Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Heart and Soul ❯ Heart and Soul (Chapter 3): Ache ( Chapter 3 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
"Heart and Soul" and the general wrongness that is "Heart and Soul" are completely copyright Orin Drake 2006.  Square-Enix and Disney own Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts 2 and the characters contained within... but I wish I did.  I wish a lot of things, though.  I wish donuts fell from the sky on occasion.  But not all the time, 'cause that'd kinda suck.

        Background:  Hey, third chapter!  And some... more insane freakiness, actually.  I had no idea what was going on when I wrote it, and I'm not sure I do now that I've read it over and edited it several times.  But that's okay.
 
 


Hearts and Soul: Ache
by Orin Drake



        Axel was glad for the constant night of The World That Never Was.  Made it just a little more fun to sneak away from the castle and wander the streets, enjoying the darkness.  Granted, if anyone were actually looking for him, it was useless to attempt to hide in the shadows... but he could believe that he might escape, for a while.

        It came as a true and honest shock to catch a glimpse of blond hair as he was passing one of the familiar narrow alleys.  He skidded to a halt, backing up quickly--almost disappointed to see Demyx.  Though, chancing a lingering glance... the musician didn't quite look himself.  He was leaning against a wall with his head down, soaked with rain and seeming... terribly sad.  Unnaturally sad, considering his usual disposition.  Pathetically sad, even.

        Honestly, Axel was hoping he could dart away and pretend not to have seen.  It was just a little too disturbing to witness the blond in that state.  Damn him, though... he lifted his foot to slowly back away, but damn him... he just... damn him.  With a sigh, he surrendered to that goddamn nagging whatever the hell in his head and called out quietly.  "Hey... um...  Y'alright there, Dem?"

        Immediately upon hearing the voice, the other Nobody straightened, looking startled.  Realizing it was the fire mage--not any of the others, who'd have come only to take advantage of his weakness--he cleared his throat slightly and managed the dull shadow of a ridiculously fake smile.  "Yeah, fine.  Thanks for asking."

        He should have walked away.  There and then, he should have told their ninth member to stay away from him, never to talk to him again, or thrown a chakram and taken off and run.  Something in the redhead's gut twisted.  Something was so beyond wrong, beyond the wrongness that had ever existed in him before... and he didn't want to acknowledge it; certainly didn't want to know about it.  Tearing, splitting--things were rending apart and he couldn't even open his mouth to order a halt.

        Demyx could sense Axel's desire to run... but it didn't matter.  He... he had to talk to someone...  He simply could not look up to meet the other's eyes.  "I... I ran into Sora.  In the Underworld."

        Bile.  Bile and stomach cramps.  "Oh."  Out of control, already overpowering--worlds were crashing down...

        "I asked Roxas to come home, but... Sora didn't understand."  Demyx's voice was quivering, slightly.

        Axel only wanted to run away.  He was getting that feeling again, that awful feeling of inescapable horror--like a nightmare.  A nightmare he couldn't escape from, brought to life.  More real than when he was alive.  He wouldn't be allowed to wake up this time...

        Hysterical.  That's what anyone, Nobody or otherwise, would have called the blond--and he absolutely knew that.  But he just... he couldn't stop it, already too far, too late, too much, too heavy, too agonizing...  He couldn't keep the ranting away from his own mind, spilling too heavily from his lips.  All the thoughts he'd been having over the past several hours, his own waking nightmare encasing him.  Sora's very presence had triggered something awful.  "What are we?  I'm... I'm not even me, y'know?  I'm... dead.  I should be dead.  So why... why aren't I?  Why can't I be?  Why am I scared to be?"

        The fire mage wanted nothing more than to beg--the prideful and proud Flurry of Dancing Flames would have easily given in to falling to his knees and pleading--Don't do this.  Stop, please stop.  He couldn't.  He couldn't move.  The very madness that was overcoming the musician seemed to be the same thing forcing his feet against the ground, his mouth shut.

        Demyx almost felt as if his thoughts, his words--his very emotions--weren't even quite his own.  They were, of course they were--but not his.  They were his Other's.  No longer holding back, no longer in control, he was overcome by... passion.  Yelling.  Screaming.  Demanding and vicious and angry.  "Why did she have to die, Axel?!  What the fuck did she ever do to anyone?!  Why should she die and I have to live with the memories?!  I never did anything to deserve this!"

        His stomach dropped heavily to the ground, nearly taking his legs with it.  No.  No, he couldn't take the information he was gaining, couldn't possibly listen or process or want to understand--

        Insanity.  Absolute and raw insanity.  Those were unquestionably tears in Demyx's eyes even in the rain, balled-up fists trying in vain to made them stop.  It shouldn't be possible.  He didn't want it to be possible.  "Why wasn't I strong enough?  Why didn't I fight harder?  I should have been watching my back, I should have been watching--"

        "Shut up!" the redhead managed to yell over him, taking advantage of the surprised glance by hitting Demyx hard across the face.  He didn't mean to hurt him, would never have intentionally wounded him, but... but he had to get him to stop...

        The effect was immediate and brutal; the musician was already too far on the edge to feel the pain, but the instinct to retaliate burned too brightly to ignore.  Axel only understood that he'd been knocked off his feet when he fell hard against the cobblestones, letting out a gasping sound of pain.

        The blond was on him in a heartbeat, pinning him to the ground, both hands fisting around the neck of his coat as if somehow that would keep him anchored.  "What did you lose, Axel?" he demanded, cold savageness replacing any of the Demyx that the Organization had ever known.  "Why don't you want to remember?"

        "Get off..!" his voice broke, and he knew it.  No hearts, no emotions...  Yeah, right.  He was pretty damn sure what he was feeling right then was crushing, consuming terror.  "Get off of me."  He tried again, feeling himself shake. That wasn't Number Nine.  No way was that Demyx anywhere within those raging eyes...

        His voice dropped, becoming far too soft for the madness enveloping him.  "What can't you face, Axel?"

        "Stop it."  He hated himself.  How he hated himself for being so weak.  He couldn't bring himself to call his chakrams.  He just couldn't lash out at the other and purposefully wound, hurt, destroy--

        "Tell me."  It had become a plea.  All of the rage and pain bled away, suddenly focussed on certain desperation.

        The redhead knew that he was breathing heavily, though he wasn't quite certain why.  Flickers of images, sounds, smells--strange things were starting to eat at his consciousness.  "I don't know."

        "You're lying."  Hissed and very matter-of-fact.

        Axel's emerald eyes squeezed shut tightly against the assault of what could only be memories.  "I don't remember!"

        "By choice."  Insisted, accused.

        He swallowed a scream in his throat, shaking his head violently to purge the things he didn't want to know.  "Demyx!  Dammit, stop!"  His eyes opened with venom--softening quickly.  The musician's gaze was a step beyond pleading, needy and hurting and aching for... something...

        "Hurt me, Axel."  He whispered, trembling.  "Please.  Make me feel.  Make me hurt and forget..."

        The change was remarkable.  The other Nobody was spiraling completely out of control.  And, worse... out of reach.  "N-not like that."

        "Please."  Demyx begged, his entire body shaking more violently.  He needed proof... he needed to feel something, to know he existed--somehow everything he'd just been through made him feel more empty than he thought he ever had, made him realize that things could never be as they were...  "Or you can pretend I'm Rox--"

        "Roxas is gone."  It hurt to speak.  Tore him up inside to admit.  "We... we both have to... accept that."

        It seemed to work, seemed to wake the blond a little from his raving insanity.  "You don't believe that."

        Seeing through the lie... it disturbed him a little.  "No."  He admitted, the truth burning him worse than any fire.  It would be so much simpler if he could believe everything was over, that what was done was done and there was nothing he could ever do... but he didn't.  There was still a chance to see Roxas again... and maybe to get him back.  Damn the consequences.  "But... you aren't Roxas.  And you... don't have to... hurt to feel."

        It was true.  He knew that, he did, but... sometimes he just couldn't pretend anymore.  Sometimes all of that awful stuff he'd been covering up just... exploded...  "I'm sorry."  Only the ghost of a whisper as he lowered his head and looked away.  "I didn't mean...  I'm sorry."

        Axel wasn't feeling himself, obviously.  It wasn't like him at all, but... the kid was so busted up inside...  "Hey, it's..."  He actually bothered to search for words of comfort that he may have heard in life.  "It's gonna be alright."

        "Yeah."  But he didn't sound convinced.

        "Hey."

        "Yeah?"

        "Smile, Dem."

        He surprised them both when he did so, albeit tentative.  It was probably... kind of a dumb move on his part, but... seeing as how he was already on top of the firestarter, he thought he may as well use him like a big pillow, relaxing.  When the only protest he got was a faint grunt at the unexpectedness of the action, he felt a little more settled.  "I am sorry."  He admitted carefully.

        "I know."  Axel responded with a sigh.  "I... I guess I kinda understand.  A little."

        The musician nodded, cheek pressed against the redhead's shoulder.  It was just... nice to be there.  No one else would have let him do that... not that he wanted to be near anyone else in the Organization.  "Just hurts."

        The fire mage would have become extremely aggravated if he'd consciously realized he'd let a hand rest on the blond's shoulder.  He was too busy trying to keep the crashing thoughts away, the slivers of what could very well have been memories that he did not want back.  It was becoming harder and harder to hold them at bay, those closer they all came to destruction.
        "Do you dream?" Demyx asked after a long moment, timid.

        It actually took a few seconds to find the answer.  "I think I do."  He wasn't really sure if he always had... or at least he didn't remember anything resembling dreaming until after Roxas left...  That seemed odd, somehow.

        "What do you dream?" the blond pressed ever so carefully.

        "I'm not sure."  Axel responded, surprising himself with his own honesty.  "I wake up and I don't remember."  What he didn't want to say, but what he was uncomfortably certain that Demyx already knew, was that sometimes he woke up sweating.  Hot and cold and panicked with a scream threatening to tear from his throat if only he'd take a breath and let it happen.  He didn't.  He couldn't.

        "That proves it, though."  The musician insisted confidently, lifting his head to meet the pyro's eyes.  "We couldn't dream without some heart."

        The redhead managed to keep a shudder at bay.  "Why are you still trying to convince me?"

        "You need convincing!" Demyx smiled a little.

        He sincerely couldn't help the weak grin spreading across his lips.  It was almost enough to quell his stomach.  "You mean you still need convincing."

        The blond pretended to pout.  "I'm gathering evidence."

        What followed was the silence of those trying to forget.  Those days before the Organization members had started dropping like flies may not have been particularly bright, but they weren't as... cold.  Despite the knowledge that they would someday have to do battle for their lives, there wasn't so much of the concern of nonexistence.  They'd all believed Xemnas and his mad obsession with being whole again... but the realization  that the Superior was just as lost and desperate--and completely insane--as the rest of them did not sit well.  It was no wonder everyone else was still in denial... or at least found some other way to deal.

        It was a strange time.  A strange time full of strange occurrences, and moods that were stranger still.  The possibility that they were all marching toward their death was far too real.  It was... uncomfortable.  In truth, it was... painful.

        Release was what they both needed.  A moment to forget.  Or at the very least ignore everything for the merest breadth of time.  And, since they both needed release, both needed a moment's feigned ignorance...

        The sudden removal of the hand that had been resting on his shoulder made Demyx look up, a worried expression on his face.  He'd really hoped that Axel wouldn't mind a moment of just kinda... being close.  He'd been hit enough times by the other Organization members for being in their space for too long, inviting himself to do too much... rejection from the firestarter would be devastating--

        Axel gave a mild grin, reaching to pull his own gloves off.  "I won't make you hurt, but..." he gave the blond a hungry gaze, "I could make you feel really good."  Besides... he was kinda owed top after last time.

        The musician swallowed hard.  He... wasn't used to that kind of an offer.  Hell, he wasn't used to offers at all.  Things that were consensual and could potentially be turned down were a bit of a rarity for a Nobody.  "C-could you..?"

        Nervous like a virgin.  The thought made the redhead chuckle a bit, reaching to unzip Demy's coat.  "Absolutely."

        The musician pulled back a little, looking uncertain.  He knew what he'd done, not that long ago... and though they seemed to retain companionship, it was still... it was something he fully expected to be punished for.  Even as his coat was parted, carefully.  Even as a warm hand moved under the threadbare shirt he wore beneath it, fingertips tickling the flesh ever so slightly.   "I d-don't... I'm not sure I..."

        "S'okay."  The firestarter sloughed off.  If a Nobody learned anything very quickly, it was that they had to deal with pain and crazy.  "I get it.  Wish I could do it myself, sometimes, but..." he trailed off, not really even knowing what he was trying to say.  He shook it off, shaking his head slightly.  "Relax."

        The rain picked a funny moment to pour in torrents upon them.  (Though Axel suspected it was not entirely the rain at work.)  It was cool and wet and heavy, and a perfect distraction for the redhead to roll so that he was finally on top, pushing the coat open even further and pulling the shirt up--then he just watched.  Watched the rain slide over the skin, pattering hard against flesh but not so hard as to hurt.  He watched the blonde's hair sink a little, stick to his face.  Watched what perhaps used to be tears wash away with the rain.  Funny how that was all he let himself remember; rain.  He'd always loved the rain, despite his more natural element.

        "Axel..?" the voice was soft, wide deep jade eyes looking concerned.

        He snapped out of his thoughts, plastering a decently realistic grin across his face and leaning back to unzip his own coat, thrown off his shoulders instantly.  Couldn't think about it, couldn't let himself linger on things better left buried, abandoned.  He dodged with a very subtle change of subject.  "Can you breathe with all that rain in your face?"

        "Oh, I'm fine!" Demyx looked as bright as always, hands utterly shameless as they unfastened both of their pants.

        "Impressive."  The redhead quipped.  His hair was drooping, spikes dripping, a weight upon his head... strangely appropriate, though he certainly didn't want to say so.  Instead, he rocked back and stood up, quickly sliding the pants down his legs.  "Boots on?"

        "Oh, let's live a little."  The musician laughed a bit.  "No boots!"

        Axel shook his head, astounded.  Two heartless half-beings that shouldn't be possible, on a non-existent cobblestone alley in a world that wasn't real, fighting against their heads filled with the idea that they had no emotions, about to screw in a downpour--and they were both quite enjoying it. If you were still here, Rox, you'd call us both loons and be done with us.  It was a bittersweet thought--and not one he could dwell on.  Not-so-gentle yanks got the boots off of his feet before he crouched and started tugging at Demyx's.

        While the blond retained some slight nervousness, he certainly wasn't shy.  As Axel worked on his footwear, he sat up and slid out of the coat, letting it fall back to the ground as a cover over the rough cobblestones.  His shirt was pulled over his head and tossed somewhere over his shoulder before he supported himself on his hands for easier pant removal.

        The fire mage actually laughed when he looked at the sight.  Demyx drenched in rain, naked and grinning like he'd just discovered the goddamn secret of life, was... infectious.

        "You want me..." a quiet murmur that didn't even carry above the rain; words of wonder, amazement and something akin to both shock and enthrallment.  The words did not quite form a question, nor quite a statement; not even meant to have been uttered, and yet...  There was the lightest flicker of an unmasked smile on his face with that very thought.

        Axel wasn't quite sure he heard, and certainly wasn't about to pause and take the time to understand--he placed both hands on the blond's shoulders and pressed him down against the coat, nuzzling the damp, cool skin of his neck.  He felt the sigh below him rather than heard it, gently prodding the slender legs apart with his own knee and giving a light nip to that pale expanse of shoulder before resting between them.  He stared down at the slightly parted lips, allowing his mind to wander for only a moment; he used to kiss Roxas.

        "You don't have to..." another whisper from the musician, thinking nothing of that confusing ability to pick up on the other's thoughts from time to time.  When they were "spoken" loudly enough...  He wasn't even aware it happened, really.

        The redhead would never have admitted such a thing, and found himself a little annoyed that he was even thinking it... he wanted to kiss Demyx.  But not to pretend he was Roxas.  And not to replace the memory of Roxas, either.  He shoved the near-realization away, burying it like everything else he didn't care to think about.  There were other things to spend time on, better things to be doing--one of which causing the blond below him to moan in a musical sort of way.

        He wasn't used to being touched so delicately, nor was he quite expecting a hand to wrap so firmly around his arousal and start stroking immediately.  Mouth open to gasp, his eyes closed on their own as an entirely too-hot tongue languidly began to lap against his chest.

        Axel was delighting in the reactions--shivers, the twitch of each muscle under his assault--and most specifically, the sounds.  The noises the blond made were like sung hymns from far above, voice of a nonexistent angel.  He pulled back just enough to grin.  "Beautiful."  He commented to himself, drowned out by growling thunder.  An insane request came to mind as he breathed with purpose across the musician's pulse.  "Sing for me."

        Sing..?  He didn't understand--until the tongue trailed lower, teasing his abdomen and then his navel with careful nips acting as pauses for breath.  The firestarter was tuning him in preparation to play him like an instrument...  Realizing what was meant, he could only nod furiously as the heat rested a mere hair's breadth away from what had suddenly become the center of his being--

        "Sing for me..." the redhead repeated, lips ghosting the silken flesh beneath, never quite kissing, not quite even touching...

        When Demyx's mouth next opened, his voice was a lovely, though slightly shaky, lingering note. Words were not coming, but there was still music from his voice.

        Axel shivered, glad that the jade eyes were closed against it.  The other Nobody's voice wasn't at all like his sitar--the strings were often picked in fast precision, several strings at once all working themselves into a melodic storm.  His voice, however... it was smooth and full, moving slowly over his senses.  To his knowledge, Demyx normally did not sing.  It was a shame.

        The next ringing note caught harshly when moist warmth enveloped him.  He shuddered in pleasure, feeling his body heat along with it.  The raindrops seemed colder, then--but it made for the perfect play against his skin.  Cool rain over a too-warm body was as perfect as the odd song weaving in his head.  What he wouldn't have given for his sitar right then and there--

        Wrapping his tongue around the base of the shaft brought another strangled, musical cry, and Axel could not be more proud of learning his instrument in such a short period of time.  It was fortunate, considering his disappearing patience.  He pulled away slowly, letting his tongue roam across the length as he went.  Crawling up the body beneath, letting himself lay down against it, chest against chest, need against need--the rain was particularly necessary to keep them both from burning.  Without thought, he pressed their lips together.

        It was a surprise, actually.  Taking a breath for the next desperate note, he'd noticed only that he was unable to fill his lungs at first--realizing why knocked the rest of his breath away.  That heat was filling his mouth, tongues meeting--rough and smooth and forceful and delicate, burning, purging...  When the other's mouth pulled away, Demyx rushed to catch it again, arms wrapping around the fire mage's shoulders and bringing him back down.

        Axel managed what may have been the beginning of a surprised curse, melting with even more surprise into the kiss initiated from below.  Hearts or no hearts, it certainly made him believe that passion could run through them.  Suddenly he was more than ready to finalize their encounter.  Pulling away was hard... but by far not the hardest thing about the situation.  The very thought made him chuckle as he spoke.  "Got any..?"  He hadn't really felt the need to carry some variation of "emergency lubricant" for those wonderful surprise fucks in a random hallway for quite some time.

        Demyx's eyes twinkled, a playful bit of mischievousness brewing within them.  "It's raining, isn't it?"

        His head tilted slightly.  Water was certainly no lubricant... though, the musician did control the element.  Well, if he insisted.  Gazing up, he took a steadying breath as the water coursed down his body and over his aching arousal, not flinching a bit with the cold nor the heavy raindrops.  True, he did wish Roxas was there with him... but only to help continue drawing music from the other's voice.

        No matter.  They were there, and they were in need of some damn release.  Axel crouched over the musician, pulling his legs up and further apart slowly, lightly running his palms along the smooth thighs.  "Keep singing."  He requested softly.

        Jade eyes closed, breath coming faster with the knowledge of what would come.  A soft moan evolved into a hum, then an all-out cry of pain and pleasure when the firestarter began to press the head of his arousal against his unprepared entrance.

        The redhead grinned, glad to see the reaction to his tease.  He pulled back a bit to catch rain in his palm and prepare the Nobody beneath--

        "N-no..." the blonde gasped.  "Keep going."

        The request surprised him.  Of all the people he hadn't expected to appreciate that kind of pain...  "Are you sure?"

        Demyx nodded, humming in his throat.  "Used to it..." he seemed to admit secretly.  "But I... I trust you..."

        Despite his attempt at keeping his expression neutral, Axel's eyes widened.  He felt like he'd just been hit in the face.  And, very oddly... he wasn't pissed off about it for some reason.  He left the sentiment without comment, instead shifting a little closer to the musician to honor his request.  Again pressing himself against the entrance of that tight heat, he very nearly caught himself humming along with the long note torn from the blond beneath.  Pressing harder, the tone changed and warbled until it finally broke altogether as the head made its way inside.

        There was a pause, allowing Demyx a breath.  He took his opportunity, lungs filling an instant before the burning erupted within him as he was slowly filled, causing his fists to clench harder on the coat underneath.  Somewhere in the back of his mind came the realization that he was still wearing his gloves--not that it mattered in the slightest.  Caught in a desperate trap between pain and pleasure, suffocating memories and promises that could never be made, his mind turned blank--and a song came through the thoughtless swirl of sensation.

        "Quell this ache..." the firestarter recognized the words somehow.  It was a smooth, guttural language that he was sure he'd never heard before, but he understood the words... I can't.  He replied silently, finally sliding all the way inside with the utmost care.  But I can distract us, for a while.

        Demyx paused for long enough to gasp, pain and pleasure blending as his throat constricted for a moment around the feeling.  As Axel pulled away slowly, sliding nearly all the way outside again, his song continued mindlessly.

        "My heart's on the mend..." the redhead heard, that same foreign language that he was certain he'd never learned.  It was bad--it was bad because he understood, but the voice from which it came was so fucking beautiful.  Looking down into the rain-drenched face, eyes tightly closed, head back, mouth open, that lithe body glistening with raindrops and nonexistent light... he was fucking beautiful, too.  Beautiful like Roxas, because what rested right under the surface... was death.  Finality.  Destruction.  The musician merely hid it better than the rest.

        "I'm no longer pretending..." came the next eloquent wail with the first torturously slow thrust, "That I have a soul..."

        Axel tried desperately not to listen, trying to block the words that he shouldn't have even known from his mind.  Eyes closed, he concentrated on the tight heat thoroughly surrounding him, the feel of water that did not seem to quite act like water as it made the slide easier.  It was beautiful.  It was beautiful, but the song was wrong...

        "I love you and I want to learn to resist you..."  Those lines would have given the fire mage pause had he not been so single-mindedly intent upon purging their meaning from his mind.  He attempted a different tactic instead; shifting his legs to take a better stance in order to drill the blond senseless.

        That seemed to work.  Demyx's words drowned in a series of musical cries, the sudden speeding pace throwing off all of his rhythm.  Not that he would have complained even if he'd found a way to do so; the long, flowering operatics of the musician's earlier vocals had become fast, pure staccatos of sound.  A different song for a different mood.

        Screwing him to silence.  Axel willed himself to laugh, but he was already working too hard on other matters at hand.  Angle, for instance.  Damned if he was going to cum first--and he felt it edging toward him at quite an alarming speed.

        Lucky for both of them, the musician wasn't far off either.  His legs were pulled even further apart, pulled in closer, body resting somewhat half in the redhead's lap and half still on his coat.  Panting, gasping, moaning, calling, needing--and then it stopped.  Demyx winced at first, thinking perhaps something terrible had happened or there'd been a change of mind, but... when seconds passed by, he finally opened his eyes.  They widened with the intensity they saw in the emerald orbs gazing back.

        If there was one thing Number Eight had, it was instinct.  He moved by instinct, gauging things with his senses and then allowing whatever partial instinct or magic or whatever the fuck he had to lead him the rest of the way.  Instinct had made him pause--then grasp the Melodious Nocturne's hands.  Still curled into fists in surprise rather than simple aching pleasure, it took a moment to get their grip to relax.  Ignoring the increasingly puzzled look he was getting, he merely peeled the gloves off and tossed them elsewhere.

        It was well beyond comprehensible.  The blond didn't understand, much less see the point--until he was lifted up, still fully impaled, bringing his chest up against Axel's.  On instinct, he wrapped his arms around the other's neck, legs wrapping over hips and around.

        It felt like a strangely forbidden thing for both of them.  They were well aware that the first encounter in an alley was... impersonal, to say the least.  In the rain, they'd stripped many layers in many ways... and being completely naked in so very many senses seemed only natural to that end.

        Demyx allowed himself to run his naked hands along the firestarter's back and shoulders, eliciting a moan from both as the rocking began anew.  Axel lead, but the musician was quick to follow, bouncing to a rhythm they seemed to agree upon.  The angle was perfect, the low breaths into the redhead's ears were excellent; they toppled at some undetermined point, completely and totally spent without really even knowing what had gotten them that far in the first place.

        They were both sprawled together, still intertwined, listening to the mild growls of thunder that sounded further away than they had any right to be.  The lingering heat, both inside and outside, made the rain feel cold.  It wasn't at all unpleasant, but it made each individual raindrop stand out as it struck skin and fragmented, dripping down.

        Incomplete, still.  But... a little less so than they were before.

        In a vague, tired line of thought, Axel attempted to figure out just why that had happened as it did.  Must have been unconscious memories.  Those things better left forgotten--until one crashed into him without any warning, without an invitation.  It was strangely simple, a stupid phrase he didn't recognize as a Nobody but knew his Other would have.

        Singin' in the rain...  All of a sudden he just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry.  He was too proud for that... too proud, too wounded, and already a little too numb.  He settled, instead, for listening to the musician catch his breath in a perfect, slowing rhythm.  So much for the rain washing away all of their sins.


        ...I am apparently very screwed up in the head area... and honestly, I have no idea where this came from... but I like it.  One more chapter to go, methinks.  I feel I should apologize for inserting my own lyrics to a song I haven't even started and don't think I'll ever be able to finish in the way I'd like to, but... I'm not gonna.  I found the lyrics to fit, what can I say.

        If you'd like to be e-mailed when I update, drop me a line (orin(at)sephain.com) with whatever story/stories/website you'd like me to inform you of.