Roxas, Sora, and Axel (c) Square Enix and Disney

This is my first story on here so I hope you like it!
Updated: 03/14/2017 (I took a stroll down memory lane and decided some editing was in order, same story, just some grammatical changes)

Can I quit now?

"You're fucking kidding me right?" Roxas yelled at the phone clutched in his hand as he paced around his room.

"I know, I know! Common Rox, if I knew you'd be this upset I wouldn't have told you…" Sora's voice said through the receiver of Roxas' phone.

"No! I'm glad you told me, fucking sun-shiny brilliant! What the fuck, I do too work! I work my ass off at that god forsaken pathetic excuse of a business, and for what? I never know when my next pay check will be, I don't even like dogs, and even when I do my best it's not good enough for that bitch! I mean, what the hell?!" Roxas was yelling at the phone as he stomped around the room. He hated his job at the dog park and always complained about it.. But he still worked, and did a damn good job too. Why did he hate it so much? Well, the heat couldn't be very high in the winter so it was always fucking cold, Roxas was a cat person, and the job was basically that of a janitor, with the exception of manning the phone and register. To make matters worse, the boss fucking hated Roxas.

Sora's voice was worried over the phone, he also worked at the dog park, but he loved it. Sora was definitely a dog person and he was friendly with everyone that came by, the boss also seemed to favor Sora, and so he never had problems like Roxas did. In fact, the whole reason this conversation was happening was because the boss had basically told Sora (of course she didn't mention names but besides Sora, Roxas was the only other employee) that Roxas didn't do his work. Now that was a fucking lie, and the reason why Roxas was currently pacing his room in a heated rampage. "Oh, please don't get mad! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have told you! Don't talk to her or she'll know I told you and then… then-"

"She'll what? Treat you like me? Hate you? Pick on you? Goddamn it! Goddamn her!" Roxas interjected as he sat down on the bed exhausted. He rested his elbow on his knee as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look- Sora, I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you, I'm glad you told me. I just- I'm just gonna go okay? I wanna get to bed before twelve for once."

"Aw… but Roxie… hnm… okay I'll talk to you tomorrow then. Goodnight."

"'Night." Roxas flopped back on his bed and stared at the ceiling in frustration and exhaustion. He knew that the boss didn't really favored him, and that she liked to pick on him and talk about him to Sora (which is why he knew what he did), but still! Claiming he didn't do his work was the last straw. Just the other day he'd worked so hard sweeping and mopping that his triceps had felt bruised for two days.

So why did he stay there and work? It was all because of him. That redhead that came during the week to let his dog run around. From the start he had been Roxas' favorite person at the place. He must have become a member before Roxas started working. The redhead always came through the separate door for prepaid members. (Members could just waltz in anytime of any day). Also, the man never came into socialize with like other owners did when they got tired of being outside. Because of this, Roxas had never come in contact with the man. That right away was a plus. It's not that Roxas was antisocial… it's just that he didn't like to talk to people if he didn't need to.

Roxas first noticed the man for his strange style. He wasn't like the usual snob women and their froufrou dogs that came by. His hair was a blood red that was spiked out and pulled back with a black hair tie. He also had an upside-down tear tattoo under each eye. His jeans where usually torn and ripped in various places, some more than others. These jeans were usually held up with a studded belt. Because of the cold weather, Roxas never got to see what sort of shirts the man wore under his worn black pullover hoodie and plaid scarf… But he was sure that it was probably band t shirts of some sort. Even his dog was different. It wasn't the regular cute little labs and retrievers, and it wasn't big and snobby like the bulldogs and pit bulls that the men usually brought. No, it was a big fluffy white dog that caught the attention of all who saw it. (Sora later told him that the type of dog was a Great Pyrenees, Roxas never was one to know much about dogs, let alone their types) It had a blood red collar and leash that matched the man's hair.

To put it simply, the man stood out. As time went by, Roxas noticed that the man looked like a college student about 19 or 20. He also noticed how the man always came around five every weekday and left within the hour. He never saw the man during the rush hour and he liked that. Over the course of a few weeks Roxas had begun to admire the man, but he had yet to talk to him. That is until he had to do work outside.

Emptying the poop buckets in the field was not only the most disgusting job, it was also the most physically demanding. It was a daily task that consisted of walking around the field and switching out the full trash bags with new, clean, empty ones. There were about eight or nine in total that needed attending to daily or every other day. Roxas grabbed about twenty heavy-duty trash bags (one to replace and one extra to put under the new bag for an easier job the next day) and a pair of yellow rubber gloves out of the back room as he locked the front door and headed out to the six acre field. He pulled up the big trashcan to the entrance of the where it would sit until he could gather all the poop bags and wheel the big trashcan to the road.

Roxas rolled up the sleeves of his jacket and then slipped on the rubber gloves, finishing with a snap. He picked up the black trash bags and set out on his detestable mission. After he had changed all the trash bags he headed back around to pick up the old tied up ones he had left next to the buckets. Halfway back to the main trashcan, after picking up about half the poop filled bags, Roxas' arms were straining.

"Dear god, we don't even have that many people come here every day! Shit, man! This is fucking heavy! Who knew dogs pooped so much." Roxas exclaimed to the empty field as he set the bags down to pick up another and give his arms a break. He was startled to hear a reply from the 'empty' field.

"I dunno man, but fuck. Sucks to be you! I hope they pay you for doing that!" Roxas turned around and saw the red haired man standing there with a smirk, staring at the small teen with pity and amusement. Roxas noted the unusual acid green color of the man's eyes and how they stood out as they locked with his own ocean blue orbs. Roxas gave a dark laugh as he picked up the bags and trudged forward.

"They do but just barely. Hehe, self service would be so much nicer." He heard the man give a chuckle and was surprised to find that he was walking beside him.

"Ah yes. Nice for you, shit for me though. I dunno, I kinda like watching you do the dirty work for me." The man gave a Cheshire cat smile that seemed more menacing than playful. This made Roxas frown as he bent to pick up another bag and thought, 'Last one, yes!'

"You know, sir, this park does require you to keep an eye on your dog." Roxas said with a menacing smile of his own.

"Hey-hey man! I know the rules, I always keep an eye on my sweet little Matches" The man said, still smiling, with his hands held up open in front of his face in a defensive gesture. Then he tapped the back of his head, "Eyes right here, yah know? Just like those scary soccer moms!" Roxas couldn't help but crack a grin at the goofy redhead's lame joke. Also the fact that he'd reached the big trashcan put him in a wonderful mood.

"Well then! If you're that good with your eyes then I guess I can trust you away from your dear 'Matches'." Roxas said as he finished flipping the trash bags into the trashcan and peeled off the yellow gloves. The redheaded man extended his hand to Roxas in reply.

"Hey, you're a pretty okay guy, Mr. Poop-Bag-Man. The name's Axel, A-X-E-L, got it memorized?" Axel said, pointing to his temple as he captured Roxas' hand into his own and gave a few big shakes. Roxas gave a slightly bewildered look to Axel, but reciprocated the friendly atmosphere none-the-less.

"And I'm Roxas. Thanks for accompanying me in my time of smelly despair…" He said with a grin.

"Alright then Roxas! Maybe I'll be seeing you around more often… Now that we've been formally introduced, instead of just staring through the window at each other!" Axel's reply made Roxas' cheeks tint pink with embarrassment for being overly obvious (in his boredom there was usually nothing to do but stare at the people in the park through the overlooking window in the main building).

"H-hey! I don't stare a lot!" Roxas stuttered. At that Axel gave a face of light shock which soon broke out into another Cheshire grin.

"I was talking about me."

End/Ch.1/