Chapter Text
" Fuck , I'm so late."
Charlie mutters to himself, rushing through the busy underground station. He knows he really isn't all that late, and that he just needed to get out his frustration of dropping his ticket on the way through.
He'll make the train. He won't have to explain to his boss for the thousandth time this year why he's late to work.
And, correct to his thoughts, he does. As he runs up the escalator, he immediately spots the train in the station, awaiting boarding passengers.
He feels his phone still buzzing in his pocket, non-stop since he got out of school.
With a sigh of relief, he boards the train a minute before it's meant to depart. Lucky enough for him, there's one empty seat in the car he's in. He takes the seat gratefully, pulling out his phone, and opening the messages app.
He ignores the many notifications from groupchats, and instead taps on the notification from Cellbit.
wanna go to the cafe after work today? i need some help planning my campaign
Charlie doesn't even think about whether or not he's busy after work. He knows he isn't.
It's only a part-time job at a convenience store, and he was lucky enough that it was only three stops away from his school if he took the metro.
sure, are we going to Teller's?
Charlie stares at his phone until Cellbit replies.
yeah, we haven't gone there in a bit
Satisfied with the answer, Charlie puts down his phone. He's not sure what to do, but his phone isn't quite catching his interest right now.
At the first stop, a crowd of people flood onto the train. He keeps watch for any elders he might have to give up his seat for, and is a tiny bit relieved when he sees none. He's about to be stood up for a while anyway.
Someone stares at him with a smile as they walk in. Seeing no seats left, they're forced to stand. They choose a stop nearer to the left wall.
Charlie watches them much longer than he thought he was.
They smile, and Charlie looks away. They just look different to everyone else on the train, that's all. Plus, he's never seen them. There are a few people Charlie sees quite often here.
Charlie feels the boy's eyes remain fixed on him for a while as he looks back down at his phone. He's not doing anything, just trying to avoid the boy's gaze. Or, maybe, he's trying to avoid gazing at the boy.
He sighs, stealing a glance at him. He looks away as soon as he notices his glance is met with dark, shimmering eyes.
The subway ride has never felt so long. The entire time, they glance or stare at each other, yet never fully make eye contact.
Charlie’s eyes return down to his phone.
The train stops.
Charlie looks up. His stop. He sighs. He missed the last one, and almost missed his stop.
His heart flutters and drops at the same time when he sees the brunet boy get up at the same time as him.
Plenty of people get off at the same time as them, but somehow they still end up next to each other. He'd like to believe it was a coincidence.
And he'd like to believe it was an accident when he physically bumps into him. The boy, taller than Charlie by a lot more than he thought, shoots him a smile before they part ways.
That afternoon, while Charlie worked, he didn't stop thinking about him. Like a plague in his mind.
---
"Slime! Over here."
Charlie sighs after a boring shift as he walks into the coffee shop. Cellbit sits in a booth tucked away in the corner, with plenty of books spread out in front of him. He smiles at Charlie as he walks in.
As he takes the seat across from Cellbit, Charlie laughs. "You gotta stop calling me that. I slimed you guys once in a campaign like a year ago—"
Cellbit waves him off. "My character almost died because of your slime attack or whatever! I really liked that character, y'know."
"If you keep talking about the slime, every suggestion I give you will involve slime—"
"Okay, okay!" Cellbit interjects, "I actually need your help, so..."
Charlie smiles, satisfied. "Let's go get our drinks then, I guess?"
"Yeah, I waited for you to get here first," Cellbit says, standing up and walking towards the counter. Charlie follows.
There's no line in the shop at this time, so Charlie orders first, getting a drink and a simple pastry. The barista smiles as he nods, but his dark brown eyes have notes of exhaustion written in them. He receives his drinks faster than Cellbit can order, so he sits down and glances over what Cellbit has laid out. Mainly books, a couple enemy statblocks, and a notebook he's got some sort of drawing in.
Cellbit returns after a couple minutes, speaking in a hushed voice. "That guy was so weird, he messed up like eight times—"
Charlie tilts his head. "Really? All of my stuff is fine, I got it really quickly, too."
"Dude, he charged me like only a third of the price I was meant to pay. I don't even know if anything costs that much here. I'm not complaining though, everything is kinda expensive here."
"That's so unfair, I had to pay full price! Did he do anything else?"
"He kept glancing at me, sorta like he was doing something wrong."
"Maybe he's hiding something. What if he slipped poison in your drink?" Charlie asks, timing it purposely as Cellbit takes a sip. Cellbit waves it off, turning to his notebook.
"So, my plan for the next few sessions isn't really working, and I think Baghera isn't going to be here next session, so I need to rework it." Cellbit explains, carefully flipping to a specific page as he ignores Charlie’s words.
Charlie nods. He begins helping, and together they form a more concrete plan that works for everyone.
As they finish, and begin putting Cellbit's stuff away, he perks up. "Oh yeah, Slime, I never asked why you couldn't join the campaign, uh..."
"Oh, I'm just behind on my grades, and with work, I didn't think I had time to play. And even if I did, I didn't want you guys to have to work around my schedule. I'll join the next campaign, though." Charlie muses, packing the final book into Cellbit's backpack.
Cellbit stands up. "Thanks for helping me, Slime, and—"
"Wait, Cellbit, are you good at investigating? Or, like, finding info?"
Cautiously, Cellbit nods. "Yeah, why?"
"There's someone I saw on the subway today. I keep randomly thinking of them, do you think we could try finding them?"
He shrugs, "We can try, but I can't guarantee."
Charlie considers it before nodding. "Can we meet here again tomorrow? I'll bring my laptop."
"Sure, see you tomorrow then."
Charlie nods. "See you."
---
The next day, they meet at the same time, both taking their laptops with them as they claim the same spot. They both order, and Cellbit's pleased when he pays the same, much cheaper price.
"Maybe he likes you, man. Why else would he give you a discount?" Charlie hisses to Cellbit as soon as they sit down.
Cellbit waves it off again as he opens his laptop. "Maybe they changed the price. What time were you on the train yesterday? Or, what did he look like? Give me something to start with."
"Uh..." Charlie thinks as he opens his laptop and signs in. He closes a couple tabs he used in school earlier before glancing up at Cellbit. "I don't know, I've never seen him before. It was like three o'clock. He had.. I dunno, glasses, dark hair, dark eyes? I know that describes so many people, but..."
There's a shift from behind them as Charlie's sentence trails off. Someone walks up to their table.
"¿Buscando para mi?”