Work Text:
The bell above the door rings as it's pushed open, the soft windchime sound fading out over the light drone of conversation. A greeting is called out from behind the counter as Shouei joins the short line in front of the register, one he does not return.
“I'll have my usual.” Shouei says when it's his turn, not looking up as he pulls the wallet from his suit jacket pocket.
It doesn't take more than a moment, but when he glances up his total is blinking back at him on the card reader, his name at the top of the receipt, ready and waiting. Like it'd been keyed in before he'd even said anything.
Shouei sniffs, silent as he swipes his card. A laugh floats over the counter, bright and teasing.
“Did something good happen today?”
He pauses in putting away his wallet. Today has been- fine. Shouei’s team had cooperated well in planning the next major project, nothing butted in on unnecessarily. The office’s ancient dehumidifier lived to dehumidify another day. No one microwaved fish in the breakroom.
“Not particularly. Why?”
Shouei makes the mistake of looking up. He realizes his fuck up when the barista grins, a lopsided, knowing quirk of teeth. “You seemed to be in a good mood for once. Usually when you come in, it's like you're two inconveniences away from a manslaughter charge, so I was just wondering.”
“Well it didn't. And I don't.” Shouei snatches up the cup placed before him, scowling. “So stop wondering, donkey.”
“Yeah, like that!” The barista barks a laugh as Shouei walks away, and he sighs, hard and quick through his nose. He tries not to think about how his tea shouldn't even be ready yet unless it too had been started before he even properly ordered. Overreaching bastard.
Shouei's favorite table in the corner is available today, so he sits, setting his briefcase in the chair opposite him. From within he produces a pack of sanitizing wipes and a novel, and goes through the practiced motions, first cleaning the table meticulously from edge to edge with a wipe and then with a napkin before setting his book and tea upon its surface. He does the due diligence of plugging in his laptop in the nearest outlet next but leaves it closed; there's work emails to respond to but nothing that cannot wait while Shouei decompresses from his day- he deserves this.
Plucking the leather bookmark from its page and settling in, Shouei is just beginning to lift the cup to his mouth when something soft prods his thigh.
He pauses, glancing down to see gold eyes peering back up at him, expectant.
“Wait a second,” he sighs, rising and sliding his jacket off. The black Persian at his feet waits patiently as Shouei painstakingly folds the blazer and slips it into his briefcase, and then sits once more, gesturing to his lap. “Have at it.”
Jyubei mews, hopping onto his knees. He situates himself and Shouei readjusts, running a hand over his soft back as he goes for his tea once more. He raises it but something catches his eye- a fine black piece of cat fur stuck to the side of his cup. Shouei sighs again, flicking it off before finally taking a sip, the muscatel sweetness warming his throat as the pressure of the day finally begins to abate.
Cat cafes, on paper, sound like the worst kind of establishment Shouei could imagine. Animals anywhere near food is already unhygienic, not to mention disgusting, but cats were especially foul.
It was purely by chance Shouei found this place. Stranded at the train station after a particularly mercurial client canceled their meeting last minute and in desperate need of caffeine and a less public place to fume, it'd been the nearest cafe to where Shouei had been standing that day, receiving that infuriating call. And upon reading the name Blue Paw Cafe and Tea House, he’d decided it a suitable place to brood for no reason other than he couldn’t be assed to look for anywhere else.
Shouei mistook the bell above the door for a windchime the first time he'd opened it, craning his head around to scope out the cafe. With dark blue walls and lots of wood paneling, the interior was traditional and the decor classy, though the place had been completely empty, save for the one employee behind the counter. Shouei hadn't paid him much mind, just selected the first caffeinated tea option from the menu in between firing off strongly-worded emails to the various dipshits who were supposed to keep this situation from happening.
The barista had rummaged around for a while, and wondering why it was taking so long, Shouei glanced up, craning his neck to see around the espresso machine. And rather than fussing with a box of tea bags, Shouei had been pleased to watch as the barista parsed fresh Darjeeling leaves from a tin into a steeping ball.
It was then the barista had looked up, catching Shouei looking. He hadn't noticed it at first, but the guy looked about Shouei's age, maybe a little younger, and quite a bit shorter. His hair was dark and messy and his eyes were wide and blue, and the way he'd looked at Shouei he was obviously just as surprised to find Shouei watching as Shouei had been to be watching.
And then he’d grinned.
“Like what you see?”
Instantaneously, the magic was lost. That shitty smile smashing through the moment and shattering it like a window. Shouei glared.
“I-I was talking about the tea,” the barista had sputtered idiotically, but Shouei just scoffed, moving to the far wall to wait for his drink.
When the tea was done Shouei snatched it up and shulked off to the table in the corner, furthest from the counter. He was livid twice over by then, still viciously focused on his emails though the lingering fury of having to deal with that dumbass barista wasn’t doing him any favors either, when he'd taken the first sip of tea- but that changed very quickly when the flavor hit his tongue.
He’d actually held the cup up and looked at it in shock. The tea was good. More than good. Superior to just about anything short of what Shouei brewed for himself.
A snort came from the direction of the counter, snapping Shouei’s head up. But before he could interrogate it, it was then that the first cat hopped up on his table, startling Shouei again for the second time in as many minutes. Two more cats had followed and then all hell broke loose when the full realization and horror of where Shouei was finally took hold.
What followed next, Shouei wasn’t proud of. In the end he’d had to grab his tea and make a break for it, stepping wide to avoid all the cats seemingly crawling out of the woodwork. Another snort had come from behind the counter, and he'd risked a glance on his way out, seeing the barista’s face going red as he held back his laughter, catching first the dark blue gaze of the guy and then the name tag on his apron; Isagi, it read, in bright green marker, a soccer ball sticker stuck to the corner.
And Isagi had smirked, lifting a hand to wave as Shouei walked by.
“Glad you enjoyed the tea. Hope to see you back!”
Shouei hadn't thought he'd be back. He swore to himself he never would.
But the next time he'd found himself at the station in need of a fix, he'd thought of that cup of Darjeeling and before he knew it, was walking through Blue Paw’s door again. The windchime tinkle of the bell announcing his return to the dark-haired boy with his shit-eating grin behind the counter.
The thing is, Shouei barely likes cats. Shouei definitely doesn't like that barista, always conveniently here when Shouei is. Isagi.
But Shouei likes the way he brews tea.
And he likes the ambiance of the place, never too cluttered or crowded or loud, despite the ever present threat of cat hair in places cat hair should never be. The lint roller Shouei keeps in his briefcase gets plenty of use, and if his dry cleaner gives him filthier looks every week, so be it. Sacrifices could be made in the name of good tea.
And so, after a strange few months, Barou Shouei found himself a regular of the Blue Paw.
Movement by the cooler catches Shouei’s eye, and he glances over, following Isagi as he putters about. It's just him here today. There's a handful of other baristas, but none Shouei's seen as readily as Isagi, much to his- not quite chagrin, because Isagi makes the best tea out of the lot of them, but definitely something closely related to it, what with those bright eyes and smirking, smug mouth. It nearly ruined the atmosphere every time Shouei found himself on the receiving end of it. But somehow not quite enough to keep him from coming back.
Blue Paw isn't too busy that afternoon, the five o’clock rush petering out unusually quick. Shouei nurses his tea, making good progress on his novel as Jyubei snores lightly on his lap. Eventually the light in the cafe falls low, sunset slanting through the windows and with reluctance, Shouei slips the bookmark into its new page and rubs his eyes. The emails await, and now was as good a time as any, he supposes.
Shouei collects his laptop and goes to his inbox, digging through the detritus of the day. A dark shape moves across his peripheral vision and Shouei's eyes flick up, catching the flutter of Isagi's blue apron as he moves quietly about, sweeping the floor.
Under the apron Isagi is wearing a big green hoodie and joggers, the logo for some sports team shifting with the fabric as his broad shoulders work. He's always dressed like this, Shouei's noticed. It's like there's no uniform code for workers here. How unprofessional.
"I feel you back there."
Shouei grunts into his cup. In his surprise, his hand pauses too, and Jyubei mews dejectedly.
"Huh?"
Isagi stops sweeping, glancing over his shoulder as he leans on his broom.
"You're staring. I can feel it in the back of my head. It’s super intense.”
Shouei won't be caught, not by those eyes, and certainly not that slick, smug grin. "You missed a spot." He grumbles, pointing at a hairball under the condiment bar. He hadn't seen it until now but that's beside the point. He has his pride.
Isagi follows Shouei's finger with his gaze, ahhing quietly when he spots the hairball.
"Oh, thanks. Sorry, guess I've been distracted today."
He goes over and sweeps it quickly into the dustpan. Isagi looks around for more errant hairballs and for all intents and purposes, the conversation is over. There is no need for it to continue.
Shouei takes a long drink off his tea. And then he opens his mouth anyways. "You're at work. Focus on your job, donkey." Isagi huffs, and for some reason Shouei keeps talking. "What's got you so distracted, anyhow? Usually you're so attentive it's annoying."
Now it's Isagi's turn to look surprised, eyebrows shooting up.
"It's nothing, really. Nothing important, anyway." He says with a shrug. A lean cream and brown cat hops up on a table, pawing at him, and Isagi reaches over to scratch it under the chin. "We got a couple new cats recently. Brothers, but something must've happened, because they're not getting along with each other, let alone any of the other cats right now. I've had to break up a few spats already."
"... I see." Shouei says, drumming his fingers on the side of his cup. He watches as the cat Isagi's petting starts to climb his sleeve, mumbling an exasperated Meguru before just picking it up and cradling it in his arms.
"We're only letting one brother out at a time right now, but it's hardly fair, and besides, it's not like anyone is going to want to adopt a cat they don't know exists." Shouei had learned over the months coming here that the cafe housed primarily rescues, nearly all the cats in residence available for adoption. Isagi scratches Meguru under the chin and continues, "Sae is better behaved than Rin, but he refuses to eat or drink half the time, so I don't like putting him out for too long. And Rin is usually fine if you leave him alone, but that's kind of hard to do with an open cafe, you know."
Isagi sighs, giving Shouei an apologetic smile. "Sorry, sort of just started rambling there. It's dumb cat drama. I'll figure something out."
"It's fine," Shouei says, going to sip on his tea though he feels compelled to add, "I asked."
"Yeah." Isagi says, and then grins, eyebrows drawing up in a pleased little shape. "Thanks for listening. I knew you weren't that bad of a guy."
Shouei chokes. "T- that bad?!"
Tea goes flying, dousing Shouei's laptop as he sputters. He curses furiously as he flies to wipe up the mess with a napkin, and Isagi just snickers, taking the broom, Meguru, and Shouei’s focus with him as he walks away.
Though Shouei might not be a fan of cats, he still makes some exceptions while at Blue Paw. Jyubei, the black Persian, is needy but affectionate and doesn't make much noise. Hyouma, a golden Scottish Fold, isn't fond of being touched but is content to sit near you and peacefully nap. Ikki, the smallest cat at the cafe, is deaf and a little awkward, though he's got a tenacity to him Shouei respects.
There is one cat, however, Shouei absolutely cannot stand in the slightest. And he knows the feeling is mutual.
Said cat is sitting at his favorite table the next time Shouei comes in.
"Seishiro." Shouei addresses his nemesis through gritted teeth.
The large white Maine Coon just blinks at him, apathetic as ever. He's been at the cafe for about six months now and seems in no hurry to get adopted, much to Shouei's dismay. Seishiro rarely shows interest in interacting with anyone outside of Isagi at feeding time, but for some reason he puts in the effort to make sure Shouei in particular knows how little he likes him. The fluffy bastard's always shedding all over the place, and if Shouei looks away for one second he knows he'll find Seishiro rubbing himself all over his jacket or bag. The creature even once crawled in his briefcase and deposited another Seishiro’s worth of hair in all the crevices before tearing up the lining. Not to mention, more than one momentarily unattended cup of tea had met its demise by his wretched paw.
Shouei looms over him now, his tea, pudding, and laptop bag in hand, and Seishiro stays right where he is. Laid out in Shouei's chair. Freeloader.
He risks a step towards the table. The white cat hisses at him.
He takes another, and Seishiro swipes out, barely missing Shouei's nice corduroys. "Fine. Keep it, asshole." He growls, turning away. "Next time you won't be so lucky."
As if to further spite him, Seishiro just tucks his huge filthy paws under his huge dumb head and returns to his nap, unbothered. Shouei hopes someone makes a hat out of him one day.
Shouei manages to find another table without too much trouble, tucked away in the opposite corner of the cafe. He doesn’t tend to sit on this side of the cafe for a reason , that reason being that it’s directly in Isagi’s line of sight when he’s behind the counter, but Shouei knows when to pick his battles. If it’s between contending with the shedding menace that is Seishiro and potentially making eye-contact with Isagi, he’s not too proud to choose the latter.
He wipes everything down once more before sitting. And after a fortifying few bites of pudding, opens his laptop and gets to work.
Shouei’s just getting started on looking over the end of day reports when something sharp stabs him in the ankle.
He jolts, cursing- drawing the attention of several of the other cafe goers. He glares them off, and reaches down to feel his ankle. Surprisingly, nothing is torn, no broken skin either.
He leans over to look under the table, and startles at what he finds.
It's another cat. And that shouldn't be surprising, but the vivid, eerie green of its eyes catches him off-guard. Eyes that watch Shouei back unblinkingly, completely still as it loafs in a little dark lump beneath his chair.
Shouei doesn't think he's seen this one before, a gleam of metal in its black fur catching his attention. A name tag that says Rin.
Shouei remembers the previous conversation with Isagi and scowls. Great. He's dealing with all the problem children today, it seems.
"If you’ve got a problem, get your own table, buddy. I’m not moving again."
The cat just stares back, and gives no indication of complying. Shouei’s eyes narrow. Fine. They'll do it the hard way.
“You scratch me, you're dead, ya hear?" He tells the creature gravely before reaching down and hooking a hand under the center of the cat, scooping him up.
And startles at the length of the cat as he unravels. He’s- long. He just seems to get longer the harder Shouei pulls, all limbs, like a furry, stretching wad of gum. Somehow all his paws stay on the ground for several moments longer than it should physically be possible, but with effort Shouei manages to unstring the cat from the floor, moving quickly and setting him on the chair opposite before he can even wiggle in protest.
"Stay over there and we won't have any problems, yeah?"
The cat blinks, looking blatantly offended. Shouei isn’t sure how he accomplishes it, he’s a cat after all, but somehow this one manages it.
He reaches out, giving Rin a flat-handed pat between the ears. Surprisingly, Rin lets him, making no move to flee or bite though he stares at Shouei with every ounce of suspicion his uncannily long body has to offer. Which is fair, he supposes. Shouei doubts it ever being remotely possible- he is an impressively immense specimen after all- but if someone picked him up bodily and put him somewhere else he wouldn’t take it very well either.
"Oh, there you are, Rin."
Isagi's voice calls out and Shouei looks up, finding him standing there, hands in his apron pocket. Great. Eye-contact looking to be another unavoidable hazard this afternoon.
"I found him under my chair. He got me, but I think I just surprised him." Shouei pulls his hand away. "We've reached an accord."
Isagi chuckles a bit, coming closer. Rin sits up in his chair, leaning to sniff the hand Isagi offers him.
"Incredible. And here I thought he was worse than Sei."
Shouei scowls. "That cat is in a league all his own."
Rin allows Isagi to pet his head a little, almost seeming to lean into it as he rubs his ears. "I have no idea what went down between you two, but having beef with a cat is no joke, Shouei."
Shouei almost startles at hearing his name from Isagi's mouth when he realizes- it's on his receipt every time he orders. Obviously, he knows it. "Speaking from experience, clearly." He bites back condescendingly.
"You know, sometimes I think he likes me," Isagi says as he moves to scratch Rin under his chin. To which Rin repays by sinking his teeth in Isagi's finger before flinging himself out of the chair. "And then sometimes he does that."
Shouei snorts, taking great satisfaction in watching Rin strut away, tail held high in the air. "I don’t think you’re as good at your job as you think you are."
Isagi’s eyes narrow. “That’s rich, coming from you,” And then he smirks, every sly centimeter of it wedging itself under Shouei’s skin. "But I'm glad you guys got along, even if it was for just a little while. Progress is progress. Who knows, he might end up liking you enough to bite you too."
This guy . Shouei hopes someone makes a hat out of him too. "Hmph. You can keep that shit for yourself."
Across the cafe, he watches as Rin jumps up on a cat tower and returns to his loaf form, which he suspects is both a trap as well as his natural state. How a creature can be both so long and yet so round is beyond him.
Isagi is watching too, looking strangely pleased, and after a moment Shoeui finds himself begrudgingly admitting, “But that's good, I suppose. Progress.”
"It is." Isagi agrees easily. And despite the sharp glance he throws at him, Shouei gets the feeling it’s half meant for him too.
"Jingo!" Isagi hollers at the big off-white cat with the bobbed tail. "Off the counter!"
Jingo coughs up a nasty excuse for a meow but complies, launching his chunky body to the nearest table. He takes the table tent down with him, the loud clatter scattering him and the several surrounding cats in various directions, the scrabble of nails on tile already proving to be even more annoying than usual today.
It's Sunday, the cafe mostly empty besides a few regulars and Shouei himself, and Ryusei, the wiry black and tan calico with the obnoxiously pink collar, has what Isagi calls 'the zoomies' right now; and while he deals with that Shouei is trying to stay the fuck out of the way.
No place seems safe from his rampage, however. The little shit’s fast, bouncing off walls and tables and whatever unfortunate sucker happens to be in his way. Isagi has been attempting to corral Ryusei into one area of the cafe, for all the good it does. Shouei's already having a bad time, getting called into the office on his day off to fix someone else's fuck up, and fighting for space with a zooted five-kilo menace was not what he had in mind when he came to Blue Paw wanting to be less angry than when he arrived.
The rest of the cats seem equally as done with his shit. Shouei exchanges a tired look with Gin over his raised leg where he sits in the chair opposite as Ryusei comes streaking by again. Gin is huge and gray and of indeterminate breed and origin though Shouei suspects that if you put him in a container he'd take on whatever shape it was. He'd been licking what Shouei thinks is his ankle but stopped to watch Ryusei with the haunted, wired stare of a man who's seen war. Rin too seemed even pissier than normal, at least for the three minutes Shouei saw him today before he got put up for swiping at Ryusei repeatedly. Meanwhile Eita and Tabi, a lanky white and barrel-chested black cat respectively, perch together on a high cat tower bed, watching the shitshow from above. And Shouei thinks that if cats could laugh, those two would be laughing at them in particular.
Shouei flinches as Ryusei suddenly flings himself at the guy at the table next to him. Gin makes a huffing noise and somehow melts from his chair right before Shouei’s eyes, disappearing to the floor.
The guy at the other table makes a startled sound that Shouei assumes means claws, and takes the break he’s been given. He grabs his things and beats a tactical retreat to the tables by the windows.
He takes the one by the door, farthest from every possible cat-related thing in the room. Hunching down, Shouei props his novel back up in his lap and replaces his tea and bag of squid jerky on the table. He’s just glad Ryusei hadn’t caught whiff of that; he’s never had to fight a cat before but Ryusei would’ve become the first if he’d tried to get at his food.
Returning to his reading, Shouei doesn't even realize he's got company again until he bumps it with his foot.
Shouei spots the new arrival curled up by the wall. It's quiet, this one. Snuck up without him even noticing.
It's a beautiful cat, Shouei can admit as it slinks closer, entrancing green eyes and a fluffy russet coat, not too long nor too short. But even through the fluff, he can tell it looks a little on the thin side, cheeks and spine more pronounced than he's seen on the other cats.
Shouei frowns. It's not like Isagi to slack on taking care of his charges. Could be that this one is new- Shouei’s never seen it before at the very least, but if it was sick it’s not like they’d even let it out in the first place.
Something clicks as Shouei meets those green eyes again, and he puts two and two together. So this one must be Sae.
"Did you want something?" He asks as Sae sniffs around lightly. Sae looks up and Shouei offers his hand to scent, the motion second-nature to him now after months of coming here.
Sae leans over, pink nose twitching over Shouei’s fingers. Teeth, small and sharp, are suddenly in his hand- but they don't bite hard. Sae pulls back almost immediately, before Shouei can even flinch, loafing down by his feet and staring as Shouei retrieves his hand.
“You- I told your brother this already…” Shouei warns testily as he checks his hand- fine except for a few small marks. Sae just keeps watching him, green and unblinking and… licking his lips?
Shouei looks from the cat to the bag of squid. Isagi had mentioned he’d been having difficulty getting Sae to eat.
“You want this? Ugh. Fine. Here.” He digs out a few strips of jerky and throws them beneath the table. “Eat it already.”
Sae glances between Shouei and the squid for a few moments, though Shouei thinks it was all for show because he descends upon the snack, eating quickly and noisily.
Shouei leans his chin in his hand, watching Sae devour it. How long has it been since he last ate? Sae was so small compared to Rin, even with all that fur. And he was still regularly picking fights with that long beast of a brother?
Shouei sighs, nudging Sae with his foot. “... I heard there's something going on with you and your brother. You know you can't fight worth a shit if you don't eat.”
Sae lifts his head, and Shouei sees he’s completely cleaned the floor of food. Reaching back into the bag, he grabs a few more pieces to throw but then thinks better of it, setting them down carefully on the floor instead, in Sae's line of sight.
Sae approaches, gives Shouei his cursory up-and-down, but resumes eating. Shouei catches white out of the corner of his eye- Jingo again, creeping closer, seeming to have caught the scent of the squid. Shouei sticks his foot up between Jingo and Sae, glaring him off with a low “Shoo.”
When he glances down again, Sae is looking at him, blinking once before returning to his meal. Shouei wonders if the other cats have been stealing his food. He wouldn’t put it past Rin. He wouldn’t put much past that one.
He thinks of Rin biting Isagi, one of many from his laundry list of cat crimes. He nudges Sae in the side again. “Start eating more, yeah? Then put him in his place. Don’t pick fights you can’t win.”
Shouei isn’t sure how long he’s been standing there, but he becomes aware then of a presence prickling the back of his neck. The first thing Shouei notices is the weird expression on Isagi's face, intense and unusually stark. The second is the pair of yellow eyes peering out from Isagi's apron pocket- Ryusei, confined at long last. Shouei can't quite tell if the cat likes it there or if this is some form of punishment; he'd once seen Isagi hold Meguru up by the armpits after he'd chewed a chunk from a baseboard, sentencing him to ‘air jail’ as it were.
“Took you long enough.” Shouei grumbles, glaring at Ryusei as he goes to take a sip of his tea. Gone cold by now, having to deal with this shit.
“Did he eat it?” Isagi asks urgently.
Shouei pauses, cup at his lips. “What- yeah. He did.”
“Did he eat it all?”
They crane their heads and look beneath the table.
“Almost. He stopped when I looked at him.” Shouei says.
They lean back up. Isagi lets out a deep sigh, scrubbing a hand up the back of his head. "Hey, you got him to eat. I haven't seen him eat all day. I hoped letting him out would... I dunno, maybe help him relax a little. But he likes to hide, so..."
He trails off, gaze falling back to Shouei. Ryusei watches him just as steadily from the inside of the pocket- pocket jail?- and Shouei’s quick to tuck his face back into his cup of tea, wary from their watching. "It's nothing. He came up to me, sniffing around. Not like I'm heartless."
He glances down to see Sae had finished the squid, nose twitching as he sniffs around for more.
But Isagi is still looking at Shouei, he knows. He can feel it, hear it in his voice as he hums. "You know, they say animals are good judges of character. Cats especially."
"And what has that got to do with anything?"
"Just that they must know you're a good guy. The cats." Shouei watches out of the corner of his eye as Isagi pats Ryusei on the head and shrugs. "Me too, I guess."
His pulse catches- probably because it’s such an out of pocket thing to say. "Hmph. I have no idea what you mean by that." Shouei aims for maximum condescension and lands somewhere around childishly indignant. Scraping his dignity together, he continues,"Besides. We both know there's still one cat that hates my guts regardless."
Isagi laughs at that, and oddly it happens again. Shouei’s heart stubs its toe and goes down. "I think Sei's just an outlier. That cat's so weird. And you're way too cool."
And while Shouei’s pride recovers from that , Ryusei has caught sight of Sae now, wiggling around in his pocket. Isagi digs him out and sets him on the floor, and he runs up to Sae, undaunted by the low growl he greets him with. Together they scamper off, probably to find some other unlucky shit to harass. Good riddance.
Shouei tenses when Isagi suddenly leans over. “Also, were you hyping up Sae into fighting his brother?”
Shouei feels a vein in his neck twitch. “You didn't hear that.”
“Oh, I did.”
“No. You didn't.”
Isagi’s expression is solemn, though Shouei wouldn’t trust him as far as he could throw him even as he promises, “Don't worry, I won't tell.”
Rin and Sae are in the main cafe room at the same time when Shouei comes in next week. He knows this because Isagi is holding them both by the scruff when he walks through the door, head shooting up as it chimes.
"Shouei," Isagi sighs, and it does a funny thing to Shouei's windpipe, how his name sounds when said this way.
He clears his throat, pointedly not focusing on that and instead on the shitshow unfolding in the center of the cafe. "Isagi. What fresh hell have you made for yourself now?"
Isagi at least has the sense to look appropriately abashed as he stands there, arms outstretched in the middle of the room, hair and clothes a wreck. "We're still trying to socialize them together. It's been getting better, so we decided to try it around the other cats but," He winces. "It went badly. Who would’ve guessed."
A low noise, halfway between a gurgle and a snarl, makes them both jump. And then Rin makes that wretched sound again, stealing Isagi's attention back to his still quite unhappily scruffed charge.
Moving quickly, Isagi gently sets Rin on the nearest cat tower, crossing the room before releasing Sae to the floor. Rin sinks into a tight loaf, watching them through slitted, distrustful eyes and Sae is quick to slip away, making himself scarce.
Isagi sighs again, running a frazzled hand through his hair. And the idiot must be so caught up in all this cat drama that he doesn’t even notice-
"You're bleeding." Shouei says.
Isagi looks at his arm, the one he used on Rin, and winces.
"Damn. I hadn't even realized..."
He cups his other hand around the bleeding one and heads for the bar counter. Disappearing for a moment, he emerges toting a first-aid kit and a half-asleep Meguru. Despite his bleeding hand, he still takes a moment to situate the cat comfortably in a chair, chiding him for sneaking into the cabinets again, before tending to himself.
Shouei is just standing there, without a place he’s meant to be right now. “Just give me a minute to bandage this and then I’ll make you your tea.” Isagi calls out, digging around in the kit. “Sorry.”
Shouei spares a glance at Rin, still loafed up in an especially aggressive pout. He doesn’t seem remorseful in the slightest, and while normally Shouei can relate, somehow this time he isn’t so sure.
Isagi curses suddenly, and sensing another shitshow imminent, Shouei looks down over his shoulder. He watches as Isagi fights with the gauze and tape and bleeds a concerning amount all over the counter and also his lap.
It's pathetic. So pathetic, Shouei can't just stand there and watch it happen.
"Enough." He says gruffly, reaching down and pulling the kit from Isagi's hand. "Just let me do it."
Isagi’s brow furrows, the scowl that flashes briefly so startlingly Rin-esk you’d think he’d been taking pointers. But though he hesitates, Isagi’s smart enough not to fight Shouei on it.
They relocate to the bathroom, where Shouei brusquely orders him through the washing process before following up himself. He collects the first-aid kit and its innards from the disemboweled mess Isagi left them in, and bullies Isagi into a chair, drawing up one across from him. Isagi watches with an obnoxious amount of amusement as Shouei disinfects the table between them with his wipes, but keeps his cheeky mouth shut for once.
“How bad is it?” He asks Shouei as he turns his arm over, accessing the damage.
“He got you good, but nothing too deep. Nothing I can't handle, at least.” Shouei replies, carefully thumbing over the injury. He pulls away to rummage through the supplies, producing an antiseptic wipe.
"You've got to make sure you clean it properly," Shouei tells him as he works over the cuts. “Cat claws can carry bacteria and fecal matter from the litter, and scratches easily become infected. Even idiots can catch things from this.”
It’s rougher than he expected, Isagi’s skin. There’s a few burn scars tucked here and there and in the creases of his fingers, palms calloused and knuckles beaded in the clotted lines of older, half-healed scratches. Well, what had Shouei expected? Isagi works with his hands, and fairly diligently at that. “So don’t be an idiot. Keep it covered.”
"Wow, so informative. Thank you very much, Nurse Shouei."
Shouei glares at him but Isagi just smiles, that same shit-eating grin as always. And Shouei realizes he hasn’t flinched once the entire time they’ve been dealing with this.
Something buzzes in Shouei's head. Grating and warning, like a chainsaw. It's unpleasant.
He finishes with the wipe and moves onto the ointment, dabbing it over Isagi’s hand and arm.
“So what do you actually do?”
Shouei grunts, only half listening. “For a living.” Isagi clarifies. His fingers flex slightly within Shouei’s grip, warm and rough. “You're always dressed up in a suit when you come in, and half the time it looks like you're doing work anyways, so I’m guessing you’re not really a nurse.”
It’s hardly his business. Shouei generally doesn’t care about the personal lives of others, preferring to keep his own private as well, though he supposes there are worse things for Isagi to be curious about.
“Sales.” He relents after a moment. “I'm a department manager in sales for Y Tech company.”
“Oh. I guess that makes sense. You seem used to bossing people around.” Isagi hums, sounding like he’s thought of something nice. “It's fun trying to imagine you in a cubicle.”
Shouei huffs. Isagi doesn’t take it as the very obvious indicator it is to stop and keeps going.
“A manager though. You work hard, huh? Especially since I always see you doing stuff here too, even when you’re off the clock. I bet you’re one of those super strict bosses too, the bane of every office worker’s existence.” He snickers. “Oh, you’ve got to have a nickname. There’s something they call you around the office.”
“...The Tyrant from Sales.”
“That’s so good. It suits you!”
“Who asked you?”
Isagi just laughs, his hand in Shouei's shaking along with his shoulders. He’s having way too much fun with this, Shouei decides. He really should have just let his hand get infected and fall off, but then again, none of the other baristas know how to treat a tea leaf right. The things he puts up with for a good cup of tea.
"There." He says when he's done, Isagi's hand and arm taped up to his satisfaction. He holds his wrist as he twists it carefully to check the coverage one last time. Just to be thorough. "Be sure to keep it clean and change the bandages regularly. And wear gloves while you're making drinks for once, you filthy animal."
"Thank you. I mean it." Isagi says quietly. Shouei glances up, meeting Isagi’s eyes, the orange glow of the late afternoon light warming his face, and he realizes he's still holding his wrist. Isagi swallows audibly. "Shouei,"
"What?"
Issagi holds his gaze for a moment longer, blue eyes alert and bright. And then he pulls himself from Shouei's grip, gentle as he is with the cats when their claws get caught. "Nothing. Sorry. Thought one of the bandages was coming off already. My bad."
Shouei’s fingers retract, closing back over his empty palm. That grating buzz in his head humming through his skin now too. "Hmph. Donkey."
"What is this?" Shouei asks when he comes in a few days later.
"This is on the house." Isagi says, like that explains anything. Pushing the tea and pudding a little closer to Shouei when he doesn't grab it. "Just take it, already."
He’s wearing a dark long-sleeved t-shirt today, the cuffs pushed up messily to the elbow, baring his scratched up arms. The bandages on his right one are already off, and though they look like they’ve been properly taken care of, would it really have killed Isagi to keep them covered a little longer, if not for his own dumbass’s sake then just for Shouei’s peace of mind-
Despite all of this to address, Shouei finds himself saying nothing. Nothing sufficiently scathing comes to mind, nor any real reason to refuse, other than Isagi’s generally weird fucking behavior.
"Fine." Shouei says, snatching them up.
Isagi nods once, looking satisfied. He moves on to the next customer behind Shouei and that seems to be that.
Shouei makes his way to his table in the corner, one hand cold from the pudding and the other warm around the tea, feeling strangely off-kilter. He’s never had such an- amicable interaction with Isagi. Knowing him there probably won’t be another so Shouei really should have enjoyed it more, but the strangeness of the whole interaction still lingers.
He passes Seishiro, curled up on another table, and they exchange glares. Well, at least hell hasn’t completely froze over.
Wiping down his table, Shouei settles in. Rin pops his head up not a moment later, and even though Shouei sighs, he gives him a scratch behind the ears.
"Followed me, did you? Take a seat already, bastard."
Rin curls up in the chair and Shouei plugs in his laptop, though he takes the time to savor his pudding before getting back to the reports. No sense in letting it go warm, after all.
The tea is excellent as always too. Isagi made it in a to-go cup today for some reason, though Shouei supposes it was probably just him being considerate. He's twisting the cardboard grip on it idly as he works, not even realizing he's doing it until something scrawled thick and black on one part appears beneath his fingers.
It's a number. Shouei squints at it.
Absolutely not. No way. No fucking way.
He shifts so he can glance at the counter without being too obvious about it. Isagi is busy, three customers lined up for their drinks, completely focused on his work. He's not looking at Shouei at all.
He turns back around. Rin blinks at Shouei from the chair across from him.
There's no way. But what else could it be?
Though his concentration keeps splintering off, Shouei makes himself finish his work, and only approaches after the rest of the customers have dispersed. Isagi is cleaning the espresso machine, perking up when he notices Shouei making his way over.
"Oh. Took you long enough." Isagi says, grinning pleasantly as he arrives.
"What the hell is this?" Shouei asks, planting the cup on the counter, square between them.
"It's my phone number."
"Why is it on my cup?"
"Because I'm giving it to you?" Isagi looks confused now, glancing between the cup and Shouei’s face. "Did I miss something here?"
Did he miss something? Did Shouei miss something? Had Isagi gotten dropped on his head as a baby?"
"Explain." Shouei demands.
Isagi blinks, once then twice. Then he pales completely. "Fuck. I misread everything, didn't I."
"I said explain ."
Isagi rubs at the back of his neck, eyes downcast, looking more than a little embarrassed. "I thought- uh. That you were into me. That you were being nice and cool with the cats and with me because. You know. You liked me."
"Y-you-"
"Hey, don't sweat it. I'm sorry for making things awkward." He starts to reach across the counter, and Shouei realizes he's going for the cup.
He jerks it back out of reach. "That's mine."
Isagi blinks again, wide-eyed and startled. "Uh,"
Shouei runs a hand down his face, his thoughts kicking off at a full sprint. "I can't believe you. You donkey. Warn a man before you pull something like that." He levels an accusatory finger at him. "And you didn't even give me a chance to properly respond before you started jumping to conclusions. Not that there's anything proper about any of this."
Isagi gapes at him. "Shouei?" He says, hope creeping back in his voice.
"You didn't misread anything. I may not have intended to, initially," Shouei grits his teeth. And, startling even himself in the moment, admits, "But I am. Interested in you. Like that."
Keeping the momentum going, "So here," He snatches up a discarded receipt, scrawling his own number on the back. "Work comes first, but just in case I can't get back to you immediately."
Isagi accepts the number when Shouei shoves it at him, still looking a little like he's been punched in the solar plexus. "Yeah? Alright."
Shouei shoves his hands in his pockets, surprised to find them shaking suddenly. Isagi fingers the edge of the receipt, and the impact of it, of everything that just happened, slams into him full-force. He feels his face start to heat- he's twenty-six, goddammit, why's he suddenly blushing like some idiot schoolgirl?
"So, I'll text you, then?" Isagi asks, still holding the number like he’s afraid it’ll bite him.
No going back now. "That's fine. And," Shouei glances at him for less than a second before changing course and focusing on the wall behind Isagi. "After tonight, I'm free the next two days."
He raises a brow, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Tomorrow's my day off."
"Leave it open, then. It's mine."
And Shouei keeps making this mistake, but he’s done it a hundred times before and will certainly do it again at this rate. Their gazes meet and the barista’s grin tips on its side, gleaming, sly. Coy as a cat, this one. No better than the rest of them. Isagi's the one who got scratched but Shouei's the one who caught something.
"Is it now? Can’t wait to see what you have in mind.”