i
Axel, half the time, has no idea what the fuck he's doing. He plays life by ear, mostly. What good are complicated plans, anyway, when they'll probably go to hell in the end? It's better to just rely on his instincts. Hey, it's worked so far. He isn't dead yet, right?

"You're a moron," Roxas tells him, nose firmly stuck in a book. The library is empty, save for them, since Vexen already left with a cartful of books.

"Hey, we can't all be masterminds who come up with complicated schemes on the making of toast," Axel says, pushing the book down. Roxas looks at him dryly, and closes it with a sigh.

"No, but we can all have some sense of self-preservation."

Axel waves a hand dismissively. "Aw, but where's the fun in that?" He eyes the book Roxas was reading, and raises an eyebrow. "Romeo and Juliet? Didn't know your were secretly a romantic, Roxas."

Roxas shrugs. "It was on the table when I came in."

Axel snickers. "Sure it was," he says.

ii
Roxas never acts on impulse, not if he can help it. He'd rather not get himself killed for not thinking things through, thanks. He explains this to Axel, very thoroughly, choosing his words with extreme care. All he gets for his efforts is a shrug.

"That's so boring. Don't worry so much all the time, Roxas. You'll never have any fun that way."

"Your definition of 'fun' and mine are two very different things."

"What, you don't like watching things burn?" Axel asks, with a grin. Roxas rolls his eyes.

"Neither do you."

"…well, it's sort of pretty…I guess?"

Roxas just looks at him.

iii
They're outside, one night, training by fighting the Neoshadows that constantly pop up. They used to fight each other, but after Axel broke seven ribs and Roxas ended up with a charred mess of a coat, they decided they should just stick to Heartless. Like always, it's raining, and raining pretty hard at that.

"We should go inside. I'm going to drown if we stay out here much longer," Axel shouts at Roxas, who pays him no mind, and just keeps hacking away.

Axel sighs theatrically and opens a portal, grabbing Roxas by the elbow to drag him through it. Roxas almost catches him in the arm with the Oathkeeper, but Axel dodges out of the way at the last minute.

"Hey, now, that's not very nice," he says, plaintive.

Roxas lets his keyblades disappear, and says nothing.

"Wanna go to Twilight Town for some ice cream?"

Roxas just shrugs. Axel takes it as a yes.

iv
Twilight Town is bright and sunny, and Roxas' hair is almost dry by the time he says, "Why are we friends?"

Axel eyes him, for a moment, his expression sober. They stare at each other, for a beat, and then Axel grins obnoxiously and says, "Well, why not?"

Roxas kicks him in the shin. "I'm serious."

"So am I. What's the big deal? We're friends. End of story."

"But, we're Nobodies. How can we--"

"Roxas. Forget about it. I like spending time with you, you like spending time with me. Who cares what Superior and the others say about what we can and can't feel?"

Roxas mulls it over for a minute. "Who ever said I liked spending time with you?" he says, finally. Axel grins at him.

v
The next time they're in the library, Axel slings an arm around Roxas when he comes in, and then proceeds to make fun of his choice of reading material for the next ten minutes.

Roxas' lips quirk upward, just the slightest bit, and he keeps on reading.