Work Text:
“When life gives you lemons, make a lemon cake.”
Axel, who had been stocking peaches in the produce department of the grocery store he was working at, slowly paused in his stacking to side-stare at the short blonde teen staring at the yellow acidic fruit.
“Uh…” Axel, red hair pulled back by a headband and green eyes watering from the sudden temperature jumps as he went to the cooler and back, “excuse me?”
The blonde teen, wide blue eyes and hair looking like it had fought with a blow-dryer, jumped startled.
“Wha-uh!” Blondie’s face had burst into a red color, the hue enticing to Axel who couldn’t stop staring as the other male frantically shoved the lemon back before floundering away towards a brunette who was looking at the lettuce. The brunette, looking similar to the blonde male, blinked at being tackled by the blonde whose face was still flushed. Axel watched, momentarily stunned at the very bizarre display.
“Everything okay over there, Ax?” Axel turned to see his co-worker, Demyx, shimmy over as he pushed a U-boat of empty boxes.
Demyx, his brown mullet hidden under a hat, blinked curiously at Axel.
“Uh, yeah,” Axel spoke slowly as he handed over his empty boxes to Demyx. “Just peachy.” Demyx’s face fell at the horrible joke as Axel patted a box of peaches.
“Don’t leave another hand-held in the bailor, okay Dem?” Axel called sweetly as Demyx bustled his U-boat past the lanky male.
“That was one time Axel!” Demyx seethed, his neck and ears pinkening as he excused himself past customers. Axel chuckled and looked back towards the twins, blinking when he saw they were gone.
Huh.
“Axel,” the co-manager of the store, Cloud, called over the intercom, “come to the Nutrition Department. Axel, to Nutrition.” Axel groaned, flopping back against the hard back of the chair he was sitting in. He chanced a glance at the clock, seeing his break had just ended.
“Fuck me right in the ass,” Axel grumbled under his breath, standing up from his table. Riku, sitting on the other side of the dingy, dirty breakroom, just rolled his eyes.
“If he’d called ten minutes earlier, you could have restarted your break,” the silver haired cashier called as Axel waved over his shoulder.
“If only I was that lucky!” Axel laughed back and shoved his hands into his black jean pockets as he walked through the back-room, looking up at the bays filled with pallets of backstock and display items that had yet to be placed out on the sales floor.
Axel pushed through the doors, blinking as he caught sight of Cloud with...was that the blonde kid with the lemon…?
“Axel,” Cloud spoke, looking between the Lemon boy and Axel, “this customer was wanting something from the bulk dispensers but it’s empty.”
Axel stared at Cloud, his face carefully controlled as he inwardly roared. First of all, he wasn’t in the Nutrition Department, no matter it being a sub-department of Produce. Second of all, why the fuck couldn’t Cloud go into the back and get the bulk item?
“Sure thing Mr. Strife. Here sir, let’s go see what you need and if I can find it for you,” Axel spoke, smile wide as his eyes fell onto Lemon boy. Lemon boy looked anywhere but at Axel, fiddling with his red knit-sweater.
Cloud nodded, turning to leave. Axel gave a soft huff, looking down at Lemon boy who barely came up to his chest. Christ the kid was tiny.
“Sorry,” Lemon boy spoke, looking slightly ashamed. “I didn’t mean to bother you.” Axel raised an eyebrow, watching Lemon boy rub at his neck.
“Nah,” Axel waved off, “it’s all good. Sorry it’s empty. Whatcha wanting?” Axel led the shorter male towards the despensers, looking for all the empty containers. Lemon boy pointed at the empty container of chocolate covered coffee beans.
“Oh, we don’t have any,” Axel spoke after a beat. Lemon boy gave him a confused stare.
“I bought the last of them,” Axel stated and Lemon boy let out a startled laugh, as if not believing Axel. “Sorry.” How else was Axel supposed to get through a 40 hour workweek with overtime expected?
“No, that’s-” Lemon boy laughed again, “totally okay. I’ll try another day. Thanks, uh, Axel.” Lemon boy’s eyes flickered to Axel’s name tag and Axel’s smile tightened slightly. No matter how long Axel worked at the grocery store, he’d never get used to someone knowing his name without him knowing theirs or introducing himself. It was creepy and made Axel slightly uncomfortable.
“No problem, sir,” Axel spoke with that same air of employee professionalism. Lemon boy gave another smile before waving awkwardly, leaving Axel to stare after him.
“He’s got a nice ass,” Riku spoke as he walked past Axel, heading for the front end. Axel rolled his eyes and went back towards the produce department.
“Uh, Axel,” there was Lemon boy again. This was the third time in a month Axel had seen him already. “Do you know if they have anymore lemons in the back?” Axel looked up from his blue cart, mid-hand wipe as he looked from Lemon boy to the location where the lemons should be. Huh. It was empty.
Axel’s eyes fell to the buggie Lemon boy was carting around, the metal carrier filled with bags of lemons. Axel just stared, mind blanking for a second.
“Uh,” Axel blurted. “What the hell are you doing with all those lemons?” The laughter bubbled up before Axel could catch a grip of it. Lemon boy blushed.
“I’m-I-I like lemons, okay?” Lemon boy defended, looking down at his basket of lemons. Seriously, he had to have three boxes worth of lemons in his bascart. Axel shook his head, wiping at his eyes as he danced around Lemon boy.
“Yeah, lemme go check in the back.” It was third shift, so maybe they had some backstock from leftover truck from the morning. Axel disappeared into the produce cooler, raising an eyebrow at Demyx, who was sitting on the stacked pile of pallets, munching on a bunch of strawberries.
“Damaged,” Demyx explained and Axel plucked a strawberry from the plastic tray, popping it in his mouth whole. Demyx shuddered as Axel slipped further into the back of the cooler, trifling through boxes.
“If you’re looking for lemons for Roxas, we’re completely out. What we have up there is all we got,” Demyx’s voice drifted over to Axel. Axel stopped.
“What?” Axel looked up. “How the hell do you know Lemon boy’s name?”
“Lemon boy?” Demyx echoed back. He gave Axel a weird stare. “Roxas’s twin, Sora, is dating Riku from the front end. Since I, unlike you, actually socialize with people outside of work, I’ve been to a party or two at Riku’s house. I’ve met them. Lemon boy’s name is Roxas.”
Roxas. Roxas. Roxas. Axel just continued to stare at Demyx. Roxas. “That’s a stupid name.”
Demyx rolled his eyes and tossed Axel another strawberry. “Shut up and go tell Roxas he’s taking all the lemons.”
“Why’s he taking them all, anyways?” Axel grumbled around the chewed bits of the strawberry, pushing the doors open from the produce cooler. He blinked to see Roxas and his twin, Sora was it?, arguing over a piece of paper.
“I’m telling you, Rox, it’s asking for 1 lemon, not 100. What recipe asks for 100 lemons?” Sora was trying to explain.
“Read it, Sora. It says 100 lemons. I have to buy 500 lemons if I want to make this cake,” Roxas was snapping back. Axel almost face palmed. What the fuck.
“Roxas, it’s a typo!” Sora huffed. He seemed to catch sight of Axel and elbowed Roxas in the side, hard. “Oh hey, sorry to send you back there. We don’t need anymore lemons, I promise.” Sora laughed, looking embarrassed as Roxas flushed, realizing Axel had seen them bickering. Axel waved a hand, shrugging his shoulders.
“Nah, it’s chill....does your recipe really say 100 lemons?” Axel asked, unable to keep the smile off his face as Roxas nodded vigorously, Sora sighing dramatically in the background.
“It’s a typo. What recipe says to use 100 lemons?” Sora bickered.
“It could be a very potent lemon cake,” Axel spoke seriously and the twins reared back at his tone before bursting out laughing.
“Oh man, you’re funny. Why don’t you ever come to Riku’s parties? We see Demyx there all the time,” Sora laughed. Roxas shifted his footing, looking back to their buggie of lemons.
Axel grunted, moving to his cart full of boxes. The twins followed. “I don’t like seeing people outside of work, y’know? Work is work, life is life.” Roxas nodded in understanding while Sora’s face pinched like he had eaten one of the lemons.
“That sounds stupid,” Sora spoke with a shake of his head. “You’ll never make friends like that. Riku’s having a party tonight. You should stop by. Here, here’s the address.” Sora went over to one of Axel’s boxes, grabbing a near-by sharpie to scribble on the cardboard. Roxas watched, eyes intense as they bore into the back of Sora. Axel watched, bemused.
“See you tonight Axel! Come on Rox, let’s go get...20 logs of cream cheese? Why do you even need cream cheese let alone this much?!” Sora whisked Roxas away, dragging their cart full of lemons with them while Axel glanced down at the address written on a box.
“Roxas, huh?” Axel muttered as he touched the address before rolling his shoulders.
Axel remembered why he didn’t go to parties. Or any sort of social event. He hated the smell of piss beer, sweat, other bodily fluids, and the bitter taste that hung in the air. He hated the sights of young adults falling onto each other, drunk out of their minds from the non-existent self-control they thought they had. He hated the sounds of booming chatter trying to compete with each other, music drowning the screeched words out as the house’s very foundation seemed to shake from the music’s vibrations.
Yeah, Axel didn’t like to go to parties.
Axel spotted Demyx in the kitchen, leaning against the kitchen island while he brushed hair behind a shorter co-worker’s ear. That was Zexion, if Axel remembered correctly. Demyx and Axel made eye contact as Axel walked into the kitchen and Demyx sent Axel a wink and a half-smile. Axel nodded and slipped out the back, heading into the backyard.
“Axel! You came!” Axel turned, waving to Sora and Roxas, who were holding hands. Axel stared at their joint hands.
“Ah, sorry Rox. We’re out of the crowd so you can roam by yourself now,” Sora spoke, letting go of Roxas’s hand. Huh. So Lemon boy was prone to getting lost?
“Thanks mom ,” Roxas chirped and turned his attention to Axel. “Hey Axel.”
“Hi Blondie,” Axel greeted back, raising a hand. Roxas’s smile turned sour while Sora snickered.
“The name’s Roxas. Rox-as. Got it memorized?” Roxas spoke with a stern pout. Axel’s lazy wave was frozen in the air.
“Did you just...where the hell did you hear my catch-phrase?” Axel couldn’t wrap his head around what he had heard.
“Catch phrase?” The twins echoed.
“‘Got it memorized’ is my thing. That’s my thing. I say that. It’s my thing,” Axel spoke, puffing his chest out slightly.
“Oh my god, Riku wasn’t kidding,” Sora gasped out, followed by a belt of laughter. Roxas snickered behind his hand, trying to look more polite. Axel glared at them, confused.
“What about me?” Low and behold, there the pompous cashier was.
“What shit have you been saying about me, Riku?” Axel asked, stuffing his hands into his hoodie pocket. Riku wrapped his arms around Sora, pulling the shorter male’s back flush against Riku’s chest and propped his chin on his head.
“Which shit?” Riku asked with a smirk.
“He has a catch phrase,” Sora piped up with another chuckle.
“Oh yeah. I was telling them about the first time we met. ‘My name’s Axel, sharpie. Axel. Got it memorized?’” Riku had lowered his voice to match Axel’s pitch. Axel’s ears pinkened.
“We thought you were joking,” Sora whined as he tilted his head back to stare at Riku with a pout. “I’m sorry Axel. We thought Riku had been joking.” Axel shook his head, giving a one shoulder shrug as he dug into his pocket. He pulled out his e-cig, pulling it to his lips as Riku began tugging Sora back into the house. That left Roxas and Axel by themselves, along with the others mingling outside to get some fresh air.
“You smoke?” Roxas asked as he watched the adult inhale deeply. He let out a large cloud of smoke, staring up at it as it slowly drifted up into the air.
“Yeah. I like to think this is better for me then actual cigarettes,” Axel spoke. “So how did the cake go?”
Axel was startled when Roxas crouched down and covered his face with his hands, letting out a dying whale noise.
“It was one lemon! It was only one lemon!” Roxas cried out. Axel howled, hugging his stomach as Roxas continued to bemoan his disgusting creation. Other party goers looked over at them in irritation and began bustling in, trying to get away from the noise.
“Oh my god. How bad was it? On a scale from one to ten?” Axel cackled.
“It was over 9000!” Roxas yelled out and Axel howled even louder, tears falling down his tattooed cheeks.
“Oh my god, oh my god. Please stop. I can’t breathe,” Axel gasped. Roxas gasped as well, their heavy breathing slowly morphing into giggles as they gasped for air. “Try making a coffee cake next time. Those are, like, the best cakes ever.” Roxas perked up at this information, mouthing the words ‘coffee cake’ to himself.
“I got to go in at 4 tomorrow,” Axel spoke as he checked his phone. “I’ll, uh, see ya around?” Roxas reached out, grabbing Axel’s phone. He tapped at the screen, handing it back to show he was now in Axel’s contacts. Roxas smiled, the glow of the house illuminating his face.
“Text me when you get home so I know you got back safely,” Roxas spoke and Axel laughed, ruffling the shorter male’s hair without thought.
“Yeah mother, I will.” Axel waved goodbye and left, texting Roxas when he got home.
He stared at the contact, his hand ghosting over Roxas’s name as a smile tugged on his lips.
“Hey Axel, do you know if they have any coconut milk in the back?” Axel, who had been about to walk into the backroom, paused and turned. Roxas stared back at him.
“Are you trying another cake?” Axel asked, bemused. Roxas blushed and looked down at the paper in his hands. Axel casted a glance towards the dairy section, squinting as he tried to spot the cartons of milk. “Yeah, lemme go check in the back. Be right back.”
“Hey Axel, is there anymore hawaiian pink salt?”
“Hey Axel, do you know when they’ll have this again?”
“Hey Axel, why is this closing out?”
“Hey Axel”
“Hey Axel”
“Axel”
Axel huffed as he flopped down onto the hard plastic chair of the break room, checking his phone to see what time he’d have to go back to work.
Axel’s phone buzzed. It was from Roxas.
What a surprise.
Hey Axel, would you be willing to try this new cake I made? Everyone else is afraid of tasting it.
Axel stared at the attached picture, a smile stretching as he stared at the grey monstrosity that Roxas was trying to call a cake.
Oh baby, wouldn’t I. I’m always a slut for free food ;P
Work came and went and as Axel was talking towards his little red car, he stopped. Sitting on the curb by his car was Roxas, a cake tray settled on his lap.
“Hey Axel!” Roxas greeted, waving to Axel as Axel approached his car. Axel gave a wave of his own, staring down at the cake. Unlike the picture Roxas had attached, the cake in the tray was a perfect looking coffee cake.
“You said you like coffee cake,” Roxas stammered as Axel’s eyes stayed glued to the cake. “So, uh, here you go. Um.” Roxas stood up, holding the cake out for Axel. Axel slowly grasped the cake, gently pulling it to himself.
“I, uh, I hope you like it?” Roxas squeaked out.
“Date.” The word was all but vomited as Axel noticed Roxas was beginning to leave.
“Huh?” Roxas’s voice was a high-pitch crack.
“Let’s go on a date,” Axel spoke, his face matching his hair. “And-uh - share this cake?”
Roxas, whose own face was matching Axel’s care, nodded vigorously.
“Y-yeah,” Roxas stuttered, “that-that sounds good.”