spira_rp | Don't believe what you hear

The heat of Rabanastre's day was still cresting when Xigbar arrived at the Sandsea. It never quite got as hot and dry inside the city as beyond the walls, out in the desert, but it could still get fairly unbearable, which was why the early afternoons were good times to retreat indoors. Especially if indoors was somewhere with air conditioning and fridged beer, like the Sandsea was. Afternoons were good business, and the Thirteenth Order had, for now, taken over the running of the place in light of Tomaj's extended and unannounced absence.

He was probably dead, at least in Xigbar's view. The landlord of the Sandsea got to hear all the gossip from a lot of the clans. All it would take would be for someone to want him to unhear something. It was a good location though, and while the lawyers and family did their bit, Xigbar had given a couple of people a nudge, and for now the pub was staying open and under the temporary management of Tomaj's employees. Or rather, under the temporary management of Saix and himself, and technically Demyx even if Demyx didn't do any of the actual management bit.

Saix was like an old hand at the job. Delegating tasks, acquisitioning supplies, and managing rotas was second nature to the dude that had basically served as Xemnas's secretary anyway - because Xemnas would have been blowed if he was doing it, and Xigbar had more important shit to do like earwig at Xemnas's doors. He even looked happy while he worked. Xigbar came in, dressed as casually as was decent in Rabanastre, a land where tiny bolero vests and not much else on teenage boys was the fashion, and parked his ass at the bar. He gave a polite nod to the Squad Three Captain, who Xigbar liked to keep around with the 'free first drink of the day for Gotei Squad members' rule (nothing gave a pub the air of totally-not-a-hive-of-scum-and-villainy-honest like Thirteen Protection Squad Captains drinking there, even if the Captain in question was Gin Ichimaru, and he was, in Xigbar's humbly professional opinion, as bent as a bottle of chips), and seated himself a bit further down the bar, near Axel.

A glance around told Xigbar that a few of the old Organization were lurking today. Lexaeus, completely lost without Zexion, and now Vexen, was spending more time around Xaldin. Larxene stuck with her Jahsinist buddy from Akatsuki these days, but she might be interested in what Marluxia had been up to, too. He didn't see Demyx, but was he was probably skiving off somewhere, since he didn't, currently, see Saix either, even though he knew Saix was on shift today.

He waited, and was glad to see Saix wasn't long in coming out from the cellars, carrying three stacked crates of beers for the fridge. He looked nothing like he ever had in the Organization; hair tied off his face in a messy ponytail, white shirt that wasn't buttoned all the way up, and an easy smile on his face like he was enjoying his day.

Well, Xigbar was about to ruin that.

He gave a short whistle at Saix to get his attention, tilting his chin up briefly to indicate he should come over. "Mine's a beer," he pointed his thumb towards Axel, "and whatever he's having. You're gonna wanna get yourself one, too."

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Lea rolled his eyes.

Happy families? Yeah, right. Why should they want to play that? They'd ended up on a new world, for a fresh start, and here they were again, unwillingly part of the Organization, right when they had a chance to start anew. That had worked out for them so well the first time, right?

He didn't believe that Xigbar had everything in hand. He couldn't quite work out why he wanted to keep them close instead of letting them disappear and get out of his hair, especially since they had relatively innocent lives aside from the Order, but whatever reason it was, he figured it more important than keeping an eye on the members that he didn't think wanted to leave.

Luxord had gone. He didn't have any enmity with them, but he'd gone. He lived well away, with new people and enjoyed his new life, from what he'd heard. He barely bothered to report back, having found a life where gambling and potentially a bit of sneaky piracy was par for the course. Zexion had walked out, apparently kidnapped by the opposition, though he could just as easily have joined them willingly, in Lea's opinion. He hated Saix enough for that. It was possible that Vexen had done the same, too.

Lexaeus, to Lea's eyes, was looking for a way out. He didn't want to be there without Zexion. He was willing to go out and look for Vexen, by himself, with no notion of where to start and if that didn't scream 'get me out of here' he didn't know what did. Xaldin didn't have anything else to do, but he was half sure it would be a matter of time before he joined up with another group and Demyx... well. He liked an easy life.

But here was Xigbar, proclaiming that keeping an eye on them was more important. Vexen and Zexion had more than enough reason to leave, for good, and most of that reason was Xigbar insisting on keeping traitors around at the expense of the opinions and feelings of those he thought were loyal.

Lea thought that he vastly overestimated the loyalty of numbers three through six. He didn't think they'd be back. If Vexen was as smart as he thought he was, he'd sought out Zexion. If he was half as smart, he'd disappeared in some alternative fashion, quietly and away from the places that Xigbar would check first. It was possible he'd just forgotten to check in, but he doubted it.

He doubted it very much.

It was just unfortunate, at least for Saix, that Vexen had chosen to do this when Marluxia was on the prowl, potentially looking for him. Maybe he'd disappeared because of that, who knew? They sure didn't, because Xigbar was so busy making sure his hands were in the right place that he'd not noticed his ass falling off.

Xigbar gave a humourless chuckle. "I wouldn't need to track him at all if someone hadn't gone around complicating everyone's lives," he said.

Then he turned to Lexaeus, glancing up at him. "If you still wanna go looking for Vexen, I'll talk to you later." He'd need Lexaeus to stay in closer contact than Vexen had, that was for sure. Especially since the dude was their link to Zexion. Unfortunately, it'd be tough to convince Lexaeus not to go searching for Vexen at all. He always did have a soft spot for the scientists, even Even, who hadn't exactly been a peach to know even when he had a heart.

Lexaeus grunted and nodded his head. Even needed to be warned if Marluxia was on the prowl, that was unquestionable.

Lexaeus wondered, privately, if Even may have gone to contact Ienzo, however. Or, possibly, that Ienzo was trying to seek out Even. They knew Ienzo had ended up with Khamja, and by extension with Marluxia. Perhaps they had already contacted Even, perhaps the house in Lindblum was simply a way to communicate safely. Or had been, until Braig's intrusion.

Vexen, he knew, didn't trust Xigbar. He'd been foolish to trust Saix, but then, they all had, but none of them had ever really trusted Xigbar.

Lexaeus didn't trust him now, but he did trust Even and Ienzo. He'd prefer to ensure Even, at least, was safe.

He gave Axel and Saix one last, stony glance, before he turned and left the conversation.

Saix looked like, well... Saix. The easy, relaxed attitude of Isa that he'd had before was long gone. He'd been having a good day, and then Xigbar had happened to it.

"Is there anything else of vital importance for you to tell us?" He asked, shoulders straight and severe expression on his face.

He didn't look at Lea. Not yet. There would be a short conversation with him about this once Xigbar was gone, and that conversation would probably consist of six different ways to express that they didn't trust Xigbar.

Saix wondered if he and Lea would be able to get away, as Vexen had, as Zexion had, but the fact that Xigbar had prioritised keeping them nearby over Zexion and now Vexen's continued loyalty worried him on levels so deep he couldn't express it in words. All he could think was that Xigbar was up to something.

This world's gods, and the Darkness, and Kingdom Hearts only knew what, however.

"If there is, I don't wanna hear it," he said, finishing his drink and getting up from the chair he had been occupying. "Wouldn't wanna sit around complicating anyone's lives."

Gin kept his smile fixed in place until they started leaving. Then he raised his head, as any other patron might, at regulars leaving. He looked up, but not far enough for anybody to see the colour of his eyes.

Well, now. This was very prickly. He'd known that, but the informal meeting had shown rather a lot more spines than he'd expected.

The big one, Lexaeus, was set to look for Vexen, was he? He could tell him, but he wouldn't. Instead, he made a wager with himself, a wager about how long it would be before Clan Khamja had the pleasure of inducting yet another Ryoka into their ranks.

Xigbar watched Axel take his leave with a lopsided grin. It was just heartwarming to know he'd got the kid's back up.

He'd got Saix's back up, too, from the look of it. No doubt they'd stick their heads together later and band ideas between themselves. That was what they were good at, unless you planted seeds of distrust; working together. They were push and pull. If you wanted to keep them both in line, you only really needed to keep a leash on one of them.

"I'll let you know," he said, flashing that grin at Saix before he retrieved his beer and headed off to his usual spot in the bar.

Don't believe what you hear

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