All that was left on the kitchen counter was a note: "If you were to die. I think I'd dig a hole next to your grave and lie quietly by your bones."

He wasn't sure what to make of it. Roxas had always been a little odd when in one of those hypnotic, drug induced states. Notes were common. He'd stick each one on the little tack board in his room and forget about it until one of those nights when he was bored or feeling philosophical. Most people probably would have thrown the cryptic notes in the garbage can in disgust. After all, no one really wanted to see a friend out of their right state of mind.

Roxas wasn't one of those comical druggies. He wasn't a psychotic one either. He'd just sit in his room, facing the north wall and tap his fingers rapidly over the little notebook he always carried. Riku had never seen him without that book when he was tripping. There was one time when Roxas had misplaced it and began to have what people call a "bad trip." It ended with him huddled on the floor in a little ball until Riku finally found the damned thing under the blonde's bed and gave it to him. He had never seen the other so relieved.

So he'd sit there, facing the wall, and he'd just tap tap tap away at the little notebook until apparently, a random thought strikes him and he'd write it down. It usually ended on Riku's desk; a little note like "do yo hear the world behind the wall?" and "humans really only live about 80-90 years. That's not really all that long if you think about it Riku."

People told him he should probably be alarmed by Roxas' behavior, but the kid didn't seem to be hurting anyone so he supposed it was okay. But he never really understood those silent nights when Roxas would crawl into bed with him, curling against his side.

"I'm an excavator," Roxas would laugh silently.

"And how is that?" Riku knew better than to indulge him, but he supposed every once in a while wouldn't hurt.

"I dug all this way just to find you." By the way the blonde was kicking at the blankets, it was clear he had just spent a very long journey underneath them to find the other's body.

"And what will you do now that you've found me?" But the blonde's task was done and he was all ready silently drifting off to sleep. As his breath slowed to shallow little huffs, Riku wondered if he'd ever wake up again.

He was picking red off his fingers.

"Hey Roxas?" Sora asked from his perch on a particularly cold slab of marble.

The other responded with a noncommittal grunt from below the other's seat.

"Ever get tired of, you know, this?" Sora waved idly at the sanguine earth and the midnight sky, and at his breath, which was coming out in small puffs. It was supposedly one of the coldest nights of the year.

"At least the stars are pretty," was the blonde's answer. And Sora looked up to confirm. They were, in fact, quite clear in the winter's night sky.

"Star gazing aside, it's cold and I'm hungry, and I don't like waiting for the boss's crony to have to come and check on us." Sora huffed. Getting his pants all dirty has put him in a bad mood.

Roxas got up from where he was attempting to take a quick nap and shrugged. "Could be worse, I suppose. Could be snowing."

Sora grinned a little. This was his favorite game. "And he could have been immune to the poison."

"And you could have missed and hit yourself with the axe." Roxas joined in without missing a beat. Little, silly games like this always made them feel better. "Anyway, that's his car. Let's get going."

Sora hopped off the grave stone eagerly, and wrenched his pick axe out of the dead man's chest with a little effort.  The sharp end had pierced the guy deep and it was kind of difficult to tug it out of bone.

They walked over to the car's trunk, grabbing the necessary tools. Sora got to work chipping out the man's teeth. Sometimes the stubborn things wouldn't want to come out and he's had to cut at the gums a little with a knife so he could wrench it out with pliers. It was grueling but necessary. There were to be no teeth for a policeman's dental records.

Roxas would bleach down the area to remove any evidence before dousing the body in gasoline, setting it on fire. They'd watch the skin char and blacked for a fascinated moment before leaving the scene.

 It was going to be good to go home, eat, and wash off. Sora thought he might as well go to bed right after.

They'd need rest for the next night's job.

***
I love blood.