Chapter Text
Mika wakes up after his interview propped up in a bathroom stall with a stinging pain in his neck.
Everything's groggy. He remembers meeting the manager, talking to a couple employees, getting a tour of the kitchen. Then he'd gone back into the office and...
...and what?
The stall door isn't locked. He pushes it open and staggers to the sink (god, his neck is killing him); his face is pale under the fluorescent lights, even by his standards, and-- holy fuck, is that blood?
The door opens. It's the ponytail guy from earlier. He looks way too smug and energetic for someone that works at an iHop.
"You awake? Krul wants to see you."
"What the fuck," Mika says, because how else is he supposed to react?
He's a vampire.
"Welcome to iHop," Krul says. She stacks some papers and tosses them straight in the trash. "You're working closers this week, but schedule updates will be posted biweekly, so expect that to change. Ferid--"
Mika's not taking in any of this. He's holding an antiseptic cloth to his neck and spacing out, watching fangs peek out from behind Krul's lips as she speaks.
He's part of a coven of vampires who work at iHop. Apparently, it was in the fine print or something; you work here, you get turned into a vampire. End of story.
"By the way, the contract you signed is legally binding," Krul adds. "I had it approved by my lawyer."
"Of course," Mika replies, instead of lunging across the desk and strangling her, because he never actually read Dracula in school but he's pretty sure that's not how you kill a creature of the night. "Is he a vampire too?"
"Somewhat," Krul says, as if that makes literally any sense.
As far as minimum wage jobs go, iHop is... fine. It's nothing special-- it's fucking iHop-- but it pays pretty well for a fucking iHop, so it's at least dragging him through college.
("I had to pay more because of the whole vampire thing," Krul explains. "Apparently, people are chill with a lot of things if you pay them double minimum wage."
"How the hell do you keep this place afloat?" he asks
"You don't want to know," Krul replies, and leaves it at that.)
Despite everything, the iHop is busy. Like, really busy. Not just for the breakfast rush either (although that is pretty bad), but people are still coming in at 10:30 to order all-you-can eat pancakes even though the batter's basically run out by this point and they close in a half hour. It's obscene. Even if Mika could still handle human food, he would never eat a pancake again.
As it turns out, he is one of those late-end customers.
It's 9:30. Mika's busy serving a haggard-looking businessman his sixth coffee when the door opens and what sounds like a small army of people enters, which is great news for the company but shit news for Mika, the singular waiter for this entire establishment. He wonders if it's too soon to ask for a raise.
"I'll be right with you," he calls over his shoulder, and balances a stack of empty plates in one hand. "So sorry for the wait."
"Oh, no, it's fine," the hottest voice he's ever heard in his life replies. "Sorry we came in so late."
Mika pauses.
Hot Voice belongs to a guy who is exactly Mika's type. He has no fashion sense (unkempt hair, t-shirt with holes in the collar, khakis) but that's fine, Mika can fix him. He's got an awkward smile and has his hands shoved into his pockets and is the cutest and hottest guy Mika has ever fucking seen.
"Oh," Mika says. "That's-- I don't-- it's fine. You're fine."
"Seriously, take your time," some chick with atrocious purple hair but more than acceptable style adds. "We're not in any rush."
"Yeah," Mika says, like an idiot, and flees to the kitchen.
Lacus is doing dishes. Rene is cooking. Last time Mika was here, it was the other way around. God knows why they keep switching. He dumps the dishes in the sink.
"You're supposed to stack them," Lacus gripes. "You know I don't like reaching into the water--"
Mika doesn't stick around long enough to let him finish.
"Table for five?" he asks, gathering menus into his hands. There's a chorus of 'yea's and 'mmhm's.
They pile into a booth by the window. Mika passes out the menus to the group and pulls a notepad out of his pocket. "Can I get you all started with something to drink?"
Dream Guy is quickly shoved to the back of Mika's mind. He's got a shift to work. He's reminded very suddenly and aggressively when he swings back around to the front of the iHop to take the group's order and makes direct eye contact with the dreamboat, who is teaching his brown-haired friend how to make crawling caterpillars out of straw wrappers.
"Sorry again for the wait," Mika says, and tucks his tray under his arm. "Are you guys ready to order, or do you need a little more time?"
"Oh! Yeah." Dreamboat braces his arm on Brown Hair's shoulder and leans forward with a kind of casual intimacy that Mika burns for. "Can I get the, uh, protein power pancakes with--"
"We're actually all out of the protein batter right now," Mika says, and it's the hardest thing he's ever done to see Dreamboat pause and glance back at the menu. "Is there anything else--?"
Dreamboat slumps back against the booth seat and flips to the biscuits section. Pink Hair reaches across the table to cuff him over the head-- "Yuu, c'mon, you can still get your protein from things other than protein powder--"
"Yeah, but I wanted pancakes--"
"--you can still get pancakes, dipshit, just order eggs on the side--"
Mika knows he's being kind of creepy, but he can't stop staring. Yuu. He takes that name and tucks it into his heart, memorizes it even though he knows he'll probably never see this guy again, sticks a name to the face with the easy smile and messy hair.
"If you two are done making fools of yourselves," (purple hair begins collecting the menus and stacking them at the end of the table), "and keeping our host waiting, I'll have the strawberry French toast."
It's the most focused Mika's ever been while taking an order.
He doesn't get a chance to talk to Yuu again, which isn't unexpected. He delivers the check and they split it five ways and then they're gone and Mika still has a job to do.
He's collecting the receipts and pauses on Yuu's. He'd tipped ten dollars (what the fuck??) with the note you looked super stressed! you got this! shoved into the sides of the receipt where there was space. who
He takes a picture and sets it as his homescreen, which might be a little pathetic, but the message makes him feel better.
"It's exams week. I thought I updated my availability."
Krul blows a pink bubble the same color as her hair. It snags on one of her fangs and pops before it can get to an even remotely impressive size. It's hard to take someone who's four-seven and scraping bubblegum off her bottom lip with her teeth seriously, but Krul is a force of nature in her own right. Also, she's the one who signs his paychecks. And his vampire sire, but that's old news by this point.
"You don't need sleep," Krul says. "Just study at night. Crowley's out for the month and I need the extra hands."
"What, so you want me to get off work at eleven and cram all night for a test the next morning?"
"Yeah, basically. Since you're taking Crowley's shifts, I can work out some kind of pay raise for your overtime."
That's a tempting offer. Really tempting. Work might be hell, but it's not like he has any hobbies or anything else to do, so he might as fuckin' well earn money. (There's nothing in his contract that states he has to be happy about it, though.)
"Fine," Mika says, and gets up from the booth they were using to have this conversation. "Uh-- just one question?"
"Go for it."
"We can't eat human food. Why do you like chewing gum so much?"
Krul chomps empathetically on her gum a couple times before answering. "It gives my mouth something to do," she says, finally. "Otherwise I'd probably bite the patrons, or something."
Mika nods as if that isn't the most terrifying answer he could have possibly received and clocks out for the day.
He does not expect to see Yuu again.
It's pouring outside, so there's actually a dip in customers. Mika takes advantage of this reprieve by flipping through a textbook in-between orders and hiding it under the menus when someone comes in so they don't have the audacity to complain that he's slacking off on the job.
He's in the middle of studying when the door opens. He slips the textbook under the front desk and stands up with a cheerful smile ready and waiting to say "How many with your party tonight?" when the words die on his lips.
"Oh shit! It's you again!"
"I work here," Mika says, instead of any other of the million more suave and charming things he could have greeted Yuu with.
Yuu blinks. He drops his umbrella in the holder and stands there a little blankly with that awkward half-smile that Mika is so, so weak for. "Right," he says. "Yeah. You-- yeah. Hi."
"Just you tonight?" Mika asks.
"No, Kimizuki's joining me in a bit-- late-night incentive to keep cramming, y'know?"
"Absolutely. Um, well-- You can sit here. Can I get you started with anything to drink?"
"Ah-- just... just water is fine." Mika's about to leave when Yuu adds, "And, uh, maybe could I get your name?"
Mika blinks at him. "Oh. Uh, Mika."
"Mika," Yuu says, with a stupid grin. "Cool. Yeah. Mika."
Yuu leaves another note with his (smaller, thank god, he's a college student too) tip this time. Mika takes a picture of that one, too, and so it begins.
Yuu becomes a "regular". More of a regular than any college student with a minimal budget should be. And he always tips well.
Mika makes his first move on a Friday evening, 6:30, overcast but no rain. Lacus is waiting tables today and Mika's on kitchen duty, but he knows Yuu is here because Lacus tells him "Your boytoy is here, and he wants waffles" before he swings back out into the front to pick up dishes.
Mika's feeling bold. He sprays the whipped cream in the shape of a heart and arranges strawberries on it and sets it aside for Lacus to pick up.
All his coworker has to say to that is "Mika, that's cringe."
"And you're single," he snaps back, and scrambles the eggs with a bit more force than necessary. "Tell me what he says, okay?"
Lacus mutters something under his breath but, sure enough, he's back in a few minutes to report; "The chick loved it. Thought it was cute as hell. She's taking pictures of it right now."
"And Yuu?"
"I guess he liked it," Lacus says, helpfully, and leaves to take another order.
"That's it?" Mika yells at the closing door. "You couldn't be any less descriptive!"
He grabs Lacus at closing. "The receipt. Did Yuu leave a note?"
"You sound like a desperate housewife," Lacus says, but procures a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.
missed seeing you today, the note reads. keep working hard!!
Mika's in love.
"You're desperate. It's kind of pathetic." Lacus unclips his nametag. "By the way, you cool with finishing up closing tonight? I've got shit to do."
Mika is not cool with it, but he ends up closing anyway.
The vampire thing is... manageable, he supposes. Krul keeps him fed-- another part of the contract she worked out with her lawyer, apparently-- but it's not exactly delicious to drink plasma packs that he keeps in the fridge.
He tosses his apron on the table and watches a pack rotate in the microwave. They're better warm, but he never has the energy to heat them properly in a pan, so shitty microwave flavor it is.
The ceiling is only visible thanks to his night vision. He sucks on the pack; lukewarm. Tastes like microplastics. Just once, it would be nice if Krul sourced her blood from someone who liked actual food. Mika misses the taste of spices.
He smooths out the receipt and stares at Yuu's slanted handwriting. The corner of his lip twitches up into a smile.
"I've got to get a fucking hobby," Mika groans, and lets his arm fall over his eyes.
"Okay, so... will that be everything?"
Mika's waiting tables again. He clicks his pen shut and lowers his notepad.
"Not quite," Shinoa (he's learned their names by now) says, and elbows Yuu. "There's something else someone wanted to order--"
"--shut up, Shinoa--"
"Yuu," Mitsuba says, deadpan, "I am so fucking sick of eating at iHop."
Yuu drops his head to the table and mutters something under his breath.
"Louder, loverboy, he couldn't hear you!"
"Shinoa, shut up--"
"Loverboy?" Mika asks, daring to hope.
Yuu grins at him sheepishly. It's the most attractive thing Mika's ever seen. He needs to get a life (or a boyfriend). "Yeah, uh... I've... I've kinda had a crush on you for, like, ever."
"Oh," Mika says, because we should get married feels inappropriate.
"I wanted to know if I could, like, maybe... get your number, or something? We could go out for coffee sometime-- or like, I don't know, something else! You're probably sick of coffee, working at iHop, I mean I know I would be--"
Mika just stares.
All of his dreams are coming true at once (granted, he didn't have very many of them). Shinoa is nodding enthusiastically. Kimizuki is staring out the window. Mitsuba is drawing patterns in the condensation of her glass.
"Is this weird? I'm making this weird," Yuu says. "You can totally decline, I just thought I'd ask--"
"I'm free this Thursday," Mika says. He's scribbling his phone number down on his notepad as fast as legibly possible.
Yuu stares at the piece of paper in his hands. Then, slowly, he looks back up at Mika.
"Thursday," he says. "Yeah. Yeah, Thursday works. Thursday works! I'll, uh-- we can--"
"We can figure out details over text later," Mika says, trying to pretend that his heart isn't racing (you know, if it still beat). "I'm still on the clock though, so..."
"Right!" Yuu grabs the menu with a little more force than necessary, but he's still staring at Mika. "I'll have the... uh..."
"We already ordered," Mitsuba says, slowly.
"I'll have your food right out," Mika says, and walks (very casually and attractively) to the kitchen.
"He doesn't know you're a vampire," Ferid says. "You know that, right darling?"
"It'll be fine." He smooths out the wrinkles on his notepad. "It's not like me being a vampire is a big deal, or anything."
(Privately, he's a little worried. But Yuu leaves a heart on his receipt note, so Mika allows himself to dream.)