(no subject)
Axel grinned to himself. Thirteen, he was, and at long last. Although his birthday was far into the year, it honestly didn’t bother him too much as he was pushed ahead. In fact, being thirteen upon entering the 7th grade made him older than most of his other friends.
“Finally. It’s about time.”
Yes, it was definitely August 8th. A refreshing date on the calendar; but it being so close to the autumn season only reminded him other troubles to come. School was indeed starting up again, and soon. He felt that throughout the entire summer he had not caused quite enough mischief to gratify for the usual. To compensate, he’d be out for a bit and see what problems he could cause.
Hollow Bastion wasn’t all too spectacular, really. A decent sized shopping center and a couple streets of small specialty stores, cafes, conveniences and the like; but it really didn’t satisfy Axel. At least there could be an arcade. Or something.
Walking into the old Quick Mart he visited regularly, he picked out a tall can from behind a glass door. A good Rockstar™ was generally his favorite energy drink, but his friends found it sort of repulsive. Whatever. His friends weren’t teenagers yet. So screw them; how could they understand?
Usually his birthdays consisted of video-gaming with his friends or sleeping in, or something to that effect. But hell, he did that when he was twelve. Being thirteen came with glamour and the ability to access the majority of online community websites- but it’s not like he didn’t fake his age to begin with. Tons of people said he already looked about fifteen anyway. Cool.
Running his empty hand through his longish, flaming red hair, he sat himself down on a park bench. Upon purchasing his Rockstar™ he had left, pointlessly walking around town.
Usually on his birthday Axel paid no mind to anyone else other than himself or his gifts, but of course thirteen was a big change and apparently the default gift of teenagerdom was ‘responsibility’. He couldn’t even spell responsibility, let alone comprehend its actual meaning.
Basically Axel’s dad told him that receiving his gifts would wait until after dinner. Dinner was a pretty long, fucking way away.
Axel’s thoughts came to a screeching halt as a rather loud wail infiltrated his head.
“What the hell…?” Raising his head he saw a rather interesting sight. There was a little boy nearby, a boy with messy blonde hair that skewed in all different directions. Axel had a thing for blondes. He was pretty sick in the head and he knew that, but seriously. Awkward it would be to other boys his age, but to him, a cute blonde would remain attractive him regardless of gender or age. Except for maybe babies and toddlers.
The boy couldn't be a day over 9, but he was definitely a cute one.
He could see that quite clearly, despite the fact that the boy’s eyes were bleak and tinted red with tears and stuff was oozing out of his nose.
Normally upon encountering a situation like this Axel would remain where he was with his Rockstar™, and completely ignore the kid. But this kid was fucking blonde, cute, and his crying was as loud as hell.
“What a birthday…” Axel stood up and finally approached the kid. “Hey, you, you’re pretty loud. What gives?”
The blonde looked up at him, sniffling. “I’m lost,” he whispered.
Axel looked the poor kid. The fragile blonde honestly didn’t belong in Hollow Bastion alone. He looked sort of chilly, as it was nearing evening. He bore only a light blue t-shirt sporting a strange, black creature with long antennae and big, yellow eyes, with a black and white jacket over it. His denim shorts seemed a tad small, but it only enhanced the ‘cute’ factor.
“I see. Um,” the redhead paused. He glanced around the park, looking for maybe a nice lady to lend this child a hand. He saw none. “Maybe I can… I dunno, help?”
The child looked rather wary, but it was decided expected from anyone. Axel was clad in a black-and-red striped t-shirt, along with midnight denim jeans. His scruffy black wristband was decorated in flames and his equally fiery hair and piercing green eyes did nothing to console the boy. His eyes began to water more.
“Hey, I promise I won’t bite.” Axel’s gentle tone surprised even himself. “What’s your name?”
“R-Roxas…”
“It’s nice to meet you, Roxas. I’m Axel; make sure you get that memorized. C’mon, let’s find someone who can take you home.”
Roxas, although his face was covered in tears, took a shaky step back. “I-I’m not supposed to go with s-strangers. My ma t-told me so.” His hiccups chopped up his sentences, but even so his red-tinged eyes had the appearance of crystal blue orbs with stunning clarity upon his offer; however, they were sharp and almost uninviting. His voice had an edge to it; an attitude.
God, this kid was already cooler than all his other friends combined.
The redhead smiled, attempting to soften the child. “Yeah, your ma is very smart. I’m not gonna try to force you to come with me, but I’ll have you know I’m a big kid and I can help you get home.”
In retaliation the blonde wiped his nose with his sleeve of his light jacket and his eyes with the other. “I’m a big kid, too!” he protested valiantly.
Axel quirked an eyebrow and laughed a bit. “Of course you are, ‘Big’ kid. But I think you were bawling like a little baby just now.”
Roxas glared at the older boy. His tone was challenging. “I bet you’re really not that big!”
“Just turned thirteen today.”
Axel had to laugh again at Roxas’s vain attempt to not let his face fall. This kid was really somethin’ else. Had it been any other child they just would have went with him to the station to call their parents, or something to that effect. That was common sense, right?
“Oh. I’m only ten but I can be just as big as you.”
Ten, was he? Not too bad, for a kid. “C’mon. I’ll take you to the station and we can call your parents. Where do you live?”
It was only with major reluctance and much persuading to get the kid to go with Axel, much less tell him the area he lived in. As it turned, the boy didn’t even reside in Hollow Bastion. He lived in Twilight Town, which was pretty far-east from where they were.
How had the blonde even managed to get himself all the way in Hollow Bastion?
Deciding not to press further matters, Axel grabbed Roxas’s sticky little hand, marveling at how soft it was behind all the snot. He marched him down to the station (his Rockstar™ long forgotten) figuring it was something a real teenager would do. He managed to scrounge some change among the munny bills from his wallet to use for the payphone.
“Oi, ‘Big’ kid, what’s your house number?”
Roxas jumped. He had been rather quiet for the majority of the walk, minus the occasional hiccup. “Oh, um, my phone number?” he squeaked, “Let me ch-check…”
Slamming his palm onto his forehead, Axel groaned. “Check? Check where-”
The little blonde boy had pulled out a cell phone.
Axel didn’t even have a cell phone. At least, not yet. He had kinda been hoping for one for his birthday present, but honestly, this ten-year-old child had a cell phone but obviously it didn’t come with the brains to actually use it!
“Jesus, child! Have you had that thing with you the whole time?” Axel cried, only slightly exasperated.
Clutching the cell phone to his chest, Roxas whimpered. “It-it’s not mine…”
The statement left Axel even more astonished. Could it be possible that this kid was gutsier than the Great Axel himself? Not probable.
Bending over to stare the boy in the face, Axel told him flatly, “Stealing is bad, you know. If you get caught, even bigger guys could nab you or something.” He stood upright. “It’s a good thing I saw you bawling back there and not some police guy.”
Roxas stared at his feet, ashamed. “I-I didn’t actually steal it… Well, I k-kind of did but… it-it’s my brother’s…” His last phrase barely came out in a frazzled whisper.
Axel noticeably relaxed. At least he wasn’t dealing with a crook; well, not one up to standards.
The younger boy continued to explain; words and phrases that were barely comprehensible began pooling out of his mouth. As it turned out, Roxas had managed to weasel himself in an argument with said brother, Cloud, about taking possessions that didn’t belong to him; the typical sibling argument. In the long run Roxas had snuck Cloud’s cell phone off its charger and into his pocket before running out of the house to a local park a few blocks down. All he had was some munny and the mobile device, but before long the ever-so tantalizing ice-cream truck played its alluring tunes as it passed by and Roxas, what with being a mere ten-year-old, went after it.
“Sea-salt ice-cream is my favorite, and I-I really wanted some to make me feel better. I n-never ended up getting any,” Roxas whimpered, “and then when I was t-too tired to go anymore, the t-truck was gone and I was lost… and I-I was too scared to call home…”
“Sea-salt ice-cream, huh?” Axel eyed the blonde distractedly with interest. “Weird. How does it taste?”
Roxas’s sparkling eyes lit up, this time with less of the edge from before. He began to babble endlessly about his favorite flavor in sweets, telling how the distinct, salty taste really gave the ice-cream a nice, ravishing flavor and how the sweetness made his taste buds tingle in delight; only in less words and a more childish use of vocabulary.
The redhead shook his head in disbelief, but either way he smiled. This tween was not the ordinary kid, but still quite companionable. Axel rested a friendly hand on his shoulder. “Hey, tell you what, I’ll treat you to some ice-cream real fast, before sending you off. Is that cool with you?” The blonde nodded vigorously, grabbing the older boy’s hand.
“But first, Roxas, you gotta promise you’ll call your parents.”
All of a sudden the blonde boy froze in fear and apprehension. He seemed to be debating internally over whether to accept the ice-cream or evade the call.
The sea-salt ice-cream won him over.
Grabbing Axel’s hand for the second time, he let him lead the way down the block to a simple ice-cream parlor.
“Honestly, kid, I’ve never actually been here before. Is sea-salt ice-cream a common flavor?” Roxas shrugged in reply.
The redhead sighed and looked up at the menu before them. There were three sections, ‘Classic’, ‘Limited’, and ‘Exotic’. Sea-salt was listed under ‘Exotic’, but there was no surprise there.
Roxas positively beamed as Axel ordered two small sea-salt ice-cream bars.
Handed back to him were two fair-sized ice-cream bars of a blue substance. Roxas accepted his eagerly as the munny was handed over, and wasted no time in diving into it.
Axel took a tentative taste of the ice-cream and found that he liked it. He would describe more a tangy and exotic flavor; salty like chips, but sweet like vanilla. Oddly enough, the combination was delicious and refreshing. In a figurative sense, it was sort of like describing Roxas. That is, from what he knew of him.
The ice-cream bar of Roxas’s had been devoured soon enough while Axel made a point to savor his. Upon finishing it off, Axel looked at Roxas. “Time to call home, kid. It’s nearly dinnertime and I’ve probably killed your appetite.’
A barely coherent, “-Not a kid; I’m as big as you, too!” reached his ears and he chuckled. The compact cellular device still made its way out into the open. Nervously opening the contacts, Roxas scrolled down until he reached the name labeled as ‘Home’.
The blonde looked into Axel’s eyes. Whatever he had been searching for, he must have found, for he smiled a small smile and pressed the send button.
“H-Hi… Mom? No… it’s me. Roxas. It’s Roxas.”
Axel winced as harsh yelling and reprimands were voiced on the other end of the line. But then all of a sudden it stopped and the voice became much gentler.
“Dad? Is that-oh…? Cloud?”
The redhead recognized the name of the older brother from whom Roxas had stolen from in the first place. Roxas was biting lip in anxiety, mumbling, “Sorry, sorry, I’m so sorry,” over and over again.
Eventually Roxas stopped mumbling long enough for Axel to hear Cloud say, “Roxas, you’re still such a child.”
At some point after that Roxas hung up the phone, but looked rather sophisticated while doing so; sitting in his tall in his seat, his expression was neutral and seemingly mature.
Axel was thoroughly impressed.
“So, um, how old is your brother?” he asked slowly, waiting for Roxas to respond.
The blonde looked back at him sheepishly. “Sixteen.”
“Wow. He really is a big kid, so to speak.”
“Yup,” Roxas laughed a ten-year-old kind of laugh, rather uneasily at that. “He’s coming to pick me up though; he should be here pretty soon I think.”
Axel didn’t respond right away, due to the fact the unfamiliar feeling of remorse was washing over him. He wouldn’t deny that this birthday had outdone all the others, but honestly. Was the sentimental attachment to this kid really necessary?
The sound of a horn honking brought their attention to the outside. Roxas nodded in acknowledgement; Cloud was here. Axel sighed, but gasped slightly when Roxas’s arms wrapped themselves around his waist in a childish ‘Thank you’.
“Well, happy birthday to me,” the redhead chuckled.
Roxas gasped in return. “Is it really your birthday?” When Axel nodded, Roxas bit his lip. Cloud was waiting for him outside, and he had really nothing worth giving to him. Unless he wanted his jacket, but he figured it’d be too small.
The older boy waved him off. “Get going, your brother’s waiting for you.”
In one fluid motion the blonde was standing on tiptoe, leaning upwards towards the redhead- and by then Roxas’s lips had gently brushed against Axel’s.
No more than a moment later was the blonde nearly out the door, but not before stopping to bid him a light-hearted, “Bye, Axel! Thanks for the ice-cream, and happy birthday!”
Axel waved him away once more. He spun around in his chair for a bit, slightly bemused. The boy had tasted like sea-salt ice-cream; tangy, with the saltiness of chips and the sweetness of vanilla.
Yes, happy birthday to him indeed.
8D YES