A/N: Happy Axel and Roxas Day! We had this sitting around before we had a suddenly brilliant idea to submit this for 8/13. Hope you enjoy it:D There will be three chapters, but not yet sure when they'll be uploaded. Reviews always motivate us though *wink wink*

Roxas

"Godammit," I muttered and clenched my fists as I glared at the workers who were in the process of moving and setting up the different brightly colored tents. They were walking way too close to my slackwire. The poles were thrust into the ground with precision just for me and the clumsy workers had so far managed to bump into them at least three times. Not too big of a deal normally, but I was trying to improve my freaking juggling here.

Why were they even going this way? They clearly had more room around the other side of the vans and yet they chose to walk over here. Assholes. Clearing my mind, I tried to fucking juggle the fucking rings again. This was not part of what I normally did, mostly I did tumbling and acrobatics on the wire, but I'd been learning how to juggle from Stefan and he'd mentioned I should try flinging things in the air while walking the wire.

So I'd set up my slackwire, as it was easier to set up than a tightwire and not far enough off the ground to do serious damage, and was dutifully practicing. It wasn't so bad, I didn't have a performance tonight so I didn't have to worry about getting too exhausted.

Not that I would get too exhausted. No, I'd been doing this for most of my life, being with this specific company since I was twelve with my parents. They were retired now, living comfortably in the countryside, often times boarding some of the horses or dogs that the circus used. Everyone loved them. Grinning as I finally managed to catch the last ring as I finished the walk, I took the bow that I always took, regardless of having no one around to appreciate me.

"Roxas! Come on, new recruits!" I heard Stefan shout and I quickly dismounted and dropped the rings onto the grass beside the X-shaped poles holding up the ends of the slackwire. New recruits? Since when had we been adding acts all of a sudden? I hadn't heard anything about a search and I was pretty much always in the know. Scowling, I turned a few cartwheels, ending in a hand spring just to stay limber and headed over to the big tent, as that was really the only place we could fit right now.

Pushing through the curtains and into the tent, I let my eyes wander around hoping to catch this new act. The tent was rather large, had to be to fit an audience and the act itself if they were big, like my tightroping counted as, or the ones that included multiple performers. We weren't a huge company, but big enough to support ourselves reasonably well. I loved it here. They were family. Stefan's family had put this company together years ago and it seemed like every person he added to it, just ending up clicking perfectly. So, despite my original annoyance at this abrupt addition, I was intrigued and hopeful. Pushing to the front, I was still pretty short dammit, I saw Stefan standing there with...what the hell?

One man in torn jeans and a simple button up black shirt with a werewolf mask, and standing opposite from him was a man of about the same height, wearing jeans also and a flashing red hoody, his face covered in make up to make him look like a zombie... Well that was clearly Leila's work, our makeup artist. She had a thing for the gore and she'd done an outstanding job on the new guy. She'd probably made the mask as well.

Behind each of them stood large wooden panels, planted into the ground, and from what I could see, they'd been used before as they looked somewhat battered. Knife throwing... Both of them wore belts low around their hips, each of those belts carrying about twenty knives from what I could tell, all different sizes and shapes. They each had a leather sheet, which I assumed was so the sharp knives wouldn't poke into their thighs. Knife throwing acts could be impressive, but I sure hoped there was more to them as we tried to stay original in this company.

"Okay, everybody. This is Reno," he pointed to the zombie, "and his twin, Axel." he pointed at the werewolf. "I'd like to welcome them to the company and as such, I'd like everyone to give them their full attention while they perform the act that got them this sweet deal." Clapping his hands together, making us all start clapping, he stepped off to the side and motioned for them to start.

The zombie named Reno pulled a knife out of his belt and willy-nilly threw it straight at his twin werewolf named Axel, who jumped aside, looking over his shoulder at the knife now nailed into the wooden board and then back at his twin.

"Reno? The fuck? Put the music on, dude."

"Sorry, yo." The Reno zombie muttered. "We're being stared at by pros. Kinda hard to concentrate."

"Well, you're gonna have to because last time you didn't pay attention you nearly cut off my thumb." The Axel werewolf growled. Hmm, either this was part of the act, or they were amateurs. But, I'd been impressed already with the dodge by, um, Axel so I crossed my arms and waited for them to continue. Not all of us had the best introductions. I remember the girl who did horse tricks had been bucked off and landed in horse shit during her introduction. Still, she'd done well, and was now a main attraction.

Fishing a remote out of his back pocket, Reno clicked a button and the music started. 'Heads will roll' by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Fitting. While the music took off, both twins pulled out three knives, started juggling with them, making it seem like there was nothing to it. Reno then threw one of the knives straight at Axel's head, who then moved only his upper body to the side to avoid the knife, his own knives clattering down to the floor.

As he slowly straightened back up, staring intensely at Reno from behind his mask, Reno continued to juggle the two remaining knives, throwing them high up in the air then. Pushing off his feet, he caught both by their sharp ends between his fingers and then flung them at Axel's feet.

It had looked as if Axel was going to fall backwards, but he pretty much defied gravity as he stretched his arms out, letting his entire body rest on the heels of his feet, having lifted the fronts up in the air to make space for the knives that were now nailed into the ground.

Licking my lips in anticipation now, I leaned forward, loving this act already. It was one thing to throw knives at a stationary object, quite another to throw one at your brother who was moving. Axel took a couple of acted stumbled steps back, propping his hands on his hips, eyes still fixed on Reno who was pulling out two more knives from his belt. He was doing it slowly, and I could see Axel's chest heave, making clear he was acting to be annoyed at his twin's slow pace. Tapping his foot to the rhythm of the music, his arms relaxed before he started to sway his hips left and right.

And after a few seconds of that simple move, Axel then started to dance full out, using all the space his side of the stage had to offer. He was spinning, doing small sidesteps with his feet, his arms sometimes flung around and he both jumped up into the air and circled down. It was clear this dude liked to dance and was good at it too. A knife was launched then, but Axel didn't falter nor stopped dancing, continuing on while Reno threw another. While Reno had to have perfect aim, Axel's dance steps made clear he was doing some avoiding as well.

Reno then pulled three more knives out of his belt, and while he did this, Axel swept down to the floor, picking up two of the knives he'd let clatter down to the floor earlier. Still dancing, he flung one at Reno, who jumped up and avoided it, the knife now nailed into the wooden board behind him.

Looking up, the zombie looked surprised and then threw another at Axel, who danced out of its way before throwing the second at Reno. He let his body drop backwards, missing the knife by a couple of inches and when it was stuck into the wood, Reno lifted his body easily off the ground again and then he too started dancing.

And that's where the pace picked up even faster, leading me to be staring at a scene where a werewolf and a zombie were dancing, all the while 'battling' each other by flinging knives at one another at such a fast pace, I'm not quite sure how they had the time to avoid, concentrate, aim, throw and then avoid again.

There was jumping, sidestepping, flipping backwards... both keeping on dancing and throwing knives until they had no more knives left to throw, and that's when the song ended, both their bodies purposely collapsing to the floor, calling it quits.

I cheered and clapped along with the rest of the company, grinning. Stefan was clapping as well, going up and giving them each a hands up. "Huh? Right? Do I know how to pick'em or what? Boys, if you are still for it, then go talk to the Bro over there and he will get you set up with everything you need, plus your contracts. The rest of you." He turned and gave us the Stefan eye, supposed to be scary but more than anything just creepy. "Get going! Practice, practice, practice!" He waved us away and as the rest of the group emptied from the tent and I avoided being swept away with them, already deciding that I'd have to meet them. It's not like I needed to practice.

Smoothing my white t-shirt and pulling up my pants, I quickly ran along the outside of the tent, making my way to the opening that they'd disappeared through. I saw them chatting with Bro, everybody just called him that, and he shook their hands before heading towards his camper, no doubt grabbing the paperwork needed to get things started. I grinned as it looked like the one in the mask had removed it, but I couldn't get a good look from here. Oh well.

Putting a welcoming smile on my face, I started towards them. I could see that they both had fiery red hair, Reno's slightly longer but just as spiky as it stuck out from his ponytail. As I got closer, I could make out some features, more of Reno's at first as Axel was facing with his back towards me. He was wiping the makeup off, laughing at something that his brother had said, and I bit my lip as I saw that the red under and to the side of his eyes, was not paint, but tattoos. That was fucking hot and when his blue eyes met mine, I grinned.

Nudging his brother with his arm, he nodded and murmured something causing Axel to turn around. My mouth went dry as the most intense green, almost burning if that made any sense, stared straight into my eyes and I didn't even get the chance to properly appreciate the small teardrop shaped tattoos under his eyes, as I was now standing in front of them and they no doubt were expecting some kind of interaction and not me staring. But still. How lucky was this? Two hot, red-headed twins. Nice.

I stuck my hand out to Axel and said, "Welcome. My name is Roxas. Tightrope walking and various acrobatics. Nice to meet you." He grinned at my introduction, about to give me his hand to shake it, but Reno shoved Axel aside, grinning just as wide and taking my hand in his instead.

"That's Axel," he said before being shoved away himself, Axel now holding onto my hand.

"And the rude jackass is Reno."

"You shoved back, yo."

"Because ya shoved first," Axel growled, glaring at Reno while still shaking my hand.

"We throw knives," they then told me in chorus, frowning at each other as they did so. Giggling and not removing my hand, I just nodded. If my gaydar was in any kind of working order, I was pretty sure they were both flaming.

"So I saw. And very well indeed. So, where did Stefan find you?"

Axel let go of my hand as Reno slung an arm across his shoulders, ruffling his brother's hair. "The streets, yo! We've never been part of a circus of any kind. You guys seem really cool." Reno responded.

"And you clearly aren't since ya still use words such as 'yo' and 'cool'. Way outdated, dude." Axel chuckled, cringing when Reno gave him a soft pat on the cheek, clearly expecting a smack or slap of some kind. The soft pat is all he got though. "Kay, well, since Reno doesn't give me a chance to speak, I'm thinking he doesn't want me to. Imma unload the car." Giving me a quick smile, he untangled himself from his brother's hold with another shove.

"You are touching my music material, Axel Montenegro, over my dead body." Reno growled. "You talk with the wire dude, I'll go unload." Giving me a salute, Reno then walked off, whistling a tune as he did so.

"Glad you like it here. I've been here awhile, so feel free to ask me anything and I promise to help you any way I can." So, I was blatantly flirting. I couldn't help it. He was really hot and I hadn't seen someone as talented as he seemed to be in a while. Besides, it was harmless flirting.

"Oh well, thanks, Roxas, 'Preciate it." He gave me another smile. "Doubt I can, but if I can help ya with anything, lemme know and I'll do my best."

Not wanting to end the conversation just yet, but hardly seeing any way that it could drag out, I stepped closer and to the side of him, pointing at the white and blue trailer that belonged to me. "That's my house over there. A word of advice. When you get yours, stay near that and you'll never be downwind of the animal trailers." Stepping back around, I offered my hand again, giving him a sincere smile this time and not a flirty one. He was family now. "It was very nice to meet you, Axel. See you around."

Taking my hand, he shook it. "See ya." Both taking a step back, we were about to part ways and then...

"Axel! Fuck, scratch my earlier claim, not my dead body. This case is really heavy, get over here and help me, yo!" Reno's voice shouted across the terrain.

Axel shook his head in amusement. "That's my cue." He gave me a wave before sprinting off to go help his twin. Giving them one last glance, I gave a salute they could not see and put my hands in my pocket, whistling as I went back to my own act. Practice, practice, practice.

Axel

Sprinting over the freshly cut grass, I made my way to mine and Reno's car, seeing my twin crouched by the trunk, holding up the case that carried his music set up. It was a bunch of electric stuff that you hooked up to a computer and to speakers and the computer you could then hook up to an instrument. Reno's instrument being the violin mostly, although he could pretty much play anything if he set his mind to it.

But the case had the electrical crap he used to be his very own one man band. I'd always been one more to dance and listen to music then to actually play it. In any case, that box he was holding up was heavy as shit and it was going to be complicated to help him unload as he never let me touch it. Not even me, his very own twin, did he trust with that equipment.

"So how are we gonna do this, Reno?" I asked, grinning in amusement at the clear difficulty he was having. "Last time you wanted me to help we ended up in a fist fight. I lost one tooth and you had a broken nose." Circling him slowly, I rubbed my chin thoughtfully to taunt him as he puffed out some air, trying to keep the box up. "And more importantly in that tale... The box never left the car even after I spit out the tooth and drove you to the hospital to get your nose fixed."

"Yo, Axel, stop being a bitch and just get me a cart or something. I'm sure you can find one around here somewhere. It's a circus. They gotta have carts." He gave me a sweet smile, the sweet in that smile being heavily sarcastic.

I nodded, "Sure, sure. By the elephants. To shovel up their crap." Of course with a company this size, they didn't have elephants, but in the heat of the moment, I doubted Reno would remember that. Turning, I grinned and was about to walk away, but knew in advance what was going to happen, so I stopped walking when I heard the box being shoved back into the car trunk and then jumped away when Reno launched himself at me.

"Elephant crap? What are you doing to me, dude?" He managed to bite out as he stabilized himself, quickly smoothing his clothes to pretend he hadn't lost balance in the first place when I'd jumped aside, not letting him tackle me down. "Fine, whatever. But only the box! You don't touch what's inside!" He growled, walking back over to grab his end of it, and I shuffled around until I could hold onto the other side. Lifting it together, I let him walk backwards, making sure to tell him what he needed to avoid as we moved around the large dark green circus tent that was going to be our home.

"Ever think we'd end up being part of a circus?" I asked somewhat absentmindedly as I scanned my surroundings. I knew I was going to bitch about rain... I didn't like getting wet and now that I'd be living outside for the most part what with the whole camper lifestyle that went with the circus routine... Yeah, I was going to whine about the damn rain. Luckily the sun was out today and Reno hadn't sweat enough yet for him to start annoying the hell out of me by bitching about sweat smelling shirts.

"We're knife throwers." Reno answered my earlier question, making clear that being part of a circus wasn't something he was surprised by at all. "Hey, what did you think of the tightrope walker?" My twin asked as we set the box down at the spot we'd chosen to park each our campers.

One belong to our dad who barely used it anymore since apparently camping made his bones ache, or so he said, so he hadn't minded giving us that one, and we'd had enough money to buy a second one so Reno and I didn't have to bunk together. Twins we were, but god, I couldn't handle that dude longer than a certain amount of hours per day. Same went for him about me, I'm sure. Of course Reno got the newest camper since he was born a minute before I was. That excuse was getting really old...

Wiping our hands, we started walking to get back to the car to unload the rest. Apparently, we had to park our cars there and not close to the campers because many of the circus people had young kids that ran around and as Stefan had said, 'It'd be kind of unfortunate if you accidentally ran one over'. Yes. That would be sad indeed, so we'd parked the car where Stefan had pointed for us to do so.

"Roxas?" I pursed my lips, remembering the short blond I'd met only a couple of minutes ago. "He seems very nice. He's the only one so far who's personally introduced himself to us." Then I remembered how pushy Reno had been, the way he'd made clear he'd wanted me to leave them alone.

Frowning, yet a small quirk tugging on my lips, I looked at him while we each pulled another box out of the car. "Are you asking me so I'll back off? Did your gaydar skyrocket again?" I raised an eyebrow as Reno snickered, making clear the gaydar had worked. "Please don't fuck him and then run off. No running here, Reno, we gotta work with him. If you wanna start something, then it's because you actually want a relatio-" I shook my head. "No. No." I said sternly. "Don't come near him in that sense. You'll screw it up." I was sure of it. Reno was very good at breaking his boyfriends. Or, 'boy toys' really. "We got a good thing going here. WE being the keyword."

He laughed full out now, dropping the box onto the ground beside his camper carefully. "Relax, Axel. Even if I were interested in him like that, he certainly wasn't fluttering his eyelashes at me." I faltered in setting the box down, not straightening as I sent a curious glance up at Reno, who was looking down at me with a smirk.

Without needing to voice the question, Reno shrugged. "We're twins. I assure you, you're just as hot as I am." I rolled my eyes then, shoving him away from me playfully as I started for the car again. "Oh come on. Alright, alright. I don't know if he was making eyes at you for sure, maybe there was someone behind you or something. Or maybe he's simple as that, not interested in either of us. But." He shoved me back, "Although he checked me out, the interest didn't last longer than that one scan."

Well, that was a first. Any gay dude in a 100 mile radius around Reno wanted to tap... well, Reno. While we were both quite flamboyant physically, the flashy red hair making it difficult not to be, Reno was the one with the massive presence and personality. Not that I was timid in any way, but I was certainly not as loud as my twin.

"Whatever." I muttered back at him, deciding that I'd hit my limit of Reno for the day. "Just don't use and toss him like you did all your previous partners. Even though you don't listen this, I don't approve of it when you do it to complete strangers, but I'm asking you now, as your twin, to not screw this circus deal up for us. It's a dream come true, ya?"

Reno's grin turned into a genuine smile, giving me a nod. "Okay, yo. No screwing the tightrope walker." He agreed.

"And?" I clipped out.

He groaned. "Fine! I'm not fucking anything in this place, okay?"

Smiling, I nodded in satisfaction. "Good boy. Now get away from me. You're getting on my nerves."

He ruffled my hair, skipping away before I could smack him. "Right back at you, little bro!"

"One fucking minute!" I shouted after him.

"A minute it still is!" He shouted back. Shaking my head in amusement as I watched him skip back off to the car, I turned and decided to unpack the boxes I'd already brought in my camper, turning the thing into something homey and a place I'd enjoy spending time in when, for example, it was raining and I didn't want anyone to hear my bitching about the wetness.

The next day

Frowning at the sound that was trying to pull me out of my very sweet and relaxed slumber, I flipped from my belly over onto my back, figuring I'd smother my head with a pillow to drown out the noise. Instead though, I whacked my arm against something leading me to yelp out in pain, shooting up in my bed. Huh.

Rubbing my wrist, I blinked at my surroundings and then nodded in recognition, realizing I lived in a camper now. Although my bed was a two person bed, the ceiling was a lot closer than I'd expected it to be, hence the whacking. I was surprised I hadn't bumped my head into it as well, but apparently I'd figured out how much space there was between my mattress and bed with the hand smacking.

Below my bed there were two small... I wanna say couches, but they were only big enough to fit two people each, and you had to really sit close by the other to fit in the first place. A table was set in the middle. It was cozy. The thing I used to climb down my bed from, was the small compartment where I had a tiny shower stall and opposite from that was a sink with a counter next to it where I could install a hot plate. I didn't bring that though, Stefan said they had a camper turned into a kitchen that all the circus folk could use, including myself and Reno now.

There was another camper with bathrooms somewhere as well and apparently wherever they planted the circus tent, it was on grounds that belonged to the city the circus traveled through, and of course they got permission from the mayor, and usually the mayors gave access to some kind of gym building where the circus folk could then take comfortable showers and do their laundry. Not too bad, really. Aside from the rain, I could definitely get used to this living style without that much issue.

The noise that had woken me though... That was something I'd been hearing for years. Why did we put our campers side by side anyways? We could have at least put some distance, but no, we hadn't thought it out and so now my neighbor on my right was my twin, Reno, who practiced the violin quite often. Which is what had woken me. Now, he played fantastically, so that was a good thing, but...

Being woken up by a sibling, be it gently, kindly, roughly, harshly, evilly, beautifully, or menacingly? It all sucked royally. Pushing the blanket aside, I jumped down to my 'first floor', circling the small shower stall and making my way, that being one big step really, to rip the curtains open of the one window I had. Reno's window was opposite of mine, and of course he was up bright and early, because that fucker was always up bright and early. I was the night owl, while he worked best in the mornings. It made practicing difficult sometimes, but we managed with some ass kicking.

"Reno!" I roared, tapping the glass furiously and glaring at him through my window and through his as well. Either he didn't hear me, or he chose to ignore me, as he continued to play the blasted violin until my fist knocking on the window actually started hurting. What the fuck ever.

Taking a deep breath, I decided to ignore Reno's existence on this planet for the time being, deciding I'd much better deal with that little fact after having downed at least three cups of coffee. Sighing, I scanned the floor of my camper quickly, pulling on a pair of pants and a shirt I'd unpacked the night before, giving the unknotting of my hair a try for about a split second, but just as soon gave up and kicked my camper door open.

Okay. The fresh air was definitely a nice thing to wake up with. Stretching once I'd stepped outside, I let my bare toes curl into the grass, rolling my neck before slowly walking off in direction of the kitchen camper that had to be located somewhere on the other side of the bigger circus tent.

Stefan had explained they had a setup of some kind around the main tent. Sleeping caravans, equipment caravans, utilities caravans, and then a practice area, since there were quite a few acts and not all could train inside the tent at the same time. After the practice area the circle was closed off with the sleeping caravans again. Figuring it would be more interesting to make my way to the utilities caravans by going through the practice area rather than the equipment, I took a right.

There weren't that many people walking around, but I could hear music coming from the big tent, people talking and I'm sure I'd find plenty more in the kitchen caravan. I could still hear Reno's violin, and it wasn't unnerving me as much as it had a few minutes ago, as now it was sort of a nice background type sound in my ears while I took my exploratory walk around the circus grounds.

My ears perked as I heard someone close by, and I felt a bubble of excitement build up inside of me as I really did want to see what all the other people in this circus did as up until now I hadn't seen anything, really. Except the makeup artist, Leila. I'd wanted to be the zombie, but Reno of course had gotten that by using the 'one minute older' excuse again.

Following the soft noise of... I'm not sure what it was, but I followed it anyway, taking a right and circling a large box I'm sure held many important performance items until I stood before a large-

I smiled as I saw I'd followed the noise to the slackwire, looking a little ways up to see that blond from yesterday, Roxas, standing on one of the X shaped pillars that was keeping his rope up. It wasn't very high, but high enough that I'd have to outstretch my arms to be able to reach the cord if I wanted too.

Fascinated with how concentrated he looked, I stared as he pushed the blond locks out of his face, tugging on his shirt and smoothing the light cotton pants he was wearing, before outstretching his arms on either side of him, placing one foot onto the cord. He wasn't walking on it yet, but I knew he wasn't going to, and I felt my body tense as I watched his feet carefully, wondering how the hell he managed to do such a thing as balance himself on a cord that thin. I was both excited to see the result, but fearful at the same time because if he fell, it must hurt. But I knew that was part of the thing that made this type of act so brilliant. It was dangerous and made people stare in transfixed fascination while a bubble of stress for the person on the cord tightened in their stomach.

He gracefully placed the next foot before the other, and while that action had been deliberately slow, the next had me surprised as he suddenly walked on it, rather willy-nilly if you asked me, making it seem like there was absolutely nothing to it. His arms were still outstretched, but he might as well have been eating a sandwich, and I'm sure he'd look just as relax as he did now.

Point of the matter to that being, he surprised me, and I couldn't help but let out a 'Woah!' as I watched him go.

"Shit!" He gasped out, before wobbling once, trying desperately to maintain the balance that had probably taken years to perfect, but he was just too overbalanced. I watched as he whipped his arms in, no doubt knowing the correct way to fall as he slipped off the rope, his face holding it's surprised look as he went to the side.

Eyes widening as the image of him crashing to the floor shot through my mind, I quickly took the three small steps distancing me from the slackwire, only making it just in time to stick my arms out and catch a hold of him before his body connected to the hard ground. The sudden weight of him did surprise me, but I managed to stay upright with ease as he wasn't that heavy at all and after having worked in a factory for a couple of years lifting heavy things on a daily basis, this wasn't exactly hard to do.

One arm was under his knees and the other around his shoulders, leading him to have let his arms come around my neck in reflex, I worriedly looked down at his face to make sure he was alright.

"You okay?" I asked frantically.

Roxas

"Holy shit!" I yelled out, scared out of my mind for a split second. Not about the fall, well, sort of about the fall, but more about the fact that some guy had his arms around me cradling me when I should be lying on the ground, probably with an aching backside. My mind and eyes finally took in red hair, deep green eyes and it took me another split second to place just who the fuck was holding me like I was his bride.

"Axel," I bit out, not really pissed, but more annoyed as he'd been the one to startle me in the first place. My heart was finally slowing down now that I knew I wasn't in any kind of danger and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm so, so, so, sorry!" He said quickly, hitching me up into his arms higher as I'd probably been slipping for a moment. He blinked, shaking his head and then seemed to realize he could set me down onto my feet. He didn't step out of my personal space though, his hands resting lightly on my shoulders as he ducked his head to keep scanning his eyes over me worriedly. "I didn't mean to startle you. I totally should have told ya I was here, but you were up there and I was watching and I was just so fascinated and then-"

I slapped my hand over his mouth, gently but firmly, and I quirked an eyebrow. "Just...chill out, okay?" Waiting for a moment as I felt his lips finish moving, barely tickling my palm, I quietly said, "I'm going to remove my hand, and you're going to relax. It was just an accident, I wouldn't have been hurt too bad and I'm pretty sure you just learned a pretty good fucking lesson about interrupting another person's practice time. Yes?"

Nodding once, I slowly pulled back, marveling at just how handsome and intense his face was. I suppose I could have been seriously hurt by falling, but it would do no good at pointing that out to the guy now and plus...it was really quite adorable that he was so worried and scared for me. Not to mention that I hadn't been caught and held like that since I was a child. It made me feel kind of...treasured is probably the best word. But it was also quite unnerving as I'd just met the guy yesterday.

He nodded his head a couple of times, swallowing as he let his hands slip from my shoulder, seemingly willing to do as I instructed and relax. "I swear, normally I'm not the idiot with bad timing. That's Reno's specialty." He frowned at me. "Are ya sure you're okay?"

Nodding and giving him a reassuring smile, I reached up on my tiptoes to pat his head as if he were a child. "I'm fine, Axel. Are you okay?" I'm sure he was, the guy had held me up as if I weighed nothing and I'd felt the muscles against my back. Glancing up at my slackwire, I wondered if I would need a few minutes before climbing back up there.

The frown deepened, "Yes of course. I wasn't the one fallin'." He pointed out. "I'm just glad my reflexes were quick enough so I could catch you. I didn't hurt you when I caught you, did I?" He looked me over again and then stopped. "Oh, god, okay. Imma go now, you probably want me to leave."

He smacked the heel of his palm against his forehead, rolling his eyes at himself and sticking his tongue out, giving me a great view of the piercing there. "Stupid Axel. I need coffee. I'll leave you to it. Bye, yo. No, just bye. Yo is Reno's word. Bye." He blabbered out, slowly walking away from me backwards.

Feeling a pang in my chest as I didn't really want him to go, I quickly reached out and grabbed his hand, holding it with both of mine so he couldn't retreat anymore. "Wait! I don't want you to leave!" Rolling my eyes, but not letting go for fear he'd run away, I stood for a minute trying to gather my thoughts. God, he was simply too adorable. Not his looks, those were fucking hot, but he was like a giant puppy.

"Please, just let it go. I'm fine and you're fine and I could use a boost to get back on my slackwire." Yes, use that as an excuse. He was pretty tall and this way I didn't have to climb the poles like a monkey. I sort of didn't want to get back on, but I wanted an excuse for him to stick around.

He gave me a smile, nodding. "Okay!" He agreed, but then shook his head. "Wait. I seriously do need coffee though." Looking thoughtful for a moment, he then added, "You want me to bring you a cup?" My eyes widened as I realized that going with him to get coffee was a chance to talk with him a bit more and maybe get to know him. Yes, good idea, Roxas.

Nodding enthusiastically, I gave him my biggest smile. "Yes, but I'll come with you if you don't mind. I could use a cup and a break anyways." I waited to see what he would do about my hands holding onto his. Another nod of agreement and then he flipped his hand over in mine, grasping one of them before he stepped to the side, using both mine and his arm to spin away from the path before me, ending up by my left side after he'd danced around me. Hand now gone from my hold, I did feel that same hand rest lightly between my shoulder blades for a moment.

"Let's do that then." He gestured for me to lead the way, the hand on my back gone as quickly as it had placed itself there. Very smooth. Chuckling, I glanced over at him and licked my lips as I took in his morning appearance. His hair was really crazy, but he still managed to look put together. It was a catchy look and I bet he'd be just as entertaining to watch with that red hair instead of the werewolf mask.

"So, where are you from?" I asked, sort of doing a hop walk so we were going a bit faster than my legs could keep up with. His legs were fucking long.

He seemed to slow down to keep up with my short legs, which was greatly appreciated and I sent him a grateful smile. "Bikanel island, which is about an hour from Luca. It's in Spira country. Ya guys were touring there before ending up here in Radiant Garden country. Stefan saw us perform in Luca and gave us his contact number." He smiled at me. "We called like, a week later, and you guys were already here in Twilight Town. You do that a lot? Such long trips over such short periods of time?"

Nodding as I calculated in my head exactly where he was from in comparison to everything else, being in the circus sort of got one used to knowing a large area, I answered. "Sometimes. And then sometimes we stay longer in some areas. We have a few shows that are booked every year and we are sort of regulars for some towns. And then sometimes it's just a huge mess." Glad that there weren't a lot of talkative people in the food tent in the morning, we ducked inside and headed over to where the coffee maker was. "How long have you been throwing knives? You're very good."

He quickly stepped over to the coffee maker, pouring a mug for me and himself, sighing contently as he did so. "Thank you." To the compliment. "And Reno and I have been throwing knives since we were thirteen. Dad's a single parent, so he was working a lot and at that age our neighbor just regularly came to check on us."

Smiling, he handed me the mug, taking a sip of his own before he continued. "Still meant that in between her visits me and Reno were alone. We were watching TV and saw these pro knife throwers." He grinned, gesturing for me to sit down on one of the small benches around the round cable wheels we'd tipped over to use as tables before he sat down himself. "So of course, true to being thirteen year olds without adult supervision, we had to try it out."

He shrugged. "That's how it started. Cause we were bored. Usually how Reno and I end up doing things anyways." He laughed. "It's how Reno ended up throwing knives at me instead of at the wooden board. I gotta say, I was surprised, but after dodging, I can assure ya that I threw one right back." Giving me a friendly wink, he then nodded at me curiously. "What about you? How'd you end up on a cord?"

Taking a sip of my own coffee before answering, I sighed as it warmed my stomach and chest. "My parents were this company's tightrope walkers for a long time and I've been doing it since I could almost walk. I was added to the act when I turned twelve. Been doing it ever since." I envied him a sibling. It had been hard enough on my mom to have just one kid, and I was sort of a miracle to begin with as the doctors had told her that she couldn't have kids. "So, you guys are pretty close?" I asked, referring to Reno. They'd have to be close to throw knives at each other. That took a lot of trust.

He pursed his lips, taking another sip before nodding. "Yeah. We're twins." He shrugged, as if that said it all. He didn't stop there though. "We're far from identical though, both physically and mentally. More brothers in those senses. But that freaky twin bond is sorta there. But ya know," He grinned, "the secret language thing twins are so known to create together? The one I got with Reno is through fists." Another shrug, "Sure, it makes us brutes, but we get each other. And with Reno I can be as honest as I want to be without hurting his feelings. If I want him to piss off because he gets on my nerves, I tell him, and he leaves without bitching about it. Vice versa of course. Although I think Reno's better at pushing people's buttons then I am."

He surprised me when he suddenly smiled softly at me. "Plus, we're all my dad's got now. He lost our mom already, wouldn't want him to have to deal with two sons that just can't stand each other."

Matching his smile with one of my own, I reached out, giving in to my desire to touch him again and put my hand on his arm. "I'm sorry about your mom, and your dad is pretty lucky to have two talented sons like you guys." I wasn't sure what it was, but I felt the urge to just let loose and flirt with him in a hurry. Probably because I knew that I was not the only gay performer and I wanted Axel for myself...or at least I wanted a chance with him.

If he didn't like me in that way, then I was okay with that. But I was certainly attracted to him and so far, I liked his personality as well. Win, fucking win. After a moment, I pulled my hand back and went back to drinking my coffee, wondering if he'd ask me questions of his own, or if I needed to poke him a little more.

"Was it fun to grow up in a circus?" He asked then, those green eyes never losing their curiosity as they looked at me. "And like, say ya had kids, would you apply the same life style on them?" He grimaced. "Sorry, funky question I'm sure, it's just that this way of living is so different from the norm, and since you've grown up in it, I was curious to see if you wished it on anybody else."

What an odd question and one I'd never really thought about as I'd always assumed that being gay would mean I wouldn't have children of my own, "Well, I guess I never really thought about it. I mean, I'm gay, so to even adopt a child while I was in the circus would be next to impossible."

Thinking hard now, I tried to picture what my parents had to do to keep me with them. I'd needed tutors for school as I didn't go to a regular one and I'd only made a few friends in my life, and only ones that were connected with the circus. And those were few and far between these days, most having moved on from circus life or just moved on to different companies.

"I suppose I would try to be a good parent and if they needed more stability than circus life could offer, I'd settle down and maybe look for work in another trade." Looking back at him, I blushed. "What about you? I mean, you've only been a member of the company for a day, but have you thought about having kids while you are with the circus?"

He blinked before grinning. "I actually haven't thought about kids at all. Just... didn't really cross my mind yet, I guess. If I do, much like you, I'm gay, so it'd be adoption or surrogate." He finished the last sip of his coffee, setting the cup down then before stretching his arms out over his head. "Adoption is pretty much screwed if I tell them I'm a knife thrower, ya know? So I'd have to cross my fingers and hope to find a lady that won't mind a knife thrower for one of the dads. But, back to the point." Rolling his neck, he nodded. "Circus life seems fine to me for kids. They'd always be busy and could never complain about getting bored."

Tilting my head to the side, scanning my memories, I had to agree. "Yeah, that's one thing about it. I was never bored." Finishing off my own coffee, I quickly stood holding my hand out for his cup. "Want another? Are you feeling awake yet?"

Biting back at least three more questions that wanted to break free, what his plans were that day, did he want a tour, and I even wanted to ask him over to my trailer to watch a movie, I simply waited. Enough time for that later and I certainly didn't want to scare the fuck out of him and have him avoid the crazy tightrope walker. I could be guilty of over-enthusiasm sometimes.

"I'm alright. But if you want another, I don't mind hangin' out," Another friendly wink, "I still owe you a boost after all."

Damn him and those winks, I felt myself blush again, but in pleasure this time. Victory. He wanted to hang out. "I'll get some later, after practice. Can't have too much in my system or I get all wobbly." Grabbing his cup, I ran it over to set it on the counter before running back over to him. "Okay! Come on, we can hang out in the practice area before we get roped into helping with any food they end up making."

Even though it wasn't really necessary, I offered my hand to help him up from the table. It was sneaky, something I wasn't above, but more than anything I was constantly curious about his reactions to me. I wanted them to always be positive. He didn't seem to think twice about it, simply placing his hand in mine, but not really using me to get up onto his feet as by the time his palm connected with mine, he was already standing.

"Let's go." Happy, but not wanting to seem too eager about holding hands, I just pretended to drag him back outside. Feeling a little self-conscious despite the bravery I'd shown earlier, I gently released it as we stepped outside the tent. It was so weird, I wanted his attention and I usually tried to be brave, but sometimes my courage failed me. For example, I really wanted to be bold and hold his hand all the way back to my slackwire, but I was nervous about it.

"How long were you a street performer?" Anything to distract him from what I was sure was strange behavior, I gripped my hands behind my back and peered up at him, internally grimacing as I was reminded of how tall he was standing up.

He smirked at my grimace. "You'll be taller than me in a second." He murmured. "And about two years. We started when we felt confident enough to perform in public and when our dad couldn't forbid us anymore, that being the awesome legal age of eighteen."

"So, you're twenty? Dangit, I was hoping to be your actual senior in age, not just in position." I winked to let him know I was kidding before adding, "I'm nineteen. Hey, would you like to try the slackwire sometime? With the way you dance and move your body, you seem to have really awesome balance."

Waiting for Axel to respond, I saw his smile turn into a frown. "I think my brother beat me to that lesson..." He murmured, halting in his steps as he looked up and ahead, pointing a finger so I would look. Turning my head, my eyebrows raised as I saw Reno hanging from the cord, lifting his legs to try and get up onto it, but only managing to hang upside down instead. When Axel cleared his throat, Reno turned his head, giving us an upside down grin.

"Yo! The view is awesome!"

Axel sighed. "He keeps saying that cause he was born a minute before, that makes him the older one. I think they accidentally switched us around in those first couple of minutes after we were born, and I'm actually the one that's older."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest, less than pleased that he'd touched my equipment without my permission and without a spotter. Hell, I wasn't even going to let Axel try out this slackwire. I had a shorter one that I was going to let him get used to.

"You need to get down. Unless you want me messing with your equipment without your permission." I tried to keep my voice polite, but he needed to know he couldn't just do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.

I don't know whether it was my tone, my stern posture or my words, but whatever it was, he instantly let himself drop to the ground, giving me a serious nod. "Scuse me, Wire dude. Didn't mean to mess with your stuff, yo." He sounded sincere enough. Clapping his hands together, he walked over to me and Axel. "So, what's going on?"

Nodding to him, letting him know it wasn't too big of a deal, but enough of one that it needed to be said, I dropped my arms down and stuffed them into the pockets of my pants. He was different than Axel, obviously as they were different people, but there was just something that seemed...rougher. Just around the edges. But he was still a nice guy, and at least willing to listen to a young short kid.

"I'm getting to know Roxas," Axel said my name pointedly, probably trying to get his brother to stop calling me 'wire dude'.

"Getting to know, or..." Reno waggled his eyebrows, "Getting to know?" His voice sounding more meaningful that second time around. I smirked and raised an eyebrow at him, letting him know that I knew exactly what he'd been asking and I felt my ball of courage hold as I gave him a quick small smile that Axel didn't see. It's not like I was exactly hiding it, but I did want his brother to know that I sort of liked Axel.

Axel laughed disbelievingly, "Clearly the batch of manners mom and dad had to offer only got stuffed into my gene pool as you seriously have none whatsoever."

Reno laughed then too, just not disbelievingly, "Oh shut it, Red, you lack manners when you aren't around pretty blonds you want the attention of," He was snickering now, taunting Axel to the max.

"Stop that!" Axel clipped out.

"Stop that!" Reno mimicked.

"Reno!" Axel whined.

"Reno!" Reno repeated.

"Guys!" I yelled, stepping between them, letting my hand rest on Axel's chest, but only hovering over Reno's, trying not to laugh at their childishness. "Adults all around, please?" Giving them looks of which I hope were the stern kind one gave a child, I stepped back, pretending to dust my pants off and trying to hold down my blush at being able to touch him again. "Now. Can you act like twenty year olds and not five year olds?"

"What?" Axel squawked indignantly. "He fucking started it!" His voice seemed to take on a higher pitch when he sounded disbelieving, "Pushing my buttons, riling me up, repeating me!" And he was walking away. Shit. "I didn't do anything! It's always fucking Reno!" A growl followed that declaration.

"It's true. It was sorta my fault. Wanted to get under his skin and clearly I did right." Reno snickered. "Now that I've done my brotherly duty of the day, Imma be nice and tell you to go after him." He nodded at his brother's retreating back. "Go on. Once he slams that door he won't let anyone in, yo."

Giving him a grateful look, I nodded. "Thanks, Reno. Stop by another time, and you can actually try the small slackwire." He'd probably give up on it, but he seemed the type to want to try everything at least once. My eyes went back to the retreating redhead and I quickly darted forward, glad I'd always been a quick one so that I could catch up with him. "Axel! Please wait!" It didn't hurt to be polite as I chased him down.

I hadn't expected him to actually listen, so when he did stop, halting his steps abruptly, I bumped into him. My face nearly connected with his chest, but his hands grasped my upper arms first. "Whoops, sorry, didn't think you were right behind me." He murmured, "And I'm also sorry for just walking off like that. Reno just-" His jaw locked. "Well sometimes I have the impression he was born just to make sure someone could piss me off from time to time throughout my life."

Staring up at him and just losing myself for a moment, I nodded as my brain just stalled and thought 'pretty', while looking into his eyes. I shook myself out of it quickly enough, and resisted the urge to hug the poor guy. Reno could probably rile up anybody at the drop of a hat. He'd probably meet his match one day though. I sure hope I could be around for that.

"It's fine. I just...well..." Stepping back, I scratched the back of my head nervously and smiled. "I don't really get siblings, but we can toilet paper his trailer tonight in revenge if you want."

He grinned. "Not necessary, but thanks Rox." Reaching out, he flicked a lock of my blond hair out of my face, the tip of his finger tracing my cheek so lightly, I wasn't quite sure whether he'd done it on purpose or not. "Want that boost now?"

Glancing back, I sighed in relief as I saw Reno was gone and turned to give Axel a smile. "Sure. You gonna stick around and be my audience?"

"Definitely." Placing an arm over my shoulders, he pulled me along and back to the wire. I doubt the touch was more than just friendly, but at least he was feeling comfortable enough around me now to make gestures. "Stefan hasn't anything planned for me and Reno much yet, so I can hang out." Good, he still wanted to hang out.

"He'll probably give you a chance to settle in, which means I can tell you all the company secrets." I chuckled, trying to cover up my anxiousness about him being so close. A good kind of anxious, but still...I led us over to the X shaped posts that held the slackwire in place, and I stepped in front of him, pulling his hands and making them hold my waist. "Okay, when I say three, you're going to just lift and I'll settle in at the pole junction. I'll be fine after that." It was only about four feet to where the poles crossed each other, I'm sure he could lift me that far, and then I could do the rest. "Okay?"

His fingers grasped my hips and I felt his body step closer behind me. "Go for it."

Resting my hands on top of his, I let myself grin at the small victory of making him touch me and knowing that he couldn't see it. "One...two...three!" I jumped and gasped at the sensation of almost flying as he easily set me where I needed to be. Turning around, I grinned. "You're really strong, ya know?"

"Or maybe you're just really light." He returned. "I promise no sudden moves or noises this time. And if I so happen to do either of those and you slip again? I'll just have to catch you." Another one of his winks before he sat down on the ground, crossing his legs and leaning back onto his palms as he looked up to see me do my thing.

Easily stepping out onto the wire and facing him, I bowed and winked back. "Sounds like it's my lucky day."

^_^ Hope you like it so far:D