Vicious Streak

Author: Xanthos Samurai

Pairing: Axel/Roxas

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Yaoi, slight spoilers.

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to people who get PAID to do this. If I got paid, I'd update one hell of a lot quicker.

Notes: This is the only sort of Axel/Roxas I write - slightly twisted. The fic is based off of the song Vicious Streak by New Order.

Usually so grounded, Axel felt his body turn to smoke when Luxord led him in. The smell of rain filled the room when he entered. It wasn't the sick sour smell of rain on asphalt that choked the air like vomit on the rare occasions that it rained in The World That Never Was. It wasn't battlefield rain either – there was no tangy aftertaste of blood and metal. It was midnight rain, the kind that wakes you up in the middle of the night and paralyzes and delights you at the same time. Axel couldn't remember the last time he'd smelt midnight rain. It had been lifetimes ago.

Roxas. He heard the name over the roar of the fire in his mind.

Days without the smell of rain. Axel felt like he was going mad. One covert inward breath in Roxas' presence was enough to cloud his brain for days. When he couldn't find a reason or make an excuse to get close enough to Roxas to inhale his scent, he felt an itch in his teeth and beneath his fingernails that didn't go away unless he clenched them until they hurt. It was difficult to walk past the door to Roxas' Proof of Existence. The scent lingered around the entrance and so did he. Eight and thirteen hadn't seem so far apart when he'd learned to count them as a child, many lifetimes ago. But now the five numbers between seemed to stretch to eternity.

Often, Axel thought about what he wanted to do. He could escape his gnawing mind only by delving deeper into it, into the places where he could fan the embers of thoughts best left to die in the hearth.

He saw himself stealing into Roxas' Proof in the dark. Not slinking like the assassin he was – he wanted to walk in as bold as brass, like he belonged there. He did belong there. Sleeping Roxas, so violent in his stillness. Fists clenched in the sheets, frown lines between his eyes. Axel sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the sheets back gently. Roxas is a heavy sleeper, for all that he frowns and storms.

Axel would watch him for just a moment, very quiet, very still. Not creepy, really. Not quite a stalker. An observer who longs to get closer.

He'd touch Roxas then. A soft touch on an arm or belly or even (oh how pervasive) a light caress on the collarbone. The softness would be just like how Axel imagines it. It's the softness he craves and the softness that Roxas will never let any of them know. Cruel boy.

This is what he longs to do with Roxas. He longs to hold the flame of himself up to the barrier around Roxas and watch it burn up like a piece of paper. He sees the anger (why does Roxas feel anger when the rest of them can't?) in Roxas' eyes and longs to be the flame that evaporates the emotions. Roxas won't let his rain fall on Axel, though. He knows that fire will just turn him into steam.

"Leave me alone."

The voice was low, a soft voice covered with a layer of hardness. It was strange, hearing a voice that soft try to be hard and sharp. It was almost painful to hear something so beautiful be weighed down that way.

"Hey, I'm just walkin'," Axel shrugged, glancing back over his shoulder at Roxas. "Maybe you should watch where you're goin.'"

"You've been following me. Knock it off." Roxas glared.

"What gave you that idea? You know, you're awfully suspicious." Axel turned and faced him. "I'm getting the impression you don't even like me."

"You must be a genius."

Axel seized Roxas' wrist. Not the area covered by the sleeve of the coat or the glove, but the skin. His hands were warm around Roxas' wrist. Roxas wondered briefly why Axel wasn't wearing gloves.

"Does it ever bother you?" Axel looked down into his eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Roxas looked up. He hadn't yet pulled his wrist away.

"Burning so brightly."

The words made Roxas stand still and frown up into the strange face.

"Burning's your job." He said finally.

"I burn things. You just burn." Axel released his wrist. "I'd like to burn with you."

There was silence between them for a long moment. Roxas really looked at Axel for the first time.

"You can't do what I can. You'll get left behind."

"Then I suppose I'll deal with that when the time comes."