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The bells hanging from the front door of the boba shop ring out as Dice shoves it open, letting Gentaro inside before entering himself. The sweet aroma surrounding the shop instantly invades his senses and Dice subconsciously licks his lips. Gentaro had invited Dice out on a whim for lunch (Gentaro’s treat) and a quick shopping spree (Dice carried his bags as payment) and Dice eagerly accepted as per usual. Nothing to do today but wait with bated breath for his next gambling session tonight. So, if Gentaro wanted someone to aid him in his spending then who was Dice to decline? Besides, a free meal is a free meal and Dice’s second motto (after ‘love the life you live, live the life you love”) is “always accept free stuff.”
They get in line and Dice scours the menu for something that sounds appetizing. The assortment of options heading the menu leaves Dice indecisive, unsure of what half of the words mean or what the drinks will taste like. Maybe he should just pick a random combination and hope it tastes good. He tries to rack his brain for something Ramuda has recommended to them before when Gentaro clears his throat, eyes still trained on the menu in front of them.
“I’ve heard the brown sugar milk tea is a fairly popular menu item in Shibuya.”
Dice perks up at the name. Oh, that one sounds vaguely familiar. “Oh yeah, I think I’ve heard of it before. Have you ever tried it?”
Gentaro looks matter-of-factly at him. “Why of course. In fact, I’ve consumed so much of it in the past few months that I went to the doctor just the other day and they said that I do not have any more blood left in me and it has all been replaced by liquified brown sugar. I only have a few more weeks to live I’m afraid…”
Dice blinks. “You’re kidding…”
“I am.”
Dice clicks his tongue. “Geez, don’t scare me like that, dude.”
Gentaro chuckles quietly to himself, “Is the mere thought of me dying that scary to you?”
“It’s terrifying,” Dice answers with no hesitation and he sees Gentaro’s face contort into a look of surprise before schooling itself back into a neutral position.
“Well, rest assured I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
“Good.” Dice grunts, scooting up in line as the people in front of them move to the counter. Soon they’re next in line and Dice still hasn’t decided what he wants to drink. He scratches his head, irritated at his indecision until Gentaro lifts a hand to pause Dice’s thoughts and moves ahead to the counter.
Gentaro orders a plain brown sugar milk tea for himself and a taro smoothie with added tapioca for Dice. They take a seat at an unoccupied table and wait patiently for their order number to be called. Gentaro inspects one of the new books he just bought during their previous excursion, while Dice fiddles with the charm hanging from his hair, bored. Then he remembers the deck of cards he won from the prize counter the last time he and Gentaro accompanied Ramuda to Chuck E. Cheese on a very special ‘posse bonding mission’ to get as many tickets as possible to win the very pretty and very cute strawberry cow squishmallow sitting on the top shelf. Unfortunately, they didn't end up raising enough ticket funds in the end, but at least Dice got some sick ass playing cards out of it.
“Wanna play a game?”
He grabs Gentaro’s attention, who shortly closes his book one-handed and sets it down on the table. “What kind of game did you have in mind?”
Dice shuffles the cards deftly between them and hums thoughtfully. “Ever play Stress?”
“I don’t play it, I live it.” Gentaro deadpans, but Dice only stares at him until he continues, “Anyway, how do you play?”
“It’s real easy! Basically, we each get groups of four cards each with four cards set in the middle and the point is for us to match four of a kind of the cards that we have. We can trade cards from the four in the middle and from our personal decks, but we can only hold one deck at a time. The first one to match up all of their cars and say “Stress!” wins. It’s fun, I swear! I’ll show you the ropes.” Dice explains proudly. So, Gentaro sits and watches Dice carefully as he leads them through a practice round of the game and eventually through a real round that Dice inevitably wins.
Soon, their order number is called and Dice heads over to the counter to pick up their drinks and brings them back, setting them both down on their table as Gentaro is gathering the playing cards together. They go another few rounds of the game where Gentaro seems to be on a winning streak much to Dice’s dismay. Stressed, Dice takes a long sip from his drink. Gentaro watches the boba shoot up his straw into Dice’s waiting mouth.
He recoils immediately and swallows thickly. “Oh shit, is it bad to swallow these things whole?”
Dice watches Gentaro for an answer, but he doesn’t like the grim look of shock that paints itself over Gentaro’s expression as he brings a hand to hover over his mouth.
“Oh my, Dice! Are you telling me you’ve been eating them this whole time?”
Dice hesitates before answering, “...Yeah. Was I not supposed to eat them??”
Gentaro suddenly looks serious, his own tapioca-less drink sitting suddenly abandoned on the table between them as he rests his elbows on the table and clasps his hands together in thought. “This is not good, Dice. Those little black balls are mere decorations. Made of a toxic substance that could surely kill you if too many are ingested. How many have you eaten?”
Dice can feel sweat drip nervously down his forehead in fear. “Uhh, like…at least half of them??” he pauses at the realization and gives Gentaro a look of pure terror. “Am I gonna die?”
Gentaro sighs, his mouth set in a straight, firm line. “Alas, I’m afraid your worst fears may come true. It was nice knowing you Dice…well, that was a lie.”
“Huh?”
Gentaro hides a cheeky grin behind the sleeve of his kosode as he watches Dice’s face contort into a myriad of emotions at his confession. “I was only kidding. You’ll be fine.”
Dice lets out the breath he was holding and throws his arms across the table in defeat, nearly knocking his drink all over his prized mouse-themed playing cards in the process. Gentaro can practically hear the pain in his voice as Dice groans, “GENTAROOOOOO!”
Gentaro only laughs in response, making Dice grumble and suck on his straw bitterly. It takes a minute of disgruntled silence for Gentaro to shift in his seat, propping his cheek on one hand and watching Dice amusedly. “I really was only joking, Dice. Just wanted to have some fun.”
Dice huffs. “Yeah, at my expense.”
Gentaro hums thoughtfully then sits up straight. “Fine, then how can I make it up to you?”
Dice eyes him suspiciously as he finishes up the remnants of his drink. He knows better than to take what Gentaro says at face value. There’s always some double meaning to what he’s saying and Dice knows better than to fall for it (even if he does end up doing so every time anyway).
“Would you care for another meal? Free of charge of course.”
Dice contemplates it. Normally, he would accept a free meal without question, but the whole situation has soured any appetite that had grown since they had had lunch not too long ago. So, after thinking it over, he settles on something else.
“Your drink.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Dice adjusts in his seat, shifting his eyes between Gentaro and the drink in his hand. “Give me some of your drink and we’ll call it even.”
Gentaro looks surprised for a moment before picking up his cup and offering it to Dice. “Be my guest.”
Dice grabs it and takes a test sip, savoring the taste with a few clicks of his tongue. “Not bad. It’s actually pretty good!”
With a knowing smile, Gentaro takes the drink back from Dice’s grasp and takes his own sip. “I told you it was a popular flavor.” He offers the cup to Dice once more and Dice gladly accepts it, happily sipping from the straw once more.
The smile remains on Gentaro’s face as he continues to watch Dice, chin once again resting in his palm. “You know, there is a saying about sharing drinks with someone.”
Dice raises an eyebrow suspiciously. “Yeah?”
Gentaro nods. “They say that sharing drinks with another person is equivalent to sharing a romantic and intimate moment with your lover. So, Dice,” Gentaro brings both of his hands to his cheeks and bats his eyelashes at Dice bashfully, “Is this your way of saying I’m your lover?”
Dice doesn’t say anything at first. He continues to drink from Gentaro’s straw, leaving Gentaro to chuckle to himself. However, before he can chalk it all up to being another lie, Dice is getting up from his chair and places the nearly empty drink on the table.
Gentaro barely has time to speak before he realizes Dice is slowly inching forward, getting closer and closer to him. Gentaro finds himself leaning back instinctively, his mouth falling open in surprise without him realizing it.
“D-Dice?”
Dice moves past his face and settles himself next to the shell of Gentaro’s ear. The closeness of the both of them and the feeling of Dice’s breath at his ear are enough to make Gentaro’s heart pound incessantly.
“In that case, then I think your drink would have tasted better a different way.”
Gentaro suddenly feels very warm. The sheer absurdity of the whole situation makes his face flush a hue of red and all he can supply in response to Dice’s bold words is an undignified “Huh?”
Without another word, Dice slowly pulls away, taking with him the shopping bags Gentaro had placed on the back of his chair not too long after they settled at the table. He offers Gentaro a devious smile before moving passed him towards the shop entrance, lazily slinging the bags over his shoulder. “Phew, I’m beat! Let’s get this stuff back to yours, yeah?”
Gentaro blinks dumbly. It takes him a moment to process his words, but he eventually remembers himself and clumsily goes to toss his empty boba cup and follows swiftly after him. Gentaro isn’t sure what conclusion to draw from Dice’s sudden forwardness. Whether he was serious or joking. He does know, however, that when it comes to Dice, sometimes it’s better to just go with the flow and see where Dice leads them. So, he goes along, walking alongside Dice, on the way back to Gentaro’s home. Possibly in hopes that Dice will lead them both into something even better than what they have now.