Axel twisted the golden band on his ring finger thoughtfully. For a moment, he debated taking it off. Even throwing it away. But it was a beautifully made ring, white gold set with black diamonds in an intricate pattern. Then a thought came to him and he smiled slowly, leaving the ring in place. He was in the mood for something dangerous and a bit dirty. The kind of person who wouldn't be deterred by the ring was the kind he wanted, especially in his current circumstances. The phone rang and Axel checked the caller ID before answering.

"Hi dad." Axel's lips twisted into a rueful smile as he listened to the voice at the other end of the phone. "I know." He walked over to the window, looking out over the garden. It was a beautiful day outside. Normally he wouldn't have cared but today wasn't at all normal. "Sorry. I know, an e-mail was impersonal but I was in a bit of shock." Axel listened, head tilted to one side. "I know… hang on a sec, I want to go outside." Slipping on a small headset he stepped out of the house, walking over to the lilac bushes to smell the flowers. The lilacs were in full bloom and their heady scent filled the air. Axel closed his eyes as he sniffed them. "I'll definitely come by to see you dad. But not right away if that's alright. I'd like to give mom a bit of time to settle down." Axel glanced over the garden, vaguely aware that he hadn't really looked at it in years. It was a very pretty garden, professionally landscaped and maintained by a company his wife had hired. "No, I'm not going to tell her. Tell mom to zip her lips." Axel walked slowly through the garden, and paused, a bit startled as he found a pond. When had they put in a koi pond? Looking in the water he saw the golden fish swimming through the well-tended waters. "I know dad. But if I do it will be all about her feelings and I'll have to spend time coddling her." Axel knelt down, running his hand through the cool water. "It's not your fault. If Cinny had lived… well, maybe things would have been different. Just make sure mom doesn't blow it, okay?" Axel paused a moment, looking up at the sky. It was so blue and there were only a few fluffy clouds. It reminded him of the sky in a video game and he grinned. That had to be the mark of a true computer geek. "I'm going to go do things dad. Things I've never done before. I'll come by to see you in a couple months, okay?" Axel pushed himself up and resumed walking through the garden, pausing at the rose bushes to smell the flowers. Unfortunately the pretty white flowers really didn't have much of a scent. "Right. Talk to you later dad." Axel flipped off the headset and felt the air on his face for a moment. The air was full of the warm scents of flowers and living things.

"What should I do?" Axel murmured to himself, digging a foot into the ground. There were so many things he'd never done. Never really wanted to do, if he was being honest with himself. But priorities changed and now he had an urge for something new. "Sky diving." He murmured to himself. He'd never done THAT, for certain. It would make a good start. Decided, he walked back to the house and quickly wrote out a note to his wife.

Larxene,

I'm going on a sabbatical. Will be gone a year. Reach me at the usual number if there's any problems.

-Axel

Axel paused, rubbing his head for a moment. He knew that for any normal man and wife, that letter would be horrible. But Larxene would just accept it. Their relationship was not normal by any standard. They had been young and in love and stupid, and had gotten married when Larxene had come down pregnant. Their parents would have insisted on it but, truthfully, it wouldn't have taken much. It was what they had wanted and they'd had so many dreams of how the future would be.

At first, those dreams had seemed to be coming true. Axel could remember the joy they'd both taken in their daughter. Her name had been Alexi but her hair had been a warm brown so they had nick-named her Cinnamon, which had been shortened to Cinny. She had been beautiful, bright and happy. The light of both their lives.

Until the accident. Axel still flinched a little when he thought of it. It had been just an accident… children playing in the schoolyard, under supervision by the teacher. The boys had been running around as usual and one of them had run into Cinny. She'd fallen and landed on a rock, hitting the back of her head. It should have been just a concussion, just a nuisance. But she'd hit it just the wrong way and had fractured something… Axel could only remember the doctor explaining it was a tragic accident. No one to blame, no one at fault, just the wrong time and wrong place…

Nothing had been the same after that. He and Larxene had both mourned but that mourning had not drawn them closer. Instead, they had drifted apart, probably because aside from their daughter they really hadn't had much in common. And in one of the great ironies of life, that bad luck had been followed by fortune. Axel's cousin was an amateur geologist and had become certain one particular part of the country held emeralds. Axel hadn't really believed it, but the college fund they'd been setting aside for Cinny was just a painful reminder of their loss, so he'd given it to his cousin. Larxene hadn't objected, hadn't cared. And his cousin had been right. Their investment had been returned a thousand fold, and after that it seemed like they could do no wrong, business wise. Everything they touched turned to gold… and it meant nothing.

Shaking his head, Axel stepped back from the table and went to research skydiving companies.

It was far past time for a change.

"I can't believe you talked me into this."

"Shut up Paul." Roxas said casually, clicking the barbell in his tongue against his teeth as he looked at his current partner. He was an older man with dark brown hair, watery eyes and a weak chin. He was good in bed but hopelessly timid and Roxas was tired of him already, although it had been only a week. "Just relax. Take deep breaths." He suggested without really caring. "It'll be over soon."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Paul muttered and Roxas snickered, amused. There was a low laugh and he looked up, meeting the bright green eyes of the man sitting across from them.

"Remember, it's not the fall that kills you. It's the stop at the end." He advised and Roxas laughed as Paul grimaced. Interested, the blonde examined the man. He was older, quite a lot older if Roxas was any judge. That aroused his interest and Roxas looked for any signs of wealth. The gold ring on his finger caught the blonde's eyes and he smiled, slowly. Married with an expensive ring. Perfect.

Roxas was young, beautiful and not doing a lot with life. That was fine though. He was using his looks and his charm to butter up sugar daddies. Almost all married, with at least decent assets, they were more than willing to buy their short term lover clothes and pretties. They paid his rent, sort of… he sometimes lived with his mother, sometimes his boyfriends. He enjoyed danger as well, and that was why he'd talked Paul into paying for the skydiving trip. It would be a nice finale to their relationship.

"Axel, right?" Roxas asked, well aware that it was the other man's name. They had gone through the introduction together. It had been short, only a half hour, but they were tandem jumping with experienced partners. There was almost no risk to them despite Paul's trepidation. "You from around here?"

"Oh no. I'm from Cedar Point." Roxas' interest sharpened at that reply. That was a small coastal town notorious for it's very expensive villas by the sea. Excellent. "Taking a year long sabbatical from my marriage." Roxas blinked and then laughed, vaguely aware of several people on the plane giving Axel strange looks.

"It's time." Roxas turned his attention away, standing up. There were six of them doing the tandem dives, and he was first. Roxas took a deep breath, striving for calm. He'd make the jump and then see about hooking up with a hot redhead.

He wanted something new.

"That was amazing!" Axel grinned like a maniac, flushed with success. His first skydive had gone off without a hitch. The way the air pushed at him, the noise, had been amazing. Then the jerk of the chute grabbing him and then the peace of it as they drifted down. That part had been almost meditative.

"We should do it again!" The blonde boy said brightly. The older man by his side shook his head. Axel glanced at him, amused by his obvious relief to be on the ground. Clearly he wasn't a daredevil of any sort and it made Axel wonder why he was here. Was the kid his son?

"Nah, not for me." Axel made a quick decision. "I want to try something new. Maybe race car driving." Roxas smiled at him, stepping close for a moment.

"I've never done that. If you need a partner or anything, look me up." He murmured in a low tone and Axel didn't miss the sudden flash of hostility on the brown haired man's face. Not father and son, oh no. Axel blinked as the boy took his hand, pressing a piece of paper into his palm. "I'll be waiting… but not too long."

"I'll think about it." Axel murmured softly, captivated by bright blue eyes. Roxas smiled again and ran his thumb over the back of Axel's hand as he pulled away.

Only a small part of the redhead's mind was on the rest of the tasks after the sky dive. The rest of him was thinking about that young man, watching him occasionally from the corner of his eye. Roxas and the brown haired man were lovers, he was sure of it, and they were in the middle of a quiet but heated argument as they worked. Axel mused about the overtures the blonde had made. A man? He'd never been with a man in his life although he'd occasionally felt attraction. He'd just chosen not to act on it, mostly because of how his parents would react. His marriage to Larxene had been dead for years and he'd had plenty of one-night stands, but only with women. It didn't really matter how his mom and dad would feel about a male partner though, not anymore.

"Something new." Axel murmured to himself, smiling as he noticed Roxas had a few tattoos. The blonde liked his idea of race car driving. What else would he be willing to do? It would be a lot more fun to have some company in his voyage of discovery. A torrid romance the likes of which he hadn't experienced since his early days with Larxene. A whirlwind affair. And why not? Larxene had been having an affair for years.

He needed an adventure.

"I know dad." Axel sighed as he searched online for a place that gave race car lessons. "Really. I'll be home in a month or so. Stop fretting - I'm sorry." Axel said contritely as he examined a website and clicked on the FAQ. "I don't mean to - uh -" Axel had to suppress a snort of laughter as he read the bit about 'has anyone ever wet their pants'? Whoever had written the FAQ clearly had a sense of humor. He flicked over to the address and opened Google maps in another tab. "Yes, I know. Really, I do. Tell mom I'll be there soon, I just need some time to come to terms with things." Axel leaned back for a moment, rubbing his forehead. "Dad… that won't make anything better. Please talk to her for me. Please?" A pause as Axel clicked on a map. "Thanks." Pulling the headset off he reached for a bottle, shaking out a few pills absently as he looked at the map. "Arizona? Hmm." Would Roxas want to go to Arizona? And that reminded him. "Oh yeah." Flicking the headset back on he dialled the number on the paper Roxas had given him. "Hi Roxas. It's me, Axel." Axel smiled to himself as he listened to a few meaningless pleasantries. "Good to hear you too. Say, I was wondering if you'd like to go out somewhere tonight? Maybe a bar, maybe a nice restaurant, that sort of thing." Axel paused, listening, then opened a new tab as Roxas talked. "Mmm hmm, the Crematorium? Odd name for a restaurant - oh, it's a club too?" Axel chuckled as he pulled up the website and saw they specialized in flambé and flaming drinks. "This sounds… entertaining." Another page showed him a view of the stage, with a man juggling lit torches. Axel idly wondered if they were up to code for that, then decided he didn't care. Not in the slightest bit. "I could pick you up. Will your boyfriend be a problem?" Not that he cared about that either, he just wanted to be ready with a roll of coins if that was the case. "Ah, good. Where do you live?" Axel noted down the address, smiling. "I'll pick you up by seven. Later Roxas." Humming to himself, he flicked off the headset and began searching for tourist attractions in Arizona. If they did end up going there, he wanted to see what was available besides the race track with an amusing FAQ. He wanted to explore as much as he could in the least amount of time.

Money could buy many things in the world, but it could only buy so much time.