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“Hey, hey, Nutmeg-nii! You can’t do that here!”
Mikoto stills, raising his head and turning his gaze to the doorway of the Café. The Café’s ever-friendly part-timer glares at him, untying his apron from behind, with a familiar irritated look. Once his apron is undone, he tosses it onto the back of a chair nearby before storming right up to Mikoto.
“How many times do I gotta say it?” Niki exclaims, exasperated, “You can’t smoke outside Café Cinnamon!”
“Oh, Shiiki! I didn’t know you were working today,” Mikoto replies casually. Taking the cigarette from his lips, he turns the burnt end towards his jeans and smothers it out against the fabric. “Sorry ‘bout that~ I’m on my lunch, so I thought I’d stop by, and…”
Instead of responding, Niki slaps the cigarette out of Mikoto’s hand. When it falls to the ground, he grinds it under his shoe’s heel.
“You’ve gotta stop smoking!” the idol huffs. “At least, stop smoking here. It’s driving away the customers. And stop burning holes in your clothes with these things! Are you planning on walking back into the office with ashes down your pants?!”
Mikoto stifles a laugh, his lips thinning into a forced smile as he crosses his arms and listens along to Niki’s nagging.
Nag, nag, nag.
Mikoto has issues with nags, frequent complainers, unwarranted and abusive criticism— yet when it came to Niki, nagging was different. A love language, he’d call it, and literal in Niki’s case. Whether it was take this portion home, you look like you’re still hungry! or you’ll catch a cold, idiot, take my jacket and walk home warm… no one said their I care so fiercely as Niki did.
It was cute, too, knowing that was his underlying intention, even if he weren’t conscious of it himself. Niki wouldn’t follow up every complaint with an act of kindness if he weren’t a sweet guy at heart.
“Hello? Nutmeg-nii? Did all that cigarette smoke funnel straight to your head and rot it completely?”
Niki balls his hand into a fist and knocks it against his own temple. “I tell ya again and again, the smoking’s doing you wrong! Quit cold turkey or I’m personally cooking your ass.”
He couldn’t hold back anymore.
Mikoto belts out laughter, arms wrapping over his stomach. He keels over, eyes squeezed shut with a hand slapping onto Niki’s shoulder, to Niki’s bewilderment.
“I-Is this how you always say ‘hello’ to people?” he stutters out between peals, wiping a tear from his eye with his wrist. “Or is it just me who gets the Shiina special?”
“‘The Shiina special’?!” Niki repeats, his nose wrinkling up, and the reaction makes Mikoto burst into another fit of laughter.
Indignant, Niki crosses his arms and huffs, “I can’t even look at you now, you’re reminding me of Rinne. I can’t have two Rinnes in my life. Y’know what? I’m not serving you today, how’s that?”
Mikoto suddenly shoots up, straightening out so fast, Niki jolts in surprise.
“Ahh, sorry, sorry! Please forgive me!” Mikoto clasps his hands together, bowing his head a bit. “I didn’t mean it, Shiiki, so please don’t take away my food discounts~~~”
“Well! You’ve stopped smoking, so you’re a customer of this establishment now.” Niki’s eyes narrow at Mikoto. “And I can totally hear you starving. Alright, then, welcome to Café Cinnamon.”
His face breaks into a wide grin. Mikoto takes up Niki’s hands, holding them intertwined in both his and swinging them high in the air. “Aahh, my savior Shiiki!! I’m indebted to you! I’ll quit smoking and I’ll do anything for you!”
“Woah! O-Okay! You can leave me be now! Calm down! Chill! Down, Nutmeg, down! I gotta take your order first before you eat!”