Disclaimer: I owned everything! EVERYTHING! And then I bloody well had to go and wake up, and you know what? I now own NOTHING! Sobs
Warnings: Boys getting freaky with other boys (eventually), a fair share of not-so-delicate language, and the odd violent spree compliments of Roxas.
Author's Notes: Well I finally got around to updating –I actually tried to update on Victoria Day (Monday), however the FFN login was down, so that didn't go very far!
I realized I lied in the last chapter when I said there would be drunkenness and a castle, that's going to be in the next chapter.
Oh and also, I'd love to hear a little about all my readers, namely which little corner of the world everyone hails from. Until my next update – LATERZ!
Uncommon Ground
Chapter 6.
Not for the first time in his life Roxas wished he had remembered to learn more about a destination.
He did consider himself to be a bit of an expert on all things touristy and European – with no small amount of pride bordering on what some might call 'self-centered bastard syndrome'. Before leaving on his whirlwind euro trip he had poured over every available guidebook at the local library, spent countless hours in front of the computer looking at tourism sites until his eyes were bloodshot and blurry, and watched every single, stupid travel program that came on the television.
His friends had unanimously decided that Roxas was a nut job, and given the evidence they were probably right. However Roxas had brushed off all the comments, and continued his research with an almost sick obsession. At least, he reasoned, that by the end of it all he would have a vast knowledge of his soon-to-be destinations.
But even his vast knowledge had limits. Limits that seemed to extend to only the areas he had marked on his travel agenda with a big yellow highlighter. Everything else was not worth the while, simply on account of it not being on his list of places to go. A list he had painstakingly made and wanted to stick to like super glue.
A list that had been brutally desecrated and left for dead, thanks to a certain red-haired nuisance, now on his ever growing hit list.
"But Roxas, it's Jorvik! We can't miss Jorvik!" Axel had practically whined, bumping Roxas' irritation up another notch. "It's supposed to be the most kick-ass thing around here."
"Vikings, Roxas, Vikings!" Demyx had added, grabbing Roxas by the arm and dragging him down the sidewalk, away from the front of the hotel they had stayed in.
"But I just want to see the York Castle Museum." Roxas complained, wrenching his arm free of the tight grasp it was in. "I don't even want to see Jorvik!"
The other two had stopped listening to his protests and had kept on walking down the sidewalk towards the bus stop. Roxas followed behind at a slower rate, feet dragging along the paving stones and eyes downcast. His day was not going as planned – not even close!
They had to physically push Roxas onto the bus when it arrived. Prodding the blond up the bus steps, and then making him sit down on a seat near the back.
"I just don't get it Rox. What's the problem with seeing Jorvik?" Axel asked, already pulling out his camera in preparation for going picture taking crazy. "It's historical." He taunted, elbowing Roxas in the side. "I thought you were into that sort of thing."
"I am." He replied, staring out the bus window and trying to ignore Axel's attempts at baiting him. "But it's not mentioned in the guidebook I use."
Before he even finished saying that he realized how pathetic it sounded. But the worst part was that it was the truth. He had never heard of Jorvik until both Axel and Demyx brought it up. How good could a place be if those two wanted to see it.
Roxas would have much rather preferred to have stuck with the old standby tourist sights – especially since he really wasn't even supposed to be in York in the first place!
"That's sad." Axel gave Roxas a light tap on the back of the head and continued. "And you call yourself a backpacker! You don't have the spirit for it."
"Hey Roxas, if you don't like Jorvik then you get to pick what we do next, 'kay?" Demyx handed a brochure on York's tourist attractions to the blond and went back to nibbling on a biscuit he had gotten from the café earlier.
"I'm pretty sure you'll like it though. It's really cool looking in all the pictures!"
Axel nodded in agreement with Demyx. Roxas still wasn't convinced in the matter, but if they were going to let him choose the next stop then he was willing to put up with Jorvik. He'd just have to make sure that their next location was so painfully annoying it would make Axel suicidal and Demyx quiet (not that he really believed it would ever be possible to make the bubbling, rambling mass of energy stop talking).
But revenge was sweet, and he already had an idea forming on how to torture the two.
The bus rolled to a stop and about half the occupants started filing off. Axel pulled Roxas up by the arm and steered him through the lineup of people disembarking, Demyx trailing behind and whistling a tune. One that Roxas couldn't quite place, but found annoying nonetheless.
"You look like you want to ax murder someone." Axel whispered in a conspiratorial tone in Roxas' ear. "Probably me, right?"
"Wow. You're actually right for a change Axel." Roxas hissed back, not quite sure if he liked Axel leaning in so close. It gave him a very distinct feeling of unease in the pit of his stomach.
"Yo, Demyx!" Axel hollered at their fellow traveler, who had stopped at an information board to read. "Don't let Roxas near any sharp, pointy objects!" He laughed loudly when Demyx gave him a thumbs up in understanding.
"Do you guys wanna meet up later at the gift shop?" Demyx yelled back, before Axel and Roxas decided to head to the huge lineup of people waiting to get into the park.
Roxas blinked. A gift shop. Souvenir shopping was the one thing he hadn't done much of yet. A few postcards and key chains were all he had bought so far on his travels. Which Roxas figured to be a good thing in some ways, as it at least meant he wasn't blowing all his money on stuff too big and heavy to fit in his bag. On the other hand…
He really did need to get a good gift from his trip to bring back for Sora. Something fun and not too serious. Art was definitely out of the question, as was anything breakable, overpriced or for that matter likely to be stolen.
Jorvik would have plenty of less-expensive, durable, 'fun' stuff that would probably keep Sora amused for awhile. After all, the place was a reconstruction of a Viking settlement.
"Sure, sounds good." Roxas called back, surprising Demyx and Axel with his enthusiasm to go along with the plan. Upon seeing their shocked expressions Roxas inwardly snickered and decided to play it up. "I can't wait to buy some stuff from here."
As they stood at the back of the queue of loud, excited groups of waiting people, Roxas noticed something odd.
The line didn't appear to be moving.
At all.
"Axel?" He asked, startling the redhead at his side out of his apparent stupor. "The line isn't moving, is it?"
Axel took a moment to glance over the line of people in front, before whistling a long, low note that didn't seem to speak of good tidings.
"It's moving." He began tentatively. "But it's one hell of a line-up."
"What!" Roxas jumped up and down a few times to try and get a better look up at the front of the line, but he just wasn't tall enough. "Just how long exactly?" Roxas asked, already fearing the worst.
As if to make the point perfectly clear, Axel sat down right on the walkway and used his backpack as a headrest.
"Shit."
The crowd was slowly getting much the same idea as Axel, and soon a good portion of the people waiting were sitting down. Or in Demyx's case laying flat out behind the other two and singing the 'Grand Old Duke of York' under his breath.
Roxas stood. For one reason it meant that in a short time he'd be able to see the front of the line-up, thanks to the sheer amount of sitting that was happening. The other reason was more along the lines of complete stubbornness.
He would not be made a little whiny bitch because of a stupid line of people. He was better than that!
"You're making me tired. Sit down already."
"No Axel."
After five minutes of standing around watching everyone else sitting, Roxas swallowed his pride and slumped to the ground in defeat.
More time passed, fifteen minutes to be precise, with only the slightest amount of movement felt in the line. The line was at a crawls pace. The really sad part was that it actually was crawling; people were scooting ahead on their hands and knees inch by painful inch when the time called for it. 'Which', as Roxas thought, 'wasn't very often.'
And to make matters worse, and sink the day into a negative fun category so far in the minus regions as to make it almost unbearable, the sky itself decided to piss on their moment of misfortune. It started to rain.
"It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is…hey!" Demyx was cut off from his sing song by a slap to the head by an already very annoyed blond.
Axel stood up suddenly, startling Roxas in the process and stopping Demyx from breaking into yet another song.
"It's a good thing it's raining." He said at last, after getting questioning glances from both Roxas and Demyx. "Look around." He explained, waving his hand to gesture at the line of people.
That for some reason seemed a whole lot smaller.
"What the…" Roxas watched as around three-quarters of the tourists left the line and started to make their way to the parking lot. Some with umbrellas unfurled, while others were left with no other option but to run for it.
"Sweet! They hate rain!" Demyx quickly got up from the ground, all smiles and infectious enthusiasm. "I'll bet it won't take long now."
That turned out to be the understatement of the year. What would have taken hours of waiting, was cut down to only another ten minutes.
When they finally made it to the front, Roxas had all but forgotten to be bothered entirely at the prospect of being there. He wasn't even mildly annoyed anymore. Although he still complained loudly about the entry fees when he saw the rates posted on a sign as they got closer to the main gates.
"Two passes." Axel said when the time came to pay for them. He handed over the money at the counter before Roxas had any time to make a fuss, passing the one ticket to the blond and offering a shrug to Demyx.
"Next time we drag him somewhere he doesn't wanna go you can pay for it." He said amiably. "And don't you dare start pissing and moaning about your ticket Rox."
Roxas was taken completely off guard, but somehow managed to form a coherent 'thank you' without too much trouble. The words seemed completely foreign, like the passing phrases heard as you walk a busy section of the city – snippets of conversations you just don't have the entitlement of knowing. Roxas thought it felt a lot like that.
Jorvik was sprawling in the way most historic towns seem to be designed. Big enough to meander in and always find some new building or different area that you never noticed before. Small enough so that getting lost was never an issue.
Roxas' only thought upon entering the place was disbelief that he had never heard of Jorvik before.
It wasn't bad.
Not bad at all in fact.
" Jorvik! Jorvik!" Demyx offered like a mantra every time he'd see a park employee dressed as a Viking walk on by. Most would leave him alone. The odd one would give him a weird look and draw a sword, which only fueled the fire of Demyx's hyper insanity.
Roxas wasted no time and immediately started snapping pictures with his digital camera, which was already getting low on memory due to his previous excursions around London and York.
"I've already filled two memory cards." Axel said when he noticed the way Roxas was trying to pace himself with the photo frenzy. "I think I took around fifty photos my first day in London." He added, taking out his own camera and getting a shot of Demyx mauling one of the Vikings.
"He looks like he's having fun." Roxas watched as Demyx was pushed off a big, burly man dressed as a warrior. He looked to be having the time of his life.
Axel laughed. "He's always having fun." He pointed out, to which Roxas had to agree. They had only known Demyx for a very short time, but he had already made himself a nice little niche in the party. A crazy, happy one for sure, but still his own special brand of weirdness.
"Hey guys! Check this dude out! His name is Xaldin and he has the hugest sideburns I've ever seen!" Demyx was quickly tackled to the ground by the aforementioned big, bad 'Viking'.
He twitched on the ground.
"Should we help him?" Roxas wondered aloud, but it wasn't needed. Demyx sprang up from the ground and grinned.
"I'm okay!"
The rest of the morning and part of the early afternoon progressed in much the same fashion. They would split up every so often, but sooner or later they would run into each other at an exhibit, or just follow the sounds of angry Vikings if on the lookout for Demyx.
Even the weather improved, which was a relief. It had turned out being a good way of getting rid of a crowd, but after hours of walking around in a cold rain the sun peeking through the clouds was a welcome sight.
And Roxas was having a good time. More to his own surprise than anyone else's. Both Axel and Demyx had figured the blond would eventually come around and see what a good idea it was to waste a day at Jorvik – not that Roxas would ever admit to being wrong.
Roxas was looking at a small Viking home when he remembered that he was supposed to be meeting up with Axel and Demyx at the gift shop. He glanced down at his watch and cursed, earning himself a glare from one of the costumed female Vikings.
He was already late.
Taking off at a run, he dodged tourists, Vikings, and the odd piece of architecture that he'd miss seeing until the last possible moment.
And than he saw the gift shop with dawning horror.
Demyx was on a shopping spree.
Roxas had seen some frenzied buying in his life. Usually it involved ladies, a mall, and the words 'clearance sale' in big, bold lettering.
This scenario had none of those things – well unless Demyx had a very dark secret he wasn't telling anyone. Roxas shook his head to clear the horrible imagery that had come to mind.
Tee-shirts, mugs, toys, even a few stuffed animals were piled onto the counter, and behind the massive pile Demyx stood grinning hugely and handing over a wad of cash. Roxas had to hand it to him. He certainly didn't have an issues with shopping like a madman – which he was.
Ignoring the shopoholic, Roxas slowly entered the little store, already eyeing up a Viking plushie on a rack near the back. If it were life sized it would have scared small kids and adults alike, but since it was only ten inches tall it really just looked kind of cute.
And Roxas knew it was something that Sora would definitely like.
"A stuffed doll? Really Rox, I didn't peg you as a toy kinda guy."
"Shut up Axel." Roxas picked up the little Viking and made his way towards the counter, Axel in tow.
"It's for my brother Sora." He elaborated, trying to cut off the next smart-ass comment Axel was sure to make. "He likes stupid stuff like this."
Thankfully there was no line up at the check-out, and Demyx was already waiting outside the door for them, three bags in hand.
Roxas handed over his payment to the cashier when the total came up and wasted no time in leaving the store. Any longer in there and he ran the risk of buying more.
"So this brother of yours…" Axel asked as they met up with Demyx outside. "Is he older or younger."
"Sora's younger." Roxas replied slowly, and with a little deliberation. "But only by a few minutes."
"Oh." Axel seemed a little surprised by the information. "Twins huh? Well you don't hear that one everyday. Must be better than having a brother a few years older. My brother's a total ass."
Roxas stopped walking.
"You shouldn't talk about your brother like that." Roxas said quietly, but with a certain edge in his voice that left absolutely no room for debate. Axel watched the blond walk away from him, and shrugged. He would ask about it later, now was certainly not the time.
It was already close to four-thirty by the time they found the way out of the park. Already the parking lot was close to deserted, with the last few stragglers packing it up for the day, leaving in a stream of tiny compacts.
"I don't know about you two," Axel began, "But I'm hungry, thirsty, and wouldn't mind a York pub about now."
Roxas stopped walking and turned on his heel, coming face to face with a very amused Axel and a happy Demyx (which was no surprise as he was always happy).
"What?"
"Umm, let's hit a pub?" Axel ventured, Demyx nodding rapidly at the idea.
"That's what I thought you said." Roxas slumped in a disbelief. They were going to go get drunk and leave Roxas to look after himself for the night. He realized belatedly how odd that thought had been. After all, the reason he had gone to Europe in the first place was to be on his own for a change.
And he'd been trying to get away from Axel since the very first day there. Admittedly he hadn't tried very hard to ditch the redhead. In fact, Axel had started to grow on him, much like a toxic weed does in someone's prized lawn.
But for some reason, the idea of Axel and Demyx having a good time without him made Roxas a little uncomfortable – left out in a way.
"Why so glum Rox?" Axel jibed, ruffling the blond's short spiky hair, and inciting the oh-so-common glare, just not as lethal as usual. "You're eighteen right?"
Roxas nodded once, brain still not catching up to the current events.
Axel sighed exasperated. When he spoke he enunciated every word very slowly. "You." He poked Roxas in the chest. "Are coming with us. You're old enough to drink here."
"What!"
"Shall we?" Axel asked.
"I think so." Demyx replied. Each grabbed an arm of a stunned Roxas and proceeded to drag him to the nearest pub.
The loud shrieks of objection could be heard from miles away.
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