Chapter Text
Last night had felt like a fever dream- it didn’t feel real. Not in the slightest. Venti had only been out of jail for around 2 months by now, and he hadn’t expected that he’d meet Xiao again so soon. Afterall, the city was big- and it wouldn’t have surprised him if Xiao had decided to move away anyway, he didn’t exactly like being around huge crowds of people.
What was even weirder than meeting Xiao again so soon was the location they had met in- the local club was the last place he’d expect to find Xiao, and when he thought about it all, he supposed it made sense how out of it he seemed the whole night.
“Venti? There’s a customer waiting!” he heard a coworker call, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“Right! Sorry-” he replied, finishing cleaning the side he had been staring at for a good seven minutes, and making his way over to the register. “Sorry about the wait- what can I get you?”
The customer he was serving was a tall man, muscly and with a large presence. He had somewhat long white hair, and was covered in tattoos and piercings- similar to how Xiao was now, but maybe Xiao’s were a little more toned down than this guy.
“Hey! Can I get uhhh two large iced lattes, one medium iced coffee, one medium flat white and one medium black coffee- wait no, change that black coffee to a chocolate frappuccino if you do those." His voice was also loud- obnoxiously loud.
“Sure- that’ll be..” Venti started, typing up the prices into the cash register. A beeping noise sounded once they were all entered and totaled up. “Sixteen dollars, and 78 cents- please.”
The man tapped his card onto the reader, and made his way down to the end of the desk, where you usually receive your items. Meanwhile, Venti got to work on the drinks- the coffees were simple enough, but the chocolate frappe was possibly going to be a little awkward. They were annoying to make- and time consuming, too. And you had to wash out all of the jugs and machines you used to make them. So, overall, Venti generally didn’t enjoy making them.
In fact, the only time when it didn’t bother him to make one of them was about 5 years ago- when Xiao had visited the cafe he used to work in alongside his friend. That was a pretty awkward encounter though, so he wasn’t too sure whether to look at that positively or not.
But regardless, Venti finished up the order and handed it over to the tall man, who seemed to struggle to carry all of the drinks he had ordered. But he managed, slowly walking out of the shop with a tray of five drinks in hand.
For the rest of the day, work was somewhat boring for Venti. He went from serving customers, to serving customers, with only a fifteen minute lunch break in the middle of the day- which felt like the quickest fifteen minutes of his life, with that.
But regardless, the day came to an end and he could finally walk himself home. The walk home was usually about twenty minutes long, and was often extended to be longer than that. The streets in this city were filled with stray cats for some reason- and Venti was very allergic to them. So, usually, he’d have to make a detour and find his way around them all.
Today seemed to be one of those days. One of the days where all of the stray cats on the streets seemed to be out to get him. There was this one specific alleyway that he’d always have to walk through, and today, they were all gathered there- like they were waiting for something. Most of the time, there was a way around them, but there was no way home other than through this alley. Which meant he’d have to sit and wait there until they were all gone. Which could take hours.
The alleyway was connected to a few different shops nearby- Venti hadn’t taken enough notice to know which shops they were, but there were some backdoors which led straight out to where they all were. And, while Venti was waiting, he heard one open. Swivelling his head to take a peak, he noticed a familiar head of black hair, belonging to none other than Xiao, walking out of the back door, bowls of what looked like cat food in his hands. He didn’t do much except stare, not being able to go any closer while also being too far to call out to him without having to shout.
Despite Venti’s hatred for these stupid cats, he felt his heart warm slightly. He knew Xiao was kind, but he didn’t expect him to be the type of person who fed stray cats each evening- especially not when he had just finished work, and hadn’t even been able to change out of his work apron, which was still wrapped tightly around his waist. He leant down to them, putting himself down to their level and petting their heads, giving them all of the affection that they’d missed out on throughout the day.
And, if Venti wasn’t mistaken, then he thought he could catch the glimpse of a smile on Xiao’s cheeks as he combed through the fur of the cats, pouring out more food into the bowls if it was needed. And, if Venti caught himself smiling at the scene, too, then he didn’t make much notice of it.
Eventually, the cats had finished their meal, and had all scattered away in their separate ways. Xiao got up from the floor, picking up his bowls and turning around to return straight back through the door he came through. Luckily, Venti had gone unnoticed- it would have been slightly embarrassing if Xiao had caught him staring so intently.
So now, Venti could make his way straight home, his heart warm, and his brain not having to worry about being attacked by a swarm of cats any longer.