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allwhowander2012-04-12 03:49 am
travelsthefarthest) wrote in allwhowander2012-04-12 03:49 am
Reconnaissance
Axel had never really been entirely convinced that Nobodies didn't have hearts. Maybe it was because even after having lost his he had a lingering sense of guilt about what had happened to him and Isa. Maybe it was because sometimes he would lie awake at night and wonder what the crushing sensation behind his sternum was when he thought about the good old days. Or maybe it was simply because at the end of the day, was there really that much of a difference between remembering how something felt, and actually really feeling it? Memories could trigger emotions the same as any real-time event could, after all. It was easier to just say no hearts no feelings no worries and just pretend nothing actually hurt, because it couldn't, and that was that.
Either way, Axel was pretty certain that if the squirmy feeling in his gut was only residual emotion he didn't want his heart back after all, because real worry would have made him puke about fifteen times by now.
He had lost them. Really, how could he have lost them? Against all odds those kids meant more to him than his own safety, and Axel had spent so long just looking out for #1 that he'd almost forgotten what it was like to actually give a damn about anyone else. After Saïx had changed Axel had told himself friendship wasn't worth it. How had a couple of kids changed that? Coming to the realization that he was willing to throw away everything--everything--to stay with Roxas and Xion, to make sure they were safe... it had left him reeling.
It had been four days already. He had spent most of the first 24 hours after their disappearance just recovering from whatever it was that had incapacitated him. Ridiculous! As much as Axel liked to take any excuse to nap, as much as an injury was always a good reason to milk a day off, he had been wasting time! Time Roxas and Xion might not have had to spare. And he hated himself for it. If anything happened to them, he didn't know what he would do.
They had been taken through a portal, according to Riku, narrowing the list of suspects significantly and the locations to search even more so. Unfortunately despite only having one world to logically check, he hadn't had a lick of luck; he'd found neither hide nor hair of the kids, and it was giving him... well, heartburn, for lack of a better word. He wondered if this was what having ulcers felt like.
When nothing had turned up in Never Was, he'd expanded his search: Twilight Town had been his first stop, but even when he ventured into the spooky old mansion beyond the woods there was no sign of Xion or Roxas. He'd even gone so far as to ask the kids he and Roxas had met on a couple of missions, but they hadn't seen him either. He was running out of time. They were running out of time. Whatever the Organization wanted them for, Axel was convinced that once they had gotten it the kids' lives were forfeit, and that just wasn't an option. There was still one last place he could look: the mainframe computer system in the basement of the castle. Putting all his hopes into this one final basket, Axel stepped out of a portal into the chilly, dismal, rainswept world he'd once called home.
No, it had never been home. Not really. Nobodies didn't have anywhere they could call such a thing.
The castle basement was chilly, convoluted, and confusing, and Demyx didn't like it one bit. Unfortunately, he'd been sent to the basement to retrieve something from Vexen's old research file backups, which was absurd, really--boy, they always picked him for the wrong kinds of jobs. Demyx barely knew a keyboard from a Keyblade! How in Light's name was he supposed to pull up anything like a file?
... How in Light's name was he even supposed to find the computer? There were so many hallways and doors and corners and after wandering around for at least forty minutes Demyx finally managed to find the right door. With a sigh, he twisted the knob, then frowned when he found it locked. Strange--why would anyone lock the door? They could just as easily portal through it, after all. Silly! Shaking his head and grumbling about the extra unnecessary effort, Demyx opened a corridor and rolled his eyes as he moved through to the other side of the door--
"Ah--!"
--and stopped short when a blade was leveled at his throat.
"D-don't! Stop! I didn't do it! I'm-- Wait, Axel?" Demyx's eyes widened and his jaw slid ajar in surprise. "Dude, I thought you'd been taken out weeks ago!"
"You're right; I'm probably a ghost," Axel replied curtly, not lowering his weapon, the point of one of the spikes of the chakram mere millimeters from Demyx's throat. "Wanna test the theory?"
Demyx shook his head very carefully and fought the urge to swallow nervously for fear of having his Adam's Apple removed.
"A-actually it's... good to see you," he said, and Axel made a face.
"Hah?"
Demyx averted his eyes. "Man, everything around here's been so messed up lately... it's nice to see a friendly face." Even if 'friendly' wasn't exactly the first descriptor that came to mind for the current situation.
Axel lowered his chakram but didn't dismiss the weapons. He cast a narrow look at Demyx, a silent invitation to continue. Demyx cleared his throat.
"W-well, I mean, since there's so few of us now, the workload's gotten a lot heavier," he said, and then waved his hands frantically. "And that's not just me whining about having to do work and stuff!" he insisted. "It's like--he's not even sending us to get rid of Heartless, he just wants us to go do recon all the time!" Demyx folded his arms and cast his eyes ceilingward, a little more relaxed now that there wasn't a chakram at his throat. "I don't even know what we're looking for, man. And jeez, Saïx is never satisfied with my reports these days."
Axel snorted. "Demyx that's old news."
"No, like more than usual," Demyx insisted, glowering. "It's like, I wish I knew what they wanted from me. I'm actually good at recon, but if I dunno what I'm looking for, what the heck am I supposed to be looking for?
"By the way what are you doing here?"
"Looking for something," Axel replied, his eyes stony somehow, and Demyx thought Axel looked a little different all of a sudden. He pursed his lips.
"Do... you know what you're looking for?" he asked carefully, and Axel cast half a glance over his shoulder at the computer screen. Demyx's eyes followed Axel's line of sight, and he tilted his head.
"What's tha--ah?" Dammit, there was the knife at his throat again! What had he done? "D-dude, knock it off!" he cried. "I don't even know how to work that thing; I'm not gonna stop you!" He closed his eyes and made a sort of keening sound. "Come on Axel, we're pals, right? You don't really wanna skewer me here, do you?"
There was a moment of silence, and Demyx didn't realize he'd been holding his breath until he started to get dizzy and exhaled. Chancing to open one eye, he noticed that Axel had moved away and was now standing in front of the computer screen with his back to him.
Demyx knew no one really took him seriously. He knew everyone thought he was kind of an idiot, he knew that, but what no one seemed to notice was that idiot or otherwise, Demyx wasn't stupid. Demyx was good at recon because contrary to popular belief he paid attention when it was important (meaning he never paid attention in briefings), and that was why he was paying attention right now. Axel was good at hiding what was on his mind, but Demyx could see plainly that he wasn't right. There was a heavy mantle of... something... on the redhead's shoulders, and it was drawing his spine taut as a bow.
"Axel, what happened to you, man?" he asked quietly, grabbing the rolling chair and spinning it around so he could sit down.
Axel's eyes were bright and fierce as he turned to give Demyx a glower, but Demyx didn't flinch this time.
"Something happened," Demyx said, folding his arms, as if to indicate he was not moving from that chair until Axel spilled his guts. He held Axel's stern stare for a good fifteen seconds, and then Axel scoffed and tore his eyes away, returning his attention to the computer.
"It's nothing."
It's guilt, something in the back of Demyx's mind whispered. He'd seem the way guilt could break backs and crush posture.
"Pants on fire~" Demyx sang, and Axel kicked him in the shin without looking. "Ow! Come on, man, what's your problem? It's not like I'm gonna tattle on you." Axel turned to look at him, suspicion in his eyes as if he suspected Xemnas, Xigbar, and Saïx were going to show up any second now to clap him in irons, as it were.
Demyx just stared right back, his eyes wide and curious. There were only two people Axel cared enough about to wear guilt openly for.
"How come Xion and Roxas aren't with you?"
Well, that had been the wrong thing to ask. Quicker than Demyx's eyes could follow Axel had whirled on him, grabbing the front of his coat in both hands and spinning the rolling chair violently until its back was against the computer console. He pressed Demyx against the chair until Demyx's shoulders ached from the pressure.
"You tell me," Axel snarled, and Demyx felt a stab of fear. He'd always sort of gotten along with Axel, even if they'd never been close. Axel had been the one who had shown him the ropes, after all! He was kind of like his mentor or something, the dependable upperclassman friend! And while Demyx would have been the first to admit that Axel was certainly capable of being kind of scary, he'd never seen such a murderous look in the other man's turquoise eyes before.
"A-Axel, what are you--?"
"Are they here?" Axel demanded, and Demyx gasped in pain as he was pressed harder against the chair. "Has Xion been destroyed already? Did you watch? Where are they, Demyx, so help me--"
"I don't know, dude!" Demyx cried. "They're not he--" He yelped as Axel pulled one hand back, the air around his fingertips warping with heat as he prepared to summon flames. "A-Axel, they're not here!"
"... Pants on fire~" Axel's voice was eerily lilting as he conjured a ball of flame, and then Demyx did something he had never done in his life: he deliberately drenched Axel.
"W-W-Water!!"
With a cry of genuine fear he called forth a great blast of water and thrust his arms forward, and Axel let out a yowl of either hideous alarm or just plain incredulity as the wave engulfed him, sending him spinning and swirling toward the far side of the room. Panting fearfully, Demyx gripped the arms of the chair and watched as Axel pushed to his hands and knees, soaked to the skin, his hair dripping and hanging comically in his face. Under any other circumstances Demyx probably would have laughed uproariously before making a hasty retreat, but this time he did neither.
His hands trembling and his pulse pounding in his ears, Demyx waited until Axel lifted his head, and he met his comrade's venomous glare with a look of apology.
"They're not here, Axel," he said, his voice unwavering. "If... if they were, I'd tell you."
The poison in Axel's eyes abated suddenly, and Demyx got to his feet. Perhaps against his better judgment, Demyx bravely extended a hand, and Axel took it. Hauling him to his feet, Demyx jerked a thumb toward the computer behind them, which had miraculously evaded the water somehow. Just as well; if he shorted the computer out Xigbar would have his head!
"I dunno where they are," he said, "but if you think the answer's in there, go look for it. I'll guard the door."
Axel coughed into one fist and swept his sopping hair off his forehead, suddenly looking absolutely floored. "You... what?"
Demyx chuckled. "Well, I won't do it for free," he said, and one of Axel's eyebrows inched toward his hairline. Demyx pressed his fingertips together awkwardly. "Xigbar told me to come get something off the computer but... I dunno how," he said, and hung his head. "Man, they really picked the wrong guy for the job."
"So you'll... let me poke around in the computer, even though I'm a traitor and a turncoat, so long as I get you the file you were sent to retrieve." It wasn't even a question: Axel clearly couldn't even comprehend this idea. He shook his head, looking absolutely baffled. "Why?"
Demyx just smiled, closed one hand into a fist, and gently bumped it against Axel's soggy shoulder, pressing him backward a bit.
"'Cuz you're my pal," he said cheerfully, "and... well, I know how much it sucks to lose somebody you care about."
Maybe the rest of them had forgotten what it mean to have hearts. Maybe the rest of them had convinced themselves that they didn't feel anything anymore. Maybe the rest of them had stopped remembering how to miss the people they'd left behind; their mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and friends and loved ones... Maybe they'd pushed all that away because they didn't want to remember what it felt like to hurt, but not Demyx. Demyx had embraced all of his memories, even the painful ones, because really, that was all they had. They were nothing, they were nobody, and they had no one but each other, but if they forgot what they used to have, then they really were less than nothing.
Handing Demyx the printout of Vexen's old report (heart transference? What even was that? It wasn't like they had hearts to trade around anyway!), Axel twisted one finger in his ear and then tossed his head sharply to one side.
"Man, I think I've still got water in my ear..." he complained, and Demyx swirled one hand in the air.
"I could get it outta there," he said, and Axel waved both hands wildly.
"No, thanks," he said with a horrified look on his face. "No offense but I don't think I want you to try your hand at removing water." Bodies were like 75% water, weren't they? Eugh, he really didn't want to think about Demyx having the ability to desiccate people.
Demyx just shrugged. "Your loss."
Turning his eyes back to the computer briefly, Axel frowned. "Well, at least now I know where to look," he said with a sigh, and Demyx clapped him jovially on the shoulder.
"Well, go get your best friends back then, stupid," he said, and there was an undertone of desperation in the younger man's voice that somehow made Axel's stomach squelch up. Demyx had never been cut out for this job--he was too... nice. He was too simple, too easygoing. Demyx was no villain. Though Axel supposed he hadn't really been cut out to be a villain either, in the end.
"You could come too," Axel blurted before he really thought about it. "I mean, you suck at this job, right?" --Wait, what?
Demyx just laughed, which surprised him, and waved a hand. "Nah," he said. "I'm no good at this, but it's easier than bein' a fugitive, right?" He rubbed the crown of his head. "Man, I'd never last as a fugitive. All that running around and hiding and stuff--think of all the sweat! So gross. And I bet you don't get to eat regular meals, either, do you? I could never be a fugitive, no way."
Despite everything, Axel laughed helplessly. "So you'll just aid and abet one instead."
"'Course!" Demyx flashed him a thumbs-up. And then he looked unsure. "I mean, only if he was a cool fugitive who was only a fugitive for a really good reason," he amended.
Axel shook his head. "Just shut up, Demyx," he said, and then pointed at the report in his hands. "Go take that to Xigbar before you're missed and we both get skinned for being traitors."
Lifting a hand to summon a corridor, Axel watched the inky black and indigo mist bloom into shape, whorling in the air in front of him. He glanced at Demyx again, hesitating only a moment in front of the portal. There was a forced smile on Demyx's face, and Axel had to turn his eyes away.
"Don't get yourself killed or anything stupid like that," was all he said, and then disappeared through the darkness, headed for Twilight Town.
Either way, Axel was pretty certain that if the squirmy feeling in his gut was only residual emotion he didn't want his heart back after all, because real worry would have made him puke about fifteen times by now.
He had lost them. Really, how could he have lost them? Against all odds those kids meant more to him than his own safety, and Axel had spent so long just looking out for #1 that he'd almost forgotten what it was like to actually give a damn about anyone else. After Saïx had changed Axel had told himself friendship wasn't worth it. How had a couple of kids changed that? Coming to the realization that he was willing to throw away everything--everything--to stay with Roxas and Xion, to make sure they were safe... it had left him reeling.
It had been four days already. He had spent most of the first 24 hours after their disappearance just recovering from whatever it was that had incapacitated him. Ridiculous! As much as Axel liked to take any excuse to nap, as much as an injury was always a good reason to milk a day off, he had been wasting time! Time Roxas and Xion might not have had to spare. And he hated himself for it. If anything happened to them, he didn't know what he would do.
They had been taken through a portal, according to Riku, narrowing the list of suspects significantly and the locations to search even more so. Unfortunately despite only having one world to logically check, he hadn't had a lick of luck; he'd found neither hide nor hair of the kids, and it was giving him... well, heartburn, for lack of a better word. He wondered if this was what having ulcers felt like.
When nothing had turned up in Never Was, he'd expanded his search: Twilight Town had been his first stop, but even when he ventured into the spooky old mansion beyond the woods there was no sign of Xion or Roxas. He'd even gone so far as to ask the kids he and Roxas had met on a couple of missions, but they hadn't seen him either. He was running out of time. They were running out of time. Whatever the Organization wanted them for, Axel was convinced that once they had gotten it the kids' lives were forfeit, and that just wasn't an option. There was still one last place he could look: the mainframe computer system in the basement of the castle. Putting all his hopes into this one final basket, Axel stepped out of a portal into the chilly, dismal, rainswept world he'd once called home.
No, it had never been home. Not really. Nobodies didn't have anywhere they could call such a thing.
The castle basement was chilly, convoluted, and confusing, and Demyx didn't like it one bit. Unfortunately, he'd been sent to the basement to retrieve something from Vexen's old research file backups, which was absurd, really--boy, they always picked him for the wrong kinds of jobs. Demyx barely knew a keyboard from a Keyblade! How in Light's name was he supposed to pull up anything like a file?
... How in Light's name was he even supposed to find the computer? There were so many hallways and doors and corners and after wandering around for at least forty minutes Demyx finally managed to find the right door. With a sigh, he twisted the knob, then frowned when he found it locked. Strange--why would anyone lock the door? They could just as easily portal through it, after all. Silly! Shaking his head and grumbling about the extra unnecessary effort, Demyx opened a corridor and rolled his eyes as he moved through to the other side of the door--
"Ah--!"
--and stopped short when a blade was leveled at his throat.
"D-don't! Stop! I didn't do it! I'm-- Wait, Axel?" Demyx's eyes widened and his jaw slid ajar in surprise. "Dude, I thought you'd been taken out weeks ago!"
"You're right; I'm probably a ghost," Axel replied curtly, not lowering his weapon, the point of one of the spikes of the chakram mere millimeters from Demyx's throat. "Wanna test the theory?"
Demyx shook his head very carefully and fought the urge to swallow nervously for fear of having his Adam's Apple removed.
"A-actually it's... good to see you," he said, and Axel made a face.
"Hah?"
Demyx averted his eyes. "Man, everything around here's been so messed up lately... it's nice to see a friendly face." Even if 'friendly' wasn't exactly the first descriptor that came to mind for the current situation.
Axel lowered his chakram but didn't dismiss the weapons. He cast a narrow look at Demyx, a silent invitation to continue. Demyx cleared his throat.
"W-well, I mean, since there's so few of us now, the workload's gotten a lot heavier," he said, and then waved his hands frantically. "And that's not just me whining about having to do work and stuff!" he insisted. "It's like--he's not even sending us to get rid of Heartless, he just wants us to go do recon all the time!" Demyx folded his arms and cast his eyes ceilingward, a little more relaxed now that there wasn't a chakram at his throat. "I don't even know what we're looking for, man. And jeez, Saïx is never satisfied with my reports these days."
Axel snorted. "Demyx that's old news."
"No, like more than usual," Demyx insisted, glowering. "It's like, I wish I knew what they wanted from me. I'm actually good at recon, but if I dunno what I'm looking for, what the heck am I supposed to be looking for?
"By the way what are you doing here?"
"Looking for something," Axel replied, his eyes stony somehow, and Demyx thought Axel looked a little different all of a sudden. He pursed his lips.
"Do... you know what you're looking for?" he asked carefully, and Axel cast half a glance over his shoulder at the computer screen. Demyx's eyes followed Axel's line of sight, and he tilted his head.
"What's tha--ah?" Dammit, there was the knife at his throat again! What had he done? "D-dude, knock it off!" he cried. "I don't even know how to work that thing; I'm not gonna stop you!" He closed his eyes and made a sort of keening sound. "Come on Axel, we're pals, right? You don't really wanna skewer me here, do you?"
There was a moment of silence, and Demyx didn't realize he'd been holding his breath until he started to get dizzy and exhaled. Chancing to open one eye, he noticed that Axel had moved away and was now standing in front of the computer screen with his back to him.
Demyx knew no one really took him seriously. He knew everyone thought he was kind of an idiot, he knew that, but what no one seemed to notice was that idiot or otherwise, Demyx wasn't stupid. Demyx was good at recon because contrary to popular belief he paid attention when it was important (meaning he never paid attention in briefings), and that was why he was paying attention right now. Axel was good at hiding what was on his mind, but Demyx could see plainly that he wasn't right. There was a heavy mantle of... something... on the redhead's shoulders, and it was drawing his spine taut as a bow.
"Axel, what happened to you, man?" he asked quietly, grabbing the rolling chair and spinning it around so he could sit down.
Axel's eyes were bright and fierce as he turned to give Demyx a glower, but Demyx didn't flinch this time.
"Something happened," Demyx said, folding his arms, as if to indicate he was not moving from that chair until Axel spilled his guts. He held Axel's stern stare for a good fifteen seconds, and then Axel scoffed and tore his eyes away, returning his attention to the computer.
"It's nothing."
It's guilt, something in the back of Demyx's mind whispered. He'd seem the way guilt could break backs and crush posture.
"Pants on fire~" Demyx sang, and Axel kicked him in the shin without looking. "Ow! Come on, man, what's your problem? It's not like I'm gonna tattle on you." Axel turned to look at him, suspicion in his eyes as if he suspected Xemnas, Xigbar, and Saïx were going to show up any second now to clap him in irons, as it were.
Demyx just stared right back, his eyes wide and curious. There were only two people Axel cared enough about to wear guilt openly for.
"How come Xion and Roxas aren't with you?"
Well, that had been the wrong thing to ask. Quicker than Demyx's eyes could follow Axel had whirled on him, grabbing the front of his coat in both hands and spinning the rolling chair violently until its back was against the computer console. He pressed Demyx against the chair until Demyx's shoulders ached from the pressure.
"You tell me," Axel snarled, and Demyx felt a stab of fear. He'd always sort of gotten along with Axel, even if they'd never been close. Axel had been the one who had shown him the ropes, after all! He was kind of like his mentor or something, the dependable upperclassman friend! And while Demyx would have been the first to admit that Axel was certainly capable of being kind of scary, he'd never seen such a murderous look in the other man's turquoise eyes before.
"A-Axel, what are you--?"
"Are they here?" Axel demanded, and Demyx gasped in pain as he was pressed harder against the chair. "Has Xion been destroyed already? Did you watch? Where are they, Demyx, so help me--"
"I don't know, dude!" Demyx cried. "They're not he--" He yelped as Axel pulled one hand back, the air around his fingertips warping with heat as he prepared to summon flames. "A-Axel, they're not here!"
"... Pants on fire~" Axel's voice was eerily lilting as he conjured a ball of flame, and then Demyx did something he had never done in his life: he deliberately drenched Axel.
"W-W-Water!!"
With a cry of genuine fear he called forth a great blast of water and thrust his arms forward, and Axel let out a yowl of either hideous alarm or just plain incredulity as the wave engulfed him, sending him spinning and swirling toward the far side of the room. Panting fearfully, Demyx gripped the arms of the chair and watched as Axel pushed to his hands and knees, soaked to the skin, his hair dripping and hanging comically in his face. Under any other circumstances Demyx probably would have laughed uproariously before making a hasty retreat, but this time he did neither.
His hands trembling and his pulse pounding in his ears, Demyx waited until Axel lifted his head, and he met his comrade's venomous glare with a look of apology.
"They're not here, Axel," he said, his voice unwavering. "If... if they were, I'd tell you."
The poison in Axel's eyes abated suddenly, and Demyx got to his feet. Perhaps against his better judgment, Demyx bravely extended a hand, and Axel took it. Hauling him to his feet, Demyx jerked a thumb toward the computer behind them, which had miraculously evaded the water somehow. Just as well; if he shorted the computer out Xigbar would have his head!
"I dunno where they are," he said, "but if you think the answer's in there, go look for it. I'll guard the door."
Axel coughed into one fist and swept his sopping hair off his forehead, suddenly looking absolutely floored. "You... what?"
Demyx chuckled. "Well, I won't do it for free," he said, and one of Axel's eyebrows inched toward his hairline. Demyx pressed his fingertips together awkwardly. "Xigbar told me to come get something off the computer but... I dunno how," he said, and hung his head. "Man, they really picked the wrong guy for the job."
"So you'll... let me poke around in the computer, even though I'm a traitor and a turncoat, so long as I get you the file you were sent to retrieve." It wasn't even a question: Axel clearly couldn't even comprehend this idea. He shook his head, looking absolutely baffled. "Why?"
Demyx just smiled, closed one hand into a fist, and gently bumped it against Axel's soggy shoulder, pressing him backward a bit.
"'Cuz you're my pal," he said cheerfully, "and... well, I know how much it sucks to lose somebody you care about."
Maybe the rest of them had forgotten what it mean to have hearts. Maybe the rest of them had convinced themselves that they didn't feel anything anymore. Maybe the rest of them had stopped remembering how to miss the people they'd left behind; their mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and friends and loved ones... Maybe they'd pushed all that away because they didn't want to remember what it felt like to hurt, but not Demyx. Demyx had embraced all of his memories, even the painful ones, because really, that was all they had. They were nothing, they were nobody, and they had no one but each other, but if they forgot what they used to have, then they really were less than nothing.
Handing Demyx the printout of Vexen's old report (heart transference? What even was that? It wasn't like they had hearts to trade around anyway!), Axel twisted one finger in his ear and then tossed his head sharply to one side.
"Man, I think I've still got water in my ear..." he complained, and Demyx swirled one hand in the air.
"I could get it outta there," he said, and Axel waved both hands wildly.
"No, thanks," he said with a horrified look on his face. "No offense but I don't think I want you to try your hand at removing water." Bodies were like 75% water, weren't they? Eugh, he really didn't want to think about Demyx having the ability to desiccate people.
Demyx just shrugged. "Your loss."
Turning his eyes back to the computer briefly, Axel frowned. "Well, at least now I know where to look," he said with a sigh, and Demyx clapped him jovially on the shoulder.
"Well, go get your best friends back then, stupid," he said, and there was an undertone of desperation in the younger man's voice that somehow made Axel's stomach squelch up. Demyx had never been cut out for this job--he was too... nice. He was too simple, too easygoing. Demyx was no villain. Though Axel supposed he hadn't really been cut out to be a villain either, in the end.
"You could come too," Axel blurted before he really thought about it. "I mean, you suck at this job, right?" --Wait, what?
Demyx just laughed, which surprised him, and waved a hand. "Nah," he said. "I'm no good at this, but it's easier than bein' a fugitive, right?" He rubbed the crown of his head. "Man, I'd never last as a fugitive. All that running around and hiding and stuff--think of all the sweat! So gross. And I bet you don't get to eat regular meals, either, do you? I could never be a fugitive, no way."
Despite everything, Axel laughed helplessly. "So you'll just aid and abet one instead."
"'Course!" Demyx flashed him a thumbs-up. And then he looked unsure. "I mean, only if he was a cool fugitive who was only a fugitive for a really good reason," he amended.
Axel shook his head. "Just shut up, Demyx," he said, and then pointed at the report in his hands. "Go take that to Xigbar before you're missed and we both get skinned for being traitors."
Lifting a hand to summon a corridor, Axel watched the inky black and indigo mist bloom into shape, whorling in the air in front of him. He glanced at Demyx again, hesitating only a moment in front of the portal. There was a forced smile on Demyx's face, and Axel had to turn his eyes away.
"Don't get yourself killed or anything stupid like that," was all he said, and then disappeared through the darkness, headed for Twilight Town.