"I hate this club." Roxas muttered to himself as he gazed over the chic nightclub. It was the most pretentious thing he'd ever seen, all beautiful fabric and lovely light fixtures. It wasn't his style. Roxas preferred bars where you could get a beer and be left to drink in peace as you listened to the classic rock and new country. This wasn't that kind of place. This was a place to be seen and see others, hook up and break up. "The sooner it burns down the better." He grumbled to himself but forced a smile as his brother elbowed him in the ribs.
"Stop being a sourpuss Roxas!" Sora admonished him and Roxas stifled a sigh. Sora loved this club because his lover was a bartender here and always got them the best drinks. Roxas was more fond of Riku than he was of the club, but only a bit. "Remember what the doctor said about the power of positive thinking."
"Joy." Roxas said woodenly and Sora shook his head sadly before heading off to the bar. Roxas felt a guilty relief at that. He loved Sora but dealing with his constant fads was wearing. Right now he was in love with the advice of Dr. RM Smith. She'd authored several books and one of them had ended up on Oprah. Sora followed Oprah's book club religiously. Maybe he did have a point though, Roxas admitted to himself as he took a sip of his drink. The martinis here were a lot better than they would have been at his usual bar and there were plenty of hot guys. Maybe it was time to hook up. This place was a haven for the gay nightlife so he probably could.
Just as he was thinking that, a stranger entered the bar. Roxas blinked, eyes immediately caught by bright red hair. Could that possibly be natural? Roxas eyed the man thoughtfully as he gave his leather jacket to the coat check girl. He was tall and lanky, not really Roxas' type but that hair was just so striking. Then the man glanced around the room and Roxas' eyes widened as he saw the tattoos on his cheeks. He'd never seen anything like them before. Finishing his drink he cautiously followed as the man made his way to the bar and smiled to himself as he heard the redhead order a beer. A man after his own heart. Then the redhead took a swig of his beer as Roxas decided to make his approach.
"Hi there." Roxas said with a smile, leaning against the bar beside him. The redhead gave him an amused look but Roxas persevered. "I've never seen you here before. What's your name?"
"Axel." For a moment Roxas was afraid the redhead wouldn't say anything else. That was how he acted when he was approached by someone he wasn't interested in at all. But Axel took another drink from his beer, examining him with bright green eyes. "I don't come here very often. What's yours?"
"Um? Oh, I'm Roxas." The blonde said, giving himself a mental shake. Something about this man was so mesmerizing… "I only come here because my brother insists." Axel smiled and Roxas was captivated by how happy that expression made him look. It reminded him of Sora, actually. The brunette had always had the knack of feeling very intensely about everything.
"I'm the designated driver for my roommate and his posse." Axel glanced around warily. "I hope they don't notice me until it's time to leave. That's why I came late."
"Oh? What's the problem with them? Let me get you another beer." Roxas was about to order two more beers when Axel shook his head.
"Just a coke for me. Or a virgin daiquiri or something." Roxas blinked before remembering the designated driver part. Axel seemed to be taking it seriously and he rather admired that. Roxas ordered him a virgin pina colada, grinning at Axel's pained expression as it arrived with fruit hooked over the brim and several paper umbrellas. "Don't worry, there's no one here who'll mock your manhood."
"I've always thought that stereotype was silly anyway." Axel commented before drinking his girly drink. "Well, my roommate. He's a great guy in a lot of ways but I have one beef with him and his buddies. They're gay."
"What?" Roxas felt his heart plummet to his boots as Axel gave him an impish grin. Had he heard that right? But then the redhead cheerfully explained.
"I have no problem with gay people! If I did I wouldn't be his roommate. But his buddies are… recruiter gays." Axel rolled his eyes expressively as Roxas choked. "How will you know if you like it or not if you never try it? You don't know what you're missing! Just this once Axel." He shook his head and Roxas was fairly sure he knew who Axel was talking about. "If that mullet haired retard propositions me one more time I'm going to knock his teeth out."
"He's got a brown belt." Roxas cautioned and Axel gave him a grin. This time it had a dark, feral edge.
"I have a double black belt." Then Axel sighed, taking a drink from his pina colada. "I wouldn't though. Zexion likes him, I have no idea why. You're not like that are you?"
"Me?" Roxas said blankly then winced to himself as Axel eyed him sceptically. "Oh no, I'm not like that at all! Really." He had been attracted to the redhead though. He still was. Roxas felt a deep disappointment as he realized it was not to be. Axel made a small hmm sound before setting his glass down on the bar with a tink.
"I know you're attracted to me." Roxas felt his ire rise and glowered at Axel.
"You have a high opinion of yourself." He said oppressively but Axel just laughed.
"The mirror behind the bar." Axel gestured towards it as Roxas watched uncomprehendingly. "I totally saw you checking me out as I walked up to the bar." Roxas felt his cheeks heat as he realized Axel really HAD spotted him. It had probably been pretty blatant too, the mirror hadn't occurred to him. "That's fine though. Just don't try to drag me over to the wild side, okay? If I'm craving a six pack I'll let you know." Roxas had to snort at that, feeling his ill temper dissipating. Maybe he wasn't going to hook up but he could still have a good time.
"Hmph! Well if you're not gay you can buy me the next drink." Roxas said firmly and Axel smiled, ordering a beer for him and another virgin drink for himself. They started chatting about their lives and Roxas was surprised to find that Axel worked in the same mall that he did on weekends. Although the redhead's spot there was quite a bit different.
"Dad thinks the experience of running a store will do me good." Axel said reflectively and Roxas blinked, wondering how much money his family had. But then, this nightclub was expensive. If it hadn't been for Riku he and Sora probably wouldn't have gotten in the door. "I've definitely learned a lot about how our operations really work. It'll probably be valuable when I take a higher place in the company."
"Your family owns the company?" Roxas said cautiously and felt relieved when Axel shook his head.
"Not exactly, but we are the biggest single shareholder. We could be outvoted if the others pulled together but that's not likely to happen." Roxas scratched his head at that. The world of finance was a closed book to him. "What do you do at the mall?" Roxas hesitated a moment, feeling ashamed of his job as a barista at the Java Hut. But Axel was delighted when he told him. "I knew I'd seen you somewhere! You're that amazing guy who knows what everyone wants and can serve ten people faster than spit. Would you come work for me? I'm sure your talents could translate to something else!"
"That depends on what schedule you could get me!" Roxas said laughingly. "I go to school you know." That was why the Java Hut was perfect for him. Axel looked thoughtful for a moment.
"We'd have to discuss it. What courses are you taking?" The conversation went on and on and Roxas was unaware of the time passing. He found that he and Axel liked the same books and had much the same views on all kinds of subjects. There were spots they differed of course and they were in a lively debate about the fine points of a law congress was considering passing when someone poked him in the shoulder.
"Ow! Hey Sora, what is it?" Roxas rubbed his shoulder and frowned, looking up at his brother. He was grinning and Riku was beside him, smiling faintly.
"It's time to go you silly!" Roxas blinked and checked his watch, realizing how late it was. Axel frowned and stood, finishing his drink with one gulp.
"It's time for me to go too. I better try to find them, they might be getting into trouble." Axel's faith in his friends was clearly not too high. Riku laughed and pointed towards the stairs. They led up to an observation gallery that gave a very good view of the city.
"They're up there. Last I checked the bouncers were trying to politely shoo them out." Axel muttered a curse and started off purposefully to collect his drunk friends. Roxas watched him go, vaguely aware of Sora grinning and Riku's smirk. He couldn't find it in him to care though, not while Axel was walking up the stairs with his jeans clinging to him so temptingly.
The redhead might be straight, but he could still watch.
Roxas whistled to himself as he cleaned up the condiment trays at the Java Hut. It had been several days and he hadn't seen Axel again, or maybe he'd just missed him in the hectic frenzy of drink providing. They were always insanely busy in the mornings and nearly as bad at lunch. Right now, though, they were in the nice lull between morning and lunch so Roxas had time to get clean up the store. Which was good since his fellow barista was busy cleaning all the dishes and the front looked like a bomb had hit it. A perfectly normal day really.
"Hi there." Roxas nearly jumped out of his skin at that soft voice. "How are you doing Roxy?"
"Roxas!" He snapped, turned around. He hated Sora's pet nickname for him. Then he blinked and managed a smile. "Oh, Axel! Sorry, didn't mean to snap at you." He quickly apologized. The redhead looked a bit taken aback, then laughed.
"I shouldn't have called you that, sorry." He leaned against the counter, smiling and Roxas had to swallow. The man was just so damn sexy without even trying. Even now, when he was wearing black slacks and a tattered blazer, hiding the incriminating red shirt that was part of his uniform. "I was wondering if you were still interested in an offer?" Axel's eyes slid to the back of the store and Roxas followed his gaze, spotting his fellow barista peeking out curiously. "We could discuss it over supper."
"Ah, right." Roxas was suddenly thankful for Axel's tact. If he said no he didn't want rumors flying around that he'd been looking for another job. There would still be rumors flying of course but they'd be about his love life. Roxas was okay with that. "I'd be glad to, if you're paying." He said sincerely. Axel was wonderful company and he would never say no to free food.
"Excellent! When does your shift end?" Axel asked and they quickly arranged to meet around seven outside Brinkley's. Roxas was smiling and whistling all through the rest of his shift and ignored the speculative glances his coworkers gave him. Let them think he was going on a romantic tryst. When he quit they would be surprised!
"Hey Roxas! Over here!" Roxas spotted Axel easily as he walked through the mall. The redhead was smoking a cigarette and ignoring the dirty looks some of the young mothers going into the store were giving him. Axel stubbed out the cig before walking towards him. "I thought we could go down the road to Rasta Pasta."
"Sounds good." Roxas said immediately. He knew the place Axel was talking about. It was a cheap Italian place where they ladled out huge helpings of rather good pasta. Nothing fancy and he could have made most of it at home, but it would be perfect for a casual meeting. "Are you going to try to earn the pen?" He asked. Rasta's had a plastic pen they gave out to anyone who actually managed to finish their food. Axel grinned.
"I'll get one! You'll see." He said confidently and Roxas eyed him sceptically as they walked to the restaurant. He figured it out, though, as soon as Axel placed his order.
"Oh that's cheating!" Roxas complained as he slapped down his laminated menu card onto the plastic tablecloth. The little salt and pepper shakers, in the shape of brightly painted cows, tinkled together. Axel just laughed.
"Hey, I want a pen! I'm always running out." Axel said merrily and Roxas sighed, shaking his head at his perfidy. The redhead had ordered the lasagna. The most expensive dish on the menu it was also the smallest and easiest to get through. Roxas had ordered the spaghetti putanesca and he was sure -
Thump. Roxas stared helplessly at his huge mound of spaghetti, surmounted by a good bit of parmesan shavings. Axel, meanwhile, had a very nice little pan full of lasagna and was digging right in. Giving up any hope of getting his own pen, Roxas started to eat. If Axel was paying he should make the most of it. Although given the amount of food he'd probably still be making the most of it the next day.
"So!" Axel said after he'd taken the edge off his hunger, setting an elbow down on the table and leaning forward a bit. Roxas found himself caught by the redhead's intensity. "I've been thinking about what kind of positions we have open at Brinkley's. I know you're good at handling a cash register. Are you any good at gift wrapping?"
"Hm?" Roxas swallowed his mouthful of pasta hastily before responding. "Oh yes. My parents let me wrap all the gifts for my sisters. But isn't that just seasonal?" Christmas was coming up but Roxas did not want to get stuck doing something seasonal. Axel shook his head.
"No, we offer that service year round. Although there's a greater demand in winter." Then the redhead made a face. "We're short two sales staff and one cashier at the moment, as well as needing a lot more people for the Christmas rush. I just want to put you on something you'll like, at least a bit. I don't need more turnover." Roxas thought hard about that a moment.
"Why are people leaving so much? If you don't mind me asking." He asked cautiously. Axel shrugged, forking up another piece of lasagna.
"Just general stuff. I had to fire the cashier for giving discounts to a friend. One of the sales people decided to move in with his long distance girlfriend, so he's going to be two states away. The other guy has taken a management spot over at KFC and we're all wishing him luck." That made Roxas relax a bit. "Do you have any experience with photography?"
After a quick run-through of all the options they settled on sales staff as probably the best spot for him. Roxas was really rather interested in the work. He would be helping people all day, all through the store. And if the gift wrapping station got short he'd be able to help out there too. Roxas had no problem with standing on his feet all day and it sounded quite interesting. But he did enjoy his job as a barista. Roxas paused a moment, thinking about it as Axel slurped his coke. Did he really want to do this?
It was actually his manager at the Java Hut who decided him. In many ways she was a good manager. She always made sure the supplies got in on time and in full. She would stand behind them with irate customers and didn't take much crap. But she also liked to play favorites with the schedule and promotions. Roxas vividly remembered how he'd been passed over for shift lead in favour of one of the girls she chatted with all the time. It had been monumentally unfair. He was without a doubt the best java slinger the place had ever had.
"Alright, I'll do it. Where's that paperwork you mentioned?" Roxas said firmly and Axel grinned, pulling out the papers from his tote bag. Roxas quickly filled them out, pulling out his wallet to find his ID and copying the numbers. Briefly he wondered why Axel seemed to want him working at Brinkley's so badly. Surely there were lots of applicants in this economy? Then he dismissed the thought. There might be applicants but how many were actually any good? Axel knew he was a good worker. "I'll need to give the Java Hut two weeks notice." Roxas ruefully reflected that his manager would no doubt cut him out of the schedule as soon as he told her, but he couldn't count on that. He'd learned a lot from his very first job and the formalities of quitting had been part of it. Axel just nodded, taking the papers and put them away.
"That's just fine. Say, would you like some dessert?" Roxas groaned theatrically, looking helplessly at his half-eaten pasta. Axel grinned, amused. "Or would you just like to try some of mine?"
"I might at that." Roxas said, waving the waitress over to put his food into a doggy bag. There was no way he'd be finishing it. Axel ordered a tiramisu and coffee for them both. The dessert arrived with two spoons and Roxas licked the heavy cream off his spoon, deeply enjoying it. When the waitress delivered the bill Axel glanced at it and pulled out his credit card. "Here, let me pay you my bit." Roxas began rooting through his wallet for a bit of cash but Axel shook his head.
"I can handle it! Really, it's not a problem." Axel said with a smile and Roxas hesitated a moment before putting his wallet away. Axel was the store manager, he had to make quite a bit more than a cashier. "I take the whole staff out for a meeting and dinner once a quarter."
"What! Really?" Roxas was a bit stunned by that. The Java Hut had a Christmas party but that usually involved going to a local bar and everyone paid their own way. "You pay for it?"
"On my own dime." Axel sounded rather proud of it and Roxas couldn't fault him for that. "Of course, it helps that I'm single and living with my parents." That lost brownie points and Roxas winced a little. He was living at home too, but he was going to school. "But I pay rent." Axel added and Roxas hoped he hadn't caught his reaction. "So does my roommate. The house is pretty big."
"Oh." It sounded like the redhead's parents were renting out plenty of rooms. Roxas suddenly wondered why he cared and why Axel cared that he cared, if that made any sense. It wasn't like the redhead needed to impress him anymore! Did he? "Well, I live at home too but I don't pay any rent. Everything I'm making goes to books and incidentals. The books are so damned expensive." The waitress came and took the card, quickly bringing back the slip and card. Axel glanced it over, added a tip and his signature. Soon they were walking back to the mall and Roxas frowned a bit as he realized how late it was.
"Where do you live? I could give you a drive home." Axel offered and Roxas hesitated.
"Where do you live?" He asked and Axel named a very nice suburb. "Oh, that's perfect! I live in Lagarda." That was between the mall and Axel's home. "Please, I would love a ride." The blonde said sincerely. A car ride would shave a good hour off his trip home, especially this time of night. The busses were erratic at best. Axel laughed and led him to a bright red car. "Is that a Porsche?" Roxas asked, very uncertain. It looked like a Porsche but it was rather old fashioned. Axel nodded as he fished out his keys.
"It is, but it's a 1985 model. My parents passed it on to me when I started driving. It's not really worth much but it runs well enough." Roxas slid into the seats and smiled as he saw they were real leather. Old or not, this was a very nice car. "They got themselves a brand new Porsche." Axel didn't seem very happy about it though and Roxas tilted his head, wondering why. He couldn't think of a tactful way to ask though and just let it pass. Maybe Axel had wanted a brand new car rather than a hand me down. Although that didn't seem right…
"So your parents rent out rooms?" He said instead and soon got a colourful rundown of the inhabitants of Axel's home cum boarding house. He quickly found out that six people were renting rooms, counting Demyx. They were all either gay or lesbian and Axel's mother was highly in favour of the arrangement since they were all neat and tidy if a bit unrestrained at times. The house itself sounded like a mansion but from a few things Axel let drop, Roxas got the feeling they hadn't been renting out so many rooms until recently. What had happened? Had Demyx's friends needed a place quickly or had Axel's family needed the money? That seemed a bit bizarre to Roxas. They bought brand new Porsche's, how could they need to rent rooms for money? But things were hard for everyone these days.
"Here we are." Axel said as he pulled up in front of Roxas' house. It was easy to spot, with the plastic flamingos on the lawn. Roxas pried himself out of the leather seat, exiting the car. He held onto the door for a moment and met Axel's eyes, smiling.
"Thank you very much." He said sincerely and Axel smiled back. It was so dazzling. Why did he have to be straight?
"You're welcome. See you tomorrow." The redhead replied and Roxas shut the door, watching him drive away. He was sure he'd see Axel tomorrow at the Java Hut, getting his caffeine fix, and he was looking forward to it. Maybe too much? The blonde considered it a moment then decided he didn't care.
Axel was just too interesting.