Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story. At all.
Warning: Shounen-ai, homosexual relationships, etc, etc.
Author's Note: Did anyone else notice my inability to shut the fuck up during author's notes?
Um… Chapter three is here. Axel and Roxas take some humiliation in stride. I think Axel really kind of… takes the cake in the humiliation department though.
Also in this chapter: A look at Roxas's dead mom, Naminé and Kairi, Officer Leonhart, a naughty Demyx, and some fables authored by Axel.
Summary: Axel thinks Aesop taught decent lessons in his fables, but the redhead is willing to bet he could do better. What good are fables that teach things like "attempt not impossibilities" or "little friends may prove great friends" anyway? Times are different from when Aesop lived and Axel thinks it's time for a new set of fables. All of which will be authored by himself, of course, because he's an expert on love, life, and what truly matters.
That, and Roxas Badcock promised to marry him if he gets his book published.
Axel's Fables
•••
•••
By: Freekiwi
III – He Takes One Step Forward and Eight Steps Back
He awoke because he was cold.
His hips, maybe his lower back, had a strange ache to them, as if he'd been sleeping on something hard. Usually he sweat at night, but this morning he was dry. And he was cold. Tired green eyes were opened and he was briefly confused by his position. He could see the contents under his bed. His mattress felt strangely like a rough, wood floor, and his blanket felt something like cold air being blown on his half-naked form.
He had fallen off the bed before, but that stopped when he had stopped sharing a bed.
Axel stood and rubbed his face. The storm from last night hadn't seemed to let up much. It was still pouring rain, but the thunder had subsided. He glanced at the clock hanging on his wall and made a disgusted noise when he realized it was only nine in the morning. Anything before noon was way too early to be awake during the summer time. Hell – being awake before noon any time should've been considered a crime.
Sleepily, he made a move to climb back into his bed.
"Roxas?" he mumbled. He had pulled back his blanket to reveal the pretty blond who had curled himself on top of his own blanket and wrapped himself in Axel's red one. He had also usurped all the pillows and created a nest around himself. Well, it was no wonder Axel had fallen out of bed. Roxas was a bed hog.
"Roxas," he shook the other, "move over." Axel was much too tired to really think about this situation. If it hadn't been so damn early, he probably would've attempted to talk the blond into a bit of late morning fun. A little afternoon delight. But it was nine in the morning and the redhead's libido was somewhat absent.
"Go away…" Roxas mumbled, "This is my bed."
"Nooo," Axel sighed, "this is my bed. In my room… Did we have sex?" a frown creased his features, "I don't recall, but some people are just forgettable like that…" he teased lightly.
Roxas opened his eyes and glared sleepily at Axel, "No one sees the wizard." He snatched the redhead's blanket over his head and lay motionless.
"Oh, come on!" he whined, "Roxy, come on!" he shook him, "I'm tired and cold. You're being cruel."
"You don't know what cruel is," he kicked the red blanket off himself, "fine – I'll just go find elsewhere to sleep." Roxas sat up, but Axel placed a hand on his shoulder. Their eyes met and they stared at each for a long time before Roxas finally sighed and lied back down. He turned on his side and scooted the slightest bit. Just enough for Axel to fit, but he was still clearly taking up most of the bed.
"You know…" he climbed into bed and pulled his blanket over their bodies, "you shouldn't play with fire, Roxy…"
"Are you comparing yourself to fire?" Roxas grumbled, "Because the only thing even remotely fiery about you is the color of the hair around your crotch."
"And the only thing cold about you is your chest…"
"Do wha – Axel!"
The redhead had taken it upon himself to slide his arms around Roxas and then stick his freezing hands into the blonde's night shirt and across his chest. He pressed his cold legs and cold feet against Roxas's warm ones and the more the irritable boy squirmed, the closer Axel held him. They were spooning, sort of – it was definitely progress in Axel's book.
"Mm…" his hands explored the blonde's upper body, "see what happens when you play with fire? You get freezer burned… By the way, your nipples are hard."
"Your hands are cold!" Roxas was blushing a deep shade of red, "you gave me goose bumps…"
"Do I always give you goose bumps?" Axel breathed hotly against his neck.
"No." Roxas felt the hair on his arms rise and betray him, "It's nine in the morning… How can you be this sexual at nine in the morning?" he relaxed in the redhead's arms just the slightest bit. It wasn't so bad now that he had warmed Axel up. Now that there weren't freezing cold body parts sucking the warmth from him, it was kind of nice. But only, -only-, kind of.
"Not sexual," Axel nuzzled his face into Roxas's hair, "flirtatious. Big difference."
"What's the difference?" he leaned his head forward to stop the pleasant feeling of being nuzzled.
"The difference," he squeezed Roxas tighter to his body in response, "is an erection."
"Wow," Roxas sighed, "wouldn't that be a small difference for you, then?"
"You looking to find out?" Axel teased, "Or are you just playing with fire again?"
"You looking to find out?" he mocked, adding an eye roll that the redhead couldn't see, but could definitely hear.
"Yea, actually…" his hands slipped downward toward Roxas's belly-button, "I am…"
Roxas's body was betraying him again. He was getting goose bumps for the third time. Except this time he wasn't getting them because he was cold or because Axel was flirting with his neck. He was getting them because the sudden thrill of the situation had caught up to him. He was playing with fire and he had to be careful. Axel was liable to burn him and Roxas wasn't sure if he could recover from such a burn.
"I just came here to sleep," he shifted, but didn't move the redhead's hands from his lower abdomen, "last night… because of the storm. I probably should go back to my room now, though… It's just raining…"
"It was storming?" his brow furrowed and his fingers ghosted over Roxas's happy trail, "Huh… didn't even notice… So… Are you a blondie down there too?"
"Axel –"
"Just tell me and I'll let you leave if you want," he compromised.
"Fine – yea, I'm blond down there. But I shave. Unlike you," he stiffened when he felt the tips of Axel's fingers dip under the waistband of his boxers, "hey, stop… I mean it, Axel…"
It took all of his will-power to slide his hands back up Roxas's body. It took every ounce of him to place his hands across the blonde's ribcage and it was almost physically painful to make himself not play with the younger boy's warm body. It took an amazing amount of self-control to not violate Roxas in the way he wanted to. It took more will power than Axel thought he actually had.
"You can go if you want…" Axel was quite glad they weren't facing each other. His eyes were probably giving him away – probably making him look like some kind of pervert or a rapist. "I'm not going to force you."
"In what way?" Roxas lightly teased.
"Hilarious." Axel mumbled sardonically, "I'm not going to force you in any way. It's not my style."
"I pegged you…" Roxas turned him over to face Axel, causing the redhead to reposition his arms around the smaller boy, "as someone who just takes what he wants."
"Like a rapist?" he raised a brow questioningly.
"No," he gave the smallest smile, "but… you know… Like… Like you'd talk some guy into giving you his virginity just because you want it. And you wouldn't stop talking to him until he gave it to you."
Axel mauled this over for a moment. The description Roxas had offered wasn't completely off. The redhead had taken his fair share of boys' virginities, but it wasn't as if he had gone after them solely for that reason. It seemed to him that Roxas was implying Axel was heartless enough to scam some kid out of his virginity and then never speak to him again. But maybe not… Axel didn't want to fight so he didn't mention it.
"It's not quite like that…" he shrugged his shoulders. "It's not like I only go after virgins."
Roxas raised his brows at older boy, "I'm not saying you do. I'm just saying you take what you want."
Axel frowned, "But it's not like that. I don't take. I venture into the realm of taking and give people a chance to tell me no. Am I taking what I want from you right now?" his jade eyes met deep blue ones, "No, because you told me to stop."
The blond didn't like being told he was wrong and he only became further agitated when evidence was provided as to why he was wrong. He gave Axel a look – something between a scowl and a glare – and when he realized he had no rebuttal, he reached out and shoved the redhead off the edge of the bed.
Axel would've been considerably more annoyed if he hadn't yanked Roxas right down with him. The blankets and the pillows came falling down with them and before the redhead could properly reorient himself, he felt Roxas push his hips into his own and he had to suppress the sudden moan that threatened to leave his lips.
"Ass," the blond was on top of Axel and he was trying to push off the blankets and pillows that had fallen on top of them. His cheeks were flushed but from what, the redhead wasn't sure. "You're an ass." Roxas growled. He continued to untangle himself from the bedding and when he was finally free from the mess, he stood up and made a move to leave.
But Axel reached out and grabbed the blonde's small hips and happily took him down to the floor. They struggled briefly, but within a few moments he had dominated Roxas. Axel was obviously the much stronger one of the two. He was more than half a foot taller and he was pretty sure he outweighed the itty-bitty blond.
"Get off," he glared up at Axel. "Seriously. Get off me."
"I don't think so…" he smiled good-naturedly. He had pinned Roxas's hands underneath his knees and he was enjoying watching the irritable boy struggle. "I'll make a deal with you though…"
"Ugh, another one?" he wiggled and squirmed under Axel.
"This one is less serious."
"Ngh… Fine!" Roxas whined and attempted to free his hands, "What is it now?"
"I'll let you go if you admit that you like me," Axel crossed his arms over his chest and his features turned completely serious.
"What? That's stupid." Roxas had stilled under the redhead, "That's really stupid. Wouldn't you rather I say it when I actually mean it?"
As soon as he said it, he wished he hadn't.
"Pft, fine," and Axel rolled off the blond and stood. He gathered his red blanket and his pillows and tossed them messily onto his bed. "You can leave…" he didn't look at Roxas because he really didn't want him to see the hurt reflected in his green eyes. He really, really didn't want Roxas to know he cared that much about whether or not the blond liked him.
"Axel…" he stood and watched as the redhead scooprf up his own blanket. "I didn't mean for it to come out like that."
"Hey," he shoved the wadded material roughly into the blonde's arms. "I don't need your stupid pity, okay?"
"It's not pity!" Roxas gripped his blanket tightly and attempted to ignore the guilt spreading through him like wild fire. He could be cold and he could be moody, but he wasn't mean. At least… He didn't try to be mean. And he wasn't trying to hurt Axel.
"It is pity," the redhead walked over to his bedroom door and roughly opened it, "so just leave, okay?"
Roxas hesitated and he looked at Axel. His pretty eyes had narrowed and the blond couldn't ever recall seeing his upstairs tenant this serious. In the car, when they made the deal, there had still been just the slightest hint of playfulness, but now there was just… What? Anger? Hurt? Both?
"Roxas," he growled, "Seriously. I want you to leave."
Slowly, the blond made his way to the door with his head bowed. The words hurt him a lot more than he thought they should and Roxas found he couldn't be angry even though he was being kicked out of the room. He had really stuck his foot in his mouth and… And he'd be just as upset if he realized Axel didn't like him. Roxas considered them, on some weird level, friends.
"Look, Axel," he stood right at the foot of the doorway, "I –"
"Save it."
And with a push to the small of his back, Roxas found he had been somewhat forcibly removed by his severely annoyed tenant.
••••••••••••••
Things in the duplex couldn't have been much worse. Sora and Riku's avoidance of every other had grown into hateful, cold looks and occasional outbursts whenever they saw each other. The outbursts were usually short and inexplicit and every time Axel questioned his roommate about what he and Sora were yelling about, he just got a dirty look or a snide remark.
On the other end, Axel had been avoiding Roxas as much as he possibly could. His feelings had been stomped on and while the blond made an effort to apologize and correct the situation, Axel found himself uninterested in what the sassy boy had to say. He couldn't help but stew on the idea that Roxas seriously didn't like him. They had kissed, but then Roxas had told him to out with Demyx. Roxas had been jealous, but refused to admit he cared. Roxas had crawled into Axel's bed and cuddled with him, but then boldly stated he didn't like the feisty redhead. He had signed the contract saying he'd marry Axel, but then he went around acting like the older boy was a pain in his rear end.
Roxas even had had the chance to kiss Axel and he hadn't made a move.
All in all, the redhead felt severely toyed with and it only added to his frustration. Did Roxas like him or didn't he? Axel was feeling rather fed up with the mixed signals. He found he really didn't like it when kisses were followed by shoves. He was reluctant to accept the blonde's apology for that reason. Why would an apology even matter if Roxas was just going to continue to act in the same manner? Axel didn't want to be kissed and shoved. He wanted one or the other – preferably the kisses.
"Only two weeks until school's back in session!" Kairi stated cheerily. She was in the duplex's kitchen cooking pasta and sauce on the stove. She and Naminé had arrived a day or so ago and they were staying at the duplex until they could move into their dorm room. It was the beginning of September and the twins coming to visit was a nice break from the stony silence that usually engulfed the unnaturally quiet home.
"Hey, Roxas, Axel!" she called from the kitchen, "Can you guys come set the table?" she lifted the lid off a pot and stirred the contents inside. Naminé was near her, slicing a loaf of bread into pieces on a cutting board.
"You know they're fighting," Naminé mumbled.
"I know," she smiled to herself and stirred the pot.
There was an awkward moment at the kitchen doorway when Axel and Roxas had both arrived there at the same time. They passed each other cold looks and waited for the other to move.
"Go ahead," Roxas motioned for Axel to go first.
"No, no – ladies first," he replied.
His blue eyes narrowed, "Right – so start walking."
Axel opened his mouth to retort, but Kairi loudly cleared her throat and the redhead reluctantly walked into the kitchen first. He opened up the cabinet nearest the fridge and grabbed out six plates. Roxas went for the silverware drawer and removed six forks and six knives and there was another awkward moment when they went to set the table. More cold looks were passed between them.
Axel set a plate down with a little force.
Roxas mimicked his actions with the silverware.
Green eyes narrowed and he set the next plate down with slightly more force. Roxas mimicked his actions a second time and their eyes locked. They glared heatedly at one another and Axel slammed the third plate down and Roxas just tossed the silverware haphazardly onto the table top.
"What's your problem?" Axel yelled.
"I don't have a problem!" he yelled back.
"Gee," Kairi said loudly, "is something wrong?"
Naminé stifled the smallest of laughs.
"You're a bitch, Roxas!" Axel yelled.
"I'm a bitch? You're the one upstairs sulking! You're the one who won't take the stupid apology!" Roxas yelled.
"You can take your apology and shove it up your –"
Kairi loudly cleared her throat again and both boys stormed from the kitchen. They had a small scuffle at the doorway, but then they both stomped to their respective rooms and slammed the doors behind them.
"Well done," Naminé patted Kairi on the back. "You were so close to finding out what's bothering them."
"Yea…" she sighed and ignored the sarcasm in her sister's voice, "That's okay – Riku! Sora! Will you guys please finish setting the table for dinner?" she called.
Naminé shook her head.
••••••••••••••
Dinner was a strained affair. Two chairs had been added to the kitchen table so everyone would fit and Kairi had refused to let anyone eat until everyone was at the table. She had cooked everyone a meal and, damnit, they were all going to sit there and pretend to like each other and enjoy it.
"So," Kairi buttered a piece of bread, "what are you majoring in Axel?"
Roxas mumbled "douchebaggery" under his breath and earned a hard kick under the table. He hissed in pain and shot a glare at Kairi who pretended as if nothing had happened. She smiled politely at Axel, the only boy who she didn't know well, and waited for him to finish glaring at her brother before answering the question.
"Well…" he looked away from Roxas, "I –"
"This is really good, Kai…" Sora forked a bit of pasta, "the sauce… did you use Mom's old recipe?"
She nodded happily, "I found her shoebox of old recipes and Dad said I could take it."
"What?" Roxas looked up from his plate, "You found it?" he asked suspiciously, "You just… happened to come upon it? You weren't… you know… Snooping in my room?"
Kairi shrugged, "Maybe I was thoughtfully tidying up for you and saw it in there."
"Or maybe you took it." He glared at her and her eyes narrowed.
Naminé and Sora both looked away from their siblings and Riku, who had been silent for most of the meal, excused himself from the table. He rinsed his dish in the sink and placed it into the dishwasher before exiting the room.
Axel wasn't sure if he should feel uncomfortable or not. Riku's sudden absence from the table made him feel as if he was about to intrude on a private moment. He felt he should leave, but curiosity kept him seated.
"It's not like it belonged to you, Roxas…" Kairi said gently, "It was Mom's shoebox."
"But it was in my room!" he stood up from the table and stared daggers at her, "It was in my room, Kairi!"
"All of her old stuff is in your room!" she yelled. "It's not fair! You have nearly everything that belonged to her!"
Naminé was looking intently at her plate and Sora was fingering his napkin uncomfortably. Axel wanted to leave, but he didn't want to move. He understood now why Riku had excused himself so quickly. He obviously knew this wasn't just a little spat between siblings.
"I'm the only one that cared enough to take her stuff!" Roxas was gripping the edge of the table.
"No," Naminé had suddenly spoken up, "you were just the first one to get to her stuff…" she was quiet, but her words weren't any less upsetting to Roxas.
"I…" he stammered, "That's not true!" he looked over at Sora for help and even Axel found himself feeling very sorry for Roxas when Sora looked away from him and, instead, looked at both Kairi and Naminé. All three of them exchanged a look and Axel saw the blonde's cheeks suddenly erupt in a pinkish color.
"So now you're all ganging up on me?" he spat.
"We're not ganging up on you, Roxas…" Sora frowned, "But you did take all of mom's stuff after she died. None of us even got a chance to sort through any of it…"
"So?" he scanned the faces of his siblings, "You act like I took all of her stuff and locked it away somewhere!"
"It's all in your room." Kairi's voice had dropped to a lower decibel, but there was an edge to her words. "You're mad because I took her shoebox of recipes. You weren't even using it, Roxas. It was just sitting in your room…"
His glare didn't cease. They were ganging up on him and it was infuriating him. They seldom fought (aside from very small arguments) but they also heavily avoided the subject of their mother. Sora, Kairi, and Naminé had managed to recover healthily from her death, but Roxas seemed very unable to move passed it. It had only been within the last six months that Roxas had finally admitted to himself that his mother was gone and she wasn't coming back. It hadn't been that long ago that he gave up searching for her.
"You don't understand." Roxas glared hatefully at his sister, "I'm so fucking sorry I was able to go through her stuff first!"
"You only got to go first because you didn't go to the funeral!" Sora had stood up from the table and matched the intensity of his twin's glare.
Axel shifted uncomfortably. He felt like he was spying. He felt like he shouldn't have been sitting at the table with them. He was getting a dirty look at what had happened with their mother and it made him feel somewhat guilty. This seemed like a private matter and Axel wanted to leave, but he was kind of afraid to move.
"I deserve her stuff!" Roxas yelled, "I cared about her the most!"
"You did not!" Naminé yelled.
All three siblings looked at her with mild expressions of shock. Axel didn't know Naminé very well, but he knew she was quiet. Quiet compared to the rest of her siblings, anyway. He was beginning to get the feeling that her lack of words was made up for by the intensity and depth of what she had to say. He'd have to ask Roxas sometime, but Axel had the feeling Naminé carefully thought out everything before she said anything.
No one said a word. Kairi and Sora were glaring accusingly at Roxas and Naminé had taken to studying the tablecloth. The fight appeared to be over and as Axel looked from face to face across the table, he suddenly noticed something.
"That's crazy…" he glanced at all their faces again and they all looked at him as if suddenly remembering he was sitting there, "You know… You all have blue eyes."
"… Shut up, Axel."
Wow.
He'd never been told to 'shut up' in unison before.
••••••••••••••
"You don't have to help me…" Kairi smiled at Axel as he helped her clear the kitchen table. After his astute observation, Roxas had stormed out of the kitchen and Sora had offered to take Naminé to the art store so she could get supplies. Axel hadn't known she was an artist. He had seen her carrying around a sketchbook, but he never made the connection.
"I want to," he carried the plates over to the sink and began to rinse them off before putting them into the dishwasher. Kairi was digging plastic containers out from one of the bottom cabinets so she could put away the leftovers.
"Sorry about the fight…" she pulled a large container out of the cabinet, "I forgot you were at the table still. I saw Riku walk off and… I guess I'm not used to having a sixth member at the table."
Axel frowned, "What do you mean?"
Kairi mirrored his look and glanced up at the tall redhead as she began to spoon the sauce and noodles into the container. "Riku used to eat at our house all the time. After our mom died, we'd fight at the table a lot and he'd always excuse himself at the beginning of the fights."
His brows furrowed and he loaded the silverware into the dishwasher, "Why was he eating at your house?"
Kairi looked at him oddly, "Because he used to date Sora. Aren't you guys supposed to be best friends?"
The question made Axel uncomfortable, "We are…" he mumbled unconvincingly.
"Oh, sorry…" she laughed. "I just assumed he didn't keep secrets from you… Do you keep secrets from him?"
He opened his mouth to say yes, but then he thought about it and mumbled 'no.' He supposed Riku didn't have to tell him everything. He supposed Riku was entitled to his own secrets, but… But Axel really didn't have any secrets. He did tell Riku everything, regardless of how big or small. He didn't like to think that Riku's secret-keeping meant they weren't best friends, though. This wasn't middle school. They could keep things from each other and still be best friends…
"Um… Kairi?" he scanned the kitchen to see if anything else needed to be cleaned up, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," she put the container of leftovers in the fridge and then leaned her skinny body against the counter top. "What's the question?"
"How come Roxas didn't go to his mom's funeral?"
Kairi looked at Axel for a long time before answering. She crossed her arms over her chest and she shifted uncomfortably for a moment or two. Blue eyes were cast downward and the redhead watched her closely. Maybe it was too forward a question. Maybe he shouldn't have asked, but…
"He wouldn't accept that she had died." Kairi finally answered, "It was…" she paused, "there was more going on that just that, but his inability to accept she had died was definitely a huge chunk of it…" a sigh parted her lips and she looked over at the kitchen table and away from Axel.
He remembered that day in the car when he and Roxas had made the deal...
"Don't. It's like exposing Santa Clause as a fraud to a seven year old and then saying 'but no one knows for sure if he's real or not.' It just perpetuates a hope that will eventually come crashing down around you like a million little pieces."
He looked away from Kairi and suddenly felt embarrassed for asking. He supposed he was being sort of nosey, but he couldn't help it. He wanted to know more about Roxas. Axel figured that maybe they'd get along better if he understood the blond a little better.
"Can I ask you a question now?" she seemed to brighten a little bit and Axel nodded. "Okay – what are you and Roxas fighting about?"
"Oh," his cheeks suddenly turned a very light pink color. Their fight seemed so insignificant right now and he felt stupid talking about it. "Um… He said he didn't like me."
Kairi laughed and Axel rolled his eyes at her.
"Yea, I know. It seems really dumb in the grand scheme of things but –"
"No, no…" she sunk her teeth into her lower lip to keep her laughter in, "It's just... He said you wouldn't accept his apology when you guys were setting the dinner table."
Axel stared at her with a look of complete and total confusion.
"Roxas never says he's sorry, Axel… if he really didn't like you, he wouldn't be trying so hard to get your attention…" Kairi leaned against the counter top and watched the redhead. "If he really didn't like you, trust me – you'd know it. There wouldn't be a doubt in your mind."
"Yea, but –"
"Hey," she interrupted, "trust me. Roxas wasn't always this moody and closed off. Be thankful he's trying to let you in…"
Axel frowned and looked away from her. It sure didn't feel like Roxas was trying to let him in. It felt more like a really shitty board game that contained dice with negative numbers on them. For every step Axel took forward, Roxas was busy taking eight steps back.
••••••••••••••
"This sucks." Roxas growled.
Riku wiped the sweat from his brow and sighed. September wasn't normally this warm, but today was starting to seem pretty unbearable. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if their AC unit hadn't broken down sometime during the middle of the night. It figured, though. It had been five days since the incident at the dinner table and things at the duplex had been going somewhat smoothly. Something had to go wrong eventually.
"I agree," Sora groaned. "This sucks."
All six of them were sitting in foldable plastic chairs at the swimming pool near the duplex. It was crowded with people, but Kairi and Naminé had suggested they go for a swim to cool off while their AC unit was being fixed. It helped, somewhat, and it was better than roasting in the duplex, but considering Riku and Sora were still avoiding each other and Axel was still slightly weary of Roxas, the day at the pool was slowly turning into the four of them alternating between bitching about the weather and arguing.
"Just go in the water," Kairi insisted to all four boys. "You'll feel better if you do…"
"That water's dirty."
All five of them looked at Axel with mild expressions of shock. Since when did he care about whether or not something was dirty? He wasn't a slob, per se, but he certainly wasn't anywhere near as finicky as the rest of them. He would go weeks without doing laundry. He would go months without cleaning up his room. Personal hygiene was a completely different story, though. Axel would be hard pressed to leave the house without brushing his teeth and he wouldn't call it a day until he had taken a shower.
"What?" he glared at them, "Don't give me those looks. There's a big difference between my filth at home and the filth of strangers. There's piss in that water and… and look, see? Look at that really fat guy over there." He pointed and they all turned at once, "Don't all look at once!" Axel hissed, "geez… But do you see him?" they all hesitated, unsure if they should look again. "Imagine the last time he cleaned his balls or the folds of his –"
"Okay, okay!" Kairi gave him a look, "Now no one wants to go in the pool. Thanks, Axel."
There was a sarcastic murmur of 'yea, thanks' from the other young adults.
"God, if we're gonna bake in the sun, can we at least do it in the comfort of our home?" Roxas slid his sunglasses from his face and stood up.
"Oh, come on…" Kairi frowned, "You guys are the whiniest set of men I've ever seen."
Riku put his arms behind his head and shrugged, "Hey, I'm not whining."
"But you're already on my family's shitlist for life. You're automatically irritating to me no matter what you do." Kairi politely explained.
Riku rolled his eyes and Sora looked away from him, the smallest of smiles evident on his features.
"Hey – why is Riku on the shitlist for your whole family?" Axel sat up in his foldable chair and looked at Kairi and Naminé.
"No one tell him!" Riku suddenly yelled.
All four quadruplets exchanged looks with each other and then they looked from Axel (who looked really indignant and annoyed) to Riku (who looked extremely panicked). They looked back at each other and then Sora stood and mumbled something about going to take a dip in the pool. He shed his shirt from his body and made his way over toward the diving board.
"Don't eye-rape him," Kairi somewhat playfully hit Riku's arm. "He's not yours to eye-rape."
"Thanks for reminding me, Kai…" he sighed and stood up, making his way over to the edge of the pool and sliding in.
"Want me to embarrass or insult you two?" she looked over at Roxas and Axel, "Or are you gonna save me the trouble and just go ahead and get in the pool?"
They looked at each other and then they both stood and ambled off, grumbling to themselves about the weather and the dirty pool and then grumbling about Kairi.
"Having fun bossing people around?" Naminé asked teasingly. She was drawing something in her notebook and the heat wasn't really bothering her. She had been quite content in the duplex, but she had come along for the antics that she knew would ensue.
"I'm not bossing them around…" Kairi craned her neck slightly to check where everyone was. "We're playing a game called 'Do What I Say or I'll Emotionally Abuse You' and they're all having a great time. They just don't know it yet."
She grinned at Naminé and her twin shook her head, a smile evident on her pretty features.
"I know how to have fun," Roxas grumbled. He and Axel were waiting in a line of people so they could jump off the diving board. "We just don't find the same things fun…"
"Right," Axel nodded, "because your idea of fun is brooding alone in your room. And my idea of fun is meeting people and –"
"Getting laid."
Jade eyes narrowed and he turned away from the blond. He crossed his arms over his chest and stepped forward slightly as the line moved.
"I'm just kidding with you." Roxas whined, "Don't be like that. I'm playing."
"Nope. We're not friends anymore," Axel replied teasingly.
"Well… fine! I don't wanna be your friend," he played along.
"Well fine," he stuck his behind out and shook it at Roxas. "That's what I think of you."
The blond stared, completely struck by the immaturity of the redhead. No words came to his mouth and instead he began to stammer. How the fuck was he supposed to respond to that? No one had ever shaken their ass at him before.
"My ass tends to have that effect on people." Axel flirted. "Just imagine what kind of reaction my front gets."
"Do they gasp at the shortness of it? Do girls come up and mention how cute it is?" Roxas teased.
"Hey," he turned to Roxas, "I'm not the one afraid to go out and get laid."
He raised a brow, "Sounds to me like you're compensating. If you were really confident in the size of your dick, you wouldn't feel the need to go out and tag random ass."
"Or," Axel slung an arm around the blonde's shoulder, "Or I just know it would be sinful to keep such an amazing gift from God all to myself."
"I really don't think God would appreciate you semi-blaming him for your overactive sex life." Roxas slipped from under the redhead's arm.
Axel snorted, "Please – if God didn't want me to have sex he wouldn't have given me a dick."
Roxas opened his mouth to respond, but instead he mumbled, "It's your turn."
The redhead climbed up onto the diving board and waited for some of the children to clear out of the way. He surveyed the pool briefly with a small smile lining his features. He and Roxas were getting along again and he was really quite pleased. Things had been going okay and Axel was starting to feel that maybe Kairi had been right. Maybe Roxas really did like him and the blond just had trouble coming to terms with his feelings.
"Hey, Axel?" he heard Roxas say. "How confident are you?"
His brows furrowed and he opened his mouth to respond, but then stopped. What kind of question was that? He went to look over his shoulder at the blond, to ask what he meant, when he felt two hands grip the legs of his shorts and pull downward.
And suddenly, Axel was flashing the whole entire swimming pool.
Cheeks heated and he quickly yanked his swim shorts back up. The people who had noticed (mostly those in the deeper end of the pool and around the diving board area) pointed and exchanged looks of amusement or shock. Roxas had gotten a decent look at Axel's behind and he was blushing. Axel had a really nice ass. He also had a large scar spanning the length of his left cheek.
The pool seemed rather silent and both Axel and Roxas stood on the diving board. He was absolutely mortified, way too mortified to move, and he stood there, torn between jumping into the pool and playing the whole thing off or hitting Roxas in the face. Both sounded really, really tempting. Had he not just flashed a large group of people, Axel would've been able to think clearly.
"Jump, firecrotch!" someone yelled.
"Shut up!" Axel's face burned red and he heard Roxas stifle a laugh behind him.
"Come on, firecrotch, we don't have all day!"
"Yea, either whip your shorts off again or jump!"
"Your face is starting to rival the color of your pubes!"
Axel's face burned even redder from embarrassment and two things quickly happened. He turned and shoved Roxas, hard, into the deep end of the pool, and then he dived off the board and ignored the calls of 'firecrotch' and screech of the lifeguard's whistle.
He didn't surface until he was somewhere in the five foot end where Riku was sitting on the edge of the pool. His feet were in the water and he was smirking to himself.
"Nice dick."
"Shut up," Axel growled. "It's not funny."
"No, it's not."
Riku turned and Axel looked up at a very tall, serious-looking man. He had a scar running in a slant across the bridge of his nose and he looked thoroughly agitated. His eyes looked from Riku to Axel and then he looked across the pool in search of Roxas. In his hands, he was holding a pad of paper and a pen and he began to scribble something down.
Axel and Riku exchanged looks.
"Who are you?" the redhead stared.
"Officer Leonhart. I'm giving you a ticket for indecent exposure."
His mouth propped open, "What?"
"There are a lot of children here today and I don't appreciate your kind of humor."
"I didn't pull my shorts down, though! My stupid, idiot, fuck of a roommate did it!" Axel growled.
"Are you taking a tone with me?" Officer Leonhart looked at the redhead coldly. "Would you like another ticket for insubordination?"
"You can't ticket me for insubordination!" he argued.
Riku began to slowly inch away from them. He wanted no association with Axel at the moment. The redhead was going to end up getting himself arrested and Riku knew, somehow, he'd end up in jail too, right next to his stupid, mouthy best friend. He had already been to jail once with Axel and once had certainly been enough.
"I can give you a citation for just about anything," he stated coldly.
"Pft," Axel rolled his eyes, "you should give yourself a ticket for being a douche."
Officer Leonhart's eyes narrowed considerably, "Okay," he ripped the public indecency ticket from the binding and handed it to Axel. "And…" he began to write another ticket and Axel's jaw dropped. He was being charged $300 dollars because Roxas had made him flash a pool full of people.
"And this is for being a rude shit," he dropped the second citation in front of Axel. "You can go to court and fight the tickets if you want, kid, but it's easier to pay the fine. It's my word against your word."
The redhead felt his eye twitch and he crumpled both tickets angrily.
"Next time, keep your pants around your waist."
Officer Leonhart walked away and Axel felt the anger bubbling in his chest. He gripped both tickets tightly in his hands and when Riku decided to inch back over, he had to hide the fact that he had been laughing. Why was Axel's misfortune always so hilarious to his supposed "best friend" anyway?
"He SERIOUSLY wrote on here 'for being a rude shit'!" Axel exclaimed as he examined the second citation, "He can't do that!"
Riku was practically grinning, "No. He can't."
Axel gave him a seething look and Riku began to laugh all over again.
Maybe Kairi was right. Maybe they weren't best friends.
••••••••••••••
They had left the pool at the request of the lifeguards and pool staff after the incident on the diving board. Axel, who had been dubbed 'firecrotch' by everyone in the age range of ten to 23, had had his photo taken and was banned from the pool until next summer. They also took Roxas's photo and he had been banned too.
Well, at least now they had something in common.
Axel, Riku, and Sora were sitting in the bed of Roxas's pick-up. The blond was driving them back to the duplex and Kairi and Naminé were sitting together in the front seat. The redhead and Roxas were currently not on speaking terms. Because of Roxas, Axel had been issued two tickets (only one really being the blonde's fault), had been dubbed 'firecrotch' by a large group of strangers, and was now banned from the pool until next summer.
"At least summer's almost over anyway…" Sora offered somewhat helpfully. "And what you did to Roxas's hand was sort of payback…" he frowned.
"What?" Axel raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"
"When you pushed him off the diving board… He was too close to edge of the pool and he scraped his hand all down the side of the concrete…" the brunet explained. "It looks worse than it really is."
Axel crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. What in the world had possessed Roxas to yank his shorts down? How had he even processed that thought without thinking about the consequences? Axel drew the conclusion that the blond either thought he was so much of a skank, he didn't mind having his dick shown to strangers or Roxas just hadn't been thinking at all.
Either way, Axel was seriously pissed.
"So…" Sora's eyes glanced at the redhead's crotch. "That's a lot of red down there. Why don't you shave it?"
"Oh, come on!" he groaned and put a hand over his face. "You saw it too?"
"I-I looked away REALLY quickly!"
Sora couldn't tell who was giving him the bigger look – Axel or Riku.
"I-I'm just saying…" the brunet continued, ignoring the looks he was being given, "If you shaved it, no one could call you firecrotch."
"No one should be calling me firecrotch to begin with!" Axel was totally exasperated, "No one should even KNOW I have red hair down there! I don't care if they assume! But it's my business and I don't need everyone knowing about it!"
Riku and Sora exchanged a look. This was probably the longest they had been together without fighting in quite a while. Axel's humiliation was sort of bringing them together in a weird, semi-roundabout way.
"I'm so mad…" he shook his head. "I'm so pissed off."
"It's not so bad," Sora reached out and patted Axel reassuringly on the back, "It's just your dick… and your pubes…" he paused, "your red, red,red pubes."
Riku stifled a laugh and Axel swatted the brunet's hand away.
"Shut the hell up!" he growled.
"Okay, I'm sorry!" but Sora was clearly trying to hold back a smile.
His jade eyes narrowed and he glared hatefully at both of them. Axel was quite relieved when the truck pulled into the driveway and he was finally free to go and lock himself in his room.
What a horrible day.
••••••••••••••
Heard what happened at the pool today. Kind of wish I had been there. ;)
-Demyx
Axel went slightly slack jawed at the message. He had come up to his room all of five minutes ago (the door locked so as to avoid everyone in the duplex) and the text message from Dem had shocked him. The flashing had only taken place maybe an hour and a half ago, if that, and Demyx already knew about it. What the hell?
He dialed the blonde's number and waited for him to answer.
"Hello?"
"How do you know about that? It happened all of… Jesus Christ! Eleven seconds ago!" Axel threw himself down on his bed and groaned. His bed and blanket smelled like Roxas still. It smelled like strawberries and vanilla and he found the scent rather soothing.
"I got a text from my friend who was at the pool," he laughed into the phone, "Why are you so freaked out?"
"Because I flashed an assload of strangers, got ticketed for indecent exposure, and then ticketed again for mouthing off, and oh, yea, I got banned from the pool…" he sighed and crawled under his blanket. The AC unit was definitely working again and the heat of the day had subsided into a slightly cool evening.
"I heard Roxas ripped your shorts off."
"He pulled them down my legs," Axel growled. "He didn't rip them from my body."
Demyx laughed, "Man, you're tense."
"…Sorry. I guess I forgot how therapeutic it is to have a bunch of strangers calling you firecrotch."
"So you are a firecrotch!" he said triumphantly.
"Yea, mystery solved, Scooby-Doo. Maybe you and the gang can go find another mystery to solve."
"Aww, come on…" Demyx cooed, "Don't be like that, Ax… Do you want me to come over?"
He mauled this over for a moment. He was torn because part of him really did want Demyx to come over and the other part wanted him to come over because he knew how badly it would piss Roxas off. Considering Roxas had just thoroughly humiliated him, making him jealous seemed like a really tame form of revenge.
"Yea… Yea, I would, Demy. That'd be great."
By the time Demyx made his way over to the duplex, Axel had showered and shoved a pair of low-rise jeans over his legs. He didn't bother with boxers or a shirt because he figured the less dressed he was, the more annoyed Roxas would be.
The redhead was halfway down the stairs when Roxas went to open the front door. His eyes narrowed the slightest bit when he saw Dem and he stopped himself from saying "why are you here?" Roxas really had to remember that they were, on some level, friends and Demyx really was a nice guy. Axel was the jerk. Not Demyx.
"Hey, Demy…" Axel ignored Roxas and pulled the young musician into the foyer. He grabbed his hand and interlaced their fingers, eyes subtly glancing over to see if Roxas had noticed.
He had.
And he looked pissed.
"Axel?" Roxas stopped the couple before they ran up the stairs. "Can we talk?"
"Maybe later," he replied coldly, eyes locking with Roxas's own for a brief moment. "Demy's going to help me unwind." He winked at his duplex-mate and Axel wasn't really sure who had blushed more – Demyx or Roxas.
••••••••••••••
"These are funny…" Demyx was flipping through Axel's notebook and reading the short fables he had written so far. "I really like them… What are you doing this for?" he looked up briefly at his shirtless friend.
"Uh… just something to do…" he lied somewhat smoothly. "Don't you… I dunno… write songs or… whatever sometimes?"
He laughed gently and then glanced up at Axel, "Oh, sure…" he was laying stomach-down on the redhead's bed, "But I'm a terrible song writer. I'm too lazy to even compose a whole song…" his tongue flicked out to lick the tip of his finger and he turned a page in the notebook:
A rooster clucking at dawn caught sight of a beautiful hen across the fields of an open farm. He approached her and asked her, "Dear hen, would you fancy a round of unprotected sex with me?" and the hen, having long admired the rooster, clucked her agreement. So the hen and the rooster went off into the barn and did unspeakable things to each other's feathered bodies. Once the deeds were done, the rooster promised to be with the hen forever. A few days later, the hen discovered she was pregnant and when she went to tell the rooster of her misfortune, he was gone. The hen then realized she had been abandoned by her baby's daddy.
Moral: Always practice safe sex lest you end up pregnant with some fatherless bastard.
Demyx laughed slightly, "You're not expecting kids some day, huh?"
Axel walked over to his bed and laid stomach-down next to the musician. "Nope. Not unless I knock up some boy…" he shrugged his shoulders and his eyes scanned Demyx's handsome features. "I mean… I guess if I got really, really, really, really, really, really wasted and slept with some chick, I could have a kid."
Demyx gave Axel an amused look, "That's beautiful, Ax."
He shrugged his shoulders and bit back a smile.
The blond turned the page and began to read another fable:
A wolf approached the lakeside with her pack of cubs and told them to drink. They had been traveling through the woods for days and the cubs had become quite restless. The wolf had been trying tirelessly to protect her young from various predators and she had been trying to find a safer place for her and her cubs to live. She had sacrificed much of her adult life and much of her wolfish fun for her children, but she knew in her heart that, one day, all of her struggle would be worth it when her cubs grew into striking young wolves. As she contemplated the kind of wolves they would be, she failed to notice her cubs sneak up behind her and shove her into the lake. When she cried for help and asked for her cubs to save her, they merrily played along the shore and ignored the woes of their mother.
Moral: Kids are ungrateful bastards who will leave their parents high and dry.
"Man… you and bastard children," he playfully elbowed Axel, "got some repressed memories there? Something going on in your subconscious?"
The redhead ran his fingers lazily through Demyx's Mohawk. "I wish. I could use it as an excuse to act however I please."
He nuzzled against the touch, "Don't you act however you want anyway?"
"I censor myself…" Axel mumbled.
"… When you first met me, you told me you'd be willing to pay for my ass. And then you talked about your dick." Demyx looked quite amused.
"Yeaaaa," the redhead smirked, "but I could've said something much worse. I could've said 'you're extremely attractive. Please let me bend you over and fuck you senseless' but I didn't."
Demyx was blushing and he wasn't at all embarrassed by it. "Instead you just alluded to all of that."
"I could be blunt," he leaned in and kissed the blond briefly, "or I could be flirtatious and charming…"
"Or, you know… you could just be on top of me."
"Yea, or I could be inside of you."
Their eyes met and it was Demyx who closed the gap between them. It was Demyx who opened his mouth for Axel's warm tongue. It was Demyx who broke their kiss to remove his own shirt. And it was Demyx who went down on Axel's throbbing erection.
The redhead's notebook had been carelessly pushed from the bed and it fell, open-faced, to the wooden floor. It had fallen open to a fable that had been penned in red ink instead of black and the title read "The Lion, The Lioness, and the Seemingly Impossible Circumstance." It was the first fable Axel had ever written and it was the fable he had written after Roxas had given him the idea for his book:
A lion walked through the forest proudly. He was a handsome, charismatic lion who was greatly adored and loved by all the animals within their kingdom. He had many friends and many acquaintances, but the lion was quite lonely for he had no one to call his own. One day, he came upon a beautiful lioness who was sunning herself upon a rock. The lion thought, "I shall make her my own for she is the most beautiful lioness I have ever laid my green eyes upon." As he approached her, the lioness eyed him suspiciously and she became very guarded as he began to speak. "Oh, dear lioness. You seem so lonesome… What does a lion have to do to be with someone as special as you?"
And the clever lioness replied, "When your fur is that of a zebra's, I will be yours and you may call me your own." Then she hopped down from her rock and left the lion by himself.
And though it seemed impossible, the lion knew better than to just give up. So he called upon his friends and asked them to paint his fur in black and white stripes. After four days of painstaking work, the lion's fur resembled that of a zebra's and when he approached the lioness's rock, she smiled at him and said, "Oh, dear lion… You must be greatly in love with me to put yourself through such toil. You have won my heart and now you may call me your own."
And the lion smiled because his days of loneliness were no more.
Moral: Even the impossible is possible when it comes to true love.
Author's Note: This was really, really hard to write and I believe it's because it's a transition chapter. It's a chapter that sets up the next chapter. I rewrote this three times. Like… fully rewrote it. Like hit backspace a whole lot and rewrote it. This was terrible.
I think it was so hard because it's pretty difficult to keep the chapters in their current feelings. I try to make time pass (the next chapter they'll finally start school) so their feelings have time to kind of… sort out? Like if you're mad at someone on Monday, you probably won't be as mad a month from that Monday.
The first time I wrote this, Axel had kicked Naminé's teeth out of her face (literally). The second time I wrote this, Riku and Sora had a rendezvous in Sora's bedroom. The third time I wrote this, Axel had sexually assaulted Roxas's dad. The fourth time I wrote this, it came out like this. And I think this is okay. It's not great, but it's all right. I finally got a chance to integrate Kairi and Naminé, I got to introduce Leon (I FINALLY found a spot for him and Cloud), and the tables turn as Axel gets pissy with Roxas.
I really, really don't want things to move too quickly, but it's pretty effing difficult to have dialogue between a bunch of people that try so hard to avoid/dislike each other. Originally, Demyx wasn't going to have a part in this chapter, but I think he fit in nicely at the end and I think he's going to help pick the next chapter up.
I already have plans for Zexion and him toward the end of the story and in order for that all to work out, Demyx had to have a bigger role in the beginning of the story.
Anyway – next chapter… Some of it is already written (but I might rewrite it), but I don't know when I'll be able to finish it. I have guests at my house right and because they're MY guests, I can't ditch them (poop). So I'll try and have it up before August (hopefully before the end of July), but I don't know. Keep checking for updates, though. I'll try not to leave you guys hanging.
Please ignore any small (large?) errors. I'm being impatient / don't want to make you guys wait any longer (it's been THREE WEEKS) so I'm posting this without letting my beta edit it. I'm a tool.
Okay, okay. I'll stfu now.
Thank You for Reviewing
Daydreamishly: I wanted to experiment with Axel x Demyx as a couple. I also wanted to experiment with Demyx himself because he seems to get portrayed as really, really stupid in a LOT of stories. I don't think Demyx is stupid, I think he's just a really lazy guy who acts dull to avoid having to do work. I also think he gets portrayed as stupid because he isn't as witty / sharp as the other Org. members. I had him and Axel go on the date because Roxas wouldn't tell him not to and that was kind of Axel's passive aggressive way of expressing (er… not expressing) his irritation. I probably should've clarified that a little better…
Yeaaa… I felt Axel didn't have much substance in the first chapter. He was just kind of the handsome, flirtatious playboy and I thought giving him an artistic side would help give him a little depth. I was also having trouble deciding between Axel as a scientist or an artist. The general idea seems to be "oh, he loves fire, therefore he must be good at chemistry" but I find a lot of (serious) chemists are uptight, competitive folks who are super-duper anal. I think if Axel were to go into the field of chemistry, he'd be really annoyed with the people around him. I think he'd eventually set fire to the chemistry lab and that would end his career as a chemistry major.
I appreciate you saying you didn't see anything wrong with the story. I've been really hunting for a beta because English isn't my first language. Don't get me wrong – I've been in American schools for a long time and I've spoken English for a long time, but I've had to work super-duper hard at English grammar (which is a ridiculous system of rules and their exceptions). Because it isn't my first language, I feel really stupid whenever I make mistakes. A beta also releases me from the duty of having to sit here with a grammar book and examine all my sentences.
Anyway – this is very long. Sorry.
TopHatGlow: My writing would marry you too if it could! =] Yea – I reeeeeally wanted to rush things this chapter… I'm dying for them to love on each other. However, I imagine Roxas to be pretty hard-headed and I figure once he decides he feels a certain way about something, it would take an act of Congress to make him say otherwise. I imagine Roxas to be someone who stifles his feelings in order to keep his pride from taking a hit. I think he'd absolutely loathe being told "I told you so" ESPECIALLY by someone as cocky as Axel.
Dare or No Dare: I laughed when you said my story was sexy. Usually people use adjectives like "good" or "cool" or sometimes "poopy," but never sexy. Yea, grammar and I weren't always friends, so I can relate to Axel's lack of knowledge. When I was learning grammar I had a hard time keeping names on things. I would circle words like 'red' and write 'adverb' under it. English is such a non-economical language. It has a word for everything and everything has to be stated in a sentence. You can't just say "What you think?" you have to say "What are you thinking?"
Russian actually has no "to be" verb and when you're speaking to someone, you only use words like "I" or "her/his/my" once during the whole conversation. You'd never say "I'm an American. I'm a student. I'm five feet tall. I'm a chemistry major" in Russian. You'd just say "I'm an American. Student. Five feet tall. Chemistry major" and sometimes you don't even say "I" at the beginning because it's implied you're talking about yourself.
Yes! I agree. Good plot development is much better than smut (usually), but a perverted part of me thoroughly enjoys writing smut. Though, I do have trouble putting out one-shots that are solely smut. That just seems kind of lazy (unless it's Valentine 's Day or some other such nonsense).
Keuraki-SoraXRiku: Your advice is excellent. I never figured chapter length could deter folks from reading a story. I personally hate long chapters, but I'm exceptionally lazy and I like to think people aren't anywhere near as lazy as I am.
Thank you for the complement on my style. I'm really influenced by Chuck Palahniuk and some of my older one-shots probably reveal that. Sometimes I feel like I take way too much time describing things and what I'm describing is never as clear in my head as it is on paper. I like my sentences to have impact, too. I like it when small statements or little words hit people hard. It's like having your ass whopped by a little person. You don't see it coming, but when it happens you feel thoroughly distraught afterwards.
RennyWasHere: How many authors make Roxas out to be submissive? I mean, aside from sex (because we all know he's catcher), I don't see him being submissive. I do see Roxas crying though. But I think he'd have to be really, really, REALLY upset about something and it would have to be something that had been going on for a while. I imagine him to bottle things up and I imagine, at some point, the bottle has to release the pressure. I don't know. I guess I just like Roxas as brooding and moody, but not in an "I hate the world" way. More like an "I hate you! …Okay, no… Not really." kind of way. You're not an ass, by the way, I thoroughly enjoy abusing Axel.
Khuronji: A surprise indeed. I wouldn't mind waking up next to Roxas, provided he was real and I wasn't going crazy. Actually – strike that. I'd rather wake up next to Axel – hello early morning screwing.
… Okay, that was nerdy. And it shows how lonely I am. Please ignore my shame.
Muffin: I'm really glad you think I portray everyone well. I'm really terrified of having OOC characters because I know it can REALLY take away from the story. I added the twist between Sora-Roxas-Riku because I think it'll give me a chance to play with Axel when he's upset. That, and it's kinda boring to have Riku and Sora like each other and then Roxas and Axel like each other and then they all date and blahblahblah. Snore. I bored myself. I also added Demyx because I wanted to play with his character. I thought the added sexual tension would be nice too.
The banter between Riku and Axel is especially hard to write. It flows between Roxas and Axel, but that's because they're borderline flirting or insulting each other. With Riku and Axel, I want it to be… more like how two straight guys might talk to each other. I don't want any weirdness between them other than the weirdness I inject for plot purposes. I really can't see Axel and Riku together and I view their relationship as really, really platonic (well, when I write them).
Yea, docking is pretty disturbing. I swear I don't know by experience. I just watch a lot of television (Tosh.O).
Aindel S. Druida: I always fuck up my passwords. I can never remember them because every single website requires me to have some different variation of a password I already have. Like now you have to have numbers and symbols in your password and whatever other shit.
I actually noticed that my characters kind of bounce off each other the way sitcom characters do. I do love sitcoms… I've got a soft spot for The Nanny (err… Fran Drescher) and Roseanne. NOT Wings or Who's the Boss? though. I hate those shows so much. But anyway – I think this story is heavily influenced by late night sitcoms. I don't know. When I see it in my head, I always see it as sitcom-ish with a laugh track going off in the background…
Of coooourse Sora and Riku will get together. Finally figured out how to work CloudxLeon in (I like characters that don't need tons of dialogue) and I want to do Zexion and Demyx, but I need to figure out how to fit it all in without this turning into a HUGE circle of unrequited love. Like Zexion likes Demyx, but Demyx likes Axel, but Axel likes Roxas, but Roxas is stubborn. Oh, and then Riku likes Sora, but Sora's still mad at Riku and blahblahblah. It's a work in progress.
Hey! A beta! Woohoo! I have someone else who offered to beta for me, but can I have two betas? Is that cheating? If you're work schedule is hectic, would it be wise to have two betas? I'm interested in you beta-editing for me, though. That sounds fabulous (hindsight – probably should've said something to you before right now… Sorry).
CattyCoopster: You know… Before I read this review, I was thinking about what, exactly, Axel would write in his little 'dedicated to' section of his book… And then you requested he write a dedication. Spectacular – my readers and I are all on the same page! Yea, I think it would be really, really cute for Axel to have a little portion set aside for Roxas. I'm leaning more toward loving / cheesy (possibly inappropriate).
You sound so down in your review. But you should cheer up! When I feel down, I walk through the second story of department stores and push children down the escalators.
… Okay, not really. But it sounds pretty fun, right? Like… you know… little Timmy takes a tumble… Never mind.
Sana-chan9: I was looking through some of my old stories and their reviews and I didn't realize that you've reviewed my other stuff before. It makes me warm when I see that because then I feel like I have a fan (which is cute). Yeeees. Axel humiliates himself with Roxas's help. Their relationship is a vicious circle of 'we're okay – we're fighting – we're okay – we're fighting.' I think Zexion will eventually come into the story. Actually – I know he will. I just haven't decided how much or when he'll make an appearance, but I'm pretty sure he'll play a semi-big role toward the end of the story.
I've got plans for Zexion and Demyx.
Loves Ironic Tragedy: All right! You've read most of my stories! I don't really expect anyone to read anything that was written earlier than Sorry, Mom. Sorry, Mom was the first story I ever sat down and authored myself. The ones before that I dictated to one of my friends and she typed them up for me. At that point, I was pretty shaky on my English grammar / English speaking and she had to fill in the blanks when I mumbled incomplete sentences that didn't make a lot of sense (I didn't enjoy using pronouns). Anyway – I wrote Sorry, Mom when I was slightly more confident about my English and after I had piled through nearly all of Chuck Palahniuk's books. Yep.