Breathe

Warmth encompassed him from just about every angle. A soft, content sigh escaped his lips as he cuddled down into the embrace that was long pale arms and smooth skin. Red hair fell into his face and the smell of something faintly spicy drifted to his sense of smell. A combination of cinnamon toothpaste and expensive hair care products. He breathed in deeply and let the breath out as a heavy sigh.

"Good morning."

Roxas smiled slightly. "Morning."

"Sleep well?" Axel asked, tightening his grip slightly.

Roxas nodded sleepily, nuzzling his face against the crook of Axel's neck. He drew in another deep breath; this one was all Axel, warm and sultry and comforting. "You?"

"Just as well," Axel replied quietly, kissing the top of his head.

Roxas hummed in contentedness. He was vaguely aware of Axel's lips and Axel's hands and murmured words of adoration, but his presence beside him was so fruitlessly consuming that Roxas was dozing in and out of consciousness without responding.

Roxas stirred again when lips brushed his ear, causing a tickle, causing him to shiver, and to curl more firmly into Axel's warmth, and Axel's breath of laughter was a puff of air against his ear to chase away the tickling sensation.

Blearily, he fought with the blankets until he was able to free his hand from clutching the sheets, dolefully searching for Axel's hand. The redhead's fingers slipped effortlessly between his and curled around, squeezing gently. Roxas smiled and returned the pressure.

Axel's thumb settled into a motion of rubbing circles on the back of Roxas's hand. He started to doze again, until his body came around enough that he yawned, widely, trying to block his morning breath into Axel's fitted t-shirt. He could practically hear Axel smile.

Long fingers slipped from his and instead started to glide through his hair, pushing it gently out of his face and away from his eyes.

Roxas opened his eyes then, smiling softly up at Axel. "Really morning," he murmured, tilting his head up.

"Are you sure?" Axel asked, smiling, as he leaned down to press his lips softly against Roxas's.

"I'm awake," Roxas murmured. He knew he was liable to fall asleep again if he didn't move, but he would take the chance. He was far too comfortable, although he would have to abandon his warm bed and Axel's arms soon enough.

Roxas yawned again, ducking his head against Axel's chest.

A beat of silence and then Axel yawned, too, and stretched, his body tensing against Roxas's before relaxing again. "Hmm..."

Roxas resisted the very strong urge to yawn yet again, instead following Axel's lead to stretch out his sleep-heavy limbs. Legs, toes curling over, his arms and his fingers into fists. Against his better wishes, he yawned for the third time.

"You must have slept well," Axel commented, and there was the ghost of a laugh in his voice.

"Sleepy," Roxas murmured.

"I can tell," Axel said, kissing his temple. "You can sleep longer."

Roxas moved his head left, then right. "Nah... time to get up."

"Are you sure?" Axel's fingers brushed up and down Roxas's spine, light pressure that Roxas arched his back into as he stretched again.

"No," Roxas admitted. He longed to spend the day in bed with him, just being held in his arms and holding him in return, but something always drew one of them away. Inevitably. Be it someone else's design or just the design of their own bodies, everything determined to make them escape from the sanctity that came with night-time and sleep.

Axel smiled. "Didn't think so." He leaned in to kiss Roxas again, his lips slow and precise and tantalizingly sweet as they worked against the blonde's.

Roxas couldn't help but smile, because that seemed like all he did with Axel, reaching out for his hand, his arm, anything. He found his shoulder and squeezed, pushing his hand up to draw his fingers through Axel's sleep-messed hair. He thought it was cutest this way. Axel didn't agree.

Axel hummed as Roxas's fingers worked against his scalp and Roxas felt the vibration in his own mouth, echoing down into his chest and his body and waking him up a bit. It didn't escalate, because it didn't need to. This was the perfect wake-up call.

"Did you have good dreams?" Axel murmured against his lips, his breath hot and slightly stale, although not the less endearing.

"I don't know," Roxas mumbled. Oftentimes, he didn't remember his dreams, or if he dreamed at all. But he didn't need dreams when his waking reality was like this, no matter what it was like during the rest of the day. Right now was all that mattered for him. "Warm, though. Comfortable," he added, kissing the corner of Axel's mouth before resting his head back on his shoulder.

"Adorable," Axel added.

Roxas smiled, abashed, although the blush didn't come. Axel was always like this in the morning, so much so that Roxas had come to look forward to it. Their own little private world tucked in between worlds, behind the silence and safety of the bedroom door.

He sighed and his eyes fluttered shut again. He could stay like this forever, if only life didn't get in the way. "... Did you dream?" he asked sleepily.

"I still am," Axel replied softly.

Roxas laughed quietly, opening his eyes to look up at Axel. Axel smiled down at him gently and Roxas returned it, almost giving into the allure of leaning up for another kiss if he wasn't so tired and cozy against Axel's chest. Be it as it may, Axel's arm came back to circle his back, the warmth a pleasant weight against his skin.

"I love you," Axel said quietly. His tone had dropped. The meaning behind the words nearly shattered the silence of the room.

"Love you, too," Roxas murmured. He didn't have to say anything else or do anything special. Axel's grip tightened around him and Roxas cuddled more comfortably into his embrace. If he didn't know any better, he would have said he and Axel were melting together, perfect for each other, destined to be together no matter what life threw at them.

But, he knew better. So 'I love you' was enough. So much in those yet so small words. Those words, and the gentle touches, and the soft sighs and tightening embraces. It all meant so much, things that Roxas didn't and couldn't understand, but things he felt the weight of. Things they both felt the weight of.

Roxas closed his eyes, his fingers curling loosely into Axel's shirt.

"Go back to sleep if you're still tired," Axel murmured.

And Roxas had no reason not to, because this was bliss, and if every wake-up was as poignant as this was now, he was content to sleep and wake and repeat the process indefinitely.

Eventually, they would have to get out of bed. He knew that.

But, for now, there was no reason in the world whatsoever to break the peace that enveloped both of them in its soft and secure blanket.

I was really tired and really writer's blocked and really wanting some adorable AkuRoku fluff. I know Axel's the dominant of the relationship, but I really like the sweet and slow side of him, too. Is that so wrong, all of you seriously-push-the-seme-Axel people? (I watched a CMV and was kind of disturbed by the portrayed Axel. x'D)

I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It belongs to Disney and Square Enix. Thanks for reading!