Author Notes: This fanfic is an ongoing collection of drabbles. Please follow to be kept up to date with new additions.

The Interview

Summary
Roxas attends an interview for his dream job.

Roxas checked himself out for the fifth time in the dingy mirror of the office restroom he was in. He flicked his hair this way and that way, he rubbed his cheeks and could swear that his facial hair – which he had shaved just this morning – was already growing back in. He straightened his tie and tugged at the Full Windsor knot which he had re-done twice already, and wondered if he should re-tie it for a third attempt. He, however, got distracted by a tiny speck of fluff on his dark blue suit sleeve which he picked off, before finding another, and another, and another.

He let out a tiny, muted groan, snapped his eyes up to the mirror, and straightened and shrugged his shoulders with a huff of irritated air. "All right, Roxas. You can do this. It's just an interview for the job of your dreams. No biggie. You've got this. Four years of college have totally prepared you for being scrutinized. You've watched all the interview questions on Youtube. You've practiced this a million times with your brother. You can do this." Roxas tugged at his suit jacket, gripped his suitcases handle tightly and headed back out into the plush carpeted waiting room with its rows of leather-bound chairs.

He hardly got his butt settled in one before his name was called.

"Roxas Mills, we're ready to see you now," a woman behind the imposing reception desk said. She stood up and ushered Roxas down a hall. She pushed open a door to a small interview room and asked him to take a seat. Roxas did, putting his suitcase on the table he sat before and looked around himself when he was left alone.

There wasn't much in the blue-gray walled room with its garish halogen-tube light, which gave off a quiet but steady hum. There was the unremarkable desk, with a chair for the interviewer and the chair Roxas was sitting on, and there also stood a potted fern in the corner of the room.

Roxas waited, looking at the digital clock mounted on the wall. He nearly jumped out of his skin when the door opened.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. We've had so many applicants that I didn't get a chance to grab anything for lunch. I hope you don't mind me just finishing off this cupcake. I even brought one for you, because it would be rude to be the only one eating." Bright white teeth flashed but Roxas wasn't aware of the vibrant red hair – neatly tied into a high-sitting ponytail – or the man's height and thin frame. He wasn't even aware of sharp cheekbones, pointed but square chin, or the tattoos under the eyes. All he saw where those emerald green gems shining brightly, as if lit from a light within, making them more vivid and dazzling than all the stars in the sky and even more gorgeous than dappled light filtering through fresh spring leaves.

"Ah – thank you," Roxas stammered out like a moron as he took the blue iced cupcake from the other man's hand in such a way that made their fingers brush. A shiver ran down Roxas' spine and he immediately felt himself blushing. He stared down at the petite cupcake with its blue frosting, candied rose, and edible metallic sprinkles.

"My name is Axel Trobe, and I'll be interviewing you today for the position of—"

Roxas didn't hear the rest. He just stared at Axel Trobe with the greenest eyes and the reddest hair and the coolest tattoos and the fairest skin. His mind went numb. He tuned out. He watched that mouth move, that smile flash, those eyes sparkle – all for him. A golden, tinkling laugh left that picture of perfection and flooded Roxas' ears, making him smile.

"Are you all right, Roxas?" Axel asked, still smiling, soft, generous, and warm, and tilting his head in the most adorable way imaginable.

Roxas nodded dumbly.

"You haven't even eaten your cupcake." The gift to all who laid their eyes upon him, also known as Axel Trobe, was still smiling, big and wide and all teeth.

Roxas, on auto-pilot, popped it into his mouth, paper cup and all. He quickly turned around and fished the chewed on cup out of his mouth, glaring at the dull gray carpet and cursing himself at what an idiot he was being and what an embarrassing loser he was and how he should be ashamed of himself to act like such a dork in front of Axel Trobe, and Roxas Trobe would be such a fitting name for himself… or maybe even Axel Mills…. Axel would fit him so well. Those eyes. He snapped out of his dumb thoughts, spun around in his chair again while chewing on the cupcake and fiddling with the dumb, embarrassing paper cup in his hands.

"It's good, isn't it," Axel said, still all grins. If he thought Roxas was the biggest dork in the history of humankind he wasn't letting on.

Roxas nodded dumbly, barely even tasting the cakey sweet treat in his mouth. He wondered what Axel tasted like as he watched the man pop his red iced cupcake into his mouth, taking it out of its paper cup beforehand though because Axel wasn't a moron. Roxas grumbled at himself but his attention was snapped up at the sight of Axel's tongue flicking out and licking his lips.

Those lips, those eyes, that hair, those fingers. He suddenly became transfixed on slender fingers, which flicked through Roxas' application.

"It says here you went to Maine."

Roxas nodded.

"I did too. Is old Professor Xemnas still working there?"

Roxas was dumbstruck. He and Axel had been to the same place? Had walked the same halls? Had breathed the same air? Roxas screamed at himself for being a smitten kitten. They were breathing the same air right now. Why was he making such a big deal out of them having a shared past? He nodded, vaguely remembering that there had been a question and that this was the appropriate reaction to it.

"We used to call him Mansex, because of his ridiculously sexy hair." Axel laughed, radiant and sultry all at once.

Roxas felt himself heating up. His blush must only be growing. "He definitely has sexy hair," Roxas said, transfixed by Axel's locks. But his gaze was drawn back to those smoldering eyes, which only smoldered more because of the small smirk which adorned the other man's face.

"I want to be upfront with you, Roxas," Axel said, and Roxas swore the man trilled his name a little, which made the hairs on his arms and at the back of his neck stand on end. "I like to do things a little bit differently in the interview process."

"Y-yes?" Roxas' heart was beating a billion times a second. All he could feel was a tingling sensation in his fingertips and the pulse in his gut.

"Instead of asking you all the boring things first, I want to get to the fun bits that we usually ask at the end. Like what your hobbies and interests are."

"Oh, ah… I'm into astronomy. I'm part of the astronomy club and I do education on open days and go on trips once a month to the Chelton observatory. I also love owls and do bird watching while I'm out there looking at the stars." Roxas was screaming at himself. Why was he being honest? He was the biggest, dumbest, dorkiest nerd on the planet.

"What's your favorite owl?"

"Oh, I like all of them, really."

"No, no. You have to have a favorite." Axel grinned at Roxas and leaned across the table a little.

Roxas glanced down at Axel's hand which was stretched out before him. Roxas dropped the paper cup on the floor beneath the table and rested his arm on the table's surface, close to Axel's arm, but not close enough to be touching. "Well… I guess I'm a bit boring. Probably the powerful owl, if I have to choose."

Axel nodded and hummed as if he understood. "Personally, I'm more partial to the cinnamon scops owl with tufty ear feathers and its tiny body… but I can see the charm of the powerful owl."

Roxas was gobsmacked. "You… know owls?"

"I do. My uncle owns a small wildlife sanctuary, over in Minto. He nurses injured animals back to health and I used to help him a lot. I still go there sometimes. He lets me in the back and I can look after all the owls and other animals."

Roxas was staring, his eyes and mouth wide. He was in love. He was in so much fucking love.

"Do you want to—"

"Yes!" Roxas snapped, leaning forward a little more.

Axel laughed heartily. "Yes, what? I wasn't even finished asking the question."

Roxas rubbed at himself. He was so red-faced. The room was so stuffy. "Um… I just.. I don't know," he quickly muttered, looking down at the table.

"Well, I was asking if you are happy to move on to the next question."

There was definite disappointment flushing through Roxas. How could he be so stupid to assume Axel would ask him to come along to see the owls. He was sure he would not get this job. He was sure he wouldn't leave this place with his dignity intact. He nodded dumbly.

"All right. So, Roxas." Axel looked through his paperwork, shuffling things around before he looked back up at Roxas with a brilliant smile. "What is your biggest weakness?"

Axel just kept smiling, his hair was so perfect, his eyes so brilliant green like the summer grass after a good soaking. There were flecks of deeper green and of amber in those eyes. He could see it if he looked very closely. He wished he could get closer. "What was the question again?" he asked, having completely forgotten.

Axel chuckled low in his throat and that rumble made Roxas moan inwardly.

"I asked, what do you think is your biggest weakness," Axel, an Adonis amongst men, repeated.

Those green eyes just sparkled so mesmerizingly. Roxas sighed and breathed out, "Your eyes." He was still for a second, realization dawning on him and mortification spreading like a black death through his body.

The smirk on Axel's face dropped, a low and animalistic grunt was given and then Axel sprang up, grabbed Roxas by the front of his business shirt and tie and pulled him up, out of his chair and their mouths smooshed together with fire and passion. Roxas cupped Axel's face, pushing the other man closer to himself, intensifying their kiss. They sucked so hard on each other, desperate and raw. The taste of sweet cake was in Axel's mouth, his cologne – a heady mix of woody and earthy tones – filled Roxas' nostrils and he thought he could never get enough of it or the other man.

But then they pulled apart, falling back into their chairs and huffing and puffing.

"After this interview is done, do you want to go out for a coffee? I know this great little café in Minto, right by my uncle's animal sanctuary." Axel was smiling broadly, his lips rimmed red. He even licked at them, as if savoring the taste Roxas might have left there.

Roxas gave a million little nods. Even if this job interview didn't pan out he definitely knew something else would.

Author Notes - This was based on an image prompt which I can't link here because FF net sucks. You can, however, see it if you go to my Ao3 account (cream_pudding) and find my AkuRoku Drabbles.