You Taste Like...

Disclaimer: I do not own kingdom hearts, nor any of the characters. I am making no money off this story...

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He couldn’t believe they were actually here. It seemed so wrong. He could have gone his whole life without being in a tattoo parlour and he would have been a happy man, but no... Sora just had to get a tattoo on their 18th birthday. Fuck.

“I’m so excited, Roxas!” Sora gushed as he pushed the front door open. “I’ve heard such good things about this place; this is where Riku got all of his work done.”

Riku. Ah yes, that guy. Roxas wasn’t very fond of that man; he was a horrible influence on his impressionable brother. Riku had gotten his first tattoo at the age of sixteen and had accumulated at least two per year, if not more, so after 5 years he definitely had a nice ‘collection’.

“Don’t tell me Riku is the one who gave you the idea to get a tattoo,” Roxas pleaded.

“Not really... I told him I was interested and he told me everything he knew about it, suggesting that I come here to get it done,” Sora replied, at least having the decency to look slightly sheepish.

Roxas just sighed as they made their way to the receptionists counter. The parlour was a square room with displays and couches scattered everywhere. Along the back wall were two tattooing stations next to the receptionist’s desk. There was a hallway behind the desk that led off somewhere and Roxas wasn’t sure he ever wanted to go back there. The entire decor was black, but it wasn’t drab or depressing; just black. The parlour did have the oddest name though, The Organization. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Sounded kind of sketchy to him.

A blond man sat behind the counter, headphones in his ears and a nasty mullet covering his head. He really seemed to be into his music though since he had his eyes closed and was doing some air guitar or something. Resting his hands on the counter Sora looked to his brother for help as to how to get the guy’s attention. Shrugging his shoulders Roxas was just tempted to throw something at him.

Luckily for the unknown receptionist his co-worker, a guy with an eye patch emerged from the hallway. And eye patch? What was he a pirate? Did he actually tattoo people; Roxas thought depth perception was something critical when using sharp objects on people.

The dark-haired pirate took one look at the blond strumming away on his air guitar and sighed. Walking over to his fellow employee he gave him a hard smack on the back of the head before addressing the two boys. “Sorry about Demyx, he needs to be fired.”

The blond, Demyx, quickly took his headphones out and rubbed the back of his head. “Fuck that hurt Xigbar, what’s your deal?” he muttered as he sat up properly in his chair. “Sorry about that guys, wicked guitar solo. So what can I help you with?”

With another uncertain glance between them, Sora pulled out a scrap of paper. “I want to get a tattoo of this on my back,” he stated, pushing the paper towards him.

Grabbing the paper off the desk Demyx took a look. A weird look crossed his face, a mix of amusement and ‘what the fuck’, but without another word he got up and disappeared down the hall.

“He’s just gone to go get the tattoo artist, Axel, and should be back in a second,” Xigbar explained before busying himself behind the counter.

“You can still back out, Sora,” Roxas whispered, eyeing the big man behind the counter. “Why don’t you just get a painting of it instead?”

“Roxas, quit trying to talk me out of it, I want to get it done,” Sora said with a pout. He had spent so long working up the nerve to get this done and he wasn’t going to back down now. Besides, he would never hear the end of it from Riku.

“Where’s this runt, Demyx?”

Both boys turned to the hallways where the new voice was coming from. Roxas looked over at his brother and noted that his pout had gotten bigger at the statement. He sighed mentally; Sora hated being called short even though he was barely over 5’4”.

Roxas was brought out of his thoughts as a tall man with very red hair appeared from the hallway. He was so thin, yet seemed to occupy the whole room. Vivid emerald green eyes locked onto his blue ones and Roxas was barely able to brace himself against the intensity in those eyes. A smirk formed on the older man’s lips as he strode over to the desk and rested his arms on the surface of the counter directly across from Roxas.

“So you wanna get inked?” he asked, the smirk evident in his voice.

Immediately Roxas snapped out of his shock and was back to his old self. “Wanna get punched in the face?” he replied, mocking the red head’s tone.

Laughing, the man turned to Sora. “So it’s the other runt then. Pass me his drawing, Demyx.” At this Roxas started fuming he was at least three inches taller than Sora. Demyx did as he was told and passed him the paper, barely suppressing his laugh. Looking down at the drawing Axel had to wonder if the kid was serious. In pencil there was a very lopsided heart topped with a triangle on it, which he assumed was supposed to be a crown. “Ugh... I’m assuming you want me to touch this up?” he asked, looking up at the brunet.

At the mention of his drawing, Sora blushed a deep red. “Yeah, that’s just the general idea.... art was never my strong point,” he replied, scratching the back of his neck.

“Alright, give me five minutes to redraw it and we’ll get started. The name’s Axel by the way, got it memorized? Have a seat wherever and Demyx will give you some papers to fill out,” he stated, waving his hand. Giving the still fuming Roxas a quick look, he turned and headed back down the hall he came from.

Taking the clipboard Demyx held out to him, Sora walked over to one of the couches and sat down, Roxas following him closely.

“Sora, you can’t get tattooed by him,” Roxas stated bluntly as soon as he sat down.

“What are you talking about Roxas? Sure he called me a runt but he must know what he’s doing. And I mean did you see those tattoos on his face? He’s got to be good,” Sora replied as he proceeded to fill out the information sheets.

“What? What does having tattoos have to do with anything other than the fact he’s crazy?” Roxas asked, shaking his head. “He’s a bastard; he will probably screw up your tattoo just so he can laugh at you!”

“Now who’s the crazy one Roxas? I mean really, he would get in so much trouble if he messed up someone’s tattoo. And how do you know he’s a bastard? You don’t even know him! Give him a chance, Roxas,” Sora stated. Roxas wasn’t sure how, but Sora was acting more mature than he was and it was weird. Couldn’t Sora see what a creep he was? Axel was so cocky and rude.

“But Sora,” Roxas started, but Sora wouldn’t let him finish.

“I know I have a nice butt, but I don’t want to hear about it Roxas,” Sora replied with a smile. Goddamn that smile, it always won out.

Sighing in defeat Roxas nodded, “Fine, Sora, but I am going with you to make sure he doesn’t do anything funny.”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way!” Sora said happily just as Axel re-emerged from the back.

“Alright, so I redid it a bit and want to make sure it’s still cool with you,” he stated as he stopped in front of them, handing them a new sheet of transfer paper.

On the sheet was basically the same thing Sora had drawn just proportional and cleaned up a bit. The lines grew bigger around the curves of the heart and crown and instead of a triangle for a crown it was a simple three point crown that was hanging off one side of the heart.

“I changed it a bit, putting the crown on the side like that. If you don’t like it though I can change it back,” Axel pointed out, though he didn’t sound like he would actually make the change.

“No, it’s perfect like this!” Sora exclaimed, his face lighting up. “It’s so awesome Axel!”

“I thought you’d like it,” he replied with a confident chuckle and it just made Roxas hate the man even more. “Alright, follow me to the back. You can bring your guard dog if you want,” Axel added, smirking at Roxas before turning and heading back down the hallway Roxas decided he would never go down.

Sora bounced up from his spot on the couch and eagerly followed Axel. “Come on Roxas!” he called back to his brother.

With a silent growl Roxas pushed himself up and trudged after his sibling. He just hoped this would be over as quickly as possible.

Axel led them to one of the rooms at the end of the hall and instantly Roxas disliked it. Everything in the room was red and it made him want to puke. Red walls, red chairs, red tiles? Who these days made red tiles, seriously?

Axel was busy setting up his equipment on a desk while Sora sat himself down and took off his shirt. “I want it on my left shoulder,” he stated slowly, looking over his shoulder at Axel.

“Awesome, and I assumed you wanted it in colour, red for the heart and golden yellow for the crown?” Axel replied simply as he began pulling out different coloured inks.

“Yeah,” Sora answered as he looked over at his brother who was just leaning against one of the disgustingly red walls. “Now that I’m in here I am sort of getting nervous,” he stated, laughing nervously.

Roxas couldn’t help but roll his eyes. It was so like his brother. He was brave up until the point where he had to prove his bravery. Figuring this wasn’t the time to say ‘I told you so’ even though he wanted to so badly, he smiled at his brother. “It’ll be fine Sora, just think of what’ll look like when it’s done.”

At that Sora smiled, settling himself into the chair.

“I don’t think Demyx told you, but your tattoo will cost you $100.” Axel stated, rolling himself closer to his client. “Though I could always lower the price if your brother will do something for me,” he added with a smirk, looking over at Roxas. Lifting the stencil he placed it on Sora’s shoulder and wet it down. Pulling the paper back he nodded his approval at the location.

Roxas looked incredulous while Sora looked excited. “Sure what does he have to do?” Sora replied quickly.

“Thanks Sora, it’s nice to know you are willing to use me to save money,” Roxas replied bitterly. Why did he get the impression he wasn’t going to like what the red head was going to say?

With a devious smirk Axel started up his tattoo machine. “I’m just going to start with a small line and you tell me how that feels, ‘kay Sora?” Axel asked over the buzz of the machine. Leaning forward he brought the pulsing needle to Sora’s back and make the first small line.

“Feels ok I guess,” Sora replied uncertainly, scrunching his nose slightly.

“Wait a minute! You never answered his question,” Roxas exclaimed, pushing himself away from the wall ready to stop Axel.

“Calm down, all I want from you is a simple kiss,” Axel replied smoothly as he continued to fill in the outline of the tattoo. “I will lower the price to $75 bucks if you do,” he added on as an afterthought.

“No way!” Roxas replied immediately. What the hell kind of offer was that? What was he? A whore?

“Aw come on Roxas!” Sora pleaded. Roxas’ head snapped to look at his brother. His brother was fine with this! “What, it’s just a little kiss, it’s nothing Roxas,” Sora continued, trying to pull the whole puppy dog eyes on his brother. “And anyways... you’ve never had a problem kissing guys before.”

At this Axel actually stopped tattooing and looked up at Roxas a surprised yet mischievous look on his face. “Really?”

“Sora! Fuck!” Roxas yelled out. God, he couldn’t believe his brother had actually just said that. “You want to just sell me out like that? And why the fuck did you bring that up?” he continued to yell. Christ, he was just outted to Axel and called a whore.... gotta love family.

Sora’s expression changed quickly to one of guilt as Axel continued to work on the tattoo, a smile on his face. “I’m sorry Roxas! I didn’t mean it like that... I just thought you would be fine with it... like you wouldn’t care. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” Sora muttered, barely speaking loud enough to be heard above the buzz of the machine. His eyes were downcast and it looked as if he was about to cry.

Fuck. Roxas hated when Sora did this. He had made his brother upset. “No, I’m sorry Sora,” he amended quickly, lowering his voice. If there was one thing in this world he couldn’t stand it was making his brother feel bad... no matter how much it fucked him over. “It’s fine, I’ll do it.”

At this Axel’s ears seemed to perk up. “Perfect!” he exclaimed happily as he pulled the needle away from Sora’s back. “Outline’s done, just need to do the coloring.”

As Axel changed his machine Sora smile up at his brother. “Thanks Roxas,” he said softly.

Roxas just sighed as he leaned back against the wall, wondering why the hell he let his brother control him like that. He guessed his dignity was nothing compared to Sora’s happiness.

Another ten minutes passed in silence as Axel finished coloring in Sora’s tattoo, adding in some detail like highlighting and shadowing. When he was all finished he switched off his machine and grabbed a bottle of cleaner. Squirting the new tattoo he wiped off all the excess ink. “And we’re all done! Why don’t you go look at it in the mirror?” Axel asked, pointing at the mirror that was hanging on one of the walls.

Getting up from the chair Sora stretched himself out quickly before heading over to the mirror. Turning his back to it Sora looked back over his shoulder. “OH MY GOD! It’s so nice Axel! Thank you so much,” he gushed as he looked back quickly at Axel before turning back to look at the tattoo. “Look at it Roxas!” he continued to exclaim.

Roxas had to admit, it was a really nice tattoo. The colours were bright despite the irritation of Sora’s skin and the outlining was crisp. So Axel was good at his job, he was still a bastard.

With a chuckle Axel pulled out some saran wrap and tape. “Come back over here and I will bandage it up. You should keep the bandaging on for at least 3 hours, if not the rest of the day,” Axel explained as Sora moved back in front of him. He continued to explain all the steps Sora should take to properly take care of his new tattoo as he finished applying the clear bandage. “Alright, you are finished, you can just go pay Demyx up front at the desk,” Axel said as he stood and pulled off his rubber gloves.

“Awesome,” Sora beamed, “thanks again!” With that Sora quickly left the small room, a rather noticeable bounce in his step.

Pushing himself off the wall Roxas made to follow his brother but an arm blocking the doorway stopped him. His heart beat loudly in his chest as he wondered how Axel could move across the room so quickly.

“You didn’t think you could get out of here without fulfilling your side of the deal, did you?” Axel’s voice was a little too breathy and a little too close to Roxas’ ear for comfort. Taking a step away, Roxas glared at the taller red head.

“Oh, I was hoping you forgot,” he replied bitterly.

“Oh Roxas, there’s no way in hell I’d forget you,” Axel replied with a slight laugh before taking a step towards the small blond.

Instinctively Roxas took a step back to match every step Axel took forward. Unfortunately that didn’t last long because his back hit a very red wall after only a couple steps. Fuck, how cliché was this? Getting cornered against a wall before having to kiss someone? Sighing, Roxas resigned himself to his fate.

As per the cliché Axel quickly trapped him against the wall with a smirk. “You don’t really dread kissing me THAT much, do you?” he asked leaning in slightly.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Roxas replied. He couldn’t help it, it was easy to take jabs at Axel and he was going to take advantage of every one if he had to kiss the guy.

“You have quite the mouth on you, Roxy,” Axel stated, loving the change in Roxas’ eyes from devious to loathing at the nickname.

“Don’t call me that!” Roxas practically whined. He hated when people called him that, yet they seemed to find it amusing to do so anyways. There was no way in hell he was going to enjoy this kiss anymore. Not that he would admit to the fact that he had been looking forward to it a tiny bit.

“You’re so foxy when you’re pissed off,” Axel stated quietly before closing the distance between their lips.

And in that moment Roxas completely forgot about what he had just been thinking.

He didn’t know it was possible for a kiss to be so hot, literally. Axel just seemed to exude this burning heat, and it was making Roxas lightheaded. Or maybe that was the kiss. He wasn’t sure how, but Axel had somehow managed to get his tongue into Roxas’ mouth and it was eliciting some delightful responses in the smaller male. With a small moan Roxas lifted his arms and wrapped them around Axel’s neck.

Encouraged by the positive reactions from the blond Axel dropped his hands and slid them into the back pockets of Roxas’ baggy jeans, pulling the small blond closer to him. The need for air caused him to change tactics as he began nipping and sucking on Roxas’ lower lip all the while groping his ass.

Meanwhile Sora was up front with Demyx, eagerly showing him his new tattoo.

“That’s a sick tattoo Sora!” Demyx stated, actually standing up to get a better look. “So your total for that is $75 bucks, how do want to pay? Cash, debit or credit?”

Dropping his shirt back down Sora gave Demyx an odd look. “How’d you know it was only $75? It was supposed to be $100.”

Demyx couldn’t help a cheerful laugh, “I know Axel, and I know Roxas is his type.” Sora couldn’t help but laugh as well.

“Mmm, you taste like... sea salt?” Axel breathed, licking his lips. It was such an odd flavour but it seemed to fit Roxas perfectly, a little harsh but yet so sweet.

As much as Roxas wanted to just bask in the warm of that kiss, Axel’s statement quickly brought reality back to him. He had just made out with the red head and those hands were still squeezing his ass... “Get off of me,” he ordered, pushing Axel away roughly. Swiping the back of his hand across his mouth Roxas wondered how he could have possibly lost control like that. Even more so, he wondered how he could have liked it so much; Axel was supposed to be a bastard. Burying his hands in his front pockets Roxas practically ran out of the room, not even bothering to spare Axel another look.

Axel just smirked as he watched the moody teenager leave; feeling quite satisfied with himself. He was definitely going to see Roxas again.

*************

The whole bus ride home Roxas absolutely refused to speak about Axel or the kiss they shared; no matter how much Sora bugged him about it. In normal situations Roxas would eventually cave, but not this time. There was no way in HELL he was telling anyone what happened in that room.

As they finally arrived at their home, Sora burst through the front door and called out for their mom. He disappeared into the kitchen and could be heard talking animatedly with his mom. Ignoring them Roxas headed up to his bedroom, intent on napping until he could no longer feel Axel’s lips against his own.

Sighing as he closed his bedroom door behind him, Roxas walked over to his bed. Digging through his pockets Roxas pulled out his cell phone, bus pass, wallet and... a piece of paper? Setting everything but the paper down on his night stand, Roxas unfolded the piece of paper. On it was Sora’s shitty drawing and written in red ink was a number.

Axel’s number no doubt.

Groaning, Roxas collapsed onto the bed, burying his face in the sheets. Axel must have put it in his back pocket during the kiss. Axel must be stupid if he actually thought Roxas was going to call him. Though... would it really be all that bad to call him and just yell at him for being an ass? Groaning again Roxas slowly squirmed until he was under the covers and willed himself to sleep, the paper still tucked away in his hand.

*****************

“So you wanna get a tattoo just like your brother?” Axel asked, leaning over the counter, a lecherous grin on his face.

Roxas found himself back at The Organization tattoo parlour, Axel once again looking at him like he was some sweet piece of candy... or ice cream. Why he had come back here he wasn’t certain, but sure enough his feet had brought him through their front door. Roxas simply nodded in response.

“Perfect, come on back,” Axel stated, his eyes gleaming as he pushed himself off the counter. Turning he walked down the hall, Roxas following close behind.

Once again Roxas was led into the horribly red room, but this time instead of a chair, a table was laid out. “I have the perfect tattoo for you, take off your shirt and pull your pants down a bit,” Axel stated, for some reason his tone completely serious.

Without a word Roxas stood and removed his shirt, throwing it on the ground by the door. Luckily his pants were fairly baggy, even with a belt, so he just shimmied them down his hips until they risked exposing him. He noticed it was fairly cold in the room and felt goosebumps form on his skin. With a fluid movement he hoisted himself up onto the table and laid down on his back.

The second he was fully on his back Axel was by his side in his chair, machine in hand. Without even applying a stencil he began working, creating smooth perfect lines.

Roxas gasped as he felt the scraping sensation of the needle against his skin. Axel was tattooing on his right hip and Roxas could have sworn he felt the vibrations in his bones.

“ If you want,” Axel’s voice broke through the buzzing of the machine, “I will do the tattoo for free.” This sounded awfully familiar... “But, you have to let me do something.”

Roxas felt his breathing pick up, his chest rising and falling a little more rapidly, at the thought of what Axel might do. He was afraid, but his curiosity and excitement completely overpowered his fear. Unable to find his voice he just nodded instead; not daring to look down at the smirk he knew was on Axel’s lips.

It seemed to only take a couple more seconds before the tattoo was done and cleaned off. With Axel’s help he got up off the table, not daring to look down yet, and walked over to the mirror. In his reflection he saw the number thirteen written in elegant roman numerals about the size of a fist. The black and grey detailing was amazing and to his surprise his skin wasn’t even red or tender. Thirteen was his favourite number, how had Axel known?

He jumped as he felt arms wrap around his waist and a hard chest press against his back. When had Axel taken off his shirt? Looking up into the mirror he saw Axel’s eyes start to close as his lips descended onto his neck. As soon as his lips made contact Roxas tilted his head to the side, watching as he moved his hands up and placed them on Axel’s arms. As Axel’s hands roamed the expanse of his stomach, travelling lower and lower, he watched every movement in the mirror. Axel’s hand passed over his new tattoo and he felt his skin tingle.

“Say my name, Roxas...” Axel purred against the blond’s neck, opening his eyes to watch Roxas.

Roxas parted his lips trying to form the name he desperately wanted to, but couldn’t find his voice. His eyes were glued to the hand in the mirror whose fingertips were just barely slipping under the hem of his pants.

“Roxas...” he practically growled before biting down on the soft skin of Roxas’ neck.

Gasping at the slight pain that shot through his body Roxas felt the words forming, they were so close. He opened his eyes, not even realizing his closed them, and noticed the mischievous glint in Axel’s eyes. Without any other warning Axel slid his hand inside and grasped his engorged flesh. Roxas saw white, feeling heat burn through his body and finally found his voice.

“Axel!”

His eyes snapped open, his dark empty room greeting him.

“Fuck!” he cursed loudly. It was a fucking dream! He wasn’t sure what he was angrier over: the fact he had dreamt of Axel, or that it had only been a dream. Looking over at his bedside table he noticed it was just past two in the morning.

Groaning, his pushed himself up into a seated position and quickly realized that what happened in the dream hadn’t fully stayed in the dream. Eww... Getting up out of bed awkwardly, feeling the stickiness shift against him with every small movement, he made his way to the bathroom adjoining his room. At that moment he was so grateful he had his own room and bathroom, he didn’t know how he would have explained this to Sora.

Quickly undressing and cleaning himself off Roxas tossed his soiled clothes in the laundry hamper. Walking back into his room naked, he slipped on a pair of boxers he found on the floor before crawling into bed. Now that he didn’t have anything to preoccupy himself with he began wondering what his dream meant.

He could conclude that he definitely did find Axel... attractive. And maybe, perhaps, he was a tiny bit interested in him, but it was Axel! How could he be interested in such a jerk? And he was pretty sure Axel wasn’t interested in anything serious, so why even bother?

Sighing Roxas rolled over onto his side. He hoped he was going to be able to get back to sleep, he was exhausted. Though he wasn’t sure he wanted to go back to sleep if he ended up having another dream like that.