Cherry Lemonade
By AnimeDutchess
A/N: I really should have been paying attention in Trigonometry...but no, instead, i was daydreaming about yaoi, and this random connection clicked in my head:
If AkuRoku were a drink, it would be...Cherry Lemonade.
Why cherry lemonade? Well, the colors, for one; cherry is red, for Axel, and lemonade is yellow, for Roxas. but now that i think about it, cherry lemonade just seems to suit them in other ways...I'm not sure WHICH ways, but...eh, you'll see.
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Disclaimer: I don't own a bloody thing...not even the latest KH2 manga! And I really want that...eheh...
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Roxas hated it when Axel dragged him to Twilight Town for no apparent reason.
He'd been doing that a lot lately; under several excuses ("We never spend enough time together anymoooore," being Axel's favorite), Roxas had been forced to put up with his best friend as he got piggy back rides, played pranks on unsuspecting townsfolk, ate ice cream...
...Okay, it wasn't SO terrible, but with how Axel being what others would consider a bit "too" friendly, and the cluster of girls (and neglected housewives) that seemed to be tailing them at every turn would get on anyone's nerves, Number XIII being no exception.
So when Axel almost yanked his arm off when he pulled Roxas through a portal of darkness, he didn't ask where they were going; he already knew...
Or so he thought.
"Axel..."
"Ye-es?"
"...Where the fuck are we? This doesn't look like Twilight Town..." Axel gave his friend a devilish grin.
"That's because it isn't!" He exclaimed. He gestured around them; the dingy skyscrapers, grungy litter, and abundant graffiti would have made this The World That Never Was...until you noticed the sunny sky and the blaring of traffic just outside the alleyway Axel had made them appear in. Roxas stared questioningly at a startled old woman as she peered into the alley, but Axel didn't seem to notice. "I couldn't sleep last night, I was thinking too much...so I decided to go world hopping, and I found this place!" Tearing his gaze from the skittish old lady, Roxas raised an eyebrow at his companion.
"What could you possibly be thinking about that you couldn't sleep at night?" He asked. Axel froze, but only for a second; he flashed a cocky grin at the blonde and winked.
"Nothing to worry your head about, Roxy..." He drawled, ignoring the disgruntled look Roxas gave him at the use of the dreaded nickname, "I found this awesome little place just down the street, and you've just gotta see it!"
"Why do you wanna - whoa!" Roxas was cut off mid-question when Axel grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the alley, passing the elderly woman, whose face was as white as a sheet. Roxas wanted to apologize to her, but he never got the chance; he was trying to keep up with Axel's pace.
Damn him for having such long legs... Roxas thought, almost breaking out into a run to stay with Axel's quick walk. People were passing them by in a blur, as if in a rush to get to their own destinations, and the cars on the street blared their horns and revved their engines...
It was pretty overwhelming, all the activity, and it shouldn't have been; Roxas was used to the commotion of battle, and in a way, this city was in a neverending flow of it...but it never stopped! You eventually stopped when a battle was finished, but didn't it ever pause here, just for a moment?
"Aah..." Roxas winced when a car particularly close to them honked, the driver leaning out the window and letting out a stream of curses to another driver, who had cut him off. He didn't know how Axel had noticed, but the next thing he felt was a hand on his shoulder, saw vivid green eyes looking at him with something that would have been concern, had either of them had hearts.
"You alright?" He asked, his tone a strange mix of emotion that shouldn't have been there. Roxas bit his lip as he noted that, and nodded.
"It...it's loud," Was all he could really say. Axel nodded in agreement.
"We're almost there; it's quiet, where we're going." He then smirked, turning around and pulling Roxas along again, but gently this time.
In no time, they stood outside the front of a quaint little cafe, squished between an office building and a parking garage. The outside was pained a warm brown, and the store's sign was was worn from years of rain and city abuse, so much so that the name couldn't be made out. Roxas looked up at it, blinking. What could be so great about a tiny place like this? He was about to ask when Axel pulled him into the shop eagerly.
The first thing Roxas noticed was how the noise from outside seemed to disappear once they had stepped inside. It was as if the place was sealed away from the neverending battle that surged just beyond the big glass windows. The cafe was bright, but the light was soft, playing off the walls to simulate a sunset. There was no one else but the barista at the counter, who looked up at them and smiled.
"So you really did come back," She said, leaning on the counter slightly. "And you brought your friend! Ooh, you were right - he is cute." Roxas's eye twitched as Axel laughed, swinging an arm around the younger boy's shoulders and pulling him closer.
"I thought you said you were only around for the night shift, doll," He said in that suave tone of voice that, for some reason, made Roxas's spine tingle. She giggled at the name, turning around and pushing some buttons.
"I assume you want him to try what you had last night?" She asked. Axel nodded.
"And another for me, if you wouldn't mind." Roxas gave his friend a confused look.
"Do you just come here to flirt with baristas?" He asked critically. Axel sighed.
"One, they're not 'bah-rih-stahs', they're 'ba-ree-stahs'. Two..." The red-haired man grinned, showing off his insanely white teeth. "This drink is going to blow your fucking mind." He tugged slightly on Roxas's hand again. "Wanna watch her make 'em?" Roxas sighed, shrugging.
"Might as well..." He muttered. Axel's grin widened, if possible, and he dragged Roxas over to the bar, where the cute little barista was putting ice, a yellow liquid, a red liquid, and pieces of cherries into a blender. She snapped the top on and pressed a button, making the ingredients swirl and mingle with each other. As the mixture became a sort of slush, she pulled out two large, plastic cups and placed a fresh lemon slice on the rim of each cup. Roxas saw Axel lick his lips impatiently.
"Aw, man...I can't wait!" He said, bouncing up and down slightly like a child anxious for a sweet treat. Roxas smiled slightly at his friend's childishness.
"You waited all this time, stranger..." The girl shut off the blender and removed the container part; the liquid inside was reddish and sloshy. "You waited all day, you can wait a second more." She grinned as she poured the drink into the cups, setting the container to the side when they were both almost filled to the brim. She snatched some straws from somewhere and slid them, along with the drinks, towards the boys. "Now, pay up, I don't do this for free." Axel smirked at her.
"Gladly." He slipped her some bills. "Keep the change." He winked. She giggled again, wiping her hands on her apron.
"Well, enjoy yourselves...I've gotta go check on something in the back..." With that, she turned and pratically skipped into the storage room.
"...O-kaaay..." Roxas was just a little bit weirded out. Axel nudged him with his bony elbow.
"Come on, take your drink already! Let's go sit down."
"Huh?" Roxas blinked. "Uh, sure, okay..." he snatched one off the counter, along with a straw, and followed Axel as he walked to a table in a secluded corner, the light hitting the area just perfectly. Once he sat down, he immediately started to peel the paper wrapping off the straw instead of hitting the edge of it on the table like most other people (including Axel) did. It took a little time, but it was slightly amusing. By the time Roxas had gotten his straw into the drink, Axel was a quarter way done with his own. The blonde raised an eyebrow yet again.
"Wow, you sure sucked that down, didn't you?" Axel shrugged.
"It's really good," he said around his straw. He then pointed to Roxas's own drink. "Have some, or I'll take it!" Roxas just sighed and shook his head.
"Alright, alright..." He pressed his lips to the straw, taking a big sip...
"Mmph!" He pulled away, his eyes wide, a hand over his mouth in surprise as his tongue and nose tingled insanely. This drink was almost overpoweringly sour, but it had a gentle sweetness to it, and the texture was perfect. It took Roxas a moment to realize that Axel was biting his straw to try and muffle his apparent laugher. It wasn't working. "What the hell, Axel?"
"Y-You looked...so cute!" He managed to say, letting the straw go as he removed his mouth from it. "Your eyes just went huge, and your face...priceless!" He was roaring with laughter now. Roxas twitched in annoyance; Axel did call him 'cute' on occasion, much to his disdain, but he had no right to laugh at him.
"It's not funny..." He mumbled, taking the straw into his mouth again, sipping some more of the lovely liquid. "What's this called, anyway?" It took Axel a moment to calm down, and he wiped a tear from his eye.
"Aah, that was rich..." He said airily, swirling the drink in his cup around with his straw. "It's called cherry lemonade...but i think it's some kind of variant of it." Roxas 'Hmm'ed as he sucked up a chunk of cherry.
"'S good."
"I know, right?" Axel took the straw to his lips again. "Toldja it'd blow your mind."
"...Hey, Axel?"
"Mm?"
"Can we come here again sometime? To just, like, have drinks...and talk?"
"..." Axel smiled around his straw. "Sure, Roxy. Whatever you want."
Later on, as they finished their drinks and rapped with the barista girl for a while, as they ran back to the alley they had come from and slipped into a portal that would lead them back home, they decided that, when mixed together, they were just like cherry lemonade.
Fin
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A/N: Hnn...this is strange, but I like it, sorta. Personally, I've never had cherry lemonade before, but the image kinda stuck with me. X3 It's just a bundle of fluff, but still, review for me? Ja Ne! - AnimeDutchess
