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Shit.
Branzy found himself stumbling out of an alleyway, skateboard in hand, before smoothly dropping the board and letting it roll across the unpolished concrete sidewalk until he hopped onto the moving ride. The albino turned his head towards his pursuers, smirking as he gained distance between himself and the group.
This was all fun and games until Branzy realized,
They're catching up.
With this in mind, a sense of panic overcame the albino. Quickly, he began to kick off with his leg again, desperate to escape potential danger. Then, he sighed in relief as he expanded the distance and watched the group gradually grow smaller. But, this feeling of cockiness would quickly be washed away as Branzy rode towards a rather busy crowd.
He had tried to maneuver through everyone, he indeed did, but with the remembrance of his earlier pursuers possibly catching up, he hastily got through the crowd, however nervous. The albino's overall plan had been executed correctly until a tall ravenette stepped out of a store nearly right as he came by. "WATCH OUT-"Branzy had yelled, his voice leaking with dismay.
However, this warning had not done much as the other turned his head right as Branzy came crashing into him, yelping upon impact. The albino stumbled backward on his skateboard before quickly getting off and picking up the board, profusely apologizing to the ravenette. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry- I didn't mean to run into you! I was just in a hurry and-"
A groan hastily cut him off before a somewhat mumbled, "It's fine." Hearing this, Branzy had cringed. He did NOT want to be the reason to ruin someone's day. More or less, be on another person's bad side. And right before he was going to attempt to help the mystery boy out, he heard a distinguished yell.
"DON'T THINK WE DIDN'T FOLLOW YOU, BRANZY!" Hearing this, his eyes went wide. He quickly looked up to the ravenette and back to his skateboard before saying, "OKAY- THAT'S MY QUE TO LEAVE!" afterward, swiftly getting onto the board and kicking off.
The ravenette simply blinked momentarily before realizing what was happening and wanting to return the help to the other. He had shouted, "WAIT UP!" before running to catch up with the skater, occasionally stopping to hold his shin, cringing from his earlier experience.
Honestly, the ravenette didn't have a clue as to why he gravitated towards helping the other. Something about him, something intriguing, looping him into following the skater. However, taking a moment to look behind them made him quickly realize that there wasn't a point in stopping. He looked like he was a part of the situation now and likely wouldn't get out of it.
So, with that thought in mind, he kept in step with the other, not stopping to look back again for his own good.
Multitasking wasn't Branzy's thing, and it was even worse when he had a stranger in step with his skateboard. "What're you doing?! I don't even know you-" Branzy asked, frantically attempting to look behind them and give the man his attention as he nearly lost balance on his board from this.
The ravenette snickered at Branzy's struggle before responding, "Okay, I go by Clown. See! Now you know me!" Clown smiled faintly afterward as he started to find a sort of exhilaration he hadn't felt in a while from whatever kind of chase this was. Either way, Branzy did NOT like this. He couldn't control what was happening, having some supposed 'clown' or something running with him while being chased by a literal pack of psychos. Well, wait. The man wasn't a clown, was he? Well, not a literal clown. His face wasn't painted with white and red marks, nor was any colorful hair. Now studying Clown's face, he was attractive. He had an appealing facial structure, with a prominent jawline and dull-looking gray eyes that stood out more than anything- maybe because it was an overall rare eye color. The man as well had shoulder-length hair, seemingly dyed black. It had been halfway tied up into a ponytail, although short. Clown was mesmerizing. And this guy, of all people, was following Branzy? Why him? He didn't consider himself to have distinguishable features, so nothing clicked in his head.
"Hellooo? Earth to skater boy?" Clown blinked.
Branzy shrieked, startled by the welcome back to reality. He went stumbling off his skateboard, Clown quickly reaching out for his wrist or hand, anything he could grab ahold of, and once he did, he attempted to keep both of them upright but quickly failed and tumbled down with the other. Laughing, he looked over to Branzy once he processed what happened, his smile fading to a frown once he saw how panicked the albino was. Clown looked behind them again, eyes widening as he realized how close Branzy's pursuers were. The ravenette hastily got up, yanking Branzy with him, forgetting the board. "HEY- CLOWN- MY SKATEBOARD!" Branzy yelled, becoming more distressed as he was dragged further away from one of his most prized possessions.
Clown sighed, hating to see the other suffer. "YOUR LIFE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A SKATEBOARD!" However much it hurt him to yell at this man he had just met, he had to. "Look, I know a place we can hide out at. Trust me." Branzy stared at the ravenette with a sort of desperate look, looking back at the board before giving in and nodding. Clown smiled softly at the response before running further down the sidewalk and eventually stopping at a cafe, dragging the other with him. Branzy squinted as he looked up to read the sign. ‘Heart Cafe’ Okay, that's kinda cheesy, especially since this is where Clown took them of all places. Oh well, anything to get out of that chase. The ravenette swung the door open, quickly bringing them inside as one of the cashiers greeted them, their nameplate reading 'Jaron.'
"Now that we're safe, what's your name?" Clown asked, curiously spilling over his dull tone.
"Why do you want to know?"
Clown sighed, rolling his eyes before saying, "Okay, now you're just being difficult- I kinda want to know the name of the person I just saved from some sort of chase. Besides, I gave you my name."
Branzy thought about this, blinking. He guessed that Clown had been right. The ravenette just saved him from utter doom, and he gave his name. "It's Branzy." The albino said, only a little thought behind it other than Clown's earlier points.
"Well, Branzy, do you want coffee?" The ravenette asked, leading Branzy over to the line to order, chuckling as he heard the employee dramatically gasp as it became their turn to order. "Hi, Jaron."
"Clown! You got a boyfriend? I am SO shocked right now!" Jaron had snickered after saying this, his voice leaking with sarcasm. He just couldn't help but tease Clown.
"Sure, Jaron." Branzy sheepishly laughed at Jaron's mockery, his face fading to a light pink as it spread across his cheeks and towards his ears.
"Just order, you idiot.." Clown blinked, taking a moment to process Branzy's request and rolling his eyes, giving Jaron his regular order before bringing the two of them to an empty table, sitting in a way where they were across from each other.
"So, you're a regular here?"
"Mhm! I know almost all of the baristas that work here."
"I kinda noticed."
Branzy sighed, toying with his fingers as the two sat in soft silence, mentally cringing to himself about how he could barely even hold a conversation. If he could get himself to talk, that would be nice. But that clearly isn't going to happen today.
The albino quickly looked up once he heard Clown speaking to an unfamiliar voice. Probably another worker he knew. His nameplate on his apron read, 'Planet.' He looked somewhat similar to Branzy, having the same shade of white hair. But, otherwise, they were different. Planet stood shorter in height and had pale blue eyes, unlike Branzy's almost violet ones. And, Planet had a seemingly smoother, quiet tone compared to Branzy. But he should work on getting his voice to not be so raspy.
"Okay then, Clown. That still doesn't explain why you suddenly pulled up with some guy."
"I felt like it."
"Mhm, right. So are you two dating?"
"No! Nonono-"
Branzy buried his face into his hands, grumbling. "Dear god, why does everyone here think we're dating?!" He continued whining about it, glancing at Clown and Planet when he peaked through his hands before dropping them from his face and back into his lap.
Planet shrugged, not really sure what to say. "You look like Clown's type, I guess. Plus, it's funny to watch both of you suffer."
"You're not wrong. He's pretty." Clown had made direct eye contact with Branzy, watching him go red before smirking and looking back to Planet. He didn't think the other could get any more embarrassed, but he did.
"PLEASE. Stop"
"Why? It's true."
"I beg to differ- Besides, it's embarrassing.."
Clown just smiled, nearly turning this into a game. He could get used to seeing the albino around. Besides, the ravenette knew what he was doing, and so did Branzy. "I'll bring your coffee in a moment," Planet said blankly, giving Clown a knowing look before walking away and going toward the back.
When the other had left, Clown immediately looked to Branzy. "So, why were you running from… Whatever that was." The ravenette laughed as he watched Branzy become flushed, clearly embarrassed.
"Okay, look- Maybe there are better ideas than trying and continuously stealing from... I dunno, known criminals?"
"What." Clown blinked, mouth slightly agape. What the fuck did he just hear? He's had his fair share of illegal actions, but what? He just didn't expect it.
"It's a long story, honestly.
"Uhm, okay! Maybe for another time?"
Branzy nodded his head, tensely smiling.
~
Planet's mind had wandered off as he walked to the back of the cafe, slightly smiling. He definitely was going to tell Jaron and Bacon what just happened. Once he got behind the counter, he rushed over to Jaron, grabbed the hem of his shirt, and pulled him to the kitchen where Bacon was. "Clown is NOT slick-"Jaron snickered as Bacon's mouth went wide, immediately begging Planet to tell him whatever happened. "Okay, so basically, like Clown came in with this white-haired guy and kept embarrassing him. They were flirting, I guess."
"WHAT? I GOTTA SEE THIS KID-"Bacon pushed through his two friends, yelping when Planet grabbed the collar of his shirt, yanking him back.
Chuckling, Planet said, "You can see him when you take their coffees out there." He found it amusing to watch his friends freak out about a random crush Clown had. Although, he couldn't argue against his own thoughts. He loved a good gossiping session.
"Fine, I'll go ahead and take them their drinks then. It was an Affogato and a Coconut Mocha, right?" Bacon asked as he already reached for the drinks, barely doubting himself. He mainly just asked for the security of it- and as he expected, Jaron nodded as he opened the door to go back to the cash register, the brunet not far behind him.
~
"One Affogato and Coconut Mocha?" Bacon asked, gently smiling as he gave them their respective drinks. Unlike Jaron and Planet, he didn't want to pry about the man Clown brought with him. While he was naturally curious, he guessed that the ravenette had experienced enough gossiping behavior for one day. So after the duo thanked him, he gave the regular, 'Enjoy your drinks!' response and returned to the kitchen, having one more curiosity of the day in his mind.
Branzy grabbed the glass of coconut mocha, glancing up to Clown before grabbing a straw for his drink and handing the ravenette a spoon for his affogato. Clown silently thanked him, taking the silverware before indulging in the precious beverage. Or, more of, a sweet.
"Since you've asked me about myself, what about you?" Branzy asked, taking a sip from his mocha. Clown sighed, taking a bite from his expresso soaked icecream.
"Well, I'm in my junior year of college. I was originally a computer science major but switched to business management! Crazy, right?" He said, seemingly enthusiastic about his future plans. Branzy was half-minded to ask about it but had figured that it was likely something Clown wanted to keep to himself. So instead, he decided to talk about his own major. "I thought about doing computer science too! Although, I stuck with mechanical engineering. I'm in my final year, thankfully."
Clown was amused by the last sentence Branzy said, letting out a quiet chuckle and smiling. "Glad you're almost finished with school, yeah?" he questioned, taking another bite of his unnecessarily sweet but exquisite ice cream. If he didn't eat it quicker, it would melt soon. Then, almost as if Branzy could read the other's thoughts, he watched the sugary substance melt into the espresso, slowly turning into a drink.
It took him a moment that the ravenette was actually talking to him, blinking as he looked up in a panic before processing what he heard. "Yeah! Definitely. I sorta only went to college for my parents anyway." The albino shrugged, not having many opinions as he watched Clown nod in understanding.
"I get that. I wouldn't attend school if I didn't want to own a business."
Branzy slightly tilted his head, asking, "What kind of business?" He wasn't sure why he was so curious about it, but it didn't hurt to ask.
"Uhm, it's kind of weird, but I want to run a casino." Clown said, looking down as if he was embarrassed as Branzy's gaze studied him.
"Huh." That is all that the albino said. Not sure what to make out of that. He guessed it was decent business? The house always wins, usually.
Clown was about to speak, mouth agape, before being cut off by his phone's 'ding!'. He quickly pulled it out of his pocket as the other watched him, blankly staring.
"I'm really sorry, but- I have to go." The ravenette frowned, sighing as he looked around for a napkin before pulling out a pen and writing his number.
"Hey! What about my skateboard?" Branzy shouted accusingly, still upset as he remembered the board. He put so much money into that thing, and now it was all down the drain.
He was about to speak again before Clown slipped the napkin over to the albino as he left. "Don't worry. Text me, and we'll figure it out. And maybe we'll talk about more than just your skateboard." He said, rolling his eyes as he waved goodbye to Branzy, opening the door as he heard the familiar ding of the bell as he exited.
Branzy sat there baffled, staring at the door before turning to the napkin, faintly grinning as he saw the numbers on the paper with a small clown face below it.
Maybe he would get his skateboard paid for.
And maybe he’d end up with a new partner in crime.