Larxene rose her head quietly, her eyes blurry from sleep. She sensed someone coming in front of her, and instinctively her muscles tensed. She relaxed, however, when she realized who it was.
She felt warm lips rush softly onto her own as hands gently wrangled her silk hair. Axel's tongue swiped across her bottom lip, and the Savage Nymph granted his entrance to play inside with a suppressed moan. His scent was swamping her, all around, and she felt as if she could wrap herself in it. Larxene briefly sucked on his tongue while his hands worked her sweatpants off. She gasped as she felt a finger inside, and Axel took that opportunity to further deepen their blazing kiss. Larxene ached to swing her legs around his hips and tighten herself there, but by now he had pushed her up against the wall by her bed, and he was pressing his weight into her somewhat.
Larxene began to pant as Axel moved down to the nape of her neck, licking tenderly. She whispered his name, and Axel came back up to kiss her once more on her soft lips. She felt his finger retreat after a release from a few minutes of oh so wonderful fondling, and he nuzzled her chin affectionately.
Larxene kissed his cheek, lingering.
Axel felt something wet trail down onto his own cheek.
Immediately, Axel cupped her face with both hands. "What's wrong?" he demanded softly.
Larxene shook her head sadly, her face still in his hands. Another tear glistened in the moonlight as it rolled down her cheek. "Axel, I..." She didn't know how to tell him.
"What is it?" Axel pressed, worry clouding his eyes. "Did I do something? Anything?"
"It's not you," she croaked, holding back a choked sob. "It's just... we don't age..."
Axel raised an eyebrow. "You've... never had a problem with that before..."
"We don't age...," Larxene repeated, "but Roxas does..." Her heart felt literally as if it were being ripped into flailing ribbons, torn asunder by sorrow and discord.
Axel had always been aware of this, deep in the recesses of his mind, but he, too, had not dwelled on this dilemma all too much. But now that Larxene had brought it into the open, he bit his lip and knit his eyebrows together. He silently wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her close to him, listening to his lover's sounds of sorrow; he tried his best to assuage her, rocking her back and forth and humming softly to her. "Larxene," he began softly.
Larxene sniffed and looked up at him, her moonlit blue eyes glittering like forlorn stars.
"He's still just an infant," Axel began carefully. "He'll be here for years to come. But listen to me: I'll try and find a way to fix this. I will."
Larxene closed her eyes as a tear came down. "But that's the thing," she whispered. "Death is something that will -and always shall- occur. Who are we to prevent that from happening to one individual?"
Axel didn't miss a beat. "There is a difference between ageless and immortal," he said softly. "Ageless is where you simply stop aging; immortality is where you literally cannot die. We are ageless, just as we were when we were Nobodies in the realm of the living. We don't age in this realm because we died and then came here. But we can still be killed; we can still die. Our internal clocks have just been stopped; nothing else has changed."
Larxene's tears had ceased, and her head rested on his chest. While her fingers were stroking his collarbones, she replied, "Yes, you're right. We can still die." She allowed a sardonic grin to curve her lips. "Just go ask Saix."
Axel breathed a laugh.
"So...," Larxene began steadily, "say we do find a way to stop Roxas from aging..."
"He'd still be able to die."
"Yes, I know. But the question is, when will we stop his internal clock?"
Axel cupped his chin in thought. "Well," he finally said, "first of all, we're getting ahead of ourselves. See, we need to see if there's any way we can even stop his aging in the first place. We'll figure things out from there."
Larxene nodded. "And I --we, must be prepared for the fact that if there is no way, then what is meant to be, shall be." She closed her eyes as she drew herself to this conclusion. She told herself that she was -she really was- grateful for having Roxas, no matter how long.
Roxas is still her son.
Jester watched idly as Mortica corrected Sinka on her agility in fighting. His mind was elsewhere, of course. He had been spending time with the pyro for a couple of weeks already, and Jester was to go and meet him again in a bit.
"Sinka," Mortica snapped, "make use of your claws! Swing as you're running when you come upon the enemy! Don't give them time to counter!"
Sinka growled and dashed forward, swinging as she leapt forward, landing inches before Mortica. Immediately, as Sinka hit the ground, the she-wolf snarled and snapped her teeth together, slashing at the air in front of Mortica again.
"Better," Mortica breathed darkly, imagining that blond woman's flesh ripping between Sinka's claws.
Jester stepped away from the wall he was leaning against. "Mortica," he addressed. When he caught the woman's attention, he asked, "Can you open up a portal to Hollow Bastion? I'm going to be roaming around there for a while."
"Again?" Mortica asked suspiciously. "You've been going there for the past few weeks. You've never taken particular interest in that place before. Why now?"
"Why any time?" Jester countered, grinning. "Besides, you don't need me right now."
Mortica sighed. "Fine," she snapped. "I'll come for you once more at the Dragon's Bane, when Hollow Bastion hits midnight."
Jester said his thanks as Mortica opened the red-and-gold portal.
As the joker went through, Mortica closed the portal for good measure. She waited for a few minutes, staring at the spot where Jester had left. "Sinka," she commanded, "go back and wait for me. Do what you want, just don't leave into the city. I will be back soon."
Sinka obeyed and loped back to the mansion. When Sinka was gone, Mortica summoned another portal and slunk through.
Her destination: Hollow Bastion.
A/N: Yeah, Jester can't use portals; either you're born with it, or you have to learn how to use it. And usually the latter takes a while.