Chapter Five
“Breaking the Ice”

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The group stalked through the hotel. The corridor itself was brightly lit, the carpeted floor flowery, the walls fancily decorated, as was expected of a hotel. Luckily, it was about afternoon and it was mostly empty. So yes. The four boys continued their storming. Well, Axel did, at any rate. Hayner, Seifer, and Roxas were walking, being mindful of their large bags that they toted behind them as they did so.

Then again, they weren't the ones stuck with the ridiculous cosplay. They weren’t the ones being forced to wear... well... at any rate... The red-head frowned to himself as they made through way through the hall, watching Roxas idly look at each of the doors, counting down to their own room.

Otakon would have to wait for the next half-hour, because the boys still needed to drop off their stuff and change, Axel especially. The entire trip up in the elevator, the red-head had complained vehemently about the whole charade. Yes, he was easy-going and yes, he could take most things in his stride... but not this. He wrinkled his nose down at the bag in his hand. Definitely not this.

It had taken a hard nudge in the ribs from Roxas to get him to shut up, in the end.
Eventually, the endless hall of doors came to a halt, as did the four, and Axel’s aggravated thoughts. Roxas hefted his rucksack over one shoulder and slid the key in.

The little light, signaling whether or not the electronic card key actually worked, flashed red.

Hayner huffed in annoyance. His arms were aching from carrying his stuffed bookbag. “Roxas, c’mon already...”

Roxas stuck his tongue out at his cousin before attempting to unlock the door again.

Another annoying little red light. No dice.

The blonde blew out a breath of exasperation and Axel, despite his previous foul attitude towards idiot, felt a twinge of pity. At this rate, they’d never get in the room. Tossing the paper bag containing his doom to the floor, he stepped forward.

“Here, let me try...” He murmured softly, standing beside Roxas so that their hips bumped together gently.

Roxas protested, keeping the key out of Axel’s reach as a flush of embarrassment flared up on his cheeks. “Look, I got it, ok? I don’t need your help.”

Axel managed to close his fingers around the blonde’s wrist. He needed to get the younger teen to stop being so obdurate. Hayner and Seifer stood behind them, looking amused, but the squabbling pair in front of the door was too intent on the key to notice.

“You obviously do, you can’t get the door open.” stated Axel bluntly, quirking one red, thin eyebrow.

Indignant objection flared up in the bright blue eyes. Roxas attempted to tug his arm back, but ended up only getting pulled closer to the red-head in the small doorway. He flushed, wishing that Axel wasn’t so close and warm. The foot of distance between the two of them during the eternity-long car trip had been perfectly fine; no overly obvious sexual tension, no noticeable attempts from the red-head to get closer or touch him. No problems for Roxas, unlike this. This was a problem. Especially with the red tinge spreading over his cheeks.

Damnit, why couldn’t the door just open?

“Just give me my space, Axel! I’ll get it open!”

“Or you can just give me the key and we’ll all be happy.” Axel quipped back, unable to keep the small grin off his lips at the flustered expression Roxas had. He would get easily exasperated at something like this. “Stop being stubborn.”

“Let go.” Roxas hissed, stopping all of his flailing motions. His voice dropped a few decibels in hopes of sounding more threatening. He glared up at the red-head, fingers closed tightly over the key-card. Maybe he was being pig-headed, but the blonde didn’t want to give in to Axel.

Axel’s eyes widened slightly at Roxas’s threatening tone and he pulled the blonde in closer, leaning down so that their faces were inches apart. “No.”

There was an unmistakable wince from Roxas at that point. The warm breath that flittered over his face from Axel’s words sent shivers down his spine. His free hand moved to push at the older teen’s chest as he tried to pull away again. “I don’t need your help!”

Axel put up a fight, continued to keep Roxas close. “Damnit, Roxas, if you’re door-opening disabled, just let me do it. It’s not a big deal!”

“Listen, love-birds...” Seifer’s casual drawl broke through their rising argument.

The pair in the doorway froze. They had forgotten about the other two. Simultaneously, Axel and Roxas slowly turned their heads. Hayner looked like he was trying not to burst out laughing, while his boyfriend, the smirking bleach-blonde, had his arms crossed over his chest, a knowing look in his eye. Axel didn’t like that look.

“As much fun as it is to watch you two squabble like an old couple, I kinda want to get to the convention, so just open the damn door.”

Roxas’s mouth flapped open to protest the insulting assessment (Old couple? Honestly...) but Axel was quick and took advantage of the dissipating tension to snatch the key out of the blonde’s hands and flick it through the lock-system.

Green light.

Tossing the card back to the flabbergasted Roxas, Axel smirked and went to grab his bag. “See? No big deal...”

Hayner and Seifer made their way calmly into the room, Axel following, while Roxas went in last, at a loss for a perfect nasty come-back. Instead, he simply scowled to himself as he closed the door behind himself. He’d get his chance, later.

Especially with Axel’s upcoming cosplay.

Cheered somewhat, Roxas turned his attention back to the newly discovered hotel room. Sefier had already thrown down his bag, rooted through it for his costume, and locked himself in the bathroom to change, leaving Hayner to wander through the room and check for goodies (“Oh, hey, complimentary mints!”).

Axel stood between the two king beds, looking a little confused as he set down his own traveling bag.

“Roxas, there are only two beds?”

The blonde raised an eyebrow as he seated himself at the desk on one side of the room. “Obviously.”

The red-head continued to speak slowly, as if to make sure he wasn’t making a mistake, and by the way he continued to look from the beds to Roxas, he seemed to think he was. Roxas’s brow furrowed slightly at the dawning hope in those slender green eyes.

“So... we’re sharing beds?”

Oh. That. Yeah. Roxas had forgotten to mention that. He leaned back in his chair, blowing out a stray spike from his eyes as he observed the fascinating cracks in the ceiling. “Yeah. You’re sharing with Seifer, and I’ll be sharing with Hayner.”

Granted, he had just thought of that on the spot, but that was hardly the point.

Before the red-head could even protest, which is exactly what Roxas had been expecting, Hayner straightened from where he had been curiously poking his head in a cupboard, indignant. “Hell no, Roxas. I’m sleeping with Seifer, so I’m pretty sure I get first dibs on sharing my bed with him.”

Roxas sent him a sharp look. “Hayner...”

The dirty-blonde cousin didn’t miss the meaningful and menacing glance, but he merely smirked and shrugged it off. “No way, Roxas. You and Axel, or one of you can sleep on the floor, doesn’t matter to me.”

“Sounds good to me.” Axel’s lips tipped upward, but he tried his best not to start pumping his fist in triumph. Roxas, defeated, groaned under his breath, rolling his eyes one more time before standing up.

“Fine. Whatever.”

Axel was grinning. “Dissension among the ranks, huh?” He moved to drape his arm around Roxas’s shoulders, “Don’t worry, Rox. I’m a good bedmate. I don’t bite.”

“Much.” snorted Roxas with a roll of his eyes, shrugging off the arm as he moved to dump his own bag on the bed that he and Axel were to share. Like a damn old couple. Biting back his annoyance, Roxas comforted himself once again with the image of Axel in the cosplay outfit they had picked out for him.

Seifer finally emerged from the bathroom, shaking a hairspray can. The teen was already in costume, sporting a loose white shirt, green haramaki, and black trousers tucked into threatening-looking combat boots. He motioned to his boyfriend with the green hairspray. The motion caused the three long earrings hanging from one of his lobes to swing together. “Hayn, could you help me out with this?”

“Think I can leave you two alone for a little bit without you two biting each other’s heads off?” Hayner glanced over at the pair. Axel waved him off.

“Go on, hurry up so we can get this over with.”

And just like that, Roxas and Axel were alone in the room. Hoping to keep the atmosphere calm, Roxas moved to pull his own outfit from his bag.

“We might as well start getting changed...” He pointed at the paper bag holding Axel’s doom. The red-head didn’t appear to appreciate the reminder. He didn’t bother sparing the costume a glance, instead sitting down on the bed to watch the blonde’s butt wiggle as he burrowed through his rucksack.

“Do I have to wear that? Seriously?” Roxas grew only more amused at the hint of a whine in Axel’s voice.

“Um, yes.” replied the blonde in a no-nonsense tone, sounding smug.

But Axel was in an argumentative sort of mood. He wasn’t going to go down without a fight. “I don’t deserve it.”

This nudged a nerve in Roxas, who looked up from his bag quickly, bristling. “Like hell you don’t!”

The red-head smiled innocently, raising his hands protectively from Roxas’s wrath. He had even raised his voice. Feisty. “C’mon, what’d I do that was so bad?”

“Oh, let’s see...” Roxas began mockingly counting off on his fingers. “If we don’t count how you practically molested me for no apparent reason in the Seven-Eleven, or how you got Slurpee in my hair - which took forever to get out, I’ll have you know-, or if we completely disregard the fact that you nearly cost my job, twice... then we can take into consideration how afterwards, you wouldn’t actually leave me alone and had to spend the night at my house...”

Axel raked a few fingers through his hair, chuckling. He had expected that reaction, but it never got old to pet the blonde in the wrong direction and see him get pissy. “I thought we went over this already. Are you still angry about that?”

In a huff, the other turned back to his bag. “No, not as much as I was, but I still don’t forgive you completely.”

“Then what will get you to wipe the slate clean?”

There was a dark chuckle from the depths of Roxas’s throat. He simply pointed at the paper bag. “That, obviously.”

Axel frowned. Somehow, his attempts to get out of wearing the dreaded ... thing... weren’t working. He looked up from staring at the dreaded paper sack to discover that Roxas had moved to stand directly in front of him. He held a bundle of his own costume in his hands.

“In case you haven’t figured it out, Axel...” whispered Roxas with a small grin. “This is pay-back.”

Axel tried to snatch in a kiss, but fell just short when Roxas darted back. The blonde’s grin grew into a clever smile as he stood right out of the red-head’s reach. Axel returned the gesture, but immediately lost all expression whatsoever at Roxas’s next words.

“So until you put that on and start wearing it, as it stands, you’re sleeping on the floor tonight.”

Axel grimaced. He hadn’t expected for Roxas to be this clever. Wasn’t he supposed to be the crafty one? He, Axel Hotaru, the cocky, bothersome, hip like badass BAMF. He’d have to watch Roxas, he was sneakier than he came off to be. The blonde had a lot of tricks up his sleeve.

Then again, it would’ve been hard for Roxas to come off as sneaky back at the 7-11, where he had been covered in slush and panting as Axel 'molested him.'

“I’m not wearing this.” Axel said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Roxas was tugging off his shirt to change. He didn’t look over at the red-head sitting on the bed. “Yes you are.”

“No, I’m not.” repeated Axel, concentration watering down slowly at the sight of the younger teen’s bare chest. Don’t look at the nipples, don’t look at the nipples, don’t look at the nipples...

“Yes you are.”

The blonde was growing on him. Damnit, he was more than growing on him. Damn him and his still raging hormones to hell. Axel’s eyes fixated on the dusky, perky--DAMNIT, don’t look at them!

“No, I’m not.”

Roxas turned towards the red-head, unamused and unwittingly showing Axel the exact sight he didn’t exactly want to distract him. “Axel...”

“No.” Axel shook his head to rid his mind of the dirty thoughts that would undoubtedly have him pouncing the blonde and earning him a night on the floor. He tapped his foot nervously, swallowing. “You’re not gonna make me wear this.”

Roxas was smirking again.

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“I can’t believe you made me wear this.”

“Look, just deal with it for one day, alright?” Roxas grinned, sliding on a pair of snazzy white sunglasses.

“Besides...” Seifer added, looping an arm around Hayner’s waist as they walked. “It’s already past noon, it could be worse. You could've been wearing it all day instead.”

Hayner was smiling widely. “Besides, you look very nice in that outfit. It suits you.”

“Yeah, why don’t you just shut up, ok?” The red-head scowled, nervously picking at the shirt he was wearing. Life couldn’t get any worse. This was the worst idea ever. He should have picked sleeping on the floor. He should have never agreed to come to Otakon. He should have just stayed home. He should never have walked into that Seven-Eleven. He should never have agreed to Marluxia’s stupid bet.

GODS, HE SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN BORN!

“I hate my life.” Axel said simply, wincing slightly as they walked.

As if the outfit wasn’t enough, he had actually been forced to wear it while they walked down the two blocks towards the convention center. The easy-going Axel had tried his best to work it out, but one couldn’t exactly work out bright red boots that went up to his knees.

And now, they had actually entered the convention itself. The badge that showed he had registered hung from his neck, laden with some ridiculous anime character, and Hayner had stuffed everyone’s Welcome Packet into his bookbag. The four began their slow trek through the massive halls of the Baltimore Convention Center. Roxas, Hayner, and Seifer were all veterans of the con, but Axel was still a little overwhelmed with the size of it all.

Not only was the building itself split into two separate parts, there were even multiple floors. The place was enormous.

And then there were... the people.

Beforehand, Axel had been proud to say that he had seen a great deal of bizarre things unfit for an average person’s eyes and that he wasn’t easily phased. He changed his mind as soon as he witnessed an entire procession of people dressed as Pokemon dance by.

They were everywhere: Cosplayers. Different colors of hair, varied degrees of undress, diverse outfits and weapons... there were hoards of these otaku everywhere. Taking pictures, sitting around, walking about, jumping on each other, buying merchandise... it was a cornucopia of people, celebrating the Japanese culture and its animation.

At first, Axel didn’t feel especially savvy in his outfit, even with the other multiple guys he had seen in similar situations.

“You seriously need to relax.” Roxas said after the fifth time that Axel tried to 'go to the bathroom'.

“It’s kinda hard right now, Roxas.” Axel muttered back, anxiously eyeing a large group of teenage girls with cameras. “Why couldn’t I have just gotten something like what Hayner and Seifer are wearing?”

“Because that would be too good for you.” replied Roxas with a snicker, watching as his cousin and his boyfriend had their picture taken.

The two had gone as characters from One Piece, who apparently were pirates. Axel didn’t think that Hayner in a suit with his hair straightened looked especially piratey. And what was up with that curly eyebrow? Then there was Seifer’s strange outfit with not one, but three swords. Along with the spray-painted green hair, Seifer looked like he belonged in a circus, not a pirate ship. Nevertheless, it didn’t stop the two from continuously being stopped to have their picture taken.

Luckily, no one had gone up to Axel yet. He was glad for it. Things like this could end up on the internet. And he never wanted to see himself in this costume ever again. Honestly. Whoever invented the combination of knee-high boots with elbow-high white gloves to match a very short blue skirt and a sailor shirt must have been drunk or high or both. Then there were the stupid bows over his chest and his butt. Roxas had said that at least he had the hips for the costume.

Not to mention the ridiculously long blonde hair wig, fashioned into troublesome pony-tails. Who was he dressed as again? Roxas had said something along the lines of--

“OH MY GOD, SAILOR MOON!”

The four stopped dead and Axel blinked. There was a giggly girl running towards him, her light brown ponytails bouncing along with her step. And... there was a camera in her hands. As she approached, she noticed Roxas as well, who stood beside Axel, holding his black top hat in one hand.

“And Tuxedo Mask?” She grinned excitedly, bouncing up and down. “You guys look amazing! Can I get a picture?”

Roxas grinned, pulling on his hat. Axel merely stared, wary of the device the girl was holding. The blonde had obliged the girl, striking a gallant pose, a rose in his hand, whilst Hayner and Seifer moved away, more to laugh than anything else. The girl smiled and lifted the camera. Still, Axel didn’t move. What the hell was he supposed to do?

“Axel!” Roxas’s sharp voice broke through his thoughts. “Don’t just stand there.”

Axel had another blank moment, when an unbidden image of the character sprang to his mind. Roxas had shown him a picture of Sailor Moon right before they had left, explaining what would be expected of him.

Wasting no time for the overeager girl, Axel moved his legs apart slightly, propping on hand on his hip and lifting the other so that his hand hung just in front of his forehead (equipped with some silly tiara, no less), his fingers in some tricky position.

The girl was ecstatic. After letting off a high-pitched squeal, she took a few pictures, then thanked the two boys profusely and scurried off.

Roxas looked up to the male Sailor Moon. “So? You alright?” He snickered softly.

“That was... bizarre.” Axel stared off after the girl, eyebrows rising.

The fact that he was a male, dressed a female character, did not seem to perturb many. Cross-dressing freaks.

Axel learned a lot that day. Who knew anime conventions would be such educating experiences. Some lessons included the definition of the term 'fan service': Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were apparently a couple. This lead to interesting scenes:

“Oh, you want us to kiss?” Axel had smiled, pulling in the shorter Roxas, fingers tightening around the blonde’s cape so that he couldn’t get away. The three girls and, oddly enough, one guy, nodded eagerly.

Roxas had no choice but to press his fingers to Axel’s cheek and placate the fangirls (and fanboy) by kissing the “blonde” on the lips.

An entire crowd had surged forward after that, armed with video and digital cameras. People thought the uncanny height-different between Axel and Roxas was “cute.”

Then there were things to buy, people to meet, anime to watch... Axel could barely keep up with running from one end of the convention to the other just so Hayner could see some new episode of a cartoon.

The term "Time flies when you're having fun or being put through torture" could be applied here.

Day One of day-time Otakon activities had come to an end quickly. Axel was surprised as they walked outside, back in the direction of the hotel. It was a cloudy day, but still warm for a summer evening.

“Woah, done already? It’s not even 9:00 yet...” Axel fixed his short skirt, now quite comfortable in it.

Hayner yawned, hefting a full bag of loot purchased from the Dealer’s Room of the con. “For cosplaying, we’re done.”

They crossed the street, Axel casually flaunting his outfit with no shame. Seifer scratched at his dyed hair. “Now it’s time for the rave.”

“Rave?” Axel blinked. No way, a rave? That actually almost sounded cool.

Roxas sighed under his breath, moodily avoiding everyone’s eyes as he watched the cars drive by them on the busy street. “I dunno, you guys, I’m a little tired. Maybe we should call it a night?”

“Oh no, Roxas. In the name of the moon, I say...” Life returned to Axel’s eyes as he picked up the pace, his boots making clicking sounds on the sidewalk. “... we go to the rave.. I like the sound of that.”

“Thought you would.” Hayner returned, before playfully knocking off Roxas’s top hat. “C’mon, Roxas, let’s go to the rave!”

The blonde knew he was outnumbered. He threw up his arms in defeat after plucking his hat from the ground. “Alright. Rave it is.”

Axel grinned eagerly to himself. This was going to be fun.

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The red-head finally felt in his element. He strapped on glowsticks to his wrists as he, Roxas, Hayner, and Seifer, decked out in rave-attire and more glowsticks, all walked into the dark area where already, there was a large, swarming mass of dancers. It had taken an hour of squabbling over who could use the shower first to actually get to the rave, but they did eventually make it.

This was where Axel fit in. He was more of the party-goer, not the anime-lover. And by the deep, pulsating beat coming from the DJ and the speakers, and the fact that there was already a dance-off in the center of the crowd, this was shaping up to be one hell of a party. The college student fluffed up the back of his hair, which was, thankfully, red again and not shoved under a wig.

Seifer took Hayner’s hand and winked at the other two. “We’ll see you afterwards, alright? Try not to get into too much trouble...”

Axel and Roxas watched as the couple disappeared into the even darker room that branched off from the main dance area. The blonde was the first to voice the thought that they both shared. “I think they’ll be the ones getting into more trouble than us...”

Axel was ready to have fun and forget about Hayner and Seifer, though. He dragged Roxas into the other dancing crowd. “C’mon, Rox, let’s go see how well you dance.”

Choosing a less cramped space, but not enough to keep his personal space, Axel turned to the blonde as the current song smoothly transitioned into a darker techno. It was hot and crowded and slightly stifling. Axel nudged the frowning blonde. Roxas looked almost edible in the darkness, lit only with the pale light of his glowsticks. “So... have I earned your forgiveness?”

Roxas was torn. He knew that if he remained stiff, he wouldn’t get any enjoyment out of the rave, which was actually one of his favorite events of the con. On the other hand, if he loosened up too much, there was no telling how far he would get carried away. Dances were a weak-spot with him; he ended up having toomuch fun. A fact that he hadn’t exactly made known to Axel yet, but one that Hayner and Seifer were perfectly aware of, which explained why they had been so eager to scamper off. Damn them.

There was also the tiny bit of information that, in fact, Roxas had already forgiven Axel as soon as the red-head had walked down the public streets of Baltimore to the Convention Center earlier that day. However, Roxas had cleverly kept that to himself.

“You got me going insane...
And I can’t get enough. So let me get it up.”

The beat of the music was throbbing through his spine and despite himself, Roxas was soon rocking his hips to the music, lids sliding down to half-mast to hide his dark blue eyes. Axel was still waiting for an answer. Raking his hand through his blonde spikes, Roxas shrugged. For now, he’d loosen up a little and see where it went.

“Yeah, I guess you’re off the hook.”

“Ooh, looks like we’re alone now.
You ain’t gotta be scared, can’t run now.
I’m-a hit defrost on you...
Let’s get it blazin’.”

Axel hummed in delight, lips quirking upwards as he himself started to rock to the beat. The rest of the ravers around them continued to dance. “So no sleeping on the floor tonight?”

“We can turn the heat up, if you wanna.
Turn the lights down low, if you wanna.
Just wanna move you, but you’re frozen up.”

“Dunno...” Roxas lifted his gaze to meet Axel’s and was startled to see the shadowy look about the green eyes. “Will you behave yourself?”

Wait, was he teasing  the perverted red-head? Where had that come from?

“Maybe.” There was soft laugh from the red-head. His green eyes were practically glowing as he leaned in. “No guarantees, though.”

“Let me break the ice. Allow me to get you right.
Once you warm up to me...
Baby, I can make you feel...”

The music faded out and the nearby dancers became smears of red, blue, or green color as Roxas’s own world became a messy, blurry, fuzzy mess of Axel. The red-head had closed the small distance between them, slender fingers sliding around the side of his neck as they kissed. Roxas sighed as his tongue slid across Axel’s, eyes slipping shut. His body was involuntary relaxing, recognizing the familiar pleasurable feelings and immediately assuming that the situation was completely safe. Instincts raised the blonde’s sensitivity, but slowed his reaction speed.

Ladies and Gentlemen, logical, down-to-earth Roxas has left the building.

Blind, Roxas felt the red-head’s hot hands slide down his arms, then wrap around his waist to rest on his hips. Why? Why was his body reacting like this? The same had happened back at home, at the pool, at Seven-Eleven. A sense of acceptance and comfort would come over him and he would take in the red-head’s advances dumbly. Axel Hotaru... what was it about him that made Roxas react so?

Roxas turned in place so that his back pressed to Axel’s chest. They moved slowly together, no space between them. Axel’s breath warmed the back of his neck as his hands encircled his waist, slowly rubbing at his sides. Warm fingers were slipping beneath Roxas's shirt, heating his already hypersensitive skin.

Roxas continued to move his hips to the beat. He lifted his arms to loop them about the taller teen’s neck, pulling his head down closer, fingertips fiddling with a few red spikes. The blonde had missed the fiery red hair during the daytime; Axel was definitely not a blonde. In response to Roxas's action, the red-head moved to smooth his lips over the blonde’s tempting neck, nipping, licking, slowly sucking at the skin there.

There was a soft moan, but Roxas was unsure from who. His eyes, if they had been open, would have surely been glazed over with lust by now. This felt good. It had felt good last time, too. Maybe... maybe letting Axel have his way wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

There were fingertips probing at the inside of his thighs. Roxas welcomed the touches, the caresses. He sighed. There was that warmth bubbling up in his stomach again. Finally, he opened his eyes to turn in place, wanting a little change in position; his lips were getting cold, anyway. His gaze met Axel’s. The green eyes were shining in the darkness, taking him in, murky with arousal. The pyro purred gently.

“Hey Roxas...” whispered Axel. Roxas nearly moaned. How could such simple words, spoken in such a low husky tone, make his body heat up like that?

“Y-Yeah, Axel?” He murmured back, feeling Axel’s hands slide down to cup his bottom and a leg nudge itself between his own. He bit his lip to keep from grinding into Axel’s knee. That would be too desperate, too obvious.

Axel felt a small hint of glee at finally being able to feel Roxas’s cute butt beneath his fingers, but was more distracted with the way the blonde was panting. It was arousing, how his ocean-blue eyes turned dark and how his full pink lips were parted for air.

“No, nothing...” He laughed into the blonde’s ear, moving his head down so that he could nibble at the cartilage as well.

Roxas couldn’t hold back the shiver through his body as the next words were sighed softly into his bite-abused outer shell.

“... I just wanted to hear you groan my name...”

A knee nudged at Roxas’s already aroused lower area and the blonde made no effort to hold back the whimper. There were no more hip-motions, they certainly weren’t dancing anymore. At that point, the blonde didn’t care what Axel did with him.

Moaning softly, he pulled Axel’s head back so that their lips could meet again. Axel tilted his head sideways for a better angle and Roxas released another deep breath, sharp teeth nipping out to grab onto the red-head’s bottom lip and teasingly nibble on it.

Axel’s hands were not idle, however. As the two boys’ tongues lapped at each other, a fierce but slow competition of saliva-exchange, Axel's fingers began a gentle descent downwards. First, they rubbed beneath Roxas’s shirt, warming the small of his back, before traveling beneath the waistband of his tight jeans. Still, the blonde didn’t notice, too distracted as he was with their intense kiss that, understandably, took up a great deal of his attention. The spicy taste of Axel was overwhelming and intoxicating.

Growing more daring, unable to control himself, Axel went all out and slipped beneath the younger teen’s boxers to feel trembling skin.

Roxas was moaning again, eyes squeezed shut. Where else could those groaning sounds be coming from, anyway? This was just getting better now, anyway. There was heat spreading along his back, now down his pants... a knee was grinding into his groin, and there was a hot mouth attached to his, a tongue slipping through to explore what felt like the back of his throat, by the way the slippery muscle was moving about.

There was a buzzing sound at the back of his head, granted, but that was probably the forgotten techno music. Where was he, again? He couldn’t exactly recall.

Roxas’s fingers dug into the sweat-slicked red spikes, finding hold as the comfortable warmth slipped along his bare bottom... then between the two cheeks... and then.

Roxas flinched, a soft, startled yelp escaping his occupied mouth at the surprising intrusion into an area not open for the public. Eyes wide with something akin to a mix of fear and embarrassment, the blonde abruptly tore himself away from the confused red-head, smacking his hands out of his pants at the same time.

The music returned back to Roxas’s ears with a whoosh. Reality was smacking itself back into his brain as the lust receded from his misty eyes, and Roxas distractedly swiped a hand over his puffy lips, stumbling away from the confused Axel.

With a last mixed expression, the blonde abruptly turned on his heel and staggered out of the rave, pushing past dancers to get outside.

Axel stood by himself a long moment, needing a few seconds to recollect himself. What had went wrong? Roxas had been responding eagerly, kissing back, grinding, even moaning for him! Then... Axel racked his brain, unsure of what exactly he had been doing in his lustful state.

Then... ah. Perhaps he had probed a little too deeply... so to speak. Cursing to himself, Axel hurried to follow after Roxas, unwilling to let the moment just slip by.

It had begun to rain. Big fat drops of water drip-dropped down onto the sidewalk as the red-head made his way out of the convention center to see the retreating back of the blonde. Cursing again, but simultaneously blessing whoever and whatever for his long legs, Axel took off after Roxas.

It wasn’t hard to catch up, but it was a challenge to get Roxas to actually stop.

Axel’s fingers closed over the other’s shoulder. “Roxas! Roxas, hold on!”

Roxas’s frantic footsteps died as he stood, panting, on the street corner. The streets were practically empty, and the rain was slowly slapping onto their two bodies, drenching them.

Roxas didn’t slap off the hand on his shoulder. Instead, he shivered and crossed his arms over his chest. He averted his eyes and scowled to himself in an attempt to hide his increasing flush. He spoke first. “I didn’t want it to go that far.”

“Yeah, I noticed.” Axel said glibly, ignoring the wet drops pattering onto his face. Assuming from the blonde’s stony, embarrassed silence that the conversation wasn’t going to be shifting anytime soon, the red-head took control. He turned Roxas towards himself and tucked a finger under his chin so that the other teen would look up at him.

“Look...” Axel cleared his throat, unsure how to put it correctly. “I don’t want to push you. I thought we were just having a good time and going with the flow...”

Roxas looked at his feet, still stubbornly avoiding eye-contact.

“The flow went into a bad direction.” He muttered darkly. A particularly obese raindrop slapped down into his cheek. Axel was quick to wipe it away with a thumb and the gentle gesture comforted the blond slightly.

“I know. I’m sorry.” Axel released Roxas’s chin with a sigh and moved away, tucking his hands into his pant pockets. “I don’t want to push you or anything...”

Roxas shame-facedly scratched at the back of his head, shivering from the cold rain. “Yeah, I ... I know.” At Axel’s curious quirk of an eyebrow, he continued. “Look, whatever, it's fine. I’m not a big fan of awkward moments.”

“And this is a pretty damn awkward moment...” agreed Axel with a slight grin. It started to rain harder. The red-head tipped his head back to stare up at the pouring sky.

“Can we just get back to the hotel?” Roxas motioned in the general direction of the building. “I’m exhausted...”

“And it’s fucking raining.”

“Yeah, that too.”

Axel twitched his shoulders and moved back to Roxas, nudging him with an elbow. “Alright. We sharing the bed?”

Roxas chuckled softly, shaking raindrops from his head as they began making their way back to the hotel.

“Only if you behave.” he teased.

“No guarantees.” grinned Axel, the expression widening as the arm he looped around Roxas’s waist went through without protest.

Regardless, the busy day had left the pair completely worn out. After shucking their wet clothes, the two had simply fallen into bed and passed out.

“Y’know...” Axel had murmured as sleep claimed him. “... today was so fucking melodramatic, it wasn’t even funny.”

Roxas merely grunted in response.

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

Axel didn’t talk in his sleep. In fact, he didn’t do much in his sleep but actually sleep. Roxas was grateful, but somewhat disappointed, as well. With Axel being in such close proximity, the weird erotic dreams had come back. And there was no way of relieving them now. Damn, damn, damn morning wood.

Roxas had been staring up at the ceiling for the past who-knew-how-long. The events of the rave were still slowly leaking back into his brain, but at least he didn’t feel especially hung-over from the whole ordeal. In fact, he felt quite refreshed... if not for the stupid problem in his pants.

Growing bored with his hard-on and the exercise of counting cracks in the ceiling, he rolled over to face Axel, simultaneously glancing over at the slumbering Hayner and Seifer, who had returned much later than he and Axel. Then he noticed the digital clock. It was only about 7:00 in the morning. There was another hour until the alarm would ring.

The blonde bit his lip nervously, looking back to Axel and reaching out to gently run his fingers down the red-head's arm. The older teen didn’t budge. Roxas shook his head in frustration at himself. Damnit, he could do this! What was he, 16 again? No. He was 18, and he needed to get rid of morning wood.

The previous night had certainly proved that the red-head was more than willing to help, from what Roxas could tell.

“Axel...” He whispered. The red-head rolled over towards him with a sigh. Roxas took in the peaceful expression on the tattooed face of the slumbering college student and bit his lip again until it grew painful. Guilt and indecision welled up in his throat like a choking ball of emotion.

Real sexual relief would have to wait.

Stumbling out of bed, Roxas grabbed a pillow for comfort and tip-toed to the bathroom, locking it behind him. As he sat down on the toilet, pants down, the enormity of the previous night woke up and smacked him upside the head. The image of the smirking red-head, eyes like green fire, was etched into his mind, the feel of the probing hands on his body still fresh.

What the hell had that been?

Roxas sighed, burrowing his face into his palms and digging his fingers into his sleep-mussed hair.

Day two of Otakon had begun.