Chapter Text
"i mean come on. look at his hands!"
you swat away at hu tao's hushed whispers of encouragement. "shut up!"
you wish you could swat away at your forming particles of embarrassment, the dust tickling your heart, the butterfly's in your stomach, bad decisions creeping up, and your inevitable pining, too, but you just couldn't! and it was all for a guy you didn't even know. maybe you're just a sucker for a dramatic, cliche romance. but who could you blame? the idea of it is awesome to a college student fresh from four years of highschool disappointment. but romance can't just be lipstick stains and "i love you"s and kicking your feet in bed out of excitement. knowing this, you decide to stop planning out a wedding in your head with a café waiter. who's also a stranger. you can't help but sigh and stir your iced water with your bitten up straw.
"could you stop it? what if he has a girlfr- no, no. he definitely has one." yanfei says.
"you shouldn't say that!" hu tao whines. "come on, y/n, it's worth a shot! if he has a girlfriend, then he'll say so. then we'll give up... and continue living. so technically, there's no harm in trying?"
"you say it like i'm desperate..." you groan, even if you secretly were. your highschool relationships were unsuccessful, afterall. and hu tao was right, as much as you hate to admit it.
"pleeeeeeeeease..." hu tao strains her voice with pitiful distress and grabs your shoulders and shakes you until she stops abruptly to offer another form of persuasion. "y/n. think about it. we'll never see a man like this ever again."
resting your elbows on the table, you cover your cheeks and partially your eyes with your hands. your furrowed brows gave away your contemplation and worry.
"hu tao! stop it!" yanfei snaps in a frustrated, hurried whisper.
"you haven't dated since high school, right? well, look, now you've completely bloomed! now you're-"
"you dumbass! look what you've done! now he's coming over...!" yanfei slaps hu tao's arms, which were swaying in the air.
"perfect! i needed to take another look at his employee card anyway," hu tao leans back, closing her eyes and resting her hands behind her head. "i have a plan. let me know when you're ready to hear it 'cause obviously you-"
"hey. you better cut it out, okay? y/n won't be getting any closer to him if you're around," yanfei leans in and whispers (although she was terrible at whispering) as if she was a parent scolding their child in a grocery store.
hu tao leans in awfully slowly, putting her elbows on the table, intertwining her fingertips and resting her chin on them. she squints, like she's about to make shady deals or pull out crude documents. "act natural. y/n's. potential. lover. scouted-"
"i'm so sick of you." yanfei pulls away from her, making a hopelessly disgusted expression and crossing her arms which causes hu tao to giggle.
your heart beats faster at the sight of the blonde figure in your peripheral vision. to dismiss this nervous-stomach-sweaty-neck feeling, you laugh along with hu tao, hoping it would ease the tension naturally. well, you would've laughed at yanfei getting teased regardless of the situation anyway.
"is everything okay over here?" the waiter says.
you look everywhere else because you refuse to make eye contact with him for any longer than two seconds. but you suppose that stealing a glance would be okay. when you do, he's staring directly at you. at that moment, you catch a glimpse of him again. only now he's closer and his focus is entirely on you, compared to when the three of you walked into the café and it felt like a terribly one-sided love at first sight.
hu tao was right. you'd never find a man like this ever again. he had sweet eyes that smiled and a face that girls write rosy valentine's day songs and heart-aching poems for. you feel awfully flustered under his gaze and embarrassed when you catch yourself and realize how quickly and unnaturally you looked away.
"yes, thank you. we're just... deciding what to order..." yanfei clears her throat.
"alright. when you're ready, i'll be happy to take your order."
hu tao lightly kicks you under the table.
"ooh, ooh! y/n, we should try..." hu tao swoops the menu up close to her face and leans over to you. she mouths: "oh. my. god."
yanfei puts the menu down. "i'll have one-"
"one mango- no, one strawberry bingsu, one tiramisu, one peach ade, and a quick question. are the macchiatos here good, by any chance?" hu tao says.
yanfei kicks her shin under the table.
"ow! what was that for?"
"...oh, nothing. i wanted tiramisu anyway," yanfei crosses her arms, leaning back against her chair.
the waiter laughed as he scribbled down our order into a small notepad. "our macchiatos are great."
"oh! then we'll take two of those as well." hu tao grinned, "y/n, do you want anything?"
"was that all for you?!" you whisper in a hiss. "be considerate of what you'll actually eat..."
yanfei whispers. "yeah, be considerate of your wallet, too-"
"hey!" hu tao's brows furrow, giving yanfei the nastiest sneer only for yanfei to smugly grin in return. she turns her attention back to the waiter, forcing a painfully light-hearted grin, "this is our, uh, little treat! for passing the exam, right? we deserve it. go ahead, y/n."
hu tao gives you 'the look'. you suppose it's your turn to start talking.
you glance at the menu. "i'll have a grapefruit ade."
"is that all?" he says, and you nod. after scribbling that down and reciting basically hu tao's feast of an order, he begins to walk away.
"i'll have a grapefruit ade," hu tao mocks, "what was that?!"
"my order."
hu tao falls back into her seat, flailing her arms all around her. it was like a prepubescent teen throwing a tantrum: their back sliding down against a wall as they cover their face while crying dramatically. it's sad to see hu tao so disappointed in you, but what else could you have done? i'll have a grapefruit ade and your number. no way!
you sigh as you watch the buses and cars pass down the city roads outside.
"...are you okay, y/n?" yanfei says, "what's holding you back? i mean, hu tao was... right. if he has a girlfriend, then he'll say so," she shrugs, "but it's up to you. i don't want to force you to do something you don't want to." she deadpans, turning her head to stare at hu tao for a second.
"...what're you looking at me for?" hu tao says through a sob. yanfei continues.
"and if he's got a shitty personality, i think you'll be able to tell right away."
you look at hu tao, who was probably seriously crying by now, look at yanfei, then look back at your water. "then, i guess i'll try...?"
hu tao springs back up. "you will?!"
"yeah, but-"
"great! so, so. i was thinking. we should ask him what college he goes to."
"maybe he goes to the one we go to since it's nearby. i don't know how we would bring up the topic of college with a waiter, though." yanfei says, her chin resting on her palm.
"yeah, yeah. okay so, anyways, yanfei and i could leave when we're done. before you go, though, talk to him!" hu tao says.
"that's a tall order," you wince, "plus-"
"maybe ask one of his co-workers for his number," yanfei suggests.
"but what if they like him? then what?" hu tao says.
"then i don't know," she shrugs.
"there's just a lot that could go wrong with that. i've seen it in every tv-show, every movie, every book," she rolls her eyes, "talking to him is the best option."
"but it's been a while since i've even liked someone, hu tao. i've never felt this way in months. years, even," you say, "and in high school, i regretted everything about the one relationship i tried to take seriously."
a moment of silence between you three awkwardly seeps in through the sounds of buses and traffic in the city from the outside. while expressions of pity wash over hu tao and yanfei's faces, you look down. this isn't the first time they've heard about this. in fact, they helped you get through it, through the consequences of blatant immaturity and young romance, when you were all in high school. you focus on the smell of the café's coffee beans and the sounds of broken up conversations mixed throughout, chairs moving against the hardwood floor, laughing, and the occasional 'clinks' of mugs being set down on table surfaces. you stare down at your water and wished you weren't having this conversation right now.
hu tao reaches out, placing her hand on yours, then squeezing your fingertips lightly. "i know. but still, i don't want your memories of your last relationship to be filled with that person. it's okay to be afraid of heartbreak! that's why yanfei and i are here."
yanfei nods. "and that was high school. we were all young, and, you know...dumb. but you were still able to learn from it."
you stare down at the table and half smile, relieved. it feels strange when you three have such a serious and genuine conversation. strange, but a fuzzy and warm kind of strange.
"thoma," hu tao says.
"...what?" you say.
"looked at the employee card. his name is thoma," she grins, in the same mischievous way you're so familiar with.
"do you think that was dumb?" you say as you walk out of the café.
hu tao grabs your shoulders. "listen, y/n. listen. it doesn't even matter. we don't even know how he'll react to it. and he might even ignore it. you know, if he has-"
"oh my god hu tao. it's over already! and y/n will let us know how it went. could you stop acting like that was the most eventful thing that happened to us today? we barely passed our exam, not even two hours ago."
"ah... i guess we should go study then." hu tao suggests, probably her first good one of the day between you three.
ayaka places the machine's portafilter into the group head, waiting for the coffee to flow through. "hey, thoma, do you know if they paid? those girls who just left."
"huh? oh, them? yeah. why?" he replies in a breathy voice as he wipes down a surface that was once stained by coffee mug rings.
"oh... they left a lot of food. look," she gestures over to the table.
thoma stares at the bingsu, the macchiatos, and the half-dranken grapefruit ade. "hm. yeah, they ordered a lot... do you think they'll come back and get it?"
"yeah, i don't know. maybe set the food aside so you can clean the table? we can throw it out later if they don't come by."
after placing all their food and cups on a separate tray, thoma sets it on a counter and begins to wipe down their table.
"oh! are you ready to order? i'll be right with you." thoma says to customers at another table even though he has to arrange the haphazardly-placed dishes in the kitchen sink and wipe down five or six more counters at the least. it's only two in the afternoon, and the rush of customers has left the café workers nothing but busy. busy enough to even miss a napkin note placed among 'finished' sweet desserts at a particular table.
the view of the sunset through the library's window's made you sleepy. you shiver at your random notice of the ac's coldness and rest your head down on a mount of books among notebook paper and its ripped off spine scraps. hu tao leans back in a stretch, tipping her chair. she rests her head down in front of you. you both stare at yanfei, whose mind was working faster than her mechanical pencil. she writes aggressively with full focus, though looking down at her heavily annotated "theory of criminal law" book or her computer screen often to tap the pad or scroll or push up her glasses by the rim. you yawn as you trace out the letters on a one thousand paged textbook you three share, labelled "business law". just looking at the times new roman font italicized and bolded made you want to knock out right then and there.
"aw," hu tao coos, "you haven't worn your glasses in a while. let me see them."
yanfei hands over her glasses without resisting, but she still remained persistent with her feverish studying. hu tao grabs yanfei's glasses completely by the lenses, dirtying them with faint fingerprints.
"wait, why did i even give you- hey! what the hell?! give them back!" yanfei snaps in a whisper.
you tune out of their hushed fight completely until a ding from your phone pulls you out of your trance. you grab your phone in a cold sweat and jam in your password.
"guys," you say.
"is it him?" yanfei rushes over by your side.
"who is it? who is it?!" hu tao lunges over the table, ignoring some papers and other study utensils falling.
anonymous
hey :)
"shit. is that it? seriously?" hu tao grips your phone tightly, holding the screen so close to her face as you slam your head back down to the table and into your arms, burying your face completely. a mixture of humiliating excitement and shock fluctuates in your stomach.
"what else do you want him to say?" yanfei sighs.
"dunno. i guess i expected something more interesting...?" hu tao sits back, resting her hands behind her head.
"what now...?" you look up at hu tao and yanfei, eyes wide and urgent.
"well, you should reply," yanfei sits back down, cleaning her glasses lenses with a small cloth. "just be friendly."
hu tao slams your phone face-down onto the table frantically. "no, stop. we gotta wait at least a few minutes before we can reply-"
"oh my god," yanfei laughs to herself in disbelief at hu tao's ridiculously useless pieces of advice and continues her typing.
"hmm, i think you should introduce yourself, first. and then... maybe ask him what college he goes to?"
you stare at your phone screen, gripping the sides hardly. you impatiently decide that it's been 'a few minutes', and begin to type your response.
anonymous
hi!! i was at the café earlier with my friends.
thoma, right?
"what'd you say?" yanfei asked. you flip your phone over to show them. they crowd their faces in front of the screen, reading your text messages over and over and waiting for a reply. only then did you realize how fast your heart was beating. after taking a deep breath and a sip from your water bottle, you rest your head once more, closing your eyes and hoping that a small nap would ease your blushing cheeks and pathetic crush.
"can't we just turn around? you know, go somewhere else to eat? i left my wallet at home..."
"yeah, we know."
"there's no turning back, childe. we're already here."
"but i left my-"
"we know you just don't want to pay, man."
"...but i have to save up. for books."
"last time we went out, bennett paid, and his wallet was pretty thin to begin with-"
"hey!"
"so if bennett can do it, you can do it."
itto puts his hand on childe's shoulder, gazing up at the café and squinting because of the 3pm sunshine. "sorry, childe. we gotta stick to the rotation. but i'm glad you're worrying about your books! you know, there are people out there saving up altogether so they can share a one thousand paged textbook," overwhelmed by some twisted gratefulness, itto spits the words out of his mouth as if that situation was rock-bottom.
"woah, you know people who do that?"
"well, no...i'm just saying."
swallowing their nervousness, the four step into the café. what was supposed to be a simple treat became something more stressful than anything they've ever experienced. upon their entrance, the smell of fresh, bitter coffee and foreign sweets such as affogato, tiramisu, and cheesecake all mixed together numbed their senses with delight. shifts of attention and constant glances from judgy couples and groups of girls pushed them to advance further. it was like they were in a maze, or a jungle. or both.
"woah, childe..." bennett says.
"what?"
"consider this your lucky day. look, free food..." bennett gestures over to a set-aside plate with bingsu, macchiatos, and other half-drunken drinks. "we hit the target. no, we won the lotto!"
scaramouche shushes bennett.
"gosh, you're... you're gross," itto whispers. "let's check it out."
the two of them hurry over to the plate like their lives depended on it. as shameless as the two were, they still tried their best to be somewhat discreet with their actions, but the outcome was still shady as hell and they were inches away from getting kicked out.
scaramouche puts his hands next to his lips, as if the point were to project his voice and make his words seem more 'meaningful'.
"you guys are gross!" he calls out, crosses his arms, and stares with a disgusted expression.
"why're they inspecting it like that?" childe mumbles to scaramouche.
"we're gonna get kicked out," he replies.
"at this point, i hope we do."
passing by itto and bennett, who were like detectives in stereotypical long brown suede coats and magnifying glasses as they got every angle of the food, scaramouche and childe walked up near the cashier to view the menu. they read each of the dessert's descriptions with confusion and stare at the prices in horror.
"...what is mysore raspberry sauce? does that even belong on cheesecake?" scaramouche says.
"woah, check out the description under the tiramisu. ooh, do you think they have castella?" childe says as his eyes dart around the menu.
"hello, you can seat yourselves anywhere you'd like. a waiter will be with you shortly," a voice says from behind the counter.
"ah, thank you," childe looks up, "huh? ayaka? oh, hey, it's been a while! i didn't think i'd see you here."
"childe? oh god, not you again," she teases, though maintaining her calm composure under the busyness of the café.
"aw, are you not excited to see me?" he laughs.
"you know her?" scaramouche asks, looking up from the the menu.
"we're good friends," he returns, "so how've you been?"
"ah, very busy," she sighs, "and you?"
"i'm alright. but i'm here with, uh, a couple of friends," he grins as he attempts to block the view of itto and bennett at the plate of food behind him.
"childe! childe! you gotta see this!"
"shit, here they come..." scaramouche mumbles.
"um! i'll be right back, then we can talk, okay?" childe says as he turns around, waving back at ayaka.
childe and scaramouche can only hope that what itto and bennett are about to say to them won't get them kicked out or get them any additional stares, because honestly, they can never predict what they're about to say. "never let 'em predict your next move" is what itto and bennett always said, but whatever endeavor they got into right after always got them into some kind of trouble.
"we have made a discovery." bennett declares, closing his eyes and resting his hand over his heart passionately.
scaramouche's face drops completely with dread. "what. you played some detective and found some spit on the straw? well i'd sure hope so 'cause that food's not ours-"
"we found a note. look," itto hands it to childe.
childe takes the napkin and flips it over to read it. he gulps.
hi :) text me?
82105557459
childe pauses before throwing his head back and bringing the napkin up to his forehead in disbelief. he lets out a hysterical laugh. "that's hilarious! is this a joke? did one of you write this?"
"no, no! we're serious," bennett says, "we found that on the plate."
"what? let me see," scaramouche grabs the napkin away from childe's grasp. after a second of looking at it, a grin creeps up on his face.
"so, what? did that person get rejected or something? 'cause i'm pretty sure notes like that are kept by the person they're for," childe takes the note back.
"well, i don't know. i mean, there was a lot of food," itto says.
"so are you guys full now? we can leave this café, then. i have a better idea," scaramouche says.
"scaramouche, what do you- what?! you think we actually ate the-"
"oh, yeah. precisely."
"let's find a table, then. i'm hungry," itto trails off until he finds a table he likes, near the window.
the four of them get seated, stomachs terribly empty, only chowing down on the words on the menu. after exchanging and rearranging their order, a waiter comes to take it.
"is that it for you all?"
"yes, thank you," childe says as the three hand their menus over.
"so scaramouche, what was your 'better idea'?" bennett says as he slips off the straw paper.
"oh, i almost forgot," scaramouche says, "childe, you have the note, right?"
"...yeah, why?"
"you should text it," he grins.
anonymous
yes, this is thoma :)