Chapter 3

A Day Out

Summary:

Axel spends the day with Roxas and suspicions grow.

Axel woke up with a start as his alarm blared. He grabbed for his phone, squinting at the lock-screen, trying to comprehend what was going on. It was 10:30 am. Who the hell got up at such an ungodly hour? He stuck his finger on the snooze icon and slid it into the middle. But before he let go to slumber on, a message he had seemingly set last night scrolled across the screen, 'Don't go back to sleep moron. Meet Kairi, duh.' Axel tried to grasp what the message was about, not entirely understanding at first… then suddenly it clicked. Eyes shot open and he opted for turning the alarm off instead and attempted to get up.

Axel wasn't a morning person. In part, because he worked late, and also because he wasn't crazy. So it physically hurt to get himself up and ready, but he did.

He took a dump, showered, shaved, and got dressed. He pulled on skinny jeans — belt already pre-looped — slipped on an old band shirt, and his favorite worn, studded leather jacket, with a few chains dangling from the pockets. Everything was there, laid out for him at the foot of his bed. He thought he could kiss his past self for looking after sleepy-Axel in such a nice way. If this had been up to himself now, he'd probably walk out in his pajama bottoms and the Booty Call novelty joke shirt he had slept in.

Not a good look, especially if he was finally going to see Roxas again. Axel really looked forward to his reunion with the other man, so it spurred him on.

He pulled on socks and wandered back into his rather tiny bathroom, applying a thin layer of mascara, gelling his hair slightly to make some pronounced spikes, and lastly splashed on some cologne. He also fastened a choker and clapped on two studded bracelets that he kept in the bottom drawer of the bathroom vanity. He quickly gave himself a once over, deemed it good enough, and headed out after strapping on boots, which added a couple extra inches.

The café he was headed for was only three stops away on the bus line. Axel made it through the doors of The Kingdom by a whisker past twelve.

"You're late," a familiar voice reprimanded as he approached a booth in the back of the café.

"Only by a bit," he slid in, opposite of the woman dressed in a rose-colored denim dress.

She cocked an eyebrow, pulled out her phone and after some fiddling read, "Hey Kai-Kai, could you please meet me a bit earlier tomorrow? Eleven-thirty? Swear I'll be there." She put her phone away again. "So what's this, Ax?"

"I'm here. I never said I'd be on time."

"The punctuality was implied when you set a time." She stirred the drink which was before her, pulled out the spoon, and licked it. "So anyway, you're here now. What's up?"

"Right, yeah. So, over the weekend I met a really cute guy — "

"Seriously? Boy troubles? I thought you were old enough to sort out your love life by now."

Man, she was grumpy today. "C'mon, hear me out."

She gestured with her hand, indicating that Axel had the floor.

"We hit it off. We talked, and joked and danced. God, did we dance." That memory was his favorite to replay whilst he'd jacked off. "We could have dropped and had sex right there on the dance floor."

An eye-roll. "I hope you waited 'til you got home."

"Well, that's the thing… we were about to start kissing — but then he left when things were just about to get good. He came back the next night wanting to talk. And then he told me he's got a boyfriend."

"Oh no. Axel, no. You guys didn't end up doing anything, right?"

"No, we didn't."

Kairi sighed with relief.

"Would it be so bad if we did though?" It's not what he wanted to talk to Kairi about, but he figured he might as well ask about this too. He had been scrutinizing his morality all of yesterday… which had been very annoying.

"Axel!"

"I know what it sounds like —"

"You sure? Because right now it sounds like you're looking for excuses to actually pursue this guy. You're talking about infidelity here. You're gonna be one of those people we all hate, just to get a cheap thrill for a night?" she waggled her finger at him.

That was the difficult thing he grappled with. It was his rule when he got with anyone — they were to have no partner. He wasn't sure why he let Roxas be an exception. Well… he kind of did know. "But that's the thing — I really like him. I want more than just one night."

"That makes it even worse! You're gonna sabotage this guy's relationship?"

"Well, that's where I need your help."

Mouth flew open and arms crossed chest. "Excuse me? I'm not helping you ruin other peoples' lives."

"Will you just shut up and listen for two minutes?" he groaned.

Kairi scowled with disgust but said no more.

"Thanks. So… I'm not actually sure if I am ruining their relationship. There's something off and I don't know what it is exactly. I'm really into him, Kai. I want him all to myself, so maybe I am imagining things. Hoping their relationship is on the rocks and I'm looking for unhappiness and dissatisfaction to justify why I'm not keeping my hands off him. I dunno. You're pretty level-headed, so I wanna run this by you." He gave his best pitying pout.

Kairi sighed. "Fine. I'll hold off my judgment of you being a complete sleaze-bag until you tell me what evidence you have."

"Cool, so Roxas — that's his name by the way — he's super fun, friendly and open, but when we talk about his relationship he gets all tense and snappy. Yeah, yeah. I know what you're thinking — 'it's because he knows what we're doing is wrong.'"

Kairi nodded.

"But… Roxas is really sweet and he was upfront about the boyfriend. He doesn't seem like the kinda guy who'd cheat on anyone, so I don't think he'd have let us almost kiss if he was actually happy with what he's got."

Kairi narrowed her eyes, "Well, you didn't seem like someone who'd ever cheat either… until five minutes ago. Goes to show you can never really know someone," she muttered.

Axel sighed. He felt like he was losing what little justification for his actions he had talked himself into. But maybe he could still change her mind and make himself feel better. "But anyway, from his actions I'm left thinking that things aren't all good at home. He showed me a bunch of photos on his phone on Sunday — we were on the roof at work by the way, totally snuggling and holding hands." Axel saw the way Kairi fidgeted. He appreciated her holding her tongue at this very moment. "So again, why would we do that if he was happy? But the point is, I didn't see a single photo of him with his guy. Not even a solo photo of the guy. That's not normal, right?"

"Can I speak now?"

"You may."

A massive eye roll was followed by, "There could be a million reasons for that. Maybe he uses a real camera for those kinds of photos, or maybe he only showed you a certain folder. Maybe he feels so bad about the cheating that he's trying to keep his boyfriend out of sight, out of mind," she raised a pointed eyebrow at Axel.

They sat and stared at each other. Kairi's spoon clanked as she stirred her drink again.

"Well, that's why I need your help. See, I didn't even consider those other things."

"Guess your dick is doing all the thinking nowadays. Such a shame. You used to be a real nice guy."

Axel groaned. "I know I'm being a douchey scumbag right now, but good-guy-Axel still lives inside. You know I have considered that Roxas' boyfriend could be the sweetest guy. But… if he was, then…" Axel chewed on his lip. "I don't see any other possibility than their relationship somehow being no good. And don't tell anyone but… I know I'm not that great either. Not enough to leave a perfectly happy relationship behind for. I'm selfish and egotistical. But still, he's happy to spend time with me. I'm seriously not forcing myself on him. At least, I don't think I am," he muttered as an aside. "And yet, you know, there I was with Roxas all weekend, letting him take the lead. And he took it. I'm not pushing for anything more than hanging out together. My only crime is that I'm being a bit over-friendly with him. So, if he's serious about his current relationship, he knows he can say no to me. I made sure he knew that." He stared expectantly at her.

"You done now?

"I guess, yeah?"

"You two are still fucking cheating. You're ingratiating yourself and emotionally sabotaging an already existing relationship."

"Can you maybe focus on the part where I need your help?"

"What do you want me to do? I can't tell if you're imagining things since you're telling me this stuff from your already biased and imagining imagination."

"Ah, well that's where I'm a genius. I invited him to hang out with us today."

Spoon dropped. "You did what? Why?"

"So you can meet him and talk to him yourself."

"About both of your poor life choices?"

"Kairi! Be serious!"

"I am," she glowered.

"I want you to talk to him about his boyfriend and see how he behaves. And then you can tell me if I'm crazy and imagining things."

"Why's it have to be me?"

"Because you can read people."

"What makes you think that?"

"You're studying psychology."

She scoffed. "Yeah, it's psychology, Axel, not mind reading."

"Aren't those two the same thing, just under a different name?" he said whimsically.

"They're not. I could probably tell you all about your dysfunctions though, but that would take forever and we don't have much time before everyone else gets here," she glanced at her watch.

"Even more reason for you to agree to this."

"Why can't you ask Flik, or Ruth, or even Lucy?"

"They're into sciences and engineering. They don't understand people like we do. And Lucy… well, you know how she gets."

Kairi laughed a little. "You have a point there." She turned serious again though, "But if you understood people like you claim you do, then this… what was his name?"

"Roxas."

"If you understood Roxas so well you wouldn't be asking me."

"I think I get him. Which is why the cheating seems confusing. And which is also why I need a second opinion."

"My opinion is you leave him alone to be with his boyfriend."

"Just talk to him today, and if you think I'm crazy I'll totally friend-zone myself with him. No touching or flirting. So whaddya say, Kai-Kai? Be my independent observer?"

Wearing a scowl, she brought her drink to lips and mulled things over while she drank. Axel observed, his leg nervously shaking under the table while he waited.

After a while, Kairi put the drink down and groaned. "Fine."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"You owe me."

"I'll pay for lunch and anything else we get up to today that might cost money."

"You better," her seemingly perpetual frown finally lifted. "Hey, Ruth! Hey, Shiki!"

Axel turned his attention to his friends who were slowly arriving. "Hey, guys!"

"Woah! What's Axel doing here already?" Shiki pointed, mouth agape.

Within a further five minutes, Flik, Dee, Lucy, and Paul arrived as well.

"Sam said he can't make it today," Paul announced as he climbed over Dee and Shiki, to sit next to Ruth.

"So we're all here then. Might as well order food," Dee enthused. "I really want to try their special deer burger," he said, smacking lips.

"There's deer?" Flik snatched the specials menu from him.

"Dude, next time ask instead of being Mister Grabby Hands," he scowled at Flik, who sat across the booth from him.

"I'm still waiting on someone." Axel had kept a close eye on the door, waiting for Roxas to make an entrance.

"Oh, who?" Shiki waggled her eyebrows.

Axel caught Kairi's nose-wiggle of unhappiness.

"A guy I met over the weekend."

Nearly everyone at the table went, "Oooooo!"

Axel wished he could, 'oooo,' along with them. Instead, he begrudgingly said, "It's not like that. He's got a boyfriend. But he's new in town and doesn't know anyone, so I thought it might be nice for him to meet some people. We can show him around the city, if you guys don't have much else to do the rest of the day."

"No can do. Major project due in two days," Flik said, nose still deep in the menu.

"I'm out too," Lucy announced, while she busily watched the television mounted on the wall above the register, all the while scribbled something in her notebook.

"Shiki and I can't stay either. We have a group thing we need to go do today," Dee said, giving Shiki a look to confirm.

She nodded in agreement. "But if we finish it we can come out tomorrow to do some sightseeing if that's still happening."

"Cool. I'm gonna go outside, see if I can spot him. You guys order without me." He got up, but before he had gone two steps he whirled around. "Be nice when we come in. No dumb 'ooo-ing' and don't ask questions."

He walked away to the sound of giggles and sniggers.

Axel really wished he had gotten Roxas' number. He worried that the man had gotten lost, or changed his mind. When he got outside, however, his fears were allayed.

There, to his left, past the shop front window, was Roxas, leaning against the brick wall of the building. Axel thought he looked mighty fine, dressed in monochrome. Something about it reminded him of Saturday's outfit, but it looked more casual and a bit more everyday-wear appropriate. He seemed to be staring intensely at his phone, with a deep frown.

"Roxas!" Axel called and walked towards him.

Roxas jumped a little at hearing his name. Head turned towards Axel and phone slipped away into a pocket somewhere.

"Hey," he said, looking less enthusiastic than Axel had hoped.

The tongue-in-cheek greeting Axel had wanted to give, died on his tongue. Instead, he said, "Hey, man! What're you doing out here? Everyone's inside. C'mon, let's eat," Axel nodded towards the door with a big smile.

"I was just taking a call."

"You're done now though, so let's go." Axel tried to bring his arm around Roxas' back to usher him towards the entrance of the café, but Roxas side-stepped, evading the contact.

Baffled, Axel asked, "Is everything okay?"

There was no answer, only a worrying of lips and gaze directed at the ground.

"Roxas," he said softly, stepping a little closer but keeping hands to himself.

"I… don't know if I should. Maybe it's best if I just go home."

"No, why? What's wrong? What happened? Was it the phone call?" Was it your boyfriend? Axel thought to himself with more venom.

Eyes shot up, wide and a little wild.

Bingo, Axel told himself with annoyance.

"No, no. Nothing like that. I just —" Roxas looked towards the café. "There's so many people. I'm not really good in big social settings."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. I told them all to behave themselves, and they'll be too busy eating in a bit to talk. And after, it'll only be five of us walking around. The rest have places to be."

Roxas stared at the ground again, silently.

Axel waited a moment. Still nothing. "I'll look after you, promise." He gave his sweetest smile.

Roxas looked up and then eyed Axel carefully, "No one will mess with you dressed like that."

"You like it?" he spun on heels.

Roxas continued eyeing him, a smile curling one corner of his mouth, and he gave a small nod.

Axel beamed. "I like what you've got on too." Urge to touch was strong. He tucked hands into his jacket pockets instead.

"Thanks."

"So you hungry or what, gorgeous?" Axel winked. He was rewarded by Roxas huffing with the tiniest laugh, which lit Axel right up.

Roxas' eyes darted between Axel and the entrance of The Kingdom before he finally said, "Yeah, I am."

"Awesome. You okay with money today? I don't mind paying if you're not. I get hella good tips." Axel walked back towards the café doors and Roxas followed.

"No, I've still got the hundred you didn't take."

"Awesome, but if you need me to spot you, just let me know."

They entered the building and Axel stopped off at the counter to get their orders in before he led the way to the booth his friends occupied.

"So, this is Roxas," he introduced.

There were enthusiastic and polite greetings uttered, and Axel ushered Roxas in to sit between Lucy and himself.

Introductions of all Axel's friends were made, food was ordered, and then everyone creepily stared at Roxas with big grins.

Roxas looked around. Axel could see the discomfort.

"Knock it off guys. I told you to leave him alone."

"You told us to not ask questions, so we aren't," Ruth declared, as the current spokesperson for everyone present.

"Instead you're all just being creepy?"

The gang nodded.

Axel leaned over to Roxas, "I'm sorry about them."

"You shouldn't have told them something dumb like that. I can answer questions. Lay them on me."

"Sweet!" Flik squeaked. "Roxas, would you rather have one giant hundred-pound puppy, or one hundred one-pound puppies?"

Roxas' baffled look turned to one of amusement. "Counter question – can I change the puppies to kittens?"

Flik stroked his goatee thoughtfully for a moment. "Yeah okay. I'll allow the concession."

"One hundred one-pound kittens then, and Axel has to clean the litter boxes."

The table laughed while Axel made sounds of indignation.

"You love cats too?" Ruth leaned forward a little.

"Yeah. I grew up down the street from a cat shelter. I helped clean out the litter boxes and was allowed to go around and give all the boarding cats their dinners over school holidays," Roxas grinned.

"Oh wow. That must have been fun, but also kind of gross," Ruth added as an afterthought.

"Oh it was. But because I helped the ladies who ran the place, they let me play with the cats too."

Ruth cooed. "Now that sounds like something I could have gotten behind. Paul, we should move in next door to a cat shelter. Stuff becoming an engineer. I'm going to become a crazy cat lady instead."

"You know I'll support you to the ends of the Earth, but I draw the line at anything more than four cats."

"Five." She squinted at him.

"Four."

"Five!"

"Three."

"What? No, you aren't supposed to go down in number."

Arms crossed before himself. "It's going to turn into two —"

"No, no! Four is fine. We'll get a dog and make it five that way."

That appeased Paul. "Okay, deal." He leaned in and Ruth gave him a giggling peck on the lips which ended in them rubbing their noses together.

"Ignore them. They've only been dating for three weeks, so they're all mushy together," Axel informed.

"It's cute," Roxas smiled.

"Aww, Roxas supports our love! It's decided, you can be a part of our group," Ruth condoned graciously and buried her face in Paul's shoulder.

Axel was relieved that things were going well. Roxas seemed to be relaxed and happy, and Axel's friends were warm and inviting. Not that he ever doubted that they would have been. Even Kairi was smiling.

"Hey, Rox, Shiki here fancies herself a future fashion designer. Maybe you can give her some tips," Axel nudged Roxas playfully, wanting to make him as comfortable as possible. What better way to do that than to know you had something in common with someone?

Shiki's eyes lit up. "Really? You like making clothes?"

The smile on Roxas' face grew, and he leaned in, starting up a fevered discussion about which things Axel had no clue. The banter continued until all their meals had been delivered. Axel's friends kept asking dumb, inconsequential questions of Roxas, to which the man was able to give amusing answers.

It made Axel like him even more.

After lunch, the party reduced to just Kairi, Paul, Ruth, Roxas, and Axel. They stood around outside of the café, phones pulled out, busy searching for things to do after Roxas had shrugged his shoulders when asked what he wanted to see or do.

"There's the Natural History Museum, and the Science and Technology Museum," said Ruth.

"Sounds good," Roxas nodded.

"We'll have to pick one. There's only three hours left before they close, and we'll never get through both in that time," Kairi pointed out.

"Whichever."

"Science it is," Ruth cheered, grabbed Paul's hand, and led the procession down the road.

Axel gave Kairi a pointed look as they ambled down the sidewalk.

"So, Roxas," she began.

"Mm?"

"Axel told me you have a cat. I love cats. Can I see?"

"Oh. Uh, sure."

Axel slowed down a little and hung back a few steps, pretending to attend to urgent business on his phone, leaving Kairi to schmooze with Roxas.

They seemed to hit it off, talking quite animatedly as they went. It alleviated some of Axel's worry. If they got on well, then it would be easier for Kairi to sneak in conversations about the boyfriend. Axel looked forward to finding out Kairi's opinion at the end of the day.

He made sure to give them ample space as they walked towards the museum. He also gave them loads of alone time once they had reached their destination, finding opportunities to abandon them by excitedly rushing off to the next exhibit. He always waited for them to catch up though, since he didn't want to deprive himself of spending time with Roxas.

This way, a fair few hours were whiled away exploring everything.

When closing time neared, they headed out, somehow managing to avoid getting heavily sucked into the vortex that was the gift shop.

They stood outside in the plaza area, amongst other gathered groups of people. Some were there to admire and play in the fun water features which burst forth from pipes in the ground, while others just used this as a good meeting spot. After all, that was the space's primary purpose. The plaza was lined with benches set under the shade of trees, where one could rest and enjoy the lengthening of days as they moved through spring and eventually into summer.

"How was that, Roxas?" Axel asked, resisting the urge to gently bump into his side as they stood next to each other.

Eager blue eyes looked up, wide with enthusiasm. "It was so much fun. Where I grew up we didn't have anything like this."

"Yeah, the museums here are pretty cool," was all Axel was able to say, mind drawing a blank, completely enraptured by Roxas' striking expression and the way their hands brushed together.

"They are pretty cool. I don't remember the Science Tech being this much fun back when I came here for school excursions," Paul said, looking back at the exterior of the building.

"There's been a lot of renovations and a lot more interactive exhibits added over the years. But you'd know that if you had been more of a dedicated science nerd and come here other than when you were dragged to it for field trips," Ruth teased as she rifled through her gift shop bag.

"Hey! I'm dedicated! Just… didn't get out much because — I was so dedicated to building bottle rockets and making clouds in jars," Paul recovered his dignity.

Ruth laughed. "Aren't you cute."

Paul winked in response.

"Hmm… I might've gotten into science if there had been cool stuff like this around when I grew up," Axel pondered aloud.

"I'll blame your teachers for not making it fun," Paul said, ripping off a tag from a hat he had bought before placing it on Ruth's head.

"Oh no, Paul. Our teachers had nothing to do with it," Kairi corrected. "Axel was just way more into graffitiing the back of the sports shed than he ever was into science," she giggled.

"You two went to school together?" Roxas spoke up as they walked without purpose down the sidewalk.

"Yup, I'll tell you all about his misdemeanors over dinner if you want."

Roxas laughed. "Yeah, okay."

"That'll be the shortest conversation in history. I was an angel," Axel dismissed.

Kairi's eyes went wide in disbelief. She shook her head and wordlessly mouthed, 'Noooooo,' at Roxas.

It made him laugh even more, which in turn made Axel smile in happiness.

"What should we do for dinner anyways?" Ruth gave voice to the obvious question.

"Isn't your work around here somewhere, Ax?" Paul asked.

"Yeah, but it's my day off. Not setting foot in that place. Nah-ah."

"Ooo! Ooo! Let's go to the Sky Lounge! I've always wanted to eat there!" Ruth bounced.

"Isn't that a bit expensive?" Axel scratched at his cheek, trying to remember where exactly the tower even was.

"It is if you go to the top-tier restaurant. They do have a lower level where it's just a three-course meal instead of the seven," Ruth stated.

"Look at you girl, all informed," Kairi laughed.

"I've always wanted to eat there," Ruth said wistfully.

"You have?" Paul gasped with surprise.

"Uh-huh."

"Right. I don't know about you guys, but I'm taking my Ruthy up there."

"You will?"

"Yeah," he smiled at her, netting him a big hug and a shower of kisses.

"Well, I believe Axel's paying for me, so I don't even care if we go to the top level," Kairi gave him a smug smirk.

"He is?" The lovebirds said in unison.

"Yup."

"Yeah, I kinda promised. But what do you wanna do, Roxas?"

"Ah… ," he frowned, thinking about it.

"It's such a great view of the whole city from up there," Ruth encouraged.

"It's okay. You guys go. I should get home. My cat will be getting hungry."

"But… didn't you tell me she has one of those automatic feeding station things?" Kairi said gently.

"Ah… Yeah." Roxas looked uncomfortable.

"Hey guys, talk amongst yourselves. I've gotta have a word with Roxas." Axel grabbed the man's arm and tugged at him to follow.

They stepped away slightly, standing close enough for Axel to smell Roxas' shampooed hair. Axel deemed it to be his new favorite scent. He refocused, "I can pay for you. It's no problem."

"I couldn't. You're already going to pay for Kairi."

"It's no problem, really. C'mon," he smiled encouragingly, whilst savoring the closeness between them. He regretted willfully denying himself this pleasure all afternoon.

"No, it's fine."

"Roxas–"

"Vanitas wants to take me up there for dinner when he finally moves over here," eyes pierced, rather sharply.

It was a cold dumping of iced water on Axel's head. "Oh."

"Sorry," he murmured, head drooping.

"Uh… it's okay. Um… can we still go up to the observation deck at least? With the sun going down it'll look really cool. You can go home after that if you want." The day had gone by too fast. Axel wanted more time with him.

Roxas looked at Axel for a bit before eyes fell down. Axel followed to where their hands were lightly clasped. Shit. He had only meant to brush against fingers but was somehow now holding on.

But Roxas gave the smallest of smiles and swung their hands the tiniest bit. He gave an almost silent, "Okay," and slipped from Axel's grasp.

Axel wanted so much more. He ached to chase after that hand and hold on tight forever, but he managed to restrain himself. He turned to the three other members of their party and announced, "We're cool to go to the Sky Lounge. We'll go to the observation deck, watch the sunset, and then Roxas will leave us."

"Ah, romantic!" Ruth threw arms around Paul and squeezed him with excitement.

Was it? No. It wouldn't be. Axel brushed it off. "C'mon, let's get going."

They all marched on, with Axel taking the lead. He needed to keep his distance from Kairi and her disapproving glower, as she had most likely spotted their too-personal-for-a-platonic-friendship touch.

It wasn't too long before he heard Roxas asking, "Is that the Colitan and Mursor building?"

They all stopped to peer up at the towering behemoth comprised of concrete and glass.

"Yeah. They have an observation deck. Do you wanna check it out?" Paul offered.

"No. It's all good. I just wanted to know if that building was what I thought it was."

"Why's that? It's pretty uninteresting." Paul craned his neck to look to the very top.

The others followed suit.

"It's pretty ugly. Screams totalitarian bureaucracy, if you ask me," Axel remarked.

His friends laughed.

"My boyfriend's gonna work here," Roxas let out coolly, still looking up at the gray building with all its tinted glass windows.

"Oh." Axel wished Roxas' boyfriend would stop creeping into all his conversations with Roxas. "Well, this was a nice stop, but we gotta get moving," he said, trying to distract himself from the uncomfortable truth that the object of his desires should be out of bounds.

They all shuffled along, but before his long legs took him too far into the lead, he heard Kairi remark, "Hey Roxas, what's your boyfriend do?"

'Good girl,' he thought. Axel would buy her an extra helping of dessert.

They reached the Sky Lounge with plenty of time left before sunset. The city lay sprawled out before them, extending to the horizon every which way they looked.

They wandered around the small selection of memorabilia encased behind glass, telling the story of how the surrounding flat planes had slowly been devoured by the sprawling metropolis over the decades. And then they wandered some more, checking out the overpriced postcards and keychains.

"Hey Kairi, let's see if we can see our homes from up here," Ruth said once they had been around the whole place twice.

"Yeah!" Kairi cheered excitedly, and with that, they were off. Paul followed his girlfriend close behind.

Axel and Roxas stared after them.

"Such children," Axel chuckled. He met Roxas' gaze as blond head turned to face him, and smiled. Roxas returned it and actually scooched closer towards Axel. They stood slightly bent over, resting elbows against a metal guard railing, and almost touching.

"Did you have fun today, gorgeous?" he asked gently. He felt his smile softening by the second. It was lame, but looking at, and being with Roxas made him happy. He reached up and raked his hand through Roxas' hair, rubbing at scalp slightly; it was an impulsive thing to do, but that didn't stop Axel.

Roxas froze a little, but then tilted his head into the touch, giving the smallest of contented sighs. "Yeah. Thanks for inviting me out. Your friends are really nice."

"See, you had nothing to be nervous about earlier today," Axel said warmly and rubbed his hand down towards the nape of Roxas' neck. "They like you."

"They do?"

"If they didn't, they wouldn't have gone through the day without letting you know to your face," he assured.

Roxas chuckled. "Good to know."

Axel stopped touching Roxas, deeming it most likely inappropriate by now, and returned his arm to the railing. "Do you wanna hang out again tomorrow?"

Roxas' eyes lingered on Axel's hand, but then he looked up, "What have you got in mind?"

Axel shrugged. "You like animals? We could go to the zoo. See some big cats."

"Really?" Eyes went wide.

Those gorgeous blues slayed him. "Mhmm. I'll send a group message. See who else wants to tag along."

Roxas nodded eagerly and Axel swore he saw slight disappointment… but he was probably imagining things. He pulled out his phone and got to typing. "What time suits you best? The zoo's really big, so I think I've gotta suck it up and get up early."

"Oh no, don't do that just for me. We don't have to go."

"Nope, it's already been decreed. Hope ten o'clock is okay, 'cause that's when we're meeting up at the zoo. It's sent, that's it, can't take it back." Axel watched for his message to turn green, indicating it had sent to all recipients. He gave Roxas a big grin.

Roxas looked really happy. The wide smile said it all. "Thanks, Axel."

"Anything for you." Why was it so easy to say mushy disgusting things to Roxas? Must be the way his eyes sparkled and his cheeks turned a slight shade of pink that did it.

He followed Roxas' gaze as it turned towards the windows looking out upon the city. Dusk was descending fast, bathing the concrete jungle below in hues of blues, and streaking clouds and sky in pinks and purples.

Axel noticed it this time, fingers stroking against the back of his hand, begging to be held. Axel obliged and interlaced his fingers with Roxas'. Wordlessly, they watched night descend. Roxas shuffled a little closer and rested his head against Axel's shoulder. Axel tilted his head and pillowed his cheek against Roxas' hair.

It was nice and peaceful. Axel shut Kairi's words of infidelity and emotional sabotage away behind the wall of warm affection which was bolstering him right now. Axel could feel sleep tugging at his eyes and let them slide shut. "You're really comfy, Rox. Could just fall asleep on you," he mumbled. But then grumpily added, "Well, I can't do it if you're gonna cause an earthquake for me," as Roxas shook with laughter.

"Sorry," he giggled.

"It's okay. You're probably doing me a favor anyway." Axel lifted his head and Roxas also moved, but they still held hands.

The sky darkened, turning shallow day into deep night.

"You know, I really miss it," Roxas breathed wistfully.

"What?"

"The stars. I still remember them when I was a lot younger. They were everywhere in Forrester. Nights were pitch black. The sky would shine like crazy. But I've been living in big cities for more than half my life now, and when I moved back to Forrester — it had all changed too. — I've been with Vanitas for so long… I barely remember what it's supposed to feel like," Roxas muttered, clasping his other hand over the top of Axel's.

Was he still talking about the stars? Roxas looked very sad.

"I'll take you camping one day. Promise." At the doubtful look Roxas threw his way, Axel continued, "You don't believe me?"

Roxas' face turned even more sullen. "Oh, I believe that you mean it. But I don't think it will ever actually happen."

"Why?" Axel could almost hear the answer before he asked the question.

"My boyfriend."

Of course. "He can come too. We'll make it a big outing with a bunch of people."

"Okay," Roxas said with no enthusiasm and his hand fell away.

Axel's phone buzzed and Roxas' other hand also slipped away.

"I should go," Roxas muttered, dully and pushed off the railing, standing up straight.

Axel's head followed Roxas. "You sure you don't want to stay for dinner?"

"I can't."

Axel chewed his lip. "Okay. I'll see you tomorrow," he said gently and straightened himself up, facing Roxas, fully.

"Thanks for not pushing," Roxas said, barely looking at Axel.

Axel gave him a smile and received a weary one in return.

"Do you need the address for the zoo?" Axel asked before Roxas moved too far away. He still hoped to hear the magic words, 'text me.'

"I'll find it. See you tomorrow," Roxas waved and headed to the elevator.

"Yeah, see you." Axel's stomach knotted. He hated seeing Roxas go, especially so morose, but a sharp jolt dislodged the knot as Axel was suddenly attacked by his friends ramming into him from behind.

"Heeeey, Axel! So you and Roxas, huh." Ruth elbowed him in the ribs.

He peeled and pushed limbs off himself. "It's nothing," he tried his best to deny.

"That's what I thought about me and Ruth," Paul nudged. "C'mon, let's eat!" He and Ruth raced off.

Axel watched them dash towards the restaurant. There was a crater of longing in his chest to be able to do the same goofy shit with Roxas.

"Am I crazy, Kai?" he said as he caught sight of her in his periphery.

"You two are cute together, I'll give you that much. As for the crazy part —" Axel held out his elbow and she took it. They wandered arm in arm to the restaurant. "–Verdict's still out on that one. I'll tell you after tomorrow."

He looked down at her in hopeful surprise. The fact that she was willing to keep spending time with them, despite finding what they were doing so abhorrent seemed encouraging.

"You'll come to the zoo?"

"Of course! Animals? I'm totally in," she looked up with a chirpy smile.