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crystalstar8 · 4 years ago

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Knights of the Night (ch 10)

Chapter 10

Ch 1, ch 2, ch 3, ch 4, ch 5, ch 6, ch 7, ch 8, ch 9, ch 10

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139240/chapters/71536491

pairing: Jungkook x oc

genre: vampire au, college au, twilight, romance

word count: 2,494

warnings: blood (obviously), kidnapping, child kidnapping, needles, France

notes: vampires, vampire au, college, college au, so many twilight references, blood, needles, kidnapping, children, homelessness, dance, ballet, flashbacks, romance, slow burn, probably no smut, idk yet tho, France, French things, attempted genocide, inaccurate French history, bisexual main character, @strawberriewithchocolate-blog @mozy-j @daechwitad-2 @zobadak

summary: Catalina starts college in a small town all the way across the country. She doesn’t know anyone and isn’t exactly looking for friends. She just wants to focus on dance. But when she meets fellow dance major, Jimin, and adventurous, fellow freshman, Jungkook, Catalina ends up discovering a whole new side to the small college town; one that is dangerous but oh so enticing…

Jungkook and Catalina decided to keep the pictures to themselves for a while. It seemed like the den in the basement was part of a bigger organization than they thought, so they knew they’d have to be careful. Over the next few days, they debated whether to tell the police or to tell their friends. In the end, they decided to tell Namjoon. He was mad at them at first, but then told them to stay out of it. That he and Yoongi were already investigating and that it was way too dangerous for humans.

As a way to distract them, or maybe just to give everyone a vacation, Namjoon booked a few nights for everyone at the ski lodge during the first week of snow. It was mid-week, so hopefully the lodge wouldn’t be busy.

Catalina was excited. She had spent the day before the trip packing and daydreaming about what the lodge would be like. She’s never been a cold weather person, but Jungkook promised to teach her how to ski, and while skiing didn’t really do anything for her, Catalina was at the point where any time spent with Jungkook was a good time. He never brought up the kiss since it happened, but Catalina was unable to think about anything else. It was constantly on her mind, the way his body felt against hers, his hand in her hair, his soft lips… it was truly something she’s been losing sleep over.

So when Catalina found out they’d all be staying in three connecting rooms, slumber party style, Catalina didn’t really know what to do with herself.

The morning of the trip finally arrived and Catalina was ready. Her duffel bag was packed and she kept glancing at her phone, waiting for the text saying her ride was here. Last night, Hoseok had texted her that they rented a party bus to take them up the mountain.

Finally, her phone buzzed, Hoseok’s name showing up on the screen.

Hobi: we’re outside :D

Catalina grabbed her bag and ran downstairs. The party bus was parked in front of her apartment building and the doors opened as she approached. Inside the bus, the four vampires sat on the bench seats on one side while Jin sat across from them.

“Cat! Just throw your bag back there and have a seat!” said Hoseok. Catalina spotted the pile of bags in the back of the bus. She set hers down and took a seat by Jin. The doors of the bus closed and the bus started moving.

“We just have a few more stops and then we’re on our way up the mountain!” Hoseok shouted. He was practically bouncing in his seat.

“I’ve never been to a lodge before,” said Catalina. “I heard they have a hot tub up there.”

“Oh yeah, they have a bunch of hot tubs, and a spa,” said Hoseok. “Are you gonna learn how to ski?”

“I mean, Jungkook will probably make sure of it, but I don’t think that’s what I’ll be doing most of the time,” said Catalina.

“I’m pretty good at skiing, if I do say so myself,” Jin said as the bus came to another stop. Jungkook hopped on and tossed his bag, skis and snowboard onto the pile in the back of the bus.

“Is Jin talking about how good he is at skiing?” asked Jungkook, collapsing into the spot next to Catalina.

“I was just about to tell them that I won a medal once-“ Jin started.

“But his old bones don’t let do the things he used to in his youth,” said Jungkook. “So we might need to help him with the bigger slopes.”

Jin launched himself past Catalina, attacking a giggling Jungkook.

They stopped two more times, to pick up Jimin and Jimmy K, then they made their way up the mountain. Once the lodge came into view, Catalina understood why it was so popular. It was beautiful, all wood and logs and rocky landscaping. Snow dusted pine trees filled in every gap in and around the property. Ski lift wires ran back and forth behind the lodge, leading up even higher into the morning fog.

“Oh wow! This place is fancy!” said Catalina. She was kneeling on the seat, looking out the window at the approaching property. The bus parked at the main entrance and everyone grabbed their bags and got off, heading into the building. Namjoon checked them all in and then led the way to their rooms.

It turned out to be a huge, three room suite, so luxurious that Catalina once again wondered how wealthy these vampires were. The suite was rustic, all raw wood and furs, antlers above the hearth. There were two king sized beds in each room, plenty of space for everyone. Catalina wondered who she would share a bed with. She hoped it wasn’t Jungkook. Not that she didn’t want to be close to him, but she was afraid it would be too awkward and she wouldn’t end up getting any sleep. As it was, she already noticed herself avoiding him and staring at him from afar. She needed to snap out of it and act like an adult.

Her behavior wasn’t as subtle as she thought though, because once everyone was settled, Jimin pulled her out into the hallway and asked, “What’s going on with you and Jungkook?”

Catalina started at him with wide eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Come on, don’t play dumb,” he said. “You guys are usually all over each other, joking and laughing at everything. What happened? Did you guys fight?”

Catalina sighed and pulled Jimin further down the hall.

“We kissed,” she said. Jimin’s eyes almost fell out of his head.

“What?!”

“Shhhhh!”

“When?” he asked.

“A while ago, we snuck into a vampire den and almost got caught, but to avoid suspicion, we acted like we were just making out in one of the rooms,” said Catalina. “It worked, they didn’t suspect us, they just kicked us out, but I’ve been thinking about it ever since.”

“Have you talked about it with him?” asked Jimin. “I mean, do you like him?”

“I…yeah, I think I actually do,” Catalina said, her face burning up. “And no, we haven’t talked about it.”

“You don’t think he was just leading you on, do you?” asked Jimin. “I can be mean to him if you want me to.”

“No,” Catalina laughed. “He wouldn’t do that. I don’t think he knows I like him and I don’t think he feels the same way about me.”

“I can find out for you,” said Jimin.

Catalina chuckled and said, “It’s okay, really. I just need to get over this awkwardness and figure out how to be normal around him again.”

“Whatever you say, but I just want you to know that I can be an amazing wingman,” said Jimin.

“Thank you,” said Catalina. “I’ll let you know.”

A few hours later found Catalina at the top of a hill, struggling to get her feet into her rented skis. Jungkook skid over to her with a huge smile on his face.

“Are you excited?” he asked.

“I guess” said Catalina. “I’m more nervous than anything.”

It was true. Before she started putting on her skis, she had looked down the slope and it looked incredibly intimidating.

“Don’t worry, I’ll come get you if you crash,” he said.

Catalina didn’t want to crash. But she finished putting on her skis and, with Jungkook’s help, got to her feet. Jimin was at the edge of the slope.

“I’ll see you guys at the bottom!” he said before taking off.

“Okay, so you gotta keep your knees bent,” said Jungkook. “Just keep them bent and use them to bounce. Gravity’s gonna do most of the work. Use these to steer and control your speed. You can kind of turn sideways to stop yourself. This one isn’t too steep so you should be okay.”

“This isn’t steep?!” Catalina asked, shuffling to the edge.

“Just go ahead when you’re ready,” he said.

“Wait, I’m not going first!” she said.

“Yes you are,” Jungkook laughed. “If you fall or hit something, I gotta be able to follow you down to help.”

Catalina eyed the slope once more, took a deep breath, then pushed herself off. At first, she had to use the poles to get moving, but then, as Jungkook had said, gravity mostly took over. This isn’t too bad, Catalina thought. Actually, this is a lot of fun. But then her speed started to pick up. A lot. Her heart picked up as well. The first bump she hit barely got her off the ground, but it was enough to make her panic when she hit the ground again. She started to swerve towards the trees. She dodged the first tree as best as she could, but shoulder checked it hard. This knocked her off balance, but luckily, the next obstacle was a snowbank. It didn’t hurt, but she fully landed in the bank, sliding off the side to lay on the ground.

She pulled her goggles off and let out a groan. It didn’t take long before she heard another set of skis slide to a halt beside her.

“Are you okay?” Jungkook asked as he knelt beside her. “Are you hurt?”

Catalina waved a hand. “I’m fine. My shoulder will probably bruise but it’s okay.”

Jungkook helped her sit up and Catalina automatically scooted away a bit. He dropped his hands. A painfully awkward silence followed, before Jungkook spoke up.

“Is it about the kiss?” he asked.

“What?”

“You’ve been kind of avoiding me ever since,” he said. “I mean, not completely ignoring me, but it’s been really awkward. And I wanted to say that I’m sorry if the kiss made you uncomfortable. I never wanted-“

“Jungkook, it’s okay,” Catalina said with a laugh. Her mind raced to come up with something to say. She didn’t want to tell him that ever since the kiss, her heartrate speeds up every time she looks at him and she spends every waking moment wondering when he’ll kiss her again, or even mention it. So instead, she said, “Really, it’s okay. We can just forget it happened and go back to how we were. We don’t have to make a big deal about it.”

Catalina watched with dread as his face fell. He couldn’t have been feeling the same way, could he? Did she just ruin things? Before she could think of a way to take back what she said, Jungkook stood up and held out a hand.

“Let’s get you back up there,” he said.

After dinner, which only the humans attended, everyone gathered in the rooms. Jungkook hadn’t attended dinner and he wasn’t in the rooms, which worried Catalina. She was already in her nightclothes, a short satin nightgown with a matching robe. She brought this on the trip with her hoping she could get somewhere with Jungkook, but messing everything up and making him avoid her was not in the plans. She needed to fix this.

Jimin was laying in bed with a facemask on, Taehyung by his side. Their heads were together, watching Tiktoks on Jimin’s phone.

“Do you guys know where Jungkook is?” asked Catalina.

“He’s in the hot tub,” said Jimin. “He doesn’t want to see you though.”

Catalina gaped at him. “Did he say that?”

“No, but whatever you said earlier really hurt him, so, as his friend, I’m telling you he doesn’t want to see you,” Jimin said, not looking up from his phone. Catalina’s heart sank. Hurting Jungkook was the last thing she wanted to do. So, she ran from the room and began her hunt for the hot tub.

It was an in-ground tub, partially hidden within the landscaping. The only reason Catalina spotted it was because of the steam rising from behind the snow-covered boulders. Catalina pushed open the glass sliding door and stepped outside onto the patio.

He was sitting in the hot tub alone, his head tilted back and his eyes closed. He didn’t hear her coming, so when Catalina said, “Hey”, he startled.

“Hey,” he said back.

“Can we talk?” Catalina asked. He shrugged and looked away.

“I guess.”

Catalina sighed and sat on the edge of the tub, sticking her feet into the warm water.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier,” she said. “I was lying.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean, I don’t want things to go back to the way they were,” said Catalina. She took a deep breath. “I was lying when I said the kiss wasn’t a big deal. It was. I couldn’t stop thinking about it ever since it happened and spent the entire time since then, even now, hoping it would happen again. And I guess I said the things I said because I didn’t think you’d feel the same way, so I wanted to just smooth things out with you-“

“Cat, I’m the one who kissed you,” said Jungkook.

“But it was for the mission,” said Catalina.

“But I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t want to,” said Jungkook. A pause, then he cracked a tiny smile. “I bought you hash browns. Did that mean nothing to you?”

Catalina laughed and tugged her robe tighter around herself.

“Get over here,” said Jungkook. Catalina took her robe off and slid into the water, not caring for the fate of her nightgown anymore. She waded over to him and he held out a hand, pulling her close. She had to place her knees on either side of his thighs as his arms wound around her waist.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked. “For real this time?”

Catalina didn’t think she could speak, so she nodded. He pulled her flush against him and kissed her hard. She was incredibly aware of how bare his chest was; she could feel every inch of it through her paper-thin nightgown. Catalina threaded her fingers into his hair as they kissed. She gave it a tug and he let out a tiny gasp into her mouth. His hands gripped her waist tighter as he tilted his head for better access. At some point, they broke apart for air, Catalina chasing his lips for one last taste.

“Mm…so glad I didn’t listen to Jimin,” Catalina mumbled against his lips. He chuckled.

“What?”

“He was mad at me for making you upset and told me not to talk to you,” said Catalina.

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t listen to him too,” Jungkook said with a grin.

“I’m sorry,” said Catalina, running her fingers through his hair. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

He held her tighter and said, “I know. It’s okay. It turned out fantastic, so I have no complaints.”

Catalina giggled and let her head fall against his shoulder.

“Yeah… no complaints at all,” she said, dropping a kiss to his neck.

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complicatedandstained · 6 years ago

Text

The Other Day at Hot Topic: Cameras Don’t Lie

Axel swaps his gaze from this morning’s Hot Topic security footage on the desktop computer to the current security feed.

On the sales floor, Aqua’s returning from her break, her black ballet flats dragging across linoleum. She pauses by the piercing displays to offer Roxas a bite off her soft pretzel, before ducking behind the register to shove a set of metallic pink keys into a white, studded handbag. Rising, she flicks her middle finger up in response to some stray comment from Vanitas.

Vanitas grins back, sharklike, before he returns to helping their single customer fish a backpack shaped like a Ninja Turtle shell (Leonardo—a subpar choice) from a rack near the ceiling using a large metal hook that Axel frankly does not feel safe knowing Vanitas has access to.

Axel raises the walkie talkie to his lips and taps a button on the side, amused by the way if startles Roxas from his crouch a few feet from the register. Scrambling behind the counter, Roxas pauses to adjust the checkerboard patterned slide escaping his foot before nabbing the radio from its cradle. Then he straightens, glancing around to ensure no one saw him tripping over himself.

“Hey Roxas,” Axel purrs through a smirk, “this is your conscience speaking.”

Roxas glances toward the ceiling, processing, and then gives a slow, satisfying smile. “Hey, conscience.” The words are slow, quiet.

Is it the radio or is he whispering back?

“It’s been a while.” Roxas rubs his eyes and drags weary fingers down to tug at his cheek, hipster glasses slipping slightly down his nose.

At the private moment, Axel opts to tear his eyes from the camera. He ignores the compulsion he feels to tug at Roxas’ cheek himself in the near distant future.

“Wish you’d chimed in sooner.”

The security video replays in Axel’s head. Roxas effortlessly taking Vanitas down. The smile slipping from Vanitas’ face replaced with shock and a hint of respect.

“Why,” Axel wheedles, too knowing, maybe, but fuck it, he does know, “didn’t do something you regret, did ya?”

There’s a long pause. Axel peeks at the security feed again. Roxas’ spine seems straighter, though his back’s propped against the counter and his head is down, eyes likely shut. Axel fancies he’s contemplating offering him the truth.

“I pushed my brother off a dock yesterday.”

Axel chokes a bit, then presses the button so Roxas will think it’s radio static.

Not what he’d been expecting, but a hell of a lot more interesting. Almost makes up for Roxas’ lie of omission, though Axel knows it’s smart of Roxas to keep a lid on his little scuffle.

Still, he decides to be diplomatic about it. “Probably not your finest moment, there, Roxas.”

“He’s fine. Swims like a merman.” Roxas bats a hand dismissively, though he has no idea Axel can see it. “He called me chubby, so I had no choice.”

Axel hates the tension that mars Roxas’ face, like he might actually be considering this absurd notion. He watches Roxas sliding his shirt up to pinch at a bronze, well-defined abdomen.

Axel snorts, his throat feeling unusually dry, wondering if Roxas’ brother has always had such severe vision problems—realizing Roxas really is that badass. “You serious? I take it back. You made the right call. You’re…”

Dead skinny? Ripped? Petite? Angelic? Gorgeous? A ray of effing sunshine.

“Not.”

Roxas chuckles back, the sound remarkably light and fluid even through the shitty radio. “You’re not very good at this conscience thing, Axel.”

“Nah,” Axel rubs at the back of his neck, turning from the screen again, thumbing the crescent moon shaped charm on one of Saïx’s bracelets, forgotten on the desk, “not my strong suit. Speaking of, would you send Aqua on back, my good buddy?” His switch to an insincere, lighter tone does not go unnoticed.

“Aqua?” He can hear the surprise and… that’s not hurt is it? … in Roxas’ voice. “Uh, sure, yeah, hang on a sec.”

“Thanks, babe.”

He watches Roxas go rigid for a second before he sighs, returns the phone to its cradle, and glances around for Aqua like a man who’s been caught half asleep.

Huh.

* *

“Axel?” Aqua toes her way into the back room, holding the door open, like she hopes she can get this over with quickly. Cute. “What is this about?”

“How do I put this delicately?” Axel spins slowly in his chair to face her, like he’s a heavily ringed mob boss smoking a cigar. There should be some kind of cat purring on his lap with a scrunched-up face and a holier than thou stare.

The eyes tracing paths across his face seem wary.

“You’re fired, Aqua.”

“I’m…” Aqua blinks back, almost dropping the remainder of her soft pretzel entirely, one hand going white knuckled against the door frame. “That was not delicate.”

“Eh,” Axel squeezes his knee, Saïx’s bracelet cool where he’s slipped it onto his wrist, “yeah, sorry.”

She tilts her head, examining his expression, her dark blue brows lowering. “You’re joking.”

“Yeah, God. I can’t even keep a straight face.” Axel cackles, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Gonna need more practice if I’m going to lay it on Vanitas, huh?” He begins to rotate the desk chair away from her again to check on the brat, but Aqua darts forward, grabs the chair arm to whirl him back.

“Wait. What?”

“Vanitas,” Axel repeats, his eyes narrowing, wondering where the confusion is coming from, how she didn’t see this coming. “Vanitas is fired.”

“You’re…you can’t…!” Aqua grasps at the air, stammers, volume rising. This time Axel doesn’t smile.

Christ. This had better work.

Realization flashes in her eyes. She retreats to the door and shuts it. As she returns to Axel’s side at the office desk, she raises her pretzel to take a contemplative bite. “You saw the tape, then.”

Axel nods, jerking a thumb back to the computer. “You know, when Saïx asked me to check in on you hooligans, I figured I’d catch you, like, dancing in the aisles and eating all the SweeTarts and tell him I didn’t see anything. But instead I find Roxas and Vanitas making like a pair of Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. That’s a bit harder to ignore.”

She blanches, charcoal-lined lip jutting out to reveal pink. “You’re telling me that fight was Vanitas’ fault?”

He opens his palm toward the computer again, can feel his own frown lines deepen. “Cameras don’t lie.”

“I can’t believe it.” She sweeps pointed, glossy black, manicured nails through blue bangs, “I had a feeling, but I really hoped—”

“Exactly!” Axel interrupts, hands clapping together, and she scowls at his enthusiasm, which makes him feel a little like his mother never loved him. “You’re the only one working in this godforsaken store that actually cares whether or not Vanitas gets fired. And that is, of course, including Vanitas.”

His eyes stray to the nearby wall of employee lockers. Most of their surfaces have been layered with friendly post-its, graffiti, and stickers, but Vanitas’ stands blanker than even Saïx’s is.

“That’s...” her voice fades, following his gaze, fingers sweeping down through her bob, “probably true.”

Axel shrugs, tone amenable, “I mean, to some degree, I get it. He’s your housemate,” he offers with one hand, “you need rich Uncle Xemnas to pay his rent,” he continues with the other. “I guess I wouldn’t want him fired either.”

Aqua rolls her eyes, and then waggles her pretzel at him. “It’s not all about the money, Axel. He’s my friend. I don’t want to see him give up again. He needs to work through this.”

Axel’s definitely not going to let her elaborate on this tragic backstory business she’s trying to dredge up. Vanitas has always been a prick, and now he’s a prick who almost punched Roxas. End of story.

But Axel nods so she’ll stop talking to him like he just told Demyx Santa’s not real. “Fine, whatever. I can work with that.”

“What do you mean ‘work with that’?” She lowers the pretzel a bit, her other hand resting on her hip as she tilts her head to reevaluate the lanky red-head, stretching his legs out straight and crossing his ankles. “Axel…I don’t understand. If you’ve made up your mind, you’ve watched the tape, why call me back here all?”

Axel folds his hands in his lap and the sun and moon charms on Saïx’s bracelet slide together. “A lot of people pretend they like Vanitas. You, Luxord, Demyx…um.” He pauses, closes his eyes, mentally running through a list of employees. “Okay, ‘a lot’ was an exaggeration.”

His cat eyes flick open. “Point is: I wanted to make sure you really meant it, because as much as it pains me to say it, I can’t fire him. And if you don’t want him fired, then whatever you saw, you need to unsee it.” He draws a couple fingers to his temple and offers a mocking smile. “Got that memorized?”

She stares for a second, processing, and Axel, figuring he better speed things along, spins back around to face the computer, minimizing the security feed and pulling open a folder he’s stumbled upon previously, labeled Employee Records. He’s prompted to enter a password. Delightful.

The pretzel slaps into Axel’s shoulder and salt sprinkles down the front of his black tee. “Why?” Aqua says in a voice like he’d missed the first time she said it. “Because you’re afraid of what Xemnas will do to Saïx? But you have video evidence. Even Xemnas can’t ignore that.”

Aqua’s such a martyr she’s telling him he should fire Vanitas? Sweet Jesus.

“Because.” Axel’s teeth dig into his lower lip, more sharply than intended, as he keys in a third attempt at the password—two Hot Topic favorites and one of Saïx’s regulars. The program locks him out for twenty minutes. Delightful. “Because Vanitas isn’t the only one Saïx would fire.”

“You think he’d fire us?” Aqua steps back as he swerves in his chair and rises, abruptly several inches above her rather than several feet below.

He half scoff-half sneers, sidestepping her, approaching Saïx’s pristine filing cabinet, squatting between the desk and lockers. “No, sweetie.”

He tugs at the third drawer, and she follows him over, obviously about to make a fuss, so he continues, brows furrowing at the neat little lock in his way, “I think he’d fire Roxas. He’d have to, to get Xemnas off his back.”

He whirls back around and locks eyes with her. Hers go wide, lip dipping again.

“No kidding?” she mumbles, through the stare down.

“Roxas was only defending himself, but Xemnas wouldn’t see it that way.” He turns, pulling out painstakingly neat desk drawers, flipping up organizers and rifling through paperclips in search of a small silver key, though he already knows in his chest, Saïx would never leave it lying around. “Roxas doesn’t deserve that shit.”

“So?” Out of the corner of his eye he sees her gesture for him to continue.

He slides a sticker gun back in the drawer and seats himself on the desk to face her. “So?” he mimics, expression too innocent to be genuine.

“What do you care what happens to Roxas?”

“He’s…” Axel finds himself gesturing vaguely, “a good guy.”

“That’s it?”

“I…” Axel searches his head for a better explanation. But that’s it. He likes Roxas. Roxas is good. Roxas didn’t do anything wrong. He wants to protect Roxas. “Yeah. That’s it.”

She looks skeptical as Axel starts in half-heartedly on another desk drawer.

“And?”

His hand pauses. “And nothing.”

Her eyes roll again, revealing flashes of silver shadow and he’s going to have to ask her where she bought it some time. “Fine. Keep your secrets. So, that’s all you want from me. Pretend like it never happened, try to convince Vanitas to do the same?”

“And one more thing.” He pulls a black sticky note pad and a silver permanent marker from the desktop and holds them out. “Insurance this won’t happen again. I tried to find it myself, but uh, I don’t actually work here.”

“Axel, no,” her voice wavers, alarmed, tired. “We’ve been over this.”

Axel reaches across the keyboard he’s perched beside to the mouse and opens up the security video, rewinds, plays. “Let’s go back to the tapes, shall we?”

* *

Aqua’s marker jolts mid apartment number as she watches Vanitas lunge for Roxas’ middle and get sucker punched. She remains silent the remainder of the scene and then hands Axel a slip of paper, folded in half, and turns away.

He peeks at the address, giggles. “You live on Wayfinder Way? What, seriously?”

She smacks his shoulder again. “So help me God, if you show up at my house…”

“Aqua, that is exactly what I intend to do.” If Vanitas pulls this stuff again, he’s going to take it outside the bar, so to speak. And then whatever happens, no one can blame Saïx.

“And then what?”

“Excuse me?”

She takes an angry bite off the pretzel and waves it in a circle. “You’re skulking around our place and then what are you going to do?”

Axel examines his knuckles. It’s been a long time since he’s seen them purple and blue, black and yellow. Even longer since he’s set anything interesting on fire. “I’ll use my imagination.” Rising from the desk, he tucks the slip into a tight gold denim pocket, swapping it with the plugs that Roxas had handed him, and heads for the door.

“Axel, wait,” Aqua catches his forearm, swallows. “What if there was another way? No firing Vanitas or Roxas.”

He taps his fingers against the door frame and turns back around, wondering if Aqua had somehow come up with a solution he hadn’t. “You have my attention.”

“Fire me again.”

You’re killing me, Smalls. “What?

“Do it,” she strides closer, taping the pretzel against his chest. “Fire me. Say it.”

“Aqua,” he hesitates, wondering if she’s screwing with him, “you’re fired.” He lets it sit in the air, too heavy, and then groans, “Ugh. Nope. Still can’t do it. You’re unfired. And I’m going to have to gargle some Listerine now. Which drawer do you think Saïx keeps it in?”

Axel strides back to Saïx’s desk and tugs the bottom drawer open with the toe of his boot.

“Okay, so not fired, then,” she allows, taking a bite and chewing as she ruminates, arms crossing, “suspended?”

“Here it is.” Axel produces a small bottle of pine green mouthwash, and uncaps it with the same flourish he’d uncork a fine wine.

Aqua covers a laugh with her hand and manages levelly, “And you can unfire me when he gets his act together.”

“You think he’d do that for you?” Axel presses his lips to the bottle and tilts his head back.

The air smells like mint sprigs and Aqua grimaces. “You just straight up put your mouth on Saïx’s Listerine.”

Axel makes a show of gargling and spits the results into a spare coffee mug. Then he lifts an eyebrow, leering the tiniest bit. “Trust me, Saïx has no issues with my mouth germs anywhere.”

Aqua chokes, clears her throat. “Now I have a nasty taste in my mouth.”

“You brought it up.” He raises the bottle as if in toast and then screws the cap back on. “Sai won’t like this, speaking of.”

Aqua shakes her head, eyes on the security feed, where Vanitas is checking out the woman with questionable taste in young reptilian vigilante themed backpacks. Axel would have gone with Michelangelo or Raphael, himself. “Vanitas will straighten out his act to help me. I know he will.”

“If he doesn’t, I’m going to look like the massive jerk who fired St. Aqua right before Christmas.” Axel scowls, he can already hear the flak from Xaldin, and god forbid anyone tell Terra. “I’ll probably be haunted by sinister but well-intentioned ghosts.”

“Axel, honey,” she frowns, tone all sympathetic. “Everyone already thinks you’re a massive jerk.”

Ouch. Someone’s had one too many shifts with Larxene. She’s the queen of harsh but true.

“Yeah, well.” He slides the mouthwash back into the drawer and picks up the plugs he’s set on the desktop, watching them catch the harsh, backroom light. “Roxas doesn’t.”

Her expression hardens, a judgment he doesn’t quite understand written in her creasing forehead. “Then don’t prove him wrong. Axel…please.”

“Fine. You win. Congratulations, Aqua. You’re fired. Please return your lanyard and snarky attitude to the desk drawer.” He gestures toward the empty space beside Saïx’s Listerine.

Aqua takes off her lanyard and drops it in. Turning on her heel, she pushes her way out and onto the sales floor. He follows suit, hanging in the door frame as Aqua chucks the last nugget of her pretzel at his cheek. “Screw you, Axel.” And if the whole store didn’t hear that, it wasn’t her fault. The words echo in his ears as she storms out, grabbing Vanitas’ by the wrist and taking him along for the ride.

“Nice talking to you too, Aqua.”

#kingdom hearts #axel #aqua #roxas #vanitas #saix #akuroku #akusai #organization xiii #the other day at hot topic #my writing

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