Cowritten by Cheezbuckets
The summer sun streamed through the bedroom windows, letting in the morning light. On the bed, a maned-wolf boy rolled over and groaned. He had no intention of getting out of bed anytime soon. After all, this is what summer vacation was supposed to be all about.
As much as Axel liked living away from his parents, the freedom, parties, and friends he got living in dorms, it wasn't bad being back in his parents' home for a little while, quiet and cozy and familiar. It didn't hurt that they were working the first day he would be back, so he had the house to himself, no pestering about what he'd been up to and what his plans were when he got back to school.
He'd gotten in late, sneaking in the back door with his old key and falling asleep nearly the instant he'd hit his old bed, fluffy tail curled comfortably around him. As a result, Axel had no intention of even attempting to get up early. When he finally woke up, he had laid, prone and silent, for maybe five minutes before his ears pricked up at the sound of something downstairs. He tried a moment to disregard it. It was probably just his imagination or something outside, but then the sound unmistakably became footsteps across the floor.
He heaved himself up, not bothering to change out of his pajama pants or even put on a shirt. He told himself that he really wasn't too worried about whoever or whatever had gotten in. He was more concerned about the disruption of his quiet day alone. It was probably just one of his parents back from work for some reason. Maybe they'd forgotten something or were going to take the day off.
Or it could be a burglar.
Maybe he should find a baseball bat or something, but that would be in the garage. If his parents hadn't thrown out the old sporting equipment. Well, there were knives in the kitchen at least, and he was a pretty big guy. Well tall anyway, skinny as anything, but height alone might be a bit intimidating.
He considered shifting. Trying to remember what he'd learned about forms. Like most people he spent the majority of his time in his human form, the only sign of his nature his ears and tail. The half-form might be good for fighting, that gave him teeth and claws combined with the bipedal height and reach that came with arms. Then there was full Animal form, if nothing else he could run away pretty fast in that form. If he needed to.
Better see exactly what was going on before formulating a plan. He crept down stairs carefully and headed towards the kitchen. When he rounded a corner to the kitchen, he stopped dead in his tracks. Someone was standing in the middle of the room sweeping the floor. Short and slight, blond hair, long ears that ended in soft round curves, cute as hell. Definitely not a break-in, definitely not what he expected to wake up to.
"Uh... Hi?" Axel scratched the back of his head, leaning against the frame of the entry.
The boy jumped and let out a small cry of surprise, clutching the broom. He turned to face Axel, and then took a deep breath. The boy removed an ear bud from one long bunny like ear.
"I'm sorry," he said, "You startled me. I didn't know anyone was home. I didn't wake you, did I?"
"Nah, I needed to get up anyway," said Axel. "Breakfast time and all." Shit, maybe not talk about breakfast with someone you could eat. "Just didn't expect anyone else to be here. So I guess you could say you startled me first."
"I'm with the cleaning service?" He said, forcing an awkward smile. "I hope you haven't called the cops. I've got my work badge if it helps."
Axel had to laugh a bit. "Cops? No. Don't worry about it." This kid was a real worst case scenario kind of guy wasn't he...Although if Axel had panicked and called 911 that would have been awkward.
His parents really should have warned him about this. He kind of remembered them mentioning hiring a cleaning service and how nice the young man was...They hadn't mentioned that he was cute. But then again they probably wouldn't…
Okay, probably time to stop staring, just act natural. There was a surprise hot guy in the middle of the kitchen and Axel was shirtless. This was fine, totally normal.
"Well that's good," said the boy, "no worries then."
"Yeah, you don't exactly look like a burglar. I wasn't gonna call the cops before checking what was up. Also, you can put the broom down, I'm not gonna attack you."
The boy blushed, and lowered the broom. "Sorry, reflex," said the boy. "No one warned me anyone would be home today."
"Yeah, my parents didn't say you'd be coming today either. But they were in bed by the time I got here last night." Maybe they had mentioned it last time he talked to them, but he'd forgotten. "I'm just going to sneak into the fridge and grab something to eat. I'll try not to get in your way." He got out of the entryway and made a beeline for the fridge to see what there was to eat as his stomach gave a low growl.
"No problem," said the boy, sounding relieved. Had he actually been worried Axel might attack him or something? Why were prey so nervous all the time? Not all preds just ate people.
"Sorry for scaring you, bunny." He winked. "Name's Axel, by the way."
"I'm Roxas," said the boy. "And I'm not a bunny, fox. "
After looking at him a silent moment with a raised eyebrow, Axel couldn't help laughing again. If this guy had been working for his parents for any length of time, there was no way he genuinely thought that they were foxes. "Ouch, alright, Roxas. You've got those kinds of ears, that's all. Didn't mean anything." He seemed fun already.
"Right, ears. I get that a lot," he said. "My tail isn't anything like a rabbit though." He turned, giving Axel a view of a fluffy curled tail. Axel did his best not to check out his butt, but his best wasn't very good.
"Sorry for the mistake," said Axel.
Roxas turned back around and fiddled with the broom and chewed on his lip, giving Axel plenty of time to enjoy the view. He didn't quite meet Axel's gaze, eyes focusing on his chin or over his shoulder or somewhere above his head while he clearly went through some sort of internal struggle. Axel could see him thinking it through- say something polite and unfriendly to get the bosses' son off his back, or go the friendlier route and chat him up in the hopes that he wouldn't tell his folks he'd snapped. Axel gave him all the time he needed.
"And I'm sorry for snapping," he said, although the apology sounded forced. "I hope you don't think your parents hired an assh- a jerk."
Axel had to laugh at that. "I'm not my parents, you don't have to worry about swearing. I just got back from my first year at university and believe me I've heard worse."
"So you're home for the summer I take it?" asked Roxas, his tone dry. A forced politeness that didn't quite reach customer service voice level.
"Yup," said Axel, rooting through the fridge. He grinned when he found some avocados. Axel grabbed one and moved to the pantry to find some bread. "Nowhere else I really felt like going this year, so I'll be here."
"And I'll be in twice a week, Monday and Friday. So no more startling each other."
Axel popped bread into the toaster before getting a knife for the avocado. He looked back at Roxas and winked again. "I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other, then."
Roxas stared at him, a faint blush rising in his cheeks. "I-I should probably get back to work. Not getting paid to talk..." The boy turned his attention back to the task at hand, pausing for a moment.
Axel grinned, half watching Roxas as he got a plate for his avocado and toast before sitting at the kitchen island to eat, still facing Roxas. He looked so embarrassed now. Guilty, too, like they really shouldn't have been talking like this. Really, he was even cuter when he was flustered. He wasn't sure he should say so, though; prey got weird sometimes when a predator called them "cute."
Axel thought it was a dumb thing to get upset over, but he didn't want to risk Roxas getting mad at him, especially after the bunny comment.
"Hey, um…" Roxas broke in, "I hope you know I meant when I said I was sorry. I overreacted to the bunny thing. It just...happens a lot and you get tired of correcting people. Most people haven't even heard of viscacha. You wouldn't believe all the 'aren't you too big to be a rodent' unless they're the sort that think bunnies are rodents too. Sorry, I'm babbling."
"Hey, I get it, no need to explain, I'm sorry about the 'bunny' thing. Gotta admit, I've never heard of viscacha."
This won him a smile from the boy. He was even cuter when smiled.
"Well thanks for not saying it sounds like a sauce," said Roxas. "I get that a lot too since it rhymes-"
"With sriracha. And probably bad pick up lines talking about it fits since you're hot...ahem, I mean, as an example." He forced a wide grin. Was Roxas cringing? Okay time to change the subject.
" Anyway, " He said, emphasizing the word. "I like meeting animals I've never heard of before. I guess you mean you are a rodent, then." He leaned his chin in his hand as he continued eating and watching Roxas clean.
"Yeah, we're more related to mice than rabbits," Roxas explained, "Not that we'd fit in most rodent sections of the city. Viscacha are actually from the same part of the world as Maned-Wolves. So we have that in common."
"So we share roots? Cool. My parents keep talking about sending me there to learn about our heritage and crap, but I've managed to avoid that by pretending I'm busy with school. But maybe one day you and I could go together."
Was he being too blunt now? God, his parents would have a fit if they saw this. To them, prey were perfectly nice people, but the idea of predators and prey getting romantically entwined was just Not How Things Were Done. Axel didn't care, a cute guy was a cute guy, but he'd have to tone it down if they were around. He sighed and sat back a bit as he finished his breakfast, grinning. "I guess that means, in a past life, I'd be chasing you around."
"You seem pretty intent on chasing me in this one," Roxas quipped, "We just met. Don't you think it's a bit soon to be inviting on vacation?"
Axel's grin grew as he stood to take his plate to the sink. "It's not like I have a date in mind, just thought we could take advantage of what we have in common." He leaned back against the counter, cocking his head with a raised eyebrow. "Was that a no? We're going to be seeing a lot of each other, so I thought getting to know each other could be a fun way to spend the summer."
"Is this how rich people get to know each other? 'Hey bro, let's just go backpack across foreign countries.'" He looked up from his work as he spoke. "Anyway, in case you haven't noticed. I have a job. So my summer is going to be spent cleaning houses. Which I should be doing now."
Axel laughed to hide the sting of the rejection. "Alright, alright, sorry, didn't mean to get in your way." He impulsively gave Roxas a pat on the shoulder as he passed, heading out of the kitchen.
Roxas looked back at him as he went. "Hey, it's your house. I just...shouldn't be getting distracted about dates or not dates...wait a minute….you meant date as in a set time...not whether or not the vacation would be romantic." The boy cringed and looked like he'd like nothing more than to sink into the floor he was scrubbing.
"Yes, I technically meant time, not romance." He winked again. "Let me know if you need any help. Just because I'm rich doesn't mean I don't know how to use a vacuum."
"I am getting paid for this, you know," said Roxas. "Don't let your parents think they can just rope you into doing chores instead. Don't worry about it, Axel. Think of it like I'm an employee and you're a customer somewhere you hang out. You wouldn't offer to help me make the drinks if I worked at a coffee shop."
"Hm." This one was making it hard to flirt with. "For you, I just might."
With one last wink, he left to go back to his room and get dressed at least halfway decently. He shot a couple friends quick texts assuring them that he'd gotten home safely and reminding them to bring him back a cool souvenir from their vacations. He then went back downstairs to sit in the living room and play some games, trying to figure out the right way to get to properly talk to this stubborn Roxas. He expected his summer vacation to be lazy and boring, so he had to at least give a summer fling with a cute blond a solid try.