(AN So I (Tangle) had a round of sickness, and QueenBtch is doing her thing. I live with my bf, she goes to college. This is something we made. Yeah. Soooo)
A few hours later Roxas was drooling on his textbooks, fast asleep, dead to all but the distant sound of a blender. Roxas groaned, a sound that seemed to rip from his chest, deep and rough. His eyes felt scratchy and someone was prodding him with what felt like a stick.
"Ah, it stirs…"
Roxas jolted, "What the-" He turned around, "Xion! What the hell? How did you get in?"
Xion made a cute face, "Luxord let me in~"
Axel groaned and rubbed his head as he walked to school the next day. He was almost ready to kiss a pistol in order to get out of going to a nine am. stats class. He paid as much attention to his grade as he did to that nagging voice in his head that told him three in the morning was not a suitable bed time. Maybe blondie would be able to tutor him. The thought made him smile. If anything, the kid made waking up so early at least a little bit more tolerable. And maybe he'd find out what had him so uptight all the time. Axel was sure that he wasn't the root cause of anything. He hardly knew Roxas, and it wasn't like he was one of those people that would just run their mouths off in class and manage to sound like more of a fag than him, even.
No, definitely not.
Roxas drove Xion to school, grumbling the whole way under his breath, feeling like he wasn't prepared at all for his stats class. THen again, the last time he was unprepared he got a B overall on the exam, so maybe he wasn't as bad off... He pulled into the parking lot, feeling the dull ache in his neck and feeling like he still had the imprint of his book in his face. Xion, as always, was just dandy, and talked about how her sister (she was from a set of triplets) was re-dying her hair red, and how there was this cute girl in her English 302 class that was totally a ten, and how she thought Italy would be fun.
Roxas was very happy to get out of the car.
He pulled his feet across the pavement, reluctant to go to class just yet. There was a certain red headed nightmare waiting for him, he was sure. And as it turned out, he was correct. He flopped down in his seat.
"Oh, someone's grumpy this morning. Then again, I have this feeling that you're grumpy every morning." Axel got out his notebook and pen, then started scribbling.
Roxas gave Axel a baleful glare.
Axel tore out the entire page he had been writing on and handed it to him. "My contact info. You know, so we can go get coffee."
Roxas facedesked, snatching the paper.
Axel laughed. "You don't say much, do you? That's okay, I'll just do all the talking until you decide to grace the world with your ethereal voice. Well since I just gave you my number, I'm going to need a new one now. Can I have yours?"
Blushing, Roxas meant to say his number, but instead said, "You smell good." He cringed. "That didn't come out right... I mean- You do smell good but what I meant to say is..."
Roxas pulled out a pen and reached for Axel's hand, so done with trying to communicate like a human. However, his alternative backfired finding the hand incredibly warm in a way that made his stomach ache. He scrawled his number in his odd way (Crossed between his left ring and middle finger), his face pinching.
"Now we're getting somewhere." Axel kept his hand in Roxas' for a moment longer, enjoying the connection, then dropped it. He tried to temper his voice and make it softer, coaxing, like how he'd talk a scared kid. They often shied away from the sight of his tatted up, obnoxiously bright self. Honest to God, he really did try. "You got any other words stored up in there?"
Roxas felt strange. On one hand he wanted Axel. On the other... Well, Roxas hated people. Without a solution he shrugged and started working on his studies.
Axel snorted. "Fuck, kid. You're even more of a zombie than I am. You could definitely use some caffeine to wire you right up. I bet nothing in the world could get you to shut up when you're strung out just right."
"I guess you'll find out," Roxas grumbled.
Roxas returned to his studies, determined to be ready for that big test. He almost didn't notice when the class finished.
Axel waited until Roxas had his bag all packed, then grabbed his hand before the grouchy blond could get away. He was set on coffee. They were going to go get it. If the world chose just that exact moment to go into apocalypse mode, he'd fight every last fucking brain-eater just to go get a cup of mud. Yes, he would. "There's this great little corner shop up here, and they don't sell any of that Starbucks shit. It's great, I swear."
Roxas blushed. What would people think? He ran his free hand through his hair, ducking his head in a nod. His hand burned. Was Axel just abnormally warm? Was it his personality? Even being around Axel made Roxas feel warm inside
Roxas had never felt anything like it.
Together, they walked their way to the coffee shop in that slow way that one might find themselves enacting if tasked to walk to their grandfather's funeral.
They made it up to the counter and Axel ordered his plain coffee and took out his wallet."What do you want, Roxas?"
Roxas crossed his arms. "Caramel macchiato." He breathed in the bitter air.
"Right." Axel pulled a face but turned to the barista and ordered it anyway. He paid for the drinks and took the offered cup, filling it in from a nearby canister. "I don't understand how people can drink all of that sugarized, foo-foo crap. I don't even like creamer; it just doesn't taste right." He got Roxas' drink once his order was called, and went to sit at a table by the window. Settling into his seat, he handed the macchiato over and swung a foot up onto the table. "So," he said. "You still want to know about my hair?"
Roxas sipped at the coffee. He didn't drink it often (it often aggravated his Tourettes, making his physical tweaks more prominent) but when he did he always made sure he looked sophisticated. So he crossed his legs, already dreading the way his left arm would redden from his scratching later. "Sure."
Axel grinned and leaned forward, bringing his foot down. "It's both natural and dyed, see?" He separated a lock of long hair and tugged, pulling it taut. "This is my natural color," he said and pointed to the umber base of the strand. "And this is the dye." Sliding his fingers down the gradated pieces to showcase them, he then flipped the piece back once he proved his point.
Roxas felt his lips curve, "I used to hate redheads. I always felt like they were... I dunno, picking their noses and leaving what they found under desks." That was charming. Not. Roxas' hands itched. Would Axel's hair be soft, or coarse from the hair die. He sipped from his coffee, determined not to break the facade. "Do you work?"
"I haven't given you any reason to doubt that I do that. Check under your desk some time." Axel winked and practically inhaled his drink. It felt just as good as breathing. "I've got part time at the library. Reshelving, constantly. Those damn books never like to stay where. they're put. How about you?"
Axel raised his brow expectantly. "Are you afraid if you tell me where you work, then I'm going to stalk you? Good God, how could I have sunk so low?" He brought his hand to his face in mock-horror. "Swear on my mother's grave, I will only visit there for non-stalking purposes."
"Full time student, unfortunately." Roxas' eyes glinted ruefully. "No one wants a seventeen year old student with no degree or work experience around here." He had tried almost everywhere he could online. No one was hiring fall anyway. It was just winter.
Axel's ever-present smile faltered. "Shit, kid. You're only seventeen? Fuck.." He tore at the edges of his paper cup, hating that it was empty already. "Shouldn't you still be in high school?"
Roxas easy posture faltered, conceding to his usual slouch, and his arms felt hot, but in the way that if you let a bug bite you. "I garduated a year early for my mom." He uncrossed his knees, and chugged his drink.
He slammed it on the table and smiled brightly, but his eyes stayed pinched.
"Well Jesus, you must be some sorta whiz, then." He rubbed his face in frustration and muttered, "Fuck, only seventeen. Your parents aren't going to approve of me, that's for sure." He tried to re-attach his natural optimism. Somehow, it felt a little flakey.
Roxas felt the awkwardness. "Not in science." He bit his lip in afailed attempt to stop the natural smile emerging. He crossed his legs and took another sip of his coffee.
Axel grinned back and toyed with a bracelet on his left wrist. "Well, Roxas. You must be some sort of special."
Roxas almost laughed. Then he remembered that this guy was some sort of creep or something. So he finished his coffee, and stood, unaware of the hand scratching at his arm. "Well, it was weird having coffee with you." Nice, Roxas, nice. Go ahead and make it worse. This was why Roxas was single. Why he couldn't have nice things. "Umm... Bye." He waved awkwardly, ducked his head, and walked out.
Axel rolled his eyes and got up to follow the blond. "Did you forget that we both have our next class in the same building? You know, maybe it's the back-the-fuck-up-or-I'm-going-to-strangle-you vibe that you're giving off, or you're just a shy little kid. But I'm willing to bet that you don't have a lot of friends. Either way, we can still be friends, if you want to."
Roxas slowed, and slowly turned, a cautious almost hopeful sheen to his eyes. "You really mean that?" The closest friend he had ever had was Xion, and he's known her since freshman year. Of highschool. "What would being friends entail?"
Axel pretended to take the magnitude of his answer into thought, and curled a strand of hair around his finger as he walked. "Let's see, the standard definition for friends is people who do crazy shit with each other, and then bail the other out of jail when their fun goes awry. That sound about right to you?"
Roxas grinned, still not convinced that Axel wasn't a total creep. "Ok, but first you need to get a head check from Xion." This would be fun.
"A head check. You're questioning my sanity?" Axel smiled, loving the enthusiasm that Roxas was showing, even if it was at his expense. "Well fuck, I never was good at tests. If I fail, do we still get to be friends?"
Roxas' nose wrinkled, "Well, if I told you it wouldn't be any fun."
He paused at the doors to science.
Axel halted, then strode forward to open the door with a low flourish. "Well at the very least, I know that I can charm the pants off of this Xion person."
Roxas' smiled a smile that finally reached his eyes, "I don't know about that. She's pretty tough to charm, even for me. I remember when I met her she told me she couldn't be my friend unless I remained her eternal slave until the end of time."
"Well, Roxas." Axel grinned and tried to look as non-condescending as possible. "I hate to break it to ya, but you're not exactly the most approachable person."
Roxas' smile turned to a scowl, "You wanna mess with me, punk?" He held it for like, two seconds. Before it dissolved into a fit of giggles. He strongly doubted he would be able to focus in science. What a winning day of life for him.
For behold, the caffeine had kicked in.
"Oh...shit. I've created a monster." Axel looked towards the classroom and then back at the giggling Roxas. He debated on whether he should skip class and try to sober him up somehow, or tape this shit and put it up on Youtube.
Grinning brightly, Roxas made a most stupendous pronouncement. "I," he said grandly, "am going to fail science."
Axel smirked. "Join the club. You want to just bail?"
Roxas pretended to consider, "Hmm... Go to anatomy and positioning, or go and possibly have fun with a creep who- Um, guy you just met." He looked at the sun glinting off Axel's hair. "What's life without a little living?"
"Well alright then!" Axel did his best to give an impersonation of a creeper face. It must have worked, because Roxas flinched back just a little.
(AN Review or Roxas gets it [just kidding but we'd like feedback.] What did you like, what did you hate?)