"He loves me… He loves me not… He loved you… He loved you NOT… he cheated on you…yea. He cheated on you."
Roxas sat with his legs between the bars of the fence on the balcony of his oversized apartment. He was plucking at the few remaining petals of a daisy he had stolen from the box of them growing on his windowsill. Along with destroying flowers, he was weighing the pros and cons of breaking up with Demyx. Well, at this point, more of the pros than anything. For instance, he was able to have the flowers and potted plants around his place, now that Demyx wasn't there to drown them. He could stay home and have "Roxas time" without worrying if he was paying enough attention to his lover or not. Despite what people might have thought, Demyx was a very demanding partner. He was rather whiny as well.
"Hmph. I feel sorry for that poor sucker who has to deal with Demyx full-time now…" Roxas muttered to himself, throwing the daisy-stem into the pile that was on the ground.
The blonde stood up and walked around his room, looking at all the empty space he had now that he lived alone. All of the pictures that once occupied the wall and some of the spaces on side-tables looked horribly bare. Even his bathroom that once belonged to the two of them seemed unusually, uncluttered.
A wave of sadness washed over Roxas, as the realization hit him. He was still in love with Demyx, and though he was a complete jackass who didn't deserve him, he missed him. He missed the times when Demyx would hold him so close to him; he could smell the chlorine on his body. He missed the trail of kisses Demyx would always leave on his neck... the softness of his lips….
No!
No, he didn't need him! He didn't need a cheating LIAR! All he needed, was a temporary replacement…someone who wouldn't cheat on him, and would love him unconditionally…
He knew exactly what he needed.
"I'll take that one!" Roxas pointed at the small black and white ferret that was chasing the red squeaky ball around in circles.
The blonde had remembered the ferret special he had seen on the Discovery Channel not to long ago, while eating dinner alone while Demyx was at "Work". He had always wanted a pet, but Demyx seemed to be allergic to every known animal in the world. So, with his new freedom to do what he wanted, Roxas had immediately gone out to buy his own ferret. Something that would love him no matter what.
About fifteen minutes later, Roxas had finished filling out the adoption papers, and paid his fee, and was soon out the door to the nearest Pet-Trams with his new partner, Pringles.
Yes, he knew Pringles was a delicious snack food, but somehow, with the small oval shaped patches of white fur that took up most of the ferrets back, Pringles seemed like it fit the ferret perfectly.
As he walked into the pet store Roxas was immediately thrown into a world of chaos, where animals, and overly happy people ruled the land. He tried to make his way over to the "Ferret Fun" isle, but was unsuccessful.
"Hello! Welcome to Pet Trams, may I help you with anything?" The blonde PETA animal warrior from happy hell asked him.
Roxas stood awestruck by the clearly plastered smile of the blonde. He wasn't sure if she wanted to help him find food, or to help him convert religions.
"No thank you. I know where I'm going."
"Are you sure? Pet Trams happens to be the biggest pet store in all of California, and people easily get lost. It would be no problem at all for me to help you find your way." She insisted.
"No really, The 'Ferret Fun' isle is right there. I think I can handle myself." Roxas took a few steps forward, eager to get away from the employee.
"Please sir, No need to be a hero. Everyone gets lost every now and then. Please let me help."
"I said I'm fine." Roxas repeated, his patience tipping.
"Sir, no need to raise your voice. Calm down, and lets talk about it."
"I said I'm FINE. THIS would be raising my voice." Roxas finally snapped.
"Sir, please get a hold of yourself. You're now being a disturbance to the other shoppers." She informed him.
"Could I get some back-up?" She asked quietly into her headset.
"No! No, there is no need for back-up, I just need YOU to get out of my way." The blonde hissed. Roxas tried to push pass her, but was cut off by the rock-hard body of a security man.
"Is there a problem here Shannon?" He asked the girl, his eyes never leaving Roxas.
"This man here seems to enjoy causing a disturbance to the other Pet-Trams shoppers. Could you kindly escort him out Pierce?" She asked, her smile twitching slightly.
"I can escort myself! But, I'm not leaving until I get my damn ferret food!" Roxas yelled, holding his ferret close to his chest.
The security man instantly tried to pull Roxas out towards the door, only to have him pull away and trip over an unknown object.
"Axel! Are you all right? I hope this disgruntled person hasn't hurt you!" Shannon fussed.
Sighting, the security guard crossed his arms and left, obviously thinking the situation was taken care of. Still, Roxas was confused. Who the hell was Axel?
Looking down on the unidentified object he tripped over, and was currently sitting on, he gasped. It was a person.
Scrambling to get to his feet, he forcefully helped pull the red haired stranger up.
"Are you ok? I'm so sorry! These people here were trying to get me to leave, when all I wanted to do was buy some food for Pringles, and so I tried to get away, and then I ran into you! I'm so sorry!" Roxas babbled.
Axel couldn't help but laugh. What a strange boy this was!
"Hey Shannon. I'm fine. Say, why don't you let me take care of this customer here? I've been here enough to be able to help him thoroughly. You should go take a break for a bit. You look tired." He smiled softly, placing a hand on Roxas's shoulder, as he began to lead him slowly towards the "Ferret Fun" isle.
"Oh thank you Axel. I'll do that. See you later!" She called after him, her smile steadily falling.
Roxas felt a small bit of color rise to his cheeks, as the red head didn't remove his hand from around Roxas's shoulders. Not that Roxas minded.
As the two entered the goal isle, Roxas broke away quickly, resisting the urge to hug the food on the shelves. Roxas lifted Pringles up to the food and let him sniff around, though he refused all of it.
"Pringles!!" He moaned. "You have to pick one! I don't want to buy one that's gross, but I don't have all day!" He informed his ferret.
Axel watched silently from the sidelines as Roxas argued over foods with his ferret. At first he thought about asking if the boy wanted to set up a play date at the park for both of their ferrets. His beautiful ferret lady Snickers, the only girl that could always have his heart, would be ecstatic to have a new playmate.
Yes. That would be just great. The boy's ferret was rather handsome too. Come to think of it…so was the boy. As a matter of fact, he was somewhat gorgeous…. Bet winning gorgeous.
Of course! The way to the boy's heart would be through his ferret! But of course, to get to the ferret, he would need to be invited…right?
A smirk formed over Axel's lips, as he grabbed the very generic ferret food off of the shelf. He stepped forward to the boy, interrupting his argument by shoving the food into the boy's chest. Pringles sniffed at it for a moment, before clearly rejecting it.
"Um…Thanks for the suggestion, but He doesn't seem to like it." Roxas thanked Axel, handing it back. Axel refused to take it, shoving it towards him once more.
"It smells like shit, I know this. But despite its outer cover, to ferrets it's delicious. My ferret Snickers hasn't had any complaints. So, how about this; Take it home, give it a try, and if he hates it, Buy him something else. There's no harm in trying." Axel persuaded him.
"As a matter of fact, if he hates it, call me up, and I will take you to buy a new brand myself." He promised, a reassuring smile erupting on his face.
Roxas looked down at Pringles, who looked up with pleading eyes. Roxas knew that the food he was given was a total turn off for his poor ferret, but what could he do? He was clueless when it came to ferrets, and whether or not this man was lying to him, he seemed to be more knowledgeable than himself; who was he to object his proposal?
After a moment of CAREFUL consideration and ignoring Pringle's whimpering, Roxas cam to conclusion.
"Alright. Give me your number, and if something goes wrong, I'll call you. I mean you seem to be the ferret expert." Roxas grinned.
"Excellent. Here's my card. I'll see you around." Axel replied, holding out a black business card with white lettering.
Roxas grabbed the card and stared at it, wondering if it was professional or not…
"Axel.
283-0827.
Get it memorized." Was all it said.
"Um… bye?" Roxas said, making it sound like more of a question.
As the boy watched Axel walk away, he almost considered throwing the card away. He was positive he wouldn't need to call him, even if his ferret wouldn't eat the food. It didn't take two people to buy pet food.
Roxas eyed the bag of generic Ferret food warily, before shaking his head and heading towards the check out line. Lucky for Roxas, an employee had just opened a line, so he was the first one to be checked out. After he paid, it was a short trip home, and a long few hours of trying to get Pringles to eat the ferret food.
"Pringles please! You're going to starve if you don't eat it! And there's no way I'm going to give you human food! You'll throw up or something if I do!"
Sighing, Roxas nearly went to his room to pout, when he saw it.
The very card he almost threw away, sitting on his couch side table.
Reluctantly, he grabbed the phone and the card ad dialed.
"Axel? This is Roxas from the pet store. I think I may need your help."
TST-- Sorry for the late update! My Internet was down until today! But here it is, the loverly chapter uno! Enjoy!