SlippingSanity : Hello all! Here's the next chapter! Hope that you all enjoy! Also, I hope that this is longer, XD!

Disclaimer : I do not own. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and those who contributed to its creation...

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Chapter Five : 'Just Dreaming'

"Roxas, why do I sense someone else…cursed?"

Roxas looked up from the carpeted living room floor with an expression caught between guilt and rage. He met the older man's gaze glare-for-piercing-stare and cursed the other male for his intimidating appearance.

The man leaning on the wall across from Roxas had blond hair a little brighter than Roxas's own and blue eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. His skin was slightly tanned though it was almost impossible to make out past the shadows he tended to linger within. He wore a navy sleeveless cotton shirt and matching pants with buckles strapped in an 'X' around the bottom of both legs and clunky brown boots. He had armor on his left shoulder that extended to the top half of the arm and layered armor on his right hip, a belt around his waist connected with multiple others keeping them on. His right hand was gloved with a black knuckle cut under a red-brown knuckle cut glove, his left hand covered with a brown glove with golden talon-like fingers. Over it all was a red, decaying cape that covered half of his face and blew out behind him in some undetectable wind.

This was the being whose power he had weakened, Roxas thought with a shiver. He was tied to the other man for eternity.

"Roxas."

"There was this package deliverer. It's him." Roxas explained from his seated position on the floor in front of the well worn couch. He crossed his arms on the coffee table and rested his chin on them. "He got hit in front of out house. Died."

"…And you 'saved' him?" Roxas nodded. "Why?"

Looking at the black screen of the off television, Roxas answered softly, "Cloud," he addressed the other, "It happened in front of Sora."

"I see…" The mention of the brunet sleeping upstairs silenced any retort the taller blond had for Roxas, both of them understanding full well what he meant. Sora had seen enough death around them. He did not need to see any more. Neither of them did. Especially the man in the corner. 'We wish we could stop it.' Roxas lowered his head in his arms and exhaled slowly.

"Roxas? He has your number."

Jumping, Roxas turned to face the other with a blush on his cheeks. "He…that idiot messed up the resurrection. I don't know what it was- a twitch or final tick of movement, but he did it. The cut across my chest, the one that hadn't healed completely from your 'storm's' last attack, he scratched it open." Roxas held his hands over his chest, clenching tightly at the fabric as he pulled his knees to his chest. "My mark… I was weak and I bled it onto him. And then he—"Roxas paused, shook his head and rested his forehead against his knees. Cloud did not need to know what happened after that. "He's stuck, Cloud." An image of the redhead stuck into his mind and Roxas could not say whether the situation was so bad or not. The idea was bad but the smile that slowly crossed his face seemed to counter the bad. "He's stuck…" he whispered with a smile and a blush.

Cloud nodded slowly and blinked suddenly. "Roxas?" He stared at the other with one eyebrow raised.

He looked back at the other and instantly regretted letting the one thought slip. The one eyebrow was raised? So he knew…"…Yeah, Cloud?"

Cloud shook his head. "I don't approve."

Roxas leapt to his feet, his arms waving wildly at his sides. "What? Why? I mean, it was just an accidental little—"

"Well, there's that," Cloud looked slightly amused at the other blond before his expression became dark, "but there's something about him. I know it. I can feel it." Walking in front of Roxas and staring at him directly in the eyes, Cloud told him something Roxas was not hoping to hear. "Stay away from him."

xoxoxox

Axel lay on his couch with a pillow to his face. He had not been feeling well since he had made his disappointing delivery to the Strife household. His head hurt more than any migraine he'd ever had and Larxene yelling at him earlier only made it worse. Was it his fault that no one was there to answer the Strife door? She seemed to think it was as she spent the last of her shift screaming him into submission. She sneered at him for taking the rest of the day off because his back hurt and then flipped him off telling him to take the remainder of the week off too since he 'was such a pussy'.

He wanted to be angrier but free time off tamed the salvage beast, or something like that. The redhead would have cheered but the pounding in his head made even the simplest things like blinking painful.

Groaning, Axel turned to the back of the couch and willed the setting sun's light away. The sunlight pouring in only strengthened the headache but he could not find the energy to close the shades. Grumbling loudly, Axel made himself comfortable and closed his eyes. He wanted to get some sleep but knew that it would be impossible with the way his head throbbed.

He knew it was illogical but for some reason he could not help but think that this was somehow Roxas' fault.

Rolling onto his back and foregoing his attempt at faux sleep, Axel stared at his ceiling without seeing. The blond had been on his mind for a while for some reason. He couldn't shake it, one moment he would be thinking about whether or not he needed to go food shopping and the next he was thinking about Roxas. Would Roxas like this? Does he eat that? How many frikkin' spoonfuls of sugar did he take with his coffee? To say that he was annoyed with his self was an understatement. What did he care about anything Roxas did? He had only met the kid once! Why was he obsessing over the little blond?

"Shit!" Axel spat into the silent air of his apartment. "What is wrong with me..?" He could not understand it. The thought of seeing Roxas again for some reason made him giddy and excited so he had agreed to make the delivery. He hid the reason under plenty of excuses both physical and mental, but the bottom line was that he was near desperate to see Roxas again. The need made his fingers twitch and his skin itch. It made him shiver and curl into himself, want and disgust coiling within him in equal parts. Roxas was some little boy he happened by on accident, but Axel felt some irrational pull to the other that screamed for more. He wanted Roxas near him, or maybe more.

Fear took hold of the redhead and threatened to pull him into the couch. Wh-what was he thinking? He…wanted Roxas? Like that? It couldn't be. He was many things but pedophile was not one of them. There was no way- absolutely no way he could have wanted to be anything to Roxas.

Then why did his mind and body believe differently?

"I need a drink." Axel leapt from the couch and made his way to his cupboard of liquor, disgusted with himself. He would burn the thoughts out of him with alcohol, and lots of it.

Xoxoxox

Roxas sat in the middle of his bedroom. The floor boards were covered in red blood, the crimson he had used to write words that no longer held meaning in the current worlds. They glowed with an ominous light from all over the room, casting creeping shadows along the walls and locked door and windows. The light covered over him as the air around him spiraled to near tornado proportions. The wind whispered dangerously in his ears, reminding him that he was a curse and that he would be punished for using this magic but he shook his head in response. He knew what he was and the consequences but he desperately needed to see what was happening with the delivery man.

They were bonded now, he and the redhead, but nothing seemed to be any different from before. Roxas could sense Axel and in fact had been following him earlier in the day, but nothing drastic had happened. Roxas had called out to Axel, but the taller male had not heard his words. Even when Cloud told him to stay away from the red head because Cloud 'just knew' there was something about Axel, Roxas continued to reach out. Nothing happened still.

He could not wait any longer. Axel would hear him now, prepared or not.

Roxas closed his bright blue eyes and stretched his hearing as far as he could. Inhaling, he slowly opened his eyes. Gold against black pierced the ominous light, black veins beneath his pale flesh shown around his eyes and on his forehead. They webbed out in an almost grotesque manner, pulsing as he fought to make a connection with Axel.

'It'll be easy. He has my number.'

His background became nothing, his senses sharpening and spreading around the towns until he came across the person he was looking for. Zoning in on Axel, he breathed deeply and spoke.

"Axel? Can you hear me?"

xoxoxox

"You've got to be kidding me." Axel sat in a corner of the kitchen area, liquor cabinet open on his right and a bottle in his left hand. The sun had set a while ago, sometime before he had abandoned a shot glass and after he drank from the bottle. He prided himself on being somewhat of a classy drinker, glasses and proper etiquette that involved sitting on a freaking chair, but he could not find the ability to move from the collection of alcohol. Every time he collected himself enough to walk away, a drifting thought of Roxas that had not been burned away by his drink paralyzed him. "Now I'm hearing his voice?" Axel took another swallow. "I must be worse off than I thought…"

"So you can hear me?" It sounded like the blond boy was everywhere around him even though Axel knew that couldn't be. He was happily alone in his apartment even though his thoughts made the situation terrible. Hearing Roxas was just a nail in the coffin.

Figuring it couldn't hurt any more than it already did, Axel waved a hand in the air and answered his drunken hallucination the positive. "Yep. I can hear you all around." His tone was cheerful even though he felt far from it. "I only wish that I could see you," he spoke sarcastically as a bitter laugh left him, "That would make my day." Axel tilted his head back and took a large swallow of the drink in his hand.

His inhale of drink nearly came out of his nose when he righted himself. 'It…can't be.' He thought as he stared at the image in front of him. "R-Roxas?" his words were barely a whisper.

Roxas was there, on his hands and knees in front of Axel. He looked slightly different than what Axel remembered, having gold and black eyes, spider veins, and looking more see-through than solid. It could have, however, just been a side effect of his drinking. The red head actually hoped all of this was a side effect, he wouldn't have felt so disgusted with his self that his mood elevated seeing Roxas.

"Is it…really you?" Axel asked disbelieving. A short, strangled cross between a whimper and an annoyed groan erupted from the redhead when the image nodded at him.

"I've trying to see you for a while now." Roxas frowned at him, the effect still (Axel screamed inside) cute even though Axel could see the other side of his kitchen through the blond. "For some reason, it's been hard to do that."

Still in shock, Axel nodded slowly. "Well," he started shakily, "I'm right here." Gently placing the bottle on the kitchen floor but never letting it go, Axel urged Roxas to speak. "I'm here now. Go on, what is it?"

Roxas stared incredulously but shook his head to clear his thoughts and continued. "Axel, you messed it up."

"What?" Axel frowned, puzzled. "We finally get to speak and that is the first thing you have to say?"

"Yeah." Roxas nodded, glaring at the redhead. "You can joke about it now because you don't understand just how serious this is." The little blond exhaled angrily through his nostrils, his eerie eyes never once leaving the bright green of Axel. "Axel, you don't—"

"Well, you know what? Since we're both here and I 'don't understand a damned thing', why don't you start talking?" Axel sat up straighter, irritation becoming more and more evident in his posture and speech. Roxas remained silent, his eyes widening and black veins in length as his jaw dropped. Axel, though he may have still thought that maybe the expression was a little cute, rolled his eyes and huffed. He was at his end. "I'm listening, Roxas."

Axel watched as Roxas continued to look at him with an expression of anger and disbelief. The young boy had yet to say anything, and Axel figured that he was in shock because maybe people didn't talk to Roxas the way he did. Axel blinked and thought that he may have been right. No normal person would argue with something that had eyes like Roxas did- all black-and-gold and vein outlined. But he was unlike anyone the world had ever come across. That was his power- being unique and unforgettable. He was instantly immortal.

Roxas, however, Axel could not put a label on him either. The kid was a freak, for lack of better words. He was quite possibly a monster or even a runaway project of some mad scientist, for all Axel knew. The redhead knew that the one in front of him was different the moment he had laid eyes on him. He just didn't know how.

'And if Roxas doesn't talk I'll never know.' Axel thought as he brought his hand from the bottle to wave in front of the blond. "Hello? Roxas? You in there?"

Roxas pouted and slapped the hand away, surprising Axel with how solid Roxas was and how real the stinging was. How was such a thing possible? He was dreaming!...right?

"You're something else, you know that?" Roxas chuckled and sighed.

Testing his reality, Axel reached out a hand to Roxas. He gently dropped his hand on the top of Roxas's head and ran his fingers through blond locks. The sensation was off- like his fingers were touching the top of some fuzzy pillow instead of golden hair. Maybe he wasn't going crazy. Maybe he was still dreaming.

…hopefully…

"Axel?" Roxas watched as the red head began to lean in close.

Axel's felt his body bend forward. His eyelids refused to open completely, remaining hooded as he took in the sight of a tense, puzzled Roxas. 'Heh heh. Cute.' Axel thought, licking his lips. His forehead rested against the uninvited, nearly transparent being in his place. The sensation was off to Axel, feeling more like he was leaning on solid air or as though he would fall over any moment. 'I have been drinking…' "Roxas? I am dreaming, right?"

Not in the mood to explain, Roxas nodded. "…close enough," he stared up, meeting a glowing emerald with wide gold eyes.

"That's good," Axel whispered as he slowly raised his hand to Roxas' cheek, "otherwise I'd feel terrible about this." He finished, lowering his lips to the surprised boy on his knees in front of him.

Xoxoxox

Gravel crunched beneath his leather boots, his multiple belts sounded as they bounced off one another, his rapid breathing leaving white puffs in the air. He made his way down the abandoned rain soaked streets with only streetlamps providing light as he desperately tried to outrun his blond haired pursuer. The fur on his leather jacket collar stuck to his skin from the heavy rainfall and tickled a bit when he turned his head from side to side to make sure his pathway was clear before proceeding, and his hand was cramping from carrying his weapon so tightly for so long but he did not have time to complain. The other would not be happy he had escaped again. He needed to keep running.

Sensing the other approaching, he frowned. "He'll be here soon," The running brunet whispered, glaring with piercing storm cloud color eyes. "But where?"

"Leonhart." A voice sounded from behind him and he turned with his weapon pointed and ready. Slowly revealing themselves, the figure emerged from the shadows with a disappointed frown on their face. "Where do you think you're going?"

The man, Leonhart, cursed and glared harder. "Don't come any closer or I'll shoot you, Cloud."

Cloud stood in the middle of the street, his cape billowing out behind him. "Let's go back," he spoke in a voice so soft the words were nearly lost to the wind and rain.

"Go to hell," Leonhart spat, forcing himself to keep still and not shiver from the words and the cold. He had worn leather so a lot of the rain rolled off of him, thankfully, but the weather was one of the last things on his mind.

Cloud was there. Cloud wanted to take him back.

He would never allow that to happen.

"Leon." Cloud held out his right hand. "Lets go."

The brunet gasped, his hold on his gunblade faltering briefly before he righted it. "Stay away from me, Cloud." He wanted to scream at the other but could barely find air to breathe much less the ability to yell. The cold blowing wind almost knocked him over and the falling rain weighed heavily but he remained resilient. He would leave. He had to. Staying with Cloud would-

"You aren't feeling well," Cloud interrupted, his glowing eyes bleeding purple. Leon knew that it would not be long before the purple faded to crimson red, and when that happened he would be held against his will again.

"Shut up, Cloud." He responded, taking aim. "I'm leaving."

"You need to come back with me—"

"I said shut. Up." Leon gritted between clenched teeth. His right side hurt and his left arm was going numb but he continued to hold his stance. It was because of Cloud that he felt this way. "It's your fault." Leon accused. "I'm sick and loosing my mind. I need to go back to the others, Cloud." Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Leon spoke over the growls that began to echo from the caped blonde's throat. "I'm leaving you." Thunder clapped off in the distance. "Tonight."

Crimson eyes stared at him from the top of a cape and Leon pulled the trigger rapidly. Cloud moved swiftly. Leon barely caught glimpses of the blond as he ran and dodged Cloud's attempts to grab at him. Dancing in the freezing rain away from frenzied grabs was never what he had in mind when he thought his escape through, but if he somehow managed to escape then he was not going to complain.

Sidestepping another frantic hand, Leon panted. A few stray strands of brown hair and droplets of blood fell to the dark, wet street.

"Cloud," Leon spoke calmly though he felt anything but, "I don't belong to you."

Leaping into the air and spinning, Leon struck Cloud in the head with the heel of his boot making him stagger. Thankful for the lucky blow, Leon closed his eyes and raised his left arm to the sky. Concentrating his energy, he reopened his eyes and brought his arm back down quickly. Pale blue lightning fell from the sky, following his direction.

Cloud let out an agonized scream and fell to the ground. He was alive, Leon knew, and it would not be long before he regained consciousness.

Choosing the moment to make his escape, Leon dismissed his gunblade and sighed. "Cloud," he whispered to the other groaning on the ground. He was twitching, little threads of blue lightning sparking here and there. "You know why I'm leaving." Watching the lightning end, Leon smiled sadly, softly. "I can't love a monster."

The sound of his retreating footsteps splashing echoed into the night.

Xoxoxox

Roxas inhaled sharply. Wh-what was Axel doing? Why was he kissing him? Not that he was complaining but…

"Ah, Axel," Roxas breathed when the red head pulled away. "What are you doing?"

Axel looked at him with hooded eyes, making Roxas's heartbeat increase. The green eyes looked so much brighter, so much more consuming through thick black lashes. Roxas swallowed thickly.

"Shh," Axel whispered in his ear, making him shiver. "I just want to indulge a little longer, alright?"

Roxas could think of no objection as Axel's lips descended upon his once more.