Dark, thats what it was... Dark.. He could hear beeping, and the sound of dripping water... He opened his eyes, where was he? "Hes coming to! Fetch doctor Vexen!" That voice, it sounded gruff, sky blue eyes opened, to a white room surrounded by faces, blurry, and unfocused. Another face came into view, "Why hello Roxas, glad too see you join us," this man had everyone back away, why? Was he diseased? Is that why he was here? Roxas, was that his name? He didn't like how this Vexen person was looking at him... It frightened him... He had to get out! The blond haired boy sat up, breathing rapidly, blinking and looking around frantically, taking the doctors surrounding him by surprise, he stood up,and glanced round again, the men and women in the room too surprised to do anything, and ran for the door.
He was shaky on his feet, as he ran through the halls to find an exit, he heard an alarm wail, but no one came after him, he soon found what he was looking for and exited the large laboratory he'd woken up in, feeling the cool summer breeze on his face.
It felt nice, he couldn't help but smile and close his eyes, relishing in the cool air that hit his face, he heard shouting, and looked behind him, two men were running towards him, shouting, though what he couldn't make out, and turning to run, he left the lab far behind, not knowing where he was going, who he was, or why he'd been there, but anywhere, he deemed, was better than back there in the hands of those doctors.
Axel sighed, he'd just been dumped by his girlfriend, who'd announced that she was seeing someone else behind his back, "This sucks," he muttered, his emerald green eyes showing signs of self pity. Larexene his, ex? Had been seeing this Saix behind his back, and had told him coldheartedly, in a cafe and on their one year anniversary, too.
"I'm never gonna fall in love ever again, it hurts to much and is a pain in the backside," He said to himself, a little too loudly, but he didn't care, maybe a visit to his best friend would help? Riku was a great listener afterall, and his boyfriend was always up for a chat or to offer a helping hand, 'Rikus lucky to have someone like Sora...' thought the redhead, as he shuffled his way to a small book store, Sora loved books, always had.
Suuddenly he was almost knocked to the ground, steadying himsself he looked up to see who'd bumped into him, a blond boy, with sky blue eyes and ragged clothing, was picking himself off the floor, "ouch..." the boy mumbled, rubbing his back, Axel sighed, then offered his hand to the small boy, he had to be about sixteen, "You really should watch where your going y'know," he said, with a slight chuckle, the boy looked up, noticed his hand and looked confused, as though he didn't understand.
Axel sighed again, 'this might take a while...' he thought.
Roxas stared up at the tall red head holding out his hand, and was confused, why? Why was the red haired man holding out his hand? He was confused, really, really confused, "This is gonna take longer than expected isn't it? It's like you don't know a thing," the man chuckled, and Roxas continued to stare, the man grabbed his hand and pulled the boy to his feet, chuckling again at the look of surprise the blond gave him. "Care to tell me your name?" the red head asked, Roxas thought for a moment, what was it that vexen guy had called him? Roxas? "R-Roxas..." He said, "My names Roxas..." the red head chuckled again, "Axel, got it memorized?" then the man touched his temple, "Memor-what?" asked Roxas, now he was more confused than before.
Axel sighed, this boy didn't get his little catchphrase at all, 'God where has this guy been? In the castle that never was?' he laughed mentally at his own joke. Roxas gave him a blank look, just what was with this Axel person? Was he from the lab too? "Are you from the laboratory...?" asked the blond, Axel blinked, "Lab?" he looked at the boy, puzzled, what was he on about? Lab? Does he mean Vexens lab? he had come from that direction. But no one goes there unless authorised. Or if you work there, this boy clearly didn't work there, how could he? You had to be at least eighteen, and Roxas was clearly only sixteen.
Who was this kid? And why was he talking about Dr Vexen and his lab? Axel frowned.Ggoing through his questions in his head, despite his childish manner, he was smart, and now he wanted to know about Roxas, "I think you and I need to talk," He told the blond boy.
"So, let me get this straight, you woke up with science nerds standing over you?" The blond boy nodded, confused yet again by the red heads question. He had just said all of this, why was he repeating it? Sighing Axel pinched the bridge of his nose, Vexen made yet another weird experiment, didn't he? 'Demyxs uncle needs a new hobby...' he thought looking at the small blond next to him. However, out loud he said, "Come with me," Roxas blinked, and cocked his head. Before he could say anything, Axel grabbed his hand and dragged him in the direction of his favourite hangout, the small bookstore where his best friend and their boyfriend worked. 'Destiny Islands bookstore'. Named so after ththe owners birthplace.
***
It took a while, but they got there. Riku was stood outside dealing with a sqabble of girls, fawning over the silver haired male as usual. The silverette took notice of Axel, and waved, "Yo Axe! Where have you been?" Axel turned to look at the blond next to him. Unable to answer, for once the talkative pyro, had nothing to say.
Roxas, looked curiously around, there were piles and shelves of dusty old books, 'classics were always Soras favourites' the silver haired man named Riku had said, not that he knew who this Sora was.
Taking one book off the shelf, he stared at the cover, 'Frankenstein' it said, Roxas flipped through the pages absent mindedly. Interesting. But not as interesting as Axel, the red head had an air of mystery to him, it, drew Roxas in somehow... he wasn't sure how or why, he just did. "Yeah, he came from Vexens lab," he heard Axel say, a new voice, one he didn't recognise, answered him. "Yeah, Dr V needs a new hobby..." it sounded like a sigh, was he really that much of a freak? Roxas looked down at his feet. He thought about the monster in the book he was holding. Frankenstein's monster.
After their visit to the bookstore, Axel had taken the blond back to his home, a small apartment with even smaller bedrooms, but there were two so it was fine. "Axel, do you think I'm a monster?" Axel stopped and stared at the blond, dumbstruck. What the hell kinda question was that? Is he a monster? Where'd that come from? Sighing, the redhead walked over to where the blond was sat, "No Roxas, your no monster, what makes you think that?" Roxas looked down at his feet, and proceeded to tell the pyro of the book he'd found at Destiny Islands bookstore.
Axel laughed, "Frankenstein was made up, and another thing, the monster from that book, if memory serves me right, went around killing and causing all sorts," He said, "Have you killed anyone?" A shake of the head from the blond, "No, well do you scare people just cause you can?" Another shake, "Then your not a monster, or a freak, if anything Vexens the freak," Although, Axel was curious as to why the boy had been created, and for what purpose? He made sure to ask the older man when he next went round Demyx' for a drink.
The blond smiled as Axel grinned, Roxas was starting to like Axel, a lot.
It was late, Axel had spent ages tidying up the second bedroom, he walked into the living room, to see Roxas, asleep on the small couch, a content smile on his face.
"No doubt Vex is looking for you, bet you were scared. Though your safe here," Axel scooped the boy up bridal style and laid him down in the guest bed tucking him in before walking out, closing the door behind him. He'd figure out what to do about Roxas later, for now, he would let the sixteen year old sleep.
Axel awoke the next morning to a crashing sound from the kitchen, jumping out of bed and rushing to the sound, he saw Roxas on the floor picking up the remains of a glass cup. The red head sighed, "Damn it Roxy, you had me worried for a second, I thought there was an earthquake or something," The blond looked up at him, then back at the shards or glass on the floor. "I'm... I'm sorry... I wanted a drink but I didn't want to disturb you..." The pyro chuckled, "Yeah well next time do wake me up, I don't want you hurting yourself for the sake of my sleep, I get more than enough," Roxas cocked his head, " I sleep during class," Axel explained, the blond nodded, unsure of what class was.
The redhead walked over to the refridgerator and pulled out the milk taking a huge gulp before setting it down on the counter, "Next time, just drink it from the carton, I do it all the time, it annoys the crap outta my friend Zexion, which I find hilarious," Roxas smiled slightly.
Since it was Saturday, Axel decided he'd bug his friend Demyx, he was at his weekend job, Twilight ice cream parlour, Demyx sometimes played his sitar there after his shift ended. Roxas followed the taller male there, walking behind him, staring up at the fla ming red hair, spiked at the back, "Like Sonic the hedgehog" the redhead had said, Axel was a little strange in the blonds eyes, but fun too. He had certainly made the boy feel welcome, despite knowing where he had come from.
"Hey Axel! Heard about Larexene, tough break dude," Came an energetic voice from behind, Axel turned to face the person who'd spoke. A boy with dirty blond hair and a mullet hairstyle was jogging towards them, the redhead shrugged, "Nah, I'm fine now, Roxy here put my mind off it, besides I'm over it," Axel replied, the other blond looked at Roxas, making him feel a little uncomfortable, "Roxy? You mean this shortie? He's the same height as Sora isn't he?" This guy knew Sora? Now it was Roxas' turn to get curious.
"Dem, your scaring him with your freaky hair," Laughed the tall redhead. Demyx pouted, "So mean Axey!" Axel glared half heartedly at his friend, "Careful Dem, Zexion might feel like your cheating if you continue flirting with me," The red head smirked. Roxas smiled slightly at the two, wondering if that's what friends are like...