.o.O.o.
I own nothing! Don't sue me!
For additional disclaimers, warnings, summary, pairings, and everything else see the first chapter!
.x.X.x.
Suggested food: s'mores
Suggested beverage: whatever goes good with s'mores. Milk, maybe.
Suggested listening: Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) – Backstreet Boys
.o.O.o
Where the Hell is Magic Lake?
Chapter 04: Campfire Games
-o-
Roxas sat around the campfire, a towel wrapped securely around his shoulders, shivering slightly at the cold night air. After a long day at the lake they had all finally left as evening approached, wanting to get back to camp with enough light to fix dinner and make a campfire. Which was where Roxas had immediately seated himself, dripping wet and cold.
"Dinner!" Sora happily called out, approaching the fire with a plate of uncooked hotdogs.
"Um, Sora, those are raw." Roxas pointed out. No way was he eating uncooked meat. Ew.
"I know – that's what these are for!" Sora told him, brandishing a few pointy sticks. Roxas was confused. Were they just going to poke at the hot dogs for amusement or something? Riku saved him from asking and making a fool out of himself, however, by reaching forward and grabbing a hot dog and a stick, stabbing the wiener and sticking it over the fire. Ooooh. So they were going to cook them themselves. Got it.
Axel eagerly copied Riku, grabbing three or four hotdogs and stabbing them onto his stick, shishkabob style. Roxas hesitantly picked out a stick and pierced the hot dog on it, holding it into the flames. It was a little annoying having to wait while it cooked – Roxas was used to just being handed fully prepared hot dogs that he bought from wherever – but in the end it was worth it, even if his was a little underdone. He'd seen Axel actually catch his on fire and had wanted to avoid a similar fate for his.
Eventually, having had his fill of hotdogs, Roxas sat back, content and full. Nothing like food to make a long, frustrating day seem just a little bit better. Of course, leave it to Axel to ruin the fun of eating a classic campfire meal.
Roxas idly looked across the campfire, where Axel was finishing up his sixth and final hotdog. Honestly, where did that guy put all that food? Noticing that Roxas was staring, Axel acquired a smirk, making a show of taking a huge bite out of his hotdog. Roxas, eyes wide with amazement for a second, then quickly sent a disgusted look Axel's way. It didn't seem to deter Axel though, who continued eating his hotdog with renewed vigour. Roxas wanted to stop watching but found it was rather like watching a train wreck – you wanted to look away, but you just couldn't.
"So!" Sora announced, whipping out a bag of marshmallows. Roxas was finally able to snap out of his Axel-eating-a-hotdog induced trance and tear his eyes away from the disturbingly captivating display before him. "Who's up for s'mores?"
"Mmmf! MMMF!" Axel waved his hands wildly, not able to coherently express himself through a mouthful of hotdog. Sora laughed and grabbed himself a few marshmallows, politely handing one to Roxas, before tossing the bag over to Axel, who immediately shoved his hand in the bag, grabbing one and jabbing it on the end of his stick, abruptly shoving it in the flames.
Instantly the marshmallow burst into flame, erupting into an impressive torch of sugar-y goodness. Roxas gasped as the flames grew rather threateningly out of control, turning the once fluffy marshmallow into a charred and shriveled mutant glob. "Um… Axel? You do know that your marshmallow is on – "
"BURN BABY BURN!"
Ah. So it seemed as though that was how Axel wanted his marshmallow.
Pulling back the charred remains of his marshmallow, Axel proudly looked it over before shoving it in his mouth, stick and all. Roxas watched, wide eyed, as Axel then pulled out the stick, promptly spearing another marshmallow on the end of it and sticking it right back in the flames.
Roxas looked to his own marshmallow, which still looked about the same as when he had stuck it on his stick a minute ago.
Looking sideways, Roxas took in Sora's marshmallow, which had turned a nice shade of golden brown, and watched as he brunette took it and placed it in between two graham crackers with half a bar of chocolate.
Roxas again took in his own marshmallow. It still hadn't really done anything.
"Roxas, I think you're holding your marshmallow a little too far away from the fire." Riku helpfully suggested.
Roxas glared at him. Did Riku think he was some kind of marshmallow roasting expert or something? Huh? It's not like his marshmallows were all that – OH MY GOD.
The blonde looked to Riku's marshmallows with something akin to horror. "Um… Riku? Uh… what's wrong with your marshmallows?"
Riku looked up at him, not seeming to understand. "What?"
Axel glanced up from torching another marshmallow to look at what Roxas was talking about. "Ahaha! Dude! Your marshmallows look like balls!"
And to put it bluntly, Axel was right. Riku had apparently left the marshmallows over the fire without turning them for too long and as a result they were sagging pretty badly, hanging heavy and loose on the stick, looking as though they were about to fall off.
"HAHA!" Sora burst. "Axel's right, Ri-ku! Your marshmallows do look like balls!"
Riku looked down at his stick and smirked. Roxas got a weird twisting feeling in his stomach. No good could come from this. Riku smirking at roasted marshmallows that looked like balls just didn't sit well with him. Carefully, so as not to unsettle the testicle-esque marshmallows, Riku pulled his stick towards himself, lifting it so that his saggy marshmallows were level with his face. Slowly he leaned forward and licked one.
"EEEEEEEEWWWW!" Sora squealed, giggling. Axel smirked. Roxas…
Roxas really couldn't put his finger on what emotion watching Riku lick a testicle marshmallow evoked in him. He just kind of sat in numb shock, completely and utterly at a loss for words.
Seemingly pleased by everyone's reactions, Riku took the act a step further, tentatively taking one of his creations between his lips and giving it a playful suck, complete with suggestive slurping sounds.
"OKAY." Roxas announced, standing up and setting his own slow roasting marshmallow aside. "I'm gonna go back to the tent and get changed. I'll… uh… be back."
Grabbing a flashlight from the nearby table, Roxas made the short trek back to his dilapidated tent, trying to push aside images of Riku and the phallic marshmallows. Unzipping and pushing open the door flap and crawling in, Roxas rummaged through his bags for some clothes to change into. He thought about getting into some regular day clothes, seeing as he was going to have to go back to the dirty campfire, but then figured he might as well just get into his pajamas now. They were already dirty from earlier that morning when he had left the tent in them and it would save him the embarrassment of having to get changed in front of Axel later. Pulling off his dirty pants and tossing them aside, Roxas pulled out his pajama pants, attempting to pull them on over his shoes but getting stuck halfway.
"Oh, come on!" He complained, tugging at them and losing his balance, falling into the pile of sleeping bags and blankets with a dull 'fwump'.
"Need some help?"
"Axel!" Roxas yelped, immediately grabbing for a blanket to cover himself with. "Gah, learn to knock or something!"
"Um, tent?" Axel reminded him, tapping at the stretched canvas.
"Whatever." Roxas snapped. "Learn to… otherwise announce your presence. What are you doing here anyways? I told you I'd be right back."
"Yeah." Axel said with a nod. "But I just wondered why you ran off so fast. Couldn't have anything to do with Riku's little display, could it? Mmm… Riku/marshmallows."
"GRAH!" Roxas shouted, grabbing Axel's pillow and chucking it at him. "Go away Axel! I'm getting changed and I'll be back in a minute!"
"Sure thing." Axel chuckled in reply, slipping out of the tent and scampering back off to the fire. Roxas silently seethed. What was he, five? Why did Axel feel the need to come check up on him like he was some little kid? Or maybe he'd just wanted an excuse to catch Roxas without his pants on, the pervert.
As promised, Roxas came back down to the campfire a few minutes later, dressed for bed but willing to stay up a while longer, even though, technically, he could have cashed in on his right to go to sleep – there were numerous stars out by now, after all. Picking up his cast aside marshmallow, Roxas went back to attempting to roast it.
"Roxas, you're still doing it wrong." Axel commented, and Roxas looked up to glare at the redhead. Excuuuuuuuse him if he didn't want his marshmallow torched to a crisp.
"This is how I want to do it." Roxas stubbornly insisted, his stick and marshmallow about a foot away from the fire.
"Yeah, but you've gotta get it closer to the flames." Axel persisted, lifting his own beacon of a marshmallow and shoving it towards Roxas's.
"NO! Axel! Let me do it my way!"
"But you'll never get it done that way!"
"Why do you care?"
"Just let me help!"
"Look, I already said I don't want your –"
Whoosh!
Roxas's marshmallow suddenly went up in flames as Axel's was held against it.
"AXEL!" Roxas shouted, instantly pulling his precious marshmallow on a stick back and attempting to blow it out. Failing drastically, Roxas tried to fan it off, only to have a flame surge angrily at him, licking at the sensitive skin of his finger. "OW, OW, OW, OW, OW!!!"
Dropping the marshmallow and stick entirely, Roxas frantically waved his hand, hoping that doing so would make the pain of the burn lessen. Again, it was a failed (although valiant) attempt, and he whimpered miserably, wondering if he ought to go run down to the creek and plunge his hand into the icy water.
Suddenly a grip around his wrist stopped his flailing and he looked up to see Axel intently examining his burnt finger. Still making pathetic, extremely un-manly little whimpers, Roxas wondered what he was going to do, vowing to smother him in the night if he made it any worse. Slowly Axel pulled Roxas's hand to his face, studying it for a moment before giving it a tentative lick.
Roxas quickly pulled his hand back as if it had been burned. …Again. "What the heck do you think you're doing?" Axel shrugged. Roxas gave him a suspicious look. Usually people didn't just go around licking other people's burnt fingers for no reason. Especially when the person doing the licking was the one responsible for the burn in the first place.
"I thought it might help." Axel explained with another shrug.
"Well it didn't." Roxas snapped. Although now that he thought about it, Axel's tongue had been a little soothing… Oh well. He had more pride than to let some freak go around licking his burn fingers, however nice it may or may not have felt.
Axel made his way back around the fire pit to his seat, Riku watching him idly and Sora happily roasting another marshmallow, seemingly oblivious to the unwanted licking that had taken place. Prodding at the fire with his stick, Axel waited until the end of it had caught fire before pulling it out, gazing at it hypnotically as the small flame slowly died out, leaving just glowing orange embers in it's place. Carelessly he waved it in a circle.
That certainly caught Sora's attention. Like a mini light show, the glowing end of the stick left a trail of light behind it, delayed to the action Axel put it through. The result was a sort of trippy image of a perfect circle that flickered out a few seconds after Axel had completed it.
"OOOOOOOOOOH!" Sora awed, eyes wide. "Do that again!"
Smirking at Sora's innocent enthusiasm, Axel repeated the motion, forming more circles, squiggly lines, and words in cursive. The words were a bit harder, seeing as the glow would pretty much fade out from the beginning of the word by the time he got to the end of it, but the general point was made, and Sora seemed extremely impressed.
"More, more!" he insisted, jumping up and down in his seat. Riku adopted his 'I-am-on-guard-because-any-minute-now-Sora-is-going-to-get-out-of-control' face and Roxas gave a dismissive snort. Please. The whole glowy stick thing wasn't that cool.
But Sora certainly seemed to think it was. "Make a smiley face!" he requested. "Make a fish! Make a flower! MAKE A PIKACHU!"
Axel was trying very hard to keep up with Sora's demands, his fun game quickly becoming a stressful job to tackle. Flailing his stick hand wildly, he attempted to draw out the happy little creature, only to find that it seemed to be a little too complex for his glowy stick.
"MAKE A PIKACHU, MAKE A PIKACHU!" Sora insisted.
Watching Axel flailing in his attempt to please Sora and meet his requests, Roxas smirked. No way was he ever going to be able to pull it off. Although… Roxas squinted, tilting his head to the side… if you looked at it juuuust right, it actually kinda did resemble the little yellow mousey creature. Just a little. But Roxas wasn't going to give Axel the satisfaction of telling him that.
"MAKE A PIKACHU, MAKE A PIKACHU!" Sora was still insisting.
"I… I can't!" Axel said, frantically waving his stick around.
"MAKE A PIKACHU, MAKE A PIKACHU, MAKE A PIKACHU!" Sora chanted, bouncing up and down. "MAKE A – "
Suddenly the stick went flying – right into Riku's pile of freshly chopped kindling.
"AAAAAH! FOREST FIRE!" Sora shouted, curling up into a little ball in his chair as Riku quickly made to get the still glowing stick out of his precious woodpile.
"Yay Riku!" Sora cheered as Riku sat back down, saving them all from a blazing, forest fire-y death. Quickly moving from his own seat, Sora curled up on the silver haired boy's lap like an affectionate cat. "You saved the forest!"
Looking across the fire at Axel, Roxas noticed that he looked a little miffed at the abrupt change in Sora's affections and attention. Apparently no matter how entertaining Axel might be for a short period of time, it always came back to Riku. Haha! Roxas thought, rather meanly. Take that, Axel! No one loves you. You're just good for entertainment purposes only.
For some reason, thinking this and looking at Axel's unhappy face at no longer being the center of attention made Roxas a little bit sad and guilty. He didn't know why, and it bothered him. "Well." He said, standing up. Everyone looked at him, having forgotten he was even there. "I'm going to bed."
Sora opened his mouth to protest, but Roxas gestured heavenwards, pointing out the multitude of stars that sparkled in the sky, more brightly than back home due to the lack of city lights and activity. Sora nodded, seeming to understand that everyone didn't have the same urge to stay up all night by the campfire that he did. Not everyone had rechargeable energy like him, making sleep a necessity. "Night Roxas."
No sooner had Roxas started up the path to the tent than he heard the footfall of someone following after him. Turning around to see what whoever it was wanted, Roxas came face to face with Axel.
"I figured I'd call it a night too." He explained. "I'd rather not sit through 'cuddle time with Sora and Riku' for another couple hours."
"Whatever." Roxas replied, turning and continuing on towards his destination. Arriving at the tent he pulled his shoes off, setting them outside as he crawled in, making a beeline for his sleeping bag.
"So." Axel began. Oh, no… Roxas thought, groaning and shoving a pillow over his head He wants to talk. "You tired yet?"
"No." Roxas sarcastically answered, his voice sleepy and muffled by the pillow. "It's close to midnight and I've spend all day being tossed off of a jet ski by an insane freak. I'm wide awake and ready for action."
"Oh, okay good." Axel replied, and Roxas could just feel that annoying grin being directed at him. "Me too."
"Axel, I was being sarcastic." Roxas informed him. "Are we gonna have to make up some sort of hand signal so that you can tell when I'm doing it?"
"Nah, that's okay." Axel happily responded. "Let's play a game."
Roxas rolled over, growling as he gave Axel a sleepy glare. "Axel, I don't think you understand. I don't want to play any more games. I want to go to sleep."
"Aw, come on!" Axel insisted, scooting closer and eagerly propping himself up on his side. "It's not a game where you have to actually do stuff. It's a talking game."
Despite his better judgment, Roxas was actually a little intrigued. Trying not to sound too interested, he slowly worked up a response. "…what kind of a game?"
Axel excitedly launched into an explanation, taking Roxas's question as an agreement to play. "Okay, so we both put up ten fingers, and then say things that we've never done. If the other person has done the thing that the other person says they haven't done, they have to put down a finger. And they have to say "finger down" so that the other person knows that they did it. Cause, you know, we can't really see because there are no lights in here. The first person to put down all of their fingers loses… or wins… maybe… I dunno, it kinda depends on how you look at it."
Roxas was a little confused by this explanation at first, but he eventually figured out how the game was supposed to work, even if the point of it escaped him. Still not sure if he was willing to sit up and list things he'd never done with Axel in the middle of the night, he avoided agreeing to the game for the moment. "This sounds like some stupid game girls play at sleepovers." He commented.
Axel shrugged, a gesture that went mostly unnoticed, as it was nearly completely dark inside the tent – the only light being provided by the flickering lantern set outside a few feet away. "Probably. But it's still fun. And it can be kinda like a 'get-to-know-you' game."
"I don't necessarily want to get to know you." Roxas said. "I don't even like you very much. I'm just forced to share a tent with you."
Axel wasn't deterred by this in the least. "So? We can still play the game." He pointed out with a smile.
Roxas heaved a sigh. "You're not going to leave me alone until I play the stupid game with you, are you?"
"Nope!"
That's what Roxas had been afraid of. "Fine then. I'll play your stupid, girly game. But then you have to let me go to sleep."
"Okay!" Axel said brightly, scooting closer again. Roxas was kind of annoyed at his invasion of his personal space, but also felt a little bad that Axel seemed to be this needy for attention. Or maybe Axel just wanted to come off that way to annoy Roxas and get him to play with him. Either way, Roxas figured he'd be nice and indulge the redhead just this once. "You go first!"
"It's your game." Roxas said. "You go first."
"Yeah, but it's your first time playing." Axel countered. "You go first."
"I don't have anything." Roxas insisted.
They sat for a minute in silence, Sora and Riku's voices quietly drifting to them from the fire. Roxas hoped Axel's stupid game wasn't going to work and he was going to be able to just go to sleep. Just as Roxas was just about to suggest this, Axel spoke up.
"…I've never had sex on a rock."
"WHAT?" Roxas burst. "What the hell?"
Axel raised his hands in mock defense. "Hey, I'm just putting it out there."
Suddenly Roxas felt a little insulted. "Are you suggesting that I have?"
"No." Axel said. "I was just saying it."
"I thought the point of the game was to get the other person to get all their fingers down?" Roxas said.
"Well no one was saying anything." Axel pointed out.
"Fine." Roxas said, realizing that if he didn't start participating he'd have to put up with more of Axel's stupid, fake "I never's". Thinking on it for another minute, he finally contributed something to the game. "Okay, I have one… 'I never'… learned how to tie my shoes."
Instantly Axel burst out laughing. "HAHAHA, you never – ahahahaaaa, oh man, that's great! Whoo! Hahaha… But seriously…"
An angry and embarrassed flush covered Roxas's cheeks, hidden by the dark. "I wasn't joking."
Silence. Then…
"Are you kidding me?"
"No." Roxas huffed, starting to really hate this game. "I'm not."
There was a rustles of blankets and a quick zipping noise as Axel moved to open the tent's door flap, reaching out and grabbing one of Roxas's shoes, bringing it back in with him. Sure enough, there was a system of buckles and velco, but no laces. Axel began to annoyingly pull the velco apart and stick it back together, only to rip it back apart again. Riiiiip. "Wow. You really weren't kidding." Riiiiiiiiiip.
"No." Roxas repeated, still rather embarrassed by his confession. "I wasn't. Get over it – it's your turn."
"Oh." Riiiiiiip. "Right." Riiiiiiiiiiiiip.
"And quit playing with my shoe." Roxas added, grabbing the shoe and tossing it off to his side of the tent.
"Alright, well, finger down." Axel chuckled, obviously ready to go on with the game, now that he had confirmed Roxas's statement. "So… 'I've neeeeeever'… had a pet." He said, a good starter that usually was good for knocking out other players. Most people had had a pet at some point in their life. And sure enough…
"Finger down." Roxas grumbled. "I had a bunny when I was little."
Axel choked back the urge to laugh at Roxas again, not entirely successfully. Roxas was reeeeeally starting to hate this game. It had a habit of making him admit embarrassing things. In order to divert the attention off of his embarrassing childhood, he posed another statement. "…'I never' lit anything on fire that I wasn't supposed to." He said, going on a hunch.
"Define 'not supposed to'." Axel countered.
"Something that wasn't specifically made to be lit on fire." Roxas clarified.
"Finger down." Axel said almost proudly, smirking before moving on. "Okay, 'I've never' worn girls clothing."
Roxas cringed. Curse those comfortably snug girls pants he had lying in his closet at home! But no way was he admitting to that. He'd just have to, um, lie. That's it. Lie your girly little pants off, Roxas! Unfortunately, his extended pause in confirming or denying was answer enough for Axel.
"HA!" he shouted, pointing dramatically. "I knew it! You just scream emo. So tell me, pants, shirt, or something else?"
"Pants." Roxas gritted out, thoroughly disturbed by Axel's underlying meaning when he added 'something else'. There must be some way to get Axel back for this. "… 'I've never'… stolen anything."
"Hey!" Axel said, offended. "What makes you think I steal things?"
Roxas shrugged, smirking a little. "Hey, if I scream 'emo', you scream 'troublemaker'." He replied.
It took a minute for Axel to respond. "Okay, fine. Finger down." He finally admitted. "But just so you know, it was always something stupid like those candy bars they have at the checkout isles of grocery stores or whatever... And most of the time it was a dare from my friends, anyways." He added for good measure, not that it redeemed him much in Roxas's eyes. "But 'I've never'… made one of those lame personal webpage things."
Roxas swore. "Finger down."
"I knew it." Axel smugly taunted.
"Shut up." Roxas snapped. "… 'I've never' spent more than half an hour on my apperance."
"Obviously." Axel happily snipped.
"SHUT UP!"
"Anyways, finger down. It takes a lot of hard work to look this good." Roxas rolled his eyes. "And would you believe, as sexy as I am, 'I've neeeeever'… made out with a guy!"
It was completely and utterly silent for a minute before the air was filled with Axel's uncontrollable laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAA!!! Oh man, got you again! Haha, that was almost as good as the sex on a rock one, eh Roxas? … Roxas??"
"Oh… Right." Came Roxas's small voice. "That one was a joke… ha ha." The blonde shifted uncomfortably. "So, uh, next question… 'I've never' –"
"Hold up a second." Axel cut in. Calculating where Roxas's face would be, Axel leaned in until he was about an inch away, seeing what little light there was reflecting in Roxas's wide eyes. "You're acting funny."
"No I'm not." Roxas insisted, scooting away. "Just let me do the next question."
"Waaaaaaaaaaaiiit a minute…" Axel said, catching on. "You're still weird about the last question, aren't you? And not in your usual 'Ewie, Axel! Gay stuff is gross!' kind of way, either. Spill it."
"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just trying to – "
"Let me repeat myself then, in case I wasn't clear the first time." Axel insisted with a smirk. "And this time you have to give a legitimate response. Roxas… 'I have never' made out with a guy."
Roxas gave a slight cough. "Um… finger down?"
"I KNEW IT!" Axel shouted triumphantly as he pounced, pinning Roxas down. "Now spill!"
Roxas shifted uncomfortably, not sure why he hadn't just lied. Probably because he'd never been a very good liar. And there was something about these kinds of 'late at night, have to tell the truth' games that just seemed so… legally binding. Roxas couldn't count how many embarrassing secrets he'd let out about himself during games of 'Truth or Dare'.
Squirming in Axel's hold, Roxas spoke up, knowing he was going to hate himself in a few minutes. "Uh… well… there's this guy, Seifer…" That's right! Roxas thought Pin it all on Seifer! It's HIS fault! "And he kinda always used to follow me around and pick on me and stuff… But, uh, one day he kinda… cornered me. Behind the school or something. And I backed into this wall and closed my eyes, thinking he was really going to lay into me or whatever… and… well… he kinda… tried shoving his tongue down my throat."
Axel let out a whoop, punching Roxas lightly in the shoulder. What the hell was that supposed to be? Some sort of 'You go, Roxas! Attaboy!' kind of gesture? "So did you kiss him back? Did you liiiiiiike it?"
"God, Axel get off me!" Roxas said, shoving Axel off of him. "I did, but it wasn't because I wanted to or anything! I was in shock! Not to mention I was just thankful that I wasn't dead! I mean, I thought the guy was gonna knock me out or something!"
"And all he really wanted to do was knock you up." Axel said with a fake sigh, reveling in the romance.
"Gah, why do I bother telling you anything?" Roxas commented, mostly to himself. And never minding the fact that this was pretty much the first time he had really told Axel anything about himself, anyways. "But it's weird…" He continued, adopting a faraway tone of mixed dreaminess and confusion. "All those years I thought he was beating me up because he hated me…"
"…and all he ever wanted was to get into your pants." Axel finished, as though it was some conclusive moral to the end of a story. "The end."
Roxas glared at Axel, not appreciating his commentary. "Yeah, okay, that's it. I'm going to bed." He said, rolling over and pulling the covers up.
"Nooooo!" Axel whined. "Wait wait waaaaaaaait! We had such a good game going!"
"No we didn't." Roxas grumbled bitterly. "…Stupid game."
"Aw, come on! Rooooooooooooxas!"
"No Axel. Find someone else to play your dumb games with. I'm done."
Eventually Roxas did manage to get to sleep, but it was to the annoying background sounds of Axel's continued whining and pouting at him to play. And to think, this was only the second night of many more to come that he'd have to spend with that idiot freak and his stupid games.
.o.O.o
Ohoho, Seifer/Roxas. Haha, sorry, I just had to stick it in there. Seifer is AMAZING. But unfortunately, not a big part in this story. Sad face. Oh well! We got to learn some fun stuff about Axel and Roxas, didn't we kiddies? XD
…and just for the record, I suck at the 'ten fingers' game even more than Roxas. This part was so hard for me to write, because I can NEVER think of any good 'I never's.