"Right, right, I forgot, you guys are grownups now," he chuckled, and then silently counted on the fingers of one hand. "How many pints in a quart?"
He waited until they'd both taken their ice creams before retrieving his own and setting the cooler aside. His smile was natural and unforced as he looked at Xion then.
"Who, me? Do something stupid? Psh, if I had feelings I think they'd be hurt!" he said with mock injury, splaying a hand over his chest. Then he unwrapped his ice cream bar and nibbled at the corner. "But no, nothing stupid. Not this week, anyway."
Levity was a tried and true defense mechanism with Axel, and he was sure the kids knew that by then, but old habits died hard. And he wasn't lying. The only stupid thing he'd done this week was forget to put the milk back in the refrigerator before rushing off late to work, and that was fairly easily rectified.
He wagged his ice cream at Xion.
"Everything's fine," he said with a shake of his head, making sure to maintain eye contact. Surely they had learned he always looked away when he was lying--they were pretty perceptive, after all.
Everything was fine! They were here and safe, and he was here and safe, and they were all together and despite knowing that Xemnas and Xigbar were surely up to something Axel was pretty pleased with his life here in Port. It was a perfectly acceptable Next Life, even with all its oddities and unique challenges. Honestly, so long as the kids were here with him he didn't really care how challenging things got.
He shifted his eyes to Roxas then, the smile on his face turning a bit apologetic suddenly.
"But there's something I need to tell you guys," he said, figuring the best approach was a direct one. They were surely tired of his sidewinding when he didn't want to talk about something, and they deserved better than that. "Something about... back home." He lowered his eyes a bit then, frowning at his ice cream. "Roxas, I know you said you didn't want to know anything about your future, and I can appreciate that, but you're gonna have to deal with this one particular bit of knowledge." He lifted his eyes again, the apologetic smile back in place. "I guess I just wanna make sure you hear it from me instead'a somebody else."
He hesitated, then nibbled at the other corner of his ice cream. Man, this was harder than he'd expected, and he'd expected it to be hard. Somehow relating bad news to these two was just the hardest thing ever--he hated upsetting them, and those big soulful blue eyes got him every time.
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He waited until they'd both taken their ice creams before retrieving his own and setting the cooler aside. His smile was natural and unforced as he looked at Xion then.
"Who, me? Do something stupid? Psh, if I had feelings I think they'd be hurt!" he said with mock injury, splaying a hand over his chest. Then he unwrapped his ice cream bar and nibbled at the corner. "But no, nothing stupid. Not this week, anyway."
Levity was a tried and true defense mechanism with Axel, and he was sure the kids knew that by then, but old habits died hard. And he wasn't lying. The only stupid thing he'd done this week was forget to put the milk back in the refrigerator before rushing off late to work, and that was fairly easily rectified.
He wagged his ice cream at Xion.
"Everything's fine," he said with a shake of his head, making sure to maintain eye contact. Surely they had learned he always looked away when he was lying--they were pretty perceptive, after all.
Everything was fine! They were here and safe, and he was here and safe, and they were all together and despite knowing that Xemnas and Xigbar were surely up to something Axel was pretty pleased with his life here in Port. It was a perfectly acceptable Next Life, even with all its oddities and unique challenges. Honestly, so long as the kids were here with him he didn't really care how challenging things got.
He shifted his eyes to Roxas then, the smile on his face turning a bit apologetic suddenly.
"But there's something I need to tell you guys," he said, figuring the best approach was a direct one. They were surely tired of his sidewinding when he didn't want to talk about something, and they deserved better than that. "Something about... back home." He lowered his eyes a bit then, frowning at his ice cream. "Roxas, I know you said you didn't want to know anything about your future, and I can appreciate that, but you're gonna have to deal with this one particular bit of knowledge." He lifted his eyes again, the apologetic smile back in place. "I guess I just wanna make sure you hear it from me instead'a somebody else."
He hesitated, then nibbled at the other corner of his ice cream. Man, this was harder than he'd expected, and he'd expected it to be hard. Somehow relating bad news to these two was just the hardest thing ever--he hated upsetting them, and those big soulful blue eyes got him every time.