Axel; Ⅷ; The Flurry of Dancing Flames (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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sirenspull_logs2012-08-17 06:17 am
got_it_memorized) wrote in sirenspull_logs2012-08-17 06:17 am
Hold on, hold on to yourself
Who: The Three Amigos
When: Friday 17August, midafternoon
Where: The lakeside beach
Summary: Axel's been holding off telling the kids something pretty important, and finally decides maybe he should just Nobody-up and be straight with them.
Warnings: Mentions of death and possible threats of violence on certain Keyblade wielders.
When Axel had promised to work on not keeping secrets anymore, this particular one hadn't quite factored into the equation. After all, Roxas had even said he didn't want to know about his future, but as time had gone on it had started to eat away at his insides, leaving him feeling sort of raw and hollow. Or, well... more hollow than usual, perhaps. He forgot most of the time that there was really no logical reason for him to be here at all because he was dead, but every once in a while something would remind him and a twinge of guilt would twist up in the pit of his stomach.
There was no telling how long they would be here, any of them. People disappeared from the port often and without warning, and Axel wondered sometimes if their days were numbered or if it was all random. He supposed it didn't really matter. All he knew was that he didn't want to disappear from this place with this secret still a secret from his best friends. If the truth came to light later, from someone else's mouth, that would be even worse. He knew Sora knew the truth, and while he trusted the boy to keep it to himself, Axel wasn't sure how many others knew. He was certain Xigbar and Xemnas knew, and hearing the truth from them would have been devastating, of that he was certain.
Somehow he was surprised it had remained a secret this long. Axel was all for pressing his luck, but maybe not so much when Roxas and Xion were involved. By some unexpected twist of good fortune, he'd been given that second chance he had never thought he would deserve, and wasting it by making the same stupid mistakes all over again wouldn't do at all.
He arrived at the lake before them, a little cooler slung over one shoulder with three ice cream bars inside. It was funny, the way such a small and simple old tradition had become something so important. He didn't expect the ice cream to soften the blow, but somehow he couldn't imagine trying to have this conversation without it as a buffer. Axel hadn't worn his coat for this--he had walked to the lake; he hadn't wanted to tell this story while wearing the Organization's garb, even useful as it was.
Sitting down on a toppled tree trunk, he kicked off his sneakers and buried his feet in the coarse sand of the lakeside, leaning back on his hands to wait for Roxas and Xion to arrive. They weren't going to like this story at all, but he wanted them to hear it from him, not from someone who would relish in the shock value of breaking the news. They said the truth didn't hurt unless it ought to, but Axel would have given just about anything to not have this story end the way he knew it did.
When: Friday 17August, midafternoon
Where: The lakeside beach
Summary: Axel's been holding off telling the kids something pretty important, and finally decides maybe he should just Nobody-up and be straight with them.
Warnings: Mentions of death and possible threats of violence on certain Keyblade wielders.
When Axel had promised to work on not keeping secrets anymore, this particular one hadn't quite factored into the equation. After all, Roxas had even said he didn't want to know about his future, but as time had gone on it had started to eat away at his insides, leaving him feeling sort of raw and hollow. Or, well... more hollow than usual, perhaps. He forgot most of the time that there was really no logical reason for him to be here at all because he was dead, but every once in a while something would remind him and a twinge of guilt would twist up in the pit of his stomach.
There was no telling how long they would be here, any of them. People disappeared from the port often and without warning, and Axel wondered sometimes if their days were numbered or if it was all random. He supposed it didn't really matter. All he knew was that he didn't want to disappear from this place with this secret still a secret from his best friends. If the truth came to light later, from someone else's mouth, that would be even worse. He knew Sora knew the truth, and while he trusted the boy to keep it to himself, Axel wasn't sure how many others knew. He was certain Xigbar and Xemnas knew, and hearing the truth from them would have been devastating, of that he was certain.
Somehow he was surprised it had remained a secret this long. Axel was all for pressing his luck, but maybe not so much when Roxas and Xion were involved. By some unexpected twist of good fortune, he'd been given that second chance he had never thought he would deserve, and wasting it by making the same stupid mistakes all over again wouldn't do at all.
He arrived at the lake before them, a little cooler slung over one shoulder with three ice cream bars inside. It was funny, the way such a small and simple old tradition had become something so important. He didn't expect the ice cream to soften the blow, but somehow he couldn't imagine trying to have this conversation without it as a buffer. Axel hadn't worn his coat for this--he had walked to the lake; he hadn't wanted to tell this story while wearing the Organization's garb, even useful as it was.
Sitting down on a toppled tree trunk, he kicked off his sneakers and buried his feet in the coarse sand of the lakeside, leaning back on his hands to wait for Roxas and Xion to arrive. They weren't going to like this story at all, but he wanted them to hear it from him, not from someone who would relish in the shock value of breaking the news. They said the truth didn't hurt unless it ought to, but Axel would have given just about anything to not have this story end the way he knew it did.
no subject
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.