Work Text:
Ranmaru spots the sign on his way into work one morning. The shop next to his—a generic gift store—is finally shutting down. He feels a bit of pity for the owners as he looks inside, at the deep discounts plastered over just about everything in the shop, but in the back of his head, a plan is forming.
He unlocks the tattoo parlor, and while he sets up shop for the day the plan grows.
Since Ren wormed his way into the shop things have been cramped and uncomfortable, and he’s been itching to spread his wings a bit—not have to schedule his sessions around Ren, not have to talk design with potential customers with Ren’s insanely loud tattoo gun working just a few feet away.
He doesn’t hate Ren (probably. Though he’d never admit it to Ren’s face). He just hates how close they have to work together.
So he makes a mental note, as Ren walks into the shop in his ridiculously expensive, ink-stain prone clothes, to keep an eye on the sale of the building.
A few months later, he stews quietly in his apartment.
He had talked with the owner, found the realtor, made a bid on the property. Everything was going well, and he had begun to let himself fantasize about the new layout.
Of course, with the way his life went, he should have expected to have that pulled out from under him.
He had called in on the owner, even brought some snacks to win them over (they were, after all, in a big transition in life). The owner seemed busy and apologetic, and informed him, not unkindly, that he was a lovely person really, but someone had come in at the last minute with a wonderful offer, and she dearly needed the money, so she went with them.
Ranmaru was, well...he was angry. He hid it well enough around the woman, and he wasn’t going to chew her out for her decision—he knew well enough having to make difficult decisions to survive better—but he was still angry. Without that extra space, he would have to continue in the uncomfortable in-between he had for the foreseeable future.
He bears it as well as he can while the old store is closed down completely, renovations are made, signs are put up.
He scowls when he notices the sign that says Cold-Brewed Mood, realizes what sort of shop is being put in next to his, and snaps at Ren when he mentions it. (Ren is completely aware of the situation but he can’t help himself teasing Ranmaru—and Ranmaru hates it.)
At least, he thinks that night, kicking another shit-faced customer out so he doesn’t have an angry, regretful one in his face the next morning, the possibility of coffee next door might sober people up before they walk in here. It’s a vain hope.
***
Ren breezes through the door one day, coffee cup in hand, while Ranmaru is idly sketching designs between appointments, and he’s involved enough in his work that he misses the beginning of what Ren says.
“...It’s amazing Ran-chan, they’ve got beans from all over the world, and they mixed my order exactly how I asked, plus their pastries are to die for!”
Ranmaru grunts. “I thought you didn’t like sweets.”
“Chocolate, not sweets, and not all pastries are sweets.” Ren artfully arranges himself in a chair next to Ranmaru. “But that’s not the point, even you’d like what they have there.”
Ranmaru scoffs. “I doubt it.”
“Come on, Ran-chan,” Ren says, “you have to try it, get some excitement in your life! I won’t say anything if you do go!”
Ranmaru glares at Ren. “No, you’ll just gloat silently in the corner when I come back, act disappointed and pouty if I don’t like it, which I won’t, or act smug if for some strange reason I do like it.”
Ren sighs, leaning back. “You know me too well. Fine, I’ll leave you alone for now.” Ranmaru grunts in affirmation, as Ren wheels himself across the small space to his own desk and the next appointment walks in.
***
He goes to the coffee shop.
Ren, predictably, comes in with a new cup from them every day, places it on his desk where Ranmaru can see it, raves about whatever special blend they were promoting that day, and generally makes himself a nuisance about it.
Ranmaru finally goes when he needs a pick me up, having pulled almost an all-nighter sketching and communicating with clients (20 minutes of sleep means it isn’t technically an all-nighter, he tells himself), and doesn’t think he can make it through the day without something artificially raising his energy levels. Energy drinks are expensive and a racket, and he has to walk by the coffee shop on his way to work, so coffee it is.
As he walks in, a little bell rings above the door, alerting the barista to his presence. Ranmaru ignores the cheery “Welcome in!” they project across the shop, scanning the hand-chalked menu board behind the counter. Everything looks complicated and brags about whole roast this or double roasted that, beans from halfway around the world. None of it interests him.
He looks at the barista finally, intending to just order a shot of espresso—if he has to get something it may as well be the thing known for waking you up—and stops dead.
The barista has hair so blonde it’s almost yellow, he’s tall—just taller than Ranmaru—and wears glasses with thin frames. His wavy hair rests just above his shoulders, and he wears a dark brown apron over a simple button-up shirt. His name, Natsuki, is written on a tag, with a little drawing of a bird next to it. He smiles patiently as Ranmaru stares, finally gathering his bearings.
“Espresso shot,” Ranmaru says. “Please,” he manages to add, because Natsuki seems the sort of person to be polite to.
Natsuki’s smile widens. “Coming right up!” he chirps, turning to make the drink. Ranmaru tries not to stare at Natsuki, instead looking around the shop, from the distressed beams in the ceiling (which he knows weren’t there a few months ago) to the crowding of almost rickety tables and chairs around the shop, the fridge in the corner (the most modern looking thing in the building aside from the machines that make the coffee). Some of his annoyance comes back, and he turns back to the counter—to see Natsuki leaning down to get something out of a cupboard. Ranmaru looks away again, trying to keep his thoughts safe for work.
Finally, Natsuki returns to the front of the counter, placing two drinks down. Ranmaru frowns.
“I only ordered an espresso.”
“I know.” Natsuki looks shy. “The other one is on the house-you look like you could use a pick me up, so I thought I’d make something extra for you.”
Ranmaru opens his mouth to retort that he didn’t need to, really, when he looks down and realizes the second drink is a latte, judging by the foam cat drawn onto its surface. Against his better nature, he smiles a little. Immediately he turns to the side and coughs to hide it.
“’S not bad.” he says.
Natsuki smiles warmly. “I’m glad. Have a nice day!”
Ranmaru nods awkwardly and gathers both drinks, gingerly walking with one in each hand to avoid spills.
In the back of his mind he hopes that Ren isn’t in yet so he doesn’t catch Ranmaru taking a picture of the latte. He would never live that down.
(Ren walks in just as he snaps the picture. He hides his phone, but Ren isn’t dumb, and Ranmaru doesn’t live it down.)
***
Ranmaru continues to visit the shop over the next few weeks. Natsuki is often the barista in the morning, Ranmaru often comes in early, and he tells himself that it’s a coincidence and he definitely hasn’t turned into the shop a few times when he didn’t need coffee just to see Natsuki and have a little bit of conversation.
Ren, of course, notices (why couldn’t he be more oblivious, Ranmaru asks himself, why does that bastard have to be sharp as a tack) and brings it up.
“Didn’t you say it’s a waste to buy coffee every day when you can make it yourself at home?” Ren asks.
Ranmaru grunts. “Tastes better.”
“Oh? So you admit that paying attention to coffee is worthwhile?” Ren smirks, his chin resting on his hand. They’re between clients, so the shop is empty, and Ren has apparently decided he needs to amuse himself somehow. “See, isn’t it so much better when you put care and effort into it?”
Ranmaru scowls, taking care not to drop the equipment he’s sterilizing. Shit was expensive, he didn’t need another bill to worry about. He forces his shoulders to relax, then shrugs. “Guess so.” He doesn’t want to deal with this, or his thoughts about the coffee shop and the blond he’ll never admit he goes there for.
Ren frowns, then shrugs as well. “Guess I win this one,” he says, and returns to his sketching. Ranmaru breathes a sigh of relief, though he tries to not make it obvious.
The next morning he walks into the coffee shop expecting a warm hello from Natsuki, but is met with silence. Confused, Ranmaru pays more attention to the man behind the counter. He looks tired, and it takes a moment to register Ranmaru’s presence. When he does the smile appears.
“Welcome in,” Natsuki rasps. “What would you like?”
Ranmaru frowns. “A latte," he pauses. “Are you okay?”
Natsuki rubs his throat as he turns to make the drink. “Yeah, just had a late night.”
“Doing what? Getting sick?”
Natsuki laughs; Ranmaru doesn't hear it so much as see his shoulders shake with it. “No, no, I wouldn’t be at work if I was. I was at a performance last night.”
“Oh,” Ranmaru says. Unable to help himself, he adds, “What kind of performance?”
Natsuki’s smile is still in place as he sets the drink on the counter; if anything, it gets wider. “A local band. My dear friend is in it and I had to support him.”
Ranmaru nods knowingly, ignoring the worries the words “dear friend” bring up in him. “Gotta support local music.” He hands over the money for his drink, preparing for what Natsuki says next.
Natsuki frowns as he counts what Ranmaru gave him. “You gave me twice the cost, here-” he moves to give the money back to Ranmaru, but Ranmaru puts his hand on Natsuki’s.
“Make yourself a honey tea or something, on my dime. You could use it.”
Natsuki stares at Ranmaru for a moment, then smiles softly. “Thank you,” he says, then winks. “I’ll get right on that, sir!”
Ranmaru swears his heart skips a beat.
***
A few mornings later he misses his conversation again. The coffee shop is busier than normal—Natsuki rushes around behind the counter, and even the manager has come out to help. Ranmaru does his best to be unobtrusive—as much as he looks forward to his morning conversation, he doesn't want Natsuki to get yelled at for taking his sweet time with one customer. As he turns away with his drink, he hears “Ah, wait! Ranmaru!” and the rustling of receipt paper. When he looks back, Natsuki is hastily scrawling something on his receipt. He hands it over with a wide smile. “There’s a special customer survey we have right now that I want you to fill out! Since you come here so often.”
Ranmaru looks over at the manager; he seems like a nice guy, but he doesn’t want Natsuki to get in trouble. He takes the receipt from Natsuki’s hand. “Sure, I’ll get to it today,” he mumbles, and turns to leave with his drink, stuffing the receipt in his pocket.
The day moves normally after that, and it’s not until Ranmaru empties his pockets in his apartment that he remembers the survey. Sure enough, there’s a website scrawled on the receipt, followed by a series of numbers Ranmaru assumes is Natsuki’s employee number. Seems odd that they’d need one in that small of a shop, but who was he to say?
He groans a bit, shrugging his jacket off, petting his cats, and dragging his twice rescued from death laptop out to fill out the survey. He gets almost all the way through it when it asks for which barista served him. He checks the receipt for the numbers and types them in almost mindlessly, but the page tells him it’s an invalid entry. He frowns and looks at the receipt more closely. Come to think of it, the numbers look a lot more like a phone number than an employee code…
His eyes widen. A phone number.
Natsuki’s phone number?!
Survey forgotten, Ranmaru stares at the number. What should he do? He’d text it, but he can’t just do that! Although, that is probably why Natsuki put it there....
Anxious, he folds the paper up to hide the phone number and places it on his table, staring at it as if it was a horrid, noisy jack in the box. Sure, it wouldn’t actually be the end of the world to use it, but it would shock him for long enough to be unpleasant.
So he leaves it. Scans around the room for something to distract himself, finishes the survey, picks up his bass and tries to play his feelings away.
***
Two days.
The receipt stays on his table, hastily folded, for two days. On the second day, he’s staring at it, growing more frustrated by the minute, when he decides fuck his worries, if Natsuki gave him his phone number it means he wants to talk so just do it already! He hurriedly takes out his phone and types a message.
“Hey, Ranmaru here ” He hits send quickly, before he can change his mind.
“Ranmaru! You did get it! How are you?” Natsuki responds within seconds.
“Not bad, keeping busy. You?”
“Good! Hey, you like kitties, right?”
“Yeah”
Natsuki’s next text is simply a link. Then, immediately after:
“My friend showed me this yesterday and it’s sooooo cute!”
Ranmaru clicks the link.
It’s keyboard cat.
Ranmaru watches the video (he might as well, it is cute) but he’s stunned that, somehow, a person wouldn’t have seen keyboard cat until yesterday. That would be rude to say, though, so he simply replies, “I see what you mean. You know I’ve got a couple cats myself”
“:-O”
“Yeah, Tama and Mike”
“:-O !!!!!!!!!”
“You want pics?”
“Yes please!!!!”
Ranmaru scrolls through his photos, finds a good picture, and sends it to Natsuki. Natsuki responds with coos and copious outdated emoticons, then sends an incredibly blurry picture of a cat in an alleyway.
“I’m not great with phones…” He says. “My pictures always turn out like this :-{"
Ranmaru laughs. “Don’t worry, phones are ridiculous anyway”
“I wish I could get good pics of all the lovely kitties I see though”
They continue talking like this, comfortably. It’s the most relaxed Ranmaru has felt around another person in a long time.
Before long, Ranmaru realizes it’s one in the morning. He has work, Natsuki almost certainly has work, so he cuts the conversation short. But as he gets ready for bed his head swims with the words they'd exchanged, and he wishes he was a little less adult about getting enough sleep so he could keep talking to Natsuki.
***
Ranmaru knows his feelings are probably not returned. Natsuki is a nice guy, friendly with everyone, and the phone number is not a sure sign of returned affections—cheesy as it is, Natsuki seems the type of person to give his phone number out to anyone he wants to be friends with. Ranmaru certainly isn't special.
Ranmaru invites Natsuki to a local concert anyway.
His reasoning goes: returned affections or not, Natsuki is good, and kind, and friendly. Ranmaru has been through too much to not value those in a person, and he refuses to let moping over an unrequited crush ruin what could be a perfectly great friendship.
And that's how he finds himself in the middle of a sea of people, all sweat and movement and leather, staring unabashed as Natsuki cheers and sings along, his voice somehow melting into the cacophony and standing out at the same time.
Ranmaru's smile spreads into a wide grin. Natsuki is good, and kind, and friendly, and he knows how to fucking rock.
No, Ranmaru promises himself, he won't let any unrequited crushes get in the way of this.
***
He’s so focused on ignoring his crush that he barely notices when Natsuki isn’t in the next morning. In his place, a much shorter blond—Syo, his name tag says in harsh letters—stands behind the counter. Before he can catch himself, Syo sees his look of surprise and laughs.
“You were expecting Natsuki, right?”
Ranmaru scowls. “How would you know?”
“I’m friends with him, he talks about you a lot.”
Ranmaru was shocked again. “He does?”
“Yeah. He’s out sick today, so I’m filling in his shift. What can I get for you?”
Ranmaru says his normal order on instinct, and Syo wordlessly makes it.
“What,” Ranmaru’s voice cracks a bit. He shouldn’t be this anxious about hearing that a friend talks to another friend about him. He clears his throat. “What does he say?”
Syo shrugs. “That you’re nice, and beautiful, and love animals," he waves a hand, "the normal kind of stuff he says about his crushes—” Syo cuts himself off. “Wasn’t supposed to say that part,” he mumbles.
Ranmaru and Syo are both silent then, one in anxious surprise and the other in embarrassment. The only sound in the shop is the steam wand, and the soft thunk of the coffee being placed on the counter.
“Listen,” Syo says. “I don’t know how you feel. But whatever you do, don’t hurt Natsuki.” He pauses. “Unrelated, I have a black belt.”
Ranmaru takes the coffee, quiet. “I won’t,” he says. “I know how it feels.”
***
Syo’s words stick with Ranmaru.
He considers his next move carefully. He wants to be with Natsuki, he’s worked that much out at least. He knows he loves him and he would like nothing better than to be with him...but would that be best for Natsuki? Would Ranmaru be good for Natsuki?
Ranmaru spends nights and days thinking, overthinking, that question. He’s awkward during his morning conversations with Natsuki, distracted with his feelings and worries.
Eventually, in the middle of aimlessly playing bass, the answer comes to him: it doesn’t matter.
Natsuki matters, certainly, and what’s best for Natsuki matters. But Ranmaru doesn’t know what’s best for Natsuki, and so he shouldn’t worry about it. The best thing, he decides, is to give it an honest shot and see how things play out.
He begins to plan while he continues to play.
***
Asking Natsuki out at work would be rude. Asking him out via text is not ideal, but it'll have to do.
It takes him a day to write the text, a string of "hey, weird question" and "would you mind" all summarily deleted. He settles, finally, on “hey. do you want to go on a date?”
He sets his phone down, prepared to wait with his anxieties, when a flurry of buzzing threatens to send his phone off the table.
“Yes!!! Where do you want to go? You decide, the show you took me to was wonderful ;)”
Ranmaru finds himself blushing involuntarily. He shakes it off.
“Not usually my speed, but I thought maybe the zoo?”
“I love the zoo!”
Ranmaru smiles, satisfied. “Great. What days are you free?”
They work out the details quickly, and Ranmaru goes to bed unable to keep a lid on his excitement.
***
Ranmaru arrives at the zoo early, intending to steel his nerves, but finds Natsuki already waiting on a bench near the zoo entrance. Natsuki spots Ranmaru in the crowd and waves him over. As soon as Ranmaru is on the bench, Natsuki pushes a map into his hands. “All the animals here look so cute, I can’t decide which to see first!”
Ranmaru grunts, scanning the map. “I’m always partial to cats,” he says.
Natsuki nods. “Okay, we’ll start there!”
They make their way to the big cats and idly watch the lions laze around and the panthers sleep.
“I guess we caught these guys during nap time,” Ranmaru says. “Sorry more isn’t happening.”
Natsuki laughs kindly. “That’s okay. I don’t mind what the animals do so long as I can see them.”
They manage to catch the tigers at feeding time. In his excitement, Natsuki leans so far over the fence Ranmaru worries he’ll fall. Instinctively he grabs Natsuki’s belt and pulls him back—Natsuki looks back at Ranmaru in confusion. “You looked like you were going to fall,” Ranmaru says.
“Ah, sorry. I just love these guys so much!”
Ranmaru grunts an agreement and watches as the tigers tear into their meat. It reminds him of lunch, and he taps Natsuki on the shoulder.
“Want to get food?” Ranmaru asks.
Natsuki nods and pulls out the map. “The food court should be this way…” he mutters to himself, and sets off.
Twenty minutes later they’re standing near a collection of bird cages, and Ranmaru’s stomach is gurgling audibly. “You sure this is the right way?” he asks.
Natsuki, who has been staring starry-eyed at a colorful macaw, turns back to Ranmaru. “Ah, it should be!”
Ranmaru could feel his hunger grinding on his nerves. “You mind if I look at the map?”
Natsuki hands it over and returns to the macaw. Ranmaru unfolds it impatiently.
The food court is on the other side of the zoo.
Ranmaru takes a deep breath and counts to ten. No matter how hungry he is, it would be rude to yell at Natsuki for getting them lost, he reminds himself. Instead he grabs Natsuki by the shoulder.
“Food court’s that way,” he says when Natsuki turns around, pointing behind them.
“Oooh, sorry Ranmaru,” Natsuki says, looking sheepish.
Ranmaru shrugs. “Might mean the lunch rush is over,” he says, and starts on the correct path.
Unfortunately, the lunch rush is not over. The attendant at the court apologetically tells them that there’s no more room, and when Ranmaru suggests eating at one of the benches near an enclosure the attendant’s face grows stormy. “We don’t like to let our food get near the animals,” they say sharply.
Natsuki hums pensively while Ranmaru stews. He doesn’t particularly want to wait for a table to open up, and his hunger is only getting more insistent.
“What about a picnic?” Natsuki asks.
“Huh?”
“We can get some food at the supermarket and eat it at the park!”
Ranmaru stares at Natsuki for a few moments, then relents. “Better than standing around here,” he says.
“Great!” Natsuki says, and runs off. Ranmaru has to chase after him.
A half hour later, they sit down in the grass of a park and Ranmaru begins to tear into the food. It’s all packaged, jerky and snacks and the like, but it’s food and Ranmaru doesn’t care at this point so long as it’s edible. Natsuki watches him with a smile, eating his own share. They talk while they eat, about favorite bands, Ranmaru’s business, Natsuki’s own dreams of making it as a musician.
Eventually, Natsuki quiets down and watches the people in the park. Ranmaru, once he’s finished his food, lays back and closes his eyes.
“Hey, Ranmaru?” Natsuki asks.
Ranmaru grunts in response.
“How do you feel about love?”
Ranmaru’s eyes shoot open and he sits up, staring at Natsuki. Ranmaru looks away, a blush growing on his face. “W-well, I mean, it’s nice when you feel it.”
Natsuki continues staring. “Not always. Love can be painful too.”
Ranmaru thinks of his unrequited crushes and his exes, none of which ended on particularly good terms. “Yeah…”
“Even so,” Natsuki says. “Even so, I think love is a wonderful thing. To love a person is to know them and understand them, every piece, even the ones they’re scared to show. To trust someone and show them every side of you...I want that, I’ve always wanted it.” Natsuki pauses, then turns, and his gaze is intense. “Ranmaru. If you’ll have me, I’d like to be with you. I love you,” he whispers.
Ranmaru swallows, looks down uncomfortably. “I’m not...great with this kinda stuff,” he starts, then looks back at Natsuki. “But uh, yeah. I feel the same.”
Natsuki eyes light up, and he grins. “Really?” Natsuki scoots closer. “Then, we’d be boyfriends, yes?”
Ranmaru blushes and looks away again. “Y-yeah,” He redirects himself, looking Natsuki in his smiling eyes. This deserves honesty. “Yeah, we would.” Ranmaru allows himself a smile.
Suddenly, Natsuki is kissing him. Ranmaru laughs into it and returns it, then pulls away and laughs again. “You’re a really forward guy, you know that?” Ranmaru says.
Natsuki is beaming. “I can’t help it, my emotions bubble over inside me and I have to let them out!”
Ranmaru kisses Natsuki’s cheek. “Wasn’t a criticism.”
Natsuki giggles, and they lean against each other. They stay together on the grass until dusk, when Ranmaru invites Natsuki back to his place.
As Natsuki plays with Mike and Tama, Ranmaru smiles to himself, and hopes that he can keep Natsuki close forever.