"Roxas, we are not getting a puppy," Axel groaned, watching his blond partner admire the puppies in the local pet shop's window.
"But Axel," Roxas pleaded. His blue eyes widened and his lower lip quivered slightly. The little jerk knew that Axel weakened at that face.
Axel ran a hand through his spikey red hair, his green eyes rolling skywards. He wasn't sure they could really afford a puppy at the moment. Roxas was a full-time student and the band Axel was in was only getting small gigs right now. He blamed Demyx partially for that. If that sitar-playing hippie would show up to practice once in a while, Saix would probably have an easier time booking them shows that weren't in bars in crappy areas.
"Do we have the money for that?" he asked. Roxas's face fell and he stared longingly at the little brown lab , who was far more energetic than the others.
"Besides, who would take care of it? I have practice and a job, and you have school and a job." It was hard enough for them to find time for each other, let alone a puppy.
Roxas's lips twisted into a frown, which Axel knew was him coming up with a plan. That was almost never good.
"I've been making a lot of good tips lately. I have the money, and my schedule for school has slowed down a bit. Please Axel, I'll even let you pick it out." Roxas folded his hands in front of himself, turning on the big eyes again.
Axel stared at the shorter boy for a few minutes before groaning in defeat. "Fine, fine, lemme just call the landlord and make sure it's okay."
An hour later and Axel was watching Roxas carry the squirmy brown fluffball back to their apartment. He had been banking on their landlord to deny them the puppy. Then he could claim his hands were tied and not be the bad guy. He hated being the bad guy with Roxas. And he couldn't lie to Roxas for fear it'd come up in conversation later. Roxas was far too friendly with their neighbors.
"So what are you going to name that thing?" he asked, eyeing the furball.
"I dunno, any suggestions?" Roxas looked up from the dog to Axel.
A list of names popped up into Axel's mind; some were simple, like Trouble, and others were far less appropriate. He bit back those names and instead answered with, "Fluffy."
"Fluffy," Roxas said flatly, giving Axel a look. Axel shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"You asked for a name, didn't say it had to be a good one." Axel shifted his arms slightly so that the plastic bags filled with supplies from the pet store weren't cutting into his arms as much. They'd gotten mostly basic supplies for the dog. It hadn't been very cheap even though they'd tried to stay in budget. Axel figured he could fish through the recycling dumpster behind their building for some newspaper. Those things were way too expensive to buy for just a doggie toilet.
Roxas held the puppy up to meet its gaze. The puppy just kind of stared at him while he scrutinized it. Axel chuckled at the seriousness of Roxas's expression.
"Hmm, well, I think he looks like a Rascal," the blond finally decided.
"Now that I agree with," Axel laughed, loving the way Roxas's face lit up.
"Then Rascal it is!" Roxas said, reaching up on his tip toes to try and kiss Axel's cheek. With as short as he was compared to the redhead, he managed to awkwardly reach Axel's neck just a little below his chin. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me, thank the landlord," Axel chuckled as he leaned down and kissed Roxas softly on the lips. He was caught by surprise when Rascal leapt up in Roxas's hands and licked the bottom of Axel's chin. The redhead pulled away and stared at the happy puppy.
"Aww, he likes you!" Roxas gushed.
"He's just sucking up before he trashes our apartment," Axel grumbled even though he couldn't keep the smile off of his face. The little guy was cute, like Roxas. Maybe he'd grow on Axel...