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Cow. [He didn't stutter.] When Tsuru was here, we met at the farm and he made a cow friend and he named the cow Ushi. I've been looking after him for the last week.

[Ushi is also Roxas's therapy cow.]

[

i see ]

Do you even know how to take care of a cow?

[............]

He seems to be doing just fine. He's eating and everything.

[ ... ]

You know cows are girls, right?

[ he looks like he's holding in laughter. ]

[........

The silence says no.]

...Tsuru didn't say anything about that!

[ it's too late he's laughing now, at least trying to muffle it behind his hand a little, because it feels inappropriate, but.

yeah

roxas don't know what cows are ]

[Me, during that pc: wait does Roxas know what the fuck a cow is.
Me, ten minutes later: no because tHERE ARE NO COWS.

So anyway, Axel starts laughing because he's RUDE and Sol's hands move to push at him to get him to stop.]

Shut up! [He's pouting, but...yeah it's sort of funny, and it's a very nice distraction from the fact one of his favorite new friends is dead.] She is doing fine then!

[ he's still muffled laughing but he tries to calm down when he's being pushed around ]

Alright, alright, glad you're taking good care of her. [ loser. ]

[A rude mom...but he's done telling Axel to shut up and settles back against Axel's side amicably. At least he's a little more calm.]

...you should probably meet her, too. [Why...?] We don't know how long we'll really be here, so may as well.

Sure, I guess. Show me your pet cow. Don't think I've ever seen one for real.

[ you can't keep it at home, roxas. ]

See? [So him not knowing cows are girls is valid, is his point, because everything he's ever learned has come from like three sources.]

...I know I should be working harder to find an answer to the universe's problem. But taking breaks is still fine, right?

'Course. [ with no hesitation. ] We can go back to the hard work tomorrow.

Well yeah. We don't really have a choice tomorrow...it's another trial day and another day we have to figure out how we can help you without saying everything we know. Definitely looking forward to that.

Believe me, that part's just as fun for us.

[ it is not. ]

But that's a problem for tomorrow. You don't gotta worry about that stuff today, man.

Then...what? [...he picks up the bowl of ice cream and holds it between them so they can actually eat it.]

[ axel takes a spoonful of melted ice cream solely so he can point the empty spoon at roxas ]

Relax, an' I never thought I'd have to tell you this, but stop thinking so much.

[ being rude is how they care ]

Yeah, okay. [He's 100% rolling his eyes under that hood. But he picks up his own spoon to scoop up some melted ice cream, too.]

...you knew before today, didn't you?

Yeah.

[ he puts a spoonful back in his mouth, speaking around it: ]

Wrote "hi Roxas" in that paper airplane I sent you.

[ ... last week. ]

[Kill him. There's a pause...and an annoyed little noise.]

I didn't even think about opening it. [Axel you jerk. But okay. Ice cream time.]

Do the girls know, too? [How obvious has he been...]

[ he gives out a little laugh, low ]

What, you think I don't recognize my best friend just because he puts on a dark hood an' masks his voice? C'mon.

[ they have done that wild goose chase of "wait that's x" so many times.

... as for the latter part, he stays quiet, for a second. ]

Naminé does. I haven't gotten around to seeing if Xion does, yet.

[ because he has not had the time to talk to xion about any of the many secrets he keeps, ha ha, ]

[That's fair. He actually ducks his head a little, sheepish for even thinking it'd be that easy.] Well maybe...[No, Axel possesses a braincell sometimes and they've been friends for a while. It makes sense.]

I thought she might...the way we talked the last time I saw her made me think. [As for Xion, there's a pause.] I don't know what Xion would do if she saw me. If she'd even stay.

[Because he's figured out Xion remembers a past right now and that past sure does end in bad news, so. Anyway.] ...Saix knows, too. [He sounds irritated saying that, especially given it's Saix and not Isa. And before Axel really asks how Saix knows:] I threw an apple at him.

I think so. I know she misses you.

[ and then oh, great, cool, awesome, we're talking about saix. love thaaaat. definitely haven't been entirely avoiding that for like, a week. or just talking about him in general even before that. ]

... 'Course he figured it out. [ he could not. sound flatter about it. ]

I miss her too, but...[Timelines suck. He doesn't finish that thought because yeah, fuck Saix. He focuses on ice cream for a bit first instead of doing anything to contribute even though he brought it up.]

He did. I didn't confirm anything for him, but he did that annoying thing where he wanted answers but didn't actually directly ask for them. [He's...petty...being in the position of power over Saix was nice until Saix started being Saix. The spoon is in his mouth for a second.]

I've figured out everybody else. But Axel...what's the last thing you remember?

[ he stays quiet through the saix rant, because he has Many feelings on saix, and all of them are, right now, Not Something He Wants To Talk About (are they ever! haha no), but. once roxas asks the question, axel hums in thought. ]

So far, I've been further ahead of everybody. Saïx is... still Saïx, but he's the one furthest ahead after me. Not that he knows that.

[ what an absolute non-answer. ]

[That tracks, a little.]

He seemed surprised to see me. [So it's a little easier to pin down Saix versus Xion. Naminé...he got an answer from her a while ago and it sucks. But also, he's been alive-ish for a while. He can kind of realize when Axel isn't answering things.

Kind of.]

And how far is that, exactly?

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