Not Quite a Date [log]
Who: Roxas [oathtooblivion] and Axel [roxascomplex]
When: Sunday, July 15th, early afternoon
Where: City streets, the mall
Summary: Concerned that all Axel ever wears is his Organization XIII uniform, Roxas drags a reluctant Axel out clothes shopping. Predictably, however, it doesn't go well - Axel is determined to make things as difficult as possible for Roxas, whose patience quickly wears thin. Pretty much the same as usual between the two of them, then.
Roxas should have known from the start taking Axel anywhere in public was not a good idea, and that this trip to the mall was doomed to, most likely, fail. The pyro complained, he was stubborn, and he had tried any excuse to stay home - and that was before they'd even stepped out of the door. It was like putting up with a spoiled teenager who just wanted to laze about the house all day, except Roxas was supposed to be the teenager here, not Axel. Eventually, however, Axel had reluctantly obliged and headed out to the mall with him, but even on the way there he wouldn't let up on his barrage of arguing that they should just go home.
Roxas had determinedly ignored him for most of the journey through the streets, but it was a futile effort. Even ignoring him, Axel whined on insistently, now declaring the many reasons why he disliked being in malls as they crossed a busy road. It made Roxas want to kick something in frustration. Preferably Axel, but he contained his temper, instead saying in the most patient voice he could muster, "...I get the idea, Axel. You don't want to come. Quit whining and shut up."
"Precisely, dude. So why can't I just go home already?" Axel continued, his pace slowing slightly now that he had finally caught Roxas' attention. In his view, Roxas would just refuse that anyway, so the more whining he did the more likely he'd wind Roxas up enough to let him go. "What's the point of all of this, anyway?"
"You're a recluse, Axel. You barely ever go anywhere unless you have to. Don't you just wanna get out for a while?" Roxas shook his head before Axel could reply; he already knew the answer to that, so he continued, "I've told you already. Even if you don't go anywhere, you look odd wearing your uniform all the time. Suspicious, even. If you're gonna live in this city, you should at least make the effort to try and... y'know, blend in and dress normally. So we're going to the mall."
"I don't care what it is and what it isn't," Axel retorted, pulling lightly at one of the strings attatched to his cloak. It was something he'd worn for... well, as long as he could remember. He didn't like it, but then again he didn't hate it either. It just proved he was part of the Organization. Not like anyone else. Different. "I'm wearing it and that's that. You can't force me into wearing something else."
Roxas narrowed his eyes, wondering if Axel was just being stubborn and difficult for the sake of it. "I'm not forcing you into anything. You're the one tagging along. But if you won't choose to dress normally I won't go anywhere with you. You might not care how suspicious you look, but I do." It was probably taking things a little too far by saying that, and a threat Roxas would probably not follow through on, but hopefully Axel would fall for it.
Axel opened his mouth to object, his hands clenching into fists - but he let it slip away, till in the end he just looked clearly disgruntled at Roxas. He didn't want to tag along, but then again he didn't want Roxas to ignore him if he didn't change his style. "I don't want to go," he grumbled under his breath, sounding more and more like a spoilt child being forced into school. "But you're just going to force me into it no matter what. Aren't you?"
Walking ahead slightly to conceal a satisfied grin, Roxas repeated, "I'm not forcing you into anything. You could go home right now if you wanted to, you know."
That was true - Axel could go home, and could refuse to do what Roxas wanted. But that would cause a riot he'd rather not have. "Fine," he sighed, reluctantly giving in, his pace increasing as he walked up alongside Roxas, before nudging him in the ribs. "But I'm still wearing the cloak whenever I like."
"I never said you had to stop wearing it completely," Roxas shrugged. "But out in public people can automatically tell you're different," he gestured towards a passerby clearly staring at Axel with a nod of his head, who quickly averted his gaze and hurried on when he noticed Roxas was looking at him. "See? Like that guy there. When I'm with you, I would prefer people didn't ask too many questions. Do whatever you want otherwise, if you really have to."
"And how do you know it's not the hair?" Axel attempted, having another shot at being able to give this all up - afterall, his hair wasn't the most.. natural colour, and it wasn't exactly the most tame, either. But either way, it looked like he was going, and he could either do it in good grace and have time pass quickly, or put it off until it felt like he was going backwards. "Lets get this over with," he said reluctantly, folding his arms and still not looking thoroughly impressed.
Victorious, Roxas didn't bother to argue his point any further. There wasn't much Axel could do about his hair - apart from dying it or shaving it all off, he thought with some amusement, but that was something even Roxas would flatout refuse him to do. "You say that like I'm about to execute you or something. If you don't complain, I bet this won't even take half an hour. Then you can go home and go back to... whatever you do all day."
"Nothing," Axel drawled in response. It was true - he really did do nothing. Apart from talking to Roxas and occasionally Sakura, he really was just 'hanging around'. "Nevermind. Lets just... go, and get it sorted. It's close, isn't it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He didn't quite fancy being dragged halfway across the city in the search for clothes he didn't really want.
"It's a little bit further," Roxas said, and, sure enough, the entrance was visible in the distance along the street. Frowning slightly, he glanced up at Axel - what he said before bothered him. "You don't get bored? Just sitting around doing nothing?"
"When you're used to the Organization sending you here there and everywhere, not doing anything at all is.. welcoming," Axel considered. He probably did get bored. But he wouldn't know. "I've got you, though. So I'm not bored in particular."
Roxas' eyebrows raised at the last part, but he said nothing to comment on it and ignored it. "Well, what about when I'm at school? What then?"
"Sit around. Avoid orders. Be a rebel. Listen to Sakura," Axel said, counting each one off on his fingers. "It's not that bad a life."
It sounded pretty dull in Roxas' opinion, but perhaps as a Nobody that hasn't been able to live in such a way in years, you learnt to appreciate the small things. As much as he was loathe to admit it, he did sort of feel sorry for Axel sometimes. "Guess not. Besides Organization XIII, you don't have anything at all you have to do or worry about."
"I have something to worry about," Axel said slowly. Not in the way Roxas was implying, but... something to worry about, none the less.
"Hm?" Roxas replied absently, his attention mostly focused on navigating the crowd that was gradually thickening as they drew closer to the mall. "What's that?"
Axel looked at him with surprise for a moment, almost as if he wasn't going to tell him just what it was, but he shrugged, rubbing the back of his head, before walking in front of Roxas, and looking over his shoulder at him. "You."
"Why worry about me?" Roxas blinked in reply, only slightly taken aback by that response. "There's nothing to worry about." Well, nothing at the moment to worry about besides the odd rain that had affected him. But he'd gotten extremely good at suppressing and ignoring that 'sixth sense', and other than that, things had been relatively quiet.
Keeping his hands behind his head, Axel watched Roxas for a few moments, before continuing walking on, his eyes half closed in thought, looking slightly amused. "A guy's not allowed to worry about the person he loves?" he replied, opening an eye as he said it, before half laughing. "Not only that, but the Organization. If they found out you were here... they'd become obsessed with getting to you." And I'm not letting that happen.
Roxas' gaze shifted to the floor, his expression conflicted. Although it had hung at the back of his mind for some time after Axel told him, being reminded again of Axel's - serious - feelings towards him unsettled him, to say the least. "...They haven't found me so far. And it's not like they will for a while, right? Aren't you the one in charge of finding me?"
"Yeah, but..." his voice took a more serious tone. "They'll get... 'bored'... waiting for me. One day," Axel looked at the floor absently. As long as he kept to himself, and checked in every once in a while, it could be avoided. As long as was possible.
"They might get bored looking for me before that," Roxas said thoughtfully. He was about to say something else, but cut himself off - they'd reached the mall without his noticing, far too enveloped in his own thoughts. "Any last words before your doom?" he grinned at Axel with what looked like a forced cheerfulness, pausing just before the automatic sliding doors leading inside.
Axel forced a smile, though he looked like... death. He really was entirely negative about this entire situation. ".. I'm gonna regret this," he mumbled, taking Roxas' lead and following after him, dragging his feet along the paved floor.
"You'll survive... if you don't complain too much," Roxas rolled his eyes, walking at a much faster pace than Axel's reluctant one. The faster they got this over with, the better for both of them. Pausing once they were inside the crowded shopping centre, he paused and turned back around to face Axel. There was only one problem: Axel's tastes in clothing, which were either nonexistant or, if he had preferences, entirely different to Roxas'. "What kind of clothes do you like?"
Axel's face drew a blank, him shrugging clearly in mid-air. "I don't know?"
Roxas wanted to make a noise of impatience, but losing his temper before they'd even started was not the best thing to do. "...Guess we can just look around until you see something."
"I.. guess...?" Axel replied, looking all the more annoyed. If he didn't have any idea of what to get in the first place, why drag me all the way out here? Of course, it wasn't helped by the lack of Axel liking or taking an interest in clothing, but he was going to ignore that fact for now. "You lead." Roxas may as well do the searching, at least.
You're so helpful, Roxas thought, although he didn't voice it aloud, merely turning on his heel and setting off for the nearest row of stores. He wouldn't let Axel have the satisfaction of knowing he was irritating Roxas, because he would only make it worse.
He paused at the first clothes shop, realising he'd headed the usual route and straight for the one he preferred - on those rare occassions Roxas actually went shopping. He paused and turned to Axel. "You're not looking in there. That's my favourite store, and I don't want you dressing like me or something."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Axel replied, waving his hand in the air, clearly not listening at all. On any normal occasion, he would have jumped at the chance to do that, but right now he wasn't in that frame of mind. "Somewhere else, yeah? Get going."
He turned to lead the way again, gritting his teeth as he bit back another retort out of annoyance at Axel's attitude. "Stop me if you see a store with anything you like in," he tossed over his shoulder, gradually losing what small enthusiasm he had.
"Yeah, sure, whatever..." Axel repeated, still clearly not listening. He didn't want to be here, he didn't care, why would he want to go in any... store? He stopped as a certain lyric hit his ears. Something that most of the passers by turned a face at.. it was an old song, but Axel recognised it. It wasn't that uncommon in The World That Never Was.
Life suddenly appeared back in his face, placing a hand on Roxas shoulder, and spinning him around to face the dirction of the music store. "In there. Right now."
Roxas looked completely at a loss up at Axel, then back to the music store. If Axel was into music, Roxas never heard him listen to it - so it was a little odd that he showed such interest. "There? Why?"
"Listen," was all Axel said, still intent on dragging Roxas over there. "I bet they have it. And I want it."
Roxas' only reaction was an expression of positive alarm. "Want what?!"
It was Axel's turn to be irritated. And he in turn, really couldn't be bothered explaining his motives, when to him it was so... simple. Screw it, he thought rashly as he grabbed hold of Roxas' arm and dragged him in after him, somehow managing to avoid banging either of them into anything. He glanced around, the same tune filtering into his ears. It's in here somewhere. It has to be... if they're playing it.
"...What's with you? What are you looking for?" Roxas was, by now, extremely weirded out - Axel's expression looked scarily like that of a hungry cat stalking an elusive mouse - Roxas attempted to tug his arm out of Axel's grip. And, as usual, his escape was unsuccessful.
Axel was either ignoring Roxas or just not hearing him, as he scanned the entire vicinity of the store - till he spotted the corner he was after, pulling Roxas in after him, before letting go of his arm. The song had ended, but it didn't deter Axel, as he dived into the large collection of music, with a large banner declaring 'VINTAGE' hanging over them.
Rubbing his arm, Roxas hovered reluctantly nearby in silence, taking the hint Axel was ignoring him. Whatever Axel was interested in so much, Roxas hadn't been familiar with the song that just ended. He raised an eyebrow, watching him and eventually asking, "...You're into old stuff?"
"Not any old stuff," Axel said, replying as he picked up a case, looked at it, shrugged, and literally tossed it aside into the box next to it. His face lit up as he found what he was looking for. "This old stuff," he said, spinning around to show Roxas his find. .. which, Roxas probably wouldn't appreciate, but he did it anyway.
Roxas stared at the artist's name on the cover blankly, and then back at Axel, once again entirely at a loss. "Who? Exactly how old is this? I've never heard of it."
Axel looked back at him with the expression as if Roxas had just told him he didn't know who he was. "You've never heard of her?"
"No," Roxas said flatly, in a tone that suggested he didn't particularly care to know who she was, either.
Well, Axel was going to correct that little fact of not knowing who said artist was, whether Roxas was interested or not. "Avril Lavigne, vintage 2008.." Axel started, before his entire face folded into the familiar smirk. "A-V-R-I-L, L-A-V-I-G-N-E. Got it memorized?"
Giving Axel one of his best 'you're absolutely insane' looks, Roxas replied incredulously, "2008?! That's ancient. How do you come across old junk like that in the first place?"
"Junk?" Axel mocked indignantly, lifting the case out of Roxas' reach - more so, so he wouldn't try to take if off him. "This is classic, dude. We sang it once. You sang it, actually. When you were drunk," he laughed, coming off thought for a second, before going straight back to being defensive. "There's no way this stuff is dead."
Roxas blanched, only hearing a small part of what Axel said. He sang? He didn't remember ever hearing about that. "I didn't sing anything," he said indignantly, almost physically wincing in embarassment at himself. "Before now I hadn't even heard of her."
Axel raised an eyebrow, before sighing. Roxas probably didn't remember his antics while he was drunk. Or even the fact he sang Girlfriend.. well, Axel sang it, but Roxas sang two lines of it, so it.. sort of counted, didn't it? He didn't really care, either way. "I want it," Axel said shortly, bringing the case back down to his eye level. He sounded like a spoilt child, but hell, he didn't care.
"No," Roxas replied without even a moment's consideration. Whatever Axel's obsession with dead singers was, Roxas wasn't going to pay for the thing. "If you want it that badly, get a job yourself instead of leeching off me all the time, lazy. Are we done here?"
".. but." Axel replied, his face remaining hard and set. It was clearly obvious there was only one way he was going to leave the store - that being, with said music case in his posession.
Roxas raised his eyes to the heavens, looking thoroughly exasperated with the entire situation. When Axel had an expression like that, he would not budge under any circumstances, so arguing would be a waste of time. "Will you pay me back later if I got it for you?"
Axel's voice seemed just a tad too high as he replied, "... maybe?" He could always get something together. Ask Sakura. But then again, she still lacked the capacity of having a job as of yet. So he wouldn't be able to leech off her. He'd have to get off his lazy streak and actually do something. Not an appealing thought, but... ".. will you buy it if I do?"
"Yeah," Roxas nodded, although he doubted the trustworthyness of Axel's words. Taking his wallet from his pocket, he counted what, admittedly, was a rather small amount of notes he had, and handed a few to Axel. "You'd better not forget about it."
"Okay okay I won't," Axel said hastily, though it was likely he'd forget about this tomorrow. Best keep it in mind. He was about to rush off before he stopped, nodding at Roxas. "... Thanks."
"Yeah, yeah," Roxas shrugged unconcernedly, trailing after him at a slower pace. He had an ominous feeling giving into Axel was going to create as many problems as it solved, but for now he ignored it. At least Axel might be a little more cooperative in shopping now he was content.
After a few minutes of bantering with the shopkeeper (mainly for fact the music was old), Axel was walking back over to Roxas, tossing him the spare change. "I'll be more co-operative," he said, though that all depended just on how many shops he was dragged round before he settled on something.
"You'd better be," Roxas muttered darkly under his breath, deftly catching the change and stuffing it into a pocket. In a more audible voice, he replied, "Does that mean you'll stop whining, too?" He wasn't going to make buying stuff to shut Axel up an ongoing thing if he could help it; Axel acted enough like a spoiled child without Roxas' encouragement.
"About this?" Axel asked, holding up the package. "Yeah. The clothes? Depends."
"Depends?" Roxas repeated, raising an eyebrow. 'Depends' was a fine way to show his thanks, Roxas mused with some annoyance. Leading the way out of the shop again before Axel got distracted by any other CDs, Roxas called over his shoulder, "C'mon. It'll take just two minutes if you stop complaining and get it over and done with, okay?"
"I still don't like the idea," Axel replied, following after Roxas - but not with the same dragging pace as before. It wasn't a complaint, just a statement. Afterall, Axel had never really worn anything else apart from the cloak on his back. "Say, Roxas. What do you think would look good on me, huh?"
Feeling colour tinge his cheeks slightly, he quickly looked away from Axel, trying to pass it off as interest in the nearby shop. "I don't know, it's not like I think about that kind of thing," he replied indignantly.
"Come on, you were the one who dragged me out," Axel shrugged, but didn't press the matter further, instead choosing to fold his arms and watch the people who walked past - most of which, indeed, did stop and stare. The combination of cloak, flaming hair and tattoos under his eyes really was making him noticed. Perhaps Roxas was right about that, at least. In truth, Axel had barely noticed before - but that was probably mostly due to the fact, in civalisation, the only time he joined it was to fight or destroy something. No need to stick around and actually fit in with it.
Roxas sighed and ran a hand through his hair in annoyance, finally looking back at Axel and fixing him with a look. "Does it matter? If you really can't make up your mind, just get something plain. You don't seem all that fussed about what to get."
Looking around dully, Axel regarded the shops - none seemed to scream at him to go in there, but that was little surprise. "You choose one," he said bluntly.
"Fine," Roxas said with some reluctance, pausing to scan the shops. What clothes stores there were, Roxas couldn't imagine Axel wearing anything displayed in the windows at all, until--
"This one," Roxas, without hesitation, nudged Axel in the direction of a nearby store and headed over to it before he could reply or complain.
Forced into walking (and not expecting it), Axel almost stumbled before righting himself again, and raising an eyebrow at the store. He couldn't complain though - he had asked Roxas to pick one out for him. "Alright then." And with that, strode inside after Roxas.
***
Roxas sighed for what was possibly the hundredth time that day, folding his arms and leaning against a wall outside the changing rooms of the store. He had lost track of the time since Axel went in there, but so far he'd taken at least fifteen minutes just to change - and even longer just to pick some clothes he even remotely wanted to wear in the first place.
Roxas doubted there was anyone in the world that liked to be more stubborn and difficult than Axel.
...Now that he thought about it, Roxas wouldn't be at all surprised if Axel had taken advantage of the situation to open up a dark portal and escape; he'd be far away before Roxas even realised he was gone. Best to confirm he was still there before he jumped to conclusions, though, so he called impatiently, "Hey, Axel? What's taking you so long?!"
In truth, Axel hadn't run off, though he had vaguely considered it - but he didn't fancy being Keybladed in the face later on, so had stuck to staying put, and had spent the past ten minutes frowning at himself in the mirror, trying to decide whether he did look like the idiot he felt.
"What?" he drawled to Roxas, his brow furrowing. "I can't decide whether this is stupid or just plain ridiculous."
Roxas rolled his eyes to himself - Axel probably didn't look stupid at all and was probably only just saying that because he was used to constantly wearing his cloak. "I bet it isn't. Come out and show me."
Axel half laughed under his breath, shaking his head to himself. "No way. You'll just laugh. Or something."
Even if Axel did look stupid enough like he claimed, Roxas didn't think he'd laugh - mostly because, after managing to get Axel this far, discouraging him wasn't a good idea. Impatiently, he replied, "'Course I won't. Stop being such a girl and come out already."
"I'm not-" Axel started, his face screwing up in annoyance as he turned around, thrusting his - for once not gloved - hand upright, and throwing the curtain back in distate, his free hand behind his neck. "-acting like a girl."
It was rather strange what Axel had finally decided upon wearing. It was something no one would probably bet on him ever wearing, but despite that, his choice of plain jeans and white shirt (despite the fact only about four buttons were done up on it), seemed a rather good one.
Axel's fears were unfounded, because Roxas' face was perfectly straight and composed as he said, "You don't look stupid at all. Actually, it suits you pretty well."
"You think?" Axel replied, suddenly taking great interest at staring at the floor whilst rubbing the back of his neck. He still thought he looked stupid. "I don't know."
"You're just weirded out because you're not used to wearing normal stuff," Roxas shrugged, unfolding his arms and pushing himself off the wall. "You don't like it?"
".. it's..." Axel conceded, flicking at the shoulder of the shirt. ".. not that bad, I guess."
Roxas gave a rare smile of encouragement. "See? This wasn't such a painful trip after all. Want to try anything else while we're here?"
At that, Axel's face looked pained. "Do I have to? I'd rather just stick with this. Y'know. 'cos it's okay and all."
"Sure, whatever you want," Roxas shrugged. The less Axel wanted to buy, the less Roxas had to pay, so he wasn't going to complain. Settling himself against the wall and folding his arms again, he said with slight amusement, "Hurry up and don't take an hour to get changed this time."
"Hey, it wasn't an hour," Axel started, but nodded none-the-less. Taking a turn and heading straight back to where he came from, he pulled the curtain back across, looking down at the black cloak he was so used to with slight curiosity, before shaking it off. "Say, Roxas?"
Roxas grinned at the floor. Okay, so it had been a slight exaggeration, but it had felt like an hour, at least. At his question, his grin faded and he glanced up and at the curtain questioningly. "What?"
Whatever Axel said was lost due to the fact it was said through the cloak over his mouth, before he repeated, ".. fancy going somewhere? Y'know, after this."
Hoping Axel's motives for wanting to go somewhere were entirely innocent, Roxas replied, "Like where?"
Axel shrugged at the fact he hadn't actually thought along that far, since he hadn't exactly expected the response to be that, before remembering Roxas couldn't actually see him. "How 'bout..." he stared at the wall for a few seconds, before adding, "... ice cream?"
Roxas pretended to consider it for a moment, so as not to come across as too eager. Even if it meant, again, he would be buying in the first place, Roxas always found it difficult to say no to ice cream, so eventually he nodded to himself and said, "Sure, why not?"
Score, was roughly what filtered through Axel's mind as he pulled back the curtain again, this time in his Organization garb, a contented smirk on his face. Spending time with Roxas was always a plus, and prolonged time was even better. Paticularly since Roxas would be at school the next day. "Best hurrry up and buy these, then."
"What's the rush?" Roxas said with some amusement, once again sifting through his wallet and handed most of what cash he had remaining to Axel. "Can't get anything after ice cream, though. I'm broke."
"'Cos then we can get out of here and do something I don't mind doing," Axel responded. That being, eating ice cream. It had occured to Axel a while ago that Roxas was running out of money, but.. as long as there was enough for ice cream, it was fine in his view. Money really didn't hold much meaning for him. "I'll get this sorted," he added, glancing round briefly for the till and making his way over to it.
Roxas trailed after him to the counter, silently looking more than a little morose for managing to spend all of his money on Axel. Who probably wouldn't pay him back anyway. Struck by a thought, he said, "I don't know if there's an ice cream place around here, so unless you've seen one we'll probably have to look for it."
"There's the one by the park," Axel mused, taking the bag from the counter and once again tossing Roxas the few coins. Sure, it was on the other side of the city, but that wouldn't be a problem.
Roxas caught the coins, and, mostly because the woman at the counter that had just served them was listening in, he replied with a look of disbelief, "The park? That's kind of far just for ice cream."
Axel sent a glare over at the woman, causing her to scuttle off in slight fear, which caused Axel to smirk. He liked the effect that had on people. "We'll sneak out the back of here or something where few people are," Axel mused in thought.
Roxas gave Axel a look of disapproval at his treatment of the woman, but didn't comment on it. "And if there's cameras around?" he said in a low voice. "Thought about that?"
"You think too much," Axel shrugged, before tilting his to one side and lifting up his free hand, flicking his fingers back and forth as he watched it. "And... a little fire never hurt anyone."
Roxas narrowed his eyes. "No, I don't. You just don't think enough. Do you wanna get caught on tape doing some weird Nobody thing?" Roxas turned to the shop exit, gesturing that they should leave. If the woman at the counter returned, he didn't want her listening in again.
Once they were safely outside the shop, Roxas added sternly, "And you're not going around destroying cameras just for ice cream."
Frowning, Axel stared down at Roxas whilst deep in thought. "Spoil sport," he said dejectedly. He hadn't abused his pyromania in a while, and he really felt like he should. Either way, he glanced around. "Well we could do it your way, and spend ages looking for a shop, or we could do it my way, and actually go somewhere that sells sea-salt.."
"Your way is stupid and reckless to do in the middle of the city," Roxas glared stubbornly. "If you can't be bothered to look, we may as well just go home now."
"No," Axel said pointedly, absently flexing his fingers again. "I'll look. With you."
"Fine," Roxas said, and with that, tugged Axel's sleeve to pull him into the crowds of shoppers. "You're not very good at this, are you?" he continued vaguely.
Axel seemed more or less distracted as he was pulled along, but he smiled weakly as Roxas asked the question. "I've been nothing for too long..." he said shortly, attempting to weakly laugh but being unable to.
Roxas glanced up at Axel, his expression somewhat solemn. "Doesn't matter, right? I've got your back to stop you doing stupid things."
At that, his smile become slightly more genuine, though it quickly faded again. "Yeah... I 'spose. But don't you ever want to do something... reckless?" he added, curious. Axel had that feeling right about now, and if it wasn't for the fact there were people shoving on all sides, he probably would have given portalling some serious thought.
Roxas raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief, but before he said 'no' his expression changed entirely. "...Maybe? I don't know," he frowned pensively. "I guess I've been living normally for too long to even consider it."
".. it's probably because we are Nobodies. That we want to do something drastic just to feel like we're actually here. Alive," Axel mused. If that was the truth, then New Sanctum, with all its sheer crazy outbreaks of zombies and other various, was the perfect place to be.
"I feel alive enough without needing to set things on fire, thanks," Roxas replied dryly, unable to suppress a slight grin despite himself. "You might be right, though."
"For once," Axel offered a wry smile. "You were.. right about today. It wasn't as bad as I made it out to be."
"Are you only saying that because I got you a CD and I'm getting you ice cream?" Roxas said with a slight grin, scanning the rows of shops through the crowd for one that sold ice cream. "Anyway, you were just being overdramatic. I can think of lots more things I'd prefer not do over going to a mall, and sitting around bored at home is one of them."
"Hey, I'm trying to be serious here," Axel attempted anger, but once again, it just couldn't be upheld and his smile stayed firm. Debating on just what to say to Roxas on the last matter, he was cut short as he spotted just the thing they were both looking for, probably from the fact he could actually see over the crowd in the first place. "Over there," he pointed.
Roxas stood on the tips of his toes in the direction Axel pointed, but he still couldn't see over the crowd. Disgruntled and more than a little embarassed, he huffed, "You lead."
Axel nodded, unable to quite hide a weak smile at Roxas' attempts to see into the crowd. Now, all that stood between him and the salty-sweet ice cream was a large crowd of shoppers, all moving along in the opposite direction.
"Tch," he mumbled, before taking a stride forward into the crowd, attempting to snake his way in and out of them, more in consideration for Roxas' benefit. Only to find they were near as much back where they started. "Urgh. Gonna have to take the plunge..." he looked over at Roxas. "Ready?"
Roxas nodded, taking a step backwards to avoid someone walking straight towards him. "Yeah. Just don't... charge into anyone or anything."
"I won't," was Axel's reply, though his mind faltered on the fact they would. Or, Axel would. Roxas would more than likely get stuck, so...
"Lets go," Axel said brightly, making a grab for Roxas' arm, and proceeding to drag him along behind him at some inhuman speed, managing to avoid most everyone and everything. But all the while, failing to notice he hadn't actually grabbed Roxas' arm. But his hand.
Once they came to a halt outside the ice cream shop, Roxas instantly snatched his hand away and held it close to him as if expecting Axel to take it back. Glaring and doing his very best not to seem embarassed, he managed to exclaim abruptly, "--I don't think you needed to grab my hand, Axel."
"Huh? What? I didn'--" Axel started, before putting two and two together. ".. ah."
"Moron," Roxas retorted, but relaxed enough to lower his hand again. Like he didn't do that on purpose... he thought in annoyance, and without waiting for Axel's reaction - or for the crowd to manage to sweep the pair of them away again - he entered the ice cream shop.
Without a Roxas to argue his innocence to, Axel merely watched Roxas as he went, with a mixed expression. Unlike Roxas, he didn't really mind that it had happened. Hanging around in the doorway when ice-cream was involved wasn't what he fancied doing, though, so he followed in after Roxas. "See any?"
Axel's apparent indifference to what had just happened without even as much as an apology only served to annoy him further, and when he replied his tone was slightly icier than usual. "Don't see any sea-salt here so far," he replied curtly, now scanning over the various flavours. It wasn't surprising, really, because it was an uncommon flavour, but he still felt a little let down.
"That's just. Bad," Axel too, took to reading over the various labels scattered about. Sea-salt was special. Or for him, anyway. Frowning, he was just about to give up when he spotted some - shoved into a corner, seemingly forgotten. Without as much of saying anything to Roxas, he tapped him on the shoulder, before pointing to them.
Roxas' face split into a smile and he helped himself to two bars from the freezer they were stored in. Whoever decided to put them in a corner of all places along with the more unpopular flavours was clearly insane! Sea-salt might be a more elusive flavour, but it certainly wasn't the worst-tasting one by far. At least, so he thought (ice cream was a serious matter).
He paid for them at the counter, feeling somewhat guilty at the sight of his now-empty wallet, and while the man counted his change he turned to Axel. "For a sec there, I didn't think they'd have it. Not many places do."
Distracted and slightly jumpy by the fact he didn't have hold of the ice-cream yet, it took Axel a few seconds to realize that Roxas was talking to him. "Same. I'm glad they did." Any other flavour? Wouldn't hold the same significance to Axel.
Taking his change, Roxas handed one of the ice creams to Axel and turned away from the counter. "Find somewhere to sit?" Walking around the mall with his ice cream was not a good idea. Most likely, someone would accidentally knock it out of his hand in all the pushing and shoving. Roxas would not be amused if that happened, to say the least.
Like a small child would be receiving a present for their birthday, Axel's eyes were fixated on the ice cream till it was in his posession. "Yes. Lets," Axel responded, already shredding the plastic around it to get at the ice cream.
Roxas' ice cream would have to wait - if someone did knock it from his hand, as long as the wrapping was still on it should be okay. Leaving the small shop and holding the door open for Axel, he glanced around for a bench. As before, the crowd was too thick to see through, so he looked to Axel questioningly. "Do you see any benches or anything around?"
Striding through the door with his neck craning slightly to see over the crowd, Axel glanced around for a forementioned bench. "Not that I.." he started, before halting in his tracks, spotting just what they were looking for once again. "Yeah. Over there," he pointed, before finally doing away with the plastic into a pocket and placing the ice cream into his mouth.
It was salty. It was sweet. It was one of the few things Axel liked.
Fortunately the bench wasn't that far away, and Roxas motioned to Axel to follow, taking advantage of a small gap in the crowd to slip through to it, all the while tearing the wrapper off his own ice cream. Finally seated, he stuffed the ice cream in his mouth - not eating it, but savouring the taste. "I haven't had ice cream in a long time," Roxas said happily.
Leaning back against the bench, Axel twisted the stick with his hand, the ice cream still in his mouth. "Me neither. But it's good."
The sweet taste was going from Roxas' mouth... only to be replaced by the salty taste. Roxas cringed slightly; however many times he had sea-salt ice cream, only when he ate it repeatedly he was used to that odd salty taste. "You know, we should get Sakura to try this stuff sometime."
"You're broke," Axel reminded him with a grin, regardless of the fact it was Axel's fault Roxas was broke to start with. "Maybe we should. Dunno if she'd like it though."
"I didn't mean right now," Roxas replied irritably. "Once I actually have money. Anyway... I dunno. It's either an ice cream you love or you hate."
"You know.." Axel drew the ice cream up to his line of sight, watching it in silence, for once actually contemplating sharing a fact about himself. "...I never used to like these. Until you dragged me into having them."
"I did?" Roxas said in slight surprise; moreso because Axel tended to avoid disclosing such information about their past. "When was that?"
Hesitating, Axel looked at Roxas with complete seriousness. "The day we met. And after that. Several times. I don't know, but it seems I acquired a taste for sea-salt. But you... probably don't remember yet."
Roxas nibbled at his ice cream thoughtfully, and looked back at Axel with what seemed like a slightly apologetic expression. "...No, I don't."
"Thought not," Axel replied, hurridly going back to his ice cream, faking that it didn't matter to him or not - when really, it did. It didn't bother him that much... but it did a little.
Even if he was a Nobody who couldn't really feel bothered about it, Roxas could tell he was, even if he didn't show it. Of course he did. Your only friend forgotting you... you really would have to be heartless not to feel at least some kind of emotion about that. Roxas said nothing to question it, however, leaving Axel to his own thoughts.
"So..." Roxas said, once the silence began to drag. "What was it like, back then?"
"It was..." Axel took another bite of the ice cream, as if debating how best to phrase it. He was strangely talkative for once, and actually felt like sharing a little bit. Not much, but a little. "... strange. The Superior put you under my care... and somehow, we just ended up hanging out. You were.. different than the others. You seemed to care. Before I even knew how it happened, we were friends. And I felt less and less obliged to the Organization, y'know?" he mused, not caring to elaborate beyond that.
"Your 'care'?" Roxas replied, slight disbelief on his face. Axel wasn't even all that responsible for himself, let alone Roxas. "I wasn't ten years old, Axel. Did he really think I needed taking care of?"
Despite Roxas' disbelief, Axel only laughed and sighed. "You don't remember. But at the time, you were so lost: you seemed just.. absent. Just there, but not really there. Worse than everyone else. Probably because of the circumstances of how you came to be..." Axel paused to take another bite of his ice cream and let this sink in.
Roxas contemplated that for a moment. "I remember not having any memories of... anything. Of Sora. I really was nobody, so I joined the Organization," he gave a short, slightly bitter laugh. "Guess I've always had holes in my memory. Now it's the Organization I've forgotten, and Sora I remember."
Axel looked at Roxas, then at his ice cream, and stated bluntly, "... I hate him." Despite not caring to explain who it was he hated, it was clear he wasn't referring to Sora.
Roxas was back to nibbling on his ice cream thoughtfully and staring up at the glass roof, so it took a moment for him to realise what Axel had said. He looked down again and across at Axel in some surprise. "Who?"
"Him. The one who took you away. The one who stuck you here without your memories and made you forget everything," Axel grumbled, and if it wasn't for the fact he was holding an ice cream, he probably would have tried burning something. "DiZ."
Roxas, even without all his memories of Organization XIII, could honestly say he preferred being here than with them. They were all so cold, emotionless, uncaring, and sometimes evil - they wanted to restore their hearts, and didn't care what or who suffered if it got in their way. But Roxas wouldn't tell Axel any of that, because to Axel, Roxas' time in Organization XIII was special to him. "...DiZ is his name, huh? He did all of that?"
".. yeah. I found out. I knew something was up when you left the Organization. I found it all out.. and I can't forgive him for it," Axel said under his breath, something similar to anger kindling there before it faded. "But I found you again. Even through all those blocks and secrets DiZ put up... I figured it out."
"He didn't need to do any of that," Roxas said quietly, but still loud enough to hear over the chatter of the crowds passing them. "He didn't need to force me into seeing Sora, because I wanted to anyway. I don't any more... but I did before."
Occupying himself with staring blankly at the icecream, Axel wondered whether to tell Roxas about DiZ's grand master plan. He'd rather not - but with the way things were progressing? It was doubtless that Sora would soon be complete, memory-wise, again. "Sora. He'll remember everything, soon."
"What happens then?" Roxas replied, taking a bite from his ice cream. The way Axel had said it gave Roxas the impression something important might happen because of that fact. As an afterthought, he added, "...Kairi says she remembers Sora now. She couldn't before."
Axel blinked, his face shifting slightly into surprise - before it went back to a very slight, weak smile. "... it's closer. Than I thought.." he said slowly. If Axel could feel regret and sorrow, then he most likely would be feeling it right now. ".. when Sora is 'complete'... DiZ planned that..." his voice lowered. "... he'd force you to reunite with him."
Roxas narrowed his eyes as he took in that information, his expression one of defiance. "And if I don't want to? How would he plan to force me?" Roxas didn't intend on going down without a fight if he could help it... but whoever DiZ was, he seemed like an intelligent man. He probably had something planned for Roxas... With a little more fierceness than was necessary, Roxas took another bite out of his ice cream. "What right does he have to force me or Sora into doing anything in the first place?"
"Revenge. Against the Organization. Using Sora," Axel replied bluntly. It was obvious from the way he replied it was unlikely he'd reveal anymore than that. He'd said enough already. "But I don't plan on letting him near you either."
Roxas didn't reply and merely frowned darkly. He didn't want to know any more either; it had rather ruined the mood of the day so far, so it was just as well Axel said nothing else.
However, despite himself, he asked, "Let me guess: Sora's totally oblivious to... everything. Right?"
Attempting to show anger for Sora at that, Axel could do nothing more than laugh, a hollow, empty laugh. "He always was. Probably still is now."
"I'm not telling him anything, at least," Roxas replied, looking a little sullen at his almost-finished ice cream. If Roxas meeting Sora was what DiZ wanted, Sora was best left avoided, most of all. "He can handle whatever happens himself."
"Probably.." Axel responded, his voice barely audible. To distract himself from saying anything else, he took another lick of his ice cream - only to find he'd almost finished it. In some way, it reminded him of him and Roxas. Even if the time together was sweet and seemed never ending, one day it would. Come to a sudden end.
"We should do this more often," he resolved. "Never know when everything's gonna change."
"What, listen to you whine for a few hours more often?" Roxas smiled slightly, raising an eyebrow. "Guess I'll have to, when you say it like that."
"No. And it wasn't whining. It was tact.. fine, maybe it was whining," Axel said, waving his hand in mid-air in an attempt to defend himself but failing in the process. "I meant spend time together. Go out. Do stuff."
"Of course. It's summer vacation soon, so it's not like I'll have anything better to do anyway," Roxas teased, still smiling. "Sakura could go somewhere with us one day, too. If she wanted to."
"What? Like this 'family' we seem to have slipped into?" Axel mocked, but he smiled back none-the-less. "Maybe we should."
"You don't want a family?" Roxas replied, more than anything just to see Axel's reaction. He finished off the last of the ice cream and proceeded to lick the stick clean of every last bit of ice cream left, eyeing Axel with some amusement.
"Wha--?" Axel's eyebrows positively raised to his hairline in surprise - probably from being caught so off-guard with that question. Regaining his composture, he managed a rather distorted, "... hell, I don't know."
Roxas snickered and stood, sidling through the crowd to a nearby rubbish bin to dispose of his stick and wrapper; and apparently taking his time about it. Only when he returned and sat again did he reply, "You'd be the whiny, spoiled kid of the family."
"And you'd be the one who needs someone to look out for him and denys it all the time," Axel responded, folding his arms in annoyance, still chewing on the stick in his mouth. "Sakura can be the sister who knows everything but never lets it on."
Roxas tried to look offended, but it turned out as more of an annoyed pout. "I'm not denying anything. Why do I need people to look out for me?" But as for Sakura, Roxas mused silently, that at least was true; she frequently surprised Roxas with how much she seemed to notice or understand.
"Because I said so," Axel replied, nodding, giving himself authority on the matter. Looking at Roxas with slight amusement and a grin appearing on his face, he added, "By the way, did you know how cute you look like that?"
Roxas was unconvinced; 'because Axel said so' was not, for him, a particularly impressive argument. On his second comment, however, Roxas went from surprise to a glare within seconds, and then he looked away as if to hide his face. "I do not look cute!"
The denial towards his previous statement only suceeded in provoking Axel to further continue the thought, the grin broadening. "Yes you do," he said flatly, gaining a 'matter of fact' tone. "Even when you say you aren't."
Roxas turned back to Axel and glared, but Axel didn't seem to be at all dissuaded. "Give me one reason why I'm cute," he replied moodily.
Axel looked thoughtful for a moment, still looking down at Roxas from where he was sitting on the bench. "That face," Axel replied, taking a daring move and placing a finger on Roxas' lower lip and tracing along it, before withdrawing his hand. ".. that's cute."
Roxas pulled away from his hand, by now glaring daggers. Shuffling along the bench slightly to put more distance between them, he replied, "Being cute isn't a good thing. Stop saying it like it is."
"Fine, fine," Axel replied, sighing, and looking back over at the shoppers briefly, before turning back to Roxas. "But y'know..." he paused for a moment, before adding, "... I don't just think you're cute. I think you're gorgeous.. then again, that's probably just me," he half laughed, crossing his legs and placing his arms behind his head, leaning back on the back of the bench and pointing his face to the ceiling whilst closing his eyes.
"Just-- wh-- g-gorgeous?!" Roxas spluttered incredulously with wide eyes, all the more baffled by how unfazed Axel seemed by admitting that. Only a while ago he had been embarassed and hesitant to even admit his feelings for Roxas; now it was all out in the open he was apparently entirely uncaring. Either way, Roxas preferred if those kinds of thoughts stayed in Axel's thick head.
For lack of anything to say other than to stutter at Axel, he growled under his breath, "Shut up."
"You asked," Axel said, a bigger grin extending on his face, but not caring to open his eyes again. Perhaps for the fact he didn't want to say anything else he thought about Roxas right at this second.
"I asked for a reason why I was cute!" Roxas exclaimed. "I didn't need to know what else you thought of me." Far too embarassed to be able to meet Axel's eye, he took to glaring at the neverending masses of shoppers instead, folding his arms.
His grin seeming somewhat more lecherous, Axel remained in silence for a little while, his face still pointed to the ceiling, looking quite content with himself. "Yeah, well. Couldn't resist."
Roxas scowled. "I said I wouldn't treat you any differently when you told me how you felt. And I haven't. So return the favour and don't treat me differently."
With that, he stood up, adding shortly in a quieter voice, "I'm going home."
Axel opened one eye, looking positively surprised at Roxas' entire reaction to the situation. Part of him felt like mocking the situation, but he'd pushed it far enough to start with, really - pushing anymore right now wasn't a good plan. Later, maybe. But not know.
Bringing himself to his feet, Axel attempted recompense. ".. sorry, dude." A pitiful one, but a recompense none the less.
"Yeah, whatever," Roxas said coldly, turning and walking away. If Axel expected forgiveness as quickly as he had apologised, Roxas wasn't about to give it. He didn't seem too mad at Axel, however, because he didn't walk far before he was glancing over his shoulder to check if Axel was following.
Half debating to just let Roxas walk off and leave, Axel stood watching him go with a slight frown on his face. Perhaps he really should keep his thoughts to himself before he got an answer. He remained still, until, Roxas turned around, causing Axel to suddenly jump-start into action and walk along after him.
Roxas rolled his eyes and turned away again in silence, not bothering to slow his pace for Axel. It was always the same stupid routine; Axel would make Roxas angry over something or another, they'd argue, they'd make up and apologise, only to argue again. It was an annoying cycle, and, admittedly, Roxas was tired of it and tired of always losing his temper. But as far as Roxas was concerned, it was generally Axel's fault for provoking him in the first place, in his opinion.
On the other hand, Axel really was concidering if he was an idiot. Again. For all he cared about other peoples feelings - that being, next to zero, or naught itself - he really did deserve to be nothing. 'Looking out for me' seemed to be drilled into his mind, and seemed to cause care about others to be at a bare minimum. He deserved to be nothing. Nobody.
His thoughts found their way onto his face, casing it to crease slightly in dejection. So much for things getting better.
And this was, generally, the part where Roxas caved in and told Axel that things were okay and he forgave him, because Axel looked sincerely remorseful and sorry for his actions. But Roxas refused to do yet another repeat of that, instead snapping irritably, "What's wrong now?"
"Nothing," Axel replied, though it was clear it was lying. After a few seconds, he folded his arms as if to keep himself together, to see that he was still standing here and this wasn't a fleeting dream he'd wake up from. ".. I thought we'd got past this," he muttered, barely audible.
Roxas heard that last part and stopped, grabbing one of Axel's skinny elbows and pulling him to one side. Glaring up at him in all seriousness, he said quietly, "You don't get it, do you? I'll say it plainly," he sighed, releasing his grip on him. "If you do something and it annoys me, stop it. Don't carry on doing it, because you know it annoys me and you know I'll just get angry."
Now he just felt like a scolded child, and for once, Axel was glad Roxas released the hold on him. It was his turn to not look Roxas in the eye, choosing to stare at the footfalls of the people alongside them, the same sorrowful expression on his face. Stuck for words, he only managed a slight 'I'm an idiot' under his breath before lapsing back into silence.
Roxas only shook his head in reply, leaving Axel to wallow in his own self-pity. He looked positively crushed, but that had been the general effect Roxas had been going for. "C'mon, let's go home."
Reluctantly, Axel managed to sigh, before nodding. He half considered not following him, but that would only make matters twice as bad. "Alright then."
When: Sunday, July 15th, early afternoon
Where: City streets, the mall
Summary: Concerned that all Axel ever wears is his Organization XIII uniform, Roxas drags a reluctant Axel out clothes shopping. Predictably, however, it doesn't go well - Axel is determined to make things as difficult as possible for Roxas, whose patience quickly wears thin. Pretty much the same as usual between the two of them, then.
Roxas should have known from the start taking Axel anywhere in public was not a good idea, and that this trip to the mall was doomed to, most likely, fail. The pyro complained, he was stubborn, and he had tried any excuse to stay home - and that was before they'd even stepped out of the door. It was like putting up with a spoiled teenager who just wanted to laze about the house all day, except Roxas was supposed to be the teenager here, not Axel. Eventually, however, Axel had reluctantly obliged and headed out to the mall with him, but even on the way there he wouldn't let up on his barrage of arguing that they should just go home.
Roxas had determinedly ignored him for most of the journey through the streets, but it was a futile effort. Even ignoring him, Axel whined on insistently, now declaring the many reasons why he disliked being in malls as they crossed a busy road. It made Roxas want to kick something in frustration. Preferably Axel, but he contained his temper, instead saying in the most patient voice he could muster, "...I get the idea, Axel. You don't want to come. Quit whining and shut up."
"Precisely, dude. So why can't I just go home already?" Axel continued, his pace slowing slightly now that he had finally caught Roxas' attention. In his view, Roxas would just refuse that anyway, so the more whining he did the more likely he'd wind Roxas up enough to let him go. "What's the point of all of this, anyway?"
"You're a recluse, Axel. You barely ever go anywhere unless you have to. Don't you just wanna get out for a while?" Roxas shook his head before Axel could reply; he already knew the answer to that, so he continued, "I've told you already. Even if you don't go anywhere, you look odd wearing your uniform all the time. Suspicious, even. If you're gonna live in this city, you should at least make the effort to try and... y'know, blend in and dress normally. So we're going to the mall."
"I don't care what it is and what it isn't," Axel retorted, pulling lightly at one of the strings attatched to his cloak. It was something he'd worn for... well, as long as he could remember. He didn't like it, but then again he didn't hate it either. It just proved he was part of the Organization. Not like anyone else. Different. "I'm wearing it and that's that. You can't force me into wearing something else."
Roxas narrowed his eyes, wondering if Axel was just being stubborn and difficult for the sake of it. "I'm not forcing you into anything. You're the one tagging along. But if you won't choose to dress normally I won't go anywhere with you. You might not care how suspicious you look, but I do." It was probably taking things a little too far by saying that, and a threat Roxas would probably not follow through on, but hopefully Axel would fall for it.
Axel opened his mouth to object, his hands clenching into fists - but he let it slip away, till in the end he just looked clearly disgruntled at Roxas. He didn't want to tag along, but then again he didn't want Roxas to ignore him if he didn't change his style. "I don't want to go," he grumbled under his breath, sounding more and more like a spoilt child being forced into school. "But you're just going to force me into it no matter what. Aren't you?"
Walking ahead slightly to conceal a satisfied grin, Roxas repeated, "I'm not forcing you into anything. You could go home right now if you wanted to, you know."
That was true - Axel could go home, and could refuse to do what Roxas wanted. But that would cause a riot he'd rather not have. "Fine," he sighed, reluctantly giving in, his pace increasing as he walked up alongside Roxas, before nudging him in the ribs. "But I'm still wearing the cloak whenever I like."
"I never said you had to stop wearing it completely," Roxas shrugged. "But out in public people can automatically tell you're different," he gestured towards a passerby clearly staring at Axel with a nod of his head, who quickly averted his gaze and hurried on when he noticed Roxas was looking at him. "See? Like that guy there. When I'm with you, I would prefer people didn't ask too many questions. Do whatever you want otherwise, if you really have to."
"And how do you know it's not the hair?" Axel attempted, having another shot at being able to give this all up - afterall, his hair wasn't the most.. natural colour, and it wasn't exactly the most tame, either. But either way, it looked like he was going, and he could either do it in good grace and have time pass quickly, or put it off until it felt like he was going backwards. "Lets get this over with," he said reluctantly, folding his arms and still not looking thoroughly impressed.
Victorious, Roxas didn't bother to argue his point any further. There wasn't much Axel could do about his hair - apart from dying it or shaving it all off, he thought with some amusement, but that was something even Roxas would flatout refuse him to do. "You say that like I'm about to execute you or something. If you don't complain, I bet this won't even take half an hour. Then you can go home and go back to... whatever you do all day."
"Nothing," Axel drawled in response. It was true - he really did do nothing. Apart from talking to Roxas and occasionally Sakura, he really was just 'hanging around'. "Nevermind. Lets just... go, and get it sorted. It's close, isn't it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He didn't quite fancy being dragged halfway across the city in the search for clothes he didn't really want.
"It's a little bit further," Roxas said, and, sure enough, the entrance was visible in the distance along the street. Frowning slightly, he glanced up at Axel - what he said before bothered him. "You don't get bored? Just sitting around doing nothing?"
"When you're used to the Organization sending you here there and everywhere, not doing anything at all is.. welcoming," Axel considered. He probably did get bored. But he wouldn't know. "I've got you, though. So I'm not bored in particular."
Roxas' eyebrows raised at the last part, but he said nothing to comment on it and ignored it. "Well, what about when I'm at school? What then?"
"Sit around. Avoid orders. Be a rebel. Listen to Sakura," Axel said, counting each one off on his fingers. "It's not that bad a life."
It sounded pretty dull in Roxas' opinion, but perhaps as a Nobody that hasn't been able to live in such a way in years, you learnt to appreciate the small things. As much as he was loathe to admit it, he did sort of feel sorry for Axel sometimes. "Guess not. Besides Organization XIII, you don't have anything at all you have to do or worry about."
"I have something to worry about," Axel said slowly. Not in the way Roxas was implying, but... something to worry about, none the less.
"Hm?" Roxas replied absently, his attention mostly focused on navigating the crowd that was gradually thickening as they drew closer to the mall. "What's that?"
Axel looked at him with surprise for a moment, almost as if he wasn't going to tell him just what it was, but he shrugged, rubbing the back of his head, before walking in front of Roxas, and looking over his shoulder at him. "You."
"Why worry about me?" Roxas blinked in reply, only slightly taken aback by that response. "There's nothing to worry about." Well, nothing at the moment to worry about besides the odd rain that had affected him. But he'd gotten extremely good at suppressing and ignoring that 'sixth sense', and other than that, things had been relatively quiet.
Keeping his hands behind his head, Axel watched Roxas for a few moments, before continuing walking on, his eyes half closed in thought, looking slightly amused. "A guy's not allowed to worry about the person he loves?" he replied, opening an eye as he said it, before half laughing. "Not only that, but the Organization. If they found out you were here... they'd become obsessed with getting to you." And I'm not letting that happen.
Roxas' gaze shifted to the floor, his expression conflicted. Although it had hung at the back of his mind for some time after Axel told him, being reminded again of Axel's - serious - feelings towards him unsettled him, to say the least. "...They haven't found me so far. And it's not like they will for a while, right? Aren't you the one in charge of finding me?"
"Yeah, but..." his voice took a more serious tone. "They'll get... 'bored'... waiting for me. One day," Axel looked at the floor absently. As long as he kept to himself, and checked in every once in a while, it could be avoided. As long as was possible.
"They might get bored looking for me before that," Roxas said thoughtfully. He was about to say something else, but cut himself off - they'd reached the mall without his noticing, far too enveloped in his own thoughts. "Any last words before your doom?" he grinned at Axel with what looked like a forced cheerfulness, pausing just before the automatic sliding doors leading inside.
Axel forced a smile, though he looked like... death. He really was entirely negative about this entire situation. ".. I'm gonna regret this," he mumbled, taking Roxas' lead and following after him, dragging his feet along the paved floor.
"You'll survive... if you don't complain too much," Roxas rolled his eyes, walking at a much faster pace than Axel's reluctant one. The faster they got this over with, the better for both of them. Pausing once they were inside the crowded shopping centre, he paused and turned back around to face Axel. There was only one problem: Axel's tastes in clothing, which were either nonexistant or, if he had preferences, entirely different to Roxas'. "What kind of clothes do you like?"
Axel's face drew a blank, him shrugging clearly in mid-air. "I don't know?"
Roxas wanted to make a noise of impatience, but losing his temper before they'd even started was not the best thing to do. "...Guess we can just look around until you see something."
"I.. guess...?" Axel replied, looking all the more annoyed. If he didn't have any idea of what to get in the first place, why drag me all the way out here? Of course, it wasn't helped by the lack of Axel liking or taking an interest in clothing, but he was going to ignore that fact for now. "You lead." Roxas may as well do the searching, at least.
You're so helpful, Roxas thought, although he didn't voice it aloud, merely turning on his heel and setting off for the nearest row of stores. He wouldn't let Axel have the satisfaction of knowing he was irritating Roxas, because he would only make it worse.
He paused at the first clothes shop, realising he'd headed the usual route and straight for the one he preferred - on those rare occassions Roxas actually went shopping. He paused and turned to Axel. "You're not looking in there. That's my favourite store, and I don't want you dressing like me or something."
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Axel replied, waving his hand in the air, clearly not listening at all. On any normal occasion, he would have jumped at the chance to do that, but right now he wasn't in that frame of mind. "Somewhere else, yeah? Get going."
He turned to lead the way again, gritting his teeth as he bit back another retort out of annoyance at Axel's attitude. "Stop me if you see a store with anything you like in," he tossed over his shoulder, gradually losing what small enthusiasm he had.
"Yeah, sure, whatever..." Axel repeated, still clearly not listening. He didn't want to be here, he didn't care, why would he want to go in any... store? He stopped as a certain lyric hit his ears. Something that most of the passers by turned a face at.. it was an old song, but Axel recognised it. It wasn't that uncommon in The World That Never Was.
Life suddenly appeared back in his face, placing a hand on Roxas shoulder, and spinning him around to face the dirction of the music store. "In there. Right now."
Roxas looked completely at a loss up at Axel, then back to the music store. If Axel was into music, Roxas never heard him listen to it - so it was a little odd that he showed such interest. "There? Why?"
"Listen," was all Axel said, still intent on dragging Roxas over there. "I bet they have it. And I want it."
Roxas' only reaction was an expression of positive alarm. "Want what?!"
It was Axel's turn to be irritated. And he in turn, really couldn't be bothered explaining his motives, when to him it was so... simple. Screw it, he thought rashly as he grabbed hold of Roxas' arm and dragged him in after him, somehow managing to avoid banging either of them into anything. He glanced around, the same tune filtering into his ears. It's in here somewhere. It has to be... if they're playing it.
"...What's with you? What are you looking for?" Roxas was, by now, extremely weirded out - Axel's expression looked scarily like that of a hungry cat stalking an elusive mouse - Roxas attempted to tug his arm out of Axel's grip. And, as usual, his escape was unsuccessful.
Axel was either ignoring Roxas or just not hearing him, as he scanned the entire vicinity of the store - till he spotted the corner he was after, pulling Roxas in after him, before letting go of his arm. The song had ended, but it didn't deter Axel, as he dived into the large collection of music, with a large banner declaring 'VINTAGE' hanging over them.
Rubbing his arm, Roxas hovered reluctantly nearby in silence, taking the hint Axel was ignoring him. Whatever Axel was interested in so much, Roxas hadn't been familiar with the song that just ended. He raised an eyebrow, watching him and eventually asking, "...You're into old stuff?"
"Not any old stuff," Axel said, replying as he picked up a case, looked at it, shrugged, and literally tossed it aside into the box next to it. His face lit up as he found what he was looking for. "This old stuff," he said, spinning around to show Roxas his find. .. which, Roxas probably wouldn't appreciate, but he did it anyway.
Roxas stared at the artist's name on the cover blankly, and then back at Axel, once again entirely at a loss. "Who? Exactly how old is this? I've never heard of it."
Axel looked back at him with the expression as if Roxas had just told him he didn't know who he was. "You've never heard of her?"
"No," Roxas said flatly, in a tone that suggested he didn't particularly care to know who she was, either.
Well, Axel was going to correct that little fact of not knowing who said artist was, whether Roxas was interested or not. "Avril Lavigne, vintage 2008.." Axel started, before his entire face folded into the familiar smirk. "A-V-R-I-L, L-A-V-I-G-N-E. Got it memorized?"
Giving Axel one of his best 'you're absolutely insane' looks, Roxas replied incredulously, "2008?! That's ancient. How do you come across old junk like that in the first place?"
"Junk?" Axel mocked indignantly, lifting the case out of Roxas' reach - more so, so he wouldn't try to take if off him. "This is classic, dude. We sang it once. You sang it, actually. When you were drunk," he laughed, coming off thought for a second, before going straight back to being defensive. "There's no way this stuff is dead."
Roxas blanched, only hearing a small part of what Axel said. He sang? He didn't remember ever hearing about that. "I didn't sing anything," he said indignantly, almost physically wincing in embarassment at himself. "Before now I hadn't even heard of her."
Axel raised an eyebrow, before sighing. Roxas probably didn't remember his antics while he was drunk. Or even the fact he sang Girlfriend.. well, Axel sang it, but Roxas sang two lines of it, so it.. sort of counted, didn't it? He didn't really care, either way. "I want it," Axel said shortly, bringing the case back down to his eye level. He sounded like a spoilt child, but hell, he didn't care.
"No," Roxas replied without even a moment's consideration. Whatever Axel's obsession with dead singers was, Roxas wasn't going to pay for the thing. "If you want it that badly, get a job yourself instead of leeching off me all the time, lazy. Are we done here?"
".. but." Axel replied, his face remaining hard and set. It was clearly obvious there was only one way he was going to leave the store - that being, with said music case in his posession.
Roxas raised his eyes to the heavens, looking thoroughly exasperated with the entire situation. When Axel had an expression like that, he would not budge under any circumstances, so arguing would be a waste of time. "Will you pay me back later if I got it for you?"
Axel's voice seemed just a tad too high as he replied, "... maybe?" He could always get something together. Ask Sakura. But then again, she still lacked the capacity of having a job as of yet. So he wouldn't be able to leech off her. He'd have to get off his lazy streak and actually do something. Not an appealing thought, but... ".. will you buy it if I do?"
"Yeah," Roxas nodded, although he doubted the trustworthyness of Axel's words. Taking his wallet from his pocket, he counted what, admittedly, was a rather small amount of notes he had, and handed a few to Axel. "You'd better not forget about it."
"Okay okay I won't," Axel said hastily, though it was likely he'd forget about this tomorrow. Best keep it in mind. He was about to rush off before he stopped, nodding at Roxas. "... Thanks."
"Yeah, yeah," Roxas shrugged unconcernedly, trailing after him at a slower pace. He had an ominous feeling giving into Axel was going to create as many problems as it solved, but for now he ignored it. At least Axel might be a little more cooperative in shopping now he was content.
After a few minutes of bantering with the shopkeeper (mainly for fact the music was old), Axel was walking back over to Roxas, tossing him the spare change. "I'll be more co-operative," he said, though that all depended just on how many shops he was dragged round before he settled on something.
"You'd better be," Roxas muttered darkly under his breath, deftly catching the change and stuffing it into a pocket. In a more audible voice, he replied, "Does that mean you'll stop whining, too?" He wasn't going to make buying stuff to shut Axel up an ongoing thing if he could help it; Axel acted enough like a spoiled child without Roxas' encouragement.
"About this?" Axel asked, holding up the package. "Yeah. The clothes? Depends."
"Depends?" Roxas repeated, raising an eyebrow. 'Depends' was a fine way to show his thanks, Roxas mused with some annoyance. Leading the way out of the shop again before Axel got distracted by any other CDs, Roxas called over his shoulder, "C'mon. It'll take just two minutes if you stop complaining and get it over and done with, okay?"
"I still don't like the idea," Axel replied, following after Roxas - but not with the same dragging pace as before. It wasn't a complaint, just a statement. Afterall, Axel had never really worn anything else apart from the cloak on his back. "Say, Roxas. What do you think would look good on me, huh?"
Feeling colour tinge his cheeks slightly, he quickly looked away from Axel, trying to pass it off as interest in the nearby shop. "I don't know, it's not like I think about that kind of thing," he replied indignantly.
"Come on, you were the one who dragged me out," Axel shrugged, but didn't press the matter further, instead choosing to fold his arms and watch the people who walked past - most of which, indeed, did stop and stare. The combination of cloak, flaming hair and tattoos under his eyes really was making him noticed. Perhaps Roxas was right about that, at least. In truth, Axel had barely noticed before - but that was probably mostly due to the fact, in civalisation, the only time he joined it was to fight or destroy something. No need to stick around and actually fit in with it.
Roxas sighed and ran a hand through his hair in annoyance, finally looking back at Axel and fixing him with a look. "Does it matter? If you really can't make up your mind, just get something plain. You don't seem all that fussed about what to get."
Looking around dully, Axel regarded the shops - none seemed to scream at him to go in there, but that was little surprise. "You choose one," he said bluntly.
"Fine," Roxas said with some reluctance, pausing to scan the shops. What clothes stores there were, Roxas couldn't imagine Axel wearing anything displayed in the windows at all, until--
"This one," Roxas, without hesitation, nudged Axel in the direction of a nearby store and headed over to it before he could reply or complain.
Forced into walking (and not expecting it), Axel almost stumbled before righting himself again, and raising an eyebrow at the store. He couldn't complain though - he had asked Roxas to pick one out for him. "Alright then." And with that, strode inside after Roxas.
***
Roxas sighed for what was possibly the hundredth time that day, folding his arms and leaning against a wall outside the changing rooms of the store. He had lost track of the time since Axel went in there, but so far he'd taken at least fifteen minutes just to change - and even longer just to pick some clothes he even remotely wanted to wear in the first place.
Roxas doubted there was anyone in the world that liked to be more stubborn and difficult than Axel.
...Now that he thought about it, Roxas wouldn't be at all surprised if Axel had taken advantage of the situation to open up a dark portal and escape; he'd be far away before Roxas even realised he was gone. Best to confirm he was still there before he jumped to conclusions, though, so he called impatiently, "Hey, Axel? What's taking you so long?!"
In truth, Axel hadn't run off, though he had vaguely considered it - but he didn't fancy being Keybladed in the face later on, so had stuck to staying put, and had spent the past ten minutes frowning at himself in the mirror, trying to decide whether he did look like the idiot he felt.
"What?" he drawled to Roxas, his brow furrowing. "I can't decide whether this is stupid or just plain ridiculous."
Roxas rolled his eyes to himself - Axel probably didn't look stupid at all and was probably only just saying that because he was used to constantly wearing his cloak. "I bet it isn't. Come out and show me."
Axel half laughed under his breath, shaking his head to himself. "No way. You'll just laugh. Or something."
Even if Axel did look stupid enough like he claimed, Roxas didn't think he'd laugh - mostly because, after managing to get Axel this far, discouraging him wasn't a good idea. Impatiently, he replied, "'Course I won't. Stop being such a girl and come out already."
"I'm not-" Axel started, his face screwing up in annoyance as he turned around, thrusting his - for once not gloved - hand upright, and throwing the curtain back in distate, his free hand behind his neck. "-acting like a girl."
It was rather strange what Axel had finally decided upon wearing. It was something no one would probably bet on him ever wearing, but despite that, his choice of plain jeans and white shirt (despite the fact only about four buttons were done up on it), seemed a rather good one.
Axel's fears were unfounded, because Roxas' face was perfectly straight and composed as he said, "You don't look stupid at all. Actually, it suits you pretty well."
"You think?" Axel replied, suddenly taking great interest at staring at the floor whilst rubbing the back of his neck. He still thought he looked stupid. "I don't know."
"You're just weirded out because you're not used to wearing normal stuff," Roxas shrugged, unfolding his arms and pushing himself off the wall. "You don't like it?"
".. it's..." Axel conceded, flicking at the shoulder of the shirt. ".. not that bad, I guess."
Roxas gave a rare smile of encouragement. "See? This wasn't such a painful trip after all. Want to try anything else while we're here?"
At that, Axel's face looked pained. "Do I have to? I'd rather just stick with this. Y'know. 'cos it's okay and all."
"Sure, whatever you want," Roxas shrugged. The less Axel wanted to buy, the less Roxas had to pay, so he wasn't going to complain. Settling himself against the wall and folding his arms again, he said with slight amusement, "Hurry up and don't take an hour to get changed this time."
"Hey, it wasn't an hour," Axel started, but nodded none-the-less. Taking a turn and heading straight back to where he came from, he pulled the curtain back across, looking down at the black cloak he was so used to with slight curiosity, before shaking it off. "Say, Roxas?"
Roxas grinned at the floor. Okay, so it had been a slight exaggeration, but it had felt like an hour, at least. At his question, his grin faded and he glanced up and at the curtain questioningly. "What?"
Whatever Axel said was lost due to the fact it was said through the cloak over his mouth, before he repeated, ".. fancy going somewhere? Y'know, after this."
Hoping Axel's motives for wanting to go somewhere were entirely innocent, Roxas replied, "Like where?"
Axel shrugged at the fact he hadn't actually thought along that far, since he hadn't exactly expected the response to be that, before remembering Roxas couldn't actually see him. "How 'bout..." he stared at the wall for a few seconds, before adding, "... ice cream?"
Roxas pretended to consider it for a moment, so as not to come across as too eager. Even if it meant, again, he would be buying in the first place, Roxas always found it difficult to say no to ice cream, so eventually he nodded to himself and said, "Sure, why not?"
Score, was roughly what filtered through Axel's mind as he pulled back the curtain again, this time in his Organization garb, a contented smirk on his face. Spending time with Roxas was always a plus, and prolonged time was even better. Paticularly since Roxas would be at school the next day. "Best hurrry up and buy these, then."
"What's the rush?" Roxas said with some amusement, once again sifting through his wallet and handed most of what cash he had remaining to Axel. "Can't get anything after ice cream, though. I'm broke."
"'Cos then we can get out of here and do something I don't mind doing," Axel responded. That being, eating ice cream. It had occured to Axel a while ago that Roxas was running out of money, but.. as long as there was enough for ice cream, it was fine in his view. Money really didn't hold much meaning for him. "I'll get this sorted," he added, glancing round briefly for the till and making his way over to it.
Roxas trailed after him to the counter, silently looking more than a little morose for managing to spend all of his money on Axel. Who probably wouldn't pay him back anyway. Struck by a thought, he said, "I don't know if there's an ice cream place around here, so unless you've seen one we'll probably have to look for it."
"There's the one by the park," Axel mused, taking the bag from the counter and once again tossing Roxas the few coins. Sure, it was on the other side of the city, but that wouldn't be a problem.
Roxas caught the coins, and, mostly because the woman at the counter that had just served them was listening in, he replied with a look of disbelief, "The park? That's kind of far just for ice cream."
Axel sent a glare over at the woman, causing her to scuttle off in slight fear, which caused Axel to smirk. He liked the effect that had on people. "We'll sneak out the back of here or something where few people are," Axel mused in thought.
Roxas gave Axel a look of disapproval at his treatment of the woman, but didn't comment on it. "And if there's cameras around?" he said in a low voice. "Thought about that?"
"You think too much," Axel shrugged, before tilting his to one side and lifting up his free hand, flicking his fingers back and forth as he watched it. "And... a little fire never hurt anyone."
Roxas narrowed his eyes. "No, I don't. You just don't think enough. Do you wanna get caught on tape doing some weird Nobody thing?" Roxas turned to the shop exit, gesturing that they should leave. If the woman at the counter returned, he didn't want her listening in again.
Once they were safely outside the shop, Roxas added sternly, "And you're not going around destroying cameras just for ice cream."
Frowning, Axel stared down at Roxas whilst deep in thought. "Spoil sport," he said dejectedly. He hadn't abused his pyromania in a while, and he really felt like he should. Either way, he glanced around. "Well we could do it your way, and spend ages looking for a shop, or we could do it my way, and actually go somewhere that sells sea-salt.."
"Your way is stupid and reckless to do in the middle of the city," Roxas glared stubbornly. "If you can't be bothered to look, we may as well just go home now."
"No," Axel said pointedly, absently flexing his fingers again. "I'll look. With you."
"Fine," Roxas said, and with that, tugged Axel's sleeve to pull him into the crowds of shoppers. "You're not very good at this, are you?" he continued vaguely.
Axel seemed more or less distracted as he was pulled along, but he smiled weakly as Roxas asked the question. "I've been nothing for too long..." he said shortly, attempting to weakly laugh but being unable to.
Roxas glanced up at Axel, his expression somewhat solemn. "Doesn't matter, right? I've got your back to stop you doing stupid things."
At that, his smile become slightly more genuine, though it quickly faded again. "Yeah... I 'spose. But don't you ever want to do something... reckless?" he added, curious. Axel had that feeling right about now, and if it wasn't for the fact there were people shoving on all sides, he probably would have given portalling some serious thought.
Roxas raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief, but before he said 'no' his expression changed entirely. "...Maybe? I don't know," he frowned pensively. "I guess I've been living normally for too long to even consider it."
".. it's probably because we are Nobodies. That we want to do something drastic just to feel like we're actually here. Alive," Axel mused. If that was the truth, then New Sanctum, with all its sheer crazy outbreaks of zombies and other various, was the perfect place to be.
"I feel alive enough without needing to set things on fire, thanks," Roxas replied dryly, unable to suppress a slight grin despite himself. "You might be right, though."
"For once," Axel offered a wry smile. "You were.. right about today. It wasn't as bad as I made it out to be."
"Are you only saying that because I got you a CD and I'm getting you ice cream?" Roxas said with a slight grin, scanning the rows of shops through the crowd for one that sold ice cream. "Anyway, you were just being overdramatic. I can think of lots more things I'd prefer not do over going to a mall, and sitting around bored at home is one of them."
"Hey, I'm trying to be serious here," Axel attempted anger, but once again, it just couldn't be upheld and his smile stayed firm. Debating on just what to say to Roxas on the last matter, he was cut short as he spotted just the thing they were both looking for, probably from the fact he could actually see over the crowd in the first place. "Over there," he pointed.
Roxas stood on the tips of his toes in the direction Axel pointed, but he still couldn't see over the crowd. Disgruntled and more than a little embarassed, he huffed, "You lead."
Axel nodded, unable to quite hide a weak smile at Roxas' attempts to see into the crowd. Now, all that stood between him and the salty-sweet ice cream was a large crowd of shoppers, all moving along in the opposite direction.
"Tch," he mumbled, before taking a stride forward into the crowd, attempting to snake his way in and out of them, more in consideration for Roxas' benefit. Only to find they were near as much back where they started. "Urgh. Gonna have to take the plunge..." he looked over at Roxas. "Ready?"
Roxas nodded, taking a step backwards to avoid someone walking straight towards him. "Yeah. Just don't... charge into anyone or anything."
"I won't," was Axel's reply, though his mind faltered on the fact they would. Or, Axel would. Roxas would more than likely get stuck, so...
"Lets go," Axel said brightly, making a grab for Roxas' arm, and proceeding to drag him along behind him at some inhuman speed, managing to avoid most everyone and everything. But all the while, failing to notice he hadn't actually grabbed Roxas' arm. But his hand.
Once they came to a halt outside the ice cream shop, Roxas instantly snatched his hand away and held it close to him as if expecting Axel to take it back. Glaring and doing his very best not to seem embarassed, he managed to exclaim abruptly, "--I don't think you needed to grab my hand, Axel."
"Huh? What? I didn'--" Axel started, before putting two and two together. ".. ah."
"Moron," Roxas retorted, but relaxed enough to lower his hand again. Like he didn't do that on purpose... he thought in annoyance, and without waiting for Axel's reaction - or for the crowd to manage to sweep the pair of them away again - he entered the ice cream shop.
Without a Roxas to argue his innocence to, Axel merely watched Roxas as he went, with a mixed expression. Unlike Roxas, he didn't really mind that it had happened. Hanging around in the doorway when ice-cream was involved wasn't what he fancied doing, though, so he followed in after Roxas. "See any?"
Axel's apparent indifference to what had just happened without even as much as an apology only served to annoy him further, and when he replied his tone was slightly icier than usual. "Don't see any sea-salt here so far," he replied curtly, now scanning over the various flavours. It wasn't surprising, really, because it was an uncommon flavour, but he still felt a little let down.
"That's just. Bad," Axel too, took to reading over the various labels scattered about. Sea-salt was special. Or for him, anyway. Frowning, he was just about to give up when he spotted some - shoved into a corner, seemingly forgotten. Without as much of saying anything to Roxas, he tapped him on the shoulder, before pointing to them.
Roxas' face split into a smile and he helped himself to two bars from the freezer they were stored in. Whoever decided to put them in a corner of all places along with the more unpopular flavours was clearly insane! Sea-salt might be a more elusive flavour, but it certainly wasn't the worst-tasting one by far. At least, so he thought (ice cream was a serious matter).
He paid for them at the counter, feeling somewhat guilty at the sight of his now-empty wallet, and while the man counted his change he turned to Axel. "For a sec there, I didn't think they'd have it. Not many places do."
Distracted and slightly jumpy by the fact he didn't have hold of the ice-cream yet, it took Axel a few seconds to realize that Roxas was talking to him. "Same. I'm glad they did." Any other flavour? Wouldn't hold the same significance to Axel.
Taking his change, Roxas handed one of the ice creams to Axel and turned away from the counter. "Find somewhere to sit?" Walking around the mall with his ice cream was not a good idea. Most likely, someone would accidentally knock it out of his hand in all the pushing and shoving. Roxas would not be amused if that happened, to say the least.
Like a small child would be receiving a present for their birthday, Axel's eyes were fixated on the ice cream till it was in his posession. "Yes. Lets," Axel responded, already shredding the plastic around it to get at the ice cream.
Roxas' ice cream would have to wait - if someone did knock it from his hand, as long as the wrapping was still on it should be okay. Leaving the small shop and holding the door open for Axel, he glanced around for a bench. As before, the crowd was too thick to see through, so he looked to Axel questioningly. "Do you see any benches or anything around?"
Striding through the door with his neck craning slightly to see over the crowd, Axel glanced around for a forementioned bench. "Not that I.." he started, before halting in his tracks, spotting just what they were looking for once again. "Yeah. Over there," he pointed, before finally doing away with the plastic into a pocket and placing the ice cream into his mouth.
It was salty. It was sweet. It was one of the few things Axel liked.
Fortunately the bench wasn't that far away, and Roxas motioned to Axel to follow, taking advantage of a small gap in the crowd to slip through to it, all the while tearing the wrapper off his own ice cream. Finally seated, he stuffed the ice cream in his mouth - not eating it, but savouring the taste. "I haven't had ice cream in a long time," Roxas said happily.
Leaning back against the bench, Axel twisted the stick with his hand, the ice cream still in his mouth. "Me neither. But it's good."
The sweet taste was going from Roxas' mouth... only to be replaced by the salty taste. Roxas cringed slightly; however many times he had sea-salt ice cream, only when he ate it repeatedly he was used to that odd salty taste. "You know, we should get Sakura to try this stuff sometime."
"You're broke," Axel reminded him with a grin, regardless of the fact it was Axel's fault Roxas was broke to start with. "Maybe we should. Dunno if she'd like it though."
"I didn't mean right now," Roxas replied irritably. "Once I actually have money. Anyway... I dunno. It's either an ice cream you love or you hate."
"You know.." Axel drew the ice cream up to his line of sight, watching it in silence, for once actually contemplating sharing a fact about himself. "...I never used to like these. Until you dragged me into having them."
"I did?" Roxas said in slight surprise; moreso because Axel tended to avoid disclosing such information about their past. "When was that?"
Hesitating, Axel looked at Roxas with complete seriousness. "The day we met. And after that. Several times. I don't know, but it seems I acquired a taste for sea-salt. But you... probably don't remember yet."
Roxas nibbled at his ice cream thoughtfully, and looked back at Axel with what seemed like a slightly apologetic expression. "...No, I don't."
"Thought not," Axel replied, hurridly going back to his ice cream, faking that it didn't matter to him or not - when really, it did. It didn't bother him that much... but it did a little.
Even if he was a Nobody who couldn't really feel bothered about it, Roxas could tell he was, even if he didn't show it. Of course he did. Your only friend forgotting you... you really would have to be heartless not to feel at least some kind of emotion about that. Roxas said nothing to question it, however, leaving Axel to his own thoughts.
"So..." Roxas said, once the silence began to drag. "What was it like, back then?"
"It was..." Axel took another bite of the ice cream, as if debating how best to phrase it. He was strangely talkative for once, and actually felt like sharing a little bit. Not much, but a little. "... strange. The Superior put you under my care... and somehow, we just ended up hanging out. You were.. different than the others. You seemed to care. Before I even knew how it happened, we were friends. And I felt less and less obliged to the Organization, y'know?" he mused, not caring to elaborate beyond that.
"Your 'care'?" Roxas replied, slight disbelief on his face. Axel wasn't even all that responsible for himself, let alone Roxas. "I wasn't ten years old, Axel. Did he really think I needed taking care of?"
Despite Roxas' disbelief, Axel only laughed and sighed. "You don't remember. But at the time, you were so lost: you seemed just.. absent. Just there, but not really there. Worse than everyone else. Probably because of the circumstances of how you came to be..." Axel paused to take another bite of his ice cream and let this sink in.
Roxas contemplated that for a moment. "I remember not having any memories of... anything. Of Sora. I really was nobody, so I joined the Organization," he gave a short, slightly bitter laugh. "Guess I've always had holes in my memory. Now it's the Organization I've forgotten, and Sora I remember."
Axel looked at Roxas, then at his ice cream, and stated bluntly, "... I hate him." Despite not caring to explain who it was he hated, it was clear he wasn't referring to Sora.
Roxas was back to nibbling on his ice cream thoughtfully and staring up at the glass roof, so it took a moment for him to realise what Axel had said. He looked down again and across at Axel in some surprise. "Who?"
"Him. The one who took you away. The one who stuck you here without your memories and made you forget everything," Axel grumbled, and if it wasn't for the fact he was holding an ice cream, he probably would have tried burning something. "DiZ."
Roxas, even without all his memories of Organization XIII, could honestly say he preferred being here than with them. They were all so cold, emotionless, uncaring, and sometimes evil - they wanted to restore their hearts, and didn't care what or who suffered if it got in their way. But Roxas wouldn't tell Axel any of that, because to Axel, Roxas' time in Organization XIII was special to him. "...DiZ is his name, huh? He did all of that?"
".. yeah. I found out. I knew something was up when you left the Organization. I found it all out.. and I can't forgive him for it," Axel said under his breath, something similar to anger kindling there before it faded. "But I found you again. Even through all those blocks and secrets DiZ put up... I figured it out."
"He didn't need to do any of that," Roxas said quietly, but still loud enough to hear over the chatter of the crowds passing them. "He didn't need to force me into seeing Sora, because I wanted to anyway. I don't any more... but I did before."
Occupying himself with staring blankly at the icecream, Axel wondered whether to tell Roxas about DiZ's grand master plan. He'd rather not - but with the way things were progressing? It was doubtless that Sora would soon be complete, memory-wise, again. "Sora. He'll remember everything, soon."
"What happens then?" Roxas replied, taking a bite from his ice cream. The way Axel had said it gave Roxas the impression something important might happen because of that fact. As an afterthought, he added, "...Kairi says she remembers Sora now. She couldn't before."
Axel blinked, his face shifting slightly into surprise - before it went back to a very slight, weak smile. "... it's closer. Than I thought.." he said slowly. If Axel could feel regret and sorrow, then he most likely would be feeling it right now. ".. when Sora is 'complete'... DiZ planned that..." his voice lowered. "... he'd force you to reunite with him."
Roxas narrowed his eyes as he took in that information, his expression one of defiance. "And if I don't want to? How would he plan to force me?" Roxas didn't intend on going down without a fight if he could help it... but whoever DiZ was, he seemed like an intelligent man. He probably had something planned for Roxas... With a little more fierceness than was necessary, Roxas took another bite out of his ice cream. "What right does he have to force me or Sora into doing anything in the first place?"
"Revenge. Against the Organization. Using Sora," Axel replied bluntly. It was obvious from the way he replied it was unlikely he'd reveal anymore than that. He'd said enough already. "But I don't plan on letting him near you either."
Roxas didn't reply and merely frowned darkly. He didn't want to know any more either; it had rather ruined the mood of the day so far, so it was just as well Axel said nothing else.
However, despite himself, he asked, "Let me guess: Sora's totally oblivious to... everything. Right?"
Attempting to show anger for Sora at that, Axel could do nothing more than laugh, a hollow, empty laugh. "He always was. Probably still is now."
"I'm not telling him anything, at least," Roxas replied, looking a little sullen at his almost-finished ice cream. If Roxas meeting Sora was what DiZ wanted, Sora was best left avoided, most of all. "He can handle whatever happens himself."
"Probably.." Axel responded, his voice barely audible. To distract himself from saying anything else, he took another lick of his ice cream - only to find he'd almost finished it. In some way, it reminded him of him and Roxas. Even if the time together was sweet and seemed never ending, one day it would. Come to a sudden end.
"We should do this more often," he resolved. "Never know when everything's gonna change."
"What, listen to you whine for a few hours more often?" Roxas smiled slightly, raising an eyebrow. "Guess I'll have to, when you say it like that."
"No. And it wasn't whining. It was tact.. fine, maybe it was whining," Axel said, waving his hand in mid-air in an attempt to defend himself but failing in the process. "I meant spend time together. Go out. Do stuff."
"Of course. It's summer vacation soon, so it's not like I'll have anything better to do anyway," Roxas teased, still smiling. "Sakura could go somewhere with us one day, too. If she wanted to."
"What? Like this 'family' we seem to have slipped into?" Axel mocked, but he smiled back none-the-less. "Maybe we should."
"You don't want a family?" Roxas replied, more than anything just to see Axel's reaction. He finished off the last of the ice cream and proceeded to lick the stick clean of every last bit of ice cream left, eyeing Axel with some amusement.
"Wha--?" Axel's eyebrows positively raised to his hairline in surprise - probably from being caught so off-guard with that question. Regaining his composture, he managed a rather distorted, "... hell, I don't know."
Roxas snickered and stood, sidling through the crowd to a nearby rubbish bin to dispose of his stick and wrapper; and apparently taking his time about it. Only when he returned and sat again did he reply, "You'd be the whiny, spoiled kid of the family."
"And you'd be the one who needs someone to look out for him and denys it all the time," Axel responded, folding his arms in annoyance, still chewing on the stick in his mouth. "Sakura can be the sister who knows everything but never lets it on."
Roxas tried to look offended, but it turned out as more of an annoyed pout. "I'm not denying anything. Why do I need people to look out for me?" But as for Sakura, Roxas mused silently, that at least was true; she frequently surprised Roxas with how much she seemed to notice or understand.
"Because I said so," Axel replied, nodding, giving himself authority on the matter. Looking at Roxas with slight amusement and a grin appearing on his face, he added, "By the way, did you know how cute you look like that?"
Roxas was unconvinced; 'because Axel said so' was not, for him, a particularly impressive argument. On his second comment, however, Roxas went from surprise to a glare within seconds, and then he looked away as if to hide his face. "I do not look cute!"
The denial towards his previous statement only suceeded in provoking Axel to further continue the thought, the grin broadening. "Yes you do," he said flatly, gaining a 'matter of fact' tone. "Even when you say you aren't."
Roxas turned back to Axel and glared, but Axel didn't seem to be at all dissuaded. "Give me one reason why I'm cute," he replied moodily.
Axel looked thoughtful for a moment, still looking down at Roxas from where he was sitting on the bench. "That face," Axel replied, taking a daring move and placing a finger on Roxas' lower lip and tracing along it, before withdrawing his hand. ".. that's cute."
Roxas pulled away from his hand, by now glaring daggers. Shuffling along the bench slightly to put more distance between them, he replied, "Being cute isn't a good thing. Stop saying it like it is."
"Fine, fine," Axel replied, sighing, and looking back over at the shoppers briefly, before turning back to Roxas. "But y'know..." he paused for a moment, before adding, "... I don't just think you're cute. I think you're gorgeous.. then again, that's probably just me," he half laughed, crossing his legs and placing his arms behind his head, leaning back on the back of the bench and pointing his face to the ceiling whilst closing his eyes.
"Just-- wh-- g-gorgeous?!" Roxas spluttered incredulously with wide eyes, all the more baffled by how unfazed Axel seemed by admitting that. Only a while ago he had been embarassed and hesitant to even admit his feelings for Roxas; now it was all out in the open he was apparently entirely uncaring. Either way, Roxas preferred if those kinds of thoughts stayed in Axel's thick head.
For lack of anything to say other than to stutter at Axel, he growled under his breath, "Shut up."
"You asked," Axel said, a bigger grin extending on his face, but not caring to open his eyes again. Perhaps for the fact he didn't want to say anything else he thought about Roxas right at this second.
"I asked for a reason why I was cute!" Roxas exclaimed. "I didn't need to know what else you thought of me." Far too embarassed to be able to meet Axel's eye, he took to glaring at the neverending masses of shoppers instead, folding his arms.
His grin seeming somewhat more lecherous, Axel remained in silence for a little while, his face still pointed to the ceiling, looking quite content with himself. "Yeah, well. Couldn't resist."
Roxas scowled. "I said I wouldn't treat you any differently when you told me how you felt. And I haven't. So return the favour and don't treat me differently."
With that, he stood up, adding shortly in a quieter voice, "I'm going home."
Axel opened one eye, looking positively surprised at Roxas' entire reaction to the situation. Part of him felt like mocking the situation, but he'd pushed it far enough to start with, really - pushing anymore right now wasn't a good plan. Later, maybe. But not know.
Bringing himself to his feet, Axel attempted recompense. ".. sorry, dude." A pitiful one, but a recompense none the less.
"Yeah, whatever," Roxas said coldly, turning and walking away. If Axel expected forgiveness as quickly as he had apologised, Roxas wasn't about to give it. He didn't seem too mad at Axel, however, because he didn't walk far before he was glancing over his shoulder to check if Axel was following.
Half debating to just let Roxas walk off and leave, Axel stood watching him go with a slight frown on his face. Perhaps he really should keep his thoughts to himself before he got an answer. He remained still, until, Roxas turned around, causing Axel to suddenly jump-start into action and walk along after him.
Roxas rolled his eyes and turned away again in silence, not bothering to slow his pace for Axel. It was always the same stupid routine; Axel would make Roxas angry over something or another, they'd argue, they'd make up and apologise, only to argue again. It was an annoying cycle, and, admittedly, Roxas was tired of it and tired of always losing his temper. But as far as Roxas was concerned, it was generally Axel's fault for provoking him in the first place, in his opinion.
On the other hand, Axel really was concidering if he was an idiot. Again. For all he cared about other peoples feelings - that being, next to zero, or naught itself - he really did deserve to be nothing. 'Looking out for me' seemed to be drilled into his mind, and seemed to cause care about others to be at a bare minimum. He deserved to be nothing. Nobody.
His thoughts found their way onto his face, casing it to crease slightly in dejection. So much for things getting better.
And this was, generally, the part where Roxas caved in and told Axel that things were okay and he forgave him, because Axel looked sincerely remorseful and sorry for his actions. But Roxas refused to do yet another repeat of that, instead snapping irritably, "What's wrong now?"
"Nothing," Axel replied, though it was clear it was lying. After a few seconds, he folded his arms as if to keep himself together, to see that he was still standing here and this wasn't a fleeting dream he'd wake up from. ".. I thought we'd got past this," he muttered, barely audible.
Roxas heard that last part and stopped, grabbing one of Axel's skinny elbows and pulling him to one side. Glaring up at him in all seriousness, he said quietly, "You don't get it, do you? I'll say it plainly," he sighed, releasing his grip on him. "If you do something and it annoys me, stop it. Don't carry on doing it, because you know it annoys me and you know I'll just get angry."
Now he just felt like a scolded child, and for once, Axel was glad Roxas released the hold on him. It was his turn to not look Roxas in the eye, choosing to stare at the footfalls of the people alongside them, the same sorrowful expression on his face. Stuck for words, he only managed a slight 'I'm an idiot' under his breath before lapsing back into silence.
Roxas only shook his head in reply, leaving Axel to wallow in his own self-pity. He looked positively crushed, but that had been the general effect Roxas had been going for. "C'mon, let's go home."
Reluctantly, Axel managed to sigh, before nodding. He half considered not following him, but that would only make matters twice as bad. "Alright then."