I'm not gonna lie, I never actually intended to continue Special Discount! But lo and behold, I end up with so many absolutely flattering reviews and a lot of people wanted this continued! And who am I to turn down the demands of my very much loved readers and reviewers? But seriously, thank you all SO much for your reviews; I was absolutely in shock when I saw just how well this story did. I will try my best not to disappoint you with the part two, three, or however far this goes.
Read on, faithful readers, read on!
Special Discount
Chapter 2
The air was hot and stifling and the sun was beating down fiercely onto the world, roasting the earth and everything on it, making it dry and humid. Wasps and flies even looked a little parched as the summer day dragged on. No one walked the sidewalks and all cars had their windows rolled up to blast their air conditioners at full power. Even the bright blue of the sky was hazy from the despicable atmosphere.
So naturally, it was the perfect day for Roxas to be working at his second job. A lifeguard at his local outdoor pool. Toiling away at the Seven-Eleven during the late hours of the night was only part-time. Originally, the plan had been that he work nights at the convenience store, get a quick nap before lifeguarding, sleep during breaks, sleep and maybe even eat after that, then back to Seven-Eleven. Hardly a healthy lifestyle, but the paychecks coming in every Thursday were very satisfying fruits of his labor.
A whole week had passed since the little incident with Axel. Even the mere thought of the red-head made Roxas flush and feel a little queasy inside. So he decided to let some of his queasiness out by going for some advice.
He had at least expected a little shock. Maybe a word of concern and support, or even a smidgeon of pity.
"A-a-and he shoved it down your pants? Oh haha, that's hilarious!"
What Roxas hadn't seen coming was Sora collapsing into a loud fit of laughter, his fist occasionally slamming down onto the table as he expressed his amusement. The blonde, on the other hand, was not amused in the least. The two were seated in an area slightly fenced away from the actual pool deck. There were three lawn tables set up and it was here that the lifeguards came to relax during their break, reveling in the shade. And if it got too hot, they could always wander over to the pool office right next to them, which was air conditioned. Needless to say, Roxas and Sora were the only ones sitting out in the blistering heat.
Scowling at his friend, Roxas impatiently waited for the giggles to die off before raking his hand through straw-yellow hair.
"Y'know, it's not that funny."
Sora snickered, his own auburn spikes bobbing as his outburst died down. Wiping tears of mirth from the corners of his eyes, the brunette leaned forward to take a sip of water from his plastic cup. "I think it's completely amusing, Roxas. It's not everyday that a guy comes in and you end up letting him... what's the phrase... 'have his way with you'?"
"He did not have his way with me! Shut up! You said you wouldn't make fun of me for this!" protested Roxas, glaring and looking thoroughly disgruntled. As if the incident with Axel hadn't been mind-scarring enough, now his co-worker was laughing at him about it.
Across the table, Sora let out the last chuckles he had in him before fixing his friend with a curious stare. "So have you called him back yet?"
Roxas shook his head silently, absently rubbing a scrap of paper with that infamous phone number on it that he had jotted down from the five-dollar bill. His conscious had continued to nag at him over the past seven days that he wanted to at least call the red-head and tell him off. The bitter side of him reasoned that the number probably wasn't even Axel's. The perverted side, however, sneered that he had totally enjoyed what had happened by the slushie machine and that deep down inside, he really did want more.
Roxas hated his perverted side.
It had been hard enough to just tell Sora about this, but actually calling Axel made his stomach twist into knots. Or maybe it was just the exhaustion. The poor teen had worked through an entire week of night-shifts at Seven-Eleven, giving up regular sleep hours for the sake of getting paid. So much sleep deprivation was finally breaking him down. The second job didn't help.
Raising his hands to gently run his fingertips over the puffy purple bags under his eyes, Roxas grunted. "I'm not sure I want to call him back. He might try to molest me again."
The fellow lifeguard swung the lanyard to which his whistle was attached. The ends of his fingers swiveled in time with the rotations of the whistle as it spun. Roxas didn't follow the motions, instead staring down thoughtfully at the surface of the table and trying to ignore the headache in the back of his skull that complained of the sleep deficiency.
"I think you should."
Sora had been his friend and neighbor for as long as Roxas could remember. They had taken the lifeguarding course together and later both had applied for work at the same pool. Clumsy and sometimes clueless, the teen was nevertheless a perfect provider of advice. His powerful common sense was unrivaled in their group of companions. This is why Roxas had told him his secret in the first place.
"I can't just call him." The blonde argued, growing frustrated with the situation. As they continued to sit at the small table hidden away in the corner of the pool, the sun seemed to set the actual air on fire. Roxas could swear that his brain was melting from the heat of the sun and the unbearable humidity. Sometimes, he really hated summer.
"Sure you can!" The cheeriness in Sora's voice got Roxas's eye twitching slightly.
"And what'll I say? 'Hello, this is Roxas. Remember, the guy who let you grab my crotch?' Right, Sora. That'll work."
The brunette shrugged, "You never know, it might. This Axel guy seems like the kind of guy who wouldn't bat an eyelash at something like that."
Roxas said nothing, staring off at the rippling water of the pool nearby, listening to the laughter of the patrons and breathing in the scent of chlorine and sun block. Or, at least, he tried to listen and get his mind off of Axel. For the better part of the last week, the red-head had been one of the few things on his mind, aside from his continuous mission to get sleep, and even for that, Axel continued to haunt him. The damn idiot had sparked a marathon of morning wood for him that was getting increasingly more and more frustrating.
Who would've guessed that such a troublesome fifteen minutes of a stranger feeling him up would set the ball rolling to snowball into such a serious problem?
"How about you call him now?"
Sora's unexpected comment drove Roxas back to reality.
Tugging out his cell phone, he set it on the table beside the scribbled down phone number, blue ice cream phone charm clattering along the surface as he did so. Maybe he would have enough guts now. Roxas glanced up at his friend, trying to ignore the sudden feeling of apprehension rearing in his stomach. "You really think I should?"
"It won't hurt." Sora pointed out, grinning easily. Spotting Roxas's sudden nervous look though, he reached over to nudge the blonde. "C'mon, I can tell that you want to. It's obvious that Axel struck a nerve."
Swatting away Sora's hand, Roxas grit his teeth with impatience. "Yeah, and I have no idea why! The moron obviously just wanted to cheat me out of paying for the damn slushie, so why'd he have to go and do that?" Sora's eyebrows began to lift as Roxas's temper and volume increased. "Why'd he have to get his mental image stuck in my head so I found myself thinking about him all week, huh? There's nothing special about him, he's just a cheap, chain-smoking dumbass with a flashy motorcycle! So why can't I just forget about it? Tell me that, Sora!"
The brunette looked lost for words. Roxas wasn't one for long sentences or speaking much, and that particular outburst carried questions that he couldn't answer. Speaking slowly, he carefully chose the right words as he wiped the light layer of sweat from his nose.
"... I didn't really know he affected you that much, Roxas. All I can say is that you should probably call him back and at least tell him off for coming in and bothering you last week. It's not like you have to go meet him face-to-face, after all."
At these sobering words, Roxas sank as far into his chair as he could to stare at his phone. "So..."
"So..." Sora sighed, standing. "Just call him already."
Walking by the gloomy looking blonde, Sora snickered and ruffled his hair. "Seriously. Stop being so hopeless."
Roxas turned his head just in time to see his co-worker disappear into the pool office. Absentmindedly trying to flatten his hair as he turned back to the matter at hand, the lifeguard briefly curled his free hand into a fist before grabbing the phone and number.
'Here goes nothing.'
Taking a deep breath, the blonde flipped open the phone and slowly punched in the appropriate numbers. Holding his breath, butterflies erupted in his stomach; Roxas grimaced to himself as he lifted the cell to his ear just in time to hear the start of the ringing.
Ring...
'Oh god, what am I doing? Roxas, hang up. Hang up, Roxas. This isn't going to get you anywhere.'
Ring...
'Ok, so I'm obviously not hanging up. What am I going to say? What could I possibly even say?'
Ri-
The ringing stopped midway as the call was picked up.
"Yo, this is Axel."
The familiar husky voice invaded his eardrums. Roxas blinked, mouth opening up and down as he silently grappled for something to say.
"Hey..." He finally managed to mutter out, flushing with embarrassment and standing up to start pacing, wincing as his bare feet began to tread across the heated cement of the pool deck. The laughter of the patrons increased in the background, but most of the outside noises around Roxas were muffled out by his rapidly beating heart.
There was a soft laugh on the other end of the line. "Roxas, is that your heavenly voice I'm hearing? I can't believe it."
Back and forth, Roxas padded along the length of the lifeguard area, trying to calm himself down. "Um, yeah... it's me."
"You actually called! I didn't think you would, being such a virgin and all." Axel snickered through the phone. Roxas immediately flared up in indignation, despite his previous nerves.
"Virgin? I am not a virgin, you molester!"
Sora emerged just in time from the office to that, immediately launching into a stream of giggling as he came to stand by his friend. While he listened, the brunette kept his eyes out to the pool not too far off.
Roxas glanced over briefly at the other lifeguard as he listened to Axel's response.
"Maybe, maybe not. I could definitely change that little detail for you, though."
"I don't need that changed, thank you!" Roxas snarled, stopping his pacing to stand beside Sora as his free hand lifted to dig into his blonde spikes, tugging gently to relieve his frustration.
"I think you do, Roxie. Why else would you be calling me back?"
Roxas frowned at that, chewing on his lip. For the first time, he noticed that on the other end of the line, there was laughter and conversation in the background. Apparently, Axel wasn't alone.
"I'm just calling you back to make sure there's nothing between us."
Sora, meanwhile, nodded in approval of the statement. Roxas ignored him.
"Aw, are you saying you don't want anything to do with me anymore? That hurts, Rox. I missed you." There was more laughter in the background, and Roxas could have sworn he heard someone complimenting Axel's statement. The strange thing was, though, that there was definitely an echo of the background noise coming from somewhere.
"Just stay away from me, alright?" The blonde growled, all the while trying to find the source of the echo. He briefly held his phone away from his ear to make sure it was still working properly. It appeared to be functioning fine. Flummoxed, Roxas returned the phone to its original position, simultaneously looking back at the pool deck.
"Hey, you're the one who called me."
"-the one who called me."
Roxas stiffened. The echo was getting louder, and it obviously wasn't coming from his phone.
"I didn't call you to arrange a get-together, y'know." He said slowly, his voice low as he kept his eyes peeled for the source of the repeating phrases. Next to him, Sora seemed to perk up a bit, shuffling forward slightly. He seemed to have heard something. Roxas didn't question it; Sora often got interested in new patrons coming into the pool and luckily, no one could really see them from their position, so he could stare all he wanted. "I just wanted to clear this up."
Meanwhile, a group of newly arrived visitors to the pool sauntered past the lifeguard area. Most of them were laughing and appeared to be in their late teens.
The tallest patron was talking on the phone. Guffawing loudly, he exchanged a grin with one of his friends as he spoke. "By telling me not to bother you anymore? That's not very nice, Roxas."
Hearing the response to Roxas's words right before him, something clicked. Sora gaped, eyes widening as he looked from the flamboyant red-head who was strolling past, to the stony-faced Roxas behind him who was struggling not to let his jaw drop to the ground.
To give Roxas credit, he recovered quite quickly from his initial shock of seeing Axel in-person so unexpectedly. Pulling himself together as fast as humanly possible, he side-stepped to hide behind a small part of fence that blocked off half the entrance of the lifeguard area. That way, he would be able to keep an eye on Axel, but Axel wouldn't see him.
Willing his voice to stay even, he glared at the red-head through the wire. "Who ever said I was nice?"
Gauging from Roxas's reaction and Axel's response carefully, Sora went into action, scurrying into the office again. This idea was way too last minute for his liking, but it was bound to work.
Axel moved out of hearing-distance again, sitting down with his group on a set of lawn chairs. Roxas took this opportunity to observe his companions as the delinquent spoke, still grinning widely. There were three others. A rather short blonde girl with bizarre bangs was in the process of peeling off her tank top to reveal a hot pink bikini. She was also giggling uncontrollably at whatever Axel was saying.
Nearby, two other boys were listening, but only one was smiling. For the taller one, dirty blonde hair was crafted into a mohawk and mullet together, creating a rather strange arrangement of hair. He had already tugged off his shirt, while the one beside him remained fully clothed and frowning, his dyed black and purple hair hanging over half of his face.
So intently was Roxas observing that he almost missed Axel's reply.
"You acted pretty nice back at Seven-Eleven... helping me with that slurpee machine... getting covered in sticky stuff so that I could lick it off of you..." His voice lowered to a soft purr while his friends around him began to laugh harder. Roxas's temper shot back up again. It had taken him three days to finally get all of the slurpee out of his hair.
"Look, you asshole, that was just a mistake!"
"Or was it? You looked like you were enjoying it... panting for me."
As a bright blush crept up to Roxas's cheeks, he kept his eyes locked on Axel's smirking features. As it happened, this diverted all of his attention away from, perhaps, a certain Sora creeping up next to him, armed with a microphone that was in turn hooked up to the pool's loudspeakers. So Roxas did not hear the soft click of the mic turning on, or the hum off the speakers switching to broadcast mode. He was too busy glaring at the back of Axel's fat head and wishing him dead for making him blush.
"I was not enjoying it! Being covered in slurpee from head to toe is not enjoyable, dumbass!"
The microphone innocently screeched from feedback. The pool suddenly fell silent at the outburst and Axel paused, turning in place to look over at the office with a raised eyebrow as Roxas's outburst reverberated around the deck. Roxas froze, looking absolutely horrified as he almost dropped the phone in shock. Sora, on the other hand, pranced back to the office, a contended smile on his lips.
Going numb, the blonde could only watch, completely helpless, as Axel turned on his heel to peer over at the lifeguard area amidst hooting laughter from his three other friends. A disbelieving smile on his face, he pressed the phone back to his ear and started walking.
"Roxas... that wasn't just you on the intercom, was it?"
Had Roxas recovered enough from the shock to respond?
"I, uh... um..."
No, apparently not.
But before he could even choke up a response, the line went dead. The blonde looked up just in time to see Axel sneak around the corner to lean against the edge of the fence and look down at him, skinny arms crossed over a bare, slightly tan chest.
"It's a small world, Rox. Never thought I'd see you here."
With a snap, Roxas shut his phone and jammed it into the single pocket of his red trunks, hoping that the pink coloring over his cheeks had gone. Not knowing completely what to say, he blurted out the first thing that came into his frazzled mind.
"That was Sora's idea, sticking the mic into my face, y'know. If I had had a choice, I would have avoided you at all costs." Absently tugging at the edge of his lifeguard t-shirt, he finally brought his eyes up to meet Axel's. Unfortunately, the process also meant running his gaze up along Axel's scrawny legs, black trunks, and well-toned upper body as well. Flinching somewhat at how much better the red-head looked compared to him, Roxas finally came up to his face. The older teen was smiling lazily at him.
"Yeah, I figured as much. I'll have to thank this Sora, now that I can meet you properly."
Growing somewhat irritated by the smug look Axel had about him, Roxas pushed away from the fence and took a few steps towards the office, turning to look back at the delinquent. "I never said anything about wanting to meet you properly, though."
"Aw, c'mon, Roxas, don't be like that." Axel tilted his head, crimson spikes shifting to accommodate the movement. Even with the humidity, his hair still looked perfect.
"Ooh, Ax, is that the guy from Seven-Eleven you caught last week?"
"He's pretty cute... for a high schooler."
"Doesn't look too happy to see you, though."
It seemed that Axel's friends had caught up with him. Still looking highly amused by the whole situation, the two blondes and the emo-looking one had come to stand at the edge of the lifeguard area. The one with the mohawk had on the widest smile Roxas had ever seen.
"Is that bet-boy, Axel?"
Axel didn't take his eyes off of Roxas, studying the blonde's annoyed expression. He seemed to be searching his face for something, and by the strange spark in his eyes, he appeared to have found it. "This is him, alright."
The blonde girl snickered, brushing a hand through her antennae-like bangs. "You're such a cheat! But I'll give you credit, he's a lot cuter than the other one you were supposed to get!"
Roxas listened to the exchange in silence, not appreciating how Axel's friends were referring to him. With a quirk of his eyebrows, he sent a glare Axel's way, masking his confusion. The red-head chuckled softly, shrugging in response before pushing away from the fence to turn back to his companions.
"Keep an eye on us, lifeguard. We're trouble-makers, we might just cause some problems." Axel threw over his shoulder as the group turned the corner and headed back to the lawn chairs they had claimed.
This left Roxas fuming in the hot sun, fists clenched both from annoyance and relief that the meeting was over. He hadn't expected Axel to show up, and seeing him so unexpectedly like that had startled him. But at least it was over. Or seemed to be. With Axel, it seemed, you could never tell.
Nevertheless, Axel's warning stuck in his head as Roxas headed into the office to find Sora. Breathing out a soft sigh of relief as the cool air hit his sunburnt cheeks, he passed through the small room that held a fridge and water cooler. The rest of the lifeguarding staff was busy there, playing a game of poker. Nodding hello to them, Roxas didn't stop but moved on through another doorway to the main area of the office, closing the door behind him to ensure some privacy. The thick doors were practically sound-proof, anyway.
Only Sora sat at the long desk that took up half the room. The brunette was busy sorting through first aid supplies that would later be placed into the cupboard nearby.
Hearing Roxas's arrival, he glanced up, an impish grin growing on his lips. "So? What'd Axel say?"
Scowling, Roxas moved to sit in the second chair by the desk. Although he really was irked at the brunette, he was too tired to be truly angry. Instead, he contented himself with throwing Sora the nastiest scowl he could muster. "Wouldn't you like to know? What the hell were you thinking, shoving the mic under my nose like that?"
Grabbing a stack of gauze bandages, Sora stood. "Oh, I just thought you needed a little boost of encouragement."
"That's what you call encouragement? I think Riku's rubbing off on you." Roxas thought back to his friend's boyfriend, glower increasing. He didn't get along very well with the silver-haired teen.
"In more ways than one!" piped up Sora from the first-aid cupboard, beaming.
With a snort at that, Roxas sat back in his chair, basking in that which was air conditioning as he watched Sora finish up organizing the supplies. As Sora worked, though, the blonde recited what had happened moments before with Axel. The brunette finally slumped back into his chair with a sigh, leaning back to prop his feet up on the edge of the table.
"So he just kinda came around to say hi, then left?"
"Basically, yeah. His friends kinda bothered me, though." said Roxas, still bewildered on why they had called him "Bet-Boy."
"I don't really know what that's about either. All I can say is that... is that..." Sora slowly broke off his sentence, shifting his attention to the door that led out to the pool deck. Whatever it was had left him speechless.
With a confused expression, Roxas turned around to look as well, twitching in surprise at what he saw through the small window built into the steel door.
Axel and his mowhawked friend were standing outside. The sandy-blonde teen looked to be in pain while the red-head was doing his best to comfort him. Darting up from his chair, Sora scurried to the entrance and flung open the door. "Come in, guys. What happened?"
With a sigh, Axel pushed his companion inside and shut the door behind him to preserve the cold air. Pushing his hand through his damp hair, he looked over at Sora. "Demyx there tripped and fell."
"It freaking hurts!" whined Demyx, who had come in and immediately made himself at home by plunking down onto the chair where Sora had just been sitting. Roxas grinned at him, standing.
"There's a reason we have a No Running rule here, y'know."
The other blonde pouted. "Wasn't my fault, I just really wanted to get into the water."
Sora had already tugged on latex gloves and pulled out some band aids from the cupboard. "Alright, I'll get you bandaged up. What'd you scratch?"
"My knees and hands..." Still looking sulky, Demyx pointed out all of his injuries to the amused brunette. Shaking his head and trying not to laugh, Roxas moved away from the two to let Sora have some space to do his job. As he took the few steps, he noticed at the last second that his movements carried him back to stand next to Axel. But it was too late to go anywhere else now.
Clearing his face of expression, Roxas leaned against the wall of the room, watching Sora and Demyx through half-closed eyes, hoping that the apathetic look on his face would make Axel shy away from addressing him again.
But, alas, no such luck.
The red-head moved closer to the lifeguard, leaning down until their heads were level. Before Roxas could even react, Axel had his lips right by his ear.
"You seem tired, Roxas. Had a rough week?"
Frozen in place, Roxas tore his eyes away from the pair in front of him to glance over into a gaze of bright green. His heart had nearly stopped as the soft breath feathered over his ear. Axel was inches away from making contact with him, and although Roxas wanted very much to move away and put an end to the loss of personal space, his legs refused to move.
"Hardly." He muttered, swallowing and wondering still what the hell was wrong with him for reacting so.
In the background, Sora and Demyx didn't even notice the exchange. Demyx was whimpering loudly as the lifeguard swiped an antiseptic pad over his cuts.
"Would you stop making those noises, it can't hurt that much..."
"No, it seriously hurts! Are you sure we shouldn't just wrap them up now? I might be bleeding to death as we speak!"
Likewise, Roxas and Axel weren't paying attention to the other pair. Axel kept his voice low, smiling at the little blonde's reaction. "Are you sure? It certainly doesn't look that way, lifeguard. You look even worse than you did back at the Seven-Eleven."
"It's none of your damn business." Roxas hissed back, eyes flicking downwards to stare at the floor. He would not get drawn in by Axel's seductive moves! No way in hell! The way his breath was still smoothing over his ear or how his eyes hadn't left his face the whole time would definitely not affect him in any way, shape, or form. He was so concentrated on ignoring his body's reaction that he missed the searching look in Axel's eyes or how the slender fingers twitched briefly, as if he had intended to reach out and touch his face.
Barely even shifting, Axel's lips finally made contact with the tender shell of his ear. Taking the blonde's soft gasp as incentive to keep going, he widened his mouth even more to nab the tip of flesh and nibble on it. This would have continued, if not for the hand sudden pushing at his chest.
Flushing darkly, Roxas shoved the red-head away from himself, ignoring the blood now pounding through his heart at a break-neck speed.
Axel smiled.
"You missed me." He whispered, reaching up to close a hand over Roxas's.
As if stung, Roxas hurriedly grabbed his hand back, side-stepping away from the door. Still, he refused to meet the taller teen's eyes. "Like hell. A few minutes of your groping me didn't make a connection between us. You don't even know me."
A tense silence stretched out between them, but Sora and Demyx were quick to break it. Jumping up and flexing his legs to test the band-aids, Demyx punched the air in triumph. "I'm all better! Thanks, lifeguard!"
Scratching a spot on the back of his head abashedly, Sora grinned. "It's no problem, just call me Sora. And walk next time, instead of running."
"You got it! C'mon, Axel, let's g--" The mowhawked teen turned to face Axel, but abruptly broke off, feeling the awkwardness seep into the room. And it was quite stifling. "-- or let's not. I'll meet you back at the chairs, Axel. Thanks again, Sora!"
Eager to leave, Demyx slid past Roxas and out the door, flashing Axel a thumbs-up as he made his escape. Sora was quick to follow, throwing his friend a look as he closed the door behind him. Roxas shivered. He knew that look. The sort of look that said, without words, "You are so screwed. But try to make the best of it."
His prey now cornered, Axel leaned against the doorframe.
"You missed me." He repeated smugly, eyes following the blonde's movements as Roxas walked into the middle of the room to lean against the table.
His back to the red-head, Roxas gripped the edge of the desk with one hand, ignoring the sudden onslaught of goose bumps that were rising on his skin. Surely, that was from the cool air conditioning? Not from the predatory look that he was certain Axel was giving him? Maybe if he kept telling himself that, he'd start to believe it.
"What makes you think that?"
"You called me back, even though you could've just ignored that." Axel took a step forward.
"You didn't just hang up when I picked up, but kept talking."
Another step. Roxas's knuckles were turning white, he was clutching the table so hard.
"Even now, when you can just walk out of this room and pretend Seven-Eleven never happened, you don't."
Step. Twitch.
"Admit it, Roxas. You missed me."
Roxas stiffened again. Axel's feet had led him to stand directly behind him, and the red-head's words had been increasingly accurate and because of that, all the more irking. Finally releasing the counter, he turned to face Axel. The delinquent was looking down at him with a strange look on his face.
"What the hell do you want from me? Wasn't it enough that you caused so much shit for me last week?" Roxas's voice carried the hint of defeat. He was too tired to argue now with Axel. He thought back to the incessant image of Axel in his mind, the constant mornings where he had to wake up and limp to the shower to drench himself in cold water. How did such a stupid incident turn into this?
"Oh, no. I want to see what you look like when you're not covered in red and blue slurpee." Axel was purring now and the feeling of trepidation rose in Roxas. He looked away briefly and the red-head continued.
"Plus, the look on your face as I was riding away was absolutely adorable and I-"
"Adorable?"
"Plus, you're cute when you're angry." Axel added cheerfully.
But Roxas's nerves had come to their end. Frazzled, with frayed nerve endings and an abused patience, the blonde grabbed the single necklace hanging from Axel's neck. It was on a long chain, bearing a round, spiked keychain. Ignoring the pointed edges as they dug into his palm, Roxas pulled Axel down to his level, eyes flashing. "I'll show you cute, you..."
"Me what, cutie?" winked Axel, obligingly bending down. The roguish grin on his face sent more goose bumps skittering across Roxas's skin and before he knew it, he was curling his other hand around the delinquent's neck and standing on his tip-toes to press his lips to Axel's.
The second their mouths connected, Axel wasted no time. He plunged forward, arms looping around Roxas's smaller waist. The action carried the two backwards until the lifeguard's back connected sharply with the edge of the desk. Grunting into their kiss, Axel's grip on Roxas grew firm and he lifted the smaller teen onto the flat surface. Now they were officially equal in height and the two quickly took full advantage of that.
Eager to expel his frustration from the past week, Roxas clamped his legs around Axel, arms thrown over his shoulders. The air conditioner continued to hum gently in the background as the two competed, grunting and struggling to dominate the other in how well they could kiss. And it seemed that Axel was gaining the upper hand. The kisses turned to open-mouthed and, as hard of a fight as Roxas put up, he could not contend with the tongue that was Axel's. He relented and with an eager wiggle of his hips, Axel tore into his mouth, eager to re-explore the territory.
All the while, the red-head's hands were making quick work of the white lifeguarding shirt restricting him from making skin-to-skin contact. They had to break away for a millisecond in order for Roxas to allow the article to slip over his head, but as soon as it was flung into the opposite wall, the two were back to smashing their lips together.
Stifling his moans, Roxas didn't resist when their bare chests smacked together and Axel's mouth went off in a south-ward direction. The buzz of the air-conditioner and the goose bumps faded as Roxas's skin began to heat up.
Axel suddenly jerked his hips forward into his, eliciting a strangled gasp. Biting his lip to ignore the way the heat was reaching out to warm every single part of his body, the blonde moved his hands to grasp onto Axel's lean upper arms, resting his forehead on one of the red-head's shoulders. This left his neck out in the open and Axel's teeth soon found their pray, roaming down to lick at his collar-bone.
Nimble fingers coaxed over Roxas's trembling stomach, shifting to knead briefly at the slender hips while another hand moved to sink into a nest of soft, spiky hair. Axel also shut off the panting noises by initiating the lifeguard into another kiss and soon enough, Roxas was overwhelmed.
The lifeguard was drowning in it. As helpless as a victim in the pool whose arms flailed helplessly in the water as they sunk lower and lower to their doom... Roxas was a goner. The grip in his hair was getting to tight, the air was getting too hot, the outside world too muffled and quiet, the friction between their bodies too painful, the sweat too stifling, and the kiss too passionate. He broke away, gasping for breath, his lungs not willing to cooperate.
And there was no one to save him. Axel was going to let him drown.
Through bleary eyes, he saw a brief glimpse of green, but it soon disappeared, as did the grip in his hair and the soft touch by his stomach. Instead, a soft tongue began marking it's way down to a place Roxas knew all too well.
"A-Axel... shit..." He grit out, hands falling to clutch at the table as the red-head snickered softly, returning back up to lick gently at his lips.
To steady the blonde, Axel looped an arm around his waist, but the other hand went to work at the red trunks he was wearing. It was too easy, these things were just held together with a draw-string. Easily undoing the knot with his free hand, Axel studied the lifeguard's flushed face intently before pressing a light kiss to his bruised lips.
"Axel..."
Almost purring at the rough edge Roxas had developed in his voice, Axel feathered a hand over the very obvious problem that Roxas was having. "What is it, cutie?"
"Why..." He shuddered as Axel pressed down harder, moving to grip the delinquent's shoulder while choking out his words. He needed to know. Needed confirmation that this wasn't just a quick fuck. He wouldn't stand for that. "Why... did you give me your number?"
"Because I wanted to see you again." answered Axel softly, sounding out of breath, hand slipping underneath the waistband completely. "I came to that Seven-Eleven for a reason, it wasn't by chance."
That answer would have to do for now. Roxas sighed, but quickly drew the breath back in again as a hand tightened around his erection. Axel took complete control, leaving Roxas to dissolve into helpless goo. The only thing the blonde could do was struggle and remember how to breathe. Somehow, the licking and biting at his Adam's apple, and the stroking of his cock was blocking out all the other functions of his brain. Like how to speak coherently.
He continued huffing and panting, even when he felt Axel's own arousal slide along the inside of his thigh, a result of the delinquent leaning forward to press their bodies together as they kissed again.
As a thumb coaxed over the tip of his length, all of the remaining logic that Roxas was possible of comprehending went out the window, undoubtedly to shrivel up and fry in the heat. Letting out a slow moan, he reached down between the two of them. He didn't completely know what he was doing or why, but it seemed like a good idea.
His hand found itself wound around the bulge hidden in Axel's trunks. In response, the red-head purred, increasing the stroking pressure as he bit down harder at Roxas's collar.
Roxas shuddered violently moments later, latching onto Axel. It was too late now for anything. He was dead, a drowned moron just floating in the pool. No one would even bother to call EMS, because his body had begun to sink into an immeasurable depth that only Axel could calculate out.
The two remained plastered together for what felt like ages, breathing heavily and cooling down. As soon as Roxas could heard properly again, Axel pulled him closer.
"Roxas..." he murmured softly, lips brushing against the other's ear. "Let me take you home."
"Mph." Unwilling to lift his head, Roxas instead nuzzled his face down farther into the junction between Axel's neck and shoulder.
Unable to keep a smile from his lips, Axel rubbed his cheek against the mess of blonde spikes next to him. "Are you on break now or what?"
"Yeah..." Roxas finally answered. He felt so full and satisfied now. But immensely tired. Who knew that something as a simple as a hand-job would wear him out like that. He didn't especially feel like moving, but staying still in the pool office was hardly a choice, either. He actually had almost forgotten where they even were. "I'm off in about twenty minutes, I guess I could go home..."
"Let's go, I'll drive you back."
Unable to resist such a tempting offer of going home a whole twenty minutes before he usually did and avoiding the usual pleading with Sora to drive him home, Roxas nodded and slipped off of the desk edge, automatically tugging up his trunks back into place and retrieving his shirt without much thought or comprehension, going so far as to completely ignore the stickiness around his inner thighs. Accepting Axel's outstretched hand, he allowed the taller red-head to lead him outside. The almost forgotten heat smacked into his face like a sledgehammer and he grunted in response, wincing as the bright sunlight invaded his eyesight. The stuffy air rushed over his already heated body. Roxas felt himself getting sleepier.
He only felt the sun on his head and Axel's fingers curled around his as he was dragged out of the pool into the parking lot. After numbly accepting the helmet, tugging it onto his head, then proceeding to slide onto the back of the motorcycle, Roxas relaxed completely.
His arms wound around the skinnier hips of the motorcyclist and, eyes fluttering shut, he leaned forward to rest his head against Axel's bare back. He must have left all of his swimming stuff back at the pool.
Soon enough, there was a roaring sound in his ear and the wind picked up, sliding along his body and cooling him down. But he barely even registered that. All he needed was the warmth emanating from Axel's back and the strange feeling of contentment settling over him.
"Oi, Rox, you're gonna have to tell me where you live, 'cause..."
Axel turned his head to see that Roxas had slumped onto his back, asleep. Laughing softly, he shook his head, shifting his eyes back to the road. "Blonde idiot..."
"Roxas... Roxas, wake up."
'No, leave me alone... the warmth is so nice... Axel is so nice... let me sleep.'
"Rox, seriously, wake up." The voice turned serious and someone even started shaking him gently. With a soft groan, Roxas eventually relented and cracked one eye open. The slim face of Axel was looked down at him and for some reason, he couldn't feel the floor...
After a few moments of considering and thought, he realized that Axel was carrying him in his arms. Both eyes now wide open, he struggled briefly. "Put me down!"
"About time you woke up..." Axel muttered, but obliged, setting the blonde back down to the ground.
Brushing himself off, Roxas tried to shake off the sleepiness as he looked around, now alarmed. Nothing in the room was recognizable. From the black leather couch to the book-filled shelves along the walls, everything was new to him. "Where are we?"
"Well..."
Roxas raised an eyebrow, watching as Axel grabbed a shirt that was slung over the nearby couch.
"You fell asleep before you could tell me where you live. So..."
Realization had Roxas's eyes widened and groaning, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Lemme guess. We're at your house?"
"Yeah. Don't worry, I just needed to pick up a shirt and quickly call Dem, and then we'll go. Just wait a second, alright?"
"Yeah, alright."
Noticing how wobbly his balance was, Roxas remained planted to the carpeted floor as Axel scurried out of the room, muttering something about finding his cell phone. The blonde decided to explore in the few minutes he had.
Taking the time now to look over the living room, Roxas decided, would give him something to do. He wouldn't be poking his nose into unwanted areas, but, really, getting to know Axel a little better.
And with such a good defense, Roxas tottered forward to poke his nose into unwanted areas. He shuffled through the bookshelves, curiously eyeing the knick-knacks scattered throughout the room, and proceeded to test the comfiness measure of the couch.
If he was rating on a scale of 1 to 10, he'd give it a 20. The piece of furniture felt amazing. The cushions sunk in just enough to support him but were squishy enough to be absolutely perfect. Burrowing into the pillows, Roxas sighed in content. Maybe he could befriend Axel. For the sake of the couch.
As he gazed around at the rest of the room, eyes passing over the wide-screen TV and bay windows at the other end of the area, Roxas finally noticed a small blinking light to his left. It was an answering machine, flashing a small number that was very plainly saying, "Hello, you have a new message, now fucking check it or I will continue to blink repeatedly at you until you suffer a minor stroke."
And who would argue with something like that? Unabashedly shifting to the other side of the couch, Roxas reached out and prompted the machine to play back the newest voice mail.
You have... one new voice message. New message...
"Hey, Axel, it's Marly. Larxene called me last night and told me about the bet you did. I swear, man, the way you find loopholes in the plainest things is beyond me. All you had to do was screw up a slurpee machine at the nearest Seven-Eleven. And it seems that the nearest Seven-Eleven for you is the one across town, rather than the one a few blocks away from you. Then again, I can see how you'd prefer the cute blonde that works there, rather than the old guy we have here. In any case, good job on part one. You know what part two is, so go for it. Call me back when you've got that covered. Oh, and... try not to hurt the blonde guy, alright? See ya."
The line went dead and the answering machine, with what Roxas could've sworn was a hint of smugness, informed him that he had no more new messages.
So that was why he was "Bet-Boy." And why Axel wouldn't really leave him alone. Slowly, he rose from the couch, eyes darkening to a deep sapphire of anger as he turned just in time to see Axel standing in the doorway that he had disappeared into moments before. It appeared that he had heard the message as well.
"... Axel... what the hell is that about?" Roxas said, not daring to raise his voice above a hiss as he pointed at the traitorous answering machine.
A very spooked looking Axel, clutching his cell phone in one hand, was certainly a sight to see. Spotting the look of fury slowly spreading through the blonde's features, he grinned weakly. "Um... about that..."
This thing turned out a LOT longer than I originally planed. Granted, of course, if it turns out that everyone hates this chapter, I'll probably just end up either re-writing it or deleting it completely to make Special Discount a one-shot again. xD After all, some people were happy with it just being a one chapter fic.
And my dear otaku friend Sarah has demanded that I give this chapter a little bit of credit to a previous little one-shot I wrote. This was originally as Zoro/Sanji One Piece one chapter fic, but I had it mutate into something more xD
ALSO! Dear little Blue Funk went to Otakon last weekend. It was, of course, absolutely amazing. But I do believe that the best part was, aside from buying big plushies of Roxas and Axel, was witnessing a real-life Akuroku right in front of me. And it was hot. And amazing. And I will forever love the two guys who dropped all of their stuff to start kissing five feet away from me and letting me get a picture xD
If anyone's interested, the picture's on my Myspace xDDD
REVIEWS:D