[Voice Post]

[priorpyro]

[Axel's voice is eeeever so slightly slurred, and he didn't bother to filter this request with his usual paranoia. Yes, he's a smidge drunk. But only a smidge.]

Hey.... hey, Riku.
C'mere. I got something I wanna show you.

Comments

[hauntedrequiem]

[Riku's not actually annoyed as he sounds, but he's still not happy about potentially dealing with a drunken Axel. Still, he can't refuse the older boy's request, and so he finds himself outside, in the dark, trying to find Axel's cabin. It isn't until he spots one with an all to familiar simple burned into the corner of the door that he realizes why Axel told him he wouldn't be able to miss it. Closing his eyes, he sighs for a moment before walking towards the door and knocking on it, calling out as he did so.}

Axel?

[priorpyro]

Nobody home! [Axel calls out cheerfully; just to be a pain. The combination of his first-ever Christmas as a 'person' and a healthy dose (possibly more than healthy) of whiskey has left him in a excessively good mood. He does open the door obligingly, after a long minute.]

Ah, Riku - so glad you came. C'mon in. I'll let you get back to brooding soon enough.

[hauntedrequiem]

Of course there is isn't. [Riku calls as he crosses his arms over his chest and waits until Axel actually opens the door. Once he does, Riku can clearly see just how good of a mood Axel is in.]

What can I say, your invitation piqued my interest. So.... what did you want me for?[His arms are still crossed over his chest as he walked in to the cabin, keeping his eyes on Axel instead of looking around at the private space he's just walked into.]

[priorpyro]

Ta-da! [Axel made a sweeping gesture, motioning to the living room and kitchen. Both are decorated - rather pitifully - in the season's spirit. The scraggly top from one of the forest's trees has been propped in the corner of the living room, even though it's not a pine tree. A popcorn garland has been wound around it, and some colorful pieces of fabric draped over its branches. There are candles on the kitchen table and the end table. And there's the guilty bottle of whiskey, sitting half-drunk on the counter.]

Look, I made it Christmas-y.

[hauntedrequiem]

[Riku is, admittedly, taken quite aback at the sight before him. He couldn't believe that Axel had actually done all of this. It looked.... pitiful, but that wasn't the point. It looked beautiful, because Axel had actually taken the time to do it.]

You did. It looks..... really nice Axel! I.... I can't believe you did all of this yourself.

[priorpyro]

I had a little help from Cy. Grudgingly. Seems the season's got him down. I planned it all out myself, though - y'know, had to improvise quite a bit, but... there y'go.

[Axel did a little twirl, then snatched one of the chairs from the kitchen table, spinning it around and offering it to Riku with a flourish.]

Sit. Stay awhile.

[hauntedrequiem]

It's nice.

[Riku offers one of his rare smiles as he moves to sit in the chair, unsure if he should really stay there or not.]

I see your feeling unusually festive. It's kind of.... nice.

[priorpyro]

What? The festive? Or the feeling? [Axel turns the remaining chair around and swings one leg over it, folding his arms on the chair back and resting his chin atop them with a grin.] Me, I'm digging both.

[hauntedrequiem]

Both actually. I can't stay that I've ever seen you look quite this happy. {Another small smile graces Riku's face for a moment before it fades once more.] I like it. It looks good on you.

[priorpyro]

[Axel just grins wider in reply, groping for the bottle on the table and taking another long swig from it.]

I popped the popcorn myself. Gotcha a present, too - s'not much but, in this place, what is?

[hauntedrequiem]

[Riku smiles as he reaches forward, intent on taking the bottle from Axel, seeing as he really can't see how it could possibly be healthy for the other to continue drinking it, but stops short upon hearing that Axel had actually gotten him a present.]

You.... got me a present? Wow that's..... that's really nice of you Axel. I'm.... sorry I don't have anything for you.

[priorpyro]

It's okay. I think my fragile little heart can take it - I would've been pretty damned shocked if I found out that you'd expected it. An' anyway, like I said, it's TERRIBLE - [Axel shakes his head with a rueful grin.] - 'cause I don't really have any experience at this sorta thing.

[hauntedrequiem]

As long as your sure. {Riku smiles as he says it, actually excited to see what Axel had gotten for him.] And you know I don't care. You didn't have to get me anything at all.

[priorpyro]

[Axel climbs out of the chair - noticeably devoid of his usual grace - and wobbles over to one of the bedrooms. When he emerges, he's carrying a sheet of paper with an imitation bow pinned to it.]

...like I said, terrible. Our options here are kinda limited and I figured it'd be better to get something that actually had meaning, rather than like a pair of pants or more lamp oil or something lame like that. So... here.

[He hands the paper to Riku - it's a painting, not a very good one, done in black and white, of a beach. If it was in color it might look like Destiny Islands; as it is, it looks more like the beach of darkness. There are three smeary things in the water.]

...s'pposed to be fish [Axel laughed] I think.

[hauntedrequiem]

[Riku smiles as he stares down at the painting down in his hands. It's not the best painting he's ever seen, but it's the fact that Axel had done it for him. That he had actually thought to do it for him.]

It's..... it's really nice Axel. It..... reminds me of home. I.... don't know how to thank you.

[priorpyro]

[It's so rare to see Riku smile - unless you're a certain somebody - that Axel feels oddly privileged to see it. It's definitely worth all the time he spent trying to scour his unfamiliar feelings to come up with the image.]

Thank me? It's real easy. [He reaches out, characteristically oblivious to Riku's personal space, and lightly squeezes his cheeks, making it look like he's talking.]

'Thank you Axel, I am ever so grateful!' [he says this in a squeaky, high-pitched voice from the corner of his mouth, like a ventriloquist]

[[OOC: ...I am so sorry, Riku, LOL. He is a silly bastard.]]