VIII.
I wake Axel up the following morning by pounding at his door, now fully used to waking up early. Unlike the past three days, he actually answers the door, a towel wrapped around his waist, hair soaked and hanging limp.
"Morning, Rueks." He grins, cockily. Were it not for the fact that I am wearing clothes, he'd be on his back, on the floor, with me riding him into next week. "You missed out on a shower this morning, sorry sweetheart." He teases. I roll my eyes, giving him a shove, pushing him back into his room, walking in myself and shutting the door behind us.
"Is subtlety not even a little bit important to you? Cuz I already told you, this isn't a normal thing for me and I don't need anyone thinking—"
He drops his towel. I clear my throat.
"Still got enough time before our mission to have a go at things, whaddaya say?" He tilts his head to the side.
"So I'm included in your mission today?" I very pointedly look at the ground until I hear the wrestling of him starting to put clothes on.
"Of course! I'd say you had plenty of time off, back to work, Rueks." I look up to see him yanking his pants on.
"Yeah, I still don't want you to call me that." I remind him, leaning back against his door. "Where are we going today?"
"I dunno, check the note card." He gestures to the index card on his dresser with the nod of his head, I snatch it up, looking over the perfect script written on it.
'Motunui: Vanquish the Heartless threat'.
"Real specific." I mutter.
"Yeah well, I'm sure we'll know who the target is when we get there." Axel replies, zipping up his coat. He takes a minute, looking me over, and for a second I truly understand the phrase 'drinking in the sight', because that is exactly what he's doing. "That what you're wearing?" He asks and I frown.
"It's what I always wear so I'm gonna go with…yes." I roll my eyes, shifting my weight as I cross my arms to my chest—Survivor strapped to my arm and all. He grins at me, offering a shrug.
"Alright sweetheart, but Motunui is an island. Of the tropical variety." He says, snatching the notecard out of my hand.
"And this world has rain, I'm glad we've regressed to making small talk about the weather." I roll my eyes. He closes the distance between the two of us, pressing his hips to mine, setting his forehead against mine.
"Don't you think you're going to be warm under all of these clothes?" He asks, toying with the fabric of my hood. I raise an eyebrow.
"Says the man wearing a black trench coat?"
"Some of us like it hot, Rueks." He teases.
"And some of us have been living on an ice cube for the past nine years, and would welcome an increase in temperature." I remind him.
"Well, let's get to it then. Roxas'll probably be missing us by now." He says, and he goes to reach around me to open the door.
"Hmm, before we get to that, maybe we should talk." I grab his wrist in my hand, rubbing my thumb over the hem of his glove.
"Haven't we already gone over the whole boundaries part of our…what would you call it?" He raises an eyebrow.
"Shit. I dunno? Friends with benefits?" I snort. "But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about your fucking revelation the other day. If you know me, don't I deserve to know where from?"
He offers me a very displeased look.
"There are things that I still need to figure out." He tells me, which is vague and unhelpful.
"I don't see how that concerns me." I insist.
"Look, I don't have the full story for you, and you're not gonna get one at all unless I can figure that all out, got it memorized?" He asks, tapping my temple with a gloved finger.
"So do you have any immediate plans to get this story or…" I trail off. He frowns.
"Believe me, if I could, I already would've gotten it. There's a lot missing that I want to know." He mutters.
"I thought you said all of your memories were in tact?" I ask, his expression grows darker and now he cannot meet my gaze.
"That's what I thought."
He is right about Motunui being hot. It's miserable, I have decided that tropical islands are not my forte, and suddenly I miss Twilight Town and its deliciously mild climate and orange skies.
"Are we getting ice cream after this?" I ask Axel and he meets me with a sideways grin.
"You and Roxas can do whatever your pretty little heart desires. I've got a meeting." He says. I raise an eyebrow.
"You wanna elaborate?" I ask.
"Nope." Dick.
"So where do we start?" Roxas asks.
"Let's try the beach. We can circle the island from there." Axel suggests. So we do. I don't know when it is that I start to feel eyes on the back of my neck or hear wrestling of branches, but all at once, I realize that we are being followed. I can tell Axel senses it too, because he grabs my arm and holds me still.
"I'm going to greet our visitor in the trees. You and zombie boy stay out here." He whispers and I glare.
"No, I'm going to do the scouting, I'm smaller, I can hide easier." I say. He glares back.
"I'm wearing black, I'm less visible." He tries.
"Sure in the dead of night, not in the middle of a bright, sunny island." My voice gets a little louder.
"Last time I checked, Rueks, I'm the one in charge of this mission, not you. But thanks for playing." He taps my nose and I swat his hand.
"Last time I checked, I'm not a part of your little club, so I can do what I want." I remind him, placing a hand on my hip.
"Is there a reason that you're trying so hard to be a pain in my ass?" He heaves a sigh.
"I've got a laundry list of reasons, do you want them in alphabetical order?" I snap.
"Guys?" Roxas tries, from behind us.
"Not now kid," Axel waves his hand, not turning to look at Roxas. "Do I need to remind you that you could have it a hell of a lot worse than being stuck with me?" He asks and I snort.
"So? Doesn't mean that I'm living the good life. You're an arrogant fucker, and I'm better suited for scouting the trees." I insist.
"And you're a mouthy bitch." Axel says. My eyes widen and I reach out to smack him, but he grabs my hand in his.
"Guys?" Roxas tries again.
"Screw you! I am such a good prisoner, I haven't tried to run away from you at all, so consider yourself lucky, because if you think I'm a bitch now, just wait to see what I could be!" I snap.
"Please, sweetheart, the only time you're not a pain in the ass is when you're gagging on my—"
"Guys!" Roxas shouts and with fire in our eyes, we turn to him.
"What?" Both Axel and I snap….and then we realize 'what'.
A girl with dark hair, in tribal clothing of some sorts, has a pointed stick aimed at Roxas' back, and although he easily could've whipped out his Keyblade, he looks more uncomfortable than anything.
"Who are you people?" The girl asks. She can't be more than sixteen, but she's got passion in her gaze and strength in her stance. Axel is still holding my hand. We draw apart, me crossing my arms to my torso.
"Call us your friendly, neighborhood Heartless exterminators." Axel says. The girl still glares at him.
"The what exterminators?" She asks.
"Monsters, roaming your island. Taking people hearts with darkness?" I try and recognition starts to light her gaze. She lowers her stick, looking to me and Roxas.
"Where did you come from?" She asks.
"Trust me, you don't wanna get involved in that." I shake my head.
"Is that the only reason you're here then?" She asks, almost sounding agitated.
"That's it. So if you could just point us toward—" Axel doesn't have time to finish. From the depths of the ocean behind us, a rumbling begins. The three of us turn to watch as a bright red creature with a dozen arms—like an octopus—rises from the depths, lashing it's arms out toward us, scrambling to the land. On its head, I see the Heartless insignia.
"It's a Heartless." Roxas says, completely unhelpfully.
"This our threat?" I ask Axel. He nods.
"I'd be willing to put munny on it."
The creature spirals at us, a whirlwind of flames, and I watch Axel's eyes glint devilishly.
"Time to fight fire with fire." His Chakrams appear in his hands and a Keyblade materializes in Roxas'.
"Stay back." I warn the girl, who looks at the Heartless, her face twisting in horror. She looks to me, then Axel, then Roxas and nods, though I can tell that obeying is not in her nature. She sprints over to some nearby palm trees and takes shelter behind one as Axel hurls his Chakrams at the creature. It roars at us and summons a fleet of smaller Heartless, Scarlet Tangos. I go after one when Axel holds an arm up, stopping me.
"Let Roxas get those, you and I will go after the big one." He says and I want to question it, but I shoot Roxas a glance, and instantly accept this. He is just a kid, and whether he looks like Sora or not, it wouldn't be fair to have him taking on the real threat when Axel and I can handle it. Probably.
I grab a water gem and a piece of the old map of Transmute City out of my pocket and load them up into Survivor while Axel slashes at the Heartless, sending his Chakrams flying in a stream of fire. I narrow my eyes and aim at the creature, channeling my energy through the opening of my claw. I shoot out five small bursts of water damage and the creature buckles under the Waterfall. Axel, however, is caught in the aftermath and although he sustains no damage, a blast of water to his face is clearly not pleasing to him. He spits out a mouthful as I throw myself at the creature slashing upward.
"Your aim sucks!" He tells me.
"Your Aquaphobia sucks." I retort, leaping over the creature's arm as it swipes at me. It takes another swipe with one of its many arms and this time I fall on my back. I brace myself for searing pain when suddenly I hear a metallic 'woosh'. Axel is at my side, helping me onto my feet while his Chakrams spin at the Heartless. He all but yanks me up and I grunt, coming to my feet as quickly as I can. "Thanks." I breathe, just in time for the creature to take another swipe. I slash and it falls back.
"This thing sucks." Axel grumbles.
"It's too fast, no time to mix anything that can damage it." I lunge, slashing again while Axel unleashes a flurry of attacks with his Chakrams. "And unfortunately I don't think we're doing much damage." I confess, my breathing growing more labored.
"I know." Axel glares, sizing the thing up while Roxas destroys another Scarlet Tango. He hurtles his Keyblade up at one that is a little higher in the air and narrowly misses, Keyblade smacking the Octopus Heartless on the head instead. It stays dazed for a moment and Axel and I exchange quick looks, not wasting more time though, before we go after the Heartless. He slashes at it and I quickly mix another Waterfall, launching it at the Heartless. The attack is relatively mellow, but it does more damage than my claw did and leaves me only minimally drained. After a few more seconds, the stunning wears off and it starts attacking us, harder and faster than before. It knocks an arm right into my middle and I go skidding half way up the beach, smacking my head into the palm tree that the girl hides behind.
"Are you okay?" She cries out and for a moment, I am not, my vision has gone white. But I hear Axel call out my name and I force myself to a sitting position, just in time to catch a potion mid-air. I knock it back, shake off my injury and go sprinting at the creature, loading the last of the map and another water gem into Survivor. I shoot it at the Heartless, aiming for its head and use the moment that it's dazed to knock back another potion.
"Hitting its head stuns it." Axel tells me, slashing at the creature.
"I've noticed." I say, trying to ignore the miserable pain in my midsection. "Can you open up a portal on top of its head?" I ask and he grimaces as the creature regains consciousness and swipes at the two of us. We both jump, though my attempt is weak and I barely make it out of the way of its arm.
"I don't think so." He confesses. Suddenly Roxas is at our side and takes a swipe at the Heartless. He's panting, slashing desperately at it, and I don't know who is more worn out between the three of us.
"We need to get on that thing's head." I shout to Roxas over the slashing of our weapons.
"It won't hold still long enough to get up to the top." He says.
"That's the problem." Axel shouts back.
Suddenly, in my peripheral vision, I see the girl run out from behind the palm tree, a huge rock in her hand.
"Shit!" I yelp, I try to think quickly and I sprint over to the tree to try to push her back, because the only person she is going to hurt is herself. "Stop!" But she hoists the rock over her head and chucks it at the Heartless. To my surprise, her aim is good. And she must've heard us. Because the rock sails high in the air, over me, over Roxas, over Axel and smashes the Heartless in the head. I halt for only a moment. I spin around, and make eye contact long enough with Axel to hope that we have the same plan in mind. I run as fast as I can through the sand, toward where he holds his Chakrams, outstretched and I hold my breath, leaping through the air, onto the Chakram and jump. I fly through the air, only exhaling when I have sufficiently landed on top of the Heartles. With one swift, violent movement, I slam my claw down into the Heartless' head and it sputters, freezing. Beneath me, I see Roxas and Axel slashing at the monster. I load a Water Gem and a Black Magic Sphere in into my claw and shoot nine bursts of heavy hitting Water Magic into the creature's skull, counting them out in my head. The thing starts to falter, creaking, crumbling and I make a move to smash into it once more when I hear Axel call my name.
"Rueki! Get down, Roxas needs to finish this one." He shouts at me and I glare, looking down. I don't get down or even have a moment to argue back, but the time I spend, stationary on the Heartless is all the time it takes for Roxas to cut down the creature. It shakes and spasms, disintegrating into the darkness, it's all I can do to attempt to hold on. It lurches, aggressively, and I go flying off, shrieking as I am thrown into the ocean.
It's warm and soothing, but for some reason my abdomen burns. I realize almost instantly, it is from my Heartless related injury as I swim to the surface. The currents are calm and although I am drenched and sore, I make my way back to the land with relative ease.
"Enjoy your swim, Rueks?" Axel teases, and in a moment of utter irritation, I whip my hair at him, smacking him across the cheek with my sopping, golden locks.
"Screw you." Is my response. I lift up the front of my shirt to look down at the redness on my abdomen. It's bad, but nothing a few potions won't fix.
"Ouch." Roxas winces.
"It got you good." Axel nods, his eyes roaming my abdomen, coming to a halt suddenly. "Your hip." I look down and sure enough, there are finger print shaped scars on my hip. From the first time we had sex in the library, I remember it feeling almost like a burn. "I didn't realize you were still marked."
"Me either." I confess, and across his eyes flashes something that makes my stomach do a summersault. "It doesn't hurt." I try. Silently, he hands me a high potion and I knock it back, already feeling the pain on my torso subsiding.
"Hey!" The girl comes running out from behind the tree, kicking up sand in her wake.
"Hey! Great job with the quick thinking." I nod at her.
"You didn't think I could do it." She smirks at me, crossing her arms to her chest, cocky little fuck.
"No, to be honest, I thought you were a delicate flower that needed saving. My mistake." I shrug.
"You killed the monster!" She says and Roxas nods.
"Yeah, that's our job." He says.
"But you guys aren't from here." It's more a statement than a question.
"That's a negative." I tell her.
"That is so cool!" She throws her arms up in the air, so excited that I can't help but smile. "I'm Moana, I'm the chiefs daughter! Let me bring you back to my father, he'll want to meet and thank the heroes that have helped our island!"
"That's a no can do." Axel shakes his head. "We prefer to keep our work a secret, got it memorized?" He asks and she just blinks at him.
"But if you helped our island.."
"All in a days work." He shrugs.
"Then you can help with another problem we're having!" She claps her hands together, quite giddy. "It'll be easy, you see—"
"This is more of a one and done type thing, princess." He says, and with that, he starts off, across the beach.
"Hey!" She shouts. "Stop!" Moana trudges after us, panting, her dark hair spilling into her face "If you can leave the Island, you have to help me!"
"Sorry, princess, no can do." Axel says with a shrug.
"I'm not a princess, I'm the daughter of the chief!" She snaps, still huffing and puffing, but she manages to stamp her hands to her hips and offer Axel up a pretty menacing glare.
"We got rid of the Heartless, a simple thank you will suffice." He says.
"There are no fish left near the Island. I need to get out, just past the reef and then I can—"
"Rule number one: don't interfere with the happenings of other worlds." Axel puts a finger up and I roll my eyes.
"Dude, can't we just stop and get her some fish?" I ask, wringing out my soaking shirt. "I mean, she threw a rock for us."
"So do you want all of us to get chewed out by the Superior?" He asks me, and Roxas answers for me.
"No thank you." He says. I sigh.
"Sorry kid. Better luck next time." I wave at her as Axel opens up a portal and we disappear through it.
We walk through the darkness, me still with an arm around my middle. Roxas comes over and taps my shoulder, offering me a small smile.
"Are you okay?" He asks and I shrug.
"Just a flesh wound." I say. He nods, though he doesn't say anymore.
We come through to The Castle That Never Was and Demyx is in the lounge area, playing some sort of card game with Luxord while Marluxia, Xigbar and Larxene watch, Larxene with her feet tossed across Demyx's lap—I don't think I even wanna know- picking at her nails. She looks up as we come through the portal, a catlike grin on her lips.
"Awe, did the poor little baby get drenched?" She asks, cackling. I pout.
"Piss off." I grumble.
"Oooh, what a witty response! It's nice to see that Axel has quite literally fucked your brains out. What a complete idiot." She offers me a nasty smile and I blanche before shooting Demyx a dirty look.
"Dick." I glare at him. "That was supposed to be a secret."
"Sorry kiddo, but the only people it's a secret to are the ones who purposefully try to stay out of personal matters. Case in point: our Nocturne." Xigbar offers me a sly smile and suddenly I feel very exposed.
"I thought we were being reasonably subtle." I look to Axel and he smirks a little at me.
"Of course, because you pounding on his door all hours of the day is the epitome of subtle." Marluxia says in a voice smooth as velvet.
"Personally, I'm happy for our lovely couple." Larxene says, all acidity and poison. "After all, it's always so fun watching a heart break."
"Who says anyone's heart is gonna break?" I snap at her and then realize how that sounds and make a face. "Besides, we're not a couple."
"Call it what you want." Xigbar shrugs.
"The only way it'll end is in flames, Rueki." Marluxia looks up to me, blue eyes peering out through heavy lashes.
"Well, this has sufficiently gone to shit." I say with a really fake smile.
"Nah, it's been loads of fun. But I've gotta see a man about a man about a horse." Axel pats my shoulder and strides out of the room.
A silence falls over the group as Demyx loses a round to Luxord, who is, a very graceful winner.
"Awe man, this isn't even fun anymore." Demyx sighs.
"Tough luck, I'm afraid." Luxord shrugs.
"It's not impressive though, per say. A Dusk could defeat number IX." Marluxia rolls his eyes and Larxene throws her head back laughing. "Come, Larxene. We have better ways to spend our evening than this." Marluxia says and to my surprise, Larxene stands right up, throwing her legs off of Demyx's lap, stretching tall so that her joints pop. She sways over, past Marluxia, to where I stand and tucks a finger under my chin.
"Maybe you should join us, if you're ready for the real fun to start." She leers and for a second I can't breathe.
"She isn't and she never will be." Luxord says, not taking his eyes off of the cards he is shuffling. Larxene 'hmmph's indignantly and her and Marluxia trudge off down the hall.
I wait until they are both gone to speak.
"She's a little bit hot."
Silence and then…
Xigbar howls out laughing.
"Now that I would pay to see."
I don't know how late it is when Axel comes to get me, but by time he does, my clothes are dry and I am half asleep, lying in my bed, face pressed to a pillow.
"You asleep?" He asks and I roll over a little, looking at him through one open eye.
"Maybe." I mutter. "Depends what I need to be up for."
"Well that depends on whether or not you're still being a mouthy bitch." But he says it without malice, a smile flicking at the corner of his lips.
"I definitely am…But I might be able to tame it. How was the man you saw about the horse?" I sit up a little bit but Axel still stands at my door frame, leaning against it.
"Well, I got a few answers but mostly…It was completely unhelpful." He says and I sit up completely, my face scrunched up.
"This have anything to do with the answers you needed about me?" I ask. He meets my gaze with an unreadable expression.
"Wanna go back to my room and talk?"
I do.
I clamber out of bed and over to him and we walk side by side through the hall, silent, not touching at all and that alone feels so odd, I begin to realize that if we're not arguing or making sassy comments to each other, we're fucking. My palms twitch and I reach out to grasp at the fabric of his coat, but I hold out until we get into his room and the door is locked behind us.
"So now that the cat's out of the bag about us hooking up, should we show everyone how obnoxious we can be by banging against the wall and violating every surface of this castle?" I ask.
"I like the way you think, Rueks." He laughs.
"Sorry, by the way. About being a defiant pain in the ass earlier. You're right, you're the leader of these missions, but I feel like I have lost so much control of everything in my life, it was just nice to pretend that I still had control over something." I sigh, throwing myself across his bed. He leans in to join me and wraps an arm around me, pulling me in so that we're chest to chest.
"I get it." He admits. "And I promise you didn't hurt my heart for even a minute." He winks.
"I think it's your turn now." I remind him. He raises an eyebrow. "To apologize."
"Come again, sweetheart?" He snorts.
"I intend to." I begin and before I can finish, he's laughing, pressing his lips to mine. "But you called me names, and that's kind of a dick move." I say when finally he pulls away.
"And you've never called me any names?" He asks.
"Touche."
"Well, I'm sorry that I hurt your heart." He says, tapping my chest with a gloved finger. "And that I left a mark on you." His hand strays down to my hip, and he pushes the fabric of my clothing aside to trace his finger across the marks on my hip.
"What the hell caused that?" I ask and he offers me a sad smile.
"Wish I could tell you. I've got a few theories but nothing that quite fits." He confesses and I frown.
"You wanna elaborate?" I ask and he smirks.
"Definitely not."
"You really are the worst." I say, even though I am smiling.
"That's not a very nice thing to say to the man who is about to give you the secret to unlocking memories of your past." He teases, a fire in his eyes.
"Are you going to be giving me the secret to unlocking memories of my past?" I raise an eyebrow.
"No." He admits, his hand moving up to grasp mine.
"Then what did you find out?" I ask.
He is quiet for a very long time, so long I begin to think that he might not tell me, then he speaks.
"We grew up together." He says, fingers laced through mine. I try to think up some sassy remark but words have failed me, with him at such close proximity. "You, me and Saix." I blink, looking at him with a quirked eyebrow.
"Wait, I knew Saix? You knew Saix?" I ask.
"Yeah, he was the one I went to meet with. To see if he remembered you. Things were a lot different back then." He laughs, humorlessly. "You were younger than the both of us. I think you were only eight and we were both thirteen the last time we saw you. And damn, were you ever annoying."
"It's nice to know nothing's changed." I smirk at him. He offers me a smile so warm, I think it might light me on fire. "Were you my idol or something?"
"Definitely not. You thought the sun shined out of your own asshole." He teases.
"Sounds about right."
"Some guy, Highwind something or other, he was a pilot, he was teaching you how to fly Gummi Ships." He tells me and I wrinkle my nose.
"That early?" I ask.
"I guess so. Couldn't even fucking pronounce 'prodigy' but you still called yourself one. You used to come running up to us, telling us how cool you were because you'd been inside a 'real life Gummi Ship'. And I'd call you an annoying kid and tell you to get lost. And you'd call me a jerk and stick your tongue out at me, but every time you saw Saix and I wandering around town, you'd show up and follow us around." He says and he releases my hand to toy with my hair.
"So what happened to me?" I ask. "Like why did I end up in Transmute City?" I ask, brow furrowed.
"I really couldn't tell you, Rueks." He confesses, running a hand back through my hair. I shiver from my scalp down to my toes. "The world fell to darkness. A lot of the inhabitants ended up in 'in between' worlds. If they didn't lose their hearts along with the world." He frowns.
"You lost family?" I ask and he shrugs, kind of half heartedly.
"Probably. I don't remember everything about back then." His face doesn't soften.
"So you're missing stuff too." I chew my lower lip.
"Yeah, I guess so. Nothing like you though." He says.
"So then is that why Saix seems to like…really hate me? Or is that normal? Like was I that annoying of a kid?" I ask and to my surprise, his face grows even harder.
"Whatever he remembers, he won't tell me. Believe me, I tried." He laughs again, mirthlessly. "All I get outta him is 'haven't you wasted enough time with that girl to know she's not worth it?'"
"What was our world called?" I ask and he lifts an eyebrow.
"Rueki, didn't Demyx tell you?" He asks.
"Demyx told me a lot of things, you're going to need to be more specific." I remind him.
"Hollow Bastion. That's what it's called now, got it memorized?" He taps my temple and I blink.
"Is that why he asked me if it looked familiar?" I ask and his mouth becomes a hard line.
"Yeah."
"So that was on purpose then, that my first mission with him was there?" I breathe and suddenly the reality of the situation hits me, and hard. That world was my home once? It doesn't seem possible. And why the hell is nothing ringing a bell in my mind? The utter frustration of it makes me wanna scream. I sit up, tearing away from Axel, curling a knee into my chest. He rolls over onto his back, folding his arms behind him. "You guys knew who I was before I did." I mutter.
"I knew that I knew you the moment we pulled you out of the Gummi Ship fire. It took until two days ago for Saix to confirm what I had already figured out by then. And until today for him to answer any of my questions." He nods.
"And that fucking dick didn't bother to say anything to me?" My hands ball into fists.
"Or me. And he and I actually were friends." His tone is quiet, dark almost.
"So why the hell did you only figure it out when I said Roxas was cute?" I ask, tilting my head to look directly at him. He bites back a smile.
"You were so annoying.." He shakes his head, and I can't help it, I narrow my eyes, mouth pressed into a pout. "I mean seriously."
"Dude, I get it." I snap. He looks to me, grinning wickedly, like this is fun for him.
"But never were you more annoying than when a visitor came to our world. A boy, I don't remember his name, but all you could talk about was how he was your Prince Charming, and he was going to whisk you away from our world." He snickers. "The thing is…he looked so much like Roxas, when I brought the kid back to the Organization I had to do a double take."
I turn to fully toward him, legs still curled to my chest, and a thousand questions flood my mind. Who the hell was the kid from ten years ago that I thought was my hero? Why does he look like Roxas? Why does Roxas look like Sora? Is there a correlation between meeting the lookalike ten years ago and ending up in Transmute City? Does Saix know something Axel and I don't?
"Does Saix recognize him?" I ask.
"No, I don't think so. We didn't talk to the kid for long, the only reason I remember him is because I remember how much I wanted to push you into the fountain in the town square when you talked about him." Axel smirks, but I don't lighten up.
"You didn't mention anything about him looking like that boy to Xemnas though?" I ask. Suddenly, Axel's face grows hard.
"No."
"Why?"
"Rueki," He sighs. "How much do you know about the Organization?"
"That there are thirteen of you and you live in this shitty world with a white castle and black robes." I say. "That you're assigned numbers and can summon creatures and portals and have power over elements."
"How much do you want to know?" He asks, and I pale.
"As little as possible. Saix already said that I know too much to ever get free…I don't want that to be true." I confess.
"You know it is though, don't you?" Worry creases his brow for just a split second and I am so overwhelmed by that feeling that I look down at my feet.
"Well that's…you're gonna help me one day." I say.
"Oh, am I?" He leers and I glare up at him.
"Yeah, you're gonna drop me off in some world and forget all about me. Tell them I ran away or died or something. I need you to, I can't stay here forever." I insist.
"Why not?" He leans forward and grasps my chin in his hand, tilting it up so that our noses are almost touching. My breath hitches.
"I'm not one of you, I'm never going to be." I promise. He makes a face that I can't quite read.
"And what makes you think I'm gonna let you go. Just when I've found out that the annoying girl that used to follow me around grew up to be a real ten." He offers me a wink and I bite my lip.
"Don't make this weird." I insist, giving him a shove. He catches my wrists in his hands and holds me like that. "You can come with me."
"You seem to think it'll be a lot easier than it actually will, Rueks. The Organization isn't going to let a star member like me get out without a scratch, got it memorized?" He cocks his head to the side.
"Then," I decide "maybe I'll just have to kidnap you." But even as I say that, he leans over me, hands locking around both of my wrists. He pushes me down, onto my back, climbing on top of me, his mouth finding my throat with familiarity.
"That'd be a sight to see." He teases, drawing the skin of my neck between his teeth, rolling it gently back and forth. I gasp, arching my back up into him, yanking my wrists free.
"Just wait." I breathe, using this new angle to yank off my shorts and panties. How I am constantly hungry for him, I do not know. Before I can reach my shirt, he's got his mouth on my collar bones and then…the zipper of my shirt between his teeth. I watch, mesmerized as he slides my zipper down. Completely undone, he pushes my shirt aside and dips his tongue into navel. The new touch sends a jolt up my spine, and I suddenly feel him smirking against my skin.
"Oh sweetheart, you just make this too much fun for me." He chuckles. His broad hands grip the top of my thighs, and he guides me as he slides down my body, tongue dragging down my hip along the tops of my thighs. He takes one of my legs and sets it upon his shoulder. My heart leaps into my throat, my whole body clenches. He is going to break me.
I wrap my other leg around his shoulder as his lips dance across the skin of my thighs, sucking, leaving wet, red marks in his wake. He brushes his thumb over the lips of my pussy, his green eyes blazing into mine.
"Do you want this, Rueki?" He breathes, purposefully sending a wave of hot air against my clit. My hips buck, involuntarily as I clutch his sheets between my fists.
"Fuck you." I whine.
"Tell me, sweetheart." His lip grazes my overheated clit, he places a kiss against my mound. "Tell me how bad you want this." Damn him.
"I want it so bad, Axel, please." I choke out, my body tensing from head to toe, as though my very being is holding a breath, waiting for him.
"Why, baby?" He's never called me that before, and the new pet name sends a jolt through my limbs, lighting me up in a way that I didn't know I could.
"Because you're so fucking hot, and so good at this and I want you so bad." I beg, watching as he starts to part the lips of my pussy with his index and middle finger. "You're so fucking perfect, Axel." His eyes, which were focused on my cunt have now flicked up to mine.
My entire world stops spinning.
Suddenly, he licks a wide, thick band across my clit and I throw my head back, my entire being finally exhaling.
"Axel." His name is like gospel on my lips as he flicks his tongue—so hot and wet—against my clit, latching onto it, sucking it between his lips and then releasing it. He sets a new rhythm, teasing my clit with delicate strokes, sliding in circles around my nub.
"So wet, just for me." He breathes against my skin and I shiver, stilling only when I feel two gloved fingers slide into my pussy. The sensation is foreign and delicious, and I sigh, breathing out his name. His fingers pump and scissor inside of me. I arch my back, trying so hard to hold on, my muscles are drawn taught like the strings of a violin, but Axel plays me so well, that I am singing his praises in a matter of minutes. Between the fullness of his fingers and the feeling of his tongue, teasing at my clit, I am helpless. He sucks my clit between his lips, his eyes on mine and I come undone, crying out his name.
His eyes never leave mine as he comes back up, on his knees, licking his lips. He removes his fingers from me and yanks off a soaked glove with his teeth.
"What a shame, that was a perfectly good glove." He smirks, a glint in his eye, as he removes his coat.
"That's what you get for being generous." I sit up and move as close to him as I can. My hands fly to the button of his pants, tearing them open, yanking his boxers down with them, only satisfied when his cock springs free and hits my belly. I throw my arms around his neck. I taste myself on his lips, so I spread them apart and slip my tongue into his mouth. He's got his hands wrapped around my thighs again, so when I break free, I breathe "On your back." As an order. He grins.
"Whatever you want, Rueks." He leans down and I waste no time, moving to straddle his hips. He barely has time to kick off the rest of his clothing before I sink down, completely soaked, onto his thick cock. "Shit." And he loses control instantly, hips snapping up into mine, slamming into places that I didn't know existed inside of me. I tighten around him, resting my hands on his chest while he grips my hips and fucks into me from beneath. My fingernails bite into his skin as my face flushes. I rock my hips in time with his, and the rhythm we settle into is brutal, breathtaking, blinding. Neither of us can form words, or do much beyond pant and grunt. I start to feel the world shattering, breaking, sputtering into nothingness and I don't care. I feel myself contract around him, tighter than I thought I could. For a second, I don't know what more I can take and then—I snap.
I come, gasping, shaking, my vision turning to a pinprick. My whole body vibrates, my muscles contracting in violent spasms and
I squirt.
Before I can even process what has happened—which is very new, and my first though is embarrassment, because Axel and I are now both soaked- he curses.
"Oh fuck." And cums almost immediately after me, breath ragged, his cock pulsating inside of me. He fucks out the rest of his orgasm inside of me, his hips moving in a jagged rhythm as we come down. When finally his movements still, I heave a sigh, leaning down to rest my head against his chest. Without hesitation, he wraps his arms fully around my waist, the fingers of his ungloved hand are hot as they dance along my spine.
"I'm sorry, I—that's never happened, I didn't think…I'll do your laundry if it made a mess or—" It kills my pride to even suggest doing his laundry, but he doesn't let me talk too much longer. He grabs my chin and presses his lips to mine.
"You do not need to apologize for that. Got it memorized?" He breathes and I catch myself laughing, smiling so hard that it pulls the skin of my lips tight.
"Wanna go again?" I ask and this time he laughs, throwing his head back against the pillow.
"Sweetheart, I'm twenty three now, I can't keep up with eighteen like I used to." He ruffles the hair on the top of him head.
"Sounds like you're getting lame in your old age." I grin, rolling over onto my back. To my surprise, he grabs my hand in his and I have to close my eyes to try to stop from smiling like an idiot. Again. What have I turned into? And then, before I can catch myself, the words flood out of my mouth. "Can I sleep here tonight?"
He is silent for what feels like an eternity.
"Yeah."