50 Ways I Tried to Love You
Challenge: 50 prompts, 1-sentence format AkuRoku
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts
Dedication: This is for CrypticElf, who's in love with AkuRoku, and has been my faithful beta for almost a year. I love ya, girl.
ooooo
1. Darkness
The darkness was encroaching on them; bright yellow eyes peering out at them, but they didn't notice the darkness or the rain, too encompassed with the shadowy feeling they felt in their chests as they kissed.
2. Cold
Roxas was running – the cold was biting, but he had to find Axel, had to make sure he was okay, Axel didn't like the cold – and then he remembered he was already dead.
3. Scary
Roxas admitted one time to not being a great fan of scary movies, so Axel took him to see one and couldn't stop laughing – Roxas was clinging to him through the entire thing.
4. Fruit
Roxas could only recall bits and parts of his past life and for some inexplicable reason he had the strongest desire to share some sort of fruit with Axel, but he never did.
5. Pink
Roxas is incredibly, thoroughly smashed; Axel thinks with drunken satisfaction – every inch of his skin has a pink flush to it.
6. Chess
Axel liked chess – Roxas never quite figured out that quirk in his personality until Demyx told him that the redhead loved to think out strategies.
7. Sweater
Axel caught a cold – god knows where – and is terribly bemused when Roxas suddenly turns into a mother hen, bundling him up in a sweater and blankets and getting him cocoa.
8. Books
When there's nothing to do in the castle – Demyx is gone and Roxas is being elusive – Axel can be found in the library, surprisingly, surrounded by his collection of fantasy novels.
9. Mud
When Roxas comes home caked in mud one day, there's nothing for it but their first trial of shower-sex.
10. Laughter
Roxas is the cutest when he's laughing, Axel thinks; his eyes light up a blush dusts his cheeks- he looks extremely kissable.
11. Light
Roxas is Light, Axel knows; Roxas hasn't got a clue but he glows in the dark whenever he's having a nightmare.
12. Sun
He misses the sun, but Roxas is there and with hair that yellow, he is a good substitute.
13. Rain
It rains almost constantly in the World That Never Was and sometimes Roxas feels depressed about it- then he sees that unmistakable flash of red and the rain doesn't bother him so much as Axel comes in, complaining bitterly with his hair plastered to his scalp and clothing clinging to his body, soaked to the bone.
14. Failure
Failure to comply with the Superior leads to harsh punishment, Roxas reflects, while kissing the old scars on his lover's back as he sleeps.
15. Nightmare
"Axel, snap out of it, please – it was only a nightmare," Roxas entreats when his lover wakes up hyperventilating and begging someone not to leave him alone… sometimes he wondered which of them was more screwed up, him or the redhead.
16. Halloween
Axel was a flame-sprite in Halloween Town and Roxas was a ghost, they found out.
17. Space
"Space is the final frontier, love," Axel jauntily remarks as they appear in the world of their latest mission and are immediately accosted by a pair of oddly-uniformed officers and no, they didn't know anyone by the name of Q, thanks all the same.
18. Fantasy
"You're living a fantasy," Luxord tells them once but they don't care, they love their fantasy, no matter how delicate it really is.
19. Kiss
Bodies entwined in an intimate embrace, Axel lays a sweet, chaste kiss on Roxas' lips, a soft reminder that they aren't only in this for the sex.
20. Meeting
When Roxas first met Axel the older man had struck him as a slacker, but the redhead was never once late to a meeting and he always promptly turned in all reports and paperwork.
21. Superior
The Superior frightens Roxas sometimes and Axel gets a kick out of it, but he's always there when things get too bad.
22. Puppy
Axel had the ability to make puppy-eyes, the first time he did it he freaked Roxas out big time – seriously, it was scary how pathetic and vulnerable Axel could make himself look.
23. Water
The water-loving musician is the only one who knows what's truly between them, everyone else thinks they're just fuck-buddies, but Demyx knows the truth, and that gives him faith until Roxas leaves and everything comes crashing down around their ears.
24. Fire
When Axel comes home from a mission with the fire gone from his eyes, all Roxas can do is hold him as he sobs out the frustration of seeing so many children in his Somebody's situation slaughtered by the Heartless.
25. Empty
With Roxas gone there is nothing that will fill the emptiness and Demyx tries to hold him out of the darkness; Axel thinks the world of him for that, but Demyx is his best friend, not his lover.
26. Key
"I still think it's bloody stupid that the only thing that's able to kill us is a giant key, Roxy."
27. Killing
Killing has always sat ill with Axel, and the thought of his blond boy-angel having to go through the same thing makes him feel sicker; to the point of him falling ill whenever Roxas is out on a mission.
28. Philosophy
Axel and Demyx were nearly brothers, both rebelling the Superior's depressing philosophy and Roxas aches to have that same hope that comes so naturally to those two and cries quietly, passing it off as nothing when Axel worries.
29. Bruises
Axel always took the blame for Roxas – he never knew, but that was the reason he always seemed to be bruised up, and Roxas fussed, asking him how he'd gotten the Superior mad this time, and was he sure he was going to be okay?
30. Wind
The cold wind plucks at them playfully, turning cheeks and noses red and blowing black cloaks about while Axel complains and Roxas laughs, tugging him into the warm safety of a nearby café.
31. Children
Axel's only real memories from his Somebody were of his childhood; mostly-starved in the streets of an uncaring city full of people who took their own miserable lives out on him and others like him (sometimes Roxas is happy he doesn't retain any memories of another life.)
32. Red
Roxas knows there is only one true red in the world to him: Axel's hair.
33. Lightning/Thunder
"Roxas, it's not fuckin' funny!" Axel shrieks, fleeing from a madly sparking Larxene – Demyx had pranked her and framed him.
34. Hair
Axel likes to make Roxas' hair look as rumpled as possible in the mornings and Roxas has just given up on it.
35. Gravity
"I claim a gravity attack," Axel mumbles, peering over the edge of the bed he's just fallen out of to watch his lover; still safely on the bed and gloriously naked, laughing joyfully – Axel smirks, and pounces two seconds later.
36. Scarf
They ignore the looks they get as they share a scarf – it was these people's own damn fault if they thought it was wrong or some other bullshit – they loved each other (and it was bloody cold.)
37. Yellow
It irked him when Axel called his hair yellow- it was blond, dammit!
38. Grass
The grass is cool and damp against his skin as he watches his blonde find the peak of ecstasy and tumble off it, he follows soon after.
39. Cloak
He knows this isn't his cloak, it's too big on him, and then he wonders if Axel's wandering around in his cloak and has to stifle a nosebleed.
40. Dying
When he's dying (is that even the right word) Axel swears he sees his blonde shine through the eyes (the same eyes) of the brunette that's supposedly him, and is peaceful – he can feel again.
41. Living
"Axel, will we ever truly be living?" Roxas asks, and Axel is at a loss for words; he wants to say something cheesy and comforting but is only able to hold the blonde tightly to his chest, answer enough for the other: 'I don't know.'
42. Repetition
When they're both in the throes of passion there's only one thing Axel really says, but he repeats it over and over like a mantra and Roxas doesn't ever mention it, but it makes him feel more complete when Axel chants I love you in his ear.
43. Demons
"Pack of fucking demons, I'll kill you three for this," Larxene shrieks while Roxas rolls his eyes and wonders how he got roped into this, being dragged between his lover and his lover's best friend; both of them cackling like mad hyenas.
44. Happiness
Roxas can sometimes be thoroughly brainwashed by the Superior, Axel thinks disgustedly- why can't his lover just enjoy a moment of happiness?
45. Flower
Roxas finds it terribly ironic that Axel's favorite flower is a cherry blossom; he finds it hard to reconcile with the pyrophile's indelicate nature.
46. Feeling
Feeling comes naturally for both of them, but only when they're with each other.
47. Apart
Axel hates being apart: his Somebody was abandoned young, and when Roxas leaves there's nothing left for him to hold on to.
48. Love
"I think I love you, Axel," Roxas says, but Axel can't hear him, he's dying and Roxas can't tell him because he already left him.
49. Heartless
"I think I side with Demi, Roxy, we're not heartless – how would I explain this feeling if we were?"
50. Nobody
The moment Roxas left, Axel's feeling (heart) left with him and he felt nothing but emptiness, "I'm a Nobody again, Roxy; you happy now?"
ooooo
Endnotes – Hmm… I think I may be getting addicted to this sort of fic. I may do a drabble series with these prompts and this pairing. It's always been a favorite of mine. Once again thanks to my beta, CrypticElf (love ya, girl.) Also, thanks to everyone who reviews, or even just really enjoys this.
Kudos to anyone who can spot my über-geek reference. :)