A/N: I'm terribly sorry but this is my first fic in a rrreeeaaalllyyy long time and the ones I wrote back then… well I'm not even sure if those would constitute as English, much less literature, haha. But I've been reading so many great fics lately, so after lots of encouragement from my dear friends I decided I wanted to try my hand at it again. And isn't that how it usually goes? So please, give me lots of constructive criticism. I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update, or even how long those updates will be, so please bear with me… well, here we go, please enjoy =]
Disclaimer: I do not own any Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II or Disney characters, these are the sole property of Square Enix and Disney so please don't sue me, I don't have a job. D=
Chapter One
He was walking down the sidewalk in the early morning sun, hands firmly shoved in his jean pockets. He held a sneer on pale, thin lips for anyone who stared at his ripped clothing, the numerous cuts on his exposed flesh or the blood still dripping from his swollen nose. Of course, the people he passed paid no mind to his scathing expression and continued to stare as if he were some sort of attraction; merely there for their amusement. He spat out the blood and saliva that was collecting in his mouth, distaste marking his vaguely emaciated face. Some of them had the decency to look away, but most of them didn't.
Looking away from the masses of people crowding the Traverse Town downtown district, staring up at the buildings passing him by instead he could only think one thing. 'I hate this place. I really do.'
He fixed his vivid green eyes firmly on the cracked cement, thinking the unoutstanding pavement might better sooth his frazzled nerves.
As soon as his anger and indignation disappeared, it was quickly replaced with dejection when all those blackened circles of chewed gum claimed a sort of affinity with him. They reminded him cruelly that he was just like them; chewed up, spit out and stepped on until all that was left was a dark, ugly stain that was only fit to be rubbed more firmly into the dirt. He scowled at the ground and rubbed his heel into an especially big and ugly gum stain until he felt a sick satisfaction.
Withdrawing one hand from his pocket, he stroked it fiercely through his fiery red hair, the only trait he shared with- immediately locking that thought down he tugged viciously on one lock of said hair, and then picked up his pace back to his filthy apartment.
He sighed as he lowered his sore body into the scalding hot bath he had drawn for himself, all tension leaving his muscles instantly. He rested his arms on either side of the tub and let his body go limp, or as limp as his long, lank body could go in the tiny tub, knobby knees sticking out of the water and head hitting the shower lining with a thump.
"Axel!" Someone hissed from the other room, just as he had let his eyelids close.
With a sigh of defeat he called, "In the bathroom." To the voice. Shortly thereafter the door opened and a head of silver hair poked through, glancing over at Axel, spread eagled in the tub.
The silver haired one groaned and said, "You could have told me you were naked."
Axel grinned, "And what would be the fun in that, Riku?" He asked, "Don't act like you don't like what you see . You should have asked before you came in anyways." Axel sighed, sinking his body lower into the still hot water.
Riku seemed to notice all the scrapes and cuts on the other mans body, "Shit! What the fuck happened to you?" and he rushed to the other mans side, all qualms about his nudity apparently forgotten. Riku touched the other mans face, nose still swollen and several deep scratches adorning it along with already darkening bruises, marring handsome features and making him frown.
"Occupational hazard." The redhead shrugged, tearing his face out of the probing fingers and looking away.
Riku frowned even deeper, if possible, at the mention of Axel's 'occupation'. He sighed deeply and forced the heel of his hands into tired eye balls. He was already so sick of the arguments he had had with the green eyed man concerning this topic, so instead of repeating them he stood up stiffly and grumbled, "Hurry up so we can take care of those." And exited the bathroom.
Axel sighed as well and dunked his head under the water, feeling the scratches scream in protest of the scorching water. Axel ignored this and held his breath until he felt himself grow dizzy. Face breaking the surface he took several deep breaths until the dark spots left his vision and his head felt clearer. Draining the tub, he stood and turned on the shower instead, to the same scalding temperature, so he could scrub himself clean of the day's events. Massaging his favorite coconut scented shampoo into his scalp until he felt satisfied that his hair was clean of all sweat, blood or any other bodily fluids then quickly dunked his head under the stream of hot water. After a quick scrub down and inspection of the rest of his body, he toweled off, wrapped the towel around his waist, and left the suffocating, but comforting steam of the bathroom.
His room was down the hall and to the left from the bathroom, not to be confused with the room to the right, which belonged to Riku; a room which Axel was almost never allowed to enter. He glanced at the ever closed door, as was his habit, and entered his own room, closing the door behind him. He sighed again, musing that he was doing that a lot lately, before walking over to the rickety old dresser. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror he cringed at the sight of his poor, battered face. He poked the bruises abrasions gently and stifled a hiss at the sting, hand flinching away from his face. He rested his hands against the wood of the dresser, heard it groan in protest, but continued to stare at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes roamed over his own pale skin, over the well scrawny, but well defined, arms and his thin, but muscled chest that seemed as if it was incapable of producing hair. He gazed at the other scratches and bruises on his upper torso, none of them seeming too serious, and moved to his legs, where there were more bruises, scratches on his thighs and knees scraped up to hell.
A knock on his door startled him out of his quiet inspection. He called a hoarse, "Come in!" to his visitor, already knowing who it was.
Riku walked through the door, expression darkening as he noticed the abuse to the other mans body he hadn't previously seen. He pressed his lips into a tight line to keep from voices those same arguments once again and held up his first aid kit for the redhead to see, crossing the room.
Axel huffed at the other man's invasion into his room when Axel wasn't allowed into his room, but swallowed the childish indignation down. He moved to sit on the bed so Riku could treat his less than serious wounds, in his opinion. Just like he always did.
Riku set the box down beside Axel and opened it, withdrawing gauze pads and antiseptic. He sat behind the redhead on the bed, legs crossed in front of him and slouching. Unscrewing the bottle he tipped some of the contents onto the gauze, and pressed it suddenly to one of Axels more severe cuts on his back. Axel jolted and hissed, biting down on the instinct to swat the other man.
Riku chuckled, "Pansy. You think you'd be used to this by now."
"Shut up, pretty boy, before I break that face." Axel said through gritted teeth, hissing again as the cloth was pressed onto another wound.
"Like you could." Riku murmured, enjoying the familiarity of their banter. It warmed him to know that he always had this friendship, if nothing else, "We've been down this road many times before, you know." He chided.
"Yeah, and it always ends in a draw. Next time I'm gonna wipe that smug look off your girly face." Axel said, a new fire in his bright green eyes.
Riku rolled aquamarine ones and smirked, pressing the gauze back onto the former's back with cruel pressure.
Axel let loose a stream of curses under his breath, whipped his head around and glared scathingly at his roommate. The look promised all sorts of unpleasant things in the near future.
Riku held his hands up innocently and smiled, "Oops." He uttered, mischevious glimmer in his eyes belieing his innocence.
"Hurry up, would ya'?" Axel growled, shifting forward to press his elbows onto his knees, "As much as I know you love having me naked on a bed, I would like to get dressed sometime soon."
"Yeah, Yeah. Quit your yapping." Riku sighed, concern flashing through his eyes as he concentraited on his friends back. The flesh was practically in ribbons and had clearly already started getting infected. It was unnerving to know that all this damage was more than likely caused by one man, a returning customer to the red head. Riku scowled and wiped viciously, making the red head yelp once again.
Once he was done cleaning a bandaging each and every one of the deep gouges, he packed all his supplies away and stored them in the bathroom. Just like every other time Riku wished feverently that he could do something about the situation, instead of just patching up his friend and sending him back out to the animals. But he knew Axel wasn't ready to let go and would get pissy like he always did if Riku interfered in the red heads affairs. Riku sighed at the hopelessness of the situation and pushed away from the counter. He went straight to his room and closed the door to have some time away from his room mate so he wouldn't end up saying something to upset him. And God knew his friend needed the rest.