Roxas' brain seemed to fade out when the woman at the registration table began to talk. Nothing personal, but he didn't understand most of the words, and it was only important that Axel and Xion were listening. After handing over their card and getting Xion's stuff, all the humans headed up to a waiting area with tables to sit at. "Let's sit over there!" Kairi pointed to two places that no one had claimed yet.
They all knew Xion was going to do well. After all, Roxas had seen her in everyday life, and her capacity to learn, explore, and relate was incredible for an AI. Taking out a deck of cards, Sora surprised them all, "What?" He laughed, "Gotta keep ourselves entertained for an hour."
Axel snorted and offered to shuffle. After one hand of Old Maid, a round of Diamonds, a bit of Solitaire for mostly Riku, they were finally reaching the forty five minute mark. "I guess we can always build card houses." Roxas offered, and he and Sora did so for a bit, seeing how high they could get their feeble paper structures to tower.
While the two younger teens did that, Riku and Axel went over to the ledge not really talking, but instead watched Xion move around the room carefully with their lips pressed into serious lines. She tended to migrate towards one who had more color, but the redhead didn't know what the judges wanted. "I don't know what I'll do if she makes it to round three." He confessed.
Riku twiddled his thumbs for a moment, "Why are you stopping there? Xion could easily take the competition."
"Yeah, I know. Part of me doesn't want her to win." Axel grunted as he took out his cellphone that had begun to buzz in his pocket, "Who is it?" Mother the screen read brightly in a familiar font. 'Honestly,' the redhead laughs to himself, 'Who else would it have been?' Sliding the phone open, he picked up, "Hello?"
Eyes narrowing at the other teen's words, Riku couldn't help but wonder why the redhead was the way he was. What the hell was going on in that head of his? How did Roxas tolerate someone who never seemed to let others know what was going on? …It was not his place to judge, he supposed. It was their relationship, "Kairi, you hungry?" He asked her, fumbling in his back pocket for his wallet.
"Oh! Yes! Very!" She jumped up and gave him a hug, "Uuuum, can I have ice cream?"
"Ice cream?" Sora called from where he was at the table with Roxas, "I want ice cream!"
Roxas' eyes went wide as well. Turning to Axel to ask him if he'd get him some, he saw that he was on the phone and kept his mouth shut. "Really? Again? Why is it whenever we eat out, you guys only want desserts?" Riku laughed, "Don't your parents teach you to be responsible?"
"Oh be quiet! You know that my mom is vegan!" Kairi huffed, "All I do is eat vegetables!"
Sora laughed, "Isn't it my turn to buy anyways?" He stood, "Pardon me, Roxas, but I do think Riku's wallet will weep if we goad him into buying us food again. What flavor do you guys want?"
"Chocolate!" Kairi chirped, "And Riku always wants Orange Sherbet or Dreamcicle if they have it!" If not, Sora knew that he'd settle for chocolate as well.
Laughing a bit, he headed for the stairs, "Alright! I'll be back."
"Oh wait, Sora!" Roxas stood in a rush, knocking over their houses of cards, "…Whoops. Can I come with?"
Sora held in a snort, "Yeah, if you can walk to these stairs without every table flipping over and the building coming down around us."
The blond rolled his eyes and by the time the two had gotten back with all chocolate- "Sorry Riku, they didn't have Orange."- The AI were turning in their sheets.
"So how long do we have to wait?" Roxas mumbled, giving the redhead a hug and offering the ice cream to him.
"Oh, thank you." Axel took a small bite, "Um, at least three hours. The results get in at eleven, and we find out online or tomorrow morning." He pet some blond hair with a slightly moist hand from the condensation that he had picked up from the small plastic cup, "But I have to go meet with someone, okay? You and Xion are heading back to the hotel, alright?"
Roxas quirked a brow, "Who are you going to talk to? If it's just these guys, there's no reason you can't bring me." He puffed up his cheeks and sulked.
"No, Sora and Kairi are going home on the light rail. Riku and I are going to go talk to someone." Uncomfortable with saying anything more, he fed his boyfriend a bite of ice cream, "Don't worry your pretty little head. I'll be home before midnight. My mom already said it's okay." He was glad that his mom requested that Roxas be back before midnight. He didn't want something going wrong and the smaller teen getting hurt.
"Suspicious, suspicious." He mumbled, "But okay." By then, Xion had found them and was looking rather drowsy herself.
"My battery is running low." She explained, "The hotel doesn't have the charge I need, so it's slow business." The AI honestly couldn't wait until she got back to her charger and could get a proper rest.
"Hey, we're heading home!" Kairi beamed, already looking a little less bubbly than earlier. The weight of the day was finally hitting them like a train, "But we'll check the competition sight tonight and see if you made it! If you did, expect us bright and early!"
"Alright!" Xion smiled right back, "Let's hope for the best! Good night, Sora and Kairi."
The brunet laughed, "Dido! G'night, you guys!"
After waving to them, Riku shuffled over to Axel and flicked his eyes over to Roxas to signal it was time to send him home too, "Hey babe, you're taking Xion home. I still have to stay here."
"Yeah, okay." He took the robotic girl's hand, "See you later, Ax."
The walk back to the hotel seemed much longer than the quick pop down to the Event Center like it had seemed that afternoon, "Ugh, my feet hurt." He whined.
"I'd offer to carry you, but I don't know if my frame will support that." Her frame really wasn't all that strong, but it did its only job well which was to get her around to place to place, "What's Axel doing?" She asked curiously as Roxas decided to take a break on a bench.
"I don't know, but I don't like it. He keeps asking about all kinds of shady stuff. Stuff he's not supposed to be talking about." Biting the inside of his cheek, the teen sighed, "Probably has something to do with you or my Panguin." That seemed to be the only two things that Axel stressed about. "Ugh, I have an essay due Monday, and I still have a conclusion to write." He pouted, standing again, "Come on, might as well get home and finish that."
When they got back, the redhead's mother gave them a smile, "Now Roxas, I promised your parents I'd keep an eye on you, so I'm sorry for making you come home early. I know you'd probably rather be out with Axel."
"Nah, it's fine." He shrugged, "I need to finish an essay anyways. Xion needs to charge up too, right?"
The AI nodded and plopped herself down in the corner where the outlet is, "Night, you two."
"Night, Xi." Roxas gave her a little wave.
"Larxene, come on! I didn't know this was going to turn into business. Baby forgive me." He tried to hug her but was quickly shrugged off. "Larxene, I'm sorry!"
"No! You said this was a day for me! Bullshit!" She was attempting to keep her voice down to a sharp hiss, considering they were already being stared at.
The pink haired man pursued her as she began to walk towards the doors, "Come on, I said I'm sorry. Think of it this way: extra money this month." When the blonde's emotional side started to flare up, she could always be trapped back down with logic.
Shooting Marluxia a broken look, she radiated anger, "Fuck you. Better find somewhere else to sleep tonight."
Fuck.
Well, it wasn't like it didn't happen a couple times a year. Sighing, he went to go sit back down at the table where Riku had texted them that they'd meet. "Hi, nice to meet you, Axel." He shook the redhead's hand when he saw the two teens. It was important to have a one up on the competition and strike first. "I'm Marluxia: supplier for anything and everything." He gave a toothy smile, "So you're looking for some little friends as I've heard it here from Riku."
"I don't have the budget yet, but if I take the competition, yeah, that's the way it's looking." He shrugged. This guy was a tall dude; skinny as fuck too. He looked like a twig. "Came to ask about the frequency they run on and just some general info. As you can imagine, it's a little hard to get books on the things unless you're willing to get caught in a restricted section."
"Frequency? You mean their link signal?" Marluxia supplied.
Axel laughed, "See? That's why I'm here to talk to you, and maybe buy from you."
Brain whirling, he looked the teen over. How long was this going to take? What was he going to do with the nanos? God, what if he got arrested and the things got traced back to him like they almost did with the Danielson's Case? 'Well, either way. Now or later.' The man thought, 'Young as he is. I got this kid sold.'
Hook, line and sinker.
Review! Layla was my beta as always :D