Author's Note: Hey peeps! I got my –fucking- braces off today! So, in celebration, you get a chapter! Even though you would have gotten one today anyway… but whatever. Anything is a cause for celebration! And I might up the rating to 'M' on this for a certain scene in a certain upcoming chapter. So, be warned.
Happy almost one month anniversary! W00t!
Disclaimer: I don't own Hairspray, Oklahoma! or these awesome characters.
Chapter 9
Shave and a haircut…
Ding dong.
Roxas's eyes flew open. That was definitely not the usual sound of his alarm clock. Neither was the hard wooden chair his bed and his laptop didn't feel too much like a pillow. He shoved away from his computer, a persistent crick in his neck complaining with the movement, jarring the screen to life. The blond's heart sank before he realized that his essay was completed and that he had fallen asleep whilst proof-reading it for a final time. He let out a sigh of relief before the doorbell resonated through the house once again. Roxas groaned and rubbed the side of his face that was more likely than not mottled by the impression of his laptop's keys. He blindly made his way towards the door, palm rubbing his eye and wide yawn on his lips as he pulled on the doorknob.
His gaze met a grey and red striped sweater and it was only when the annoying redhead spoke that Roxas shifted his sleepy gaze towards the brilliant green eyes and black tattoos, "Yo, Rox. Love your pajamas." He saluted casually. Roxas simply grunted in response and removed himself from the door, leaving Axel to stand at the entrance while he went back to his makeshift bed.
"Bananas and ice-cream? Lovely combination." It took Roxas a moment to pull together the fact that Axel was still commenting about his pajama pants and matching shirt. He gathered his laptop into his arms and turned, almost crashing into the redhead's chest in the process. Not that the blond noticed any. He simply pushed on by, very determined to continue with as little interruption as possible. When he made to go up the stairs, Axel called out to him, "Roxas, what're you doing?" He sounded highly amused by the still half-asleep teen in his rather girly PJs.
"Printing," was his only answer. The redhead's chuckle was faint as he slipped into his room, his real alarm clock buzzing away beside his unmade but unused bed. He made quick work of the alarm before dealing with his printing problem. Once the machine was slopping ink onto the white pages, Roxas fumbled through his clothes and threw on a shirt and some pants. He stepped into the hall and passed a glance over the balcony at Axel.
"Waiting," a very amused redhead informed the blond.
Roxas shuffled his way to the bathroom at the end of the hall and muttered, "Hold your horses, Axel."
"But I don't have any horses, Roxie," Axel called from the foot of the stairs.
"Shut up, Axie." Cold water was splashed onto his face and a minty toothbrush shoved in his mouth. A comb was passed through his hair, and he made his way back to the printer with all deliberate speed. Papers were stapled together and crammed into his bag and he was off. But before he removed himself from his room, he snatched up the borrowed scarf and brought it up to his nose to absently sniff. He frowned: Axel's scent had diminished to a pitiful amount.
He tromped down the stairs and promptly threw the scarf in its owner's face. Said pyromaniac revealed a grin as he swiped the scarf away, "I finally get it back now, eh?" The blond ignored Axel and brushed by him to the kitchen.
Roxas dug into the bread bag and retrieved a slice. His hospitality, what little of it he possessed, kicked in finally, "You want some toast, Axel?"
Axel snorted, "As long as it won't muddle my girlish figure."
"Hasn't done much for mine," Roxas replied absently, stuffing two slices of bread into the toaster, double checking that it was actually plugged in before starting the toasting.
"Oh yeah, I can definitely see that," he twisted a hand in the air flippantly, "So, you pull an all-nighter again?" He leaned against the doorway to the kitchen, as Roxas leaned back against the counter.
Blond spikes wagged back and forth slowly, "I think I fell asleep around midnight." He rubbed at his face where the keyboard had left a faint impression, "They need to make laptops that can also pass as pillows. It would safe a lot of students' faces that way."
Axel chuckled, "Looking at you, one would think that you were the one with the hangover."
And that's when the events of the past evening all came crashing down on Roxas. Suddenly, he was very aware that he was awake, and quite aware of the redhead standing before him and all that had transpired between them. It took all of Roxas's willpower to stop himself from hyperventilating, and he didn't quite hear as Axel rattled on before him.
"You licked me."
"-but I don't- what?" Roxas's muttered comment caught the redhead's attention away from his ramble about his headache and how, apparently, he didn't get drunk all that often.
Blue fixed onto green, "You licked my face."
A guilty smile stole over Axel's cheeks, "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I never really know what I'll do when I'm like that."
Roxas was carefully blank, "And you said that I smelled good."
To this, Axel shrugged, "Well, you did." The toast sprang up in the silence. Blue eyes widened to incredulous shock-mode, and Axel grew very wary all of a sudden, "Uhm, the toast is done."
Roxas stared at the redhead for a fraction of a moment longer before retrieving the toast. He stuffed one slice into his mouth and held the other out to Axel, who made no move to accept the bread.
"Roxas, I hope I didn't freak you out too much last night. I'll cut back if-"
"Or not and I can just grow into it," Roxas replied, shoving the breakfast into Axel's face, "Now take the toast, it's burning my fingers." What he didn't mention was the fact that he quite enjoyed Axel's little quirks and rather flamboyant nature, no matter how awkward or strange it felt. More than that, Roxas couldn't seem to imagine the freak as anything but what he was and was afraid to hinder his sheer brilliant nature. The bread was taken, "Your singing was rather amusing, I must admit."
A smile worked its way onto Axel's face, "I'm glad someone approves of it, at least."
Roxas rolled his eyes and spoke through a mouthful of toast, "Come on, if we don't leave soon, I'll miss the first part of my Western Religions class and there is no way in hell that I'm going to miss turning in this freaking essay."
Black tattoos were lifted into a brilliant grin as Axel dove to open the front door, offering it open in a very exaggerated butler-like way, "After you, Señorita Banana Pants."
Roxas tried and failed to stifle a smile, flipped the redhead off, and was promptly serenaded all the way to the car with a bout of "Oh What a Beautiful Morning".
000
"-Though on the outside, I looked good! Then we met and you made me the man I am today. Tracy, I'm in love with you, no matter what you weigh! 'Cause..."
The quite familiar singing voice reached Roxas's ears as he sat at a bench in the quad, laptop resting on his knees and a half-eaten sandwich in his hand that wasn't occupied with the computer. The blond wholeheartedly ignored Axel and declared to himself that he did not know that particular flamboyant redhead. Said person continued singing in a highly exaggerated and girly voice.
"Without love, life is like the seasons with no summer. Without love, life is rock 'n' roll without a- Roxas!"
At that moment, Roxas tried his best to self-shrinkify himself, but to no avail. He took a cautious glance and saw Axel waving, sporting a wide perky grin that spread from ear to ear. He groaned and set his laptop to the side and – reluctantly – his sandwich as well, before taking those agonizing steps towards the psychopath who spoke in an over-loud voice to him.
"You want a bud? It's Hairspray," Axel explained, gravity-defying spikes bouncing slightly less than before.
Roxas frowned slightly and told the man blandly, "Axel, you're making a spectacle of yourself."
Axel, who had apparently been paying more attention to the music coming from his iPod than the blond, continued in his loud tone, "What? No, no, youhave to listen to John Travolta." He removed an ear bud and shoved it in Roxas's ear, which promptly exploded with sound.
A moment passed as the song played on, Roxas finding it harder to keep fighting a silly grin and almost snorted with laughter, "What the hell is this?"
Axel gasped in exaggerated shock, "You've never seen Hairspray? Dude, what classes do you have left today?" He took out his ear bud and Roxas followed suit, the man singing as a woman becoming a distant buzz.
"Just Bio." It was becoming increasingly hard for Roxas to resist the small grins as he was around the pyromaniac.
"Fucking awesome. I'm kidnapping you afterwards and we are watching it." A finger was wagged before a rather cute nose, blue eyes crossing to automatically focus on the moving digit.
The smile still had not dispersed, "Um, where?" The iPod headphone was taken back by its owner.
Axel shoved a thumb to his own chest, "My house, duh."
Roxas let out a single laugh, "You have it?"
The redhead scoffed at him, "Why wouldn't I? It's the best thing since Grease. Andplease tell me you've seen that."
The grin turned to a guilty smirk, and eyebrows were raised, "Not quite?"
Green eyes widened, "You deprived child! What have you seen, I wonder?"
Roxas scratched the base of his neck gently, "Not much of anything, really, besides the occasional James Bond or some other action thriller. So, not many. There's a few that I watch. I'm not really into movies."
Axel's look turned to playful disgust, "Roxie, how could you? Well, that's sure to change damn soon, because you're going to get some education, got that memorized?"
Roxas didn't want to admit that movies reminded him of his parents and of Sora, the latter of which used to watch a Disney movie with Riku every week. Since the accident, Roxas had refrained from watching anything remotely Disney-esque, or just plain movies, to be precise.
"Don't you have work after class?" Smug Roxas took control of semi-perky Roxas.
"No coffee making on Fridays, bay-bee," to this, Axel gave a small victory dance, most likely toned down to save Roxas that bit of embarrassment. The blond rolled his eyes and turned back to his bench, vaguely motioning for the redhead to follow. Roxas took a bite of his abandoned sandwich, glancing back at the redhead, who was staring expectantly.
Roxas snorted and completed his bite, "Yes, Axel, I have it memorized."
His face brightened, "Awesome, meet me by my car after your class, then."
Roxas hid his giddy grin by cramming the meat and cheese filled bread into his mouth. Was it just him, or was the redhead making this out to seem like a date?
End Notes: Yeah, I love Hairspray and I know that I'm a dork. I just don't like the fact that Axel has a copy and I don't. I just sing the songs really loudly in my car with my friends.
