In this chapter: Roxas finds himself enjoying a meat lovers with extra peppers, whatever that means.
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Ballad
Chapter Seven
"I'm Finding It Harder To Be A Gentleman"
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Roxas wasn't used to waking up to an alarm on Saturday mornings. He especially hated receiving phone calls in the AM. He grumbled out of bed, stumbling and falling onto his knees as he tried to dig through the pants he wore to the club last night in an attempt to find his cell phone. Namine stirred and mumbled, not yet ready to face the day.
The number on the face of his phone was unmistakable.
"What do you want?" Roxas murmured as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"Gooooood morning sweetheart!" Axel proclaimed. Roxas pulled his phone away from his ear at the sound. "Happy Halloween!"
Blinking for a moment to clear his vision, Roxas looked over to the digital alarm clock on his bedside table. "It's barely ten o'clock," he whined, groping to find some pajama bottoms to wear over his boxers. It was terribly cold in their apartment without several layers of quilts and blankets keeping him warm. Namine rolled over to face Roxas with her eyes still shut.
"I think you mean 'Uh, yeah, it's already ten o'clock!"
"Baby, can you talk outside?" she slurred in her half asleep daze. Roxas nodded and walked out the bedroom. He closed the door behind him softly.
"What do you want, Axel? I had a late night last night." He figured that since he was already awake, he might as well go downstairs and get some coffee. The blonde threw on his jacket over his bare back and zipped it all the way up to protect his chest and neck from the cold. It was getting to be that time of year when the cold weather really started to sink in the morning.
"We have a full day ahead of us. The band, that is. I was just calling between errands to make sure you had a costume for tonight."
A costume? Roxas was honestly planning on wearing the only black pants he had, which were dress slacks, and an orange collared shirt Namine bought using a gift card Pence had given him for his birthday last year. That seemed Halloween-y enough to save his dignity and not have to leave the apartment like a pirate or a cowboy.
"I haven't worn a costume since the fifth grade. Aren't you a little old for that?" he asked, in an attempt to make Axel not embarrass himself in public tonight as much as possible.
He had a feeling the straightforward redhead and himself didn't see eye-to-eye when he gasped loudly. "Roxas!" he cried. "The most important part of any holiday is taking part in the traditions! Have you never been to the club district on Halloween?"
The quick and easy answer was "No." The year prior Roxas and Namine were busy moving into their apartment (and because of a leap year Halloween had been on a Thursday. Being the brilliant freshman that they were, they had both signed up for eight in the morning classes that had mid terms Friday morning), and the year before that Namine was too young to enter any clubs so they stayed the night with Sora and Kairi playing board games and drinking tea. This was before Sora was really into old horror movies like he was now. He was pretty sure the only thing playing on TV was an old Disney Channel movie. Roxas sighed at his own pathetic social life and decided to spare Axel the gruesome details. "I've heard stories…"
"Then you'd know that you can't step foot into the Organization tonight without wearing a costume."
Roxas sighed, locking the door behind him and continuing down the outside hallway until he reached the stairs. "I'm sure I can scratch something up." Besides, Namine was creative. Hopefully she'd want to help him out by making him a costume. It seemed right up her alley. After descending the stairs and making it to the street, Roxas walked into the coffee house. "Just as long as I-"
"Roxas!"
There was a terrible sinking feeling in his stomach when he heard his name being called aloud and a few moments later leak through his cell phone. He glanced up at the coffee bar and saw Axel and Marluxia sitting on the high chairs facing the front of the cafe. The front man was waving to get his attention, as if it were possible to miss him in the post-morning rush vacant coffee house.
Roxas sighed, not ready to face this trial just yet. He squeezed his eyes shut and bought his cell phone down, snapping it shut before placing it in his jacket pocket. "What are you doing here? Stalking me?" It certainly seemed likely.
"Not at all!" Axel flightily replied. Roxas noticed he was drinking black coffee. And not just any coffee, the darkest roast available. The blonde had to hold his breath so he wouldn't gag over the thought of what the redhead might be tasting at that moment. Perhaps all his tastebuds were dead because of the smoking. Axel turned in the swiveling chairs so that his back rested against the bar. He gestured towards Marluxia, who was drinking plain milk through a straw. "We were just out and about this morning and we're heading to the costume shop right now. Since we're kind of under your neighborhood we wanted to know if you'd come along."
"Shouldn't you be at work?" Roxas asked. All the past times he ran into the redhead outside of scheduled appearances, save for that one time at the movie theatre, it was usually on the tram.
"I asked for the day off. Today I'm going to be busy, busy, busy!" he grinned. Roxas noticed that he was talking slightly faster than usual. That was probably the black coffee kicking in. Axel was going to be a nightmare to deal with today, the blonde was certain.
"And they just let you have Halloween off?" It seemed like common knowledge that anyone with authority – parents, bosses, professors, etc – would go above and beyond the cruel and unusual to make sure that the people under them had the most miserable time on the most pleasurable holidays.
"I usually do late morning and afternoon shifts anyway, so it's not like it's busy on weekends without kids to bus to classes," Axel shrugged. "And, c'mon, have you seen the other tram drivers? Do you think they'd have an outrageous social life?"
If Roxas thought about it, Axel was probably the youngest tram driver he had ever seen. Most of the drivers he had were old, with fading hair, and had attitudes that made them seem like they were cursing your family and future offspring by simply driving their routes.
"So do you wanna come or not?" Axel asked. If having a costume was as big of a deal as it seemed, Roxas would be better off saving Namine the trouble and just renting one out.
He nodded. "Sure. Just let me get coffee and change."
The two rock stars were waiting at one of the tables outside the coffee house. Axel had finished his coffee and Marluxia had swapped his glass for a plastic to-go cup. He still sipped silently from his straw, watching Roxas with piercing blue eyes. The blonde tried very hard to ignore it and turned to Axel. "So, where is this costume shop? I didn't know one existed in Bastion."
"There's a costume shop in every city if you know where to look," Axel stated, pushing his chair back under the table and setting off down the street, Marluxia remaining loyal to his side. "Some of it might not be all ages appropriate, though."
"What? What kind of costume shop are we going to?" Roxas asked as he quickened his pace to catch up with the redhead, trying to hide the panic in his voice.
Axel just laughed and continued walking.
He ended up leading them ten blocks north of campus to a ritzy and unique lane of shopping strips. It seemed like the kind of places Namine would visit, since the place was crawling with gorgeous high class girls holding numerous boutique bags with their cell phones glued to their ears. When he overheard one of them talking about wedding plans Roxas almost did a double take to make sure that she wasn't his fiancée. A few stores down the street, Axel opened a foil-covered door into a small room that smelt like ash and dust.
While his eyes were getting adjusted to the dim light, Roxas heard someone shout across the store. "Axel! Darling! Where have you been?"
A woman with outrageous black and white hair wearing a faux mink coat rushed from between clothing wracks and gracefully curled her fingers under his chin. To Roxas' immediate horror, she guided Axel's head down to peck him on the corner of the lips. The blonde couldn't imagine anyone willingly kissing the vivacious redhead on the lips. He probably tasted like a cross between garbage and STDs.
"Hello Miss D," Axel laughed, patting the woman on the shoulder. He looked past her to the young girl leaning behind the counter reading a magazine. She had beautiful dark skin and long, flowing black hair that was pulled back into a braid. "Hey, Jazz."
The girl looked up at him, her large brown doe eyes traced with black liner and smiled. "Hey, Axel." She waved slightly before returning her eyes to the magazine.
While the strange woman, Miss D, took Axel's shoulder and pulled him towards the counter, Marluxia spoke to Roxas for the first time. "That girl at the counter, Jazz?" he started, nodding his head as she flipped a page slowly. "She's Al's girlfriend, from the Agraballaz. Since you're here with Axel she'll give you a discount."
Roxas nodded in understanding, turning to Marluxia and smiling. "Thanks." He couldn't help but feel that Marluxia had been a little harsh on him since they met up this morning. He hadn't spoken a word and would just stare at him vacantly. The pink haired drummer meandered away from Roxas to look at the spin rack of discount costume jewelry.
Miss D's laughter shook Roxas' train of thought. The woman lit a clove cigarette connected to a long stick and waved it around carelessly between puffs. That was probably why the place smelled like ash. She reached behind the counter, not without shoving Jazz out of the way and nearly making her stumble, and pulled out a paper bag and handing it to Axel with one of those terrible grins that looked more like a disgusted frown.
"Try to have them back by Monday. And clean this time."
Axel thanked her kindly and made his way back to Roxas, holding the bag up and smiling. "We already reserved our costumes earlier," he explained. "Sorry, but it was kind of before we met you. I'm sure there's still some interesting costumes around here that would fit you."
Roxas nodded and started to look around the shop. The floor was filled with circular racks with costumes on hangers. Each rack was separated into a different genre. There was a cowboys section, a renaissance section, even an astronaut section. Roxas tried to pick something that would appropriate for the night. He would be at an underground club filled with hipsters and punks. He would sort of like to blend in a little.
"Hey, Roxas!" Axel shouted from across the room. The blonde looked up and saw the front man holding a pink frilly tutu, tie-up slippers and all. "Eh? Eh?"
Despite himself, the blonde cracked a smile and turned his head down, shaking his head. "Dick." He continued to walk around the store until he reached the larger costumes. These were the ones that looked like university mascots. There was a giant bear, a tiger, even a dragon, but those would be completely inappropriate for a hot, sweaty club.
"Can't find anything?" a voice asked from behind him. Roxas almost jumped out of his skin when he turned and saw Jazz. She stood with her hips tilted and her lips puckered, looking at Roxas with a critical eye. "I know your type. Why is someone like you hanging out with Axel?"
Roxas wasn't sure where to take the question to heart or now. "Why? Is being seen with him a crime?"
She shook her head. "No, nothing like that. It's just… He's a little wild and out there, you know?" she asked, pointing to her head. Roxas had to agree. He knew how Axel could be, at least on stage. However from what time he got to know him personally he wasn't that of a wild character, just impulsive. "You seem, like, totally republican."
Roxas chuckled to himself, looking at the elaborate, worn maroon carpet. This girl was able to sum up his entire attitude three minutes after meeting him in the form of a political party. He turned his gaze from the carpet to her. She was a very pretty young woman, and she had her arms crossed under her breasts and her back was straight to make herself seem taller. Even though Roxas was short compared to most boys, she was smaller.
He took a moment to look at the situation through her eyes. A cute girl, obviously liberal, who was dating a musician. She seemed to know Axel somewhat well. Her clothes appeared to be extremely well worn and possibly homemade. Although he usually tried to avoid direct eye contact, he glanced into her brown eyes quickly and noticed that she was still glaring at him critically. So in walks this fellow with khaki pants and an Abercrombie jacket with a punk rocker and an on-again-off-again crossdressing playboy, so a girl was bound to jump to conclusions. Too bad Roxas was an Independent.
"Does it bother people so much?" he asked, laughing incredulously. "I like him, so what?" She didn't reply, but instead cocked an eyebrow. Without saying another word, she walked past Roxas and into the back room of the store.
Axel walked up to him carrying two Nut and Bolt costumes. Roxas stared at the outfits on their hangers and glanced up at Axel. "Ahw, No?" he asked, holding the Nut costume in front of Roxas and frowning. "Hm… It seems like it would fit you even though it's made for a girl." He held it next his face and smiled, as if that would help tempt Roxas into wearing such a pathetic getup. "No? Okay, I'll keep looking." He disappeared again behind the large stacks of clothes.
While still flipping through hanger after hanger, the best Roxas could scratch up was a pair of assless chaps and cat ears with a collar. Most of the costumes that hadn't already been checked out were the extremely sleazy ones that looked like they belonged in pornos more than on trick or treaters. Although he supposed that some of these costumes would be treats for some lucky person.
Roxas pulled out a costume of rubbery black latex that had the breast cups missing coupled with a pleather whip. Roxas couldn't imagine someone like Namine ever wearing something like this. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Axel smiling at him as he was investigating the awkwardly sensual costume. With an embarrassed blush Roxas tucked the costume back with the other dominatrix outfits. That made Axel chuckle aloud, shaking his head slowly and turning back to the costume rack in front of him.
Just as he was about to give up hope, he heard someone clearing their throat behind him. He turned and saw Jazz holding up a tuxedo, completely black. Even the usually white shirt was the same color as the rest of the jacket, but upon closer inspection he noticed that the cummerbund, the bow tie, and the handkerchief in the front pocket were actually a very deep bloody maroon. Without a vest that Roxas was used to wearing over the undershirt, it gave the tux a very retro feeling. The pants were a pencil-thin design, and he noticed the outfit came without shoes.
Marluxia stood next to her holding a simple velvet mask with a small black elastic strap. The mask was the same color as the cummerbund and tie, and had a thick black ribbon sewn around the outside of the mask and the inside of the eyeholes. There were footsteps coming from behind Roxas, and Axel spoke from over his shoulder, "Hey, that looks pretty good."
"It's the last tux we have. It looks like it'll fit you," Jazz tried to explain. "I'm sure you already know this, but in high-society culture, the classiest event is the white-tie. Sometimes color can have different meanings." Roxas nodded along, listening to her story. He had worn a tuxedo several times in the past, most recently for a banquet his father's company held. However, he had never been to a white-tie event. He always assumed that was reserved for people who smoked fancy cigars, wore monocles, and played croquet while discussing the taxes. Reading into the subtle subtext, he really hoped that Jazz didn't see him this way.
"The maroon color emphasizes death, and Halloween was traditionally an ancient Celtic tradition of cutting down crops and killing livestock to reserve food for the winter. To get rid of the bone and flesh left behind they would toss the remnants into a bonfire and dance around it dressed as devils." Since Roxas didn't say anything to outright refuse the tuxedo, she tossed the outfit in his arms. "Nowadays people see Halloween as an excuse to get drunk and dress ridiculously." Bold words for someone working in a costume shop.
Roxas held the tuxedo up to his chest, sizing it up and seeing if it would fit him. He turned to Axel for his opinion. "What do you think? Ridiculous enough?"
Jazz, despite herself acting so cold in front of Roxas, laughed at him. Axel grinned wryly and patted him on the shoulder. "You know, you're all right, kid," he chuckled, taking the mask from Marluxia and trying it on. Roxas followed Jazz to the counter where he gave her his contact information that was inputted into their computer.
"So it's going to be the tux for rent?" she confirmed questioningly. "The mask is for sale only." Roxas nodded and look out his ID so she could copy his driver's license number. "Okay, the rate for a tux is usually fifty dollars a night." That price was a little steep for Roxas. Usually the tuxedos he had rented for prom and special occasions were one-fifty for a week. "But," she added, "Since you're a friend I can cut it down to thirty. All you have to do is return it by tomorrow, and it's a pretty square deal."
Roxas agreed, taking his credit card out of his wallet and paying Jazz. "Thanks for the idea. I definitely wouldn't know what to do without your help." This earned a pleased smile and nod from the girl and she folded the costume neatly and placed it in a paper bag. "So, what are you going as for tonight?"
She looked up at him with a catty grin. "An Arabian princess!"
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"So that's one chore out of the way so far," Axel sighed, swinging his two bags of costumes back and forth.
"What else did you have in mind?" Roxas asked. As far as he was concerned, their little afternoon out ended as soon as costume shopping was over. Axel didn't reply, and it took Roxas a moment to realize that he was no longer walking by his side.
Apparently Marluxia had gotten distracted by a vintage shop's window display that had all different kinds of shoes lying under the manikins. "Look at these, Axe," he said, pointing towards a pair of chipped black cowboy boots with orange-red flames and silver rings. They were way out of budget, even for the pseudo rock stars, but they couldn't help but ogle them. Roxas laughed softly and shook his head and crossed his arms.
"Ladies, please."
"You read my mind," Axel said, as if himself and Marluxia were on the same wavelength usually reserved for telephone psychics and freaky twins. He opened the door to the shop and entered quickly, followed closely by Marluxia. The door wasn't left open for Roxas, and after a few seconds of waiting, it became apparent that they weren't coming back outside anytime soon.
He stepped inside and was greeted with an old leather smell that was stronger than the ash at the costume shop. There was an underlying moth ball scent weighing it down and it took Roxas a moment to gag and breathe continuously through his nose before he got used to the stench.
"Rox, quick, what's your shoe size?" Axel asked. Roxas wasn't exactly sure if this was an opening for a foul innuendo or crude joke, but looking at Axel picking up random pairs of second-or-fourth-hand shoes and him wonder if the redhead was purely curious.
"Uh… nines."
He grinned and lifted a pair of combat boots. "Wicked. Do you think tens would work? These things lace up so high you won't even notice the difference."
"Combat boots? It's not really my style…"
"So? I told you I was gonna make you my new project. Part of that means that I'm gonna be telling you what to wear when you go to my shows."
"What?" Roxas spat. He turned to Marluxia who was looking at the skirts and dresses. They made eye contact briefly, and the pink haired man just shrugged, but before he turned back to the clothing racks Roxas swore he saw a smirk on his face.
"Look, when you work with us on our shows, you're not only representing yourself, you're representing everything 13 Hearts stands for!" As if he were trying to make a point, he held the combat boots high in the air. "And they're steel toe! And they're only twenty bucks!"
Roxas looked down at his current shoes, his white New Balance sneakers. He supposed that there was something a little darker and punk about combat boots than his only other black shoes, which were the dress shoes. God forbid he make the wrong impression in front of a bunch of fourteen year olds.
"There's a couple of scratches, but we can mark those out with a sharpie…"
Marluxia appeared next to Axel and held up a mid-thigh length poofy, frilly black skirt. "What do you think?"
"Nah, too obvious. You wouldn't be able to hide the shoes. People will be able to see it coming from a mile away. Just stick with slacks. We want to make this as uniform as possible."
Roxas snuck over to one of the bags in Axel's hand and tried to sneak a peek inside. "Are you guys talking about your costumes?" The blonde realized that Axel never said what his costumes was, and from what he saw in the bag it looked like tuxedo jackets just like his. Before Roxas could get a decent glimpse inside, Axel snapped the bags away.
"Nuh-uh," he said, holding up a finger. "It's a surprise for tonight."
Marluxia gave him a 'you are so fucking immature' grimace before he smacked him on the back of his shoulder. "Don't be such a prick, it's not that big of a deal." He turned to Roxas with a patient look. "We're just dressing up as the guys from Ro- hey!"
"I'm telling you, it's a surprise. I don't want Roxas knowing about it," Axel explained to Marluxia. The blonde hated it when people talked about him like he wasn't present. He crossed his arms and focused his grief on the shoe rack. "Sorry, pal. But it's gonna be awesome, I swear it."
Marluxia gave Roxas a defeated, albeit indifferent, shrug and returned the skirt to the clothing wrack. The blonde decided to drop the issue and turned his attention back to the combat boots. "Those things look tacky. I'm not buying that," Roxas stated as if his word had any influence over the front man. Before he had a chance to elaborate how he was totally not going to buy those shoes, his cell phone started screaming a terrible keyboard tone version of Wagner's Wedding March.
Namine.
She was still asleep when he went back upstairs to change clothes. She didn't know where he was.
Roxas immediately dropped his costume purchase with Axel and stepped out the store. He definitely didn't want the punks shopping for cheap pre-owned clothes to hear the beating he was about to go through. Taking a deep breath as soon as the glass door to the shop hissed closed, he flipped open his cell. "Hey, sweetie…"
"Roxas, thank God!"
He knew that tone of voice. Every boyfriend knew that tone of voice. Roxas cringed and forced himself to reply. "…W-What's wrong, honey?"
"I wake up after a lovely, romantic night and you're nowhere in sight! Where are you?"
"I'm sorry, Namine. Axel called me and-"
"Axel?" There was a short pause. "Since when do you hang out with Axel?"
Oh God, oh God, oh God… Roxas tried to do the math. It was so hard to track Namine's cycle since she started using an IUD. Maybe she was feeling particularly hormonal that morning? Would coming home with tampons and chocolate get him hugs and kisses or a slap in the face?
"Roxas."
There had to be a reason for her being so cheesed with him. "Oh, ah- Sorry! It really isn't like that. I'm supposed to be helping him out tonight and they wanted me to wear a costume, so I-"
"You know how I feel when you dine and dash…"
Was she being serious or joking? Roxas wasn't sure how to respond. "Namine, there was no dashing. I'm not a dasher," he added a small chuckle at the end, hoping the emphasize that Namine had nothing to worry about.
There was another pause before she continued. "I know. Just- leave a note next time you plan on going somewhere."
Namine was the type of girl to leave a note if she was going to the vending machine down the hall. Sometimes Roxas thought it was a little excessive, but at least in meant she was thinking of him. He had a bad habit of not returning the favor, however this wasn't the first time he'd forgotten to leave a note before wandering off for the afternoon without getting a complaint from her. Where was this sudden attack coming from?
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Roxas cringed. "Listen, I'm wrapping up things here with the guys and then I'll be heading home. Do you want me to pick you up something for lunch?"
Namine sighed. "Don't worry about it. I'm going out with Kairi and Ariel to get them sized for their bridesmaid's dresses. I still haven't found a dress to change into for the reception. I'll be out the rest of the afternoon. Have fun with your boyfriends."
Without waiting for a reply, Namine hung up her phone and left Roxas with an annoyingly bleak dial tone. Letting out a ferocious grunt, Roxas snapped his phone shut and forced it back into his pocket.
"You know what we call that?" Axel asked. Roxas turned and saw the redhead and his pink haired partner in crime standing by the door. Axel lifted his hand and snapped his wrist, making the sound a whip being cracked. "That's right!" he said with a grin. Marluxia had a bleak look on his face as he handed Roxas his costume bag and an additional plastic bag.
"What's this?" he asked, looking in the teal plastic bag and seeing that cursed pair of combat boots. "Seriously, guys?"
"Deadly. My treat, for helping us out and everything."
Roxas took another moment to look at the shoes as a form of a gift. He wasn't accustomed to receiving gifts from people. He would buy small tokens of affection for Namine, and he would receive things like gift cards and certificates from Sora and his friends for his birthday and Christmas, but something like this was out of the blue. Roxas shouldn't even be getting anything for helping Axel except the discounted price to play at his wedding reception. He couldn't really think of anything else to say other than "Thanks."
"No problem. I guess you'll need to be heading home now."
"Nah, not really," Roxas sighed, giving a miffed eyebrow raise to no one in particular. "Namine's going out with some of her bridesmaids to get them fitted for their dresses."
"Who's your best man?" Marluxia asked.
"My brother Sora," Roxas explained. There was a slight change in Marluxia's complexion as it went from his usual pale to ghost white. Roxas didn't notice and continued. "I was the best man at his wedding. His wife, my sister-in-law, Kairi is going to be the maid of honor."
There was this moment where you could see the atom bombs exploding behind Marluxia's cloudy blue eyes. Roxas had seen this look on everybody's faces that he had met in the past few weeks. "And your last name was Strife, right?" Here it comes. Marluxia glared holes in the sidewalk. Roxas thought for a minute that the fuming drummer would focus his fury on himself, but instead he turned his attention to Axel. "When were you gonna tell me?"
Immediately Axel jumped to the defensive, raising his hands and dropping his brows. "Hey, don't get your panties in a wad, alright? It's not an issue."
"Not a… Not! Axel, this is huge. Do Luxord and Xigbar know about this?" He took a few steps closer to the front man, lowering his voice so Roxas couldn't hear. "Does he know about this?"
"He doesn't have to, it'd kill him," Axel replied in a soothing voice, trying his best to calm the drummer down. Roxas interests were piqued. He assumed they were obviously talking about himself. "It's cool, alright? I'll explain later…" Once Axel was convinced that the pink haired man wouldn't go storming away in a rage of terror, he turned to the younger blonde who had a look of absolute perplexity across his brows.
"Listen, Axel…"
The redhead caught the tone in his voice, and tried to brighten Roxas up as quickly as possible. "Hey, Rox, don't sweat it. Just a misunderstanding, that's all," he lied. If it really were just a misunderstanding then why did everyone seem to hate him and question his brother? "Do you want to go somewhere for lunch? I know this great place around the corner with some of the best pizza." As much as Roxas wanted to further pester Axel about Sora, he was starving and pizza sounded spectacular at that moment. "Just don't get the meat lovers with extra peppers, then you'll a whole different kind of pie."
A drastic change in subject seemed to be what annoying redheaded punks did best. Roxas decided it would be for the best to just take Axel's advice from last week and talk to Sora about it… eventually. Right now his stomach was practically eating itself from only having coffee that morning. "I'm up for it," he sighed, turning to the miffed drummer. Marluxia had apparently received a text and was typing a reply quickly with an angry scowl still on his face. "Marly, are you gonna come with us?"
He glanced up at Roxas and then turned to Axel. "Hey, man. I just got a call. I need to head to the Brick House." Roxas had no idea what he was referring to. The Commodores song? "Is it alright if I jet?"
"Yeah, sure. Be at the Orgy at nine, okay?"
Marluxia nodded as Axel waved him off. The drummer slumped away in the opposite direction that Axel started leading. True to his word, as soon as they turned the corner Roxas was punched in the face with greasy cheese fumes. It had never smelled more appetizing.
"This place is amazing," Axel explained. "It used to be this Greek restaurant that made these special foo-foo pizzas, but then management changed and they make this amazing Chicago style."
From what Roxas could make from the front of the building before Axel ushered him inside, the restaurant didn't even have a name. They approached the front counter together, and Roxas looked at a laminated menu resting next to the register. While he perused what he wanted to order, Axel started hitting the waiting bell over and over again. Normally, Roxas would find this terribly annoying and make him stop. He wanted to see how long it would take to glare at him before he noticed how irritating he was being. Before he could call him out, someone beat him to the punch. Literally.
Someone had come out from the kitchen and smacked Axel in the shoulder, making the redhead stumbled backwards and stop dinging the bell. "Woah! Axel, brah, didn't realize it was you." A tanned boy with sun kissed orange hair leaned over the front counter and rubbed Axel's should as if it would take the pain away.
"Reflexes like a skittish housecat, like always Herc?" Axel turned to Roxas and pointed to the beefy young man behind the counter. "This is young William Hercules, the owner of the place. Herc, this is Roxas Strife, 13 Heart's new roadie."
"Found a replacement for Seifer already?" he asked with a positive nod. "That's great! Do you want the usual?"
Herc pulled out a piece of paper that looked like a receipt and started marking down an order by circling the ingredients from a list. Roxas stepped forward and pulled out his wallet from his back pocket. "I've got this one, Axel."
Herc looked up and grinned. "Nah, kid. This one's on the house."
Roxas laughed and put his wallet back. "It's no wonder you can make a living as a tram driver and a musician. You get everything for free." Axel just shrugged and smirked.
"Okay, it'll be about a fifteen minute wait."
Axel led Roxas to a booth in the corner. Roxas sat in the seat facing the wall, so there wasn't much a view except for Axel's face and the tagging around him. Roxas looked at all the markings. 'Nathan Savage 2k1' 'Tidus 3 Selphie' 'SS + RK' 'Jesus Saves' 'Clash at the Demonhead 1997' 'Johnny X' 'Fight Against' 'DRxGK' 'Feel 'da Titties' 'Destiny Harbor or Bust.'
"This place has a lot history," Roxas stated, noticing that some of the engravings on the wood of the walls and table were from the eighties and earlier.
"Totally. I've been coming to this place for a long time." Axel turned in his seat and pointed to one that said 'Destiny Harbor or Bust.' "I made that one there."
"Did you take a road trip to the bay once?" There was Destiny Harbor, and then there was Destiny Island. The harbor was the real tourist destination, while the island was mostly a studying sanctuary with its prestigious university located on the main island. The harbor was an hour away from Bastion.
Axel's reply was a nod of his head side to side. "Eh, sort of. Right after we graduated from high school, me and the band – well, what the band was then – actually moved there for a few years to get our start. We lived there up until last summer when we moved back to Bastion. We started having regular gigs at the Organization and other venues were starting to open up for us and we just couldn't afford gas there and back three or four nights a week."
"What was it like living on the coast?" Roxas asked. He had only visited on day trips. Bastion was a whole different animal compared to Destiny Harbor. While Bastion was mostly high-rises and apartments, as well as a total college town, the harbor was a lot quieter and smalltime. The most mainstream establishment he remembered seeing there was a tattered Holiday Inn motel and a pizza hut that had particularly sandy floors. The bulk of activity on the harbor took place on a sandy peninsula only a couple of miles wide. The last time Roxas had visited was with Sora and his mom and dad when he was a little kid and his parents wouldn't let him out of their sight. It was a boring.
"Oh, you know, wet and wild. Without school or anything getting in the way and all, it was actually a total blast. We'd go surfing almost everyday, play music every night. I mean, it was three years later before picked up Luxord and Xigbar, so nothing really serious came from those first years. Just a bunch of kids having fun."
"How did you pay for all of it?"
"We crashed at a friend's house. His parents were cool with it. Some of the clubs on the coast would hire us as live entertainment, and they didn't pay half bad. I mean, we ate mac and cheese almost every night, but it was survivable. Since everything was like within a mile of each other we could just walk wherever we had to go."
Roxas smiled at the idea of the boys sprinting across beaches and dunes to get to their shows on time. However, the blonde noticed that Axel was being noticeably vague about who he spent these wonder years with. In Fuu's zines it was obvious that Marluxia was one of the founding members of the band, and apparently the enigmatic Riku. Roxas secretly wished that he had finished the article about 13 Hearts in the issue Demyx had given him last night before he spent time with Namine. Then he realized that was a very stupid thing to think about and he shook his head to get the thought out of his mind. Since nobody in the actual band seemed to be aware that Roxas was getting these zines, he decided to keep whatever knowledge he'd gained from the rags a secret and feign ignorance until he figured out what exactly was going on. Sometimes the dark pasts of bands were meant to be forgotten, and it seemed like Axel and the rest of 13 Hearts wished it were the case.
"The only really cool thing the harbor had to offer was this wicked roller coaster that went over the boardwalk. There was this one stretch that took you over the ocean and made it feel like you could fly. But… A couple of years ago there was that hurricane that tore the boardwalk and now that coaster sits snugly in the sand of the bay. Some of it still sticks out during low tide."
Roxas vaguely remembered news stories about that, but never found himself wondering of the aftermath. "Isn't that dangerous? I mean, don't children or something swim there?"
"If Jaws didn't stop Amity then a stupid rusting coaster isn't gonna stop Destiny," Axel deadpanned. He shrugged though, and added, "Well, they buoyed the area off, if that helps."
Since it was none of Roxas' immediate concern, he dropped the issue. "Do you like living in the city again? You haven't been back that long. I bet it's a lot different from the coast."
"It takes some getting used to, but the band is like my family. We've been trying to start over, and I think we're doing a good job."
"You're doing an amazing job."
"Thanks, Rox," Axel said, smiling slightly and turning his eyes towards the table. "That sorta means a lot…" Oh, God, was he blushing?
"Axel Rose! Order up!"
"I'll get it!" Roxas intervened quickly, standing up and shuffling out of the booth. Axel didn't laugh when he tripped over himself trying to turn the corner towards the kitchen. As he approached the counter with their deep-dish pizza in a pan, he forced himself to calm down. Axel was a musician so he was obviously bound to be a little most sensitive to praise than the average guy. Besides, even he were… that way, Roxas was practically married, and even living with his fiancée. Isn't there a rule of common courtesy not to hit on someone about to get married?
Of course he was probably just jumping to conclusions. Roxas did that a lot. He took the pan off the counter and took one last deep breath before turning back around. Almost immediately he ran into Axel. Roxas screamed.
"Augh! Roxas, watch out for that, Jesus!" Axel cried, jumping back five feet so the pan wouldn't touch him again.
"Oh, shit, sorry Axel. I was miles away… Are you okay?" Roxas apologized, following Axel back to their booth. Axel shook his head.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just getting napkins. I was gonna ask you the same thing…"
Roxas laughed nervously and placed the pizza in the middle of the table. It was a meat lovers with extra peppers. "I just remembered something, I think," Roxas lied terribly. "And… I guess I forgot where I was. Things can do that, huh?"
Axel nodded and decided to buy it. "Yeah, I guess." Almost instantly his curiosity dropped like dead flies and he turned to the pizza. "This is my specialty. They call it The Rose."
"And why's that?" Roxas asked, taking a slice and painstakingly removing every pepper in sight. Roxas hated spicy foods.
"Ah, no! Don't take the peppers out, it's the best part," Axel explained. "You know that song by Poison-"
"Talk Dirty to Me?"
"What? No, no. I mean-"
"Fallen Angel?"
"No. Roxas? C'mon…"
The blonde glanced up from his pizza-autopsy to smirk at Axel. "Every Rose Has Its Thorn?"
Axel smiled politely and nodded his head. "Yeah. The pizza is delicious, but every once in a while you'll get a spike of something different. Thorns aren't necessarily bad, like dawns or sad songs and stuff. Sometimes it's just different, and that's all anybody ever needs."
"Wow, you're being poetic," Roxas replied with a hint of post-teenage snark. He took a bite out of his slice and continued with a full mouth. "Isn't that song about a guy who had a crush on a friend, and they ended up having sex and it ruined the relationship entirely?"
Axel looked grimly at his slice of pizza on the table. "Yeah. I guess." He picked up his slice and took an enormous bite out of it. "So what do you think?"
As Roxas continued munching on the pizza, he could taste all the different peppers that were mixed in the meat, all the different kinds of cheeses melted into the crust, and the thin layer of sauce separating the two. Even though the peppers were missing, he could still taste the traces of juice that left behind a powerful kick regardless. It didn't taste like the pizza Roxas normally ate, and that was probably why it was so amazing.
"Not bad… for being free."
"Hey, hey! Give it a little more credit."
"So who did you have to fuck to get a pizza named after you?" Roxas took another bite and tried to hide the surprise hit of spice that touched his tongue. He took small multiple sips of water hoping that he didn't come off as a wuss. He glanced up at Axel and noticed that Axel right out staring at him, mouth agape. "…What?"
"Did you seriously just ask me that?"
Roxas shrugged. "Well, given your company's track record I sort of assumed."
The blonde had a feeling he was in trouble when Axel narrowed his eyes dangerously. "What sort of track record are we talkin' about here? We like to have our fun, but my crew is pretty clean."
Roxas willed himself to not mention anything about Marluxia's record. After all, if the zine's interview held true, Marluxia wouldn't be half the drummer he was without paying for those lessons somehow. Roxas thought back to when he spoke to Rinoa at Traverse. She had told him explicitly that Luxord and Xigbar's words weren't to be trusted, but nothing about Marluxia, other than he was a mystery.
With a stroke of luck, or a stroke of Axel's recurring stunted attention span, the redhead took Roxas' silence as an end to the conversation and turned his head back towards the engraved wall. "And this one, right here," he said, pointing towards a heart with a large X carved through it. The splinters from the wooden wall caused the lines to flake, giving the X a spiked appearance. "Xigbar did that a couple of years ago. That's how we came up with the band's logo. I hired Fuu to make the final illustration for us."
"She's really talented, isn't she?"
"Totally. She makes this wicked little magazine thing. Maybe you've heard of it, it's called Magic Train?"
Roxas smiled. "I might've heard of it…"
"It's been going on for ages, man. I don't know how she does it. She's so amazing." Roxas looked up to Axel at that moment to see the look on his face. His eyes were still staring longingly at the ex-ed out heart carved on the wall. Roxas wasn't used to the redhead looking so distracted.
To get his attention back, Roxas reached his arm across the table in front of Axel's thin nose and snapped twice. "Hey, wanna stop thinking about your little girlfriend? Some of us are trying to eat."
Axel couldn't help but grin at Roxas. "Nah, it's not like that. She just reminds me of someone I used to know."
The young student was so distracted during finals, and although he should be studying physics, geology, or definitely history, he couldn't stop wrapping his brains around 13 Hearts and this weight that seemed to be holding them down. "And who's that?" Roxas asked.
"Refill?"
Axel turned and saw a stout, bearded, and all around rather hairy man carrying a pitcher of ice water. If possible, the redhead's smile intensified. "Phil! It's great to see yah."
"Yeah, yeah. Like you don't come in every week and rob me blind."
Axel let out a snicker and turned to Roxas. "Rox, this is Phil, the manager while Herc is away." He turned to the man and point to the blonde. "This is young Roxas. I'm teaching him the finer points of rock 'n roll lifestyle."
Phil snorted, rolling his eyes and dumping water into Roxas' cup. The man's arm was shaky and seemed to get more water out than in. Roxas tried to clean it up quickly before it rolled off the table and into his lap. Axel placed his cup closer to the edge of the booth so Phil's stubby arms could reach his cup without stretching. Roxas felt like an ass for not thinking about that as well, but Phil didn't even seem to notice.
"What? Like getting free food is a lifestyle? Hell, I shoulda tried dis a long time ago. Take Axel Rose's class on swipin' and swindlin', right?" he laughed, and it sounded more like a phlegmy car trying to start. Roxas covered his food in case oncoming gunk happened to attack. Phil's breath smelled exactly like his grandfather's after he had been smoking cigars with his boss when they were celebrating a big business succession. Phil certainly seemed chipper, though. "Got any big plans for Halloween?"
"We have a show at the Organization tonight. Roxas and I were just picking up our costumes." Axel made a nod towards the bags resting on the seats between themselves and the wall.
"Really, now? Gonna dress up on stage? As what?"
Axel winked and shook his head. "Can't say. I actually had to pay Miss D to not talk about it to the customers." At this point Roxas was wondering if Axel really knew so many people that letting someone find out about his stupid Halloween costume was really going to matter that much. If there was one thing to know about this redheaded punk, he had a penchant for the element of surprise.
Phil laughed and playfully punched Axel in the shoulder. "Well, alright kid. Have fun tonight." He turned to Roxas, pointing at him as his fuzzy, huge eyebrows rose. "And stay safe, y'here?"
Roxas nodded, letting Axel close up his end of the conversation as Phil walked away. Axel took another bite from his pizza and checked the digital watch he had strapped to his wrist.
"Aw, crap," he said slowly. "I didn't realize it was almost two-thirty. Xigbar gets off work in a half hour and I promised I'd meet up with him to drop off his costume." In an amazing feat of consumption, Axel shoved over half a slice of pizza into his mouth and started gnawing it is.
"Wow." Roxas couldn't help but stare. He had sauce dripping down the edges of his cheeks that would gather at the point of his chin. At one point a drop of grease clenched itself away and landed on the table. Almost half the breaded crust was sticking out of his mouth, and the more he chewed down and swallowed the pizza the more of the crust he forced in with his palm. Roxas shook his head and tried to pull his eyes away from the almost hypnotic sight. "So, what kind of job does Xigbar have?" And immediately he kicked himself in the ass for asking a question given Axel's current state of gorging.
"Ees om mufic pheechur."
Oh, a music teacher.
Roxas' brow rose as he thought about it. So Xigbar worked with children? What kind of parent would leave their kids with him? Axel was able to finish the rest of the pizza surprisingly quick, and he used his napkin to wipe off the sauce and grease that had gathered around his mouth. "Sorry," he said sheepishly, checking his reflection on the shiny, waxed surface of the table. "But yeah, he works at this music store close to Y.S. High teaching kids guitar. It's kinda like a Rock School." Axel left the booth without explanation, leaving Roxas alone for a moment.
There was still over half a pizza left in the pan, and Axel returned with a pizza box. "You're getting it to-go?"
"You are, hopefully," Axel replied. When he saw the look on his face, Axel tried to smile wider. "C'mon, Rox, please? I can't carry the costumes and the pizza and I know Xigbar won't eat it. I still have to bus hop all the way back to my apartment and get set for tonight." He did have a point, and Roxas did live in walking distance to this shopping district. Although he was sure Namine wouldn't want the pizza in the apartment. Every since she got sized for her dress he had been determined to eat like a vegan until the honeymoon.
A meat lover's pizza would be like inviting a dog to live with a cat. "Sure," Roxas sighed, taking the box and his small bag with his costume. "I need to start getting set for the night, too. What time should I get there?"
"No earlier than nine. The set is at eleven."
"That's a little late, don't you think?"
Axel shrugged. "The real club scene doesn't start until after midnight. Since we're a regular set, our shows are usually used to lure people into clubs to drink and stay for the touring gigs later in the night."
"I wasn't aware of that," Roxas said. For how popular 13 Hearts was with the kids, you'd think they'd be headliners instead of openers.
"Well, that's just how it works at the Organization, but you've never stayed long enough for the later gigs." He was, of course, referring to the first night Roxas had ever seen them live. He had walked out just as their set was over, not even waiting for Axel to finish that last song, even if the audience was doing most of the singing for him. Although Roxas was still upset at the way Axel had treated him during their first meeting, he felt equally embarrassed for the way he had reacted. Axel was being more than hospitable towards Roxas, and he saw them as easily being on a truce.
Possibly even friends.
That last thought gave Roxas more than enough to think about as he munched on a slice of pizza on the walk home from the restaurant.
xxxXXXxxxXXXxxx
Rest assured, Roxas and Axel won't be just friends for long. Next week is the Halloween chapter, and people who've read this before know what that means.
I just finished KH 2.5 yesterday (lots of gross sobbing and face-in-hands moments) and started playing Birth By Sleep. I'd never played it before and I'm so excited to know what's gonna happen. My PSP was broken and I didn't own a 3ds so I didn't get to play any of the games that came out after KH2 (except for 358/2, but I feel like it doesn't count that much, it felt more like character expanding than story expanding). I've seen a lot of gifs of cutscenes, but it's nice to finally put voices to faces. I freaking love Aqua. It's so nice seeing a woman in the KH universe being assertive and actually fighting T_T. And I love Ventus' attitude, he's so spunky. I really only just started. I'm on Terra's story and just left the Sleeping Beauty world. It took me a little bit to figure out the menu but I think I got the hang of it. It looks like getting munny is a lot easier in this game than KH2 (I don't know why but I felt so broke all the time in that game. I was always rationing my potions because I couldn't afford them...) I share a house with two other girls so it can be hard to find time when the TV's free so I can play… but they've been understanding of my rebudding obsession.
Reminder: I have an 8tracks playlist for the first few chapters of the story! You can find a link in my profile page!
And, as always, please leave a review! I love reading them, even if just a few short comments or long, rambling paragraphs. Lay 'em on me! And if you have any questions, make sure you're logged in so I can respond! Fav/follows are rad too!