Hello! So basically, I've been working on this huge multi-chapter kingdom hearts fic, and started suffering a massive case of writers block. Hence, this gem.

I decided that this is going to be an on-going story of sorts because I love writing these two characters together and there isn't enough Axel and Reno action out there.

This follows my previous story The Reddest Red, but you don't really have to read that to understand what's going on.

The frequency with which I will update this depends on how much trouble I'm having with my other ideas and how much spare time I have on my hands.

Warnings: This is boyxboy or yaoi or whatever we're calling it these days so buzz off if you're not a fan. This one also has a lot of cursing in it because apparently I was feeling like a badass.

I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy VII. Big shocker.

Enjoy!

There were boxes and suitcases lining the hallways and several of the photos and trinkets from the living room had been packed away. Demyx was currently rummaging through the kitchen, collecting up his various cookware.

Axel sat on the couch looking glum, his elbows resting on his knees with his head in his hands. The apartment was becoming more empty by the minute, and even though his longtime flat mate was still there, he was already feeling lonely.

This sucks.

Zexion had recently asked a thrilled Demyx to move in with him, which was great, because they had been dating for a while and that was the natural next step to their relationship, but Axel couldn't help but feel a little jealous. He enjoyed coming up from the shop to the sounds of the sandy blonde tuning up his sitar, or waking up in the morning to find breakfast all ready waiting for him. He liked their drunken adventures and crazy antics, and since Roxas had gotten married, Demyx was like a second best friend.

Sure, sometimes (most of the time) Demyx was a total moron, and sometimes they drove each other completely bonkers, but he was a good friend, a great friend.

"C'mon Ax. Don't look like that." Said blonde had just finished in the kitchen and was lining up the last of his belongings by the door. "We'll see each other all the time."

"It won't be the same." Axel pouted. This was totally not fair. First, Roxas gets married. Now, Demyx was moving in with Zexion, which was basically as close to getting married as those two would ever be. Next thing he knew, Marly would be shacking up with Larxene, and Namine would find some boy toy, and he'd be left in his stupid big apartment all by himself.

"Oh please. Stop being such a drama queen." Demyx flopped on the couch next him and handed over a beer. "Now you'll have all this room to yourself. You won't even have to worry about the umbrella rule!"

Axel chuckled at that, taking a sip from his drink. They had the rule that if either of them were ever getting busy, they had to hang Dem's awful pink and purple peace sign umbrella from the balcony as a warning.

"I guess. But, who's gonna make me breakfast when I'm so hungover I can't see straight, or battle me for the remote, or drag my ass out of bed when I'm running late?" Axel leaned his head on Demyx's shoulder heaving a sigh.

"You're ridiculous." Demyx laughed lightly, patting Axel's hair condescendingly. "You're a big boy now, you'll be fine."

"Of course I'll be fine, but you know I don't do well on my own." Axel huffed.

"You've still got Reno, don't you?" Demyx quirked an eyebrow. "Haven't you two been dating for a while?"

"Yeah, I guess we have." Axel straightened up, thinking. "It's been...damn. It's been more than a year."

"Wow, time really flies." The blonde looked over at his friend, gauging his expression. "Haven't you ever thought about asking him to move in with you?"

The redhead's eyebrows furrowed. He had thought about it, but never acted on it. One, because he was still living with Dem, and two although him and Reno had gotten close, even dropping that three word phrase on a regular basis, his lover was still really private and guarded about most of his professional and personal life.

"I don't really think Reno wants that."

"Have you ever asked him?" Demyx persisted.

"Well, not really..." Axel trailed off, when there was a knock at the door.

The blonde leapt off the couch, and practically flew towards the door. "Zexy!"

The smaller man lifted his visible eyebrow and stepped into the apartment. "Hello Demyx. Good evening Axel."

"Yo." Axel threw him a lazy wave.

"Are you ready?" Zexion's dark blue eyes swept down at the belongings gathered by the door and down the hallway, his slight fidgeting giving away that he was equally as excited as Dem was at the prospect of finally living together.

"Yup! All packed up." Demyx chirped.

Axel smiled to himself. Even if he would miss the idiotic-blonde-wonder, he couldn't help feeling happy for his two friends. He still thought it was strange that they were together. The two were polar opposites. Demxy loud, obnoxious, spontaneous, and as much of a fruitcake as was possible. Zexion on the other hand, was like an eighty year old trapped in a young body, preferring quiet and reading.

Well, I guess they balance each other out. Yin and yang and all that.

The redhead heaved a resigned sigh and picked himself up off the couch to start assisting with transportation of all of Dem's stuff down to Zexion's van.

The water was turning pink as he scrubbed his hands, the blood steadily washing away. Reno looked up into the mirror and brought a washcloth up to his face to get rid of the red stains. When he was finished he leaned heavily on the counter top, resting his forehead against the cool tile.

Today had been an especially rough job, requiring Reno and Rude to get their hands dirty. Things still weren't as bad as the old days, but sometimes the job required some serious force. Today it was someone with information on a drug lord that was causing terror in Junon. Yesterday it was some dumbass that tried to steal from Shinra. Tomorrow there'd be something else.

It never ends, yo.

By now, Reno was used to the seedier parts of the job, and there wasn't much that bothered him anymore, but sometimes, just sometimes, he wished it wasn't like this. He wished that the Turks weren't needed for these sorts of things, but then he'd get bored and remembered that he liked to kick some ass.

He was, after all, Reno of the Turks, and even if he had to scrub his hands for thirty minutes every day and replace one of his suits at least once a week due to the blood stains or the horrible smell of decay that could not be washed out, he still enjoyed the job, at least most of the time. Reno wouldn't change much, and had very few regrets in life.

He straightened up and moved into his bedroom to change out of uniform. As he was tugging a sweatshirt over his head, he heard a buzzing coming from his discarded pants.

"I'm bored. Come over?"

Reno grinned. He'd been dating Axel for one year, two months, and five days...but he wasn't counting or anything...

The other redhead made him happy, and brought a sense of normalcy that had never been present in his outlandish lifestyle. He loved the time they spent together, and he'd opened up to Axel more than anyone outside of the Turks. Occasionally though, Reno got paranoid. He was nervous that if Axel ever found out about some of the darker parts of Reno's existence, or exactly what he got up to on a regular basis, that his fiery lover would be disgusted or scared, or maybe a little bit of both. It was one thing to know that someone was a Turk, it was another thing to know how often he had to kidnap, kill, or torture.

For now, though, he was content enough to shove his worries to the back of his mind and spend a pleasant evening with his arms full of Axel.

"I'll be there in ten."

This is the life.

Axel was currently sitting on his kitchen counter, Reno standing between his open thighs, having his mouth thoroughly ravished. He had his hands buried in the spikes on top of Reno's head, and the other redhead had a firm grip on his butt and scooted him closer so that their hips could grind together.

The food Axel had made sat forgotten next to the stove, and started to grow cold. His hands trailed down to Reno's back, long fingers combing through the ponytail. That devilish mouth left his and moved onto his neck, and Axel sighed contentedly. He decided he was done making out, and moved his hands to the Turk's belt.

"Shouldn't we move to the bedroom, yo?"

"Too far." Axel's hands dove into Reno's pants and started stroking him.

"Mmph." Reno groaned into Axel's mouth. One hand working on the other man's fly so that he could return the favor, his other hand maintaing it's place on that fine ass.

Axel thrust up into Reno's hand, and they established a steady rhythm. They both knew just the right amount of pressure and touch to drive each other wild. Axel broke the kiss, and Reno's eyes burned into him. The Turk stood up on his tip toes and took both of them into his grip, and Axel moaned, loving the intimate touch.

The taller redhead's hands curled into fists on the counter, and his head rolled back and connected with the cabinet. He heard his lover snicker at him, but he was feeling too good to care. Reno started picking up the pace, and Axel could feel himself losing it, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his neck.

"Cum for me, babe." Reno had leaned forward, capturing his earlobe between his teeth, and as if his statement had been a command, Axel obeyed. He pulsed against Reno, and after a few more strokes, his companion joined him.

They'd eventually heated up the food and eaten their dinner, moving to the living room to eat and watch some sitcom reruns. Axel was shirtless because all the mess from their exploits in the kitchen had ended up on him.

"Just let me go grab a shirt!" Axel moved to get up, but Reno tugged him back down, holding him to his chest. "I'm cold!"

"Don't worry, doll face, I'll keep you warm." Reno nuzzled into the top of Axel's head.

The other redhead turned in his grasp and huffed. "You're impossible." He rested his head on Reno's chest. "And stop calling me 'doll face'."

"You got it, cutie." Axel groaned, and Reno smirked, wrapping his arms around that thin waist.

They laid like that for a while, Axel laughing softly at the TV, and Reno enjoying the feeling of them pressed together.

"So..." Reno noticed that Axel had stopped paying attention to the show, and was drawing lazy patterns on his chest through his tshirt.

"So...what?" Reno prompted when Axel didn't continue.

"I've been thinking, and I don't know, we've been dating for a pretty long time, right?" Axel's questioning green eyes met his.

"Yeah...?" Reno looked down at Axel, not sure where this conversation was going.

Gods, I hope he doesn't want to celebrate our anniversary or something, yo. I can't get into that cheesy crap.

"Well, now that Dem has moved out, the apartment is gonna be kinda lonely." Axel's eyes lit up with hope, but Reno felt his stomach drop to his toes.

Oh, no...

"And, I dunno, I was thinking maybe..."

Please don't say it, please don't say it...

"Maybe, if you wanted to..."

Don't, don't, don't...

"You could move in with me?" A hesitant smile was present on Axel's face.

Reno tensed up, remembering all of his fears. How was he supposed to keep the darker parts of his life secret from Axel if he was living with the guy. He gently disentangled himself from the lanky redhead, and he could see confusion and panic seeping into those expressive green eyes.

I'm sorry, babe.

"I gotta go." Reno swiftly strode out of the apartment and down to his bike, leaving a shocked Axel alone on the couch, wondering where he went wrong.

It had been two days. Two days, and not one word from Reno. No texts, no calls, no apologies. Axel was regretting his decision to ask the Turk to move in with him more and more. He didn't mean to upset the other man, he just thought that maybe he felt the same.

Clearly not.

He was working on a car, replacing the transmission, even though the shop had closed hours ago.

"So, when are you going to tell me what's wrong?" He looked up to see Kairi, leaning against the door frame.

"I thought you already left." Axel grumbled.

Kairi shrugged, striding into the garage, and lifting herself to sit on the work bench. "I've been waiting for you to come out of here. You planning on working all night?"

"Maybe..." Axel directed his gaze at the floor, crossing his arms and leaning against the bench next to his sister.

"So what is it? Missing Dem that badly? Lost a bet? Trouble in paradise?" Axel flinched at the last one, and looked pointedly in the opposite direction of Kairi. "Bingo. So, what happened?"

"I don't really want to talk about it." Axel mumbled quietly.

"Tough."

He sighed, realizing his sister was in a nosy mood, and would keep pestering him until he broke. "I asked Reno to move in with me."

"And?" Kairi prompted. "Did he say no?"

"Well, he certainly didn't say yes." Axel's tone was a little bitter, and blinked rapidly. He never cried. "Actually, he didn't say anything at all."

Kairi threw him a sympathetic look and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "Have you talked to him at all?"

"No, I mean, it's really only been a couple days." Axel sighed. "If he wants to talk, he can call me."

"Hmm." Kairi hummed to herself. "Well, don't worry about it. I'm sure he'll come to his senses."

Axel nodded mutely. Kairi stuck around for a couple minutes, but since her brother was apparently done talking to her, she squeezed his shoulder one more time before exiting the shop.

Axel shivered, hugging his thin frame, feeling more alone than ever. There was a part of him that itched to call Reno, but the rest of him was too stubborn, and his pride was already wounded.

He swallowed a lump in his throat and went back to fixing the car.

Not like there's anything else for me to do.

Reno flipped through the channels rapidly, nothing catching his interest. He'd gone out drinking with Rude the night before, and the night before that had been over at Seventh Heaven. He was avoiding Axel, shamelessly, and for once he was at a loss and didn't know what he should do. He loved the other redhead, probably more than he'd loved anyone, and that scared the ever living shit out of him.

If anyone else wanted to judge him for being a Turk, they could just fuck off. But Axel, he was different. His opinion mattered. Even though he knew what Reno was, and had even been involved in that sting a little more than a year ago, he still didn't know everything. That business with the Organization had been easy. Good guys, taking out bad guys. It wasn't always so black and white. Sometimes there were so many shades of grey, even Reno didn't know what side he was fighting for. All he knew, was that his loyalty was to Rufus Shinra, and that was good enough for him and the other Turks, but not many other people.

He shifted restlessly, wondering how he could explain himself to Axel without raising questions, and if the other redhead would even want to talk to him after the way he had acted.

I'm such an ass...

His pocket buzzed and he extracted his phone to find a text from Elena.

"Want to join me and Rude for some poker?"

He replied quickly, ready for anything that would take his mind off of Axel.

Thank the gods.

Axel had the sneaking suspicion that his friends were purposefully not letting him spend anytime alone to sulk around his apartment. He'd been at Marly's place the other day for a movie marathon, out clubbing with Demyx and Zexion after that (and Zexion looked ecstatic to be out on the town), out shopping with Kairi and Sora (both men looking equally bored), Namine had been over claiming she "needed a new subject for her next painting", and now he was over for dinner with Roxas and Xion.

He appreciated his friend's effort, but they really needed to work on being more subtle.

Roxas was digging into his pasta with enthusiasm, and Xion looked incredibly proud of herself. Even after all this time they still had that newlywed happiness going for them, and right about then it sort of made Axel want to gag. He played with his food, scraping it around the plate, but not eating much of it.

"Don't you like it?" Xion smiled at him.

"Oh, yeah, it's great. Guess I'm just not that hungry." Axel mumbled. Xion was an exceptional cook, but he really wasn't hungry, and hadn't been eating a lot lately.

Roxas looked up at him, and Axel wished there wasn't so much pity in those blue eyes. The redhead sighed, taking a bite and plastering on a fake smile to appease his friends.

It's been more than a week...

Reno was out with Rude again, bar hopping. If his quiet friend was wondering why Reno was suddenly available every night, he didn't voice it, and the redhead was grateful. There was a nagging guilt that clenched around his heart if he thought about it too long, but he'd been doing his best at distracting himself.

The two Turks were seated at their third bar, enjoying the atmosphere and winding down. Reno was taking a sip of his drink when he nearly choked, seeing a familiar flash of red out of the corner of his eye.

Axel had just walked in, accompanied by Demyx and some girl with pink hair. Reno ducked behind his partner, cursing his luck. Rude cocked and eyebrow at him, and followed his line of sight to the other redhead.

"What the hell, man?" Rude questioned.

"Shh!" Reno shushed him, trying to see if there was a way out of this mess. Rude snorted at him and, to Reno's horror, waved at Axel and his friends.

The bald man had caught their attention, and Reno hastily straightened up, not wanting to look like a coward. Axel looked like he wanted to bolt, but Demyx grabbed his upper arm, and pinky did the same, the two effectively dragging their unwilling friend over.

Once they had gotten close, Reno noticed three things. One, pinky was a dude. Two, Demyx looked livid. Three, Axel had lost weight, like a lot. He'd always been thin, but now he was bordering on looking sickly.

"Reno! Imagine running into you here." Demyx's tone was falsely cheerful, and kind of scary. "Haven't seen you around lately. This must be you partner, Rude?"

"A pleasure to meet you...?" Rude extended a hand politely.

"Demyx, and this is Marluxia." Demyx shook his hand. "Hey! Rude, would you care to join us for some pool?"

Before the Turk could answer, the blond had dragged him off the stool with surprising strength, Marluxia following close behind.

Axel looked increasingly uncomfortable, and Reno could feel the guilt constricting his throat.

"Hey..." Reno trailed off, not sure where to start.

"Hi." Axel sat beside him at the bar, green eyes never looking Reno's way. When the bartender made it over to them, Axel ordered a whiskey sour, and didn't say anything more.

"Since when do you drink whiskey, yo?"

"Since now."

Axel's depressed tone was cutting right into him. "Listen, I'm sorry about-"

"Save it." Axel sipped his drink, a bite to his words that Reno had never heard before.

"All right." Reno said, miffed that his apology was being brushed off. "Well, I just wanted to explain-"

"What? Explain why you walked off without a word and haven't talked to me for almost two weeks?" Axel fixed him with a heated glare, clearly angry.

"Well, it ain't like you tried to call me either, yo." Reno said defensively.

"I'm not the one that walked away." Axel said through gritted teeth.

Reno sighed. They weren't getting anywhere.

It's not supposed to be like this.

"Hey." Reno's voice softened to a whisper and he leaned in to place a hand on Axel's knee. The other man looked slightly startled by the gesture, and unsure whether he should brush him off or not. "I really am sorry."

Axel's heart was beating loudly in his chest, conflicting emotions flitting around his head. On the one hand he was furious with Reno, on the other he really, really, missed him. He decided to ignore the hand on his knee and stare into his drink, as if it could give him the answers he needed.

"I just..." Reno sounded uncertain, and Axel looked up at him, unused to the vulnerable tone coming from the arrogant redhead. "I just didn't know how to say things right, yo."

"What do you mean?" Axel tried to keep his voice indifferent, but there was a desperate undertone.

"It's just that-that I really like you, love you," Reno was nervous. Why was he so nervous? "I want to stay with you, but we can't...we can't live together, babe."

Axel swallowed a lump, glad to hear that Reno still had feelings for him, but confused by his last statement. "Why not?"

"Cause," Reno paused and sucked in a breath. "I'm afraid, yo."

"Afraid?" Axel was more lost than ever. "Afraid of what?"

Reno's eyes shifted over to where his partner was bullshitting around with pinky and the fag, not able to look at Axel. The other redhead sounded so desolate, and he felt a clear sharp pain in his chest knowing he was the cause of that tone. He felt like a coward and a fool, because how in the fuck does one explain that sometimes his targets aren't the scum of the earth?

Life was easier now that Shinra and the WRO were more focused on building than destroying, but sometimes, things weren't all roses and sunshine. Sometimes his targets were parents, or bystanders, or just barely adults. Sometimes his assignments involved chaining people to chairs and ripping out their fingernails. Sometimes he stood in the shower for almost an hour just to get rid of the smell.

The fucking smells, that was the worst part of the job. When a target pissed themselves, or the stinging iron scent of blood, or the terrible odor of death seeped into his clothes, his hair. He always knew when he'd be seeing Axel, so he had warning to get rid of those godsdamed fucking smells.

If they lived together then Axel would do more than just smell the aftereffects of the more serious days on the job. He'd see it. The haunted look that sometimes Reno indulgently allowed to creep into his eyes when he thought of things that might have given him pause a decade ago, and he didn't know what exactly bothered him. The fact that he did what were, by some definitions, awful things, or that the job only got easier.

He wondered what would happen when he wasn't able to avoid sleeping with Axel the week of the anniversary of the worst day of Reno's life, and his companion got to witness his psychotic night terrors as he relived the sounds of grinding metal and the horrible screams from below as the Sector Seven plate dropped. He knew that if they lived together, Axel would see him at his worst, and it wasn't a pretty sight.

Reno felt warm digits turn him back to face those green, green eyes that seemed to bug out of hollows that he didn't remember being there. Cheekbones that were too sharp, a collarbone that was sickeningly prominent, and skin that had gone beyond pale and taken on a pallor. Everything skin and bones, skin and bones, but those eyes were the same and they begged for answers.

"I..." Axel perked up at the sound of Reno's voice after the almost alarmingly long silence between them, filled in with background bar noise. "I'm a Turk."

Axel blinked. Then he blinked again. "Yeah. I know."

"No, I know you know, but, man. You don't really know."

"What the hell are you on about?" Now Axel was getting annoyed. He'd known since the second date that Reno was a Turk. He accepted that.

"Listen, yo." Reno's attention again turned to his partner and the awkward game of pool commencing across the room. "Can we talk about this later?"

"When? I don't want you disappearing for another two weeks." Axel huffed and finished his drink, standing to go and fetch his friends.

"Tomorrow. I'll come pick you up after you close shop."

Axel nodded mutely and turned to leave. He was a little shocked by the feeling of arms winding around his waist and Reno pressing his face into the back of his neck.

"I love you." Reno murmured against his skin, placing a tentative kiss there.

"Me too." Axel breathed out and wanted to stay in that embrace, but wasn't really used to this much public affection when they had friends less than twenty feet away. He squirmed out of the other redhead's grasp, proud of the fact that he didn't look back as Dem and Marly followed him out of the bar.

The night before Rude had raised his eyebrows at his partner, but Reno shook his head once and that was that. There was a silent agreement that this would never be spoken of again, and that's why Reno loved his partner, in a completely brotherly sort of way. Baldy understood that even though Reno enjoyed being in Axel's pants, it didn't make him a godsdamed fruit that wanted to discuss his fucking feelings.

Gross.

Somehow, Reno had made it through paperwork day, and the drive over to Axel's place without thinking too much about the other man and where the inevitable conversation was going to lead. Once Axel stepped out onto the porch, all those doubts and thoughts and damed stupid fucking feelings came flooding back. The other redhead had no smile for him today and stopped a couple feet away from the bike, his hands stuffed in his pockets leveling him with a helpless stare.

Babe, those green eyes give away too much.

"Hey." Reno stood, but wasn't sure if it was appropriate to touch his (hopefully still) lover.

"Hey." Axel just kept staring at him, clearly not willing to help move the conversation along.

Remind me how I ended up in a relationship?

"Wanna go for a drive, yo?"

They drove and drove, Axel hanging onto Reno as loosely as was possible. They left the city, and went beyond the wastes, and Reno finally stopped among a familiar patch of grass.

"Place helps me think." He had declared before flopping onto the ground.

Axel normally would have laid on top of him or used him as a pillow, but today he settled in just next to the other redhead, their shoulders almost touching. There was silence between them again and Axel pretended for a moment that this was just another day, another drive.

He wished he was a better liar.

He wanted to shake Reno until he talked, smack him across the face, something, but he was dreading what the other man would say. If when they drove back it would be as lovers or something else. Axel used to think that Reno was the only person he ever loved as much as he loved Roxas, but now he realized that wasn't true. He love Reno more, because this time, it was real.

"I'm jealous of Tseng." Reno's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

What?

"You wanna bone Elena?" Axel said it jokingly, but was kind of afraid that it was true. The idea that Reno wanted to be with women again crossed his mind several times. He didn't seem the type, but maybe the Turk wanted a family, kids, white picket fence, the works.

"Urgh! Nasty!" Reno's face twisted into a mask of disgust and Axel couldn't help the breathless laugh of relief that he let escape. "Not where I was going with that, yo. No, what I mean is, I'm jealous of Tseng AND Elena, cause they're both Turks. They both know what it's really like. They don't have to hide."

Axel turned on his side to get a better look at Reno's face and slung an arm across his waist, feeling much more cuddly now that he knew Reno wasn't going to leave him for the dark side.

"You don't have to hide from me." Axel was totally not pouting when he said that.

"Yeah I do, babe." Reno rolled so that Axel was on top of him and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.

Never thought I'd like hearing him call me his stupid girly nicknames.

"Most days, it's cool. Nine out of every ten days is totally normal, yo. But that one fucking day..." Reno trailed off and Axel caught a hint of the shadows locked up in those long blue-gray eyes. "That one day sucks, man. I said I was afraid, before, and I am. I'm afraid that...that if you knew some of the shit I've done or how often...how often I've gotta wash blood outta the suit...you wouldn't want-"

Axel was hit with a wave of understanding and lunged forward, stopping Reno's halting speech with a kiss that was anything but chaste. His tongue explored around Reno's mouth and his hands wove themselves into the spikes on top of his head. It went on like that for a long time, Axel ravaging Reno's mouth, Reno pulling him closer and his hands feeling around his back, then under his shirt and then down to-

"You're an idiot." Axel broke for some air and to stop Reno's hands from reaching their destination. "Why didn't you just say something before?"

"What?" Reno looked kind of adorable (an adjective Axel didn't think he would ever assign to the Turk) all confused and indignant with kiss-swollen lips.

"You could've just told me all that before you ran off and disappeared for two weeks." Axel smacked Reno across the side of the head.

"Hey! Don't hit me, that was really hard to fucking say, yo." Reno huffed. "I'm pouring out my godsdamed soul and deepest darkest fears to you, asshat."

"Oh, I'm the asshat? Mr. Coward?" Axel glared, and was a little proud of the flinch he got in response. (Ha! How many people could make the second in command of the Turks flinch?) "You should know about asshattery, because you're the fucking king, poopface."

"Poopface? What are we five?" Reno laughed, pulling Axel closer when the redhead started to look like he wanted to storm off. "I said I was sorry, yo. And you're right, I'm an asshat and a poopface and whatever else you want to call me. As long as you still love me and when we drive home we're together, I couldn't fucking care less."

Axel felt his heart lift up out of his stomach where it had been residing for the last couple weeks and his ears burn with that blush that only Reno could cause. "When did you become such a sap?"

"Don't fucking push it, yo." Axel smirked.

"I must be making you go soft, cause who knew a Turk could be such a romantic-"

"Ax. I'm warning you."

"I didn't know you had this lovey dovey side to you, Reno. When are you going to start reciting poetry-"

"That is it." Reno switched their positions pinning Axel into the grass and dirt with a fierce kiss, one hand tugging at his hair, the other with a firm grip on his ass.

Axel grinned into the kiss, wondering if Reno realized he'd been baited.

We should fight more often, yo.

It was kind of a shock that, other than the whole "Axel might be part of the Organization and out to kill me and bring down Shinra" thing, this had been their first real fight. A bit of a shame that it had to be such a big one that made Reno look like a total dumbass, but on the upside make-up sex was glorious.

They'd had acrobatic, gravity defying sex that put them both in orgasm heaven. He didn't know Axel could bend that way or that he could do that thing with his tongue. They'd twisted into positions that Reno didn't know were possible and he was so incredibly glad he'd brought that condom for good luck.

Under the open sky in the middle of nowhere, they'd rutted together for what seemed like hours and the redheaded Turk wasn't sure if his name was really Reno or if it had officially been changed to God. It would be a miracle if Axel could walk normally for a week. Hell, it'd be a miracle if Reno could walk normally for a week.

It was the thing of legends.

Axel had needed two cigarettes afterwards before he was ready to get back on the bike to drive home. This drive being infinitely more pleasant than the one earlier, with Axel pressed up so close to him he could feel every breath, and that hot mouth lazily teasing his neck, and on daring turns that crazy, crazy laugh that made Axel sound like a lunatic high on adrenaline echoing in his ears. Reno loved that laugh and those hands and that mouth and the fact that when they got back to the apartment he'd be home with his Axel.

I am a fucking sap.

There were, of course, some compromises made. First off, Demyx's old room became the "office," or better referred to as "the room in which Axel stored all his random shit." Axel's room then transformed into their room, which had been so fun to say that for the first week Axel continually found excuses to announce that he was going to their room and made Reno roll his eyes in exasperation. The transformation included some arguments about what was worth keeping and what was junk. Reno had accused him of "being a fucking hoarder" but Axel just kept insisting the things had "sentimental value" and told Reno to "stop being a dipshit". Thus, the "office" was born.

Left in their room was the futon bed, some of the posters they could agree on (there was no denying that Alice and the March Hares was a good band), what clothes and shoes Axel was allowed to keep (he'd lost a huge debate over the merit of keeping old shoes held together with duct tape), and basically all of Reno's worldly possessions, which were very practical and very few.

The second Big Compromise was that Reno kept his old apartment. There was nothing left there except for his couch, a refrigerator full of beer, and some soap in the shower. He kept it because Axel had the garage and "office" to run away to and Reno needed a sanctuary to crash at when he wanted to be alone.

That was okay. Maybe unorthodox, but what about them was really normal anyway?

The third change, which Axel was a big fan of, was that Reno brought his TV. A television so fantastic and amazing that he spent an inordinate amount of time watching movies and playing video games for the first few days.

Axel was discovering that besides being a good boyfriend and lover, Reno was also a decent roommate. The plus sides being that he was, surprisingly enough, the cleaner of the two of them and was like a professional when it came to killing spiders. (Even though the episode in which Reno discovered Axel's horrible case of arrachnophobia was excessively embarrassing.) Not to mention that he could jump Reno's bones whenever it suited him and they both enjoyed the many opportunities that presented themselves.

There were down sides to living with the Turk. First on Axel's list of "Why Living with Reno Sometimes Sucks" was that sometimes he had to go into work at the ass-crack of dawn. Which wouldn't be a big deal, if Reno didn't insist that Axel needed to join him in the shower every godsdamed morning.

Then there was also the problem of Reno's disgustingly motherly concern over Axel's diet. It had become routine that during meals Reno would subtly add more and more food to his plate, until he had to complain that he was full dammit and the other redhead would tell him to finish his fucking broccoli.

Then there was the third problem, which had Axel scratching his head over whether or not it was actually a problem, because in a way he was kind of happy about it. The issue being that slowly, one by one, the old ratty pieces of furniture in his apartment were disappearing to be replaced by a leather recliner and lamps that didn't fall over if you breathed too deeply and a king sized bed that worked magic on Axel's back.

Today, Axel had come home after spending an evening having dinner with Namine to discover the couch was no longer the patchwork mess that Roxas's grandmother had given them all those years ago, but was now a soft plush brand new couch that would probably feel like sitting on a cloud. Axel looked around the apartment and discovered that the only piece of furniture in sight that was his was the beat up coffee table, and that was probably going to be replaced as well.

He realized that he had no idea how much money Reno made at his job, but judging from the fact that the other man was still paying rent at his old apartment, replaced the furniture, and the utility bills had also performed a disappearing act, it had to be a lot more than Axel was bringing in. Axel was horrified to realize that the only money he'd spent in their first three weeks of living together was to stock the fridge, because the other redhead was apparently allergic to the grocery store.

Holy crap...is he like...my sugar daddy?

This was bad.

Reno waved lazily as Rude drove away after dropping him off at home. Home. Not just his place, it was his and Axel's place. Speaking of the green-eyed-sex-pot, he was probably upstairs. Waiting. Naked.

Hell yes.

He unsteadily climbed up the stairs to the small landing outside the apartment, a little bit too much scotch running through his veins. His pockets were decidedly lighter than they had been before leaving for poker night at Seventh Heaven because Highwind was a cheating bastard.

But that didn't matter as Reno stumbled into the living room, because he had a hot redhead waiting for him, naked. Axel was totally going to be naked, and no one else had that.

He flopped onto the bed next to an Axel-shaped lump in the bedding and wiggled closer to pull off the covers.

"Hey. Hey, babe, wake up." Reno was disappointed to find that Axel was wearing a shirt and sweatpants, which was an awful shame. He should make a house rule that Axel wasn't allowed to wear pants after dark. "Ax. C'mon baby, it's not even midnight."

Reno started kissing along Axel's jawline and feeling under his shirt, coaxing him out of dreamland.

"Hrrrmph." Axel grumbled, blinking sleep out of his eyes.

"Hey there, Sexy." Reno grinned triumphantly rolling on top of Axel, locking lips.

"Mmph." Axel grunted into the kiss and pushed him away. "Not tonight."

"Huh?" His alcohol fogged brain took a moment to process that along with not being naked, Axel was also not as willing as he'd been hoping for. "Why not?"

"I'm not in the mood." Axel tugged his shirt back down.

"Oh..." Reno sat up feeling slightly put out. "Everything all right, yo?"

"Yeah. I'm just not feeling it."

"Oh..." Reno stayed there for a minute, not sure how to proceed, before standing to strip down to his boxers. He crawled under the covers and hesitated, uncertain.

"What?" Axel huffed, clearly not liking the interruption to his beauty sleep.

"Can we still cuddle, yo?"

"Yeah, of course." Axel's scowl melted into a sleepy smile.

"Cool. You're the big spoon." Reno snuggled into Axel's embrace.

Axel had been hoping to talk to Reno about their finances and figure out exactly what the motivation was to replace to furniture and what it meant that the Turk was clearly the breadwinner. Then the idiot had to come home all drunk and adorable and ready for some gay-man-cuddling and Axel had forgotten he was supposed to be annoyed with him.

He woke up alone in bed, which was new. He'd grown used to Reno dragging him out of his cocoon of blankets every morning to hit the shower. Axel stretched to his full height, still amazed that he was able to on their monstrous bed.

After rolling around and cracking every joint in his body, Axel decided that he needed to get up and go confront Reno before the other man did something nice or thoughtful that would make him forget.

Actually, he needed to get up, brush his teeth, and then he would go find Reno.

He discovered the other redhead in the kitchen, washing the dishes with the radio playing softly in the background. He was dressed for work, minus his blazer that was hanging on the back of one of the chairs, with his sleeves rolled up.

"Morning, sunshine." Reno grinned at him.

"Hey." Axel lifted himself onto the counter next to the sink and snatched Reno's pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit up. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You looked like you wanted some sleep, yo." Reno gave a small jerk of his head indicating he wanted a drag, and Axel complied.

"Oh, thanks."

"Yeah. Sorry for waking you up last night."

"It's cool." They were quiet for a bit, the radio announcing the weather report, Reno scrubbing, and Axel smoking. "You have work today?"

"Mmhm. Gotta be in at noon." Axel nodded in response and they were quiet again.

He started thinking about how he was going to breach the subject of the disappearing acts.

Gods, I can't believe I'm thinking of strategies to talk to Reno about the fucking furniture.

Axel let out a snort of laughter.

"What's funny, yo?"

"I was just thinking, about how domestic we've become."

"That a bad thing?" Reno smirked at him.

"Not as long as we don't stop having sex."

"Amen to that, babe." Reno leaned over for a quick kiss.

"Hmm." Axel hummed, contented. "Can I ask you something?"

"Ask away, yo."

"Why'd you replace all the furniture?"

Reno sighed, putting the last dish into the drying rack and crossed his arms. "Don't tell me the couch had some kind of great value I couldn't possibly understand, yo."

"What're you talking about?"

"Everything has some memory and can't be thrown away and according you I don't get it." Axel's eyebrows shot up and for the first time he wondered if Reno had a "Why Living with Axel Sometimes Sucks" list.

"No, that isn't...I mean that's not what I'm after." Reno quirked an eyebrow at him, clearly waiting for more of an explanation. "It's just, you're still paying for your own apartment, and you bought all the furniture, and you're paying the utilities, and whenever we go out you always pay for dinner and drinks...and stuff..."

It sounded a little silly when he said it out loud. This proved by the fact that Reno was now suppressing a smile.

"You're worried...about the utility bill?" The Turk then burst out laughing.

"Don't laugh at me! I'm being serious, you moron." Axel punched him lightly in the shoulder, but was smiling.

"Okay, okay. Sorry, yo." Reno stood between Axel's knees and tugged him closer to the edge of the counter. "I'm paying for my apartment, cause we agreed that was cool. I got the furniture cause yours was crap and I like settling in. Making the place mine too."

Axel felt an embarrassing blush at this point because he still got all giddy whenever reminded that this was their place.

"I pay when we go out cause I can, yo." Reno ran his hands up Axel's thighs and leaned in for a languid kiss. "I like being able to treat you, babe."

The burning at Axel's ears intensified.

This is ridiculous. We've been dating for almost a year and a half, get a grip!

"If it makes you feel better, we can split the damn bills." He reached forward, plucked the cigarette out of Axel's fingertips, took one last drag and snubbed it in the ash tray.

"Well...fine then." Axel puffed out his cheeks, feeling reassured and completely stupid for his insecurities. Reno leaned in again and they made out lazily, enjoying the familiarity of each other's mouths. Axel was just starting to really get into it, arching into Reno's touches, and reaching to start unbuttoning his shirt, when the Turk pulled away.

"Man. I hate weekend shifts, yo." Reno rested his head on Axel's shoulder.

"Can you call in?" Axel was not liking the idea of taking a cold shower before heading out to spend the afternoon with his sister.

"Naw. Tseng would murder me." He drew away, shrugging on his blazer and heading for the door.

Axel hopped down and tugged Reno around for one last goodbye kiss. "Love you." He mumbled against his lover's lips.

"Love you too..." Reno was mostly out the door before he turned around to quickly add "...doll face."

"Hey! I said to stop calling me that!" Axel dashed down the stairs in pursuit, but Reno was all ready on his bike, speeding away.

Well there it is. Axel and Reno living together. What misadventure should I write about next? Axel fear of spiders? Reno's fear of elevators? How they got their tattoos? The possibilities are endless with these two. They're a gold mine of plot bunnies!