Chapter Three

Eight hours. Eight. Fucking. Hours. Eight hours of nothing but frilly, soap opera, happy-sparkle-I-love-you-Jack chick flicks. Not that any one of the three actually paid attention to the movies. The giggles and dry humour served as more of a white noise for the (apparently) gut-busting antics Axel and Demyx threw themselves about the room in, all raveled up in their little teasing games.

I'm going to die in here... The thought passed through Roxas's conscious more than once in the entire course of the marathon of madness. Namely, right after Axel busted a beer bottle over Demyx's head by accident; the two had been throwing Axel's dozens of pillows at each other, said Nobody planting "bombs" in every few pillows to liven up the game. Glass shards littered the ruffled bedspread, the other Nobodys' pajamas, and the slippery white marble floor.

Blood spattered across the far walls after Demyx chucked a bottle at Axel; it shattered on impact with the fiery character's forehead. Axel only burst out in deafening laughter, ignoring the glittering razors protruding from his brow. The wounds trickled over his eyelids, down his face, in the dip of his collar bone... He laughed until he could no longer breathe, and then coughed in addition to laughing. While he was disabled, Demyx pulled out another empty bottle and, unable to accurately aim any longer, ended up smashing it against the window behind him.

"YOU TWO ARE NUTS." Roxas screeched loudly after the sixth bottle lay in pieces, bunching a red blanket over his head for protection. He had scooted to the very end of the bed, snuggled securely against a corner. "I don't even think you two are old enough to drink..." So much for sleeping tonight. I'm fucking tired and these two won't fucking knock it off. Augh...

"Li... ha... lighten up, Roxy-loxy-foxy..." Axel hummed, his tongue flapping randomly in the midst of his words. The redhead crawled across his bed toward Roxas, now cowering. Purring and chuckling to himself, Axel curled up like a kitten in front of Roxas, resting his throbbing head in the blonde's lap. Roxas gawked sleepily down at the redhead... His face was flushed rose pink with intoxication, his eyes glossed over and the dopiest smile plastered on his face. Yet, with his eyes closed and that stupid grin, he looked more peaceful than Roxas had ever seen him before...

Roxas sighed... How to approach this? Shove him off so he lands in glass? Yell at him? ... Let him stay...? He looks so comfortable. I wanna pet him... Oh geez, he's rubbing against my stomach. He's purring... Augh, stoppit. Stoppit... Stoppit! Stoppitstoppitstoppitstoppit...!!

"Get the fuck off me!" Roxas snarled, pushing Axel's face away from his waist.

"COCK." Axel spat, laughter erupting from his throat. "ROXY-LOXY-FOXY-COCK. HAHAHAHAA!!"

"THE HELL!?"

"I think Roxy-loxy-foxy-cock wants a hug! A big, squishy hug!"

"NO." Roxas squirmed further into his corner. "I DO NOT WANT A-!"

Too late. Axel had already rolled around and over Roxas's arms that were holding him back. His hands were already at the small of Roxas's back, strumming lazily a soft rhythm like dove's feathers. His face was already nuzzling against Roxas's chest, purring, thrumming, sighing blissfully into the blonde's celadon shirt. His arms were already binding Roxas's waist, holding them in a secure embrace; an embrace the blonde wouldn't be able to break so easily, no matter how much he tried to wriggle away.

... Or if he wanted to break away at all.

Roxas sat surprisingly still as Axel snuggled him like a teddy bear; he lacked the enthusiasm to resist the affection anymore. His eyelids grew ever heavier, along with the rest of his body. Nothing but sleep crossed his mind anymore; Axel's natural warmth didn't help him stay any more alert than he already was. Roxas felt his grip on his conscious slipping... everything grew darker, and dreams were already clouding his vision.

"Axel..." The blonde strained through yawning. "I wanna go back to my own room."

"Mmmm... why?" Axel's eyes fluttered open to Roxas's drowsy, drooping face.

"I need to go to sleep..." Roxas had to grit his teeth to keep from yawning again. He blinked, almost submitting to the creeping slumber. "Your room is covered in glass. I'll get cut up if I sleep in here." Axel absent-mindedly started humming - lowly to keep his thoughts from interrupting.

"I can carry you." The red-head cheerily offered, grinning.

"I'd like to see you try." Roxas snorted. He knew they'd both fall on their asses in the corridor before they made it back to Roxas's room. Unfortunately, Axel didn't catch his sarcastic tone.

Without a word and but his dopey grin, the fire-bearer propped himself back up on the bed. He drew a fleece, lavender throw blanket from a heap of them on his left and cast it over the side of the bed; it served to shield Axel's bear toes from the glass strewn across the floor. The redhead slid off the bed next, landing on top of the blanket; a soft crunch sounded from underneath.

"Axel..." Roxas drearily moaned as Axel leaned in to gather him in his arms. "I didn't mean you actually had to... to... AAAaaaaAAaaggHHhgg!!" A lion-like yawn pierced his sentence, slurring the rest of his sentence in the drawl. Hey. Wasn't Axel just totally shitfaced? How the hell is he balancing that perfectly!? ... Mmm, sleep... No, mommy, I don't want anymore strawberry corn... snerr...

Roxas was out like a light, cradled tenderly against Axel's body, clinging around the elder's neck by instinct alone.