Chapter Two: Acting

They scratched at the outside of the door, like monsters in a horror movie.

It was a horror movie.

The Heartless swarmed, biting and slashing, claws leaving peeling strands of tattered wood on the ground. Lea backed up against the wall, hissing, as he heard the noisy clattering of the beasts.

"Well." He said simply to Ais. "Looks like this is the end, huh?"

Ais watched the moon outside for a moment before sliding his eyes over to the door, closed and being constantly attacked by Heartless, then back to Lea.

"Suppose it is."

Lea smirked. "I'm not goin' down without a fight, got it-"

"Memorized. Yes." Ais agreed.

***

Axel blinked open his eyes, rubbing them. Darn sleep. It seemed to induce bad things. What were those called again?

He frowned, the concept just outside his memories. Nightmares. That was it. Of course he wasn't scared, couldn't be scared, but he wasn't exactly pleased either.

Axel stepped outside to the balcony, where Kingdom Hearts hung heavily in the air. Scratching the blood red spikes of his hair Axel flopped down his head on his arms and sighed.

"Couldn't sleep?"

Axel didn't even lift his head. "What do you care?" His voice sounded muffled by his arms.

"Can't I care for the well being of my friend?" Saix asked, his lips twisting into a smile that Axel couldn't see.

"No. Go 'way." Axel grumbled.

Saix stepped over to him, head tilted upward to survey the moon. "What woke you up?"

"How do you know I was even asleep?" Axel waited for an answer, unable to see the smirk on Saix's face, and lifted his head from his arms to see his former friend staring raptly at the moon, illuminated by the heavy glow.

"Were you spying on me?" He demanded, the air heating up slightly.

"Calm yourself." Saix stated flatly.

Axel crossed his arms. "You're no fun anymore."

"If I remember correctly I never was."

Axel stared dumbstruck at Saix, who was still smirking at the moon. "My God did you just make a joke?"

Axel was aware this was probably the closest thing to an easy conversation with Saix he was going to get, and he found himself wishing for the comfortable conversation between them that he now shared with Xion and Roxas.

Saix rolled his orange eyes to Axel, and Axel was aware that this guy might be jacked up on "moon power"; the energy came from Kingdom Hearts, obviously. He could tell by the weird look in Saix's eyes.

"You act so surprised."

Axel didn't miss the emphasis on "act", the sarcastic twisting.

"Well if I suddenly stopped being funny wouldn't you be surprised?" He replied.

"What do you mean? Stop being funny? That already happened."

Axel thought it was another joke, and he grinned. The grin quickly faded as he saw Saix still staring at him with those weird eyes.

"Continue your act, Axel. I'll continue to act amused."