Chapter Text
Naib snorts to himself when spotting a by now familiar bunch of messy black locks approaching his workplace as he’s handing out another pack of popcorn to the customers in front of him.
Fucking addict.
It’s the third time this week.
The third time he’s seen that dude in this cinema, and it’s only Friday! Not mentioning that he’s been here many times last week already. Being greeted by the tall man with a bright grin he asks: “Let me guess, a medium popcorn and a coke, as always? What are you even watching this time?”
Ignoring his almost judgmental tone, the man simply answers with a shrug of shoulders and an indifferent: "I dunno." m aking the brunette crook a brow in confusion.
"What do you mean, you don't know?"
"Well, I'm not exactly here for the movies" states the ravenette, flashing him another smirk and successfully making the smaller man roll his eyes in annoyance at the riddle. He’s definitely not paid enough on this stupid part-time job to put up with idiots like him. Still, he plays along. To hell with his curiosity, really.
"But?" asks Naib in a voice that clearly indicates his annoyance about having to specifically ask for everything.
"But for the cute guy handing me the popcorn." The tall ravenette winks at him, grabs the snacks and leaves a flustered Naib behind, who grumbles something incoherent before asking the next customers for their order.
The more he thinks about it, the more he could slap himself. That dude was obviously flirting with him since a while now. Those pieces of paper with a phone number on them and the short message “call me <3” weren’t left on accident then either. The tanned man genuinely thought those weren’t addressed to him. Besides, that’s pretty cheesy. Simply sliding his number over the counter? He can’t be the only one the ravenette is doing this to.
“Yeah that’s right, he’s probably just a big flirt and tries his luck with everyone.” mutters the brunette that evening as he’s cleaning the counter with a sponge, lost in his thoughts and taking much longer than usual to close up the snack station. Even as he’s putting on his jacket, his mind is racing, thinking about all the encounters he’s had with the stranger before and just now noticing all his failed attempts to start a conversation with the tanned man and show him his interest. Naib sighs, puffing out a held breath in the night air as he’s exiting the cinema, starting his way back home.
Now that’s awkward.
The next day he’s already fearing to see the ravenette again. He’s been here every time the tanned man has a shift, so he probably won’t be able to dodge him today either. Hours pass by with the Nepali suspiciously glancing at the entrance every now and then when hearing a bunch of people entering the building. The cinema isn’t a big place, more like a little special attraction for a rather small town, but it’s visited very well with lots of customers acquiring his attention when ordering popcorn, snacks and drinks for their movie experience. Naib is too busy filling a paper bag with the sweet and salty corn so he doesn’t notice a pair of familiar shoes walking over the red carpeted floor to be the next in the queue. Only when he looks up, does the brunette freeze in place, looking into the (rather handsome, he must admit) face of the black haired man he hoped to avoid for today. Again he’s being greeted by a flashy smirk, and again it somehow ticks him off. There’s just something about this guy that scratches an itch inside the smaller man and he can’t really tell just yet if it’s a good or bad thing. Due to the embarrassing compliment last time, plus his own realization of the situation and the awkward tension, Naib is successfully avoiding eye contact and extinguishes every spark of a conversation. He's now ignoring the taller man’s obvious attempts to flirt and simply does his job as he should. At the same time his facial expression is giving away his state of mind, especially after the following question:"Wanna join me this time?"
Halting in his tracks, exhaling a sigh, Naib looks up with a slight scowl, answering: "Dude, I'm working here. I can't just leave."
But instead of looking sad about the rejection, the ravenette in front of him smiles even brighter. Onyx orbs glistening in surprise as he muses: "So that means you would like to, but you can't?"
Rolling his eyes with a click of his tongue, Naib shoves the man’s order towards him and mutters a quiet: "Whatever... just take your snacks and leave."
Norton is sitting in one of the cushioned chairs, bored and skipping through his phone. Honestly, he doesn’t care about the movies at all, not even remembering the name of the one he’s “watching” this time. Snorting at a post online, he munches on the popcorn he got from Naib. He’s lucky to know the brunette’s name since the staff members have to wear a name tag on their working attire, making it easy for him to find the smaller man’s social media accounts. After some research he figured out that the handsome Nepali is single and even into dudes! Sometimes he wonders if he’s a bit too invested, since Naib isn’t really showing any interest in him so far but maybe he just has to work a bit harder for the brunette’s attention. He already got a solid crush on him, so he’s going to try to impress the tanned man for a bit longer before waving the white flag and probably downing his heartache in a big bowl of ice cream alone in his apartment while listening to sad music. Yeah, sounds pretty acurate.
The movie is already playing for around 20 minutes when someone is trying to shuffle through his line, making the other guests move to the side to let them pass by.
Pretty late for the movie, huh.
Norton is about to move his legs as well, when all of a sudden the person is sitting down right next to him with a huff.
"Hand over the popcorn" suddenly mutters a very familiar voice, making the ravenette look up in confusion only to see the guy he has a crush, on sitting right next to him with a thin-lipped smile.
"What about your job?" asks Norton in a hushed tone as in not to disturb the other’s who ACTUALLY want to watch whatever is playing. Mild concern laces his voice but theres much more pleasant surprise audible than anything else.
"I wanted to quit anyway." mumbles Naib quietly, before grabbing a hand full of popcorn and stuffing it in his mouth.
“That movie was awful.” snorts the tanned man as the pair is exiting the hall around an hour later, making the taller of the two shrug his shoulders with a sheepish expression.
“To be honest, I didn’t even check what it’s about before getting a ticket.” Eyeing the brunette for a split second, Norton thinks about his next move, he doesn’t want to part ways just now that he has the other’s attention.
“So… since you’re basically off your shift now, how about we grab something to eat? Popcorn isn’t really a proper dinner.” He watches how Naib chuckles quietly before glancing up at the ravenette with an amused smile.
“Sounds good, just let me change clothes real quick and grab my things from the staff’s room.”
Following the tanned man, Norton is being led through a door which continues into a small hallway and through another entrance which is only for the employees of the cinema. While waiting for Naib to come back out, the ravenette is looking around. The hallway is dimly illuminated while he can faintly hear some movie trailer in the background from the main hall. There are a bunch of random pictures on the walls and the red carpet even plasters the floor in this area as well. Around 10 minutes later the smaller man exits the room, having his working uniform traded against his casual clothes which still look attractive on him, even if Norton almost misses the cute white and red shirt of the attire.
“Where are we going anyway?” asks the Nepali, putting his bag around his shoulder and stuffing his hands in the pocket of his hoodie.
“How does a pizzeria sound?”
...
On their way to the parking lot, Naib is scanning the vehicles around them, wondering which one of them belongs to the taller man. He himself uses public transport because the parking situation here is horrible and he’s faster that way, since his home isn’t far from the cinema either. They fall into a casual chat, asking trivial things like where they live, what they currently do (turns out they’re both studying at the same university) and so on, until they come to a halt in front of a motorcycle. The brunette crooks a brow at that while his companion smiles smugly.
“Cool, huh?”
“Didn’t expect you to drive something like that.” Naib eyes the ravenette who still looks a bit too proud for his taste before musing: “I would have expected some cheap ass wreck when looking at you.”
The offended pout accompanied by a loudly gasped: “Rude!” elicits a genuine laugh from the shorter man before lightly patting the other’s arm.
“I’m joking. Yes, it’s pretty cool.”
The ride was a little awkward, at least in Naib’s perspective. Norton on the other side enjoyed every second of the tanned man holding onto him while he’s maneuvering them to their destination. Coming to speak of it, turns out both of them like to visit this pizzeria in particular which opens another conversation about favorite toppings, foods in general and some more likes and dislikes of each other while enjoying their meal. Turns out the Nepali has a sweet tooth, something Norton is going to keep in mind for the next time. If they’ll meet a second time, that is.
As they get more comfortable around each other, conversation literally never coming to a stop, the time just flashes by. Customers come and go until they’re only one of the last few people in the whole place. The sky has turned dark long ago, while the moon shines down on them from through the window while they enjoy each other’s company, sharing laughs and stories.
It’s past midnight when they finally decide to part ways after Norton insists on accompanying the brunette to the next bus stop so he can get home. He already offered to drive Naib home himself but the tanned man declined, saying he’s done enough for him today.
Together they wait for the bus to arrive and as it comes to saying goodbye, things become complicated. The tanned man is fine with a simple wave, about to step into the vehicle, while Norton has other plans. Before the smaller man can turn around, he locks him in a gentle hug. When letting go of him again with a satisfied smile, Naib is simply blinking at him in silence for a moment.
“Uhm… see ya then… I guess.” stammers the brunette before quickly vanishing inside the bus, leaving behind a still brightly smiling Norton.
...
It takes a solid 20 minutes with his motorbike until he finally arrives at his own home. Throwing off his jacket, he absentmindedly kicks his shoes in a corner near the door, trying not to make too much noise as to not disturb his roommate. The ravenette shuffles through the place, tugging of his shirt and discarding his pants before flopping on the bed with a satisfied sigh. When checking his phone, he suddenly notices a new message from an unknown number. Frowning in confusion, he opens the message which lights up his expression in an instant.
"That date wasn't even half bad, we can do it again if you'd like. By the way, you didn't tell me your name even once."
Norton snorts happily, surprised that the smaller man even kept one of the many notes with his number on it. Turning on his back and getting more comfortable on the mattress, the ravenette answers: "By which name do you have my number saved then? Handsome movie man?"
The next message he receives elicits a loving chuckle, making him put his phone down for a second and cheer since it seems like everything worked out in his favor in the end.
"Almost. It's: Cute Idiot."