Whatever's Left
Title: Whatever's Left
Fandom: Mega Man X
Characters: X/Axl
Rating: PG
Warnings: None, really. Oh, well, robots making out, I guess. Pssht.
Author's Note: This is set shortly before the onset of the Elf Wars, after Zero has committed his body to research. Written for the X/Axl challenge at Rockman Elysium over on GreatestJournal.
Whatever's Left
* * *
Nothing lasts forever.
Ashes swirled around X’s feet as he stared at the remains of a massive redwood tree. He ran a gloved hand over the scorched bark, and pieces fell away at his touch, staining his fingers black.
One of the oldest living forests on earth and all it took was one firefight to destroy the whole thing. He pressed his lips together in thought. Older than me, even.
His appearance, he knew, was ageless. He gave no outward indication of the generations he had witnessed or the trials he had endured. The reflection that stared back at him these days was the reflection of the wide-eyed rookie he had been, back when Sigma headed the Hunters and life seemed a lot simpler.
Artificial life forms were designed to last and outlast. Yet he had been unparalleled in that regard, always somehow spared the lethal shot that would retire him for good, as if some higher power insisted that he witness the events unfold that he had helped bring to pass.
Compared to the length of his vision, the world around him seemed to burn out and fade away so quickly.
He jolted suddenly as he was enveloped from behind, slender arms winding around his middle in a loose hug. Assassin, he thought dryly, even as warmth blossomed in his chest.
The maverick hunter Axl rested his chin on X’s shoulder and gave his cheek a nudge with his nose. “Everyone else has gone back to base already,” he said. “You okay?”
X smiled faintly. “I’ll live. Just . . . feeling a little discouraged, I guess.”
He felt Axl’s soft exhalation of surprise along his throat. “Really? But we’ve been after Omicron and his buddies for months now. Today’s gotta count for something.”
“Maybe, but it’s been a long time since I believed we were making real progress,” X said. “Every time we knock a maverick head off, it feels like two more pop up in its place.”
“But it’s not always gonna be this way, right?” Axl said. “We just have to hold ‘em off until Weil and those guys can figure out a way to stop the virus.”
X’s jaw tightened. “I’ve heard that line before,” he replied, darkly. “You wouldn’t believe how many bright people have claimed to have found the solution, only to be proven spectacularly wrong later.”
“But didn’t Weil say something the other day about a breakthrough?” Axl insisted. “Plus, I mean, none of those other scientists had a chance to study Zero's body, did they?”
X kept silent, shutting his mind against the memory of his former partner before the despair could seep to the surface.
Axl seemed to sense this, and he pressed harder. “C’mon, X, do you honestly think that Zero would put himself out of action for so long unless he really thought something good would come out of it?”
X twisted around in Axl’s grip to face him properly. “I want to believe that, trust me,” he exclaimed. “God, Axl - peace is all I’ve ever wanted . . . but I need it to be genuine, to be forever. Otherwise, what’s the point? Going from one false hope to another - how is that any way to live?”
X's chest rose and fell with his agitation. Axl just stared at him thoughtfully, his fingertips drawing random patterns over X’s spine. His face, eternally youthful, glowed in the reddened sunlight.
X felt his breathing shift gears, distracted as he was by the familiar signals Axl was emitting. “Don’t you think --”
Axl silenced him with a long, luscious kiss. The forest around them grew hushed except for the lonely sound of the breeze threading through blackened branches.
When they parted, gasping, Axl winked at him and murmured, “Let’s worry about it later, all right? I think we should get out of here . . .”
X chuckled, his face turning crimson, and held on to his partner as Axl activated his teleporter.
* * *
Somehow, in their rush to rid each other of armor, Axl had stumbled to his knees with his arms around X’s waist, and had elected to stay there. He found a silver interface line winding around X’s hip and licked it roughly, then stretched out with both hands to rake his fingers down the back of X’s thighs.
“Mnn . . !” Leaning against his bedroom wall, X felt his body twist up with pleasure, responding sweetly as always to the attention Axl lavished upon it. It was hardly the first time that the younger hunter had seen fit to drag him away from the bleakness of his own thoughts.
Impulsively, he reached down and gathered Axl into his arms, hooking a leg around his waist to keep him close. They stared at each other, breathing hard, lips just barely touching. X marveled at how that lithe body leapt towards his touch, as he ran his thumbs down the conduits crisscrossing Axl’s chest.
They kissed and rocked against each other while flickers of energy swept across their bodies. X felt Axl’s unbridled joy washing over him like sunlight - the amazing physics that allowed them to share physical pleasure conveyed emotional data as well, and X loved that the most . . .
At once they came together, foreheads touching, shattering the silence with cries of elation. As they sank to the floor, they traded slow, sated kisses, basking in the afterglow of release.
Soon Axl gave him a parting kiss and leaned back on his heels. “You were gonna ask me what I thought, right?” he asked, flicking damp, reddish hair out of his eyes.
X blinked, remembering. “Yes . . .”
“I think . . . I think that, yeah, until the war really is over, there’s always the chance that everything we care about could be taken away from us, whether it’s the peace we’ve been fighting for, or the friends who have helped us on the way.”
X sat up and listened with interest.
“But I also think,” Axl continued with a grin, “that if we spend our whole lives afraid of losing what matters to us, and don’t try to enjoy what we have while we have it, well, then that’s no way to live, either.” He stroked a finger idly over the conduits along the inside of X’s thighs.
X couldn’t help but chuckle at himself. It was such a profoundly simple lesson in life he was receiving, and yet Axl had figured it out years before he had. The kid never ceased to surprise him.
“I guess I have a lot to learn from you, Axl,” he said, pulling the other back into his arms and sealing the conversation with a kiss. Not that I mind, either. He has pretty amazing way of getting his point across.
Fandom: Mega Man X
Characters: X/Axl
Rating: PG
Warnings: None, really. Oh, well, robots making out, I guess. Pssht.
Author's Note: This is set shortly before the onset of the Elf Wars, after Zero has committed his body to research. Written for the X/Axl challenge at Rockman Elysium over on GreatestJournal.
Whatever's Left
* * *
Nothing lasts forever.
Ashes swirled around X’s feet as he stared at the remains of a massive redwood tree. He ran a gloved hand over the scorched bark, and pieces fell away at his touch, staining his fingers black.
One of the oldest living forests on earth and all it took was one firefight to destroy the whole thing. He pressed his lips together in thought. Older than me, even.
His appearance, he knew, was ageless. He gave no outward indication of the generations he had witnessed or the trials he had endured. The reflection that stared back at him these days was the reflection of the wide-eyed rookie he had been, back when Sigma headed the Hunters and life seemed a lot simpler.
Artificial life forms were designed to last and outlast. Yet he had been unparalleled in that regard, always somehow spared the lethal shot that would retire him for good, as if some higher power insisted that he witness the events unfold that he had helped bring to pass.
Compared to the length of his vision, the world around him seemed to burn out and fade away so quickly.
He jolted suddenly as he was enveloped from behind, slender arms winding around his middle in a loose hug. Assassin, he thought dryly, even as warmth blossomed in his chest.
The maverick hunter Axl rested his chin on X’s shoulder and gave his cheek a nudge with his nose. “Everyone else has gone back to base already,” he said. “You okay?”
X smiled faintly. “I’ll live. Just . . . feeling a little discouraged, I guess.”
He felt Axl’s soft exhalation of surprise along his throat. “Really? But we’ve been after Omicron and his buddies for months now. Today’s gotta count for something.”
“Maybe, but it’s been a long time since I believed we were making real progress,” X said. “Every time we knock a maverick head off, it feels like two more pop up in its place.”
“But it’s not always gonna be this way, right?” Axl said. “We just have to hold ‘em off until Weil and those guys can figure out a way to stop the virus.”
X’s jaw tightened. “I’ve heard that line before,” he replied, darkly. “You wouldn’t believe how many bright people have claimed to have found the solution, only to be proven spectacularly wrong later.”
“But didn’t Weil say something the other day about a breakthrough?” Axl insisted. “Plus, I mean, none of those other scientists had a chance to study Zero's body, did they?”
X kept silent, shutting his mind against the memory of his former partner before the despair could seep to the surface.
Axl seemed to sense this, and he pressed harder. “C’mon, X, do you honestly think that Zero would put himself out of action for so long unless he really thought something good would come out of it?”
X twisted around in Axl’s grip to face him properly. “I want to believe that, trust me,” he exclaimed. “God, Axl - peace is all I’ve ever wanted . . . but I need it to be genuine, to be forever. Otherwise, what’s the point? Going from one false hope to another - how is that any way to live?”
X's chest rose and fell with his agitation. Axl just stared at him thoughtfully, his fingertips drawing random patterns over X’s spine. His face, eternally youthful, glowed in the reddened sunlight.
X felt his breathing shift gears, distracted as he was by the familiar signals Axl was emitting. “Don’t you think --”
Axl silenced him with a long, luscious kiss. The forest around them grew hushed except for the lonely sound of the breeze threading through blackened branches.
When they parted, gasping, Axl winked at him and murmured, “Let’s worry about it later, all right? I think we should get out of here . . .”
X chuckled, his face turning crimson, and held on to his partner as Axl activated his teleporter.
* * *
Somehow, in their rush to rid each other of armor, Axl had stumbled to his knees with his arms around X’s waist, and had elected to stay there. He found a silver interface line winding around X’s hip and licked it roughly, then stretched out with both hands to rake his fingers down the back of X’s thighs.
“Mnn . . !” Leaning against his bedroom wall, X felt his body twist up with pleasure, responding sweetly as always to the attention Axl lavished upon it. It was hardly the first time that the younger hunter had seen fit to drag him away from the bleakness of his own thoughts.
Impulsively, he reached down and gathered Axl into his arms, hooking a leg around his waist to keep him close. They stared at each other, breathing hard, lips just barely touching. X marveled at how that lithe body leapt towards his touch, as he ran his thumbs down the conduits crisscrossing Axl’s chest.
They kissed and rocked against each other while flickers of energy swept across their bodies. X felt Axl’s unbridled joy washing over him like sunlight - the amazing physics that allowed them to share physical pleasure conveyed emotional data as well, and X loved that the most . . .
At once they came together, foreheads touching, shattering the silence with cries of elation. As they sank to the floor, they traded slow, sated kisses, basking in the afterglow of release.
Soon Axl gave him a parting kiss and leaned back on his heels. “You were gonna ask me what I thought, right?” he asked, flicking damp, reddish hair out of his eyes.
X blinked, remembering. “Yes . . .”
“I think . . . I think that, yeah, until the war really is over, there’s always the chance that everything we care about could be taken away from us, whether it’s the peace we’ve been fighting for, or the friends who have helped us on the way.”
X sat up and listened with interest.
“But I also think,” Axl continued with a grin, “that if we spend our whole lives afraid of losing what matters to us, and don’t try to enjoy what we have while we have it, well, then that’s no way to live, either.” He stroked a finger idly over the conduits along the inside of X’s thighs.
X couldn’t help but chuckle at himself. It was such a profoundly simple lesson in life he was receiving, and yet Axl had figured it out years before he had. The kid never ceased to surprise him.
“I guess I have a lot to learn from you, Axl,” he said, pulling the other back into his arms and sealing the conversation with a kiss. Not that I mind, either. He has pretty amazing way of getting his point across.