The Embodiment of Emotion

Title: The Embodiment of Emotion

Author: Conjure Lass

Pairing: Axel/Roxas

Rating: PG-13 to NC-17 (still none now...)

Summary: With a new life come new possibilities, but things don't always go as you plan. Will Roxas survive long enough to watch his entire life change? Find out!

Author's Notes: Chapter four! Booyah! This chapter came out hard for me, but I think you'll all like it. I must admit (sad as this is) i'm a little disappointed that i'm not getting more reviews as hard as i'm working on this, but I appreciate the few i'm getting. So THANK YOU.

“Riku, could you hand me that hammer?” Sora said, reaching his hand out without looking. Roxas snickered as Riku gave him a small glance, as if to say that he really didn’t trust his loving boyfriend with a hammer but didn’t want to say anything. Rolling his eyes, Roxas grabbed the hammer out of Riku’s hands and placed it in Sora’s, taking a few steps backwards with a small grin.

“Please don’t put any holes in my new wall, okay?” Roxas said, shaking his head, and watching as Sora attempted to put some nails into the wall to hang a large painting on. It was a painting of Ophelia lying in the grass with her hair billowing around her, done in soft hues and attempting to show the madness of the woman. Roxas had liked it so much that he’d decided to get a similar painting of Ophelia for the other side of the living room, only this one was of after she’d been drowned.

A little morbid, but it was pretty nonetheless.

“Come on, give me a little credit here,” Sora said in a huff, swinging the hammer down and brilliantly missing the nail, instead hitting his thumb as hard as he possibly could.

“OOOOOOWWW!!!” he cried, dropping the hammer to the floor and bringing his thumb up into his mouth. The thudding of the hammer onto the wooden floor below could barely be heard over the sound of Roxas’ raucous laughter, bouncing off the walls and making Sora glare at the blonde. It felt good to be able to just let loose and laugh a little bit. Eventually though even Sora had to laugh a little, rolling his eyes as Riku gave him a small bag of ice that he applied to the quickly swelling thumb.

“Savoir of the known worlds,” Riku said, shaking his head and walking back into the kitchen. “And he cannot use a hammer or a screwdriver without killing himself.”

“Shut it…”

Roxas’ laughter had died down to a soft chuckling at that point, sitting down on his new fluffy couch in his brand new living room. Sora, being the overprotective person that he was, had decided that Roxas needed a place of his own to live in. So to that end, Sora had depleted his savings (he’d collected quite a bit of munny during his travels) and bought Roxas a small house in the middle of Twilight Town, giving it to him as a present about a week after he’d gotten his new body. At first Roxas hadn’t wanted to accept such a present, and then he realized that he really didn’t want to live on Destiny Islands with Sora anymore…

That had never been his real home anyway.

So now, two weeks after beginning his new life, he was finally putting the finishing touches on his little house and moving in. It was nothing spectacular; just two stories with a bathroom and a bedroom on the upper floor, but Roxas liked it. When he woke up in the morning he could open his window and see the entire town below him…just like he had when he’d originally thought he was living in Twilight Town. It was quiet and peaceful, just the way Roxas liked things.

“Hey, isn’t the painter supposed to come today?” Sora asked, coming back into the room after having followed Riku into the kitchen for a moment. “The gallery owner said that he was finishing up another portrait and then he’d be coming to start on ours. I think Lulu said that it would be today didn’t she?”

Roxas snickered at the mass of white bandages wrapped around Sora’s thumb before answering. “I think so yeah…why are we getting a painting of us again?”

“Because we’re family! Families have paintings! So we’re getting a painting of us!”

Shaking his head with a small laugh, the blonde stood up and walked over to the window, pushing the plain white curtains to the side to look at the street beyond. That was another thing Sora had decided…that Roxas and he should have some kind of family portrait. Why? Roxas had no idea. But because he didn’t have any real reason to disagree with the idea he was going along with it. That and he didn’t have a job yet so he had nothing better to do with his time than sit around looking pretty.

It was then that there was a knock on the door, Roxas finding he was too slow to answer it as Sora was already there, nearly bouncing with excitement. As the door opened, and Sora’s face fell into a mask of shock, Roxas cocked his head from side to side. What the hell was so shocking about a painter? Was Sora confused by the bright and pretty colors or was there some kind of madman at the door?

And then his own mouth fell to the floor.

Axel.

It was the red hair that he saw first, then the face, and then the body. But it was the eyes, that glanced to him and locked there, which made Roxas’ heart speed up. They were exactly like he remembered, perfectly green like the new spring grass, and clear as the finest emerald. They also had that same…spark…the same fire that had drawn him to Axel in the first place. The same infectious…life, for lack of a better word. Even in a world that was supposed to be devoid of vitality, Axel had sparkled.

“Roxas?” Sora said, snapping Roxas out of his reverie and back to the real world. “This was Axel…the one I ran into a few weeks ago…you remember me saying something about that right?”

Roxas blinked a few times, watching as Axel began setting his things down on the living room coffee table and glanced over his shoulder at him. He knew Sora was talking to him, but he didn’t think he could pull in enough breath to answer. This was horribly embarrassing…Axel didn’t even know him! And here Roxas was staring like a freak on the side of the road at some chick with a short skirt. He had to tear his eyes away…right now…right now!!

“Oh!” Roxas said, forcing himself to relax and walk further into the room. “Yeah…yeah I remember. Axel…I’m Roxas.”

“Roxas,” Sora said, running his hand down his face. “I already told Axel who you were…weren’t you listening?”

Roxas merely shook his head, obviously having not paid a damn bit of attention to the other teen. Without a word he reached his hand out towards Axel, finally meeting the green eyes that he’d thought about for so long. At first Axel seemed unsure of what to do, biting at his bottom lip in a way that made Roxas’ breath catch, though he wasn’t exactly sure why…well…maybe he was sure why. But in the end it didn’t really matter…this Axel had never known him.

But if that were true…why did he keep looking at Roxas like that?

“It’s nice to meet you,” Axel said, grinning and looking down at the smaller man in front of him, taking the offered hand and shaking it gently. Axel had barely been able to breathe when he’d seen the blue-eyed blonde, finding himself unable to resist the pull of the other boy’s coy actions. Suddenly the air around the teen seemed to change, a confidence that he hadn’t shown before shining through as he reached his hand out for Axel to take.

Which of course he did…it would have been rude not to.

“Axel,” a man with silver hair said, pushing the blonde forward. “This is Roxas. I want you to make him feel at home…”

Axel rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in front of his chest and scrutinizing the younger Nobody for a moment. He had an air about him that spoke of innocence, but not so much so that he didn’t have an edge. This one seemed multi-faceted in a way that all the others simply were not. Cocking his head to the side, he leaned into Roxas’ face and gave him a small grin.

“Don’t worry kid,” Axel said, putting his arm around Roxas’ shoulder and leading them down the hallway of Castle Oblivion with a sway in his step. “I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”

“Rule number one: never…under any circumstances…ask Saix where he got the scar. It will only end in tears…”

Axel shot backwards, wrenching his hand out of Roxas’ with a small gasp. He hadn’t really meant to do that, but the vision had been so abrupt that he’d felt like he was falling into it. But just as fast as it came the lights and pictures were gone, leaving Axel leaning the back of his knees against the couch behind him, staring at the younger man who had come forward with a worried expression. The expression lasted only a split second as Roxas quickly masked it…though for the life of him Axel didn’t know how he knew that.

Sora came up quickly, helping Axel to sit down on the couch and leaning over him, his face a very open book. “Are you all right? Maybe you’re sick! What do you think Riku?”

Riku had stood motionless as Axel walked in, having not quite believed Sora and Roxas when they told him about the Nobody being alive. But now that the proof was standing in front of him, everything seemed much worse in his mind. Axel’s bright green eyes and cocky demeanor reminded the silver-haired youth of terrible times in his life, of things that he’d hoped buried forever. It made him question all the things he’d thought were settled and buried.

“I think I’m going to go to the kitchen and make some tea,” Riku said, turning on his heel and stalking away.

Sora raised his eyebrow as he watched Riku leave, making Roxas wonder what was going on. It didn’t seem to matter much as Axel quickly recovered, waving Sora’s attentions away with a playful smirk. Running a hand through his hair, he put his hands behind his back and tried desperately to pretend that nothing was wrong. This was his first big client, and he really didn’t want to come off like a complete spaz. Smiling brightly, he glanced at Sora and Roxas each in turn.

“So…you two are brothers?” Axel asked, noticing how absolutely alike the two were in appearance. “Why don’t you give me a little bit about what you’re looking for and we’ll go from there okay?”

The next hour was spent with mostly the sound of Sora rambling on about how he really couldn’t decide what kind of painting that they wanted, only that it should be very classic but with a sense of fun. The more he talked the more bored Roxas became, until he was staring at the wall trying to imagine himself running through the cracks in the paint. Every so often, just to reconfirm for himself that Axel really was there, he would look towards his best friend and smile.

Until one glance was just a little too obvious and then…

Axel had felt it everytime Roxas had looked at him, fighting to pay attention to Sora instead of the unexpected way his body was reacting. This was all…a little weird. It wasn’t that he was terribly uncomfortable in these people’s presence (quite the opposite), it was more the fact that he didn’t feel uncomfortable that was really plaguing him. He felt almost totally at ease with these people, which hadn’t happened in…the entire time he could remember. Which admittedly wasn’t much.

“Let’s set up a pose hmm?” Axel said, standing up and dragging a chair over towards the fireplace. “Ummm…come here Roxas, you can sit in the chair here and look pretty…”

“I’m supposed to look pretty without my jewels and stockings? Atrocious.”

Sora laughed softly as Roxas grudgingly obliged, sitting down in the chair and crossing his ankle over his knee, putting his elbow up over the back of the chair. Sora, seeing an opportunity, came up behind Roxas, putting his own elbow directly on top of the blonde’s head and letting his arm dangle in front of them both. Roxas fussed instantly, trying to get Sora to move off of him, but Axel’s reaction was immediate.

That pose was perfect!

“Don’t…move…” Axel said, putting his hands up in a mocking sort of way, clicking it like a camera. “Now give me…pouty! Good job Roxas! You’ve got pouty and stubborn down to an art!”

With that Roxas scowled, rolling his eyes at Axel and sighing. It was just like being teased by the old Axel…almost exactly the same. Only this Axel seemed a little bit less jaded and maybe a little kinder but not too much nicer. He was still the same complete asshole that Roxas remembered. Roxas smiled widely at the thought of that, a genuinely happy smile as he watched his best friend laugh and continue to click away at his imaginary camera.

“Ohhh grandma! What a pretty smile you have!” Axel said in response to Roxas’ smile, making the expression go very soft. However, his eyes widened when Axel spoke again, making Roxas’ jaw slacken just the smallest bit.

“Now give me a sexy pout, Rox. I know you have one hidden in there.”

Axel…had always called him Rox…always…

“Perfect,” Axel finally finished his playful picture taking, pulling out a little box with some pencils in it and a gargantuan eraser that he shoved into his mouth. His voice came out muffled slightly by the rubber in his mouth that he tried to talk around. “Now don’t move for a few minutes okay? If you do you’ll ruin it…then I’ll have to kick your asses.”

Axel laughed at himself for a moment, leaning back and setting up the soft canvas in front of him. From the moment that his pencils began to touch the paper, he was enthralled, long lines turning into gentle shapes that became full blown people right in front of his eyes. Sora was sketched first, his hair more of a pain in the ass to draw than anything Axel had ever experienced…and then he drew Roxas. He took pains to make sure every single line of the young man’s face was right, from the way his mouth tilted upwards as though hiding a smile to the way his eyes gazed almost through him and yet were the most scrutinizing he’d ever felt. Every small kink in the boys hair was painstakingly drawn until finally Axel felt that he could raise his head and show the sketch.

“So,” he said, turning the large sketch for them to look at. “What do you think? I’ll have to arrange some sittings, but this is definitely how I’m thinking of making it look.”

Roxas stayed where he was, looking at the sketch from across the room while Sora was instantly on the move, putting his face very near the canvas and nodding emphatically. Turning to the blonde, Sora pointed at the drawing and grinned widely, making Roxas smile in return. Roxas had discovered in his short time in this new body that when Sora smiled he had a hard time not responding in kind…the Keyblade Master was infectious. Not that it was a bad thing by any means, just that it surprised Roxas.

A lot of things had surprised Roxas about his new life…

“It’s going to be awesome,” Sora said, nodding happily. “I’m going to show it to Riku…as…soon as I find him that is.”

Axel began picking up his things slowly, sighing a bit at the thought of having to leave. Since the moment that he fell into Twilight Town, he hadn’t had one moment where he felt truly comfortable until that moment. So now that he had to go home to be lonely, he found himself a little unhappy about it. Quietly he clicked his art case shut, standing up and lethargically going towards the door. He had his hand on the knob when a voice called out to stop him.

The former Nobody had watched with a growing ache as Axel picked up his things and began to leave, knowing he wanted to say something to make him stay. The problem was finding out what those words were, and so far his mind seemed terribly blank. All he knew was from the moment that Axel walked into the house it didn’t seem so empty and unfinished. He knew that he felt less empty and unfinished. Axel was still his best friend (whether he knew it or not) and no matter what, that still meant something to Roxas.

“Hey!” he called suddenly, rising up from the chair as it fell backwards with a loud clatter. Sora paused in the doorway to the kitchen, glancing at Roxas with confused eyes, but Roxas paid it no mind. Coming forward, he tried to make himself seem as casual as possible, though he could tell that he was sort of overdoing it…but some effort was better than nothing.

“Why don’t we…get coffee or something? You know, you, me and Sora could…”

“Well,” Sora interrupted, coming forward and grinning at Roxas while putting a hand on the small of his back. “I’m going to be leaving here, but why don’t you guys go? Maybe I’ll catch up later.”

Roxas nearly squeaked as Sora pushed him forward, sending him crashing into Axel before bouncing back with a startled look. Glaring at his Other, Roxas shook his head and rolled his eyes. What the hell was that about? He had actually turned around and begun to follow Sora into the kitchen when the voice stopped him in his tracks, making him glance over his shoulder as though in some kind of B-rate horror movie. He could just picture Axel with a knife in his hands and blank, dead eyes coming at him with blood dripping out of his ears…

Or maybe that was just his overactive imagination.

“Sure,” Axel murmured, putting his art case down. “I’m not doing anything…”

The sound of Sora’s retreating footsteps on the hardwood floors was the only sound Roxas could hear (other than his own breathing) as he stared up at Axel who was grinning down at him as though he knew some big secret. Shaking his head slowly, Roxas smirked back and ducked around the taller man, opening the door and sliding through, glancing back and winking as he stepped out onto the porch. The days in Twilight Town were slowly becoming colder, and this day was no exception. Winter was coming, though it never truly felt like winter here.

“Hey!” Axel came behind Roxas, shoving him down the short stairs that lead to the ground, though Roxas managed to keep himself from falling all over the place. “What’s your hurry? Afraid I bite?”

Roxas grinned, looking over his shoulder before shoving his hands into his baggy black jean pockets and proceeding down the street with Axel coming up right beside him and mimicking his actions. The only difference was that Axel looked more at ease with the slouching motion that Roxas did, which wasn’t really unusual.

“Because I’ll have you know,” Axel continued, taking his hand out of his pocket and poking Roxas’ cheek. “That I only bite under certain circumstances and you have to be good to earn it.”

The two young men walked in silence for a while, neither one feeling the need to break the quiet threads that were being woven between them as they continued down the street. Roxas, being the more familiar one with the area, instantly took up the role as leader, making the turns where they needed to be made, until finally they stood in front of a small vendor’s cart on the corner of two streets. The blonde had liked this place for a while, coming here almost every night since he’d received his new body. He liked the feeling of something hot going down his throat and the comforting warmth that settled in his stomach after the swallow.

“So,” Roxas said, finally speaking. “What…made you move to Twilight Town?”

Axel paused at Roxas’ question, holding the warm cup between both his hands as he stared down into the dark substance. What to say to such a question? If he told Roxas the truth than it made him sound like a complete nutcase, and yet, he didn’t want to lie to the blonde either. Biting at the inside of his cheek a bit, he tried to find a way to be as enigmatic as possible without being an outright liar. As his tongue came out to greet his bottom lip, he finally settled on something that wouldn’t sound ridiculous and wouldn’t get him in trouble.

“I just kind of dropped in, you know?” Axel said, sipping at the hot liquid. For some odd reason, no matter how hot the liquid was, it never seemed to be hot enough for him. It was almost as though his internal temperature was too high and he was constantly running a fever. “And when I took a look at it…this place kind of suited my fancy.”

“Suited your fancy?” Roxas sniggered, blowing hot steam across the surface of the coffee cup while they continued down the street. “My, my aren’t we cultured.”

“Why yes, I am,” Axel said, raising a bright red eyebrow. “I’ll have you know I can balance a book on my head and do a little turn on the catwalk too.”

Suddenly a shiver ran through Axel, making him nearly drop his cup as he glanced at Roxas. The colder it was getting, the less he could handle it, until every gust of wind was like a thousand knives biting any piece of exposed skin that it could find. Another shiver ran down his arms and he paused, pulling the collar of his jacket up around his jawbone until the bottom of it reached his nose. He hated being cold…hated it.

His voice came out muffled from the cloth when he finally spoke. “Rox,” he said, wondering why Roxas’ eyes widened and a small blush graced his cheeks. “I’m cold. Can we go somewhere warm for a while?”

Roxas merely nodded, reaching out and grabbing Axel’s elbow as he lead them down the next street. “I’ve got the perfect place, come on.”

Within five minutes they were standing in the middle of a large, empty building lot with a large glass building with a metal frame in the center. Its windows were slightly fogged with condensation from the inside, rivulets of water dripping down from the ceiling, making shapes on the glass. As they walked closer, Axel could see colorful blooms on the inside, fauna of every shape and size dangling from pots and exploding from baskets. As he ran his long finger along the clear walls, making their way to the glass double doors, he couldn’t stop himself from watching the way Roxas moved. Every motion was very…lithe…as though he were dancing as he walked, though Roxas’ footfalls were a bit too heavy to be a dancer. Roxas smiled back at him, pulling open the glass double doors with a flourish worthy of a stage actor. As he did, a cloud of steam puffed out like smoke from inside the greenhouse, making the glass walls almost instantly clear up as the temperature became more regulated within.

“I like it here,” Roxas murmured, motioning with his head for Axel to follow him.

Slowly the two of them walked down the middle aisle of the greenhouse, Roxas occasionally running his finger along a large green leaf or smelling a random flower. Most of them actually didn’t have much of a smell at all, but that didn’t stop the blonde from enjoying his time there. He’d actually found the small place on one of his many walks around the town, trying to clear his head and get his mind straight after he’d gotten his new body. Now he just took walks all the time, usually not going home for hours at a time.

Axel followed along slowly, not wanting to disturb whatever moment the two of them seemed to have found. The moment they’d stepped into the greenhouse, Axel had felt better. His body temperature instantly regulated itself, the chill that had been working its way along his skin began to thaw, leaving him feeling more like himself and less like an ice-pop. Not to mention that the plants were actually kind of pretty…though for some reason they reminded him of someone that he really didn’t like.

Pink…hair…he remembered pink hair…

“Pink hair,” he murmured softly, not noticing when Roxas turned and gaped at him. He was too enthralled with one particular bloom, his index finger running smoothly along the deep blue petals while he allowed his mind to drift slightly. Pink hair…and black clothes…sharp objects. If he closed his eyes, he could almost make out faces, but he found that the harder he tried to focus on them, the more impossible it became to remember them. Eventually he was simply standing with his hand on the flower and his eyes closed, wishing that his thoughts would finally come together.

“Holy shit! Axel!” he heard to his right, opening his eyes in time to see the flower that he’d been touching explode into flames. Jumping back instantly, he let out a startled sound and began shaking his head. Not this shit again! He’d nearly allowed himself to forget about the first time it had happened, putting it out of his mind and pretending it had never happened. Now…now it was shoved back in his face again…only this time someone else was around to witness the freak that he actually was.

And yet…again…it had felt so good. It was almost a pleasure to watch what used to be a blue flower wither into a smoldering pile and burn away. Almost.

“Hot stuff, huh?” Axel said, his voice slightly shaky as he looked at Roxas.

Roxas had turned when he heard Axel speak, his mouth falling open slightly at the mention of pink hair. Only one person Roxas had ever met had that hideous color hair…so it couldn’t be a coincidence. Was he actually getting his memory back, or was it just Roxas’ imagination wanting Axel to remember him so badly that it was making up stories to entertain him. Either way it didn’t matter, as suddenly there was a small blaze in the nearby plant, Roxas coming forward with his mouth hanging open yet again. Fire!? What the hell was going on? Axel seemed as confused as his companion did when he turned large, suddenly very afraid and slightly vulnerable eyes, towards Roxas. Not knowing what else to do, and slightly consumed with the desire to calm him, the blonde came forward.

“Hey, hey,” Roxas said, putting his hand on the small of Axel’s back and pushing him towards the door. “You really are hot stuff, you know that? Come on…let’s get out of here before you burn the place to the ground.”

“I wouldn’t know how to do that anyway,” Axel said, raising an eyebrow at Roxas’ hand on his back, though not bothering to remove it. “That’s sort of a spontaneous thing…you know…premature inflammation.”

A large bout of laughter came from the younger man’s mouth, rolling his eyes at Axel’s joke. Shaking his head, he led them along, though not before stopping for a moment. His chest suddenly felt very…tight. It was like his lungs just wouldn’t take in enough air, or at least that’s how he thought he was feeling. Without warning he began coughing, doubling over slightly with the force of each push, his eyes watering up as the pain racked his entire body. He was starting to think that the spasms would never end, until suddenly his body started to re-align itself and the world slowly stopped spinning.

Though when it did, he found that he couldn’t breath again for an entirely different reason.

When Roxas had begun to cough, Axel had come up close, worried that something was wrong. His worries were confirmed when the coughing fit didn’t stop, and before he knew what he was doing he had wrapped his arms around the smaller teen’s body, holding him near while he waited for the coughing to stop. And all the while, he felt his heart pounding, wanting to provide some kind of comfort but not really knowing how. Axel eventually settled for rubbing his hand along Roxas’ back, patting him every now and again to try to get the last of the coughs out…not that it was really doing any good.

But it felt good anyway…

“You okay?” Axel said when Roxas stopped coughing, looking down at the blue eyes that stared up at him with a bit of shock. It took a moment or two to realize that the shock was because they were basically holding each other, Axel’s arms around Roxas’ small body while Roxas’ hands had dug into Axel’s shirt in an effort to calm the fit. But even though he knew he probably should have let him go…he didn’t. He wasn’t going to either, not until the blonde pushed the issue.

Roxas bit at his bottom lip, not really knowing what to say. Instead of saying anything he merely nodded, looking at his fingers that were still clenched in Axel’s white shirt and wondering when they’d gotten there. Feeling suddenly bold, he splayed his fingers outward, staring at them instead of looking up at Axel’s face. If he’d seen the redhead’s reaction he would have lost his nerve, and more than anything he didn’t want to become afraid. Not to mention that he really didn’t have the physical strength to hold himself up, and he really didn’t feel like looking foolish by falling onto the ground.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he finally said. “Probably just caught a bit too much of this cold air."

“You sure?” Axel replied, cautiously giving Roxas another pat on the back, albeit a much gentler one.

“Mmhmm,” Roxas replied, finally pulling away reluctantly. He stayed within arms reach though, looking down at the ground with a piece of Axel’s shirt tail in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and forced himself to speak.

“Ithinkyoushouldaskmeout,” he said in a rush, swallowing at the end. There…he’d said it. True, it had been quick and he thought he was going to throw up, but he’d said it. There was really no point in beating around the bush with this, and there was no point in denying what he was thinking. The only problem was finding the courage to actually say what he wanted to say without passing out. So far, so good.

“What?” Axel questioned, trying to decipher what Roxas had said, raising a thin eyebrow and leaning down towards the other man’s face. For a moment there it had almost sounded like Roxas was asking Axel to ask him out. But…well…that was just stupid. Not only did they barely know each other (though it didn’t feel that way), there was no way that anyone had that kind of nerve. But…he figured he’d ask again just to be sure.

“What did you say?”

Roxas took a deep breath, holding it in his lungs for a moment before letting it out slowly through his nose. When he was through he felt calmer, able to look up and meet Axel’s eyes without a hint of embarrassment. After all…what was there to be ashamed of? If he didn’t want to go out, he’d just say no…it wouldn’t be a big deal. Rejection was no big deal. Right? Right.

“I…think you should ask me out,” Roxas repeated finally, tugging on the end of Axel’s shirt with a small grin.

“Oh, do you?” Axel replied, cocking his head to the side. So…he hadn’t just been imagining things. Roxas really had basically just asked him out. Okay, now that he had the door open, what to say? He couldn’t just ask Roxas out now like a person normally would, as that lacked flair of any sort…but he sure as hell wasn’t going to say no. Decisions, decisions…

Axel suddenly pulled away, a large grin plastered on his face as he took a few steps backwards. At first Roxas was sure he’d just been handed a ‘no’, as Axel turned around, giving him his back, before looking over his shoulder. Roxas was about to turn around himself and go home to crawl into bed and never come out, when the smooth sound of Axel’s voice traveled over his shoulder and into the lingering silence.

“I think you should wear something white,” Axel replied, winking over his shoulder. “When I pick you up tomorrow at six.”