The base was mostly quiet this time of night, besides the distant chatter from a patrol echoing faintly through the walls. Axel sat alone at a small table, fingers tracing the rim of a mug of now ice cold coffee. It had been over six months since him and Simon ended their relationship, though the wound had somewhat started to heal, it still ached in moments like these - late at night with no one else and nothing else to distract Axel.

The door creaked slightly, Axel's eyes flickering up to meet the gaze looking back at him. Simon. He was standing in the doorway, the first time you've seen him this close in those last few months, only catching glances here and there. Axel's mind trailing off to the shared moments, the soft embraces, the soft and feathery kisses he'd place on his temple.

"Hey,Axel" he said and without asking, he stepped into the room and sat across from him, the silence that followed was surprisingly comfortable; the eased silence that came from knowing each other for years.

"You still drinking coffee at late hours of the night?" Simon asked with a chuckle, glancing at his untouched mug. Axel cracked a small smile and his warm eyes lit up a bit, here they were - two people with history, sharing one last unexpected moment.

"You caught me." Axel murmured, and that's when it happened... Simon let the endearing name slip, the same he used when things were good, when he was his and him were his.

"Yeah, you always were a little stubborn, weren't you, love?" Simon voice carried that familiar rough edge, but this time there was a softness threaded through it. It slipped out like a reflex, realizing too late that he crossed that line.

The moment the word left his lips, them both froze. The air between them shifted, heavier, and charged with memories and emotions that neither of two were ready to have surfaced. Axel's breath catching in his throat as his eyes flicked up to his - and for a second, it felt like neither of the two had moved on at all.