A/N: Life. So busy. That is my whole excuse for the lateness of this chapter! Honestly, I don't need to go in more detail than that. If I did, this note would be longer than, uh, probably this entire story. XD

Also, please forgive the title. I pretty much put my playlist on shuffle and picked lyrics off the first song that came on. Heh.

Warnings: Most of this chapter is unhappy. D:

Disclaimer: Well, if I'd owned them, the games would probably never have been finished, so....

Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead.

Chapter Ten: Nothing But Dark Blue

Roxas was awake as soon as the door started opening. He leveled a glare at the robed figure that walked in and casually flipped on a light, acting as if it had every right to be where he was—which it did, of course, but that was entirely too rational of a thought for Roxas to even be considering right now. As far as he was concerned, Axel didn't have the right to be sneaking into anywhere without first giving Roxas an explanation for the day.

"Where've you been?" he asked coldly instead of thinking, and was gratified to see Axel jump slightly at the sound of his voice. The man turned to face him with a grin on his face, but it faltered at the steely light in Roxas' eyes.

"Where do you think I've been?" the redhead responded snippily, unzipping and shrugging of his trenchcoat with a wince. Roxas could feel a bit of worry sneaking up on him at the unusually stiff movements his boyfriend was making, but he shoved it away irritably and slid off the bed. When he glared up at the other, he couldn't help cursing his own small stature.

"I've no idea," Roxas responded shortly. Axel gave him an annoyed look and brushed by him on his way to the bathroom. The blond followed him doggedly, scowl deepening as the other utterly ignored him in favor of downing two of the bottles in his medicine cabinet as if he hadn't had a thing to drink for days. "Are you going to tell me anything?" he asked.

"Not if you're going to keep being an icy bitch," Axel snarled without looking at him and Roxas bristled, literally bristled, in his anger and (if he was going to be honest with himself) worry—he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, like he was a spooked cat. Crossing his arms, he stood in silence and watched as Axel started undressing himself again, and had to bite his lip to keep from gasping when he saw the rapidly-healing bruises that decorated the redhead.

Eventually, when it became obvious that Axel wasn't going to say anything after all, Roxas growled lightly and spun on his heel to leave. He grabbed his laptop on the way out and slammed the door before stomping through the hallways on the way to his room. He'd only had a cursory glance at it before, when Demyx had reminded Axel to show him on their way to go clothes shopping, but he'd made sure to remember exactly where it was at least.

The place was beyond empty. There was a large bed with white sheets, and there were plain white walls, and a plain white door with a white doorknob that led to the white bathroom. He'd stored most of his new clothes in the closet in here, but other than that there was nothing of his. It was actually kind of depressing after staying first in Xigbar's rooms (with the ancient guns hanging on the wall and what looked like a painting of some strange place with a heart-shaped moon taking up the entire ceiling), and then in Axel's rooms (which was covered in an uncoordinated mix of posters, paintings, post-it notes, and a much-abused dartboard that was last occupied by a picture of the Superior), but he ignored that determinedly and fell onto the bed, prying his laptop open again. He was surprised to check his email and notice that he'd gotten a comment on his journal entry as well as a friend request, both of which were from Sora.

That, at least, made him smile. It was just like his brother to offer the first hand in friendship to the new kid. He'd seen it happen often enough throughout the years of going to school with him, but he'd never in his life expected to be on the receiving end of it. Of course, he'd also never expected to be in need of it. His life had gotten so weird.

Determined not to think about the oddity of his life, he responded to Sora's comment and friended him back before making a short entry in his Undeadjournal and poking half-heartedly through some communities. It didn't take him very long to feel restless, though, like he always did when he was feeling irritated or uneasy, and so he slid off his bed with a vague thought of heading to Xigbar's courtyard to practice his still-atrocious aim.

"Well, if it isn't Thirteen," a girl's voice called soon after he left his room, and he forced down a frown as he turned to face the tall, willowy blonde. "So you and Axel aren't attached at the hip after all!"

"...Larxene," he acknowledged dully after a moment's thought. He hadn't actually run into the girl since the library, which he'd learned to take as a blessing. Xigbar was quite open about his distrust of her, who he often referred to as 'Marluxia's shadow'. But Xemnas trusted the two of them, and had given them their own task to attend to which Roxas was given to understand involved the girl Namine, but he knew nothing else about it. It all made him very uneasy, and he steered clear of them as much as he could. "Can I help you with something?"

"Well I could use a bit of entertainment," Larxene suggested with a leering grin that made him shiver, especially when he noticed the knife she was casually flipping between her fingers. "I don't think I've gotten to play with you yet."

"I think I'll pass," he said softly, trying to think of an excuse to get away. "I was just on my way to, uh--"

"Roxas, there you are!"

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Xigbar's voice, and peered around Larxene with some relief to see the older man striding casually towards them. Larxene, on the other hand, scowled down at him before she turned to Xigbar herself with an innocent-looking smile.

"Oh, hello, Xigbar!" she said cheerfully, and the knife disappeared with a small spark of lightning.

"Twelve," Xigbar greeted cooly, stepping past her and putting a hand on Roxas' shoulder. "I need Roxas for a while. Hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

"Of course not," Larxene smiled, waving a hand dismissively in front of her face. "I was just getting to know our newest member a little. We haven't had any time to talk, what with Axel hogging up all of his time."

"I'm sure you'll find time to bother him again soon," Xigbar murmured, frowning, and placed a hand on Roxas' shoulder. He gave a light shove, and Roxas took a couple steps back, feeling a little bewildered. There was something going on here that he was being kept in the dark about. Considering the little he knew, he figured it was something to do with his keyblades—but what it could be, he had no idea. What was this Kingdom Hearts, and what was so great about it? "Let's get going, kiddo. Lot's to do today."

"What was all that about?" Roxas asked with a feigned casualness as soon as he was sure Larxene was out of hearing range. He hoped that he could get Xigbar to let something slip, though he doubted it.

"What d'you mean?" Xigbar responded, raising his eyebrow. Roxas just raised both of his eyebrows back, and the older man gave a long sigh. "It was nothin'. Just don't think it's a good idea for you to be anywhere near her, y'know? She's a nasty piece of work."

"Yeah," Roxas agreed with a shrug. "Did you actually need me for anything?"

"Nah, you're cool. Though..."

"What?"

"Vexen says you're pretty quiet on your feet," Xigbar murmured slowly, his head tilted back as if he was talking to the ceiling. "And I've noticed you're fast. Might have something to do for you tonight."

"Yeah?" Roxas asked curiously, fighting back the excited grin that wanted to make its home on his face. "What do you need me to do?"

"Dunno if there's anything yet, but I'll talk to the Superior," Xigbar assured him, smirking. "I'll come find you later on tonight if we decide to bring you along. But right now, I think you oughta find Axel. He's all bad-moody for some reason."

"...Oh. Yeah." Roxas lifted a hand to his head and rubbed at his temple. He hated his temper sometimes, he really did—especially the way it left him so suddenly and made him feel like an idiot when it was gone. "Guess I should apologize or something."

"Ooh, trouble in paradise?" Xigbar teased, nudging Roxas in the side. "Tell Uncle Xigbar about it!"

"I'd rather not," Roxas snapped, giving the older man an unnerved look. "It's none of your business."

"Hey, it's plenty of my business if I'm gonna suggest we send you out somewhere!" Xigbar protested, shaking his head. "Think you can leave your feelings behind long enough to get something completed? If you can't focus and mess this thing up, you won't be getting outta here for a good long while."

"I'll take care of it," Roxas said coldly, shoving his hands into his pockets and glaring down at his feet. "Don't worry about a thing."

---

A couple hours later found Roxas slowly walking up to the door of Axel's room. He'd been searching for the redhead everywhere, but had been unable to find him. This was going to be the last place he looked, and if Axel wasn't in his room he was just going to go to his own and give up. There was no point in spending his day searching for someone who likely didn't want to be found.

He really wished it wasn't his own fault that Axel was sulking.

So, sucking in a deep breath, he slowly pushed the door open and peeked inside. To his surprise, Axel actually was in there, though Demyx was with him and they were playing some sort of board game. As he watched, Demyx casually knocked over a red peg with his own blue one, and then the door creaked and the blond's head snapped up.

"Oh, hey, Roxas," Demyx said softly, and Roxas winced at the way Axel's shoulders tensed at the sound of his name. Roxas worried at his lip for a moment before sighing and giving Demyx a strained smile.

"I wanted to talk to Axel," he murmured. Demyx gave Axel a look and the other man's red spikes shook slightly as he slowly started getting to his feet. Roxas backed up a little and waited for his boyfriend to come out of the room.

"Hey," Axel said softly as soon as the door clunked quietly behind him. He leaned back and crossed his arms, his face settling into a look that was completely devoid of emotion. Roxas found that he couldn't look Axel in the eyes when his face was like that, and so he shifted his gaze onto his tattoos instead.

"I'm sorry about this morning," he started bluntly, crossing his arms nervously. "I didn't—I mean, you weren't--" He shook his head violiently, scowling, and chewed on his lip for another couple seconds before deciding to just get it out as simply as possible. "I didn't know where you were. I was worried. I overreacted. I'm sorry."

"Worried?" Axel asked quietly, the blank look fading quickly into one that looked rather bemused. "I was on a mission; I've been doing this for years. I was fine."

"I would've liked to know you were going on a mission ahead of time," Roxas muttered, closing his eyes and rubbing at his temple again. "I've never had somebody I care about just up and disappear on me like that for an entire day, and then you came back hurt, so..." He shrugged helplessly, and looked back up at Axel to give him an apologetic smile. To his surprise, Axel smiled back and held out a hand.

"It's cool," the taller man said softly. "I'll let you know next time, and you'll let me know when you go out, right? But just remember that we can't give each other any details whatsoever. You don't even want to know what Xemnas is like when he throws a hissy fit."

Roxas laughed softly and put a hand in Axel's, allowing himself to be pulled in for a long kiss. Axel seemed determined to keep a hold of him afterwords, so Roxas let himself be led back into his boyfriend's room and even laid on the floor next to Axel and settled himself under the other's arm.

"So, disaster averted?" Demyx asked cheerfully, his eyes glittering as he watched them. "Should I leave so the two of you can get your make-up sex on?"

Axel threw one of the red pieces at Demyx, and it bounced off the blond's cheek to land back on the board and spin. Demyx's lewd grin didn't even twitch. "Let's finish the game, jackass. We've got all night for the sex. No interruptions tonight!"

Almost as if on que, there was a loud knocking on the door.

"Hey, Axel, have you seen Roxas?" Xigbar's voice filtered through, and Roxas had to give Demyx a death-glare as the taller blond let out a loud laugh before clapping his hands over his own mouth. "Gotta job for him!"

A/N: Oooh, a mission for Roxas! How exciting! What exactly does Xigbar have in mind for our young protagonist? I would tell you, but it would ruin the story! Also, I haven't decided yet.

Now let's see if I can just manage to write faster next time. (Yeah right.)