Author's Note: OTL I apologize that this chapter is short, but it is a short fic and I want it to remain that way.;; I cut this story up a bit...obscurely, but hopefully that won't be too distracting. Having said that, here's part two with part three to follow promptly~

Eyes || Part Two
"Iris"

"Axel," Roxas began when Axel returned home one Friday night. The redhead was exhausted as always and was half awake when he heard the voice piping up behind him. Ever since the incident with Namine, the whole workload felt ten times harder. Everyone was determined to find out the reason behind her being able to see.

"Hm?" he hummed, taking off his scrubs and digging through the closet for a clean pair of sweats to change into. Roxas was silent for a while and while the redhead's back was turned he busied himself by reaching over to the nightstand and picking up the tape recorder Axel would leave for him should he feel the need to record important pieces of news that would pop up while he was gone. So far Roxas hadn't found anything too interesting to record—maybe a few new hits on the charts about how times were tough and love was strong—but today...something drew him in.

"I want you to hear this real quick."

Axel, as he pulled his pants up, glanced over his shoulder to see that the blonde was holding the tape recorder in his hand and his thumb was brushing idly over the ridged surface of the play button. "Yeah? Another song you picked up?"

Roxas shook his head. "No." Then the tape began.

"My fellow Americans...I stand before you today to inform you that when I awoke this morning...I was blind."

...Axel froze. Shutter clicks and mutters were peppered into the audio and the president didn't speak for a very long time. Questions, so many questions, people sobbing, women screaming, chairs being pushed and pulled and feet scurrying here and there—

He was in disbelief. "What?"

Roxas brought his thumb back to the stop button and pressed it. That was really all Axel had to hear. "It's true. The President's just like the rest of us now."

"...But he was held under quarantine. Protected and everything." The redhead stared at the tape recorder, jaw dropped, and when he could no longer find words to say he slowly sat himself down on the edge of the bed and let out a heavy but quick sigh. "...Everything's just coming apart."

"It's...interesting, isn't it?"

"Huh?"

"I mean...the ruler of the country and probably the strongest man in the world lost his vision. And suddenly it's like the rest of the world follows after him."

Axel stayed silent and stared down at the floor between his legs, unsure of how to respond to that. He could feel the mattress shifting and knew that Roxas must have been moving around behind him.

The blonde continued, voice calm and serious, "But...after not having my eyes for so long already I think I've sort've gotten to understand the importance of other things. ...I don't know if I really need someone with that much power to be my eyes for me."

"Roxas—" Axel stopped himself. "N-nevermind."

He waited just in case Axel really did want to say something, but then went on. "...With so many people going blind," he paused to let out a tiny laugh, "it's like being with other people has replaced that fifth sense. If anything I think it's taught me that what matters most is...trust." Dark lashes fluttered and trembled a bit when he contemplated opening his eyes, but instead Roxas just kept looking down at the blankets over his lap and kept them exposed to darkness.

...Axel, on the other hand, couldn't keep his eyes turned away from the boy for so long. He thought that if he were to lose his sight right then and there he would have panicked. Maybe he would have cried and maybe he would have questioned why it had to be happening to him. But in the back of his mind Axel knew that what Roxas was saying was true and that it was...admirable. If he lost his sight and suddenly his world fell to perpetual blackness, maybe instead he would have fallen to short silence...and smiled. Nothing would have changed and nothing would have gotten up and left him.

No, everything would be as it were and all he would have to do is pull the blankets over them and fall asleep. Roxas would still be beside him in the morning and maybe, just maybe, everything would still be the same.

A faint smile graced Axel's lips while he kept on staring at the younger boy sitting on the bed and it seemed that Roxas felt he was being stared at because he looked up and furrowed his brows, confused. "Axel?"

Axel's smile softened. "I'm right here, Rox."

The boy lightly scoffed. "I know. I can still feel your weight on the bed, you know."

"Then why'd you call me like that?"

"...I was just wondering if you had anything to say."

"...Just that I think you're right."

That earned another smile from the younger but unlike doing what Axel thought he would do after making a philosophical comment like that—which was crawl over to the pillows and get ready for bed—Roxas just sat there and stared, just stared at Axel with his eyes shut. And even shut like that the redhead could feel pupils boring into him, reading him, and making him feel so alive. Thinking it, he slowly moved closer to the center of the bed where Roxas was and sat cross-legged in front of him, leaving their cold toes to barely touch and their knees bumping against one another.

It was still cold, that was for sure, but sometimes, in the presence of someone else in this lonely, forgotten world, the winter would fade and everything else would disappear but warmth—it would take its place. From here, even in the shadows of the room, green eyes could see Roxas's chest moving in and out beneath his night shirt, and beneath that there was a heart pumping and beating just as his own.

"Deep down, you and I are exactly the same, I figure," Roxas said to which Axel twitched, surprised after having sat in the silence for so long. "We're still human. It's just that...you can see."

Again the redhead had nothing to say and for a while it felt as if Roxas was at a loss for words as well, but when he looked up and noticed that one of the blonde's fingers was raised outstretched to him, Roxas spoke again, this time posing a question.

"Can I see you?" Of course his first instinct was to tell the kid no, of course he couldn't, but now didn't seem the time for jokes. Instead, he scooted closer and closer still until the soft tips of Roxas's fingers made the bridge of his nose and his cheeks tingle and hum. He didn't understand his companion yet, but when Roxas's other hand reached out to do the same as the first, the pieces began to come together.

Slowly, as if he was handling something very fragile and delicate, Roxas began to trace his fingers along Axel's face, beginning at his jaw line where he gently cupped it before venturing from his forehead to his lips. At first it did feel a bit obscure, but soon the touches felt like whispers on his skin and Axel felt himself succumbing to them, muscles instinctively relaxing and face leaning in a bit closer to make things easier for Roxas to reach. He could feel the slight ridge from the healed over cut in Roxas's right palm, but it only increased his senses and made him pay attention.

After about a minute the blonde whispered, "You said you have red hair, right?"

Axel nodded which Roxas no doubt felt in the palms of his hands. The boy chuckled.

"You told me it was like a fire truck."

Axel chuckled a little as well, which made muscles pull and stretch and creases form at the corners of his mouth. Roxas paused to graze his thumb over one of the corners.

"Heh. You've got a huge smile," he said, softly. In return Axel's expression became much more...affectionate and he almost hated that Roxas wouldn't be able to see it. He wanted Roxas to know how much he appreciated him no matter if he could see or not. But Roxas couldn't learn from pictures held out before him; no, he had to create the pictures himself with a few hints and clues as his guides. So he let the boy continue to map out and memorize him as much as he felt necessary. Once a screaming, helpless, afraid boy lying on the side of the streets...now so gentle and mature...beside him. Comfortable.

Axel didn't know how much time had passed by the time Roxas's hands resettled on his jaw and his fingers held his face steady and securely. Time hardly mattered at all at this point...especially when the blonde parted his lips to speak one more time.

"You're beautiful...Axel."

And at that moment he figured that words, at least his words, didn't matter either. Breathing and blinking, yes, even seeing didn't matter to the redhead once those words slipped off of Roxas's tongue. Roxas had never seen him in this lifetime and there was little to no chance of it happening at all, so, naturally, he was surprised. Either Roxas had an incredible sense of touch or he was just saying that to flatter him. Still unable to form a coherent phrase, Axel pursed his lips and sat stone still in front of his companion who still had his hands cupping his face, holding him in the same distance, same place...and same trance.

Finally Roxas broke the silence again, this time moving both hands up so that his thumbs rested at the corners of Axel's eyes. "...Close your eyes for a sec."

He was a little embarrassed that the blonde had to speak up like that instead of him coming out with anything smart to say, but, trying not to contort his face which could have come off as rude to the kid, Axel relaxed his muscles, took a deep breath, and slowly shut his eyes, letting the dark lashes hit his skin and, as he could feel, the tips of Roxas's thumbs. He shivered at the sensitivity and how much stronger the feelings rushed into his body and even more so when he could feel each little whorl and ridge in the boy's fingerprints.

Axel had thought that the outside world had fallen relatively silent long ago, and yet, sitting here, his ears picked up the chirrup of crickets and the tinkling of wind chimes left to sing alone in the wind and abandoned upon front porches. With those sounds he could paint pictures of the streets...at night, in the daytime, filled with people...empty. Memories of himself and Reno walking down the sidewalks and passing joggers and people on their bicycles flooded his mind, but what hit him the hardest, what intensified the warmth in his chest to its highest degree, was the vision of smiling faces, and not just lips but eyes and bodies.

Everyone smiled with everything they owned. Women holding their partner's arms and walking hip to hip, men waving hello to one another, children looking up and smiling and giggling at each other even though they might have been strangers—

What Axel saw was what his mind wanted to see. Most likely the images were over exaggerated and surreal, but because they were created with memories, well, they still held some truth to them. Thinking it, the redhead smiled and chuckled to which Roxas laughed. He might not have been able to see Axel, but he had an inkling as to what was flowing through that head of his—it was most likely what he had taught himself to do on days when he was alone and just beginning to adjust to this horrible fate.

Now, Axel would have left it at that and opened his eyes again after having his fill of life as he wanted it to be, but instinct brought life to his hands which he slowly placed ahead of him and upon Roxas's face. The boy didn't even tremble at the move and sat perfectly still as if he were expecting it.

"See, when your eyes are closed," Roxas started, chuckling, "the other senses grow stronger."

It was a bit difficult to maneuver as easily as Roxas had done—Axel ended up close to poking the blonde in the eye—but Axel was sure that he was more aware of what he was doing now that he was submerged in total darkness. Gradually, fingers made their descent over the soft, less prominent jaw bones and over something...softer. A bit moist and smooth—

He told himself what they were almost immediately and Roxas—he didn't seem to mind it. Quietly, voice low and hinted with an under layer of...affection, Axel spoke.

"If I didn't know what you looked like, I would've said the same."

"Really?" Roxas asked while one of his hands lowered back down to rest at Axel's jaw. The other stayed put on his cheek to take in the amazing softness and heat emitting from beneath the skin. If he didn't know any better he would have guessed that Axel was blushing, but he tried not to mention it for the sake of keeping Axel comfortable.

The redhead hummed shortly in response and soon lightly calloused but placid hands drifted even lower to a place where Roxas hadn't touched on himself—his neck. Maybe if this were someone who didn't trust Axel they would have thought he was going to strangle them, but this was Roxas and he could see straight through the other boy without needing machines, medication, or vision. In content the blonde released a sigh and willingly allowed Axel to pull his body closer to him, larger hands cupping the sides and back of his neck, the base of his jaw line—

"Can you still see me...Roxas?" he asked just a breath away from touching lips to which Roxas, again, sighed softly.

"Yeah..." he muttered and it was at that moment that his lashes flickered and twitched to life and his eyelids peeled half way to show off that brilliant blue beneath. Axel's own eyes—so vexed and green—stared back but he knew they wouldn't be open for very long. He'd grown too used to the darkness, the blindness, and the intensity of all his other senses.

Roxas moved upward to tentatively connect their mouths and it was...simple. He particularly liked the redhead's lower lip and the way it felt between his own. So plush, so supple...like biting into fruit. After a few seconds the younger pulled away, realizing that he had indeed liked it, and as if reading his thoughts the redhead pulled the boy against his body, fitting them together like puzzle pieces, so that they could kiss longer and deeper.

Roxas's mouth tasted like nothing he'd ever tasted before. Each brush of tongue against his own tingled and every inhale brought in that heavy scent of the kid that only grew stronger the longer his eyes were shut. Axel wanted more though he was willing to move slowly to find it. Like this they were both blind with eyes shut and having to rely on other things to keep themselves alert. Fingers were useful, which Axel learned Roxas liked having roll down the curve of his shoulders and the front of his chest.

Gracefully the blonde arched against Axel's palm and his hands quickly dove for the red mane of hair to card through the tufts and massage deeper into the scalp. "That feels good," he said, calm and breathy. Vitalized by that response, the redhead concentrated on the boy's chest for longer by dragging his palm hard over the nub he could feel beneath the material of Roxas's shirt and to this...Roxas mewled.

"Axel..."

Axel said nothing to that, though there was a part of him that felt like he had to. Why wasn't he responding? Well, maybe because he wanted to respond with actions instead. So he did, both hands now at Roxas's torso with one at the small of his back, holding him up for support, and the other inching beneath the bottom hem of the night shirt toward Roxas's chest. The body beneath felt so thin and young and even though Roxas was two years younger than himself, Axel would have easily mistaken him for a teenager with how much he'd shrunken over the years.

The disease had taken a toll on his appetite, but things were getting better; Roxas had gained ten pounds so far these last few months. He smiled into the slowing kiss when the blonde's stomach twitched and writhed to his touch—the kid was probably ticklish—and to keep things less agonizing he finally met with the bud he'd been teasing earlier and gently took it between two fingers, rolling it until it felt a little more perked than before.

Roxas had to pull away from the kiss to catch his breath and upon doing so his body bowed into the other, forehead resting on Axel's shoulder while his hands still clung onto his neck and back for balance. If Axel weren't holding him right now he was sure he would have collapsed and fallen right to the floor.

"Ah-ahhn," he huffed, assisting his partner by arching upward like a cat, in turn dragging their bodies against one another. "I feel that."

"Good." Axel ducked to secure his lips over a bit of skin on the side of the blonde's neck afterward and after feeling like his nipple had been treated enough he shifted over to give attention to the other, earning the same responses if not louder and heavier than before. "...Can you feel it here, too?" As he said it he was only a centimeter away from Roxas's neck and slowly the hand that had been under the blonde's shirt travelled lower to cup the material between his legs.

...Roxas gasped. Soft, not overly done—soft. "Oh...y-yeah." Roxas hadn't felt that sensation in a long time since he fell blind. His body didn't feel ready for pleasure just yet and though he did feel revved up inside on some occasions when he would sit, letting his mind wander, he had never touched himself. He felt that if he really wanted to experience something great again, then he would need hands to re-introduce him. It wasn't using Axel, no; it was inviting him into his world...in return for all the direction he'd gotten through Axel's.

Axel gently kissed the blonde's neck again, though not hard enough to leave a mark or anything because it was not in his intention to hurt him or brand him like he owned him. Roxas owned himself. Simultaneously, heated hands continued to grope the growing bulge beneath those baggy sweatpants and it wasn't until Roxas threw his head back to moan into his ear that Axel noticed how aroused he had become as well.

...And all this time he still hadn't opened his eyes.

"Roxas," he gasped into the other's ear in return. Roxas bucked and suddenly Axel found himself being pulled down onto the mattress, Roxas beneath him and squirming to get into the proper position for them to keep going. At this he had to open his eyes because combined with the vertigo of changing positions so quickly and the simple image of Roxas sprawled, Axel's curiosity soared. Could Roxas still see him? With the question floating in his mind, he leaned his head down beside the shell of the blonde's ear and went back to massaging him, pushing and pulling.

"Can you still see me?"

Roxas nodded. "Don't worry. I still do."

Life felt like it was speeding up and slowing down in parts and Axel, before he knew it, had helped to peel Roxas's clothes away from his body, leaving him naked...and so beautiful against the grey bed sheets. His eyes devoured him and Axel's hungriness transferred into his movements—his lips began to venture to other areas on Roxas's body, kissing and sucking and leaving open mouthed trails of breath up and down his ribs. Tiny bumps formed in his wake and he felt them...every last one.

"Hn...Axel..."

...The redhead moved lower, passing the taut stomach and bellybutton which he dipped into once just for a taste. Finally, when he was beside the pulsating length he gave the head a soft kiss before parting his lips and taking in the blonde as much as he could, not minding whenever Roxas would buck and nearly strike the narrow constriction of his throat. It felt too good it felt too good it felt too good—

Smaller hands glided over his body, purposely teasing himself, before the fingers became tangled in his partner's hair. Roxas could feel every push and pull and every last second of attention Axel lavished him with. Slurping sounds reverberated off the walls and back to his ears to combine with the drawling groans and gasps he emitted into the air. With the heater off the room still felt cold, but that would be a problem later. Not now. Not now. He could still see everything.

A few more gasps and groans were released; Roxas purred, Axel hummed, wind chimes rang, and if Roxas was hearing right he could hear the lone, sorrowful howl of a dog in the distance. ...He hadn't heard one of those in years.

It wasn't long before both bodies were bare, dark and slick with a thin layer of sweat which made moving that much easier, but colder. Roxas shuddered—out of delight and coldness. Axel was above him and he could imagine the lithe body arching and flexing, those fire engine red locks of his bouncing and swaying to the rhythm between their bodies, and even if it was all in his imagination Roxas took great pleasure in the visions and groaned for Axel, called for him to come closer. Thin arms reached up and hooked around the redhead's neck, pulling him closer, and Axel obliged, afterward pulling the boy's legs up and apart from one another so that they could hook around his waist.

"I-inside me," Roxas whispered, voice eerie and haunting.

"I don't want to hurt you." Roxas thought the same of Axel's voice.

The blonde nuzzled his nose against his partner's neck and took in a deep breath, taking in that scent of hospital wards and earthy, city winters. The visions persisted. He saw the two of them in the street, watching each other on opposite sides while snow fell and the sun shined. He pictured a tingling warmth in the pit of his stomach and giggled, just a little, when it tickled...just a little.

Axel had grown used to the pauses from the other and he knew that at those times Roxas was probably picturing things he liked. He never knew what, but if he had to guess, well, it must have been...happy. So, smiling gently, the redhead sighed, burying his face into Roxas's shoulder, and pushed. Roxas whimpered and managed a choked gasp.

"...Axel...yes."

Axel didn't care that Roxas couldn't see with his eyes and pinpoint parts of his body with exact precision. What the boy was doing to him now was all he truly cared about. He maintained a slow pace at first, rocking the mattress beneath them against the floor, and once the blonde's outcries became heavy and more frequent, Axel rushed forward. More, more, more, until he'd find that spot deep inside of the blonde that would make his visions blank out; turn snow white.

A few more angles, just a few more, and he could feel the coil in his stomach about ready to spring. Roxas screamed louder, though not in pain. Blunt nails digging into Axel's back, the boy held onto him as if for dear life and clenched his muscles around the throbbing length to increase the friction.

"Axel," he whispered, "Axel...!"

Was that it? Was that the spot? The redhead didn't realize that he'd had his eyes shut until he opened them to turn and stare at what he could see of Roxas's face. He was flushed and so brilliant...but what struck a chord in his heart were those eyes and how, even glossed over with unshed tears and narrowed to slits, they managed to illuminate the darkness. That in itself was enough for Axel's body to succumb to cold release, though he did well to slide himself out of the younger and come into his hand to prevent any messes.

"Did you—?"

"Y-yeah," Axel hissed, tired and overwhelmed though he tried to control himself even while squeezing the tip to milk out whatever he had left. "You?"

Roxas was silent. He hadn't. And when Axel went over to ask him why the boy merely shook his head and smiled, eyes still shining though very exhausted.

"Just kinda tired..." he said, shifting on the mattress. Axel couldn't help but flush, but then he laughed, amused.

"You sure nothin' was wrong?"

Again the blonde shook his head and reached up until his arms wrapped around the redhead's neck. "Let's sleep," he said, quiet, while trying to pull Axel back down on him. Although Axel felt a little bad that Roxas hadn't reached the same conclusion as himself, he had to understand that with the sickness brought fatigue, and that maybe it was unfair to want something that Roxas couldn't give. Maybe someday that would change, but for now...he was happy. Maybe not completely satisfied...but happy.

And on that thought he drifted off to sleep.

Annnnnnnnnnd I have Lady Gaga music stuck in my head. Fantastic.

M-M-MY TELEPHONE,
kokoro77