May 15, 2011 | Marluxia and Axel

Sunday, May 15, 2011 | 8:00 AM

Axel written by 'Pyro Axel

MARLUXIA
Hey, Axel.

AXEL
Hey there, Marlu.

MARLUXIA
What are you up to?

AXEL
Oh, nothin’. I just got up. What about ya?

MARLUXIA
I’ve been up all night working on a new design idea. It’s a flowy top with slightly puffy sleeves that cuts off just below the pectorals. Honestly, Vexen spilled something on a favorite blouse, and it stained, so I had to… adjust the hemline. To just below the pectorals. I’m not sure what to sew onto it to extend it. I’m afraid I can’t wear it, myself.

AXEL
Huh? Why can’t you wear it?

MARLUXIA
Well, it would look rather silly over a corset. And it may be a little too small once I finish sewing.

AXEL
Oh. Make someone else wear it?

MARLUXIA
Hmm, everyone else seems far too modest, except Larxene, and the last time I asked her to wear something I made or modified, my greenhouse got electrocuted.

AXEL, D:
That’s awful.

MARLUXIA
She thought I was trying to get in bed with her.

AXEL
That girl is somethin’ else. Like, seriously.

MARLUXIA
Yes. I’m not interested in her that way and I never have been.

AXEL
She always thinks someone is interested in her.

MARLUXIA
Including Lexaeus. That was rather disturbing.

AXEL
Ew.

MARLUXIA
Indeed.

MARLUXIA shudders

MARLUXIA
Even I wouldn’t touch… that.

AXEL
Well… she tried to seduce me once.

MARLUXIA
Yes, well, you’re easier on the eyes than Lex.

AXEL
*chuckles* Lex is nice. He’s just too manly.

MARLUXIA
I don’t mind manly, but he is too butch for my tastes. Xigbar’s definitely a man, but he’s not as off-putting.

AXEL
Xigbar’s not that bad. He’s just old.

MARLUXIA blushes and tucks hair behind his ear.

MARLUXIA
He’s not that old.

AXEL
Well… I know that. But he’s definitely older than me.

MARLUXIA nods.

MARLUXIA
This is true. But I suppose it pays off. After all, he is… well, amazing.

AXEL
*chuckles* He sure is.

3 May 2011 | Désmoda diary

3:50 a.m.

DESMODA

It's been over a year since Illybrius's death. I don't think anyone, not even my own dear cousin, realises the impact his death had on me, who knew him the longest, if not the best. When he came back and had the opportunity to speak with us, it was the newcomers Akuma and Orion he chose to impart with his last words. Now he's gone.

I may have taken his death the hardest of everyone. We were close. Never as close as Maheone and he, but close enough. I suppose he thought that since I'm stronger and handle myself better than the Enzerus, I wasn't in need of a last word. He thought I'd go through it stone-faced, like I do everything else. No emotion. No tears. Just a strong guiding hand like always. No. I couldn't keep his counterpart, whose life he entrusted to me, out of trouble. I was too busy thinking about myself and my grief to keep an eye on her. What happened last month was as much my fault as it was that man's. I could have kept her away, but I didn't, and she's still suffering because of it. She and Illybrius both depended on me to protect her. It was my duty. I failed in that duty.

Foolish. I'm the reason she and Keyi didn't work out in the first place. I filled her head with intellectual elitism and closed her mind and heart against the human race because of my own suffering. I put it in her head to bully and manipulate her way into someone's bed, and for what? She made the choice, but I put it in her head!

When I came back, I promised I would take better care of her, and I haven't. I have taken care not to fill Ord's head with the same elitist fluff, but for Cinnamon, nothing. Her grades and scholastic motivation have slipped. She's hardly recognisable. As strong as she'd like to be, that man damaged her. It's my fault and I feel a disgrace. I feel I've failed Illybrius all over again.

All because I wanted to know why he didn't say goodbye to me.

It's in your hands now, Levine. Take good care of her for me and try to undo some of my mistakes.