CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Axel was waiting impatiently, his pacing steps audible from the hall. Demyx had left after the walkthrough, taking Roxas' keyblades with him, promising with usual brightness to see the pair at the next meal. For the first time in two hours there was peace, both men sighing slightly and exchanging wry looks.

Now as they approached the main computer lab, as Axel's clomping reached his ears, Roxas' stomach clenched. The nausea clinging from the previous night had receded with the distraction of instruction, but came slithering back with the anxiety that crept abruptly up from his naval to his lungs. Excitement, nervousness, the sudden urge to throw up swept through him. He wasn't quite sure where the intensity was springing from, could only imagine that this was how badly he wanted to see his friends again. He hadn't even been aware of how much it meant to him until this moment.

Axel came into view, glancing up as they entered, looking equally tense, though Roxas couldn't figure out why. The redhead broke into a smile, some of the anxiety leaking away as his vivid feline eyes rested upon Roxas' cerulean. He paused, the break in the metronome drawing Naminé's attention away from her work, the frown of concentration melting into pleasure at the blond's appearance. "Roxas! So good to see you again." She capped the pen she had been scribbling in a notebook with, turned her chair to eagerly face them. "What brings you here?"

Axel flashed her a briefly scornful look that she didn't see. Evidently deciding to display at least one of the reasons the blond had shown up, he grabbed Roxas' arms without warning and pushed him up against the wall. It seemed he had moved beyond asking permission to put on a 'show', either because he was more secure now in Roxas' feelings for him, or the jealousy he had regarding Naminé was just too powerful to ignore.

His mouth found Roxas', hot and needy, a possessive joining. He pushed instantly past the teen's lips, claimed the tongue as an extension of his own. Roxas could only whimper, caught so completely off-guard that his mind was still trying to formulate a response to Naminé's question. The redhead's hands roamed quickly, sliding under Roxas' new shirt, stroking and plucking his clean-smelling skin. His legs weakened under the pleasurable assault, buckled, a groan rumbling deep in his throat as Axel grabbed a belt-loop to hold him up.

It wasn't long before the man's smoky lips trailed away from his mouth, leaving a shining path as they travelled down his jaw and to the soft flesh of his neck. As a hand lowered to massage his hip, a sharp sucking starting on his neck, Roxas hitched in a moaning breath. "Axel – "

A throat was cleared very loudly, drawing the attention of both men, Axel's lips swollen and pink as he unlatched from the blond's skin, Roxas' eyes wide and glazed as they snapped open. Mortification gripped him, face going from a hazy sweat to bright, self-conscious red. He caught sight of Naminé's flustered state and mentally hit himself.

"Welcome back," Zexion said dryly. Axel shot him a displeased glare.

"It was more fun where we were," he replied huskily. Into Roxas' ear, he murmured, "That's the first time I've heard you say my name that way – I can't wait for that to become familiar."

Roxas nearly lost his hard-won knees again, managed to gasp, "Whatever happened to the wonders of the unfamiliar?"

"Did you say 'wonders', Roxie?" the other man smirked. The blond's expression flattened, and with a surprising amount of dignity for someone still half-covered with saliva, he shoved Axel away. He took a deep breath, straightened his clothing, and stepped away from the wall. He fixed his gaze on the pink Naminé and determinedly said, "I've come to see Twilight Town." He faltered. "From the screen." He glanced to where Axel leaned smugly against the wall. "Right?" The redhead inclined his head in confirmation.

"Oh," said Naminé, not sure where to put her eyes. "Well – good luck with that." She forced a smile, gathering her things, standing and holding them against her chest. "I'll let you three get on with that – my shift ends now anyway."

"Bye, Nam," Axel said happily, saluting with two fingers. She all but scurried from the room, taking the final vestiges of Roxas' lust with her, leaving a heavy pooling of shame in its place. Axel observed the change in his expression, frowned. "Forget it, Roxie. She's just embarrassed."

"Oh, and we shouldn't be?" the blond muttered. Axel lifted his chin, arms folding over his chest.

"For what? We're allowed to be happy to see each other."

Roxas snorted. "You're an ass. I know what that was. Next time, kiss me because you want to, not to prove a – "

Axel covered the distance between them in two long strides, seized the blond by the shoulders and kissed him a second time, hard and brief. As Roxas blinked and struggled once again to catch up with the turn of events, he drew back. "Roxas," said the redhead seriously, "there's never a moment I don't want to kiss you. And I can't guarantee it won't happen again, because something about seeing the two of you together in the same room freaks me out."

Roxas caught himself, glared. "I don't want her, Axel. She's just a friend – hell, she's hardly even that. I haven't spent enough time in my whole life to get to know her."

Axel pouted sulkily, Zexion raising his eyes to the ceiling. "Now that this matter has been sorted, Naminé having run off, and Axel successfully having almost got his new boyfriend off in the room he's been in only twice since he was five years old, how about we actually achieve what we came here to do?"

Roxas flinched, nodded, Axel sighing and repeating the motion. "I'll be the one to do it," the redhead offered, shooting one last resentful look at the slate-haired man, promptly ignored. He went over to the main seat of control, gesturing Roxas to follow. The blond glanced at Zexion, received a nod and a wave of the hand. Roxas went to where Axel stood, and was sat into the large chair, the man's hands squeezing his shoulders gently.

"Okay, Roxie, now whatever happens, just remember that you're here now, okay? Twilight Town is just a program."

Roxas shot him a weird look. "I think I'm pretty aware of that now, Axel. I'm not going to try and crawl through the screen."

"Don't laugh," said Zexion quietly from behind. "It's been attempted."

Roxas stared, first at the shorter man, then the taller. "…What, really?"

Axel's hand tightened on him. "Just remember where you are, Rox."

Faintly concerned, Roxas hesitated, nodded. His fingers clutched the arms of his chair. Axel started typing at the keyboard, the screen shifting from the unintelligible information Naminé had been copying down, a series of boxes popping up and vanishing as he worked. Roxas' brows drew together, his anticipation at seeing his old friends dulling under the worry instilled by Axel's warning. Why on earth would someone try to crawl through the screen? First, it was a screen – second… hadn't they wanted to leave in the first place?

"Okay," said Axel, too soon for Roxas' liking. The green eyes found him, brows raised slightly, a small smile in place. "You ready to see everyone again? I located your friends. They're at school."

Roxas laughed, an abrupt sound. "There's a reason to leave I know Hayner would jump at. Dangle it in front of his nose, he'd be in Hollow Bastion in two seconds flat."

Axel echoed the noise hollowly. "You ready?"

"Uh…" Roxas glanced up nervously, gained a reassuring smile in return. "Sure."

The last thing he was aware of was Zexion moving up alongside him, hand settling on his other shoulder. Axel said, "Remember where you are, Roxie."

Roxas took a deep breath, and was gone.

.o.O.o.

The sun blazed overhead, heating Roxas' hair, sending the warmth uncomfortably down into his face, the back of his neck. He fidgeted uncomfortably, sweat springing instantly across his top lip, hot prickles swarming back and forth along his shoulders, forehead burning. He shifted in his seat, t-shirt clinging to his skin. He tugged at the collar, shoes digging into the sand, drawing a deep breath and trying to dispel the strange tightness in his throat. His eyebrows drew together, he bent over, elbows on knees as he tucked his face between them and struggled to breathe. "I don't feel so good," he muttered.

His mother touched him, stroked his back lightly. "It's alright, Roxas. Things will get better. Just don't go anywhere, okay?"

He swallowed, fought the roiling in his gut. A drop of sweat blazed down the length of his nose, quivered at the tip, fell away and vanished into the dirt. His eyes slipped shut. "Mom, I – I really feel bad." His voice trembled, sick shivers gripping his muscles. "What's happening to me?"

Her thumb circled on his shoulder-blade. "Look, dear, the ghosts are back."

His fingers found his hair, through a haze he glanced up, saw the children galloping through the playground, sending up sprays of sand, giggling wildly. The redhead was tall and wiry, the blond short and chubby, both voices raised in delight as they cavorted. He forced a smile. "Cute."

"You won't leave me, will you?" the woman in white asked, her skirt fluttering as she crossed her legs elegantly. "I need you to stay with me for a while. You make me feel better."

Roxas frowned, wiped his face agitatedly, fingers sliding along a waterfall of sweat. The world swayed, buzzed out of focus, the blond going both insanely hot and terribly cold. His skin was white, grey, his eyes sunken in their sockets. His hands shook as he pulled them away, dripping. "M-mom," he said jerkily. "Mom, I don't feel well."

She sighed, smiled at him. "I know. But I promise it will get better. Just don't leave me, Roxas."

"I – I think I should go to bed," he muttered. Her grip tightened.

"No, sweetheart. Mother will make it better." She wrapped a hand over his shoulder, tugged him to lie down on the bench, his head in her lap. Blearily, he watched the children, the ghosts. Her fingers threaded through his damp hair.

"Where did your ghost go?" he whispered dizzily. She laughed lightly.

"She's gone. She doesn't need to be around the children when I'm here. I watch them just fine."

His hand came up, gripped her knee as he pulled himself into a ball. His thumb found his mouth, nestling behind his teeth in a comforting gesture, just as the young blond spirit sat on the ground, dust in his eyes, and did the same. "I feel sleepy, mom," he said softly, lisping slightly around the obstruction. She bent over him, resting her cheek against his head, a hand gently trailing up and down his bare arm.

"It's the sunshine," she said quietly. "It makes you tired. It makes you want to leave."

He shook his head minutely. "I don't want to leave…"

"Good boy. You'll stay with me, won't you?"

The red haired child approached the little boy, who whimpered and rubbed at his eyes. "What about… Axel? Where is he?" Roxas asked breathlessly, eyes slipping shut, tongue thick.

"He's right here, sweetheart. He's so close."

Roxas was silent for a while, drifting, the ill feeling fading little by little. "Do you like him, mom? Do you like Axel?"

She smiled fondly, kissed his temple gently. "Of course, darling. You chose him, didn't you? Mother loves you. She loves your love. He is a good boy, just like you." She sighed, turning her gaze to the children. "Still, bones must be broken." She smoothed a finger down his wet cheek. "Will you break bones for mother?"

.o.O.o.

Roxas woke up in Axel's arms, a bouncing motion passing through his body, a sensation of speed. Lights were flashing everywhere. He frowned, eyes opening, voice rasping, pushing at his chest as he said, "Axel? What?" He turned his head, looked up as Axel's chin dropped, wide eyes finding him, tears streaked down the fair cheeks, shining against the tattoos, skin turning red and then white and then red again under the hysterical overhead strobing.

"It's okay, Roxie, we're getting you to the hospital."

Roxas spasmed. "No! I'm fine! Don't take me to hospital!"

Axel nearly dropped him at the ferocity of the motion, grip slipping, fingers tightening, muscles pulling painfully in his triceps as he struggled to keep holding on. "Roxas!" Roxas wormed out of his grasp, feet swinging to the ground, legs taking his weight momentarily before crumpling. He went down with a cry, nails dragging at the wall. Axel bent beside him, panicked, drew him up to sitting. "It's okay – please, Roxas, let me get you out of here. We need to get you help."

"No," the blond muttered, pushing his hands away. "I'm fine now, Axel." He rested against the wall, taking hold of his head.

"Roxas – how can you say that you're fine?" the redhead asked fiercely. "You don't even know what happened!"

"So what happened?" he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes. They felt gritty. Axel grabbed a handful of his hair, jerked his face up so they were eye-to-eye.

"You flipped – out – Roxas." Axel was angry, determined to win this. "You went crazy back there. You tried to destroy the whole control room! The entire castle has been set off into emergency mode – can't you hear the sirens?"

Roxas cocked his head to the side, listening, glancing around. They were near the castle entrance. Yes, somewhere in the distance, a howl was clamouring. "You tried to kill Twilight Town, Roxas." Axel's expression was perfectly serious, grim, eyes desperate. "You cracked the control casing with a chair."

Roxas blinked, frowned. "No, I didn't."

Axel laughed anxiously. "Roxas, you did. Fuck. Come on." He gathered the blond up. "You look so sick…"

"I'm fine," he argued, forcing Axel away, scrunching against the wall with a scowl. "I don't need to go to hospital, Axel. I'm okay now. I don't – I don't – " He trailed off, a lost expression creeping across his face. "I – tried to kill Twilight Town? I – almost broke it?"

Axel laughed again, a frantic noise, knees touching the ground. "You don't just break Twilight Town, but – you had a damn good go." He closed his eyes, arms dropping to his sides. "You don't remember?"

Roxas shook his head hesitantly. "I – I don't remember anything. I – we were in there, and you were telling me to remember where I was… Zexion grabbed my shoulder, and then…" His eyebrows knitted worriedly. "I woke up here."

Axel drew in a deep breath, held it for a long moment, fingers curling into fists. "Okay. Okay, it was – it was just a bad reaction, then. A – a bad reaction to the program." He let out a sharp bark. "You were fucking insane." He looked sick. "Rox, you've got to let me get you somewhere to get checked out. That wasn't normal." Roxas shook his head sharply, drawing back again. Frustration swept across Axel's face, followed quickly by weary concern. "Come see Aerith, then. Please. Everyone's working to fix the damage you did, neither of us needs to be anywhere. Please – let me make sure you're okay."

The blond hesitated, nodded slowly. Relieved, Axel pulled him up. "You okay? Can you walk?"

"I – I'm fine," Roxas said, confused. He took a couple of experimental steps. "I just – I feel weak…" He shook his head. "I feel like… I should be sicker."

Axel helped to hold him up, ignoring when the blond tried to tug free, and they walked back, deeper into the castle. "She'll be in the greenhouse," he muttered, glancing around as they passed the dining hall. The corridors were deserted, and after several minutes, the alarms, growing louder with every step, cut off, the lights returning to normal. Axel relaxed minutely, breathing out a sigh. "Thank Christ. I hate that fucking noise."

"Axel?" Roxas' voice was faint. "What happened to me? Why did I go crazy?"

Axel hugged him close. "It wasn't your fault," he said firmly. "This was not your fault. You had a bad reaction to your remaining programming."

"Re-remaining programming?"

"Shush. Just – let's get you checked out first. You need to rest. That was – intense for everyone." He steered Roxas through the halls, past the sparring garden, into a second courtyard that had somehow been converted into a hothouse, potted plants lining every surface, every long bench, flowers spilling out from every corner, vegetables lining an entire wall. Aerith's expression was tight. She was over by a group of large-headed flowers, a man with feathered pink hair beside her, the pair of them studying the petals with forced concentration. Zack paced nearby, scowling at the surrounding foliage.

As Axel entered, he called, "Aerith!"

Her head shot up, hurrying quickly to them, Zack by her side. Her eyes fell instantly upon Roxas. "Oh, no, what now?" she blurted, dismayed. She took the boy's face between her gloved, soiled hands, lifted it to get a good look at him, turning him from side to side, obviously in search of new injury. "What happened? Why can't you walk by yourself?"

"I – I can," Roxas said, tugging away. Axel released him, let him show her, the stagger in the teen's step obvious.

"He was going in for a viewing," the redhead related uneasily. "And he went nuts and tried to destroy the system."

"A very bad reaction, then," Aerith frowned. She stripped off her gloves, passed them to Zack. She placed her delicate fingers back upon his skin, brushing away the grains of dirt clinging, pulled down the skin under his eyes, peering at the whites, inspecting the dilation of his pupils. Her fingertips were light as they felt the soft skin of his temples, moved to the underside of his jaw, nails pressing into his skin as she took his pulse. She stepped back, clicked her fingers sharply in front of his nose, making him blink. She clapped once, the sound cracking in the vast room. "Roxas, you're part of the programming of the Twilight network," she told him, features hard as she pulled up his hands, held them out, studied their trembling. "What you're doing right now is having an adverse reaction to the remaining organic connection to it. All members of the town contribute towards the overall encoding. Before exiting, you're put through a conditioning process – the wonders – that separate you piece by piece from the mainframe. That way, when you leave, you are free from its influence, are incapable of being affected by changes made to the program." She let his hands go, opened his mouth, scraping a nail down his tongue, making it jump. "During the first viewing, many Twilight Children feel the pull of the program, usually feel a strong need to return. After all," she frowned, "you spent your almost whole life with it controlling you. However…" She released him, stepped back again, hands on hips as she gave him an all-over look. "You obviously responded very negatively to the reminder…" Her eyes found Axel. "He tried to destroy it?" She was puzzled.

Axel nodded unhappily. "Grabbed up the unbolted chair and started smashing everything in sight. He got – " He stopped sharply, lips pressing shut. Roxas turned his head, suspicious of the abrupt cessation.

"What? What'd I get?" When Axel bowed his head, he got a sudden chill of premonition, asked, "…Zexion?"

Axel sighed. "I think you broke his arm."

Aerith gasped, Roxas blanching. "I – broke his arm," he echoed slowly. "As in… broke it?"

Aerith said, "Roxas is going to be fine. I'm going to see Zexion."

Axel closed his eyes. "Okay. He's – still in the main lab. He's helping to fix things."

Aerith's expression turned stormy. "Well," she bit off, "that won't last much longer. I'll have him in his room in ten minutes." She turned to Zack. "You have experience setting broken limbs, don't you? You're coming with me." She grabbed his hand and exited the room grimly. The pink-haired man by the flowers shrugged.

"I'll just… wait here I guess." He smiled at the pair. "I'm from the city. I'm here to help Aerith with her cultivation."

"Good for you, buddy," Axel muttered. Roxas was nearly in tears, leaning against the nearest wooden bench.

"I broke his arm."

Axel ran a hand through his vivid spikes. "Rox," he said softly, "how about we get you to bed? You could probably do with it. Give you time to recover."

He met the redhead's gaze desperately. "I didn't know I was doing it. I wasn't – I wasn't even there. How was my body moving without me? Is it going to happen again?"

Axel hooked an arm around him, pressed Roxas' face into his chest and got them walking, leaving the pink-haired man to talk to the flowers. "It won't happen again," he said softly. "It's just the first time that's the problem. The last of the programming burns itself out trying to pull you back in." He smiled faintly. "You're the first person who didn't want to instantly return. You didn't try to get back – you fought it, Rox. You tried to kill it to keep from going back. That – that's gotta be good, right?" He kissed the boy's face. "That means you want to stay, don't you think?"

"Of course I want to stay," Roxas said feebly. "But – I did so much damage. That's not good. I hurt someone! I could have totally wrecked Twilight Town!"

"Aw, we're all tougher than that, Rox," Axel reassured, ruffling his hair gently. "Especially the damn computer. Why do you think we store it in different parts of the castle? Eggs all in one basket equals bad consequences. There's backup systems, all sorts of things."

"So – what was with all the alarms then?" the blond mumbled, relaxing slightly, fingers curling into Axel's shirt.

Axel laughed nervously. "Ah, well, see, the damage you did do was dangerously close to the core. It's this little energy source, it powers the entire mainframe… we've got backups, but all of Twilight Town would be shut down indefinitely if the core was disturbed too badly." He smiled crookedly at Roxas' new paleness. "It's no easy feat to create and populate an entire town."

Roxas shivered, clung closer. "As long as it doesn't happen again."

Axel cuddled him sideways. "It won't. You're not at fault here, Roxie. We just didn't anticipate your reaction."

He nodded. They got back to Axel's room, the redhead opening the door to admit them, leading Roxas to the bed. He climbed on first, patted the mattress encouragingly. Roxas hesitated, eyeing it with sudden disconcertion. "Actually… do you mind if we… don't? Sleep, that is. I – I don't want to dream."

Axel's head cocked to the side. "Nightmares?"

Roxas frowned, shook his head. "I don't know. I don't remember any. I just… don't feel like it." He fidgeted a little. "Actually, I – I was wondering if we could head to the garden and – practice fighting for a while."

Axel's face slackened. "Roxas, are you out of your mind? You just went psycho and passed out, and now you want to fight?"

Roxas rolled his shoulders impatiently. "I've just – I've got this excess energy I need to get out."

"You're trying to get Aerith to kill me, aren't you?" the redhead asked sceptically. Then he leered, sprawling back lazily, spreading his legs out straight and tucking his arms behind his head. His shirt rode up, revealing a strip of white flesh. "Of course, there's a lot of different ways to get rid of unwanted energy…"

Roxas found the dirty laundry pile, picked it up in a bundle and dumped it onto the man's head, pressing them down for a smothering moment. Axel spluttered and coughed, pawing the items away from his face. Smirking, the blond grabbed up his keyblades where Demyx had left them, turned to the redhead. "So, are you ready to fight me now? It doesn't have to be rough. Just let me get some practice in for tonight."

Axel propped himself up onto his elbows, studying Roxas uncertainly. "You're still going to do your shift?"

"I see no reason why not," he replied coolly. "I was fine before I flipped out. I'm already feeling better, and you said it won't happen again – I don't need to be wrapped in cotton, Axel. I'm not weak."

The other man sighed, rolled his eyes, tipped his head back. "I know that, Roxas." He lifted his face again, repeated calmly, "I know. Okay. We'll practice. But…" He hesitated. "I'm supposed to try and hurt you. It's supposed to be rough."

"Later, when I'm better," Roxas promised him. "Otherwise you'll have Demyx and Aerith coming after you."

Axel pretended to shudder, sat up, picking a stray sock from his shoulder. "Okay, fine. But we're taking it really easy, then," he warned. "Whatever you think, I really don't want to tire you out after what just happened."

Roxas gave a half-hearted smile. "I'm like this walking disaster area. As long as you're still happy to have me around, though, I guess it's fine."

Axel snorted, standing. "Oh, like I'm going to dignify that with an answer." Roxas grinned a little, fingers adjusting their grip on the keyblade handles. They passed by Demyx's room to collect Axel's chakrams and continued on to the garden. The halls were still deserted, and Roxas just hoped he hadn't done too much damage to the mainframe.

They entered the garden, crossed to the short grass. Axel tossed his weapons to the ground with twin thuds and reached up to his shoulders, tugging his shirt off in a swift motion. "We're not hurting each other – remember?" Roxas reminded him tersely.

"I know," replied the redhead lightly, tossing the material to one side. "But I don't want to get it all sweaty and gross. I'll stick it back on after I shower."

Roxas glanced down at his own sweater, realised he was going to overheat. He peeled it off, ignoring the whistle from Axel. They took up their positions on the grass, more relaxed than the other day. Roxas tried to remember the moves Demyx had shown him, practiced them silently for a minute while Axel rolled his chakrams, watching. He tried not to think of Zexion's arm. He decided, for peace of mind, that if it had been really bad, the man wouldn't have stuck around to help fix things… and besides, Aerith was with him now. The mother-figure of them all.

.o.O.o.

"Will you break bones for mother?"

.o.O.o.

Roxas' stomach suddenly revolted. He bent, vomited all over the grass. Axel stared for a minute, then threw his chakrams down, ran to his side. "Jesus, Roxas!" he fretted. He took away the keyblades and placed them on the ground, rubbed the boy's bare back. "Aerith's going to kill me."

Roxas spat bitter saliva. "Nice to know you care," he half-snarled. Axel shook his head.

"Okay, we're definitely not fighting now." He straightened Roxas up, peered into his face, as if waiting for the problem to reveal itself in writing across the bridge of his nose. He shook his head. "You'll be lucky to patrol tonight…" He closed his eyes briefly. "I need to learn to say no to you," he muttered. "This was a bad idea. You're going straight back to bed."

"No," Roxas whined. "I don't want to." He grabbed Axel's wrist pleadingly. "Don't make me sleep. I don't want to sleep."

Axel frowned, steered him away from the mess on the ground, took him to the corner and sat him down on the stone bench. He crouched down in front of him, hands on his knees, studying the blond carefully. "What's up, Roxie?"

Roxas shook his head. "I – I don't know," he said softly. "I…" He wiped his mouth slowly. "I feel better now." He smiled faintly, weakly. "Must have been the hang-over."

"Okay, we're making a point of never telling Aerith about this," Axel said worriedly. He stood, pulled the blond up with him. "Bed, right now, you and me. You don't have to sleep, and I won't molest you too badly. We'll just – we can talk. For once, finally, we're alone, and we can just talk, just like you wanted."

Roxas grimaced, wrapped his arms around Axel's bare waist, resting his head against the bone shoulder. "I wish it was under better conditions." They returned to the room, right back where they'd started ten minutes previously, only this time, Roxas was feeling abruptly drained. His head ached. Axel tucked him into bed, lay on top of the covers with him, on his side, brushing the bits of hair from his face.

"I'd kiss you," he said softly, "but you'll taste gross."

Roxas nodded, smiled. "I do taste gross." He raised his eyes to the ceiling, let them hover there while Axel ran a finger along the contours of his skin, up and down his cheek, around his jaw, lazy swirls against his throat. At last, the redhead became aware of the small tears trickling down from the corners of the blue eyes, paused with concern. He thumbed one away, kissed a second, tasting salt. "It's okay. Zexion's going to be fine."

"I wasn't even there," Roxas whispered, lips curling down, voice thick. "Are you sure it won't happen again?" He turned his gaze hopefully, trustingly, to Axel's green eyes.

The man hesitated. "Well – I don't think it'll happen again," he offered lamely, watching Roxas' expression drop. "It never happened twice to anyone else… but then, no one else went quite the way you did."

Roxas turned his face into Axel's neck, a warm, safe harbour. His breaths drifted around the man's throat, touched the skin and curled away, smelling sour. "I…"

Axel made a humming noise of enquiry, growing drowsy after the drama, still recovering from the night before.

"I don't want to sleep anymore."

Red spikes rustled as the older man shifted his head, pressing their foreheads together, looking directly into the other's eyes. "Then we'll make you drink all the coffee in the world," he smiled.

Roxas' features were knitted with worry. "I'm scared to sleep. And I don't know why. It's – it's all over me. All through me. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Axel frowned, his knuckles rising to brush Roxas' cheek. "How long has this been happening?"

"Just – since now," the boy replied huskily. "I'm scared."

Axel watched him for a long minute, then nodded. "Okay, then. You just won't sleep for a while then. You've got patrol tonight, we'll schedule you for later. We'll stay up all night if we have to."

Roxas laughed slightly, helplessly. "I can't just… not sleep though."

"Well – when you do…" Axel's expression was serious, devoid of lecherous intent. "I'll be there with you. We'll fall asleep together. And if you get scared, I'll be there to help you figure out why."

"You're here now," the blond pointed out. Axel rolled his eyes.

"When you've slept, if you wake up scared, maybe you'll have had a nightmare and very conveniently spoken out loud. Then I can tell you what you said, you'll remember it all, and you won't need to be scared anymore. Okay?"

Roxas scowled, burrowing into his bare chest. "Can we do it, but skip that whole part you just said?" Axel was silent for a moment, causing the blond to glance up. "What?"

"You're really scared? For absolutely no reason?"

Roxas blushed a little, feeling very suddenly ridiculous. "None that I know," he mumbled. Axel pursed his lips.

"Well… okay, then. That's weird. But – we'll find a way to fix this. It can all be fixed, Roxie." He kissed the flaxen spikes. "You don't have to sleep yet."

"Good," he whispered. He settled himself, eyes wide, lashes brushing the fair skin pressed against his face. Axel was right – this could be fixed. But… Roxas really couldn't figure out what was so frightening. He didn't know what to fix. Which made the repairing process a lot more difficult.

For now, though, lack of sleep was a good thing.