Chapter Text
Atsushi rests his elbows against the countertop and rubs his hands over his eyes. Soon, colourful patterns print over darkened vision. As much as he was fond of his job, it was becoming mundane quickly — he knew he was going to get tired of taking orders, making drinks, and cleaning tables pretty soon. He allows himself to linger in that position until he feels someone tap on his shoulder rather forcefully. The boy unenthusiastically opens his eyes and turns to whomever it was. Not to his surprise, Dazai was by his side with a playful smirk on his face. Atsushi was well aware that this probably meant trouble, so he was quite worried for what was to come. And he was right; Dazai excitedly pointed towards the pavement by the outside of the shop. “Look, Atsushi, its that customer you gawked at so much yesterday!” He taunted joyfully.
Confused, Atsushi’s eyes followed the direction of Dazai’s finger until he noticed black platform boots on grey pavement. He trailed his eyes up until they met jet black hair fading into subdued white ends. Familiar, but he couldn’t put a name tk them. Eventually, his eyes focused on downturned lips, and from that resting bitch face Atsushi instantly knew who it was — Akutagawa. The customer who ordered stupidly bitter coffee and ignored him when he questioned it. Although he was somewhat proud of himself for remembering the name, he couldn’t get Dazai’s words out of his head. Had he really looked at him for that long – to the point where it was so noticeable? He really hoped that wasn’t the case, and Dazai was just observant. Either way, the thought made his cheeks flush slightly. It was embarrassing.
“Oh!” it sounded as if Dazai could barely hold back laughter. “I think Atsushi has a crush~”
Atsushi couldn’t tell if Dazai was teasing him or if he was serious and it stressed him out. The light haired male frantically waved his arms in front of him, the redness on his cheeks growing stronger by the second. “That’s not the case! I don’t! I just found him really strange so I – and he ordered a really weird drink... it confused me – I think you’re mistak-“
He was just digging himself into a deeper hole, wasn’t he? Atsushi knew that there was no way what Dazai said was accurate, but the very idea of it flustered him so his desperate explanations only made everything worse. In response, Dazai could no longer contain his laughter, throwing his head back and cackling.
Of course he wasn’t going to stop teasing Atsushi. “Oh dear! I didn’t know you were into people who don’t have eyebrows, Atsushi,” Dazai teased in-between chuckles.
For how much Atsushi had looked at Akutagawa, that was definitely the last thing he noticed. He was glad that Dazai was currently taking his order, because he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from asking about his nonexistent eyebrows. Unfortunately, his customer service confidence probably would never recover from having his question ignored a second time.
—
After handing off an order to a customer, Atsushi couldn’t help but notice an abandoned cup of coffee left on the countertop. Taking it into his hands, he scanned his eyes over the front of it to read ‘Akutagawa’ scribbled in swirly handwriting. Had Dazai seriously left his order here? He hoped that it wasn’t on purpose, and he had at least called out his name before leaving it there so carelessly. Hesitantly, the male looks over the tables to find Akutagawa sat in a corner, hunched over his laptop. The dark haired boy seemed absorbed with whatever was on his screen, blue light reflecting onto his features, furiously typing away at his keyboard. Atsushi figured he was probably too focused to hear Dazai call for his coffee and he decided that it was better off that he handed him the drink before it got too cold. With a small sigh, he takes the cup and walks past the counters to return it to it’s rightful owner.
Standing in front of the other, Atsushi loudly clears his throat. He leans down to Akutagawa’s level. “Sir, I’m not sure how long its been since you’ve ordered this, and I don’t know if you heard when we finished the drink, but here is your or–“
In that moment, Akutagawa looks up from his screen and for a second his expression softens – maybe out of surprise – before returning back to his usual scowl. His fingers brush over Atsushi’s briefly before he attempts to take the drink – and Atsushi is no longer able to speak. He can feel the thump of his heart in his chest quicken rapidly. Before he knows it, his hand feels much emptier than before.
He’s quickly knocked out of whatever the fuck just happened to him when he breaks eye contact and realises that he dropped the hot liquid. Shakily, he looks down to see brown staining the crisp white of Akutagawa’s shirt, soaked into his jeans, and spilled across the floor. The beating of his heart shifts into one of pure panic.
His breathing quickens, but he still attempts to form an apology. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to– Are you okay? I’ll clean this up!” Atsushi’s voice cracks in the middle of his sentence which seriously isn’t helping him right now.
When he brings his eyes up to meet Akutagawa’s again, he sees pure unconfined rage. Now he’s stood up, his hands balled into fists at his sides. Atsushi prepares himself for the end and squeezes his eyes shut.
“Do I look like I’m okay!? Are you fucking stupid?” Akutagawa practically screams, alerting every single person within distance. “This shirt is brand new! How incompetent can you be?”
Loud, raspy, and absolutely livid. At that point, Atsushi tunes out, deciding to spare himself from another blow to his already cripplingly low self esteem. Akutagawa continues to shout profanities which fall on deaf ears. It stops when he hears footsteps growing increasingly louder and opens his eyes to see his manager.
“Excuse me, what is going on here?” Kunikida asks clearly, with concern laced in his voice.
Atsushi opens his mouth to answer, but before he can speak, Akutagawa takes the cup and throws the remainder of the drink onto Atsushi’s face, shoves his laptop into his bag, and storms off.
—
Explaining that fiasco to Kunikida was incredibly difficult, but it was even harder sitting through his hour long lecture about being alert and careful on the job. Atsushi stopped listening about 25 minutes in and resorted to alternate between nodding and saying ‘I understand’.
But his shift was over now, he was outside his apartment, and he had a box of leftover baked good Ranpo gave him in his bag. He could relax now! Right?
At least, that was what he hoped. Sluggishly, he steps into his bathroom to wash his face again. The smell of dark coffee was everywhere – on his hands, on his clothes, throughout his apartment. It tormented him. And when he closed his eyes, so did the image of Akutagawa’s soft, surprised expression.
He distracts himself by violently splashing his face with ice cold water until it shakes him out of his thoughts.
—
Curled into a ball on his sofa with a thick blanket draped over his frame, Atsushi snoozes peacefully. This was the first and last moment of tranquility he was going to get all day, so he savoured it. Purple afternoon light peaks through blinds, highlighting a half eaten box of cookies left on the glass table nearby.
He was fast asleep, and probably wasn’t going to awaken for the next 3-7 business days.