A/N: This fic is largely dedicated to Spoons (DainoChild), because I asked her to prompt me and she said 'motorbikes!'. Well, it's a good thing Cloud has Fenrir, or else I'm pretty sure I would've come up blank. Have fun reading! Also, I wanted to add solar boards into the mix because it would be super cool, and also because I've been strongly influenced by Treasure Planet since young. GO JIM! A/N end
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a VenRox fanfic
one-shot
for DainoChild
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Ventus was a speed demon, everybody knew that. Some say he got it from his older brother, Cloud, but Ventus himself liked to think that he was more of a speed demon than Cloud. Which was partly true, because no one could fly faster than him on his solar board. (Of course, Cloud suffered a slight ego-hurt, so he tinkered around with Fenrir and now Fenrir can hit speeds that most humans can't even stand. Or have enough flat roads to test it on.)
In fact, in the entire family, Roxas was the only one considered slightly normal, even though he occasionally hits speed limits on his skateboard, but he only does that when he's chasing the ice-cream van. Ventus couldn't balance quite as well as Roxas can on a skateboard, so he usually lagged a little behind (and Roxas would go slower just so Ventus can overtake him-slightly -and then yell about how Roxas was a pussy for being so slow, because he didn't have an ego the size of Destiny Islands, unlike a certain brother he knew) but still managed to go at a decent enough speed.
In short, nobody in the neighborhood dared to race any of the three Strife brothers because they knew they would get their asses handed back to them on a silver plate. Yes, it was that sad.
Ventus was lazing about on the couch, playing with his PSP, when Roxas muttered a sleepy 'good morning' and walked into the kitchen. They were on holiday, because the school had a inter-school competition thing going on which neither of them were involved in, so they relished in having time to spend on trivial things. Like going to different worlds to collect ice-cream ingredients from the Prize Pots.
"Ven," Roxas called out from the kitchen. "What's for breakfast?"
"...ice-cream." Ventus replied absently.
"Ice-cream? For breakfast?"
"No! Damn! Why do those things always disappear before I can hit them properly!" Ventus seethed, waving his hands around in an agitated manner.
Roxas frowned, walking over to his brother to see whatever crack he was on.
"Oh. Prize pots. Use Stopga or Time Splicer to hit them. Or you could try Magnera and then combo them with something else."
Ventus thought about it for a while, then cracked into a huge smile. "That's right! Why didn't I think of that!"
Because you left you brain lying around somewhere on the floor of your bedroom, Roxas itched to say, but instead asked again what Ventus wanted for breakfast.
"Hmm? I was thinking of going over to Midgar, I heard they recently opened a new restaurant called 7th Heaven that's really, really good."
"That's like, the next town over!"
"Yes, which is why we'll take Cloud's bike."
Roxas could swear that Ventus was the most manipulative person he had the misfortune to be close to, except for maybe Sora. Axel too. And occasionally Xion. Come to think of it, he gets manipulated a lot.
...he should probably rethink who he calls his friends, now.
Either way, he was talked into taking Fenrir "for a ride!" because Cloud was going to hang with his friends the whole day ("Yeah right, he probably hadn't seen his friends for two weeks, he's so hung up on this Zack guy.") so there was no danger of Cloud suddenly coming home and finding his darling bike gone- and so were his two younger brothers. Oh no, that so wouldn't raise suspicion.
In the end, Roxas was talked into clutching Ventus tightly as his brother revved up the bike, and the garage door opened bit by bit, letting the late morning sun in.
"This," Ventus breathed in ecstasy, "is going to be sweet."
Roxas whimpered behind him.
They reached Midgar in twenty minutes. The original time needed for the trip was usually forty minutes, and fifty if there was a jam.
Roxas fell off the bike ungracefully, his legs shaking so bad he could hardly stand. Cold sweat had broken all over, and his eyes were wide open, frozen in terror. Ventus, on the other hand, stretched, jumped off the bike enthusiastically, and slapped Roxas on the back.
"See, wasn't so bad, was it?" he said cheerfully to his brother.
Roxas didn't reply, mostly because he couldn't, because his muscles weren't working yet, and Ventus took that as silent confirmation.
"Glad you like that ride. Now, let's go and park Cloud's bike somewhere safer, in case it gets stolen. Then we'd be in big trouble."
He pushed the bike towards a small shed where other bikes were parked (though none near as stylish as the Fenrir), covered it with a black cloth, and jammed the keys deep into his pockets.
Roxas was lying on the floor, face-down.
"Holy shi- Roxas! Dude man, what happened!" Ventus yelled, running over to his brother.
"You-" Roxas muttered with some effort to get his jaws to not clench like that, because it was starting to hurt. "You ass, Ven."
"...What?" Ventus asked, confused.
"Did you really need to drive that fast?"
"I- I don't see the point you're trying to make here."
"...Just get me off the damn ground, Ven."
"Right." Ventus said, and helped his brother up. Roxas' skin was cold and clammy, and suddenly Ventus was hit with a small helping of guilt. Roxas couldn't seem to make himself stand up. Now that the adrenaline was gone, his body had been reduced to a mass of muscles and bones that won't support his weight.
In the end Ventus half-carried Roxas towards the restaurant, earning strange looks from the customers there, and flopped the strength-less Roxas onto one of the cushioned couches. Roxas was still muttering a string of curses underneath his breath, apparently making up for the lack of curses he shouted on the ride here. Ventus had thought it was because Roxas was actually enjoying the ride, but he supposed he guessed wrong.
They ordered (Ventus ordered for Roxas, naturally, since his brother was in no state to move) their food and ignored the rest of the ogling people. He liked to think that people stared because he wasn't all that bad to look at, but there was something hostile in those glances. He started to wonder if it wasn't that good of an idea, two young boys alone in a foreign town.
The waitress didn't bring their food. Instead, a burly man did. He slammed the tray of food down on the table so hard the utensils jumped out of their place. The restaurant fell silent. The man stared down at Ventus and glanced at Roxas (who by this time had righted himself) and asked, in his deep booming voice, "You guys related to Cloud?"
Ventus was scared. Yes, he'll admit it. He was scared. Cloud never mentioned anything about causing trouble in Midgar, even though he never seemed to want to bring them here. However, he had learned that there was only one thing to do when faced with such a situation: act brave. He nudged Roxas underneath the table with his foot, to which Roxas gave a small, barely noticeable nod.
"Yeah," Ventus said aloud to the man. "What about it? You guys gonna serve us free food?"
The man's face visibly darkened. "Why you little-"
"Roxas!" Ventus yelled suddenly, shooting up from his seat. "RUN!"
Roxas slipped underneath the man's arms, who was now shouting and flailing about wildly. The rest of the patrons looked on in amusement, none of them making any move to step the boys.
Ventus sprinted towards the shed, ripping the cloth off Fenrir and shoving it hurriedly away before digging deep into his pockets for the keys.
"Ven!" Roxas called out desperately. The burly man's long arms swiped at Roxas' shirt. Roxas yelped and moved out of the way, turning towards the main road instead. "Hurry up!" he yelled at his brother, who was digging frantically around his pockets.
Ventus cursed under his breath, and let out a small, victorious 'yes!' when his fingers closed around the cool metal keys. He pulled them out and jammed them into the slot, and thanked the heavens for Cloud's weekly bike maintenance, because the Fenrir purred to life instantly.
He jumped on, and the bike leapt forward. "Roxas! Hop on!" he yelled, quickly eating up the distance between them. The burly man roared again, angrier, and made another effort to lunge at Roxas. Roxas squirmed out of reach, then kicked off the ground. Ventus sighed in irritation, keeping an eye locked on Roxas, and maneuvered Fenrir a little more towards the right. Roxas landed perfectly balanced on the back. He gave his brother a dazzling smile, and waved to the burly man who had stopped running, and was leaning against the wall, shaking a fist at them.
Ventus skidded off the gravel and rushed into the main highway. Soon 7th Heaven was lost to the rest of the mass of grey.
"Show off."
"Oh please. This coming from the guy with an ego the size of Destiny Islands."
Ventus frowned. "I'll have you know Destiny Islands isn't really all that large to start with."
Roxas huffed and looked away.
They were somewhere between Midgar and Niblehiem, on a grassy plain off the highway littered with lots of tiny little flowers. Fenrir stood a little ways back, as though it was a lone guard. Roxas breathed deeply, inhaling the sweet scent of flowers. He was laying on his back, hands cushioning his head. Ventus was sitting casually, arms thrown back to support his weight. His hair shone brightly in the sun, enough to make Roxas squint and mutter about shiny hair and conditioner. Unfortunately, Ventus heard, scowled, and tackled Roxas with sharp pokes to his side.
"You probably use the same conditioner as Sepiroth!" Roxas laughed, scrambling to get away from Ventus, who was flushed pink.
"At least it works!" Ventus yelled back, and Roxas just laughed harder.
Ventus tackled Roxas into a clump of dandelions, their seeds breaking free and taking off with the wind. The two boys laid on the grass, breathless, with identical grins on their faces.
"Sure it does, Ven. You've got nice hair." Roxas said, with a touch of humor in his voice.
"Of course it is. Obviously you like it, since you copy my style all the time."
"I don't copy your hairstyle! It just grew like that!" Roxas insisted, but Ventus ignored him and closed his eyes. Roxas cuddled closer to his brother. He would never admit it, even when threatened at knife-point, but he liked spending time with Ventus... and he never tried to force his hair down, either.
Their stomachs were protesting all the way back to Nibleheim, therefore they stopped at a random coffee shop and spent way too much money on bad food. Roxas was unsatisfied and unhappy, partly because he spent his ice-cream money unwisely (as in, spending it on anything that's not sea salt ice-cream), and partly because now he had to deal with a full stomach threatening to empty its contents over his brother, reckless driver that he is. The problem with that was Cloud, who would probably skin him alive for touching, let alone puking on, his love Fenrir. He didn't really care if puke got into Ventus' soft hair, especially if the reason for puking was Ventus himself.
Roxas agreed with himself to not think about puking, and buried his face further into Ventus' shirt.
"Roxas," Ventus said after a while, slowing down the bike. Roxas stirred, and muttered a sleepy 'hmm?', having been resting his eyes for quite some time and was starting to enjoy the wind in his hair.
"Say you love me." Roxas smashed his forehead into Ventus' spine, making the both of them wince in pain.
"...I'm not saying it."
"Well, maybe you should. Just so you know, Cloud is home, and he's standing at the front door, and he looks really really pissed."
Roxas silently digested this information. "Ventus, I love you. And I just want you to know that this is all your fault."
"If he asks, I'm saying we decided to do a test-run on Fenrir."
"If we survive this, you owe me so bad."
"Yeah, well. Love you too."
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...There wasn't much twincest! (This is a shock, and a nice change, actually.)
I DID have more planned for this fic, but I found it hard to transition from here to that twincest-y part (which would most likely include some Clack, because Zack is yum). HOWEVER if enough people ask me to write it, I would (in fact, I probably would write it even if no one asks.) write a sort of sequel to this. (The sequel would include the reason why Cloud stirred trouble in 7th Heaven- haha.)
If you guys would be so kind as to press the review button... :)