Awkward [That AU]

[binarysky]

I'm gonna go get some ice cream—you keep catching up with these guys. Be back soon!

It hadn't been the first lie he told Sora, but it was the one that made Roxas the most nervous, especially considering the reason for it. But after talking with Aerith, he needed some space from the restoration committee and Sora both. She knew who he was, or knew something, and that was too close, even if she'd promised not to tell.

So of course he'd gone in search of someone who definitely knew him. That wasn't dangerous or anything. But suddenly he really needed to talk to Axel, even if he didn't quite have the words yet. He could only hope his best friend had been keeping an eye on them from the distance; Roxas would have, if it were him.

That hope was validated ten minutes or so later when he heard the soft sound of unfurling darkness behind him and turned to see Axel staring at him with one raised eyebrow. "So," he said. "You done with all this yet? Learned everything you need to?"

"Not yet," Roxas sighed, and he knew they were probably both a little disappointed about that. "Don't ask me when I will be, I don't know. What about you? What's happening with the rest of the Organization?"

"Oh, them." Axel waved one hand in a theatrically dismissive gesture. "Don't worry about them. I'm keeping my ear to the ground, running a little distraction for you when I have to. But they're a little nervous about confronting the two of you directly. Two Keyblade masters? Who'd have thought?"

"Yeah, well, it wasn't my idea," Roxas grumbled, and looked away for a moment. "I didn't ask to exist."

"Right. Hey, good job with Xaldin, by the way," Axel said. "I never liked him anyway. The rest of the Organization would be pretty angry if they had the heart for it, though."

Roxas just sighed. Just now, he didn't care what the Organization thought. "Axel, what do you think I should do?" he asked after a moment. "If you really think I should leave with you, I will. I just don't feel like I'm done yet.

When he looked up, his friend's eyes were far away. Roxas wasn't sure if he saw regret there or if it was just his imagination. "Can't help you there," Axel said, clapping one hand on his shoulder. "But you know I'm with you. Whatever happens."

"Yeah," he said, the corner of his mouth twitching in a half-smile. "I know."

Comments

[binarysky]

'Mysterious stuff' doesn't fit with what he knows of Axel, but he's different from the rest of the Organization. Besides, that's one advantage he has that Sora doesn't—he knows Axel.

"Probably!" he says, grateful that Sora hasn't pointed out that Roxas is a pretty awful liar. But no, he can't leave it there, or what was the point of bringing it up? "It's just...do you think they're all the same? Even if he started a fight when I wouldn't listen to him," he says quickly. "What if we tried it?"

[soracles]

"You mean ... try to talk to them?"

He looks outright quizzical then, because that's so far of a deviance from everything they've wound up doing, so counter to the way every question he'd tried asking got flung right back in his face, that there's a split second there where he thinks that there's something Roxas isn't telling him.

"That hasn't really worked before though, right? What makes you think this guy's different?"

[binarysky]

Ugh. Why is he even doing this? Roxas isn't sure. All he knows is that he can't just come out and tell Sora what he is—he can't—but things probably can't go on like this forever, either.

"I don't know if he is," he says after a moment, and a small voice in the back of his head whispers Liar. "Like you saw, he was ready to fight when I was." He shakes his head. "I just keep wondering if being a Nobody means you have to be bad. The Organization's done awful things, but don't you think it's sad, not to have a heart? Or wonder what it's like?"

[soracles]

It would be a lie about as big and fat as Roxas' entire shtick this world-hopping trip if Sora said he hadn't wondered.

"I ... guess so." Hadn't Yen Sid said Nobodies pretend to have a heart? Try to make it sound like they're actually the good guys here, to throw them off?

It'd be easy to brush this whole line of thought off with that reminder, but he can't. Because, he trusts Roxas and wants to respect what he thinks. And also, because Donald's the one who's absolutely gonna give them crap for this later.

"Well ..." He doesn't really think this would actually work. But maybe that's a tiny part of the reason why he offers.

"Tell you what. How about, first Nobody that feels like chatting instead of fighting — and I mean, without the usual tricks and stuff — we hear them out? If it'd make you feel better."

[binarysky]

During the few seconds that Sora takes in his words and considers, Roxas doesn't have much hope that he's been very persuasive. Who could blame Sora for having no sympathy for Nobodies? The lesser ones do tangible harm to people and places, and the powerful ones lie like they breathe. They don't deserve the benefit of the doubt.

But then Sora does something he's done several times before—he surprises Roxas.

"Really?" He should probably watch himself; there's no reason he should be giving Sora a relieved smile, but he can't help himself. "It would, yeah. Just to try once, you know? And if nothing good comes from it, we won't have to wonder."

He doesn't have to wonder if talking to most of them would do any good; he's sure it would do nothing but confirm Sora's idea of what Organization members are like. But there's one particular Organization member who can be trusted to be reasonable. If he can get a message to Axel then maybe, just maybe, Sora won't hate him when he finds out the truth.