[OPEN] am i in heaven here or am i in hell?

[got_it_memorized]

Characters: Axel and anybody who wants to run into him.
Setting: Anywhere from top-floor dormitories to... idk, wherever we go.
Format: i default to prose but if you prefer action that's okay too.
Summary: Axel wakes up in a hideous unitard and thinks he's gone to Hell. here's a little context.
Warnings: nothing yet? dsjhfskdfl i hate intro posts i'm so bad at them halp.


His opinion of this place improved exponentially when he discovered the trunk at the foot of the bed that contained clothing he was a bit more accustomed to. After making sure he was alone in the room and peeling the ridiculous white monstrosity off, he quickly fumbled into his usual getup and found himself ten times less disconcerted. Adjusting the zipper on the front of his coat, Axel peered around the room with a frown. Dorms? Hell had dorms? Where in all the worlds was he? Well, at least whoever else was supposed to be bunking with him wasn't around to see his moment of panic. He never would have lived that down.

He took a moment to summon his chakrams, just to make sure they were still there. Thankfully, they heeded his call and he breathed a bit easier. Maybe this wouldn't be so difficult after all. Maybe this wasn't Hell--he was pretty sure Hell wouldn't do him the courtesy of providing wardrobe and weapons. Wherever he'd been sent by Saïx's last attack, if Saïx thought he'd be rid of him that easily he had another thing coming. Old friend or not, Axel was inclined to go give him a piece of his mind.

Well, maybe better to figure out where he was, first. Using portals when one didn't know where one was didn't sound like a good idea. Best to at least have a grasp of Point A before attempting to find Point B. Dismissing his weapons (he could call them back at the drop of a hat, after all), Axel turned and moved toward the door, carefully opening it to peer out into the hallway. There didn't seem to be anyone in the immediate vicinity, so he supposed it was safe to venture out. His guard up, his eyes alert, Axel stepped out into the corridor, closing the door behind him, his senses keen to all the new sights and sounds around him. First unitards, then dormitory beds... there really was no telling what sorts of things this place would throw at him next.

Comments

[got_it_memorized]

Hey? Turning over his shoulder, Axel caught sight of... well, frankly someone he had somehow expected to never actually see again. Sure, Xion had said Roxas was here, but Axel never bothered to get his hopes up about things anymore. Working for the Organization had sort of drilled into him that life was all about being disappointed, shot down, and then kicked into the dirt, and so it was easier to just brace for impact at all times and not set oneself up to fall harder.

"Rox--" Axel cut himself off. Wait, hadn't Xion said Roxas didn't remember? Was this a trick? (One day, Axel would stop suspecting that everything was a trick. One day he would acknowledge that not everything and everyone was out to get him. That day was not today.) He cleared his throat and regarded the boy with uncertainty in his eyes. "... Hey."

[lamentless]

Part of him wanted to laugh about how Axel- well, and Xion -were the only ones who looked at him right off and knew he was Roxas, not Ven. However, he bit back the comment, and walked closer, some sort of nervous smile tugging at his face.

"Um. You're Axel, right?" The name sort of...escaped him at times, but it always seemed to surface right back when he was looking him in the face. "Sorry, I just don't want to do that whole...me running away, you going after me part." Again, he would of laughed if he wasn't so wary himself. "Did you just arrive?"

[got_it_memorized]

Well, granted the only Ven Axel had seen thus far was his age, but he was confident he could easily pick Roxas out of a lineup either way.

Something sort of snapped and broke at Roxas' question and Axel's shoulders sagged visibly. So he'd really forgotten? Again? It stung less than it had the first time--at least the kid wasn't trying to beat him up with a foam bat this tine--but he was pretty sure the disappointment was clearly visible on his face. He quickly schooled his expression into a helpless sort of amusement.

Well, at least he hadn't said 'Access.' Axel wasn't really interested in playing Tag with Roxas anymore either, but he couldn't help the grin on his face as he reached out to point directly at Roxas' forehead.

"Kid, come on, you should know better by now. I'll always--"

'be there to bring you back!'

Axel stopped short with a soft grunt as a lance of pain flickered through his head and then was gone almost as soon as it had flared up. He lifted a hand to his temple and then shook his head quickly. This place was really screwing with him, wasn't it?

Weird.

He nodded then, confusion still there in his eyes, but he could deal with these weird flashes later.

"Yeah, I woke up in a weird dorm-style room," he said. "And don't even get me started on what I was wearing--I thought I must have lost at cards again."

[lamentless]

Sadly, the rest of the tower wasn't as attentive. Though talks of how he was seriously considering cutting his hair could come later.

For now, he...found himself wanting to be helpful. It wasn't like he was especially standoffish usually, and if anything he tried to help as much as he could. As far as he could remember, he and Ven were some of the steadier and older members of the tower, when one took in to account all the people who had disappeared. But this was a different situation; it was almost like he owed it to Axel to be as clear as humanly possible. Maybe it was a misplaced need to make up for lost time, or whatever.

Axel's cut-off comment made Roxas's smile fade substantially, as if he knew something was missing there, but he let it go. Obviously, he didn't remember the last time he'd showed up in the Tower, and it was decided that broaching that subject could come much later. "...yeah, I don't think white is your color, anyway." It was a half-joke, but he still wasn't smiling, so it was kind of obvious Rox's heart wasn't in it.

After a moment, he crossed his arms, brows furrowed a bit as he tried to figure out how best to approach this subject. It only took him a minute. "What do you remember last, before you showed up here? Did you read the letters, or did anyone tell you about the time-universe stuff?" He gave a sigh, and sort of shrugged. "It's probably better if I explain this place to you first, since I know you've got to be confused."

[got_it_memorized]

"Definitely not," Axel grumbled, poking at his ribs. "It's just really not flattering to my figure." Roxas' halfhearted joke hadn't been lost on him, after all; at least let the kid know you're paying attention.

He looked at Roxas then and folded his arms in turn, quirking his lips.

"I read the one that said we should try and be happy here," he said, "but after that I wasn't particularly interested in what the other one had to say. Figured it'd be the same style of unhelpful BS."

He chuckled and started to reach out to ruffle Roxas' hair fondly when the boy offered an explanation, then stopped himself. Roxas... didn't remember. Would it be weird? ... Light, everything was weird. How long had it been since anything was not weird? He hesitated only a moment, then ruffled Roxas' hair anyway. If the kid was planning on trying to be friends again, that was something he was going to have to get used to.

"Xion explained some of it to me," he said, shaking his head, "so I'm slightly less confused than I was when I first got here." He put a knuckle against his chin. "Frankly it's the time-paradox nonsense that's giving me a headache more than anything else. I mean, new worlds aren't anything foreign, even if this place is more like a bad carnival funhouse... but people who come from the same origin but different points in time? That's different." He frowned. "So... what's the last thing you remember, anyway?"

He was confident that they could make this work--at least Roxas wasn't running away this time, right? If Roxas didn't remember him, then he had been brought here from a point in time before their final showdown in the basement of the mansion, right? Well, it wasn't an ideal second chance, but he'd take it.