By whatever god(s) that may or may not have existed, the awkwardness that stood between them seemed to have dissipated since their date a couple weeks before. Just over three weeks since coming clean about their feelings and deciding to give it a ago (because yes, Axel actually remembered what day that was) and things were starting to normalize, but at the same time, it was still exciting. Was Axel bored of Ashleigh? Not even close. He couldn't even say it was the physical aspect keeping it interesting, because they hadn't actually been that physical. They kissed and he held her hand and, yes, he liked touching her, but they hadn't done much of anything that required the removal of clothing, and while on some level it was driving him nuts, he was also thankful for it. The last thing Axel wanted was for this to be about sex. Ever. In this one respect, he was going to have all the patience in the world, for as long as it took to get to really know her, and for both of them to be completely comfortable with the next step.
Baby steps. They were taking things pretty slow, especially for someone like Axel, but he was still greatly enjoying spending time with her with the change in their relationship. Since relaxing some, he was able to go back to bugging her lightly, and being just annoying enough so that she couldn't forget him. That was what they both liked in their friendship, wasn't it? It wouldn't do to just be lovey-dovey all of a sudden all the time. That would get boring fast.
When the owl came, of course Axel didn't notice the time. He didn't even know exactly when she left work normally, just that she was generally unavailable before the evening. And of course, he was almost never too busy for her. He'd just been messing around with a recording anyway, nothing for the band or his brother specifically. Just a new sound that might be interesting to try at some point. So, since she said any time (and if she was writing him, she must be available herself, right?), he hopped in the shower himself, threw on something that smelled clean, and Apparated over.
"Hey," he greeted her, grinning as he usually did at the sight of her; she could have been wearing a burlap sack for all he cared (though it would probably get itchy real quick), though when he could see that she'd made any effort at all, he did like to mention it. You know, because he appreciated her efforts, however small.
Giving her a kiss on her cheek, he replied, "Even if I was, I'd still drop it to come see you." Because now he was allowed to say things like that. So he did, because they were true. He'd been feeling for a while that Ashleigh time was his favorite time, partly because she didn't take any shit from him, and Axel was the type of person who liked being able to appreciate, aloud, the things he liked. And against all odds, he liked Ashleigh.
"How was your day?" Which was better than asking how her work was going. At the very least, what kind of day she'd had, and how she was feeling, was something he was genuinely interested in, even if he couldn't muster the energy to even try to be interested in her job.