HAPPIEST READING!!
CULT
The FBI agent in Axel alternately insisted that he should quickly become the boy's bestest friend and warned to keep emotional distance from the teen. The little blond boy who'd introduced himself as 'Roxas' to Axel just an hour ago, was making the former almost too easy, chatting up Axel in the most friendly way, and seemed hell bent on making the latter all but impossible. Indeed this -Roxas- seemed to want nothing more than to bring Axel to their home, which he described as a 'sanctuary for any and all', and keep him there. Out of his mouth floated the sweetest words, coated by promises as if they were honey.
He told Axel of how everyone there was just like him, defeated by the merciless soldiers of the unfair and unjust corporate world to which the fierce looking woman in the passenger seat replied, "Amen." He told such wonderful, hope filling stories of the haven that Axel actually became excited to see the place, eager to see this wonderful Sunshine Fields himself and deem it such a glorious place or condemn it for monstrosities. If this was truly a place where dark things thrived as he was told then this boy before him was just a poor little brainwashed boy, taken off the streets and to a place where he was fed and housed and warm and had so much absolute gratitude toward their leaders that he would think their piss was liquid gold spilling from their orifice by an act of god onto them.
And indeed the boy spoke of a god above. He painted him as a genderless deity in the heavens, looking over his beloved children, taking special interest in those who had fallen. Roxas informed him that it is the decree of this god that its followers go out into the world, spread its word to their fallen and beaten down brothers and sisters, and bring them peace again. Roxas said this with so much passion in his voice that Axel had no doubt that he truly believed this was a divine purpose given to him, Aerith and all their other little friends.
The redhead made a mental note that she introduced her self as Aerith to him and not 'Aeris'. Perhaps the latter was a codename for when she went out in the city. Or one was her name just inside the cult, perhaps one of those 'throw away your former life' things that many of the societies pushed their members to do. Perhaps one or the other was her true name, the scanner at the office was most likely running both of the names through its digital records.
However, whether she was really 'Aeris' or 'Aerith' didn't matter much. She too believed whole-heartedly in this god of theirs. The woman in the passenger seat soaked up every word they said, eyes hungry for the life they tell her of in sunshine fields, where you are rewarded for how hard you work, where money doesn't exist, and everyone helps and supports one another.
"Trust me," Roxas said to him, the utmost passion behind his bright blue eyes. "Here you will only succeed as everyone around you succeeds." He turned to give Larxene a wide smile before turning back to Axel. "Both of you will." Axel nodded but could not get the edge of doubt off his face. Roxas just smiled wider at his suspicions. "Don't worry, Axel. You will come to see that I am right. Only happiness lies beyond our open doors."
The agent was becoming more and more wary of the fact that he gave the cult member his real name. Handing out a fake one was like making a barrier between yourself and your target, you knew him, but he didn't know you. You had the upper hand, you were in control. But Axel had never worked an undercover mission before, besides pretending to be someone else for a few measly hours to a criminal to lure him into a false comfort before putting cuffs on him. So he passed on his real name to the teen in hopes it would help him stay in cover better, keep his mind in reality whenever someone called out the name his parents have to him.
Being alone put him in a difficult position. If someone else was with him, they could watch each other's backs, help here or there, and even report him if he fell victim to the pretty words the cult members utter to him. Being alone he had to be twice as alert and careful, twice more cunning, twice as sly in his sleuthing. His sudden acceptance into the cult had been very strange at the very least. He had no idea why the boy had suddenly approached him and the teen had hardly mentioned his reasons for picking the redhead in particular. In this, the boy was an enigma and his secrets were still his own.
For now Roxas had stopped unknowingly informing the undercover agent of his secret society. He had chosen to watch the lush scenery pass him by and Axel took the opportunity to better look at the teen. His first look at the teen had been mostly correct. He was a fairly handsome boy but now that his face wasn't lit up in those strange smiles or motivated to talk about his cult's purposes on earth he was rather…plain. The kind of beauty that you saw everyday and in every magazine, desensitizing you to their pretty boy/pretty girl looks. Nothing terribly exotic or unique about him, he was more boy next door than anything.
Roxas must have felt Axel's stare burning into him as he turned suddenly and caught the agent staring and gave him one of his wide smiles that pinched his big cobalt eyes into a sliver of blue. Making sure to blatantly show his uncertainty, Axel began to smile back nervously. This display of hesitance would make him look like as Axel, if he were who he said he was, should have been feeling. These emotions would easily inspire genuine emotion in the one you were aiming to fool, as they thought they could see what you were truly thinking. It worked as Roxas widened his wide smile even more before turning his happily grinning face to the window to marvel again at the lush countryside that was passing them by.
Beyond them were tall trees and verdant grasslands with large farm animals casually grazing as they passed. With every minute passing, Axel could tell they were getting more and more into the less traveled areas. He was certain that the civilization of Twilight City was not to be found close to where they were all heading. He would really be lost to the world once he stepped foot in wherever they were taking him. To Sunshine Fields, they said, but who knew where that was and if they were actually taking him there.
Beyond Roxas initially telling him where they were going and Aerith butting him with helpful phrases, the occupants of the van didn't speak much. It made Axel more jittery with the silent seconds continuing. He'd only said a few words here and there, not fully trusting himself to speak much and not really finding the need to. After all, they had answered all of the questions a homeless man starving on the streets and suddenly picked up by strangers wearing pastel colors could have. The questions that burned his FBI trained mind went unanswered for the most part, only the vaguest answers here and there. As a man sleeping on the streets at night, he shouldn't have had these questions or thoughts or the reasons to have them at all. His questions would have to be answered gradually and unwittingly by the cult members themselves. However, needed to be one of them before even trying to dig. The members had to believe him one of their own before moving onto the next stage.
Axel flicked his green eyes over to Roxas again, but only briefly, so he wouldn't be caught again. This little cult member was perhaps his greatest triumph so far in the mission and he hadn't done anything yet. For some reason Roxas had picked him and would most likely be his mentor as Axel plunged himself deeper and deeper into his world. Perhaps it really would be in his best interest to befriend the boy, it would make it easier on himself if he did.
But do not trust him too much, his conscious told him. It could only end badly for you.
---
Aerith slowly stopped the van, pushing the brake and clutch in at the same time to prevent the car from conking out as all manuals do. She happily twisted around in her seat, mouth open, ready to announce something but her words died as her affectionate eyes landed on the boy in the back seat. Roxas had fallen asleep thirty or forty minutes ago, he guessed. Axel didn't exactly have a good grip on time anymore so he could not be sure as to how long the boy had been sleeping. The urge to do so himself grew with very mile they drove but he somehow kept himself awake. He needed to memorize the roads they traveled if he ever needed to run away from the congregation quickly.
It wouldn't be too difficult to follow the trail they took. Maybe twenty minutes ago they turned off from a main road and into a less traveled dirt road. They continued forward, deeper down into the country, following what could actually be just be an animal passage into an even more secluded area. They drove through a shadowed forest, following the curves in the path ahead of them. Aerith didn't even look like she was paying too much attention, like she traveled this road many times and had it engrained onto her memory.
Aerith let out a breathy laugh before flicking her eyes toward Axel. She said in a loud whisper, "Could you wake him up? I'm going to go open the gate. Be quite, Larxene is sleeping too." At Axel's hesitant nod, she smiled and pushed up the emergency brake before unbuckling herself and quietly getting out of the car, leaving the door open. Axel leaned forward to shake the boy awake and saw out the windshield that she was approaching a large seven foot ornate gate that stood proudly just outside the edge of the woods, a hedge on both of its sides continuing out like a fence.
A barrier perhaps, against fleeing members?
Could this invitation into their secret congregation have one way in…and no way out?
Axel had to tear his gaze away from what he presumed was his only escape route. Roxas was still napping soundly in spite of the cogs rapidly turning in Axel's head. The redhead gently shook him with his dirt-covered fingers making the boy stir. But he refused to awaken, even pulling away from the disturbing hand and cuddled against his seat even more. A smile graced the agent's lips, amusement appearing on his features for the first time in hours. He reached forward again, this time jostling the boy harder and longer and coupled the action with a "Rooxasssssss."
The teen grumbled. He turned slowly, eventually facing the back of Aerith's seat and extending himself in a slow full body stretch, puffing his chest out as he bent backward in the chair, finger tips scraping the roof before he suddenly crashed in on himself and flopped his head around to Axel. The boy pouted at him, irate with being woken up. "And what was that for?" He asked, yawning out the last strip of sleep in him.
Axel's mouth suddenly felt dry and his tongue too big for him for no reason whatsoever. His vocals just… randomly shut down.
"Oh, don't pout Roxas. He just did me a favor. I asked him to do it." Aerith informed them in a quiet voice to which Axel nodded feverishly, proving that Aerith was not lying and he was indeed doing her a favor.
Roxas fixed the back of her seat with a steady glare before taking in their location. "Are we home?"
Aerith nodded, leaning over to shake Larxene awake. She, unlike Roxas's slow stretching response to being woken, suddenly jerked forward as she came to, almost smacking her head against the windshield and startling the hell out herself and the other passengers of the car. "Ugh…wha-" Her voice was thick with sleep and coated in phlegm. She cleared her throat and tried again. "What? What happened?"
Aerith shined a smile at her. "We're home, hopefully just in time for supper too!"
Beside him Roxas hummed anxiously at the thought of food. Axel himself felt his stomach clench with anticipation. He had eaten, but that had been around one and it was probably somewhere near five or six o'clock in the afternoon now. He was also famous for having a black hole for a stomach, too. So he was starving! But he was also wary of the idea of eating with these people, eating the food they made. Who knows what kind of stuff they could mix in. He might wake up in the morning naked and in the middle of a cornfield or…not even wake up at all.
"Supper? But it's still early…it's only five now…" Larxene muttered, pulling up her sleeve to glance at a watch. "Is this a normal time?"
"Hmmm," the brown-haired woman uttered. She pulled the emergency brake down and jerked the stick into first gear, letting out on the clutch slowly. The car rumbled forward without any sudden jerks or shudders. She had been driving this van for a while it seems. As soon as she was safely inside, she stopped the car again. "Roxas," she inquired. "Could you go shut the gate for me?"
As the blond boy clambered out of the van she spoke again. "Well I suppose it should still be an hour or so before dinner starts, perhaps you would like a shower? And a change of clothes? After that maybe Roxas and I could give you a short tour," she offered, taking in Axel disheveled state. He grinned sheepishly at her and nodded his head briefly while on the inside he was screaming hallelujah, thank the lord, he was tired, smelly, hair was greasy, and all around feeling dirty. He could do well with a good washing.
"What about a tour?" The teen asked when he climbed back into the van. Aerith started the car up again slowly inching it forward as the road gradually began to sink down. With every second passing Axel began to see the place they called 'home'.
It was a huge collection of brightly colored tents, vivid reds, yellow, and blues. The larger ones he could see ranged in all sizes and shapes. Some were shaped like the Indian tee-pees, others in tower style; wide circle bottoms and pointy tops, and others castle style; rectangle bottoms and side then suddenly arching in a roof with two points, there were even more that he couldn't see well enough to make out. It made Axel think of a traveling circus he saw when he was a child, all the tents holding something new and entertaining.
"Do you think you could show Axel around after he bathes? Just a short tour to take up some time before supper starts? It'll be nice don't you think?" Aerith didn't tear her eyes away from the road to see the blond nod and thus made Roxas speak aloud his agreement. Aerith's eyes crinkled with pleasure. "Great!" She briefly glanced at the woman to her right. "Would you like to wander around with me? There's a lot to see! We probably won't be able to see half even if we spend the hour or so before supper. How about it?"
She must've nodded because Aerith didn't bring it up anymore. Closer and closer the van came to the little village of tents and Axel took in more and more of what he saw. There must have been a hundred tents, probably more. Just rows and rows of them. The vehicle finally made it to the edge of the mass of tent--homes Axel realized. People lived in those bright colored tents. The pink wearing woman gently turned the car to the left, still following that dirt trail. It led her around the throng of living spaces, making Axel realized just how huge and populated the cult was, how many followers they had.
How the flying fuck did they not notice this before?
All these people, how many of them were runaways? How many were filed as missing? How many of them had families that thought they were dead, buried as John Doe somewhere out in the wide, wide world only to be living peacefully in the countryside in a tent, not really giving a shit about the world outside those hedges? Aerith slowed the car to its final stop, punching in the clutch and putting up the emergency brake and turning the car off.
Beside him, Roxas placed his small hand on Axel's bicep, literally jolting him out of his thoughts and making Roxas jump with him. The boy caught his gaze and they shared a nervous laugh. Out of his peripheral, Axel spotted Aerith leaving the car silently, Larxene following with equal grace. The boys hand mindlessly traveled downward, stopping at Axel's elbow. He stared at the red haired man for one of the longest moments in Axel's life. He only reciprocated the tiniest bit, gaze sometimes on Roxas, mostly everywhere else besides his face. The kids stare…it was just too intense for someone his age. It felt like the kid was looking straight into Axel's soul. And there were things there that Blondie did not need scrutinize.
Then Roxas smiled that weird smile of his, slightly different this time with every single one of his teeth showing, grin crinkling up his cobalt eyes into crescents and he spoke the words that must have felt natural for Roxas to say but sent chills up the undercover agent's spine with the way that the boy, this little kid that must be at least ten years younger than him, said the words.
"Welcome home, Axel."
He spoke it the way Axel's mother did when he was a child coming home from school.
Loving.
----
Spooked by his passionate words, Axel climbed out the van with wide eyes. In the seconds that he had before anyone could see the emotions flying across his face, he settled his mind. He must've heard the boy wrong, confused his inflection for something else. Even if he didn't it was okay what the boy said, right? He just picked Axel off the streets out of the bottom of his heart and brought him to his home, it would be normal for him to care about Axel. It was like taking someone new under your wind, you were their guidance, their leader in a strange place. You needed some compassion toward your new ward if you were counting on taking care of him. Right? Right? Right.
Roxas was just doing his duty toward Axel, his kindness was just that; kindness. Axel misinterpreted him, saw a look similar to one he longed to see again and molded to the words into something they were not. It was wrong of him to put that kind of behavior on a boy who was just trying to be his new friend in a new world. Roxas was just trying to be his mentor.
"Axel," Roxas called. "Could you come here and help?" He took in a deep, calming breath before going to the boys aide. The back doors of the van were wide open, Roxas reaching in to take a medium sized box in his arms, holding a total of three now. He nodded to the other four still in the van. "Could you take those? They're the last ones and I don't really want to take another trip unless we have too," he said with a small laugh his voice, a smile on his face.
Dumbly Axel nodded, unable to think of anything to say to this. He pulled the objects into his long arms, reading the words OPEN HEARTS printed on the side, the negative spaces in the letters being white hearts. Underneath in the smallest letters were also the words, medical facility. Medicine? Were these medications? For whom? For what?
"They're just meds," Roxas said. Axel just about flew out of his skin, thinking wildly that Roxas either just read his mind or he unconsciously said the words aloud. Axel could see his wild blond hair through the window of the car but unable to see a face. "Are you out of the way? I'm gonna shut it." Roxas, checking to see if Axel obediently moved, started backing up, getting closer and closer to the frame of the door and slowly shutting it with a solid 'click' behind him. The teen calmly pushed himself off the door, making sure to keep the valuables in his arms safely tucked away in his arms.
The other door was still wide open. Axel eyed it, flicking his gaze from Roxas to the door before nudging it forward and shoving it closed with a solid kick. It closed with a loud slam, much louder than Roxas's gentle push. He flushed with embarrassment as Roxas twisted around fast to see what caused the loud noise. He connected two and two, for a moment becoming unreadable before he started laughing, bending over, knees trying bow out as he was soon was gasping for breath. Axel chucked nervously, not quite sure what was so funny and not very sure if the blond was laughing at him.
"Oh," Roxas gasped. "Oh, that's rich. Aerith's gonna be so pissed if she ever knows you did that." He chuckled softly. "Last guy got a tongue lashing at the least that's for sure." The teenager's blue eyes caught Axel's green and held them. "You're just full of surprises aren't you?"
Unsure of what to say or how to even say it Axel just shrugged. Roxas mimicked the gesture with a gleam in his eyes. "Don't talk much, do you? You've probably said only a handful in the past three hours to me, while I all but told you a novel." He shook his crazy head of messy locks. "Doesn't matter much…no, it does not." He threw his head up and caught Axel eyes easily, the red head seemingly unable to look away from his light blue orbs. "Oh well, follow me. After we put these in stock you can take your bath."
Without checking to make sure the pretend homeless man was following, Roxas walked off in the direction of a stark white tent. Panicking slightly at the thought of his guide leaving him, Axel jogged up to meet him, his longs legs taking two of every one of the Roxas's strides. They walked in silence for all of ten seconds before the red head spoke.
"I'm not trying to be rude…It's just…I…" Axel trailed off, unable to find the correct words to explain his predicament, or rather the predicament Axel the homeless man was going though, not Axel the secret FBI agent that's tricking you right now was going through.
"You're nervous." Roxas provided easily. "I just took you off the streets and promised you a new life; it's a lot to take in. Don't worry; I've been through the exact same thing. After awhile this place just becomes your new life, you'll fit right in, I promise." The self-assured look on his face calmed a piece inside Axel. His worry about being to pull this off was lessening with his words, though it wasn't the worry Roxas wanted to calm. He nodded slowly, added this new bit of information to his small knowledge of the boy.
He didn't see but Roxas's smile grew just the littlest fraction bigger, a bit brighter. Axel definitely hadn't the slimmest chance of seeing but Roxas's heart sped up a fraction at the man's agreement, for reasons only the blond could take a shot at guessing.
They walked in partial silence, the sound of Axel's worn and torn tennis shoes making a dull smack as they down on the dry dirt and Roxas's little patters of bare feet barely making a noise. It seemed like the right time to slyly wring an answer out of Roxas.
"So this is medicine?" The teen's eyebrows flew up as he grinned at Axel, pleasantly surprised.
"So he speaks!" Roxas cried, letting out a short airy laugh at the redhead's peeved expression. "Yes, it's medicine," he shrugged and looked off smugly, obviously being vague to tease him and having fun doing it.
Axel took the bait. "What's it for?"
"Oh, infections. I think they're mostly antibiotics, with like cough syrup and gauze and stuffs for people's allergies, you know. Just the basics." The boy shrugged as if it was common knowledge for cults to carry such things before he ducked his head upon entering the open flaps large white tent. "Come on in," the blond encouraged, Axel ducking down too, farther than Roxas had due to the redhead's height or Roxas's lack of, and when he looked up again, his mind whirled, taking in rapidly all of the things going on.
A blinding light shined in the center of the room, high above Axel's head. Electricity? Here? Below it were perhaps ten for fifteen beds, with white pristine sheets on their mattresses, two of which had people lying on them, one was a little girl with a bright pink cast on her little arm, the other across the room was a mansleeping soundly. Was this their ramshackle hospitable? In the back were metal shelves, boxes alike to the ones he was currently holding sitting on the red sheet floor, Roxas heading toward its stood in the middle of it all, Larxene right behind her, talking to two women dressed in white cotton clothes. In their bright colorful outfits, Roxas and Aerith stood out, the light above made them shine here. At one of the women's, nurses?, curious look Aerith turned to look at him kindly.
"You can put the boxes over there," she pointed graciously, smile never leaving her once, eyes never fading in their patience. Axel stumbled over himself to get his feet moving, trying not to be suspicious looking in front of the others.
Roxas motioned for the boxes as Axel sauntered over to him, setting them one on top of another neatly. Axel stood motionless, unsure of what to do, if he should do anything at all. Roxas stood and without casting a look at him walked past him to another shelf and started rummaging through boxes, taking out items here and there and placing them beside him. Axel followed and stood beside him. "Take those," Roxas demanded after placing all of the items on a white piece of cloth. "It's your bathing stuff, don't loose it!" He started for the opening in the tent, waving to Aerith as he left, Axel following like a lamb to its shepherd.
Axel caught up quick to the blond, Roxas doing all the talking for him as he informed the tall man, "I'm taking you to the showers."
Axel huffed, affronted. "You saying I smell?" Roxas let out a snort.
"You saying you don't?" He asked, one of his light eyebrows lifting as he looked at Axel skeptically. Axel sniffed experimentally at himself, drawing back at his stench.
Roxas let out a hearty laugh, one that pulled and tugged relentlessly at Axel into laughing with him, shocked at how open and easy going the boy was, how easy it was to smile and laugh for him with a total stranger by his side.
"Here," he said, lightness in his voice leftover from the laughter. "We're here."
'Here' was a strip of shower stalls, maybe ten or twelve showerheads on each side, painted wooden walls separating them from each other and giving some privacy. But the sight of them…didn't exactly make Axel want to take a shower anymore. As a agent for the FBI he got paid quite the sum of money, he was used to his own singular private shower in his own apartment, he was used to the bathroom being nice and clean due to the work by the maid he paid every week.
But these…Axel assumed he should just be happy that he had the use of a shower at all, his persona should be elated by the idea even! He would have to put on a happy face and get to business.
"Great," he said while approaching one of the stalls. "So what do I do? Just strip and press go?" Behind him Roxas blushed at the word 'strip' and sputtered out, "Ah, well get inside and, uh, there's a knob you turn. Should get hot water since it's late in the day and the bell hasn't rung. People usually take showers in the morning or before dinner…so," Roxas opened the red painted door. "There ya go?" Axel walked in, Roxas shutting the door for him, calling, "There's a lock on the inside if you want it… Just toss your clothes out to me. I'll get rid of them and get you some new ones before you finish up."
Axel froze in the process of taking off his wire. Kairi said to hide it…But where? Naked, he had no where to hid it and the tracking device still clipped on until Roxas brought back new clothes for him to wear and even after that where would he stash them? If he kept them on his person all day every day, he was sure to be found out. He had been planning to keep them in his old clothes. "C…could I… keep them?" The redhead stilled, waiting for Roxas's verdict.
"Oh," the boy said after a moments pause. "Are you…just not ready to let go of that part of your life?"
"Yeah," he replied. Thank goodness for people like Roxas. They made Axel's excuses up for him. "That's exactly it."
"…Well, that's okay, I guess," murmured Roxas from behind the door. Then his voice brightened up. "You can let it go when you're ready, on your own time. How tall are you?"
"Uh," he said, pulling his ratty t-shirt off, folding it and placing the wire and tracking device inside. He unbuckled his torn jeans and zipped them down. The last time he went to a doctor's office was… a year ago? A year ago he was, "Six one."
"Oh!" Axel opened the door just a few inches to place his clothing on the wooden deck surrounding the stalls, to prevent the fragile devices form getting wet. "I… guess I'll go get you clothes now."
Axel tilted his head up at the boy in pastel yellows, light yellow tunic and darker, more orange-y cotton pants. "They gonna be yellow like yours?"
Roxas straightened up with joy at the thought of Axel's thinking. "Yup," he proudly said. "Sure are." Axel rolled his eyes, missing the boy's adoring look in his blue eyes.
"Great," he said, pulling back into the stall.
"Okay! I'll be right back!"
"Mmhmm." There were two knobs on the wall in front of him, so one must be for hot and one must be for cold. Hmmm. Axel experimentally flicked the right one. He froze, waiting for the water to kick on either freezing or searing hot. However, nothing happened, no water spilled out. The pipes were just beginning to fill with water, the liquid just now running down the pipes and to the showers. Axel frowned and stepped forward to investigate just as the traveling water found the demanding shower stall.
"Ahh! Mother-shit!" A hand flew up to protect Axel sensitive eyes from the sudden on burst of offending water to his face and the man stumbled backwards, still confused at to what the hell just happened.
Traumatized and steering clear of the area the showerhead watered he squatted down to examine the goods Roxas demanded he take. Two bars of soap, a shaver, shaving cream, and a towel. No shampoo, no conditioner, no body wash, no good smelly stuff. Just soap and a shaving stuff. Really though, what was he expecting? Expensive cologne to be given to him? An armful of hygienic products? To stock those kinds of items would be expensive, especially so if you were providing for a hundred plus people. To even be given these things were a luxury, especially so due his persona's life.
It was becoming a constant effort to keep in cover, requiring him to reprimand himself for having moments like this. Axel ripped open the box holding the bar of soap and stepped into the spray of water, finding it warm and soothing. He worked the bar over himself, cleansing the past few days of grim before working it through his hair, supposing it would work as well as shampoo. Time slowed for him. In here, he didn't have to pretend to be anyone, he just needed to wash himself. That was perhaps why he was so startled when a hand wrapped on the door.
"Axel!" shouted Roxas. "Don't waste water! Are you done?"
"Yeah, yeah!" He shouted back, rinsing one last time before twisting the water off. He took the white towel and wrapped it around his wet head. "What is it?"
"I got your clothes…" A yellow bundle of cloth appeared at the top of the wooden door. "Here."
Axel easily extended his arms to take them, wondering if the boy was standing on his tip toes to pass them over. His finger brushed the Roxas's as Axel took the parcel away from him. He wiped the other excess water off before pushing his arms threw the big, long sleeved tunic. After he pulled on the pants, frowning at the fact that they weren't quite the right length, and tying the strings as tight as he could around his thing waist, he called to Roxas on the other side of the door, "Now what do we do?"
"Uhm, well. There is about an hour until dinner starts. Would you like to look around? Get a feel for the place?"
Oh, Roxas, Roxas, Roxas. May the boy never learn of Axel's secret acts because he was such a fine informant without even meaning to be so. "Yes! That would be great!"
"Okay, then," Roxas chirped happily. "That's what we'll do."
Axel gently opened the door, giving the blond enough time to avoid being hit. He grinned at the cult member, turning around slowly for optimal viewing of his new look. While the loose pants were a bit short on him, but you couldn't tell much when he stood and the tunic was loose like it should be but more form fitting than he thought it would be and fell to his hip bones. The color probably washed him out but and he didn't have a mirror, but he thought he wore the look well. "How do I look?"
Roxas bit the inside of his cheek. Hard. "Looking sharp."
----
Not a moment after Roxas and Axel left the showers, a bell rung. Startled, Axel swung around, looking for it's source. Soon after several more rang, their deep, hearty sounds echoing each other one after another. Roxas smiled at Axel's behavior and explained to him that they were gongs and were always beaten about an hour before dinner and that they told the workers in the field that it was time to come in.
"Why gongs?" Axel asked while readjusting the assortment he was holding. Roxas insisted that Axel go around bare foot for now on and the grass tickled his feet.
Roxas rolled his eyes with an irritated look on his face. "Just something one of our sisters brought with her a long time ago."
"Sisters?" He had sisters here?
Roxas's eyes widened. "I didn't…? Every man here to you, to me, to Aerith is our brother. Every female our sister. Anyway she brought them here and now we use them to tell the people in the fields to come in."
"Oh. Ok." So they were all one big happy family, huh? Roxas nodded happily enough. He pointed to the white tent a few yards away from them, where they dropped off the boxes earlier. "That's our clinic. Aerith and a few others here used to be nurses so don't worry, we have ligament people manning the tent."
So they were nurses! "Is that why they wore white?"
Roxas puckered his lips. "Well, yes and no. They've been here for a long time so they have seniority. They choose what colors to they want to wear. It's just a coincidence they chose white and are nurses."
"Oh. So is Aerith a senior here to?" Roxas nodded, happy he was catching on so quick. Axel opened his mouth to ask another question about their uniforms but Roxas pointed to another large tent.
"That is the pottery tent and another pottery tent behind it. And next to it is the weaver's tent.. They make they clothes you're wearing. Later you should go in and thank them for their hard work," he advised.
"I'll make a note of it."
"You're more talkative now," Roxas noticed. "Did the shower take your nervousness away along with your grime?"
With those big innocent blue eyes staring up at him, Axel couldn't lie. So he nodded, not lying but not telling the truth. He was just interested in soaking in as much information as he could. Which Roxas helped him with greatly. There were many work tents set up around the campus, all suited for people's talents. One of those, Roxas said, he would be put in. Apparently you had to do something for the community for the community to do something for you. He pointed out the two kitchens, the various people they came across and what they did. Farming in the fields was one a lot of people did as there were four fields to plant and weed and harvest and generally take care of.
Roxas did also point out a woman who was very pregnant and sitting outside her tent with a friend. "If you are unable to work," he said. "Well, not pregnant but if you get injured somehow you get time off like any other job. But look, even nine months pregnant Penelo is still weaving. Baby blankets, but still. She still finds time to pull her weight."
Axel nodded. Well shit. He wasn't expecting to actually have to work work. Roxas gave him a level look before walking on. After they turned a particular corner he pointed to a large wooden barn. "This place was initially a farm. There are lots of animals here. We have herdsmen who move them from place to place and let them feed on grass and such," he waved his hand around, trying to encompass the entire village with the motion. "There's really a lot to be done around here. It's pretty relaxed depending on what job you have."
"What job will I get?"
The blond furrowed his brow and pouted his lips. "Well, what kind of job do you want?" Axel mimicked his expression.
"Whatever you'll give me." Roxas scoffed and rolled his eyes. He started walking forward again, faster, agitated. He led Axel deeper and deeper into the maze of the village. Axel rushed to keep up with him, desperate not to lose his guide. They stopped at a tee-pee shaped hut, but instead of the animal skins hung around the outside, a thick yellow covering was laced around it in the same style. Roxas opened the flap to it.
"I live here," he said. "You can put your stuff in here until we get a tent of your own." After Axel carefully placed his parcel on the inside Roxas answered his question. "I can't just decide for you. What are you good at? What did you do?"
Axel laughed bitterly. "I lived on the streets." Horror stricken, Roxas rushed to fix his mistake. Axel held up his clean hands. "Don't worry, no harm done. I was pretty good in shop class when I was in high school." This was a truth in his lie, he was good in shop when he was in high school.
"Oh, really?" Roxas processed this as he walked backwards, trying to place this talent into a job offered in Sunshine Fields. "I might be able to work with that. But I think you should try doing other things, until you find stuff your good at, you never know."
"Well, what do you do?" The blond paused before continuing walking.
"I work in the garden, with Aerith." Axel furrowed his red eyebrows in an effort to put to and two together all by himself.
"But I thought you said that she was a nurse."
"She is," he said simply, moving out of the way of another yellow clothed boy. Roxas spun around to walk the correct way, throwing his hands behind his head, never falling a step behind Axel. He movements were all graceful, all natural. Axel was nervously stepping around in his bare feet, not wanting to step in something gross.
"But she also works in the garden?"
Roxas sent a mocking grin his way. "Bingo." Axel rolled his eyes, letting his tease slide right off of him.
"So what, am I going to try on every one on until I find something that fits me?" Axel sarcastically said.
"Yup. Every day until you can do something around here that's helpful."
"So, I'm going job hunting," the redhead said blandly, clearly not looking forward to it. Roxas grinned at him and was prepared to make a reply but somewhere in this vast village of tents, another gong was hit. This time it was hit repeatedly four times in a row. The others started to join in soon. The steady one, two, three, four beat they made was so loud. It sounded like it was coming from right next to them but he couldn't see one anywhere.
"What's going on?!" Axel shouted to Roxas. The boy laughed, the sound being completely drowned out by the orchestra. He took Axel's arm, drawing the man down to his level to shout in his ear, "The festivities begin!"
"What?!" He shouted. Roxas's eyes were all but twinkling as he gave him a wide smile full of mischief and took Axel's larger hand in his. Axel, on guard now and suspicious, tried to pull away but Roxas would not let him go. The boy's face had nothing but genuine innocent excitement, there was no mockery to be found, or malicious intent. Axel found himself being led by him into the sudden parade of people, all coming out of the surrounding tents. Axel's eyes widened at the sight of so many people in yellows, blues, pinks, purples, every color of the goddamn rainbow around him.
They were all talking, all laughing, their voices mingled in the air and so they got louder and louder in their desire to be heard by one another. Soon they were louder than the gongs, or perhaps their banging had stopped. Axel bumped into someone with every step he took, his movements clumsy in the tight jungle of people. Roxas clamped his hand harder than ever, tangling Axel's fingers with his, to prevent the redhead from being pulled away from him, Axel hypothesized. But this was wrong as Roxas just wanted to know how well their hands fit together. He was pleased to take note that his hand fit perfect within Axel's. He must fit perfect with Axel.
Roxas's chest fluttered with excitement.
Roxas is so hot for Axel. :] Kinda late update. Wanted to update yesterday… Missed my deadline by… an hour. It's like one in the morning here, XO. I got distracted by this card game on my ipod, Klondike? Its really mind stealing. ANYWAY But it's only like three days since I updated SB right? And only two of those days were me writing and I got a lot done. I think I update pretty fast, myself. I really just don't want this to be one of those stories that takes two months to update, ya know? You know.
Ahahahhahahahha. :] The fun parts are finally getting close! I can't wait! Whooo. I'm sleepy. Tomorrow I'm gonna fix up my other chapters, cause I saw some STUPID, STUPID, STUPID mistakes I made. Oh, I'm gonna keep doing long chapters. K? K. Nighty night~