It's not very often Axel goes out when he's having trouble sleeping, but in this case his body just won't let him stay still. He can't just read a book or stare at his ceiling tonight and expect sleep to come to him like it usually would; no, he's too restless for that for reasons he doesn't exactly want to think about. So later in the evening with his Organization coat just pulled over a pair of sweatpants, he sets out into the dome and just... wanders, though not too far from the apartment. He and Roxas might need their space lately, but he doesn't want to stray too far all the same.

Turning a corner, he heads into the plaza, hands shoved in his pockets and eyes focused downward, but then... he catches a scent. First it's Darkness--cold and like ash. It's a scent he distinctly remembers from Zexion's death, Vexen's assassination... and his own time lying in Betwixt and Between awaiting his own slow descent into nothingness. But where is it coming from and why? At first he thinks it might have something to do with the current curse, but, no. That doesn't make any sense, does it?

That's when the second scent reaches him and Axel stops dead in his tracks.

... It can't. Can it?

Staring at the ground, he's almost too petrified to look. Ok. He can still think straight, so he's probably not sleep walking or dreaming. And he can still see, feel, know where he is-- But is any of it real? Slowly Axel glances up and what he sees makes him tense.

Silent, Axel just stares, still unable to move much if only because he doesn't know what Saix might do. Judging from his appearance, he may not look strong enough for a fight, but he is as mysterious as the element he controls; Axel needs to stay on his guard.