Afterlighters

Chapter 1. King
by sock

Anyone who says this town doesn't belong to Hayner is in deep denial. Ever since he was born, he held a firm fist of unrelenting control and clever dictatorship unmatched in history and uncomparable by even the most stubborn scientists. It was only natural that this colossus of a man would herald the roguish team of twilight teens including himself, a blonde, skating deviant going by the name Roxas, a rotund, plump and ample child called Pence, and Olette, the girl. Wearing his signature camo clothing and stylishly slicked back hair, Hayner walks the streets of Twilight Town daily, humble, understanding his place in the world.

"I'm this town's king." Hayner yawned. "I don't know how they'd ever go on without me." He leaned back onto the couch, taking up the entire length with his majesty. At the moment, only Rox the Imp was accompanying him. Well, Roxas didn't know he was Rox the Imp, but Hayner thought it was an appropriate nickname, and was sure Roxas would appriciate it if he knew. Though, he just stared off towards the entrance of their hang-out absently, but nodded slightly to show that he was at least hearing that Hayner was making noise.

Hayner smirked loudly, the kind of smirk that is joined by a loud smirking noise, to show that it is a genuine smirk and that The Hayner is pleased. He didn't put stock into the fact that there was something else on Roxas' mind, for there was too much on his own to notice. They hadn't intended to be alone, but Olette and Pence were shopping together somewhere, which left the men to consult with themselves. Usually the conversation they held as a group were started by Olette's complaining, and Hayner's follow-up arguement, or Pence's suggestions of activities and Hayner's animated agreement. Roxas himself was individually sort of a lacklustre party-pooper. Rox the Imp was only alive in the moment, usually spurred on by the situation or something he was serious about.

Hayner couldn't be bothered with thought. The very thought of thinking distressed him, and he liked to avoid the whole thing. There was something that the two of them had in common, besides a life-long friendship, and that was Struggling. Their bats were tucked away in the corner, easy to reach in case a dispute needed to be settled.

"Hey Roxas," Hayner said in a loud voice, which broke Roxas' trance with the distance and made him finally turn his attention. Hayner was sometimes concerned about Roxas' attention span, before he forgot about it, "you feel like sparring a bit? Maybe we can go sabotage Seifer's hang-out or something, you know, like usual?"

Roxas answered in a disembodied blink, which dissapointed Hayner deeply. That hadn't sparked any emotion in the boy. It occured to them that maybe something was on Roxas' mind, besides the fact that this was very obvious.

"What's up, Roxas? Why're you being so quiet?" Hayner sat up, cracking his back obnoxiously with another loud sound much like the smirking sound, "Something up?" Roxas made a contrastingly quiet sound, perhaps even the sound of breathing exaggerated by the movement to turn to look at Hayner.

"Don't you ever get bored?" Roxas spoke for the first time since they sat down, which was obvious by the slight cracking of his voice to find the right volume, "I mean, of everything. Struggles, Seifer, and sitting around?"

"Ugh," Hayner scowled in an obvious dislike of Roxas' statment, contorting his face into hyperbolic statement of teenage apathy, "you've gotta be joking. I mean, yeah, it gets boring, but you make it sound like a prison. Everything gets a little boring, doesn't it? Don't be so dramatic."

"I guess you're right." Roxas frowned, pouting in a puppy-dog sort of way that often got his arguments won. Hayner softened slightly, but didn't make any motion to change his opinion. There was an enlongated pause, followed by a childish whine, "But still..."

"Oh, stop." Hayner sighed, standing up and walking over to Roxas, who had been leaning against the wall. The boy had been talking so softly, he had thought it was the only way to win the quarrel. "What do you want me to do, wave my magic wand and make this place fun?" Hayner was suprised when Roxas' drifted off into a brainstorm of consideration.

"Let's do something." Roxas finally rested on the reward of his pleading, "Something completely crazy."

"I will not make-out with you!"

"Hayner!"

"Okay, okay, what do you mean?" Hayner sighed, dreading any idea of fun that wasn't his own or he thought was his own but was actually Pence's. Roxas began to become more attentive as the ideas came, and the laziness drained out of his eyes and were replaced by the sparkling blue glass of Rox the Imp. Of course, Roxas had no idea of his alternate attitude. That's why Hayner gave it a nickname.

"Something after dark, that you can tell absolutely no one." Roxas was serious, but you could tell he was entertaining some amusement. The Hayner just might be interested. He shifted to the other foot, crossing his arms in an act to remain the appearance of someone who was un-biased.

"You don't mean... something illegal?" Hayner spat objectively. He had done his share of unwholesome things, mostly to Seifer, but he was wary about actually committing something unlawful, and thought Roxas was the same, but his worries were quickly dashed when Roxas amused a little chuckle.

"Nevermind," Roxas laughed, "it's dumb."

"No, go on, don't just tell me you want to do something crazy then leave me hanging! Don't play a brother like that!" This was followed by Roxas laughing more.

"Well, I mean, maybe we should form a club, just you and me... and, do stuff, like sneak out at night and go places... you know?" Roxas contained his post-laugh smile, which was pleasently calming. While Hayner was adept to being devil's advocate, he couldn't help but be caught up in Roxas' enthusiasm.

"A club, huh?" Hayner toyed with the idea, rubbing his chin at an attempt to convince Roxas of a sort of invisible thought-provoking gotee which helped him conspire, "I'm listening."

"Well, that's it. We'll... make it up as we go. Come on, it'll be fun. Just you and me."

"Just the boys."

"Yeah..." Roxas paused, then smiled, "So, you'll do it?"

Hayner mulled over it, although his mind had already been made up for him. Although the Hayner was a great leader, a man of men, he was also a follower, and often liked any idea that involved himself.

"I get to be the leader, right?"

AN. Yoooo... here's my first story... sort of :) i've done collab with my sister, theshoelessone (Sleeping Bunny), who has 52 or so stories going right now, so i've a bit of catching up to do. i have always loved hayner and roxas, so it's only fitting i write a story about their escapades. this is a pretty uneventful chapter, but they'll immidiately get more exciting as they start doing things. i haven't decided whether i want to make it a hayner/roxas fic, because i don't know if i'm interested in that pairing or not, so i think it will depend on how many people who read this will want me to. har har, i am teh slave to teh peer pressure so i hope you enjoyed it. review if you please, i sure love reviews, especially for my first? puppy eyes?? i promise they'll get better :D poke poke nudge

oooh.. and and and... (sorry for long AN) this is sort of set in (kingdom hearts 2 spoliers O.O) a twilight town in which ansem the wise did NOT create it and roxas has emotions. i know, a little mary sue, but the easiest way to have the most fun with it... because, well, that all is interesting, but also depressing and i want this to be a feel-good fic :D i hope that's not a problem