Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts.
Say It Isn't So!
Chapter 11: Sea Salt Ice Cream
xXx
Train Station. 6 pm. Come alone.
On a general basis, Roxas might have suspected that it might have been some kind of stalker-ish text or maybe even a ransom note for his brother Sora. In reality, he already determined the sender to be his buyer, y'know, the other cloaked man at the auction buying teenage boys for over 5k?
His cell number was released to his buyer for further contact and fulfillment of the agreement, as was necessary to get the desired results, but it still kind of creeped Roxas out. Getting text messages from some mystery man during the clear daylight hours of a Saturday afternoon while eating ice cream with Axel at a nearby coffee shop took some getting used to.
Roxas took a spoonful of his vanilla ice cream and shoved it into his mouth, wiping the metal spoon clean with his lips, the cold goodness melting in his mouth on contact.
"Roxas," Axel said from behind him, returning to his seat casually, "Where is it that you were going to go today? I doubt your plans were to have ice cream with me."
The blond blushed a bit, but that was partially from the oncoming brain freeze as he swallowed the lump of ice cream all in one go. "No, I was..." He gave Axel a sheepish grin before admitting, "I actually didn't have any plans today."
Neither said anything for a while, that awkward silence falling on them again.
"Listen, Roxas... about that incident-"
"Did you know that with every awkward silence, a gay baby is born?" Roxas blurted out randomly and strangely, almost appropriately. He laid down his spoon back into the bowl and poked at some stray strawberry that he had missed during his initial raid on it. "I mean, I'm sure there must be a lot now, I mean-"
"Roxas." Axel laughed as he interrupted Roxas's rambling. "Can I talk?"
Blue eyes shifted uneasily before he gave an allowing nod.
"Look, I..." Axel bit back a frown, putting up a smile instead. "I don't want to ruin anything that we have together. Be it a friendship or whatever. I just know that I can't lose you."
Roxas nearly snorted, but cut himself short. "Isn't that a bit too... much?" He didn't know what else to say. When put in a situation like this, impressive vocabulary was the least of his worries. "There was nothing between us to begin with."
He could see Axel's hand give an involuntary twitch on the tablecloth, but then moved slightly to make the movement more natural. Axel raked a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. A tired sigh, telling Roxas that the matter had been bugging him since then.
"I... I don't think so, Roxas."
Roxas could feel another rambling session growing at the pit of his stomach, but he bit his lip and fought back the harsh words he knew would come pouring out once he opened his mouth. "Why? Why is it you think that?" He asked, keeping his phrases as simple and neutral as possible. He didn't want to hurt Axel any more than he already did... And he felt that if he denied him again, he'd be the one to hurt also.
"I don't know." Axel chuckled, his laughs more like a low rumble from his throat. It was uneven and not what he was used to. "I just feel like I have to have you in my life, one way or another."
He smiled softly at Roxas then, and evaded the blond's blank gaze.
"So, can we... Can we at least try to be friends?" The redhead picked up his spoon and started to swirl the white, gooey mess in the bowl, increasing the melting process as he did so. "Please, Roxas?"
Something was breaking. A little crack right in the center. Something was breaking.
"Friends?" A frown was pulling at Roxas's lips, tugging and willing itself to show. His eyes had narrowed on the redhead and his eyebrows furrowed in a stressed slant. "You want to be friends?"
Axel nodded, a smile on his lips and he looked so hopeful. Crick-crack. Something's breaking.
"What if I hurt you?"
"It doesn't matter. I just need to know that I can see you." Crickity-crackity, crick-crick, crack-crack. Something's a-breaking.
"I don't know what to say."
"Say you'll be my friend." Criiiiick.
Roxas tore his eyes away from the pool of white and its lone red swimmer. "Sure, friends, then." Craaaaack.
Axel smiled brightly, teeth flashing and relief in his eyes. "Thank you, Roxas. Let's be friends forever, 'kay?"
The blond let out a breathy laugh. "Yeah, whatever." He gave the redhead an uneasy glance and agreed. "Friends forever, Axel. You got it." They exchanged wide grins and returned their attention to their forgotten delicacies on the table, enjoying the little comfort gained from eating a large bowl of ice cream with its lovely assortment of fruit.
Roxas poked the strawberry again, only to watch it swim further and further away from his spoon. No matter how hard he tried, that determined little berry just wouldn't cooperate. It just drifted away and away until it reached the end of the bowl. Roxas tried again, but the strawberry only fell and swam again. He let out a sigh and concentrated on the "ice cream" instead.
Red just wasn't his color, nope. But look at it this way, at least Axel's heart didn't break. No. No, it didn't.
xXx
6pm.
Roxas was here. The train was here. His mystery man was... not here.
The blond let out a somewhat ferocious growl as he kicked a pole repeatedly. Not because he was angry, but because he was just bored. Bored out of his mind because he had been there since 5:50, waiting. It had only been ten minutes, but ten minutes can feel like an eternity when you've got nothing to do except kick a pole. Though it was rather entertaining...
"You're already here?"
Roxas stopped in mid swing, whirling around to face the same cloaked man from the auction. "You're late." He responded crossly.
"Well aren't you punctual." The man pulled his arm out of his sleeve and glanced at his watch. "I'm only 3 minutes late."
With a roll of his eyes, Roxas waved his hand in dismissal. "Whatever. So, after this date, the money will be deposited into the school's account. Thank you for your participation; it is greatly appreciated." He said in a monotonous voice, sounding oddly similar to a synthetic voice used for telemarketing purposes.
"You're just a great big bundle of fun, aren't you?" The man mused, approaching Roxas as he did so. He was tall, thin and from what Roxas could tell, well-built. He didn't seem like Axel, who could topple over at any second or get lost in the clouds because he was too busy thinking about odd things. This man was different. He wasn't like that airhead Axel at all. He carried himself, dare he say it, wonderfully.
"Look, I'm not in the best of moods right now, so, I'd like it a lot if we could just get this over and done with." Roxas stated, backing up as the stranger approached him. "I don't usually go on dates with strangers who hide their names and mask their faces."
He let out a loud laugh then, barking up a storm as if the wind had been knocked right out of him. Roxas couldn't figure out what was so funny, but he just kept up his I-want-to-leave facade, looking more cute than intimidating.
"Straightforward." The man said once he finished. "I like that." He leaned down toward Roxas so they were eye-level. "Tell me, Roxas, what's got you so worked up? Why the sour mood? Hm?"
Roxas turned his head, fixing his gaze on one of the many side windows on the train. "None of your business. So are we going to get on this train or not?"
The man pulled away and crossed his arms across his chest as if pondering something. Then he spoke up, "Lea."
"Excuse me?" Roxas asked, raising a brow.
"Call me Lea." The man said with amusement, probably enjoying Roxas's many expressions. "And for your information, yes, we will be getting on this train." He whipped out two train tickets, each for this specific train, heading to who-knows-where.
So, Roxas, decision time. You could... A, walk away and demand that you go on a date with this mystery person in a public area, B, decline this whole situation and lose a possible 10k donation to your school, or C, get on that train with a stranger that paid 10k for you at a school auction, risk the possibility of getting raped and killed on the train or after the train and maybe, just maybe, you can walk home with a minimum of scratches, bruises and loss of virginity... of course, that's if you live through it.
"Well? What're you waiting for? Nightfall? Let's go!" Roxas huffed, walking briskly toward one of the walkways into the train.
"Oohh... Choice C, I'm not sure I would approve of that, Roxas." The man mumbled under his breath once Roxas was far into the train and he was left alone on the platform to muse. He shook his head and stuffed the tickets into his pockets for later. "I'm not sure I approve of that at all."
xXx
The blond waited patiently as Lea talked to some ice cream vendor making his daily rounds. Their date was at an isolated, grassy hill that overlooked the sea surrounding the town. 'Sunset Hill' it was called, but seeing as they missed the sunset, they agreed on just sharing some ice cream and enjoying the view. Roxas could handle that. He needed some calming down time and what better way to calm down than on a hill with a great view, a stranger and an ice cream cone?
"Thank you," Roxas mumbled, accepting an ice cream cone from Lea. One large bowl of vanilla ice cream in the afternoon and now an ice cream cone at 6:30. Gosh, Roxas wasn't sure if he'd be able to sleep tonight. It didn't matter though. He needed all the comfort he could get. It wasn't everyday that-
Lea cleared his throat and leaned against the metal railing along the edge of the hill, taking his place beside Roxas. "Want to tell me why you're so upset?"
Roxas blinked. "What do you care?" He so nearly snapped.
"I care because I'm not paying 10k for a lousy, upset date." Roxas could just hear the smirk growing on the man's lips as he continued his thought. "No matter how cute an upset Roxas is." Lea took a bite of his ice cream as if to hide his smugness.
The blond looked away in annoyance, giving his vanilla scoop a few tentative licks. "Sorry," was all he could muster. Things today just weren't happening the way he'd wanted. He wasn't even sure what he wanted anymore. "I just..." It wouldn't hurt to tell him, right? No, it couldn't... because Axel never mentioned a Lea. Then again, Axel never mentioned much at all... How well did he even know Axel?
"Roxas?" Lea asked, leaning down towards the blond almost worriedly.
Roxas shook his head. He tried to convince himself that if he told his stranger, nothing would come of it. He wouldn't gain anything, but he wouldn't lose anything either. This isn't Axel. This stranger probably didn't even know Axel. It couldn't hurt... Right?
"I..." Roxas began speaking in that "I've got a friend" voice that teenagers always use to describe situations that are usually about themselves yet use "a friend" because they don't want the other person to know the truth. "I've got a friend."
Lea shook a bit, probably holding back a burst of laughter, but kept his mouth shut and ushered Roxas to continue. To keep his mouth preoccupied, he shoved the ice cream into his mouth and kept it busy.
"And this friend has a friend, who confessed to him." Roxas's eye gave an involuntary twitch at the memory, but he continued anyway. "Ever since then, they've been really awkward around each other. And then the next day, that same friend who confessed to him, said, 'let's be friends forever.'" Yet another involuntary eye twitch. "And that friend doesn't know what to do except agree. He doesn't want to hurt his friend, but he also doesn't want to lead him on..."
"...And?" Lea piped up, shifting his ice cream onto his other hand.
"And what?"
"You don't sound like you're finished."
Roxas's mouth drew into a line. He wasn't sure how much he could release to the stranger without being too detailed and give everything away. "That friend... the first one... He doesn't really want to be friends with him. Actually, he doesn't want to be friends with him at all, because being friends would only hurt them."
Lea grew quiet, not adding anything or saying some smart remark. "...So...?" It was soft, hardly a whisper. "Why would he agree to being friends forever then?" His voice was hard, almost struggling to keep it even.
Roxas's blue eyes examined the shadowed features on Lea, trying to catch some bit of facial expression, but the night was working against him. "...He didn't want to hurt him."
"But wouldn't it be better to just say 'no' and move on if it's only going to hurt them both? If that friend of yours really didn't want to be friends then he should have said no... if he really didn't care, he should have said so. At least then, he wouldn't let him believe a lie." Roxas caught some kind of hitch in Lea's voice, but ignored it and assumed that maybe he had a similar experience.
"No, it's not like that." Roxas sighed. He licked a few stray drops of ice cream before it hit his hand and gazed up at the man solemnly. "See, that friend was sad. He was sad that they were only going to be 'friends.' He..." Roxas licked his lips, suddenly feeling uncomfortable telling the stranger his love problems. "He wasn't sure if he wanted to just be friends. I think... deep down, he wanted to be more than friends. I think..."
Lea didn't move. His ice cream dripped blue goo onto his gloves, but he didn't seem to care or mind. He kept his attention glued to Roxas.
"If given a second chance at that confession," Roxas began, "he would have accepted his friend's confession." Roxas smiled then, a soft, sad smile and turned his head up into the sky, pretending to examine the twinkling stars rather than fight the tears welling up at his eyes. "But... they're only friends now..." His blue eyes shone brightly as the water glossed them over and the lights drifting down on them reflected.
"Roxas..."
Roxas blinked. He wasn't sure if it was just because he was thinking about Axel or if he just noticed the similarity in their voice just then, but the way he said his name... It just... It sounded too much like Axel, that he suddenly tensed.
"You-"
Lea cut him off, tossing his ice cream onto the grass behind him and rushed in to plant a soft kiss on Roxas's lips, stopping him before he could utter another syllable. He ripped off his sticky gloves and cupped Roxas's cheek, pulling him close and refusing to let him go.
Roxas couldn't fight him off even if he wanted to. Thing was... he didn't want to. There was something about that kiss that felt familiar to him, it felt right, and it felt wrong at the same time. It was incredible and sickening all at once, but he couldn't deny the pleasure in holding the hooded man. His chest was tightening up at odd places and his stomach knotted itself as he returned the man's kiss.
This wasn't Axel. This wasn't Axel.
Ohh, but it felt so natural to have this man. The sweet yet salty taste on his lips, the familiar movements in their kiss... he just couldn't deny it. Guilt was slowly riding towards him, and by all means, he should have pushed away, but... Gosh, how he didn't. He just closed his eyes and kept going, placing his arms instinctively around Lea's neck and intensifying the kiss.
Roxas opened his eyes and looked past Lea and onto the grass that surrounded them. And, before he closed his eyes again, he kissed Lea, reminding himself of the flavor of the discarded ice cream on the ground.
He's had this before. Sea salt ice cream. What a familiar taste it was.
xXx
TA: Okay, so now they're both guilty for kissing strangers. D: What is wrong with these two? Ahhh well, we'll find out in the next week, right? :D And, hopefully, that chapter will be on time. D;
Just in case there are some people who haven't figured it out yet, Lea is Axel's real name. o.o; I mean... who didn't see that coming? It was either Lea or Ale... And who wants to be named Ale? ...No offense to anyone who has the name Ale. o.o; ...Cuz when I hear "Ale" I think alcohol...
ANYWAY, thanks for reviewing (and reading)!