Intermission

Roxas moaned into Axel's open mouth, falling backward onto the bed and pulling the redhead down on top of him. He tangled his fingers tightly in the other man's hair as he kissed him with a hunger bordering on desperation, one leg wrapping around and rubbing against Axel's fishnet-clad thigh. Axel's lipstick was smeared across both their faces, and his corset was digging into Roxas's chest.

Axel tore his mouth from Roxas's, panting for a moment before he buried his face in the blond's throat, dragging his tongue across the pale expanse of skin as his hands worked their way beneath Roxas's shirt. Roxas groaned and dragged blunt nails over Axel's shoulders and down his back, mumbling an incoherent complaint when they caught against the edge of the corset. He felt Axel laugh against his skin before he sat back, ignoring Roxas's small sound of complaint as he pushed the blond's shirt up and grabbed at the button to his jeans.

Roxas lifted his hips and Axel dragged his pants and underwear off, grunting in annoyance when they caught on one foot. "Leave it," Roxas managed. Axel grinned, the expression almost feral as he leaned in for another kiss, wrapping one hand around Roxas's growing erection. Roxas writhed underneath him, alternately pushing and pulling at the redhead's shoulders, dragging his fingers back up into Axel's hair and pulling hard enough to make the man groan. "Dammit…Axel," he hissed, throwing his head back as the redhead's hand tightened around him.

Axel bit lightly at his jaw before sliding down his body. Roxas tilted his head forward and found himself staring down into Axel's eyes, impossibly large and vibrant against the eyeshadow smeared across his eyelids and the glitter dusting his cheeks. Axel grinned up at him crookedly before he ducked his head and wrapped his lips around the blond's erection, tongue teasing as he took Roxas into his mouth. A gasp tore itself out of Roxas's throat and his hips bucked against Axel's restraining hands. Axel only hummed around him, eyes glinting wickedly as he peered up at Roxas out of the corner of his eye. Roxas closed his eyes, groaning between clenched teeth as he buried his hands in Axel's hair, his toes curling as Axel sucked sharply. "Fuck, Axel…"

Roxas woke with a violent start, heart hammering as he stared at his dark ceiling. His body was sheathed in a layer of cold sweat and there was a sticky mess in his pajama bottoms. He noted these things with an almost clinical detachment; a second later he was scrambling out of the bed, almost tripping in his haste to strip out of his nightclothes as he half-ran for the bathroom. He took a long shower with the water turned as cold as he could stand it, only stepping out when his teeth began to chatter uncontrollably. He toweled his hair dry and grabbed a clean set of pajamas before heading for the living room.

Not bothering to turn on the lights, he threw himself down on the couch, one arm tucked beneath his head as he drummed the fingers of his free hand against his stomach, mind racing. He could be objective about this. He'd had a wet dream about his best friend. His best male friend. Okay. No problem. All he had to do was avoid Axel for the rest of his life – things would be fine.

Roxas's stomach tightened and he turned on his side, hiding his face against the back of the couch. Okay, so that probably wasn't a viable option. He and Axel had had a fight in fourth grade; afterwards Roxas had attempted to stop talking to the redhead. After a day and a half of being stonewalled, Axel had pushed Roxas to the ground after school and sat on him for the remainder of the afternoon, refusing to be moved until Roxas abandoned his no-talking plan. Roxas wouldn't put it past the man to employ the same tactic if Roxas abruptly began to see less of him in the following weeks. He flipped back onto his back, throwing an arm over his eyes with a groan.

Maybe… Maybe it would be enough if he just wasn't around Axel so much during rehearsals. He shifted his arm to his forehead, staring blankly at the ceiling. He only owed Cid one more day – he'd get through it and see if some time and distance couldn't put things in a different perspective. Hell, maybe this would be something he'd eventually be able to look back on and laugh.

A mental image of Axel rose unbidden in his mind, clothed in his costume for the show, painted lips twisted in a knowing smirk. Roxas groaned miserably and grabbed a ratty throw pillow, jamming it down over his face.

Maybe not.

The strident ring of his cell phone dragged Roxas out of his stupor early the next morning. He woke up feeling disoriented, almost rolling off the couch before he managed to catch his balance. For a moment he just stared at his surroundings, a dull ache in his lower back flaring into something closer to pain when he stretched his cramped muscles. He pulled himself into a sitting position with a groan, rubbing his hands over his face and through his hair as he blinked blearily at his bedroom door. "What…"

Remembrance crashed into him all at once. His spine stiffened as he glanced around the small apartment with an irrational feeling of guilt, pulling his knees defensively against his chest. His phone stopped ringing, and the sudden silence pressed against his eardrums. He glanced at his wrist automatically, frowning when his eyes met only bare skin. Grumbling under his breath, he shoved himself up from the couch and craned his neck to catch a glimpse of the digital clock set into the top of his rarely used oven. He didn't have to be up for another twenty minutes.

"That's just great," he said, startling himself with the sound of his own voice. He sighed and dragged a hand down his face, palm scratching over the rough stubble along his jaw. It wasn't worth trying to fall back asleep. With a yawn, he headed back to the bedroom to get dressed. Fifteen minutes later he was locking the apartment door behind him, scowling as he shoved his phone into his jeans pocket – the call that had woken him had turned out to be a wrong number. The day was not off to an auspicious start. His feet thudded softly against the stairs as he headed for the street. The air was cold and raw against his face, and he huddled a little more deeply into his jacket.

"Roxas!"

Roxas's stomach sank as glanced over to find Naminé and Axel loping up to him, red-cheeked and grinning. "You're up early," Axel noted as Naminé wrapped her arms around Roxas's waist in a brief hug.

"What are you guys doing here?" Roxas asked, wincing a little at how brusque he sounded. A small frown creased Naminé's brow for a moment before she shrugged and stepped back, twisting her fingers around one another.

"We were going to surprise you with breakfast," she said, gesturing at the paper bag Axel had grasped in one hand. "We weren't expecting you to be up already."

"Sorry," Roxas muttered.

Naminé laughed, the sound slightly uncertain. "You don't have to apologize, Roxas." There was a moment of awkward silence as they both looked at him and he looked everywhere but at Axel.

"So," Axel said, clearing his throat and hunching his shoulders as the wind picked up. "Can we come up before we all freeze to death?"

"No!" Roxas snapped, panic flaring as he jumped between the redhead and the door. He immediately flushed and turned his face away, jaw clenched. "I don't have any coffee," he mumbled. "Just – let's go get some coffee to go with the food, okay? My treat."

Axel and Naminé traded confused glances, but they both shrugged and fell into step behind him when he turned and headed for the coffee shop located at the end of the block. "Are you feeling okay, Roxas?" Naminé asked, increasing her stride to match his.

Roxas shrugged and kept his eyes fixed resolutely forward. "I didn't sleep very well last night."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Not your fault," Roxas muttered. They entered the shop and Axel and Naminé broke away from him to grab a table. Roxas stalked up to the counter and ordered the coffee, resettling the cups in the cardboard carrier before he grabbed a couple packets of sugar and creamer, piling them carefully between the cups. Then he resettled the cups in their pockets again.

The guy behind the counter was looking at him strangely. With a sigh, Roxas picked the carrier up and made his way resignedly to his friends. He set the coffee down on the table with a tad too much force, only the cups' lids keeping the warm black liquid from slopping over the rims. Axel arched an eyebrow at the blond's behavior but chose to remain silent, offering Roxas a wrapped breakfast sandwich from the paper bag. Roxas took it with a muttered, "Thanks." They ate in silence, Axel and Naminé darting covert glances at Roxas when they thought he wasn't looking. The food wasn't really warm any more, but nobody complained.

When he was finished, Axel crumpled his sandwich wrapper in his hand and dropped it back into the paper bag, then held the bag out to the other two. They both dropped their garbage into it and Axel shoved it out of the way, settling his elbows on the table and sighing deeply. "Thanks for the coffee, Rox."

Roxas nodded, chancing a quick glance at the redhead out of the corner of his eye. "No problem."

"Well, I have to run," Axel announced, sinking down even farther in his seat.

"Well then you're doing it wrong," Roxas snorted, slipping back into their habitual banter without thinking. His stomach did an unpleasant little flip at the look Axel fixed him with.

"No one asked you." The redhead grinned and pushed himself out of his seat, shrugging back into his coat and grabbing his coffee and the garbage. "I'll see you guys tonight."

"Yeah," Roxas mumbled, ignoring the confusion evident in Naminé's expression when she glanced at him. It was just one more day. He could get through it.

Really.

Roxas arrived at the theater that evening in a decidedly subdued mood, stomach twisted in painful knots, only to find someone had turned the house lights down in the auditorium. He paused on the threshold, blinking at the sudden murkiness. The cast was gathered on the stage – Axel was crouched at the edge, speaking animatedly to Xemnas. Cid and Xigbar were nowhere to be seen. With a sigh, Roxas shuffled a few steps to the right and knocked against the wall of the booth that housed the light and soundboards. The door opened and Zexion poked his head out, expression pleasantly neutral. "Hello, Roxas."

"Where is everybody?" Roxas asked.

Zexion's expression became one of wry amusement. "Xemnas has taken over the theater – Xigbar and the others are upstairs."

"Um, why?"

Zexion shrugged. "Why does Xemnas ever do anything?"

"Because," Demyx chimed in from behind them, "Xigbar's pretty much done with all his projects and we need to rehearse. Hey, Roxas," he added as he stepped up beside the shorter blond. Roxas grunted and eyed the leather jacket Demyx was wearing. Demyx's face creased into a pleased smile. "You like it?" he asked, turning to display the rising sun painted on the back. "Naminé fixed it up for me."

"Looks great, Demyx," Roxas murmured distractedly, his eyes slipping past the blond to where Axel was still crouched at the edge of the stage. His innards squirmed as he watched the redhead's long fingers jab emphatically at the air as he tried to illustrate whatever point he was making to the silver-haired director, his eyes lingering for a long moment on his friend's face before he turned away. "Okay, I better head upstairs. You guys have fun or…whatever."

"We always do," Demyx called after him, voice lilting.

Roxas shoved through the side door and took the stairs two at a time, grateful that he wouldn't have to spend the evening in Axel's proximity. Xigbar glanced up from his work with a grin as Roxas banged through the door. "Well, look who decided to show up."

The evening passed quickly – almost too quickly for Roxas, who found immersing himself in the physical aspects of his work a great distraction from the tumultuous goings-on of the past twenty-four hours. When Xigbar called everyone to a halt for the night, Roxas was the only one internally groaning with disappointment.

Noticing his expression, Hayner punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Quit frowning," he said. "We're done early – that's a good thing, remember?" He sighed when Roxas only muttered under his breath. "Okay, be like that. I'll see you downstairs."

"Yeah," Roxas mumbled, running a hand distractedly through his hair as Hayner disappeared through the door.

"Hey," Xigbar said from behind him. "You're done here, kid – go home." He grinned when Roxas didn't move, clapping him on the shoulder as he moved past him. "Can't stay here all night," he said, flipping the lights off as he left the room. Roxas only sighed and grabbed his jacket, letting Xigbar precede him down the stairs and into the darkened auditorium. Hayner was standing behind the final row of seats, hands clenched around the seat back in front of him as he glared at the stage.

"What –?"

Before Roxas could finish his question, Lexaeus's voice boomed through the speakers. "'Emotion: agitation or disturbance of the mind; vehement or excited mental state.'" Roxas glanced at the stage and found the source of Hayner's apparent distress – Olette and Luxord were standing at stage right in front of where the tank would eventually be set up, and Olette was stroking Luxord's hand with a soft expression. "'It is also a powerful and irrational master,'" Lexaeus's voice continued. "'And from what Magenta and Columbia eagerly viewed on their television monitor, there seemed little doubt that Janet was indeed –'"

Roxas bit his tongue to keep from jumping in with "A slut?" With the way Hayner was glowering, it would be tantamount to asking to be slugged.

"' – its slave.'"

"'Tell us about it, Janet,'" Larxene and Yuffie chorused from across the stage.

"Hey – you okay?" Roxas whispered as he stepped up beside the other man, mentally thanking his lucky stars that Axel wasn't onstage for this scene. Hayner glanced at him out of the corner of his eye before releasing a deep breath.

"Yeah," he muttered as Olette began to sing. "Cocky British bastard," he added under his breath as Olette pressed closer to Luxord.

"'Now all I want to know is how to go…'"

Roxas couldn't stifle a grin. "You've got a problem with Luxord? Seriously?"

The look Hayner shot him was pure poison. "Shut. Up."

"'I'll put up no resistance, I want to stay the distance. I've got an itch to scratch, I need assistance…'"

"But…Luxord?"

Hayner groaned and leaned forward to prop his elbows on the seat back. "Yevon, would you shut up?" Roxas subsided, shaking his head as he leaned down to prop his elbows on the seat back next to Hayner's. Hayner glanced over at him before turning his face away.

"'Then if anything grows while you pose I'll oil you up and rub you down…'"

"'Down, down, down,'" Yuffie and Larxene sang.

"'And that's just one small fraction of the main attraction. You need a friendly hand, oh, and I need action.'" Olette took Luxord's hands and clasped them to the appropriate part of her anatomy – beside him, Hayner's glower deepened to murderous proportions.

Roxas did a poor job disguising a chuckle over his friend's expression as a cough. "Well, c'mon man, I mean – it's not as bad as that one scene she has with Axel, right?" he offered weakly when Hayner turned and glared at him.

"Maybe," Hayner muttered. "But Luxord worries me a hell of a lot more than Axel."

"Why?" Roxas demanded, exasperated.

"Well, for one thing, because Luxord's straight."

Roxas tried not to choke on his own saliva. "What?"

Hayner scoffed, pushing himself back upright as Xemnas jumped up as the scene ended. "Come on man, Axel's a fucking closet case. When's the last time you saw him even look at a girl? I know he's your friend and all, but really. If I didn't know better I'd think the two of you were together, the way you guys act sometimes." He paused, flushing slightly at Roxas's expression and scratching self-consciously at his temple. "No offense," he muttered.

Roxas was grateful for the low lighting as the blood rushed to his face and neck. "W-we're not –" he spluttered. "What the fuck, Hayner?"

Hayner sighed and held his hands up in a conciliatory gesture. "Shit, sorry, that's not what I meant," he said, looking everywhere but at Roxas. An uncomfortable silence settled between them as the actors bustled around on the stage, finding their marks to begin the scene again. Hayner sighed again, frowning as he cut his eyes to the side and scratched at the back of his head. "I'm sorry, okay? It was a shitty thing to say."

Roxas stared at him for a long minute before he slumped forward, dragging a hand over his face. "Whatever," he muttered, pushing himself upright and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah," Hayner said, still not looking at him. "See you around."

Roxas turned to leave, but paused on the threshold and glanced back at the stage. Axel was nowhere in sight. He didn't know whether he should feel relieved or disappointed. Mind spinning, he left the theater behind and walked back to his apartment in a daze. When he fell, exhausted, into bed, he didn't dream. And that was probably the only remotely pleasant thing he could say about anything for the next three weeks.