.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: mystery soup, hotdogs, and bagels
Suggested beverage: bottled water
Suggested listening: "Just Go" – Jesse McCartney
.o.O.o
Where the Hell is Magic Lake?
Chapter 10: A Trip Into Town
-o-
The next morning Roxas didn't get out of bed until nearly noon, waking up to sunlight streaming through the window right into his sensitive eyes, and the sounds of Sora running around excitedly, knocking stuff over. But hey, at least there wasn't any barking. That was always a good sign. And apparently Axel wasn't in the tent. That was a great sign. Blearily sitting up, the covers slumped off of Roxas's shoulders as he reached over to grab a shirt and pants, tugging them on before exiting the tent.
"GOOD MORNING ROXAS!!" Sora greeted, wildly waving at him from where Riku was setting up the cooking gear on a collapsible table.
"Nnn." Roxas responded, running a hand through his hair and plopping down in one of the chairs by the fire, making sure to stay on the opposite side of the flames from Axel. The redhead had taken to prodding at the flames with a stick, and Roxas really didn't want to be any closer to that than he had to be.
"Moooorning, Roxie." Axel drawled with a smirk. "Sleep well?"
"Whatever." Roxas replied. The nerve of Axel, thinking he was allowed to talk to Roxas after last night. Not only had the idiot accused him of being gay – AGAIN! – but he had also "accidentally" knocked all of Roxas's clothes into the water, meaning that after their little midnight skinnydipping adventure was over, Roxas had to wrap himself up in the (also soaking wet) blankets that Axel had initially carried the blonde down to the water in. It was cold and wet and unpleasant, but it was either that or having to scamper back to the tent completely naked, which would have been not only unpleasant, but extremely embarrassing. The aforementioned articles of sopping clothing and sheets were currently hung on some fishing line in the sun in the hopes that they would dry sometime before the end of the trip. Roxas wasn't making any bets on the likelihood of this actually happening.
"Sora, the food stuff is all set up." Riku announced, to which Sora gave a happy squee and frolicked on over to the makeshift kitchen area.
"YAY! Thank you Riku! Now I can make lunch for everyone!"
Roxas snapped his head up at this. …Sora was making their lunch? As in… they were going to be eating something that SORA had made? Thinking back, Roxas wasn't sure the brunette had made so much as cereal before without subsequent disaster.
Sidling over to investigate the situation, Roxas observed Sora throwing random odds and ends into a large cooking pot, seemingly at random. "Um… Riku?" Roxas inquired in a low, conspiratory tone. "Is it… safe to let Sora be in charge of lunch?" Riku nodded, not taking his eyes off of the brunette who was happily humming as he arranged his concoction.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. He's putting it in a pot, right?" Roxas nodded, not quite sure what that had to do with anything until Riku further explained. "That means whatever it is, it's going to get boiled. So whatever he's putting in there… the heat will get rid of anything that might kill us."
This made Roxas feel a lot better. He would be able to eat Sora's cooking and live to see another day, as long as the silver haired teen was overseeing things. Thank God for Riku.
"Okay, good." Roxas sighed in relief, watching Sora mix whatever was in the pot with a great deal of flourish, to the point where some of it actually sloshed over the sides. "Cause… you know… no offense to Sora or anything… but, uh, his culinary skills aren't exactly…"
"Up to par?" Riku filled in with a smirk as Roxas trailed off.
"Heh heh, yeah. …Sorry." The apology was tacked on at the last minute, in case Riku suddenly decided to get all 'attack dog-y' and lay into Roxas for insulting an aspect of his precious Sora. Not that Roxas necessarily subscribed to the whole 'Riku/Sora' theory or anything (Damn Axel for putting those unwanted thoughts into his head!), but Riku could still get pretty protective, regardless.
"Nah, it's alright, I know he sucks –" Roxas twitched a little. "– at making food that's actually edible. I mean, seriously, I love him and all, but I'd usually rather starve than let him fix me anything to eat."
LOVE?! Did Riku just say he loved Sora? GAH! Bad brain! Roxas admonished. He just meant it in the platonic, affectionately friendly way! Nothing else!!
"Hey guys, what's going on?" a loud, annoying voice suddenly cut in, interrupting the blonde's thoughts.
"Nothing, Axel." Roxas replied, rolling his eyes. Geesh, did that kid have to get involved in everything?
"Oh. Okay. Cause it looked like you and femmy-hair were getting pretty darn cuddly over here, was all. Mmm, Riku/Rox – OW!"
As Axel recoiled from the smack to the head that Roxas had bestowed upon him, the blonde indulged himself in a self-satisfied smirk. Roxas – defending people's sanity from disturbing pairings since… a few days ago. Hm, he was going to have to work on his slogan.
"Okay guys!" Sora suddenly announced, shoving bowls at everyone and standing next to the cooking pot with a ladle, looking quite proud of himself. "Lunch is ready!"
Everyone stepped forward, cautiously daring to glance into the pot's treacherous depths. Roxas blanched. What in the name of all that was good and holy was in there?! A thick, brownish, broth bubbled ominously, chunks of… something… (possibly meat? vegetables? Roxas wasn't sure)… floating around as Sora stirred.
"Well come on guys, hold out your bowls before it gets cold!"
"Um…" Roxas began, not quite sure how to word what he wanted to say in a non-offensive manner. "What exactly is… 'it'?"
"Soup, duh!" Sora replied, happily grabbing Roxas's bowl and slopping some of the 'soup' into it before handing it back, beaming widely, and proceeding to do the same for Axel and Riku.
"What kind of soup?" Axel questioned, not usually one to care too much about what he was ingesting, but still having enough sense to at least have a grasp of what food group it technically belonged in. Food group or… in this case… species.
"Really good soup!" Sora elaborated. "My special Magic Lake Soup a la Mystery! Eat it, It's really good I promise!"
"Uh huuuuuh…." Axel replied, not really seeming to be reassured by this clarification. "Hey Roxas…" He whispered, nudging the blonde in the ribs. "I think something in my bowl just moved." Roxas's eyes widened in horror.
Dumping a large portion of the mystery soup into his own bowl, Sora eagerly went to sit back down in the chairs by the fire pit, digging in with enthusiasm. Roxas watched, waiting to see if any immediate ill effects overcame the brunette as a result.
"Come on you guys! EAT!" Sora prompted, with such a happy expression that it guilt tripped everyone into at least sitting down and pretending they were about to start in on their meal. In reality, Roxas merely stared down and stared into the depths of the ominous bowl of food, Axel simply swished his spoon around in the bowl, not actually making to lift the eating utensile to his lips, and Riku had taken to sneakily pretending to take sips, while secretly disposing of every spoonful by means of tipping it into a nearby bush.
"It's good, isn't it?" Sora inquired, beaming at Riku.
"Uh… huh…" Riku managed, giving Sora a shaky grin. "Really good." Unfortunately, Sora didn't look away after Riku's affirmation, but instead continued to simply beam at his friend, waiting for the silver haired teen to take another bite. Letting out a nervous laugh, Riku lifted the spoon to his lips, looking like he was hoping to hell Sora was going to look away so that he could go back to dumping it into the bush. However it seemed as though Sora planned on doing nothing of the sort, wanting to watch Riku eat the meal he had prepared. So Riku diligently parted his lips, a pained expression on his face as he scrunched his eyes and nose up in anticipated disgust.
Roxas had to admire Riku's loyalty to Sora, that he would allow that foul looking concoction to pass his lips. But pass them it did, and with a very funny look, Riku swallowed. Poor guy… Roxas mulled. If only he wasn't such a good friend, this never would have happened to him. Good thing I couldn't care less about making Sora happy.
Suddenly, with that same weird expression, Riku turned back to Roxas and Axel, possibly to say his last words. ("…don't….eat…the soup…") an he opened his mouth to speak, almost looking like he didn't even know what he was going to say.
"You guys…" he finally got out, looking dumbfounded. "It's… it's really good…"
"LIES!!!" Axel immediately retorted, abruptly standing and pointing an accusing finger in Riku's direction. "LIES! THE SOUP FROM HELL HAS TAMPERED WITH HIS BRAIN!" Sora looked a little confused at this. For all he knew, everyone had been enjoying the meal he made for them up until this point.
"No, I'm serious!" Riku insisted. "Just try it!"
"Whaaaaa?" Sora confusedly questioned. "Riku, he's been trying it."
"Oh no you don't!" Axel shot back to Riku. "Sora might have guilt tripped you into ingesting this vile concoction, but there's no way you're tricking me into it!"
"V – vile?" Sora questioned, lower lip quivering as he started to feel like there was something going on that he was seriously missing out on.
"Axel." Riku said in a level tone, conveying through his narrowed gaze that he had no problem taking violent measures to get his way with this. "Just. Try. The soup."
Uh-oh! It was the domineering, you're-gonna-do-what-I-say,-and-you're-gonna-LIKE-it tone! Roxas almost felt bad for Axel.
Almost.
…But not really.
Riku's head swiveled, fixing his gaze on Roxas now. "You too."
Damn. Looks like if Riku was going down, he was going to be taking the whole ship, crew, and every last passenger and stowaway with him.
Shakily raising an eyebrow at Axel (there's nothing like facing death-by-soup for bringing enemies together), Roxas spooned up a potion of his soup and reluctantly lifted it to his lips. Taking a deep breath, Roxas said his last prayers and downed it all in one gulp so as to not prolong the… the…
Hey, Riku was right. This stuff was pretty good.
"Holy crap!" Axel burst. "This stuff is really good!"
"I told you!" Sora put in. "Geeze, what took you guys so long? You've been eating it for like five minutes already and you just now realized that it's good?"
"Uh… yeah." Riku explained. "I guess it… took it a while to sink in."
"What's in here?" Roxas asked, still trying to grasp the fact that Sora had made something that was not only edible, but was actually good.
"Pretty much everything we had left from our food supplies!" Sora happily supplied. Roxas choked on another mouthful of soup at hearing this.
"What do you mean 'pretty much everything we had left'?" the blonde spluttered. "Sora, we still have another three or four DAYS left out here!"
"Wait…" Axel shakily said, joining the conversation. "You mean… there's no food left? WE'RE GOING TO STARVE?!"
"No way, guys!" Sora laughed. "We'll be fine! All we have to do is go into town and stock up on groceries!"
"Sora, it's a two day hike back into the camping grounds." Riku pointed out, sounding entirely too calm, given the situation. "And even then it's a ways more to get to any sort of grocery store."
"And all they had back there was that dinky little camp store run by the bumpkins who own the campground!" Axel wailed at the prospect of having to live off of 'campground food'.
"Guys, guys! It's fine!" Sora assured them as he stood up to go put away his bowl.
"Sora, having no food isn't fine." Roxas growled.
"Well duh!" Sora giggled. "That's why we're going into town! If you follow the little trail over there it's only about a thirty minute round trip depending on how fast you walk."
The rest of the group deadpanned at this, not quite knowing how to respond. Roxas was the first to recover, however, and asked the burning question that was on everyone's mind.
"Sora… are you saying that there's a town right near here?"
"Yep!"
"…okay… So then why didn't we just START THERE?"
Roxas really hoped Sora had a good explanation for this. If they had just started in the town that was supposedly so close by, instead of staying in the campgrounds and taking a two day hike through the woods, so much of the living hell Roxas had experienced over the last few days could have been avoided entirely. Not having gotten borritoed in a rickety little tent, or forced to play stupid question games, or lost in the woods, or suffered hypothermia, or cuddled with AXEL!
Oh yes, Sora had better have a darn good explanation as to why he had been forced to endure all of that.
OR ELSE.
"Because it was more FUN this way!"
Fun? FUN!? How on earth could Sora consider everything that had happened so far 'fun'!? That was it, Roxas was going to wait until Riku the guard dog had dropped his guard, and then he was going to KILL the delusional brunette and his ideas of 'fun'.
.x.X.x.
Grumblingly allowing himself to be dragged down the little street of what he had discovered was a small tourist town, Roxas still couldn't believe that Sora had dragged them through two days of wilderness when they could have just taken the thirty minute walk from this little town to where their camp was currently situated.
Oh right. That wouldn't have been as 'fun'.
"Okay, so how about you guys get the food, Riku and I can re-stock on all the other stuff we need, like gas for the stove and lanterns, and maybe a tarp in case it rains or something. We'll meet back up at camp, okay?"
"Sure, whatever." Roxas grumbled as he watched Sora grab onto Riku's wrist and drag the silver haired teen off down the street.
"And there they go again, running off together." Axel said as he smirked, giving Roxas a meaningful look.
"Shut it, Axel." Roxas snapped back, heading off in the direction of where he could see a large "Grocery" sign down the street.
"… Alone."
"I said shut up."
"Alone and together."
"AXEL!!"
"…"
"Thank you."
"Mmm… Sora/Riku."
"THAT'S IT!"
Roxas made a valiant attempt at leaping at Axel, but unfortunately was easily sidestepped, and then pulled back and restrained by a pair of thin, but surprisingly strong arms.
"Now now, Roxie, play nice."
"I'll show you 'play nice'…" Roxas grumbled, stalking off in a huff in the general direction of the grocery store.
Upon entering the air-conditioned grocery mart, Roxas was immediately bombarded by the fact that this appeared to be a hokey little excuse for a store, and they were going to be extremely lucky if they could find even one item that they had in mind. Nothing seemed to be arranged in an order that made any sort of sense, and there was (for reasons Roxas would probably never know, and couldn't even begin to fathom) an entire isle dedicated to bagels and other such bread-like products. But it was civilization – four sturdy walls and a roof overhead, no bugs or dirt or trees – and for that Roxas was thankful. Suddenly the blonde was struck with a thought, and as silly and nostalgic as it might have been, he was determined to pursue it.
"Axel, go grab some food, I'm going to go find the bathroom."
"Why?" Axel asked, glancing up from the packet of artificial cheese puffs that he had been reading the back of. Roxas found this to be an extremely stupid and pointless question, but chose to answer it anyways.
"Why do you think? I have to pee, and I'd like to take this advantage to do so on or in something that isn't a tree or a rock in the woods. Now if you'll excuse me…"
"I'm coming too!" Axel announced, following after Roxas, who had started heading for the back of the store.
"Why? It's not a two-person event." He pointed out. However, it seemed as though Axel was determined to follow after him like some big dumb puppy, intent on making Roxas's life as annoying and complicated as possible.
Unfortunately for Roxas's bladder, it turned out that the store didn't have a bathroom of any sort, and so the blonde and Axel made their rounds of the store, picking out whatever they thought was fit to bring back to camp, Roxas grumbling all the while. It looked like his next bathroom date would be with the unfortunate inanimate objects of the wilderness after all.
"Man, could you believe that place?" Axel questioned as they exited the store. "I mean, they had like all this random stuff nobody actually even needs, but they didn't even have a bathroom." At this the redhead turned back to face the little establishment, shaking his fist at it. "Oh yeah, you stupid store? How about we PEE ON YOUR BAGELS, HUH? HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?!"
Heading back down the street, Roxas was trying his very best to block out Axel's insane ranting and pretend he didn't know the crazy redhead when Axel suddenly burst out "HOTDOG STAND!" and sprinted off in the direction of a little umbrella-ed cart a little ways down the street. Sighing, Roxas figured he would have to follow after him, seeing as Axel had half the groceries, and after the little 'creek incident' he didn't really trust Axel to take care of his share of the belongings, whatever they may be.
"…and can I get extra relish, extra chili and onions, no cheese unless it's swiss, a couple of those little jalapenos peppers –"
"Axel!" Roxas cut in, frowning. "What the heck are you doing?" Axel paused in his order to turn around and look at Roxas, sending him a grin.
"Getting a snack."
Roxas sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine. But make it quick, we still have to lug all of this stuff back to –"
"Axel? AXEL! Is that really you?"
The fiery haired teen's head snapped in the direction of the voice at the same time as Roxas's, a look of confusion on his face for about .05 seconds before it dissolved into an expression of utmost delight and recognition.
"OH MY GOD! DEMYX! ZEXION! What are you guys doing here?!"
Roxas watched as Axel let go of his groceries, letting them drop to the ground with a dull, rustling thump, and ran up to two teenage males the blonde had never seen before in his life. The one that has so enthusiastically called out was a dirty blonde with some sort of bizarre mullety faux-hawk hairstyle that both confused and slightly irritated Roxas. He wore a bright blue, sleeveless hoodie over a black tee-shirt with a pair of khaki Capri pants and some bright red shoes. A pair of large earphones, attached to a beat up CD player he held in one hand , hung around his neck, getting a bit in the way as he launched himself at Axel for an all-encompassing hug. The other new arrival was a rather sullen and pouty looking male, dressed in a long black trench coat despite the warm weather, his hair cut in such a way that it covered nearly one entire half of his face. For the life of him, Roxas couldn't figure out what colour he wanted to call it. Blue-ish silver maybe? Perriwinkle? Whatever it was, it just screamed "look at me, I'm a girly emo boi who sits at home alone in the dark and listens to whiny music and cries emo tears!" Pfft. Lame.
"We've rented a cabin with some of the guys, it's a little ways up the road from here!" Demyx said in answer to Axel's question, drawing Roxas out of his observations. "We only just got here a day or two ago, it was really last minute! I tried calling you like a million times, but you never picked up!"
"Yeah, I've been camping out for the last couple days, I don't have a phone with me or anything…" Axel replied "But this is so cool! How long are you guys gonna be around?"
"Until the end of the week!" Demyx answered, as it this were the greatest news in history. "Where are you staying, is it far from here? Cause you totally have to stop by and hang out!"
"Definitely…" Axel said, sounding a bit distracted, as if he was thinking something over. "Hey, you know what, I'm not really doing anything right now, think I could crash your party for a bit?"
"Sure!" Demyx replied, nodding excitedly. "We were just heading back ourselves, come on!"
"Okay, cool!" Axel responded. Roxas cleared his throat lightly, hoping to get the redhead's attention. Um… hello? Wasn't he forgetting something? Like… oh… the fact that they still had to get back to camp with the groceries? And the fact that Roxas existed. Hearing the blonde's cough, Axel whirled around, looking a bit confused for a second – as if he really had forgotten Roxas was there – before sending him a brilliant grin.
"Hey Roooxie…" Oh, don't you pull that cutsey stuff on me! Roxas's brain warned as he sent the taller male a death glare of epic proportions. Of course Axel couldn't hear Roxas's brain, so he continued on, oblivious to the deadly brain waves being sent his way. "I'm gonna head off with these guys for a bit, okay? Tell Sora and Riku for me, alright?" Roxas opened his mouth to snap out an indignant reply, but was cut off by Axel taking this for a 'yes' and assuming that everything was hunky-dory. "Okay, thanks! See you later!"
Axel and Demyx immediately turned to head off down the street in the direction of the cabin, chatting at a hundred miles an hour. Zexion sent Roxas one last, lingering look, as if trying to interpret the situation at hand, before simply turning on his heel and following after them. Roxas was at a loss of words. He'd always known that Axel was oblivious and self-centered ever since he met him, but this… this actually kind of… No! Roxas would not be hurt. He had nothing to be hurt about. It wasn't like he actually cared that Axel had chosen to go hang out with some other people instead of him, and not even given introductions, and had totally ignored him… No, he was just irritated that Axel had taken off and left him with all of the responsibility fro getting the groceries back to camp, and leaving him to relay the message of where he had run off to and who he had run off with to everyone else. That was all.
Huffily grumbling to himself, and feeling quite put out, Roxas bent to pick up the other half of the groceries, struggling to accommodate the extra, bulky packages in his arms.
"Excuse me."
Roxas stood up to look to whoever had addressed him, only to find that it was the hotdog stand guy. The words were said with attempted customer/worker etiquette, but the tone behind them made Roxas feel like he was one wrong step away from getting annihilated if he didn't answer back properly and in a timely fashion.
"Yeah?"
He got a glare for his questioning of the situation. Well excuuuuuse him for not knowing exactly what this guy wanted. He considered sending a glare back at the guy, or possibly commenting on his long silver tresses that had been tied back (obviously as some sort of vendor regulations), but the icy glare he was getting was enough to make him double think that course of action. Yeah, on second thought this guy didn't look like someone to be messed with, even if he was just the hotdog vendor guy.
"Your friend ordered some food and left without paying."
Yeah so? Roxas thought. What did this guy (Sephiroth? Roxas read from the nametag stitched onto his shirt. What the heck kind of a name was that?) want Roxas to do about it? However, after a few minutes of a staredown and a couple pointed looks to the cash register, Roxas finally got the hint that this guy wanted him to pay for the food that Axel had ordered.
"What, wait, this isn't my food! I shouldn't have to –"
"Look, I don't care who ordered it, I just want it paid for."
Roxas thought about arguing further with the guy, but figured it'd be fighting a loosing battle. "Fine. How much is it?"
"Twenty seven dollars."
"WHAT?!" Roxas burst, jaw dropping. "What the hell, how the heck is a hot dog twenty seven dollars!?"
"One hot dog isn't." The man replied, and Roxas suddenly it clicked.
"…okay then… just how many hotdogs did Axel try to order?"
"Ten."
"TEN!? What the hell does Axel need ten hotdogs for!?"
"Look kid, I really don't care, I just want them paid for."
Muttering curses under his breath, Roxas pulled out his wallet, forking out the cash before hefting up the grocery bags once more and starting off back to camp, where Sora and Riku were probably waiting, wondering what was taking so long. Roxas allowed a sigh to escape as he looked back over his shoulder and down the road in the direction he had last seen Axel wandering off in.
It looked like he'd be making the return trip back alone, without any of the constant babbling and teasing and fighting… in other words, very much without Axel.
.x.X.x.
After a very long, tiresome, and unnaturally quiet walk, Roxas finally arrived back at camp, setting his bags down near the cooking area. He could see some rope, a new axe, and other necessary odds and ends piled up a few feet away, and concluded that Sora and Riku must have made it back before him. Hmmpf, no surprise there. However, it was strange that he couldn't see or hear either of them, because normally Sora would be running around like an idiot with Riku by his side. But right now neither of them were in sight, and Roxas felt his stomach drop with a tinge of dread. Had something bad happened to them? They obviously had made it back to camp in one piece, but then what?
Suddenly a giggle was emitted from the general area of Sora and Riku's tent, and Roxas sighed in relief, only to then have all of his fears come back tenfold a split second later. Sora never wanted to be cooped up inside on a day like this. What the heck were they doing in there? Certainly not… Sora/Riku-y type things…. right? RIGHT?! Dear God, Axel was really starting to effect the way the blonde thought. Cautiously, and ready to avert his eyes at the slightest sign on indecent activities, Roxas crept over to the tent, daring to peek though the flap only to find…
"Nope! No twos! Go fish!"
…Sora and Riku were playing a card game.
Riku went to grab a card from the messy pile between them, and Sora looked up, sending Roxas a bright grin. "Hey! You're back! How did shopping go? …Where's Axel?"
"He ran off with some friends he met up with." Roxas informed the brunette, inviting himself in and sitting down crosslegged on the floor. Normally he would have just left the two of them to their card game, but right now he felt like he wanted some company. The walk back had been a rather lonely one, and not that he would ever admit to missing Axel, but Roxas was left feeling a little needy for human interaction at the moment.
"Oh, okay then." Sora replied before shifting his attention back to his cards, as if Axel running off with other friends was no big deal. "Riku, do you have any elevens?"
"No I don't, go fish."
"Darn." Sora muttered, grabbing at the pile until he found a satisfactory card to add to his hand.
"Got any eights, Sora?" Riku asked, not looking up from his hand.
"Heehee, nope!" Sora giggled, sticking his tongue out at Riku. "Go fish!"
Roxas sat there for a few more minutes before coming to the conclusion that not only were Sora and Riku the two worst 'Go Fish!' players ever born, this was also one of the most boring ways to pass the time that he could think of.
"So… this is what you guys do all day when we're not here?" he asked after Sora's fifth 'go fish' in a row.
"Yup, pretty much!" Sora replied. "…or sometimes we play Pattycake."
Roxas raised an eyebrow at Riku, who didn't even bother looking up from his cards to confirm or deny this.
"Sora, do you have any sevens?"
"Nope! Go –"
"Yeah, okay I'm gonna go jump off a cliff." Roxas announced in a deadpan voice, standing up and leaving.
"Okay, have fun!" Sora called out after him, and Roxas rolled his eyes. The brunette probably hadn't even listened to a word he said.
As Roxas's footfalls moved further and further away, Sora strained his ears for any signs that he would be coming back anytime soon. Hearing none, he messily threw his cards off to one side before giggling and launching himself at Riku, who caught him easily and flipped him over, pinning him to the floor with a smirk.
"Finally! I thought he'd never leave!"
.x.X.x.
Roxas pouted as he wandered around the lake's edge, kicking at sticks and the like as he walked. Stupid Axel. Not that Roxas cared or anything, but what made those friends so much better to hang out with, huh? And…and for all Axel knew, maybe they were lying! Maybe they hadn't really rented a cabin after all, but had just made that up as an excuse to drag him out in the woods so they could like… oh who knows! Beat him up or something. And what about Sora's party? Didn't Axel realize it was a little rude to just run off with someone else and abandon the birthday boy?
At this point Roxas stopped, knowing he was just making stuff up. After all, if he'd had any sort of excuse or choice in the matter, he would have run off and ditched Sora's party a loooong time ago.
But… but Axel had still made him pay for all those hotdogs, and Roxas had been forced to carry all the groceries back on his own! So Axel was still a jerk. Sitting down by the lake's edge, he picked up a rock and attempted to skip it, but all it did was land with a pathetic, mocking 'plunk' before sinking. Roxas frowned. Even the rocks were against him.
As evening approached, Sora and Riku finally emerged from their tent to set up a fire before it got too dark out. Heaving a sigh and standing up, Roxas walked back over to the main camp area and flopped down beside the fire pit. Axel still hadn't come back. And not that Roxas was worried or anything, but it was going to be difficult for the fiery haired teen to find his way to camp if he didn't get back soon. Once it got dark the woods were hard to navigate, and everything looked different at nighttime. But again, it wasn't as if Roxas cared or anything. It was just… an observation. That was all.
"Hey guys!"
Roxas's head snapped in the direction of where the shout had come from – only one person's voice could catch his attention that quickly, and stir up so much annoyance in such a short period of time.
"Axel!" Sora greeted, bounding over and hugging him. "You're back! How were your friends?"
"Oh, they were great!" Axel replied after Sora had released him. "They have this amazing cabin that they're staying in, with a huge fireplace and rec. room and TV and all that, it's great! Dem is so freaking hilarious – he and Zex were the ones who planned everything – and he like… ah, Nevermind, you'd'uv have to have been there. But it was great!I'm actually going back to hang out with them, I just needed to stop by and get some of my stuff!" Axel informed him, heading off in the direction of the tent.
"What!?" Roxas exclaimed. "At this time of night!? Axel, it's going to be completely dark soon! You can't just go wandering around in the woods in the middle of the night! What if you loose the trail or – "
"Yeah, thanks mom but I think I'll be okay." Axel interrupted with a smirk. Furrowing his brows and pouting, Roxas followed after him back to the tent, refusing to let it drop.
"I'm serious!" The blonde told him, stepping into the tent and watching Axel root through his bag to grab a couple things. "You shouldn't go back tonight! Heck, if you can get us both lost in the middle of the day, then I really don't think it's a good idea for you to be –"
"God, Roxas – chill out!" Axel cut in, sounding amused more than anything, a fact which only served to further Roxas's annoyance. "Stop nagging me, I'll be fine. It's not that far, even if it is in the dark."
"But the trail –"
"Will still be there in the dark." Axel said with a roll of his eyes, producing a flashlight to thrust in Roxas's face. "And if I bring a light such as this one I'll be able to see it."
Darn it, Axel was smarter than Roxas had suspected. This put a monkey wrench in his plans. "But… but what about later, when you come back?" Roxas pointed out. Geesh, he sure got naggy when he was trying to stop someone from doing something he thought was stupid and/or irresponsible. "It'll be even later then and –"
"Oh, I'm not coming back tonight." Axel informed him, going back to digging through his stuff. "I'm gonna crash at their place. I'll be back sometime tomorrow afternoon or something."
"Oh…" Roxas said, trailing off and not really knowing what more to say.
"So yeah!" Axel continued, zipping up his bag and setting back on his heels, ruffling Roxas's hair. "Don't miss me too much! See ya tomorrow!"
And with that Axel was gone, rushing out of the tent to go back to his other friends and their amazing, expensive, and infinitely more cool and exciting cabin, leaving Roxas alone. The blonde sat there for a minute, trying to sort everything out in his head – what he was thinking and feeling – but it made his chest constrict in an oddly painful way that he didn't really want to acknowledge or think about, so he laid himself down, pulled the covers up, and tried to think about anything else he could.
Scrunching his eyes up and letting out a forlorn sigh he would never admit to, Roxas curled up in a little ball and faced away from the still open tent flap and Axel's side of the tent. Maybe if he tried hard enough he could pretend that it wasn't so dark, and he wasn't alone, and Axel wasn't a jerk who he really didn't care about, but who he for some reason couldn't help but keep dwelling on.
When Sora stopped by a little later to ask why he hadn't come back to the fire, all Roxas offered him was an irritated 'fuck off' as he curled tighter into his little ball. Sora had left, but Riku had come by later, before retiring back to his own tent with Sora. He hadn't said anything, but Roxas had known he was there. The silver haired teen had zipped up the door before he left to keep out any bugs or wild animals, and murmured a parting 'goodnight' before leaving. It pissed Roxas off, that Riku was probably pitying him. But Roxas didn't care that Axel had left – that asshole – he just didn't like being ditched, or knowing that people were doing stupid things. It wasn't like he was feeling lonely or abandoned or anything. And he certainly wasn't missing the loud, obnoxious chatting that always seemed to be endlessly forthcoming as he was trying to go to sleep.
Nope, it was nothing like that.
And it certainly had nothing to do with Axel.
.o.O.o.
Happy New Years Eve! I've been so busy lately with the holiday season and whatnot, but I really wanted to fit in one last chapter post before the end of the year! Oh Axel, you jerk – ditching Roxas like that. XD
ANYWAYS, I don't have much to say this time around, but I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! I hope you all have a fun and save New Years Eve, and that the coming year is a great one!