An: Just a little oneshot that was originally slated for a zine.
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The first time he tastes sea-salt ice cream Axel almost spits it out.
Axel may be a Nobody but he still has tastebuds!
It tastes like fermented seaweed that had been left out in the sun too long served with an extra dumping of sugar and salt, and Axel hates it.
Well maybe that's being melodramatic, but it's too salty, too sweet, and it all mixes together to create a weird taste in his mouth. He doesn't like it at all.
The lady at the counter had asked what flavour he wanted and Axel had been left awkwardly standing there wondering what kids these days were supposed to like.
Nobodies weren't exactly known for their knowledge of contemporary ice cream flavours, and Axel wasn't in the habit of sticking strangely flavoured confectionary in his mouth regularly enough to judge what was good and what wasn't.
Looking at the endless array of exotic flavourings he couldn't find it in himself to find any of them enticing, not that he had a heart to feel enticed.
At that point if he was alone Axel probably would have forgone the after mission snack and proceeded to RTC, but he'd promised the new kid something extra as a reward for completing the mission. Kids liked ice cream... right?
At least he thought they did. Not that Nobodies could really 'like' anything.
So he just picked one. Looking back on it definitely one of his less stellar food choices.
Funny how things could grow on you...
Roxas for some unfathomable reason actually seemed to like it. And then he shared it with Xion and she liked it. And then that was that, and Axel's tastebuds were thereto condemned to a bitter life of salty sweetness.
Later in Betwixt and Between as he fades into Darkness Axel will reflect that, looking back on it, that perhaps if it was those bizarrely flavoured food sticks that had brought them – He, Roxas and that girl whose name he can't remember no matter how hard he tries, all those days spent together at the Clock Tower then maybe they weren't so bad after all, strange taste or not.
Axel never does find out just what was so good about sea-salt ice cream.
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