The blond turned to acknowledge his name with a scowl. He was hot and sweaty and tired and annoyed and just being around Axel made it feel like the temperature had gone up another eighty degrees and not in a pleasant sexual kind of way.
"What?" Roxas snarled back.
Xemnas had sent them into the desert to dig up some goddam artifact that they had no proof even existed. They were down to their skivvies because the heat was hell and at least they had magic and didn't have to physically shovel the sand.
"I brought you a drink." Axel responded dully, then he looked evil, raising the item carefully above his head, far beyond Roxas' reach.
Sweat poured down the blonde's face and he stared up at the liquid, eyes riveted. Then he turned away and continued the wind spell through gritted teeth.
"Wind. Wind. Wind-dammit-Wind!"
"Whoa, Roxas, you're gonna blow away the whole desert, chill!" Axel gasped between snickers. He pressed the cold glass to his companion's forehead. "I'll take a turn."
"Don't use fire on it," Roxas warned dangerously. "Or we'll end up sorting through glass shards."
"Gotcha boss!"
They'd been out there for a week. They'd been out there for a week, casting wind spells on sand, looking for something that might not even be in existence! Roxas gritted his teeth…Gah, sand in his mouth! Curses flooded into his head.
"Looks like you two are havin' fun, Roxy."
They multiplied themselves ten fold when he heard the voice from behind him. Roxas felt his body stiffening in…fear? No! Of course he wasn't afraid. Apprehensive was a better term.
He could see Axel turning and smiling amiably enough at their elder. He just wanted to run off into the dunes and never come back.
"What do you want, Number II?" Roxas asked curtly, keeping a wall of formality pushed up firmly between the two of them. For several days before he'd left on this mission he had seen nothing but Xigbar, trapped in his room with the bastard.
"You're here to say we can leave this miserable sandbox, right?" the redhead asked hopefully.
"Actually, no, Big Dude wants a report on the progress. Couldn't come 'imself…here I am."
His subordinates gave a chorused groan and said, "There is no progress."
Xigbar laughed. "Well, have fun working on your tan, kids."
Then he was gone again.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts
