Strange, but True

A/N: I started writing this a while ago and lost it. But I recently found it and fell in love all over again. Note that I did change the location of the Usual Spot to Sunset Terrace because it fit my needs, get over it.


Chapter one: A Sensationalist


"I really don't understand how this has anything to do with my paper assignment, Namine," Roxas said, being drug through a crowded street. The blonde who held his arm, and displayed surprising strength, just smiled sweetly at him. Namine pulled him past a side street attraction, a small crowd "ooo" and "aahh"-ing.

"We have to make it to the Sandlot, the sun's about to go down."

Roxas sighed but followed, having no apparent choice. His younger cousin was sweet, and had been helping him out a great deal since he'd moved to Radiant Gardens. But she thought he worked too much. So, she tricked him into a day out to Twilight Town.
She had said the place's history might interest him; turns out the whole town was a resident carnival. And it was fascinating to say the least, but it didn't help him with his assignment. Roxas shook his head, maybe Namine was right, maybe he did work too hard.

"Why do we need to make it to the Sandlot before sundown?"

Colorful banners ruffled from the sides of buildings, the wind carried laughter and soft music. Namine just smiled again and tugged him to go faster. The closer they got to the Sandlot, the denser the crowd became. But Namine was able to wiggle them up to the front, a short, square stage coming into veiw.

Two men stood on the stage, juggling blue and red balls interchangedly, doing small tricks to entertain the crowd before the real show started. They seemed to be acrobats or something of the sort. One wore a black and white sequined suit, the other in black and red. Roxas had to wonder, while they stood there, the safety of being a carnie. The acrobat in black and white had a huge scar on the side of his face, and an eyepatch. But he grinned just as wide as his performance partner, who's bright red, spikey hair was hard to ignore.

The sun sank beyond the horizen, casting it's last meager light to create eerie shadows in the town. A light wind brought the first chill of the night, making Roxas shiver involentarily, shoving his hands in his coat pockets. His attention was brought back to the stage when one of the acrobats projected his voice out over the standing audience.

"Welcome! Ladies and gentlemen, you seekers of marvel, you denizens of jubilation, I sincerely hope you have enjoyed your stay in Twilight Town. Every corner teeming with intrigue, the likes of which you will see no where else, I believe. My name is Xigbar, and I have worked in Twilight Town for a good many years. Never have I seen such talent, that you are about to see for yourselves. Many fire eaters have come and gone from the family of Betwixt, what you are about to be shown is very different."

The red-head had moved a few things on stage, adding a little more to his costume as well as pulling his hair back into an awkwardly spiked ponytail.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I can honestly give no introduction to this performance that would give it any form of justice. So, I beg you to sit down and open your minds to prevent them from being blown away," Xigbar nodded and bowed to the crowd, motioning an arm towards the red-head, who took center attention.

"Good evening, my name is Axel."

Roxas shivered again when the man spoke, his voice carried a sort of intangible heat that was bewildering, and he could tell the rest of the crowd felt it, too.

Axel sat down on the edge of the stage casually with a box of matches, "fire, it's such a powerful thing. Keeps us warm on icey nights, cooks our food, fights for us, but when angered can destroy any and everything we hold dear."

He lit a match, holding it out to a young girl near him. She shook her head shyly.

"No?" he dropped the match into his palm and clenched his fist around it, earning a few near silent gasps. "How about now?" When he opened his fist again, a tiny, burning, orange butterfly flitted out, snuffing into soot a few inches above his hand. The little girl looked shell-shocked, even Roxas was impressed.

Axel lit three more matches, clapping them between his hands before throwing harmless sparks into the air, "but do not think for a moment any of what you see is control over fire. I am not fire's master, nor is it mine. No, I merely have a pact with fire, a bond. I trust fire and fire trusts me, this is why I do not get burned." He popped a blazing match into his mouth with a smile.

"But gaining fire's trust is no easy task, and can take years of practice. Therefore," he stood," I beg all of you not to try and repeat anything you see tonight, ever."

Xigbar, who had been crouched idley by, handed Axel an unlit torch, which he set ablaze. Most everyone around Roxas was moving to sit on the ground, so he followed suit, crossing his legs. The show started with impressive acrobatic fire tricks. Regardless of what Axel had said, he seemed to be a master fire eater. He used the torches like an extent of his arm and amazed everyone when he made the fire dance away from the torch, in thin air! Taking shapes and twisting around over the heads of the audience. Everyone clapped enthusiastically, Roxas was surprised to find himself grinning. About an hour later, Axel began to finish up his act and raised his hands to silence the crowd.

"For the grand finale, I need a willing volunteer not afraid to face the flames. No one will get hurt, I promise."

A few people in the audience raised their hands, Axel and Xigbar looked thoughtfully at each other. They "hmm-ed" and walked to the edge of the stage, right in front of Roxas. He looked up at them nervously as their eyes swept over him. They pointed and spoke in unison, "you ma'am."

Namine blushed and stood up as people clapped, Roxas let a relieved breath go and smiled up at his cousin. Xigbar helped her onstage politely, Axel pushing up his sleaves.

"What's your name, little lady?"

"Namine."

"Namine, ladies and gentlemen!"

The crowd cheered. Axel looked at Namine, "have we met before?" The blonde girl shook her head. "Alright. Now, we're going to blindfold you and ask you to stand on this stool."

Roxas was a little nervous as they put his cousin in position. Axel lit another torch and took a swig from a bottle. Namine stood very still on the stool, kerchief over her eyes. Axel took a deep breath through his nose and blew the liquid in his mouth in a spray through the torch flame, towards Namine.

Roxas tensed but his eyes widened as the flames grew and formed a wall that molded into an orb around Namine. The light was bright and made everyone flinch; and when the flames cleared, Namine was gone. The crowd went crazy.

Axel and xigbar bowed, and xigbar jumped to do a flip off the stage but disappeared in another flash of flames. Axel raised his arms, flames erupting from his feet, engulfing him and he, too, vanished. People stood, still cheering and talking excitedly amongst themselves. A voice came on over an intercom system wired throught the whole town, declaring the town to be closing shortly for the night.

Roxas blinked from his seat, still on the ground, "wait...Namine?"

The Sandlot was clearing and he stood up, confused. Where was Namine? Roxas could feel himself start to panic. They made his cousin disappear but not...reappear?

"Namine?"

He looked around, the final people laughing as they left. No one seemed to care. He hopped up onto the short stage, heart thumping. "Namine!"

"Relax Roxas, I'm right here."

Roxas whipped about to find the girl standing just as prim as before, no mark from the flames on her. Roxas sighed, panic subsiding, putting his hands on his hips, "that wasn't funny."

Namine giggled a bit as Xigbar jumped up onto the stage to collect the props from the act. When he passed the girl, he patted her head, "good show, Namine."

"Yes, that surprised blush was very convincing," Axel strolled out of no where, pulling his hair tie out.

"So, this is the cousin?" Xigbar asked, pausing with an armful of torches and bottles to hold his hand out.

"Oh. Roxas," he shook the man's hand, noting scars there as well.

"Nice to meet you, Roxas. Namine has told us all about you."

"She has?" Roxas raised an eyebrow, he hadn't known his cousin was friends with these people. She had never mentioned it.

"Yup," Xigbar shifted the props more comfortabley under his arm, giving Axel a grin when he passed. Axel smiled a little back at him. An inside joke, perhaps? Namine piped up, hands clasped behind her back.

"Axel, this is my cousin, Roxas, the one from Traverse Town. Rox, this is Axel."

Roxas turned to Axel, brushing back blond bangs the wind had blown in his eyes. "Hi," he held out his hand as he scanned over the performer. He was tall and very lean, and his green eyes had him transfixed. They seemed to have a smoldering glow to them that made his gaze intense.

"Axel," the fire breather said, shaking Roxas's hand slowly.

Roxas smiled, "... I know."

"Oh, right," he seemed to snap out of a daze, and scratched his neck, "right."

Sighing quietly at the both of them, Namine checked her watch, " dear lord, look at the time. Mom's gonna kill me. See you guys later." She hopped off the stage, careful of her dress, and began to flit away.

"Uh, w-wait, what about me?"

Namine turned with a huge smile, "Axel can take you home, right Axel?" And, without even waiting for a reply, she left. Roxas stared after her, blinking. She had left him to find his way home...with a stranger?

"Um, heh, sorry. I don't really know my way home from here," he smiled nervously at Axel. The red-head chuckled softly, the sound causing butterflies to wake up in Roxas's tummy.

"There's a dressing room close by, gimme a minute to change and," he gave Roxas a smile, green eyes flashing, "I'll definately walk you home."

~~~~~*

"So, you go to the University?" Axel had his hands in his pockets, attention fully on the short blond walking next to him.

"Yeah, m'studying History."

"History? That's cool."

Roxas was surprised to find himself smiling. He was nervous at first, but Axel turned out to be a really nice guy. "I guess."

Axel raised an eyebrow, "you guess?"

Shrugging, Roxas looked up at the moon, "no idea what I'm going to do with my degree, though."

"That's a little silly, what're you getting it for, then?"

"I just...like history," Roxas looked over to Axel, catching those bright eyes. He looked down again, shyly.

"Well, then I'm sure you'll find something to do with it."

Roxas shrugged again, "what about you? Do you go to any schools?"

Axel laughed, shaking his head, "I haven't been in school since I was fifteen."

"What? Why?"

It was Axel's turn to shrug, "no interest. Besides, I have a job I've been working at for nearly eight years. I'm good."

"A carnie career?" Roxas looked incredulous. Axel took on an insulted expression and raised his hands.

"Hey, hey, I am not a carnie, sir. Carnies are freaks and weirdos. I am a respectable fire eater."

That made Roxas smile, "a respectable fire eater?"

"Yesiree."

"Well," he blushed a little and looked away, "I'm not an expert but, I think yer a damn good one, and I'll give you that."

Axel looked down at Roxas, his smile bordering smug, "thanks."

The night had started to get cold, making the blonde shrug his jacket collar up to break the occasional chilly wind. Axel pulled his jacket up, too, looking around.

"You live in the Borough, right?"

"Yeah."

"We're almost to the Bailey, how far in do you live?"

Roxas stopped and looked around, getting his bearings, he hadn't been paying attention. He turned and looked down the road they had just come from.

"Oh, shit, we passed it. Sorry."

Axel laughed, "no, it's partly my fault."

They back tracked a few buildings until Roxas spotted his. Axel walked him all the way up to his apartment door.

"Well, I guess this is where I leave you," Axel stood awfully close to Roxas, amking the shorter feel his cheeks heat up, Axel's voice still turned a trick in his tummy.

"Um, would you...like to come in and...warm up?"

Roxas couldn't meet those smoldering eyes, choosing to set his gaze somewhere on the man's cheek.

"It's," Axel said slowly, "pretty late. Roxas..."

"Oh! Right, sorry, that was...that was dumb," the blond's cheeks heated up even more in embarressment, he fumbled with his keys to hide it. Axel couldn't help but smile at the cutely blushing face.

"No, it wasn't. If you could accept a raincheck, I'll defiantely take you up on that offer. Only, change it to, say, one o'clock tomorrow in Twilight Town. You, me, and some of the best ice-cream in the world?"

Roxas bit his lip, finally meeting his eyes, "yeah, I'd like that."

Axel grinned, running a hand through his hair, "good. I'll see you then."

"Yeah, see you then," Roxas opened his door and gave Axel a final goodbye and a smile before shutting it behind himself, heart thumping in his throat.

"Oh my god."

~~*~~

Axel was walking on clouds all day. All through rehearsal and other work and everything. He seemed to be stuck in a daydream, so Xigbar shook his head and left the man alone. But as one o'clock drew nearer in the day, he became nervous, ancy. He had changed into a simple combination of jeans, t-shirt, and jacket, pulling his hair back into a low ponytail. And he tapped his foot like crazy, waiting on the front steps of the Station Plaza.

Namine's cousin turned out to be a lot cuter in person. And they hit it off so well last night, he hadn't slept a wink, too excited about today. But at the same time, he was uncertain. What if he didn't show up?

Roxas got out of class at noon and it was, thankfully, his only class on Mondays. He had to run home to drop his books off, then hop the 'Ghost Train' to Twilight Town. He felt pretty nervous but excited at the same time. Axel was just so...hot, he admitted silently to himself with a blush. And not just in physical appearance, the looks he gave Roxas were intense, and when they had stood close to say goodnight, he could literally feel the heat radiating off of him.

But, at the same time, he was feeling a small bit of unease.

The train arrived a few minutes early, not that it mattered much. Roxas stepped off, the only person going to Twilight Town this time of the day. He spotted Axel straight away, waiting on the steps, looking out past the plaza, into the ocean's horizen. He walked up next to him quietly.

"It's beautiful," Roxas said, looking out over the water as well, at the lovely way it sparkled as it met the golden sky. Axel jumped slightly and looked down, blinking, "Roxas?"

Roxas smiled up at him, blinking as well, "you look as thought you expected me to stand you up." That made Axel sheepish.

"It was a possibility."

"Well, lucky for you," he clasped his hands behind him and lightly hopped down a few steps, "I like ice-cream."

He looked back up at Axel from the bottom, smile still quirked on his lips. Axel grinned as well, moving to join him.

"Ah, but I must warn you, this ice-cream is a little unusual."

~~*~~

Unusual was hardly the word for it. Who in their right mind would think to put seasalt in ice-cream? It was bizarre, but at the same time, Roxas had to admit it was actually quite good.

They both sat comfortabley on the grass, leaning against the fence that kept pedestrians from falling off Sunset Hill onto the train tracks below. Twilight Town was actually very beautiful when lacking the crazy decorations and hordes of noisey tourists.

Even in normal clothes, though, Axel himself still looked unusual. With his unnaturally red hair and those tattoos under his eyes. Roxas had thought they were make-up at first, but he was proven wrong.

"So, how long have you been living here?"

Axel licked at some melted ice-cream daring to trek down the stick to his hand, and perked en eyebrow at the blond. "Mm, maybe, eight years? I think."

"You think?" Roxas said, amused.

"Sounds about right, yeah."

"When did you learn how to, um..."

"Be a fire eater?" Axel chomped a bite out of his ice-cream since it was so determined to melt. He shivered a moment with a face, but the cold was gone quickly. "Trail and error, actually. I mean, I researched it, techniques and stuff. But I pretty much taught myself."

Roxas raised his eyebrows, mid-lick of his still cool and crisp ice-cream, though it had shrunk in size. "Really?"

"Yeah, why? Impressed?" Axel said jokingly, but Roxas did a sort of nodding shrug that made Axel laugh and put his arm around the blond's shoulders.

"M'glad I could impress you."

Roxas felt his cheeks heat up slightly, but didn't object to the man's arm, or that their sides touched lightly. The heat made his tummy tingle again pleasently. Axel took another bite of out his ice-cream and Roxas chuckled.

"You're going to give yourself a headache."

Axel swallowed and grimaced, shivering slightly.

"See," Roxas licked at his own, savoring the salty-sweet taste.

"What's Traverse Town like?" Axel leaned on the blond, causing Roxas's face to pinken more.

"I-it's a nice place."

Axel paused at the stutter before biting the rest of his ice-cream off the stick. With a sly smile, he turned his head down so he was right near the smaller man's ear.

"That it?"

Roxas shivered when hot breath hit his ear and neck. He shyly turned his head and found them nearly touching noses. Those eyes were sparkling at him again, drawing him in.

"Uh, w-well..."

Axel noticed how Roxas seemed to lean in a little, and he wanted to finish the distance and kiss him. Lord, he wanted to kiss him. But he couldn't, he could see how the blond trembled. So, he sighed internally.

"Are you cold?"

"Huh?"

"Your hands are shaking," Axel put his hand over one of the blond's. Roxas jumped a little, face turning a lovely red. He leaned away a bit and tried to hide behind his small ice-cream pop. "N-no, m'fine...Well..I guess, a little.." He wanted to lean into the red-head, but at the same time he was too...shy.

Axel bit his lip, then got an idea. He stood, dusting off the back of his pants and held a hand down to Roxas. "C'mon."

Roxas blinked but let the man help him up, "where are we going?"

"There's a nice coffee joint in town, it's warmer there, and probably a better place for us to finish out date."

Blushing again, Roxas allowed himself to be led, hand still safe in Axel's. Nervous little tremurs danced through his stomach and he smiled. 'Our date.'

The Usual Spot wasn't too busy this time of day and it had Axel and Roxas rather cozy near the back, chatting away. They talked about a lot of things, and touched on nearly every usual subject. Roxas felt very comfortable around Axel now, as if the man was purposefully trying to draw him out of his shyness. What amazed Roxas was that it was working.

"I warned Xigbar that it was going to be a bigger explosion than he thought, but he never listens," Axel laughed, regaling him with a fireworks mishap. "That's, um, why he has to wear the eyepatch now."

Roxas grimaced and giggled, "you two are ridiculous."

Axel smirked and lounged in his seat, hands on the back of his head, "we do our best."

After taking a sip of his tea, Roxas looked up to find those eyes on him again. They almost instinctively made him blush lightly. And Axel didn't miss the blush, either. He glanced down at his watch and sighed.

"It's probably time to take you home."

"Hm?" Roxas checked his own watch, eyebrows raising up, it was almost six.

"Wait, do you not perform tonight?" he stood with Axel and slipped on his jacket.

"Uh, no, the Betwixt is open Thursday though Sunday only."

"Oh."

Axel chuckled, "c'mon." He led Roxas out to Sunset Terrace, walking leisurely, taking his time. He didn't really wanna take the young man home, but all good things must come to an end. Nonchalantly, he caught the blond's hand and threaded their fingers together. Roxas's heart sputtered but he smiled and returned the hold, making Axel grin.

The sound of running water caught Roxas's attention before he actually noticed the the water fountain. Making a small gasping noise, he tugged Axel over to it.

"Huh?"

The fountain was set into the stone side of a building, water coming down in a fall that created an almost mirror-like effect.

"It's pretty," Roxas said quietly.

Axel chuckled with a nod, "yes, it is. Come at the right time of day and you can see your reflection perfecty."

Roxas leaned his head on Axel's arm, feeling his warmth, watching the water. With a small smile, he tilted his head up, "will you bring me to see it?"

Axel stared down into those innocent blue eyes, "yeah, whenever you want." He let go of Roxas's hand and put his arm around his waist, pulling him closer.

Roxas blushed hotly, his body pressing lightly to his date's. But he didn't object, he couldn't look away. Those eyes were pulling him in again, he couldn't say no. Nervously, he wrapped his arms about Axel's skinny waist, leaning up and in.

Axel froze, gaze going from blue eyes to his lips, pink and trembling. It tugged at his heart that the young man would be scared to kiss him.

"I don't want you to be afraid," he uttered softly before leaning down and pressing their lips together.

Roxas's initial reaction was to gasp quietly, then let his eyes slide closed as he kissed Axel back, nervous jitters running rampant through his body, fighting with the pleasured tingles sprouting from his lips.

Axel groaned, a hand moving to the back of the blond's neck to pull him closer, kiss him harder. It was brilliantly sweet and chaste, making his heart pound. Roxas's head was swimming as his thoughts seemed to melt under Axel's lips. the red-head's hands on him were hot and his body flustered.

Roxas gave a small, involuntary whimper when Axel pulled away. And Axel had to admit that it was really, really hard to pull away. He smiled though, resting their foreheads together with a soft sigh.

The sun sparkled on the water of the fountain as it began to set, Roxas giving a small grin of his own. They stood there until the sun had completely disappeared over the horizen and street lamps flickered to life, too wrapped up in one another's heat to really notice.

When they finally did move, they took their time going back to Radiant Gardens, holding hands and sharing light, still-somewhat-bashful kisses. Roxas felt intoxicated from the whole thing, a near-permanant pink dusting his cheeks.

Back in the Borough, Axel, once again, walked Roxas to his front door. But before anything could be said, he had the small man pressed against it, softly. He smiled, leaning down to kiss him, Roxas's arms sliding up around his shoulder. Axel pressed in a little harder, earning a breathy sound from the blond.

"Roxas," he muttered between tastes of those pink lips.

"Hmmm..." he could barely answer, gripping Axel's shoulders.

"I...really like you."

Roxas gave a light smile, kissing Axel again, "I like you, too."

"No," he shook his head lightly with Roxas still planting sweet little kisses to the side of his mouth. "I really, really like you."

The blond pulled away slightly, resting his head back against the door, smiling in an amused manner. "I know what you meant. I really, really like you, too."

Axel grinned, moving back in to kiss him again. Roxas fumbled blindly for the door handle, managing it open and pulling back fromt he red-head's mouth. He bit his lip with a nervous smile before pulling the taller man inside.