup--hfsshh--Superi--sthpphth--rior--sthtpp--"

Finally he found his grip on some rock or another and clung to it for dear life.

"Superior," he managed to choke out after a few tries. "I did not--I--when--!?

And then he saw that, and any and all thought processes effectively stopped. For three seconds. And then it occurred that Xemnas wasn't here to kill him -- if he were, then he certainly wouldn't do it completely naked -- and that took things down from I am about to die[/color] to merely an alarmed what.[/color]

"I did not. Expect." He blinked, drawing a breath and forcing himself to keep eye contact. Just...what...was he supposed to say?

"What...are you doing here, Superior?"

[Xemnas]

Vexen's floundering didn't arouse much interest in the former Superior, but when his subordinate asked that question, Xemnas raised a silver eyebrow. Did you believe me dead? he almost asked, but Vexen--poor, obsessed, silly Vexen--had died too early to even realize that Xemnas's life might be in danger. In fact, as far as he knew, the rest of the Organization should still be alive...but returning to the ruin of the World That Never Was may have implied differently.

"It so happens that these springs are convenient. Wouldn't you agree?" Xemnas asked smoothly, slipping the towel off his shoulder. "It seems I should have contacted you earlier. Given that Roxas and Sora are both in attendance, I have also found a station at the Academy as principal. However..." His orange eyes grew distant. "I do not expect an opportunity to use the one or the other to present itself. For the time being, it would be more beneficial to examine the reasons for our recurrence in this world and investigate our situation as an Organization." He hesitated, a hint of iron in his eyes when he turned them back on Vexen. "You, of course...remain my ally." There was a faint hint of a question in his voice, but he didn't add anything to suggest that it wasn't a simple statement of fact.

The question he did pose, though, was preceded by a subtle appraisal of Vexen's form through the haze and the water. "Will you mind it if I join you?"

[Vexen]

This...wasn't...part of the plan.

"N. No. Not at all. This is your facility, after all."

When did Xemnas become principal?

Moreover, what's happened to Organization XIII? For Xemnas to abandon Kingdom Hearts, something drastic must have happened. He'd already figured out from his chat with Riku that the plans had gone awry (or had they been completed?), but...wait. Recurrence.

His eyes narrowed a little, staring just past Xemnas's hip. Did that mean they had all had fallen to the might of the keyblade..?

"What...do you mean by 'our situation as an Organization?'" He had oh so many questions beyond that, but one thing at a time. Xemnas, with his love of monologues and his tendency to pontificate at length over even the most insignificant of details, would no doubt bring him up to speed in the next few minutes, and everything would be fine.

He was not considered a traitor after all, it seemed.

But still, meeting up with him again was a terrifying thing, and that terror did not go away very easily -- add that to the awkwardness of the lack of garments between them, and, well. Vexen was as tense as a coil, already-tight muscles now almost trembling, making his distress all too visible.

Xemnas would notice -- because he's Xemnas, and Xemnas notices everything. Vexen took a deep breath to try and calm himself. To think, the man he used to look at as an equal...

There was no comparison anymore.

[Xemnas]

Once Vexen gave the word, Xemnas inclined his head, draping the towel over a rock and moving for the water without hesitation. "Be that as it may, it remains your personal space." Which was more or less code for Please refrain from assaulting me, I'd rather not eliminate you.

He was definitely bold enough to sit right next to Vexen, but he took a position somewhere in between beside and across from him regardless. Instead of testing the water he just gave himself to it, as though refusing to surrender to the initial pain, and settled back against the rock with a half-uncomfortable, half-satisfied groan.

Orange eyes studied Vexen's shuddering form critically. "You need not falsify trepidation, Four. I am well aware of the motives behind your actions and the matter has been dealt with."

Sinking down and letting the water swallow him up to his throat, Xemnas let his eyes wander from Vexen to the springs around them. "The Organization is scattered at present. Since your unavoidable demise and the loss of every member at Oblivion save Number Eight, we had been working to assemble Kingdom Hearts without the benefit of Sora's presence. However," he continued, speaking without urgency and seeming more interested in the water running over his fingers than in what he had to say; "this proved to be of little consequence. Sora lost all memory of Castle Oblivion and fell into the hands of our former Master." There was no anger in his tone, but his eyes flashed slightly when he said the last word. "And so we were free to use Thirteen and Fourteen to their full potential. Do not mistake me. Both of your experiments proved unstable and failed, but both were a great asset. In the end," he added, his voice growing quieter as he gazed above the roof of the bathhouse, as though at a Kingdom Hearts that never was, "we lost Roxas."

Roxas had been the key to everything, all of it. The Nobody that Xemnas recruited himself was meant to be their backup plan in constant action, building Kingdom Hearts while Sora slept, and the one element that could not fail as long as his Other was still a threat. The decision to eliminate him had taken all of Xemnas's strength, and even then he'd moved on to strengthen Sora instead of fade back into nothingness.

Water sloshed in protest as Xemnas lifted himself back into a sitting position, letting it ebb a few inches above his waist as drops raced one another down the dip of his collarbone and the bronze orbs of his shoulders. "When Sora awoke, the result was inevitable. Each of his held his own as long as we could. Eight, predictably, was the first to desert." A funny glaze took hold of his eyes then, brows drawing together in what looked like...regret. "...All in vain, Even," he half-whispered. "All in vain." His gaze snapped back to meet Vexen's for the first time since Xemnas had started talking. "Nonetheless, we made it. For an ephemeral moment, it was there. Kingdom Hearts." The way he said it was odd. As if, not only did he know what it meant to Vexen as a Nobody, but he was well aware of what it meant to Vexen the scientist.

As if...the fact that he was telling this to Vexen made a difference.

Xemnas silently filed that conclusion away for further analysis.

[Vexen]

...So that was how it was.

Vexen did not release his hold on the rock to which he clung, only froze it slowly and used it as a substitute for the block of ice he'd lost. He did not speak -- only listened. He did not take his eyes off of Xemnas until the Superior had finally said the three little words he did not want to hear, at which point he couldn't help but look away, first focusing on the silvery tendrils that spread across the surface of the water, then somewhere a little off to the side.

He had nothing to argue. Not with Xemnas. He wanted to protest, to offer that his death was avoidable, that he was only doing what he judged was best for the Organization and that it wouldn't change the whole scheme of things -- that if he had survived, Oblivion wouldn't have fallen, and they wouldn't be sitting in the hot springs right now insincerely mourning their failures.

But Xemnas was Xemnas, and Vexen was...well. Vexen. Persuasion was never a skill he seemed to possess, and Xemnas was never one to be persuaded. And all in all, it was moot anyway. From the sound of it, it had been too long ago -- maybe things went farther along without him than they would have if he hadn't died, not that he'd ever considered that possibility in the slightest -- but it still stung. The fact that they'd failed, that he had died for no reason--

"All in vain, Even."

He glanced back at Xemnas at the sound of his old name, breaking his train of thought to try and think of some words of consoling he could offer -- and then those bright copper eyes met his.

"We made it. For an ephemeral moment, it was there. Kingdom Hearts."

He was speechless.

For a moment, he heard the Xehanort he used to know.

And he couldn't look away. He kept staring, as if expecting him to continue, to tell him that he, if no one else, was able to get his heart back, that the emotion he'd heard in what Xemnas just said wasn't imagined, that someone -- that one of them -- had succeeded. He was hopeful, but that hope was dashed by silence, and his eyes lost their focus.

To think they had come so close.

His gaze lowered a little, trying to imagine what that must have looked like. Before he'd gone to Oblivion, Kingdom Hearts was little more than a theory, a bunch of formulas and footnotes scribbled over every scrap of paper one could find over the course of several all-nighters and many gallons of coffee. Oblivion was supposed to have hastened the process, to have it manifest sooner -- as much as he wanted to go there for the sake of the Organization, there was nothing he looked forward to more than the day he'd get to return and see the luminescent outline of his -- their -- theories coming to fruition.

He was never granted that opportunity. He...had been robbed.

"...I am glad you had the chance to see it," he offered, lips twitching in the start of a smile but failing to finish the effort. It wasn't worth it. But the thought nagged at him, drew Vexen's eyes back up enough to almost meet his Superior's gaze, but that effort was halted too, as if...as if he could not look upon the eyes that had seen Kingdom Hearts.

"...Was it everything we'd imagined?"

[Xemnas]

Xemnas closed his eyes, brows furrowing, as he tried to summon the image. He'd spent so much time up at the Altar, slowly memorizing everything about it, the subtle changes in its surface, the shape, the discolorations and flaws in its surface...for a while it had been an afterimage, trapped on the backs of his eyelids and projected onto each Organization member's face. Though perfect in memory, now it was gone from his gaze.

"It was..." How it almost hurt--how it should hurt, to say that word. Was. Because Kingdom Hearts was, in a way he had never been, and now might never be. "...beautiful." What a paltry word to describe it. But when he thought of it, glistening through the clouds, the hope and dream of the Organization given physical form...words escaped even Xemnas.

For him, mourning it--however falsely--wouldn't be over quickly.

"There were details we did not predict," he continued, knowing Vexen would be interested in the changes their budding Kingdom Hearts had undergone. His inclination to explain seemed to go beyond a simple desire to inform, but also included his inclination to share--an odd development. At any rate, the old notes were gone; lost to the nothingness that had enveloped the World That Never Was in the first place, but Xemnas had maintained a cyclic evaluation of their position in his mind, for the most part. "The purified hearts melded, as we'd seen, but as we built on them they did not lose their overall individuality. Ansem proved this when he invaded our castle and sought to destroy it with a machine meant to reverse the process. He harmed our creation deeply, and we were unable to restore it before Sora eliminated the rest of us. Combining with Kingdom Hearts myself did not halt his advance." He was silent for a moment, resting his elbows back against the stone and looking something very close to sullen, as if Ansem's interference had been his father telling him no. "There is...one detail, Vexen, about which you were correct," he recalled suddenly, turning his head to study the scientist again. "It did not manifest as the same doors we'd observed at the End of the World until I interfered. Initially, it followed a process of bonding with our World That Never Was similar to the one you predicted and appeared to us as our moon."

[Vexen]

(fail post for you~)

Vexen leaned forward a little, completely attentive and waiting for some adequately verbose description that could do the image of Kingdom Hearts in the sky some sort of justice. That expectation went unfulfilled. It was, apparently, exactly as he imagined: indescribable. The word that Xemnas had chosen was too trite, too broad to possibly encompasse all that was Kingdom Hearts, but it was all he had to offer, and that was enough: Kingdom Hearts had essentially left him speechless.

Perhaps Vexen was the luckier one. Which death was the more tragic; dying before even seeing the fruit of all their efforts, or dying just after witnessing it come true? For Vexen, Kingdom Hearts existed only in the imagination; Xemnas had seen it grow and develop, saw it at its zenith, saw its perfection, and yet...he still fell short. Success was tangible for one fleeting moment before slipping through his fingers. To come so close...

How dare he seek pity from the one who had lost the most.

"There were details we did not predict..."

But Vexen's attention was elsewhere, then, his gaze having drifted back down to where the bronze disappeared beneath the water's surface, and he only gave one ear to what Xemnas was saying. Fleeting ghosts of emotions drifted through his mind as he spoke -- astonishment and horror at the mention of Ansem and his deeds, hollow bitterness at Sora's interference, complete awe at the idea that Xemnas had somehow wielded the power of Kingdom Hearts by himself; and yet, none of those emotions appeared on his expression. It simply wasn't worth it.

"...followed a process of bonding with..."

Vexen perked up a little then, gaze lifting only slightly as he tried to delve into the deeper parts of his memory. He had to make an effort to remember the entirety of his hypothesis, wishing dearly that he still had his library's worth of notes in his possession, but that was probably lost along with everything the organization held dear. He still remembered the outline of it, but not the calculations that had brought him to that conclusion; surely, though, it would come back to him if he started from square one. That information in of itself was enough to advance the whole process, and so...

"Fascinating," Vexen finally offered without any real enthusiasm, not even putting forth the effort to fake it. He was too deep in his thoughts for the moment, too wrapped up in memories to think of anything he could say to continue the conversation. Theories and formulas and calculations and estimations were all tangled up in his head, and first and foremost there was that question of where to go from here, seeing as they would have to decide on that before anything else. The most logical course of action would be to find whatever other Organization members were remaining, and to possibly recruit some new Nobodies if the situation were to arise that th...

Those droplets were getting really, really distracting now, and Vexen's trains of thought were beginning to stutter. It was really quite difficult not to stare, though; there was something aesthetically pleasing about the way that slickness reflected off his muscles, the way those silver tresses stayed matted against his skin, and maybe it was simply the fact that he had never seen the Superior like this before, but now that he had a chance to see-- stop that this instant.[/color]

He blinked hard, shook his head as if to clear it, and stared very intently at his own hands.

"Isn't it ironic, given that my hypothesis was the one deemed most likely to be proven false?" That was, of course, provided his memory wasn't failing him right now, which was very possible seeing as how disorganized his thoughts were at the moment. "...You say that you were able to combine with Kingdom Hearts..?"

[Xemnas]

"Fascinating," Vexen said in a tone that didn't really communicate "fascinating." But there was nothing to gain from chiding him for it, and Xemnas was far more interested in the cogs working behind those forest green eyes. Vexen hesitated and suddenly shifted his gaze to his hands, like he didn't want Xemnas to see the thoughts there. "Isn't it ironic, given that my hypothesis was the one deemed most likely to be proven false?"

Xemnas's lips curved upward with a little bitterness, completely expecting a rant, but Vexen tended to control himself around the Superior where Even hadn't. There was something a little nostalgic in that thought, but it was more in the way he'd reacted to Vexen's death along with Lexaeus and Zexion. There had still been humanity in him then, somewhere--definitely less than what Kingdom Hearts had left him with--and hearing about the loss of three of the original six had been hard. Marluxia and Larxene were nothing; neophytes, replaceable, even if their loss was regrettable on a purely quantitative basis. Knowing that Zexion wouldn't be silently disapproving of the more obnoxious Nobodies with Lexaeus looming at his side and Vexen in the basement agonizing over reports...

That had been painful. Or so his memories told him.

"...You say that you were able to combine with Kingdom Hearts..?"

Vexen's voice snapped him back to reality, and Xemnas's eyes found the pale, not quite skeletal figure of his once-inferior again. "It was an act of desperation. Foolish. I had little to gain and everything to lose in the endeavor, but I would not permit the Keybearer to destroy me so easily." He stared off into the distance, trying to recall now the exact feeling that had been the intensity of Kingdom Hearts--how it bolstered the rage that had gripped his heart when Ansem dared to hold him back, tie him down. "However, I proved too reckless for my own good. I could not handle the strain even of a weakened Kingdom Hearts. If Sora had not defeated me, I would have doomed myself regardless." Perhaps someone greater... But he had to eliminate that train of thought because it made him think of Ansem and his hand curled into a fist. Of course he'd taint even that bitter victory. "...That is past. Kingdom Hearts is no more. We must accept this and proceed." It meant going back to square one, especially with all their notes and theories lost to the rubble of the World That Never Was and the haunted emptiness of Castle Oblivion, but if they could reassemble they could start anew.

He looked to Vexen. "I am pessimistic about our chances in reforming the Organization. My power is not what it once was." His look became very direct. "I tell you this because you have my trust. In the meantime, I've noticed certain...discrepancies in my behavior that suggest I have retained some capacity for emotion. It seems to reside only in memory, as it once did, but it's...unusual," he got out, distracted by the disoriented haze of what he thought was a shadow of confusion. "Is this an anomaly, or have you also noticed such changes in yourself?"