Akuroku One-shot 2/8/12

"Why does it have to be so cold?" Roxas wondered, teeth chattering as he pulled the thick blanket even closer.

It wasn't helping. He could see his breath hang in the air as he attempted to rub some life into his limbs. Roxas could see icicles growing on his ceiling, the little moisture in the air beginning to freeze. The windows had long since frosted over, obscuring the usually scenic view with an opaque film. This was all Axel's fault. Axel had gone and broken up with Vexen exactly one month ago (not that he was counting), and Vexen had been unable to let it go. At first, Vexen had been satisfied with the simple cold shoulder and freezing glares. It wasn't long, however, until he realized that these tactics didn't affect Axel in the slightest, which is when he started to escalate. First harsh words, then mean pranks and eventually minor scuffles. All of it seemed to go straight over Axel's head, much to Vexen's increasing vexation. And then he discovered the one thing Axel truly hated (other than burnt toast, of course-he'd already tried that): the cold. Which is when Vexen hatched his 'brilliant' plan for revenge and thus began Vexen's complaining to Superior about how the castle was far too hot for his experiments. 58 complaints later, Superior finally caved and let Vexen control the thermostat. It had been set at precisely .4 degrees Celsius ever since. And all to make Axel miserable. It was just Vexen's way of letting off steam, and everyone else had to pay the price. Axel wouldn't even admit why he broke it off, much less apologize to the icy blond. Which only made Vexen all the more angry.

But, to be honest, Roxas wasn't entirely sure why the redhead had dated Vexen in the first place. They were complete opposites and could barely even stand to be in the same room together for more than a few minutes before shit began flying. It was completely and utterly stupid. They didn't know anything about each other, didn't even really care. Really, they were more of temporary 'fuckbuddies' if anything. And if Roxas was honest with himself, he was completely jealous. Axel was Roxas's best friend, but over the last year he had become something more. Roxas had begun to find himself staring at the pyro for no reason, not even realizing it until Axel snapped his fingers and asked what was wrong. Roxas found himself blushing at the slightest thing in the redhead's presence; he found that he craved Axel's company far more than he should; and as if that wasn't enough, he couldn't stop thinking about that damn pyro. Roxas wasn't an idiot; he knew what was going on. He also knew that there was no chance in Hell that Axel liked him back; just because his friend was gay did not mean that he was into him. So to preserve their friendship and what little time they spent together, Roxas had hidden his feelings. It was better this way.

So here he was, freezing, despondent, and alone with nothing to distract him. Roxas sighed and buried deeper into his covers; maybe if he took a nap, it would be warmer when he woke up. Of course, he was just deluding himself. All the same, a nap sounded pretty nice; if nothing else, it would distract him from his dangerous thoughts.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Roxas sat up with a groan, any prospect of sleep gone and his hair sticking every which way as he waited for his unknown visitor to come in. A certain man with spiky red hair poked his head in, "Hey, Roxas. Mind if I join?" Roxas blinked a few times in surprise, a slight blush hitting his cheeks as he noted the messy room and his sloppy appearance.

"Uh, yeah, errr, come on in," he choked out, trying to smooth down his bedhead and frantically shoving his pants from last week under his bed without being too obvious. Axel gave his classic smirk, quickly disillusioning the blond from the notion that he didn't notice, before he waked in, closing the door behind him and moving over by Roxas and his bed.

"What are you doing in bed? You're not sick, are you?" Axel questioned, causing Roxas to roll his eyes before responding.

"I'm in bed because it's freezing. Literally."

Axel gave a quick, guilty laugh and scratched the back of his head awkwardly, "Yeah... Sorry about that."

Roxas shook his head, "It's not me you should be apologizing to; if you'd just suck it up and apologize to Vexen, he'd stop screwing with the thermostat."

Axel's hand dropped to his side as his bright green gaze became serious, "I did."

Roxas once again found himself surprised by his best friend; Axel rarely actually confronted his problems, especially not with the mature clarity that Roxas now saw.

"Really?! What'd you tell him?"

"The truth," Axel haltingly replied, skirting around the real answer and avoiding the blonde's impossibly blue gaze.

"Which is...?" Roxas prodded, wanting to know what 'the truth' is; the reason behind the supposed 'break-up' had been eating at him for weeks.

"That I like someone else," Axel spat out after a few moments hesitation; very untypical of the usually flirtatiously flippant pyro.

"Oh..." Roxas responded dully, feeling his heart sink. Axel visibly fidgeted. Fidgeted. Axel. The two words didn't even belong in the same sentence; something was up, and Roxas was now determined to find out. "Who?"

"Well... He's really cute," Axel haltingly began, "And smart, too. He knows me better than anyone else, and... He-he makes me feel like I have a heart."

With each adjective, Roxas' heart sank. There was no way Axel was talking about him; he wasn't cute or smart, and he certainly didn't know Axel that well. Sure they were best friends, but looking back, Roxas knew surprisingly little about the redhead. He doubted that he even knew Axel's favorite color, much less anything important.

"Oh..." Roxas knew he should at least act enthusiastic, but found he lacked the energy, "That's great Axel. But if you don't mind, I think I'll take a nap now."

Without waiting for a reply, Roxas curled up in his covers, no longer minding the cold; it matched the numbness in his heart. There was a minute of silence before Axel replied with a noncommittal "Okay."

Roxas closed his eyes, waiting for him to leave, waiting to finally be alone so that no one would know how much that hurt. Thump, thump. Roxas opened his eyes, confused, a question on the tip of his tongue, when he felt the bed shift with a new weight and two, strong arms wrapping around his waist, pulling him into a warm chest. Roxas felt his face flame at the sudden contact and his previous question flew out the window. "A-Axel-l?!" was all he managed to choke out, his stammering blatantly obvious.

"What? You seemed cold, so I thought I'd keep you warm. Is there a problem?"

"N-no, no pr-problem!" Roxas was quick to correct, not wanting this dream to end, "Yo-you just su-surprised me." Axel merely smirked, pulling the blond closer and placing his chin on top of Roxas' messy hair.

Only now, Roxas couldn't sleep. How could he with his crush laying there, practically spooning with him? Trying to break the awkward silence, he tried some small talk, "So... Why don't you tell him that you like him?" So much for small talk.

"Hmmm?" Axel responded slowly, almost as if he were the one taking a nap, "Oh, that; well, I guess because I wasn't sure that he felt the same way. But after today, I think I might..."

As Axel trailed off Roxas felt as if a lead weight was pressing down on his chest; "Then why are you here?"

At the question, Axel's fingers gently grasped his chin, turning Roxas' head to meet his own. Their eyes met, blue clashing with green, before Axel replied, "Simple. He's right here."

His eyes were so sincere that Roxas found he couldn't look away. Slowly, giving plenty of time for him to change his mind, Axel brought his lips down on Roxas, eyes finally closing. At first, Roxas didn't respond, almost causing Axel to pull away. Quickly recovering, Roxas threw himself into the kiss, feeling Axel smile in return. Roxas found himself fully turned around, facing Axel as the kiss deepened. Minutes later, they finally pulled away, Roxas laying his head on Axel's abnormally warm chest, a huge grin on his face. Axel gently kissed his forehead before laying his head down, too. Together, they got the best night's sleep either of them had had in a long, long time. And it was plenty warm, too~ ;)