(A/N): Ahaha, I know. I finally upload something new, and it's not the next chapter of Waiting. You guys may stone me at your earliest convenience. In my defense, I somehow got poison sumac all over my left forearm, and it's hard to concentrate on writing when all you want to do is rip off the epidural layer of your skin. And after not writing for so long, I wanted to do something unrelated to try and get back into it. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it. If you could find it in yourselves to review anyway, I'd appreciate it.

Disclaimer: Nope.

Ever After

Roxas didn't look up when Axel warped into his room. The Flurry of Dancing Flames had long since ceased using the door, a fact that irritated Roxas by varying degrees depending on his mood. Now he simply sank further down in his seat and glared at the book he held in his hands, doing his best to ignore the redhead's presence.

Axel's eyes swept the room as he moved forward, arms crossed over his chest. "Hey." Unfazed by Roxas's silence, he paused in front of the blond and stared down at him with a crooked smile. "What are you reading?"

Roxas ignored the question, smoothing his fingers over the paper before he turned a page, scanning the lines of text methodically. He wasn't overly surprised when a black-clad hand snatched the book away from him – he tore a frustrated hand through his hair before he glared up at Axel and extended his hand. "Give it back." Axel ignored him, humming in the back of his throat as he leafed through the pages, a sardonic smile curling his lips.

"Never figured you for the fairytale type, Rox," he commented lazily, arching an eyebrow at the book's contents. "Wonderland, huh?" Roxas just glared at him. Axel dropped the book back into his hands with a sigh before he moved away, fingers trailing over Roxas's bookshelf before he paused and picked up a thick sheaf of papers. He shuffled through them carefully before he glanced over his shoulder at the blond. "This is all on the Princesses of Heart."

"I know," Roxas grumbled, trying to find his place in the book again. "I compiled it."

"Mm." Axel set the papers down before loping back over to the couch, moving more quickly than Roxas had anticipated. The blond didn't have time to secure his book before it was snatched out of his hands once again. Growling in irritation, he glanced up at Axel bending over him, lips tilted in an amused smirk and eyes hard. "What's going on, Roxas?"

"Nothing." Roxas shrugged and tried to slip away, but Axel braced his hands against the couch on either side of Roxas's body, trapping him.

"Roxas."

Roxas scowled and cut his eyes to the side. "I'm just trying to figure it out," he grumbled. Axel blinked at him, clearly not understanding. Roxas sighed and shoved the redhead back, smirking a little as Axel stumbled before regaining his balance. Ignoring the look Axel flashed him – a look that managed to be both amused and irritated – Roxas strode over to the papers Axel had dropped back on the bookcase. "Look," he instructed, grabbing up the pile and thrusting it at the redhead.

Axel took the papers and sifted through them slowly, clearly not understanding what he was looking for. Roxas huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "And they all lived happily ever after," he intoned, leaning against the bookcase and tilting his head back. He caught the way Axel's gaze snapped back to his face from the corner of his eye. Lips curling in a shallow smirk, he lowered his gaze to meet Axel's.

Axel's eyes glinted wickedly. "You think you can get yourself a prince and a cheesy ballad and you're in, huh?" he drawled, crooked grin stretching his lips wide. Chuckling dryly at Roxas's expression, he dropped the papers to the floor, stepping over them as they scattered and curled against one another.

"I'm just curious," Roxas murmured, tangling one gloved hand in red hair as Axel came to stand in front of him. "Is it because their hearts are so pure?" Axel lifted his shoulders in a shallow shrug as he drew the zipper of Roxas's coat down.

"What are you saying, Rox? You'd prefer moonlit walks and sonnets on how you make me feel?" Axel's tone was biting and derisive as he pushed Roxas's coat aside and worked at freeing the hem of his shirt from where it was tucked into his pants. Roxas snorted before dragging him down for a hard kiss. Axel smiled against his lips as he stopped worrying Roxas's shirt and reached down to palm between the blond's legs with slow, teasing movements.

He laughed and pulled away when Roxas bit at him impatiently, trailing his fingers along the younger Nobody's jaw before he stepped back and regarded Roxas's flushed visage. His lips curled in a private smile before he motioned at Roxas. "C'mere."

Glaring at his tone, Roxas stepped forward and grabbed Axel by his jacket collar, forcing the redhead to stoop as he dragged him behind him. Axel only rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around Roxas's waist from behind, lifting the blond and tossing him onto the bed, grinning at the scowl Roxas fixed him with as he shrugged out of his dark jacket. He crawled up the bed and sealed their lips together in a fierce kiss, letting Roxas tear impatiently at his remaining clothing.

Roxas couldn't help smirking as the last of their clothing sailed to the side and he pulled Axel down on top of him, urgent and demanding. He arched his back as Axel slipped slicked fingers inside him, tugging impatiently at Axel's shoulders as the redhead stretched him open. Axel covered the blond's smirk with his own as he pressed into him, bare palms just this side of painful against Roxas's skin.

Roxas sighed as they found a good rhythm, arching his back with each thrust and digging blunt nails across Axel's shoulders. Axel grinned against the curve of Roxas's neck, fingers curling and making Roxas hiss as he trailed burning paths across the blond's skin. Roxas reached up and tangled his hands in Axel's hair, tugging just hard enough to sting as Axel groaned against his skin.

He didn't want soft, didn't want tender glances and gentle touches and romance. He wanted hard and fast and biting and marking; proof that could be measured in more than abstract terms that didn't mean anything to either of them. Happily ever after didn't exist for people like them. A few moments later he was arching his hips up with a breathy gasp, Axel's name escaping him in a near-inaudible cry. Axel smiled, a sharp, jagged expression as he thrust a few more times and finally fell still, holding himself up on trembling arms for a moment before collapsing on top of the younger Nobody.

Roxas groaned in protest, kicking the redhead to the side before turning and curling against his chest, letting Axel wrap his arms around his shoulders. He eyed the mess of papers scattered across the floor, poking Axel hard in the side. "You're cleaning that up," he muttered, tone firm despite the underlying sleepiness. Axel only chuckled and buried his face in Roxas's hair.

"Still holding out for forever?" he mumbled, tone mocking. Roxas huffed and wrapped an arm around Axel's waist.

"Shut up." Roxas hooked a leg over Axel's, burying his face in the redhead's shoulder and listening to a silence that was too complete. "'s just a fairytale."