"Wha- what just happened?" He dropped his playing cards, spilling them onto his lap.
"Power failure," he nodded, invisible to Roxas. He held on tightly.
It was dark, but familiar. Axel traveled in the dark, praying on the heartless. He sat up strait, arched his back.
"Ohh," Pause. "I was winning too."
Axel smirked, his teeth glowed in the dark. Fluorescent yellow.
"No you were not."
It was dark and uncomfortable. Roxas lived, survived in the night. He feed off it. He was uneasy, queasy, sick to his stomach.
He recollected his cards, moving the flimsy paper closer to his face. He remembered. A queen, a king, a knight-
"I would have won this round. I have a royal flush." Squinting, shaking.
"Roxas Roxas Roxas, don't you know how to play the game?" Three for luck.
"Poker?" It was confusing, hearing a friend's voice in the dark. Something new, something he'd never wanted to possess. He didn't.
No, anything but that game-
"Yes, poker." Axel waved his cards, fanning himself. "You don't tell me your cards!"
"Ohh… are you saying we're still playing with this hand."
Maybe, now that he had said it-
"Yes, this hand is still good. It's still worth munny." Axel flicked the black fuzz from under his nails.
Roxas stood up, for emphasis. "Nothing beats a royal flush." He fanned Axel's face. Double time.
"Well- you can't play in the dark, you know?"
Roxas felt for his chair, carefully, sat back down. That was right. He'd forgotten, but the reminder, the memories, made his stomach churn again.
"Yeah, I know."
"Pfft, I bet Larxene blew a fuse somehow." Axel leaned back in his chair. He tried to imagine the room, tried t recall the way it looked.
"Probably with her bad temper."
There was mutual agreement.
Roxas cleared his throat. He didn't want, nor need, silence. Not now, not in the dark- In the night. What time was it?- It was dark outside, it was dark inside. Everything, everywhere-
"It was getting too dark." He said, holding up a fistful of fire. He smiled.
Roxas smiled in return, speaking the language, praying in his head. Thank you, my friend.
"I hate it when I can't see in front of my own face," Axel eased the tension. He was a smooth talker, knew how to handle others, knew what to say and how to say it.
But his timing. It was usually off, a moment, a regret too late. Not for once.
You too?
"Me too."
Axel grinned. He couldn't stand it, couldn't control himself. He burst.
"WHY? Are you afraid of the dark?"
Hatred is not the same thing as fear.
Roxas made a face. His upper lip quivered, toppled over into a frown. It was adorable. Axel scrunched his face in happiness.
His stomach fluttered.
The lights went out again, the power vanquished. Axel snorted, the sound of his laughter. It echoed. Roxas, blue eyes, blonde hair, perfection, felt jittery and nervous.
His stomach rumbled.
Roxas sat perfectly still. The table began moving; the card game, completely ruined, fell on top of him. He shielded himself, stirred.
"BOOOOHHHHHAAY," Axel cackled. His imitation of a ghost was surprisingly accurate in the dark.
Roxas reached out a hand. "Stop it. You're not funny." He grabbed cloth and pulled.
Axel's sleeve dragged him down to his knees. His eyes began to adjust, a light reflecting from blue eyes. He smiled, sentimentally.
"Is this funny?" He moved his head around. Roxas did the same.
The fire, the red light, returned. Axel's nose touched Roxas' hair. The aroma was pleasant.
Roxas stared at Axel. Axel stared at Roxas. His smile-
Roxas grinned. "No."
He shoved Axel. They both giggled, twittered, waited for the power to come back on.
xxx
Coincidentally enough, there was a power outage at school today. I started this story at school yesterday. HMM. And we still didn't get to leave school. xP We got free lunch though. I ended up with a jelly sandwich. The one day I brought a peanut butter sandwich to school. And left it in my locker. Irony is my friend.
Characters ARE NOT MINE. Ohh woe is me.