Roxas set down the cookies he'd brought on the counter and looked around Axel's parents' house curiously. It was far more subdued than Axel's apartment. The colors were soft beige and light grey and combined with the general layout of the house there was a great impression of openness and space. The kitchen was truly beautiful, with granite countertops and plenty of cabinet space. Hardwood floors were kind on the feet and delicate prints adorned the walls. There was a vase on the dining room and Roxas smiled at the sight of it. It was pink and silver filled with pink and white roses, and it was a twin to the one in Axel's apartment. Suddenly something poked him in the back, hard, and Roxas stumbled forward with a yelp.

"Sasha!" Axel sounded exasperated and Roxas turned then yelped again as he saw what had poked him. It was the biggest dog he'd ever seen in his life! It was a huge, heavy dog with big floppy ears and a brindle coat. "Sorry about that." Axel grabbed the dog's collar and pulled her away. "Sasha! Sit." The dog immediately sat, to Roxas surprise. "Good girl. She's really a very nice dog."

"Oh." Roxas said timidly. "Can I pet her?" She did seem nice and was far less intimidating when she was sitting and panting. Standing up, her nose hit the centre of his back. Roxas thought she was almost as big as a pony. Axel nodded with a smile. "What breed is she?" Roxas asked as he tentatively petted her head.

"A great dane. Don't sleep on the floor or she'll try to drown you in drool." Axel said with the air of someone who knew from personal experience. Roxas imagined a little Axel sleeping on a pillow… then getting ferociously drooled on by the family dog. He had to fight back an urge to giggle at the image.

"Axel!" Roxas looked up from the dog as a woman walked down the stairs. This had to be Axel's mother. To his surprise, her skin had a beautiful golden tan and her hair was a deep auburn. Her eyes were a very pale blue and she had a round, attractive face to match a well rounded, attractive body. Roxas quickly discarded that thought and hid it under a bush. He didn't want to think about how hot Axel's mother was! Sasha looked up adoringly at Axel's mother and thumped her tail against the hardwood floor. "You must be Roxas. I'm Atzi." She smiled and offered him her hand. Roxas took it, noticing that the only jewelry she wore was a small wedding band.

"Atzi? That's an unusual name. Where is it from?" Roxas asked curiously. She smiled and he could see the resemblance to Axel for a moment. They both had the same warm, friendly smile.

"It was my great-great grandmother's name. My mother loves the family history so she decided to reuse it." Roxas was going to ask more but then Axel's father came down the stairs. Roxas could immediately see where Axel had gotten his eyes and height from. His father looked like an older version of him, in fact, although his hair was a more coppery shade of red and had been carefully tamed into an acceptable corporate hairstyle. He wasn't quite as thin and muscular as his son but he was quite attractive as well. Roxas took that thought and firmly throttled it. He wasn't going to think about how hot Axel's dad was!

"Hi dad! This is Roxas." Axel greeted his father, who grunted and looked around. "The coffee's right over there." The redhead said helpfully and his father nodded before shuffling over to pour himself a cup. Axel leaned over and murmured in Roxas' ear. "He's not a morning person either. He doesn't wake up until he gets at least one cup."

"Ah." Roxas knew what that felt like. He'd felt that way when he woke up, in fact. The wonderful smells of bacon and eggs cooking were beginning to fill the air as Axel's mother worked on an omelet.

"Roxas? Do you like green peppers and tomatoes in your omelet?" Atzi called from the kitchen and Roxas nodded.

"That's fine." He called back as Axel took him and Sasha into the dining room. Then the redhead went to fetch some plates and silverware as Roxas sat at the table. Sasha laid her head in his lap and he gently petted her head. The kitchen was big but three people were still more than enough. They didn't need any help from him. Axel began setting the table and smiled as he spotted the dog on Roxas' lap.

"How cute. Hey, would you like some coffee?" Roxas nodded with a smile and Axel went to get him a cup. Soon he had a steaming cup and the blonde sipped it. It was a really excellent, strong and fresh.

"So what exactly is Geocaching? Can you tell me more about it?" Roxas asked curiously as Axel tossed Sasha a piece of raw chicken. She wolfed it down with gusto.

"Hm? Oh. Well, the way it works is people load the coordinates for various caches onto the Geocaching website. You can load those coordinates into your GPS and then use it and the hints on the website to find the caches." Axel explained. "Then when you find one, there's a log book. You write your name in it and often there's stuff in the cache. If there is, you can take something and leave something. Mom buys these cute little keychains at the dollar store for that."

"Oh. Are there really very many caches?" Roxas asked, a bit skeptical. This sounded really strange to him. Axel laughed merrily at his misconceptions.

"Roxas, there are hundreds in this city alone!" Roxas blinked at that number. "And all the outlying towns have them. You'd be hard pressed to find a place on this earth that doesn't have a geocache by now. I bet you can find them in the most remote parts of Brazil or the Congo!"

"You're exaggerating dear." Axel flushed as his mother called from the kitchen. "Although not by much. There are wilderness caches only meant to be accessible with serious effort. Although that cache someone put on a mountain was a bad idea. It got muggled by a climber." That confused Roxas but he was quickly distracted as Atzi came out with a big plate of omelette, toast and bacon. Axel's father took a seat at the table, looking far more alert and friendly with a full cup of coffee.

"Hello there. I'm Niall. You must be Roxas?" He said with a smile and Axel shook his head sadly as Roxas nodded, smiling back.

"I already told you that dad. Try to wake up – Sasha! Bad dog!" She had darted her head up and managed to snag a piece of bacon right out of Axel's hands.

"She only does that when you're here." Atzi said, mildly disapproving. "Sasha! Leave." Sasha lowered her head and whined but the brindle dog obeyed, slipping out to the living room. "She's really quite obedient but she knows who she can push around."

"Hey, are you insinuating I'm a pushover?" Axel demanded and his mother smiled sweetly as she buttered her toast.

"No sweety. I'm stating you're a pushover. She just has to lower her head and give you that hound dog look and you melt like a fresh butter patty." Axel flushed and Roxas couldn't help but laugh. "But we love you anyway."

"Mom, stop, you're embarrassing me." Axel glanced at Roxas who just smiled. He thought he liked Axel's parents already. Conversation ebbed as everyone concentrated on their food and Roxas found that Axel was right. His mother did make a smashing omelet.

"So Roxas, Axel says you're taking philosophy. I've always wondered what kind of career that leads to." Niall asked, rather tactfully Roxas thought. A lot of people put it far more rudely.

"A lot of things." Roxas answered. "Anything that needs a university degree really. A lot of public service jobs, anything that requires analytical thinking. I'm taking some creative writing courses too and thinking of going into editing." That seemed to satisfy Axel's parents. "I've always wondered though. How do you get started on interior design?" Actually, he hadn't wondered that until this moment but it made a good question. Niall brightened at the question.

"Actually, we do a bit more than just interior design. I started with a degree in architecture. We're an architectural firm…" Roxas listened, fascinated, as Niall told him all about NordaWeave Designs. Axel had clearly been simplifying. They sounded more like builders to him, although they would see an entire building through from laying the foundation to decorating the interior. "We do more corporate contracts these days. We're a bit expensive for individual homeowners, although we do those too on occasion."

"That sounds really interesting." Roxas said truthfully. "I thought about going into architecture but I'm not very good with math." Math had been the bane of his existence in high school.

"I'm sure Axel was even worse." Atzi said with a smile. "He only finished high school because we made him. He kept submitting his math homework with the silliest answers. I saved some of them if you want to see –"

"Maybe later mom." Axel said hastily. "Where are we going to geocache?" Atzi accepted the change of subject, pulling out several papers but Roxas made a mental note to ask about that homework later. It sounded interesting.

The rest of the day passed very pleasantly. They went on a hike through a nature park just outside of town and Sasha got to run and chase rabbits, although she didn't come even close to catching any. She also succeeding in scaring a little girl although they eventually got everyone calmed down and the girl got to pet the huge scary dog. One of the caches they were looking for was either too well hidden or muggled.

"So muggles are ordinary people, like Harry Potter? And if someone finds and ruins a cache it's been muggled?" Roxas asked. He'd deduced that from how they were using the term. Axel nodded.

"Yep. You need to be careful when muggles are around. There's always someone who'll ruin a cache." Axel shook his head in disgust. "There's no reason to, most caches have the website on them and a blurb explaining what they are, but some people are just nasty."

"Oh." Roxas reflected sadly that he knew that from personal experience. But Axel and his family seemed very nice. Certainly a lot more normal than his family. Although… Axel's father was singing an old Irish tune as they walked down the path. "Axel? Why would they do those horrible things to John Barleycorn?" The song was detailing all the terrible things that happened to poor Barleycorn… being beaten, knifed in the knees and having his bones ground to powder. Axel laughed and Roxas blinked at him.

"Roxas, that song's about brewing beer!" Axel explained with a grin and Roxas blinked again as he tried to understand. "John Barleycorn is barley."

"Oh!" Roxas flushed as Axel laughed again. "Well, the song doesn't say that." He pointed out and Axel shrugged, amused.

"It wouldn't be as fun if it did – ah, I think we're here." His mother was poking around a clump of trees and examining the GPS. "C'mon, let's start looking." Roxas smiled as he searched through the trees, looking for anything unusual on the ground. He wasn't very good at this so he was sure someone else would find it but it was still fun to try. Then he spotted a bunch of wood chips in one spot. "…?" Pushing aside the chips he found a plastic bag. "I think I found it!" Tugging on it he pulled out a large bag. It opened easily to reveal a large box covered in camo with a huge label.

"That's definitely it!" Atzi took the box with a smile of pleasure, opening it and examining the contents. "Here's the log book. Axel, did you want to sign?" Axel shook his head.

"I never log 'em anyway. You guys go for it." Axel wasn't into geocaching although he often went with his parents. Atzi quickly scrawled in the log book and Roxas peeked over her shoulder, noticing that her geocaching name was Rain Woman. Niall signed as well and his name turned out to be Sasha's Dad. "Hey, look, there's a piece of candy in there! Pass it over." Axel pointed at the foil wrapped candy and Atzi shrugged, pulling it out and tossing it over to him. Axel unwrapped it and popped it in his mouth, then stopped with an arrested expression. "Hrgh!" He spat it out and Roxas stared, alarmed, as Sasha promptly ate it. "Zinc lozenge, argh! Damn! That needs a warning label."

"Well, you really shouldn't be eating things from caches anyway. Who knows how long it's been in there?" Axel's father said as he hooked the leash up to Sasha's collar. "Anymore caches or are we done?" Atzi looked at her watch pensively.

"There's another in the park but we could save it for another day. It's getting rather late and some lunch would be nice." They'd brought granola bars but it wasn't really the same. "Roxas, Axel, would you like to come back to our place for lunch?" Axel glanced at him and Roxas answered easily.

"I'd love to." He said sincerely. He was sure whatever they were serving would be better than he could make at home and his cookies were still there. Roxas couldn't bake either so the cookies had come from a little bakery near his apartment. The blonde knew they would be good. "If that's okay with you Axel?" He asked the redhead and Axel laughed and ruffled his hair. Roxas blinked but then smiled shyly at the contact.

"If it's okay by you it's fine by me! They've got a panini maker." He said confidentially and Roxas laughed. "And sauerkraut and corned beef. I checked the fridge."

"Reuben sandwiches?" Roxas found that a very attractive thought. He and Axel walked behind his parents and Roxas smiled as the redhead took his hand. "I'd love that, those are my favorites."

"Mine too!" Axel said with a grin. "Hey, did I tell you about what happened in skating practice?" Roxas shook his head and soon he was laughing at a story of Axel's about how another skater had almost beaned him with a blade cover. Atzi glanced back at the boys with a faint smile as they talked. It was a bit early to say for sure, but she thought they were getting along quite well. Perhaps they would just be friends… but perhaps they would be more.

They would just have to wait and see.

Dear Roxas,

Sora has informed me about your romantic interest. I wish you had told me this yourself. I will be investigating his suitability. I wish you had maintained your relationship with Olette. She has been asking about you if you reconsider your actions and wish to apologize.

Your grades are acceptable. Please try to raise your marks in creative writing. 82% is beneath your level of ability. Although you did not ask, your father is doing well. His hip only bothers him when it's going to rain. He has been working on a chest for Sora and Riku.

Please contact me if you have any news.

-Maria

"I wish to apologize?" Roxas tossed the letter away, shaking his head. He sometimes felt like his mother lived in an alternate reality.

His romance with Olette had been a mistake from the beginning. She was a very sweet girl and he'd been physically attracted but they had no common interests at all. Worse, she couldn't stand up to their parents at all. Not that many people could, but the pressure on both sides for them to get engaged and then married had been maddening. And they'd only been fifteen! They had both been too young for any relationship and it had come to a head when Roxas had gotten drunk and had a blowout fight with her. He could hardly remember it but he remembered the aftermath… Olette had been just as drunk and had woken up the next day with a boy she didn't know. That had been the end of their relationship.

In retrospect Roxas could see that his mother had been grooming Olette for him for years. Likely her parents had been doing the exact same thing. They had the same attitudes as his mother, unfortunately. His mother and Olette's mother didn't give up easily, which explained why they were still trying to get them back together. Still, it was a bit much to expect him to apologize. Roxas winced and tried to avoid thinking about his mother and her attitudes. That was just depressing. At least Axel would be acceptable… there was nothing wrong with Irish ancestry.

Roxas sighed as he looked at his handwritten notes and wished, not for the first time, that he had a laptop. Then he'd have been able to type his class notes. His handwriting was atrocious. Carefully putting the pages away he started typing up a reply to his mother. Creative writing was a very subjective thing. Maybe she would understand that if he explained. The blonde doubted it but he had to try. Then he paused as there was a knock at the door.

"Hello?" He called as he pushed away from his desk. He thought he knew who it was but –

"Hey!" Axel. Roxas smiled happily as he went to the door and opened it. Then he blinked as he saw the big brown paper bag Axel was carrying. The redhead smiled at him sheepishly. "Are you doing anything tonight? My brother was supposed to come over but he flaked to spend time with his girlfriend. So I've got a ton of Chinese food if you want some?"

"I would love it!" Roxas could smell the wonderful scent of… duck? "What is it?" He asked as Axel carried the bag into the dining room and started unloading the contents.

"Three courses of Peking duck." Axel answered cheerfully as he opened a Styrofoam box of rice. "Soup, dumplings and the main dish. It's my bro's favorite. I'd beat him for this but now I get to spend time with you." Roxas choked on a laugh and Axel glanced over with a smile, his green eyes twinkling. "And I'm still going to make him pay for it."

"Harsh! Fair though." Roxas said with a smile. If Sora had flaked on him to spend time with Riku, Roxas would have been tempted to sissy slap him into the next century. "I'm glad he did though."

"So am I." Axel murmured as Roxas took some plates out for them. "I'd rather spend time with you." Roxas looked over, surprised and pleased. He met green eyes again and swallowed nervously for a moment before giving the redhead a shy smile.

"Thank you." Was all he said before he passed Axel a plate and utensils. The redhead accepted it with a smile and began spooning out some rice. Roxas watched him a moment before shaking his head and taking a bit of the soup.

He really should be working on his letter to his mother but it could wait. He'd much rather spend time with Axel.