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sweet talk 101

o2 : champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends - fall out boy

Axel had barely stepped through the doorway when Kairi latched onto his arm, screaming, "Come meet Roxas!" over and over again. She seemed to have forgotten about her fight with her brother. They pushed their way through the moving bodies (or rather Kairi pushed her way through while Axel was dragged along) to the other side of the living room. Or what was a living room. Where Axel remembered a rug and coffee table was now a dance floor and couches and loveseats and chairs were pushed up against the walls.

Axel caught a flash of silver. He did not want to see a silver-haired certain somebody, his brown-haired companion and the thing's brother. What he wanted was to go off and find his own friends. Dance a little. Smoke a cigarette. Get himself and a girl into a bedroom. Oh, dear god, yes, they're leaving! Wait.. no..

"Axel, Axel, this is Roxas!" Kairi had let go of Axel and looped her arm through a certain blonde's who looked a lot like Sora. Except the hair was styled a bit differently. What really got Axel's attention was the kid's body language. The closer Kairi got to him, the more uncomfortable he seemed. He practically screamed "GET THE HELL AWAY, BITCH." Axel didn't blame him. Hell, you'd be the same way too if you had boobs pressing into your arm. Possibly.

''Roxas, huh?'' Axel repeated, the name like crushed ice on his tongue. "The name's Axel. Commit it to memory."

Kairi giggled. If you didn't know her well enough, you'd think she was trying to cut off the circulation to Roxas's arm. "Roxas, Axel's my brother. He's a total dick, but I guess he can be nice sometimes."

Oh, yeah, sure, Axel thought, make me look like the bad guy. The kid probably thinks I'm gonna pop out of nowhere one of these days and kick his ass or something.

Roxas waved meekly. Kairi giggled again and pushed herself closer to Roxas. He just looked like he wanted to stab Kairi with a tazer, zap! Axel actually found himself feeling some sympathy toward the poor kid. He wouldn't want to get molested by Kairi either.

Okay.. ew.. just.. stop thinking..

Okay, he wouldn't normally be doing this for a prep.. especially Sora's brother.. but he'd make one tiny exception today.. "Say, Kairi, the kid looks dehydrated. Get him a beer or something will you?"

"Roxas doesn't drink," Kairi stated. She sounded like she was showing off her prized poodle at the Eukanuba Dog Tournament.

Heheh.. Roxas... as a poodle..

"Then get him some water or something."

"Why don't you go get it?"

"Because. I'm not going to be able to have a normal conversation with him if you keep hogging him. Now get."

Kairi stuck out her tongue but let go of Roxas. She probably didn't want to seem rude in front of him or some bullshit like that. But Axel heard her mutter "fucknut" as she brushed past.

Once Kairi was out of sight, Axel turned his attention back to Roxas. "C'mon."

Roxas raised an eyebrow.

"Do you want her to come back and hang all over you? Plus, she's my sister. I heard her say she wants to ask you out."

Roxas's eye's widened and he stepped closer to Axel. The red-head smirked and motioned the kid to follow him with a jerk of his head. He cleverly side-stepped dancing teens, couples making out, making sure every now and then that Roxas was following.

After going through a kitchen the size of an apartment, Axel pushed open a glass door, stepping out onto the back porch and the chilly night air. The backyard was illuminated by dozens of light bulbs and people were jumping in and out of the pool. Axel led Roxas to a waist-high brick wall the separated the flower garden from the backyard.

Axel sat up on the wall and dug through his sweatshirt for a lighter and cigarette. Roxas merely stood by, looking like he had been dropped from the sky and these were his first steps on earth.

"Well?" Axel asked, taking a deep drag on his cigarette and feeling the smoke hang in his lungs. Cancer. Yay. "You just gonna stand there looking dumb?"

Roxas's eyebrows furrowed and he frowned. It looked more like a pout. Axel let his eyes wander, finally being able to see the boy in more proper lighting.

Sure there was a deep resemblance between him and Sora. But Axel picked out the differences too. While Sora was tan, Roxas's skin was paler, like cream. While Sora's eyes were deep sapphire blue, Roxas's were bright cobalt. While Sora's brown hair stuck up in wild directions, Roxas's was a dusky blonde, like a sunset and spikier, sticking up more to one side then in all directions and spiking out on the sides and back. In actuality, they didn't really look the same at all.

Axel blinked. Dusky blonde like a sunset? Wow, someone was feeling poetic tonight. So instead of dwelling further on those thoughts, Axel took in another drag, tilting his head back to the sky. Too bright for stars. Again.

Roxas frowned slightly and stuffed his hands in his pockets, glancing around a bit. When Sora had asked him to come to have a bit of fun, this wasn't exactly what Roxas had in mind. Where was the fun? Certainly not that kid trying to dunk another kid in that pool. Oh.. was he drowing?

"Well?" Axel said, looking back at Roxas. "What're you standing around for? I got you away from Kairi. What do you expect me to do now? Make friends with you and make daisy chains and friendship bracelets?" He puffed a ring of smoke at Roxas's face. He's Sora's brother. What's there to expect out of the kid? He's the same as the rest of them. I can see it.

The blonde scowled. What the hell is up with this guy? One minute he's nice and the next he's an asshole.

"Sooo.." Axel started, blowing out a cloud of smoke. "Kairi says you don't talk much. Why not?"

Roxas shrugged.

"Nothing good to say?"

Roxas shrugged again.

"Is shrugging all you can do?"

Roxas glared.

Axel laughed. "What's with the look, kid, eh? Hey, if you do nothing but shrug, we're not gonna get anywhere."

Roxas lifted his chin, crossing his arms stubbornly. Axel laughed harder. "You're just like him! He gives me the same, exact look. Haha, you're no different from your brother or any of them. You're like a little clone!" He reached over and flicked the blonde's forehead.

Roxas grabbed the cigarette from Axel's fingers and breathed in, blowing smoke in the other's surpirsed face. Then he threw the cigarette down at Axel's feet and stalked off.

Axel merely sat there and smirked.

(And then the cigarette set the grass on fire. ...kidding.)

x.x.x

There was nothing more to the party. People danced. Hell, the whole house danced, shaking the ground. People got drunk. Axel got drunk. He got drunk to the point he was clinging to Demyx and Kairi and calling them his "Little Caterpillars."

...Don't ask.

Demyx calls Axel a retard, Kairi gets fed up and leaves with Riku and Sora. Axel goes home later and nearly drives into a telephone pole. He saw someone drive into a telephone pole once. It snapped in half and car looked like a accordion. Axel reminded himself not to drink and drive. But he was still drunk, so what was the point in that? He drove home, minding his speed, his brain fuzzy (how is that possible?). He hadn't seen Roxas since the kid left. He hadn't seen Roxas all weekend either, though he had to put up with Kairi's constant "Roxas-shall-be-mine" rants. Wait. No. That sounded like a good idea. Roxas and Kairi. Mmm. Tormenting.

And that's how Axel's little obsession begins.

x.x.x