When Axel first saw the new Member, XIII, the boy had been standing in one of the worlds Axel had been sent to investigate. Saix had later told him that XIII had been observing all the members various skills, and that the Flurry of Dancing Flames was next on his list.
Axel had been casually leaning into the darkness of an alleyway, watching passing by civilians with a bored stare on his face. He had noticed a short figure standing by the ledge, wearing a familiar black coat and staring out into the ocean. He had swept blonde hair and as he turned to stare back, Axel was fixed with two intense blue eyes.
"So, you're the newbie, huh."
Axel strolled over to join XIII by the rail, the sea breeze ruffling his auburn hair. XIII glanced at him briefly, a blank look tinged slightly with annoyance.
"Member VIII." He said quietly, as if to himself. "Axel."
"Yeah, got it memorized?" Axel drawled, lazily winking one bright green eye at the boy. XIII didn't answer, instead making a slight huffing sound and then looking back at the ocean.
Axel refrained himself from rolling his eyes. Stingy.
"I've heard…" XIII said suddenly, taking his time. "That you're unpredictable. No one can really tell what side your on."
Blue eyes glanced up to the red head, noticing the distant expression.
"So, they've already spoken to you then." Axel mused, crossing his arms on the rail and leaning forward. "Do you believe them?"
"That your unpredictable?" XIII asked, raising his eyebrows, just slightly. "I don't know yet. Is that stupid?"
Axel paused, and then tossed his head back, grinning with feline teeth. XIII's eyes were drawn to VIII's hair, a shocking contrast to the pitch black of his cloak.
"That's not stupid. That's smart." Axel said, winking again. He headed off across a nearby boardwalk, booted feet crunching loudly on sand and gravel. When he reached the beach, XIII was already there waiting for him.
"Why is it smart?" he asked, only a hint of curiosity in his bland voice. Axel hummed a random tune under his breath as he crossed the stretch of sand, ducking underneath a bridge and standing just within reach of the tide, so that water rippled over his boots.
"Everyone thinks they can predict me, because I am unpredictable." He said, tipping his head back again. "Get it?"
"I understand. You think I'm smart because I haven't predicted you yet."
Axel shrugged, grinning. XIII stared for a moment.
"You're weird." He stated after a moment, and Axel grinned.
"You're boring." He countered, "And you're rude."
"Am I?" XIII asked, standing rigid on the shoreline.
"Yup."
XIII walked over to join VIII, standing with a hairs breadth between their sides. Apparently he hadn't discovered the concept of personal space yet, and Axel sidled a little away from the blonde.
"How am I rude?" XIII asked, not looking away from the gentle rising and falling of the waves.
"Well, you haven't even told me your name yet."
XIII blinked, and then shrugged.
"Roxas." He said, and then walked away from Axel, opening a dark portal. His feet crunched against the sand, littered with photos of two boys, one with silver hair and another with large blue eyes.
--
"Number XIII, Roxas."
One booted foot tapped a rhythm against his bed frame, the other swinging idly off the edge. Axel was sprawled on his four-poster bed, with his arms folded behind his head, entertaining himself by building a basic profile for the newest member of the Organization.
"Quiet, boring, serious, angry, expressionless." He pondered for a moment. "And short."
There was a steady squeaking from the room next to his and he rolled his eyes. Larxene usually got very angry or very melancholy this time of day. Today was her melancholy day. She would spend the next few hours with her knees drawn up to her chin in the rocking chair next to her bed, staring out through her window into the darkness.
Fake emotions, who needs them?
Axel snorted softly.
We do. I guess.
Nobody's were such sad pathetic creatures. Sighing, as the squeaking didn't seem to make any move to cease, Axel swung his legs off his bed and got to his feet, stretching his arms.
Opening a portal he stepped through it and entered the kitchens, busying himself with making an alcoholic drink he once saw someone make at Hollow Bastion. It looked tasty. It tasted tasty, too. After Axel had locked the man who made it in a nearby closet and took the drink, but the thumps hitting his shoulder blades as he had leant against the closet door kind of dampened the mood.
Still, he had tossed random books around the shop until he found the recipe, and took it back with him in case there was another day when he had nothing else to do and there were no old men and closets around to lock them in for entertainment.
Dropping some ice in the glass, Alex took a sip.
"You might not want to go sneaking around like that." He commented, "You could be attacked because you scared the shit out of someone."
Turning, he leant against the counter and took another sip, eyeing the blonde at the doorway.
"I wasn't sneaking," Roxas scowled, pushing past him and grabbing a glass. "Your just too deaf to hear me."
"Deaf enough to know you were there?" Axel pondered out loud, grinning in the way that plainly told everyone else in his general vicinity that they didn't want to try and gamble with him unless they wanted to keep their shoes.
Roxas shrugged, still frowning with permanent annoyance, and filled the glass with water.
"So, Roxas. Roxas, Roxas, Roxas…"
The blonde's eyebrow twitched as he turned to face the red head.
"What."
"Has anyone given you a tour yet?" Axel said lightly, drowning the last swallow of the drink and setting the empty glass on the table behind him. XIII stared at him.
"I was given a basic run down of the Organization, its role, its goal, and the positioning of rooms in this area." He said automatically and clearly, barely blinking once.
"Yeesh. If I wanted a computerized answer I would have bothered learning how to use a computer." Axel scoffed, mentally realising that that might be something to check up on.
"Someone hasn't given me a tour, no." Roxas said, his frown deepening. He left the glass unfinished on the sink and went to walk away.
"You shouldn't leave a glass half full." Axel commented, tipping his head slightly to look accusingly at Roxas under lowered lashes. The blonde paused, and then shrugged again.
"It's half empty." He said, and left the room.