gravity
by neener

Thanks for the reviews! There's going to be some Axel & Roxas interaction in this chapter, but not too much. Also, it's going to be apparent that this fic is also Cloud/Tifa. I think they could be funny together, I know that sounds weird, but they have a very interesting relationship to me. I also hope you guys like the characterizations…most of the important people are introduced in this chapter. Anyway, enjoy!!!, and please review!

Oh, and whoever finds the Into The Woods reference in this chapter, besides my sister, officially wins. The chapter title is from Spring Awakening.

chapter two: the bitch of living

Axel stood in the dark alleyway for several minutes, a frown tightening his face, which was strange enough. He didn't feel the otherworldly disconnection of Heaven anymore. He felt alive.

Well, I am, he thought, blinking.

His stomach grumbled with hunger, and Axel was suddenly jolted back to reality. He could feel the rain running off of his fingertips, filling his shoes, plastering his hair to his head. He could hear his breath, hear the frenzied beating of his heart. Any appreciation he had for being alive was officially gone. I need a plan, he thought. I need a place to live, and I need food. Axel took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Okay. This is going to be okay. I'm going to get something to eat, and then I am going to make a plan.

He crushed down any anger he was feeling at Ansem in favor of taking some action. Standing in the rain wasn't going to get him anywhere. He wiped water from his eyes and took a few hesitant steps forward. His feet felt so heavy…every nerve burned as he clenched and unclenched his fists, bent his knees, waggled his eyebrows. Everything he did felt strange, foreign, but solid and warm, and undeniably aware.

Biting back the urge to examine his own hands, Axel stepped out onto the New York street, keeping close to the nearby building. Even in the rain, traffic moved along briskly, and no one seemed to spare him a second glance. The redhead noticed the cars speeding down the pavement and cringed. His opinion of cars was not good at all. They were death traps to him – his only encounters with the vehicles had been because of a collection. He shuddered, remembering what Xigbar had said only hours before, though it could have been days, Axel didn't know, he had no sense of time anymore. Just had a collection about an hour ago. An entire family – husband, wife, kids, even a little baby. Some asshole rammed into their car. Axel inched away, back into the alleyway. But soon, it became apparent to him that on the sidewalk, he was safe, Axel took a few hesitant steps forward, joining the mess of people that hurried forward. He began walking, stuffing his hands in his sodden pockets as he went. Axel figured that wandering around aimlessly would give him some time to figure something out.

Didn't they plan on warning me? Axel thought irritably. He found that he was almost instinctively following an older man on his cell phone who paid no attention to the pathetic redhead trailing after him. Axel really had no idea where to go, and this man seemed to know what he was doing. Couldn't Ansem have given me some instructions? I don't have any money! He frowned. This fucking blows.

As the rain pounded down on him and people jostled him from all sides, Axel found that only one thing comforted him, and he had no problem admitting it to himself. He had no chance of dying within the next thirty days. Any of these people around him could die at any second, any moment. A soul collector would make their appearance, the family would grieve, and that would be it. But he…he was safe. I only have to endure thirty days of this stupidity, and then I can suck up to the council and get my job back. I'll do a better job this time. But it was only a half promise. Axel wasn't sure if he intended to lie to the council or tell them, yes, he learned everything he ever could about compassion, and he would be most grateful to have his job back.

Axel was once again pulled out of his thoughts, this time by a stern voice. It was the man on his cell phone, the one Axel had been following somewhat absently. "Young man," he said, "you've been following me for the past three blocks. Please stop."

They were standing on the outskirts of a park, but Axel didn't know where. He grappled for an answer, shivering slightly, before smartly replying, "Did it occur to you that I'm going to same place you're going?"

The man shifted his umbrella in one hand and raised an eyebrow. "I'm going home to my wife and children. Are you going home to my wife and children?"

Axel could think of nothing to say, so he said just that – nothing – and walked away. The man seemed to recover, as within seconds, he was chattering away on his cell phone again.

Well, whatever, Axel thought dismissively, squeezing the water out of his hair, even though it was useless. Even though his previous wanderings had done nothing to give him inspiration (or anything, for that matter, other than cold, wet clothes) Axel knew he had to do something with his time, or risk getting bored, which seemed much more horrible than dying of hypothermia at the moment. So he bowed his head and continued down the street, turning corners when he felt like it, following people when they interested him. He couldn't get lost, for he had no idea where he was in the first place.

Isn't that the definition of lost? he wondered. It was the first cohesive sentence he had put together in the past hour and a half. His other thoughts had been mainly, Oh shit, I am so fucked. He blinked rain out of his eyes for at least the tenth time that minute, and he forced himself to focus on the street around him. The streets seemed to have thinned somewhat; people preferred to crowd into the stores and apartments that rose above him, or into taxi cabs, stuck in traffic due to the weather. It took Axel several seconds to register the strong, magnificent scent that wafted out into the damp air from a nearby shop. Coffee! It's coffee! Axel felt a rush of relief and looked back towards the stores, trying to figure out which one was the source of that delicious aroma.

Unfortunately, he was craning his neck so much that wasn't paying attention to where he was going, and bumped into someone. Her umbrella scratched across his face.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, automatically taking a step back and pulling her umbrella out of his face. She had dropped a plastic bag on the ground, and Axel bent to pick it up, a little embarrassed for bumping into her. But he still had only one thing on his mind: coffee! "It's just fruit," she said as Axel handed her groceries back to her. "It's no problem. Thanks."

They stared at each other for a moment. She seemed to have no qualms about making eye contact with a complete stranger for longer than three seconds, and that freaked Axel out. Weren't humans supposed to be wary of weird people? He was sure he qualified as weird.

When she finally blinked, brushing her dark bangs out of her only-slightly lighter eyes, Axel noticed the ring sparkling on her left hand. He frowned. She looked to be his age – at least, the age he appeared. How old do I look anyway? he wondered, taking a second glance at her. Why am I not married! I'm probably better looking than her. He inwardly cringed. Is this what being a human is like? Acting unreasonable and arrogant? This is ridiculous. (Axel ignored the voice in the back of his mind that said, well, according to that analysis, you've been a human for your entire non-life.)

"Sorry," he finally said, moving to head back to the coffee shop. He planned on begging for coffee, or maybe stealing it. He wasn't sure yet. Gently, he reached up and touched the sore area where her umbrella had smacked into his face, still frowning.

"Wait!" Her voice just oozed concern, and Axel halted, causing several people to frown and glare and have to make their way around him. "You look cold," she finally said. Yes, thank you for that very obvious observation. "Are you all right?"

The young man was painfully reminded of the soaked clothes that clung to his body, doing more harm than good, and he grimaced. His fingers were stiff and chilled, his lips numb. Even his ears were cold, which was a weird, weird feeling.

"Yeah," he finally answered. "I'm okay."

"You look lost." She cocked her head to the side. "Where are you going to?"

Axel felt a ripple of annoyance at her curiosity. Couldn't she go be abnormally nice somewhere else? "Just walking," he told her, and forced a smile. Her facial expression told him that he looked more like an angry baboon. Axel quickly gained back his frown.

She hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I'm Tifa." Axel was extremely glad she did not extend her hand. "I live a few blocks away, so if you need directions…" She trailed off and then looked at him again. "Are you sure you aren't lost? You look like a drowning kitten."

It was meant to be funny, but Axel had seen plenty of drowned kittens, and it was not going to make him smile. Instead, he frowned deeply, and Tifa looked even more concerned than before.

At that moment, his stomach gave a gigantic groan, and Axel was aware of his hunger once again. Tifa adjusted the umbrella on her shoulder, looking at the rain pouring off of the young redhead and the scowl on his face, and her hesitant expression settled into one of complete decision.

"Come on, I'll get you something to eat," she said, nodding her head down the street.

"That's not necessary," Axel dismissed, but he was relieved when she began to insist. Okay, so I am hungry, and cold, he thought. Who in their right mind would pass this up? Suddenly, the flow of rain stopped, and Axel looked up, trying to see if the sun was out. Instead, he saw red and white polkadots – her umbrella, shielding him. The absence of rainfall just made him feel colder. He was hesitant about trusting someone he had met only five minutes before, but what other option did he have? Stealing a cup of coffee? That was downright pathetic. So, with a slight shrug, he took a reluctant step towards her.

Tifa smiled kindly, seemingly satisfied with this. "I live this way," she said as they fell into step together. "Not too far."

Axel stayed silent, as did Tifa, as if she knew that he didn't want to talk to her. But she smiled the entire walk there, their feet hitting the pavement in unison, the umbrella shielding them both from the storm.

Her house was…cozy. Tucked away between two others, the doorstep overflowing with brightly colored flowers dampened by the rain – it was nothing Axel would have ever looked twice at. But once inside, he found his curiosity overrode his hunger. Despite himself, he looked curiously around the hallway where Tifa had left him, examining the carpets, the shoe rack, the doors at the end of the hall. As he stood looking at the picture frames on the wall, he heard clattering from the next room.

"Come on in the kitchen," Tifa called, poking her head through the archway. She looked him up and down and frowned. "You're soaking wet! You must be cold." She paused as he hesitantly pulled his socks and shoes off. "I don't think I caught your name," she finally said.

"Axel," he grunted, shivering slightly.

"Axel," she repeated. "Well, come in."

When he finally took the few steps into the kitchen, Tifa immediately threw a towel at his head. Only moments later, she was pressing an elastic hair tie into his hand.

"Tie your hair up," she instructed.

Axel silently obeyed and then wrapped the towel around his shoulders, looking around the kitchen. A small, round table was sitting to his right, surrounded by chairs; one of them had a towel folded on the seat, apparently for him to sit on. Gingerly, he did, his legs barely touching the wood.

There was a long silence, awkward at least on Axel's part. Tifa puttered around the kitchen, opening and closing the cabinets, and he was so lost in his thoughts (what do I do now? how long am I supposed to stay here? what does she want from me? what do I want from her?) that he didn't notice she was practically shouting his name.

"Huh? What?" He blinked, pulling the towel tighter around his shoulders.

"Do you want a sandwich?" Axel wondered if 'concern' was the only expression she could emit. He shrugged.

"What do you want on it?" she pressed.

"I don't know," he replied. His voice sounded snappier than he would have liked, and he flinched, grimacing. Tifa seemed not to have noticed, and she continued bustling around, taking out plates, mayonnaise, tomatoes. After a long pause, she asked, "So Axel, where do you live?"

"Uhhh." The redhead looked up at the young woman, who was piling cold cuts onto a slice of bread. How do I answer? he wondered. He easily could have lied, but his mind was more focused on his shivering, on what the rest of his month held for him, for him to come up with anything intelligent. So he blurted out the first thing that came to mind: "Er… out of town."

Unfortunately, this was not specific enough for Tifa, who asked curiously, "Really? Where exactly?"

Axel felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Usually he was quick on his feet, able to come up with a witty retort in seconds. But for once, he was at a loss – it was a combination of the cold, his hunger, his worry about what he was going to do… but he had nothing to say. His mouth hung open stupidly.

Finally, he blurted out exactly what he was thinking. "I don't know."

Tifa paused, and turned around, her raven hair falling across her face as she tilted her head to the side. "You don't know where you live?" She laughed lightly, shaking her head. Axel only smiled in a strained sort of way, hoping she would turn around and forget the whole thing. But Tifa was evidently more observant than he originally thought, for she noticed the look on his face. Her smile faded to a concerned frown. "You don't know? You don't remember? Honestly?" Axel stayed silent, which was quite difficult for him. Tifa stared. "Well," she finally said, as if sifting through her thoughts and reordering them, "what were you doing before you came to the city?"

Axel shrugged again. He suddenly felt very tired. It had been a long day – hell, it had been a long non-life. All he wanted to do was curl up on the rec room couch, smoke a cigarette, and listen to Xigbar and Larxene insult each other. The feeling that he was alone only intensified as he looked up at Tifa, the first human being to actually interact with him, though she certainly would not be the last. For some reason, the thought was troubling. Goosebumps prickled all over his body, making him shudder. His fingers shook stiffly in his lap, pale and curled, like claws. Tifa continued to frown at him.

"Where are you staying?"

The look on her face plainly told him, go ahead, shrug, I know you're going to. So he thought, why disappoint?

Tifa's lips pursed for several seconds as the silence in the room blossomed. Axel's thoughts seemed to echo, filling every square inch, pressing against the walls and ceiling and floor. I don't know where I came from, I don't know where I'm going, I have nothing. Anger rushed through him. Ansem had left him with nothing but a few meager instructions, which didn't even help him. Axel lowered his eyes to his knees. There was a small stain on his pants leg from a few nights before, when Lexaeus had accidentally dropped a piece of toast with jelly onto him. Painstakingly, Axel pressed his thumb against the stain, fitting his fingerprint exactly, focusing on the feel of the fabric, anything other than Tifa's eyes boring into his forehead.

After a long while, he finally said, "Sorry."

Suddenly there was a soft thump. Axel looked up to see Tifa with her hands on her hips. She had dropped his plate onto the table, complete with napkin. "You have nothing to be sorry for," she said.

He swallowed hard, trying – and failing – to keep from feeling relieved. No more questions, he thought. No more lies. That's my plan. Axel smirked up at her. "I know," he said. "I didn't know if you're one of those people that likes to hear the not-quite truth."

She smiled slightly, though there was still worry layered beneath her kind expression. "The not-quite truth will get you nowhere with me." She pointed at his plate. "Eat. I'll ask questions later."

Axel obeyed. The sandwich was delicious.

Tifa made no attempt at small talk; she disappeared in and out of the room, humming to herself, while Axel licked his finger and picked up crumbs. By the time he was done, he felt a little better, but he still didn't have a place to stay. Or a real plan, for that matter. Being honest certainly didn't count.

"Where should I put this?" he called out to her, trying to be polite.

From somewhere down the hall, Tifa said, "Just in the sink is fine."

Axel stood, clutching his towel tightly, and made his way over to the sink, which was empty. The faucet dripped, even when he spent several frustrating seconds trying to turn it off. Silently, he placed his plate in the sink, and ran his hand beneath the steady drip. He was still surprised at how alive everything felt. Being in Heaven was like observing something through a plane of glass, so it was soft around the edges. Here, things were clearer, more real. It was…strange at best, frightening at worst. Axel was suddenly hit with the reality of everything, like he had been hiding under a blanket and it was suddenly pulled off, and he was breathing cool air again. But it wasn't a refreshing feeling – it made him sick. He had nothing in his pockets except water. He had nothing – no money, no home, no friends (unless you counted Tifa, but he didn't simple as that) and no plan. This pissed him off more than anything.

I may not always have a plan, Axel thought grimly, but at least I had something to work with! You can't make something out of nothing.

He could hear Xigbar's voice in his head, an echo: Yeah, but you sure as hell can make nothing from nothing, you're living – or not-living – proof of that!

Axel gripped the side of the counter, overcome with a feeling of vertigo; panic overtook him – his heart pounded, his throat clogged, his vision blurred – but he knew that wasn't going to get him anywhere, except wandering the street again.

"What are you doing?" an unfamiliar, undeniably annoyed voice asked.

Axel looked up to see a young man, perhaps slightly older than Axel himself looked, with a quite blank expression on his face. The only indication of his irritation (besides scathing tone of voice) was his blue eyes, narrowed dangerously.

The two stared at each other for a moment before it registered to Axel that this was one of the people from the various picture frames he had looked at. Albeit, he was slightly older, and with somewhat longer hair, but it was him. Tifa's husband, he realized, pleased with himself for making the connection so quickly.

He remembered that he was gripping the side of the counter, almost ferociously, and quickly let go. Fortunately, as the awkwardness favor simply couldn't get any higher, Tifa reentered the kitchen, dressed in an entirely new outfit.

"Hey, Cloud!" she said, a smile lighting up her features. She gave him a gentle kiss before turning to Axel. "Did you like your sandwich?"

He shrugged without even thinking, before tacking on a hasty, "Yeah, it was all right. Thanks."

Tifa turned to Cloud and said nonchalantly, "This is Axel. I found him wandering around on my way home. How was work?"

Cloud frowned at her, which wasn't much of a change from his blank expression. For some reason, Axel found this hysterically funny. The effort of not bursting into stupid fits of girlish giggles made his face turn red.

Neither of the two relative strangers seemed to notice, however. Cloud merely grabbed Tifa's hand and muttered something, probably along the lines of, "I need to talk to you about the strange man in our kitchen", before dragging her down the hallway. Axel slapped a hand over his mouth and struggled not to laugh. Their voices carried down the hallway, into the kitchen, despite their attempt at whispering.

"Who is he?" "I told you already." "Well… what is he doing here?" "Look at him. He looks like he dived into a pool with all his clothes on." "At least he's not naked." "Oh, come on, Cloud. I gave him a sandwich and he's going to take a shower." "Is he leaving?" "Cloud! I don't know." "…that's really not the answer I expected." "I think he's homeless, honey." Cloud snorted. "Hey! He's pathetic, come on. At the very least he's going to take a shower…maybe sleep on the couch…"

Score! Axel thought with a rush of relief. Food? Check. Shelter? Check. Sympathy?

"Cloud, he seems kind of down and out of place. He said he was out of town, but he can't remember where, and I can't just turn him out onto the street while it's raining if he has nowhere to go. What kind of a psychopath would wander around in the rain waiting for pretty girls to take them home, make them ham sandwiches, and listen to them argue with their husbands in their hallways? He seems harmless, not to mention lonely."

Check!

"I don't know," Cloud said reluctantly. "Your logic isn't exactly airtight, because a psychopath would do all of those things – "

Much to Axel's (and apparently Cloud's) confusion, Tifa seemed to growl a little at this. Her husband immediately fell silent. "Cloud, do not patronize me. He is not going to murder us. We'll talk while he's taking a shower. I need to get ready for work. Thank you."

Cloud mumbled something that Axel wasn't sure he wanted to hear.

Moments later, Tifa reappeared, beaming happily; Cloud sulked after her, his face still somewhat emotionless. Axel forced himself to not laugh, and surreptitiously pinched his wrist between his fingernails, focusing himself on the pain, the strangeness, instead of his ridiculous sense of humor.

"You can take a shower now, if you'd like," Tifa said, still smiling warmly at him. "I'll get you some clothes and clean towels." Obediently, Axel trailed behind her as she headed up the stairs, but not before casting a (obviously unintentional, he was sure) triumphant look back at the frowning blonde man, who began to outright glare at him.

Ten minutes later, while experimentally squeezing out half a bottle of Pantene Pro-V into his hair, Axel began to laugh. It was only for a moment, and he quickly regained control over himself, but it had the effect of dissipating all of his tension, all of his worry, all of his anger, all of his fear, and replacing it with confidence. I'll all right now, he thought, glancing up at the ceiling, imagining that he could see straight through to the sky. I've got a place to stay now. You're not breaking me anytime soon. He smirked. I'll try to be good. We'll see how it goes.

"How was that sandwich?" Tifa asked from the stove, where she was currently occupied in stirring something in a pot – Axel hadn't bothered to figure out what, as he was currently occupied by a mouth full of ham.

"It's great," he said exuberantly, being sure not to spit any food out accidentally. "Thanks again, Tifa."

"It's no problem," she replied. "You seemed hungry."

"I was," he said with a grin. Not long after getting out of the shower, Axel had quickly been overtaken by more hunger pains. Do humans eat like this all the time? he had wondered, before hurrying back downstairs. Tifa had had no problem with making him another sandwich; she seemed to enjoy making sure he was taken care of, which pleased Axel to no end. At least I'll have a place to stay for a while, he told himself. And all the sandwiches I can possibly eat. Cloud was a bit of a nuisance (at that moment, he was sitting across the kitchen table, staring at him in annoyance) but Axel was sure he was the non-confrontational type, and that Tifa probably wore the pants in the relationship, so to speak. I can deal with thirty days of annoyed staring, Axel decided. When Tifa's back was turned, he opened his mouth and made a face at Cloud, who looked disgusted.

"I'm going to make up the guest bedroom for you, is that all right?" Tifa asked conversationally. Cloud's eyes practically bugged out of his head.

Axel was delighted. "Thanks, Tifa."

"Are you sure that guest bedroom is… ah…" Obviously Cloud couldn't think of an un-offensive way to phrase: That stranger needs to sleep on our couch, stupid! "Well – "

"He can't sleep on the couch," Tifa said, in a tone of voice reminiscent of little girls trying to get their parents to buy them a kitten. "He's our guest! And then we'll be able to watch television and everything without invading on him."

Cloud muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "He's invading on us."

"What was that?" Tifa looked dangerous. Even Axel shrunk away.

"Nothing," her husband said innocently, exchanging a look with Axel, his first semi-friendly one of the day, which said quite plainly, Watch the fuck out for her! But then his face closed again, unreadable and blank.

There was a sudden crackling, and then a somewhat muffled female voice said, "Can someone come up for a second?" The redhead looked around for the source of the noise and saw a small baby monitor, sitting on the counter.

"I'll go," Cloud said, standing. "You need to get ready for work."

Tifa glanced up at the clock and then swore quietly under her breath. "All right. Hey, Axel?" He swallowed down a huge hunk of lettuce and looked up. "Could you stir this for me? Only for a few minutes, and then I'll come back down and turn it off."

Axel looked regretfully down at his half-eaten sandwich, but then nodded. The least he could do was stir something for the woman who had pretty much saved him from a month of misery. As the two left the room, each heading up the stairs, Axel crossed over to the stove and peered into the pot.

"Pudding?" he muttered incredulously. Indeed, the medium-sized pot was filled with the dessert. Why would anyone need so much freaking pudding? Axel wondered. Lexaeus used to make it all the time, before everyone started complaining about it, but even then, he never made this much. How much pudding can three people eat? His thoughts led him back to the baby monitor, and he wondered who that was. Things were just getting weirder and weirder.

Gingerly, Axel picked up the pudding-coated spoon and began stirring the pot. He had to admit, it smelled pretty good – and he was still hungry. He looked between the pudding and the remains of his sandwich and wondered what to do. Overcome by a stroke of brilliance, he continued stirring the pot with his right hand, and leaned over towards the kitchen table, stretching out his fingers towards his plate.

Am I allowed to stop stirring it? He quickly dismissed the very idea. He knew from experience that stopping to stir the pudding would burn it, and he certainly didn't want to do that. Nobody liked burned pudding. Especially Axel, and especially people who he was supposed to be helping. With a determined sigh, he stretched his hand farther and made a grab for his sandwich. The pot jolted forward, much to his horror, but luckily didn't fall. He grinned triumphantly.

From down the hall, a door opened; one extremely cheery voice suddenly exploded throughout the house. Axel panicked and fell forward; the spoon clattered to the floor, and his fingers slammed against the plate, sending his sandwich flying into the air. As two teenage boys wandered into the kitchen, Axel expertly caught the out-of-control ham sandwich, although he ended up putting his knee in the small pile of pudding on the tile.

"Cool!" one of the boys cheered, throwing his backpack to the ground. "Are you a juggler?"

Axel stared up at him. Uh, who are they? His firm sense of security was instantly diminished. Oh, Christ, more people to win over. Not to mention one of them – he had lighter hair, and an annoyed expression similar to Cloud's – was staring at him with the utmost of distaste.

Perhaps even more daunting was the dumb kid who thought he was a juggler.

"Who are you?" the annoyed boy asked.

"Um, I'm Axel." He gingerly placed the sandwich back on his plate and leaned back on his heels to examine his pudding-stained pants. They must be the kids from some of those pictures. Fuck. I thought they would have somewhere else to live.

"I'm Sora!" The more excitable (and, apparently, dumber) of the two brothers hurried over to the counter and grabbed some paper towels. He looked pointedly at his brother, who ignored him. Sora bent down and wiped up the sloppy spots of chocolate pudding from the kitchen floor, and then cleaned off the spoon before plopping it back in the pot. "Cool! Pudding!" He leaned forward and took a deep breath. "Do you know what's for dinner?"

What the hell is wrong with this kid? Axel wondered.

"Tifa, what's for dinner?" Sora asked as the woman walked into the kitchen, fastening on her earrings. She glanced down at Axel, kneeling on the ground with pudding on his knee, and then up at Sora, who had his face nearly submerged in the pudding, and sighed.

"Cloud is going to make meatloaf. What did you guys get?" She glanced at the bag that the more-depressed of the two brothers was holding, which was peppered was grease and, from where Axel was kneeling, smelled pretty damn good.

"Rox bought hot dogs, only he used his own money." What kind of a name is Rox? Sounds like a Pokemon. "Now he's poor and doesn't have any money to buy me a birthday gift! Nyaah, nyaah!"

"What did you eat today?" his brother asked conversationally.

"Axel, are you all right?" Tifa asked. "Why are you on the ground?"

"I fell down," he said sheepishly.

Apparently satisfied with this answer, Tifa abandoned that train of thought and looked back at Sora. "Riku called literally thirty seconds ago. How does he get home from school so fast?"

"Dunno," Sora said breathlessly, still smelling the pudding. "We're going to eat this, right?"

"No, we're going to dump it down the sewer," Tifa said sarcastically. "Can you guys do the dishes? I don't have time, and I don't want Axel to - Roxas – are you listening?" The lighter-haired boy stopped glaring at Axel, blinked, and looked up. Well, at least his name isn't Rox. "Please do them before I get home."

"But Tifa, it's movie night!" Sora whined.

"You use that excuse every time I ask you to do something," Tifa said fondly. "Come on, guys. Oh, by the way – this is Axel. He's going to be staying with us for a while."

Axel attempted to smile up at them – two freaking teenage kids, how am I going to deal with this? – but was sure he had failed at seeming friendly. However, neither seemed to notice; Roxas was poking around the refrigerator, and Sora had hurried past Tifa into the next hallway, apparently to call back his friend.

"I made up the guest bedroom for you, Axel," Tifa said kindly, smoothing out her skirt. "I also laid out some clothes I found in the laundry room, if you need any more – maybe we can go to the Salvation Army tomorrow and get you some more, how does that sound?"

God, I feel like a little kid. "Um…good. Thanks, Tifa."

She beamed. "It's no problem. Can you do me a favor – I need to finish getting ready – can you keep stirring the pudding for a little bit and then turn it off? I don't think it's done yet."

"Yeah, sure." Axel stood up, wiped the pudding from his knee with a spare paper towel, and turned back to the pot. He felt a little guilty about neglecting it – it was probably burned on the bottom, unfortunately for everyone – but hey, it hadn't been his fault! Well, sort of. Okay, so it was.

Roxas ignored him. He didn't even stare disagreeably at the stranger, like Cloud did, or sneak curious glances at him. He just pretended that Axel wasn't there, which was a little unnerving. The redhead suddenly felt like a ghost again – a spirit, like he had just made a collection and was hanging around, and no one could see him again. Axel was aware of how little he missed that feeling – how alive he felt now. God dammit, he thought. This is just ridiculous. He slammed his palm against the side of head (sure enough, Roxas didn't notice, or care) to try to organize his thoughts, somehow, to make them fall into place. But there was too much – too many details, so many fucking problems, that the attempt only made Axel feel frustrated, weak, angry.

"What's wrong with you?" Roxas had closed the refrigerator door and was staring at him, blue eyes narrowed. Axel half-heartedly stirred the pudding pot, sure it was at least ninety percent burned by now.

Roxas continued to frown at him but said nothing further. From down the hall, he could hear Sora chatting animatedly on the phone; somewhere, a clock was ticking; cars raced down the street outside; rain pounded against the windows.

Distantly, Axel went to turn the pot to scrape some pudding off of the sides; he pressed his palm against the side of the hot metal. It took a moment for him to realize what he had done, and he pulled away, cringing and folding his body towards his hand. Shit.

Roxas half-rolled his eyes and walked out of the room. "Nice job," he muttered.

Axel glared after him. Things were going to be a lot harder than he thought.