A/N: I know, I know... I said this story would start on Saturday, but you guys are lucky my schedule doesn't allow it. I have to attend a wedding, but I'll be gone for like a week and it just so happens that it wouldn't work out with upload Saturday, sooo, I'm switching the upload day to Tuesday evening for this story. That way I can upload one now, the second chapter right before I leave and the third chapter right after I get back :D Now that I've brought you up to date, I shall let you read so you can find out more about the ass pinch. As always, Alice voiced Saix while I voiced Reno.

ENJOY!


Saix

"If one more person so much as glances at me while I'm trying to shelve, I think I may have to stamp their eyes out with my return stamp." It wasn't an idle threat as far as I was concerned, but I heard Roxas snicker anyways as he handed me another book for the top shelf. As the assistant director for the Radiant Garden Library, I was above the menial task of shelving, but somehow Roxas was able to rope me into it as he was a bit on the short side and the ladder was unable to roll back into the periodical section where we were currently standing.

"I was serious, you know." I grumbled, annoyed that it was still bothering me when people stared at the scars on my face.

"Yeah, I know. But I doubt they know they're courting death when they see you wiggle your ass as you reach." Roxas leered, wiggling his eyebrows at me. I frowned.

"I do not wiggle my ass. I was reaching. And I could just leave you here to do it yourself, you know." I resisted the urge to push my hair out of my face. The more it was in my face, the better it covered the two deep slashes crossing my face as well as the tight and slightly shiny skin over my left eye. Thank goodness the grafts had actually taken, or I may have just climbed the bell tower, calling myself Quasimodo for the rest of my life.

The accident had happened almost half a year ago, but it was only recently that I'd been able to come out in public without an eye patch or bandages covering my face. The last graft had been the hardest to endure, but the one that had minimized the scarring, and thank goodness it hadn't blinded me. That had been the most lucky and miraculous thing of all. If you count being maimed for life as lucky.

"You know, Saix, I seem to recall that you offered to help me when I needed it. Something about librarians sticking together?" Dusting his hands off, Roxas straightened as I shelved the last book.

I snorted. "Yeah, two years ago when you were some struggling university student who practically murdered the first person who damaged a book and then tried to return it." Tightening the ponytail that held back the majority of my hair, I let my bangs resume their customary position of shielding my eyes to the areas not directly in front of me. Roxas shrugged, unable to deny that he had a temper.

Which made it even odder that we managed to get along as well as we did. I was only in charge of hiring the new librarians, I rarely interacted with them. But I suppose I must have been impressed with his protection of the written word as well as his work ethic. Making him my only real friend not just at work, but somehow we had developed a friendship outside of work as well.

"Well, I suppose that after the menial labor you forced onto me, you're going to buy me lunch today, right?"

Roxas gave me a questioning look. "Does that mean you're going to come with me to meet Axel at the mall? Because I'm not going to get you something to go and drive it all the way back here in my car. Not after that McDonalds incident. You'll have to come outside and face the world." Despite the gentle way he phrased that last part, I still scowled, which didn't even phase him. He knew me well enough to know why I disliked going outside. People. They stared. And stared. And sometimes pointed. And sometimes children would ask loudly to their mothers, 'What's wrong with that guys face?'

It got very old, very quickly and I knew that this was something permanent and I couldn't let it get to me and blah blah blah. But I don't think people who would say that, actually had a deformity on their face. No, it wasn't the deformed who would encourage others to get out and face the world, it was those who pretended to see past the deformities, who pitied us, that tried to force us outdoors. And well, Roxas and Axel. They were smart enough not to pity me, but they were still pushy.

I sniffed, letting him know I wasn't affected by his words. "Fine. But only because you're buying me a Panda Express platter. No whining." I added that as I saw his eyes widen and his mouth open to disagree. He scowled.

"Whatever. I'm agreeing because Axel's message said he had a surprise. So, don't expect this every time." We split up to grab our belongings, and I met up with Roxas at the buildings exit. I refused to look at him and ignored his face of encouragement as we stepped outside. Too bad he wasn't taller so I could sort of stand behind him and avoid eye contact with everyone.

"You should really grow taller and be more useful." I said, opening his car door and sitting down.

"You just need to get laid."


Reno

Stepping through the double doors that led into the reception area of the hospital, I was once again reminded why I hadn't taken my parents career path. This was a hole. Everything was depressingly white and the mass amount of sick people didn't brighten up the place one bit. Frowning over to a wailing child on my right, I then tugged on my duffel bag, checking out the chick with a tiny cut in her index finger, milking it to the max to get the hot male nurse's attention, on my left. I wanted to stick a thermometer up his ear to see if he was sporting a high fever what with him letting her...

"Dude." I wrinkled my nose at him when he spared me some of his attention, the chick glaring as I'd cut into her massive amount of flirting. "Child crying a river on the bench opposite of yours. Make it stop, my ears are hurting, yo." When he didn't move, I gestured for him to get bouncing, shooing him away from the chick. When the nurse finally did as asked, I nodded with a grin over at the mother trying to calm her child down, and while she clearly wasn't too happy about my ear bleeding comment, she seemed grateful enough I'd caught the nurse's attention.

Continuing on my way, I waved at the receptionist, who gave me the regular nod of hello, before doing a double take and grinning widely. "Reno!" Cringing back, I halted, a smile breaking out on my lips as Rikku bounced her way around her desk. "You're supposed to be piloting around our very own Spira president, what are you doing here?" I laughed as she jumped in my arms, her limbs locking around me tightly.

Spinning in a circle once, I then pried her off me, patting her head before pushing my duffel bag in her hands. "Keep that for me, would ya? I need to go find my devil brother and my workaholic mother." I used to pilot the president around. My contract had finally ended after eight long years, and while a renewal had been offered, I'd declined, explaining I now needed to return to my family before I began forgetting their names and what they looked like. Cause that's what it felt like, what with seeing them only once a year.

Rikku tossed my duffel bag over her desk, cringed, but then relaxed when I wasn't worried when the crashing noise reached us. "You can find Axel in room 009, I'm afraid your mother is busy cutting though, and will be for a while." She reached up to knock her head, "She's removing a tricky tumor." Of course she was.

I shrugged, "S'okay, I'll just have Axel buy me lunch." Nodding her way, I then turned on my heel and started making my way through the long hall, having roamed along these corridors often enough to know where room 009 was located. Celes Montenegro, mine and Axel's mom, a renowned brain surgeon. Our dad had been a pretty impressive surgeon himself, but he'd died when we'd still been really young.

Mom didn't want to give up her career though, loving us plenty, but not able to settle on the stay at home mom job, so she'd dragged us into the hospital often. The nurses had really loved us. I'm not sure how cause Axel and I together were a force to be reckoned with. Although they liked me a little better because I was just smart enough to believably blame all and everything on him. Snickering, I knocked on the door, opening it before sticking my head in.

"Zexion!" I heard Axel growl, leading me to step closer so I could catch a peak of my brother in work mode. I smothered a laugh when he was pinching the patients nose, trying to force feed him. "If you don't eat all of this, I won't ask Demyx out for you..." That threat seemed to do the trick as the blue haired youngster of about eighteen popped his mouth open instantly. "Good boy." Axel allowed, patting Zexion on the head.

"I don't know if that's ethical, yo." I butt in, nudging the door open completely. Zexion glared at me with one eye, then continued to ignore me as he chewed on his food. Axel though, he had me fear he may Tackle me the way Rikku had.

He rushed over to me, sure, but stopped in his tracks a step away from me, frowning, "Yeah, that wouldn't be cool." He offered me a hand instead, which I took, both of us shaking and a split second later we both grinned and pulled each other simultaneously towards one another for a hard and tight hug.

"Why the fuck didn't you call?" His hand on my back gripped my shirt, his cheek pressed against my shoulder.

I laughed, clapping him on the back, letting him know that way I'd missed him also, "So you could bitch at the flight attendant for any possible delays and have mother threaten to sue the entire airport had they misplaced my baggage?" Releasing one another, I shook my head, "Yeah, no thanks, yo, this was a lot less hectic."

"You look like hell." Axel offered.

"Neon green doesn't suit you." I returned, waving at his nurse uniform. "So you like this job?" I frowned as he'd pulled his cellphone out of his pocket, lifting a finger to silence me. "Not cool, brother." I muttered, tilting my head amusedly as I watched him text someone.

"Mom's busy slicing up someone's brain and won't be done for another couple of hours, so I'm taking you out to lunch." I shrugged, then pointed at the phone, hoping he'd elaborate on that too. He did. "I told you about my pitbull. Now that you're here, I can finally introduce you." Tucking his phone back into his pocket, he waved Zexion goodbye, who gave a half hearted wave back, before Axel grabbed my arm and started dragging me through hospital corridors.

"Your dog has a phone?" My voice surprised as I watched him kick his locker open, once we'd reached the nurse's station.

Axel smirked, "Yes he does."

I tried to picture a pitbull handling a cellphone... "Wait, what?"

And then he chuckled, "You'll see. Now come on, Roxas doesn't like to be kept waiting." Eye twitching, had to be, I followed him out into the parking lot, grabbing the keys as there was no way I was letting Axel drive. There was a reason I was a pilot and he wasn't. Silly boy treated a steering wheel as if it were a quick wank in the shower when just having figured out what masturbation is.

"Where are we meeting this dog?" I laughed as the picture in my mind of a dog handling a cellphone popped back up into my mind.

"The mall. And don't call him a dog, he'll use his teeth." Axel assured. Sighing, I started the engine... I would probably need a bit of time to get into the swing of things again... Smiling as I felt content at the idea of being home once more, I drove us off to the mall.


Saix

"Roxas." Pause. "Roxas." Another pause. "Oi! Roxas!" Reaching over, I nudged him, probably a bit harder than necessary.

"What?" He snapped, shoving his phone into his lap.

"Green light aaaaaand now it's red again." Before the operation and skin grafts, I'd been able to eye twitch when annoyed, hopefully warning whomever was pissing me off that I was about to explode, but now, the skin was so tight, I just looked slightly annoyed. "I don't understand why you need to text Axel at every red light. That's why you have a passenger. So you aren't breaking the law."

Roxas rolled his eyes and pocketed his phone. "I was trying to check his work schedule online so I know when his next three day weekend is. I have plans." I held up my hand, not wanting to know in any sort of detail his plans with Axel. Just because I'd set them up on a few dates, didn't mean I wanted to hear about their sexual exploits as a couple.

"Just get us to the food and you can then talk about whatever you want with him and not me." I crossed my arms and slouched in my seat. I still didn't like the idea that he was taking me to the freaking mall for lunch. At least if we had gone to a restaurant or fast food place, it was relatively small with few people staring. But the mall? Packed with hormonal teenagers and crying infants? I could feel my blood pressure start to rise and I almost wiped my sweaty palms on my slacks as he parked. I was going to blame Axel for this. It had to be someone's fault and he was easiest to blame.

"Axel's a dick." I grumbled as I slammed the car door shut and glared at the mall in front of me.

"That's a nice way to talk about your best friend." Roxas snickered. Shrugging, I couldn't deny it. Despite his strangeness and his loudness and so many other things that had thrown me off about him when he'd waltzed into my hospital room so long ago, I'd somehow bonded with the guy. It must be his personality or something. It didn't give you a chance to deny his friendship if he wanted to give it.

After so many times hanging out with him, I'd learned enough, that I'd immediately thought of Roxas when he'd spilled the fact that he was gay to me. I was as well, and thank goodness there'd been no attraction between us. But maybe that's why we got along so well. We were gay, educated, older single guys without much desire to hit any sort of club scene. So meeting people with common interests was rather difficult.

I still patted myself on the back for orchestrating their first date. Roxas was dead set against a blind date, while Axel hadn't been that impressed with what I'd told him about Roxas. I wasn't a damn salesman, I was a librarian! I wasn't used to setting people up, but at least I'd guilted them both into showing up, and the rest was history.

"Axel said he'd meet us over by Panda Express. Not sure what the surprise is though." I'd be worried, but I doubt he could do anything horrific in a public place. I simply nodded and followed Roxas towards the corner of the food court, glad at least that Axel seemed to be going for semi private.

I spotted Axel leaning against the half-walls that seperated the food court from the rest of the wall, his red hair a dead giveaway as it was pulled into a ponytail to hang down his back. Surprisingly, he wasn't in his scrubs, so maybe he hadn't been working today.

"I see him Roxas. I'm tempted to kick the back of his knees and see if he falls though. Stupid mall." I was still a little miffed a bout the location.

Roxas snorted, then chuckled darkly. "You should totally pinch his ass and see what he does."

"He'll just assume it's you." I said, not at all interested in grabbing his butt.

"No he won't. He's been banned from public ass groping since that stunt he pulled at the hot air balloon festival. So, he knows that he isn't getting any love from me." Nudging me with his elbows, he coaxed me forwards. "Come on. I just wanna see his face when he thinks someone else is groping him."

I rolled my eyes, but steeled myself to obey. The things I'd do for friends and their pranks. "Fine, but I will have no fault in this. Everything is on your shoulders." He only nodded while smirking. Taking a deep breath and trying to walk up directly behind him, I moved quickly forwards. Reaching out a hand, I gave a pinch on his lower left cheek, praying this wouldn't open me up to pranking from him.

His back stiffened, and I felt a smug satisfaction wash over me at having been able to surprise the mighty, always aware, Axel. That is, until his head lowered so he could look at me with raised eyebrows in an upside down angle from underneath his arm. That wasn't Axel...

Gulping, I nervously looked over my shoulder at Roxas, and his wide eyes told me I was right to assume this wasn't Axel. Why wasn't this Axel? Their hair was way too similar... This guy even had tattoos on his face like Axel. And that grin... They had to be related. Turning around slowly, the eyebrow was still raised, and the smirk didn't leave his lips.

"Good, yo, now I know what to get for my next tattoo. 'Private property' tramp stamped above my butt." Leaning back against the half-wall, I could tell he was severely amused. My mouth was opening, but nothing seemed to be coming out. Probably because my brain had fried as I got a good look at the man in front of me. I couldn't deny that Axel was good looking, but he seemed to be more of a prankster. This guy though...clear blue eyes, not as sharp as Roxas' but almost easier to gaze into. If you were into that sort of thing, of course.

"Shit." My face was flaming, which was embarrassing in itself as it didn't flatter my scarring. "I beg your pardon, please. I...I'm terribly sorry." Stepping back, I bumped into Roxas. "You are dead." I mumbled, desperately trying to get away.

"Hey," I'm sure my eyes were ready to pop out of my skull when I felt his hand on my shoulder to stop me from leaving, "It's cool, kay? No harm done." He was trying to search my face, which of course I was trying to hide. "Seriously, dude, it wasn't an unpleasant pinch." He chuckled, letting go off my shoulder, "Firm, but not bruisingly so, with a hint of tenderness anyone should appreciate." I caught the grin from the corner of my eye, "And I did always want a tramp stamp."

I wasn't going to respond. He was...really beautiful and I was beyond uncomfortable right now. And my desire to kick Roxas' ass was overwhelming; I'd never been more embarrassed in my entire life. Never was I more aware of my horrific face than I was right now. Reaching up, almost unconsciously, I rested my fingers in between my eyebrows covering the two scars as best I could.

"Again, sorry and if you'll excuse me." Turning, I shot Roxas a look, telling him I was heading to the car.

"You look like the pitbull," I heard him say to Roxas, who sputtered, but before he could toss back a retort, he added, "Reno Montenegro, Axel's older brother. He'll be right back, now give me a moment." And I picked up the pace as I knew he was coming after me. "Yo, wait up!" He appeared beside me, leading me to look away, but he didn't take the hint, just kept on walking beside me, sticking his hands in his pockets. "So, there aint no way for me to make you feel better? Again, no harm done." He said this conversationally, "Where are you taking me?"

I ground my teeth together. Why the fuck was he following me when all I wanted to do was forget I'd even met the man? Was my mortification not enough for him? He wanted to follow the poor maimed man to make sure my feelings weren't hurt? "I'm heading back to my office. I don't recall inviting you along with me." My tone was biting, but I'd meant it to be. I wanted him away from me so I could wallow in my own embarrassment and misery.

"Okay." I was surprised when he suddenly turned and left to return where he'd come from. And now I wanted to find the guy and apologize for being such an ass. When Axel was channeling everything he'd learned about patients into telling me off, he'd repeatedly told me that I needed to hold in my desire to lash out when embarrassed. It wasn't fair as I'd been in the wrong in the first place, and he'd been totally nice about it, and I'd acted like an ass.

"Fuck." Taking a deep breath, I turned back around, telling myself to at least apologize, again, and then I could grab lunch and run back to the library. And Roxas could be my shield as it was his damn fault I'd molested a stranger in the first place.

"He pinched my brother's ass?" I heard Axel exclaim.

"My ass is an adult, Axel, it can take care of itself." My victim responded.

"Saix is my boss and uh, Axel's best friend." Roxas was obviously trying to explain to this Reno person, why exactly I'd felt the need to pinch him. "Don't worry. He's just a little touchy, but he's really not bad." Oh great. And now they were trying to justify my asinine behavior. I cleared my throat as I walked back over.

"I..." Rubbing my eyebrows again, I stared at the floor. "I'm sorry. Again. That was pretty rude of me on top of the molestation. Lunch is on me as way of an apology." Who could say no to free lunch?

"If I accept, will you finally believe that I don't care whatsoever you grabbed my ass cheek?" He was amused, he seemed to be amused all the time, or at least, ever since I'd... grabbed his ass cheek.

"Yeah! Don't worry about it Saix!" I heard Axel's voice close to me, followed by his arm coming around my shoulders, "Reno plays the ladies so often, I'm sure he had some gay ass pinching coming to him."

"Duck." The moment Reno said it, I automatically did.

"What?" Was all Axel got out before letting out an, "Ouch..." Rubbing the spot Reno had smacked him against. "What the hell was that for?"

"Less than two hours I'm here and you're already reminding me of things I'd rather not think about. Now, come on, lets go eat cause I get grumpy when I'm hungry, yo." Roxas came up behind me and put his hand on my arm causing me to look down at him. He raised an eyebrow and with that look alone, I could tell he was willing to play interference if I needed it. He'd probably let me drive his car back to work at this point. Shrugging, I shook my head.

"I'm good. I need to eat so I may as well eat here."

"Alright. And, dude, I'm sorry about that ass pinching thing." Roxas sounded sheepish and I gave him a small smile as we caught up with the brothers.


Reno

Well, one thing was for sure, Roxas knew how to keep my brother in line without much effort at all. I was impressed. Or maybe just surprised at the way Axel looked at Roxas like a love sick puppy... It was insane. My brother was a smooth talker, sharp, quick on his feet, had a relatively well sized brain that allowed him a decent amount of intelligence...

He wasn't cold, but I'd never known him to warm up to previous boyfriends the way he had to Roxas. Everything he did, the way he touched the blond, talked to him and looked at him? The weddings bells weren't just a whispered sound, yo... Roxas wasn't gonna get away from Axel, he wouldn't let that happen. Which is why I was glad to see it was all mutual as Roxas was as putty in my brother's hands in return. It was sickening almost, really...

My eyes weren't fixed on Roxas' retreating back though. "Hey, Ax, what's with the scar?" I asked bluntly, figuring I didn't need to watch my wording now that Saix wasn't here to get offended. Not that it put me off, on the contrary... I'd caught a look at the side of his face that was unmarked for a first glance, and let me tell you, it was a very, very satisfying view indeed...

Sure the other side wasn't as pretty, but it once was, and, really, with an ass like that? I tilted my head, almost squinting as they were far off in the mall now. The scar was forgotten real fast...

"Accident. He came in one evening at the hospital. Mom worked on him since there was a risk of sight loss and that-"

I waved it off, "I may not work in the medical department, but yeah, it's connected the brain... blah, blah, blah. So did he loose part of his sight?" Didn't think he did... Otherwise he wouldn't have two matching caramel colored eyes. With specks of gold and glints of yellow, and some more detailing that made me sound so unmanly.

"Nope. The scarring could have been worse." My brother stepped into my line of vision, "Why...?"

I crossed my arms defensively, "Just curious, is all..." I wasn't coming out in a mall. No way.

"You always have motives, Reno, what do you want from him?" He grinned, "He doesn't have any hot sisters." Not his sister my dick would spring to life for anyways... As for him though... Looking over Axel's shoulder, I was interrupted from trying to spot Saix again when my little brother grabbed my chin and returned my focus on him.

"What?" I barked.

"Did they turn you into a robot?"

I snorted, "You still believing the government is hiding aliens and robots from us? How old are you, Axel?"

"Twenty-eight... So what? You're acting really weird." Okay, now I had to be careful, because if there was one thing about Axel that was in impeccable order, it was his skill to read people. If I pushed this too far, he'd know what I'd be thinking. Like a mind reader. And I didn't want him to know that yet... Not in a mall!

"I just haven't met anyone like him before, aight? Honest to god, simple curiosity." I offered, turning so I could start walking back to the parking lot.

"I'm watching you." He warned menacingly, jokingly, leading me to chuckle and grab him in a head lock. "Watch the hair!"

"Your boyfriend isn't here anymore, no need to impress squat."

"Did you like him?" I smiled his way.

"Yeah. Good guy." It always made me weirdly happy to know Axel liked to get my stamp of approval. "Come on, maybe I can guilt mom into cooking us some roast beef tonight."


Reno - A week or so later

Placing Roxas' cellphone on the passenger seat of my mother's second car she so kindly allows me to use, I frowned, gripping the steering wheel and just sitting there for a moment before driving off to the library. I probably had to come out of the closet. Any time now... I'd known I was gay for nearly four years and, well, I'm thirty years old... This stuff shouldn't bother me. It's not like Ax and mom wouldn't be supportive... On the contrary...

"Mom, brother..." I'd nod at the two on the couch opposite of mine. "I'm gay."

I'd crawl back on the couch when Axel would jump off the chair, "YEAH! LETS GET YOU SOME MAN ASS TO POUND!"

And then I'd gape when my mother would add, "Amen to that!"

Yeah... I wasn't too thrilled about their definite over-supportiveness. It frightened me. Now, I wasn't the kind of guy that was reserved or anything of the kind, but when it came to whom I was fucking? The only reason I'd once been known as a ladies man is because Axel always blabbered on about it to all and everyone. Had he not butt in and minded his own business, for all I knew, my mother might still believe me to be a virgin.

"So... I'm gay."

"Oh!" My mother would move to sit on the couch beside me, hugging my head tightly to her bosom. "I have a large list of surrogates and solid connections with adoption agencies. Don't you worry! You shall give me a grandchild even if you don't obtain access to a utures naturally!"

"Feels good to come out of the closet, eh brother?" Axel would add.

I banged my head against the steering wheel repeatedly. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit...

"I'm into dudes..."

"Sit tight! I'll go get you the phone book!"

Giving Axel a funny look, I'd ask, "Why?"

He returns the funny look, "I circled all the names belonging to my one night stands, ex boyfriends and friends with benefits. Trust me, there's some good bangs in there!"

Yeah, so I was gonna hold off on the telling them for a little while longer, or so it seems. Clearing my throat, I pulled my forehead off the steering wheel, starting the engine and driving my way to the library.

A good twenty minutes later because I'd gotten stuck in traffic, not used to having to deal with stop lights as I didn't have that issue up in the sky with my helicopter, so I'd forgotten short cuts... I parked the car in the library's parking lot, noticing they'd expanded it some, making it even bigger than I remembered it to be.

Not that I'd actually spend a great amount of time in there, but, I'd walked by it... Grabbing Roxas' phone, I jumped out of the car, locking it with the key over my shoulder as I stepped up the stairs leading to the entrance. Now Axel didn't live with our mom anymore, but apparently Roxas and Celes got along just fine and so came over regularly to get some coffee with his, well, mother in law really.

He'd forgotten his phone, called Axel to bring it to him, Axel called me, because he now had a very unbusy brother he could use any way he wanted. He'd not exactly given me much choice. Well, that was a lie, Axel couldn't manipulate me at all. All he'd had to do was remind me where Roxas worked and I'd been more than ready to help the love birds out. Because Saix worked at the library too...

Grinning, I pulled the door open, stepping inside, kind of overwhelmed when my eyes were assaulted with hundreds, maybe thousands, of shelves filled with rows and rows of books.

"Yo, Roxas!" I called out, the grin remaining where it was when the clerk behind the reception desk glared at me. "Got your cellphone, where you hiding?"

"Shh!" The woman hissed. "Quiet!"

"Yeah, I don't know how to be quiet." I stepped out of her line of vision, deciding that this place seemed like fun to get lost in.

"Excuse me, sir. You'll have to-oh. It's you." A voice was speaking from behind me, and I turned to see Saix standing there, his bangs falling in front of his face again, a dark blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up on today, with dark grey slacks. Giving me a tight smile, one he probably used on annoying library patrons, he said, "Can I help you with something? You were looking for Roxas?"

It was too soon to tell him he shouldn't hide that pretty face. Cause it was, the scar could go fuck itself. In any case, he'd probably think I was insulting him in a mocking manner rather than complimenting him at this point. The urge to make something happen with him was great though... While I'd figured out I liked dick, tested it numerous times to make absolutely sure I batted for the other team... Don't think I'd really gotten an instant attraction to someone before Saix. He could pinch my butt any time.

I smiled in a friendly way, hoping I wouldn't scare him off as he was rather skittish last time. "Yeah, he forgot his phone at my mother's and Axel asked me to bring it to him."

He nodded. "He is back shelving the periodicals. Continue going straight ahead and hang a left, going all the way to the end. You'll see him." His body turned slightly as he pointed to the area behind where he was standing. "But please refrain from yelling in the library. It's finals week for the college students and they need all the help they can get."

"Ah, see, and here I thought librarians didn't want any yelling cause they were under the impression books have ears that can be disturbed." Lame, sure, but maybe I'd get a smile out of him. Or a glare. Both were fun, but I'd like a smile though...

He blinked and looked slightly confused while shaking his head slowly. "No, it's for the patrons. Although we do host youth nights here where we encourage debates and interaction." There was a hint of pride in his voice when describing that, and I saw him gesture forward and start walking, obviously planning on accompanying me to where I could find Roxas.

I was one of those people who refused to believe a human being couldn't have a sense of humor. They just hid it way too well, or just hadn't tapped into it yet. In Saix's case? I had the distinct feeling he just didn't like me for some reason. So, I could keep on joking around all I wanted, he was never gonna grant me a chuckle or sweet smile.

"I'm sure I can find him myself." I said, picking up my pace so I could catch up with him, "Straight ahead and then left." I repeated what he'd said, smirking then as I took a few large steps to walk by him. But before taking the lead and continuing on my own, I returned a favor. Butt pinch. Maybe then he'd stop being so stiff. He'd of course been surprised and because he momentarily halted in his steps to realize what had just happened, it gave me permission to gain a head start on him, pretending to look into the book alleys to find Roxas.

"Hey!" His whisper was fierce and then he was suddenly beside me, his hand on my arm. "That was rather uncalled for, don't you think?" It was funny that he was trying to sound patronizing and authoritative at the whisper level. Pulling me to a stop, his face was suddenly clear of hair blocking his eyes, and the amber gaze was searching my face for something. With a sigh, he released my arm and suddenly rolled his eyes.

"I am never going to live down grabbing your ass, am I? Tell me, are you going to demand retribution as Axel does?" He surprised me by smirking. "Coffee for a week? Free pizza delivered to your flat?" He was almost teasing me.

So he wasn't uptight, just touchy. Good stuff. "Well, if the coffee includes you drinking it with me, then maybe I will pretend to be conniving like my little brother and take you up on the offer." A small voice in my head reminded me that it may not be smart to flirt with my brother's best friend. Not because of the friendship, that had nothing to do with my flirting. Axel had flirted with many of my guy friends before Roxas had been around, so he owed me anyways. It was more about the fact that Axel didn't know his guy friends could turn me on better than his girl friends. I snorted to myself, well, not like I could take the very, almost, obvious flirt back now anyways, it was out there.

His smile was friendly and relaxed, as though he didn't count my words as flirting. "I suppose I could. Axel tells me that you've been extremely busy for the past 8 years. It must be rather odd to find yourself with all this time on your hands." Breaking eye contact for a minute, he pulled a clip of business cards out of his pocket and offered me one. "Feel free to call me up if you find yourself too bored. I...don't get out much, but I've lived here long enough to point you in the right direction for anything you'll need while you settle in." Ah. It made a bit of sense now. He was best friends with Roxas and Axel, and considering Axel's annoying comments yesterday, he most likely thought me straight. His offering was one of friendship.

Well, I suppose it would do for now. "Thanks, appreciated, yo." I stuffed the card into my pocket. "Contrary to Axel, I'm not much of a mall fan, so if you prefer places that are less crowded, than that's all the better." I figured the scar is why he didn't get out much and why he'd been so hell bent on hiding his face yesterday the entire time throughout lunch. I wasn't deaf or blind, I could see and hear the way people offered it too much attention. "Well, I'll stop taking you from your work now and go give Rox his phone. It's been buzzing none stop, so I'm thinking my brother is trying to text him stuff that I know I don't want to read..."

"Whatever you do, don't read it." He shuddered. "Personal experience, my friend. And give me a call if you want to grab that coffee. I'll see you around, Reno." With a nod that caused his hair to fall back and cover his face, he turned to walk away.


Saix - the following day

I couldn't help but smile, bemused as I set the phone back onto it's cradle. Apparently, I'd not answered my cell when Reno had called it and he'd thought it prudent to call my office phone next. Made me wonder if he would try emailing me after that. He sure was persistent when it came to getting a coffee, but I tried not to read to much into it. If he was anything like Axel, he was probably bored out of his mind and desperate for any kind of human interaction that wasn't family. I didn't mind hanging out with him as he looked at me the same way Axel did. As a friend with no pity or misguided understanding when it came to my face.

Grabbing the next set of book requests from my pile, I figured I had about ten minutes before he got here, which was perfect timing for lunch as well. It would be something new to spend time with someone other than Roxas and Axel, and although Reno was straight in all sense of the word, I couldn't deny that I enjoyed looking at the man. I certainly wasn't dumb enough to entertain ideas about him as anything other than a friend, especially looking the way I did, but it had been too long since I'd last spoken with anyone who was that good looking. I could look and not become enamored. There was no harm in it as long as I kept myself in check.

The clock informed me that the required time had passed, and I rolled my eyes at myself when I felt my heart speed up. That really wasn't a good sign, but I was not one to lose myself to emotions. Reno would be a good friend like Axel was, and I could admit that Axel was a good looking guy as well. So, no harm done.

Shutting down my computer screen, I quickly set my phone to take messages while I was gone, then exited my office, heading for the foyer. I'll admit I was hoping to catch Reno the moment he stopped by and maybe not have Roxas notice us grabbing coffee. Although it was simply innocent, I got the feeling that he would suspect something odd. I never went anywhere with anyone and there were many conclusions to be drawn from a simple coffee luncheon. It would be hard to explain and have him believe me that I felt slightly more comfortable in his presence as he reminded me of Axel in a way.

I was less than happy to discover that both Roxas and Axel were somehow in the foyer, the red-head obviously having come to pick Roxas up for lunch. No matter, it wasn't as though I was sneaking around. I'd merely wanted to be discrete. Roxas glanced up and smiled.

"Hey, Saix. Are you heading out for lunch?" I only nodded, hoping they wouldn't invite me along.

"So are we, wanna come with?" Axel slung an arm over my shoulders, giving me a happy smile. "This isn't a date, so you aren't intruding." He looked at Roxas, "Right? Sometimes I don't know with you."

Roxas rolled his eyes, but there was a smile tugging on his lips. "I have to say no, as I'm expected to come back to work and I don't want to look molested while I shelve books. So, no. No date, Saix, you are free to come and not be grossed out."

"He says that in a way that makes it seem like he doesn't like it." Axel moved away from me, pulling the blond to his side, "You know you love it when I ravage you..." He licked Rox's cheek then, probably to piss him off. Not wanting to seem rude, yet not wanting to go, I tried to think of a plausible excuse as Roxas reacted giving me more time to try and come up with something. Smirking at Axel's surprise grunt when Roxas yanked his head down, forcing a bruising kiss on his lips, I figured that's why they got along so well. They could push each other's buttons like no one else, but still surprise each other by public displays of affection.

While the kiss dragged out what with Axel eagerly returning the favor, his hands coming out Roxas to make sure he couldn't slip away, I still wasn't able to figure out some excuse. That is, until I didn't need one since Reno was standing behind Rox and Ax, eying them in amusement as they had no idea he was there.

"Careful there, brother, keep at it and you may just suck his tongue out." He placed one hand on each their foreheads, pushing them apart. "Yo."

Axel smacked Reno away from his face, "What are you doing here?" He asked all the while tugging Roxas back to him, not ready to let go yet. "Did we agree on lunch? Did I forget?"

Reno shook his head, sending me a smile, "I'm here for Saix." I cringed internally as I watched Roxas snap his eyes to Reno. Damn him and his annoying habit of picking up on every nuance of behavior around him and when his eyes turned to me, I quickly blanked my face, hopefully showing nothing about what I was thinking.

"Oh? You guys are going to lunch?" His voice was surprised sounding, but I could hear and undercurrent of something.

I nodded. "Yeah, I didn't realize you guys were meeting today." Liar, liar. I knew Roxas' schedule as I made it, and Axel's was the same every week. "But I figured he wouldn't mind hanging out without watching you two suck face." Roxas stuck his tongue out at me.

"I'd tuck that back in if I were you, unless you want Axel to suck it until it's purple." Reno patting Roxas on the head, stepping around them so he could come stand by me and his easy smile was replaced with a quick sigh. "Okay, what's your problem, Axel? You don't want to share you friend? Is that why you're eying me weirdly?"

Axel's eyes narrowed when he looked my way, leading me to frown. "No, no... I can share..."

"Good." Reno said, "Then neither one of you will mind if I kidnap Saix for lunch now." He looked my way, nodding his head over at the exit, "Ready?"

With the way Roxas was looking at me, I knew I'd have to either talk to him or Axel now, or later. They were going to blow this whole thing out of proportion, I just knew it. "Lemme grab my stuff from my office. I'll meet you outside, yeah?" Not waiting for a response, I turned back towards my office, knowing someone would be following me.

"Axel." I heard Reno growl out, but by the time Axel caught up with me, I saw Reno hadn't rushed after him to stop the likely conversation that was going to take place now. I turned in between some shelves, making sure we were out of Rox and Reno's line of vision before spinning around so I could face the red head.

"What are you doing, Saix?" He asked, seemingly... worried? "He's straight. Stop looking at him the way you do. You'll end up getting hurt."

"Oh, for pete's sake." I rolled my eyes at him, crossing my arms. "I'm not 'looking' at him, Axel." I employed the air quote method, something I'd seen a young mohawked patron use. "I know he's straight. And you, better than anyone, should know I'm capable of having friendships with people without wanting to fuck them." My voice was slightly defensive, but I didn't care. I wasn't some teenager with no control over their feelings. I knew what I was doing and I sort of resented the fact that he was insinuating I couldn't have a friendship.

"Fine." Axel allowed, "I'm just looking out for you. He may be straight, but that doesn't stop him from being his charming self." He wrinkled his nose, like a little brother would. "He doesn't even realize it. I can't tell you how often it's happened back in the day where a gay friend of mine would fall for Reno and then end up all depressed when I was forced to inform them of his preference." He gave me a sheepish look when I raised an eyebrow at that. "Sorry, not saying you're an idiot who doesn't half self control or any intelligence at all, but... Again, just looking out for you."

I gave him a small smile. "And I appreciate it, Axel. But relax, okay? Why not focus on Roxas and your secret agenda of having him move in with you?" Smirking, I watched as his eyes darted to the left. "I bet he's already on the lookout for a bigger place. You two are ridiculous."

"Yes, yes, we are." He agreed easily, giving me a shrug, "Alright, have fun then." He turned to leave, but then paused, "By the way, I'm a jealous best friend, so if you end up getting along better with Reno, I will throw a hissy fit and complain to my mother about him stealing my stuff again." And then he walked off.

"Dork." I snorted, but took a deep breath before following him back to where Roxas and Reno were waiting.

"You might as well have peed all around him to mark your territory, captain subtle." Reno shoved Axel's shoulder. "I promise I'll give him back to you once I'm done playing with him."

With a glare and a stuck out tongue directed at Reno, Axel tugged on his boyfriend's hand, "Lets go, Rox."

"Yeah." Gaze too direct to be anything but nosy, Roxas gave a quick nod and followed him out. I sighed in relief as they exited and turned to Reno.

"Ready?"

He nodded happily, "Lead the way."


A/N: The chapters in this story will be a better longer than usual. I had the choice to either cut it into a 7 chaptered story or a 4 chaptered story. Since I'm moving next month, it made more sense to make it so this story could be completed in four weeks as I wouldn't be able to upload regularly in August. WE LOVE REVIEWS. And we especially love them for Reno and Saix as people aren't as vocal about liking this pairing :D So please, shout out your love!