"Pumpkin pie brains, eh?" He 'hmm'd aloud. "Sounds like a zombie delicacy if you ask me." Had Riku been well, Axel might have pulled his hand away, but it was no fun picking on somebody who was under the weather--that was like cheating. Pulling him to his feet, Axel snorted a laugh. "Right, next you'll be asking me to stick my hand in the pot of boiling water. I'm onto you..."

Releasing Riku's hand, Axel stepped aside and made a gesture toward the end of the hall, where Riku's room was.

"Go," he said. "I can't pester you if you're sick, that's just mean." Axel was many things, but he was rarely outright mean. "I'm'a go back to my birds and pigs, but I guess ah..." He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Holler if you're dying, or something."

It would be even harder to pester him if he was dead. Again.