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“Sora… will you try this?”
Sora glanced towards Naminé, having been completely focused on brushing out one of the tabby cats that shedded more than the others. Ienzo had informed him that would be his downtime job unless Aeleus said otherwise (not that he would, Sora wasn’t even sure he'd heard the man say anything to him like… ever).
“Oh, uh— sure!” Sora blew some orange hair off himself before eagerly reaching out for the pastry that Namine was holding out to him. He didn’t bother to ask what was in it, he knew Naminé’s baking was some of the best he’s ever had and anything she made would be great.
“What do you think?” Naminé gave him a shy little smile to which Sora gave her two thumbs up as he shoved the rest of the pastry into his mouth. He tried to express how good it was but all that accomplished was crumbs flying everywhere.
“Sora…don’t talk and eat, silly!” Naminé giggled and Sora watched as she kneeled to pet the tabby that had been staring up at the two of them in slight interest. Sora joined her, taking time to enjoy the remnants of the pastry. It really made him want some tea, something a little bitter to go with the sweet citrus-y icing and something wet to break up the dense pastry. He imagined it’d be perfect to market it with the coffee they sold then.
“It’s really good, Nami, what is it?” As he asked her, the two of them began to move, Sora to clean up cat hair and Naminé to grab the tabby to go set him in the ‘Purr Room’.
“A lemon and blueberry scone. Ienzo wanted me to try and make a few different pastries so we have a wider selection. I tried donuts but…” Naminé trailed off and Sora tried to imagine Namine standing over a giant deep fryer fishing out the fried dough. He was glad she stuck to the other pastries, mostly because she was really good at them but also because he didn’t want her to somehow get hurt.
“These are great, don’t worry about donuts. I can’t wait to try whatever other ones you come up with.” Finally Sora was rewarded with a bright smile from her, the moment only broken up by Aeleus’ hulking figure stopping in the doorway.
“Sora. Front.” The deep rumble of his voice, and him just talking to him at all, was enough to send Sora scampering to the front of the house. He paused for a moment, watching as Ienzo expertly began to prepare what looked to be a decent sized order. Another quick glance revealed the small line of customers and Sora hurried to the register to begin assisting them.
Sora had just graduated high school in the spring and had absolutely no clue what he wanted to do. His parents were supportive of him figuring it out along the way, but they had wanted for him to find some kind of work in the meantime. It was just sheer dumb luck that Sora had been on his way to a different interview (which he had bombed hard) when he saw that a newly built cat cafe was hiring. Somehow he had made it all the way through the interview process despite not liking coffee or really knowing how to make it.
What he did know, though, was how to interact with people. Not that he even really thought about that until Naminé had brought up she wished she could be as comfortable with the customers as he was. It was only then that Sora realized that between him, Naminé, Ienzo, and Aeleus that he had the best people skills, so he decided he would help them out as much as he could on that end of things.
Even though it was likely a stepping stone to whatever Sora decided to do next, he was happy knowing that not only did he have something he was pretty good at doing, but he was helping others in the process— especially the kittens that they were helping adopt out. Sora took no small amount of pride in his help talking about the cats and their partnership with a local shelter, even if they did all the work looking cute, and seeing that they were going to good homes. Everyday Sora was happy to come to work and no amount of busy days or rude customers could put a damper on that.
The thought put an even bigger smile on Sora’s face as he finished helping a stern looking man.
“So you’re waiting for someone?”
At the nod, Sora gestured towards where Ienzo was returning to the front entrance to the door that led into the ‘Purr Room,’ which was a completely separated room where the cats could roam freely without the stress of the lines. It was also useful to keep them separated, not only for the cat’s safety, but for customers that could come and enjoy their coffee sans fur if that’s what they preferred. The walls were mostly glass and Sora had to bite back a laugh as he caught the large tabby, named Mog, he was brushing out earlier trying to climb up to perch on the teeny tiny sill where the wall shifted into the window.
“Just head on over to Ienzo over there and give him your order number and let him know that you have someone coming. He’ll get you all set up.” Sora gave the man his receipt before flashing him another bright smile. The guy looked like a grump, if his slight scowl was anything to go by, but he had some really cool blue hair that Sora couldn’t help but admire. Once the man walked away, Sora turned his attention to those next in line.
Man, what’s with the frowns today? Sora didn’t let his thoughts show as he appraised the tall light haired man who was super serious looking before turning his attention to the cheery redhead girl who moved up to the counter.
“Hi! Can I get the iced strawberry latte and…” The girl looked over her shoulder and up at the man which directed Sora’s attention to him again. He was… well, he was big. That was the first thing Sora really noticed. He seemed like a guy who definitely worked out and could probably lift Sora up no problem, which Sora stopped himself thinking about because that was weird and the last thing he wanted was to accidentally blurt that thought out loud.
“I’ll just take the—” There was a slight pause, as if he wasn’t really sure. His teal eyes bounced between the girl and Sora before finally stopping to look Sora straight on.
“The mocha.”
All that for that? Sora wanted to laugh, not at the man, but how seriously he took the order only for him to order something so simple (and that they didn’t really even have on the menu due to how simple it was). His voice, which Sora had to admit was very nice to listen to, held the same seriousness as his face.
“Sure thing!” Sora ran through the usual questions of if they were staying, if they wanted to dine in the ‘Purr Room,’ and all the information about the cats and the shelter they were sponsored by. He loved seeing the girl’s eyes light up, it was his favorite part to see people so excited to go be with the cats, before telling him to go take their number over to Ienzo.
As they left, Sora found himself watching the two of them go. He was an avid people watcher, but there was something about the man that had Sora more interested than usual. Maybe it was just the way he had ordered. Sora couldn’t linger on that thought too long though as a harried redhead man, who looked as if he could be the girl’s older brother or something, hurried up to the counter to ask about his friend he was meeting.
The rest of the day went as normal. Between customers, Sora was tasked to clean up any spills or mess in their non-cat dining area. At some point the two groups, the stern bluehaired man and his goofy redhead friend and the young man and woman, left without Sora noticing. Kind of bummed about it, Sora expressed his disappointment to Naminé after relaying the encounters when the two of them passed by each other. Then Sora forgot all about it because his tabby friend got stuck in some blinds that he and Aeleus had to carefully extricate him from.
That is until the light haired man came in the next day. There were a few recurring regulars, so it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, but Sora was somewhat surprised to see him again. There had been a vibe that the girl had brought him in to check the place out and most of the time Sora couldn’t remember seeing those groups return without one another— though not many of them caught his attention like this guy.
“Hey, welcome back!” Sora beamed up at the man, marveling at how cool he looked. Maybe Sora was a little jealous and that’s why the guy stood out to him, afterall he looked like the kind of guy that everyone looked up to and wanted to be friends with.
“... Hi.” There was a pause that lasted too long and Sora glanced towards the menu before asking the man what he would like to order.
“The mocha. I’ll take the mocha.” Sora blinked at the stilted order, but proceeded to ring him up with just as much cheer as he had before.
“Did you want to take it to-go, dine-in…?”
“Uh, yeah, dine-in. With the cats, I guess.” The man looked towards the ‘Purr Room’ and Sora followed his gaze to see Mog peeking through the window again. Snickering to himself, Sora handed the man his receipt and gestured to the door.
“Go ahead and let Ienzo know you’re going to be dining in then!”
The man lingered for a moment and Sora was ready to ask him if he wanted anything else when the bell above the door jingled to indicate a new customer walking in. The man moved away and Sora gave him a bright smile before turning his attention to the snobbish blond that walked in.
“Oh! Hi, Even! Ienzo is busy helping out a customer—” Turning his attention to Ienzo’s father, Sora gestured towards where Ienzo was leading the light haired man to his table. While answering some questions and trying to signal for Ienzo to come see him, Sora snuck glances at the man. His coffee was untouched before him, probably because his focus was on all the cats that were rubbing against him and wanting to play. The sight brought a huge smile to Sora’s face before he turned his attention back to the situation at hand.
The day proceeded as normal, the man left after a while, and Sora got a satisfying amount of peeks at him between all his duties. The man seemed to be really good with the cats, but Sora was more surprised to see that even some of the shyest of cats came to poke around the man and hang around his table. This encounter left more of an impression, and Sora went home that night thinking about the man, and wondering if he was going to make a regular appearance from then on.
What Sora hadn’t factored in was the potential of seeing the man again the next day, or the next. It was always the same order, just ‘the mocha’ and then him sitting with the cats who all seemed to absolutely adore him for about an hour. Eventually, after the man’s fifth visit, Sora learned his name, Riku, and found himself looking forward to seeing him come in as the days went by. Sometimes he brought the girl, named Kairi, in with him but most of the time he just came in by himself. After a month of just about every other day, Sora began to think of him as one of his favorites. Even though he was pretty quiet and Sora wasn’t sure how to approach him, that just made him all the cooler in Sora’s eyes.
One night Sora was working the closing shift when he relayed that thought to Naminé as the two of them worked to clean up the cat’s room. He did notice her pause and look at him, something she had been doing a lot lately, but he was focused on refilling the hand sanitizer dispenser so he didn’t have to put too much thought into it.
“You think he’s cool? What makes you think that?” Sora paused and glanced at Naminé, watching her wipe down a table for a moment until she looked up and met his eyes. Glancing back at what he was doing, Sora let out a little laugh before rambling off a few of the things he had noticed— his height, his clothes, his demeanor, and all the other little details Sora had found himself thinking about more and more.
“That’s… a lot.” Naminé’s laugh made Sora’s cheeks warm and there was a small something niggling in the back of his mind that he pushed down.
“I… guess… Is it, really?” Sora looked to Naminé again only to see her leaning against the table, her gaze focused on him. At her small nod, Sora glanced away, the thought he was pushing down straining to come to the forefront.
“Sora… I don’t want to assume, but it sounds like you really like him.” Before Sora could open his mouth with the intent to blurt out that he ‘really liked everyone!’, Naminé continued.
“I mean… really like him. Do you have a crush on him?” Having the thought said outloud was enough to have Sora sputtering as he tried his best to deny it. Yet, Naminé’s kind and earnest expression let Sora calm down enough to give the tiniest nod. When it had happened, Sora wasn’t sure, but he did his best not to think that way about some stranger— because even if Riku had started giving him smiles, or was really really good with the cats, he was still a customer.
“Well, I think he likes you too.” Naminé shifted her focus off of him to move to the next table, spritzing it down before giving it a few wipes as Sora stared at her with wide eyes.
“Why else would he come in all the time?” She had a point, but…
“And, well, I’ve seen how he looks at you.” Sure, there were times that Sora had caught the man looking his way, but he never really thought too hard about it. Until later, after work (so he really couldn’t deny that he might have something of a crush because who thought about customers after work?), when he enjoyed thinking about when he caught him looking his way. Sora had smiled at him, he had smiled back— this tiny coy smile that Sora really liked to see.
“Maybe he’s really shy and doesn’t know how to tell you.”
“Nami, I don’t know… I’m not— He’s probably— I—” Sora couldn’t word himself properly, struggling to express that there really was no way Sora was his type. He couldn’t be, that guy was way too cool.
As Sora collected his thoughts, Naminé walked over and placed her hand gently on his shoulder. Sora looked down at her, seeing the conviction and assurance in her expression. Naminé was pretty good at reading people, so if there was anyone he could trust about this it was her.
Which was what gave Sora the courage to try and strike up a conversation with Riku the next time he came in. Naminé was in on it, taking over the register for him as Sora took his break, which he mentally reminded himself he would owe her big time for knowing how nervous she got with customers. So with a tea in one hand and a scone in another, Sora made his way into their cat room and beelined for where Riku was sitting before his confidence ran out.
“Uhm, can I sit here?” The words maybe came out too quickly, and maybe too cheery, but Sora was glad that he could even get them out.
Riku looked up at him from his phone, surprise flashing across his face before it smoothed back into the calm expression that Sora was used to.
“Oh, yeah, sure—” He tried not to flush as Riku glanced around at all the empty tables around them before plopping himself down and taking a huge bite out of his scone to keep himself from saying something dumb right away.
There was a moment of awkward silence between them that had Sora regretting doing that and thinking that he might have to quit and go work somewhere else. The thoughts persisted as the silence drew on, only broken when he felt something rub up against his leg. The sensation was brief and the cat must’ve moved over to Riku if the man’s glance down was any indication.
“Hey there…” Sora watched as Riku picked up Mog and scratched under his chin, the sound of his purring filling the immediate area.
“Oh, that’s Mog! Isn’t he great? He’s kind of a handful though.” Sora laughed, dusting off scone crumbs he got on himself before glancing at the untouched coffee in front of Riku.
“Uh, is your coffee okay? We can remake it if it’s not right—” He cut himself off at Riku’s glance at the coffee. Riku then stared at Mog, his gaze focused as Sora noticed splotches of red forming on his neck.
“It’s fine. I just—” Riku sighed and continued to pet the cat and Sora felt his own face heat up as he mentally kicked himself for causing him some discomfort. Ienzo was going to murder him, he was sure of it.
“No really, we can remake it, in fact I can go—” Sora reached for the cup, eager to try and make things right.
“No!” He stopped and looked up at Riku with wide eyes, noticing the slight change in Riku’s expression. Regret? Embarrassment? Some combination of them and other emotions Sora couldn’t quite tell?
“It’s fine. I just… I don’t.” Riku stopped, pursing his lips together before meeting Sora’s gaze straight on. “I don’t drink coffee.”
What. What? Blinking slowly, Sora’s brows furrowed in confusion as he glanced between Riku and the coffee. The man had been coming in for a month and a half and ordering the same coffee but he didn’t like coffee? Sora stared at him, trying to mentally process before glancing at the tabby in Riku’s hands.
It was like a lightbulb went off and Sora opened his mouth to excitedly exclaim that he understood Riku must be coming in for the cats, because surely that’s why someone who didn’t like coffee would keep coming to their shop! Sora was proud of himself for figuring it out, but then he thought back to the conversation he had with Naminé.
Closing his mouth, he realized he actually maybe didn’t have any idea why Riku was coming. Was it for the cats? Was it for him? Both?
“Oh… uhm.” Sora moved to scratch at his cheek, glancing around before settling on the tea he had brought with him, still untouched.
“Oh! Here! Try this then, you like tea right?” At Riku’s slight nod, Sora scooted his tea over to him. He offered him the wrapped straw, giving him a bright smile as he rattled off how much he loved the star fruit teas they made there. He eagerly watched as Riku took a sip, his expression once again displaying surprise as he continued to sip at the drink.
That was enough for Sora to immediately get comfortable and to start talking about himself, the drinks he liked, what he liked to order, before asking Riku what he enjoyed. He couldn’t help but laugh at Riku’s sheepish response that he preferred teas and juices, but was surprised to hear that he liked a bunch of different pastries.
The conversation evolved into them properly introducing themselves and Sora was delighted to learn more about Riku as they shared what they did and the things they liked. He learned that Riku had interests in traveling, Sora told him that he used to have a pen pal, they both really liked seeing the ocean, and they learned so much more as they both got more comfortable as the minutes went by.
“So you’re graduating next year?” Sora picked at the last bit of his scone, petting Mog who had decided he wanted to be in Sora’s lap after a bit.
“Mhm, after that… well, who knows.” Riku shrugged and Sora understood the sentiment.
“Still! That’s pretty cool, bet you could do anything you’re aiming for.” Mog yawned and Sora smiled down at him, gently scritching behind his ears. He looked up at Riku, somewhat taken aback by the intense look on his face.
“So, uhm,” Sora started after a moment, glancing at the now cold coffee and the empty cup of tea. “I think I need to get back but I really liked talking with you, it was very nice to meet you!”
“Oh, yeah, I didn—” Riku cut himself off with a little shake of his head before giving Sora a sweet smile that made his heart race. After gently setting Mog down on the floor, Sora glanced back at Riku, who was watching him with the same intense look he had earlier. The two of them glanced away, and Sora swallowed hard as he steeled himself.
“We should do this again!” He blurted out as he stood up, startling a nearby group of cats. “I mean, when I’m not working— not here, somewhere else?” He was fumbling over his words again, trying to get them out in the right way so Riku understood what he meant.
“... Yeah. Okay. Sure.” Riku also moved to stand, cleaning up his trash while gingerly grabbing the full coffee.
“Like a dat— wait, yeah?” Eyes widening, Sora realized what he almost said. Riku glanced at him and Sora watched as the red creeped back up his neck as Riku cleared his throat.
“Uh, yeah, a date sounds nice.” He let out a little laugh, muttering something about ‘she was right’ under his breath before looking at Sora.
“Do… you mind if I still come in? Not just to see, well to see you but I also got what I want—” Riku cleared his throat and Sora felt his entire face heat up as he realized Naminé had been completely on the nose about Riku. “I do really like that tea and I like the cats so if you’re okay with it…”
“Yeah! It’s okay, uhm, but here…” Sora’s heart was racing as he grabbed a pen out of his apron and a blank ticket sheet to quickly scrawl his number across it.
“I get off at about five this week, so just, uh, you can call or text me any time!” Riku took the paper from him and their hands touched for a moment and Sora really felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest right then and there. Trying to calm down and be cool, Sora gave him a bright smile, before gathering up his own trash. The two of them walked to the disposal bin, chatting for a moment longer before parting.
As Sora made his way past the line of customers, seeing the blue haired man and his friend squabbling in line with two other new people, he gave Naminé two thumbs up with the knowledge that he pwed her big time. She beamed at him and they swapped places with the promise that Sora would tell her all about it. There was a bzzt in his pocket and it wasn’t until Sora got through the rush that he could check it to see a text from an unknown number.
Hey, it’s Riku. I’m free tomorrow, maybe we can go out for ice cream and a walk?
Sora sent back a confirmation with maybe too many emojis, but as he began to think about what the date would hold in store for him, Mog got himself stuck in the blinds again and Sora had to go rescue him. As he untangled the cat, he couldn’t help but be glad he had taken the chance to apply and who knows where else his luck would take him— hopefully holding hands and chatting about all the places he wanted to visit with Riku on their date.