Work Text:
Phainon had no idea what he had done to deserve this. It’s not like he killed anyone! So why was Anaxa acting like he did?! He had only moved Dromy, Anaxa’s beloved dromas plush, Phainon had won for him in a fair, off to the side for a split second to clean the bed.
He didn’t throw or discard it in the slightest, even though Anaxa acted like he did. He had simply lifted it and put it on the top of their nightstand so he could then change the ruined bedsheets from last night.
Did Anaxa really want to sleep in their soiled bedsheets?? Well, maybe they had slept on it more times than Phainon would admit, but you can’t blame him for being exhausted after Anaxa’s insatiable appetite. Seriously, who knew such a tiny figure had more stamina than him!
But Anaxa had acted like he had committed treason of the highest caliber and promptly kicked him out of the house, telling him that he could only come back when he made it up to Anaxa.
At least Anaxa had given him the decency to dress himself before kicking him out. He would never hear the end of it if Mydei or Cipher had caught wind of this. It felt like he was doing the walk of shame as he rummaged around the closet searching for clothes to wear. He thought if he put on his best outfit, Anaxa would forget about Phainon’s transgressions and pull him back to bed, but no.
He only gave a deadpan expression, sighing to himself as he looked at Phainon’s mismatched expression. Anaxa held his tongue and only gestured to the door, which Phainon’s ears wilted at, but he made his way out of the door. It slammed shut as soon as he walked out. Anaxa was really angry, it seems.
He didn’t even know what he could use to appease the bunny hybrid; his mood was highly fickle around this time of the year, but it was no reason to take it out on Phainon! The poor wolf hybrid was just trying to take care of his beloved.
As he paced around in front of the door, trying to come up with ideas of how to make Anaxa not mad at him anymore, he suddenly thought of the best idea, the light bulb in his head lighting up.
Carrots!
Bunny hybrids love those, so maybe if Phainon got some, it would make Anaxa not mad at him anymore! Surely he would get bonus points if he made them into the shape of dromas, Anaxa’s favorite animal.
He always saw Anaxa sneakily eating them while he thought Phainon’s back was turned for reasons unknown to him. He didn’t see why Anaxa felt the need to hide it from him, but he had refrained from asking, assuming it to be just another one of his lover’s quirks.
He promptly left the area in search of carrots, hurriedly running away, not noticing that the door had opened slightly before Anaxa popped his head out, his ears flopping down the side of his head as he tried to search for Phainon to tell him to come back inside.
Anaxa could only shake his head when he saw no sign or trace of Phainon, sighing at the shenanigans he would be subjected to in Phainon’s bid to lighten his mood. Thinking of that brought a slight smile to his face; he looked around one last time before shutting the door, waiting to see how Phainon would try to bring a smile to his face.
____
Phainon looked around, trying to rack his head around places he knew he could get carrots. They had to be perfect, surely Mydei would know a good spot to get them, the lion hybrid was always found cooking, so perhaps he could impart some of his knowledge and wisdom for Phainon’s plight.
He made a slight detour to Mydei’s restaurant, determined to pester the lion hybrid for advice. He simply wouldn’t leave without it; he would be willing to camp outside for it. This was all for Anaxa after all. Phainon would do anything for that man, and if the time called for him to beg people for advice to appease him, then he would do so without any protests.
Phainon noticed how the restaurant wasn’t as busy as it usually was, perfect for Phainon’s plan. Mydei wouldn’t kick him out this time for disturbing his customer if there weren’t a lot to begin with.
“Mydei! I need help!” He barged in through the doors despite Mydei’s countless previous attempts asking him to go through the door like a normal person. This was simply an urgent matter that had to be dealt with quickly. He had no time to open the door normally. Plus, it got the job done in getting Mydei’s attention.
Mydei’s head snapped over to Phainon’s direction in a way that would’ve made Phainon wince at the sight. “You hks, haven’t I told you not to slam the doors open. It cost money to repair that.” The blond crossed his arms, waiting for whatever plight Phainon had that he had to fix. Sadly, he had gotten used to dealing with this for all the years he had known Phainon. For some reason, he was made his confidant, which made him more privy to knowledge about Anaxa’s and Phainon’s relationship than he’d like.
He sighed to himself, putting a hand through his hair at what he would be blessed with the knowledge of next.
“Mydei you have to help me. Anaxa is mad at me again.” Phainon had hurriedly said, he thought he could’ve heard Mydei mutter, “When is he not,” but his ears were just deceiving him, surely. He ignored commenting on that matter; instead, he needed to find carrots pronto.
“Do you have any good carrots I can give to Anaxa?”
Mydei’s head snapped up, wondering what the hell he was dealing with. Carrots??? Did Phainon really think that would work with Anaxa? And didn’t Phainon grow up on a farm? Why the hell was he asking for Mydei’s advice?
Whatever, he didn’t get paid enough to care; he should ask for financial reparations next time he’s forced to hear about their love life. He did not want to be a witness to whatever the two did, thank you very much.
He thought to himself about the current inventory they had; would they have enough to make dishes if he gave Phainon some? The answer was no. Some maniac thought it was a thrilling idea to order most of their carrots straight off of them for no reason other than their own amusement. Mydei didn’t even know how to deal with that situation when it arose. The maniac didn’t even want the restaurant to cook dishes for them; they just gave them a wad of cash and asked quite plainly for carrots.
Why they didn’t go to the grocery store to get that was beyond him.
He could only sigh to himself because he knew that when he told Phainon the unfortunate news, he would just get a large puppy clinging onto him that he couldn't shake off, wailing because of his dilemmas. He had a restaurant to manage, damn it. Mydei should just ban Phainon off the premises for a little while just to get some peace, but he knew it would only entail his phone blowing up with messages instead.
“I don’t, some person bought most of our inventory of carrots, and we need the leftovers to make our dishes. Why don’t you just get them from the grocer?” Mydei was shocked but not surprised when Phainon had responded by acting like a limp noodle against him, though he grunted at the additional weight.
“You don’t understand! I need this to be perfect for him. When you get a partner, you’d understand.” Mydei’s eye twitched at that statement. He was here listening to Phainon’s unimportant matters currently, when he could continue working, so why was he getting shots fired at him?! He had had enough.
“Out.” Mydei pointed to the door, not willing to hear anything further. He picked up Phainon, not even grunting at Phainon’s full weight, and plopped him outside. All while Phainon kept on begging him to reconsider.
“Why don’t you ask Cipher to get you some?” Mydei closed the door behind him, not wanting to hear whatever ridiculous excuse Phainon would give him. He turned around, getting back to serving the customers.
Peace at last.
____
Well, that was rude, Phainon had thought.
He checked the time on his phone, but was surprised how late it had gotten since he got kicked out. He quickly texted Anaxa, saying he would be back soon with a gift for him, not waiting for a response as he turned off his phone. Hopefully, Anaxa still wasn’t as mad as he was before.
Now for Cipher…
Would he be willing to give up his dignity for whatever future favor Cipher would cash in?
Yes, yes, he would.
Making up his mind, Phainon pulled up her contact. He barely had to wait before she had picked up.
“Hello?”
“Cipher, I need a favor. Do you have any carrots I can give to Anaxa?” He rushed to say, not greeting in slight.
“Aww, trouble in paradise with pretty boy? What did you even do?” Phainon knew Cipher was eating every detail he was providing and would be using it to hold over his head in the near future, but at the moment, he didn’t care. Phainon hoped this would get back to Anaxa. He shivered at the thought of him getting word of this, knowing CIpher would tell Aglaea everything Phainon just told her.
He just needed help, and all his friends were not treating it as the life-or-death situation it was!
“Please, Cipher, can you just supply me with good-quality carrots?” He desperately asked; he wanted to get home right now. He ignored his phone ringing up with Anaxa’s ID, figuring it was Anaxa telling him not to contact him while he was still mad at him. He didn’t want to be scolded right here in front of Cipher, who would only use it as ammunition for future favors she might want.
“It will cost you~” She sang out as a response, but Phainon had been ready to deal with this.
“I’ll do the next two favors you might ask of me, no questions asked and with no refusals.” Yes, he was that desperate.
“Oh? Then it’s a deal. I’ll come over to your house to drop it off. See you in a bit~” With that, Cipher hung up.
Phainon sighed in relief. Finally, he was able to go back home, and maybe then, with Anaxa seeing his gift for him, he’ll finally be let in the house instead of being locked out!
He walked back to the house, but if you asked passersby, they would say the wolf hybrid was practically running back.
Phainon looked around for any traces of Cipher when he got back to the house, seeing her nowhere in sight. He must’ve gotten here before her. Fine, he’ll wait then.
“Boo!” A voice rang out behind him, startling him. He turned around, not surprised at all to see it was another one of Cipher’s games, but he spotted a bag she was carrying that had carrots practically bulging out of it, so he would ignore it for now.
It was perfect now. Even though he didn’t have the time to arrange them into a dromas shape, Anaxa would still be happy with the bag of carrots.
Cipher handed it over to him wordlessly, but had a burning question in her mind. Did he even know? “Why are you getting Prof Nax carrots? You know they aren’t good for bunny hybrids in large amounts.”
What? Phainon had never heard of this. No wonder Anaxa always tried to hide it in front of Phainon! If he knew, he would’ve definitely limited the amount Anaxa ate because it was an unhealthy amount that happened commonly.
Before he could change his mind and hand the bag back to Cipher, Anaxa had walked out of the door, having listened to their entire conversation and, without a word, took the bag out of Phainon’s slackened hold. He gave a brief nod to Cipher and gave a kiss on the cheek to Phainon before slinking back into the house.
Phainon was frozen for a moment before he realized what had just happened. He rushed to get back into the house, all the while he heard Cipher laughing at him.
This was so unfair! He just wanted to be nice, and now he had to deal with this. But he had more important matters to deal with now.
“Anaxa! Don’t eat the whole bag!!!”