"Hey, Zexion, did you re-shelve the young adult section yet? I've had three people ask me in the last hour where the same stupid series was..."
The addressed blew strands of silver-blue hair off his nose in annoyance. "No. I haven't. I've been trying to fix up the children's section - someone knocked over a shelf. I'll probably get around to it in another hour or so."
Roxas sighed. "We seriously need more employees. Three of us at a time is so not enough to keep this place running."
"Complain to Xemnas. If you'll excuse me, I have books to sort." And with that, he was gone, and the blonde had to paste on a fake smile and help the next costumer. "I'm sorry ma'am, but that book doesn't come out for another two weeks. Could I help you with something else in the meantime? I could also pre-order it for you, if you'd like..."
Life reigned peacefully for perhaps half an hour before the chaos that spend inordinate amounts of time in the shop made itself known in the form of a loud crash and a muffled yelp from the last of the three employees currently working.
"Demyx!" Both Roxas and Zexion were there in moments, Zexion with the first aid kit.
"I'm fine... I think." A pile of books shifted and a blonde head popped out. After a few minutes of careful maneuvering, Demyx stood glaring at the heap of literature. "And that is why I hate non-fiction."
"Two shelves down in one day. We are never gonna get this cleaned up..."
"Hire extra help?"
"Boss keeps shooting it down."
"We just need to try harder."
***##***
The next morning was a Saturday, and the book store managed to shock Roxas before he even stepped inside, once he saw the handwritten sign taped to the window. With Xemnas' signature on the bottom.
Apparently, they were hiring.
Smiling a little, the short blond opened the door slightly more optimistically than he'd closed it the night before.
***##***
A week later, Xemnas himself appeared to introduce their newest employee.
Axel was a red-head, tall and somehow louder and more annoying than Demyx. He had acidic green eyes and a cheshire cat smile, black diamond tattoos on either cheek marring his otherwise clear skin. Since he hadn't received the store's official uniform (a pale blue polo, long-sleeved white undershirt, and black pants), he wore his street cloths, which consisted of a lot of red and black and stripes. He was cheerful and helpful when he was trying, but most of the time he spent simply making fun of people. Oh, and he had the most annoying catchphrase on the planet.
Roxas hated him on sight.
***##***
"Hey, Roxy~"
"Don't call me that."
"But Roxy, you look so bored. There's no one waiting in line, it's a Wednesday afternoon, no one is even in the store, so just talk to me!"
"No."
"Awww... please?"
"No."
"If you don't talk to me, I'll go built a fort or something out of the textbooks..."
That finally managed to get the younger's attention, voice faltering a little as he tried to quell the panic. Axel seriously would build towers out of books if left unoccupied. Towers were a pain to clean up. "Fine. What would you like to talk about?"
"Stuff."
"... No."
"But Roxy-"
And so the bitter cycle continued. Axel was obnoxious, Roxas was indifferent or annoyed, and Demyx and Zexion were just trying to scrape by without getting caught in the crossfire as Roxas stopped being indifferent and was more frequently annoyed.
As everyone who worked there knew, an annoyed Roxas was not something you wanted to see. Not if you wanted to keep all your limbs and other important body parts, anyway.
***##***
A few months went by, and over time the two calmed down a little. No longer epic chase scenes throughout the store as Axel cackled madly, holding a camera above his head and Roxas followed, dead-set on stabbing the red-head's eye out with one of the sparkly pink pins that had been jammed in his hair.
Now they only happened about once a week. Sometimes even less.
It was the week before Halloween when things changed for good. A question that tore through the very fabric of the universe was asked, a statement that had the angels scrambling through the Blueprints of Ineffability to try and see what went wrong was made, and the chase scenes suddenly loomed on the horizon.
"Hey, Roxas, I've been thinking for a while... and I've come to realize that you are probably my best friend."
"... Wow. You must have some pretty bad friends."
"Shut up, Demyx, just because he chases me around trying to kill me doesn't... never-mind, you may have a point. Anyway, Roxy, realizing that you're my best friend made me come to another conclusion: I don't want you as a best friend."
"Then why, may I ask, are you even talking?"
"You know what, Zexion? You two should just go away. You're ruining my whole speech here."
"I think not. This is far too entertaining."
"Jerk. SO, Roxas, you are now official not my best friend-"
"I never agreed to be your best friend in the first place!"
"-because I'd much rather you be my boyfriend."
There was a long, awkward moment of silence where Axel smiled cluelessly, Zexion studied the ceiling tiles, Demyx tried in vain to mysteriously vanish into the wall, and Roxas stared incredulously.
"Did you just...?"
"Yep. How about it, Rox? I'll only get more annoying if you never admit you love me~!"
"... fine."
***##***
And so they lived (mostly, I mean, there were still epic chase scenes and the normal fights between the two) happily ever after, while the Universe struggled to right itself and move on, and the rest of the world simply stared in wonder.
***#The End#***