eleven locks.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

[ Roxas appears distracted the very moment he appears on the Plane, cradling a cup of tea. His head tilts to the side, his expression open and confused. He kneels down, gently sets the cup aside, then lays himself along the 'floor' so that he can press his ear to it. ]

That's... new. [ He pauses, winces, and places his hand over his other ear. ] All right, let's use our indoor voices now.

Comments

[smolderingdark.livejournal.com]

[That is kind of odd. Axel's face is unreadable, the perfect picture of manipulative bastard right up until he's close enough to see Roxas' wince. And then it all just... falls apart. His keyblade disappears in a puff of flame, and Axel's holding out the little Mickey-shaped charm that's most representative of the Kingdom Key.

His hand is shaking so damn much that he might as well drop the thing and get it over with. Above his shoulders, things aren't going so well either; he looks like he's been slapped hard enough to make him cry, but he's struggling, trying to keep it together.]

[dumbly] I... I don't want it. So you can have it.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

[ Roxas stares at him for a moment, letting the image of his nearly-broken best friend sink in. Then, he stands, closes his hand around the charm, maneuvers Axel's arm out of the way, hugs him.

As if trying to make a joke (though it's hard to tell, with half his face against Axel's chest)... ] I doubt you could handle properly it without hurting yourself, anyway.

[smolderingdark.livejournal.com]

[Axel's bottom lip trembles in a very un-Axel-like way, but he relents and hugs Roxas as tightly as he can without agitating any imaginary injuries. He sucks in a sharp breath as he resists the onslaught of emotions. It keeps him from sobbing, but there are still tears forming in the corners of his eyes, and it's all he can do to hide them in Roxas' shoulder.

He had a coherent response to that insult. Really. But it was lost with his composure.]

... crud.

[That's all he has to say to crying.]

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

[ Roxas clings to the back of Axel's shirt; seeing him is enough to bring back the memories of the fight, and it's not exactly his best moment. Not that he regrets what he did, it's just that the situation sucked so much that it was the best choice he could have made.

And that part is really quite upsetting.

With the sound of Axel's heart, blood and breath in his ears, Roxas finds himself distracted while trying to not unconsciously match the tempo. It takes him a moment to actually speak. ]

How long?

[smolderingdark.livejournal.com]

[Axel thinks Roxas' hesitation is due to the nature of this reunion. He tries to get a hold of himself. At least he's not sobbing.]

... Just a couple of days. Donald and Goofy are livid 'cause I won't tell them what's going on and I got the Keyblade.

Sorry.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

[ Roxas is silent for a moment. Well, it could have been worse... ]

I'll talk to them. Why are you sorry?

[smolderingdark.livejournal.com]

... Uh. I'm sorry for a lot of things. But mostly because I tried to clean things up while you were gone and I only made it worse.

[He sighs.]

Somehow I broke the Hollow Bastion security system. I can't even begin to describe how that happened.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

[ Pulls back a little, so he can look Axel in the face. ]

You did?

[smolderingdark.livejournal.com]

[defeated] This is why I don't try to help people unless I absolutely have to.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

You're not that bad at helping people... You sure it wasn't just some kinda glitch or something?

[smolderingdark.livejournal.com]

I don't know how it happened. It just did. And then I had to go and fight off the Heartless the hard way until it was fixed.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

How long did that take?

[smolderingdark.livejournal.com]

... all afternoon. [He sets his head on top of Roxas', all "UGGGHHHH".]

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

[ hfsdlkfn Roxas bobs under the weight, flailing. ] Hey!

[smolderingdark.livejournal.com]

[Axel straightens, big boy tears thankfully forgotten.]

My bad.

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

[ Roxas smiles a bit after he makes sure his hair is all right. ]

No big.

[smolderingdark.livejournal.com]

[Axel reaches down to hairruffle and ruin it again.]

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

[ AGH NO STOP THAT ]

[smolderingdark.livejournal.com]

[ no :) ]

[sunkenlight.livejournal.com]

[ yes :( ]