Apr 17, 2007 03:26
As the intercom clicked on, one could almost hear a very new, very faint sound emanating from it, and that was the high-pitched whine and scratchy voices on a television. The extra noise was cut short, however, when the Head Doctor seemed to realize he had left his television program on and turned it off so that he could make his announcement
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raine,
carnage,
qui-gon jinn,
axel,
intercom,
xigbar,
lust,
rock lee,
sephiroth,
soujirou,
azel,
larxene,
rufus,
miku,
tsuzuki,
tamaki,
hakkai,
luxord,
alphonse,
hikaru,
xemnas,
lord recluse,
elena (ffvii),
ritsuka,
yuffie,
fox,
otacon,
takaya,
darman,
gabranth,
kadaj,
haku,
vergil,
rubedo,
renji,
kurama,
obi-wan kenobi,
adelheid,
dias,
larsa,
naoe,
heiderich,
reinforce,
ashton,
reno,
albel,
kyouya,
rukia,
itachi,
faust,
javert,
dean winchester,
ordo,
rabastan,
alucard,
envy,
roy,
mal,
wesker,
valyn,
sasuke,
schuldig,
aidou,
eddie brock,
hisoka,
gin,
omi,
brad,
captain jack
While beef brisket really wasn't his thing food was food, and Axel wasn't the type of person to be complaining too much on the matter. Cutting off a piece of the meat, he smeared it over his mashed potatoes before popping it all in his mouth.
The redhead wondered if Snake would keep his promise about their plans later on tonight. He didn't look like the type to break trusts like that, but plans were never sound until they've actually been accomplished. Picking up his cornbread, Axel began to nibble on the edge, green eyes fixated on the door all the while.
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So he was a little woozy as the nurse escorted him into his room, and released him with a little pat on the shoulder. "I hope you get a good rest, Mr. Pritchett," she cooed as Ashton swayed into the room. He didn't even acknowledge her, but waved a tired hello to Axel as he sat down on his bed and took a enormous and rather unladylike bite of cornbread.
It tasted like heaven.
He chewed it for an unnaturally long time, swallowed, and raised his eyebrows at his roommate. "It's been quite a day. What's with your friends?"
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"They're not my friends." Axel sighed when Ashton finally spoke, licking the tips of his fork before waving it enthusiastically in the air. "Or at least Luxord isn't, I'm only partial with Xigbar at the moment."
Despite their friendly conversation back at lunch, the redhead knew better than to trust the man that easily. Until he made damn sure that his back wasn't going to be knifed Axel would continue to keep his guard up.
"What I want to know is why you're suddenly so popular with them."
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He giggled, stuffed another bite of cornbread in his mouth. "Buh fen agen.." - swallowing, taking a drink of water - "Er, sorry. Um. But then again, guys er't like that before the dragons, so.. it's probably because of you. Xigbar only drew close to me when he'd heard you were my roommate." He shrugged, dropped the cornbread to wipe his mouth and take a big long gulp of water. "Unless it's custom where you're from to kiss the messenger boy."
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"Probably, but Xigbar likes going around, if you know what I mean. Luxord, however..." His brows furrowed at the thought, suddenly making a gagging notion before he composed himself with a shudder. The blond wasn't the type to kiss and flaunt unless it was for his benefit, which made Axel wonder how useful Ashton was to the other members anyway. "And if you're wondering, no, I'm not going to jump you and passionately ravish you in your bed."
The thought was certainly entertaining though, the redhead chuckling again before going back to cutting up his brisket.
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"Um. That's interesting, though. I wonder what Luxord wants from me. He asked me to deliver a message to Xigbar, though, so.." Here he shrugged, shoving the rest of the cornbread in his mouth. "So I'm going to go see Number II tonight, I think. Before he's attacked, anyway." He tapped his toes on the floor and smiled cheerfully at Axel.
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"What's Xigbar's room number anyway?" The redhead asked after a bite of cornbread. This was not only to keep in mind for the next night, but Axel admittedly wanted to witness what shenanigans Xigbar was prone to doing.
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The memory of Dias saving him last night was all too strong, and the emotions that flooded up inside him with it made him stop a second and flush as he brought another bit of brisket up to his mouth. Dias had come up and yanked Xigbar away from Ashton's face in one fluid motion last night. And while he knew Dias would probably do that for anyone who was flailing like he was, for some reason it seemed special to him.
"..If I end up needing saving, I guess I can save myself." He had the strength to do so, there was no doubt, but he was still trying to teach himself to say 'no' in these sorts of situations. He knew people would get angry if he just let people like that do those sorts of things to him.
But a change of subject would probably be better. "I'm curious about this organization that they say you're.. you were..? in, though." He wasn't exactly sure of Axel's status in it, especially since Luxord had said Axel killed another member.
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Of course he had told Snake last night to come to his room tonight, but if worst came to worst they'd most likely meet up in the middle of the hallway. Axel softly sighed, pressing the side of his face into his pillow while gazing passively at his roommate with a single green eye. When it was just himself in the close quarters of his room, the redhead was prone to at least getting a few minutes rest. But now that there was a heart at such close proximity he was feeling more restless even if the latter was calm.
Axel readjusted himself on his bed for another minute before speaking up.
"It's called Organization XIII, consisting of thirteen heartless beings like myself and the other two that devote their time to study the Heart in an attempt to regain our own."
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For some reason his roommate seemed restless. Ashton idly wondered why, then realized he was still hungry, so he started in on the potatoes, flicking a few peas out of them. Peas were so not cool.
"So.. Organization XIII. You guys are all scholars or something? Um.. so.. do you all work at a university?" Where Ashton was from, people who studied things were scholars, and scholars lived in Linga, a university town. Linga wasn't good for much else besides good perfume (it was the compounding center of the continent, and good compounds meant great perfume,) a cheap co-op, and tons of books that Ashton never really cared to read. He'd thought briefly about formally studying at the university after rudimentary schooling, but he'd opted for the mercenary life instead.
He had so many more questions, but they could wait...
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Axel spoke through experience of course, but he wasn't so much of a pessimist that he couldn't hope for something good to turn up later that night. When Ashton laid down his guesswork he had to laugh, shaking his head and waving the latter off in the process.
"I guess you can say our Organization started out like that, but we aren't what you call 'traditional' scholars. Scholars don't invoke mass genocide."
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Suddenly the actions of the Organization, enticing as they had been to ask about and take notes on - he'd prepared a little page in his journal with his own guesswork about it - seemed foreign and dangerous. Thirteen people in Organization XIII. More than one of which might be girls, if Ashton's theories about Naminé were even close to being right. Not to mention whoever the people in that one conversation on the Bulletin Board were calling M'Lady.. if that wasn't Naminé herself. The thought was kind of sad.
"I've tried to do my research on your Organization, but I'd never have... I know some of you are scientists.. but mass genocide? I'd not have thought you to be the type. Naminé either.. she's such a sweet girl."
He really did look dejected about the prospect. He hadn't gotten to speak to the blonde girl very much, but she had given him a map, and for some reason he tended to worry about her. And Axel seemed so nice, too. Not at all like someone who would commit mass genocide.
His appetite was tapering off, so he absently nibbled on the cookie. He'd at least save half of this.
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"Naminé technically isn't a part of Organization XIII, so whatever you thought of her before should rightfully stay that way. As for the rest of us..."
Axel shifted in his bed, gazing passively at the other man across the room.
"It's a complicated subject, but when it comes down to it we're really just committing these heinous crimes for our own benefit. In somewhat of a nutshell, we take people and extract their hearts from their bodies for experimentation, and then use their empty shells for subordinates to our ever-growing army. It’s kind of ironic really, having to find our own answers by giving others the same fate. We really are heartless."
Even he had to chuckle at the pun he made, bringing a hand to his head and slowly rubbed into his temples.
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Though Ashton's own physical guilt at killing so many people didn't excuse the Organization in his mind. In the end, what they had done was quite a bit heartless. Axel didn't seem to be one of the 'good guys'... but at the same time, he still wasn't a half-bad guy. The swordsman had to give the redhead at least a little benefit of the doubt.
Although Ashton had heard so many conflicting things about Axel's role within the Organization. He decided to voice another one of his questions then. "Luxord told me you'd killed one of Xigbar's friends. If that's so, why are you and he friends still?"
He'd finished with his meal by now, so he rested the tray down on the bedside table and flopped over so he could see Axel eye to eye. He didn't want to believe his roommate was a bad guy just yet, so he started weaving a rug of denial for himself as he stared the redhead down.
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"I'm not going to deny what I've done and I'm not going to deny my reasons either. But since I got here I don't have any reason why to pursue it." Or at least, not until he managed to escape this Institute. Axel wasn't just about to let seven years of research go to waste like that, especially when he was informed of his fate by at least five other people.
"Do you hate me?" The question came more out of curiosity than anything else, head tilted with Axel's gaze still pinned at Ashton.
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It was true. He didn't. Axel was a pretty likable guy, and even though his pre-Landel's life had been a bit.. harsh, Ashton just couldn't find it in him to hate him for it. What seemed to be pure honesty about the matter didn't hurt. "Besides, you're my roommate! We gotta stick together, right? Watch each other's backs or somethin'."
Ashton blinked, smiling a little bit nostalgically. He was an expert at forgiving people, making friends in his heart with people (and dragons) who had done so much wrong. "Regardless of what you did back then.. we're all in the same boat now. ...Reminds me, you want a knife? I got a bundle of metal."
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