It was mid-July, the hottest time of year in Twilight Town, and every air-conditioned building was packed with people looking for an escape from the sun. People who were extremely lucky not to have an insane, stubborn, not afraid to die by melting into a pile of mush, best friend.

Olette, unfortunately, was not one of these people.

No, instead of being cool and refreshed like most of the town, she was sitting in the dirt, fanning herself with a book, and watching Hayner and Seifer duke it out with Struggle bats.

"Have either of them dropped dead yet?" Roxas was laying next to her, exhausted after spending most of his day skating around town putting up flyers. Pence shook his head and fiddled with his camera, blaming the summer sun for everything from bad lighting to poverty under his breath.

Olette would've laughed, but it was too hot and she was too tired, so she smiled weakly instead and piled all their discarded clothes (Pence's headband and long sleeved shirt, Roxas's vest and wrist bands, Hayner's vest and shirt,) together next to her.

Hayner and Seifer were both panting and drenched in sweat, shirtless and tired. Fuu stood on the sidelines, holding Seifer's damp trench coat with a look of mild disdain, Rai looming over her and acting as a sort of shield between her and the sun. Hayner leaned heavily on his bat and wiped the sweat off his neck, eyes only half open.

"Ready to give it up yet, Seifer?" he gasped, looking just about ready to pass out. Seifer snorted and tried to straighten himself up, but ended up swaying on the spot instead and had to set his own bat down to support himself.

"Not a chance, chicken wuss," he sneered, brushing his hair off his forehead. He hadn't even bothered wearing his toque that day. "Ready for round three?"

"Feels more like round eight thousand," Pence said, wishing he hadn't worn blue jeans. "Can't you two put the epic battle on hold so we can all go get some ice cream and water?"

His response was two simultaneous 'hell no's and some swearing. Roxas groaned and tugged at the collar of his shirt. "We're going to die out here," he announced. "We're going to die out here because of dehydration and boredom."

"And heat stroke," Pence added, sitting down next to him. "I think my camera's melted to my flesh."

"I think I've become my shirt."

"Good thing grey is your colour," Olette mused, "or you'd be in big trouble."

"Right, because the first thing I'm going to worry about when I realize my shirt has glued itself to my body is whether or not said shirt is my colour," Roxas said sarcastically. "You are such a girl, Olette."

"Is he only just figuring this out now?" She raised her eyebrows at Pence. "I mean, seriously?"

Pence shrugged. "Probably. He is fairly slow on the uptake."

"I am sitting right here, you know."

"Well, there'd be no point in having this conversation if you weren't." Roxas propped himself up on his elbow and smacked Pence across the arm. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. Partially."

Olette rolled her eyes. "Break it up, children. We're supposed to be cheering for Hayner."

"Maybe you are," Roxas said. "He dragged us out here for this crap. I'm rooting for Seifer on this one. At least he's a bastard routinely, instead of spontaneously like Hayner."

"You realize that made no sense, right?" Pence said flatly, an unreadable expression on his face.

"It's hot out. I'm delusional. Let me have my bout of stupidity." The blond slumped back down and covered his face with both hands. "Tell me when one of them finally becomes human and dies, please."

Olette looked over at the rink and had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. It seemed that during the course of their conversation, Seifer and Hayner had given up the physical battle and instead settled for glaring harshly at one another, both of them still using their Struggle bats as supports. "They're having a staring contest now. I think Seifer's winning."

Roxas snorted. "Of course he is. Hayner doesn't have a long enough attention span to just stay still and look at someone for a prolonged period of time."

Pence's eyebrow rose. "This from the guy who's last conversation with Hayner went something like, 'let's go jump Seifer then throw crap off the clock tower after we buy some new wheels for my skatebo- oh, ice cream!'"

"Hey!" Roxas protested. "It was hot out and my head hurt."

"Yes, well, over exerting one's mind with deep and intricate plans of throwing random things off the clock tower will do that."

"Your sarcasm has been dully noted and ignored," Roxas deadpanned, staring up at the brunette boy from between his fingers.

Olette disguised her laughter in a coughing fit and cast another glance at the arena. "Oh! I think they're finally finished!"

Roxas sat up, exchanging a hopeful look with Pence. "Really? Honest to God, really?"

"See for yourself." Olette gestured towards the arena with her hand, looking more relieved than anything. "I can't wait to get to the mall. It has air conditioning."

Sure enough, Hayner and Seifer were both stumbling down the stone steps, sunburnt and thirsty. Seifer went off to join Rai and Fuu, while Hayner managed to make his way over to the trio sitting near the scoreboard before collapsing in a heap on top of Pence. "Dear God, if I ever suggest pulling something like this again, I give you all my full permission to beat the crap out of me." He winced as he rolled off of his friend. "Ow."

"Does that rule apply as of now?" Roxas asked, glowering at his best friend. "Because I saw this wrestling move on television the other night and I've been dying to try it out. You might've heard of it. It's called 'Beat The Crap Out Of Hayner Because He Is A Goddamn, Spontaneous Bastard.'"

"Ignore him," Olette said, putting a hand on Roxas's shoulder and pushing him back down. "He's been speaking in tongues all day. We're blaming the heat. But, in keeping with his train of thought…" She reached out and smacked Hayner upside the head with her hand. "What were you thinking, fighting in this weather? You're lucky you didn't pass out from heat stroke or dehydration!"

Roxas turned his head to look up at Pence, and blinked. "Didn't we just have this conversation?"

Pence nodded. "Yup."

"Alright, just checking."

"Sorry I made you guys stick out the heat with me," Hayner said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "But, on the bright side, I so totally won."

"How?" Roxas asked, staring at a cloud that vaguely resembled a fan. "You both gave in to your human urges and realized water was necessary for survival. It was a tie. Or a double loss. Or something. God, I need ice cream."

Hayner, Pence and Olette exchanged looks. "Okay," Hayner said, finally. "Fine. I'll take you guys out for ice cream. My mom left me some food money this morning since she's working late."

Roxas sat up again. "For that," he said solemnly, "I will not hurt you."

Hayner clutched Olette in mock fear. "Oh, praise your merciful soul."

Rolling his eyes, Roxas got to his feet, followed by Olette and Pence. It took all three of them to get Hayner up, because, according to him, all the muscles in his legs had evaporated because of the heat.

"Oh, hey, hold on," he said, as they began walking towards the plaza. Turning around, he yelled, "Seifer, Fuu, Rai! You guys want to go get some ice cream?"

Roxas stared at the back of his head, horrified. "Oh shit; the heat's finally melted his brain," a pause, "what was left of it, anyways."

Hayner ignored him and waited for the trio on the opposite side of the lot to answer. Seifer, who always spoke for the entire group, made a crude gesture with his hand, which was a very definite no. Rai looked mildly upset by this, but yelled his thanks, and Fuu's expression shifted from its usual stony look to something else briefly.

Hayner spun back around and grinned stupidly. "Well, let's go get that ice cream!" He wandered towards the alleyway, whistling to himself, leaving his friends to exchange bemused looks and rush to catch up.

- - -

A/N: More TT fanfic. This was originally going to be the beginning to my Hayner/Fuu oneshot, but I cut it off and think it's better as a TT-centric drabble with some really subtle Hayner/Fuu hinting.

Standard disclaimer applies.