X. Planets
"Ahhh, it's good to see your beautiful face! I had the shittiest day ever, seriously," Axel said with a sigh of relief as he sank further into the depths of his overly-plush couch. His laptop sat on top of a pillow, which sat on top of his lap, and he smiled into the screen through his fatigue. Skype was open, displaying the bright-eyed blond smiling back at him.
"Yes, I am glad you came on. I was beginning to think you forgot about me!" the blond laughed. If their shitty webcams were better, maybe Axel would've been able to see the way Roxas blushed as he spoke.
"Psh, I could never forget about you! Especially with you and your family coming out to visit in two days. God fucking shit, I am excited to see you in the flesh. Au naturale. Right? Yeah? Good?" Axel wondered with a grin on his face. His cheeks hurt already from the sudden mass amount of smiling he experienced whenever he spoke with Roxas.
"No, no, no, never try to speak French again. You can't do it. You stupid American, capitalist pig!" Roxas barked back, laughing.
"Oh, really, Roxas? Is that how you want to play it?" the redhead wondered, tilting his head at the screen as if facing the blond down in a stand off. "Well, in case you'd like to know, you also have a semi laissez-faire economy! And I simply can't wait to rendezvous with you!"
The blond on the other end howled in horror and outrage. "Gah! My heart! My ears!" he whined. "So much American accent that it disgusts me! My nation is bleeding from its side now! Good work, Axel. You must be so proud!" After a few minutes of giggles and more banter things grew quiet and the both of them ended up just staring at each other. "Axel, I am excited to see you. Of course, my family is excited, too, but I can't wait… more? You know what I mean. I want to feel myself in your arms…"
"Yeah, I want to feel you in my arms too. I've been practicing my French to impress your family. I know they already love me, but now they'll love me even more once I speak to them in your guys' native language. Bonjour, sacré bleu, escargot and all that. You know, really good French."
Another person entered Roxas's room, Axel noticed. The person said something Axel couldn't understand, but he sounded upset. From pictures that he'd seen and even from talking to him a little, Axel knew it was Roxas's brother, Ventus. Despite not being twins, they were nearly identical, which boggled the redhead's mind. "Roxas! Qu'est-ce que tu fais? Tu dois commencer à faire tes valises!"
Roxas turned to face the person. "Oui, je sais, mais je parlait avec Axel. Je me suis assuré qu'il soit prêt pour nous. En plus, tu sais comment je suis," Roxas seemed to explain, Axel not really understanding anything aside from his name being spoken. "Il me manque toujours…"
Ventus sighed. "Oui, je comprends, mais tu dois être prêt! Si tu n'es pas prêt, tu ne peux pas y aller! Alors, tu ne pourras pas voir Axel! Ensuite, tu te plaindrais tout le temps quand nous retournons! Vas-y, vas-y!"
Roxas sighed sadly and replied, "D'accord." Ventus left as Roxas turned back to face the screen. "Sorry, but I have to go. I must pack for the trip. Well, I love you," he said shyly, turning red enough that even his webcam could detect it.
"Wait, wait! Say it in French!" Axel begged.
The blond rolled his eyes but smiled. "You are very silly, you know, Axel. Je t'aime." He blushed again.
Axel hummed contentedly. "I love you too, cutie. I'll see you in a couple of days." And with some more small goodbyes, Roxas ended the call, leaving Axel to stare at the textual conversation that Roxas and Axel could have had. Excitedly, Axel closed up his laptop and began the laborious, grueling task of cleaning the entire house to ready for the guests he would be having.
-A breakety break!-
Compulsively, Axel checked his watch every few seconds. He tapped his feet against the hard floor of the airport's baggage claim. Anticipation knotted his stomach in horrible ways and he felt as if he could pass out at any moment. To try to keep some form of stability and calm, the redhead crossed his arms over his chest, searching for stress-relief in that action alone.
"Excited much?" Axel's brother, Reno, asked with a grin on his face. Reno had come along because he and Axel lived together and he knew all about his relationship with Roxas. He was curious to meet the blond, too, and would be helping show his family America and some of its wonderful sights.
Axel scoffed in reply but was too nervous and excited to form a coherent reply.
Axel had been waiting for this moment, the moment he could finally meet Roxas, for a little over two years now. Now he finally had his chance to hear the blond's true voice and see how he walked and what his eyes looked like up close. And he would be able to run his hands through Roxas's blond, silky-looking hair and run his fingers over the boy's smooth-looking skin. Just the thoughts alone gave him chills.
Finally, after about 35 minutes of waiting around for Roxas and his family to appear, they really did appear. First came Roxas's brother, Ventus, who seemed to be blocking the path down the narrow escalator for Roxas, who appeared to want to enter the baggage claim as soon as possible. Behind them stood Roxas's parents, looking bright-eyed and very interested in their surroundings, if not a bit tired.
The moment Roxas and Axel's eyes connected, Axel felt weak at the knees. He didn't think it possible, but in person Roxas was even more beautiful than he'd ever looked in pictures and over their webcams. Immediately, he grew mousy and shy even though he didn't see the need to be. Roxas seemed to be feeling the same way.
When they finally got off the escalator, the Strife family picked their way through the crowd of people in the baggage claim to reach the two redheads. The Strife parents and Ventus introduced themselves with a perfectly normal handshake, but when Roxas said hello to Axel, he got up onto his tippy toes, pressed their cheeks together, and made a kissing sound. Before he could switch to the other side, Axel hastily pulled away in surprise, his face completely red.
When Axel hastily pulled away, Reno started laughing, the Strifes seemed surprised, and Roxas looked very guilty and sheepish. "Sorry! I forgot they don't do that here!" he blushed intensely, practically forcing Axel to ruffle his hair.
"It's okay, you just surprised me," the redhead grinned.
Roxas and Ventus's parents spoke with Reno and Axel as they retrieved their bags and finally started heading towards the parking lot. Ventus couldn't keep his eyes off their surroundings, staring at everything curiously. Unlike Ventus, Roxas just couldn't keep his eyes off Axel. It made the redhead feel self-conscious, but he didn't say anything about it.
After leaving the airport, Axel and Reno took drove the Strifes back to their home in Venice, California. The Strifes all stared everywhere as they drove, taking in the new environment. They dropped off their luggage and got their rooms all situated, and by the time that had been finished, night had fallen and Reno and Axel wondered what to serve their guests for dinner. Neither of them could cook, so they decided heating up a couple of frozen pizzas would have to suffice.
The Strifes seemed a little put off by it as well as the lack of order and system in the placement of their table set-up, but they accepted the conditions, promising to make the food for the remainder of their stay. They promised the two redheaded brothers that it was to pay them back for letting them stay at their house, but Axel had a feeling it was more for their own benefit. They didn't want to eat pre-made frozen foods. Axel understood and felt sheepish, so he promised to take them to a grocery store the next day to buy the necessary ingredients for whatever beautiful concoction they would cook up.
When it came time to really settle in to sleep, Reno would be sleeping on the couch to allow the Strife parents to use his bed, and Ventus and Roxas were to use their guest room. Thus ended the first night of their visit.
The next morning, Axel and Reno woke up at 5AM as usual to go running together to Venice Beach. When they returned, their guests seemed confused, as they had woken up to an empty house. Axel took them to the grocery store as promised and helped them locate oodles of ingredients and foods that seemed would last longer than the week they were to stay for. They assured the redhead that it was just enough, so he let it go. When they made breakfast shortly after returning, Axel learned that eggs and crepes made for a very delicious meal, more delicious than any meal he'd had in years.
For the next week, Axel and Reno showed the Strifes all the lovely landmarks and famous places they wanted to see and more. Axel and Roxas quickly fell into a lovey-dovey and playful relationship, which didn't surprise anyone at all. The two had been babbling about each other since the very first time they ever spoke on the internet to each other. Even though their relationship was unofficial, they knew that they were made for each other and as the days went on and as they grew closer, so did the time when Roxas and his family would have to return to France.
On the last day, Reno promised to take care of Roxas's family so that Axel could spend the last day alone with Roxas. Axel promised to make it up to his brother, but Reno refused. He just wanted to do something nice for his brother free of charge.
So on that last day, Axel took Roxas to hang out with some of his friends at Venice Beach. They all got along well, which didn't surprise Axel, and spent the day swimming in the ocean and splayed out on the beach with ice cream and various picnic-type foods. After that, they returned to the house and cuddled together in Axel's bed.
"So how did you like your stay?" the redhead wondered, kissing Roxas's forehead.
The blond sighed. "It was wonderful; like a completely different planet. The people in America are more open and friendly than the people in France. It is a nice change. At the same time, I don't understand much of the slang words that are used here. It will be sad to go home, but I am also happy to return."
Axel hummed in reply. Sadness overwhelmed him and he felt the sudden need to kiss Roxas, so he did. He'd kissed the blond several times before during his stay, but this time was different. During their time together, Axel had done his best not to force Roxas into having sex with him, but this was the final time they'd see each other for a long while, and even though Axel personally didn't believe in having sex after having known a person in the flesh for merely a week, but at the same time, it was now or never, so he was going for it.
Roxas responded positively to the deep kissing, and began running one hand through Axel's hair and the other feeling up his back under his shirt. He allowed the redhead to trail the kisses down to his neck, where he began nipping and sucking. "Ah," he sighed contentedly, "Axel, I have waited for this… I had a fear that you would not touch me."
In reply, Axel grinned. "Me too, but I didn't want to pressure you." He pinned Roxas to the bed, his knee wedged between the blond's legs and roughly against his crotch, making the boy groan. Axel smirked at the response before he continued to nip at the blond's neck.
"Ooh, Axel…" Roxas breathed. He buried his fingers within Axel's hair, tugged at the red mane so they could kiss, and wormed his free hand down to Axel's zipper.
The moment Roxas managed to dig through the denim and cloth boxers, everything went by in double-time, too fast for Axel to keep track of. He only remembered the feeling of Roxas's smooth skin under his rough fingers, the taste of his breath, and the sounds of skin slapping and the bed creaking underneath them. Already, it was over.
Axel lay on his back with Roxas curled up into a little ball on top of him, tucked neatly into the crook of his neck, blond hair tickling his chin. He smiled contentedly and hummed the rhythm of "We Are the Champions" by Queen as he gently stroked Roxas's naked side and back. Behind his closed eyelids, Axel saw the face of Roxas in the throes of pleasure and passion. An expression of absolute feeling. And Axel wouldn't soon forget that, if ever. Even when he'd first lost his virginity, it hadn't been that memorable. But the moment he and Roxas became one entity, he knew he would never forget it.
When he thought of the distance and the fact that he wouldn't get to hold the blond for a long time, a lump formed in his throat. When Axel first started talking with Roxas through the internet, he never in a million years would've guessed how hard he would fall in love with the boy. Even after he'd met Roxas and began talking to him on a daily basis, he had never considered how wonderful or how much of an impact seeing the blond would make on him.
In that moment of remembrance that Roxas would leave the following morning, Axel stopped stroking the blond and instead held him firmly against his chest with both arms. If he was leaving tomorrow, then Axel would get the most out of their time together. He couldn't really do much else. Just as sleep had its dreamy tendrils around Axel, the feeling of a thumb against his cheek brought him back to consciousness. His eyes fluttered open and he found Roxas leaning over him, staring intently at his face. "Hmm?" Axel asked.
"There was a tear. I wiped it away," Roxas explained. He leaned down and kissed the redhead's cheek. "I… I love you," the blond said afterwards, sounding choked up. "I love you very much."
"Me too," the older boy responded. "I love you, too." He pulled the blond against him and rocked the boy softly in his arms. "I'll miss you."
Roxas nodded and wrapped his arms around Axel. A few warm water droplets landed on Axel's chest the same way more warm tears landed in Roxas's hair.
-Breakey break!-
The next day, at 5AM, Axel and Reno drove the Strife family to LAX. They waited in traffic and spent close to an hour looking for parking and had to wait in an impossibly long line to get their bags and passports all checked and they waited for forty minutes in the terminal so that Axel and Roxas could spend as much time together as humanly possible. And then there were hugs and strong faces and broken hearts and a kiss goodbye and then there was the departure and the two groups of people waved goodbye for the last time. And then one party got on a 10 and a half hour flight to Paris, France, where they would then transfer to a flight from Paris to Nice which would take about an hour and a half. And the other party drove home to a strangely-empty house where the older brother would go back to sleep while the younger brother would lay in his bed and try not to miss his favorite blond in the world.
Of course, a few months later, Axel would get the opportunity to stay in Aix-en-Provence for a study abroad program and, which lay merely an hour away from Nice, Roxas's hometown. And then after his six month study-abroad program where he learned French fairly well, Roxas would gain a visa to work at a company in LA for two years and then eventually both would gain dual citizenship and float back and forth together every few years. But neither of them knew that as of yet, so while Axel sulked in his room alone in the dark, Roxas cried silently on the AirFrance plane with his brother offering him tissues every so often.