sleazeoverstyle | (no subject)

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Shit.

Shit. It's pretty much all he can do to follow through this dark nothingness at Axel's heels, and he ain't so fond of the way this feels. He's been in worse situations before, of course, and he's about 99% sure he will be again, but this place can kiss his ass. It's like drowning in a nightmare and his Electro-Mag rod's buzzing and giving off the occasional nearly-invisible spark in his left hand and yeah, he's moving as fast as he can, even though he doesn't know where the hell he's going.

Every friggin' sense is on high alert, and because sight is low on the availability scale he does what he's trained to do: ignores the pounding of his own heart, lets himself adjust to the surroundings however he can, and shuts the hell up. If this is that Void he heard about, it ain't a place he wants to stay.

In the darkness he nods to Axel in a get us the fuck out of here now kind of way.

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He knows grins like that. Not just 'cause Demyx gave him one when they talked either: he's seen 'em lots of times. He's made 'em lots of times himself, usually before he does something a little... oh, say destructive.

The time passes pleasantly enough: there's plenty of shade and one of the locals even brings over a couple drinks just to be nice -- what the fuck, who does that besides no one? -- as the afternoon turns to evening and the sun begins to set. This town of Axel's is a real sleepy one but it's cool and he's almost ready to revisit his whole thing about being able to live in a place like this. But that's just an afternoon of nothin' but friggin' lazy talking, and he knows he'd get sick of it sooner or later. Probably sooner.

The stars from here are pretty spectacular, and if he was the kind of guy who actually gave a shit about that kind of thing he'd be impressed. But a nature boy he ain't, and as the sky darkens he gives Axel an expectant look.

"What do you think? Time for the show?"

"Oh yeah," Axel says, turning to look up at the black blot of the mountain looming up over the island. Everything looks quiet, sounds quiet, but underneath, he can feel the fire, just waiting to be called out. Him, or Mother Nature, it'll happen one way or the other, and given the amount of elemental fire boiling just under the surface of everything here... sooner rather than later is always, always the option.

Axel's fingers curl a little, and his eyes narrow slightly; there's fire in them, if you look closely enough. If you know what to look for.

And the ground rumbles, as the magma shifts.

"You may want to find something to hold onto," he murmurs. He flexes his hands, and pours power into the fire under his feet; the ground directly underneath him has taken on a reddish glow in the dark, and up near the peak, from one of the lower magma vents, something red-hot nd glowing can be seen starting to ooze out.

It's a fuck of a thing, when the ground starts to rumble underfoot like that. He's walked through every single friggin' Mako reactor in his world and he knows what it feels like when raw power's harnessed: it's an unmistakable feeling and he likes the rush you get from it... a lot. There's elemental things that just turn him right the fuck on.

Maybe him and Axel ain't so different at heart. Fire, electricity: it's all there, it's all cool.

And as the lava starts to flow, he grabs onto a nearby tree branch and even that's humming and resonating with whatever it is Axel's doing.

It's a hell of a show: his kinda-sorta twin was right. It's way better against the backdrop of black sky, with the sound of the ocean in the background. When that lava hits the water -- if it runs that far -- it's gonna make a great friggin' sound.

Oh, it'll get that far; there's enough for that right now, even if there's not enough for a really big show. But the bright glowing red is oozing quickly down the side of the mountain now, following the easy path already carved by the earlier eruption.

The villagers have stopped their usual activities, to look and point, and chatter excitedly. Another eruption hadn't been expected this soon.

A little while longer, and it has enough momentum to keep itself going.

Axel's hands relax, and he sits... not quite hard, but it's clear he's been going to some effort. And he laughs.

That laugh makes him smile, right there in the darkness where no one can see him. No one except Axel, that is, and he ain't looking.

"That's somethin' friggin' else." He sits now too, cross-legged next to Axel, and watches the lava flow down from the top of that mountain. It inches but it's mesmerizing as anything and he appreciates it.

"Nice doin'. Yeah, my boss would hire you in a second. You ever decide you want to go into pro... Administrative Research and if you get sick of the end of the universe, let me know."

His world just might be big enough for both of 'em.

There's still a laugh in his voice when he replies.

"If you ever need a freelancer for some asset liquidation-" yeah, he's pretty damned sure Reno will get that "-let me know, and I'll try your world on for size."

He leans back on his elbows, and watches his lava flow, red, and burning, and gorgeous.

"Fuck but I could use an Ether after that though."

The whole asset liquidation thing makes him laugh all over again, until Axel mentions Ether.

"Where do you gotta go to get one of those?" It ain't a drink he's heard of, but he never considered himself stupid. This whole other worlds thing is startin' to... not make sense, but become a little more normal or more expected. He learns fast.

And he thinks he can feel the heat from the volcano all the way over here.

"Item shops, and Moogles, usually," Axel replies. "I probably have one in my pockets, as soon as I can be bothered to look."

"Lucky bastard." All he has in his pocket -- since his ain't magic -- is a Phoenix Down and some gil and his Shin-Ra ID. Ain't nothing there gonna ease his thirst, but that's cool. The volcano alone is so pretty it don't matter.

Somewhere deep inside, he knows this is a once-in-a-friggin'-lifetime thing for him. So he just kicks back and watches.

Just like one of the natives, except not at all.

Axel eventually gets around to rummaging an Ether out of his pocket, a little blue cube of cool, crunchy, faintly-glowing blue, and pops it into his mouth. It helps with the amount of magic he spent on the volcano.

The direction of the wind shifts carrying heat off the flowing lava. It makes Axel's grin widen for a moment.

Sometimes, people look at him and think he's got to be a fool. That he does things the way he does for whatever reason, unknown to them, and it can't make a lot of sense so he has to be an idiot. They'd be sadly mistaken though: he's actually pretty friggin' smart, and a street-smart survivor after a fashion, and pretty much fearless. So what if he doesn't like getting close to people? They always go their own way anyhow, and who gives a fuck about that, right? He's still smart and he still knows how to take care of himself and how to appreciate what he's got.

Friendships come to him slowly, mostly because he doesn't trust another friggin' soul and he's full of distrust because life's taught him to be full of distrust. So this bonding over fire shit is only gonna carry him so far but still, it's cool.

In fact, it's very cool. He can feel the hot breeze on his face and he knows literally moving mountains with magic has to kind of suck it out of a guy but Axel's there smiling, cool as a friggin' cucumber, admiring the shit out of his own handiwork.

"Now that's what I call nice special effects." Reaching over, he cuffs his not-really-a-twin on the shoulder but he's still a little mesmerized by the lava flow. You hear about mountains erupting and expect some big-ass explosion and steam clouds high in the air and shit, but this... this might be even cooler than that. It's like this slow burn escaping from the planet's core and all of a sudden he gets it: that's this planet's Lifestream, for what it's worth. And that ain't something you get to see every day.

"If I wanted to, I could put every pyrotechnician in the multiverse out of business." Okay, maybe he's exaggerating a little - the whole multiverse would require time travel, probably, and what little he knows about that is that it's really, really dangerous.

Still, Axel feels that he's entitled to some bragging, anyway.

"All of 'em, huh? So you're ugly and humble, glad to know it." He stands, dusts off his suit and shirt -- for what, he has no friggin' idea, like he actually cares about it looking neat and tidy? Not a chance -- and watches the lava flow. It's been one fuck of a show, but his throat's telling him they've been here for hours and shit, he's thirsty.

There's a bar at the end of the universe accessible around here someplace.

"Just let me know when you're ready to go," Axel says. "I could watch this all night."

And then go take a dip, and not in the ocean.

There is something about it and he has to give the guy that much: it's cool. Cool in a hot kind of way, but he still wants to see this... door to the bar just appear out of nowhere if that's what's gonna happen. He's all about the watch-and-learn aspect of whatever way it works.

He likes the way the lava meets the water with a steamy hiss and he likes the way it glows orange against the backdrop of black. With their faces lit only by the stars and the lava, he nods to Axel.

"Nice job there, partner. And I could go whenever you're ready." Yeah, paradise might be great, but it ain't for him.

Axel laughs again, and rolls up to his feet.

"All right, all right. Come on, let's find a door."

He heads back to the middle of town, where there are a whole lot of doors to choose from. Open, locked, unlocked...

"Pick a door, any door."

"Any door?"

This probably ain't a contest, and Axel did say any door. So he doesn't take a whole lot of time to consider. Instead, he just points to one that's got the number seven on it 'cause... that number actually means something to him in a half-assed kind of way.

"That one."

His left hand's at the ready for his Electro-Mag Rod, just in case this works out in what they might call an "unexpected way."

In the distance, the lava flows on. It doesn't give a shit if they stay or go.

"All right," Axel agrees. He checks the doorknob - it's unlocked - and pushes it open, displaying the entryway of the building. He closes it again, and then concentrates very hard on Milliways. The spoon is in his pocket, so it should work, since any door can lead there.

Next time he opens the door, on the other side is The End Of The Universe.

"Ta-da."

Now that makes him do one hell of a double-take.

"That door. At first it was just... and then you... and it... what the fuck did you do to get it to open here?" His hand meets the door like it's some sort of friggin' special lifeline, but it feels just like any other door he's ever laid a hand on.

And then he steps through, and just like that, he's in a whole other world. He turns to Axel and gives him a Look, capital L and everything.

"You gonna join me, or you still too in love with mooning over your fiery handiwork?" A smile breaks out on his face, though: that was really something.

Axel follows him through, and leans against the wall.

"All you have to do is really really want it," he explains. "It's metaphysics."

"And the stolen silverware has nothing to do with it, right?" But he grins and smooth as anything, lifts a clean butter knife off a nearby table. It meets the Phoenix Down and ID card and money in his pocket and he pats it from the outside.

"Hey. That was cool. Thanks." He might be every bad thing everyone's ever accused him of being -- he probably won't even argue the point -- but he knows how to be appreciative when it's due.

And now when he's back home, he's got something new to practice.

Metaphysics: gotta love it.

"The silverware just makes it easier," Axel says. "As far as I can tell. I don't usually use the door."

Then he's gotta thank his less stellar but more incendiary twin for showing him how to do it. Hey, he ain't without gratitude where it's due. He even says thanks to whatever woman he wakes up next to in the morning... usually. Nope, he's only an asshole by a short shot, not the long one.

"I'll let you know how it goes for me gettin' back here. One way or another, you'll hear about it." Again, he pats that knife in his pocket -- he's sure the cost for it'll get on his tab even though he tries to keep a zero balance -- but if it don't, he'll just consider it a sign the place wants him back.

"And thanks again for the little excursion. You do good work." And that's about enough of that: he knows what guys like him get like after too many compliments, so he won't do it. Besides, he sure as fuck doesn't want Axel expecting them from him. "See ya."

It's time to see what's shakin' back in Midgar, so without waiting any longer he heads for the front door and opens it up. Outside, it's still late afternoon, just like it was when he left. Score one for metaphysics, and score another for the whole concept of not looking a gift horse in the mouth. It's something he never does anyhow.

"Hey. Rude. There you are. Going up to Healin with me next time, right? The boss needs someone to beat at cards."

If his partner notices a door closing, he doesn't say anything about it. Then again, he never talks much anyway.

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