Chapter 4
“Partial Truth and the Trip”


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Axel sat back on the couch, mulling over the just recent event of being asked to come with Roxas on a three day trip. The prospect was unbelievably tempting. Three days with the blonde. Three whole fucking days. Anything could happen in three whole fucking days.

Most importantly, sex could happen in three whole fucking days. Emphasis on the fucking bit.

As the red-head watched Roxas’s cute butt sway away from him into another room, presumably the kitchen, Axel couldn’t help but frown. They lived in humble little Hollow Bastion City, Ohio. Baltimore, Maryland... was not near Hollow Bastion, Ohio. At all. There was a huge mass of Pennsylvania between them. That was at least a six hour drive.

Check a map, he was totally right.

Staring down at the dull plaid pants he was wearing, Axel found himself musing and going through mental calculation. This “Otakon” was in a week. What exactly did one do at an anime convention? He didn’t have many friends who were fans of that stuff. Demyx and Zexion dabbled in some weird ya-wee or ya-yo shit in their spare times, he knew that. The two refused to ever elaborate on what exactly it was, though. Other than that, Axel may have caught an episode of Pokemon or something on TV once more twice. That was anime, right?

With a light sigh and another stretch of his limbs, the red-head moved to tug his phone out from his pile of clothes by the couch. When he had changed into Roxas’s stuff, he hadn’t had anywhere else to put it.

As it so happened, the huddle of jeans and a shirt was inhabited by a familiar furry thing.

“You just can’t stop bothering me, huh?” Axel shoved Mickey out of his clothes and continued his search for his cell phone. The spotted cat purred at him briefly before stalking away upstairs, presumably offended. The motorcyclist paid the pet no mind, having already flipped open his phone. Two missed calls, both from Demyx. Ah well. They could wait. He had more important matters to deal with at the moment. Such as Roxas yelling at him from the other room.

“Oi! Do you want coffee or what?” The annoyed blonde’s voice filtered into the living room. Axel could just pick up a faint smell of the hot morning drink starting to permeate into the room. He grinned.

“Coffee? You making me breakfast, Roxas?” Axel called back, sitting back on the couch to prop his head on the pillow. He was quite comfortable here; he didn’t want to get up. The bright morning rays were filtering in through the windows as the large fiery thing rose over the horizon...

Axel did a double-take. He could’ve sworn than Roxas had said it was almost noon. By the way the sun had just risen, it wasn’t even past 10:00. A check of the time on his cell phone confirmed it. It was just about 9:30 now.

Roxas. The sneaky bastard, tricking him into making him wake up early. Now Axel was definitely not getting up. Resolute in his decision, he smirked to himself and burrowed back under the blanket. Breakfast could wait, too.

As soon as he had dozed off again, several cries from Roxas to come get his damn coffee going by unnoticed, the blonde had stormed back into the living room, looking irked, with two steaming coffee mugs in his hands. His mood didn’t improve when he spotted that the red-head had just decided to get back to sleeping.

Axel had probably noticed the actual time. Roxas frowned, staring at the sleeping red-head. Axel had stretched out as far as he could on the couch, one arm tucked beneath his head, the other flopped out over the blanket. Roxas’s expression softened as he observed the older boy, setting down the ceramic mugs onto the nearby coffee table. All the while, his eyes grazing over a slightly open mouth, a twin set of red tattoos, mussed crimson spikes splayed out over a pillow. Axel almost looked like... like...

An asshole who wouldn’t wake up and get his damn coffee.

Roxas’s attention was snatched up by a sudden tune playing from the floor. It almost sounded like Beethoven’s 5th, if not for the fact that it was muffled. Even odder, the song appeared to be playing from a pile of clothes by the couch. Axel’s clothes. With a quirk of an eyebrow, Roxas squatted down to ruffle a hand through the jeans and shirt, knuckles eventually scrapping against a wildly vibrating plastic object.

“Huh. A call from Marluxia. What’re the odds.” muttered Roxas, a small grin lighting up his face as he observed the phone he had just discovered. He glanced over at the slumbering Axel, then back to the phone, before flipping it open.

“Hello?”

“Axel?” A confused, deep voice came from the other end. Roxas could only imagine what this freak looked like who had made Axel get into this bet. He probably had a funny hair cut and wore pink all the time or something. It was a stretch, but Roxas wasn’t in the best of moods.

“Axel’s a little busy at the moment.” He smirked, looking back to watch the comatose Axel. “Can I take a message?”

Marluxia paused for a moment, silence stretched out between them before he spoke. “Wait, is this Roxas?”

The man had figured it out faster than Roxas had hoped. “It is. Like I said, can I take a message?”

“Where’s Axel?”

Coffee forgotten, Roxas tilted his head to one side, foot tapping the floor impatiently now. This Marluxia just didn’t know how to take a hint. “He’s right in front of me, sleeping.”

There was a surprised laugh. “Wait, what, you guys slept together already?”

Roxas’s jaw dropped. “What? No! Why the hell would I do that? The guy’s an asshole, why would I sleep with him?” He hissed into the phone, unaware of Axel’s stirring.

“Whatever, kid, keep talking.” Roxas was almost certain that Marluxia was smirking now. “Anyway, can you tell Axel that we’re meeting at Zex’s tonight? Larxene cancelled. Oh, you’re invited, too, blondie.”

“Blondie-what-you...” spluttered the lifeguard, but he only received a cheery “See ya!” in response before the line went dead. Roxas could almost feel a headache coming on. It seemed that he was well-known in Axel’s group of friends. Typical.

In irritation, the blonde flung Axel’s phone back into the clothes pile. Fuming, he glared at the wretched thing, then realized that he had an even better thing to take his feelings out on. Axel himself. Snapping his head up, he turned his furious gaze on the slumbering idiot, only to see that Axel was awake and grinning.

“You shouldn’t have picked up the phone.” The older teen snickered, both hands folded behind his head now. Amused smile growing at Roxas’s growing frustration, Axel’s stuck his tongue out impishly. Roxas stared at him a moment longer before a growl ripped from his throat. The blonde unexpectedly flung the blanket off of Axel’s body.

“Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?”

That was the first thing Roxas managed to blurt out as he stared at Axel’s splayed out body. Before he knew it, his eyes were roaming over the pale chest, the light abs chiseled into his torso, and, to his horror, they got stuck on the nipples. The nipples. What was he, a pervert? He tore his gaze away to look Axel in the face, trying to ignore the knowing smirk stretching the red-head’s lips.

“It’s summer, Roxas. It’s hot during the night.” Axel whined mockingly, running his fingers through his hair in a vain attempt to fix up the spikes.

Roxas scowled at Axel, forehead crinkling with annoyance before he snorted and proceeded to turn on his heel, ready to return to the kitchen. “Whatever.” He didn’t have to deal with this. The idiotic red-head wasn’t even supposed to be here anymore.

Unfortunately, his disgruntled retreat was restricted by the surprisingly strong legs that had come up to wrap around his waist in a pincer-like movement.

“The hell are you doing?” growled Roxas, craning his head backwards to shoot Axel the most murderous glare he could manage. This morning was proving to be too much. First the phone call, now this. “Get off.”

“No.” chuckled Axel, crossing his legs neatly at the ankles to make sure Roxas wouldn’t get away; he sat up slightly to snatch at Roxas shirt and tug him back. “I don’t want you to go yet. You owe me a good morning kiss for waking me up too early.”

“I don’t owe you anything.” Roxas tried to tug himself away, turning in place to face Axel, who looked quite comfortable for one who was stuck keeping his legs raised in a position like that. Shifting himself, Roxas’s stomach made gentle contact with the red-head’s groin and he frowned as the red-head’s next words.

“You know you want to.”

Roxas snorted lightly, crossing his arms over his chest, keeping firm eye contact with Axel. “I still haven’t forgiven you for the shit you pulled on me for the bet.” The blonde’s eyes narrowed. “Otakon or not.”

“But you love me.” crooned Axel innocently, squeezing the blonde gently with his legs. “And you want me to come with you on that stupid trip because you’d miss me, otherwise.”

“What makes you think that you’ve wriggled that far into my life already?”

Roxas thought back to the week of morning woods caused by dreams of the red-head. The red-head that actually had wriggled into his life after that ridiculous incident back at Seven Eleven. The red-head that had then shown up at his pool and practically seduced him again. The red-head then had managed to work out the situation so that he stayed the night at Roxas’s house. The red-head with his sly grins and sneaky laughs. The red-head who was currently shirtless and lying on his couch, flannel pants illegally low on his hips. The red-head who had trapped him in-between his legs and was trying to look innocent, but failing miserably.

Roxas gulped slightly, realizing what he had gotten himself into, if the devilish little grin Axel was giving him told him anything.

“You haven’t kicked me out yet, right?” pointed out Axel. “Because I know you’re not gonna protest about what I’m about to do.”

“What’re you gonna do-gah!” Roxas’s question was cut short as Axel abruptly snatched out at the blonde’s shirt and pulled hard, dragging the smaller boy down to flop onto him awkwardly. A swift little upward tug of his legs also had Roxas’s ankles tangled up with the red-head’s on the couch as the Roxas tried to scrabble for something to prop himself up on that wasn’t Axel.

His hands found purchase on the cushions after he had hastily slid his hands over Axel’s bare chest. Damnit. That hadn’t been intentional. Looking murderous again, and hoping that the flush over his cheeks wasn’t too noticeable, Roxas pushed his upper body up, bangs flopping into his eyes.

“I’m protesting. There’s no way you’re getting away with anything in my house. Or on this couch.”

To his surprise, Axel merely shrugged, clasping his hands over his chest as he shifted back into the sofa cushions. “Then let’s talk.”

“Now? Like this?” Roxas blinked, ignoring the warmth that was travelling into his body that was spreading into his from Axel’s.

“Yeah. Talk. Tell me about this Otakon thing.” Axel tilted his head to the side, red spikes shifting over the pillow as his green eyes glittered up at the flabbergasted blonde.

The truth was that Axel didn’t want Roxas to be so angry at him. Really, the blonde needed to take a few chill pills and calm down. He was always so cranky around him. So a little bit of talk while the red-head had Roxas where he wanted him would hopefully cool the flustered idiot. He obviously hadn’t gotten over the bet, even with the Otakon invitation, so Axel would have to prove that his intentions were sincere. Well. Most of them.

“You want to know now?” Roxas’s arms were already shaking from propping himself up for so long. The problem was solved shortly after as Axel’s arms teased around his waist, tugging the blonde back down onto himself. Roxas collapsed with a soft ‘mph’, arms flopping uselessly now on either side of the red-head.

Axel laughed softly in response, chest vibrating slightly. “Now’s a good time as any. Especially since it’s not actually noon and we have the whole morning to discuss.”

“Hmm.” Roxas propped his chin up so that he could at least see Axel’s face. His tone changed to a more serious one as his blue eyes flashed past the blonde bangs crowding his forehead. “How about you tell me the real reason you came to Seven-Eleven a week ago, instead?”

“Heh.” Axel sighed softly, fingers gently now pressing into Roxas’s hips in a sort-of massage. He mused about the question, eyes flicking towards the ceiling. “I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you.”

“It’d make me feel better, at least..” Roxas frowned. “Because right now, I’m pretty pissed off at you.”

Axel’s fingers moved now to start doodling over his sides and Roxas felt his body go slack as he relaxed. The blonde closed his eyes tiredly. “You don’t have a very credible story for one who just wandered into a convenience store for the sake of a fucked up bet and ended up giving me a hand-job.”

The red-head winced slightly. “You had to put that so bluntly, didn’t you?”

Roxas said nothing, a motionless, splayed-out lump on top of Axel. The red-head’s legs remained meshed with his, ensuring that the blonde couldn’t escape. The living room, lit brightly with the morning sun, went silent as Axel searched for the right words to say and Roxas sighed in resignation. He knew it, the idiot didn’t have a good reason. There wasn’t any other purpose for his coming than the bet.

What had he been expecting? A declaration of adoration? It was fate? Roxas would have rolled his eyes if they were open. As if. Things like that didn’t happen anymore. Axel probably just wanted a good fuck and-

“It’s complicated.” Axel said suddenly, breaking through Roxas’s train of thought, arms involuntarily tightening around the smaller boy. He stared off past the blonde spikes, frowning to himself.

“Lemme guess.” Roxas smirked grimly, sitting up just slightly again to cross his arms over Axel’s to hold himself up. “Love at first sight?”

“No. And not to get into your pants, either.” At Roxas’s disbelieving snort, the red-head protested, nudging Roxas’s sides with pokes. “No, really! I’m serious! That wasn’t the whole reason.”

The blonde continued bitterly snickering to himself, shaking his head. “Yeah, alright.”

Axel eyed the crooked little grin on Roxas’s lips and pouted just slightly. “You don’t believe me.”

“Of course I don’t! Give me one good reason I should.”

Axel still didn’t know how exactly to phrase what he wanted to say; ‘I saw you one night and thought you were completely adorable?’ or ‘I just wanted to meet you and get to know you better, because you look so fuckable when you’re angry?’

Yeah, ok.

With a slow exhale, Axel decided it would be better if he tried things his own way. Things would be so much easier if he had a cigarette, but now really wasn’t the time. He eyed the suspicious glint in Roxas’s gaze and shrugged, skimming his hands still idly up and down the blonde’s side. Roxas had yet to protest about it.

“You know how sometimes when you go into a new class in the beginning of the school year and you kind of automatically can tell who you can be friends with and who you’d rather stay away from?”

Roxas didn’t see where this was going, but his face went blank as he listened, head dropping to rest his chin on his folded arms. Axel continued.

“That’s how it was for me. I saw you before, from across the street from the Seven-Eleven, at the gas station.”

Roxas nodded in understanding, saying nothing.

“And there you were. I dunno, it wasn’t a sort of flash of light thing, but you looked cute and that’s when I thought it’d be cool to meet you and get to know you one day.”

“And then get into my pants.” Roxas concluded shrewdly.

Axel laughed gently. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Very poetic explanation.” The bland comment from Roxas had Axel laughing harder. Roxas couldn’t help but allow the tense mood to lift and he found himself relaxing again. He had unknowingly stiffened during Axel’s mini-speech. Axel’s enthusiastic laughs had his stern frown lifting upwards just slightly.

“Drama major.” Axel finally grinned. “I can’t help myself.”

The blonde couldn’t fight back the intrigue. Drama? An unbidden image of Axel dressed in Shakespearean attire, spouting Olde English to a skull came to his mind. And that, in itself, was completely bizarre. Roxas’s eyebrows lifted as he stared at the motorcyclist who was still warming the skin at his hips. “A drama major? Seriously?”

“Three years of it so far at RGU.” nodded Axel. “Along with minors in other stuff, but I don’t like them as much as my theater shit.”

Roxas allowed that slice of information to sink in, one part of him curling in horror. Axel was going to the same college as him, oh god oh god no. Then, a second bit reared up in anger, instead.

“See, this is what annoys me the most!” Roxas blurted out suddenly, sitting up again as Axel twitched in surprise. “We’ve already gotten this far, but I don’t know anything about you! We haven’t even introduced ourselves properly to each other.”

Axel blinked, searching Roxas’s angry features. The blue eyes were flashing in irritation. It was true, though. The two had met randomly and were practically strangers. He had just found out Roxas’s age the other day. Naturally, he had sighed in relief to himself that the kid wasn’t underage. He didn’t think he could’ve dealt with actual legal problems, like having sex with a minor. Roxas was enough trouble as it was.

He lifted one hand to scratch at his head, tattoos on his cheeks shifting as he pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Do you want to start over, then?”

“I think it’s a little late for that.” Roxas’s lips were curling. Damn, did the blonde have a short temper. Luckily, Axel could handle it.

“It’s never too late for something like this. Let’s start. Name, age, school.” Axel wiggled his body slightly to prop his shoulders up on the pillow. Extending his free hand, the red-head smiled. “Axel Hotaru, age 21, going to be a senior at Radiant Garden University..”

Roxas stared down with a blank expression at the proffered hand, then back at Axel’s grinning face. “You’re kidding.” He said dully, both in terms of what Axel had just said, and the entire idea of the introduction. The red-head’s eager expression didn’t fade. In fact, he seemed to look even more amused.

“No...” Axel shook his head slowly. “That’s not what you say. You start out with ‘My name is Roxas...’”

Roxas snorted, irked slightly at the slow manner in which Axel was speaking, but grudgingly gave in. He tugged out arm out from underneath himself and grasped Axel’s hand firmly, shaking it. “Roxas Mitsu...”

“Mitsu’s a kick-ass last name.” Axel abruptly interrupted. “Sounds Japanese. Does it mean anything?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah.” Roxas squinted one eye briefly, recalling back to what his high school sensei had told him. “It means either light or honey.”

Axel smirked to himself, and Roxas, not noticing, continued. “Anyway... I’m eighteen. And going on to be a freshman at...” The blonde hesitated, coming to a halt again, reluctant to suddenly give out the certain tidbit of detail.

“Yes...?” Axel raised an eyebrow as their slow handshake finally ended. The drama major placed Roxas’s hand onto his shoulder before returning his own to the blonde’s side.

“... at Radiant Garden University.” mumbled out Roxas, flushing suddenly. His fingers twitched. He braced himself for whatever Axel was about to throw at him, be it laughter or promises of seducing him every time they would meet in the halls. It seemed like the Axel thing to do.

Instead, the red-head threw Roxas for another loop. He ‘hmm’-ed and nodded instead, still watching the blonde intently. “Cool. Maybe I’ll see you there. RGU’s a good school, you’d probably like it. What’re you majoring in?”

“Well, I got in with a swimming scholarship,” Roxas felt his foul mood lifting and continued. “But I’m going for Communications right now.”

Axel tilted his head again. “Like media and video and news anchoring?”

“Yeah, something like that.” The blonde’s lips lifted in a small smile. He couldn’t help but notice the way Axel’s legs were still wrapped around his protectively or how strangely comfortable he was, lying on top of Axel. And yet here they were, having what would otherwise be a perfectly normal conversation, sprawled across his living room couch, going through introductions, no less. The strangest part was that Roxas couldn’t bring himself to admit that he didn’t like it.

Like he didn’t want to acknowledge how Axel was warm and his presence was reassuring. His laughter and grins were infectious. How was it that even after having a rather cold exchange, they had picked the conversation right back up just as easily?

“Well, Roxas Mitsu, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” Axel’s eyes gleamed in the morning air. “Let’s make out.”

Now, that wasn’t going according to plan. “Wh-what? Mph!”

Axel’s hand had come sneaking up to curl around the back of his head, threading through the blonde spikes that were still as soft as ever before tightening his grip and pulling him down into a kiss. It seemed that this was the only way to shut him up.

Roxas, to give him credit, tried to struggle at least a little bit. Surely, not now, on the couch? He tried to push at Axel’s shoulders to release him, but the red-head had a good grip on his waist. So intent was Roxas on struggling that he hardly noticed how the lips moving against his were growing more insistent. He did, however, manage to register the tightening on his hip, but a fraction too late as Axel rolled them over, sandwiching the blonde between the back of the couch and himself.

“Axel!” Roxas suddenly gritted out, hands scrabbling over the red-head’s bare chest. “Get the fuck off!”

“No, the time for talking is over...” murmured Axel, fingers smoothing through Roxas’s hair. The red-head had obligingly held off on the snogging thus far, but enough was enough. It was early morning and he had had the blonde sprawled over his body for the past five minutes. It was time for a little reward for his good behavior. Going with that thought, Axel focused back in on the scowling, but obviously defeated blonde. The ruffled hair and scowling face look fit Roxas, strangely enough. Sexy disgruntlement, perhaps?

Axel lowered his mouth to Roxas’s ear, feathering his lips gently over it. “I want to see if you taste like honey, Roxas Mitsu.”

“D-Damnit Axel...” Roxas squeaked out as a particularly sharp bite to his ear sent shivers down his spine. He couldn’t handle this now. Not when his feelings about Axel were in such a jumble. Not when Axel was using his low purring voice again. Of course, the pile of his mixed emotions - the anger, the annoyance, the lust, the confusion - all of it got crushed into one and tossed out of his mind as slim, warm finger tips snuck beneath his shirt and coasted over his chest. “Not on the damn couch...”

His protest gurgled into a soft sigh. Axel returned to kissing, teeth darting out to snatch Roxas’s bottom lip, swiping his tongue over it as well. Another tender nibble to the flesh had Roxas taking in a shaky breathe and Axel was more than eager to plunge inside the open mouth, tongue swiping over every part it could reach, smoothing over the blonde’s tongue, instigating it into action. Roxas remained stubborn and unmoving.

As Axel pulled back, Roxas couldn’t resist a small smug expression as he watched Axel lick his lips, green eyes glazed.

“So?" He murmured. "Like honey?”

“Mm.” Axel rolled his hips gently, Roxas hissing in response as a part of his lower body twitched in response. The husky voice was melting over him, sending goosebumps over his arms.

“Better than honey, even.”

The blonde laughed gently at the compliment, spark returning after the initial shock of being pinned to a couch. “I wouldn’t say the same about yourself.”

The red-head nudged their bodies another quarter-turn, finally managing to get Roxas underneath him. Their original positions were reversed now. With the blonde splayed out like that, yellow spikes fallen haphazardly over the pillow and arms lying uselessly by his side, he looked practically edible. Axel marveled at how he had managed to wait it out so long to get around to this. Head cocked to the side, he acknowledged Roxas’s comment.

“Oh?”

There was a ‘hrm’ in reply, but Roxas didn’t have a chance for a full sentence as the same pair of warm hands returned to traveling up and down beneath his shirt. He shuddered. Axel was purring again. Damn red-head and his feline noises.

“What do I taste like, then?” asked Axel, nudging the tips of their noses gently together as his thumbs harshly flicked at the blonde’s sensitive nubs on his chest.

Roxas groaned, eyes fluttering shut as a sly smirk quirked the tips of his lips. “I dunno, you might have to refresh my memory.”

The flirtatious tone in the blonde’s voice was more than enough to get Axel to dive back in again. This time, Roxas was ready. As their mouths opened and tongues slipped out to contest against each other, the blonde grabbed Axel’s wrists, stopping his movements as he pushed his lips back against the red-head’s.

Axel himself was occupied, biting at Roxas’s swollen lips teasingly and occasionally shifting his hips down. As their mouths moved slowly against each other, the red-head shifted his body to lie in-between Roxas’s legs, knee brushing over the obvious bulge in Roxas’s sweatpants. Eventually, the two needed to pull away again. The need to breathe had overpowered the two of them. Roxas was the first to move his head back, breaking the thin connecting trail of saliva between them.

“Cigarettes.” he panted, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before shifting his arms to wrap them around Axel’s neck. “Why am I not surprised?”

“You know you like it.” Axel was free to move again. He was eager to investigate the blonde’s body, to see the tempting tan line and the pale inner thighs. But first things first: the shirt had to go. Being shirtless himself, he was eager to have skin-on-skin contact again. The memory of the previous day in the pool office was still fresh in his mind.

His fingers slipped beneath the light material and tugged upward. Roxas didn’t protest, but merely lifted his arms to allow the clothing to slide free. His blue eyes followed the trail of descent as his shirt was flung away, only to be brought back by a particularly sharp bite to his neck, followed by gentle licks and sucking of the skin. That was going to leave a mark.

“Wonder if it tastes like honey somewhere else...” Axel was laughing lowly, his heated breath smoothing over Roxas's own flaming skin as he traced his lips over Roxas’s collarbone, the blonde starting to squirming in place from the attention.

Roxas was losing his ability to respond. The touches and kisses were just like the ones back at the pool, they were turning his brain to mush while setting his body aflame. He whimpered gently as a mouth wrapped around one of his nipples, sucking at it.

“A-Axel...” He grit his teeth, back already arching slightly in response to the ministrations to his chest. He was getting hard, he really couldn’t fight it anymore, not since his treacherous body knew that he wanted it. Axel hummed, giving the right nipple one last teasing bite before moving to the other one. All the while, his hands snuck down, slipping beneath the waistband of Roxas’s pants to curl around and cup the blonde’s tempting butt. Roxas squeaked in response, the hands he had linked behind Axel’s neck shaking.

It didn’t take long to Axel to move on, planting light kisses on his way down, hair trailing over his shoulders to tickle Roxas’s sensitive stomach. As he paused to tenderly nuzzle the warm, quivering tummy, he tugged down Roxas’s pants, slowly, teasingly, making sure that the waistband dragged right over the blonde’s erection, dragging out another low moan from him.

Eagerly, Axel lifted himself to watch as he revealed more skin, inch by inch, until the pants were lifted free of Roxas’s ankles and were flung away to the floor to join the shirt. He had been right. Roxas had a viciously obvious tan line. From low on his hips, the sun-kissed color changed drastically to a soft, pale hue, returning back to the honey-brown just above his knees. The boy’s thighs looked so touchable, Axel found himself staring at them with glazed over eyes as he ran his fingers gently over the dips in Roxas’s hips, sliding the tips past the tan-line.

Roxas unexpectedly pushed his hips upward and tugged at Axel’s neck, drawing all of Axel’s attention to the hard cock not too far away from his face. The red-head looked up to see the flushed face of the boy beneath him, swallowing. “Have you ever done anything like this before?”

An eye twitched. Roxas suddenly glared and from Axel’s view, it looked too cute.

“Does it really matter?”

The red-head coasted his hands over Roxas’s inner thighs, keeping the younger teen hot and bothered as he kneaded at the pale flesh. “To me, it does, but I suppose not.”

There was a harsh pull on Axel’s hair. Roxas’s toes were curling in need. Damnit, why didn’t Axel do anything already? He had Roxas right where he wanted him, lying beneath him, now completely naked. “Just go...”

The red-head’s eyebrows lifted just slightly. “You really want this.” he said. It wasn’t a question, but a soft statement. The blonde huffed in frustration.

“Obviously. Would you just do it already?”

The moment was too good to pass up. Axel continued running his hands up and down Roxas’s legs, face temptingly close to the blonde’s cock, and yet oh so far away. A mischievous grin came to the red-head’s lips. “What do you want me to do, Roxas?” He whispered, eyelids lowering to half-mast.

Roxas angry retort died in his throat suddenly as a smooth hand ran temptingly close to his erection. Axel wanted him to say it? That was really asking too much. He bit down on his lip, fingers tightening in the red spikes he was clutching at. “You know what I want you to do...” He whined, legs quivering from the teasing touches on his thighs.

“Maybe, maybe not... should I guess?” Axel chuckled gently, amused at how needy the blonde was. Leaning down, he kissed at the side of Roxas’s leg, hair just barely brushing over the pre-cum oozing cock that was demanding attention. Axel’s own cock was straining, even through the loose flannel pants. The temptation to simply fuck the blonde into the couch was overwhelming, but the idea of teasing Roxas was stronger at the moment, especially since he was impatient for it.

Roxas lifted his legs up and over Axel’s shoulders automatically at that. “No... there...”

Axel licked his way up until his cheek was rubbing at the stiff length. He kissed at the junction where the leg met the groin. “Here?”

“Damnit, Axel...” gasped Roxas, quivering from the sensations he had gotten from where Axel had just scraped by his aching erection. His fingers had gone slack, sliding loosely through Axel’s hair. The older teen made a small sound of realization.

“Ah, that’s what you want...” Axel sighed, smiling sweetly and sparing Roxas one last glance and receiving a flash of irritated but lusty blue eyes before finally, finally, putting an end to the teasing.

Roxas’s hands were back with a vengeance to grip at the red stands of hair as a warm mouth wrapped around his cock. His entire body seemed to heat up as he squeezed his eyes shut, panting. Gods, it felt so good. Even the few girlfriends he had had in the past year or so couldn’t compare to this. Heels digging into Axel’s back, Roxas urged him to go on, just keep at it, as long as he didn't stop. His breath was shaky and erratic as he gasped for air, feeling the sucks at his cock become faster and harder. "Oh G-God..."

Axel paused at the head briefly, sucking lightly and eliciting a particularly sharp moan from Roxas before continuing and pulling in the entire cock into his mouth, lathering it with his tongue. Perhaps Roxas hadn’t exactly asked nicely for it, but Axel hadn’t been planning on denying him the blow-job in the first place.

The blonde was already arching into the touch and Axel winced as his hair was pulled extra hard. For that, he scraped his teeth down the top of the stiff length as retaliation, breathing carefully through his nose as he bobbed his head up and down.

Roxas came surprisingly fast. Eyes snapping open, he stiffened as his cock emptied itself right into Axel’s mouth, then he proceeded to slack back into the cushions, breathing heavily, a little light-headed. Axel swallowed everything down before scooting his body up to rest along-side the contented blonde. His stamina wasn't up to par with Axel's, but the red-head would be sure to train Roxas up eventually.

“That was... that was...” Roxas was mumbling, staring up at the ceiling mistily as the other snuggled up against him.

“Yeah, I know.” smirked Axel, licking his lips casually. “I’m usually not so giving; I’ll get you to return the favor soon enough.”

“Y’mean...” Roxas felt a poking at his leg. Axel was still hard. He blinked, turning his head to give the red-head a guilty look, but merely earned a soft kiss for his trouble. Axel looked unconcerned.

“Don’t worry about it, it’ll go away. I just wanna get back to sleep for now.”

“... but the coffee...”

Silly that Roxas remembered about breakfast now, of all times. Axel snorted to himself and pulled the shorter boy into himself, curling his arms around him and burrowing his noise into the sweet-smelling hair. “Sleep now, breakfast later.”

Sleep sounded like an excellent idea, actually. Who needed coffee or breakfast or even life at the moment when he could just sleep in that delicious heat? Without protest, Roxas sank into the comfortable warmth with a content hum as a blanket was thrown over him. “Mm’kay.”

The pair fell into a sound slumber on the couch, morning dragging away lazily until noon.

-------------------------------

Axel stood casually by the truck that Demyx had rumbled up the driveway in. Ninja was already stowed away safely in the back and the mohawked-blonde was leaning out of the window, waiting patiently for the red-head to join him. He had received the anxious call from Axel a little after twelve, begging him to come get him and his poor motorbike. Now it was taking forever to get the idiot to actually go.

“So. You still alright with everything? Me coming with you to that anime convention?” Axel ruffled the back of his hair idly, fully dressed now, watching the shorter blonde across from him cross his arms impatiently over his chest and slouch slightly in hopes of hiding the love bites scattered across his neck.

“Of course I’m alright with it.” Roxas sighed, resisting the urge to rub at his sore neck. “I want you to come.”

“And it’s in a week?” The red-head pressed, eyeing the fidgety Roxas.

“In a week. Just come back Friday morning. If anything, I’ll call you. ”

“It’s too bad you don’t want to come hang out tonight with us. But, y’know, I’ll call you later in the week to make sure and-”

“Axel.” Demyx suddenly interrupted the awkward conversation, grinning slightly to himself. If he didn’t put a stop to this, Axel would never leave. “Would you just come on already?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, just a sec.” replied Axel distractedly, only glancing back at Demyx as an after-thought as he strode back over to Roxas. Demyx sighed and leaned against the steering wheel, waiting.

Axel closed the distance between him and the blonde, mouth set in a determined line, and, without warning, tugged the shorter teen into a small kiss. HE certaintly wasn't going leave without a proper goodbye. Roxas didn’t struggle, to Axel’s satisfaction. As soon as the two separated, Axel swiping a tongue over his lips to savor the taste he had just been reveling in, Roxas sighed. Lowering his eyes, the blonde voiced one of the main thoughts swirling in his muddled head.

“So what does this make us? Friends?”

There was a pause, filled only with the rumble of Demyx’s truck and far-off cries of birds, before Axel replied, words carrying an undertone of a chuckle. “... friends with very good benefits?

“I suppose that’ll do for now.” The blonde snorted. Typical, typical Axel.

Roxas stayed out on the sidewalk of his house for another ten minutes, staring off dazedly down the road where the dark blue truck had disappeared, carrying away Axel. He didn’t really know what exactly he had gotten himself into, allowing Axel to take up a spot in his life this way after such a ridiculous beginning. So far, though, Roxas decided as he wandered back into his house, it was shaping up to be a good decision.

------------------------------

Never before had a week gone so slowly for either of the boys. And never before had they suffered from such unlucky days than from Saturday to Thursday night. The entire time, they communicated simply through voice mails, never able to actually reach each other.

“Yo Roxas, I’m on my break right now from work, but it seems like you’re busy again. I’m just curious, you never did tell me about your damn Otakon. The fuck is it, anyway, aside from an anime convention?”

“Hey Axel. It’s Roxas. I got your voicemail. You’d think that with so much free time in the summer, you’d have a moment to go online and do some research. Find out for yourself what Otakon is, I’m not telling you. Sucker.”

“... alright, Roxas, so aside from inviting me to Baltimore, which is hell-knows how many miles from our town, are there seriously over 22,000 people going? I don’t mind people, but that’s a shit-load of people. And most of them dress up like freaks from those cartoons? Seriously?”

“Axel, it’s Roxas. Finally got time to go online, huh? Yeah, Otakon is pretty big, but don’t worry, I’ll protect you, you big baby. And yes, a lot of people dress up. It’s called cosplaying. You’ll get used to it.”

“... Roxas, I found out what yaoi is. Demyx finally told me. And damn, do I like it.”

“It’s Roxas again. First of all, would you stop calling me during my night shifts? You always call right when I go to do actual work and I can’t pick up. Seriously, what the fuck is up with your timing? Secondly... actually, I don’t even wanna talk about it. Yaoi is for girls, you idiot. Fangirls, even. The squealing, screaming kind. Stop being a moron.”

“Roxas, I bet you like yaoi deep down inside. Don’t deny it.”

“Axel. You’re an idiot. Don’t forget to come early tomorrow.”

Needless to say, the week passed by in a constant cycle of missed calls, but eventually, Friday rolled right in to find Axel standing back in front of the Mitsu residence, tying back his hair into a loose ponytail as he shifted the bag hanging from his shoulder, a cigarette dangling from his lips. He even checked his reflection in the mirror briefly, smirking. His spikes were as red as ever, matching with the skinny black jeans and sleeveless crimson shirt. He tapped the toe of his chucks briefly on the cement of the patio right in front of the front door, sparing his newly repaired Ninja that stood in the driveway (thanks to Cid’s handiwork) a glance before finally bringing his knuckles forward to rap them sharply against the door.

It opened quickly, but not by the blonde that Axel had been expecting. Instead, a tall teen with hair that looked bleached looked out at him, gripping the edge of the door. The red-head eyed the boy, noticing the steely azure irises and muscled arms right off the bat. The two summed each other up in the stony silence. Finally, the stranger spoke.

“You must be Axel, then. Roxas has been bitching like an old lady all morning about how you’d probably be late.”

The low, cocky tone had Axel smirking. He was unimpressed; the teen was just a punk., whoever he was. “Oh really, now? Well, I’d better go remedy that and tell him I’m here.”

“Go right on in.” the blonde drawled, stepping back inside but leaving the door open for Axel to enter, which the red-head did so after exhaling a rather thick stream of cigarette smoke. He padded into the living room, looking about. There were bags and suitcases already piled up by the couch and there was an air of hustle and bustle. The first one to come greet Axel properly was Mickey. Picking up the cat, whose tail was flicking about like whip, the motorcyclist turning in place, musing about where Roxas could be but unwilling to go and ask Mr. Cocky with the blue eyes. Instead, he idly scratched Mickey behind the ears and wandered into the kitchen.

He hadn’t explored the place before. Curious, he looked about the roomy area, noting the wide window that was flooding the counter below it in light, then finally realized he wasn’t alone. The other blonde and another were shoving food into a cooler.

“Oh hey! Axel, right?” The other boy who looked to be about Roxas’s age looked up, eyebrows rising in intrigue as he stood with two bottles of water in hand.

“That’s me.” smirked Axel, Mickey still purring contentedly in his arms.

The teen nodded in greeting, waving one of the bottles. “I’m Hayner, Roxas’s cousin.”

“Pleasure. Axel Hotaru.” Axel tipped his head in acknowledgement while trying not to snicker at the strange hairstyle Roxas’s cousin was sporting. How the boy had gotten the mildly wavy dirty-blonde hair to stick straight up and back in a gravity-defying fashion was a little beyond him. Instead, he shifted Mickey in his hands and adjusted his bag again with his free hand.

Hayner jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at the other occupant of the kitchen. “And that guy over there is Seifer.” Axel glanced at the tall teen who had answered the door, nodding at him curtly before looking back to Hayner.

“I take it you’re all going to this Otakon thing?”

“That’s right.” Hayner turned back to toss the water bottles into the cooler, wiping off his hands on his pants as Seifer continued to riffle through cupboards. “We’ll be leaving in a few minutes, but I don’t know where...” His eyes shifted their attention to a point over Axel’s shoulders. “Oh, never mind. Hey Roxas.”

“Hey.”

Axel turned around just in time to see Roxas nod in Hayner’s direction, then shift his eyes to glower at the red-head instead, brow wrinkling. “You’re late.” He said in accusatory tone.

“I’m here, though, aren’t I?”

“Whatever. C’mon.” Roxas hid the relief that the red-head had showed up, rolling his eyes instead.

At least the blonde seemed to be in an alright mood. Axel walked forward, Hayner and Seifer forgotten as Roxas, motioning for him to follow him out of the room, turned in place and stormed out. It was through the short hallway and they were back in the living room. As soon as they were out of earshot of the pair in the kitchen, the shorter blonde turned back to Axel, propping his hands on his hips, spikey hair slipping to one side as he cocked his head.

“Listen, I’m just going to warn you now. Don’t try to pull anything while we’re down at Otakon. We’re not going alone.”

“Yes, so I’ve realized.” muttered Axel, scratching nonchalantly at one of his tattoos. It put a little damper to his plans, having two other people with them, but he would work around it, regardless of Roxas’s warning. The blonde didn’t know any better, really. He was still in denial about the whole thing, but Axel could tell that he wanted to get laid. Totally.

“It’s about a six hour trip there, so...” Roxas launched into an explanation; meanwhile, Axel managed to completely block it out. His gaze took in the cute way Roxas’s lips curved upward when he was talking about something pleasant, which happened to be the anime convention at this point. Axel felt a sudden urge. Surely, they had time for a few minutes of making out. Otakon could wait.

“Did you miss me?”

“... and then we’ll... wait, what?” Roxas paused in his spiel, eyes blank in confusion. He had an odd feeling that Axel hadn’t been paying the least attention to what he had been saying.

“Did you miss me?” Axel repeated, taking a step forward.

Roxas’s stared. “Um, you didn’t give me a chance to, seeing as you called me so many times.”

Once again, the blonde was playing hard to get.

“So you didn’t miss me kissing you gently, taking in your bottom lip and biting on it while my hands moved to run down the inside of your legs...” Roxas paled. “... or the way that I could make you whimper when I started sucking on y-”

By this point, most of the blood had returned right back to Roxas’s face in the form of a vivid blush. He stormed forward, clapping his hands over Axel’s mouth before he could continue. Trying to shake off the embarrassment and the undertones of arousal at the red-head’s words, Roxas took in a few deep breaths, hoping to calm himself down.

“Stop talking like that.” He growled, then abruptly flinched, feeling something warm and wet slide over his palm. Axel beamed at him from behind the hand blocking his mouth and Roxas hurriedly pulled back. The idiot had licked him.

“You really need to stop denying it, Roxas. You like me.”

“You’re tolerable.” corrected Roxas, wiping his hand angrily over his shirt.

“Roxas.” The blonde looked up to see Axel no longer grinning. “Can you seriously admit that you regret what we did last week? Or that you didn’t like what I did back in the Seven-Eleven, or the pool?”

A flush came onto Roxas’s face. He looked away from the bright green eyes. “No, I can’t...”

“Then why are you still like this?” Axel moved closer, allowing Mickey to slip from his arms and pad away. It seemed that the cat knew what was coming. “Stop acting like I’m such a nuisance to you if I’m really not. You want this, don’t you?”

“I don’t know.” admitted Roxas grudgingly, allowing Axel to slide his arms around his waist. “I just don’t know. It’s not everyday that stuff like this happens, and I’m always just getting caught up in the moment. If you hadn’t done that stupid bet, I wouldn’t know you at all, and yet we met again and everything went downhill from there.”

“Unexpected things happen. You should just take things in your stride. I’m here now, and I’m not going away, so stop beating me back. Let me in, you idiot.” Axel leaned in, smiling amusedly again before he flicked his eyes upward to meet Roxas’s. He was startled to see so much indecision in the blue orbs. He hadn’t realized that the boy was so troubled with the whole affair. Axel wasn’t perturbed by it at all. He had met a cute kid and now they were friends with benefits, as he had said. Nothing peculiar about that. But for Roxas, it seemed to be different. It was a good thing he was clearing this up before Otakon.

“Maybe you just need some more encouragement...” Axel breathed gently over the tempting pink lips, watching them twitch in anticipation, before licking at them, giving a chance for Roxas to take in a breath as he leaned in to shorten the space between them and kiss him.

He could feel Roxas relax in his arms and smiled to himself, feeling the other’s tongue stir into life. Axel delighted in the kisses, they were so sweet and soft. He could live with this. Roxas would need a little more encouragement, perhaps, but he could live with this. Things were cool between them, the blonde really did want this. It looked to be smooth sailing ahead.

“Dare I ask what you two are doing?”

Or maybe not. Roxas and Axel separated quickly separated with a soft sucking noise.

“Uncle!” squeaked Roxas, blushing like mad again. Confused, Axel looked towards the stairs where the unwelcome interrupting voice had come from. It was always interruptions for him.

A man with short black and gray hair was frowning at them, eyes hidden behind a pair of shades. By the way his head was turned, Axel could see that he was looking at Roxas. He licked away at the remaining dampness in his lips as the unknown man walked down the last steps.

“Roxas, who is this?” Despite the neutral tone in his voice, the man was obviously a little perturbed.

Roxas was trying to hide a blush and act as if he had not just been sucking face with the red-head. He motioned towards the college student. “Um, Uncle, this is Axel Hotaru, he’s a, uh... friend of mine.”

The man smiled shrewdly, but the gesture didn’t carry any humor. “So I’ve noticed.”

“Axel, this is my Uncle Auron. He’s Hayner’s dad.” Roxas muttered, now wishing he could sink into the floor and disappear.

“Pleased to meet you, sir.” Axel grinned marginally, eyeing Auron with uncertainty and wondering how the man was so tall or muscled. If he wanted to, Roxas’s uncle could probably beat the shit out of him.

“Yes indeed...” Auron turned his head in Axel’s direction, looking him over in a way that made the red-head shuffle slightly, intimidated. Apparently unable to find anything objectionable, the older man finally looked away and walked past them. “Roxas, I’ll be leaving now. Be careful driving, I’ll see you Monday.”

“Bye Uncle...” Roxas waved weakly, keeping his eyes firmly on his feet and looking completely shamed.

Standing in the doorway, Auron yelled a “Hayner, behave yourself!” to which he received a “Yes, Dad! Bye Dad!” from the kitchen. Satisfied, the older man gave Axel one last frown before storming out and closing the door behind him.

“Um. Wow.” Axel murmured, eyes wide.

“Yeah.” Roxas agreed, releasing a slow breath.

The pair recovered quickly after Seifer and Hayner came out of the kitchen, laden with food. A good ten minutes was spent packing Seifer’s car, another two of Hayner and Seifer squabbling on who would drive, five on Roxas yelling that he had forgotten to take Mickey over to the neighbors, until, finally, they were ready to go.

Axel and Roxas had been shoved into the two back seats with the reason that Hayner needed to make sure Seifer didn’t crash the car and that Roxas couldn’t read a map to save his life, anyway.

Fifteen minutes into the trip and Hayner and Seifer were already arguing about which radio station to listen to.

“They’re dating, y’know.” Roxas grinned slightly, turning his head to look at Axel, who was listening bemusedly to the argument in the front of the car.

“Really? I couldn’t tell.”

Roxas rolled his eyes as Seifer nearly swerved the car off the road in an attempt to smack Hayner. “Yeah, it’s not blatantly obvious or anything.”

The couple eventually settled on a mix CD and peace was restored to the car. Axel frowned to himself, noting the partially awkward silence between himself and Roxas. The blonde was currently staring out the window, intently watching the fields that were flashing past.

“So you were saying that we don’t know enough about each other...” Axel suddenly said. Roxas flicked his gaze over at him.

“Yeah, I did.” Roxas shrugged, folding his arms over his chest as he propped his feet up on the back of the driver seat.

“Well...” Axel crossed his legs. “Now’s a good time as any. What do you want to know?”

Roxas had been waiting for an opportunity like this. The past week had given him a chance to think up a good amount of questions for the red-head. He grinned. “Well...”

---------------------------

By the time that the group had finally pulled into Baltimore, Maryland, Seifer and Hayner had joined in on their conversation as well. Axel had underestimated the three and was a little worn out from all of the pressing questions. He hadn’t realized that they even wanted to know what his first words were as a baby, or who he had lost his virginity to and if they knew her.

Really, “banana” and “Tifa Lockhart” weren’t that fascinating of answers in the first place.

The six-hour journey had practically flown past, especially when Roxas had relaxed and the pair found themselves having an amicable conversation. Nevertheless, the Q and A session was cut short with their arrival.

“Looks like we’re here...” Seifer said from the driver’s seat, steering his way around a hoard of scrambling otakus as they scurried across the street at an intersection.

Hayner threw himself into the window, pressing his nose to the glass as he started pointing out what different people were cosplaying. Roxas, meanwhile, grinned excitedly to himself as he turned to Axel.

“Ready for your first anime con?”

Axel had never seen Roxas smile so happily before and he couldn’t help but wonder what was in store for him. “Duh. I’m up for anything.”

The blonde turned in his seat, reaching beneath it to tug out a brown bag. “Then you’ll probably want to see your costume now.”

“I hope it’s sexy.” replied the red-head, eyeing the sack suspiciously.

“In a way.”

Axel didn’t like the way Roxas was smiling now. Not at all. Taking the proffered bag, he peered into it and frowned. The blonde was snickering while Axel’s mouth just continued to curve downward. He blinked. Was that what he thought it was...?

“The hell is this?”

To be continued...


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