So sorry this took so bloody long, everyone! I'm a slow little derp.

Axel could feel Reno eyeing his bruises as his uncle paused his game and approached them, but the man fortunately didn't say anything about the obvious injuries. "I'm proud you've managed to make a friend on your first day, yo," he said instead, grinning and letting out his speech tic.

"Thanks for the faith, Reno," Axel muttered with a roll of his eyes. Axel couldn't remember ever calling him "uncle" and had never been corrected for it.

"You're completely welcome." Grinning wider, Reno patted Axel's shoulder before stretching his hand out at Roxas. "You've gotta promise to be good to my nephew, 'kay? He had problems before because he had no friends and we don't want him to have to move again, yo," he teased.

Blinking in surprise, Roxas tentatively took a hold of his hand. "Oh... Sure."

With a sigh, Axel swatted his uncle away. "Thank you, Reno. Always so helpful. How did I not have friends before?"

"Simple. You weren't living with me so you hadn't picked up my awesome aura."

Trying to keep himself from laughing and giving Reno the satisfaction of winning, Axel turned to Roxas. "Sorry... Uh... You like video games?"

Though he still looked confused, a timid smile touched Roxas' lips. "Well, I... I'm not very good at them. But I like watching," he offered.

Reno immediately went back to the couch, picked up one of the Xbox controllers, and pointed at Axel. "In that case: you. Me. Versus Mode. Now."

Axel couldn't stop a smirk and a short burst of laughter. "You're on!" Gesturing for Roxas to follow, he followed Reno to the couch and picked up the second controller, patting the spot beside him for Roxas to sit as well while they waited for the game to load. As usual when the two played against each other, there was a tense moment of silence before the game started, then they promptly burst into low muttering and louder swearing.

For a good few minutes, Axel was so wrapped up in winning he'd pretty much forgotten Roxas was there until the blond shifted his weight slightly next to him. Guiltily, he started rapidly switching his attention back and forth between the TV and his new friend. "Sorry about, uh, this. We...can get pretty in-fuck!-pretty intense about this."

Roxas half-smiled. "It's okay. Even my brother ignores me when he's playing something."

"Brother?" Axel asked, nodding absently.

"Sora. My twin. He's pretty obsessed with video games."

Axel again nodded to show he had heard but didn't otherwise respond. Watching the two, Roxas found it a little hard not to laugh. They both wore furious expressions, eyebrows furrowed, each determined to beat the other. Roxas couldn't follow what was happening in the game and had to guess who was winning by who was swearing less. Finally, though, something ended the game and Axel jumped to his feet, throwing his fists into the air.

"Ha! And another victory for me!" he shouted triumphantly, grinning.

Groaning and grumbling, Reno threw his controller onto the couch and stalked away.

"Don't be a sore loser," Axel teased. High off of his win, Axel continued grinning as he sat back down and turned to Roxas. "Don't mind him. Anyway, do you want to give it a try or would you rather watch?"

Smiling back, Roxas grimaced slightly. "I-I should probably just watch."

Axel laughed and nodded, looking back to the TV. "Okay. I'll make a gamer out of you eventually."

Roxas laughed back as he watched the red-head start a one-player game. "Well, good luck with that."

As the short conversation died off, Axel started explaining the game while he played, obviously much more relaxed while competing against just the computer units. After a time, he again asked if Roxas wanted to try, and Roxas again hesitantly declined.

An hour or so passed with few further words passing between them until Roxas awkwardly stood up. "Well, thank you for having me over, but I guess I should go home now."

Pausing the game, Axel stood as well. "Okay. Do you want me to walk home with you? Or I could ask Reno to give you a ride."

Roxas quickly shook his head. "Oh. No. I don't live far away."

"Okay." With a shrug, Axel walked the blond to the door and silently watched him get his shoes and jacket back on. "I'll see you tomorrow, though, right?"

With the slightest hint of a smile, Roxas nodded. "Yeah. I'd...like that. Bye."

Axel smiled and waved slightly as Roxas opened the door and left. "Bye."

Alone again, he went back to turn off the Xbox and to try to figure out his new friend. Before he could get to the latter, though, Reno suddenly reappeared from his sulking with a wide smirk.

"Well done," the elder red-head joked. "I always knew you had a thing for blonds. You take after your uncle like that, yo." As Axel opened his mouth to retort, Reno stepped closer and vaguely gestured at him. "But what's this all about, yo? Don't tell me you've already started fighting again."

Axel scowled. "To be fair, I didn't really get a chance to fight back."

Reno sighed and pushed his goggles further up his forehead. "You know I hate going all 'responsible adult' on you, but I'd be a terrible guardian if I didn't ask what happened."

With a sigh, Axel shrugged and looked away. "A gang of homophobes caught me in the change room after school."

"You know I have the greatest sympathy." Reno stepped over to put a hand on his nephew's shoulders. "At the same time, I know you don't want to end up suspended again, yo."

"I'm not going to," Axel said stubbornly with another shrug.

Reno chuckled and patted his shoulder. "I know. Still." With a sudden, loud laugh, he winked and lifted his hand to mess up Axel's hair. "But, who knows? Maybe your new friend will help you stay out of trouble. Crushes on cute blonds can do strange things to a red-head."

Shoving his uncle off, Axel laughed. "Grow up. Just because I've already befriended him doesn't mean I'm going to date him."

"But you want to."

Axel laughed again. "Maybe. I ido/i have a thing for blonds. To be fair, though, I hardly know him."

"Whatever you say, yo." With another wink, Reno sat back down on the couch and turned the TV on. "Just try not to be too loud if you start jerking off because of stray thoughts of him tonight."

"Oh, please." Axel smirked as he sat down next to Reno. "We both know you're the noisier of the two of us."

Reno frowned slightly. "What? Do you eavesdrop on me? 'Cause that's creepy, yo."

"Don't need to," Axel said sweetly. "I'm sure even the neighbours can hear you some nights."

"You little-" Suddenly, Reno was on top of him, snarling in one part annoyance, three parts amusement. Not caught entirely by surprise, Axel leaned back to try to avoid him and pressed his forearm against Reno's throat to hold him back. Wildly grinning, Reno took a hold of Axel's throat and lightly squeezed. The younger took a quick breath past the growing tension then brought his knee up to Reno's gut, knocking his uncle off the couch but then finding himself dragged off as well which aggravated his pre-existing bruises.

Ending up on top of the tangle of limbs, Axel dodged a punch then quickly leaned over to position his forearm back against his uncle's throat, his time bracing his other hand against his wrist so he could feel Reno's breath and pulse pressing protestingly against his arm.

Immediately, Reno laughed. "I'll let you win prematurely this time since you're injured, yo," he teased, wheezing slightly.

Axel rolled his eyes and kept his arm where it was. Being a sore loser again already?

"What? No?" Laughter softening, Reno reached up to brush some hair away from Axel's face then lightly stroked his black eye. "It's been a while since you and I last fought, so I needed to make sure your reaction speed is still decent, yo."

With a sigh, Axel lifted his arms away then flopped over on the carpet beside the elder, ignoring further protest from his injuries. "You're ridiculous."

"At least we know where you get it from." Affectionately, Reno ruffled his hair.

Laughing briefly again, the two red-heads fell silent for a while, neither showing any inclination to get up. After a bit, Reno stirred again. "You'd better become friends with that Roxas, yo," he said sternly. "You need some kind of love interest to keep you out of trouble."

Axel smiled at the dull ceiling. "Last I checked, I wasn't a character in a romantic comedy, but yeah. I'll try."