It was about a week on from his 'problem'.
Axl had calmed down a little. Not having a boyfriend didn't bother him as much anymore. In fact, he didn't even think about it much. 'Much' being the operative word. Subconsciously he was in a state of panic but he didn't quite realise it. Mainly because he couldn't see who it was about. All he knew was that it had been there ever since he'd talked to Anji at the supermarket. To be honest, he was a little creeped out by the prospect of having a crush on Anji.
He sighed, swinging his bags as he walked. It was his usual shopping day and he was loaded with at least ten bags containing food and strange things he felt a desire to buy because the label was pretty. After binging out on chocolate he had felt rather fat, despite only having put on a few pounds and had spent the remainder of the week on a fierce diet. It wasn't working because he had hardly put on anything anyway.
The sky was still looking pretty murky, despite it having been quite nice earlier.
He hastened his pace. He did not want to get caught in the rain again and he still had a bus to catch so he could get home (He was taking a shortcut through the local park). He couldn't get…
Axl frowned. Someone was yelling something. And that someone sounded very, very familiar. In fact, he had only been talking about them last week. He spun around, tucking his hair behind his ear. It was definitely him. He peered into the trees, wandering slowly into the more dense part of the park.
"… Hey! Is that you Ch-"
A shuriken flew past his ear, embedding itself into the trunk. He restrained himself from shrieking.
"Watch it!" Chipp Zanuff dropped down from the tree opposite him, landing gracefully. "I could have had your head off!"
Axl put down his bags. "No you couldn't!" He snapped back, hooking one thumb in his pocket. "I saw that coming for miles." His mouth was twitching away still.
Chipp raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure you did. Just like you saw…" He lunged forward and raised a fist to punch him. Axl caught it.
"Yeah, sort of like I saw that." Axl finished, smiling widely.
"Pfft, whatever."
He stepped closer to the ninja. Oh dear. Something really was happening here. His little heart was thumping away. Axl shrugged it off as still being in shock from the shuriken almost cutting the top of his ear off. "Why're you even training in the middle of a park anyway? You don't strike me as the kind of guy to enjoy long strolls on cloudy days."
He scowled, "You want to find me somewhere else as quiet?"
"Good point."
"What're you doing here?"
Axl pointed to the carrier bags. "Stocking up the fridge." His heart was still hammering away. He looked away from him and his heart rate slowed. No, not this again… He tried to blot out the obvious and continued looking at the trees.
"What the hell… How much chocolate do you eat in a week anyway!"
He looked back down at Chipp, who seemed to be enjoying himself going through all of his shopping. "Hey! Get out of there, that's mine!" He snatched the bar of chocolate away from him, cradling it as if it were his own child, "Don't go through my stuff! And I don't eat THAT much chocolate!" He glared at him, but he was only joking around really.
Chipp laughed harshly, "Are you sure? You're looking a little tubby to me." He poked him in the stomach, "Yep… You're getting all flabby around the middle. Have you gained weight?"
Axl flushed. "Get off! And no I haven't!" Have I! He panicked and glanced down at himself. No. He looked okay. He was wearing a loose shirt anyway. "Pick up my stuff."
"You kidding me? You carry your own things!" He argued, but picked up a bag anyway.
The Brit grinned blithely at him, and started to walk out of the park "So… How're things?"
He followed him, carrier bag slung lazily over one shoulder, "Fine, I guess… Why're you asking?"
"No reason… I heard you're going out with Anji."
Chipp nodded, "Yeah. He's not so much of a git when you get to know him."
Axl giggled guiltily, "Neither are you, you know…"
The ninja stopped and looked at him, one eyebrow raised, "Where are you going again? It's getting late if you're going to grab a bus… Or a train…"
He looked him in the eye back. God, what lovely eyes he… "Bus…? What? Oh yes, bus… I need to catch a bus."
"I'll walk you to the shelter then."
Axl nodded, still not looking away from his eyes. They're… red but sort of dark magenta around the edges… and the light makes them look… wow… And that hair… Hey… He looks… Sort of like… he squeaked softly, stopping in his tracks, "Omigosh!" He managed.
Chipp turned and stared at him as if he was mad, "What!"
"You look kind of like Billy Idol!" He put down a bag and tugged at his hair, "Wow, it's uncanny…"
"I look like who!"
He sighed and rolled his eyes, "Nevermind… You obviously don't know anything about good music."
Chipp shook his head and started walking, "Where're you from again?"
"London." He grinned, "Where else, silly?"
"Are all English people as annoying as you?"
"Only the lucky ones, love."
The conversation kept up like that for pretty much the entire three minutes it took to walk to the bus stop. In fact, Axl was almost sorry he had to stop there. He had been rather enjoying it. And he hadn't thought about Anji bloody Mito once. That was a positive point. But that was only because his mind had been preoccupied with coming up with words to describe every inch of Chipp Zanuff. "Hey… Chipp? Where do you live?"
He shrugged, handing him the carrier bags he had been holding, "In the flats just over there… It's just a temporary thing though; I don't like being in one place too long."
Axl nodded, "Mmm, okay… Thanks for helping me and everything…" He smiled, waving "See you around."
It was almost frustrating seeing him go after the good time he had been having. He looked at the timetable for the buses. He could easily catch the bus he needed; it was leaving in ten minutes, but… He glanced at Chipp, who was wandering down the road and back at the timetable and bit his lip.
It started to rain.
