Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The trunk and backseat were both loaded with an excessive amount of stuff, all the foam weaponry stacked carefully to prevent it from being crushed. Riku shut the car door with his phone in-hand and his backpack adjusted over one shoulder, Kairi emerging from the passenger seat with a little bounce. Her own sword was already being safely stored at the duplex Sora shared with his brother, so she'd only needed to bring along clothes, homework, and the heavy binder she'd compiled of all their player information in.

“Maybe I should bring in my pauldrons,” Riku mused, sending off the text to let Sora know they'd arrived. “There's a bit more I could do to finish them up...”

Where he found the time to craft leather was a mystery to Kairi. Between his final year of pre-med and his job at the automotive repair shop, he already seemed to have no time to spare for sleep. Hanging out was an infrequent treat, only guaranteed on one weekend per month. Riku made time for this.

“I can help you carry them in. I've got spare hands,” Kairi offered. Riku shook his head.

“I'll leave my bag, I can borrow Sora's stuff... One second.” Or wear his own clothing, as half of his wardrobe was already packed away in Sora's drawers. He stayed with his boyfriend often enough that it'd become a necessity.

“Ooh, actually, if you're going to be doing your pauldrons tonight, my gauntlets could use a little work,” Kairi piped up hopefully. “I wasn't going to mention it, but if you're bringing your tools out anyway...”

Riku put his bag back in the car and started rooting through the trunk. “I can work on them if you want. Pauldrons won't take long.”

“You're the greatest.”

He waved back at her in acknowledgement, and Kairi went to the door to ring the bell for the upper floor.

Inside, Sora flew by the kitchen while stuffing his phone back in his pocket. Roxas, perusing the fridge, glimpsed the flurry and tonelessly asked, “Riku?”

“And Kairi!” Sora yelled, leaving the door to their second-floor apartment open and taking the steps two at a time down to the front door. He opened it before the doorbell's sing-song could play out in full, and promptly wrapped Kairi up in a warm hug.

“Hey!”

“Hey,” Kairi greeted, hugging him back. “Riku just went back to his car for a couple things.”

“He's still working on stuff? But I have movies,” Sora protested, starting back up the stairs.

“Little stuff,” she reassured him. “That he can do with movies on.”

“I guess so.” Sora let her go and perked up, spotting Riku as he came up to the front with a bundle of leather armor piled in his arms. “Riku!”

A grin spread on Riku's face as he came up the stairs, and he angled his body to kiss him. Sora did the work with his hands on Riku's shoulders to balance them as he kissed back.

“Hi, Roxas,” Kairi, used to the brazen shows of affection, ignored them and dropped her heavy backpack on the couch.

“Hey,” Roxas replied, distracted.

Riku deepened the kiss as though they were not lingering in the doorway. He hadn't seen Sora in a very long time – two days – and their plans for the weekend meant he wouldn't have many opportunities to make out.

“Stop letting the cold air out!” Roxas called. Sora made a dismissive sound against Riku's lips.

“Mn...” Riku refused to break away for another moment, but reluctantly acquiesced. “Nn, okay, let's go in...”

With a grudging nod, Sora backed up into the house. Riku took a second to admire him before following.

“Guess I'll drop this stuff in the living room?” Riku suggested.

“Yep, wherever you want. I cleared a space for us,” Sora told him. “And bought snacks!”

Roxas was starting to understand what kind of sleepover this was. He was used to it after several months of this kind of routine, but hadn't been given the customary heads-up. “Uh, did I miss something?”

Putting everything carefully down on the clear floor in front of the television, Riku glanced up in confusion, expecting Roxas to know what was going on, especially considering... “Sleepover? It's LARP weekend.”

Roxas stared. “That's this weekend?”

Sora laughed. “Yeah, I told you-...” he stopped at the very familiar look on Roxas's face. “Or... maybe I meant to tell you and forgot I didn't.”

Kairi and Riku exchanged a look of exasperated amusement.

Roxas slapped a hand onto his face. “You're the one who wanted me to do this so bad!”

This was the LARP weekend. The one Sora had wheedled him into coming along for. Roxas had expected a week's notice – or, more realistically, at least to have been told a day or two before.

“... I have more armor pieces in the trunk,” Riku said. “My old gauntlets, Sora's old chain shirt – needs some repair, but... we could cobble something together.”

“Or I could not go to this one,” Roxas suggested, not sure how serious he was.

Sora rushed over to him. “Aw, come on, Roxas. I know you've been making a character.”

“Wh-... How could you know that?”

“You leave your notebooks open on the table,” Sora replied, as though it was obvious.

“You-!”

Riku was honestly indifferent, but knew Sora really wanted his brother to come along. “Do you have a class in mind?”

Roxas glared at Sora. “Maybe, but I don't have enough planned to play a character by tomorrow!”

“That's not a problem!” Kairi leapt onto the couch to start digging through her bag. “Tell me everything you've got so far and I'll help you fill in the rest.”

“Kairi's the expert,” Riku informed him.

“I haven't made a character from scratch since we started this campaign!” Kairi squealed as she unearthed the binder, clearly relishing this. Uncertain, Roxas looked between all three of them.

“We don't mind helping you, Rox. We're pretty much all good to go, tonight was just going to be for hanging out,” Sora volunteered.

“I'll go back to the car...” Riku moved his tool kit aside and got up.

“Thanks, Riku!” Sora sent him an affection-laden smile.

Roxas quietly wrestled with himself. To say he'd been looking forward to going with his brother and his friends to their dorky live-action roleplaying weekend would be an exaggeration, but... It wasn't like he hadn't given the idea thought since it was first brought up. Sora had asked semi-seriously whether or not he'd come with them for months, but after their last game, he'd started needling with a lot more enthusiasm. Roxas had caved at the time, and spent just as much time thinking of excuses to bow out as he did thinking about what kind of character he'd play.

LARP sounded not completely unlike the MMOs he'd favored back in high school, and he kind of missed those. He didn't have time for games anymore, now that he was a workaholic college student. It could actually be kind of fun.

“... I'll try to come up with something, but if I don't like it, I'm staying home,” he decided.

“I promise you'll like what we come up with.” Kairi clapped her hands together. “This is so exciting!”

Riku stole another kiss before he went, arms wrapped around Sora, who swayed in contentment.

“If I keep them talking, will I have to endure less of this?” Roxas indicated the lovebirds.

“Slightly less, but they've gotten good at kiss-talking.” Hastily, she added, “Oh, but once we get there, the two of them are on opposite sides all weekend.”

“Mm...” Catching that, Riku drew away. “That's right. We'll have to get it all in before tomorrow.”

Roxas recoiled. “Eugh.”

“I don't think Roxas needed to hear that... in those words,” Kairi told him.

“Dude, that doesn't mean we're having sex,” Sora waved towards the couch. “Kairi's here!”

Riku rolled his eyes in wordless agreement, resuming his course to get things from his car.

“I'm going to get my notebook,” Roxas said, choosing to wipe that imagery from his brain.

“Kairi will want to take notes on your notes,” Riku informed him from the doorway, closing it behind him.

Sora slid onto the floor next to the couch, watching Roxas depart to his room. “So, what d'you think's happening this weekend?”

“I dunno. Namine won't share her plans over text,” Kairi said. “Out of game knowledge, and all.”

Namine ran the entire weekend and had for the past year. She didn't interact with many of the other players out of game, and Kairi wasn't even sure whether or not Namine was her real name.

Roxas returned to find the two of them embroiled in conversation, which he couldn't even begin to try to follow. He dropped his notebook in front of Kairi.

“If he manages to rally the new Unversed along with the Heartless – oh,” Kairi paused and grinned, picking up Roxas's notes. “Thank you.”

As she flipped through his chicken scratch, Riku returned with everything they weren't already going to use. He had to wrestle with chain and leather to get himself through the door, and Sora jumped up to help.

“I got it!”

“Thanks,” Riku let some of the armor spill into Sora's waiting arms. “I did bring old armor pieces, I bundled everything when you mentioned Roxas might play.”

“Good thinking. I didn't even think to ask him what he was planning to do for gear,” Sora realized.

Kairi tapped her pencil against the notebook. “Okay, you've got a thief character. So that's a rogue class, obviously. Have you thought about affiliation?”

“Uh, no one explained to me what the options are,” Roxas hesitated.

Riku came to the living room and set the rest of the armor down. “It's standard dark side against light side.”

“And light side is better,” Sora added.

“Sora and I are light side,” Kairi explained patiently. “Riku started out that way, but his character became corrupted and now he fights dark side.”

“Boo!” Sora flicked Riku.

Smirking, Riku started to sort through the pile. “There are divisions or groups in both sides. The GM assigns them private goals, or characters personal ones.”

He was vaguely familiar with some of the terms, enough to know that the 'GM' was the game master – the one pulling all the strings of the story.

“Let me guess,” Roxas said dully, “all the groups are already decided and filled with old friends like you guys.”

“Not necessarily!” Kairi told him. “Some of them have been around forever, like the Organization, but plenty of groups form and break apart all the time. Some groups or pairs just come for certain weekends, or groups sometimes bring in friends.”

“Okay, can I just be with you and Sora, then?” Roxas asked.

“Namine will want backstory,” Riku chimed in.

Kairi lit up. “I can do backstory.”

“Okay, just... don't go overboard,” Roxas said, holding in a wince. He was already in over his head, he just knew it.

Sora swung one of their outdated foam swords. “We can't spend all the time on story. He's in big trouble if he doesn't know combat.”

“You want me to beat up your brother with a foam sword?” Riku considered this, not totally opposed.

“Sure. And I can teach him,” Sora declared. He was actually a very capable fighter, well trained from a childhood of martial arts and honed by his job at the security agency.

“Uh, you're planning to do this inside?” Roxas balked, getting a mental image of their television screen cracked into thousands of pieces.

“We could use the parking lot,” Riku said.

Now sitting with a huge mythology textbook open in her lap, Kairi suggested, “Maybe you should just go over the theory, and show him before the game tomorrow.”

“Hm... Probably a good idea so I can get to work.” Riku opened his tool kit and withdrew a pair of pliers to start removing links of the chainmail shirt's hem.

“I'll teach him everything he needs to know,” Sora said. “Oh, what's your name gonna be?”

Roxas paused. “... Shit, I didn't think of that.”

“I can help you come up with one,” Kairi offered excitedly.

Amused, Riku clipped one of the links to make them even. “It'll have to be something you'll respond to. So, nothing too complicated.”

“Like... Hercules!” Sora proposed.

“No Greeks.” Kairi didn't look up from the book in her lap. Clearly, Sora had hit one of the sore spots she'd developed from her ancient mythology major. “So unoriginal.”

“What are your names, then?” Roxas asked.

Riku indicated himself, Kairi, and Sora in turn. “Terra, Aqua, Ventus.”

“So... Latin is so much more fresh and new than Greek.” Roxas gave Kairi a look. She pointedly did not look up from her book to see it.

“Iago!” Sora tried again.

“If you're setting him up to be another traitor to the Light...” Riku mused.

“You're just suggesting Disney names now,” Roxas, wise to his brother's ways, called him out.

“Archimedes?”

“Sora, Archimedes is still Greek,” Kairi informed him.

“It is...?” He'd been convinced it was medieval.

Riku snorted. “Anything out of Hercules or Sword in the Stone, you can probably omit.”

“Anyway, why would you name a thief character after a mathematician? Obviously,” Kairi shook her head.

Sora looked somewhat sulky. “He's an educated owl...”

“That's more suited to a cleric,” Riku argued.

“Can I just declare no names from cartoons right now?” Roxas said.

“How about we leave the name for now and we can work on your stats,” Kairi offered.

“Shame. I liked the direction Sora was going in.” Riku appraised the chainlink hem critically.

Roxas ignored Riku. “Okay, so... stealth, agility, I'm presuming?”

“Mm-hm.” Kairi started scribbling on a pre-prepared character sheet. “Since you're starting new, you've got thirteen points to allocate.”

“I forget how low you start off,” Riku snickered, perhaps slightly cocky ever since he was given an old player's stat points to distribute as he wished.

Roxas gave him a narrow-eyed look.

“Those are Namine's rules, not ours.” Kairi turned the sheet to show Roxas the basic stats he could add to. “If you want my advice, don't do the new player thing and put it all in Constitution. You'll have Sora and I protecting you, so odds are you won't take big damage. Plus I've got heal spells. Put it towards your speed so you can dodge and strike.”

“Uh, okay... Do that,” Roxas said.

“Oh, and, if you boost your class bonuses enough, you can work towards a cloaking bonus in maybe three or four games from now,” Kairi gushed.

Deeming the mail good enough, Riku put it aside. “Play cautious to start, though. Your character can die.”

“What happens if I die? Do I just go wait in the car?”

“You start the character creation process over from scratch,” Riku answered.

“Basically, you'd have to wait for Namine to be free and talk to her,” Sora added.

“Oh.” Roxas was a little worried, now. He did not want to sit around with nothing to do.

“It's like Kairi said, though,” Riku contributed. “You'll have a couple of high-level players watching your back while you level.”

“And Namine wouldn't give you anything you're not prepared for. She'll probably ask you to do some little helper quest,” Sora said.

“Sure. Great.” That didn't sound particularly thrilling. Roxas was feeling less certain about this, again.

“If you want, I can just balance your stats for you and you can tell me what you think.”

“... Yeah, okay.”

“You'll gain levels fast,” Riku reassured him. Kairi turned the page back towards herself and started to write.

“There's like... a bit of group experience you get from stuff we take down, as well as anything you do,” Sora said. “I forget how it works exactly, but because we can take on big enemies, you'll get tons of free exp from that, and so you'll level even faster than normal.”

“Namine gives experience for good storytelling, too. Big character building stuff,” Riku added.

“So I'll do great,” Roxas said flatly.

“Pick a character trait and stick with it.” Quieter, Riku went on, “Try 'belligerent'.”

Roxas turned his face away to make it abundantly clear he was ignoring Riku, and with a look at Sora, Riku decided not to needle him any more.

While Kairi wrote down numbers, she explained the basics of the overarching story: the three of them had entered the campaign shortly after Namine had taken over as the game master, starting off as low-ranking soldiers of the Light side. They became pretty involved right off the bat, indoctrinated by one of the original players – Eraqus – and becoming pivotal in developing the Light side. The RP threatened to die down as the Dark side dwindled, but was saved as 'Terra' began to be swayed by them. Another player by the name of Xehanort left the LARP shortly after Eraqus did, but was too key of a player to simply bow out. His departure was a plot device, infusing Terra with his character’s stats and abilities, which had the obligatory byproduct of switching Terra to the Dark side.

The ensuing battle of Terra versus Aqua and Ventus caused a schism, Kairi explained. Terra led a new side of rebels and created his own Dark side following, and Aqua took over lead of the Light side with Ventus as her second-in-command. The struggle between Light and Dark had been perpetuated by the three of them ever since, a conflict that Roxas's character would get to navigate after starting neutral.

Roxas absorbed only about a quarter of the backstory. All he really understood was that he wasn't officially affiliated with Sora, but he was going to play it that way anyway. There was no way in hell he was comfortable going off on his own, his first time out.

That realization meant that somewhere along the line that he'd decided he was going, though. He was spending his weekend out in the middle of nowhere, dressed up in leather armor and wielding a piece of foam, pretending to be someone else.

Fun.

They started seeing the other players before even pulling into the expansive lot, and Roxas surveyed them with mild interest. There was quite an assortment, some committing very heavily to the look of their character while others were more casual. There was a woman in full face-paint and ornate robes, carrying a staff that must have contained battery powered LEDs. Another girl in shiny plate armor that might have been constructed from tinfoil, but still had the desired effect of bulking her up past her less-than-considerable height. And then, a couple of guys with dollar store foam swords and costumes thrown together from their closets.

It made him feel a little better about his level of preparation. With Riku's help, he'd look the part, and with Kairi's he had a decent character sheet. Stubbornly, though, he refused all of the suggested names and stuck with his own.

Riku parked the car, wearing the basics of his costume sans armor. “Alright, tents should come out first, those are a pain to set up when the armor's already on,” he started. “Sora, if you want to take Roxas to Namine, Kairi and I can probably handle that.”

“Gee, thanks for volunteering me,” Kairi teased, not really minding. She could say hello to Namine afterwards.

“Sure. Shouldn't take... too long.” Sora eyed all the people in the parking lot bunching up in a half-assed line in front of their tiny game master. Namine had an enormous notebook in her arms, wearing a simple white dress and crown of white flowers in her blonde hair.

“We'll see,” Riku, not blind to the large jumble of players signing in, chose not to guess at how long it'd really take. He pocketed the keys and clambered out of the car, the others following suit.

Sora took them to the end of the approximate line up, which thankfully moved fast. The only two players who weren't splitting off to set up after checking in were a pair in matching black leather, one considerably more dressed up than the other. The young man working on a character sheet had a guitar and was wearing his armor over a t-shirt that was almost long enough to qualify as a tunic, but the other had pointed ears and flame patterns inked over his skin. Twin marks under his eyes looked to be tattooed there, and his eyes were too green to be real.

Sora greeted everyone he knew, introducing Roxas to them right up until they reached the front. “Hey, Namine!”

Namine smiled, surprisingly in her element for someone normally inclined to shyness. “Ventus, it's good to see you. Signing in for Terra and Aqua, too?”

“Yep,” he beamed. “And I brought a new player.”

Roxas, feeling like a total outsider, said, “Yeah, that's me...”

“Wonderful! I have to sign in another new player as well, but can I get your character name?” Namine flipped to a different page in her book.

“... Roxas,” he mumbled.

“'Roxas'?” Nearby, the redhead in black leather shot Namine a skeptical look. “He isn't being brought into the Organization based on his name.”

“Of course not,” she agreed mildly, writing something down.

“Uh, the what?” Roxas frowned, bewildered.

“Oh, yeah. We told you about the Organization yesterday... sort of,” Sora amended. They'd touched on the Dark side's rogue faction before, a group that had been established even before Namine took over. “I forgot you all had names with an 'x' in them.”

The guy raised an eyebrow. “It's a defining feature. You're sure you're not just gonna try to muscle into our group?”

“I wouldn't allow that anyway, Axel,” Namine said. “He'd need a backstory and reason to already be introduced to the Organization guild. Is this your first LARP?” She directed that question at Roxas.

He wanted to defend himself and show this guy how little he cared about his guild. “Hm? Uh, yeah.”

“Doesn't matter,” Sora put an arm around Roxas. “Their guild is like, crazy exclusive. You have to be invited by another member and everything. Anyway, you're going to be on me and Kai – Aqua's side anyway, right?”

Roxas gave the guy – Axel, apparently – another dirty look. “... I guess so?”

Appearing satisfied, Axel turned back to his friend, who was slowly parsing through stat allocation.

“We'll start you off as an unaffiliated party to give you more options,” Namine smiled encouragingly. “You can stick with Ventus and Aqua for the time being, but don't sign on to the Light side until you've seen what both sides have to offer.”

“Er, how does that work?” Roxas asked.

“Well, to start with, do you already have a character sheet or class?” Namine inquired.

“Yeah, sort of.” Roxas grabbed the folded paper Kairi had given him out of his pocket. Accepting it, Namine balanced her book on her hip and unfolded it, eyes running over the character sheet.

“Oh good, you have a full character page! So, a thief... We can write it in that Aqua and Ventus hired you and give you a task to complete by the end of the weekend.”

“Sure.” He was relieved she hadn't tried harder to fit his character into the story, since he remembered very little of the lore summarized to him last night.

“A goal will give you a point to jump off of,” Namine said. “I'm just going to write down your information, and then I'll find you later to give you your quest.”

“All done!” Abruptly, the guy with the guitar broke into the conversation, picking up his sheet and his instrument.

“So... until then I just follow them around doing what they do?” Roxas looked from Namine to Sora.

“Essentially, unless anything else strikes your interest,” Namine said. She reached out a hand for the other character sheet being offered to her and checked the name. “Demyx! Welcome to the game.”

Demyx offered a slight wave.

“... Right.” Roxas wasn't sure what that meant. “Am I allowed to ask questions when we're in character?”

“Of course! Just note beforehand that you're going out of character,” Namine told him.

“I'll just ask about the rest along the way, then...”

“Perfect. Oh!” Namine smiled at the next pair coming to sign in. “Zexion and Lexaeus. It's been a while.”

“And so the Organization gets some numbers back. Nice,” Axel grinned. Flanked by his hulking counterpart, Zexion noted that little seemed to have changed in the months they'd been absent. Lexaeus, stoic to the point of seeming angry, carried the most massive foam tomahawk anyone was likely to ever see.

Demyx stared. “Ienzo?”

Zexion bristled in alarm and looked for the source of his real name – no one but Lexaeus and Vexen were privy to his out of character identity.

Righting himself, Demyx grinned brightly. “Hey, it is you! Ienzo! L – Axel, this guy's the TA of my marine biology class.”

“No kiddin',” Axel drawled.

Zexion narrowed his eyes. “My character name is Zexion. Please use that name and no other for the remainder of the weekend, and I will show you the same courtesy.”

“I don't mind!” Demyx said.

“Demyx,” Axel stressed the name. “Start getting into character.”

“Oh, yeah, right,” Demyx laughed. “Sorry, Ienzo. Or, Zexion, sorry.”

Ignoring him now, Zexion double-checked that they were successfully signed in with a soundless sigh. Lexaeus gave him a neutral look that could have been sympathy.

Taking Roxas by the shoulder, Sora returned to Riku and Kairi with one last exuberant wave to the other players in line. Uncertain about what the rest of the weekend would look like, Roxas told himself that it at least probably wouldn't involve 'the Organization'.

So, he had to track down the Organization.

Namine had stopped by. Kairi and Sora were deep in character, and acted as though the idea to 'hire' Roxas had come to them naturally instead of having been told to hire him by their GM. Every session, another sheet of a report by ‘Xehanort’ was put into play, another piece of an overarching puzzle. The reports supposedly detailed the methods Darkness used to spread and corrupt, and thus, how Riku's character had been warped into switching sides. They escorted him within a hundred or so yards of the Organization's camp, ducking by the brush.

Kairi was almost unrecognizable without her red hair, and unnervingly, Sora looked more like Roxas than ever before in a blonde wig. He had no idea how Sora had managed to fit his untamed brown locks under there, even though he'd watched Kairi work that particular magic. They both had serious expressions on their face, and when Kairi spoke, she sounded as grave as though it was a life or death situation being discussed.

“We know from our scouts that the reports we need are in a cache at that camp,” Kairi told him. “Retrieve them, and you will be paid handsomely. But if you are discovered, do not engage the Organization. Run, and live to see your pride restored.”

Roxas felt stiff and lame next to Kairi's easy charisma in her character. “I, uh... right. I will.”

He got a fairly weighty slap on the arm from Sora before the small Light party moved a safe distance away, leaving him to crouch in the bushes. Roxas glanced over the top of the foliage, feeling... well, marginally less ridiculous than when he started.

Finding his character wasn't as easy as slipping into an old role the way it was for Sora, but it was becoming easier all the time to distance himself from 'himself'. The costume, the atmosphere, having a task in his head – it all helped make things feel real instead of dorky.

Well, less dorky.

He started to creep closer, his heart beating faster and faster. The crunch of grass and twigs underfoot was a little too loud, proof that he wasn't nearly as stealthy as his stat allocation made him out to be, but he was lighter on his feet than ever before. He went slow, thinking about every step, scanning the area repeatedly for signs of danger.

He was so focused that he could almost forget this was just a game.

A handful of Organization members were holding down the fort, and the intentionally aged papers he was looking for were resting on a slightly rotted tree stump. Roxas spied them after a couple of sweeps of the area, Axel and Lexaeus occasionally blocking his view as the two of them sparred. What that actually involved was a lot of running and dodging, on Axel's part.

Perched on another stump, Demyx plucked at the strings of his guitar, apparently taking his role as a bard very seriously. Or, Roxas thought so, until he started singing.

“Come one and all, come take a look, at Zexion and his battle book...”

Eyes shut in irritation, Zexion crossed his arms. Demyx had been following the group around but contributing little else.

“Whoa – not the head, big guy, you'll shave my ears down,” Axel complained, ducking the tomahawk. Impassive, Lexaeus shouldered his massive foam sword.

“I'm bored,” Demyx announced, sending a look over at Namine, who was making notes on a scroll a short distance away. She had yet to issue Demyx an individual quest, but he probably wouldn't have done much differently even if she had. “Aren't we supposed to do something?”

Roxas sidled along the tree line, trying to make himself as narrow as possible to keep out of sight.

“Nothing to do yet, but I'll come up with something if it'll make you stop composing,” Axel said.

Circling wide, Roxas searched for an opening and, in the process, unknowingly stepped into the area of effect of a veiled alert spell Zexion had cast. Lexaeus had been deliberately ignoring Roxas until that moment, but indicated his way when he glimpsed him crossing the line.

“But we need theme songs – I mean ballads!” Demyx argued. Axel would've contested that, but had other priorities.

“Hold on.”

Zexion opened his detailed lexicon, full of spells and story lore that he'd painstakingly written into the thickest tome he'd been able to buy. Unaware that he'd been spotted, Roxas kept sneaking around the camp site.

He was getting closer to the papers he needed...

Picking up his foam disks, Axel backed up from Lexaeus and sidled towards their cache. “Maybe we can go again... Get some bardic inspiration to get the blood flowing...”

Zexion muttered in one of the in-game languages to stall for time while he decided on a spell to cast.

Roxas froze and ducked behind a tree. Silently, Namine started rolling dice.

“GM,” Axel called out, keeping an eye on him, “can I get an opportunity attack?”

Dice hit the book, and Namine nodded. Roxas tried to catch her eye, having no idea what he was supposed to do now, and he paid for his distraction. Rounding on Roxas, Axel threw one of the disks at his legs. Startled, Roxas dropped onto his back and got his legs tangled with the weapon.

“Huh?!” Demyx reacted by starting a faster-paced song.

“I cast Bind,” Zexion said to Namine.

She rolled, and notified him, “It's successful.”

Roxas looked between them in alarm. “Wait, what does that mean -”

“You're bound,” Zexion rolled his eyes. “Do I need to read you a definition?”

He flushed angrily. “Can't I defend myself?”

“You failed to save,” Namine clarified. “For now, you're bound, but if you can come up with a creative way to escape, I'll allow it.”

Axel withdrew a length of thick leather string that he used to tie his hair back and went to tie up Roxas's wrists. “Hold still and maybe we won't send you back to your masters in pieces. Got it memorized?”

“I haven't got any 'masters',” Roxas snapped defensively, without a thought for his character.

“That so?” Axel tightened the cord, not enough to hurt. The jolt made Roxas's breath catch, regardless. “Then you haven't got any loyalty to test, do you?”

Roxas glared rather than say more. To his irritation, he realized upon looking at him this close that the annoying stranger was actually very attractive... And, worse still, he was reminded that he hadn't bothered looking twice at anyone in almost a year.

“Tell us what you were after,” Axel commanded.

He kind of disliked him more for not having a real reason to dislike him. Regardless, Roxas definitely wasn't about to tell him anything. “Maybe I was looking for you.”

“Then you should have been more forward,” Axel purred. “Tell the truth.”

“I don't have to tell you anything.”

Zexion scoffed. “Honor amongst thieves?”

Axel steered Roxas forward towards the sword Lexaeus had leveled at him. “You might be compelled to tell us what you wanted and who sent you. If you answer quick enough, maybe you'll even be allowed to go free.”

Alarmed by the size of this guy, Roxas tensed. “How do I know you won't just kill me once you get what you want?”

Not going so far as to actually touch him, Axel ghosted a hand over Roxas's jaw. “It'd be a shame to ruin something so pretty if we don't have to.”

“Wait, is this roleplaying?” Demyx inquired.

Axel shot him an exasperated look.

Roxas swallowed. He hadn't actually expected him to play the seduction angle with another guy. “Uhh...” he looked at Namine. “Is there a test or something I can do to escape?”

“A dexterity save to escape your physical bonds, but Zexion's spell is in effect up to an hour so long as his concentration isn't broken,” Namine answered. “You would need to attack Zexion, and he would have to fail a constitution roll.”

“Means you're good and stuck,” Axel whispered. Roxas jerked back from him, paranoid that Axel knew he could get into this without much more prompting.

“Okay... What about to lie to them?” Roxas asked.

“That can be done as a free action. There are no deception checks in this game, it's all based on how you build your character.”

“Oh.” Roxas reddened. “That was out of character, so...”

Lexaeus spoke for the first time. “Understood. We didn't hear that.”

“This is so confusing,” Demyx complained, shrugging carelessly and plucking at his guitar strings.

Pleasantly surprised that this hulking person actually abided by the rules, Roxas tried to get his bravado back. “How badly do you want to know who was after your stuff and why?”

Axel looked over at Zexion. “We aren't paying him off for what he knows, are we?”

He smirked imperiously. “Hardly. I'm starting to reconsider... Is his information even worth getting?”

“We could always kill him, see who comes next. Maybe they'll have a looser tongue.” Axel turned Roxas's chin towards him. “Unless that's the problem? I could loosen that for you.”

Roxas choked, tripping himself up in the attempt to back away. Axel seized him to keep him at the end of Lexaeus's sword.

“No running, now.”

Zexion nodded to Lexaeus. “Let's see how much this information is really worth to him.”

Lexaeus put the sword point right at Roxas's throat.

“Better start singing,” Axel taunted.

The danger felt strangely real. He abruptly remembered that if he died he would have to spend the rest of the weekend waiting in the car for Kairi to help him with a new character, or worse...

Camping.

“You know what? I don't care anymore,” Roxas decided. “Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you.”

“That's more like it. What were you after?” Axel demanded.

Roxas exhaled. “... Some journal entries by a guy called Xehanort.”

Axel shot Zexion a significant look.

“Who hired you?” Zexion narrowed his eyes. Roxas glanced towards the tree line, wondering if Kairi and Sora were still nearby.

“Was it 'Her Majesty'?” Axel drawled.

Roxas didn't like his tone. “Ventus.”

“The lapdog,” Axel scowled.

“That's all I know. They didn't tell me what they wanted it for.”

“They think it will save their friend,” Zexion smirked.

“How sweet and naïve,” Axel mocked.

“The Terra guy?” Demyx asked.

“That's the one,” Axel confirmed.

“Can I go now?” Roxas asked.

Axel snorted. “Again... sweet and naïve.”

“I gave you what you wanted,” Roxas snarled. “What more can you get out of me?”

“Oh, the things I want. But pleasure waits for business, and you are the perfect bait,” Axel leered.

“Why would they come after me? I'm not worth more than hired help to them.” Roxas was lying. He knew Sora would try to save him, even in a game where they were strangers.

“They need those reports, and they'll want to save any innocent to fall into our hands.” Axel grinned, patting his shoulder. “Welcome to the Organization, hostage.”

Hastily, Roxas said, “You know I'm not loyal to them, right? Why make me a hostage when I could work for you?”

Apparently, Axel had either forgotten his worry that Roxas would try to join their group uninvited, or didn't actually care. “He makes a tempting offer,” he said to Zexion. “What do you think?”

“Offers are easy to make. I see no reason not to keep him as a hostage until we see some proof his intentions are as mercenary as he claims,” Zexion replied. Lexaeus nodded once in agreement.

“We'll look more favorably on you if you don't try to run,” Axel promised.

Roxas straightened up. “Fine.”

“We should move on from this site, in case he's tracked here,” Axel decided.

“You're not even going to untie me?” Roxas protested.

“Can't trust you.” Axel scanned him. “Besides, it's a good look for you.”

His face went hot.

Demyx picked up his guitar and pushed himself up from the stump. “So where are we going?”

“We're to rendezvous with Saix at High Point,” Zexion said. Lexaeus began gathering up their cache and camping supplies.

“Let's get going.” Axel prompted Roxas along, and laughed when he jerked away to walk on his own. “So feisty.”

With Lexaeus hauling their things, they started en route to the designated meeting spot, and Namine slipped off into the trees to check in on other groups. It took Roxas a minute to notice that she'd left, and when he did, his stomach dropped.

He felt strangely abandoned. He'd have to roll his own dice, check with the other players – his captors – about any rules he wasn't clear on.

His trepidation heightened, and once more, the feeling of real danger was reinforced.

The part of the proud captive turned out to be quite easy to play. Roxas was just the right mix of irritated and intrigued by Axel, who'd charged himself with keeping 'the prisoner' in line, and it was startlingly easy to find his character when he had someone to play off of. The others weren't bothering to speak to him very much, though silence seemed to be Lexaeus's way. Zexion had a snobbish air and obviously could not deign to speak to a lowly thief, and Demyx was too involved in his music to pay attention.

At least he'd stopped adding lyrics. It'd only taken repeated telling-off.

“The rendezvous should be just over the next ridge,” Zexion told the group, addressing no one in particular.

“Not getting tired, are you?” Axel drawled, watching Roxas. “We could always start dragging you.”

Head held high, Roxas sniped, “You seem a little too eager to do the dragging.”

“Anything to get my hands on you,” Axel smirked.

Lexaeus steadfastly ignored them, but Zexion rolled his eyes.

“That might worry me if it didn't come from an overexcited dog,” Roxas remarked.

With a mocking laugh, Axel replied, “Watch your mouth. Dogs bite.” They crested the hill, and he nodded to the man waiting for them up ahead. “Saix!”

Roxas was glad they were all too distracted to see him blush.

Saix hastily put his phone away at their approach. Apparently supposed to be some sort of wolf chimera, he was just as flamboyant in his style as the rest of them, but carried it off in such a way that it seemed very unwise to mock him for it. He waited until they were close enough that he didn't have to raise his voice.

“I trust you have it.”

“We do,” Zexion confirmed.

“And what's this?” Saix turned unnervingly empty eyes on Roxas.

“A would-be thief. Better to have a prisoner than risk him revealing our intentions to the princess,” Zexion answered.

“Hm, possibly,” Saix mused. “We can always execute him if he proves worthless.”

Roxas got the chilling sense that he meant that. The dramatic shift in Demyx's guitar playing probably didn't help.

“He's been worthwhile so far. Entertainment, if nothing else,” Axel grinned.

Lexaeus removed the reports to hand over to Saix. His eyes traveled over Namine's immaculate handwriting, lips tilting into something vaguely resembling a smirk.

“Did you learn how many they have?” Saix asked.

“No,” Zexion shook his head. “But perhaps we could extract that from our prisoner.”

“Leave it to me. I'm sure I can get something out of him...” Axel eyed Roxas, who glared.

“I told you, I was hired by S – Ventus. I don't know anything except the job they wanted me to do,” he protested.

“I haven't even started to pump you for information. If that's the whole story, I'm disappointed,” Axel said.

Saix shot him a look of distaste. “That is assuming that we trust you with the interrogation.”

“Don't be jealous,” Axel purred.

“Your methods have hardly been... consistent, in the past,” Saix pointed out.

“That's what makes me exciting.”

Saix leveled him with an unbroken hard look.

“What the prisoner does or doesn't know is of little importance,” Zexion said. “We need to be sure the players are in position for us to strike.”

Not understanding what was being talked about, Roxas tuned out of the conversation and cast sidelong looks at Axel.

“They're one spark away from a full-fledged war,” Axel declared. “It won't be hard.”

Zexion sneered. “Then all that's left is to decide what the spark will be.”

Saix shook the papers in his hand. “These will help with that. For now, this is your assignment.” He removed another paper from a satchel at his side. He unrolled the hand drawn map, which had been meticulously designed to look antique.

Sidling over to inspect them, Axel only bothered to give them a cursory glance before his eyes briefly flickered to Roxas again. “This is detailed...”

The entirety of the campgrounds had been made to look ancient on paper, in line with the game's aesthetic. Saix indicated an area of the park drawn to look like a stone fortress. “Before long it will fall into darkness completely. Both Terra and Aqua will try to beat each other to it. They must reach it at the same time.”

“So let's hold them up overnight. Get them to lay siege tomorrow morning,” Axel said. “They'll divert their forces there, the palace will be unguarded – or, barely guarded...”

Bored again, Demyx resumed singing under his breath. “Battle book, battle book. Full of words Zexion took...”

As usual, Zexion opted not to listen to Demyx. “We should send one team to each party, make it seem as though we're issuing a challenge to keep them away from the fortress. Marluxia and Larxene will make short work of the Light side leaders.”

Saix grunted in agreement. “Meanwhile, our strongest offensive fighters will position themselves around the fortress and clear out any footsoldiers of the Unversed that may be standing guard. Come morning, we want nothing to stand between them and their war.”

Demyx stopped playing on a sour note. “Not me, right? I'm not gonna have to fight… right?”

Axel rolled his eyes. Roxas wondered whether the cowardice was part of Demyx's character, or if he was just too lazy to get involved.

For the first time, Saix took notice of Demyx. Coolly, he asked, “What is it you actually do?”

“I sing?” Demyx offered. Saix raised an eyebrow at Axel, clearly disapproving.

“He has...” Axel paused. “Demyx can... He's a fast runner.”

Demyx beamed proudly, as though that was a huge accomplishment.

“... A decoy, then,” Saix decided.

“That's the best use for him, yeah,” Axel agreed.

“Zexion, I believe you are best suited to deal with Terra,” Saix ordered. “He isn't as foolish as his counterparts, but his weaknesses run deep.”

“If only one knows where to strike,” Zexion finished the thought. “I understand.”

“Leaves me to field the infiltration,” Axel chimed in.

“Correct. Take Lexaeus and your new recruit. I will send Xigbar with another party to cover more ground,” Saix said.

Idly, Roxas wondered if their conversation was scripted. He had a hard time believing ordinary people could just come up with these lines.

“That also gives us until sunrise to decide what to do with you.” Axel sidled back over to Roxas. “And all night to get you under control, if you still feel like joining the Dark side...”

Swallowing hard, Roxas almost balked but was surprised to find a retort springing to mind. “As long as the price is right.”

Pleased, Axel smirked. “How much do you think I'm worth?”

Lexaeus exchanged a stoic glance with Zexion.

Roxas made a show of looking Axel up and down critically before scoffing.

“The prisoner will be left to your... discretion,” Saix told Axel.

He licked his lips subtly. “Oh good.”

“I seriously can't tell if you're actually hitting on him. Are you hitting on him?” Demyx dubiously looked between Axel and Roxas.

“Dem.”

Roxas raised his chin. “What a pathetic intimidation attempt.”

“Don't worry. I have all the time in the world to break you... And I might not even stop at that if you ask nicely,” Axel murmured.

Cheeks burning, Roxas's voice croaked over a response. Axel smirked victoriously, relishing that blush, and Roxas scoffed again... weakly.

“Let's get going,” Lexaeus broke in, and someone looking for a tone to his voice might have interpreted his terseness as impatience. He exchanged another significant look with Zexion before they parted ways, taking the lead and directing them deeper into the trees.

Axel nudged Roxas along, breaching the scant space he'd been keeping between them every time he got close. It was his reflexive inclination to glower or snap at him for it, but Roxas curbed the instinct, just in case Axel thought he seriously minded.

Not that he didn't mind, he just... well, he didn't mind.

Whatever. It was all in-character.

Their conversation continued as they traipsed through the wooded park, Axel working innuendo into most sentences and Roxas sarcastically sniping in return. Interruptions ambushed them in the form of Namine's hired hands, actors with special stat sheets detailing what sort of monster they were playing, and Roxas was pleasantly surprised to find that he was allowed to add experience to his own player sheet every time Axel or Lexaeus took care of them. Demyx spent battles playing ambient music and hanging back, and Roxas – still tied up – couldn't contribute in any way apart from being an attentive audience.

Axel actually looked sort of cool when he fought, considering he was doing battle with foam disks against people in cheap costumes. That wasn't something Roxas would ever admit out loud.

Night had fallen, though, and the novelty wore off after a dozen or so similar fights. Roxas thought it looked a lot more fun to be in the fray than observing, even more so now that there was only the glow of sporadically placed lanterns to see by. He picked at weeds in the grass and waited for them to be done so he could get back to his banter with Axel. Guiltily, he was enjoying every minute of it.

Lexaeus leaned over one of the fallen 'monsters' as Axel struck down the last of them, looking for loot. He shouldered his tomahawk and straightened to his imposing height.

“It's late,” he informed the others.

Axel tilted his head back to peer at the sky through the canopy of leaves. “Sun went down a while back, how are you tracking time?”

“My phone says it's like, nine,” Demyx piped up helpfully.

Lexaeus ignored him. “We should head back to camp.”

Roxas said nothing, rubbing at his arms where the borrowed costume didn't cover. Night had brought a dry chill to the air, goosebumps running over his skin, and Axel's hand felt that much warmer when he came over to help Roxas back to his feet.

“Need someone to warm you up?” he murmured.

“Why, is that the torture you plan to use on me?”

“It's more a tease than torture.”

Lexaeus and Demyx had already started on ahead, leaving Axel and Roxas to follow. The low light concealed any blush that might've been on Roxas's face.

“You're despicable,” he shot at Axel.

“Maybe,” Axel replied. “I'm also the guy in charge of your fate, so you might want to play nice.”

“Never,” Roxas fired back.

“Rough it is, then.”

Roxas glared. It had taken him a while to decide, but now he was certain Axel was flirting with him. He was also into it... in character.

Axel called ahead to the others, Lexaeus and Demyx having gained a little distance. “We don't have a cell to keep him in overnight, do we?”

“A cell?” Demyx echoed incredulously. Lexaeus just didn't say anything.

“Guess not. I'll have to keep an eye on you all night long.” Axel swept forward to the edge of the campsite and nodded at the slight figure awaiting them. “Zexion! Success?”

“That remains to be seen,” Zexion replied.

Roxas tilted his head, slightly curious to see whether or not Sora was around. Other players milled around the camp lot in various states of costume removal, eating and talking. The place was aglow with smartphones that had been hidden away in pockets and pouches all day. Axel acted as though they didn't exist, ushering Roxas a few steps ahead of him.

“That sounds promising, knowing you,” Axel remarked. “As for me, I haven't even begun working over the prisoner.”

“Are we gonna eat? I'm starving,” Demyx looked to Zexion and Lexaeus.

“The cooler is in my tent,” Lexaeus replied.

“Awesome.”

“You can do that after dinner,” Zexion said.

Right, dinner. Roxas wasn't sure what he should do, now – was he supposed to stay and eat the Organization's food, or go find Sora and his friends?

“Sure, I don't need to have all my fun right away,” Axel sighed, long-suffering. “How much do we have, anyway? Are we giving the prisoner scraps, or has he earned a decent meal?”

“Your call. We have enough,” Lexaeus said.

Zexion's tone had changed, slightly. “You could send him back to his own campsite if you're so worried.”

“And what's his incentive to come back?” Axel didn't follow Zexion's lead and abandon character. “He stays.”

“What about his friends?” Demyx inquired.

“I'm definitely not giving him back to the enemy.”

“Take a break,” Zexion advised.

“Pass. Come on.” Axel headed over to their tents with Roxas still in tow.

Following his lead, Roxas said, “Didn't expect it to be that easy.”

“You haven't begun to experience 'hard'.” Axel considered him.

In an undertone, Demyx leaned in to ask Zexion, “We're not supposed to still be in character, right?” He didn't make mention of his own lack of characterization all day.

“There aren't clearly defined rules, apart from breaking character when someone calls for a time out. Some people continue in character after dinner, but most call it a night,” Zexion sighed.

Focused on Roxas, Axel taunted, “Am I gonna have to feed you, or can you be trusted not to fight if I untie you?”

Roxas sneered. “Untie me and find out.”

“Not sure I should. I'd hate to have to kill you after we've become so close.”

“Ohh,” Demyx nodded in understanding, then shrugged. Coming upon their cluster of tents, he went to put his guitar away in his. Across from him, Lexaeus unzipped his own tent flap to haul out the massive cooler, and Zexion sat down on the blanket they'd spread outside their tents.

“Don't feed him by hand, nobody wants to see that,” Zexion implored in distaste.

“Spoilsport.” Axel spun one of the disks in an idle threat on his way to untie Roxas. He muttered by his ear, “I'll be watching you.”

His skin tingled all the way from his ear down his spine. Roxas huffed and stood straighter.

The tie was removed with ease, and honestly could have been slipped out of at any time without much trouble. Axel pocketed it and stepped back. “Have a seat. Make yourself comfortable.”

Slowly, Roxas knelt. Demyx dropped onto the blanket by Zexion with a wide yawn, starting to remove his black leather armor and replacing it with an overlarge hoodie. He tweaked the zipper, then leaned over to open the cooler. It was packed full of water bottles, sodas, and a variety of sandwiches, which Demyx proceeded to deliberate over. Zexion shed the outer layers and his alchemist robe until he was comfortably dressed down, then lit a cigarette as he waited for the cooler to become available.

With the exception of Axel's chakram, Lexaeus was putting their weaponry safely away and retrieving a thick binder full of term papers. Removing a pair of reading glasses from a plain black case, he took out a pen and a sandwich to eat while he worked.

Despite these clear indicators that the others were done LARPing for the day, Axel kept his weaponry pointedly close at hand and made no move to take off his signature armor. He grabbed food for himself, and something for Roxas.

“I'm not sure I should trust the food you give me,” Roxas remarked.

Stretching out, Axel arched an eyebrow. “What good would you be to me if I poisoned you?”

“I still don't know what you intend to do with me.”

“You said you might work with us. I want to find out if we can trust you enough to use you in the coming raid.” Axel scanned him slowly, deliberately. “And if we can't, I bet I could still come up with another use for you.”

Roxas pulled back slightly. “If you were really going to use me for your side, why was I tied up all day?”

“I liked how you look in bondage.”

“You-...” He refused to let on how flustered that made him. “Your intimidation tactics won't work.”

“If you aren't intimidated, are you seduced? I'd be happy with either,” Axel replied.

Demyx swallowed a large bite of a submarine sandwich. “Lea, are you even gonna eat?”

Hastily, Roxas bit into his sandwich. Axel pointedly didn't respond to that name, but apparently was reminded to bother attending to his hunger. He took a bite of his own and crossed one leg over the other.

“See? Not poisoned,” he said. Roxas hummed reluctantly.

“Hey, there he is! Roxas!” A familiar female voice called to him, and he turned to see Kairi frantically waving. “Hey, Roxas!”

“Roxas!” Sora bounded over, a perplexed Riku in his wake. His hair had been freed from the wig and likewise Kairi’s was back to being red.

Roxas froze. Not wanting to be interrupted, Axel reached for his weapons, despite the unspoken rule among players not to engage in combat in the camp grounds.

Sora hurried up to their group. “I've been looking everywhere for you!”

“Do you mind? I don't want you compromising my prisoner,” Axel groused.

“Prisoner?” Sora laughed. “You can come back to our camp, Roxas.”

“... No, I think I should stay here,” he said slowly.

“You'll get him back later,” Axel added. “Much later. Maybe.”

“Are you sure you don't want to come with us?” Riku asked skeptically, clearly thinking Roxas might have been bullied into staying put.

“We have food packed for you and everything,” Kairi said.

“They... have an offer for me that I think I want to hear,” Roxas answered.

The look of dawning surprise on Sora's face told Roxas that he'd caught on, and after a second, he seemed pleased to see his brother getting so into it. “You know, The Organization are the last people you should trust.”

“That's your opinion,” Axel frowned, as though offended.

“Hmf. We'll see about you tomorrow,” Sora challenged. “I'm not gonna let you steal my brother away if I have to drag him back myself.”

Kairi nudged Sora, hissing, “Ventus doesn't have a brother.”

“Oh, yeah, I mean -”

“That's cute,” Axel remarked. “It'll be fun to see you try.”

Sora gave Roxas a meaningful look, and he nodded. “We'll settle this tomorrow,” Sora declared.

“Bye, Ventus,” Axel grinned. “Good luck.”

Kairi gave them a defiant glare, then took Sora's arm to pull him away. Riku, eyebrow raised, turned to follow.

Axel waited until they'd left earshot before falling back into form. “How cute. They care.”

Roxas let out a small laugh. “Their kind always do.”

“You're not wrong,” Axel smirked and offered him a soda. Roxas accepted it.

“I trust you're not interesting in 'saving' me.”

“I'm not the savior type,” Axel confirmed.

Since everyone appeared to have finished taking what they wanted, Lexaeus paused in marking papers to pack the cooler back up. With a smirk, Roxas cracked open the soda.

“So, you really don't have any loyalty to the Light,” Axel observed.

“Heh. I'm just sure the next job they wouldn't pay up because 'doing the right thing is its own reward'.”

Axel snickered. “Then I think we can work out an agreement. Not that you're a free man, I'm still not letting you out of my sight.”

“Then you'll see what I can do,” Roxas replied, sticking his chest out boastfully.

“Can't wait,” Axel purred.

Throat suddenly dry, Roxas took a drink.

When Axel had said that he'd continue to keep an eye on him, they had both – naturally – assumed that meant Roxas would follow him to his tent. Roxas realized too late, though, that there would only be one sleeping bag.

Of course there wasn't a separate place to sleep. Why would there be? What was fairly spacious for one was snug for two, so even if Roxas went to grab his own from Riku's car, they'd still be crushed close while they slept.

Axel started to remove his armor, slanting his eyes towards Roxas once he'd stripped down to his pants. Quietly clearing his throat, Roxas followed suit, the links of his chainmail clinking heavily when they hit the ground. Maybe it was the uncertainty, but he didn't even feel like he'd lost the weight of it, something in the air expectant and thick.

“Suppose we're gonna have to get close, tonight. Does that bother you?” Axel asked.

“You don't plan to knife me while I sleep, do you?” Roxas narrowed his eyes.

“It's tempting, but not now.”

“I almost believe you.” Roxas stripped off the gauntlets and boots, hesitating now that he was down to his pants and a t-shirt.

“I wouldn't kill without a reason,” Axel assured him. “And I wouldn't hurt you unless you asked.”

Roxas reddened. “... Is this something you do often, bring helpless prisoners to sleep in your camp?”

“You're a special case,” Axel remarked.

“Well, you've got me,” Roxas said boldly. “Now what do you plan to do with me?”

“That depends...” Axel approached, the briefest flash of something crossing his face, like he actually had to think about what he was about to do for the first time all day. “How often do you flirt with your captor?”

Far from deter him, that strengthened Roxas's resolve. “I might play with him a little when he's so obviously trying to seduce me.”

Axel's eyes flickered to his lips. “Care to keep playing?”

The resolve crumbled. Suddenly, Roxas didn't know what to think, not sure if this was real. All the same, he'd unconsciously licked his lips. “Uh-...”

“Don't worry... I wouldn't kill you for saying no,” Axel murmured.

“H-hold on, time out.”

Axel promptly shied back. “Yeah?”

“This is... in character, right?” Roxas verified.

“Yeah – I mean. Is it... okay?” Out of character, Axel sounded different. He was a little less smooth, a little more curious. Roxas wracked his brain to remember what his friend had called him – 'Lea', right?

Those little differences, the reminder that 'Axel' wasn't a real person, was all Roxas needed. He'd never do this with a stranger under normal circumstances... but these weren't normal circumstances. This was all a game, a fantasy, and he could be whoever – do whatever – he wanted within the confines of the roleplay.

“Yeah, no, it is. I mean, if it's what 'Axel' and Roxas would do, it's cool,” Roxas confirmed.

There was a bit of laughter in his voice when Lea replied, “I dunno about Roxas, but 'Axel' definitely would.”

Roxas chuckled. “Okay, sorry for breaking the moment.”

“No problem,” Lea grinned. “Time in?”

He nodded, and his heartbeat picked up immediately. Axel leaned in, raising an eyebrow once he was close enough to kiss him.

“Well...?”

Roxas took a half step closer. He was almost pressed against him. “Well, if I get a knife in the back now, it'll be exactly what I deserve.”

One hand slid around the back of Roxas's neck. “Then it's a risk we're both willing to take,” Axel said, and closed the distance.

It was a heated kiss, Axel's lips already parted and caressing his with an appealing amount of force. Roxas was still kind of stunned, but not at all opposed. He grabbed Axel's waist rougher than he normally would and kissed back with equal fervor, drawn in to lay down with Axel on the sleeping bag. The anticipation became real and his heart started to pound.

There wasn't much of a difference between Roxas and 'Roxas', but he decided that his fictional counterpart was forward. He felt down Axel's body, appreciating the definition of his lean muscles and the warmth of his skin. They were getting tangled in each other as Axel felt him in turn, and with a hum, Roxas arched invitingly into his hands when they reached his hips.

Sucking briefly at his lower lip, Axel broke away and descended on his throat, hands never still. They kneaded his hips, worked their way back to admire his ass. Not expecting his mouth to be free, Roxas couldn't keep in a gasp.

“You're sure you don't do this often?” Roxas purred, breath hitching as Axel scraped his teeth lightly over his pulse, the mere suggestion of a bite.

“Just wait until I'm back in practice,” he hummed.

Roxas's hands roamed up his back and dug in at his shoulders. Kissing him hard again, Axel sat up a little to run a hand down his chest and hitch up his shirt.

Sitting back on his elbows while he caught his breath, Roxas watched Axel intently with lowered lids. Giving Roxas's pants a little tug, Axel arched an eyebrow in an unspoken question, and Roxas bit his lip and nodded.

It was clear that Axel liked what he saw when he slid them off, taking his time in checking him out. Pushing him down flat, Axel pushed his shirt up again to kiss down his chest. The gentle shove made Roxas growl, but it definitely wasn't a protest. He bent his knees to bring his legs up around Axel, squeezing against his sides as Axel's tongue teased its way over his skin. He sucked in short bursts over every sensitive area he could find before sinking right between Roxas's legs.

His arms wound around Roxas's thighs, and Axel dragged his open mouth along the hardening shaft of his cock.

A rush of disbelief flooded Roxas alongside shivering heat. “You don't wait around, nn-...”

Axel hummed again as he wrapped his lips around the head, flicking his tongue over the slit and around the crown.

“Gh-...! Ah, damn -” Roxas's legs twitched and pulled at his grip. He'd gone from interested to erect in no time at all, enjoying the ministrations to the fullest while his body thrummed with arousal. Axel sucked him steadily, took him deeper like he was rewarding his responsiveness, and Roxas grabbed handfuls of the sleeping bag. “Fu-uck...”

Axel was definitely pleased with what he was hearing. Blunt nails were drawn along Roxas's thighs and he bowed his head lower, taking him enthusiastically. Roxas trembled under the onslaught of pleasure, heat singing and surging and reminding him how long it'd been since he'd experienced anything like this.

It had been a while, and it was going to be over too fast unless he said something -

“Wait, slow down,” he urged. Axel drew back and kissed his knee with a smirk. Roxas steadied himself, enough so to get his bearings back to banter. “Unless this is where you were planning to end our night.”

“Oh, no. I've got more plans for you.” Axel nipped him and dragged his tongue up his thigh to the apex, kissing the head of his cock before sitting up.

Shivering, Roxas pulled himself up to his knees. Axel shifted, coming in close to bite his neck and helping Roxas remove his pants in response to him slipping his fingers under the waistband. They were discarded, and Roxas took the opportunity to drink in the view with an unabashedly ravenous grin.

Axel tossed the clothing behind him, then threaded his fingers through Roxas's hair to pull him into another kiss. Just the feeling of being so clearly wanted made Roxas moan, throwing his arms around Axel's shoulders and practically climbing into his lap.

Now consciously avoiding going too fast, Axel rocked his hips up against Roxas, getting a feel for the rhythm. His breath caught between kisses, venting desire against Roxas's lips. Another pulse of heat pulled a shuddering groan out of Roxas, and he thoughtlessly dug his nails into the back of Axel's neck.

“Mm...” Encouraging, Axel nipped his lower lip. “Fuck...”

That drew Roxas's attention, made him aware of what he'd just done and the fact that Axel was into it. He scraped them up into Axel's hair and kissed him that much more aggressively.

This was so much hotter than any other sexual experience in Roxas's life, and he couldn't be bothered to wonder why that was. All he could really think about was how much more he wanted, and now – Axel had obliged him and slowed down, but the rough gropes and intoxicating kisses were starting to feel like...

“You...” Roxas broke the kiss with a sharp inhale. “You're teasing on purpose, aren't you?”

“Maybe,” Axel smirked, lips ghosting along his jaw.

In retaliation, Roxas reached down between them to firmly feel over Axel's cock. It got the desired response.

“Ngh – so you're looking for something a little more direct?”

“If I didn't give you that impression by now, I've been doing something wrong.”

Axel laughed breathlessly, shifting away. “Wait one second. Then, no more teasing.”

Roxas slid back onto the sleeping bag and watched Axel unzip his duffel bag, rummaging through what looked like a kit of stage make-up until he found a bottle of mineral oil. The pause cooled him down enough to become conscious of his brain trying to take stock, but he pushed real life to the back of his mind for the time being.

With his prize retrieved, Axel slid back over to Roxas and kissed him deeply. There was a soft click, the bottle being opened, and Roxas's heart leapt in excitement. He let himself get wrapped up in kisses, tided over while Axel slicked his fingers.

With an oiled hand, Axel stroked Roxas's cock again briefly before he applied a little more and strayed farther back. Roxas nipped him lightly, hoping he understood the encouragement to continue. He must have, because Axel pressed one finger shallowly inside and circled it against the sensitive muscle.

“Mm...”

It wasn't as easy to relax his muscles as he would've hoped – it'd been a pathetically long time since he'd last did this with anyone.

Axel explored him, working in deep enough to graze the familiar cluster of nerves. “Alright?”

Roxas's breath hitched. “I'm not some maiden, you know.”

“Don't break on me if I get a little rough, then.” With a grin, Axel pressed more purposefully against that spot. Roxas arched, his whole body shot through with heat.

“Hah-...”

“Mm, or maybe you like it that way...” Axel was a little less careful as he rocked his finger into him, fast and hard, and all Roxas could think about was how fucking incredible it was going to be when that was his dick, instead.

“You'll, ngh, have to give me more than that.”

“Be a little patient, you're so tight...” Axel kissed him, making Roxas purr against his lips.

Mercifully, Axel obliged him anyway and started to work a second finger inside, rotating them to stretch him slowly. Roxas's legs came up to grip his sides and he held on tighter.

Before, Axel seemed to like having his hair pulled... which inspired Roxas to dig his nails in against his scalp. Moan low, Axel rewarded him with a harder thrust against his prostate, circling his fingers there and drawing an embarrassingly needy groan out of him.

That oil was working better than anticipated, thank god. The motions were easy as Axel prepped him for a third finger, and Roxas angled his hips higher, beckoning him closer, deeper.

His kisses moved over Roxas's jaw, starting to press the third finger inside. Nipping his earlobe, he muttered, “You're so hot...”

“Aah-...” Roxas was starting to feel a bit drunk. “Whatever you just did, you need to do it again...”

Practically purring by his ear, Axel's tongue traced the shell before he nipped him again. Roxas writhed under him, tingling wonderfully from his ear all the way down his body.

“Nngh...”

“You have no idea how bad I want you,” Axel breathed, stretching him with a little less patience now. “I wanted you the moment I saw you.”

Roxas laughed. “I know you did. You aren't a master of subtlety.”

Snickering, Axel briefly caught his lips. “Then we could have gotten to this sooner.”

“Oh, while I was your prisoner?”

“I did say I liked you in ropes.”

Roxas's would-be witty response was eclipsed by a sharp mewl. Axel had twisted his fingers, and hummed against his neck.

“That's such a fucking pretty sound...”

“How much longer are you gonna make me wait?” Roxas strained to sound less desperate than he was, like Axel was drawing things out more than he needed to instead of riling him up.

“Think you can take it?”

“You think I'm gonna break on you?” Roxas fired back.

“Just want to make sure you enjoy yourself,” Axel said, sliding his fingers out one at a time. Roxas smirked.

“Trust me, I will.”

He sat up and shoved Axel onto his back, visibly catching him off guard. He didn't resist, eyebrows raised and licking his lips. Roxas climbed onto his hips, still grinning.

“Didn't think you were going to have all the fun, did you?”

“Not sure why I thought I'd keep the upper hand, more like,” Axel remarked, pseudo-casual, giving himself away by running his hand up Roxas's leg. His grin turning predatory, Roxas bit his lip and reached down to feel just how hard he was.

Axel's breath caught blissfully. He was so into it.

With a ripple of satisfaction and pride, Roxas mused, “I'm trying to decide whether I want to do this right away or if it would be more fun to play with you first...”

“Now who's a tease?”

He laughed unapologetically.

Hand high up Roxas's thigh, Axel dug his nails in shallowly. “Anything I can do to convince you?”

“Mm...” Roxas briefly closed his eyes with a deep purr. “No.”

Axel's groan was too breathy to be chagrined. Roxas climbed back and took his shaft in hand, bolder than he'd ever been as himself and wasting no time in dipping down to curiously wrap his mouth around the head. An unsullied hand ran through Roxas's hair in encouragement.

“Ngh...”

Humming, Roxas closed his eyes and angled his head into the touch. He didn't give more than teasing sucks and strokes with his tongue, delighting in the knowledge that he was driving Axel insane.

“You're so good, and so fucking terrible...” Axel sighed in pleasure and frustration. “You know you want more than this...”

Roxas made sure his laugh was felt.

“Oh fuck...”

He could say what he would, but Roxas was pretty sure Axel was getting off on the change of power. He couldn't make himself wait that much longer, but he wanted to be sure Axel was as tortured as he could stand, first. Gentle nails ran along his thighs before digging in, reveling in the twitch of Axel's hips and the grip in his hair. Abruptly, he sucked hard and pulled back agonizingly slow.

Axel groaned loudly. “You're killing me.”

Roxas pulled off, lips reddened and wet. “Ah... That's for keeping me tied up all day.”

“I'd say I'm sorry, but I'd be lying.”

“Hm.” Roxas climbed back over top him, tantalizingly close. “You sure you still deserve this?”

“Maybe not,” Axel purred, “but you want this. You want me...”

He stole a kiss, which Roxas returned with a groan. He couldn't deny that. Reaching back, he broke the kiss and said, “A little groveling wouldn't hurt.”

He half-expected Axel to claim to be above that, but apparently, he wasn't. Nuzzling his throat, Axel implored, “C'mon... ride me, please... Let me see you come...”

Holy fuck like he could possibly stand up to much of that. Roxas suppressed a shiver and spread his legs over his lap, guiding Axel inside. “Nngh-...”

Exhale long and loud, Axel closed his eyes to enjoy victory and the tight warmth around him. Roxas paused with him inside, just to breathe and adjust.

“You feel so damn amazing...” Axel's voice was a little roughened, idly massaging his hip. “You good?”

“So fucking good... Just need to take it slow.”

“Mn, yeah...” Rubbing slow circles against his hip, Axel brought his other hand up to brush his cock. Roxas tilted his hips forward to grind into his hand, bracing against his chest.

Infuriatingly, though, Axel didn't stroke him yet. He was just feeling him over, possibly getting payback for having to beg. Gritting his teeth, Roxas took him deeper in an attempt to break his composure.

It worked. Groaning, Axel wrapped his hand around him properly. Roxas's triumphant grin was interrupted by a moan, though, rocking his hips and striking his own sweet spot in the process.

“Ngh, that's what I like to hear,” Axel praised.

He felt good enough to abandon pride, starting to ride Axel with blissful little whimpers. His knees were digging into the sleeping bag so hard that he could feel the give of the ground beneath the tent, but the pressure filling him up was so good that discomfort was easily forgotten. Every smooth drag of Axel's cock inside him made him feel dizzy, drugged, buzzing with sensation.

Hips bucking slightly, Axel subtly moved in time with the pace Roxas set, groaning long and low. He put his hand over the one Axel had on his hip, encouraging him to move however he liked, and wasn't disappointed. The unspoken permission prompted Axel to fuck him harder, jolting his whole body with the tantalizing feeling of being taken.

Axel purred his name, and Roxas wanted to kiss him.

“Yeah – ah!” Roxas sank to his elbows to get closer, but found the height difference was too great to successfully meet his lips. As though in apology, Axel squeezed his hip and stroked him faster.

His legs were kind of going numb, but like hell that was going to slow him down.

Digging his fingers into the sleeping bag on either side of Axel's face, he almost mewled, “Getting close...”

“Good – yeah, me too,” Axel said, exhale stuttering.

“C'mere...” Roxas slid a hand around the back of Axel's neck and rolled them over, Axel willingly shifting and moving with him. They repositioned themselves with Axel on top, pressing back inside of him and kissing the second they could.

Returning every kiss, Roxas curled around him, desperate and breathless. He clung to his neck and wrapped his legs around his hips, taking the uneven thrusts – Axel drove into him at a wild pace, entirely driven by need now that they were both approaching orgasm. Lost to sensation, Roxas held nothing back, hitching and rolling against him. He was so close, and Axel was holding him like he couldn't survive without Roxas, couldn't breathe without being this close -

Axel only lasted another minute before he was moaning desperately against his lips, spilling hot inside of him. The sound of him, utterly wrecked, was enough to push Roxas over the edge too. He dug his nails into Axel's shoulders as he came shuddering into his hand.

He was pretty sure he actually saw stars.

Still kissing him deeply and hungrily, Axel pulled out and sank on top of him. Breathing hard, Roxas returned the kiss, not caring that it was clumsy or that there was a wet spot on the sleeping bag that they'd have to just endure whenever they climbed into it to rest.

He couldn't remember the last time he felt this good after sex. There was still a wonderful sense of unreality to the situation; awkwardness could wait until the morning, when they were out of character.

The kisses slowed and eventually tapered off naturally. Shifting slowly off of him, Axel sat up and grinned, going to rummage through his bag again.

“Well... damn,” he remarked, his voice still a bit gravelly from overuse.

Roxas silently agreed with that sentiment. Rolling onto his side, he ran a hand back through his hair. “So, that good enough to join?”

“Without question,” Axel smirked, removing a pack of antibacterial wipes from the duffel. He opened the package and removed one, holding it between two fingers. “Welcome to the Organization.”

Roxas laughed softly. “What an honor.”

“You should be honored. We're very exclusive.” Sliding back towards him to clean him off, Axel arched an eyebrow suggestively. “And the perks are even more so.”

Smirking, Roxas rolled over to give Axel better access. “Are the perks just more of this?”

“What do you think?” Axel stole a kiss, which did not break Roxas's smile.

He was starting to realize how incredibly exhausted he was, though. A full day of walking was catching up with him, not even counting the... vigorous activity he'd just taken part in.

Tossing the wipes away, Axel unzipped the sleeping bag. “So... obviously, we'll have to share...”

“Is there room for both of us?”

“Yeah, if you don't mind getting close.” Axel laughed when Roxas raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I didn't think you would.”

They climbed into the bag, crushed up against each other. Roxas had to twist around several times before he found a comfortable position half on top of Axel, who wrapped himself around Roxas's body in turn.

Pleasantly overheated, Roxas was halfway lulled to sleep already. “Now, no more talking.”

“Mn. Okay.” Grinning, Axel closed his eyes, just as willing to sleep.

Roxas didn't spare a single other thought about tomorrow. He didn't have the time to, promptly dropping off to sleep.

Chapter Text

LARP weekends were the only time in Lea's life that he was ever willing to wake up before dawn, and it was enough of a habit that he actually managed to beat his alarm by a good ten minutes. The oddity of waking up on the ground entangled with another person probably helped rouse him.

Yeah. That actually happened.

Contrary to what Axel might've had people believe, Lea was not the casanova type. He'd never had a one-night stand before in his entire life. He'd never had sex with someone he didn't know before.

Carefully slipping out of Roxas's grip, Lea set up his mirror and the battery-operated lamp he'd packed. His hair was kind of crushed and mussed, but the pointed ears were still securely glued on, and his make-up had barely smudged overnight. He hadn't invested in the heavy-duty stuff for nothing. Removing the cotton pads and mineral oil, Lea faltered with the bottle in his hand, face heating up.

That was another first, for him. He'd never improvised with lube before. Lucky thing it'd been successful.

He soaked the cotton pads to begin mopping the make-up caked on his face, cleaning away the fake tattoos and flame marks while his mind wandered. Behind him, Roxas turned over to lie flat on his face, snoring into the sleeping bag. There wasn't much of him to see, but the phantom sensation of naked skin against Lea's had him wholly preoccupied.

Another loud snort interrupted last night's replay before it could do more than spark a prickle of arousal. Lea mentally shook himself, dropping soiled cotton pads on the ground beside him. He'd clean that up later. Once his face was clear, he went for the facial wipes to wash the oil off, taking a second to tame his hair before it could snag around his latex ears.

Rolling to the side, Roxas's lips smacked softly, dead to the world until a rude interruption from Lea's phone. His alarm was set low, but was still the shrill blare of a siren. Twitching, Roxas blearily raised his head.

“What...?”

“Shit, sorry -” Lea dove for the phone and shut the alarm off. Roxas took a second to remember where he was, eyes sliding slowly around the tent.

“S'okay... Is it time to get up...?” he asked, croaky.

“It's six o'clock, people usually start having breakfast at seven,” Lea shrugged, going back to the mirror. This was it: moment of truth. He had no idea how to talk to a stranger he'd just slept with. The only important guideline he thought he needed to follow was 'be casual'. “I need a lot of time to get ready, so... You can sleep more if you want.”

“S'fine, if someone has caffeine...” Roxas dragged himself into a sitting position and laughed. “Did we even get like three hours?”

Axel snorted, privately relieved. Things actually did feel pretty casual, like they'd been friends for a while already. “Dunno about you, but I feel refreshed. Must've gotten at least two.”

“Gh-...” Roxas's hand went up to massage his shoulder. “Shit, I'm sore everywhere.”

Despite himself, Lea smirked. “Yeah, I'll bet,” he remarked, and dropped the wipes into the forming garbage pile. He grabbed his make-up kit, a heavy-duty case filled with a variety of expensive creams, powders, glues, and prosthetics.

Roxas rubbed the sleep from his eyes and squinted. “Wait, didn't you have...?” Vaguely, he waved a hand in front of his face.

“Hn? ... The tattoos?” Lea guessed. “That's make-up.”

His jaw dropped. “They're fake?”

Lea tried not to laugh, starting on his foundation. “They're convincing, right? Axel was branded with them to be sold as a slave, in his backstory. In real life? I hate needles.”

“Huh,” Roxas seemed a little embarrassed. “I feel like I should be asking your real name...”

Lea remembered it being mentioned, but didn't blame him for not having it memorized. “Oh – uh, Lea. Yours...?”

“This is awkward... Roxas is my real name.”

That was a surprise. “Shit, really? I – huh.”

“Yeah, I kind of threw this together last minute? So there's not a whole lot of character there,” Roxas explained.

A creeping feeling of uncertainty prompted Lea to go against his better judgment. “... So... not to make things awkward, but, last night...”

“Yeah...?” Roxas seemed apprehensive, covering it poorly, perhaps because he didn't know that Lea was watching him in the mirror.

“That was, uh. Okay? I mean, was that still in character?”

“Yeah, totally,” Roxas said quickly. “I wouldn't normally-... I don't, I mean, I've never -”

“Yeah – dunno why I asked, I mean. Obviously.” Lea paused, blending the foundation until it was smooth. “I wouldn't usually, either, but Axel wanted to. Not that I didn't-...” he stopped, and buried his face against his palm.

Smooth.

Roxas was blushing. “It's cool, I get it. I mean, it's not that I'm not into you. Not into you, obviously-... but in character, yeah, I guess it just made sense?”

“Yeah,” Lea grinned sheepishly. “Nice to know I'm not the only one who gets really into character.”

“I guess, yeah,” Roxas cleared his throat. “So, it's not weird, right?”

“If it's not weird for you, it's not weird for me.”

“Nah, not weird,” he confirmed.

Lea relaxed, then started to grin. “... Hey, want a tattoo?” he offered, holding up the black liquid make-up. “Or any other make-up. We could give you some fake bruises, pretend they're from battle.”

“Well, I doubt I would've got a tattoo overnight, but it might be cool for my character...” Suddenly, a grin broke out over his face. “What about a scar?”

“Scars are fun, we could do that,” Lea agreed, already looking forward to using Roxas as a canvas. “You should, uh, put on clothes first. Then we can fuck up your face.”

Roxas choked. “Right! Yeah, duh.”

Lea started on the tattoos under his eyes, and politely pretended not to notice when Roxas slapped his face and went for his abandoned clothes.

Not everyone was so eager to get going, more accustomed to waking up late for an eleven o'clock class. Demyx was so bleary-eyed that he was basically walking with his eyes closed, trudging behind Axel and Roxas and trusting Lexaeus to nudge him around the trees. Back into character with his lexicon on a leather sling at his hip, Zexion only deigned to nod at Lexaeus whenever he noticed Demyx wandering off-track.

The rest of the Organization was up ahead. They weren't the massive guild they used to be, but the structure remained the same regardless of how many members came and went. Axel recognized every face and was unsurprised to see Larxene, dressed as a Shadow Sprite with an airy black skirt, accept a sip from Luxord's flask and pass it back to him. Beside her was Marluxia, apparently unbothered by the heat despite being wrapped in black silk from head to toe, including a black hood and veil over the lower portion of his face. Saix had tweaked his costume to spend the day in 'berserker mode', remarkably realistic fangs cemented to his canines.

Really, if they hadn't altered Roxas's costume, he wouldn't have fit in quite so well. He looked as roughened as they could get him without actually damaging his borrowed gear, latex caked into a thin scar cutting vertically across his upper lip.

Because obviously, if Axel was going to draw attention to anything, it was going to be his mouth. He knew what he was about.

“Hey,” Demyx waved sleepily. “Did anyone bring more coffee? We're out.”

Larxene shot Axel an incredulous look. “You brought Myde?”

“'Demyx',” he corrected.

“Does Demyx know we're in character, right now?” she pressed, folding her arms. Demyx had the good grace to shrug apologetically.

At the head of the group stood their guild leader in ostentatiously spiked armour. Xemnas regarded Roxas. “This must be the thief. Your captive.”

Roxas lifted his chin. “Not a captive anymore.”

“Perhaps another night in chains would teach you respect for your Superior, boy,” Saix growled.

“He's still learning,” Axel interjected. “Don't think I'm not willing to tie him up again, but give him a chance, Superior.”

“I'll have him prove his worth before deciding whether he's earned my mercy,” Xemnas replied evenly. Luxord raised his empty flask to that before tucking it away. Then he removed a new one.

“I believe we all heard him 'proving his worth' to Axel last night,” Marluxia smirked behind his veil. Roxas caught on a second late, and turned scarlet.

That was below the belt. Lea threw Marluxia an irritated look before slipping back into character. “I would've invited you to join us, but I stopped finding you interesting a while ago.”

Larxene giggled viciously. “Looks like Axel doesn't want anyone touching his new toy.”

“Least of all you,” he shot at her.

“If we could focus on the mission, or must you children be separated?” Saix snapped.

“No fun at all,” Larxene faked a pout.

Xemnas charged ahead with a speech he must have prepared last night. “The pieces have been put into position, and the meeting of Dark and Light will need no further catalyst. We have dropped rumours into the midst of both parties that they can expect a battle when they march on the Unversed, and our presence will be expected to manipulate the tides and seize control from under them. For this reason, we will separate into two parties: one to retrieve the reports, and one to keep the enemy forces from suspecting subterfuge.”

Axel leaned in close to Roxas and murmured, “He gets wordy.”

“But what does any of that actually mean?” Roxas whispered back, a crease between his eyebrows. Axel shrugged.

“Our stealth team shall consist of our rogues, Marluxia and Larxene,” Xemnas continued. He hadn't heard Axel and Roxas's exchange, nor was he paying attention to Xigbar while he fixed his eyepatch or Vexen inspecting his shield for chips in the paint job. “Zexion, you'll take Lexaeus to provide cover from the shadows.”

Zexion nodded.

“Axel, since you brought us these initiates, they are your responsibility,” Saix told him.

Marluxia grinned. “Marvelous.”

“Naturally,” Axel replied.

“You'll take them on the retrieval mission... and I want your word that you'll strike your 'protege' down, should he become a liability,” Xemnas warned.

Roxas tried not to be legitimately intimidated.

Axel gave a lazy salute. “Yes, sir.”

“And we have already determined a role for Demyx,” Zexion put in, smirking faintly.

At the sound of his pseudonym, Demyx perked up. “Yeah! What was it, again?”

“Decoy,” Axel reminded him. “Let's get going...”

“The rest of you – to me.” Xemnas turned with a dramatic sweep of his cloak and led his team towards the battlefield. Saix gave Axel one last warning look before hauling up his claymore to follow Xemnas, and that left Axel with the infiltration team.

Lexaeus was technically the highest ranking member among them now, but Zexion gave the instructions. “Lexaeus and I decided our entry point into the fortress last night. Its position holds more risk of leaving us visible, but the most discreet way will certainly be watched. That is where we will send Demyx along with two others to allay suspicion.”

“Can I go with you?” Demyx asked.

“No. Axel, accompany him, and take your prisoner as well.”

“I'm not a prisoner,” Roxas protested. Zexion spared him the barest second of a cold look.

Marluxia nodded to Axel. “And do try to avoid being stabbed in the back.”

“I'm sure Axel's new little friend will watch that for him,” Larxene said slyly.

“And who could blame him.” Axel was a very body-confident character.

“Enough. Go,” Zexion broke in, impatient. “We must be in position in time for the Light army to make their approach.”

“Let's go.” Axel started off, then stopped. He rolled his eyes. “Demyx. Let's go.”

Demyx was still fiddling with his guitar. “Yeah – coming...”

Roxas kept to Axel's side, the two of them ignoring Demyx tuning his instrument so long as he was keeping up. “So all we do is... look like we're trying to get in?”

“We're going to actually infiltrate, if we can. We just have to fight off whoever we run into,” Axel answered.

“Aw, I thought we get to run away if we're attacked,” Demyx groused.

“I want to see those Reports. If we can get our hands on them before Marluxia does, why not do it?”

“What do you care what that guy does?” Roxas asked.

“Because it's so fun pissing him off.” And it would serve him right.

Shit, did Lauriam know they'd actually had sex, or did he assume they'd been faking the noises? He wasn't sure which one was actually more embarrassing.

“So that's the whole plan?” Roxas asked.

“That's right. They shouldn't have any wards up, so...” Axel indicated for Roxas to follow him. “Demyx. You're in front.”

Demyx whined. They were close to the Unversed fortress, now. Roxas crouched a little as they covered the last bit of ground, finding himself scanning the area for enemies without making a conscious decision to do so.

Axel stopped them a few feet away from some coverage and spoke quietly. “Loop around those trees on your way to the entrance. Roxas and I will make a dash from there -” he pointed out a few bushes, “- after they've had time to spot you.”

“I think I hate being decoy,” Demyx noted. He did as Axel said, softly humming a few bars of suitably suspenseful music. Axel took Roxas by the arm to guide him the other way around, watching intently. Heart beating faster, Roxas crept along beside him, almost instinctively shaking Axel's grip off.

'Ventus' had gallantly gone ahead of his troops with his prop sword drawn, approaching the fort in sideways strides. Putting two fingers between his lips, he whistled once and directed the rest of his army – a couple dozen other players, in reality – to keep moving onto the battlefield and watch for Terra's soldiers.

If they were really lucky, they'd all keep moving... but Sora had glimpsed Demyx just as they'd thought he would, and called down the field, “No good hiding, Organization scum!”

Demyx, practically in plain view, looked affronted. “Scum?!”

“Let Ventus move in on Demyx,” Axel muttered. “Then we'll try to run of ahead to nab the reports while he's not looking...”

Vaguely recognizing Demyx from yesterday, Sora levelled his sword and charged forward. “Where's the rest of your friends?”

“Uhh. They're... in battle?” Demyx didn't actually know how to do this, having lost track completely of the backstory and not having been prepared to lie. “Not here.”

Axel couldn't quite hear him. He just prayed Demyx wasn't fucking up, and made a break for the base.

Unfortunately, Sora had expected a diversion. He swivelled and pointed his weapon. “Stop right -... Roxas?”

Roxas froze mid-run, not sure how their characters were supposed to interact. “Uh -”

Axel froze. “Demyx, you dumb slut.”

“You're one to t - !”

“So,” Axel raised his chakram. “If it isn't the lapdog.”

Sora glared, taking in Roxas's appearance. “What did y-... You wounded him!”

Axel sneered. “Only a little.”

With an angry shout, Sora charged forward. Axel blocked the strike with both his chakram.

“Why would you care?” Roxas accused, a little uncertainly. “You just hired me and left me to be captured!”

“Your loss, by the way. He'll be an asset to the Organization,” Axel gloated, still wrestling the weapon locked with his.

“Liar!” Sora's blade glanced off, but he quickly brought it around in an arc to strike at Axel's legs. Demyx struck up some battle music.

He couldn't avoid the hit, so Axel mentally tallied damage and jumped back to throw a disk at him. Sora knocked it aside with his blade – a bit more awkwardly than he would have liked to think he looked.

“He signed himself over to us – he's Organization now,” Axel shot at him.

Sora waited for Axel to pick the chakram back up, since in fiction it would have flown right back to him. He extended a hand. “Roxas...?”

Roxas looked away. “I made my choice.”

Retrieving the disk in one hasty motion, Axel threw it again while Sora was occupied. He didn't get away in time and caught a blow to his shoulder.

“Ah-!”

Axel grabbed the chakram again and locked it around Sora's sword. “Give up and we might go easy on you.”

Sora leaned into his sword, but not too hard, lest Riku murder him for breaking it again. He grit his teeth. “Never.”

“Are you sure?” Roxas pointed his own weapon, and Sora looked devastated. Demyx's music obligingly got more intense.

Using that moment to leap back, Axel transferred one chakram to his other hand and removed a small foam ball from his pocket, hurling it at Sora. “Fire!”

Sora stumbled back to avoid it and wound up tumbling onto the ground. He rolled over and leapt up with impressive agility, but Roxas seized his chance to move in on him while he was down. He locked their swords, surprised by the strength Sora was actually putting into his arm.

Catching Roxas's eye while their faces were close and hidden from the others, Sora smirked and raised an eyebrow. Abruptly, Roxas realized why this felt so familiar. He pulled back and readjusted his stance, muscle memory guiding him through the kendo sparring exercise he and Sora executed over and over again as kids.

Axel was quietly impressed. Couldn't let that distract him, though. He decided to start conjuring a fire glyph, which involved removing some ribbon from his other pocket to outline the area of effect.

“Freeze!”

The voice carried down the hill, and a blue ball decorated with glitter-frosted chiffon strips landed a few feet from Axel. It rolled closer, flashing LEDs twinkling. Axel groaned.

He was a Fire Elf. A weakness to all ice magic was built into his character. He hated ice magic.

Demyx looked around for the source of the glittery ball without missing a note. “Huh?”

Sprinting over the rise, Kairi had already drawn another handmade spell token from one of her many pockets and pouches.

“Aqua!” Sora took advantage of the distraction to push Roxas back.

Axel grit his teeth and got out his phone to set a timer. He would be frozen for double the amount of time it should have paralyzed him for.

“Whoa-!” Demyx played even faster.

Kairi came to a stop, drawing herself up imposingly. It would have been imposing, rather, if she wasn't two heads shorter than Axel. “What do you want with the Unversed fortress?”

“Maybe I'll tell you if you ask more politely,” Axel fired back.

“It seems to me I'm the one who decides when you get to be unfrozen,” she retorted, crossing her arms. Beside them, Roxas started taking more hits from Sora than he could return.

“Look at that, the little Princess thinks she has power,” Axel said derisively. “The moment you slip...”

“You'll never see the d-...” Kairi paused and rounded on Demyx. “Do you mind? I can't hear myself think.”

Demyx stopped playing and lowered his guitar sulkily.

“You can't tell our bard what to do,” Axel said.

“Hey, yeah! You can't!” Demyx declared.

Sora spoke between sword strikes. “It's not-... like he's doing much...”

“Yeah, are you going to enter combat at any point?” Kairi asked.

“Do I have to?”

She hesitated. “Uh… I guess not?”

“Oh, cool!” Demyx grinned.

Axel glared. “Demyx, I will attack you if you don't jump in to defend us, here.”

“Ug-gh...”

Kairi dithered, trying to decide if it was worth using up a spell slot on him. She wasn't used to this.

Finally, Roxas broke off from Sora and sprinted, trying to get a hit on Kairi while she was distracted. She turned too late and only managed to stumble back, still taking a strike to the leg.

“Hey!” Sora chased after Roxas. Axel hissed in triumph and checked the timer.

“I guess I cast Waterfall?” Demyx removed a cue card from his pocket, checking his spell list. “I don't have fancy little things to throw.”

“Are you casting Waterfall? On who?” Sora asked.

“Maybe... Uh...”

Rummaging for another token, Kairi tossed it in Roxas's direction. “Wind!”

He guessed that was supposed to knock him over. Roxas took a few steps back.

Axel sighed at Demyx. “I went over combat with you three times in the car...”

Rolling her eyes, Kairi took out another spell token and pitched it at Demyx without much heart.

“Stop.”

Mentally, she noted the time she needed to charge after using her maximum number of spells in a row.

He wilted. “Aww...”

That was two minutes. Axel seized the opportunity, unfrozen and ready to re-enter combat. He threw his chakram and Sora tackled Kairi to the ground to get her out of its path.

“Whoa!”

“Watch the costume!” Kairi whispered.

Roxas came over to take up his place beside Axel. Raising his other chakram, Axel took out another Fire spell in his free hand.

“Bad news for you both. We actually didn't come alone.”

“Sorry,” Sora said quietly, turning back to look as he got to his knees. “More Organization?”

Lexaeus and Zexion were coming over, Zexion's lexicon open to an incantation he was reading off rapid-fire. Kairi climbed to her feet with some effort, brushing grass off her costume.

“I knew they would interfere,” she cursed. She was facing down Lexaeus's tomahawk a moment later. She wished she hadn't wasted that spell on Demyx.

“So sorry. I hate uneven odds, but if they happen to work in my favor, I won't turn them down,” Axel smirked.

“'Sorry?' Yeah, right!” Sora whirled around, not sure who to face down.

Zexion shut his book with a snap. “Both of you have lowered defence.”

“Which means you'd better dodge.” Axel tossed his Fire spell. Kairi leapt gracefully (thought there wasn't any danger of the little ball actually hitting her) but Sora didn't have nearly the same dexterity stats.

“Ah!”

Lexaeus got between them to keep Kairi and Sora separate, attacking Kairi and dealing damage with every strike. His strength stats were so high that Kairi's hit points were affected even when she blocked.

It was chaos, but they had secured the upper hand. Roxas and Axel came at Sora with weapons up, and he could only dodge one at a time. The chakram missed but Roxas's sword didn't, and Sora made a sound that was more of distress than fake pain.

Zexion waved a hand over his lexicon, starting to chant another incantation. He was interrupted by a blade hooked under his chin.

“I suspected I'd find the Organization here.” Riku had come up to them almost silently, having left the large group battle to go hunting down Kairi and Sora once he'd noticed they were nowhere in sight. Lexaeus froze with a glower, and Zexion went rigid. Canonically, his character was terrified of direct combat, and he sold it with the tremble in his voice.

“I'd expect you'd be grateful to us for dispatching your enemies,” Zexion tried.

“These two are mine. You ought to know better.” Riku's eyes narrowed. “Lower your weapons.”

Lexaeus didn't hesitate, tomahawk aimed at the ground. Zexion shut the lexicon. “As you wish.”

Axel made sure he had the foam balls back in his pockets before muttering to Roxas, “We might be looking at a retreat.”

“Think we stalled them long enough?” Roxas asked, voice low.

Axel nodded and signalled Demyx. He promptly gathered up his guitar.

“Run! Run away!”

Impassioned, Sora allowed Roxas to beat a retreat, shouting, “Terra, listen to us!”

Riku released Zexion to level his sword at Sora instead, his tone cold. “You don't have anything to say worth hearing.”

Plot happened behind them as the Organization members ran off, putting as much distance between their groups as possible before Axel dared to slow down. He caught his breath, setting his chakram down against his legs and rotating his wrists. They were actually kind of unwieldy. Demyx skidded to a stop, panting. Zexion and Lexaeus fought to get their composure back, and Roxas swept hair out of his face.

“That will be a nasty surprise for them, when they figure out we got the Reports,” Axel declared.

“Where do we go now?” Roxas asked.

“No point in hanging around doing nothing. Let's check out the battlefield,” Axel said.

Zexion smirked. “We've played our part. May as well find a good place to watch.”

“Let's go enjoy the show,” Axel agreed, and slung an arm around Roxas's shoulder on their way to do just that.

The warm buzz of late afternoon settled over the parking lot while the LARPers gathered their things and chatted about the events of earlier. Riku was riding a smug high after capturing the base, but he was already trying to work out how to get the Reports back from the Organization, agreeing with Sora and Kairi that they must've taken them at some point.

Not yet out of character, Xemnas put the Reports in a briefcase and stowed it in the back of his car, giving one final speech to dismiss the Organization members clustered around him. Then he started to remove his armor, Isa loading camping equipment into the same car. He'd braided his long hair back the moment he broke character, and many of the others looked eager to pull their hair back or dress down. Lauriam was sweltering, Braig was celebrating the return of his depth perception, and Lea...

Wasn't sure what to do, now.

Roxas periodically looked over his shoulder in case Sora or his friends called him over. He felt oddly disconnected, not sure when the right time to leave the Organization players was, or how to say goodbye.

“... So...” Lea had started to pack up his tent, but wasn't sure what to do now, either.

“So. Uh, you said this'll come off with just soap and water?” Roxas gently pulled at the latex scar.

“Oh – yeah. It might be a bit red after, depending on how fair your skin is. Which, you're blonde, so...”

A natural blonde, Lea couldn't help but remind himself.

Roxas laughed nervously, attempting to keep up the small talk. “You'd be surprised. My brother's got the tan but my skin can still act like it's got some melanin in it.”

“Oh – huh.” Lea paused. “This might be dumb to ask, but... D'you think you're gonna come back?”

Hesitating, Roxas looked over his shoulder at Sora, Riku, and Kairi. As he could have predicted, Riku had been shafted with packing up by himself while Sora said his farewells to everyone he could, and Kairi gushed to Aeleus about some baking she'd done with his advice.

“... I think so, yeah,” Roxas decided.

“Good – I mean. It seemed like you had fun.” Lea bit down on a faint smirk. “... If I wanted to go buy a bigger tent for next weekend, then, would you wanna come with?” He ran a hand anxiously through his hair. “What I mean is – would you want to hang out... outside of LARP?”

Roxas reddened. “Yeah, I guess that could be cool. I mean, if we find out we don't like each other in real life, we could still do this again, right?”

“Yeah,” Lea laughed. “It'd be cool to be friends or something at least, but maybe I'm really annoying in real life. You'll just have to find out.”

“Same goes for you, though honestly my acting wasn't that good.”

“Then I've got a headstart. Here-...” Lea got out his phone. “I'll text you? I have a car, so if we ever want to hang out, we can do that.”

“Oh, right, I guess you would need a way to reach me.”

They swapped phone numbers, then Lea glanced over at Riku's car. “I should return you to your brother, probably...”

“Before that -...” Roxas balked.

“Yeah...?”

His blush deepened. “Could I get one more kiss? I mean, could Roxas. From Axel.”

Lea grinned. “Yeah, sure. Got to give Roxas a reason to stay on the Dark side.”

“That works,” he laughed.

Lea's hands slid over Roxas's jaw, and he leaned down to kiss him with all the easy confidence he could muster. That was a lot, when he was Axel. The familiar swagger helped, and kissing him in return felt totally natural.

Then Sora boomed in the distance, “Oh my god, what?!”

Riku accidentally dropped his chest plate in his attempt to cover a laugh. Kairi abandoned her barely-begun attempt to help Riku pack to run over to a serenely smiling Namine, wanting the full story.

Barely breaking away, Lea muttered, “Guess I just stuck you with some explaining to do?”

Roxas grinned. “Worth it.”

“I'll text you later?” Lea snickered. “I have to do endure my roommates. And Myde.”

“Which ones are your roommates?”

“The -” Lea waved a hand in Lauriam and Elrena's direction. “Marluxia and Larxene.”

Roxas raised his eyebrows. “I'm guessing they're... different. In real life.”

“Yeah. Mostly.” Lea laughed. “They're alright.”

“That's a story you can tell me next time.” Roxas paused just long enough for it to become awkward again. “... So...”

To hell with it. Lea stole another kiss.

“One for the road. See you later, Roxas.”

Pleasantly surprised, Roxas laughed weakly. “Later, Axel – Lea. Whatever,” he amended, then turned to go before either of them could drag things out any longer.

Hanging out. That would be nice.

The sex was really nice, after all, so. Hanging out, that'd be cool.

Roxas wandered back towards Riku's car and pretended they weren't all staring at him. “Huh, I thought you'd be making out by now,” he tried teasing Sora, but he didn't even seem to hear Roxas. Sora grabbed him by the shoulders and almost shook him.

“What was that?!”

Riku smirked. “Didn't think you'd make friends so fast.”

Roxas desperately tried to will the blush away. “It's not a big deal...”

“Why didn't you say you knew Lea before?” Sora asked.

“Because I didn't?”

Sora gaped, and Riku had to work that much harder to keep his laughter in check.

“Oh my god, what happened? You have to tell me everything,” Sora demanded.

“Uh, no. That's none of your business.” Roxas nonetheless couldn't contain a small smirk.

Riku was almost kind of impressed. “Leave him alone, Sora. Or at least don't nag him about it the whole way home.”

“But...” Sora dragged his hands down his face, pulling his features with them. “It's gonna kill me.”

“That's a shame. I'll have to talk to Namine about discontinuing your character,” Riku said. Sora whined.

“Are we almost ready to go?” Roxas asked.

“I'll go get Kairi.” Riku kissed Sora's forehead before he went. His whine was interrupted by a coo of pleasure.

Roxas rolled his eyes and compulsively got out his phone to check it. He didn't actually expect a message yet, but he had one.

Lea had sent him a picture of Myde bothering Ienzo in the midst of packing up his trunk. Glancing across the parking lot, Roxas laughed softly.

He'd gotten a lot more out of LARPing than he'd guessed he would.