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"My friend, do you have apple cider?"
Erik glances down and sees a gorgeous, gorgeous man in a wheelchair. Wavy brown hair and wow, piercing blue eyes. White dress shirt with one button undone. What is this angel doing talking to him? Erik short-circuits. Right, he's taking his order.
"Uh—I'm not sure. No, yes, we do," And there goes any chance he possibly had. Who orders apple cider at a coffee shop? Or anywhere?
The man smiles at him. "Perfect! I'll also get a cinnamon roll. For here, please."
"Name for the order?" There was only five other people in the café and business had been somewhat slow today, there was really no need for a name. Erik wanted to have at least one thing to go off of. Business had been slow... so why not chat it up with one of his customers and hope he forgets about his little brain-fart ten seconds ago..?
"Charles," he said, with a small smirk on his face.
"You can choose a table and I'll bring out your order when it's ready."
"Thank you, darling."
'Oh my lord, pretty Charles just called me darling,' Erik internally celebrates.
He walks over to Charles' table and places down the warm mug of cider and plate of fresh cinnamon rolls, gesturing if he could sit with him.
"So you know my name, but I don't know yours, my friend."
"Erik."
"Well, Erik, this place is quite cozy. How long have you worked here for?" Charles inquires.
"A few months. It gets extra cozy during the fall, so you picked the perfect time to discover it."
He smiles, looking outside at nothing in particular.
"Kind of beautiful, isn't it?"
"What is? The rain and gloom of autumn?"
"No, no," Charles stops him. "You have to appreciate the prettiness. The streets glistening in the rain, the leaves changing color, indicating a new season. The start of something new. Academica, pumpkin carving, fluffy sweaters. Apple cider, baked goods, chocolates. And especially Halloween."
"I don't like Halloween."
Charles looks at Erik like he just broke some horrible news.
"What?"
"'What' what? Halloween just makes you spend more money on sweets that rots the teeth of these poor children. The parties are just drunk teenages with shitty costumes making out."
"There's so much more to Halloween than sweets and parties. You have to look at the aesthetics of it."
Erik gave a small but adoring smile, listening to Charles explain how friendship is what brings Halloween together, or something. Proper name, place name... Erik zoned out.
He notices a small black cat staring at him from the pet shop across the street. The window decorated in some ghost and pumpkin stickers. Erik looks around, gravitating toward the library and its Halloween decorations out front. The idea of sitting down by a fire, reading some classic, listening to Charles talking about something he's passionate about is kind of... pretty.
"Did you hear anything I said? What were you thinking about?"
"Uhhhh you're pretty. I mean—no, you're not pretty. Not that you're not pretty, I just wasn't thinking that you're pretty—"
Charles laughed and said, "You're pretty too, Erik."
"Do you want to," Erik paused, "go out sometime? On a date? Maybe you could show me the beauty of autumn or whatever you were talking about."
He's laughing again. He looks so beautiful. "Yes, of course. There's one problem though."
Erik furrows his eyebrows and slightly tilts his head like a curious puppy and Charles has to do mental gymnastics to keep from 'aww'ing out loud.
"Would that be our first date or our second date?"
"Second. Can I ask you something, though?"
"You just did."
"Why apple cider? Why not, like, a coffee?"
"I like the sweetness of it. Being honest though," Erik leaned down to hear Charles whisper, "your cider is mediocre at best."
He chuckles, leaning back to stare at Charles. He was just as sweet as the apple cider and cinnamon rolls.
"When does your shift end, darling?"
Maybe even sweeter.