"Roxas!" his father's voice drifted from the basement.

"Yeah, Dad?"

A spiky blond head appeared in the hallway at the top of the basement stairs. "Sora called from work earlier. He wants you to pick up a red pepper on your way home."

"Sora's cooking tonight?"

"Well, I have the hospital benefit, and he said he wanted to do it." At Roxas' raised eyebrow, Cloud added, "As many times as you complain that he's accident prone, your brother has yet to burn down even part of the kitchen."

"If he wants to cook, why can't he pick up the pepper?" The glossy cover of the book he had tucked under his arm was starting to stick to his skin, and that wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"Because the produce stand isn't on his way home. It is, however, on the way from the beach."

Roxas agreed, if only so that Cloud would let him leave the house. He'd visited the library as soon as school had ended – thankfully it had only been a half-day – and picked up the book he'd been not-so-patiently waiting for the last two months. Upcoming exams probably should've taken precedence in his mind, but there was always time for those later. The weather was gorgeous, with the mild heat of early June and the pleasant lack of humidity, and there were few things the blond enjoyed more than immersing himself in a book while his toes were wedged into hot, soothing sand. His brother would tease that Roxas was only there for the large groups of shirtless men, but he could honestly say that wasn't the case. There was no one he'd met on Destiny Island worth pursuing, and why bother to start a relationship with a tourist?

Lost in his musings, which covered everything from why he would be bothered so much by a fling with a tourist to how a fruit that tasted so utterly vile could become the city-state's official symbol and top tourist trap, he almost fell when the front wheels of his skateboard hit the first pockets of sand along the boardwalk. Roxas regained his footing, stooped to pick up his skateboard and walked the remaining yards to the sandy shore. The sight that greeted him was more than a little disheartening: the beach was covered with people, to the point where he wasn't sure he'd find a free space on the public lounge chairs placed sporadically up and down the coastline. He finally spotted an empty white chair a short way down to his left and ran for it, which was saying something for a young man bogged down by the weight of a skateboard with loose ground shifting under his feet.

It wasn't long after he'd settled down with his book that he registered the sounds of a blitzball being tossed about. Normally all the noise around him blended together while he was reading, but blitzball was something to keep an ear to, especially if Tidus was involved. The kid may have been one of the best in the league, but he was also prone to bouts of overexcitement, which meant danger to those around him. Unconsciously Roxas put a hand to the base of his skull, where his last injury by blitzball had left a bruise only a few weeks ago. He rubbed the back of his neck, his hand sliding across skin from the sweat mixed with greasy sunscreen, before reaching into his leg pocket for his apple. Biting into the crisp green fruit, Roxas let at least an hour slip away peacefully, every so often tuning in to the sound of skin hitting sporting equipment to make sure he was still safe. Somewhere in between pages 287 and 288, his reading was interrupted by screaming off to his right that startled him so badly he dropped the browning apple core that had been dangling from the slightly sticky fingers of his right hand. Roxas looked up just in time to watch an unsuspecting tourist get slammed upside the head by a pass from Tidus.

Normally he would be rather annoyed at having his reading interrupted, but Roxas couldn't say that he wasn't at least a bit glad he'd looked up without it being a complete and utter lie. Clutching where he'd been hit while listening to the blond athlete apologize was the most interesting man Roxas had seen in a while. Thin and bony, he had more defined hips than Roxas saw on half the girls at school, not to mention dangerous-looking elbows. A smooth torso led up to delicate facial features that were probably intriguing when they weren't contorted in pain. Beyond the face, suddenly Roxas understood why stop signs were red.

The stranger gathered his belongings and headed up the beach in Roxas' direction. Not wanting to be caught staring, he shielded his face from view with his book, feet digging deeper into the sand as he slouched in the chair. Even long after the man was gone – and Roxas was sure he was gone because he'd watched him walk until he was a tiny speck of red on the horizon – the book stayed in front of Roxas' face, which wouldn't have been unusual if not for the fact that he wasn't actually reading any of the words on the pages. Instead he was wondering why he'd bothered to look at the strange man at all. Part of his earlier musings on the stupidity of a relationship with a tourist had been the realization that, because of this mindset, he never even bothered to check them out. Why look at what you don't really want to have, anyway? But for some reason, Roxas hadn't just turned back to his book after making sure that Tidus hadn't committed manslaughter; he'd appraised the victim. Now the image swam in his head of skin almost rivaling hair colour, of limbs moving gracefully across the grainy ground. This wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to actually be attracted to someone he'd never see again. Sighing, Roxas figured he might as well pick up that red pepper and head home. He cursed when he discovered that even red pepper brought the man back to his mind.

Cloud was tapping his foot on the floor in the sitting room the next day when Roxas took a seat on the couch for the 'family meeting.' This, more than the unexpected call to the main floor, clued the young blond into the fact that something big was up, since Cloud had stopped tapping his foot years ago after he discovered that puppies thought it made for an excellent game. His brother, who was sprawled sideways over the chair in the corner with his feet dangling from the armrest, turned to look at the patriarch. "So what's up?"

The blond man cleared his throat. "Well boys … I met someone last night – "

"Go Dad!"

Roxas snickered as the brunet twin received a harsh glare. "…Not like that?"

"No."

"Oh, sorry. Continue."

"Anyway, I met a man last night who was there on behalf of his real estate company. We got talking – "

"You talked? With words and stuff?"

"You can be replaced, you know."

Sora grinned. "Dad, we all know you're not the most socially adept person out there. You can't blame me for being surprised."

"Can I finish now?"

"Yep."

Cloud sighed. Roxas wished he's made some popcorn before taking his seat. "We're moving."

Now it was Roxas' turn to be shocked, though this was genuine rather than mocking. "We're doing what now?"

Their father was more firm now. "Moving. You're both going to school in the fall, and I don't necessarily have to work at this particular office, so I figured it would be best for everyone. You can still fly out here to visit during breaks, and it's not like we're lacking in communication technology."

"So then why can't we just stay in a dorm while you stay here?" He was confused. Cloud hadn't mentioned even thinking about moving before this. It took a while for the man to answer.

"I'd rather be closer to you boys for emergency purposes."

So that was it. Their father was internally a basket case who wasn't ready to deal with Empty Nest Syndrome at the age of thirty-four. He could deal with that. Sora might have a bit of a rough time adjusting, but Roxas didn't have many friends he'd miss leaving behind. It might be weird at first to not have the skate shop and the beach around, but he'd get used to it. Besides, this meant he didn't have to spend hours trying to decide what books would accompany him to school.

The dogs nearly bowled him over when he came through the door after work. He kicked his shoes off haphazardly, one landing backwards with the other on top of it, before shuffling his way into the kitchen while trying not to step on any paws. "Hey, Dad," he greeted, since Cloud was filing papers away into a portfolio on the table.

"How was work?" He was given a brief but not unfeeling glance before the older blond went back to his work.

"Good, I guess. We didn't get robbed and no one died." He bit into the apple he'd grabbed from the bag labeled 'ROXAS' before kicking the crisper and fridge door shut with his heel. The personal fruit stash was to balance out his mild ice cream addiction, his father insisted. "Although I wouldn't be surprised if one of those kids cracked their head open on the pavement one of these days."

Cloud nodded distractedly and Roxas headed upstairs, figuring he wouldn't get much more out of the man that night. When he reached the top of the flight, he heard his brother's voice call out from behind the closed door. "Rox, is that you?"

"Yeah. What do you need?"

Opening the door revealed a stressed Sora, his hair an even messier array of spikes than usual. "Help me! I can't do this."

"English?"

"Is stupid. Yes. Can you please explain this to me?"

Roxas stood at the foot of the bed and pulled the review sheet from his brother's hand. "Which one?"

"All of the Shakespeare stuff."

"All of it? Seriously?"

Sora pouted. "My notes from that unit don't make any sense to me."

"But you spend an entire month on Shakespeare."

"And I have a month's worth of useless gibberish. Please, Roxas? I'll buy you a book."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Sora, I'm your brother. You don't need to buy me a book for helping you."

"Okay!"

"… You're not supposed to agree to that so readily."

"Less talk, more help."

He huffed, but conceded to his twin's demands. Slowly they began to work through the problems.

"But that's stupid and it makes no sense!" Sora exclaimed some time later.

"How is iambic pentameter stupid, exactly?"

"Because it's got ten syllables, but 'penta' means five!" Sora was much more mathematically-minded.

"… Well, ten is a multiple of five."

The brunet raised an eyebrow. "That's the best you could come up with, isn't it?"

"Pretty much."

"You suck." Roxas turned to exit, but it seemed like Sora wasn't ready to let him leave the room yet. "You missed the real estate dude by, like, a minute."

"Your point?" Really, the blond didn't see one forthcoming any time soon.

"He's too young for Dad." Sora sounded thoroughly disappointed. He'd explained to Roxas his brilliant plan to get Cloud together with the man he'd met at the hospital function. Roxas had wondered where his brother had gotten the crack he was clearly on. "Like, barely older than us."

"Did you really think it would work anyway?"

"Not really, but that's not the point."

"Oh?" Roxas was scared.

"I have a new plan now!"

He stared at his brother, mind whirring a million miles a minute, trying to think the way the brunet would. It clicked. "Sora, I am not going to date our real estate guy. No, just no."

"But Rox, you haven't even seen him yet!"

"Doesn't matter. The answer's still no, and don't you dare try anything."

"Aww!"

"No!" Roxas closed his brother's door and marched to his own room, the door slamming as he flopped into the desk chair. The idea was ridiculous! Just because he was gay and single didn't mean he wanted his brother trying to throw him together with some random guy.

Curse his lack of foresight! Roxas swore profusely in his head as he lingered outside his house, debating. He'd finished his beach book sooner than he'd thought, and needed a new one to pass the rest of the afternoon. There was nothing at the library for him right now because it was all sitting in his room. He could walk through the house pretending to be interested, but the real estate agent – this 'Axel' person – might notice something. Plus, just because it looked like no one was in the house now didn't mean people couldn't show up at any given second. He could just leave and go without a book for the remainder of the afternoon, but Roxas was pretty sure that the minutes would feel like days in that case. Glancing up, he stared at the window to his bedroom, wishing he had some sort of superpower that would get him through to his room. The tree grazed his window screen, and Roxas had never wanted to be a tree more than he did at that very second.

Wait. That was an idea. The tree that Cloud always complained about reached all the way up to his bedroom. He could climb into his room, exchange books, and be out before the man inside even realized he was there. It was perfect!

Minutes later, Roxas wanted to revoke that statement. This was not perfect in any way, shape or form. The screen wouldn't pop out, and he was sure that the branch was only barely supporting his weight. Digging his stubby nails into the sides, he pulled hard at the screen, willing it to move with all of his brain power. Shockingly enough it worked, but what was more shocking was that the unexpectedness of the shift sent Roxas sprawling onto his desk, still clutching the screen. Crap. There was no way the agent hadn't heard all the noise.

He needed to get out, and fast. Too bad that wasn't likely to happen with the amount of pain shooting up his leg. Still, he hobbled as quickly as he could, eyes scanning the shelves for the book he wanted. The door creaked open and Roxas turned to greet the real estate agent guiltily.

Well damn. It was the man from the beach a while back, the one Roxas was sure he'd never see again. He wasn't sure if the sound he wanted to hear at that moment was the hallelujah chorus or the sound of the floor swallowing him whole.

Sora flung himself beside Roxas on the blonde's bed and received a dirty look in reply. Roxas was not in the mood. Apparently his brother couldn't pick up on that. "Spill it."

"Spill what, exactly, Sora?"

"The story. You and real estate dude. I know you, Rox, and I know how nuts you are about your books. It took me three weeks to get you to lend me Hamlet, and was for class. I want to know what makes you instantly sure that this guy isn't going to torch anything when you can't even trust your own brother."

Roxas sighed. Sora picked the most inconvenient times to be an astute observer. He was hoping this would all go right over the brunet's head. "I met Axel, okay? He seemed like a good guy. And you know how I am with people."

"Oh no, you don't!" His brother was evidently not going to be fluffed off. "I'm not buying the people-reader excuse. And where exactly did you meet him?"

"Here. I climbed through my window to get a new book and he heard me. Plus I saw him get hit in the head with Tidus' blitzball a while back."

The brunet made a face. "I'm not even going to touch the window thing. We may be almost the same person sometimes, but I will never understand the book obsession." He paused, which made Roxas afraid. A deep-in-thought Sora was a hazard to everyone involved. "Wait. Blitzball. At the beach? Like, you saw him without a shirt?"

Roxas closed his eyes and began repeatedly knocking his head backwards against the wall. "Yes, Sora. I saw him in all of his sunburnt, shirtless, skinny glory. Are we done yet?"

"You like him! You totally like him!"

"… I wasn't aware that I had a twin sister. And just because I think he's attractive doesn't mean I like him."

"Ha! But you admit you find him attractive!" Sora got up from the bed and did a small victory dance that seemed to involve a lot of arm flailing. Roxas supposed it was from playing so many video games. "That's the first step! And you wouldn't remember that much detail if you weren't at least a little bit interested."

"I told you before, and I'll tell you again: I'm not going to date our real estate agent."

"Why not?"

"Because that's about as cliché as the mailman porn plotline."

"Your problem is that you're thinking of him as his occupation. Get to know him as a person, Rox. You said it yourself: he seems like a good guy."

Roxas just looked at the boy standing in front of him. "Why are you so dead-set on this?"

"Because," Sora said, unusually serious. "He's the first guy I've ever really seen you take anything resembling an interest in. I want to see you happy."

"I am happy." He was also confused.

"No, you're content. That's not the same thing." Sora headed for the door. "Like I said, get to know him."

End Notes: Okay, so it's only been …what? Three or four months? Oops. In my defense, the strike ended at my school, and work hit me like a sack of bricks. A really heavy one. Probably lead.

That aside, here we see a brief glance as to what's going on from Roxas' side of these encounters. Now we have an idea of why he's been around so often, and what he's expecting to happen from all of this. And yes, Roxas is a bookworm. I don't think it's out of character at all. He and Hayner didn't want to do their summer homework in KHII, but that doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy academic-related things. He just hates doing them for the purpose of school. I'm kind of the same way.

One final note, regarding Sora's victory dance: This is based partly on a friend of mine when she was imitating a child dancing, and partly based on another friend playing the wii. Specifically, the Rabid Rabbits game. The one where you launch bunnies from a catapult. Seriously, you just flail like your life depends on it.

Next chapter moves back to Axel for some actual plot advancement!