the veil of my dreams deceived all I have seen

[walkthedawn]

Who: Riku and Axel.
When: Late night.
Where: On some high rooftop.
Summary: Riku's out admiring the view and thinking on things, and Axel comes to join him. Broody talks and discussions ensue.
Warnings: Possible spoilers for 358/2 Days? Other than that, should be nothing.

Comments

[fireintwilight]

It was no surprise that he liked high places, Axel supposed, considering that some of his best memories were of spending dying afternoons with his best friend--his best friends--at the top of the clock tower in Twilight Town. It was still strange to him to look back on those memories and see three where he'd expected two--but then, almost everything he'd ever thought had been turned on its head by Xion's reappearance. He'd told himself that that was why he avoided her, and the others for that matter--because he needed time to think and clear his head. That it had nothing to do with not knowing how to face her or Roxas, after what he'd done.

He'd been to this skyscraper before, one of the highest in the city. Not with Roxas, though they'd sat on another rooftop together not long ago. Maybe Axel would show him this place sometime, if he wasn't furious with him again.

He emerged out of a dark corridor to the sight of the darkening sky and the city lights laid out in splendor below. Winner jumped down from her perch on his shoulder and padded away, a tiny black shadow, over to a figure seated on the edge of the roof, mewing for attention. The black coat made Axel tense the slightest bit, at least until he saw the gleam of silver hair.

"Hey there," he greeted Riku as he moved to the edge of the roof, casually enough. "Fancy meeting you here." There was no point in retreating--Winner had already given them away, the little traitor. He would have preferred to let his self-imposed solitude continue, but he could hardly expect to avoid running into anyone forever. And if he was being honest with himself, he wouldn't have wanted to anyway.

((ooc: sorry I didn't tag last night! I had to go to bed XD))

[walkthedawn]

The sound of a cat, not unlike his own, caught Riku's attention first, just as he began to turn his head to the sound of a portal opening. He took a breath and let Axel's scent float into his senses, nodding briefly in thought. He didn't need to get tense around him, even if they weren't best friends or anything of the sort.

The Keybearer turned around and got up onto his knees, allowing the cat to lick at sniff at his gloved fingers. He took one off and stuffed it in his pocket, letting Winner sniff him better. The soft purring was all he needed to know that the cat accepted him, at least a little.

"I'm not surprised, but I figured you and Roxas had found another rooftop elsewhere." He glanced up at Axel, stroking Winner's head gently. "What brings you out here so late?"

[fireintwilight]

Axel glanced down at the kitten as she let Riku pet her contentedly and rolled his eyes. Only he was special enough to get his fingers gnawed all the time.

"We did," he admitted with a brief chuckle, sitting down on the edge of the roof the way he would have if he was about to share ice cream with Roxas and Xion. It wasn't the same with Riku, of course, but it was something. He had no fear of the vast drop into darkness. All the lights shining below made it look like the sky and earth had reversed themselves, as though there were stars beneath their feet. "It's not a regular thing, though. Not yet."

Maybe it would be, especially now that Xion was here. Maybe, if he could figure out how to make things right.

"Oh, I guess I just needed some air," he said with almost studied carelessness, reaching over to rub one of Winner's soft ears. She immediately bit him, but not very hard, and the gloves on his hands cushioned her sharp little teeth. "What about you?"

[walkthedawn]

Riku didn't mind how the roof ended so suddenly. Falling was never a fear; he welcomed that sort of jump, to have a brief moment of almost flying. He'd done it once before, at least. But he didn't bother with any of that, really. He just wanted to sit there. Winner purred and trotted over to Axel, the boy giving a slight smile at the kitten.

"I'm sure it will be soon," he reassured. Axel and Roxas hadn't had as much time as they needed, he suspected, to soften old wounds, but they would make it work. Maybe Xion was the key to fixing it. He didn't know.

He shrugged, glancing out at the night sky. "The same. I just wanted some time out." He slightly smiled. "It's a nice night before the siren. It usually is." Riku looked over at him. "How does it feel to be a father?" he teased, gesturing to the kitten.

[fireintwilight]

"More like a chew toy than a father," Axel said dryly, watching Winner return and hop up into his lap. She curled up purring, apparently not in a fighting mood tonight, and he settled a hand on her back to keep her safely in place. "It's nice to have company, anyway." Even over the last few days, when he'd gone out of his way to avoid seeing anyone, he'd at least had her with him. It seemed as though he was in fact a rather sadly social creature.

Which of course just made him think of Roxas and Xion again, and the reasons he'd been avoiding them and everyone else. He rubbed the back of his head, mussing up his hair, and wondered if he might ever figure out what to say to either of them.

"You spoke with Xion, right? She told me."

[walkthedawn]

"She likes you, though. Just shows she cares." Ebony was too used to being abused to protest too much to Riku. But Winner was just a little kitten. "You're not around Roxas and Xion?" he asked with surprise. Nice to have company? He figured... No, that was too much to assume. And when Axel asked his next question, it definitely confirmed it.

"I did. I...remembered her a few minutes later, like it all came rushing back to me." And suddenly, Riku felt a little wary, sitting here alone with him.

He glanced at Axel. "Have you talked to her?"

[fireintwilight]

The surprise in Riku's voice was entirely audible. Axel smiled without any particular humor. "Not for a few days. I'm not surprised Roxas hasn't mentioned it, though. I doubt he's thinking about anything except Xion right now." And who could blame him? He couldn't deny that she hadn't left his mind for hardly a moment. The mystery of her disappearance from their memories, her sudden reappearance, haunted him everywhere he wandered.

He wasn't surprised that she and Riku had spoken. He'd played his own part in Xion's disappearance, though Axel didn't resent him for it. They'd all just been trying to do what they thought they should.

"Yep, I talked to her," he said casually, working his fingers through Winner's fur, while she purred and dug her claws into his legs. "It was a happy reunion. Though I wonder why she made a reappearance now, and here." It bore, he thought suddenly, discomforting parallels to his own arrival.