Axel's voice had quivered as if he had known from the beginning that the name didn't fit. Clearing his throat, he asked again, "Namine?" The emptiness of the dining area around him left him feeling overly self-conscious as he was sure some of the few patrons had turned to stare.

The blonde, who had been arranging menus, looked up. Glancing over him, she spoke softly, "I'm sorry, but you must have me confused with someone else. My unit doesn't go by that name. Are you looking for her? Are you looking for this Namine?"

The simulated confusion and genuine innocence in her eyes and smile left Axel a bit shaken, "No, sorry for bothering you." He took Roxas' hand for some reassurance that he was still sane. After all, this imposter Namine looked just like her. Voice down to the way her shell would have looked, they were identical.

Roxas glanced between the AI and his boyfriend clearly trying to put together the pieces, and when it clicked, his eyes went wide. 'Oh, so that's why he's asking. I guess I can't blame him.' The younger teen released a small sigh of relief as she led them to their booth without a single mention of the slightly awkward mix up. What would Axel have even done if it was her? And why would something from his past be somewhere like this? It clearly wasn't her, and his mind switched to the task at hand. He was never one for socializing if he could avoid it, and this city environment left a whole new world to remember and connect with. Sora, Kairi, and Riku were already waiting, and it took Roxas a moment to sort through the diversity of characters that had been presented to him. Trying to start off on the right foot, he smiled wide, "Hi, I'm Roxas."

The tallest male reluctantly offered his name, "I'm Riku."

"And I'm Kairi. You've already met the goofball over here." The auburn haired girl smiled widely motioning the brunette who had cheeks full of pancake, "Sora told me a bit about you since the two of you met yesterday. Welcome to the city, how have you been enjoying it?"

Her smile relaxed the blond some, so he grinned in return, "It's different, but I've been here before, so it's nothing too new."

After greetings and introductions were out of the way, the couple took their seats and chattered small talk with the other three. Axel was still a little dazed at finding a duplicate of his father's old work. Even though Roxas had made a comment between the two that, "Honestly Axel, it's not her. Let it be. She just happens to look the same." To Axel, it couldn't have been a coincidence, though. When he started to focus back in on the table's word the conversation turned from small remarks about the weather to more friendly stuff: How has the school year been? How's your mom? Who are you dating, Kairi? Oh, Riku, don't be rude. Sora, you changed your hair. Axel, you're looking good.

The worlds all melted together, and questions were repeated and answered lazily in a familiar way. The early morning had something to do with the drowsiness that seemed to cover them with a blanket, and the AI waitress floated in and out getting their orders. Honestly, Roxas and the trio would have never been up at this hour on a normal weekend. Only the competition could have roused such night owls at an early hour. "Schools almost over." Sora finally commented, "Are you going to start hanging out with us again?" He asked Axel, "Roxas can come too. I'm sure the others will like him." From what Axel had said earlier, Roxas figured the others meant the guys out in the pits. Or whatever Axel had called them.

Riku was a bit reluctant to let this new guy, Roxas, hang out with them. From what he had seen, he had a mediocre knowledge of code, and if anything, he'd be slowing the group up if they started on any collaborative projects. Just as he was about to open his mouth, a direct glare from Kairi shut him up, because she knew little about the workings of computers, but she still operated as the brains of their group most of the time. She was fairly creative when it came to brain storming, so she provided excellent ideas. Plus, there was always the reason that even if Axel wasn't exactly his buddy, Riku should respect the guy enough based on his own knowledge, and that should shelter the people he kept company with.

Axel decided to answer the question after a sip of coffee, "Yeah, I can see us visiting again. I guess I just needed to get over my irrational fear of you city people again before I could start coming back. Part of it depends on how Xion, my AI, does at the competition, though. I really think she can take first in Reality Composition. She's something special. If she does well, I might use the prize money to work on her shell." Prize money? That was the first Roxas had heard of it.

"You should have brought her! Heart isn't anything special, so he's no fun to talk to, but Xion seems like she could be good conversation." Kairi laughed, "I mean I hardly ever get to talk to really sentient AI a lot. All Riku and Sora do is demolition all the time."

"I resent that." Riku snorted as his eggs arrived, and the waitress took Axel and Roxas' order. "We worked on Box. Box was smart."

The young lady rolled her eyes, "It was like talking to an encyclopedia."

Sora had to acquiesce that this was true, "Yeah, he wasn't exactly friendly. There's a fine balance between a walking talking search engine and a Level 7. You're amazing at code, Riku. I got to give it to you, but you're lacking that little bit of love to push them into a Reality Composition category."

"Whatever. To each his own." The teen grumbled, taking a bite of his eggs.

"To each his own." Axel agreed, stirring his coffee. There was a moment of silence, and Roxas resisted the urge to sneeze. It was so quiet in the diner you would have thought someone had died. The redhead finally spoke. His voice was cautious and well aware that he was about to take the topic from casual to unconventional, "So…what do you guys know about nanomachines? Has any…new data surfaced since I was last in the city?"

Kairi and Sora both gave him a look of stony silence, "Axel…" The auburn girl whispered, looking around to see if anyone could eavesdrop, "Axel, what are you doing? We could- We could be arrested just for talking about this. You know human body modifications like this are highly illegal." What if there were listening devices in Meow's Chow? Wouldn't surprise her considering how many people who worked 'in the gray' tended to frequent the place.

"I'm not doing anything…yet." He admitted, "I just need to know if any of you know a guy."

Roxas could have mistaken this for a drug deal if he hadn't heard the whole of the conversation. Even he didn't know why Axel was asking for this stuff, and he shot his boyfriend a look of concern before giving his hand a squeeze. This had crossed the line, and he almost spoke up to put a stop to it before Riku's voice gave.

"I may know someone." He answered curtly, "Why? I may have some research too."

Sora kicked his friend underneath the table and hissed, "Don't you dare. Kairi and I told you not to hang out with those guys anymore." Rule breakers. The dark side of AI. No. Don't. "Speak and I'll make sure you forever hold your peace." Riku would be waking up in a casket if a name slipped past those forever frowning lips of his.

"It's fine." Axel intervened when Riku's thoughts stalled for a moment trying to decide between Axel, who would have money for these nanomachines, and his friendship with Sora. "It's fine. You don't need to tell me anything, Riku. In fact, I should have never brought it up. It was a silly idea in the first place."

And Kairi doesn't ask who he wants to modify because she knows it's not Axel himself. Axel is all too mortal and doesn't resent that fact of life. She's pretty sure it's that powdered sugar boy with his plump pink lips that look good enough to bite into. She's certain that it has something to do with the way his eyes sometimes look half empty. It frightens her that they're all dancing on the line of the law, and Axel doesn't mind making a dive off the deep end for love. How long had they even been together? How could someone understand and put forth that much devotion at such a young age?

Sora wants to say something too because Axel's only seventeen, and that's too young to lose a life to prison time. Why would one do that to themselves? Hell, he had enough trouble keeping Riku out of trouble. The longer this silence seemed to spin itself, the more frightened he got. Glancing at Roxas, he wishes he'd say something.

But no, Roxas is too raveled up in his own world where everything is perfect if he can just ignore the tick, tick, tick of the clock. His own clock. And he wants to save Axel now. He wants the two of them to leave because Axel's ruined the party by talking about unspeakable things. The redhead realizes it too. In a single moment, they all decide to erase that from their memory when the waitress returns, "Refills?"

"No," Roxas states, "I think we'll have the bill."

Even once they've paid, the topic is still heavy on everyone's mind. Sora, Kairi, and Riku all decide to head out the front, "We'll catch you two later today." The brunette offers a small smile of reassurance. Reassurance that they can forget Axel ever said anything.

Axel's face is occupied by a lopsided grin, "See ya. Sorry again that I had to go and ruin our meal."

Kairi laughs softly, "Don't worry it wasn't ruined. Have a good afternoon!"

"Bye." Roxas opens the backdoor for Axel back into the alleyway, and he takes the redhead's hand. "You're dumb." The blond mutters under his breath.

A pause. A long pause, because the redhead is already upset, and he already knows he screwed up. "But I think that's okay." Roxas gives his boyfriend's hand a squeeze, "Because I know, whatever it was back there, if it's one of your ideas, it's something out of this world."

Hey guys! I'm taking a week long trip to go see my friends, but I'll have no internet access! That means I'll be missing two updates, and no, sorry. I won't be making them up. Your next CotU chapter will be Friday the 31st! Thanks Layla for Betaing~ Review!