AU. Akuroku-centric. Allusions to previous Roxas/Namine and Axel/Demyx, plus transient Demyx slash. This story has no spoilers! Huzzah!
Disclaimer: I do not ownKingdom Hearts or anything else I mention in this chapter and all chapters which may follow it. Not that I needed to tell you, but just in case someone decides to sue me.
Wrong.
All wrong.
This looks very wrong. Right?
Roxas looked up and down the location he was given on the piece of notebook paper he'd torn out of his history notebook. This wasn't a party at all. It was . . . a club? Roxas took another look at the directions he was given, and then up at the flickering neon sign that drew a skull and crossbones next to the outline of a woman's leg. He knew there were places like this in the city, but he'd never been to one. Besides, wasn't he underage or something?
Suddenly his stomach sank. The joke was on him.
A bitter laugh caught in his throat. As if anyone would invite him to a real party. . .
Roxas looked younger than the average college student, and wasn't very social, and so he didn't make friends easily. Even though he still had his friends from high school . . .none of them had gotten into the same college.
Roxas saw a couple more people enter the place. He had to look past the makeup on some of their faces, but he thought he recognized a few of them from his classes. Maybe they hung out with that Rikku person who gave him these directions.
Roxas wasn't sure whether it would be better or worse if she had actually been serious about this place and this 'party'.
Suddenly, the blonde was all but tackled.
"You made it!"
Roxas stumbled backwards, glaring at his attacker.
But at least it wasn't someone trying to pants the awkward looking kid outside the club, he thought. Rikku had scared him, she knew, because he looked like killing someone. She grinned wildly.
Roxas' expression demanded an explanation. He held out the paper obstinately.
"Yeah, I know! I'm surprised you came too! Hey, look, Paine, Yuna, I got the kid to come!" Rikku draped an arm over his shoulder, showing him off like a salesman to her friends.
"Huh. . . looks like the kid has some guts after all." Paine said smugly.
"He still looks sad. . ." Yuna mused.
"Yeah. You think someone died?"
"Paine! That's awful! Don't say stuff like that." Rikku scolded.
Roxas shook his head. It was nothing like that, although, he realized he had been looking miserable all day. Hearing that made him feel a little better, because it meant his . . . well, some of his college classmates were concerned about him. That must be why they'd invited him, here.
Rikku smiled, as if sensing Roxas' silent 'thank you' and bent forward to her capture to flip out a plastic card, "Don't worry, I've got an ID. It's a perfect match." She whispered.
Roxas took the plastic thing skeptically and inspected the picture. The hair was similar: blonde and uncooperative. The eyes were the same radioactive blue, which surprised Roxas, because he hadn't seen many people whose eyes could pass off as half as blue as his. The frown. . . Roxas looked at his reflection on the sheen of it. He guessed the frown was similar too. But this person actually reminded him of someone other than himself. Hey. . . wasn't this the guy in the front row of their European History class. . .? The one who's always moping around?
"Rikku, this guy on the card. . . You didn't steal it from him, did you?" Roxas asked reflexively, not stopping to think about why he'd actually need something like this.
Rikku grinned behind a smile as she grabbed his arm to take the blonde inside, "Don't worry, he won't even notice it's gone. My goal tonight is for you to have a good time, so we'd better get crackin'."
He felt himself being pushed towards the entrance and before Roxas realized it, he was being looked up and down by a tall, black, bald man with mirrored sunglasses. The ID was handed back and the man cleared his throat.
"Ahem. . . Clear." He motioned inside.
Roxas caught a wink from someone he thought was Rikku as he came under the dark atmosphere of what appeared to be a club and bar. People shuffled in around him, and Roxas shied to the side of what he figured was the bar, out of harm's way. He turned back and up at the sign above the entrance, "Treasure Island?" He said out loud.
Roxas stumbled backward to the counter, and held the edge like a lifeline. It was fairly clear Rikku expected him to have fun on his own, because she seemed to have disappeared suddenly. It's not as if Roxas thought he needed a chaperone, it just might nice to make a couple allies before he dug himself too deep.
"You gonna buy something kid?" A voice barked at him from behind.
"Uh. . ."Roxas turned around slowly and came face what seemed like a bartender. The man's hair seemed to be drawn into a long ponytail, but he couldn't tell how long, and he thought it might be the lighting, but it also looked like it had lighter streaks of gray over the top of this guy's head. Roxas might've been very afraid of the eyepatch and face scars, but remembering the theme of the club, he realized it was probably just his costume.
He let this calm him and gave a sigh of relief. He swiveled to sit down in a chair. He wished he wasn't so short.
". . . Sure." Roxas answered.
The man nodded approvingly, cleaning a glass out to pass the time.
" . . . Do you have any ginger-ale?" Roxas asked.
The would-be-pirate peered at him out of the corner of his eye, smirking something like a maniac. Roxas, however, thought it might be rude to run away before his question was answered.
"Sorry, kid,wejust ran out. I have something else you might be interested in, though." The bartender reached for a clean glass, "Tastes exactly the same. You won't even notice the difference."
"Wait---" Roxas saw him filling a drink, "I didn't say I wanted that. If you don't have it, I'll order something else."
A full glass slid in front of Roxas, and he glared slightly up at the man who hadn't listened to his request.
"Come on, don't be a poor sport, now. It's my specialty." He smiled, getting back to work, whispering loudly. "Guess he's really just as small of a man as he looks."
Roxas heard that. He glared harder at the bartender's back. Looking to his sides, he saw the others at the counter, and some of them he recognized from school. They were all laughing at the exchange. At him. Roxas straightened up. He wasn't afraid of whatever this guy could've given him. Nothing they could give him could be as bad for his health as moping around and studying all day. This was just another part of being a college student. He wasn't going to back down.
Taking the glass in hand, he didn't hesitate to raise it to his lips.
Of course, hehad checked to see if they were watching. As soon as the liquid started to run down his throat, he felt much warmer, and a little lighter. Roxas was so curious he didn't stop until he realized suddenly the glass must be about empty. He let it down softly onto the counter and raised a hand to steady his brow.
"Good, right?" The bartender smirked amused at the expression the glass had pulled from his young blonde customer, and took it away to make it full again, "Just like ginger ale, didn't I tell you."
Roxas nodded, hesitating to say anything as swallowed the last bit hanging in and around the corners of his mouth. Without realizing Roxas licked his lips slowly.
". . . What do you call this, again?"
The bartender looked down incredulously at his underage customer's puzzled face and laughed despite himself. "For you, kid, that'd be Xigbar's special ginger-ale." He placed another glass in front of Roxas, "Drink up."
Elsewhere inside the club, music blasted loud enough to deafen a person . . . at least, if you were standing by the speakers. Rikku had made the night much more entertaining for a few young men who were ecstatic when she jumped up on the ledge of the darkened windows in her short skirt and started singing along to one of her favorite songs with an invisible microphone.
Axel was about to happily go up and share the spotlight when he decided he was far too sober.
He learned quickly that it was better to do things when you're under the influence than not, because it was a great excuse for getting away with just about anything, even if you'd have done it anyway.
Not that he was looking for a way out, but if there was a door, he'd take it.
Making his way through the crowd to the edge of the room, Axel noticed it was pretty empty over by Xigbar's happy little corner. Everyone must already be drunk, then, Axel grinned quietly.
"Well," Axel slid up to the counter in his black T-shirt and baggy green cargo pants, "Seems you've gone and scared all the customers away, again."
"Hmph! I'd scare YOU away if I could." Xigbar paraded indifferently to the other end of his 'post'. Axel took off immediately after him, nearly sliding on the countertop to reach his current position adjacent to the man's only customer.
"Okay, you win." Axel shrugged with a grin, "I'll buy something, then."
Xigbar hesitated and turned around to face him demanding, "With cash."
"Done." Axel spread his arms amiably, as if no other thought had ever occurred to him in the world.
"Show me."
"Such mistrust, old friend! I'm ashamed of you." Axel announced mockingly as he reached in his pockets for his wallet. He really couldn't blame the guy. Come to think of it, his tab at Treasure Island was probably as long as his list of unpaid parking tickets.
In his moment of contemplation, Axel pulled out a twenty and waved the cash in the bartender's face. "Kay? We all peachy, now? I'll have whatever's best in the house today. . ." Axel put the bill down on the table and searched around the bar, seeing all and none but the customer he nearly missed right next to him.
He tapped the guy's shoulders to get him to turn around, "Hey kid! What're you drinking?"
The blonde spun, blue eyes locking with Axel's green almost mystically. Axel's lips parted in astonishment as he wrinkled his eyebrows in surprise. He couldn't see terrifically well, it's true, but this kid was clearly young. How'd he get here? He was new, so who was he? He was actually really cute. You don't get too many cute ones at a place like this.
"Hey, Xigbar, you let this . . .?" Axel trailed off, still staring into the kids' eyes in a sort of unintelligible babble until he realized that he had just started a conversation that he needed to finish before starting another, "Hi. I'm Axel. What's your name?" he asked airily.
The kid looked at him curiously. His cheeks sported something of a rosy red that made it seem like he had too much to drink.
"Didn't you ask me what I was drinking first? My name or what I was drinking . . . which is it?" The blonde's words and voice seemed unaffected, although his every action he attempted to make dripped of the alcohol's effects.
"I hoped. . . you could remember both." Axel leaned his elbow over the counter in amusement.
Roxas glared, and Axel grinned.
"I see. Not the talkative type. But I did deserve that look, I'll give you that." Axel didn't look away, although it already seemed the kid was done speaking with him.
"So, let me get this straight, you'll answer one question and one question only?"
There was a short nod, but Roxas decided to choose the question for him, "I'm drinking 'Xigbar's Special Ginger Ale'."
"Ginger ale, hmm?" Axel smirked at the bartender out of the corner of his eye, "You hear that? Whatever it is, I'll take it."
"Suit yourself." Their eavesdropper shrugged and reached for the liquor cabinet.
While Axel was waiting for his drink, he seemed to have stopped looking in Roxas' direction, so Roxas started looking his way. First just a slow glance, Roxas turned his eyes, trying to cover his interest with a slouch and an empty glass. Who did this guy think he was? Still. . . there was something there, behind that smirk. The thought briefly crossed Roxas' mind that Axel was surprisingly beautiful when his mouth was shut.
"Thanks." Axel said as Xigbar placed the drink in front of him. He took it up and raised the glass first to Xigbar in thanks. Then, a curious smirk crept up his cheek as he turned his eyes to Roxas, and raised the glass to him as well.
Roxas turned away as a shiver ran up his spine. He felt the red of anger coming over him. Axel had known Roxas was watching him . . . and he didn't do anything to stop it! Roxas clenched his hands on his glass. The nerve!
Axel ignored this and drank about half his portion in one go, lowered it from his face, and then widened his eyes.
"Well it's. . . not ginger ale." He raised the glass to eye level and swiveled the brown mixture, "Xigbar, what the hell IS this?"
"2 parts ginger, 4 parts ale, and 1 part . . . special." The bartender smirked.
It took Axel about three seconds to register what he meant.
"Shit! You can't be giving this stuff to minors. That's almost criminal!" Axel shouted.
Xigbar chuckled, "I think you're forgetting the kid got in here by himself."
"I'm not a minor!"
Axel dropped the subject immediately to turn to the kid. He looked truly shocked. "You're not?"
Roxas was more offended by Axel's expression than the original comment.
"I'm eighteen." He replied with a dead sort of anger that comes right before the last straw
"How many of these 'v you had?" Axel pointed incredulously at his half-full glass.
"Three?"
"Holy!" Axel said. Roxas looked offended again. "I mean, for someone who's as short as a twelve-year-old and doesn't look like he's drunk a day before in his life, I'm impressed at your tolerance."
Axel looked at Roxas skeptically. Last time Demyx had a 'special' drink he was drooling all over the floor afterone glass. Axel took full responsibility, because of course it was his fault. But what was he at the time . . . like . . . twice this kid's size? He must be starting to feel some effects at least.
". . ." Roxas was quiet. It had just occured to him that this Axel's voice sounded very familiar, but he was sure he'd never seen him before in his life. He was about to ask if they'd met before to fill the gap in conversation before he felt his phone vibrating.Roxas flipped it out of his pocket and looked at the name of who was calling. "Namine. . ." He frowned with a sour look and returned it to his pocket, suddenlyfeeling a sink in his stomach, like the whole world came crashing down on his shoulders. He really didn't want to talk to her right now.
"What. . . your ex-girlfriend or something?" Axel snickered between sips.
Roxas glared.
"Huh? Really? Wow." Axel turned away to see if there was anyone else around the counter to talk to. There was no one.
"She says that I don't talk to her enough." Roxas said miserably, suddenly opening up due to his depression multiplied tenfold by the alcohol. He looked at Axel, who blinked. Roxas mistook this for sympathy. ". . . It just happened today."
". . . You want advice? I think you should get over yourself." Axel sighed, and Roxas nearly smacked him a good one, but Axel saved himself, "I have a friend who's always getting dumped by people. And the truth of it is he always causes himself more grief in the process than anyone else does. It's really not worth the energy to make yourself miserable."
"But our relationship was different!" Roxassaid angrily.
Axel gave him a meaningful look, "Look I don't have time for your problems, kid so----"
"She asked if I was gay!" Roxas blurted out. Okay, now he had Axel's undivided attention.
Xigbar raised an eyebrow from afar. /The kid should watch who he talks to./
Roxas inhaled and exhaled slowly, shoulders drawn close and tight in anger. He swallowed trying to find out how to break the silence he caused.
"So are you?" the redhead asked.
Blue eyes widened in a reaction that would have been the same if Axel had asked him, politely, if he would please eat a scorpion.
"Well, no! I mean . . . I don't want to talk about this." Roxas placed hand on his forehead. He was tired. He couldn't remember why he was talking about this to some stranger who was driving him insane. The music was too loud. The lighting was too dim. Roxas could think of a thousand excuses to end this conversation.
He didn't like it. It pushed his buttons in all the wrong places. Mostly the buttons that made him pay attention to Axel in all the wrong aspects.
"Well, if you're going to find out, you have to talk about it sometime." Axel shrugged.
"Like you would know!"
"More than I let on. . . " Axel lifted himself off his stool, leaning forward and locking their proximity with his extended arm leaning on the countertop beside him.
"Wha. . .?" Roxas leaned back and stared first at the hand that trapped him, then up at Axel's face dumbly, unable to process cryptic sentences under his predatory gaze.
"I said I know more about this than I let on. . ." Axel, seeing no immediate reason not to, brought their lips together. He quickly rectified the situation with his second hand on Roxas' chin to keep him from running away.
Roxas opened his eyes wide, and by the time he realized what was happening, their mouths were already together. His heart sped to about twice its normal rate, and his stomach contracted so much it felt like he would burst. He opened his mouth, gasping to say something like 'HUH?', but apparently this was actually an invitation that read more like 'I want you to tongue me. NOW!' . . . which wasn't what he had in mind.
Axel happened to be enjoying himself.
The kid clearly didn't have much experience, but he wasn't resisting at all. When he let his tongue wander a little, he noticed the kid definitely responded; a little squirming, but not the running away kind. He even pushed back, and when Axel finally let go the expression he was faced with was more one of astonishment than horror.
"Well, that answers that question." Axel grinned.
"You. . . you kissed me!" Roxas brought the back of his hand up to hold it across his mouth in horror, now.
"You kissed me back." Axel reminded him.
"No I didn't!"
"You should thank your girlfriend for breaking-up with you."
"I'm not gay---!"
"Maybe you're bi. . ." Axel grinned.
There was a moment of awkward silence.
"Excuse me," Roxas looked at Axel only once and it was a look of confusion and sadness as he put the payment for his drinks on the counter, "I'm leaving." He turned his back on the bar and started to run.
"Wait!" Axel called after him, getting up from his chair, "I hope you're not driving---- Damn it!" Roxas had already jogged out of the club, nearly bashing into the bouncer on his way out, he was so clouded.
Axel turned to Xigbar. He sighed. He hadn't even gotten to know his name. He thought kissing him would be like. . . an icebreaker or something. Oh, well.
"Seems you've gone and scared all the customers away, again." Xigbar said as apathetically as he could.
Axel snickered pushing his empty glass towards Xigbar, "Hey, now there's one less sexually-confused teenager out there. It's my good deed for the day."
"Well aren't you the boy scout."
A/N: I'm introducing Demyx in the next chapter. If there are any pairings you like with him in particular, shoot! Although I'm not deciding yet, I'll write for the majority unless you literally make me stab my eyeballs out. Demyx/Pete for instance. /stab stab/
I really do aim to please, and I think my stories are more a reflection of you, the reader, than anything. If you review, I'll get a sense of who you want to see and what you want to happen in this story. . . besides AkuRoku, obviously. What I'm saying is requests as well as questions are welcome. I'll try my best to make everyone happy.
Oh, and Xigbar's SPECIAL drink? Even I don't know what it is. : p
