"You get a hold of Vanitas yet?" Axel doesn't mean to keep changing the subject, really, but seeing all the scheduling papers laid out on the office desk gets him salty all over again.

"Aqua said he's still alive," Saïx sets himself into the chair and begins stacking and reorganizing papers so they can head out, "but that was about all she had to say on the matter."

"Little bastard. Probably overslept."

"Thank you, by the way, Axel," Saïx sets his pen down, steeples his fingers for a moment while his breathing settles, "for checking in this morning and staying to clean up the mess." That feels like an apology.

Axel steps up behind him, hands massaging Saïx's upper arms, "I'm here for you. You know that."

"I know." He shuffles around some more papers, tucks folders and binders away. Then he sets a hand on top of the one Axel has on his right shoulder. "So…"

That feels like a catch.

Axel tilts his head, trying to sound teasing when he wants to sound cold, "So…?"

"Who were you with earlier?"

Axel shrugs dismissively, and, seeing streaks of golden-blonde, gives Saïx's shoulders a final squeeze, slipping his hands away. "Nobody important."

Saïx spins the chair around, planting black Adidas on the concrete. "Which nobody?"

Axel pulls a hand through his hair. "Jesus, Saïx, what does it matter?" he spits back, and Saïx looks like he's been smacked in the face.

"Axel, please."

It's painful when he gets like this. To see someone so strong and intelligent broken down—heartbreakingly vulnerable and yet irrationally paranoid.

Axel's tone softens, reaching out to cup Saïx's face in a hand, leaning forward, "I need a little trust here, baby."

Saïx tilts his chin up to press a soft kiss against his lips. "I need a name."

Axel groans and pulls back. "Just tell me that you know that I love you, before I tell you who, alright?"

"My heart knows, Axel." Ocean blue-green eyes hold only sincerity as they press at Axel's resolve. His tiny, sad smile hurts. "But my brain's a bit more fucked up." Saïx stands and sometimes the inches he has on Axel feel like feet. "So, tell me."

Just because Axel understands where the insecurity's coming from, doesn't mean he doesn't hate it. "Saïx."

"Axel."

Axel sighs and flicks his hand to the side, as if introducing someone. "Roxas."

"What?" Saïx looks to where Axel's gestured as if trying to visualize the guy there, outrageous bedhead, inaccurate nametag, and all. "Roxas?" His nose scrunches prettily, he glances back to Axel. "Roxas, Roxas?"

Axel nods. "Yeah. Roxas."

Saïx's brows draw together, and he holds out on forgiveness, searching for any sign that Axel's deceiving him. But there's nothing to find.

"For an hour?" Saïx cracks, giggling, eyes rolling to the ceiling, as if he can't believe Axel's put him through this emotional ordeal for the sake of someone as cute, tiny, and insignificant as Roxas. "God. Why?"

"Took him for ice cream," Axel supplies sheepishly, and scratches at the nape of his neck. "Wanted to make his first day suck a little less, I guess."

Saïx full on smiles, that huge, delighted, sanctimonious grin that he doesn't let his employees see. His arms cross and he stares at Axel like he's seeing him in a new light. "Well, how about that."

Axel fights off a relieved grin of his own. "Ah, come off it, already."

Saïx sidles forward, hands on Axel's sides like he's going to try something, and Axel elbows him in the spleen.

"See, this is why I didn't tell you."

Saïx glances from this nonexistent wound to Axel's eyes, lips stretching up like he's terribly amused. "Since when do you care?"

Axel contemplates this. Once upon a time, he'd made an effort to befriend all of Saïx's Hot Topic employees. He'd played gigs with Demyx, placed bets with Luxord, let Xigbar tat him up... Hell, he'd even say he'd been friendly with Cloud, Xaldin, Larxene, and Lex.

But then, shit had gone down with Vexen, and when the bastard had the balls to show up for his next shift, Axel had snapped his fingers at Saïx, and said, "Fire his ass," and Saïx had done it, no questions asked.

It was a small store and word travelled fast. Everyone got paranoid. Axel lost track of who hated his guts and who tolerated him. The trust he had won slipped away, and it seemed like more trouble than it was worth to earn back. After all, they weren't wrong, really. Saïx comes first. Always has.

So, when the next batch of employees were hired: Aqua, Zexion, Vanitas... it just didn't seem worth the effort any more.

"Dunno," Axel says finally, weakly, shrugging again, trying to look tougher than he feels. "I just…did. He seemed like he could use a friend."

The grin makes a stunning reappearance, and Saïx rubs his nose against Axel's. "Well, aren't you just adorable?"

Axel presses his hands to Saïx's chest, mentally cursing the fact that he can feel the muscles below the thin material, and pushes the man back a smidge. "Shut the fuck up, Saïx."

Saïx puts on that pompous asshole smirk that Axel's such a sucker for. "Make me."

"Alright." Axel grins, tightening his grip on Saïx's tank and pulling him closer until their torsos melt together and their lips hover an inch apart. Ignoring the scent of pilates and the taste of sea salt lingering on the back of his tongue, Axel closes the distance.