Disclaimer: We've been through this. I don't own.
Warning: This chapter has severe swear words in it.
Dream 2 – Arabian Nights
"Axel?" The boy walked through the sandy streets, searching for that tall redhead. For anything that would spark awareness inside of him. He found nothing. Nothing but pictures of a boy he didn't know, with friends he didn't have but without the redhead that he rather liked.
"Axel?" He called out louder, wondering where in this town his friend could possibly be. He wasn't scared, just a little worried for his more than eccentric friend.
As time went past and the sun started to set did Roxas's outlook on the situation start to change. The heavy weight of fear settled in his chest as he continued to walk through stalls after stalls after stalls, vendors brandishing their wares in his face.
"Where the fuck are you, Axel?" Roxas hissed, worry pumping through his veins.
"You called?"
Roxas whirled around, his black coat following the swinging motion. "Axel!" His relief at finally finding the redhead melted over to make way for his frustration at having to search for him. Cerulean eyes narrowed at the fire-wielding man. "Where the hell have you been, you jackass? I've spent practically two hours looking for you!"
His friend lifted both his hands and shrugged, trying to look innocent. "Whoa there, kitty got claws I see," Axel walked over to the fuming blond, placing an arm around his shoulder. "I was just roaming town. You know, to see the sights. Like you wanted to do."
Roxas pushed the arm off irritably and started to walk away. "I wanted to see them together since it's the first break we've taken in weeks. Not for you to amble around Agrabah like a boy, high on hormones, searching for some exotic beauty to warm their bed!"
"Getting jealous Roxie?" Axel chuckled, long legs enabling him to catch up to his brooding friend in no time.
Said friend half-turned, snarling. "Shut. The fuck. Up. God."
Axel's eyebrows shot up, high on his face. "…Were you that worried about me?"
"Why do you care? It doesn't fucking matter anyway. Go pick up some chick already and leave me alone."
"You like jumping to conclusions don't you?" Axel huffed. "Jesus, Rox. If I knew you were going to be such a girl about me leaving for a moment, I never would have wasted my money, buying you this." He stuffed his hands in his pocket, turning the item he no doubt got ripped off on in his hand.
"It wasn't for a fucking moment Axel! It was for two damn ho- wait… What?" Axel tried to hide a smile as the blond in front of him turned around, trying to comprehend his words. "… You… got me something?"
Axel scoffed, trying to fight off the persistent attempts that smile was making. "Why do you care? It doesn't fucking matter anyway," the redhead quoted, hands on hips and a mock-irritated expression on his face.
Pink made a path through Roxas's cheeks as the boy flustered for words. "I-uh… umm… well, I just… it- you, I… and umm …sorry Axel," A finger scratched his left cheek idly as Roxas looked away, a bit ashamed at his earlier outburst. "You know how I get sometimes…"
He couldn't help it anymore; the redhead burst out chuckling. "Don't worry about it Rox," he said, wrapping his arm around the smaller boy's shoulders. "That's what makes you… well, you. Besides, it's kind of cute."
Blushing harder at the wink Axel sent at him, Roxas turned away with a nervous laugh. "I'm not cute, Axel."
"But of course you are! Especially when you're blushing. Come on Rox, turn around and let me see your pretty face," Axel's long fingers grasped the smaller boy's chin, trying to turn the blond's face towards him but his friend determinedly kept his face turned away. "Roooooooooxas. Seriously. Show me!"
"Stop it Axel!" The blond tried to swat his friend's hand away and get out of the one-armed embrace Axel had him in, but it was useless. The redhead was physically stronger than what he looked like.
"Nope~ you're going to show me that blush you have on, no matter what."
"But why?! If you already know I'm blushing, why do you need to see it?"
Roxas's struggling slowly ceased as his friend turned quiet and his fingers went slack. Wondering what could be wrong, he sneaked a peak at Axel… who was waiting for the slight turn of his head to tighten his grip on Roxas.
"Gotcha!" Roxas pouted at the wide grin Axel wore on his face. "Aw, told you, you were cute Roxie. Look at that pout and blush."
Roxas brought his head forward and smacked it against Axel's. "Shut up! Stop talking about it. It's embarrassing."
Laughing, Axel tightened his arm around Roxas, returning the head hit with one of his own. "So what about that little gift huh?"
The blond looked up at the redhead curiously, trying his hardest to hold back his eagerness to know. "Yeah?"
The fiery man huffed. "Huh. Way to sound enthusiastic. If you're not that interested, maybe I should just keep it then."
"No! I… I want to know," Roxas shifted his gaze away as the redhead shot him a smug smile. Reaching into one of the many pockets of his coat, the lanky man fished out the chain he had acquired from a fishy-looking merchant who undoubtedly received more money than he should have. Dropping it in his friend's outstretched hand, Axel watched Roxas's countenance carefully as the shorter boy cradled his gift almost tenderly, an awed expression on his face.
"Wh-what is this?"
Axel's smile faded as his famous Cheshire grin took it place. "Weeeeeell, Roxie darling, according to the guy I bought it from, this was a tribute or something to the town's hero and his sidekicks because they saved Agrabah from this evil dude, blah blah blah. Eh, your typical hero story, whatever. But anyways, I thought it was pretty cool-looking," he lowered his voice so that the blond had to lean in to hear what he was saying, "compared to the rest of the stuff here. I mean, have you seen them? Talk about tacky eh?"
Roxas chuckled, observing the chain in his hands that was granted to him by his friend. A key charm clutched onto the silver chain. The clasp linking the charm to the chain was a little tan lamp, much like the life-sized ones that were being sold on the streets of Agrabah by various vendors. Dangling off of that with another small chain was a key. The key was a blend of gold and blue metal. The outline of the bow was curved both in and out, resembling a curvaceous W. The beginning of the blade was blue, but after that first section, the colour returned to its luscious gold, the blade curving a tad at the end.
Just looking at it made Roxas think of Agrabah; the colours and design all contributed to the similarity the key charm had to the desert city. Looking up, the blond's words of gratitude died on his tongue as his eyes met the searing green that was directed at his face. When the two sets of eyes made contact, Axel's grin softened to a smile that made the smaller boy breathless. The redhead brought Roxas closer to him with the arm draped over his shoulder, pointing out at a group of shady-looking men at one corner and a group of belly dancers asking innocently, "Are those the exotic beauties you were talking about?"
His blush flaring up again, the smaller boy glanced down at his shoes, trying not to think of the distance (or lack of) between the two of them. Or about the way Axel's arm had a comforting feel to it, similar to the heat the redhead gave off. It was times like this where Roxas could relax and smile without a worry. It was times like this that Roxas didn't feel the need to contemplate about the boy he kept on seeing in his head, or about his lack of memories before the Organization.
It was times like this that Roxas couldn't –didn't want to– believe the Superior about their lack of hearts.
Especially when somewhere deep in his chest, there was that unrelenting, rhythmic pounding he had never felt before.