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Once again, thank you, Ansi, and your beta! Warnings: Hm. Same as evil, and drug abuse is mentioned in passing. Summary: AU. Axel/Roxas. He wanted an ending. He got Axel instead. Roxas woke up as calmly as over, eyes sliding open to allow him to stare at the ceiling above his bed. Only he wasn't in his bed, and for a long moment he almost panicked--he could feel the warmth of another human body beside his, one long arm thrown haphazardly across his chest, and he couldn't for the life of him remember how he could have gotten where he was. But then he looked to the side and saw Axel (his face half shoved into the pillow, mouth slightly open) and it all came back to him in a flash: agreeing to go to sleep with Axel, being firmly led to his room, everything that had happened..... They hadn't had actual sex. Roxas wasn't ready for that. But he'd let Axel undress him and push him onto the bed, and the man had whispered a million soft endearments in between long, tender kisses, and touched him almost reverently, everything so slow and intense that Roxas hadn't been able to think until he'd finished. Axel had seemed perfectly content to just hold him afterwards, but Roxas would have none of it--he'd pulled himself from his happily exhausted daze to return the favor. He had no experience touching anyone but himself, but Axel responded to him like he was amazing, and they'd laid tangled up together afterwards until one or both of them had fallen asleep. Now, in the harsh sunlight of early morning, Roxas could hardly believe what he'd let himself do the night before. It was completely surreal, and it scared the hell out of him. He could practically feel the word 'love' creeping up in the back of his mind, but it was far too soon for such a thing, and that not-thought is what finally forced him to slide out from under Axel's arm and touch his bare feet to the soft carpet floor. He didn't glance back at the redhead as he pulled on his pants and walked over to the one open door on the far side of the room, more than a little relieved to discover that it was a bathroom. He kind of wondered if his room would have a private bathroom as well, and took a brief moment to consider how much it must cost to live in this place before shaking it off as he washed off his hands. He dried them off slowly and then, curious, pulled open the medicine cabinet. There were several glass bottles of various colors in there, shoved in with obviously no order in mind. One of them looked like it had a crack in it, but nothing was spilling out. He took it down and ran a finger over the crack, feeling only smooth glass, and turned the bottle so he could read the label--and almost dropped it. What the hell did Axel have Ethers in his cabinet for? "Hey, babe," a voice purred suddenly from behind him and long arms wrapped themselves around his waist. Axel pressed a sleepy kiss to the side of his head and trailed warm fingers down his stomach. Roxas felt his face flush and he pulled himself out of Axel's light grip, brandishing the Ether bottle at the man like some sort of a weapon. "I'm obviously missing something here," he said, shaking it a little. "I've heard of this stuff--some of the kids in my school are addicted to it. Why do you have it in your medicine cabinet?" "Because for magic-users, it's medicine," Axel explained with a small smile, like he was trying not to laugh. "Everyone has some sort of magical ability in them, though most people never get to hone it. Each spell we use drains us of our magical energy until it gets to the point where we can't use magic any more. The Ether gives us that energy back pretty much instantly, where you'd have to wait hours for it to build up again if you didn't have them. I guess when you take too many Ethers, you have a build-up of magic that just doesn't fit with your body, so it acts like a drug instead. Guess that's why the first thing you learn when you're developing your magic skills is to know how many Ethers you can handle. I never would have even thought to use it as a drug." "That's...interesting," Roxas murmured, eyes on the bottle again. He turned back to the cabinet and put it back in its spot on the shelf. "Are these all magical then? I've never seen anything like this." "Man, this isn't a lesson I should be giving you," Axel complained with a sharp frown. "Xigbar can tell you about them in one of your study sessions, can't he? It's too early in the morning for this and I want to take a shower." "And here I was thinking you just wanted to hang all over me," Roxas teased softly, and that perked Axel right up. "But far be it from me to deny you the pleasures of a shower." "I hate showers, actually," Axel murmured, pushing Roxas up against the counter. "Water isn't exactly the best thing for me to be submerged in, you know. I'd much rather be under you." "I suppose I'll have to keep that in mind for a later time," Roxas teased back, smiling up at him. "But I'm pretty sure you don't want to be interrupted again, and I don't think we'll be lucky more than once. You should probably take your shower." "I hate it when you're right," the redhead sighed theatrically, and pulled Roxas with him as he went to turn on the water. "So what do you say we bathe together? That way I get to put my hands all over you and we get clean." "Yeah, sure," Roxas agreed, and couldn't help but smile at the wide grin Axel gave him, though he eyed the steam coming off the water with some trepidation. "But only if you turn the heat on the water down." "It's not that hot!" Axel protested, but turned up the cold water regardless. Then he spun around and grabbed Roxas around the waist, practically lifting the smaller man off his feet as he stepped backwards into the tub. Roxas made a rather embarrassing squeak as he stumbled in after him, kicking off his pants on the way and nearly slipping on the wet floor from the position he was in even as Axel steadied him and swooshed the shower curtains closed. It was considerably darker after that, and somehow infinitely more intimate, and Roxas was almost surprised to find himself pulling Axel down to a kiss as soon as he was sure they were steady. And this time Axel did actually pick him up, pushing him against the cool tub wall as Roxas wrapped his legs around the tall man's waist and ran shaky fingers over his chest. "Maybe I shouldn't have suggested this," Axel murmured with a soft chuckle, pressing their foreheads together. "Dunno if you'll be able to keep your hands off me. I really did mean to get clean, you know." "You could always try putting me down," Roxas responded dryly, unfolding his legs. To his surprise, Axel actually did so--albeit a tad reluctantly. "And hand over the shampoo." "Mood killer," Axel announced with a shake of his head, stepping into the spray of water to get to the back of the shower, where he apparently kept his shampoo. He flipped open the cap and poured a good amount onto Roxas' head (only stopping when the blond smacked him), and then poured some into his own hand and replaced the bottle. Roxas found himself watching Axel as he slowly rubbed the shampoo into his hair. He studied the man's body, watched rivulets of water run down his chest, and then jerked his eyes back up to where the man's long fingers were already rinsing the suds from his hair, which had darkened a bit with the water. Axel stood with most of his body as far away from the spray of water as possible, leaning back so only his hair was getting wet. He wondered idly how his life had come to this, that he could be watching a criminal in his most private moments and finding it almost painfully endearing. When Axel moved out of the water, the two slid around each other awkwardly, and Roxas immersed himself in the spray, closing his eyes as the water beat down on his face. He felt some of the tension leave his shoulders, a half of a smile settling itself on his lips, and didn't even jump when Axel gently pulled him backwards. The redhead was oddly quiet as he washed Roxas' back, and then slid his arms around him and rubbed soft circles in his chest with the washcloth in one hand as the other slid teasingly down his stomach-- And there was a sudden loud pounding on the bathroom door. "I know what you two are doing in there!" Xigbar's voice filtered through, and both of them groaned. "Wrap it up and get out, already, Roxas needs his tattoo, and the Superior wants to see you, Axel!" "Well, at least we had last night," Axel grumbled, pushing the washcloth in one of Roxas' hands and pushing open the curtain to step out of the tub. Acting on impulse, Roxas leaned out to wrap himself around Axel and press a soft kiss to the other's spine. When he looked up, Axel twisted to the side and stared down at Roxas with an entirely too soft look. Roxas found himself blushing and immediately jerked back into the tub, closing the curtains again. "Go get dressed," he said in as monotone of a voice as he could manage. "I'll be out in a minute." He almost jumped out of his skin when Axel laughed. "You're entirely too cute," the man said as he moved around the bathroom, and Roxas had to resist the urge to open the curtains again and throw the washcloth at him. Roxas stared at the machine in Zexion's hand, holding back a wince. Logically, he had known what a tattoo entailed, but this thing was...well. It looked like it meant business. Hell, it looked like you could use it to stick a needle right through a man's head. Okay, yeah, it wasn't big at all, and it looked like it fit in Zexion's hand perfectly--but that didn't mean he liked it. "Do I have to get one?" he asked uncertainly, glancing up at Zexion's impassive face. "Needles aren't really, you know, my thing." "Xemnas insists we get them for a reason that's entirely beyond my comprehension," Zexion responded calmly, putting the machine down and crossing his arms. "So, yes, you have to get one. Have you thought about where you want it?" "Not really," Roxas replied slowly. Which was actually a lie--he knew exactly where he had wanted to get the thing. But now, faced with the tool that would be putting the ink in his skin, he wasn't thinking it was such a good idea. Zexion eyed Roxas thoughtfully, frowning as he did so. "You'll figure it out soon enough. Demyx had a hard time deciding where he wanted his until we got together." "Where does he have his?" Roxas asked curiously. "And how did the two of you get together?" "He has his on his upper thigh," Zexion said, indicating just where by tapping a finger to his inner thigh, high up enough that Roxas had to fight off a blush. "And let's just say that the story of how we got together starts with 'I needed to find a way to stop his nervous babbling' and ends with 'you should be glad I sanitize everything in here'." Roxas actually felt his face flush this time, and he fought the urge to jump off the chair Zexion had told him to sit in. The older man just smirked and began talking again: "And I don't think it's necessary to have yours that well hidden, don't worry. While Xemnas and Saïx both chose to have theirs hidden way down at the base of their spines and you don't even want to know where Lexaeus' is, Larxene has hers on a part of her breast that can be easily seen if she were to wear a low-cut shirt and mine is simply on my temple. You'd be able to see it if I pushed my bangs back behind my ear. As for you, well, I've noticed that you have yet to take off that wristband of yours." "My brother bought it for me," Roxas muttered, a bit unnerved that Zexion had figured out exactly where Roxas had been thinking of. He jumped a little when Zexion's hand suddenly appeared in his sight and slid the band off before lifting his hand. "We could do it on your wrist," he said calmly. "I assure you it's perfectly safe, and if you don't take off the wristband nobody will know it's there. Though you might not want to wear it when you go on missions. You don't want anybody to recognize you due to an accessory like this--assuming, of course, there's anybody left to do so." Roxas very carefully ignored the reminder that he'd soon be killing complete strangers for a living. "Well, if you're absolutely sure it's safe," he consented a bit hesitantly. It really was the best place he could think of, especially since it didn't require him to take off a single article of clothing. "I believe I've already told you it is," the short man murmured, leaning over to grab some alcohol swabs. "Since the needle penetrates your skin, I'm disinfecting the area where the tattoo's going to be. Don't worry if your skin feels irritated and itchy afterwards, it's healing itself up. When the scabs form, don't even think about picking at them. I don't want to have to do this a second time." "Right," Roxas agreed faintly, trying not to shift nervously as Zexion pulled on some gloves that he plucked out of a box--but he couldn't help tensing as the machine was brought over to his skin. Tilting his head back, he decided to make a concentrated study of the ceiling. "It might sting," Zexion said tersely, tightening his grip on Roxas' arm. "Don't move." Roxas didn't even nod. "I'm going to take you shopping," Axel announced as soon as Roxas stepped into the room, grinning like a maniac. Demyx was beside him, his smile crazier than the redhead's, and he bounced excitedly in place. "Clothes shopping." "Yeah, it's the least we can do since we burnt down your house," the blond added earnestly. "I paid you guys to do that," Roxas felt obligated to point out. "You don't owe me anything." "But we want to!" Demyx insisted. "I mean, as much as I'm sure Axel would love to have you walking around naked all the time, I don't think everyone else would appreciate it. Except maybe Lexaeus, since he seems to have this thing for smaller guys. It's kind of creepy if you think about it, I guess, but that's okay because it's probably his fault that Zexion is so--" "I don't want to know!" Roxas yelped, covering his ears with a wince. "That's just way too much information, okay?" "Awww," Demyx pouted. "Let's just go, kid," Axel said, grabbing Roxas' wrists to tug the boy's hands away from his head. Roxas made an aborted whimpering noise, trying to twist his left arm away, and Axel let go immediately. "What's wrong?" he asked, brow furrowing in worry. "Nothing," Roxas replied hastily, shaking his head at the disbelieving look he was given. "Really. It's just the tattoo. It's kind of sore." "Of course it is," Axel said soothingly, and casually grabbed Roxas' right hand. "It'll be like that for a bit, but it goes away soon enough. Now are you going to come, or are we going to have to buy clothes for you by ourselves and hope we get the size right?" Roxas stared at Axel for a moment, taking in the solid black clothing, and then turned his attention to Demyx' multiple bracelets, the skull on his t-shirt, and the strange lime green sneakers that graced his feet (one untied). "I'm going with you," he decided, brushing past the two of them and heading in what he hoped was the right direction. He ignored Demyx' excited whooping and Axel's soft chuckle, and continued: "I don't even want to know what the two of you would come back with." "Hey, we wouldn't get you something that we didn't think you'd like!" Demyx said brightly, walking--Roxas did a double-take and sighed--no, skipping beside him. "Or at the very least something that I really wanted to see you in," Axel agreed heartily, wrapping his arm around Roxas' waist and pulling the blond close to him. "But maybe I should get you that french maid outfit anyway." "I'll rip your entrails out with a dull spork," Roxas said darkly, awkwardly punching Axel in the back though he knew it wasn't going to hurt. "And make you eat them." "I don't think Axel would live long enough after the entrail-tearing-out to make that worthwhile," Demyx said sensibly. "Or maybe that would turn him into a zombie! And then he'd eat your brains. With the spork you dug his entrails out with!" "You really know how to ruin a perfectly good line, don't you?" the smaller blond grumbled, momentarily losing step with Axel and almost tripping over his own feet trying to correct himself. "It's a gift," Demyx replied cheekily. "Play nice, children," Axel chided softly, and Roxas found that he couldn't stop himself from laughing softly. This was...nice. Weird, but nice. He let himself relax and actually leaned into Axel, wrapping his arm around the other's thin waist. His eyes drifted closed of their own accord as Demyx and Axel struck up a separate conversation regarding where they were going to take Roxas first. He could almost forget that he was in the presence of two paid killers, forget that he didn't really belong in this place with these people shopping for clothes with money that wasn't his own or his father's. He was far too comfortable here. There was just one thing missing. "Hey, Axel?" he began curiously, opening his eyes to look up at his...well, his boyfriend, he supposed--and stopped dead in his tracks. Somewhere in the crowd he thought he'd seen a flash of silver, the contours of a familiar face and something astonishingly yellow. His heart was suddenly beating a mile a minute because he'd thought he'd seen something that definitely didn't belong where it was. "Roxas?" he heard Axel ask curiously, and he jumped at the familiar voice. "Roxas, what's wrong?" He glanced over at the redhead and then turned back to the crowds, searching for the boy he'd just seen. But he didn't see even the faintest hint again, and he decided he had just been imagining things. After all, it'd only been a week since he'd disappeared. Even if anyone had discovered where he'd disappeared to, he was sure nobody would let a civilian go looking for him yet. "Sorry," he murmured, eyes scanning the street once more. "I just thought I saw something weird. Listen, do you guys have any good ice cream places around here?" "Ice cream?" Demyx asked uncertainly behind him, but Axel just grinned. "Babe," he purred silkily, hooking a finger in a belt-loop of Roxas' pants to pull him in again. "You are in for one hell of a treat."  Chapter Nine
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