Here's a lullaby to close your eyes

[no_resignations]

Who: no_resignations, not_obsess3d and later, got_it_memorizd
When: Sept 30th, morning
Where: Xino E. Mao offices, then Saïx's apartment
Summary: Saïx is sick. Xemnas gives him time off because he's absolutely useless like this. Axel may or may not still be Saïx's friend.
Warnings: None, as of yet.

Comments

[got_it_memorizd]

Axel had been surprised to find Melissa at Saïx's desk. Melissa, in turn, had been surprised to see Axel earlier than the deadwork for his report, and had wasted no time in telling him as much. After reminding her that unlike some of the people working for Xino Mao (cough Demyx cough), he actually tended to get his work done first and slack off later, on his own time. 'And speaking of slacking off,' he had followed up, 'where's Mr. Congeniality?'

If Axel had been surprised to see Melissa at Saïx's desk, he was actually momentarily dumbfounded to learn Saïx had gone home sick. It wasn't the first time he'd worked himself into a fever, but it had certainly been a while. He decided maybe he would have to go pay his old friend a visit, in that case--it was tradition, after all. He had to officially tell Saïx he was still an idiot workaholic. Melissa was kind enough to divulge Saïx's address, saving Axel the trouble of snooping through the personnel files, and once he had finished his allocated tasks for the time being, he helped

[no_resignations]

Saïx is actually very slow to react, blinking a few times before he seems to actually register that Axel is here. He then just looks up at Axel and blankly stare. ...Yup, he's got a fever all right. And is just as stubborn as ever. Finally, he sinks back into his pile of blankets and quietly mutters something about hallucinating.

[got_it_memorizd]

"Right, yes, you're hallucinating," Axel grumbled, his eyes winging ceilingward. "If I'd known you were that far gone I would have worn a silly hat or something, to add to the experience."

He paused a moment, then frowned at Saïx.

"Why aren't you in bed?"

Idiot.

[no_resignations]

"I'm not tired."

It's a simple answer. Really, Axel, you expected more out of Saïx? Especially when he's sick? It's all that he'll give right now, sitting there and quietly staring at the wall again.

[got_it_memorizd]

"No, you're just hallucinating, but that's certainly not a reason to go to bed or anything." He made a sibilant noise. "You're impossible, you know that? Why the hell did I even come here...?"

Why indeed? Axel was still mad at Saïx... still quite mad, really. He had every reason to be, at that! Saïx had all but cast their friendship aside, his getting into Xemnas' favor taking precedence. He had ignored him, used him... he'd tried to kill him! Why had Axel come here, anyway?

"Ah, well, you know me--I never miss an opportunity to kick someone while they're down." He narrowed his eyes, all the joking suddenly gone from his voice. "However unlike some people, I'm not an asshole, so I'll save the actual kicking part for when you're back on your feet. Can't have you claiming I beat you up with a handicap."

Right, that was it. He was here to troll him.

[no_resignations]

Keep telling yourself that, Axel. Either way, he'll quietly grumble something--and then finally acknowledge that, perhaps, Axel actually is here because there's no way he can hallucinate the correct amount of snark. So he'll blink up at Axel.

"...The couch is more comfortable than my bed at the moment."

A simple enough answer, right? And it's true. Granted, that's partly because his bed is piled with clothes he has to wash, even though they aren't that many, as well as the fact the he needs to wash the sheets to satisfy his own perfectionist (and workaholic) nature.

[got_it_memorizd]

"Let me guess: because your bed is covered in crap."

Isa had never really been a messy person (Lea had usually had that covered), but if his clothes weren't perfectly clean and folded, they were always all over the bed. Axel had thought there was no trace of his old friend left in Saïx anymore, but maybe that wasn't as accurate as he'd feared.

Giving Saïx a sour look, Axel sighed long-sufferingly and turned on his heel to head for the kitchen. He guessed which cabinet housed glasses on the second try--really, Saïx was so predictable--and filled it with water, then returned to the couch and thrust the cup forward.

"You should drink something. Something tells me you haven't."

Idiot. If he didn't know that Saïx would never in a million years let his own productivity suffer to make a point or apprise the validity of a hypothesis, Axel would wonder if this whole thing hadn't been up as a test of some sort. He still knows you, Saïx, no matter how much you've changed. Some things never change...

[no_resignations]

"...You know me too well."

And it's not entirely a compliment. It's a slightly uncomfortable truth. Axel knows him so well, he knows that the bed is uninhabitable--that he hasn't touched anything food or drink-wise since this morning, and even then, Axel likely knows him well enough to know it was only a cup of tea in an attempt to settle his stomach. Which, by the way, didn't help at all and food is now the farthest thought from his mind.

"I've only had tea this morning. It didn't exactly help."

[got_it_memorizd]

"Yeah, well, I had a lot of practice," Axel muttered.

He waited a moment, then cleared his throat when Saïx didn't take the glass from him. There was another beat of silence before Axel reached down and snagged Saïx's wrist, closing his fingers around the glass with a frustrated sigh.

"Drink it, you moron," he said. "Jeez, were you always this idiotic? I was pretty sure I was the idiotic one when we were kids." He folded his arms and scowled at him. "So how'd you wind up like this anyway?"

It wasn't like he actually cared or anything; he just wanted to know which route of ridicule to take. Yeah.