"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous."-Ingrid Bergman

Saix stared down at the paper before him, a frown tugging the corners of his lips downward and pen tapping out a slow but irate beat on the desk. His eyes trailed along the jaunty handwriting which about half way down the paper turned to utter nonsense. A doodle of a butterfly captioned with drivel about about a cute girl in a school uniform-completely unrelated to the image as far as he could see. A note to pick up milk which apparently did nothing to remind the one who'd written it to do just that. What looked to be a scribbling of unfinished lyrics.

The tap of the pen increased it's speed as his irritation built. Flipping the page only yielded more of the same. Little doodles, all captioned with things that seemed to hold no connection to the images. More snippets of lyrics, some crossed out hastily. And then, at the bottom, a short scribbling that actually seemed related to the mission. Brief and entirely unhelpful.

The tap of the pen halted as Saix raised his golden eyes to briefly meet with sea-green ones opposite himself. Briefly because the moment Demyx realized they were meeting gazes, he glanced away, seemingly becoming quite taken with the drapes.

"IX."

Reluctantly, Demyx turned his eyes back to Saix.

"Yeah?"

"What is this?" Saix lifted the report and reached across to drop it before the blond on his side of the desk. There was something somewhat satisfying in the way Demyx flinched as the papers landed on the tabletop.

"My report?"

"Is it?" Saix replied in clipped tones, quite unamused. "It looks to me like a pile of pointless doodles and scribbles."

"I might have gotten distracted once or twice. But I did get it finished at least. And I actually remembered to turn it in this time."

"I don't want excuses, IX. I want results. You continue to toe the line and I grow weary of issuing you warnings about correcting your behavior."

Saix absolutely despised the way Demyx chewed his lower lip worriedly. The way his fingers toyed with the strings on his coat absently. The way those sea-green eyes bore into his, full of innocent naivety. Saix despised everything about the blond. Everything.

"Did you ever give any thought to the idea that I might be ADD? 'Cause Vexen was saying-"

Saix cut him off.

"You're not ADD. You focus just fine on that preposterous noise maker you call an instrument. It's only when it's time to work that you lose focus. It seems more likely you're incredibly lazy."

"Ouch..."

"This is your final warning, IX. If you bring one more so-called 'report' to me covered in your mindless whimsies in lieu of actual facts on the mission you've been given, you will find yourself incapable of focusing on breathing. Are we clear?"

A beat of silence as it registered slowly on Demyx's face that he understood what he was being told. However instead of meekly nodding and avoiding Saix's gaze, Demyx leaned forward, folding his arms atop the desk and resting his chin on them.

For several moments silence fell between them and Demyx looked up at him as if he was trying to read something in Saix's eyes. Then with a very soft, vaguely amused smile, the blond stood and made his way around the desk. Saix watched him, still frowning, one thin eyebrow arched in questioning silence.

Demyx merely perched himself on the desk to Saix's right, not sitting and looking down at him rather than up. Saix didn't have to wonder much longer what he was up to however as Demyx's hand cupped his chin and the other man leaned down.

"Is that a promise?"

Saix hadn't been anticipating it and only sat there at first, a bit startled that Demyx was honestly stupid enough to pull such a stunt. But his lips were quite soft and warm. And honestly, it had been quite some time since he'd kissed anyone. So, reaching up, he grabbed Demyx's collar with both hands, yanking him along the desk so that he could tug Demyx down onto his lap. There was a muffled noise of surprise from the blond, but Saix didn't honestly care. He held tight to Demyx's coat as he kissed back fiercely, nipping some at Demyx's lower lip.

Eventually Demyx's hands found their way into Saix's hair, combing through it gently, nails lightly scraping at his scalp. However Saix only let it continue on for a few minutes before he released his hold on Demyx and pushed him back some, trying to catch his breath.

Demyx grabbed at Saix's shoulders to keep from tumbling off his lap and onto the floor, looking a bit dazed. Once Saix had caught his breath however, the action didn't matter because he yanked Demyx's hands free of his shoulders and slid the chair back so that he could deposit Demyx onto the floor at his feet.

"What," Saix began, glaring down at the blond who was blinking up at him in surprise, "was that?"

The nervous, breathy chuckle that escaped Demyx seemed somehow out of place in the situation, but a grin spread over his lips anyway.

"Well... you said you'd make me 'incapable of focusing on breathing'." Demyx replied. "I kind of thought that might be what you meant."

Saix could feel his lips pull into a taut, straight line. And slowly, very slowly, he raised one leg. And delivered a single kick to Demyx's face, sending him sprawling backwards and causing him to hit his head on the desk behind him. That done, he stood up and started slowly for the door, pausing only once he reached it to shoot Demyx a look over his shoulder.

"If you enjoy being alive, I would suggest you don't pull a stunt like that again, IX."

Saix hated Demyx. He hated him with every fiber of his being. And as far as he was concerned, the fact that he was an exceptionally good kisser was just one more reason to feel that way.