Title: Cabin Fever
Pairing: Axel/Roxas
Rating: PG-13?
Warnings: language, some nondescript sex later.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, or any rights to music or movies mentioned.
A/N: AkuRoku for Valentine's Day! Any and all mistakes are my own.
Summary: When a snow storm catches them by surprise, the last thing Roxas wants to deal with is Valentine's Day. Axel has other ideas.
Under any other circumstances, having Axel to himself – no distractions or interruptions – for several days was a thoroughly tempting idea that could only have very good – and orgasmic – results. However the present situation was the exact opposite of ideal, and Roxas was actually starting to think a little break from his boyfriend of almost a year might be a good thing.
The whole thing started when news of the oncoming storm reached their ears. It didn't seem like a huge deal; network forecasts predicted that their area wouldn't be hit too heavily, and in fact the snow might simply skip right over their area of the state if the conditions were right. At most, Roxas figured they might get six inches – totally manageable. That night was absolutely normal: Roxas arrived back at their apartment about half an hour after Axel to his boyfriend cooking them some dinner; they ate, had sex, and fell asleep much later in the evening.
When Roxas started to wake up the next morning, he had an inkling that they were in trouble. The sunbeam of doom – which without fail filtered through the small window in their bedroom and woke him up by eight AM every single day as it landed directly on his face – failed to materialize and awaken him. It was an even more ominous sign when he registered, still half asleep, the chill in the bedroom, even in the embrace of a humanoid furnace slash boyfriend named Axel. It was fucking freezing. But rather than deal with the problem, Roxas had pulled the blankets closer and curled up even tighter against Axel's chest. His boyfriend adjusted with the movement with a small grunt of complaint, sliding his arm over Roxas' side and pressing a warm palm between the blond's narrow shoulder blades, gently warming him. It wasn't until a few minutes later when Axel groaned loudly. "Rox," he muttered, shifting slightly amongst the pile of sheets. "We have a problem. I think the window's covered in snow."
They actually had several problems, all of which they would discover within the following three hours. The first problem was that they lived in a basement apartment with a small, private cement stairway up to street level – which, when combined with the fact that instead of six inches their town received two feet of snow and the fact that severe winds had created some intense snow drifts, created one very big problem: snow had accumulated in their stairwell, and effectively created a barrier keeping them from even seeing the light of day when they opened the door. The snow was so hard packed by that point that it formed almost a solid wall of white when they tried to escape. The fourth problem had nothing to do with their positioning, only their electricity provider; the power was out in the whole neighborhood. Cell service was minimal, if it was available at all.
The only good thing about the predicament was that the building manager had purchased a generator for this kind of situation, and had it running pretty quickly. All it could do was run the fridge and charge one piece of technology at a time, as the generator's power had to be shared amongst all the tenants. That seemed to be the one and only upside amongst a plethora of downsides. They also had no running water, and wouldn't for a few days at least because of some burst water pipes downtown. With heating the apartment out of the question, Roxas pulled out all of their warmest pajamas and fleece blankets from the closet.
The first day was fairly stressful, mostly due to the suddenness of the storm and that they had to figure out what was working and what didn't – along with the constant stream of battery-reducing phone calls from two sets of parents and texts from friends asking if they were alive, Roxas was already on the road to reaching the end of his rope with things. Once they recharged their phones, Axel used the outlet to heat up some water and made two cups of hot chocolate; afterwards they curled up among some blankets and watched a movie on Roxas' laptop until the battery died. After lighting some candles throughout the apartment, they burrowed under the blankets and fell asleep, still bundled up against the cold that was starting to permeate the apartment.
The next day was a little easier, though mostly it was because they woke up knowing what to expect. When the generator began to run low on gas (this message in particular was passed through the floorboards by a noisy neighbor) Axel decided to unplug the fridge and create a new one in the snow. He carefully opened the front door and carved a little niche in the hard packed snow and put all of their milk, soda, deli meat, and other perishables out to keep them cold. Roxas read by candlelight for a bit while Axel played games on his phone for as long as he could. Eventually they managed to crack a window (letting only a minimal amount of snow in) to circulate some fresh air, which was much needed by that point.
The third day progressed much in the same way, but by the afternoon they were both starting to get a bit testy with each other; living in close quarters had never bothered them, but not seeing another face for three days while being locked in a dark, cold place was definitely starting to wear on them.
After a snit about the cold and Axel hogging the blankets that ended with Roxas barricading himself in their bedroom for about an hour, the blond crept back out an apologized; Axel welcomed him back and ensconced him in warmth once more, resting his chin on Roxas' bony shoulder.
"Do you what day's tomorrow?" Axel asked after a little while, breaking the comfortable silence with words muffled by a blond tuft of Roxas' hair. They were cuddled up on the couch, wrapped in layers of flannel and fleece with Axel holding the shorter man against his chest. A visitor, had anyone been able to get in, might have thought they were a two-headed man beneath the pile of blankets, they were so close together.
Roxas groaned, shifting agitatedly in Axel's arms. "We've been stuck in here for three days, Axel. I wasn't really planning on doing much until after we got ourselves dug out."
"Being stuck in here is all the more reason to celebrate," Axel insisted. "I want to treat you to something nice – this is our first Valentine's Day together, anyway."
"What do you have in mind? We can't even get out the door."
"I have it all taken care of," Axel enthused, his bright green eyes lighting up with glee. "I got the supplies before the storm hit."
"You're insane," Roxas shook his head. "We smell – neither of us has showered in the last three days. It's not going to be very romantic."
"I think it'll be incredibly romantic," Axel countered confidently. "We're all by ourselves, no one's going to bother us. And we're surrounded by candles, right?" he asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
"You're crazy," the blond reiterated.
"You doubt me," Axel muttered, mock-insulted. "I will overwhelm you with my romanticism. You'll swoon. It won't even matter that we're gross and smelly when I'm through romancing you, we'll have hot, sweaty monkey sex and enjoy every minute!"
"And then we'll smell like stale sex until we can take showers again," Roxas said pointedly, only somewhat unfazed by Axel's declaration. He rarely ever said no to Axel – and why would he? Roxas had long ago acknowledged how absurdly lucky he was to have such an amazing, stunningly gorgeous, loving boyfriend who loved to experiment and loved to make him feel fucking fantastic no matter what they did. He loved Axel, and he loved sex with Axel – but the thought of how gross they would be afterwards, three days past due for showers with the addition of stale sex, made him squirm.
"Then we'll grab some snow from the outside and have a makeshift shower," Axel reasoned, not backing down in the slightest. "Please, Roxas? I think we could use the fun after being snowed in for so long," he finished his argument with a winning grin, the left corner of his mouth curving upwards wickedly. "We can be our own furnace, babe," he added suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows again.
There was simply no way Roxas could say no to that.
0o0
Since Roxas and Axel had begun dating ten months ago, Roxas had learned that three little words could get him into a whole lot of trouble: "just trust me." They were not ominous words in and of themselves, but when applied to Axel and his mystifying brain they were a disaster waiting to happen.
Handcuffs in the bedroom? "Just trust me." A locksmith was called two hours later when the key suddenly vanished.
A new, challenging sex position? "Just trust me." Roxas ended up with a possible concussion and a sprained ankle.
Public sex – in broad daylight – in a more secluded part of a walkway along the river? "Just trust me." They were interrupted by a school group halfway to orgasm and barely escaped public indecency charges after Axel swore he was only performing the Heimlich maneuver.
And those were just in the first two months of dating.
Roxas should have learned by now, really.
"Just trust me," Axel muttered, holding the bain-marie filled with chocolate chips over the cluster of candles on the living room table. It was a long process, but the idea was that the chocolate would eventually melt and they would use it to dip strawberries in. Roxas actually really liked the idea, but with no electricity powering the stove Axel had decided to simply use the candles to melt the chips. Candles were not at all close to the power behind an electric stove, so the melting was bound to take forever.
"You keep saying that," Roxas responded warily, still holding the tray of strawberries dubiously, "but it doesn't make me trust you more."
Axel plucked a chocolate chip out of the metal bowl and popped it in Roxas' mouth. "Here, have some chocolate. It'll tide you over."
"Are you sure this is going to work?"
"Absolutely," Axel replied, dutifully holding the bain-marie and watching the chocolate chips for any signs of melting.
Several minutes later they were still waiting for the melting to begin, and Roxas left the strawberries on the table to get some hot chocolate. When he returned, he found Axel looking a bit deflated. Roxas didn't ask what was wrong; Axel rarely ever kept anything to himself, much less worries or emotions that he was trudging through. In the end, he always told Roxas what was bothering him.
"You know," Axel started casually, munching on a chocolate chip with that deflated, serious expression on his face. "I was going to do the 'dinner and a movie' thing tonight."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," the redhead laughed a little. "There's a gorgeous filet mignon in the makeshift freezer out there that I found. I was going to cook it up for you and take you to a movie – 'Warm Bodies.'"
"The zombie romcom?" Roxas clarified skeptically, raising an eyebrow at his boyfriend as he sipped his hot chocolate.
"Yeah," Axel nodded. "What's better than watching a zombie movie after a dinner of rare steak? And I mean, we both love zombie movies. That was one of the first things we learned we had in common, remember?"
"Of course I remember," Roxas scoffed. "But a zombie romance movie? Isn't that a little cheesy?"
Axel shrugged. "Maybe. But I heard it was good and I figured we'd both get a kick out of it. It seemed like an ideal combination – a genre we love, with added romance for the most sugar-coated day of the year, right?"
Roxas hummed in agreement. "It's too bad we can't get out," he sighed. "Or that we can't keep the laptops running for a whole movie. It would be nice to do something different for a change."
"Are you getting cabin fever, Rox?"
"If we can't shovel our way out by tomorrow night I'm going to claw my way out to see the sun."
"Is it that bad being stuck in here with me?"
"Fuck no," Roxas hissed, alarmed that Axel had jumped to that thought process so quickly. "It's the cold, and not being able to cook and go outside, and pretty soon we're probably going to have an issue with an abundance of water. It's that I can't go out and pick up your gift, because it's waiting for you in our mailbox – in the snow," he sighed heavily.
"Wait, you got something for me?" Axel started, his gaze shifting quickly. "I thought you didn't really want to do gifts. Hence why I just planned on making a special meal and taking you to a movie and feeding you chocolate strawberries."
Roxas couldn't tell if Axel was panicked or offended by his decision to get him something in the end; Axel's thin red brows were furrowed, bright eyes narrowed slightly and the smallest frown had worked its way onto his face. It made Roxas' stomach twist uncomfortably. "I know, and I didn't. But you always think of something really nice no matter what – you're really good at that. You always know how to show me how you feel. So I wanted to get something for you, something that would show you that I know what you're trying to say, and that I love you too," Roxas finished, his voice quieting towards the end when he curled up against Axel's side, relishing the comforting warmth of his body heat.
"That's really sweet, Rox," Axel said quietly, grinning into his blond hair. "What'd you get me?"
Roxas rolled his eyes. "A pocket watch. A special one, so when you go to cons in your steampunk gear you'll have a kickass pocket watch you can be dapper with. I was having it engraved."
"You little shit," Axel muttered, awe and excitement in his tone. "You realize I'd use it every day, right? It would be a shame to only use it at conventions."
"Well let's make it to the mailbox first," Roxas chuckled, his throat catching at the happiness Axel seemed to be exuding. "Oh. The chips are melting."
"So it would seem," Axel grinned and grabbed a spoon, stirring the slowly melting chocolate until it was smooth. "Start dipping, Rox – put them on that plate when they're done," he directed, motioning towards the waiting dish.
"I can't believe this actually worked," Roxas muttered, still somewhat in disbelief that it had actually gone the way Axel had imagined. He dipped one plump strawberry into the chocolate, holding it by the stem, and placed it carefully on the plate once it was mostly covered. He repeated those steps over and over, until the plate was filled to the brim with delicious-looking chocolate covered strawberries that Roxas couldn't wait to taste. It was a little difficult to keep it up impassively though, as Roxas quickly realized that Axel was staring at him rather closely and lustfully, his eyes half-lidded and mouth curved into a knowing smirk that clearly said I am going to lay you out on this couch in approximately five seconds. The look, the one that meant Axel was mentally undressing him, was enough to send his stomach into a full gymnastic routine. Roxas cleared his throat. "You're very distracting, you know," he whispered.
"I know," Axel responded simply. "But if you get chocolate on you I get to lick it off."
"Is that what you're after?" Roxas teased. "Me covered in warm chocolate?"
Axel made a noncommittal noise, which reminded Roxas that neither of them had showered in three days so licking might not be on the top of either of their lists. "How about just you, naked, and lots of blankets to keep us warm?"
"Go put the strawberries out in the snow and I'll see what I can do about that," Roxas practically purred, loving Axel's thought process.
Axel nearly bolted from the couch, while Roxas stayed behind to admire the view of the distinct harness in the front of Axel's sweatpants and the stiffness in his gait for a moment; then he got up himself to get some much-needed supplies from their bedroom. When he came back bearing lube and condoms, Axel was already splayed out on the couch, covered in a warm blanket. The clothes he'd been wearing were piled at the other end of the couch.
"The blanket fort requires you to strip," Axel dutifully informed him, wiggling his eyebrows. Roxas tossed him the supplies and stripped off his shirt, followed closely by his flannel pants and boxers before he dove into the designated 'blanket fort' for warmth and more interesting activities.
Blankets were made unnecessary pretty quickly, and instead of covering they became a little nest around them, pillowing Roxas' head and giving Axel something else to tug on that wasn't blond hair. The quiet, cold apartment seemed almost transformed as the darkness was lit with candles that surrounded them, illuminating sweat-sheened flesh and soft moans and harsh curses filtered through the rooms. The air was warmed by harshly-expelled breath, and as Axel worked to extend their pleasure Roxas even found himself overheating, gasping for breath to help cool the rest of his body. He clawed at Axel's back, leaving long red marks behind and spurring his lover faster, harder, until the world came crashing down and their names seemed to echo in the room long after they'd shouted them in ecstasy.
They curled up together afterwards, and Axel tugged a blanket over them as they moved to lie on their sides, relaxing comfortably; Axel's arm was draped over Roxas' side as it seemed to always do in sleep, though the kiss placed on the nape of Roxas' neck betrayed his boyfriend's wakefulness. Eventually, when Roxas' stomach rumbled rather loudly and obnoxiously, the strawberries were brought back in and shared, and much to the delight of those who made them they were incredibly delicious.
Eventually the power returned, and eventually they dug themselves out with the help of their neighbors. The storm had left a lot of people miserable, and while some parts had definitely made him miserable Roxas felt comfortable saying that it was the best damn Valentine's Day he'd experienced in twenty-five years, and he wouldn't have changed it any other way.
