This is a request from Sassy Aloo from quite some time ago. I'm trying to get some of these requests done that I've built up. This probably is not one of my better ones but it is a rather odd pairing.

::sigh:: I still don't get to own these guys.

Intersecting Lines

"Damn it all, Riku," Cloud muttered, pounding his fist against the wall beside him. He had thought he had finally gotten the teenager to quit this crazy chase. It was ludicrous for him to be wandering alone on a strange world looking for someone that he was not even certain why he was looking for.

"Man, sounds like you've got the same problem I do."

Cloud whirled around, drawing Tsurgi. He pointed it in the face of slightly taller, rather slight form in a black hooded leather coat. The figure had not reacted at all to having a sword suddenly directed at him.

"They just don't listen, do they?" The man shook his head and casually walked around the sword. It may as well have not been there. "He won't find Roxas."

Cloud narrowed his eyes and replaced Tsurgi to its harness. "You know what all of this is about?"

"Some." The man paused. "Obviously, your boy there doesn't. Makes you wonder just why he's so driven to find someone he doesn't even know."

"I know why he's perusing him." Cloud countered. "What I don't understand is why? I don't get how this Roxas person is going to help with Sora."

The other shrugged. "No idea. I bet neither of them know, either."

"Who are you?"

With a loud laugh, the figure began walking away. "Just a guy looking for the one he cares for." He paused. "Not unlike yourself."

The man turned his head. "Well, come on. I thought you wanted answers."

Cloud hesitated. There was something irritatingly familiar about this guy. For whatever reason, he found himself trusting him and following after. A few minutes into their walk he again asked who the man was.

"For a quiet guy, you ask a lot of questions."

"I despise being left to other people's devices."

The man laughed again. "Oh so you did learn from being Sephiroth's little puppet."

The blond froze. Blue eyes narrowed dangerously at the back of a black hood. "What do you know of it?"

"Hit a nerve there." The figure turned and pulled back his hood. Shaking out lengthy, spiked back red hair that was both achingly and irritatingly familiar to Cloud, the man frowned. His green eyes, however, were shining with amusement above tattooed cheeks. "Sorry."

Cloud knew he was anything but.

The frown turned into a grin. "Oh, you're fun."

Cloud quirked an eyebrow. "Fun?"

"Yeah. You kinda remind me of Roxas." The redhead angled his head. "Actually, you kinda look like him too."

Snorting, Cloud turned. He did not know why he was wasting his time with this guy. He should be trying to find Riku and then-

"He won't stop searching." The other one spoke quietly. There was a sad quality to his voice and Cloud somehow understood that the man was not just talking about Riku. "They both have questions they want answered and those questions are more important than we will ever be."

There was a sigh. "Until they find the answers, we may as well not exist." A snort. "At least, the one of us that does."

Cloud turned back around, catching the melancholy expression that had taken the man's face. He was abruptly reminded of his long-gone boyfriend. "What's your name?"

The redhead smirked rather wickedly and suddenly Cloud was thinking he looked like Reno. This guy was coming off as a strange mixture of the redheaded Turk and Zack. "Axel, got it memorized?"

--0—0—

An hour later found them in an abandoned coffee shop. Cloud had made coffee and noted how strange it was that this world seemed to be a fully functioning city and yet there did not seem to be a soul in it. Axel had grinned and said that since it technically did not exist, there was no way time could affect it. They were all just wandering around in a frozen moment.

Cloud found he rather liked that idea.

Axel sat on the counter and Cloud at a table, his booted feet propped up on the table itself. The redhead talked about random things and Cloud found himself responding almost automatically. What was more interesting was that he enjoyed the random conversation.

There was a small break in the current discussion as Axel finished off his cup of coffee. He set the mug to the side and sighed. He leaned back, bracing his weight on his hands behind him. Staring up at the ceiling, he suddenly asked. "Why are we chasing after those two?"

Cloud opened his mouth to reply but paused. The automatic answer was that they cared about the other two. It was true; he somehow knew that Axel cared for Roxas just as much as he did Riku. However, that seemed like a rather pathetic reason.

Just why was he chasing after someone who obviously had more important things in his life than him?

Axel brought his head back down and angled it to the side as he looked at Cloud. "Is it just that we don't want to be alone?"

The blond shrugged. "Could be. That's not a very good foundation for a relationship, is it?"

"Nope." Axel chuckled. "And both of them are too young to be fuck buddies."

Cloud blew out a breath. Axel was unfortunately right. "So it looks like we're just two desperate guys looking for someone who's willing give us meaning."

"Yep." Axel slid off the counter. He strolled over to the other chair at the table Cloud was at and dropped into it backwards. "Obviously, Roxas and Riku don't need us for that."

"No."

Axel regarded Cloud for a long moment. "You know what I want more than anything? I just want to feel. I want to be able to become completely lost in sensation."

Cloud nodded. He understood that notion.

"Roxas, he's my best friend and for a while there I wanted to experience more with him but now…" He shrugged. "I don't think he could give me what I want if he wanted to."

"When I met Riku, I saw so much of myself in him, it was painful." Cloud spoke slowly. "All I wanted was to save him and maybe somehow in the process save myself. Turns out he doesn't need me to do that."

"So where does that leave us?"

Cloud studied the redhead. Acting on impulse, he stood and walked over. Axel got an odd look to his face as he stood in reaction. The pair simply gazed at one another for a minute.

Something clicked between them and Cloud suddenly had Axel pressed against the wall of the shop. He held the Nobody's upper arms as he captured Axel's mouth in an urgent, desperate kiss. Axel returned it with just as much want and hunger.

They did not stop to wonder why they were doing this. Cloud released Axel's arms to bring his hands up to tightly fist up in lengthy red hair. Axel's now free hands went immediately to the blond's waist and began tugging at Cloud's buckles.

Mouths wandered along jaws and necks; hands grasping and frantically moving to tear off one another's clothing. Some how they got away from the wall and in a drunken-looking dance, crossed over to the waist high counter. Their movements were being completely driven by an intense desire to be needed and wanted.

Axel hopped back onto the counter, awkwardly managing to keep his lips and tongue on Cloud's neck. He bit down when the man brought his hands down between the fire-wielder's legs. This was feeling.

Cloud fed off of Axel's complete willingness, getting an unexpected rush through his body. Deciding he needed more, he roughly shoved Axel away. The Nobody fell back to lie across the countertop and Cloud did not wait, forcing Axel's legs apart.

He only took a moment to prepare both himself and Axel before positioning the two of them. With a faint murmur, the blond simply drove into Axel. He paused long enough for the redhead to get over the shock and then just starting moving.

There was nothing gentle about Cloud's actions and Axel clawed at the counter, muttering in a near chant and revealing at every single sensation that coursed through him. He was rapidly over-whelmed by it all and just when he did not thing he could take anymore, something broke within him and he bit back a scream. He faintly heard Cloud groan a few moments later.

Cloud braced his hands on the counter to either side of Axel's hips, catching his breath. The redhead panted, his head limply hanging off the side. When Axel managed to lift it, he glanced down to find nearly glowing blue eyes staring at him.

Cloud straightened out, moving away from Axel and began gathering his clothing. Axel sat up stiffly and grimaced as he tried to stand up. The blond smirked and muttered a cure spell.

"Thanks." Axel got down from his perch. Cloud nodded and handed him his pants. The two quietly dressed.

Once finished, Cloud walked around the counter and filled a paper cup with the remaining coffee. Axel zippered up his coat and watched him. The blond flicked his eyes over.

The Nobody folded his arms and grinned. "So, same time tomorrow or we gonna pretend this never happened?"

Cloud paused and thought it over. Shaking his head, he took his coffee and headed for the door. He walked out and chuckled. "See you around."