Work Text:
Venti adjusts his apron as he stares out the window. He had just started his shift, relieving Charles’ from work just a few moments ago. But he already had nothing to do.
It was a slow day, slower than the others he’s experienced, not that he had many since he had just started a week ago.
He looks around the shop counting around five people. A girl with what seemed to be rabbit plushies and an older guy who looked like her older brother, they were cute, the little girl was shoving her dolls to her brother, who of which had a gentle smile on his face.
There were also two boys who seemed to be around high school. Venti tended to see them around this time in the afternoon because school had just let out but though most kids would rather go to trendy large corporation coffee shops, these boys seemed to like this small local café. One of them was laughing and teasing his friend, while the other was looking down at the notebook in front of him, seemingly trying to decipher what was written.
And lastly was a red headed woman sat by the windows. She was looking out the window staring at everyone and everything outside.
Venti was counting the number of plushies the girl had brought out when he hears the ringing of the door’s bell.
He makes himself presentable and with his best smile says, “Welcome to Angel’s Share may I take your order?”, to the customer in front of him.
The customer in question was looking at the menu behind him. He was wearing a hoodie with the hood up, and all Venti can see is his gold eyes. He had quite a sharp look but it was still very pretty.
“Umm… Excuse me?” the customer says waving his hand.
“Yes! Umm… What would you like?” Venti replies with a start. Having realized his mistake of staring.
“I’d like a large café americano and a slice of apricot tart,”
“Is it for here?” Venti asks as he takes the cup writing the order.
“Ahh… yes.” The man says scratching his head.
“Could I get a name please?”
“Oh! Xiao, my name is Xiao.” The man- Xiao- reddens. He pays and leaves to wait by the seat farthest from the door, which had a view of the whole shop.
Venti gets the order ready, using a little too much effort into perfecting it. By the time he was finish he had finally gotten enough courage to give the man his number. For all her knew he would only ever see him once. Writing his number next to Xiao's name.
After his small burst of courage, he calls for the customer to collect his food. The customer quickly picks it up and goes back to his table.
Every few minutes or so Venti catches himself looking at the other man, checking to see if he finally saw his number. But after a while Xiao stands up, cup in hand, and proceeds to leave the store with not even a look towards Venti’s direction.
He sighs, thinking of the possibility that he could meet the pretty customer again.
“Hey Venti?” He hears someone behind him say.
Venti spins around to see Diluc, the owner and manager of Angel’s Share, stood there looking out the window.
“Yes?” Venti answers wringing his hands, he hoped he didn’t mess up anything, he gravely needed the job if he wanted to keep being a musician on the side.
“Was that Xiao just now?” Diluc asks.
“Oh yeah, is he a regular?” Venti almost vibrates, having realized that he may have the possibility of seeing the pretty stranger again.
“Well, yeah, but huh, that’s weird,” Diluc says deep in thought.
“What is?”
“Well, he never really eats here, he only ever orders take out, what changed I wonder? Oh!” Diluc exclaims looking at Venti. “Well, whatever it is, keep up the good work,” He says leaving with a knowing smile on his face.
Venti didn’t know how to feel about that but he let it be.
It was only later when he realized that his phone, which was in the breakroom, had a new message incoming.
It was colder than usual when Xiao decided to take a walk. He’d been anxiously thinking about work and decided to that he needed to take a break.
It was around 10 at night, most people were either home or on their way there. Xiao had a tendency of wandering around whenever his mind was in shambles. After walking some minutes, he realized that his feet brought him to Angel’s Share.
It was a place he went to almost regularly, just because their Apricot tart reminded him of his favorite Almond Jelly. He looks towards the store and realizes that they were already close. He was about to walk home when he heard a voice singing.
It was barely audible but it was a beautiful tune. He looked around trying to find the source of the sound, finding out that it was coming from the café in front of him. He’s met all the people who worked there but never has he heard anyone with such a beautiful voice.
He takes a peek inside and see’s a boy around his age, cleaning up. He was singing a melody with no lyrics, but it was enough. Xiao felt his anxiety slowly ebb as he listened to the boy singing. He continued listening only realizing that he was practically shivering from the cold only after the boy stopped.
He was so in awe that he wasn’t aware of what was happening around him. He looked back at Angel’s Share, seeing the storefront dark and empty. He then decides that maybe he’ll go tomorrow, he was craving something sweet.