Chapter III: Life Illuminated
You wait for a silence
I wait for a word
Lying next to your frame
Girl unobserved
You change your position
And you're changing me
Casting these shadows
Where they shouldn't be
Another day rose upon the castle. Another work day... but in truth, every day was a work day. Never a day off, not under the Saix regime. The gray area was about as lively as a funeral for a distant family member, and in truth, that was just how Saix liked it. Calm, quiet... almost uncomfortably so for everyone else. The man himself stood in front of the wide window, looking down at his clipboard as Axel stood in front of him. Saix's usually dulled expression had started to shift into a look he isn't often seen wearing, surely not publicly anyway – who knows what kind of faces he pulled when scheming off on his own. He smiled devilishly as he looked up at Axel, who didn't find the same amusement that Saix had.
“Something funny?” Axel asked, crossing his arms casually. Saix huffed.
“You're going with the new one today.” He sneered.
Axel's emerald eyes narrowed with confusion; he failed to see what was so funny about that, but then again Saix wasn't a master comedian so there was probably some kind of malicious intent behind that smug grin. He saw Saix's eyes flick over his shoulder – his smile slowly vanishing once he spotted what had grabbed his attention. Axel half turned and saw that Xirena, accompanied by Rex, had entered the gray area. Well, she seemed to be following him in all truthfulness... Though it wasn't clear what he was saying due to how far away Axel was from them, Rex was chatting endlessly. His mouth wouldn't stop moving even for one second, not giving a chance for Xirena to speak at all. Strangely enough, she didn't seem bothered – In fact she had a look of captivation on her face the whole time Rex spoke. Every so often she would nod her head, or even laugh a tiny bit, but it was clear she had no weight in the “conversation.” Going with Xirena was Saix's idea of a joke apparently.
Without thinking, Axel fully turned and started striding over towards them. He had to tell her they'd be together that day, and someone had to rescue her from Rex's incessant babbling – and he was in the perfect position to do just that.
“Yo!” He said brightly when he reached them.
“Um, excuse me?” Rex snapped venomously, quickly dropping out of what he had been previously talking about to address Axel, “I believe I was talking, and when I talk-”
“Hi Axel!” Xirena cut him off, which no-one anticipated.
Rex's hand flew to his chest dramatically and his face had the most scandalized expression you could imagine painted on it. Being talked over isn't fun, true, but Rex always has to make such a fuss about the most minor things. You could even say he deserved it based on how he himself speaks rudely at times. In the moment of silence that followed he saw fit to make his displeasure known properly. With mouth agape and a dainty hand raised, ready to accent every word he said as he spoke with it, he turned to Xirena.
“Hon. I was speaking. And I do not appreciate being inter-”
“Hey.” Axel greeted back. His disregard for Rex was only half deliberate, as he had mostly shifted his focus to Xirena at this point, “Good morning.”
