They were back at that stone table, Roxas in a chair, Axel seated on the tabletop, holding a joint to his lips in a way that looked so precise it could be called dignified in different circles. Roxas stared up at the redhead, hiding the mental battle he was currently having.

"You look like you're thinking pretty hard there, Rox."

Rather, he thought he was hiding it. Apparently not. "I just... wanted to ask you-"

"Wait, wait, wait," he took another drag. "Weed now, questions later." He held out the joint for Roxas to take and watched as the blond took a hit. "Actually, I take that back. I can ask questions now."

Roxas rolled his eyes but raised an eyebrow in interest nonetheless. "And?"

Axel leaned forward, barely a few inches from Roxas' face. "Now, this is a pretty awkward question. C'est la vie, but whatever." He tucked a piece of blond hair behind an ear and grabbed the joint from the younger boy. After inhaling, he handed it back. "Would you," he started, gently taking hold of Roxas' chin, "please..."

"Please, what?" He asked, hopefully.

"Please," he repeated, "help me out with this?" He finished, leaning back and gesturing to the bulge in his jeans.

Roxas let out the disappointed breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. "I guess."

Axel grinned and ruffled the blond's hair. "Thanks, Roxy. Finish that thing off, will you?"

Roxas did as he was told and flicked the butt away, annoyed that 'Roxy' was a thing that was actually happening.

"Good, now come with me."

Axel groaned and grabbed Roxas' hair, holding his head in place as his orgasm swept over him. Roxas rolled his eyes and spit the man's semen on the ground next to the tree he was leaning on. The redhead held a hand out to help Roxas to his feet. "Thanks, Roxy."

"Questions now?"

Axel shrugged as he zipped his jeans. "Sure."

Roxas stared at the older man for a few seconds. "We're... friends, right?"

Axel crossed his arms, brow furrowed. "That's your question?"

Roxas thought about it before nodding. "That's my question."

"Well," Axel started, crossing one leg over the other and pursing his lips in thought. "We're certainly not together, if that's what you really want to ask. So yeah," he nodded, making eye contact with the blond. "We're friends."

Stricken by the blunt nature of his response, Roxas asked, "What?"

Axel sat in the dirt and motioned for Roxas to do the same. He looked straight into blue eyes and spoke slowly and clearly. "We are not together. We are friends. That is your answer."

Roxas turned his eyes to the ground. If he was honest with himself, that's the answer he was expecting, so he wasn't sure why he felt so stupid. He'd barely even consider Axel a friend, so what was he doing, hoping for a different answer than the one he got? "So we are friends... with benefits."

The redhead placed his large hands on Roxas' cheeks and pulled him into a deep kiss. He moved one hand to twine into blond hair and the other to rest on his neck, while Roxas' hands found purchase tightly gripping the fabric of Axel's worn out t-shirt. Axel explored the blond's mouth with his tongue, pulled back, planted a brief peck on swollen lips, and said, "Exactly."

He stood up and dusted off his jeans. "So let's-"

"I have another question."

Axel stopped and looked down at the boy who had yet to stand up. "Ask it," he prompted.

"Are you going to shut me out in a week?"

He raised a crimson eyebrow and smirked. "What would give you that idea?"

"Demyx, actually," he said, finally rising to stand.

"Demyx was obnoxious and bad in bed. Also, really shitty haircut."

"Can I ask why you were ignoring my texts for the last few days?"

Axel shrugged. "I was hanging out with Riku."

Roxas' eyes narrowed. "So you're fucking him, too."

"Consoling a friend, yes."

Blue eyes widened before he turned to walk away.

"If it's any consolation to you," Axel yelled after the boy, "You're a much better lay!"

Roxas stopped in his tracks; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. What kind of consolation is that? He felt Axel's hand's slide down his sides and stop at his waist. He rested a pointed chin on Roxas' shoulder. "Axel."

"Hmm?" He asked, planting small kisses on Roxas' neck.

"Stop it." He heard a sigh in his ear then felt Axel slip away from him.

"Roxas, you have zero rights right now. You can't get mad."

He started walking off again but Axel caught his wrist. "What?" He yelled. Nobody told him when he could or couldn't be angry.

"Just another consolation," Axel offered, holding his hands up in surrender. "I... don't usually let people stay over after. I actually never let people stay over after." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "So you'd be the first."

Roxas caught himself about to smile and stifled the urge. "I don't care. Goodbye."

"You're throwing away a perfectly good friendship."

Roxas stomped his foot in frustration. "We're not friends! We're barely acquaintances! You don't even know my last name, and I don't know yours! I'm just some dumb freshman who you fuck when you feel like it. We don't ever talk. We don't know anything about each other! So in what world are we friends? We're not. Okay? We're not." With a final heaving breath, Roxas schooled his features, spun on his heel, and walked.

"Sinclair."

"What?"

Axel approached the blond. "My last name."

Roxas sighed. "Mine is-"

"Strife," Axel finished. "I know. And your favorite colors are black and white. You're eighteen. Your birthday is next month. You suck at skateboarding but you brought one to school just for looks. You don't like Zexion at all. You're an amazing photographer but you're too lazy to go to class. And you're thinking about transferring, which I really think you shouldn't do."

Roxas stared, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. "Why - How do you know those things?"

Axel took another step forward. "I'm observant, I pocketed those negatives you dropped in the darkroom, and you're a lot more talkative than you think when you smoke."

"I don't know what you want me to say, Axel."

"Say that we're friends."

"I still don't know anything about you."

Axel crossed his arms. "I'm 21. I'm a junior. Philosophy major. I play lacrosse. I played football in high school until I hit my growth spurt and just got too damn tall. My favorite color is the color blue you can only find in a flame. I don't fucking like Zexion either. My parents kicked me out after high school. I don't like the idea of relationships."

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Clearly."

"But," he murmured, running a hand through Roxas' hair. "I'd make an exception, for you. If that's what you needed me to do."

Roxas swallowed and focused anywhere but the green eyes stationed before him. "Does that mean you won't... console your friends anymore?"

He lifted the boy's chin to look in his eyes. "Whatever you want."

Roxas raised his right hand and put up three fingers. "Scouts honor?"

Axel scoffed. "I wasn't a scout."

The blond smiled. "Neither was I."

"Well then," he grinned. "Scouts honor."

Roxas smiled up at the redhead. "So... philosophy?"

Axel rolled his eyes and pulled the blond close. "Shut up."

And their lips collided.

This took me 3 days more than it should have. It's been way too long since I've written anything. Oh well! PWP with what is trying to be a plot! That's your gift from me. Happy belated Akuroku Day, people. Review please!