word count: 554
"You are like stardust and magic," Roxas's laugh sails through the night, "made up of late night smokes and sea-salt ice-cream and heavily-used sarcasm."
Axel holds a cigarette to his lips, the taste of nicotine buried beneath the laughter that envelops him and he feels warm, though Twilight Town in December is never warm.
"Quite the poet now, are we?" Axel's long, bow-like fingers work through his red strands in an almost elegant manner. His gentle eyes cast over the Nobody next to him. "Never took you for one with words, Rox."
"Ah, shut up!"
Their laughter echoes from the clocktower, becoming more stretched with distance before it settles like smoke above the sleeping town. Roxas takes a bite of his ice-cream and Axel an exhale of his cigarette and the two look on as the last traces of laughter ripple out of them.
"But," Axel wiggles the cigarette between his fingers, "stardust and magic? That makes me sound like I'm some beautiful creature in a fairy tale, dontcha think?"
"You are," Roxas doesn't hesitate. His blue eyes flick up to meet Axel's. "You're something nice, you know? Something you don't wanna let go of once you have it."
Axel raises an eyebrow at Roxas.
"Never want to let go of?"
"Yeah," Roxas nods, a hint of a smile shaping his features. "You're kinda unique, in a way. In all of your Axel-y manners and way of doing things. Elegant, too. Though you probably don't realize."
"Axel-y manners? Elegant? Oh my god."
A hint of red sweeps Roxas's cheeks when Axel repeats it out loud. "What? Was it really that funny?"
"No, it's just," Axel tries not to smile as much as he wants to, "it's the first time I've ever heard you say anything remarkable such as this. It's really catching me off guard, one after another. You're special, you know? But in the good way."
"Just like how I think you're like stardust and magic?"
"Exactly like that."
Roxas finishes his ice-cream and gives the Winner-labeled stick to Axel.
"Look at that," Roxas says, smiling, "guess I'm a winner."
Axel kills the cigarette and tosses it to the side as he takes the stick and examines it. When he looks up, he's smiling too.
"Guess you are."
He leans in and kisses Roxas.
The taste of sea-salt is stuck to Roxas's lips and their cold feeling lingers even when Axel pulls back. He's looking down at Roxas and Roxas is looking up at Axel with shock and surprise, but most of all content.
"Now you're a super winner," Axel grins.
Roxas lightly smacks Axel on the arm.
"You caught me surprise, you goof! You could've at least warned me!"
"That's what makes me so magical, Rox," Axel ruffles the blond's hair with a victorious grin. "You never see me coming."
Roxas puffs out the winter air but there's no mistaking the smile that makes its way onto his face. Suddenly, he stands.
"C'mon," he says, pulling Axel up. "Shall we get another ice-cream?"
"W-wait, at two in the morning?"
"Of course!"
Axel laughs as he stands, his height in all towering the Nobody in front of him. Roxas laughs too and as they walk away from the clock tower, their laughter can be heard through all of Twilight Town.
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owari