Duncan nodded, "Yeah," he lied, but the dark circles under his eyes were a dead give away. Duncan examined Axels face. "Did you sleep? Have you been crying?" he asked gently. "Whats wrong?" he asked softly.

Axel didn't really believe Duncan, but he didn't want to press. If Duncan didn't want to talk about that during the small amount of time they had he'd follow his lead. He blinked tiredly in response to Duncan's questions, lifting his shoulders in a kind of shrug. "No," he noted. Then, "I don't know." He shook his head. "I'm fine," he lied. "Just tired. Spending a night in a cell usually doesn't add up to a good night sleep," he added. He did t want to worry Duncan at all.

Duncan gave him a look. "Don't lie to me, Axel," he murmured.

Axel froze for a moment when Duncan spoke, opening his mouth and closing it again as he tried to figure out what to say. Eventually though, he figured Duncan could tell the truth of it all, so he let out a soft breath, dropping his gaze. "Fine," he noted. "Yeah, I was up. Cried." He shook his head. "I just ... I know I'm a monster," he noted, fingers tightening together where he had them clasped in his lap. "I know I deserve a cell. Hell, I probably deserve to be executed." He let out a kind of dry chuckle. "But for whatever reason you see good in me. I don't see it. I never have. I want to try but....I'm just scared I'll let you down. Done it to everyone else, no matter how hard I try."

Duncan shook his head. "No, Axel, no, don't say that, you're not going to let me down, you don't deserve a cell or to be executed, and you are not a monster," he insisted gently, taking his hands and squeezing them tight. "For what its worth, I cried too. I couldn't sleep either, the nightmares kept me up..." he trailed off.

Axel didn't argue or pull his hands away as Duncan spoke. His words and the squeeze did bring comfort to him, but he wasn't sure that was true. "I've done...more bad things than you can imagine," he protested, taking a shaky breath in. "Hell, I've probably killed more people than most of your knights," he added, shaking his head. "How can you love someone like that?" He just didn't understand it. At Duncan's next comments though, he nodded, squeezing his hand back. "I know. I wish it were different," he murmured softly.

"Because I believe people can change. And you didn't do all those things because you wanted to, you did it because you had to. You were in kill or be killed situation all the time," Duncan reassured him. "And I promise you'll never have to go back there. You'll never have to do anything like that again," he whispered. That night, Duncan couldn't sleep again. Very late in the night he got up and left his room, approaching Axels. He hid before tipping a vase over, sending it crashing onto the floor. Duncan ran to Axels room as the guards surrounding Axels room went to check on the commotion. Duncan slipped into his room undetected and shut the door behind him silently. "...Axel? Are you up?" he whispered into the darkness.

Axel just listened, nodding after a moment. Some of the tension left his shoulders as he spoke, and he offered him a small smile. "Thank you," he noted softly. The rest of their time together felt too short, and before he knew it Duncan had to leave. The rest of the day was slow ....dinner was slid in through a crack in the door, though he left it sitting on the table untouched after he'd put it there. He was just laying on the bed, trying to sleep, when Duncan spoke. He shifted to prop himself up, squinting into the darkness. "Yeah," he whispered back. "What...what are you doing? How'd you get in?" He was glad he was here, of course ...very glad. But he didn't want him to get in trouble either.

"I couldn't sleep... nightmares and all..." he whispered, walking closer. "I just distracted the guards, it was pretty easy," he explained. "Could I- um... could I stay with you tonight?" he asked, then he noticed the uneaten food. "You didn't eat?"

Axel nodded as Duncan explained he couldn't sleep, sort of reaching out to gesture him over. "Yeah, come on," he noted. "I can't sleep either," he admitted with a sigh. He glanced over at the food when Duncan brought it up, heasitating before deciding to just tell the truth and shook his head no. "I...wasn't hungry," he noted. "Even just smelling it turned my stomach," he added. It was probably just stress and the like, but still.