Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Crawling on the ground this late at night, looking for an injured cat, was not on Andrea’s to-do list for the day; however, that was the situation he found himself in for the time being. He had just finished his nightly grocery run, as he had run out of instant noodles and energy drinks, and needed a quick pick-me-up, but as he was returning home, he witnessed a small, black cat get hit by a guy on a scooter. The cat, of course, ran to hide in the thickest bushes he had ever encountered in this city, which made it nearly impossible to access it. The guy on the scooter left the scene as quickly as he had appeared, leaving Andrea no other option than to put his grocery bag down on the ground and try to get the cat out himself. But the cat was scared, curled up by the fence separating the bushes from someone’s backyard, hissing at Andrea as he tried to inch closer to get it. 

“Come on…” However, his arms were too short. “Haaah…” he sighed, looking at the curled-up, injured cat. “You’re not making this easy…” He mumbled at it. 

“Need help?” A voice sounded behind him. He startled a little before he sat up, looking up at the man who had appeared. It was dark, but there was just enough light from one of the street lamps for him to recognise who was standing in front of him. His name was Axel. A grad student at the college Andrea attended. He was easily recognisable from his heavily tattooed skin and black, long-ish hair that draped over half his face. Additionally, he was pretty well-known for being popular among the girls due to being in a band.

“Ah,” Axel said. “You go to the same college I do, don’t you?” Seems like he recognised Andrea as well. Though that also wasn’t difficult. There weren’t that many feminine, blonde guys who had to redo a whole year because of attendance issues. Most people had also heard of him, and it wasn’t usually because of positive reasons. Andrea was quiet and introverted, so he didn’t make friends easily, and stuff like that doesn’t go unnoticed amongst a bunch of early 20-year-olds. 

“There’s a cat,” Andrea said, standing up and brushing off whatever dust had been left behind on his clothes from crawling around on the ground.

“A cat? Is it in the bushes?” Axel got down on his knees to take a look. Andrea was a bit surprised at his lack of hesitation.

“It’s injured. I need to take it to a vet.” Andrea said as he watched the man crawl on the ground. 

“Poor thing.” Axel reached for the cat. “It’s quite far back there.”

“My arms were too short to reach it,” Andrea said, crouching down next to Axel to get a closer look. “Are you able to?” 

“Yeah. Just- a little further- Got it!” He pulled the cat out, holding it by its scruff. “Sorry, little guy.” He put the cat in his arms after getting a proper grip on it, standing up.

Andrea stood up as well, petting the cat’s head. The poor thing was shaking. There was also blood dripping from its mouth. “Do you know where the closest vet is?” 

Axel held the curled-up cat close to his chest. “Yeah. It’s this way,” He said as he started walking down the street. Andrea picked up his grocery bag and followed him. Seems like Axel knew his way around this area. Did he live nearby? He probably did, considering he was out this late on a school night.

The streets were only lit up by some dim, blinking street lights the city hadn’t fixed yet. No one else was out either at this time, leaving only the sound of their footsteps echoing between the houses. They arrived at a building that had a sign reading “24-hour vet” on it. Andrea opened the door for Axel, and they both stepped inside. 

“Excuse me?” Axel walked up to the receptionist. “This cat is injured.”

“Oh dear.” The receptionist got up, reaching out to take the cat from his arms. “Thank you so much for bringing it here. What happened to it?”

“A scooter hit it,” Andrea said. 

“I see. I’ll take it to the back right away to examine.” She said before disappearing through a door. 

Andrea turned and sat down on one of the chairs in the waiting room, letting out a deep sigh. Axel looked at the blonde man for a moment before he also sat down next to him. 

“... It was bleeding from its mouth…” Andrea said softly. His hands had a tight grip around the handle of the grocery bag. 

“They’ll take good care of it. You brought it here really quickly,” Axel reassured him. 

“...” Andrea just gritted his teeth. His hands were trembling ever so slightly, and he was bouncing his leg anxiously. Axel noticed this and carefully reached out, putting his hand on top of Andrea’s, which made Andrea close his eyes and take a deep, somewhat shaky breath. 

-

The two of them sat in silence in the waiting room for the next hour. Andrea’s head kept dipping as he was struggling to stay awake. He hadn’t planned to stay up this late, but he also couldn’t just leave the poor cat there to fend for itself after being injured. 

“Hey,” Axel said. “How about you head home? I’ll stay here, and I’ll send you a text once there’s an update, okay?” Seems like he noticed how exhausted Andrea was. Andrea just lifted his head. His sleepy, brown, almost reddish eyes were looking at Axel’s sharper, blue ones. 

“Are you sure..?” He asked, not sounding convincing in the slightest.

“Yes. Give me your number,” Axel said as he reached into his pocket and got his phone out, holding it out for Andrea with the number pad open. 

Andrea took his phone and typed in his number before giving it back to Axel. “Thank you.” Andrea stood up. “I’ll go home, then.”

“Take care,” Axel said as he watched Andrea leave with his groceries through the entry door of the vet. As the door behind him closed, Axel brought his phone up to his face to look at it. Andrea had saved his name to his contacts with an orange cat emoji next to it. Andrea, huh. Pretty name.

Chapter Text

Andrea fell asleep as soon as he returned home to his small, quiet apartment. And the following morning, the first thing he did was check his phone for any possible updates about the cat. There was a text there from an unknown number. Attached was a photo of the little black cat, hooked up to various fluids and medications, eating something that looked like wet food.

+47 95xxx: He’s doing great. They’ve decided to keep him overnight, so I also returned home. No bones are broken. The blood was from a knocked-out tooth. They think he’ll make a full recovery.

Andrea sighed a sigh of relief, laying his head back down on his pillow. Thank God… The cat is okay. He clenched his hand around his phone before bringing it back up to his face. He decided to save his number in his contacts. Adding a fitting knife emoji at the end of Axel’s name, before he texted him back. 

Andrea🐈: I’m so relieved to hear that. Did you give the vet office your number for any additional updates?

He put his phone on his nightstand before he got out of his bed. He went to look through his closet for an outfit. Should he head to school today? He skipped the past couple of days, so he should make up for it by attending today. He had already taken a whole year off, so he had to redo a year. He can’t be slacking around like this in his mother’s home forever. He put on a quick outfit before heading out of his bedroom. He made his way through the small apartment and arrived in the kitchen. He opened the fridge before grabbing an energy drink. But he didn’t get to take more than a sip before he heard his phone vibrate in the room he had left it in, so he brought his energy drink along to check. 

Axel🔪: Yeah. I wasn’t sure if I should’ve given them your number, so I gave them mine. He did well tonight.  

He put his phone into his pocket after reading the message. Good. That means the cat will most likely be fine. 

-

Most people believed being an art student meant you’d get to laze around and doodle all day; however, the teacher had given the class a massive project for an art exhibit, and he hadn’t even started his piece. He didn’t know how or where to start, even. It all just felt too overwhelming. And sitting in front of the empty canvas didn’t help either. He let out a slightly too loud sigh, which alerted the girl next to him.

“Struggling?” She smiled at him. Her name was Maya. She had spoken to him now and then since the beginning of the school year. Being the only new student in an existing class with established friend groups was never easy, and Andrea wasn’t the most talkative or engaging person, which made it even harder to make friends. However, it’s not like he was particularly interested in making friends.

“Mhm…” He just mumbled back at her, crossing his legs. “I’ve got no inspiration.” He had been struggling a lot lately with a lack of inspiration. Picking up the paintbrush and starting the first line on the canvas felt so overwhelming that he had just been stuck, paralysed, unsure what to do.

"No pressure. You just gotta finish it in two weeks.” She chuckled.

“No pressure…” He repeated. 

Luckily, the lunch bell rang. He decided to go to his usual hiding-away-from-everyone-else spot and stay there until he had to return to the art room. His hiding-away-from-everyone-else spot was, however, just an empty, unused classroom. Most people didn’t even know it existed, so why was he hearing music coming from inside when he approached the door? He hesitated for a moment before carefully opening it and peeking inside. Oh, it was Axel. He was sitting there in the middle of the room, his black bangs clipped back, a pen in his mouth, paper scattered all around him, and an electric guitar in his arms. He wanted to back away to avoid socialising, but Axel spotted him before he could.

“Andrea!” He called out, the pen dropping from his mouth. Ah, damn it. He had no choice but to enter the room now. 

“Hi.” He said quietly as he approached, closing the door behind himself.

“You gonna eat lunch in here?” He picked the pen back up. 

“No. I just came here to relax.” He sat down next to Axel, who shifted to give him a bit more space. 

“You’ve already eaten?” He asked, looking at Andrea, who just looked away. It was clear he hadn’t. “Aah! You gotta eat.” Axel said strictly before taking a sandwich out of his bag. “I bought this. You can have half.” He held it out, insisting that Andrea take it.

“...” This guy was way too nice for his own good… No wonder he was so popular. Andrea took the sandwich and split it in half, giving Axel back the bigger half before biting into his half. 

“Is it okay for you that I keep playing? It can get a bit noisy.” Axel asked.

“What are you working on?” Andrea asked. 

“A new piece. I haven’t felt too inspired lately, though, but the deadline is coming up, so.” 

"Aah…” Andrea munched on the sandwich. “Same here.”

“You play music?” Axel looked at him. 

“Paint. There’s an art exhibit. The deadline is in two weeks, but I’m hiding here instead of working on it.” 

Axel let out a small chuckle. Andrea was a bit taken aback by this. He looked kind of cute with his blue eyes squinting like that. “Sounds like something I’d do. Hang in there, though. You can make it exist first, then make it better later.” 

“Hm.” He said between bites. “Is that what you’re doing?” 

“Pretty much.” 

“Is it working?”

“Kinda. At least I’ve got something.”

“Hang in there,” Andrea repeated. 

Axel bit into the half of the sandwich that Andrea had handed to him earlier. The room fell silent again. However, neither of them felt uncomfortable with the silence. It was nice having someone to be comfortably quiet with.

“Oh yeah,” Axel said as he swallowed the last bite of his sandwich and grabbed his phone, holding it out in front of Andrea. On the screen was a picture of the cat from last night. It wasn’t hooked up to any IV fluids or meds anymore. “He’s not chipped. And they can’t seem to locate any owners. Would you like to adopt him?”

“My mom’s allergic.” 

“Aah bummer…” Axel looked at his phone. “It would be a shame if they had to put him down when he’s come so far.” Andrea couldn’t help but feel a bit bad. The cat's picture was reflected so beautifully in his soft, blue eyes. Andrea leaned a little closer to him.

“Why don’t you adopt him?” He asked a little carefully.

“I’ve never had a pet before. I wouldn’t know how to care for one.” Axel looked at him. Oh- Their faces were close. It made him shift slightly backward and away from Andrea. 

“It’s a cat. Can’t be that hard.” Andrea sat back. 

“... I’ll think on it.” He put his phone away. 

“Do they allow pets where you live?”

“Yeah, though I’d have to ask my brother first, since I live with him. And he’s not a fan of pets.” 

“I see. Please, tell me when you’ve decided.”

“Yeah,” Axel said, picking up his guitar again. “I’ll text you once I know.” 

“Can I hear what you’ve been working on?” Andrea asked.

“Aah- Yeah, sure. It’s not much, though. And it’s not finished yet, so don’t judge it too hard.” Axel said before he started strumming. His fingers ever so carefully gracing over the guitar strings as he opened his mouth, taking a small breath before he started singing a quiet melody. Andrea was a bit awestruck. The way Axel moved. And the sound of his soft, gentle voice. It was all so…

“Pretty…” Andrea muttered, which made Axel stop in his tracks. 

“A-aah-” Axel’s cheeks were slightly red. “I’m glad you think so.”

“...” The corners of Andrea’s mouth gently lifted into a soft smile. “Your voice… I like it. I want to hear more.” 

Oh. That made Axel’s heart skip a beat. What… was that? Why did it skip like that when this guy in front of him complimented him like that? He swallowed and cleared his throat. 

"I’ve got some more songs.” He said before he started playing them. 

The two of them sat there together, drowning in these beautiful melodies until the bell rang again, and they had to return to their respective classes. As Andrea entered the classroom, he walked over to his station, sat down in front of the canvas, picked up his paintbrush, and made a single stroke.

“Ooh!” The girl from earlier said. “He paints! Did you finally figure out what you wanted to do?”

“A friend inspired me…” He said softly, looking at the canvas in front of him. Yeah. He could envision how it would look now.

Chapter Text

After the last class of the day, Axel was released from school, and he made his way to a busy district where his band’s studio was located. It took him about half an hour to get there via the metro as he had to switch trains mid-way. It wasn’t his favourite part of the day, but the studio was nearly too good to be true, with cheap rent and a stupidly good location, so he really couldn’t complain. He reached out and opened the door, stepping in through the main door and making his way down the corridor before entering the studio.

“There you are.” His brother Chase was sitting by the drums, eating a mozzarella stick, when Axel entered. 

“The others not here yet?” He asked, setting his bag down and taking his guitar out of its case. 

“They’re on their way.” He grabbed another mozzarella stick, peeling it before eating that one too. 

“I played the demo for someone at my college today.” He said as he tuned his guitar. “He said it was pretty.” 

“Someone at your college? A friend?”

“Kinda. I just met him.” 

“Aah. So you’ll go for that version, then?”

“I think so.” He finished up the tuning, then gently strummed. He paused for a short moment before looking up at his brother. “Say, Chase. Would you be opposed to me getting a cat?”

“A cat?” Chase looked at him, stopping mid-mozzarella stick consumption. 

“A little black one. It got hit by a scooter yesterday. The guy from my college and I brought it to the vet, and it’s fine, but it doesn’t have an owner.” 

“Hm… Just make sure to clean the litterbox so it won’t smell.” 

Axel looked at him, a bit surprised. He honestly expected Chase to put up more of a fight than that.

“You mean it?”

“Hm?”

“I can have the cat?”

“Yeah. I don’t see why not. It’s not like you go out a lot anyway. Might be good for you.” 

“I’ll call them immediately, then.” He put his guitar down, got his phone out, and left the room, passing by his other two band members, Moshe and Evan, on the way out. 

“Why was he in such a hurry?” Evan, the bassist, asked.

“He’s calling someone about adopting a cat,” Chase said, finishing up his last mozzarella stick.

“A cat? I thought you didn’t like animals,” Moshe said, sitting down at his electric keyboard.

“Eh. I’m indifferent to them. Besides, a cat might help him. Y’know how he’s been struggling lately.” Chase sat up, grabbing his drumsticks. 

“That’s true,” Moshe said. 

“I’ve got a son.” Axel entered the room again.

“Congratulations,” Evan said. 

“What’re you gonna name him?” Moshe asked. 

“..." He thought for a moment, "No idea," He just said, turning his attention to Chase. "Chase, could I borrow your car later to go buy the essentials for him?” He asked, picking up his guitar.

“Sure. Just be back by 10. I need it to drive some friends to a party.” 

“Okaaay.” Axel actually felt quite excited. A cat owner. Him of all people. He never thought he’d end up with a pet. But he couldn’t wait to go pick it up.

-

Essentials secured and loaded into the car. He spent the longest time ever finding everything he needed from the pet shop. He wanted it to be perfect, so he conducted extensive research before coming here on which litter boxes were suitable and which food to feed his new cat. Who knew cats were so high-maintenance?
He got into the car and drove off to the vet clinic to pick up the cat. He strapped the carrier into the front passenger seat, then took a picture to send to Andrea. 

Axel🔪: Son secured.

He put his phone away before he drove off. As he parked at home, he checked his messages. Ah. Andrea had responded. 

Andrea🐈: Ohmygosh

Andrea🐈: I need to see him someday.

He smiled a little at his phone before typing out a message. 

Axel🔪: He’s been screaming the entire way home.

Andrea🐈: I would be too if someone put me in a cage and took me into a loud metal box.

Axel🔪: Real

Axel got out of the car, brought everything inside, and opened the carrier for the cat. It seems like he didn’t want to come out. It might take some time for him to be comfortable, so for now, he decided to sit down at his computer and leave the cat be. 
In the evenings, when he wasn’t drowning in homework, assignments, band practice, or song making, he liked to unwind with some games with his online friends. And of course, he had to tell them about his new cat. He put his headphones on and joined the voice chat. 

“Hey! You’re late today!” His friend Noah said. Noah was a friend he had made through a Fortnite game a couple of years ago, and they’d play together almost every evening. Even though their time zones were wildly different, they usually found a way! Neither of them slept much anyway.

“Band practice went well today?” April asked. April actually lived in the same city as he did, and they attended elementary school together. However, they had never actually spoken to each other before she moved away to the other end of town. And one day, she happened to join a game he was playing at the time. They hit it off immediately, and now sometimes meet up for coffee, the mall, drinks - you name it.

“Check the pets channel.” He said, loading up the game they would play together. On the agenda today? More Fortnite.

“Give me a moment,” April said. Axel could hear her mouse clicking as she checked the image Axel had sent to the channel dedicated to sending pet pictures. “Whoa- No way! A cat? Is it yours?”

“Mhm. I met a guy from my college yesterday who saw it get hit by a scooter. We brought it to the vet, and I decided to adopt him when they couldn’t find an owner.” 

“He’s so cute!” Noah said. 

“What are you naming it?” April asked. 

"No idea yet. I’m thinking of consulting the guy I met. We had lunch together today.” 

“Damn. Only took you four years to make an actual friend at college.” April poked at him. 

“He’s a bit strange. I’ve heard he’s redoing a year. Though nobody knows why, he mostly keeps to himself. I don’t think he’s got any friends either.”

“Invite him to hang out with us someday!” April said. 

“Should I? I might be coming on too strong.” 

“I’d take the chance. The worst thing he can say is no.” Noah said. 

“Hm. True. I’ll think on it,” Axel said. “Anyways, let’s play.” 

“Yes, please. We’ve been on a losing streak for the past two hours. Save us.” Noah said in a dramatic tone. 

“Worry not. I’m here to save you.” Axel said back in a joking manner. 

The trio spent the rest of the evening gaming before Axel decided at around 2 am that it was probably a good idea to head to bed. He said goodnight to his friends, turned off his PC, and changed into his t-shirt that he slept in almost every night. He laid down, checking his phone. Evan had sent him a text, reminding him of the upcoming deadline and the need for an album cover soon. Right. Album cover. He sighed and plugged the charger into his phone before lying his head down on his pillow. He hadn’t found an artist he liked yet. Something that captured their music perfectly. He should probably get on with that soon.

Chapter Text

Axel groaned a little. The sun was shining way too brightly through the smallest slit in his curtains and straight onto his face. But also… his chest felt oddly heavy? He opened his eyes and was met with a cat’s face, really close to his own. Turns out, at some point throughout the night, the cat had come out of its carrier and jumped onto his chest to sleep, and somehow, Axel hadn’t noticed in the slightest.

“Hey buddy…” He said sleepily, reaching out to stroke the cat. The cat purred softly, closing his eyes. “You’re less shy than I thought.” He smiled a little before reaching out to grab his phone. He took a picture of himself with the cat on his chest and sent it to Andrea. 

Axel🔪: We’ve become besties, apparently.

He put his phone back on the nightstand and sat up, careful not to disturb the cat too much. “I gotta get ready for school.” He scratched the cat under his chin. “So you gotta get off me.” However, the cat didn’t move. Axel had to pick it up and move it, which felt illegal. 

After getting dressed, he went to the kitchen, briefly said hi to Chase before Chase left for work, had a quick breakfast, and then left for his morning class. It was chilly out today. Autumn had arrived, so all the leaves had browned and were falling off the trees, piling up on the sides of the road. And stupidly, he didn’t bring anything but his leather jacket, which did a lousy job at keeping him warm. Luckily, it was Friday, so the weekend would start once he finished his classes. 

-

Andrea didn’t respond to his text by the time Axel finished school. It also seemed that he didn’t show up to school today, so Axel spent his lunchtime alone. Despite being quite popular among the students, he preferred to be alone most of the time, as socializing was exhausting and often required him to put on a mask. However, he didn’t feel that way yesterday after spending lunchtime with Andrea. Andrea gave him a sense of comfort. Like he could be his quiet self around him, but also like he was allowed to open up. He thought they were maybe quite similar in a way, too. Though when Andrea never responded, he couldn’t help but think he had done something wrong.

“Hello?” April, who was sitting across from him at the café they had met up at, waved her hands in front of him. 

“Huh-?” He snapped back to reality. “Sorry-” 

“You were completely gone! I was talking, yknow.” She said, sipping on her iced coffee. “Where’d you go?”

“Aah… I was just thinking of that guy from my college, I guess,” He said,  sighing softly. “I sent him a text this morning, but he hasn’t responded. Or seen it. I keep thinking I’ve done something wrong.” 

“Maybe he’s sick? Or just a bad texter? Or both.” She said, stealing a sip of his coffee too. He yanked it back, giving her a slight glare before sipping on it himself. 

“Maybe. He didn’t show up to school today either. I hope he’s okay.” 

“You got his address?” 

“No.”

“Bummer.” 

“It would be weird if I showed up unannounced anyway. We’ve only met each other like twice. Both by chance.”

“Ahah, you’re probably right.” She put her coffee down. “I’d definitely be freaked out.” 

“Me too. So idunno.” He leaned his head in his hand, looking at his drink. “I’ll just wait and see if he responds eventually.” 

“Keep me updated, okay?” She smiled.

“Yeah.”

“And make sure to invite him out someday.”

“Mmh. We’ll see,” He said, sitting up again. “Can we stop by the music store? I need a new-”

“Spare me the musical details. We can go. Knock yourself out~” April said. 

Axel just chuckled. “Thanks.” 

-

Exhausted, he laid down in his bed as soon as he got home. He should start preparing dinner. His brother had sent him a text a bit earlier to tell him he wouldn’t be coming home before tomorrow, so he’d be alone tonight. And cooking dinner for one didn’t sound too tempting. However… he wondered… He turned to his side and grabbed his phone, bringing up Andrea’s chat window.

Axel🔪: Might be weird to ask this, but would you like to come over for dinner? I’ll be alone at home, and I always end up making too much food.

He stared at the message for a moment before hitting send. Hopefully, Andrea would see it. He had been worried about Andrea all day. Andrea had taken over his mind, for some reason. He couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t respond, why he didn’t show up to school, why he had to redo a year. And who this mysterious, blonde, pretty guy was behind the wall he had built so high. His phone then vibrated. It was Andrea. 

Andrea🐈: What are you making? 

Oh! He gripped his phone with both hands, looking at the message on his screen. What should he make? What did he even have at home? He quickly got up and went to look through the fridge and freezer. He had all the ingredients for Japanese curry.

Axel🔪: You like curry? 

Andrea🐈: Yeah. What’s your address?

Aaah- It was almost as if he was inviting a girl over. Though he’s never invited a girl over or shown any interest in it. So why on earth did he feel so nervous?! He quickly got up to tidy up a little and start cooking after sending Andrea his address. And in no time, the doorbell rang. He went to open it. Andrea was standing there, hands behind his back, holding a grocery bag. 

“Hi,” Andrea just said. 

“Hi. Come in,” Axel said as he stepped back, letting Andrea inside. 

“I brought beer, if you’d like to drink some.” Andrea passed by Axel to take off his shoes. 

“Oh, what kind?” Axel asked, following him inside. 

“Hm.” He took the beer out of the bag. “This kind. It had the prettiest design.” He handed one to him.

“Oh yeah! This one’s good,” Axel said as he stepped into the living room to find a bottle opener. He opened the bottles for the two of them and gave him the one. “The curry is cooking. You arrived so quickly, I didn’t have the time to actually get fully started.” 

“I didn’t expect us to live so close.” Andrea sat down on the couch, sipping on the beer. 

“Where do you live?” Axel asked, sitting next to him. 

“Just across the street. In the small apartment complex.” 

“Ah- The tall brown one?”

“The one that looks like it’s kinda falling apart, yeah.”

Axel chuckled, his eyes squinting again in that cute way that Andrea couldn’t help but take note of the other day. 

“How convenient.” He said. “Now I know where to go if I’ve got leftover food from when my brother decides to abandon me for the night.” 

“You’ll be alone all night?” Andrea looked at him with his soft, brown eyes, tilting his head in a way that Axel found way too endearing. Axel was a bit caught off guard by his gaze. 

“Yeah- Yeah. My brother, uh- He’s probably at a party. Or sleeping around. As usual.” He stumbled over his words a little. Why did he suddenly feel so hot? 

“I see,” Andrea said. “I guess that’s what most people do on a Friday evening.” 

“I’ll go check on the curry.” Axel stood up and swiftly left for the kitchen. 

Andrea just leaned back on the couch, watching Axel leave the room. He sipped on his beer before looking around a little. The apartment was surprisingly well put together for two brothers living together. He wanted to nose around a little, so he got up and took a look. There were pictures of the two of them on the walls and in frames on the furniture. Seems like his brother wasn’t too much older than him, though he did tower over him when Axel looked about ten. He picked up one of the frames. Year 20XX. He was probably around 10 to 12 here. The two of them were posing together in a music studio. Axel was sitting at some drums with his brother standing behind him. They both had big smiles on their faces. 

“Meow?”

A little voice sounded at the bottom of his feet. He looked down. “Ah.” He smiled, crouching down after putting the picture back. “Hey there~” He said, petting the cat that had appeared. “You’re quite friendly now, aren’t you? Humans not so scary anymore?” 

“I still haven’t come up with a name for him,” Axel said, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. 

“How about something to do with his colour? His fur looks like the night.” Andrea sat down on the ground with the cat. The cat was purring, making little cute marching biscuits on the spot. 

“Haven’t made up my mind if I want a serious name or not.” Axel crouched down with the two of them, petting the cat as well. 

“Hm. I knew someone with a cat named Beetle once.”

“Beetle.” He chuckled. “I like that. Maybe something along the lines of that.” 

“Give it some thought. He’ll have to live with it for the rest of his life, after all.” Andrea said, standing up. “It smells good here.”

“Yeah, it should be done in about 15 minutes.” Axel got up as well. “Would you like to watch a movie or something while we eat?”

“Sure,” Andrea said, walking back over to the couch, grabbing another beer. “I’m not picky about movies, so you can be the one choosing.” 

“Hm,” Axel grabbed the remote and clicked through until he found a movie on Netflix he liked, then went back to the kitchen to serve the two of them some curry as it finished cooking. He came back, sat on the couch, and handed Andrea his food.

“Thanks,” Andrea had found himself a comfortable blanket to curl up under while he held the curry close to him. “It smells really comforting…” he said softly. The cat jumped up as well to lie next to the two of them. Andrea gave him a little pet, smiling. “I like your apartment.”

“Aah, thanks. It belongs to my brother. I’m just a freeloader.” Axel blew on the food that he had picked up with a spoon, careful not to burn himself, before taking a bite. 

“Me too. At my mom’s place.”

“Is it just you and your mom?”

“Yeah.” 

“I see. It’s just me and my brother here, though my parents don't live too far away.” 

“Do they visit a lot?”

“No. And thank god for that. We don’t really get along with them.”

“Aah. Must be nice to have a sibling you get along with in a situation like that, then.” Andrea tasted his food. 

“Yeah.” Axel smiled a little. “It’s nice. How about you? Any siblings?”

“An older sister from my sperm donor’s earlier marriage. But she’s like 35. I don’t meet up with her or anything.” 

“Sperm donor.” Axel chuckled. Andrea responded with a slight chuckle, too. 

“I don’t see him as my dad, so that’s his official name, I’ve decided.” 

“I see~ I might steal that some day.”

“Feel free,” He said, eating. “This is really good, by the way.” 

“Is it? I was worried it was too salty.”

“No, it’s perfect,” He said softly. 

Axel smiled at him. “Good.”

The two of them mainly sat in silence, eating and watching the movie until they got to around the halfway point, before Axel felt Andrea leaning against his shoulder. He tensed up a little, holding his breath before he slowly looked down at him. It looked like Andrea had fallen asleep. When he arrived here, he seemed tired, like he had been staying awake for longer than he should have. He couldn’t help but admire his profile. His blonde hair gently touched his long eyelashes. His nose gently sloped into the cutest tip. And his... pink... soft-looking lips. He felt his face heat up and his heart nearly skip out of his chest. He just looked away, gazing at the TV screen, which continued to play the movie he had picked out earlier. But having someone sleeping on him made his eyes feel heavy as well. And his head kept dipping until he eventually gave in, leaned his head on top of Andrea’s, and fell asleep.