Chapter Text
“Hmm…”
Something not too heavy, and maybe something sweet… I feel a bit tired.
…
“That’ll be five dollars…” said the cashier distractedly, who was gingerly fitting the items into a bag. “You didn’t like the other brand?”
Beryl blinked, surprised to be spoken to off-script, and not comprehending the question being asked.
“Huh? Sorry, brand..?” he said, tilting his head a little. It took him a moment to register the fact that the cashier— now his eyes wandered down to a name tag which read, ‘Sapphire’— Sapphire was turning over his can of milk tea in his hand, looking it over before tucking it away among the other items. “…Oh, there’s more than one?”
Now that he looked at his face again, this person seemed vaguely familiar. He did come here almost everyday, after all… Maybe this person had rung him up a number of times, actually.
“Eh? You didn’t change it on purpose?” Sapphire made a bit of a face, like he couldn’t really understand Beryl’s reaction. He knew it would be in poor taste to tease him, but… “Of course there are different brands… it’s a store. You usually get the ones with the blue label; I thought you had a preference.”
“I never noticed,” Beryl said sheepishly, flashing him a smile that was charming even in its carelessness.
“You know, I think they actually did rearrange some of the shelves…” Sapphire mused, leaning over to glimpse down the drinks aisle. Then he giggled, sliding the bag across the counter to him. “You probably just reach for the same spot every time, don’t you?”
Beryl blinked, wondering what was funny about that— but because he detected no meanness in Sapphire’s laugh or his bright expression, it didn’t bother him. Rather, it was kind of charming— if odd, to only just notice someone who had apparently been paying some amount of attention to him.
“I guess so,” he replied, taking the handles of the plastic bag. “…Is one brand better than the other, do you think?”
“Ah, hm… not particularly, but I prefer this one because it’s sweeter,” Sapphire said, pointing to the bag. “But you can let me know which one you liked next time!”
Beryl smiled at that and gave a pleasant nod.
“Okay,” he said as he shoved his wallet into his pocket and turned on his heel to leave.
Next time, huh…
What a strange feeling.
—
Beryl sat in the park a few blocks away and slowly unpacked the things he’d bought, laying them out on the bench next to him in a small row: two onigiri, one filled with pickled plum and the other with tuna, a small package of coconut-flavored butter cookies, and the canned tea, which should have enough caffeine in it to keep him alert through the rest of the work day.
He started on one of the onigiri, managing to cram nearly half of one into his mouth in one bite. Since working full-time, he’d grown a bad habit of eating too quickly— when he ate out here (which, weather permitting, was nearly every day at this point), he knew no one was around to bother being polite to. And he usually pushed himself to finish as much of his work in the morning as possible, leaving himself rather hungry by the early afternoon.
He did get a full hour for his break, but he was usually back at his desk in half that, completely absorbed in his work before any of his colleagues could even return.
It wasn’t that he was avoiding socializing with them— at least not actively. It was mostly by accident, since the rest of them tended to bring their lunch from home or order as a group to eat in the office, both things he had little interest in.
Though he did like it, food didn’t inherently brighten his mood; during the workday it didn’t make much sense to indulge. Not that he ever really did during his off-hours either, but… well, why bother with trivial things like that as a single man living alone, anyway?
But eventually in spite of himself, he did grow a fondness for this little routine: stepping out a few minutes early and allowing himself the luxury of buying something from the convenience store each day, choosing according to his whims. It was a bit like being in high school again; even his tastes hadn’t changed much.
Though it wasn’t anything special, he was pleased he’d discovered this place, taking comfort in its familiar mundanity. And, maybe this was the wrong way to feel, but he was also relieved that no one from work ever tried to tag along… There was something relaxing about the anonymity of sitting in the park, mostly empty and refreshingly quiet while school children were all in their classes.
As he stuffed the now empty wrappers from his onigiri back into the bag to be thrown away, he leaned back in the bench as he cracked the seal on the can of milk tea.
A different brand, huh…
Thinking about his exchange with the cashier— whose name was rapidly escaping his memory— he gave it a cursory sniff before taking a sip, then finished the rest of it between bites of the cookies he bought.
I guess it is pretty sweet, he thought, tipping the last of it into his mouth before sighing. It wasn’t his usual taste, but given that on this day in particular he was looking for a pick me up, he didn’t mind it as much as he was expecting.
—
I wonder if he liked it…
Sapphire was working slowly as he let his mind wander, absentmindedly straightening out the shelves, collecting and returning stray products to their respective displays.
He picked up a can of milk tea with a blue label on it, then held it up next to the one Beryl had purchased earlier.
They really do look totally different from one another…
He couldn’t help but smile.