Good Question: Bad side about writing again, I'm now back to obsessively checking my e-mail for reviews. It's a very disappointing life style.
Also, this is a modified half of a chapter with an added second part to make it into a flow helper chapter. Because I believe in development and hopefully I won't sacrifice that in my impatience to get to the juice.
Warning: The title of this story will be changing soon.
Chapter 6: Butterscotch
Roxas yawned and buried himself further into his blanket. He was about to fall asleep again until he felt a weight pushing at his back. His first thought was Axel but just to be sure he swatted at it, he hadn't expected it to swat back, or rather bite.
"Mother fu-!" Roxas sat up straight and flung his hand to the side, sending the creature that had been attached to his hand flying.
His eyes followed the flying lump of white to where it landed safely on a cushion on the other side of the room. Roxas stared, eyes wide open, as the lump shook itself and barked.
'No.'
He got up, kicking the blankets out of his way as he almost hurled himself into the kitchen to find his aunt.
"Aunt Tina. What is that?" Roxas asked, pointing to the dog that had followed him into the kitchen.
"It's a dog Roxas," Tina answered as she popped in a second set of toast.
"Let me rephrase, what is it doing here?"
Tina smiled and placed a mug of tea and two pieces of toast on the table in front of Roxas.
"We adopted it. And he has a name. It's Butterscotch. Reno named him, he won't answer to anything else."
Roxas slid into the seat and stabbed at his toast with his fork, wondering after a second why he had a fork out for toast. "Why?"
"Don't be such a grumpy person about it. You'll see. It'll be good for you."
Tina smiled and placed her hand on Roxas' shoulder, telling him that he would grow to love the fur ball. "I need you to do a favor for me."
Had Roxas not just woken up he would've been more suspicious and more concentrated on the important things instead of how to get rid of the dog without Tina noticing. "Yeah sure. What is it?"
"Good! Listen, I have a meeting with some very important people and I can't make it to the bar in time to open it, but Reno should be there. I'll be there later tonight. I need you to drop Butterscotch off at the bar too seeing as you obviously don't intend to care for him."
Roxas glared at the mug of tea in front of him as if it was its fault. "Fine."
After he was done with breakfast and a painfully slow getting dressed procedure he decided to take the dog to the bar. The sooner he got rid of it the better. Roxas took the leash into his hand and glared at the fur ball. He would've been fine just running a few errands for his aunt but he didn't exactly want the company of the dog. It wasn't that he was prejudice just again dogs. He had always thought that he was the wrong type of person for a pet. His 6th grade gold fish project agreed with him.
Nonetheless he complied with his aunt's wishes to walk to the Baazar and drop of Butterscotch there for Reno or someone to take care of. He was also instructed to remind them that later that night they would be getting some interviewer type people that were coming to take pictures of bar's around town and name them, and to have the pool tables really cleaned before five. Or maybe the cleaners were coming and the interviewers came at five. Both seemed the same to him.
Roxas hugged his jacket around him as he stepped into the cold wind, winter had really started to kick in and Roxas found himself wishing he were back at Destiny Island where even in the winter it was pretty warm. The dog yipped at his feet as he fumbled with the key and locked the door behind him.
"Axel! The box? Maybe? Now?" Reno asked as he stood on top of a wobbly ladder. They had to change their decorations from I-day to general winter season, and this of course was left to them seeing as Tina didn't hire many people. She liked to have people she trusted working at her bar, gave her less to worry about and everybody more freedom. Axel turned himself around in one of the bar stools and watched amused as his brother swayed back and forth. It was a disaster waiting to happen.
"Axel. Now please!"
Axel shook his head but got up anyway, slowly making his way to the box where the I-day decorations would be stowed away. Reno had offered, with Tina's permission, to pay Axel if he helped with getting the bar up and running that day seeing as they didn't have the usual lazy time they did. Axel had at first refused, grumbling and crawling deeper into his bed, maybe becoming one with his mattress, but the pay that Reno had offered was too good to pass up for as little work that he assumed he would be doing. Axel lifted the box and cradled it in his arms. He walked over to Reno and held up the box for him to put the fragile decorations in.
"Lift it a bit higher," Reno instructed, tugging one side of the heavy box to his knee so that it didn't burden Axel as much, seeing as they were almost level with each other when his hands were outstretched. The bell that hung above the door sounded and Axel's attention was brought to the door as Reno yelled a ' welcome back', assuming it was Tina because the bar was closed until noon, which meant only people with the key could get in.
"I brought the dog," Roxas yelled out, unclasping the leash and letting the dog run loose into the bar.
"Roxas!"
Axel let go of the box and jumped over the bar counter, and ran a bit down the hall flinging his arms around Roxas and successfully tackling him to the ground in a cheerful hug. Roxas gasped, his air having been pushed out when he had hit the ground. "Axel –wheeze- air."
Axel immediately moved off, placing one hand on Roxas' back and the other on his stomach, pushing him forward. "Sorry. Uhm… just breathe. Yeah. That's what you need to do." But even as he apologized there was humor in his voice. The thought it was funny. If Roxas' had the strength he would've elbowed Axel but he had to settle with glaring as Axel rubbed circles on his back.
"I'm fine. Is Reno here? I brought the fur ball."
"Actually yes, we were just-."
Axel stopped with wide eyes and sprang up again, sliding around the corner just in time to watch as Reno clung to the stairs with one hand and leg, and the other was trying to save the box from falling because it already had some decorations in it. Roxas showed up just in time, not being far behind Axel, to watch the ladder began to tilt under the unbalance weight distribution. The two boys watched as the ladder made its seemingly slow fall to the ground, Reno trying to shove the box away so that it wouldn't crush him, some of the ornaments in there were pretty fucking heavy.
.
Axel and Roxas winced as the sound hit their ears.
"Reno? You okay?" Axel moved forward and leaned over his brother after the sound of the crash had cleared.
"Peachy. Who let the dog off the leash without warning me ?"
"What dog?" Axel asked as he looked around, and then stopped as he found a white fluffy dog sitting at the end of the ladder looking quite proud of itself.
Roxas raised his hand up a little, "the fur ball? Yeah." Reno tried to push himself up, only to fall back down with grunt.
"You sure you're okay?" Axel asked helping him up.
"I think that highly hazardous and slightly fatal fall may have sprained my wrist," Reno said as he lifted his arm, his wrist hanging limply at an odd angle. Axel flinched as he watched his brother try to push his wrist back properly, but stopping when it was apparent he might snap it off entire if he tried anymore than that.
"I'm sorry," Roxas said, walking over to the dog and picking him up.
"Yeah fucker. But it's okay. You can work in my place, but unlike Axel, you won't get paid," Reno said, cheerful despite the condition of his wrist. It meant he got the day to relax. He hated doing the decorations anyway and usually hired a friend or two to do it instead. He had no eye for these things, he didn't understand why Tina thought he did.
"Yes sir."
Axel glanced sympathetically at Roxas before getting the first aid kit as well as Reno's coat. He asked him if he wanted a ride to the hospital but Reno assured him it was safer to chance walking in the cold than getting into a car with him. "You two be good!" Reno called out as he left, his arm in a makeshift sling.
"It wasn't really your fault," Axel began the moment the door had closed.
"It's cool. I have nothing better to do today anyway," Roxas said, pretending to shrug it off, but it did bother him just a little bit because he knew how important his aunts business was to her. Shit.
Axel sighed and placed a hand on Roxas' shoulder. "I can never win. Come on then, let's start with the decorations again."
A good two hours had passed and Roxas and Axel found themselves with nothing to do. They didn't have the authority to open the Bazaar but it was already 12:20 and Reno had yet to return and all of the decorations had been done, they had even cleaned a bit. They had left the lights off and sat in the dark. They watched as one or two people scratched their heads and turned away or tried the door.
"So…."
"So…."
"What's up?"
Roxas glanced at Axel, almost wincing at the awkward start to get a conversation going, but he had to give him credit for trying. It wasn't like he was doing any better. Might as well give a similar awkward, obvious answer back.
"Nothing really, annoyed that I have to take care of the fur ball."
Axel grinned and reached down to pick up the dog in question. "He has a name you know. And look, he's adorable!"
Roxas stared at the black twinkling eyes of the dog and huffed. Axel had prettier eyes. But then again, Axel wasn't a dog.
"I'm well aware of that. You know, you could take him," Roxas suggested as he brushes his fingers over the dog's wet nose, attempting to show that he didn't really have anything against the species.
"But then it'd be harder for me to find excuses to justify me trying to live at your house," Axel said with a wink. Roxas shook his head and smiled inwardly. He really wouldn't mind Axel living with him, it just gave him more Axel time to himself, and he could probably secretly stare at him in almost nude to nothing all the time. Axel decided to try and combat the awkwardness by occupying himself with the dog.
Roxas stared at Axel in silence until he got fed up with it.
"I feel neglected."
Axel stopped petting Butterscotch and reached his hand over to pet Roxas's hair, "I'm sorry."
Roxas shook the hand off and glared at the dog and Axel interchangeably. He hoped that Reno would come back soon, because he really didn't know what to do if nobody showed up to open the bar. And Tina was in a meeting so it was useless to try to call her.
"Roxas? Why do you hate dogs?"
'Because he's occupying my spot,' Roxas thought as the dog whined in Axel's lap. "I don't hate dogs. I just don't like pets in general."
Axel rested his head on his hand and tilted his head at Roxas, the dog staring at Roxas as well. It was a little intimidating. "That's a lie, everyone likes pets."
'You'd make a good pet,' Roxas thought for a brief second before banishing his dick from giving his brain suggestions. "I guess."
The awkwardness stretched on. There wasn't really much that had changed between them within the few days so Roxas didn't understand why it was so hard all of a sudden to talk to him. His brain felt sticky and slow, at least on what to say to him. "You wanna raid the staff room fridge?" Roxas suggested.
"I believe I would," Axel replied getting up a little quickly sending the dog in a small tumble onto the couch. Roxas smirked at the dog and stuck out his tongue, following Axel to the kitchen. The kitchen was very simple and connected to a small dining room like square. Axel knew his way better around the place than he did so he made them drinks and got plates out and all that. Roxas thought it was absurdly domestic, and somehow very very endearing. Which worried him as he was done thinking it, because endearing had nothing to do with sex and fire and more to do with fuzzy feelings and romance. He stuffed the uncomfortable feeling deep inside of him and shook his head. He was being stupid.