Thank you for inspiring me.
[you know who you are]
Axel leans over the side of the bed, and smiles at the demon hiding under his desk. It's a small little thing, about five feet tall, but it's vicious, and not discerning about what it attacks with wickedly sharp claws and teeth. He reaches one hand hesitantly out, but quickly withdraws it when there's a flash of bared white teeth against obsidian skin.
Axel can learn to wait.
Axel arrives home from school, and something scuttles across his kitchen floor. The demon hides under the table, and Axel purposefully ignores it as he passes by, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck while he inspects the contents of the fridge. There's half a package of sandwich meat missing, but Axel never really liked bologna anyway. He snatches an orange soda before grabbing a water, popping the tab and holding the bottle under his arm. Leaning against the kitchen counter, Axel inspects the table, sipping on his soda thoughtfully. It's been about two weeks since he found the demon in his fireplace, black slime oozing from a cut across the creature's chest. Shit had stained the fucking bricks. The thing had yet to talk to him or even allow Axel to look at it, but it refused to leave.
There's a scuffle under the kitchen table, and red eyes peek out before quickly withdrawing back under the tablecloth. Axel smiles, slowly moving over towards the demon's hiding spot, bending to slowly roll the water bottle under the table. He gets up and turns away when he hears plastic crunch, heading back to his bedroom.
It's been two months, and Axel stares at the demon sitting on his couch. It's wearing Axel's t-shirt and Axel's pants -that's where those went- and most importantly, it's not running away. It stares back, eyes burning red as fire, and opens it's mouth for the first time. "I want pizza."
"Excuse me?" Axel drops his book bag, hand reaching for the phone in his back pocket already.
"Cheese with olives."
Axel nods like this is an ordinary occurrence, hitting one of speed dial, not moving his eyes from the apparently male demon on his couch. "Cheese with olives," he repeats, free hand lifting to rub the back of his neck.
"Cheese with olives," the demon agrees, head bobbing up and down.
Axel orders a cheese pizza with olives.
Axel's figured out that the lighter, discolored stuff on the demon's skull is in fact hair and not some weird supernatural shit. It looks like a birds' nest, something that he can't resist pointing out at least once a day, or whenever he manages to spot the demon.
He told Axel his name was Roxas, after a few more pizza day demands, right before commenting offhandedly that Axel looked like a 'goddamn fire hydrant' and asking 'what the fuck is up with your hair did it come from a bottle or were you spawned that way'. Axel isn't sure he's a-okay with all this sass in his fucking apartment, but right now with his hand buried in soft demon hair and a warm presence sitting at his feet while Dexter is on the TV, he's pretty fine with it.
Roxas glances up at him exactly once, red eyes narrowing slightly, before he returns his attention to the TV. Axel figures he's alright with someone fondling his weird-ass demon hair.
It's night, and Axel can't sleep. He rolls onto his side, hand draping downwards to let his knuckles scrape hardwood floor. It's been six months since Roxas demanded cheese and olive pizza, and he still sleeps under Axel's bed. He always ignores Axel's invitations to join him on the actual bed, and refuses to be tugged out by force.
Except tonight, Axel feels clawed fingers wrap around his hand, something that hasn't happened before.
Axel falls asleep with a smile on his face.
Roxas is waiting when Axel gets home from work, an awkward smile on his face. Axel is immediately suspicious, the last time Roxas was waiting, the demon had managed to shred through two sets of Axel's sheets. The redhead never asked and the demon never told. Axel sets his bag down on the couch, sprawling out on all the cushions, throwing an arm up to cover his eyes.
"Hey," Roxas starts, poking Axel in the foot. "What the hell are you doing, you lazy shit?"
"I," Axel began dramatically, other hand coming up to wave in the air, "Am preparing myself for whatever you're going to tell me. What'd you fuck up now, Rox?"
It's almost worth the punch to the gut he gets, Axel thinks, just to hear Roxas sputter like a dying cat. "I didn't fuck anything up, you flaming retard!" The demon looks upset, head turned away, so Axel finally relents.
"Alright, alright, what do you want to talk about?" He sits up, scratching idly at the tattoo on one cheek, green eyes wide in amusement.
Roxas looks stumped now that Axel's willing to be serious for once, fingers twisting together behind his back. "I just. I made dinner, alright? Goddammit."
This is the first time anyone's ever made food for Axel. He finds he likes it quite a lot.
It's a year to the day that Roxas climbed down Axel's chimney, and Axel's sitting on his bed. Roxas is perched on the corner of his desk, sipping on a milkshake, watching the stars from the window. Axel studies him while Roxas is distracted; the demon's gotten a little taller though he's still short, his weird ass hair has lightened a few shades and is clearly distinguishable from his scalp, and he still steals Axel's clothes to wear.
Roxas turns back to his friend once he's bored, silently offering the milkshake. The redhead accepts and sucks on the straw, standing up to fumble with his jeans one-handed, swearing loudly when he finally manages to kick his clothes off. Roxas rolls his eyes and steals the ice cream back, finishing it off and leaving the cup on the desk, starting to slide under the bed.
Axel stops him, hand on his shoulder, eyes guarded. "Come on, Roxas, just sleep on the goddamn bed. I swear I don't have cooties or whatever."
The demon frowns, wrenching his shoulder away. "Whatever."
It's near midnight and Axel swears as something heavy crawls across his chest. "What the fuck?"
"Shut up, firetruck, you wanted this." The something curls up next to Axel, warm and sleepy-sounding.
"I didn't want you to break my damn chest, Roxas."
"Go to sleep."
Axel smiles.
It's four years to the day since Roxas wormed his little supernatural ass into Axel's life. Axel has it marked on the calendar now, and Roxas is lighting up a cigarette as he crosses it off.
"I hope you're going to share, that's my last one," he states without looking up.
"Hell no, you had the entire pack," Roxas shoots back, extinguishing the tiny fireball he summoned to the tip of one index claw.
"Because I bought them, don't be a bitch."
"I'll be a bitch if I want to, it's my anniversary."
"Our anniversary, you ankle-biter," Axel says, looking at him fondly, and he doesn't even flinch from the punch he receives. "And to think it took you like, a year to just sleep next to me. Look at us now. A regular fucking married couple."
Roxas sighs, exhaling smoke, waving it away with one hand. "You're never going to let me live that down?"
"Of course not, you practically flood the living room when I'm out of town and you can't sleep next to this luscious body."
"You're about as luscious as a prune, Axel."
Axel grins in response, and sits on the couch, pulling their dinner of Chinese takeout closer. He gets a forkful of rice and presses it against Roxas's lips until the demon eats it with a huff. The redhead presses a kiss to the corner of Roxas's mouth, wrapping an arm around his waist before stealing the cigarette for a drag.
"You whore." Roxas is smiling though, taking Axel's hand to kiss the back of before taking the cig back.
"Love you too, babe."
It's four years to the day since Roxas fell down Axel's chimney, bleeding from a scrape with a dog, and Axel can't believe he was ever lucky enough to have him.
AN: hello there, if you made it to the end! thank you for reading my story. these characters are near to my heart, and i can't resist a good demon story.
i enjoyed writing this one, especially playing with the tense used, because that's mainly the reason i wrote it! trying to get out my comfort zone. operative word is trying.
please review if you liked it, or if you didn't, tell me why!
-vin