Waking up next to Roxas the morning after their first kiss was a very pleasant experience for the redhead. His mother was still snoring softly on the other side of the room, so he made a bold advance to kiss the blond some more. Whimpering softly, the younger teen stirred before accepting that it was Axel. "You're a butt." He groaned as the redhead kissed him softly again, "Your breath is rank."
"Yours isn't anything to write home about either, Sunshine." Axel chuckled, cupping the boy's face to brush their lips together once more. "My mom is going to be asleep at least another hour if we're quiet. Want to do something fun?"
In whispers, Roxas gave an amused sleepy smile, "If you're propositioning what I think you are, then probably not. If you're asking me to make out, then that's fine." The fact that the other teen had jumped to the conclusion that he wanted sex disappointed the redhead, but he got over it by connecting their lips together again. After a moment of this, Axel parted his lips and let his tongue slip out to dab the other's lower lip. Roxas wasn't very experience, so reluctantly he opened his mouth and just went along for the ride. After the redhead had dominated for a few kisses, Roxas got fed up with the passive role he had assumed and began to kiss back. Inhaling deeply with surprise, Axel let out a small squeak as the other's muscle entered his mouth, and he sucked it languidly.
"You're- You're a fast learner." He panted breathlessly as Roxas chuckled.
"You're cute when you're sleepy like this." There was a grind of hips from the blond's side, and Axel's breath hitched and heart rate thundered.
"Mmm, no. Don't do that." He pulled away, placing a kiss on the blond's freckled nose. "Not right now."
Roxas made a move to bite his lip, which earned him no Axel at all. Getting up, the redhead rose elegantly to go shower, "Don't forget we're meeting Sora and the gang at Meow's Chow today." He shot the blond a look.
Grumbling, the younger man writhed in agony at the idea of getting up for a moment, "Okay, whatever you say, sweetums." Snorting, Axel rolled his eyes and shut the bathroom door. Roxas lamented the fact he was awake for a minute more and rolled over, entombing himself back into the sheets.
By the time they were out the door, they had already gotten clean, dressed, and Axel had texted Sora. "Where are we going?" The blond asked curiously, bouncing a bit to keep up with the redhead's much longer stride.
Axel gave somewhat as a grunt while pocketing his phone, "Meow's Chow."
Roxas pretended he knew what that meant. To him, it was just some restaurant name, a hot spot for locals and he was excluded from that label here. He wondered if he'd be more comfortable if all of this was taking place on his home turf, and he came to the conclusion that yes, yes he would. Sometimes he wished he wasn't so insecure. He wished that he could just trust himself to be enough for Axel, but when one carried the label of 'diseased' and boys like Sora or that 'Riku' that Axel was telling him about knew more about code than he did, he felt like he didn't deserve to be the redhead's boyfriend.
Sometimes he wished that these didn't feel like chips that would begin to let cracks grow and gnaw between them. Taking Axel's hand, he gave it a squeeze, and the taller male in turn gave him a reassuring grin. Deciding to not sit still in his confusion, he mumbled, "Axel, I've never been there before. Can you explain?"
Axel was forgetful. Unlike Roxas' library catalogue of a memory which one could open files or pull records from, his was helter-skelter. A room full of tables flooded with stacks of sloppy precariously balanced paper slips. When he was talking to someone, he very often was oblivious to the way others couldn't understand his thoughts. "Oh, right. Sorry, babe. Meow's Chow is this old, old cyber café. You know back when Starbucks was a thing? Well even older than that. It dates back to the 90's. Yeah, I know right?" He laughed at the blond's surprised expression. "It's ancient. But it's really close to what they call the pits, and the pits are this kind of…I don't know how to explain it, but we can't ever bring Xion there. They're vultures. They'd rip her apart for salvage and strip her code before we could even explain who we are. When you go there, don't even bring your cellphone. Your first time there, they like to pretend that they're a cult. Like they're some big underground society instead of this small community of robot geeks."
"On top of that, they're uber incestuous. Their parents all know each other. Their parents were all friends. They all date each other. They're all friends. Sora, Riku, and Kairi are what they call Outernet. They live a real life not completely dominated by the pits. Then there's the Innernet. I've only met one person that belonged to the Innernet, and he was the actual underground cult kind of guy. He was one of Riku's friends, and he was…odd. Hopefully we won't meet anyone like that this time." He gave a weak grin, "But that wasn't your question! Sorry! I digress, Meow's Chow is cool. Just…take a deep breath and keep your expectations low, so you're impressed."
Roxas snorted and took off his jacket because the sun had decided to acknowledge them and sent warm beams of light down upon them, "Alright." With the redhead's words in mind, he walked a bit taller, more confident in his own skin; Axel's explanation and simple actions had put his worries at bay. With his mind free to wander, he noted the birds as they gossiped in the trees and the way the air seemed to be filled full of a lazy hum. The relief of spring had faded, and the intoxication of summer teased the two. The prison of the youth, school, was almost out, and the thought seemed so far away yet tangible it made his brain thrash with upset and impatience. "Are you excited to be a senior this year?"
Axel had a quiet smile, one that told you he was effervescing with a satiated joy. With the toss of his long cerise spikes over his shoulder, bottle coke green of summers long ago glanced at the shorter male. "Oh, you have no idea how excited I am." A lie. He had felt the handful of lies he had started out with growing exponentially as Roxas had gotten closer to him. They weren't colossal lies. If anything, they were relatively small, but at this moment, the question had truly filled him with dread. His soul was aware that it should be at peace and excited with the prospect of being liberated from the public school system, but turmoil had seeped in at the idea that he would have to find something to do after his education was complete. What was there for him out there? The world was a mystery, but it already had all the detectives it needed. He was just a witness to the crime that was humanities own undoing.
The scuff of heels on concrete brought him back to the moment, and he caught Roxas between his own body and the wall, "You're wonderful." He whispered, and the blond gasped as the redhead kissed him deeply.
A blush, "Thanks."
"You're welcome." Continuing on down clean streets that were swept and manicured by basic AI, they came to an ally way that seemed to be ignored and rather neglected compared to its surroundings. "Come on, this way." He stepped over a garbage bag, well aware it could be anything from old clothes to horror story discoveries.
Roxas followed close, nose wrinkling up at the smell, "Axel…" He didn't feel completely comfortable here, but they were soon standing in front of what appeared to be the back entrance of the restaurant. An old neon sign buzzed wanly proclaiming that they served breakfast and hot coffee could be discovered within. His anxiety was erased, and he watched as his boyfriend opened the door. There was the squeak of unoiled hinges, and the sound of footsteps on cool linoleum floors.
A jingle from a soft bell to alert the staff drifted to his ears along with a melodious voice, "Welcome to Meow's Chow. Please give me just a moment, and I'll be right with you." Pink lips pulled back tight offered an even sweeter smile, and Axel realized he knew this voice and face.
"N-Namine?"
Review! Thanks Layla for Beta!