Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts! All I have is random merchandise!

Warnings: Same old stuff – Slash, potty mouths, and European fun.

Author's Notes: Believe me, I DO realize how long it has been since I've updated this fanfic, and for that I am really, really, truly sorry. I could spout of the usual excuses, you know… 'I've been busy', or 'I moved', or more commonly 'work has been brutal'. So I will. Yes I have been busy, I really did move, and works been, well, work. Either way I shouldn't have waited so long between chapters. Gomen Nasai!

Uncommon Ground

Chapter 3.

Roxas' worst fears were confirmed the next morning. Axel was sitting beside the bed yet again, eating a bagel and looking positively giddy.

"What's your problem?" He asked, still groggy from sleep, and not in the mood to be subjected to a happy Axel.

Axel ignored the question and instead handed a little brown paper bag to Roxas. "I figured the hospital food probably sucks."

Roxas opened the bag and took out the breakfast bagel, complete with egg and cheese in the middle. His mouth watered, and he wasted no time in biting into the calorie filled piece of goodness.

"Thanks", he mumbled between bites. "Why'd you stop back here?" He asked, already half-finished the bagel and feeling better about the upcoming day. "Do you really want to be around when I tell the police you're the one who ran me over."

"Are you going to tell them that?" Axel picked up a paper cup from on the floor and took a sip. His coffee to start the day. He offered it to Roxas, who declined.

"Probably not." Roxas admitted grudgingly. "It's not like I really have anything to gain by telling them." He added as an afterthought, mostly just to appease himself with the decision. He really didn't want to get Axel into trouble – in fact the thought of doing that made him feel vaguely uncomfortable. Something akin to guilt. It would have been different if Axel had willingly run him down and then drove off. But he didn't. It had been an accident, and he hadn't taken off anywhere.

"That's good to hear." He took another sip of coffee and smiled. "I was planning on checking out the Tower of London today and staying in a cheap hotel. Wanna tag along?"

"Will you be driving?" Roxas crumpled up the paper bag and aimed for a garbage can some distance away. He missed by a long shot. "'Cause if you're driving there's not a chance in hell I'd tag along."

Axel stood up and sauntered towards the door, stooping on the way to pick up the piece of trash Roxas has thrown. "Already taken care of." He said laughing. "I dropped it back at the rental place earlier this morning."

Without a backwards glance Axel left, languidly walking out the door with a casual "see you later," offered as he went.

Roxas didn't see him again until after lunch. Before that time he was questioned by an officer and badgered with paperwork. Both of which he would have happily done without. The official stand he took was that he didn't see the vehicle that hit him. He simply woke up in the hospital and would like to be on his way, thank-you very much.

The officer had looked skeptical, but had kept his mouth shut. He had enough work as it was and lived whole-heartedly by the motto 'if it ain't broke don't break it,' which was a relief to Roxas. Lying wasn't his specialty. It was telling the truth that he was a little to good at, much to other's annoyance.

Roxas was already dressed, signed-out and ready to go when Axel showed up again. Smirk on face and map in hand. "Shall we ditch this joint?" He had asked rhetorically, hitching up his own backpack a little higher.

Outside a light rain had started to fall, and Londoners had their umbrellas out and a grim determination in their steps. Nothing stopped them, especially not the ever common drizzle. Neither Axel nor Roxas carried an umbrella, it being far too big and impractical for a backpacker to keep in their bags, 'just incase.' So instead Roxas pulled on a light jacket, and Axel pulled the hood up on his black sweatshirt, and they continued on in the weather just like the locals did.

The two of them walked along the sidewalk in a companionable silence. Roxas' head still ached a bit, but it was nothing compared to its previous intensity from the day before, and with the low-dosage painkillers he had, things were starting to look up.

"So," Roxas began, finally growing sick of the quiet. "I've been meaning to ask. What the hell are those?" He pointed to Axel's face.

"What?"

"Those markings! Under your eyes!" Understand eventually dawned on Axel, and he raised a hand to touch the little teardrop markings under each eye. "These? They're tattoos."

Shaking his head incredulously, Roxas laughed in disbelief. "You got your face Tattooed? What the hell is wrong with you? Who the hell tattoos their face?"

Axel stopped in front of a small, stone faced building. "Well, me…naturally." He grinned. "But you must admit they're kickass."

The blonde didn't bother answering. He did think they were cool, in a strange sort of way. Not that he'd ever go out and get it done, but on Axel, they suited somehow.

Axel took the silence as an agreement and started walking again. "I've heard there's a cheap hotel a couple blocks down from here. Whadya say? Up for ditching our bags there?"

Roxas nodded. Truthfully Axel could have suggested the sleaziest homeless shelter in the city to stay at, as long as he could leave his backpack there. Somehow he had thought he had packed light. Thought being the key word. After about fifteen minutes of wandering around Heathrow Airport trying to find the right exit he had officially decided that he had way too much stuff. Heavy stuff, mostly clothes he'd never get around to wearing.

Now the backpack was a major irritant, weighing down on him like a pile of rocks. Dropping it off sounded like a very good idea. "Yeah, that sounds good."

The hotel turned out to be not half bad. Certainly not a high-class luxury hotel, but clean and reasonably priced. Which was all they were after.

Roxas had his misgivings about staying in the same room as Axel, two twin beds or not. He'd heard stories. People waking up in the morning to find their newfound roommate gone – along with all of the money.

Luckily he had the rest of the day to find out if Axel was really a crook. Roxas took a little comfort in that. If by the end of the day he felt safe enough with the idea of sharing a room that didn't have a locker for his stuff, then he'd just have to risk it.

They checked in to the hotel, and dropped their backpacks in the room, exchanging them for much smaller, and thankfully lighter daypacks. With maps, and money and cameras they set out for a tour of the ever popular Tower of London.

"The Tower of London is supposedly haunted you know." Axel said when they drew nearer to their first destination, and glimpsed its imposing walls and severe exterior. "I've heard," he added in a deep whisper, "that a lot of shit has been seen by visitors. Apparitions, creepy voices, little dead kids. The works."

Roxas suppressed a shudder and didn't say a word. When he was younger he had been convinced that an abandoned house in the neighborhood was haunted. To prove the point to his friends he had offered to sneak inside and spend an hour there at night. He had lasted a total of ten minutes before he had run out screaming, and Sora still wouldn't let him live it down.

He knew that the Tower had a bloody history. An intriguing one certainly, but gruesome and full of murder. But he really wanted to see the place. Ghosts or not, he wasn't about to let a bullshit story from Axel scare him out of seeing the imposing building. "Shut up." He finally told him. And Axel didn't mention a word of it after that, although every time Roxas risked a glance at his strange traveling companion he'd see a little knowing smirk on his lips. Axel knew his weak spot and it was pissing Roxas off.

"Can we take the guided tour?" Roxas asked, when they made it to the west gate entrance and stood with the queue. "I think we'll get lost if we go it alone." He added. It sounded like pathetic reasoning, even to Roxas, but the truth was even worse. Axel's talk of hauntings in the complex had him worried.

"Well, hmm…" Axel raised a finger to his chin in mock thought. "I suppose…" He drawled, leaving no doubt that he thought of it as an act of charity. "Since you don't want to wander around…alone."

"That's your fault. What are you? Five?" Roxas huffed. The lineup was long and he was not in the mood to deal with Axel's teasing.

"Close. Try twenty-one."

"What? You're twenty-one?" From the cavalier attitude and easy way of going Roxas had assumed Axel was probably just like him. Fresh out of high school.

"Right you are, kiddo! How else do you think they'd rent me a car?" He laughed at the look of shock still apparent on Roxas' face. "Oh, and I'm almost positive you're around eighteen? Right?"

"Right." He answered slowly. "Don't think you can push me around because of it." He added as an afterthought. Already Axel's non-stop pestering was making sense. He was older. Yet another reason why Roxas found him a tad too annoying.

The tour itself was actually fairly pleasant. Axel complained non-stop, but it was half-hearted at best. More of a ruse to irritate Roxas than anything else. Roxas also had the distinct impression that the other man liked to hear himself talk. It was incessant and pointless, and very quickly getting on his nerves.

"…and lo and behold. The CROWN JEWELS. Whadya think of that Rox? Roxas?"

Roxas had been ignoring him since the start of the tour. Unfortunately it hadn't been working very well. It seemed that the more Axel was disregarded the louder and more insistent he became.

He had remained pleasantly quiet during the first five minutes of the tour, as the Yeoman Warder leading the tour took the large group of tourists away from the Middle Tower and towards some of the more interesting sights.

Axel even had the decency to not make any comments of the 'let's scare Roxas' variety when they went below Wakefield Tower and into the Torture exhibit.

But, it was when there was a lull, or when something seemed particularly anti-climatic that Axel opened his mouth and started the running commentary.

And even Roxas had to admit, the Crow Jewels were about as pro-tourist as you could get. Hell, there was a travelator that you had to stand on!

"Awe, look Roxas! They were being thoughtful of the weary tourist." Axel pointed at the slow moving conveyor and stepped on, grabbing the blonde by the wrist and dragging him along.

"Axel," Roxas finally said, after about forty-five minutes of silence. "Do you ever shut the hell up?"

"Nope."

"I thought not."

Somehow after the tour, pictures, and a walk over to Tower Bridge they still had time for a visit to St Paul's Cathedral.

Roxas had broached the idea hesitantly. Especially given Axel's penchant for making fun of tourist traps. Yet, amazingly he had agreed to the plan without complaint.

To get there they had opted for the underground 'Tube', which quickly got them nearer the famed cathedral. Just a short stroll from the terminal and they made it to the immense spectacle of domed architecture.

Roxas breathed in deeply when confronted with the building's grandeur. It was all much more awe inspiring than any picture in a guidebook.

Axel nudged Roxas in the arm, as the youth stood transfixed on the spot. "No guided tour this time, alright?"

Roxas nodded. No tour. Just the freedom to wander at leisure and view what they wanted to. The only problem was going to be deciding what exactly needed to be seen.

They spent their time traversing the main floor, looking at the ornately designed Baroque interior and selected artwork. Imposing arches and saucer domes were the focal point of the nave, making everything else seem miniscule by comparison.

Roxas would have been happy analyzing every little detail in the artwork and structure of the main level, but Axel's curiosity won out in the end. He grabbed the blonde by the arm and physically dragged him up the stairs towards the upper level Whispering, Stone, and Golden Galleries.

"I've heard about this." Axel said, upon entering the Whispering Gallery. The crowd in the cathedral was still a large one and there were plenty of visitors testing out the unusual acoustics of the area.

"I should hope so Axel." Roxas had a hand on the railing and was leaning over to get a good view of the level they had just come from. "I think everyone's heard of it." He turned let go of the railing and turned to look at Axel who was leaning indolently against the wall. The redhead pointed up, and looked questioningly at Roxas.

"Sure, I'd like to see the view from there."

From the Whispering Gallery, it was a climb of one-hundred and nineteen stairs to reach the Stone Gallery, and a further one-hundred and fifty two steps to witness the view from the Golden Gallery.

The final climb up to the tallest viewing area was steep and narrow. Axel went ahead and Roxas followed behind without any trepidation in his step. Nothing would stop him from getting the very best view London had to offer.

Peoples voices could be heard echoing up from the galleries below, and once, a touring group coming down from the top gallery had to pass by, making Roxas and Axel squeeze against the far side of the railing. But when they finally made it to the top and looked out over the expanse of London, they knew the trek up the stairs had been a very minor detail.

The view was fantastic.

And the rain was falling harder than ever, and the wind was whipping violently, causing both their hair to fly up on end – even more so than normal in Axel's case. And in all honesty the view from the top would have been much better on a sunny, peaceful day.

But it was still perfect.

Roxas dropped his daypack to the floor and fished around for a moment, pulling his cell phone out triumphantly. He dialed, held the phone up, and waited.

"Sora!"

Axel smiled despite himself, watching the blonde talk wildly to his brother on the phone, and for once look completely at ease.

"Sora, guess where I am?" He paused for a moment. "I'll give you a hint. I can see most of London right now!"

And while the phone call went on for several minutes, Axel merely took in the sights from that far up vantage point and marveled at the sudden strangeness.

He really liked seeing Roxas happy. It was almost as fun as pissing him off.

Almost.

A/N: Reviews are like my version of candy, I swear!! Hint Hint